St. Louis Conference: 2005
Table of Contents
Solomon
Address—D. Rule
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We'll begin our meeting this afternoon by singing together #4.
The hymn book air guarded.
Had built the mountains or raised the fruitful hills before he filled the fountains that feed the running wills.
In thee from everlasting the wonderful I am found pleasures never wasting.
And wisdom is thy name #4 someone started.
Right.
Turn with me to 1St Kings.
Chapter 3.
Chapter 2. First Kings. Chapter 2.
This afternoon.
We're going to look into lessons from the life of Solomon.
Solomon was perhaps one of the men that has ever lived among men that had the greatest honors.
The greatest wisdom.
Of specially Old Testament Saints.
And God has been pleased to, through Solomon, give to us three of the books of the Bible.
The book of Proverbs, in which we have Solomon the wise man. The book of Ecclesiastes, in which we have Solomon the preacher.
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The Book of the Song of Songs, which is Solomon's, which is Solomon the Lover.
And I believe there are some very solemn lessons and very helpful lessons that we can gain from his life.
When I had this matter before me, I was thinking particularly of the young people, but as I've meditated on it, I found it has a lot to speak to my own conscience.
And I trust that it will be a benefit to those who are older as well.
In the end, we will, by contrast, look briefly.
A little bit concerning the Apostle Paul.
But to begin, we're going to just take a few verses here and there out of Solomon's life to give ourselves a little picture of the man Solomon and his personal life. And we find that in First Kings. So here in First Kings, in chapter 2, we have Solomon's father David reaching the end of his life. And Solomon's mother goes into David at the instruction of some of the wise men, and she says.
They say to her, go talk to David and remind him that he promised that the Kingdom was to be given to my son Solomon. And she goes in and she does that in chapter 2.
And so it says.
In verse 19, Bathsheba went therefore went unto King Solomon to speak unto him.
And this is after he's already king.
Concerning added not Joe, which was 1/2 brother of Solomon's, and so he King Solomon here in the beginning of his reign, is immediately tested and he has to act, which he does for the glory and honor of the Kingdom.
And now in chapter 3 it says in verse one, and Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David.
Until he had made an end to building his own house in the House of the Lord and the wall of Jerusalem round about.
Verse three. And Solomon loved the Lord walking in the statutes of David, his father.
Verse four and the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. 1000 burst offerings did Solomon offer upon the altar.
In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night. And God said, Ask what I shall give thee? And Solomon said, Thou hast showed unto thy servant David, my father, great mercy, according as he walked before the in truth and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee. And thou hast kept for him this great king, kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne.
As it is this day. And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father.
And I am but a little child and I know not how to go out or to come in.
Verse 9 Give therefore thy servant and understanding heart.
To judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad. For who is able to judge?
This thy so great a people, and the speech please the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing.
And.
God answers him with blessing.
Verse chapter 4 So King Solomon was king over all Israel.
And chapter 4.
Verse 29.
And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding, exceeding much and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore. And Solomons wisdom excelled, the wisdom of all the children of the E country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men, than Ethan the Ezra Height, and Heman the Sheikhol, and Dara the sons of Mayhol. And his fame was in all nations roundabout.
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And he spake 3000 proverbs, and his songs were 1005. And he spake of trees from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon, even under the hyssop that springeth out of the wall. And he spake also a beast, and a foul, and of creeping things, and of fishes.
And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon from all kings of the earth which had heard of his wisdom.
Chapter 5. Solomon begins to build the House of the Lord.
And in chapter six, he continues that building and the end of chapter 6.
It says in the very end. And so he was seven years in building it, that is the temple, the House of the Lord, Chapter 7. But Solomon was building his own house 13 years, and he finished all his house. And so we have in Chapter 7 the long description of the building of Solomon's house.
And the end of that chapter, verse 51. And so ended all the work that Solomon made for the House of the Lord. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated, even the silver and the gold and the vessels did he put among the treasures of the House of the Lord.
And in chapter 8, he brings together all the people of Israel for a dedication.
Of that house, and he offers a most wonderful prayer unto the Lord.
And then he speaks to the people and brings the Lord before the people.
He says to them in verse 61.
Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, and walk in His statutes and keep His commandments as this day.
In verse Chapter 9, verse one. And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the House of the Lord, and the King's house, and all Solomon's desire which he had pleased to do, that the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.
That's when he asked for wisdom to judge the people. Now the Lord comes to him a second time in his life. And verse three, the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication that thou St. made before me. I have hallowed this house which thou hast built, to put my name there forever, and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.
And then?
Chapter 10. That well known portion where the Queen of Sheba comes from a far country to see the wisdom of Solomon.
Which she does, and the glory of the king and the Kingdom are found in chapter 10 and then in Chapter 11 verse one it says but King Solomon loved many strange women together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of them all, bites and Ammonites and Edomites and Ziconians and Hittites.
Of the nations concerning which the Lord has said unto the children of Israel, you shall not go into them.
Neither shall they come into you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.
Solomon clave unto these in love.
Verse six And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.
Then did Solomon build in high place for Chimish?
And so on.
Verse 8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burn incense, and sacrificed unto their gods.
And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord of God, the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared to him twice, and he had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods, but he kept not that which the Lord commanded.
Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, For as much as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the Kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.
Notwithstanding in thy days, I will not do it for David thy father's sake, but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.
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And that's what happens in chapter 12.
Well, here we have a very brief little bit of information concerning the personal life of Solomon, the things that characterized his life. And I want to go back and seek to get a few lessons for us from it. But before we do, let's go on, because I think the lessons are even the more remarkable when we see what God gave to him to give to us. So let's turn over to the Proverbs.
And then we'll just speak about the things we've read later.
Going over to Proverbs.
Chapter one. Verse one.
The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel. To know wisdom and instruction. To perceive the words of understanding.
Verse 5A. Wise man will hear and will increase learning. A man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels.
Verse 7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise wisdom and instruction. My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother.
We hear a lot today about guidance counselors.
Man seems to need a lot of guidance. And so when people start out in school, and it's not a new thing. When I was a teenager and went to high school, we had a guidance counselor and we took tests that we were given to try to determine what our aptitudes were and to help us make right choices and what kind of work and line of living we were going to get into. And people today are constantly in need of guidance and wisdom.
To me, it's an interesting thing that God has given us this book of Proverbs, which has been called the Young Man's Book.
It is a book in which God, through the Solomon, is a guidance counselor.
He is giving us.
Wisdom from himself, instruction, guidance for a life on earth and a life in which man has to live in the presence of sin. And so it's an extremely beneficial book for young people and older ones too, because who is a better, who understands better to give us counsel in our lives for living on earth than God?
Can you go to a better guidance counselor? Can you go to someone who is better suited and capable of understanding what you need for your life here on earth and how to live it?
No, and so God chose to make this wisest of all men write down for us the instructions that he gave to him. We read about his life and there were over 3000 sayings that he wrote and we have some of them in the book of Proverbs for us. And so we we study it and we get instruction as to how to live life on earth.
Instruction from God.
Perfect counsel or life on earth and we don't have time to go over all that council, but it's interesting and important that the man that gave it to us was the man. We're going to get some lessons from Solomon just to notice a couple of things that he has to say by way of introduction from this message from God. The first thing is verse 7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
Mark it well.
Young person, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
Man who does not respect his creator and have a relationship with him will never ever gain true knowledge.
People spend their whole lifetime seeking to understand the creation.
But if they do not begin with the knowledge of the Creator.
The results are always imperfect.
And never results that honor God because God is the Creator. And so Solomon says, as it were, my first principle to you in guidance for life is you must have a right relationship.
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With your Creator, and not just to acknowledge him as a creator. People do that without trusting him, but it says the fear of the Lord. That is, you must be in a personal relationship with your Creator.
Before you will have the needed instruction and guidance to live your life.
That's the foundation, that's the starting point of a life on Earth that is lived.
To the honor of God and to your own benefit. And so he says, the fear of the Lord.
Is the beginning of knowledge. In Chapter 9 he goes further. He says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
You won't be able to use the knowledge which you have correctly, wisely if you will.
Unless you have the fear of the Lord, that proper attitude and respect.
Toward the one under whose eye you live and the one that controls all things that concern your life.
He then says, my son.
Hear the instruction of thy father and forsake not the law of thy mother, my son. Proverbs has that character is the instruction is given, as it were, from a father and a mother to a son. It is a personal thing and God wants to interact with you in a personal way in your life. It's more intimate. It's closer than simply saying God.
God is.
All powerful and almighty, and people sometimes recognize the power of God, and when they're in trouble they will sometimes ask Him to do things for them, but not having a sense of a personal relationship with Him. And so it is my son.
My daughter.
You know, you can go to a guidance counselor at school and.
They're paid to give advice, or you can. After you're out of school. You can go to people that specialize in trying to help sort out the priorities of life. They're paid to help. But here's someone who lives in a relationship with you with a personal desire and knowledge for your blessing.
Go to them in that way, as Solomon did.
Let's turn over to Chapter 2.
Verse 2.
Well, verse one, my son, if thou wilt receive my words and hide my commandments with thee, so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding. If thou cryest after knowledge and lift it up, liftest up thy voice for understanding. If thou seekest for her as silver, and searches for her as hid rubies, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
Verse 12 speaking about discretion to deliver thee from the way of the evil man.
From the man that speaketh forward things.
Verse 16. To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger, which flattereth with her words, which forsake it the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
Solomon says to us, and I wish he was here this afternoon and speaking instead of myself, but listen to what God would say through Solomon to you.
Benefit from this man's life, he says. You have to want it.
It has to be important to you.
Search for it as silver.
Search for it is something of value and importance, the wisdom of God.
For life.
And there's a promise, isn't there, given with it. It says the Lord giveth.
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In verse six and verse 5, thou shalt understand and find, and so God is at work through Solomon is saying to you, young person, if you're starting out in life or you've already started out in life, do you want the Lord's way for it? Do you want the Lord's instruction as to how to live on this earth?
Value it. Treat it as something you want to have as something that is important.
And God says if you do, you'll find it.
Sometimes we want the benefit of something without the exercise of it, without Sure, we like to be wise, but we're not willing to search for it. We're not willing to put out effort to get it.
Be practical. Did you read your Bible this morning?
You had time probably to eat. Maybe this was a busy day for some because you had to get up early to get here. But did you value?
What God has to give you enough?
To have a little food for your soul this morning.
Did you go to God to speak to Him about your needs and as He sees them for today?
That's valuing. That's putting some importance on what God has to give.
Now when you read or study Proverbs for yourself and we just have time to touch on a few things, he talks about the man and the woman.
And when you read through the Word of God, you will find that the man is characterized by a willful, I'm going to have it for myself attitude that will go to the point of violence.
I want what I want and I'm going to have it characterizes man and leads him into evil.
Adam chose to eat.
He wasn't deceived and his son Cain, who was angry for what he didn't get or wasn't accepted, committed murder and it characterizes the man. On the other hand, as we find in Proverbs and throughout the word of God, there's the woman, and the woman is characterized by deception and deceit.
She was deceived by Satan and ever since I'm Speaking of what characterizes it, not of individuals here, but she became a deceiver. She said come with me.
Let's have it.
And she speaks softly sometimes she speaks clamorously or loudly at others.
And so it was when Noah lived on the earth, it was filled with violence.
That which comes from the man and corruption that which comes from the woman.
Solemn.
And here Solomon is saying, if the Sinner man particularly says come with us, don't consent, don't go.
Because the end of the path is death.
If the woman.
Says, and I know here it also speaks of it literally morally.
About fornication and adultery and so on. But in a broader sense, she's the one that, as it were, characteristically says, come with me.
Stolen waters taken in secret are sweet. Enjoy the pleasures of sin. There's no great harm in it. There's not going to be any strong consequences to it, she says.
Solomon says don't go there.
She has no fixed foundation for her feet.
She takes hold in the end is death.
Chapter 3.
Verse one.
My son, forget not my law, but let thine heart keep my commandments for a length of days and long life, and peace shall they add unto thee.
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Verse.
For so shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil, and it shall be held to thy neighbor, and marrow to thy bones. Honor thy honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase.
Man is, God's creature is.
Always been in a relationship in which he is to obey.
Now God gave the law to Israel as a special thing, to see whether man could live before God on the basis of a law and man could not. And no man is righteous before God on the basis of trying to keep a law. The next most important lesson to learn and we read that.
In the Word of God. And so God sets aside law as a basis on which man can be righteous with God, and substitutes for us, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In his work.
Tremendous important to understand that, but at the same time it is important not to throw out because of that the fact that obedience.
Is the characteristic of the creature. He must be an obedient creature because he's a creature and so man is to be obedient always to the instructions of God.
And Solomon, who was under law, but in a broader sense, he says, my son, forget not my law, let thine heart keep my commandments. I say to you, God's word should be as a command to your heart.
Keep it with all diligence.
The way of happiness is the way of obedience, and without it you'll never find peace for your soul.
Something else he says. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart.
Believe God.
It's an ultimate truth. Believe God.
You'll never.
Get to enjoy him, to know him without trusting him, he says.
Solomon says trust God with all your heart.
Absolutely, completely, in every circumstance of life, no matter what. Trust God.
The root of all sin.
Is unbelief.
And what's in the God's heart toward you?
That's why Adam and Eve sinned. They questioned the heart of God and the wisdom of God for their lives and brought incredible sorrow upon themselves and their children and grandchildren and so on. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Lean not unto thine own understanding.
Young people.
It's a characteristic of the young to have all the confidence of their own ignorance.
You are not sufficiently wise to direct your life.
You do not have what it takes to find a path.
Through this life, trust not in your own understanding. That's what Solomon, the wisest of all men, would say to you if you were here this afternoon.
Trust in the Lord.
One other thing, verse 11, my son.
Despise not the chastening of the Lord.
I understand the word instruction in the book of Proverbs means.
Teaching by discipline.
Teaching by discipline.
In Hebrews chapter 12 we have the same thought. Brought out, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth.
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When we're children and we're being raised, we get admonition and instruction from our father and from our mother, and often it's accompanied with discipline.
Accept it, it's for your good.
Don't rebel, Solomon said. It's a foolish man, a foolish person that despises that kind of teaching who says leave me alone, I want my own way. I'll figure it out for myself and rebels against it.
Accept teaching with discipline.
Whom the Lord loveth, He corrected us.
Accept it, you need it. It's for your blessing. I was thankful the other night. I guess it was just this past Monday night. I was talking to a group of kids.
All of them.
In a detention center and when they left that room, they were going to go back and sleep in a cell.
For the night.
And we were talking and I asked him, I said, have you considered and do you accept that God in his wisdom has put you here for your good and he may keep you here until you learn what lessons he has for you? And I was very thankful. Three or four, maybe five of them immediately said, yes, I'm thankful.
Can you say thanks like that if there's chastening that's come into your life?
It's for your blessing.
Well, we could go on, but time doesn't permit I I encourage you to read.
Young man's book, The Book of Proverbs.
As that which can be your guidance counselor for life.
Here on Earth.
Turn now over to the book of Ecclesiastes and other.
Of Solomon's books to us.
Please ask these chapter one verse one the words of the preacher, the son of David, king of Jerusalem. Vanity of vanity, saith the preacher. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity. What prophet hath a man and all his labour which he taketh unto the Son? One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh, but the earth abideth forever. The sun also rises, and.
The sun also goeth down, and haste it to his place, which he arose.
The wind goeth toward the South, and turneth about unto the north. It whirleth about continually.
And the wind returneth again according to his circuits. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full under the place from which the rivers come, thither they return again. All things are full of Labor. Man cannot utter it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with filled with hearing. The thing that have been is that which shall be, and that which is done is that which shall be done.
And there is no new thing under the sun.
Chapter 3, verse one.
To everything there is a season and a time, to every purpose under the heaven.
The time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted. The time to kill and a time to heal. A time to break down and a time to build up.
Verse 8A. Time to love, a time to hate, a time of war, a time of peace. What prophet hath he that worketh in that which he laboureth? I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised by it. He hath made everything beautiful in his time also He has set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning.
To the end.
And then the end of the book, the last chapter, Chapter 11, Chapter 12.
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Verse 12 And further by these my son be admonished, for of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep His commands. Commandments. For this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good.
Or whether it be evil.
Here Solomon is addressing us as a preacher.
He's saying young people, older people, listen, I want to preach to you. I have something to say to you that is a benefit to your soul. And so he preaches, you know, I'll be honest and.
Say, are we going to listen?
Are you going to listen? You guys sit in your seat and say this is for the guy next to me, the girl next to me, or this is for the young person and not for me and so on.
Listen to what the preacher has to say to us.
It's important to recognize when he's preaching to us, he's speaking as a man.
Who knows God?
He's not speaking to us the word Lord.
Doesn't appear in the book except maybe one time.
In Proverbs, the knowledge, the counsel is given from a father to a son. It's given from a Lord in which there is a known relationship. Here it's just God, and it's a man in the world.
That can understand the way God made him like we have in Romans chapter. One man knows his God.
And then after that, God says, I'm going to judge you because you know me. I made you so that you know me, and then because you know me and you have not honored or glorified me.
I'm going to bring your work into judgment. Well, here, Solomon speaking as a preacher, it's God.
And man.
And he looks at the whole of things and he says, what's the purpose to everything?
What's going on?
I'm going to figure it out. I'm going to find out the secrets of life.
And he goes out to learn the secrets of life without God giving them to him, but he's trying to find them out himself. God doesn't reveal anything to him except he seeks according to the way God made him as a creature.
And here's his conclusion. He says everything goes on the same.
Nothing changes. Life has a cycle to it. The cycle comes and the cycle goes, he says. For every man, if you will, here's the passage of time, and each person has a little bit in it and they're born at a certain time and they die at a certain time. And during their little period of time. The sun comes up in the morning and it goes down at night and the rain comes down and it comes down. And man lives his little piece of life on the stage, if you will, and it kind comes and it's over.
Then the cycle repeats itself. Another generation comes along and man is born and man lives and man goes on and the next generation forgets him and he lives his life. And there are great questions that man can't understand. He says a man dies. We learn of a little child in the prayer meeting that died nine years of age. And if you had asked Solomon, according to what he knew from Ecclesiastes and Uganda, Solomon with all his human.
Ability.
And said Solomon, why he says I don't know, I haven't got a clue. He said some evil people seem to live for a long time and some good people don't live very long. And I don't know.
I don't know.
Don't live your life.
As it were, with only the knowledge that you can get.
Like this?
I want to reflect for just a couple of minutes on my own life for you young people.
I hope it's not because of me that I say it, but I hope you'll at least listen. Learn a little bit.
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I was once where you are.
Maybe you're in farming, maybe you're in medicine.
Maybe you work in an auto shop?
Dentist office I don't know my life will be different than yours, but when my life started out.
It was right at the infancy, really, of computers.
Exciting stuff.
I can remember the very first day that I saw my first computer and immediately was attracted to it.
It was exciting stuff.
And the Lord allowed in my life to be exposed to a lot of development in the beginning of the computer era.
I worked with Bob Beamer.
He's calm, he's gone. You may not know who he is.
He's one of the founders of ASCII, the very foundation of the coding of all computers used today, ASCII code.
I spent time talking with Bill Gates more than once.
About the future of computing.
And I assume you know who he is.
I worked on equipment.
That today is in the Smithsonian Institute.
As a remembrance of the history of computing.
Company I work for was involved with ARPA.
Which is the foundation of today's Internet.
And in the development of it.
I used to go on very exciting business trips.
With people who are on the very forefront of computing and the development of what we have today.
And I am thankful that not one of the people I interacted with ever tried to entice me into sin.
Or anything on that side of things, but this is my whole point.
Sometimes I come back from a trip.
And we talked about the future of where computers were going and how to get there, and we were going to be part of it and all that and the planning of it. And I'd come home from such a trip and I'd get in my house and I'd shut the door.
And I felt flat.
Flat.
It didn't satisfy.
The cravings of the heart and it never will.
If there's something in this life that you treat as exciting and you're going to go after it and you're going to spend your life to get it, the result is what Solomon, the preacher, said. The eye is not satisfied with seeing. The ear is not satisfied with hearing.
You will, Solomon says. Never find.
Satisfaction for your life in anything that you can go after in this world.
Market. Don't waste your life. Don't say I'm different. Solomon learned it. He passed it on. Anybody that's older in this room to some extent has experienced what he was talking about. No, but it's like people say.
Who say the lottery won't make you happy? And man always says well let me win it and I'll try.
Don't be a fool.
It will not be successful.
The end of the preacher saying was.
Dear God.
Keep his commandments.
When he gave more revelation and more light in the Proverbs, he says Fear God my son, keep his commandments.
The next book, and we won't take the time to look at it, is the Song of Songs, which is Solomon's.
Tremendous.
Probably.
The greatest love song that's ever been written by mankind, from creation to today.
Written by Solomon, he wrote over 1000 thousand.
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And five did it say songs? And God has preserved this one for us, which he calls the song of Songs. And it's an incredible expression of love between two people.
You can't get a higher one, at least among men.
Mark it now.
Think about this.
We read the personal life of Solomon.
And we studied it and how did it pass?
When his father was almost to die, he becomes the king.
They actually Co range I believe in history for a little bit but.
Solomon starts right out at the top.
Beginning of his life and it says he loved the Lord.
And he went after the Lords things in his life and in his reign. He spent the first seven years of his life building a temple for God to dwell in. He didn't have much light. He says God's going to dwell in the darkness.
But nonetheless, his heart was toward God, and he builds it. He looked after the things of the Lord, if you will, in his life for those first seven years.
And then the next 13 years of his life, he looked after, you might say, family things. He built a house for himself.
For his family and raised them. He spent 20 years, the 1St 20 years of his life in a rather exemplary way.
But God, who sees the all seeing God tells us little things along the way about Solomon.
And right in the beginning, when he first became king, it says he joined affinity with the king of Egypt.
And took Pharaoh's daughter, the daughter of Pharaoh, to be his wife.
And he loved her.
There was a corner of Solomon's heart.
The Joint.
1 Corinthians 1:1-8
Reading
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153.
Yeah.
Do not change.
Ephesians one says that we are we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Do you think God will change his mind about what he chose way back then?
Of course he won't. We are the objects of the grace of God.
We know everyone of us that belongs to the Lord Jesus know that what we have.
We have from his hand of his choice.
Chosen in Christ. Marvelous, marvelous, That was before the foundation of the world, but.
We came along later on and we were sinners.
And we were deserving of punishment.
But in the grace and love and wisdom of God, through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary.
What we have, we have from his hand.
For all eternity we have blessing. There are some things that don't change. The blood of the the value of the blood of Christ doesn't change.
00:05:08
The Word of God.
Is eternal and it doesn't change. And I don't have one scripture necessarily for us to take up. And I'm trusting some of you brothers that know a whole lot more about the word than I do to come up with something that is really foundational chapter of scripture. The 8th chapter of Romans is one of those places. But but there's many others so.
With that a little.
Heading, I prayed that God will give us a real.
Good portion that will be basic.
I have only one purse.
And the address that they think of it, It's in First Corinthians 1.
Where God says of him are you in Christ? Who of God is made-up to us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that according it is written He that glorious let him glory in the Lord? That's the one verse. Maybe it's 2 verses.
That would follow perfectly with what we had an hour ago.
From dawn.
Yeah, you can find him all through Scripture, yeah.
I.
We had three readings, right?
Paul talks a lot about wisdom there.
I had that before us in the address.
That be all right?
Select.
First Corinthians chapter One.
Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and sausage our brother under the Church of God which is at Corinth. To them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be Saints with all that in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.
Praise be unto you in peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ, that in everything ye are enriched by him in all utterance and in all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you become so that she come behind in no gift waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ? God is faithful by whom you recalled unto the fellowship of his Son.
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Can you step up to the mic?
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment, for it have been declared unto me of you my brethren.
By them which are of the House of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that everyone of you saith, I am of Paul, and I have Apollos, and I have Cephas, and I have Christ.
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Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius, lest any should say that I had baptized in my own name.
And I baptized also the household of Stefanus. Besides, I know not whether I baptized any other, For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved. It is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise.
And will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God.
Could please God, by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise after the flesh.
Not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world.
To confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world, to confound the things which are mighty.
And base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen.
Yay, And things which are not to bring to not things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption, That according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
Fresh, definitely.
The local church.
And it applies to all churches. There's only one church in God's mind.
The church that.
Courage the Church of God would check court is in which are sanctified in Christ Jesus.
He addresses them as set apart for Christ, as shanked by calling.
And then he says with all that are in every place, that in every place called on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours, it's to all of make a profession of Christ Jesus. It applies to everybody that makes a provision of Christ Jesus.
This epistle start.
In the second verse unto the Church of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called Saints. And then it it expands that not only is it addressed to that local assembly there at Corinth, but with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. That applies to the church wherever it is found, wherever believers are found. Verse 9 says God is faithful.
By whom ye were called? Unto the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. That's not a local truth, that's a universal truth, is it not?
Let me touch upon the other scriptures that are in this epistle.
Umm. In chapter four we show that it's universal. There are things in it that Christians nowadays don't like, in particular the woman's place in in in the man's place and the woman's place and how that stands. The teachings that he gives at Corinth apply everywhere in in the 4th chapter, verse 17.
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For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved Son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways, which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church. He did not teach one thing at Corinth, another at Ephesus, and so on. He taught that truth everywhere in every church, he says.
Let's go on to.
Chapter 7.
Verse 17 But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called everyone, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all the churches, in all the churches, not just for Corinth, There are those. I've gone to Christian bookstores, and I pull out the Epistle to the Corinthians, and I'd read these passages where it gives the woman's place and the man's place and.
Some of them are very, very erroneous as I teach everywhere in all the churches and as I ordain in all the churches. Again, as we go on a little bit in this wonderful epistle Chapter 11 verse, I hear he's talking about the woman's place and the man's place and he says in verse 16.
Verse 15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair has given her for recovering or instead of a veil. But if any man seemed to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. The churches of God had the same custom that he's setting before them at Corinth, not one at Corinth, and something different elsewhere.
Again, we go on to the.
14th chapter.
In the 14th chapter.
Verse 32 verse 31. For you may all prophecy one by one, that all may learn and all may be comforted, and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the Saints. He didn't have one order at Corinth, another one at at Ephesus, and so on. That's so important. And then in the 16th chapter.
Verse one now concerning the collection for the Saints. As I have given order to the churches of Galatia, Even so do ye. It wasn't just for those in Akaya. It wasn't just for Corinth, it was for everyone. And that's so important to see that we have an epistle here where he is correcting, correcting, correcting, correcting the things that were wrong there.
And if they were wrong at court, they could have been wrong elsewhere, too. And they were. So it's such a valuable epistle that the instructions and the corrections given in that 1St century apply just as much today in the 21St.
This is important to see.
Just not just was it good for all at that time, but it is good for all today. The truth of God hasn't changed over time. The principles laid down and the truth that we have in this epistle and in the whole word of God for that matter, is good for all times. And so people will come along today and they'll say, well, that was all right for a certain time, or that was all right in a certain culture.
And things that were acceptable at that time and practiced in that culture that I've even heard people say, well, there's certain things today that are applicable in cultures in other parts of the world that we don't apply here in the same way in North America. And so I'm very thankful for the comments that have been made. And I just want to reiterate the fact that the truth of God is good not only for all, it's not only applicable for all, but at all times. That's why Peter, when he wrote the second epistle.
He said, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them, and then notice this expression and be established in the present truth. The truth is the present truth. It was good in the days when the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians.
00:20:13
It was good in Mr. Darby's day. It applied in my grandfather's Day and my Father's Day.
And it applies right now, in 2005. The truth is the same truth. It is the present truth, many of the books that are written by men and man's Wisdom, They Change, and the things that wise men wrote. Even a generation ago. We might go back and say, well, how foolish those things seem now in the light of present discoveries. And we laugh at the things that our parents learned and studied in school as facts.
We see that again wise men change their opinions, but that which is recorded in the word of God, I say again, is not only good for all, but for all time.
Yesterday, today and forever. And he is the truth and the truth is the same. Yesterday, today and forever. That's so important. It doesn't change when the world changes. It remains the same. There's a brother here from Malawi and.
That applies just as much over there as it does in the United States of America. Might be harder to enforce it, but it's it's true, isn't it?
You referred to the ninth verse. God is faithful. That never changes. He's always the faithful God. And twice we read those words in this epistle, in this ninth verse. It's most excellent. God is faithful by whom you were called unto the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, We are called to the fellowship of the.
Most excellent person ever has been God's son, an old brother used to say to us God had one suddenly loved so much, he wanted a whole lot more like him. So he set out to get him. And that's what we're going to end up to be. God is faithful. Now there's another place where it comes in. That's the tenth verse, 10th chapter. Just read this verse to get started and the.
The 10th chapter.
There is no temptation. The 13th verse.
There hath no temptation or trial. You can read it, taken you, that you, you, you. But such as is common to man, we get what's common to man.
But God is faithful.
He's faithful in trying us. And how does it turn out who will not suffer you to be cried? Above that you're able, but will with the trial also make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. That is, God knows just how much trial to get us to get corrected or disciplined or or learning.
The faithful God at verse 9 think it's good to stress it. What do we call to the fellowship of his son that applies to every Christian on the face of the earth? I want to read a few verses in the 8th chapter, verse 5.
For though there be that are called gods.
Whether in heaven or in earth, as there be God's many and Lords many. But to us now He's not just writing to those at current. To us, to us who are called into the fellowship of His Son. To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we and him and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him and we're all in dwelt of the same Spirit.
And we are to keep the unity of the Spirit. I'm quoting from Ephesians 4 now. So the whole Trinity applies to every single Christian, no matter where he is and what assembly he belongs to.
In the Old Testament.
The children of Israel in the day of Moses.
Were separated from Egypt.
To be taken to a land, to live there, and I'm going to say in a practical sense, sanctified from the nations about them all the influence and the wisdom and the behaviour of the nations was to be taken out of the land of Israel, and the people of God were to dwell there in fellowship with Jehovah. Now, here in Corinth, there's a similarity in this sense.
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As it says in verse two, them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, that is God was forming an assembly, God's assembly. And the first step of it, if you will, was to separate his people.
To himself.
And they're sanctified. They're set apart for himself so that they might be a people to live in fellowship.
With his son, and they're brought into the fellowship of his Son, Christ Jesus.
But there's something that opposes it because the world wants to have a place. It wants to come in. The wisdom of the world says I'm going to be there too. And in chapter one, and in Chapter 2, and in Chapter 3 to chapter four, we have the wisdom of man seeking to intrude among the people who had been separated from that very thing.
That they might come under the separation that they might be.
According to the wisdom of God. And how does the wisdom of God separate from the world? While in Romans one it says man by wisdom knew not God.
That's where man's wisdom takes him. It separates him from God.
God's wisdom is the Lord Jesus Christ.
And here he's presented in this first chapter at a cross.
A man who dies on a cross and God says that's my wisdom the.
To the world, its foolishness. To the world its weakness. But God says it's my wisdom.
I'm going to accomplish the blessing of my creature through that man.
And where does it bring the Assembly of God?
Sanctified, separated from man's ideas, to be in the presence of the Lord Jesus, to have fellowship with the man that the world. What did the world say a few years before these words were written? We will not have this man.
We don't want this wisdom. We don't want fellowship with this person. Let's the world cast him out.
But we've been brought into fellowship with himself and later on.
In the 5th chapter.
There's a separation or the sanctification from the behavior of the world, the evil.
That the world would bring in to the Assembly of God. It has no place there. It has nothing to say to the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ. And so, as it were, the instruction is put it out, put it out. This is to be a separated holy fellowship for the people of God, the Assembly of God.
Country. Not only this country, but many others.
There's a religious system in it that claims to be the true church. Well, they they have Saints when they talk about Saints, they talk about those that have passed on and and are dead. But Paul wasn't writing to dead people. He was writing to the sanctified. Those who are called Saints right now called Saints Saints by calling.
Just as much as he was an apostle. By calling, we're Saints. By calling, they said of the Lord Jesus. He was the Holy One of God, and that Holy One is exactly the same word as a St. a St. We are holy ones, we're Saints. And that's true of every believer on the face of the earth, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours.
So if we would get a hold of these truths, we would see what a shame it is that Christians are content with.
Being a part of Christendom, being a this or that or whatever they they call themselves. I've talked so many times in the nursing home to others and their first question they always put to me is what church do you go to? What church do you go to?
00:30:08
When I answer him this way, I said let's go back to the 1St century. How many churches were there?
Just one. Just one, I said. That's the one I belong to. That's the one I belong to. I won't name myself after any of these denominational names, because they divide the Saints of God, and we're called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours. And that's not dividing us, That's uniting us. He died that he might gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.
We're Saints. We're All Saints.
You're not more of a St. than I am. You might be a more godly person.
But we're All Saints. We're All Saints.
On that basis, an old brother used to say to us in a simple words, be what you are.
A St. be that when that system that speaks of Saints, it's usually those who they feel in their estimation have attained to this position through various means in their lifetime, and they review their life and they decide whether they are worthy of the title of St.
But every believer in this room and every believer alive on the face of the earth today is called a St. not because they attain to it by something that they could do, but by the grace of God. And Paul brings that out in this chapter. He speaks of the grace of God in the fourth verse. When he thought of these Saints, he thought of the grace of God that had brought them into this position. We didn't do anything to obtain our salvation.
We didn't do anything to obtain the fact that we can be called Saints. No, it's all by the grace of God. It's all based on the work of the Lord Jesus at Calvary. Nothing to do with ourselves. And Paul's ministry brings this before us over and over again. By grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. So it's not only those that they are dead, but it's that they consider as St. or for sainthood. But it's those who've attained in some way by their works.
Brethren, it's God that works in us both to will and do of His good pleasure. After we are saved, there ought to be those good works that follow. But that isn't. That isn't what gives us the title of Saint. It's God who gives it to us. On the basis of the work of Calvary and the fact that He has called us by His grace, and by grace we've responded to that.
To draw attention to himself was the one that said he was the chief of sinners. That was the Apostle Paul. He was probably the most godly man that ever walked this scene.
To him he said for me to live his Christ, to die as gain. Christ was everything to him, and the thing that he would hate the most is anyone applying something good to him. Because he didn't consider himself that way. He just reveled in the grace of God.
Sanctification is not something we strive for.
As to a position before God, but like you mentioned Jim, it's the result of the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 10 says very clearly.
By the which will. It's the will of God.
We are sanctified through the offering of the body.
Jesus Christ.
Once for all, it's that work he did on the cross of redemption. He set us apart by that word for God once for all. And if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus, you are in that number. Set aside for God, Set apart for God. I think there is, like you say, that that idea that sanctification is something that we must.
Seek to attain, but I think, the power of living a sanctified life.
Is first of all to enjoy the place of complete holiness that God has set us in Christ. You cannot improve on that. And when you enjoy that in your soul, you will be careful how you walk in this world sometimes, say if a girl is given a beautiful white dress, and there she goes out.
00:35:15
Into a dirty world, you can imagine how careful she's going to be to keep that dress white. She's going to be careful not to attain a white dress, but because she has it. And that's the truth of sanctification. You and I have that place before God in Christ. Now walk in the enjoyment of it.
There is practical sanctification too, and justice to give a verse for that practical sanctification is what we sometimes say progressive, because in that sense of the word we need to be exercised first. Thessalonians, chapter 5 and verse 23.
Is practical sanctification the very God of peace?
Sanctify you holy and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. So there's positional.
Sanctification, which is absolute. And then there's practical sanctification, which we need to be exercised in view of the fact that we occupy that place before God.
Then we need to walk in it in a practical way. I believe there are two things that will sense in our souls of the exercise to walk as to practical sanctification. One is holiness and the other is grace. And it's interesting in Corinth that in the first epistle they failed in maintaining the holiness of God, in allowing sin at the Lord's table amongst the people of God. In the second epistle, they failed in exercising the grace of God.
When there was repentance and restoration before the Lord with the individual, they were as slow to receive him back as they had been to discipline him in the first Epistle. And the Apostle Paul had to point out that both were wrong. But I believe we need to walk through this world, brethren, with a sense of those two things in our souls The holiness of God and holiness becometh thy house, O Lord, and we are to be holy who bear the vessels of the Lord.
There is to be the maintaining of holiness. God teaches His people always, in every age that sin is a thing that is not fit for His presence, nor is it a thing that is fit for the presence of His people. And so on the Day of Atonement in the Old Testament.
When that matter was taken up, the sacrifice had to be taken outside the camp and consumed again. God teaching His people that sin was not a thing fit for his presence or the presence of His people, and holiness must be maintained in our lives individually and collectively. At the Lord's table is gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. But, brethren, we also have to have a sense of grace in our souls, because in Titus it tells us that it's grace that teaches us.
To deny that which is unholy, and then to live. Well, let's read it because I think it's helpful.
As a balance, we get in, we fall into one ditch or the other.
But in in Titus chapter 2.
And verse 11 Titus Two and verse 11. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.
Now he's talking about grace here, and it's grace that is the teacher. And this is what grace teaches us, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world or this present age. And when I see a brother or sister who's walking in practical separation, sanctification, a brother or sister who is exhibiting moral piety and godliness.
In their life, I say, there's a brother. There's a sister who has an appreciation in their soul for the grace of God. Grace does not teach us to live for ourselves. Grace does not teach us to live loosely like the world does. Grace teaches us to deny that which is unholy, and then to live soberly, righteously, godly, right at this present time, even in 2005. And so we need to have a sense of these two things, because, brethren.
00:40:16
We fall into one ditch or the other as creatures of extreme so often, and I will be the first to confess that I've often fallen into one ditch or the other. That is, we want to maintain holiness, and that's good. We need to be exercised, especially in a day when there's a there's lowering standards. David said not take not the spirit of holiness from me, he said, Don't let me get used to sin, but in seeking to maintain holiness.
Sometimes we can fail of the grace of God. And then sometimes in seeking to show grace, perhaps we don't maintain holiness the way we ought to, and both are important. The scriptures are balanced. And so Paul brings these out and these things out in these two epistles, that we're responsible to maintain holiness for the Lord's glory, but we are also to show grace in its proper character and in its proper way.
As it's produced by the grace of God, Paul says to Timothy. Therefore thou, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus that produces holiness. And you just read that in Titus. You can't have it. It's not something that is to our credit, It's all to his credit. He produces the He, He replicates himself in us by the grace of God working in our souls.
And he's the God of all grace. Amen.
Wonderful thing to realize all this, that we have been identified by the grace of God.
With his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And God is now eternally joined us.
God's assembly. There's also the Body of Christ.
And having been sanctified in Christ Jesus, having been the objects of the grace of God to enrich our souls, he then goes on to say.
Verse 7. Waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will confirm you unto the end that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is, he's looking on. Paul was looking on with respect to these dear brethren to a coming day.
When the one to whom they were now identified, into whose fellowship they had been brought, was going to be revealed to the whole of creation, the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, he says, waiting for that revelation. And wonderfully too, he says, When that day comes, you're going to be.
Uses a new translation. Unimpeachable, that is, no charge is going to be able to be laid against you because of His work in grace for you. And how can we be sure it's going to happen? God is faithful. That's where it comes in. Here God is faithful. He is going to see that that fellowship into which we have been brought, He is going to maintain us in such a way that when the day in which the Lord Jesus is manifested and revealed.
We're going to be unimpeachable right there with him and identified with him.
And so he goes on to the Saints, and he says brethren, as it were, don't despise the cross.
That's the present portion. It's an identification with a man who has been crucified and cast out of this world. And our present place is to be identified with Him so that when the day of Revelation comes, he may also identify us with himself in His displayed glory.
What is the greatest? What is the greatest of all evils?
Quote Mr. Darby on this Pride is the greatest of all evils it gives to man.
What only God deserves gives to man a place that only God deserves. There can be no holiness. There cannot be any real practical holiness in a person that is filled with pride because he's looking at himself. He's trying to find something that he can boast of in himself. We have nothing to boast of in ourselves. We're nothing but wretched guilty sinners in ourselves. But God has in his infinite grace picked up such an one as Saul of Tarsus.
00:45:18
And made him the Apostle Paul. How did he get that way? By some effort of his own, No, but by the grace of God alone. And he had no pride left. I know we all have pride. That's the worst evil we have thinking something of ourselves. But he became the closest of getting rid of that as he got closer and closer to the Lord. That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, that I may know him. And the more we know Him, the less we think of ourselves.
And being a whole part of the difficulty that the Corinthian Saints were having in that respect, because the wisdom of the world was coming in among them, and the consequence of it was to glory in man. And so one said, I'm of Paul, I'm of Apollos, used themselves as examples.
And he sums it up later in chapter 3.
And verse 20.
He says, And again the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they're vain. Therefore let no man glory in men.
That's what happens when the ways and the thoughts of man come among God's people.
Man gets a place and man glories in man. That's he promotes it.
It's the wisdom of man. It's the pride of man. He promotes himself. He doesn't say there's anything wrong with ego. Sometimes a very successful person, he'll say, well, he's got a big ego, but he deserves it. Look at what he's accomplished and so on. But God says my glory. I give not to another glory in man has no place before God. God has said I will honor my son.
And the Son says, I will honor my Father. And so the Father and the Son coequal are both glorified in the word of God, and one takes the joy in glorifying the other. And our place is to worship.
Nothing in ourselves, all that we are is the fruit of the results of the grace of God in Christ. But God says, but you may participate, you may be worshippers.
Some have been mentioned that right at the middle of the word pride is that big eye. And that's the big problem. And I think it's something that we in our present culture need to be aware of, brethren, not that any of us can sufficiently perhaps detect it in ourselves, but we are living in a humanistic, man centered culture.
And in the measure that we set ourselves forward, in that same measure the Lord Jesus is not glorified. And I think it is beautiful in this first chapter. Something that seems to stand out in these first verses is that the Lord Jesus is giving again and again his title of Lord. Notice verse 2.
All that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours. What is it that unites us, brethren? Not stressing our individual characteristics, but it's focusing on the Lordship of Christ, submission to His authority, verse 3.
Be unto you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
And verse.
Seven. Just a minute. I'll get there.
So that he come behind in no gift waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse eight, who shall also confirm you into the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful by whom you are called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, again and again. Then the verse you mentioned.
00:50:02
Verse 31 He that glorious let him glory in the Lord. O brethren, we need to individually be exercised about giving the Lord Jesus Christ His proper place in our lives. He is Lord and somebody has said if he's not Lord of all, he's not Lord at all. May the Lord help us, they're so often in our culture.
We like to.
Speak of the Lordship of Christ. But there's little pockets of reserve. We like to please ourselves.
Brethren, let's be exercised that he has that place. That's what's going to bring us together to let him be Lord.
A very sinful.
People.
To Corinthian eyes was to commit fornication.
And evil.
And I'm going to read a few verses in the 4th chapter and see if it doesn't describe the United States of America today.
Verse 8 Now ye are full, Now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us. And I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you. I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death. For we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ.
We are weak, but ye are strong. Ye are honorable, but we are despised. Even under this present hour. We both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffeted and have no certain dwelling place and labor working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless. Being persecuted, we suffer, it Being defamed we intrigue. We are made as the filth of the world and are the off scouring of all things. Under this day I write not these things to shame you.
But as my beloved sons, I warn you for though ye have 10,000 instructors in Christ.
Yet have he not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, I have begotten you through the gospel. Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers, or I think better rendered imitators of me. What? What a passage. And it describes. It describes Laodicea. That's where we are today in Laodicea.
A person who is hearing these things.
Say on inquiring. Well, you say you're a St. now.
I'm I'm not sure I'm the same and I I'm not sure I'm chosen.
And you're making it very difficult for me. Well, I'll tell you what. Do what the apostle did. Do what the jailer did. Wherever.
Philip Philippi When the There was an earthquake.
And the prisoners were still there, hadn't escaped. What must I do to be saved?
Well, there is a simple answer to being saved, being sanctified, being a St. being destined for heaven, predestined for heaven chosen.
Believe you're a Sinner and that your sins were laid on Christ at Calvary at 12 noon on Friday.
And at 3:00 in the afternoon the Lord Jesus said, it's finished. It's finished, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. My work is over with on the earth. I have done what I was sent for, and now every soul.
Who embraces this truth and this person?
Is a Saint of God.
A Saint of God? How can it be? Yes, a Saint of God, chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world and ready to be on display before the judge of all Europe.
00:55:07
So in other words, it's not a matter of being made that here's actually die, as one religious belief has, but precious the side of the Lord is a deathly St. Saints now.
I like the portion brother you mentioned in the book of Romans, chapter 8.
Perhaps we can turn to that just for a moment is we all know it well. Romans chapter 8, beginning at verse 28. I believe we need to know this with confidence for ourselves. We often can tell people about redemption. We tell them about chosen before the foundation of the world. But here if we read it carefully, we see the the apostle would put it in with very strong emphasis by saying this.
He said. For we know, can we say that with confidence here? We have a room here of perhaps 2300 people. Can we all say that with full confidence? If we know it well, we can surely say that. For we know. Do you really know that?
Do you truly believe in this? Believe in what? Let's read on. For we know that all things work together for good. Well, often we stop there, don't we, when we quote this verse that all things work together for good? Well, the verse doesn't stop like that. It says for we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them.
Who were called according to his purpose. Oh, do we have that confidence that we are and we have been called, We know that in our hearts. And then we can go on with those thoughts. As the following verses continue to to build our faith tells us that for whom he did foreknow, well, now we know this, it's been foreknow. He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son.
Oh, what a precious thought that not only have we been chosen, we're going to be conforming to the image of our blessed Lord Jesus. That means we're going to look like him, we're going to act like him, we're going to think like him, We're going to be with him. Oh, to be conforming to the image of his son, that he may be the first born among many brethren. Is that it? Oh, no, It goes on more over.
Whom he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he had and whom He called them he also justified. And whom He justified he also glorified. Oh, what precious thoughts do know, we have been called, call out to be his, and to know that we have been justified by His precious blood. We have been justified by faith, as this tells us in Romans there. And now we have that confidence to know that.
Though we don't see our present body to be yet glorified, but we soon shall be glorified.
We spoke of churches singular in the New Testament, and when we go back to Matthew 16, the Lord Jesus said on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And when you went to Corinth in the early days, you didn't say where are such and such a group of believers that take such and such a name. No, you would simply say where are the believers in Christ Jesus in Corinth.
Because originally they were all together. They were in fellowship, one with another. And so he writes to the church at Corinth. But you know, if you were to come to my hometown, Smiths Falls today, as you approach Smith's Falls on the main highway, you would see a sign that we often see that says the churches of Smith's Falls, welcome you. Now, why does it say that? Well, it started back here in Corinth. The seeds of it started here.
And so the wisdom of man exalts man. And when man is exalted, it necessarily leads to division and Chisholms. It's always going to be so. We see it today, whether it's in the corporate world, whether it's in government, whether it's in.
Christian circles whatever sphere of life, the wisdom of man, when it comes in, it exalts man, and it leads to division amongst men.
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And this is what we see at Corinth. The wisdom of man had come in. And what was the result? They were exalting one another. I am appalled. I am of Apollos. It was leading to division, even to the point where some said, well, I'm not of either of them, I'm of Christ. But it was leading to a difficulty that I'm afraid, the enemy has developed over the centuries to the point where we see today.
Sad to say.
Christians divided and scattered in various pockets and fellowship's of Christendom. Was that God's mind? No, it was not the mind of God. His mind was that all would be gathered together in fellowship with himself, his Son, and one another. But doesn't it encourage our hearts? And he speaks of this in connection with the coming of Christ. Doesn't it encourage our hearts, brethren, to realize there is a day when all the wisdom of men, all the pride that's in our hearts, will be left behind?
And all the Saints of God will be gathered together in the Father's house, all with the same object, all with the same theme. As a result of all having Christ before us as our object all, and being in happy, uninterrupted fellowship with Himself, we will be in happy, uninterrupted fellowship with one another. Well, in the meantime we are responsible then, as we said earlier, to maintain holiness and grace.
We can never go on in fellowship at the expense of righteousness and truth. We're not called to compromise. We are called to be faithful and to go on in the path that he has. And this was what was before the Corinthians. But in the beginning it wasn't. So they were all together. One church on this rock. I will build my church, but you know the gates of hell are not going to prevail against it, and the the purposes of God are not going to be frustrated.
They're going to be brought to fruition in a coming day. And to see the church in her beauty, you have to look at her in her beginnings in the book of the Acts. Or you have to go to Revelation and look at her in the end. And to realize that there's a day coming when he's going to, as it says in Ephesians, present it to himself. A glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
As you have it, in Galatians, he writes to the churches of Galatia, and then he writes to the churches of Judea. Those were provinces, they were not cities. But whenever he writes to a city, it's the church that's in the city, but whether it's church.
Or churches. The churches are not different one from another. They're all governed by the same truths and they all express the same thing. So I think the both both of these things are true. There are expressions called churches in the Galatia.
Local representation of the Body of Christ at large. That's right. And like you say, I think it is important to realize that even today, in 2005 when we live, there is only one church.
Only one that God recognizes when he looks down into the city of Saint Louis. He doesn't recognize all the outward confusion that there is. He only says the church, which is the body of Christ. If you notice in verse 10 where he begins his corrective ministry in this epistle of Corinth, because there was a lot to correct, notice how he speaks about divisions.
He says, I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions. Notice how he puts it among you, we who are responsible to carry out the testimony publicly.
Divisions come in amongst us, but the body of Christ is never divided, brethren, Never.
It's still one just as much today because we need faith to view things as God views them. Remember visiting a brother in South America And he said to me one time, he said.
Oh, how shameful it is that the body of Christ is all divided up into pieces, I said. Brother, I'm here.
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Because we are still one body. The body of Christ is not divided. It is one as much today as it ever was. What is divided is the outward testimony to that truth.
That's what is divided. That's where failure has come in, and we have to hang our heads in shame. Divisions, it says very carefully, are among you not in the body of Christ. The body of Christ is 1. I'd like to mention something else that I think is very instructive here in this first chapter, Brother, and before he gets into corrective ministry, which was important.
And it's very helpful for us today.
He commands them. Notice how he begins and there was a lot to correct in the.
Print and assembly. They were going to law with each other. They were drunk at the Lord's table. They were into fornication. I mean there was lots that was out of order. But before he begins to correct, he commends what he can. I think this is a very important lesson. Notice verse 4I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God, which is given you by Jesus Christ.
That in everything you are enriched by him in all utterance and in all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and gets an important thing, brother, And sometimes we see.
In somebody else, something that needs correction and maybe we go and we directly talk about that. I think there's a lesson here for us to learn. Let's appreciate what we can.
In our dear brethren, let's commend them for it, And then once that has been done.
Correction. A little further on will have much more effect. There's only one epistle where the apostle Paul does not commend them to begin with, and that is the epistle of Galatians, because what was in question was the very foundations of their faith, the gospel. And so he starts indirectly immediately to correct that, but when it was their testimony.
And there was lots of important matters to correct inquiry. He first commends them. I think that is an important lesson to learn 212.
M212.
We're here.
To deposit.
All the water bewitched, you can take it in your life.
By your own time.
Solomon's Wisdom
Gospel—J. Hyland
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Let's begin the Gospel Meeting this evening with Hymn #25 on the Gospel Hymn sheet.
Life at best is very brief, like the falling of a leaf, like the binding of a sheaf.
Be in time. Fleeting days are telling fast that the die will soon be cast and the fatal line be passed. Be in time. I'd like to suggest that we stand up to sing this hymn #25 and if someone will please start it.
Goes by grace the masses of the cross together. There's no wine, big cross, and your priceless soul belongs.
Period. Time.
You will get in the flow.
Of tears us all to begin now.
Before we turn to the portion that is particularly before me in the gospel this evening, like to read two other portions. First one is in the book of Song of Solomon.
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Song of Solomon, chapter 8.
And verse 6.
Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm, for love is strong, as death, jealousy is cruel as the grave. The coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it, if a man would give all the substance of his house for love.
It would utterly be condemned. And then back up with me to the Book of Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes, Chapter 9.
And verse 13.
This wisdom have I seen also under the sun.
And it seemed great unto me. There was a little city, and few men within it. And there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it. Now that now there was found in it a poor wise man, And he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no man remembered that same poor man then said I Wisdom is better than strength.
Nevertheless, the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. And then the portion that's particularly before me in the book of Proverbs, Proverbs, chapter 30.
Proverbs chapter 30 and verse 24.
There be 4 things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise. The ants are a people, not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer. The cones are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks. The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them.
By bands. The spider taketh hold with her hands.
And is in King's palaces.
Well, we had this afternoon some exhortations from these three books.
Penned by divine inspiration through God's servant Solomon. And I have it before me in the preaching of the Gospel to, particularly, as I say, speak of these four wise things that are brought before us in the book of Proverbs. Because I believe these four wise things bring before us a very important lesson in connection with being ready for eternity. But I thought it would be good to back up to the book of Song of Solomon.
That love song, as we were reminded, the greatest love song, the greatest love story that mankind has ever known, fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Himself. That one of whom we often say, God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life, have often said, can you stand with the Apostle Paul and say, the Son of God who loved me?
And gave himself for me. And so we find here this love brought before us. And all the gospel tonight is a is a story of love. God is a God of love. Tonight the Lord Jesus is a savior of love. I heard a child, a very young child, just some moments before this gospel meeting singing Jesus loves me. A child knows what it is to be loved. And they can know not only what it is to be loved by parents.
And grandparents and family and friends in a natural way. But they too can understand what it is to be loved by the Lord Jesus Christ, to be loved by a loving God who has provided A Savior. How often have we heartily joined in the singing of that children's gospel song? A little child of seven or even 3 or 4 May enter into heaven through Christ the open door.
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Yesterday afternoon I received a very sad phone call. A phone call informing me.
That a young boy had passed from this life into eternity. He was nine years of age. His name was Brayden.
And this afternoon, as I have had the privilege of mingling with various of the Lord's people here, I have questioned one and another parent as to how old their sons are, and having done so, I realized that there is more than one boy in this audience tonight who is 9 years of age.
And if you're nine years of age this evening, I want you to just listen to me for a moment. More important, I want you to listen to what God has to say.
But just listen for a moment and consider this matter.
If you had been riding that four Wheeler.
Around Aberdeen, ID.
Yesterday afternoon.
And if you were the one who had run that four Wheeler?
Into the canal.
And if you were the one.
Who had been suddenly ushered into eternity.
Without warning.
Where would you be right now?
You wouldn't be sitting in a seat like this in a Gospel meeting.
Taking one breath after another.
You would be an eternity.
And you would be.
Either absent from the body and present with the Lord.
Or you would be in that place that Luke's Gospel describes.
As a place of torment.
It's solemn.
It's serious. Tonight, as this Gospel meeting unfolds, we're going to deal with very real issues.
So real are these issues that they do not just affect us for this life, but they have their effect and their consequence.
For eternity.
Nine years of age.
I've just returned from Saint Vincent W Indies and there is an elderly sister in the village of Brighton that I often have the opportunity and privilege of visiting with.
She's, I suppose, in her early 90s.
But in her younger years, she was a nurse.
At the hospital in Kingstown, Saint Vincent, a capital of that country.
And she often had opportunity to speak a word to the Lord for the Lord Jesus.
To the patients that she ministered to.
And she has told me a number of stories of how the Lord has blessed His Word and used her in the salvation of souls who were nearing eternity.
But the one that impresses itself upon my mind the most.
Was a 13 year old boy. Maybe there's some 13 year olds here. You finally reach the point of being classed as a teenager. Maybe you think you've really arrived and it is exciting to be a teenager.
But this boy of 13 years of age was lying in a hospital ward and a hospital ward, very different from the hospital wards in the hospital in Saint Hospitals in Saint Louis or any other town or city in North America. Pretty primitive stuff. But he was lying on a cot in that hospital ward, and his life was slowly, hour by hour, ebbing away.
And as Dorcas Dublin told me on one occasion, she was making her final rounds in that ward for the night.
And she came to this boy, and she knew from experience that he wasn't going to last very much longer.
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She wasn't sure if he could hear her, if he was even conscious, but she leaned over him.
And she began to quote some of the familiar Gospel verses.
That you boys and girls and young people have learned from the very early days of your youth.
And finally, she said to him, because there seemed to be no response.
She said to him, If ever you need the Lord Jesus.
You need him now.
He opened his eyes and he looked up into her face and he said Lord Jesus, I believe.
And he was in eternity.
It's pretty close, isn't it?
Pretty close.
But I wonder.
How many opportunities you young people have had?
You 13 year olds have had and don't assume that you will have the opportunity to have a last minute conversion.
Saw bumper sticker one time on a car in front of me. It said those who wait till the 11Th hour to be saved usually die at 10:30.
I thought that was very interesting.
Don't assume that you're going to have opportunity in the last moments.
To receive the Lord Jesus as your savior.
A nine year old. A 13 year old.
A few days ago in the town of Oscillosa, Iowa.
A 20 year old.
Was taking a shower.
Somehow banged his head and was drowned in his own shower.
20 years of age in eternity.
And as far as those who knew him knew, he was not ready.
To make God.
Solemn, isn't it? But tonight we have a glorious message.
The door is of mercy and grace is open for you. You have opportunity tonight to receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior and all tonight as we read of this love.
Our prayer is that the love of God and the love of Christ would so grab at your heartstrings that it would draw you to the Lord Jesus if you could just get one taste of his love, oh taste and see that the Lord is good. God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And so we find here, Solomon says, set me as a seal upon mine heart.
That's the affection. And oh, tonight I want to stress at the beginning of this meeting the affections of God and those affections, the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In giving himself at Calvary's cross. And this was manifest, the love of God toward us in that.
He gave himself to be the propitiation for our sins. God gave his Son the Lord Jesus gave himself. And so set me as a seal upon thine heart and as a seal upon thine arm. Because if the heart speaks of the affections, the arm speaks of strength, and his arm is not shortened that it cannot save, He's able to save to the uttermost. There's one who not only loves you and is not only willing to save you.
But there's one who is able.
You know, I might see you in a desperate situation.
And my heart may go out to you, and I may want to help you and to save you in that situation.
But I may be powerless to help you but others. One tonight who loves you and he's able to save, set me as a seal upon thine heart. As a seal upon thine arm. For love is strong as death. The Lord Jesus said greater love hath no man than this than a man lay down his life for his friend. Does that touch your heart this evening? If that doesn't touch your heart this evening, I wonder what goes on within your heart.
Because the prayer of so many here tonight is that you would, in the language of Scripture, know the love of Christ, which passeth all understanding. Do you know the love of Christ? I'm not asking you if you know about the love of Christ. I'm not asking you tonight if you know the gospel story. I'm not asking you if you can stand up and recite some gospel verses that you've learned in Sunday school. I'm asking you, do you know?
00:20:21
The love of Christ and do you know Him? And the power of His resurrection?
The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but to us who are saved, it is the power of God unto salvation.
Love is strong as death.
Oh, the Lord Jesus. He died on Calvary's cross.
This is the greatest display of love that has ever shone for or been manifest in this world. The Lord Jesus going to the cross and there bearing my sins in his own body on the tree.
They're dying for me. They're laying down his life for me.
There, shedding his precious blood for me, I rejoice to be able to say that I rejoice in my soul, to be able to go over that those precious truths, to realize that he loved me and He died to redeem me.
Many waters cannot quench love. Neither can the floods drown it. I'm going to tell a little story I've sometimes told in the Gospel.
But it illustrates this verse about as well and simply as any gospel story I've heard.
Many years ago, there was what they called the California Gold Rush.
And people came not only from places around North America, but people funneled into California from all over the world.
With dreams of being wealthy, a dream. With dreams of striking it rich.
Dreams of making their fortune. I suppose people line up to buy Lotto tickets today with the same dream. Same idea.
There was a man, as the story goes, who came from England, and in those days it would have been a long, arduous journey to take a ship from England to New York City and then to board a train and travel across the continent by train.
And to finally make it to California. And he was one of the few.
Who struck it rich? Most who came went away disappointed. Some struck it rich, and this man was one of the few that struck gold.
He had that gold melted into gold bars.
Put in a burlap bag.
Boarded the train for New York City.
Boarded a ship.
To return to his home in England with all his dreams in that bag of gold.
The ship got out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and a storm came up.
And it was soon determined by the crew that that ship wasn't going to make it.
That ship was going to go to the bottom, and that's exactly what happened.
As that ship was tossing the cold waters of the Atlantic, this man took his bag of gold and he secured it around his waist.
And he was washed into the cold, dark waters of the Atlantic Ocean. And as he was there, treading water and hoping for rescue, he heard over the roar of the wind and the waves, the voice of a child.
Calling for help.
As he peered into the darkness, he could see her. Several feet away she could see him, and she was calling to him. Mr. Rescue me. Help me. Save me.
Would you be able to ignore a plea like that?
He was able to make his way towards her.
But as he reached out to take her in his arm, he realized.
That he was not going to be able to save the child and his bag of gold.
00:25:00
He hesitated for only a moment. Then he reached down and fumble with the knot.
He was able to untie it and that bag of gold.
All these dreams.
Slipped silently to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
And I assume it's there to this very moment.
He was able.
To keep himself and this child afloat.
Until a lifeboat came and rescued them.
Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it, if a man would give all the substance of his house for love.
Would be utterly condemned, that is. He looks on what he's given up and he says it was nothing in relationship to what I received in return. You think that man in the long run regretted letting that gold slip to the bottom of the Atlantic as he and that child were rescued? And no doubt the gratitude and love of that child expressed to her rescuer.
You think the Lord Jesus is disappointed that he went to Calvary's cross? You think he's disappointed in anyone here who knows him as savior? Never. Never. Sometimes he's grieved by the things we do as believers, but all he'll never be disappointed for all eternity that he gave up, all that he sold, all that he had to purchase that Pearl of great price.
We read in the book of Ecclesiastes this little story, tucked in here again by the preacher Solomon.
Story of a poor wise man. And it's not my thought. Our time is sliding by and it's not my thought to go into the details of this story. But I think we see very quickly that this poor wise man is a picture to us of the Lord Jesus summed up in First Corinthians where it says or Second Corinthians where it says.
That though he was rich, yet for your sakes, he became poor. That he, through his poverty might be rich. This little city that we read of. Here is a picture of this world. Do you realize that this planet is just a speck? It's just a marble. In God's creation, We think of the vastness of the universe and people are finding out more and more how vast the universe really is.
But this planet is just a speck. And yet it was to this very planet that the Lord Jesus came. His delights were with the sons of men.
Man thinks he's pretty great.
Maybe there's someone here this evening and you think you're pretty great.
You've done a lot of things in your life. Maybe you've made some accomplishments.
When I was growing up, I grew up in the city Of Montreal, QC, Canada.
And in 1967, Canada's Centennial year, they had a World's fair, an Expo.
In the city Of Montreal, they called it Man and His World.
And people flocked from all over the world to see the exhibits that were at that great Expo.
The accomplishments and inventions of man up to that point, but I dare say.
If we were to go back and view those exhibits now.
Almost 40 years later.
We probably smile.
We'd probably say, well, we've left those things behind long ago. Man thinks he's pretty great.
But there was a little city and few men there in it, and the enemy came and besieged it.
The enemy here, for our purposes tonight, is a picture of Satan.
Satan's not your friend tonight. He's a hard taskmaster. Tells us. We're held with the cords of our sin.
Seemed like this was a hopeless situation.
But there was a poor wise man who delivered the city.
And the Lord Jesus? It says he was crucified through weakness.
00:30:06
By weakness and defeat he won the meeting crown, trod all our foot, his foes beneath his feet by being trodden down.
Does this mean something to you tonight? Because it tells us here that in delivering the city.
No one remembered that poor wise man, and not only so, his words weren't heard.
And that what happened? What's happening today? Do people have time?
To hear the words of the Lord Jesus.
Do people have time to come into a Gospel meeting?
Do people have time to remember the one who went to Calvary's cross and gave his life?
All they will remember the greats of this world.
But they forget.
The poor wise man.
But now I want to go to Proverbs chapter 30.
And I would like to speak of these four wise things.
That Solomon refers to here. You'll notice first of all that they were small.
You know, I'm encouraged tonight to realize that God is interested in the small things.
You know, sometimes when people get great, they forget about the small things.
Some great men in this world, they're not interested in me. They're probably not interested in you.
But you know, not only is the Lord Jesus interested in the smallest things of creation.
But he is interested in every person, no matter how young they are. Tonight, as we were saying earlier, he's interested in the little ones.
He's interested in the young people, he's interested in those who are older.
And so these things are small but we find that they are exceeding wise.
So often Solomon makes a contrast in the book of Proverbs.
Wise and foolish.
Now it's not for me.
To call anyone in this room tonight foolish.
But I do want to say this, that in the sight of God tonight.
And in regard to the gospel.
This room is divided into two categories of people.
The wise and the foolish.
I want us just to think about that for a moment.
This room is divided into two categories tonight, in the eyes of God and in relationship to the gospel message.
Wise or foolish?
We know the story well of the parable. Of the 10 virgins, five were wise and five were foolish. Five were wise because they were ready to go out and meet the bridegroom.
Were foolish because they made no preparation.
And tonight, before a holy God, you have to answer the question.
Are you wise or are you foolish?
Fools make a mock of sin.
Solomon said.
The fool has said in his heart, no God.
Garney Richardson was 59 years of age.
The town of Smiths Falls.
When he walked in one day to the insurance office, the.
Of a brother in the Lord that I know very well.
They conducted their business.
And when the business was conducted?
This believer.
Said to Garni Richardson Garney.
What about your soul?
00:35:01
He laughed. He made a mark of sin.
And he said, I've got lots of time to consider things like that.
That was on a Friday afternoon about 3:00.
The next morning.
The news screamed of the.
Incident.
That about 3:00 AM that morning there had been a house fire.
Garni Richardson.
Was in eternity.
12 hours later.
12 hours later all I say fools make a mark of sin. There was a man the Lord Jesus told about who had it. We would say all together. And he was prosperous and he had a good harvest.
And he said I have much good slayed up in store. I'll eat, drink and be merry. I'll have a good time.
Not the North American way. Not the society we live in today. Live it up. Have a good time.
The Lord said, Thou, fool, Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee.
And so as we very quickly speak of these four things.
Ask yourself.
Are you wise or are you foolish?
There's no neutrality. There's no middle ground tonight.
You're wise or you're foolish. And if you remember nothing else about this gospel meeting tonight, I trust that as you lay your head on your pillow, if you are without Christ.
That these two words will ring in your ears.
And prod at your conscience.
Wise. Foolish.
The ants are a people, not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer. You know, if we were to go back to the 6th chapter, we have the aunt mentioned again. It says there go to the Ant thou sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise. Why? Because she gathers her meat in the harvest. She makes preparation.
For the onslaught of winter.
And where I come from, where we have very bitter cold Eastern Canadian winters.
It doesn't take long to realize the reality of what Scripture is saying here.
If those ants don't prepare and take their food crumb by crumb down into the heart of the earth and make preparation for winter, they are going to perish when the cold blizzards come.
We are going to remember 4 PSI hope tonight. The 1St is preparation. The ants are wise because they prepare.
And I think of what it tells us in the book of Amos. I think it's the fourth chapter. It says prepare to meet thy God.
Are you prepared tonight?
You know, I suppose we spend really.
Our whole life making preparation.
We prepared to come to this conference.
Foolish to wake up yesterday morning or this morning and decide we were going to come to this conference if we hadn't made some preparation. Oh, I realized sometimes we do things on the spur of the moment, but generally we make preparation.
On Wednesday morning, I showed up at the Ottawa airport.
You would say it would be foolish to show up at the Ottawa airport and hope to fly to Saint Louis that same day without some preparation.
No, I had a piece of paper in hand that said I had an E ticket.
With a seat from Ottawa to Chicago and from Chicago to Saint Louis.
And I had in the other hand a passport.
So that I could go through US immigration, hopefully without any difficulty.
Which I did.
There was preparation.
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And we go through our whole life making preparation. We send our children to school to prepare them.
For a job.
Child goes to elementary school to prepare him for high school, to high school to prepare him for maybe college or university or the workforce. He goes on to university to prepare him for a profession. When he gets a job, he begins to put things a little aside. He's preparing for the day when he can retire and he won't have to work so hard.
And isn't it foolish to make preparation as far as this life is concerned?
And not prepare for eternity. A young man was going out of a gospel meeting one night.
The preacher put his hand on his shoulder and he said what is the best thing in this life?
And this young man looked at him and said the best thing in this life.
Is to be ready for the next life. I thought that was an excellent answer.
You know we need to be prepared not only because of the fact that we don't know when we're going to draw our last breath.
But there is an event about to take place, and I believe we are just on the eve of this event, the event of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that coming will mean that every believer, every child of God, every person washed in the blood of Jesus, will rise to meet the Lord in the air. But it will also mean that God's door of mercy and grace will be forever closed. And it says, when once the master of the house hath risen up and shut to the door, they come and they knock. And they say, Lord, Lord, open unto us, is that door ever opened again? No.
From the other side of that door come those solemn words to ring in their ears for eternity.
Depart from me. I never knew you. They didn't prepare.
They weren't ready.
We're exhorted to be ready.
So the answer wise because they prepare.
But then it tells us that the cones are a feeble folk, yet they make their houses in the rocks.
Now, if you go to a Bible dictionary, you'll get various opinions about what a Coney really is. But if you'll just allow me this evening, for our purposes tonight so that we can make this as simple and relevant as possible, we're going to speak of it like a Prairie dog. Those little creatures that have no might of themselves, they're just a little creature. They can't face that coyote or that wolf or fox.
Or that animal that wants to prey on them in their own strength. So what do they do? They have protection. We've spoken of the ants who prepare, but the cones are wise because they have protection from the enemy and they don't go very far from their homes. And if they do, they.
As I've read, they have one who will watch one of their own.
Will be watching, his eyes peeled for the enemy. And when he gives the signal, what do they do? Try to meet the enemy in their own strength? No, they head for the rocks. They have protection. How often the Lord is spoken of in scripture as the rock, my rock and my salvation when my heart is overwhelmed lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Have you found your protection?
Your safety in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The ants are prepared against the storm.
The colonies are protected against the enemy. You know there's a wily enemy, Satan, and not only that, but there's a storm of judgment coming on this world when they will cry for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb and the face of him that sitteth upon the throne. Are they going to find protection in the rocks in those that day? No, there will be no protection because they refused God's protection.
From the coming judgment through the work of Calvary and his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Have you found your protection in the Lord Jesus? Are you saved tonight?
You might think you're pretty strong. I know the young men here, they like to go and workout, like to build up those muscles.
Run the treadmill, lift the weights, whatever it is.
It's not going to protect you in a coming day.
Won't matter about social class and that day won't matter if you're great or small.
Won't matter if you've had a place of position and power in this life.
All that will matter is have you availed yourself?
Of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Several 100 years ago.
In England, there was an uprising against one of the Saxon kings.
And at first, the King wasn't very worried about it.
But as this rebellion grew and gained momentum.
He realized that something was going to have to be done or there was going to be trouble.
And so he sent his trained army of men.
To squash this rebellion and put down the insurgents.
And that's exactly what they did. And history tells us that many were slain.
But most escaped most of the rebels headed for the mountains and the hills and the forests.
And hid out there fearing for their lives.
But this king was a merciful man, and he decided after a time that he would grant a pardon.
To any who would show up at the door of his castle.
In a certain time frame, this is what he did. He put a candle.
Burning in the window of that castle.
And said that whoever came.
In submission.
Well, that candle burned in the window.
They would receive a full pardon.
And the story tells us that many came, many came with fear and trembling and trepidation.
Many came as soon as that candle was placed in the window. Others waited. Some waited almost too late, and there were others who hardened their hearts.
And never came at all and were later dealt with.
By that King's army.
You know when Paul preached the gospel, it says some mocked.
Some said we will hear thee again of this matter, and some believe.
There were some who rejected, some who neglected, and some who believed.
Which is it going to be for you tonight?
So we have preparedness, we have protection.
Now we have the locusts, and they have no king yet go they forth, all of them.
By bands they have power.
You know, there's a lot of talk about power in this world tonight, and I want to be careful being a Canadian, but there's a lot of talk about being about being a superpower and a lot of talk about trying to have power exercise that power in various parts of the world.
And no doubt the Lord uses those things.
But that's not the kind of power we have here.
You notice it's the locusts plural, and they have power when they go forth together.
You know 1 locust or grasshopper isn't going to do much damage if you find it in your backyard, but you know there are parts of this world.
Where sometimes great hordes of locusts or grasshoppers.
Will come through an area so great that they will darken the sun and when they pass.
Such is their power in going forth as a band that there's no foliage left.
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And not only foliage, but sometimes loss of life.
In the animal Kingdom, and even people, if they're in the way, there's power. And you know, sometimes when the Gospels preached, people say, well, I'd like to be a Christian. I'd like to get saved, but I know I don't have the power to live for Christ.
None of us have the power to live the Christian life in ourselves, but when we get saved, He gives us that power. The Holy Spirit comes to indwell our bodies.
Our bodies become the temple of the Holy Ghost. That's the power for our life to live for the Lord Jesus and for God's glory.
While we're left here in this world, you want that power tonight.
You can have it the minute you get saved there is that power.
To go forth in that way.
And with other of the people of God.
To encourage one another to strengthen one another. I'm thankful for times like this, when the people of God can be together and our fellowship and our speech together in the ministry of God's Word encourages us and strengthens us to go on in the pathway the power that God has provided for us.
But then there's the spider. But I want to read this in a better translation.
Thou takeest hold of the lizard with the hands yet Is she in King's palaces? That's Mr. Darby's translation.
I never appreciated this verse, really, until I've spent a great deal of time in the tropics where those little lizards are everywhere and you can't get rid of them.
Just the other day, I sat down at the bookroom in Saint Vincent to e-mail my wife.
And on the modem of the computer, little lizard was sitting there. This Beady Eye is looking me up and down and licking out his little tongue at me.
The other night, at a prayer meeting in Dixon Village Saint Vincent, my Bible was sitting about a foot from me on the bench.
110° and I was mopping my brow to keep the water out of my eyes. I looked over into my amazement. Right beside me, on my Bible was sitting a little lizard.
And I thought of this verse I believe the lizard brings before us preservation.
These lizards, you take hold of them with your hand. You can't get rid of them. They're still in King's palaces.
You might try to chase a lizard from the computer room. You might try to chase him from the meeting room.
I've had them right in my bedroom.
You can't get rid of them. They're fast. Even if you grab them, they're slippery. They can drop part of their tail if you grab part of their tail.
I believe it speaks to us of the fact that when a person gets saved.
Nothing is going to pluck them out of the hand of the Lord Jesus, to pluck them out of the hand of God the Father. As John 10 tells us, they're safe, and they're safe forever, and they'll never perish.
No man, even the devil himself, can pluck a believer.
Out of the hand of the Lord Jesus or rob him of his salvation.
They shall never perish.
You want to be preserved like that. You want security like that.
There's no security in this world is there's no job security today. I don't care how high up you are in your company.
I don't care how much seniority you have, there's no job security today.
There's really no security in your neighborhood. All you might have neighborhood watch and you might have this and you might have that.
Everything is being shaken today, but there is security in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so again, the answer wise because they prepare the cones are wise because they have protection.
The locusts are wise because in going forth they have power, though they have no visible leader.
And the lizard is wise because she has preservation. And if you have those four things tonight in Christ, you are indeed wise too. But if you go out of this room tonight and you refuse to avail yourself of that which God is offering you in Christ tonight, you are not wise. And I am not going to call you a fool tonight. But you can turn to the word of God, and you can see what God says about you.
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Thou fool.
Thou fool, it's solemn, it's searching. And so we have had something tonight from the three books that Solomon penned by inspiration that bring before us the gospel by type and shadow and exhortation.
The love of the Lord Jesus, his wisdom, his work, in going to Calvary, in weakness.
To win the fight against the enemy and to conquer death and Satan.
And we have had these, these exhortations, It says in the New Testament, Does not nature itself teach you? You know, sometimes in the animal Kingdom they listen more to the Creator.
Than we who are intelligent and have a God consciousness breathed into our nostrils.
Tell you one more little story and then I'll close.
The last time, Mount Sufri on the island of Saint Vincent, had a major eruption.
About two hours before it blew its top.
Every animal on the northern end of the island that was loose, be they domestic or wild, headed down the mountain to safety. Brother Garvin, Seymour and others have told me many times how that even the goats, some of them broke out of their pens, broke their tethers because they knew by instinct, God-given instinct.
That the volcano was going to erupt.
Did people listen?
Some did and some didn't.
Some perished because they didn't listen. Are you going to listen tonight? Oh be wise. Be wise tonight. Receive the Lord Jesus Christ.
And peace and grace will fill your soul and the joy of the Lord. Let's pray.
1 Corinthians 1:9-16
Reading
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Again, again.
156.
Let's sing that last.
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Was the blessing begun for the nation Israel?
The Passover just preceded.
The departing of the Red Sea.
The Passover.
Is where the shedding of the blood was preeminent.
Forever be the glory given to thee, O Lamb of God.
Our every joy on earth in heaven, Israel in the Church, We owe it to Thy blood.
What?
Blessing.
Comes from.
That death of Christ.
When? He said.
It is finished. The work of Christ was finished. Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.
And a soldier pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
That's one of the things.
That Brother Don was speaking about yesterday, whether he had that specific in mind or not.
Some things last.
Choosing is one of them.
But the suffering, the shedding of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
On the cross of Calgary is something we can't do without.
Nor would we if we could.
Perhaps the Lord would give us something today that will be as precious as what we had yesterday.
And one Corinthians 1.
Could we start there?
There.
First Corinthians chapter One.
And we'll start at verse 9.
God is faithful by whom you recalled unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
For it has been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the House of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say that every one of you saith, I am of Paul, and I have Apollos, and I have Cephas, and I have Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptize none of you but Christmas and Gaius.
Lest any should say that I had baptized in my own name.
And I baptized also the household of Stefanus. Besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe?
Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that and the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, under the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness but unto them which are called.
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Both Jews and Greeks.
Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.
And base things of the world, and things which are despised have God chosen.
Yay, And things which are not to bring to not things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorious let him glory in the Lord.
We noticed that that's twice in this epistle, but it reminds me of the chain.
In second.
Timothy chapter 2 might just look at it.
Second Timothy chapter 2. I'm talking about the chain of the way the truth comes down.
Verse one now, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that's in Christ Jesus.
What an exhortation for us, and the things which thou hast heard of me, Paul.
Among many witnesses the same commit thou you, Timothy.
That's Paul Timothy.
Two faithful men, not a name after that Paul and Timothy.
And faithful men after that who shall be able?
To teach others also. That's the way the truth has come down from Paul to us today.
Paul to Timothy to faithful men who took it up.
And he taught others, and generation after generation it has to come that way. It goes back to Paul, who got the truth and gave it to us by God himself, the faithful God.
That we read verse 9 rather than because I think it is so important that we, before we talk of the exhortation of verse 10, is to get the positive truth of what our fellowship is, what we are called to, and we are each one called to the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and to walk in that fellowship. That's what's before our souls.
And then when we are in the enjoyment of that, then we have the exhortation of verse 10, which speaks of divisions among you, and he exhorts that they would be of one mind. And if we really seek to walk in fellowship with the Lord Jesus on a daily basis, brethren.
I sometimes feel that we have the mentality of division that is not God's thoughts, brethren. We are to seek to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. I'm not saying that we compromise with anything that is contrary to the word of God, but we need to think God's thoughts as he looks down into this world.
He sees one body in Christ, and that's what is to control our thinking and as we see, our brethren.
That are beloved and of the Lord to have His thoughts about them. There may be another areas that we do not feel at liberty to go to in our own souls. That may be so. But may we have God's thoughts about His people to plead for them, not to plead against them, you remember.
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Elijah.
Was greatly used to bring the people of God back to Jehovah, the God of Israel.
But then in the following chapter he gets his eyes off the Lord and runs from the queen that threatened to take away his life. And when the Lord appears to him, he says I only I am remaining and they seek my life to take it away.
And twice he goes over that and the Lord in effect says, OK, Elijah, if you're going to pray against my people, I'm going to have to have you appoint your successor. I can't have you pleading against my people. And Brandon, that's such a voice. Do we plead for the people of God? I think we really need to be exercised about that. They may be, and God's people are often.
Rebellious, stiff, necked, hard headed, whatever you want to say. Still God loves His people and we need to seek to have His thoughts about them. So may the Lord give us to cultivate diligently in these last days when the enemy just wants to tear us to pieces, to have his thoughts about his people and to be exercised to walk in.
Practical enjoyment of the fellowship of the Lord Jesus.
So that we can be instruments to bind together instead of pulling apart. May the Lord help us, brethren. I think this is a real message for us all.
Just like it a little bit more, the 1St 9 verses of the chapter is not what we might call our responsibility. There's no exhortations given in the 1St 9 verses of the chapter, but it is rather what God has done and is doing that is brought before us and God is saying my son is going to be revealed.
Manifested to this world.
And his people, His body is going to be unimpeachable in that day. How could that be? If you bring in human responsibility, you see a mess and failure that brings shame to us. But God is faithful. God is going to accomplish that, His purpose.
Of having a people around his son who are members of his body, who are perfect, unimpeachable before him, God has brought that people into the fellowship of his son.
Jesus Christ our Lord. It's important to get the order of those words, the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, because He's introducing to us the importance that is brought out in the whole of the book of Corinthians of the Lordship of Christ. God has brought a people into relationship with his Son, who also recognized him as Lord.
As the one who has supreme authority, and the exhortations which come later are based on the recognition in each heart and each life of Jesus Christ as Lord.
Lordship is individual, and consequently every one of us has an individual responsibility, as the exhortations which follow show us.
To be submissive to our individual Lord, and when we recognize him as Lord, when we recognize him as Jesus Christ crucified. That's my Lord Jesus Christ crucified. When I practically in my own heart recognize that and walk in the fellowship with himself, myself with himself.
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Each one of us here this morning hopefully is enjoying this day in a conscious sense of fellowship with my Lord, who is supreme, to whom glory belongs. If I do that, then you and I are going to enjoy the same fellowship.
And it's going to be a complete fellowship between us, because we both have that fellowship with the Lord, and consequently, as a result of that, we enjoy the fellowship of one another.
That's supreme. That's first. That's individual. But the result is the enjoyment of one another. And if he is Lord, if he is supreme, I will not glory in man.
If I recognize a crucified Christ, how could I look at a man and say any man, any person in this room, any person in this world? If I look at one person in this world and I say, what's his blessing? What's his place?
Christ had to die for that man.
What more humbling statement could we say of mankind in order for that man to be anything, forever? In order for that man, whoever he be, not to go to hell? Christ had to die for that man. Can I look at that man in that way and say, well, I'm going to glory in him? I'm going to lift him up to a place of supreme honor among men? No, the only one that deserves it is Jesus Christ.
My Lord.
Our Omaha teaches us otherwise. We see in our chapter the progression of the problems and divisions that follow. We're finding the in the 11Th verse. Contentions come in our hearts, and if we look in our own hearts and look back at the problems and difficulties we find that often is that we are discontent with whatever we have. So we see here contentions were among them.
One's contentions.
In our heart, the next progression here is that we will look to a man.
So we see here the questions were raised that they were Paul, they were Apollos, and some would even dare to say they are of Christ. Is it not begin at our hearts? But truly that is not a right statement because it should all, as our brother have mentioned, begin by looking at our Lord Jesus Christ first. Do we see him as the center of all objects? Do we see him as the one we must submit to? Do we see the preciousness as as it was mentioned, I'd like to turn to a portion in Acts Chapter 2.
A well known portion here.
In Acts chapter 2.
Verse 41.
Perhaps I'll read at verse 42 Acts chapter 2, verse 42.
We know this portion very well sets here, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers. We know this portion, don't we? But it came to my attention recently that we know there are three things mentioned, not four. It was the apostles doctrine and fellowship.
And in the middle of these three things is the breaking of bread between the breaking of bread.
We have prayer.
You know, for many years I thought the preciousness of remembering our Blessed Lord and we all value that. But I think scriptures here put perhaps in order for us to be careful with. It's interesting to see here is the apostles doctrine and fellowship that is mentioned first. Do we not see when there are problems and difficulties, especially problems that cause divisions among us?
Is often because we do not heed to the teaching of the apostles doctrine, nor do we follow the apostles fellowship. Then we seek man's fellowship. We seek man's approval.
And then we try to use the remembrance of the Lord.
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As a link. Oh, as a glue. As if it were. Then we have the unhappy fellowship of being together for the sake of being together. And then we forget, just as important, of the prayers.
How often do we a certain when we visit an assembly? Often.
Our own will we go on Lord's Day morning? Will we see a huge crowd? And then come the prayer meeting time, the room perhaps is half empty or worse, and then when there are problems and difficulties.
I have been to places, including ours, where we would ask for special prayer meeting in order to pray. Oh, how sad when there is a time, an assembly prayer meeting that we have neglected what we ought to be there to bring our cares to. Well, first of all, to bring our Thanksgiving to return our Thanksgiving and to our blessed God to bring our cares, our difficulties to Him.
Did we forget that here we see the order? Isn't it in a way the apostles doctrine and fellowship and then the breaking of bread and then the prayers to go together?
3 characters of the meetings that we have.
And receiving.
In giving and in asking, receiving is a meeting like this, and we have both the doctrine and fellowship of the apostles.
Breaking of bread, we're but the highest place giving to God. Could you think of that?
That you and I could give to God that him wish I was more or less like that. Giving, give it, giving, giving. And then we can understand that we want something. So we just turned to him and asked.
Receiving from God and giving to God and asking from God.
Mary we find Mary. We see these three instances in the life of Mary. Perhaps we can turn to that just for a brief moment. In Luke, chapter 10, we find that Mary in verse. In verse 38, there's Mary sitting at Jesus feet.
In Luke chapter 10 verse 39, towards the latter part of that verse Mary which also sat at Jesus feet and heard his word so we see her in this case there came as a learner. We want to put it that way. And then we find in John's gospel choice more we find 2 instances with Mary.
In John's Gospel, Chapter 11.
Perhaps for the sake of time we can look at verse 32. Then Mary was come where Jesus was and saw him. She fell down at his feet saying, Lord, if thou hast been here, my brother had not died. Here's one that was before the Lord. This time she came as a mourner. She came as a learner. Now she came as a mourner to cast all those cares.
And dependence upon the Lord. And then we find in the next chapter, the 12 Chapter, we find married once more in verse 3. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus. There we find her for the third time. Here she came. Now as a worshipper she came to cast her dependence on the Lord she came.
Learn more of his ways, and then she came as a worshipper to give back what she ought to.
I say an additional word to kind of follow up on that, Dave.
That we really need to focus on this individual cultivation of fellowship with the Lord Jesus. That is what we are called to first of all, brethren, and it seems like we get that out of focus at times, and when there's problems amongst brethren we get totally disorientated and you find souls going off.
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To other fellowships where they don't have so many problems, brethren.
Wherever there are believers in the Lord Jesus, there's going to be problems at times.
But we have to know that our first calling is individually to fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not to fellowship of believers that we're first called to, It is to fellowship with the Lord Jesus. And then as Don was bringing out and the measure that you walk in fellowship with him, and I walk in fellowship with him, then there's going to be an automatic result that we're going to find. We think the same thoughts.
We have the same.
Thinking about things so that we find there's fellowship between us. If you go to 1St John Chapter one, you have the same order again. And I think it is really important to get this clear before our souls. Young people, older ones too. Brother, we sometimes focus on young people, but it applies to us who are older too, Brandon.
In first John chapter one and verse three it says that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you. That's the Apostles doctrine.
That ye also may have fellowship. There's the apostles fellowship with us.
And truly, our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. That's what we're called to to walk in fellowship with God. What a privilege. But you can't do it. And Don mentioned it yesterday in his address. Did we open this book?
Before we came here is that the character of our lives? To have an ear, to listen to what he has to say to us, and then to bow in prayer and to speak to him about it all. Oh, how important that is, you know, it just doesn't seem like it's that important. If you missed a day, what about it? You don't seem like you've missed that much, but you really do.
It is really important.
To read the scriptures on a daily basis and to pray in that way to maintain fellowship with the Lord. And it's when we have that focused primarily before us, then there is the basis of fellowship in a collective sense. And that's what you have further down in first John one and verse 7. Notice it says if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship.
One with another.
That doesn't come first. It's first of all fellowship with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ, and then as a result, fellowship one with another. Let's not turn those two things around. There are three of them.
Fellowship with the apostles and then fellowship with the Father. And then fellowship with one another after walking in a little. After a little time, when the light has come out, then we can have fellowship one with another. Don't forget the first one. A fellowship with the apostles. You and I didn't see the Lord. We weren't over there. John was there, and he leaned on Jesus bosom.
Overturning.
With verse 10 and the expression, I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That's extremely important, that the soul lay a hold of it in order to understand what follows. Here, he's saying. This is the basis on which I am giving you this exhortation.
The name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says don't let there be division and separation and schism among you. The the the Enlightenment, if you will, of what he's saying is found in Philippians chapter 2 and I. It's a very familiar place, but perhaps we don't often connect it with what we have here in First Corinthians chapter one.
In Philippians chapter 2 and verse one he says if there be any therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any vows and mercies fulfilling my joy that what same thing we have in our chapter that she be like minded having the same love being of 1 accord of one mind.
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Let each esteem let nothing be done through strife or Vainglory. But in loneliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. He's going to illuminate here what it means when he says by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I'm giving you this exhortation to be 1 minded.
How do I have fellowship with the Lord Jesus? Now back up for a moment and speak about first John.
First, John is Fellowship in connection with the family and the character of the Family.
Having the nature of God, which is light and love, and that's what you have in John in the fellowship we were speaking up there. But when it's a matter of like mindedness among us and fellowship with the Lord Jesus, how am I going to have a fellowship with him?
I have to follow the verses that follow right here in Philippians chapter 2. What was his mind? That's the mind. I have fellowship with his mind. And what is that mind? Verse six. Let verse five, let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant. Are you like minded brethren with that?
Mind, if you have fellowship with him, if you're having a fellowship in which there's not the spirit of division, this is the fellowship that you have to be brought into. Practically, his mind being in found in fashion with a as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
How do I have that? The name of the Lord Jesus Jesus Christ.
It speaks to my heart and yours of this man, this man. When my thoughts are upon himself, and I say, what was his heart? What was his mind? He humbles himself. He takes the low place, He takes the place of obedience to God. And then?
God exalts him in verse nine God is highly exalted him, giving him a name which is above every name, and so on. And then verse 11 That every tongue should confess that who this man, Jesus Christ, this one whose mind I want to have, so that I can walk in fellowship with you.
Without division.
Jesus Christ, Lord again, it goes back to the same thing unto the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. There it ends that the whole of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, the man that went to the bottom.
The lowly minded man. And now that man I roam as Lord, as supreme over every right in my life.
To decide every decision personally and in the assembly and in the family and in the work, Jesus Christ our Lord. And if we truly followed this exhortation, the same concern in Philippi that they had in Corinth. The same problem of glorying in man. But if I truly flocked in that, I would walk in the fellowship of his son.
And if you truly walked in the fellowship of that, you would walk in the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and we would walk in fellowship together without division.
You think of the apostles doctrine. There were the 12 That walked with Christ on earth.
And company with him in the much of the Gospels.
Then there was Paul, who was called up to heaven. He was alone in that.
To give us something that he could of the heavenly side of the calling.
That's whoever called to heaven. Peter talks about the Kingdom and calls it the.
I Peter calls it the Everlasting Kingdom, I think, and Paul called it the Heavenly Kingdom. Looking forward to that well, the two thoughts, heaven and earth. It goes right back to the beginning of the creation. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and you and I are cold.
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To enjoy these things with Christ, and not only made them, but redeemed them.
As these four things in the end of our chapters were taken up.
Of him are ye in Christ, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Jesus, Who of God is made into us wisdom. It took the Wisdom of God to produce it.
Righteousness had been on a righteous basis.
Rectification and redemption, I'm going to ask you now.
Is Christ made unto us redemption Himself?
It's what God has made him to be for us.
He is our redemption.
Without him we're lost. Without him we're cannot be reconciled to God.
Without him we face a lost eternity, but in him.
We have peace with God through His redemptive work. He is our Redeemer in His person.
I just want to go aside Clem, you mentioned the earthly, and that's what we have in First Corinthians. This isn't in our chapter, but it's been on my heart this morning connected with what you say about the heavenly side of things.
We've just had on our souls, on our hearts, the death of a nine year old child.
But brethren.
This same Lord Jesus.
Went through that depth.
And he rose again from the dead.
And he ascended to the glory.
And the Clawson family is experiencing the weakening of the bonds of Earth.
And the strengthening of the calling, the heavenward calling. And so death, as it says death is ours in the end of chapter 3. And and here And then you go on to the 15th chapter, and it says, oh death, where is thy string sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be unto God, which giveth a victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
This same person, the Lord Jesus, has conquered death.
So that it is but for us a servant to bring us if needs be, if the Lord doesn't come first, that we go without death to but a servant to bring us into our heavenly enjoyment without hindrance, what a blessed truth the heavenly side is.
That even in death body, and death it is bought to, as it were, to faith, to bring to our souls the reality of the work.
There's sorrow because of the present separation.
If there's comfort because of the certainty of the future eternity in heaven together.
What Chuck said yesterday about Ephesians.
And Ephesians is such a wonderful book.
It seems like God does everything there.
And just to bring out for our comfort, let's look at the visions, the first chapter for for a minute to bring before us a few thoughts about that.
I'm going to read Ephesians one, beginning with.
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him the eyes of your understanding being enlightened.
That he may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in what the Saints in the Saints.
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And then it goes on, builds up. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to Ashford, who believed you, believe this power is to you.
What is what? What?
Verse 20 What is the which he wrote in Christ Jesus when he raised him from the dead? He's the first fruits and sent him at his own right hand in.
Heavenly places. That's horrible then far above all principalities and power and and might and every and my Bible weren't out here and.
Somebody read it.
Dominion and every name that his name not only in this world, but in that which is to come. Then he mentions the Church.
Well, that's the greatest power that's ever been exercised by God himself.
And we're included in it.
The first born from the dead we are afterward.
They that are Christ that is coming.
We don't have the redemption of the body yet. Not, not anybody. Not K not able. He's the first man that died.
But Abel doesn't know he's been dead for 6000 years because he'd been in heaven.
Well, the resurrection is coming. This dear little boy that's going to be buried. We've been talking about tomorrow or day after tomorrow.
And all the dead will be raised at the same time.
And then there's a twinkling of an eye.
And we shall be changed.
The data raised and we are changed. Then we're caught up. Oh what a plan God has. How it comforts your heart when these things come along.
But Paul said.
To depart and be with Christ is far better. That little boy has a portion is far better than we that are sitting in this room. I want to read in First Corinthians 3, verse 21. Therefore let no man glory in men, for all things are yours, whether Paul or a palace or Cephas.
Or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come. All are yours.
And your Christ. And Christ is God's, so for us, death is simply the door of entrance into His presence. We won't have glorified bodies yet, but we'll be there where He is. And Paul says, to depart and be with Christ is far better.
So I think of that young boy.
Is far better for him.
The one that's shedding the tears. He's not shedding any tears, but his parents are and his loved ones. But he's there where Christ is.
A few things. And one thing that he Eric Smith. Some of you knew him, Some of the young folks ever heard of him. Maybe he lived to be 103, but he's been gone for several years now, labored all over South America. Eric Smith would put it simply.
In Christ.
With Christ and like Christ.
When you believe you're in Christ, if you should die like this little boy, you're with Christ. And we're all going to be like Christ at the same time, I think.
A comment was made in regard to the foundation truth. We spent the time yesterday in regard to our salvation. And I look at many of the young people here and many of you know what salvation is that has to be have the death and then the resurrection. We know that in the gospel we often present the fact that it's not about the other person, it's about you.
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Salvation is about you. So we learn to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe in the death. We believe in the bloodshed. We believe in the resurrection. Now, when they come to the Church, here are another set of foundation truth. And often, perhaps, we're repeating these words. But often we forget to make this good to our own souls. First, we need to learn this for ourselves.
What is your standing yesterday? A comment was made for we know that all things work together for good to them who love God. Do you know that that was raised Now we're happy before us about this heavenly characters, about the church, about the standing that we're in. Have you made that good for yourself?
If we. If you haven't, then.
When the storm clouds comes, problems will happen to you. You need to make good to yourself by the truth, and then you can say salad. Then you'll see how scripture how how scripture means by holding fast to the Word.
There were contentions, among them verse 11.
And then he says, now this. I say that every one of you, every one of them had their favorites. One said, I'm of Paul, another I'm of Apollos and.
Another eye of MO Cephas. And then there's this group that said I am of Christ.
Everyone of them had their favorites, and I think the one that said I am of Christ were probably the proudest of the four.
Because that makes Christ the head of a party, and he's not the head of a party, He's the head of the whole church.
To put him alongside of Paul or Apollo, Sir Cephas is really very serious error.
We need to know how to.
Handle it brethren when there are differences and there will be differences.
Between brethren.
I I think sometimes it's because of a lack of growth. You can't expect a child of 10 years old to understand the same things as a young person of 18. The difference is that there hasn't been that much growth and we need to give time to each other if we don't see things eye to eye. There's a verse in Philippians 3 that I found very helpful in dealing with this.
It should not be the means the the occasion for contention when there's differences.
We should mean that we get into the Lord's presence and search the scriptures.
And humble ourselves.
Here in Philippians 3 I have enjoyed what the apostle brings before us. He says in verse 15, Let us therefore as many as be perfect. That word means mature.
Be thus minded. And if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Give time for the Lord to reveal it to the one that maybe I see it differently than somebody else. Give time for the Lord to reveal that. Don't let that be the means or the occasion for contention and.
A divided spirit amongst us. But then he goes on and he says.
Verse 16 Nevertheless, where to we have already attained?
Let us walk by the same rule. Let us mind the same things. So we need to be bound together in those things we do see together, eye to eye, brethren. And if there are differences, let's wait on the Lord. Let's not make those differences such a focus that we give way to contention and strife. I think this is.
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A real means that has been helpful me to see that there's going to be differences amongst us. We're different members in the body.
But the Lord give us to cultivate fellowship with the Lord Jesus, and that meekness and lowliness to go on together, and not allow these differences to become occasions for contention and strife.
There's 12. Then make another comment or two.
Now this I say that everyone of you say, if I am appalled, they liked Paul. He was a very intellectual man and they appreciated that I am of a policy and says he was an eloquent man and he knew the scriptures very well. And some like to hear a preacher just that way. And I have Cephas, he was always.
Going forward with his comments and so on, a lot of energy.
And someone to be admired in that case.
And then I have Christ.
That's.
Many answers ask the question is Christ divided?
Is Christ divided? The eye of Christ would really say that Christ is divided. The others are showing showing some favoritism to individuals that are members of the body of Christ. But I have Christ putting him along with the others. I think that's not right. It's like like Peter says, it's good for us to be here. He was on the mount with the Lord and let's make 3 tabernacles, one for thee and one for the others and.
The father's interrupted and said, This is my beloved son. Here him. He wouldn't allow him to be placed alongside of anyone else.
In chapter 3.
It mentions those names again, and it's interesting. It says in verse four, while one said I am a Paul and another I am of Apollos. Are ye not carnal? So when there is that tendency to pull off to one side and say I like this brother, I like his way of speaking and we focus on that particular person.
That scripture calls carnality.
And its lack of spiritual growth. God gives us all those Paul, Apollos, Cephas. They all have a place and they're all for our good and blessing. Let's not just pull off into one side and let think. We like certain brethren better than others. They kind of see the things eye to eye. I think we need to listen. Sometimes God uses.
An instrument that we don't like that much, naturally speaking, but maybe he has.
A word we need to listen to, so we need to.
Realize that they're all for our good and blessing done at the end of the chapter it was already read, Chapter 3 says.
Whether Paul or Paulus or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come all our years, they're all given for our good and blessing and to pull aside and just pay attention to 1.
Going to be damaging, brother. Let's not do that.
In the next chapter 4, I want to read in connection with your comments, verse 6 and these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to a policy for your sakes. Paul was not like that Corinth by certain ones. He was criticized and they were saying of him he's just out for your money and so on, which was absolutely not true. And Paul had confidence in a palace.
So that he could use his name to illustrate his point. He was a spiritual man. And they weren't saying I'm of Paul and I'm of Apollos, that they weren't saying that they. But if he had put the name in that they were following then that they would say, see, you're just jealous of those, those brethren. But he, he wasn't doing that. He was not allowing that to come in. So he puts his name in. They weren't saying I'm a Paul. They they weren't saying that.
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But he puts his name in there to illustrate the point, and then I am of apology. He felt free to do that because Apollos would not misunderstand it. He was illustrating a point and the principle of following man. As Bob was just saying, that's not God. I don't care who it is, Paul, Apollo, Cephas. But don't put Christ in there. That's even worse. That's even worse. He's he's not a party maker.
He's not a part of a party. He's the head of the whole church. What a difference.
That's why he asked the question in verse 13.
That's why he asked the question in verse 13, Is Christ divided? It should immediately bring a response in the heart and the mind of a believer. Of course not. Of course not. After he said some say I'm of Christ. He says is Christ divided because it's impossible?
It shouldn't even come to mind. Just ask the question, ought to give the answer to the question. Then he takes the other people and he says, Was Paul crucified for you?
What place does Paul have?
We're talking about men. Did he die for you?
Was he crucified for you?
So if not, what place does he have then he goes on to baptism and he says were you baptized to the name of Paul?
In other words, is Paul a person that was crucified for you and whose name you are now to be identified with?
And then goes on to explain a little more about his involvement with them with respect to the question of baptism, and then goes on to verse 17 to connect his thought. He says Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with the wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. That is, he's getting back to something we had yesterday in the reading, and the rest of the chapter is taken up with it, and that is.
It's the wisdom of man put in contrast to the wisdom of God.
The wisdom of man, the Jew, as he says, seeks a sign.
The Lord Jesus feeds 7000 plus people, and the Jews say to him show us a sign.
They weren't satisfied. They couldn't be satisfied. The Greek is known worldwide even to this day, as in man's mind, a fountain of knowledge and philosophy and so on, the wisdom of man. But what does it bring? It's just words. Man's philosophy is nothing more than words. It doesn't change the heart. It doesn't change the circumstances of the life. It doesn't take a man to heaven.
It's.
God says it's vain, it's empty, but in contrast to that, Paul said we don't preach words.
We preach the fact Jesus Christ crucified.
That's the power of God to save Jesus Christ crucified. We're not presenting the wisdom of some philosophy or some religious set of beliefs. Paul said. No.
And when this next chapter, when he says I'm determined to know nothing among you, say Christ Jesus and Him crucified. He's not saying.
Well, I don't want to know about your problems, brethren, or I'm just going to come and and and speak to you without any knowledge of anything. Now that's that is not the thought. The thought is.
I'm coming not to present a philosophy of men.
But Jesus Christ and Him crucified, That's all. That's only thing I have to give you, and everything depends on it. It's God's wisdom that it be so. Man wants to honor and glorify and exalt himself. God has to bring man down to nothing.
Jesus Christ and Him crucified because without that man has nothing, can be nothing. He's lost, he's ruined in himself. But God's power is in Jesus Christ crucified because in that is the redemption, the salvation, the the taking away the sin of the world, the heavenly calling of the believer.
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Everything depends on that work.
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And consequently yesterday Bob was reading the number of places where you see the word Lord. If you take the number of places where you see Christ and Him crucified in the next 20 verses, it's about as many as it says Jesus Christ is Lord, because it is the central issue that is put in contrast to man and his thoughts and his philosophy.
Everything, don't we?
To be glory of men, glory in each other. You can't if you see Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and you see what it means to the glory of man.
You need to have that mind, not only the looking at him, but also his mind when he did it.
We do start to look at one another and lift up one another. We lose sight of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is exercising brethren. I think we need to recognize there is a natural tendency to do that, and we need to recognize it and judge it. The Lord grant us that we would be.
With our eyes on him, on the Lord Jesus.
This question of baptism, I think it is interesting that Paul was wise in being there at Corinth, he says. I thank God that I baptized none of you but Christmas and gas to individuals he mentions.
And in verse 16 he mentions the household of Stephanus and then he says.
Besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. I think that is wise. He did not make himself a reference point there that he had baptized any other. And it's interesting to me as you go through the book of the Acts that they baptized those that believed. And I don't think he's undoing baptism here. That's not the point, but it is making.
Not making himself a reference point in connection with that baptism is something that is important, but I have enjoyed you. Look at the end of chapter 10 of Acts, where Peter is in Cornelius House and there is a number there that as they hear the message, the Spirit of God comes upon them, and they were evidently believers and as the message.
Comes of.
Forgiveness of sin through faith in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Spirit of God falls on them and it says let's read from.
Verse 44 When while Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Spirit fell on them.
All them which heard the word and they of the Circumcision which believed, were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.
Doesn't say that Peter did the baptizing.
And I think there's wisdom in that he commanded that they be baptized, and perhaps for the same reason Paul in Corinth, when he realized that there was the tendency to glory in men instead of baptizing himself.
Others evidently did the baptizing. I remember our brother Dan Anderson a number of years ago telling about when he was in Africa and and there were some new converts and there was.
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Some that we're going to be baptized this particular day and they went down to the river and when they went into the river to be baptized, it was not Brother Dan Anderson that did the baptizing. It was a native brother. And some of those that had said they wanted to be baptized when they saw it wasn't Brother Dan Anderson I was going to be baptizing walked away.
So I think it's something of the wisdom of God. It's baptism is identification with the Lord Jesus in his death and his resurrection. And I think perhaps this is the reason why Paul did not do a whole lot of baptizing at Corinth because he didn't want himself to be a folk a reference point in connection with their identification with the Lord Jesus.
Something that was.
Certifying to myself, I'm sure others.
That took place between yesterday and today was.
The sharing and the suffering that we could have with the Clausen family and one chapter in First Corinthians, another chapter in First Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 25 that talks about schism.
But the next verse goes on to say and whether one member suffered.
All the members suffer with it.
But one member be honored. All the members rejoice with it.
And it has just been such a beautiful outpouring.
Of love that the Spirit of God is placed in our hearts to remember the Clawson family and.
I haven't been privileged to meet that family, but.
It's just been very gratifying to myself. I know others as well that we can, because we're all members of the body of Christ, that we can identify with the suffering that that family is going through.
The Lord is honored, I'm sure, when when we do suffer, and when we do, rejoice with others who who have something to rejoice about as well.
Verse 17 has a important lesson, brethren.
The Gospel when it's preached.
If it's done with wisdom of words, the result is the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
It should be done with the power of God. The Spirit of God should be the one who uses the instrument, who is preaching the gospel, but it is not with a sense of wisdom of words.
If they're going to glory in wisdom of words, the cross of Christ is made of none effect.
The Cross of Christ cuts.
Through all that we are as men in the flesh. It is the end of all that we are in the flesh, and therefore to glory in wisdom of words. When we're preaching the gospel of Christ, it is to make the cross of Christ of none effect. The Lord help us. What a privilege to give the gospel. But I have been impressed, brethren.
With the importance of giving it in simplicity, sometimes it seems like perhaps we like to make it, enhance it with different illustrations, and we get complicated in our expressions, in our words.
There's power in simplicity in simply presenting the facts of what happened. God sent his Son and he was nailed to a cross. He died for our sins. He rose again. The simplicity of presenting those facts in the gospel, there's real power in that.
But if we think, we have to enhance it with wisdom of words.
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Let's be careful, because that will make the cross of Christ of none effect.
Injectors connection with what you're saying, Bob, I read the 1St 6 verses and I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with Excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
And my speech in and my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the Princess of this world.
That come to nought, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery.
Even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of the Princess of this world knew, for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. Those words are just what you were saying in connection with the gospel. He went beyond just the gospel and what he said there, didn't he?
Wisdom of.
Negates the need of the cross.
Man's wisdom says man is got something in himself.
And he does not want to recognize that he is ruined.
That he has lost.
That he needs to change his thoughts about what he is, to accept what God says He is and what God says he needs. And so man in His wisdom, and even today the gospel, is corrupted in measure because men are presented with a Christ that can give benefit and blessing to this present life and make them successful and give them comfort and so on, without bringing them to the point where they need Christ crucified.
That's what the wisdom of man brings man to. And so he says when it says there, had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. Why does it say that? Because if they had recognized, if they really realized that their whole eternity depended on that work, they would not have personally crucified him. They would have said whatever God's going to do, he has to do. But everything depends on this man.
Let God do what is necessary. But no. Their idea was the wisdom of man is we don't need him, we don't want him.
We can take care of things fine with God ourselves. And so man's wisdom is foolishness because it denies the only truth that will bring about his blessing, which is Jesus Christ.
And his death men that did want him. Let me just read it. John 6:15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come to take him by force to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. They didn't want him for the right reason, did they? They just wanted him as a benefactor to supply all their needs.
In general, man, here is God. Please stay on the sideline unless I need you. And if I need you, let me call upon you and make use of your power according to my wishes.
That's man.
And if he's worse than that, he's like Cain, who said I'm going to go out from the presence of the Lord and act like there wasn't a God and I'm going to live without him completely. And so such man says when he hears the presentation of the cross, he says that's foolishness.
And the man that says it's foolishness, as Jim says last night, God has to say you're a fool and you will die in your sins.
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And you will suffer the eternal consequences of having refused my power.
And my son in salvation.
Kids were signs of power in all their history, and God gave them. When he sent Moses to Egypt to deliver the children of Israel, he gave him three signs. First was a rod he threw down and became a snake, and then he picked up the snake bites tail and became his rod again. So they were used to that. When they went out of Egypt, Moses stretched forth his rod over the Red Sea and it opened up.
Tremendous works of power and so many times it happened again and again.
But to be presented with a man who says he's.
The King of the Jews, and there is hanging on a cross.
Dead didn't make sense at all. That power.
It just totally cuts across man's thinking and it's interesting.
In the like Don was bringing out a little before, the Greeks were not so much seeking for power but for wisdom. And a man on a cross is that wisdom. Let yourself be crucified is that wisdom doesn't make any sense at all to them.
So the cross of Christ is planted in a place where man's.
Head was empty.
It's vanity, emptiness. In the place of the skull. That's where the foot of the cross is planted. That's where God begins. What was foolishness?
Prophet.
As he lingers there in prison, he sends a message.
He who had said, Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. He then says, Art thou he that should come, or look we for another He couldn't put it together. Here he was in prison, and here the one that he pointed out as being the Lamb was about to be crucified. He couldn't put it together.
And then the Lord says such precious words about John when he was finished, when he He said he was the greatest of the prophets.
But is that can have, that can happen to anyone of us, we just can't put it together.
It doesn't fit. We don't, you know, we get thrown in prison or whatever might happen to us, and we haven't done anything wrong at all. Maybe we were just preaching the gospel on the street corner, apprehended and put in prison for six months because of doing that horrible thing of preaching the gospel. And we might say, well, I don't understand that. I can't understand it. Well, there's a lot of things we can't understand. But that verse in Romans 8, all things work together for good to them that love God.
But that's good to keep before us, isn't it?
That was a constant.
The disciples never really did grasp that before the Lord died, did they? He told them again and again. I'm going to Jerusalem, going to be rejected, crucified and raised again the 3rd day. They never got the message. Brethren, how is it? I I really think it It is something we need to seek in the Lord's presence. We have our way of thinking.
Here in the United States, the way of thinking is centered in man.
The whole culture that we live in is warped in that direction and so we think that way rather than we need to come to God's word.
To be taught his thoughts. And so often those thoughts that we have from our youth up hinder us from understanding God's thoughts.
Oh, the blessing that has resulted from the cross of Christ. Who could have ever imagined that it was through? That means that God's going to bring in the fullness of blessing into this world. No one ever grasped that.
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It was not in their thinking, and yet that was God's thoughts and that wonderful that now since that has all taken place, it's opened up to us. But I still find it a challenge, brethren, and I think we need to recognize that we have been affected by the culture we're passing through.
And the self centeredness is affecting our spiritual growth.
The Lord help us in the measure that we can to recognize it and to judge it, so that we can lay hold on God's thoughts that we have here.
Street.
We're singing this hymn. I was thinking of that next verse that we almost got to where it says we preach Christ crucified. I'd like to say that as an encouragement for the younger ones. Here you notice we enjoy the Lord Jesus and when we contemplate as hymns as such that we are saying, then it should be easy. Even though many of us are not evangelists, we're called to do the work of the evangelist. It would be easier as we think of him and what he has done for us.
Then when it's time to preach, then we're to preach Christ crucified. Because when we preach Christ crucified at that cross, the hatred of men was poor upon our blessed Savior. You'll find that appears to the heart and conscience of all men. I had a girl, a Jewish girl, that worked for me one time, and I remember mentioning the cross, and you find that man would deny responsibility.
Because she said to me, the Jews didn't put the Lord Jesus to death. He said the Romans did. Oh, how it appears, the conscience to try to avoid that responsibility. Preach Christ crucified. And then of course when we preach Christ crucified, then we can talk about how he triumphantly overcome death. Then we preach Christ the resurrection.
Galatians
Address—C. Hendricks
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#232.
Rock of Ages cleft for sin Grace hath hit us safe within 232. Someone raised the tomb, please.
Almighty.
Embarrassing God, we cannot believe you want to write a sound like moles.
Let's pray.
I want to talk.
This afternoon on the Epistle to the Galatians. But we're going to start.
In Acts 15 first.
Acts 15.
And verse one.
And certain men which came down from Judea, taught the brethren, and said, except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses.
He cannot be saved.
Verse 5 But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees.
Which believed saying that it was needful to circumcise them, that's the Gentiles, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
Now turn to Revelations 2:00 and 3:00.
Now we know that Revelation 2 and Three gives us a history of the Church.
And I want to read from the Epistle to Smyrna, that's the second from the beginning and the Epistle to Philadelphia, that's the second from the end. And it's interesting. It's Chapter 2, verse 9 for Smyrna and Chapter 3, verse 9 for Philadelphia. We'll look at verse nine of Chapter 2. Smyrna was the second. First assembly was Ephesus, then Smyrna.
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Smyrna represents a time of great persecution for the Church.
And they were going through some very, very hard times.
Verse nine, he says. I know thy works and tribulation.
And poverty but thou art rich. They were rich in Christ, but very poor in this world. In Laodicea, which is the final epistle in the third chapter. They were rich in this world, but destitute of Christ.
I know thy works and tribulation and poverty, but thou art rich and I know not here. Here's the expression.
I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews.
And are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Now that exact same expression, but reversed, is in chapter 3, verse 9 to Philadelphia. Behold, I will make them of a synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not, But do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet. That's the Saints in Philadelphia, and to know that I have loved thee.
So you have that expression to Smyrna A.
The blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not but are the synagogue of Satan. Now those verses I read in in in the book of Acts 15.
We're just this kind of Jews. They they came from Jerusalem and they were trying to put the Gentiles under law just as they were. They hadn't gotten delivered from it themselves yet in the history.
Of the Church and they wanted to put the Gentiles under law now.
This assembly Smyrna and Philadelphia. There neither one of them is called upon to repent.
That the others are all called upon to repent. But the Philadelphia 39 I will make them again of the Synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie. They say they're Jews, but they're not true Jews.
Now turn to.
Romans 2.
Romans.
Verse 28.
For he is not a Jew which is 1 outwardly.
Neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew, which is 1 inwardly.
And circumcision is that of the heart in the Spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men. The word Judah means praise. Praise is not of men, but of God. That's the real Jew. That's the Israel of God, as it says in Galatians 6.
Those who are real Jews, those that came down from Jerusalem trying to put the Gentiles under law, they were of the synagogue of Satan who said they were Jews but were not when it comes to what is reality.
Now let's look at Galatians 1.
There's two books that deal with this subject of the law, and it's Romans and Galatians. Both of them deal with the law, and Galatians is specifically.
Dealing with that one subject, Romans, is broader.
Giving us the 1St 8 chapters, the full development of the gospel.
But here this epistle to the Galatians.
This is what Paul is dealing with.
These Jews that said they were Jews but were not, but were the synagogue of Satan.
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And that was a very beginning of mercy. Smyrna was right after Ephesus, and Philadelphia was right before Laodicea. So right at the beginning of the history of the church, there were these Judaizers, those that were of the synagogue of Satan, that said they were Jews but were not real. They didn't have a life. They had never repented. They were under law. And then Philadelphia second to the end. And that's, that's the assembly where the full truth was.
Recovered, I believe, in the 1800s.
And.
They're not called upon to repent in Philadelphia.
So the enemy attacks immediately Smyrna.
Trying to get the early church put under law, and when the true full truth of the church was discovered and brought out in Philadelphia, the enemy came in again. Those who were of the synagogue of Satan saying they were Jews and were not, they came in to ruin it, to ruin the recovery that was.
Of God in Philadelphia.
That's a little background.
Of what we're going to look at here.
In Galatians chapter one verse one, Paul an apostle.
Not of men.
Neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead. That's very interesting verse, neither of men or from men.
Neither by means of man or through man.
But by Jesus Christ and God the Father, Paul's apostleship.
You see, he was the only apostle that was not one of the 12. And as we noted in the meeting this in the reading meetings into the Corinthians, there were many there that were opposing Paul. They were questioning the reality of his apostleship.
And what he's establishing here in this first verse is his apostleship did not come from men.
It was not of man, nor it was not through man. Now there's two great groups of Christians in Christendom today, the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestants Sardis, Thyatira and Sardis.
And they have their ordination of the clergy, and they do it little differently. Some do it by man or from man as a source. That's what you have in verse one. Paul was not an apostle of that kind. He was an apostle not of men, not from man, neither by men. And now the the the Protestants don't go as far as the Catholics.
Who ordained and they imputed some power to this ordained person, and then he was in the characteristic of an apostle or or similar. But the Protestants, they they just lay their hand upon them and maybe others would do the same and they weren't really communicating anything of essence, whereas the others are. But there's these two groups not of men, neither by man.
But by Jesus Christ, Paul did not get his authority from that.
Now that just goes right against Judaism, because everything has to flow from the the priesthood and so on. That's the way it is in Church of Rome.
They wrote. The Protestants don't go that far, but they do lay hands on them.
And that's supposed to communicate something? At least give them some kind of special recognition.
Well, Paul insists in the beginning of this epistle that his apostleship was not like either one of those.
Paul, an apostle not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead.
And all the brethren which are with me unto the churches of Galatia.
A little bit later, we'll come right back here.
A little bit later he says. And I'll just read the verse 17 either when I up to Jerusalem to them, which were apostles before me, but I went into Arabia and returned again unto Damascus, and so on.
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And again in the second chapter verse 11, but that no man is justified.
By the law in the sight of God, it is evident for the just shall live by faith. That's a quote from the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk, and it's found in Romans one, it's found in Galatians 3 and it's found in Hebrews 10.
And it should be emphasized, the just shall live by faith. That's Romans.
To just shall live by faith. That's Galatians faith in contrast with works.
The just shall live by faith. That's Hebrews. The life of faith. The life of faith.
Martin Luther was a Roman Catholic priest, and he's the one that the Lord used to deliver quite a few from the Roman beast.
He was. He was a priest, and he was one that was trying to make his his way to God by doing something. That's the whole principle of law. Works of the law, works of the law.
And Paul's apostleship had nothing to do with that line of things.
He was altogether outside of it.
Well.
Verse 11 of chapter 3 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God it is evident, for the just shall live by faith. He was going up those stairs, and God the Spirit put into his heart the remembrance of that Scripture from Habakkuk the just shall live by faith.
And when that came home in power to his soul, he got up off his knees. He was calling the stairs, and on his knees, I believe. And he got up, and he thanked God for the revelation of that truth. And he turned around and walked down. And that was one of the great truths of the Reformation.
The just shall live by faith, not works, not the works of the Law. The law was to be set aside, and it was those that say they were Jews, but were not those but of the synagogue of Satan they were trying to introduce at the beginning and then near the end when the full truth was recovered.
Satan attacked both at the beginning and at the end. Synagogue of Satan.
Notice what it says. The chest shall live by faith, verse 12, and the law is not of faith.
But the man that doeth them shall live in them.
Let's go back to the first chapter where we began.
Says to these Galatians, they were Gentiles and the Jews were trying, as we saw in Acts 15, they were trying to to put the Gentiles under law just like they were get them circumcised. Actually all they wanted, you get that from the 5th chapter of Galatians. All they wanted was they wanted the Gentiles to be circumcised.
And that's found in Galatians 5.
He says to them in verse 11 and I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision.
Why do I yet suffer persecution? For then the offense of the cross ceased. I would. They were even cut off. That cut off has a double meaning, that they were cut off in their opposition to the truth of the grace of God. The true gospel which he preached in the other apostles did too, But the enemy immediately attacked that. And it was those that were steeped in Judaism that said they were Jews, but were not because they were. They were legalists.
And I would they were even cut off. That refers to circumcision itself, and also to the judgment of God against him. For, brethren, you have been called to liberty. Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
All right, Galatians, one again.
Verse 3.
Grace be to you, and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
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You notice verse one, he was an apostle, not of or from men, neither by or through man, but through Jesus Christ. And Godfather didn't have either one of He was not ordained to that Apostolic position by man. Man had nothing to do with it. He was called by God into this and the gospel that he preached.
Was a gospel that he did not get from man. Verse 11 again of chapter one. I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man didn't come from any of the apostles. Peter, right down to the last one, didn't come from any of them. It was not preached after man, for I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it.
How did he get it? By the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus revealed to Paul.
That man who became the greatest apostle, the greatest opposer to the truth, becomes converted on the road to Damascus. And that voice from heaven says, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord, He knew it was the Lord speaking to him, but he didn't know his name yet. I am Jesus, whom thou persecuted.
Just think of the revolution that took place in that man's soul. Saul of Tarsus, as he realized all that he had been doing persecuting the church, hailing men and women and carrying them to prison, and so on, was against the Lord Jesus. Why persecute us thou me? He doesn't say, like in Matthew 25, when it's talking about the Jewish brethren, my brethren, he doesn't say Why do you persecute my brethren? He says It's something deeper than that.
Jesus says white persecutors found me in touching them. You're touching me. You're touching me because they are one with me.
And that's the wonderful truth. That very first word that Paul heard, Saul heard from that voice was the truth of the one body. The one body. You touch them, you're touching me.
That's more than seeing my brethren.
Verse 3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Someone made the comment at this conference that.
The Epistle to the Galatians doesn't start out with like the other ones do. There was a there was a sternness to the tone here.
To whom? The glory forever and ever. Amen. Now that's the introduction to this epistle. Now immediately he launches into the subject.
In verse six I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ, into a different gospel. It should read, which is not another. There is no different gospel, that is another gospel.
It says another in both of these, but there's two different words.
Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto a different gospel, which is not another.
But there be some that trouble you that's these Judaizers, that's those that were of the synagogue of Satan that said they were Jews, but really were not.
There be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. You have the strongest language that he uses in these next verses in Galatians. Notice what he says. But though we are an Angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you. Let him be accursed, put it in another bit of language. Let him be damned and go to hell.
Strong language. And as we said before, so say I. Now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you, then that you have received first in verse eight, it says that which we have preached to you.
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Now he says, what you received, how did you become Christians? By receiving?
By faith, the gospel we preach to you.
As I said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you, then that you have received, they have received it. Let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God, or do I seek to please men?
We were talking a little bit on this very subject in our readings that the principle of works of law is to please self and others as well. It's a self pleasing system and Paul didn't preach that.
Not at all.
Do I seek to please men, for if I yet pleased men I should not be?
The servant of Christ. You cannot serve Christ and please men.
Because man does not want that message. He doesn't want it and he won't have it.
I neither received it. I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it. I taught that taught it by man.
He didn't go to Jerusalem to get it from Peter or James or John or any of them.
Either was I taught it. How did he get it? By the revelation of Jesus Christ. And when, later in the book of Acts, he went to Jerusalem, he knew far more than any of those leading Jews knew. He knew far more.
He had received this revelation from the Spirit of God.
For you have heard of my conversation. Now he goes back and he goes over a little of his history. You have heard of my conversation, my behavior, my manner of life in time past in the Jews religion. How that beyond measure I persecuted the Church of God and wasted it. You read the book of Acts and you'll find that as the apostles went to this and that city and preached to them, the ones that stirred up opposition to their message were Jewish women and other Jewish people.
Because they hated the gospel. They hated that which set aside the works of the law and anything that would give credit to them doing something. They wanted to have that mark of circumcision in their body so that they could boast in it. The law brings out the principle of feeding man's pride, man's pride. Grace leaves no room for man's pride, not one bit of room.
Grace is the the love and goodness.
Of God flowing out to poor erection sinners such as we are by nature and practice.
Goodness of God.
You have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jewish Religion. How that beyond measure, I persecuted the Church of God and wasted it. It's interesting that the word church, we noticed that expression in Revelation 2 and three the synagogue of Satan. The synagogue is a gathering together.
Around a certain belief system, and that was the belief system was what those Judaizers who came to found from Jerusalem to try to convert the Gentiles into a legalistic.
Line of things.
You cannot be saved unless you're circumcised and keep the law.
That was their principle, and they're not intended to. If they would join that, they would be in that inner circle.
Represented by the Word Synagogue. But the church is not that. The church is an assembly, Ecclesia, the called Out ones. As Peter says in his epistle, he's called us out of darkness, into his marvelous light.
Quite different than the synagogue that characterizes Judaism. Synagogue of Satan, it's called.
But the Assembly of God is a group of Gentiles and Jews that are called out of whatever they were in whatever they were connected with, called out of that by the grace of God and found salvation in the Lord Jesus.
He said I persecuted the Church of God and wasted it verse 14 and profited in the Jews religion above many my equals.
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In my own nation.
Being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my father's, but when it pleased God.
Who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace. He called him out of that.
System of Judaism out of the principle of law.
When it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace, brought me into a new religion. Oh no, Oh no. What did He do to reveal his son in me? It was a living person. The one who said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest to reveal his son and me, that I might preach him not a religion. Christianity is not a religion. Judaism is a religion. All these others.
Isms in Christendom and that's in the world, our religions. I was raised in Wilmette. There's a Vai High Temple in Wilmette. It's right in the harbour there. It's got nine sides to it and they're supposed to represent the 9 religions in the world. And among those nine, one of them is Judaism, another one is Christendom. Christendom is a religion, but not Christianity.
There's quite a difference.
When it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace to reveal his son in me, that I might preach him not a religion, but him among the heathen, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.
Notice he didn't confer with flesh and blood. He didn't go to central headquarters. You see the this false church has its central headquarter quarters in Rome, Italy. That's where they that's where the top man is. That's that's a false thing. That's the false church. That's not the real church. The real church has its head in heaven.
There's no one on earth that when when the book of Acts started, Jerusalem was the center. The center.
But that wasn't God's fault at all.
Wasn't God's thought at all?
Neither when I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me.
He didn't get anything that had been revealed to him. He didn't get it from any of the apostles.
But I went into Arabia and returned again unto Damascus.
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him 15 days.
But other of the apostles saw none.
Save James the Lord's brother. He was not an apostle. He was one of the Lord's brothers. James the Lord's brother, he's mentioned quite a few times in the book of Acts, and he was a very prominent man, but he wasn't one of the 12 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God I line up, He's letting these Galatians who were being trying to get swayed by these duties.
To adopt Judaism, circumcision and the law. He's trying to get them established in the truth of Christianity so that they don't get swayed by these Judaizers, those who say they were Jews and are not but the synagogue of Satan.
Afterwards at verse 21 I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia and was unknown by face under the churches of Judea, which were in Christ. He didn't have much contact after he got saved with the the Jews at Jerusalem.
Jerusalem was the center When Judaism was enforced, that was the center, But the Church does not have an earthly center.
Jerusalem was it for a short time, and then God.
Changed it completely. The center of the church is not here below. Not in this world.
It's in heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ is the center.
Other of the apostles saw I none save James, the Lord's brother. Now the things which I write to you, behold, before God I lie not. Afterwards I came to the regions of Syria, and Cilicia was unknown by face personally, they had not seen him.
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Unto the churches of Judea which were in Christ.
But they had heard only that he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. And they glorified God in me chapter 2. Then 14 years after, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took Titus who was a Gentile with me also, and I went up by revelation.
Didn't go up on his own, but he went up by revelation. And I communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, those that had a high status in the Jewish realm. There lest by any means I should run or have run in vain, we were talking about things that can cause dissension, and that in the assembly. Just think of the these the early church, and how the the difference between Jews and Gentiles.
Could cause a tremendous amount of dissension.
And that's what they were up against.
Now the things that I write unto you, verse 20, Behold before God I lie not.
Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and was unknown by face under the churches of Judea, which were in Christ.
But they had heard only that he which persecuted us in times past, now preaches of faith, which once he destroyed. And they glorified God in me. Then 14 years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles. He he was way ahead of them, these leaders.
These apostles at Jerusalem, he was way ahead of them in what Christ had revealed to him.
As to the true gospel.
Which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run in vain, He didn't. He didn't divulge all these truths that he had learned about grace, and that to to all of them, because the enemy would come in and just just upset the meeting.
But he did it privately to those that were of reputation, those that were leaders.
In the church. But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
That's what they were trying to do. We read that in Acts 15 they tried to get the Gentiles to adopt circumcision, and that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty, the liberty of grace which we have in Christ Jesus. That they might bring us into ******* put you under law, that old ******* of law to whom we gave place by subjection. No, not for an hour.
That the truth of the gospel might continue with you. So the apostle Paul, who was once Saul of Tarsus, A Pharisee, he was once strongly in favor of what he was now opposing, and now he takes a stand for the truth to whom he gave place by subjection. No, not for an hour. And that made these Jews want to kill Paul.
And they tried it more than once.
They wanted to bring the those there into *******.
Verse 5 To whom we gave place by subjection. No, not for an hour that the truth of the gospel might continue with you, but of these who seem to be somewhat.
I had a reputation for their knowledge. Whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me. God accepteth no man's person.
For they, who seem to be somewhat in conference, added nothing to me if you could add to them and teach them what they had not really understood of the true gospel.
But contrary wise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, that's the Gentiles. The uncircumcision, as the gospel of the circumcision, that's the Jews, was unto Peter. Peter went to the Jews, Paul went to the Gentiles. For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles. And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars.
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In this early church perceive the grace that was given unto me. They gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go on to the heathen, and they unto the circumcision only they would that we should remember the poor, the same which I also was forward to do.
Now we come to a very instant, a very interesting incident here, but.
Verse 11 But when Peter was come to Antioch.
I withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed. Here you have one apostle, the apostle Paul withstanding another apostle, the apostle Peter, because he was he was doing something which would totally deny the truth of Christianity.
When Peter was come to Antioch, I was stood him to the face, because he was to be blamed for before that certain came from James from Jerusalem. He did eat with the Gentiles before they came. These Jews who were Judaizers of the synagogue of Satan and said there were Jews and were not he did eat with the Gentiles, but when they were come.
He Peter, withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him, with Peter, in so much that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. Barnabas was one that traveled around with Paul, and he gets taken away by this error, going back to Judaism, going back to the Law. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them All if thou, being a Jew, liveth after the manner of Gentiles.
And that's what he was doing before these Jews came. And as soon as the Jews came, he left the Gentile table and went over to the Jewish table and started to eat with them. So he didn't want to offend these Jews that came from Jerusalem, so he ate at their table. He didn't stay at the Gentile table like he should have to show that the Gentiles have, just as a deer, a standing before God as you Jews have if you've received Christ.
Contrary wise when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed to me as the guy read that.
Again verse 11. When Peter was come to Antioch, I was stood him to the face because he was to be blamed for before that certain came from James. He did eat with the Gentiles, but when they were come he withdrew and separated himself fearing them which were of circumcision. The fear of man bringeth A snare. And here's a good example of it. Here you have one apostle rebuking another apostle.
Paul rebuking Peter, and the other Jews dissembled likewise with him, with Peter, in so much that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. And when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, That's the gospel of the grace of God.
I said unto Peter before them all, if thou being a Jew, liveth after the manner of Gentiles.
And not as do the Jews. Why compel us now the Gentiles, to live, as do the Jews?
He was eating at the Gentile table and the Jews came. He withdrew himself and went over to the Jewish table, and Peter and Paul rebukes him for that.
You're trying to make the Gentiles Jews?
We who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, the faith which has Christ as its object, and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
I'm going to pause a minute and go back to the first chapter in verse 6 where Paul says, I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto a different gospel which is not another. But there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ, he said. My marvel, I'm amazed. How did you get to be saved in the 1St place by receiving what he preached to them and now they listen to another voice.
And they're LED astray.
Now in Smyrna, that that attack came right away after the Christianity began.
In Philadelphia, that attack came after the truth that Philadelphia recovered.
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God recovered in Philadelphia because the greatest way of denying true Christianity is to put man under law.
Give them something to do, something that that builds him up, makes him proud.
Because the greatest evil that man has is pride. We mentioned that in the meeting. Pride is the greatest of all evils.
It gives to man a place that only belongs to God.
He gets the 1St place. That's the difference between Christianity and all other religions.
All other religions are centered in man himself.
Christianity is centered in Christ. That's the difference. That's simple. But man doesn't like that. I was talking to a Roman Catholic in in, in, in school, in college. And I explained to him Grace. Grace. He looked at me and he said I don't like that I want to do my part. I want to do my part. He didn't like it that he was all together bad. He couldn't do anything to gain favor with God.
It had to come from God, from the heart of God, from the goodness of God entirely, and we come in as nothing but poor, wretched, guilty sinners.
Again, verse 15 of chapter two. We who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Turn back to in a moment, we'll come right back here, But it just comes to mind. Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy Chapter.
Six I think it is.
Deuteronomy 6 and verse 24.
And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to do all these statutes, to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God for our good always, that he might preserve us alive as it is at this day. Now notice this verse, and it shall be our righteousness. If we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us, it shall be our right. That's what I wanted. That's what that Roman Catholic man. He wanted to have his righteousness, that he could pray before God and God would accept it.
And Paul says in Philippians 3 not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, even the righteousness of God by faith. It's either his righteousness or your own. And Paul says, I used to boast in my righteousness, now I count it as scum.
Reject it.
Going back to Galatians 2.
Verse 17 Again, if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, and we will be if we put ourselves under law, we'll come in as out as sinners, because the law condemns every sin that we get, we commit.
We're found sinners is there, therefore Christ the minister of sin. If you mix up Christ and and and the law, you're making Christ a minister of sin because the the principle of law will bring you out as a Sinner.
Because you break it. Break it.
Then is that is that he's asking here? Does that make Christ the minister of sin? The two are mutually exclusive, the one of the other they can't coexist.
Either under grace, where it's all God's part, or you're under law, where it's all man's part.
If, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
For if I build again the things which I destroyed once one comes out of the darkness of Judaism, into the bright light of Christianity, and to build that up again, and and and and and give the the all they wanted here, all these Jews wanted, was to circumcise the Gentiles. That's all just circumcised.
That would put a mark on them which says that they are a cut above the rest of the people of the world.
If I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I, through the law, am dead to the law. The law can only kill me and slay me, that I might live to God.
I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me, the faith which has the Son of God as its object.
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Live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate. Set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
Righteousness come by the law. He didn't have to die.
Who was in his death that he put our sins away. But if we can gain an acceptance with God by keeping the law be having nothing to do with his death, he's dead in vain.
They've just destroyed the Gospel verse Chapter 3. Now, oh, foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you who have cast a spell upon you, how did you get saved in the 1St place? By believing the gospel of His grace.
That he should not obey the truth who hath bewitched you? That you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? Paul had painted a picture, a visual picture, for them. Christ was hanging on that cross.
Bearing the judgment of a holy God against sin. That's how you got saved by the death of his Son, and now you're going to add the works of the law to that.
Who, foolish Galatians, who have bewitched you, that you should not obey the truth?
Before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth crucified among you. This only what I learn of you. Now listen to these questions. Receive Jesus Spirit by the works of the law.
Or by the hearing of faith, how they get like doing something under law. Or by simply hearing and believing the gospel. By faith we know it's by faith. Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? You're going to take a man that has received the truth by the Spirit of God and believed it, and now he's going to add works of law to it?
Are you now made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain, if it be yet in vain? They suffered for their faith in Christ. They were being persecuted by these legalists, by those that were of the synagogue of Satan, that said they were Jews and were not.
He says you've suffered for that.
He therefore that ministereth to you the spirit and worketh miracles among you, do with it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith. So you everyone knows the answer to those questions. By the hearing of faith they didn't do anything the works of the law, in order to get the spirit of God, even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. What did what did Abraham do to get this righteousness?
It was accounted to him when he believed God.
He showed Abraham up out, and he said, So shall I seek thee.
Know you therefore that they they which are of faith the same, are the children of Abraham and the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, indeed shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful, believing Abraham, for as many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse.
For it is written, Cursed is everyone that committed continue with not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them, but that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God it is evident, for the just shall live by faith, not by works.
And the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in them.
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us, for it is written curse. It is everyone that hangeth on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith that works.
Faith is contrasted with works. Grace is contrasted with law.
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Brethren, I speak after the manner of men, though it be but a man's covenant. Yet if it be confirmed, no man disanoeth or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made, He sayeth not into seeds as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed that's referring to the Lord Jesus Christ, which is Christ.
And this I say that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was 430 years later after cannot disagree that it should make the promise of none. Effective law wasn't given till 430 years later. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise. Promise. It's grace. God promises something and he will carry out his promise. That's grace.
Wherefore then serveth the law was added, because of transgressions, till the seed should come, to whom the promise was made, and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid. For if there had been a new a law given, which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
But the Scripture has concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe but before faith came.
Before faith came, faith came. After the law was set aside, before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith, which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster. Now leave out these words to bring us there in italics added by the translators, and they spoil the meaning of the passage. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster unto Christ until Christ came.
Flows our schoolmaster, until Christ came and he set aside the law, and he brought in grace. The law was given by Moses Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
How long was our schoolmaster unto Christ until he came, that we might be justified by faith? Faith in whom? In the Lord Jesus, but that but after that faith has come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. The schoolmaster is the law.
And you're not under law if you're a Christian.
Faith has come now for year all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, not by works of law. For as many as of you have been baptized unto Christ, have put on Christ as neither Jew nor Greek, neither bond or free, neither male nor female. But you're all one in Christ Jesus, And if ye be Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Now I say.
Chapter 4. That the air as long as he is a child. Different nothing from a servant.
Though he be Lord of all.
You can have the Prince. He's just a child. He doesn't differ from a servant yet he hasn't grown up.
But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the Father. Even so we when we were children, he's talking about Jews here. We're in ******* under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time was come, that is, that's when verse 23, before faith came. That's when the faith came. Now because the object of faith is now here. When Christ came, when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son made of a woman made under the law.
To redeem them that were under the law that we might receive, we Jews might receive the adoption of sin, not by keeping the law, not by being under the law, but by faith. And now he talks to the Gentiles first, verse 5 He's talking to the Jews. Verse 6, the Gentiles. And because ye are sons.
Because they believe the gospel, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying ABBA Father. Now he goes back to the Jews again. Wherefore thou art no more a servant. That's what the two was before Christ came, but a son, And if a son, that an heir of God through Christ.
Now he goes back to the Gentiles again. Howbeit then, when he knew not God. That's not true. The Jews. It was the Gentiles that didn't know God. You did service unto them, which by nature are no gods.
But no, now after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, How turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, where unto you desire again to be in *******? He observed days and months, and times and years. He's talking to the Gentiles, Gentiles here.
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I'm afraid of you.
Lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain, Are you really Christians observing days, months, times, and years? Christendom is filled with that. We're about to enter onto one in another month.
I'm afraid of you, lest I understood upon your labor in vain.
Brethren, I beseech you because I am, for I am as ye are. You have not injured me in a well. Can't. We can't continue on. I wish I could finish this wonderful book. Wonderful book. Let's thank him for his wonderful love. It's all grace. It's all faith on our part. It's all we have to do is lay hold upon it by faith and we'll be sure for saved.
No one under law is ever sure of anything.
Let's pray, Father.
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Reading
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He.
Ready, God.
For everything.
83.
In chapter one and we'll start at verse 18.
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world?
Hath not God made with foolish the wisdom of this world, For after that in the wisdom of God?
The world by wisdom knew not God had pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
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For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise after the flesh.
Not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world, to confound the things which are mighty and base things of the world, and things which are despised. Hath God chosen, yeah, and things which are not to bring to nought the things that are.
That no flesh should glory in his presence, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus?
Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorious, let him glory in the Lord.
The place given in the verse we started the preaching of the cross and then in verse 23 we preach Christ crucified.
The way in which it's presented here is in keeping with the what's on the heart of the apostle when he's speaking to the Saints in Corinth.
Back up a moment to get the thought.
When the Lord Jesus was born.
The angels observed it and they said peace on earth, goodwill.
Toward man, that is, the person of peace was here in the world. What should have been man's reaction? If he had known who it was that was born among him, he should have said, my Savior has come, and all men honored him, thanked him for having come into this world to save.
And stood in awe.
What thankful acceptance that God in grace had sent a man to save.
What I'm saying in it is there never should have been a cross.
There never should have been a crucifixion as such the cross, the crucifixion were not, if I could put it this way, necessary to the work of atonement.
He did not accepting in the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scripture to show who He was, but the actual atonement itself, the work to put away our sins, to cover them.
Was based on the offering of himself to God, and it was necessary as well that he died.
Because the wages of sin is death, but the expression the cross and Christ crucified is put as man's rejection.
Of his savior, it is man in his wisdom saying.
This is not for us. We don't need it. We don't want it. And so the world stands guilty of the cross putting him on a cross, of crucifying the Lord of glory. And that's what's being emphasized here, because it's man and all his wisdom.
In opposition to God.
And it's an awful thing, because if we recognize it.
It as our our hymn started out when we survey the Wondrous Cross.
The last line, It pours contempt on all our pride. Think of it. That we mankind would have our Savior come into this world.
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And we would put him on a cross.
We would give him the absolute, most shamefully known method of putting him out of the world.
That we would stand guilty.
As mankind of crucifying the Lord of glory.
What's that say for the wisdom of man?
What does that say? For the glory of men? It says, ah, we would say, brethren, shame on us, shame on mankind.
And yet that's what we have collectively as mankind, the Jews and man and His wisdom have done to the Lord of glory.
It was not necessarily.
Deeply painful, but it was deeply shameful.
That a society.
As high in the standards of the world as Israel was, was.
To put a man on trial, Jesus Christ, the Holy One of God, who never did anything wrong, always honoring His Father and his God.
The God of Israel, in fact.
And then?
It's hard even to say it.
Spit in his face.
Can you imagine?
Such an evil thing.
It's beyond comprehension, almost. But then they didn't stop there.
What shall I do? Pilate says with this man.
Shall it be Barabbas?
Or shall it be Jesus of Nazareth?
Jesus of Nazareth, Crucify, Crucify.
Such is the heart that is dwelling in my own breast.
And.
Mankind is naturally evil.
And that is the very height of wickedness.
We sing in one of our hymns.
That the cross is the center of two eternities which look with wrapped, adoring eyes. Onward.
And back to the.
And I think, increasingly, brethren, we're going to learn the cross is the center of all God's thoughts. It's the vastest display of who God is, and it also shows who we are, to our own shame.
It will be the theme of heaven.
On the mount of Transfiguration.
The two that appeared with Jesus.
Moses and Elias.
What were they talking about?
Just recently came to me that they don't.
There's no evidence in the record given that they recognize the presence of Peter and James and John there.
They were talking with Jesus. What could be more glorious than that? But what were they talking about?
His disease.
That he should accomplish at Jerusalem.
Is there anything more glorious than that?
Nothing can be.
It's the preaching of the cross, Brethren and I.
Really think we need to?
Keep close to that.
That's where we get.
Things evaluate properly.
The Cross.
720 years before it took place.
God led the prophet Isaiah, Isaac.
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Isaiah to write.
In the 52nd and 53rd chapters of Isaiah.
About what Israel was going to say.
When they are converted, this is yet future.
And it's at least seven years and not very much more than that from now.
When they will see the Neil Prince in his hands.
And the nation will then be converted. What's left of it? 1/3 of Judah and Benjamin and 1/10.
Of the 10 tribes will be brought low at their feet of the Lord Jesus.
And they will say.
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes were healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all, and the rest of the chapter that is the confession of the remnant of Israel.
That will be brought to Christ.
At the end of the tribulation period.
Reaching of the Cross.
This eighteenth verse.
Says is to them that perish foolishness. You think of the dispensation which we live and you say, say to these people there was a man that died on a cross 2000 years ago. You trust him, you get the glory. Is that foolishness?
That's what you're preaching?
It's preaching that reaches the ear, now reaches the heart.
It's the only way of salvation. It's God's wisdom.
This man is God's wisdom.
Is God's righteousness.
Nothing that Christ did is our righteousness. Nothing that Christ does is our righteousness. He is our righteousness and justification and redemption we believe to. That's what we crushed. And it's simply preaching that his design by God to go forth today so that everybody can hear.
Where God loves everybody.
I would just say one thing.
And and just prior to this, all Speaking of baptism and I don't.
Think there's anybody in the room, probably, that believes that baptism is a part of the gospel, But there are.
Very strong opinions, and I'm just going to turn to the 15th chapter of First Corinthians here and read.
Just the first three verses of chapter 15. Paul says, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein you stand. Now listen carefully, by which also ye are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all.
That which I also received. How that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that He was buried and that he rose again the 3rd day according to the scriptures and he was seeing him Cephas and so forth. That's and that's all I wanted to bring up is just there.
There, these folks have very strong arguments using the scripture.
In a twisted manner.
Showing.
Think making you think that baptism is essential for salvation. But here and where Paul declares the gospel, there is no mention of baptism whatsoever, and baptism doesn't enter into it. The ones who teach that baptism is essential for salvation also teach that you can lose your salvation, and so they're not established at all.
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So precious to God the Father we find as we go through our scriptures. When we look in the Old Testament, we see that all things point toward the cross, every shadowed, and types look forward to the death of our blessed Savior. We find even when we get into John 3 John's Gospel, Chapter three, there we are reminded as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.
Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up? Oh, then we can go on and read those wonderful verses that we know. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. That's the highest form of love that God can exhibit to man by giving His Son to us through our scriptures. We look forward to that. We find scriptures mentioned about His death and His resurrection right from the very beginning.
That goes together and then we find in the future day like it would we have today what we can look back to the cross on Lords Day morning when we have that loaf before us. Do we not have that privilege of looking back to the cross to see the great price that was paid to redeem us? And then I made a comment in the future day. Well let's let's turn to Ezekiel Chapter 45.
We find that in the future day that death is still precious in God's side. In Ezekiel chapter 45 we find in verse 21 sets here in the first month. In the 14th day of the month you shall have to pass over a feast of seven days unleavened bread ye shall eat.
One might say Passover has been abolished in the sands. The Lord Jesus was that perfect Passover. It was our Passover that was sacrificed for us. But yet we find it recorded in the future day that Passover feast will be reinstituted. As our brother mentioned in the last meeting, Passover what a remembrance of death of the one who who gave himself of that one who shared his blood.
And the blood was put on the doorposts so that this destroying Angel can look on and say, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. We find through our scriptures crisscrossing it. God does not forget the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's go back, further back in the Old Testament again. We know that in many places in the book of Moses it referred to that.
But I like to turn to a place. Perhaps we don't often turn to the place where the flood after the flood.
Genesis Chapter 8. From the very beginning, God painted a picture of how dear the cross is, how dear the death of his son is to him, And for us, Genesis chapter 8, we know that in the 7th chapter we know well. We know the story of how Noah went to build that art.
And the ones that were inside were shelter from death and judgment. And we know that eight were saved. But then here under the 8th chapter we find a passage that I find precious to us. Verse four. And the ark rested. The ark rested. When the storm of judgment was over, it rested. Let me finish that verse. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the 17th day of the month.
Upon the mountains of Ararat. What a beautiful picture as we look through the word of God.
We know that the 7th month is in corresponding to the first month in the book of Exodus. In the book of Exodus let me clarify, They were to turn the months around. It says, and let this be the beginning of years. To you, the Passover month were to be the first month rather than the, oh seventh month. So we find here this is the same month as the Passover and we find that the Passover we were told to be on the 14th day between the evening.
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But here it speaks of the 17th day. 17th is the resurrection day. We find our Lord Jesus rose from the dead on the 17th day. So here we have a picture of death prior to resurrection. God remembers and plan. All this despite what man could have done and we could not fail. What God's plan is death and then resurrection, and because of that blessings abroad.
Time.
Verse.
But under us which are saved, it is the power of God.
Now, the greatest power that's ever been displayed in all time was at the cross, the power of God.
When Jesus was laying in the grave.
God's power was called in question.
His son had come, his son had died, His son was buried in the earth.
What was God going to do? What could he do? Well, the only thing was resurrection. Could He? Would he raise him from the dead? Of course he did. So you find in.
That verse in the patients I read this morning, 1:45 or whatever It is the exceeding greatness of his power to Usford who believe we're included in that power. Resurrection. Now you take the poor gospels.
And you have an account of the cross in every one of them four times. And you read the last verse of the last Gospel and what does it talk about? Talks about what he did. Let's just look at it, because it's seldom taken out John and the last verse.
Repeating again that the the Lord Jesus.
Has come to the earth and lived and died.
Four accounts of it in the four Gospels. Then this.
Last verse of John is remarkable.
What does it say? There are also many other things which who did? Jesus did.
Jesus.
It starts out by emphasizing what he has done in the Gospels, that his death and resurrection, the power of God to raise him from the dead, all these other things are just events. Just work. Here. It says well.
There are many other things which Jesus did. He went to the cross and died and rose again. But he did. But there are many other things that which if they should be written. Everyone. I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. Do you believe that? How many books would it take to fill this room? How many books has BTP got? How many books would it take to pill this state?
How many books would it take to fill the world?
Jesus had done more than ever that all that could be recorded. I believe that's verse literally, although I don't understand it. But to emphasize it, I would say that the first verse of John's Gospel gives us the eternity of his person. He is the eternal God Jesus has always been.
In the beginning was the Word. What beginnings you talking about? Before there's ever any beginning, the Word Who's that? Jesus. In the beginning was the Word and the Word, the Son. Jesus not named yet was with God, and he was God or is God.
That's the eternity of who he is. This last verse gives the Infinity of what he has done, and I believe it literally many other things. But the greatest work that's ever been done in all time and eternity is the work of the cross and redemption and resurrection included in it. Baptism only goes in shadow just to death. Except that it.
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In person collections that there's.
Going to be a resurrection, so it's kind of foolish to bring it in. And we don't necessarily bring it in, certainly not for salvation.
You too. I encourage ones that want to preach the gospel and.
Of course, that's who are older to that.
Notice verse 18 again, the preaching of the cross.
Verse 23.
We preach Christ crucified.
Chapter 2 Verse two I determined not to know.
Anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
There's a lot of good gospel stories in the word of God we often hear.
Second Kings 5 about naming the leper.
Preached on and in Acts 31 There are Philippians jailer.
But let's just make those stories that fit around The story of the cross is that is.
Brethren, there's power. As we were mentioning this morning, I really believe that there's power in simplicity. Don't try to enhance the message with human wisdom or with powerful words. Simply present the truth, the facts, historical facts that the Son of God came into this world.
That he died on the cross for our sins. That he rose again and lives in the present, in the at the right hand of the glory of God. There's real power in simply presenting the cross. Christ crucified and risen again. I really think that we need to keep the focus keen when we're talking about that subject.
In verse 18 the preaching of the cross.
Is to them that perish foolishness, and in verse 21 The end of the verse where it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them, that believe. It's not talking about here the activity of preaching, that is It isn't that preaching itself is a foolish thing.
What's being brought out here is what Bob is talking about, the message itself.
The preaching. It's the cross, The message in the Word of the Cross, Mr. Darby translates in the first place. In the second place, he uses expression instead of preaching. The preaching that is the thing preached. The world looks at it and it says that message is foolishness.
That's the wisdom of man. That message is foolishness. But what's the end result of it all?
That man that says it's foolish perishes. Look at the end of it. The preaching of the cross is to them that perish, To them that perish foolishness. A man may say it's foolish. I don't believe it.
I'm not going to accept it. That's your idea. I have mine and so on. But then the next verse is I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. Where is that man going to end up? Where is that wisdom of this world going to end up? Ultimately, absolutely, completely destroyed and the person themselves in eternal destruction in hell.
In eternity.
Then we, as it were, going to say, where's the wise?
Are you going to be wise, as Jim said last night, or is God going to have to say foolish to us in a coming day? I want to mention one other thing. It's not brought out here, but it's touching in a in a way, to the soul concerning the cross.
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As far as I know that scripture brings anything out.
In eternity coming.
There will be only one thing.
That remains. That will remind us that sin ever existed in this world.
When Thomas looked on the Lord Jesus.
And he looked in his hands. In his resurrected body he looked upon his hands and upon his feet, and in his side. The marks of what? The cross? The marks of the cross? That which speaks of man's wisdom and rejection of the blessed person. And it is God's wisdom that says that will be the eternal reminder.
That sin was in this world, it will be the internal reminder to our hearts of all that man in the flesh is.
That we might not glory in man, but will eternally be gazing upon as few will upon himself. And see those marks that Thomas saw for us. Your body and mind is growing old. Some of us feel it very much, some of the young, perhaps not so much. But every trace of sin, and every effect that sin ever had on your body, that body which the Lord Jesus on that cross paid for.
We'll refinish that work, if you will. As Peter says to it, we look forward to the redemption of the body, the work, the claim over it has been made, and when we are resurrected or taken to glory.
Every trace, every mark that sin ever made on us will be gone. But the one eternal reminder is what man and his wisdom says.
I don't want.
And God says this will be 1 eternal way. That will, as it were, 'cause our hearts to worship and honor God.
And be forever thankful that the Lord Jesus went all the way to death even.
The deaths of the cross.
It is the only man made thing in heaven.
Thankfully, I am not ashamed.
Of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ port. It is the power of God unto salvation.
Voice of mighty power.
We go out on the farm I used to farm with two horses and two horsepower.
Now they got tractors, I don't know, two or three, 405 hundred horse car. And they're the boys aren't ashamed of them. They're thinking to go up against a tree and push it down sometimes. Power. Power. This is power. Power to save for all eternity.
Two sides. There are two sides to this cross. Often we get discouraged by looking at one side. We see that the world will look at us as foolishness. But then we forget the other side in the very same verse to tell us. As you have already reminded us, it is the power of God. Tonight there will be a gospel meeting here once again if the Lord still tarry. And sometimes people would ask why would you do that when you know most people in the room are saved?
Ah, it is still the power of God, isn't it? To the world, yes, it is foolishness, but it is the power of God. What power? Oh, power, To remind us as we sit here of of the redemption work that was accomplished.
The power to remind us once again the great price that was paid. Perhaps we should turn. We could turn to adversity in Ephesians, there to remind ourselves.
Ephesians chapter one, verse 10. What is that power?
As some have said, this is probably the key to the whole Bible of why the Lord Jesus have done it all for us. Ephesians chapter one, verse 10, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one.
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All things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him. Oh, what a wonderful thought to know that will soon come that day. But then we also know the verse is preceding that of why And what led to that? Oh, to go back and be able to say, having predestinated us, and so on due to that he would use us to the praise of the glory of His grace. What a wonderful things to be reminded of why he died, so that we are, that we can be brought nigh unto himself to be the praise of His glory.
What dispensation is he talking about here, David? The dispensation of the fullness of time?
Yeah.
Except one driver runs out.
That's the Millennium we call it.
It's going to be an example of many things.
Opening up heaven and earth.
Brought together in nearness and the heavenly people over the earth.
And we won't be on the earth, but I think we will be understanding.
Oh, it's a wonderful thing. It's coming.
And it's not very far off.
My connected connection, what we're considering at this point, and the last address that our brother Chuck gave to us, because I believe there is a very definite moral connection between what we just had and what we have now. If you'll turn to the last chapter of Galatians, Galatians chapter 6.
Verse 12.
As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised.
Only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.
For neither they themselves, who are circumcised, keep the law.
But desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh, but God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
As our brother was bringing out in the last address, these Judaizers said.
We want you Gentiles to be baptized.
Or circumcised. I mean, we want you to be identified with the law in circumcision. And now he gives us two reasons. One, it avoids.
The identity with the cross, it says.
By that we avoid, if you will, the scandal.
Or the suffering that comes from being identified with Christ crucified.
And the second thing is he says here is so they can glory in their flesh, find something in man that exalts himself and causes him to glory. And that's the whole thing about the law, if man could keep it.
He had as we had in Deuteronomy 6. He could say it's our righteousness. And Paul spoke about it in the Romans. You could have, and if you could have, you could glory in your righteousness. But man couldn't have it because he couldn't keep it. He had no basis in himself to be to glory. He couldn't keep his righteousness with God. He couldn't keep the law and consequently the apostle when he talks about glorying in something in that verse.
Says God forbid that I should glory except in one thing in the cross.
The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the consequences to Paul for the cross, where by whom the world is crucified unto me the cross separated the apostle, and all of us who are in Christ separated the apostle from the world, and all that it speaks of which is guilty of crucifying.
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Christ. And so he says that very death.
By which the world crucified, my Lord. Yes, all glory in that, because it separates me from the world as well, and puts me on the other side, if you will, the other side of the cross. And then he says, And also the world. When I do that as a world, the world says, Well, good or not good, but fine, we don't want you either. By whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world I unto the world beings.
Like they said to Stephen, and when Stephen presented Christ to the people is where they said, well we don't want you either then Steven. And they sent him on to glory.
They crucified him or stoned him to death. And so it should be, in a practical sense, in our everyday life. We should always remember the cross as that which we can glory in, because it does identify us with the Lord Jesus. It does separate us from this world.
That stands guilty of his crucifixion, and we should be thankful to any measure in which the world says, well then, fine, I don't want you either.
It's a It's a privilege to be identified with the cross.
It's not to be looked at as a shame, but as a as a joy, as the apostle said to be counted worthy to suffer shame for his namesake.
Really.
Interesting in these verses that are ahead of us to contrast.
Wisdom and foolishness.
Power and weakness.
And.
In verse 21.
Well, let's read verse 20 as well. Where is the wise?
Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
And then verse 21 is so key, brethren, I think after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom.
Knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching, the same then them which believe.
In the wisdom of God.
The world, by wisdom knew not God.
Just think about that.
God.
Cannot be known by mere human wisdom.
Necessarily.
Our minds are limited.
We are finite creatures. We have our beginning. We have our end.
There is no way that your mind, and I mind, can comprehend God in the vastness of his being an infinite eternal God. It goes beyond our thoughts. To even be able to think of what eternal means always was never had a beginning that blows your mind.
And in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. So you can take the most brilliant minds in this world, and there are brilliant minds. And I really believe in a certain way we can say that the brilliance of human wisdom shows that God made man in his own image and likeness. And it is amazing what man can do in his wisdom.
But in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom.
Does not know God. There is no way God must come out.
And reveal himself. And he has done that.
In the fullness. In fullness, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Says no man hath seen God at anytime. The only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. So now we know God.
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We have been brought to know him through the revelation of God in Christ.
It's not by wisdom, brother.
Wisdom man's wisdom may be great, but in God's wisdom the world by wisdom knew not God.
There's an additional sense of it. Two, it's not only the fact that God can only be known as he chooses to make himself known by revelation, but it's also man. God, in his wisdom, has brought man under a judicial blindness.
God in wisdom has done that because of what man has brought himself to. Or to put it a different way, it's better stated in Romans chapter one and like to turn to it for a moment in Romans chapter one.
Verse 18 And this is bringing out the condition of man when Christ came to do the work of the cross, when God was going to introduce to man his own wisdom at the cross and the work of the cross.
He shows us first the condition of man at that point in time. And he says in verse 18 the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. And now he gives 2 reasons why the wrath of God is going to fall upon man. The first one is in verse 19. He's going to do it because that which may be known of God.
Is manifest in them. For God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made even His eternal power in Godhead. So they are without excuse. The first reason given is that God has revealed Himself.
And in revealing Himself, He has made man recognize in the invisible creation God's eternal Godhead, Deity, and man's responsibility to to his God. So in that way He's revealed Himself.
And he says now, man, I've showed you myself, you are inexcusable. That's the first reason His wrath comes. This verse 21 is reason #2.
Because that when they knew God, God says I have revealed myself. You do know me.
How have you responded to the revelation of myself? To you? They glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in there. This is the wisdom of man became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened, professing themselves to be wise. That's what we're talking about, the wisdom of man professing himself to be wise. What did his wisdom give him?
They became fools.
Man, by his wisdom, became a fool.
He professed him, professed himself to be wise. He was not thankful to the revelation that God had given to him of himself. And what does he do as a result, Having professed himself to be wise? Verse 23 He changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made unto like corruptible man.
He He put God aside in his wisdom and took up with taking some man made thing and saying, this is my God. He turned to idolatry. Now God in his wisdom at that point judicially brought consequences upon mankind for his profession of his own wisdom. And it says verse 24 God gave them up.
To the uncleanness God gave man up to the consequences.
Of his own wisdom.
In Proverbs, Solomon and principle could speak of it, he says, as it were, wisdom. Not not God, but wisdom is going to mark when man gets the consequences of his own actions.
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Wisdom is going to say when you go down to the house that brings your death.
I told you, I spoke to you, you wouldn't accept it. And so then we have what today is called the Description of the Awful Consequence of Man.
Immorally connecting himself with his fellow man, and so on. And the end of it is.
Verse 32 Who knowing the judgment of God. Well, verse 28. They did not like to retain God in their knowledge.
They didn't want to even know God existed. They refused the revelation of God. They turned to idolatry and evil that comes from it. And so God gave them over to reprobate mind. The world's full of reprobate minds and some of the wisest among men, minds in the whole world who think of themselves as superior to all other men. To me, they're to be pitied.
They reprobate minds, their minds that have gotten so far from God that they don't even acknowledge him. They don't even accept his glory. And God says I gave him over to that. I've allowed men to go that far. Verse 32 who knowing the judgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them and so.
It pleased God coming into a condition of things like that.
It could please God as it says in verse 21.
By the foolishness as.
Man would call it of the preaching, the message of the cross.
To save those people that are described in Romans chapter one man to be saved has to repent.
He has to turn from himself and his self-image and his thoughts about himself and his glory in himself. He has to have that all that changed in his mind. That's why repentance brings about. He changes his thoughts. God changes his thoughts by the foolishness of the preaching to see it as God presents himself to man at the cross. And if man does repent in that way, it's coupled with self judgment.
Repentance leads to self judgment. He judges himself. He he he's got like job and he says.
I heard about you.
But now I see you in my mind I repent. I completely changed my my thinking. And what is the consequence? Self judgment. I abhor myself.
And man to come to God now in the face of the cross, he has to be brought to that point where he says.
I'm nothing.
I'm guilty.
Oh God, I give thanks for thy love and mercy in the cross.
Thy son.
Brother Hayhoe used to say that God's wisdom is not an extension of man's wisdom, it is the opposite. And it really is the case here, isn't it? And verse 23, it says we preach Christ crucified into the Jews, a stumbling block.
They were used to things of outward power, and here's a man crucified.
That's a stumbling lot to the Greeks foolishness, but verse 24 unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the Wisdom of God.
Are just totally the opposite of the way man thinks.
Because the foolishness of God. What an expression is wiser than men.
And the weakness of God is stronger than men.
How do you understand that term, The foolishness of God?
The weakness of God, How is that to be understood?
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That was bad assessment of the cross. Foolishness, utter weakness. He was crucified. He couldn't get down. He couldn't get down. So they thought.
He was taking up their own language to show how ridiculous it is.
What could be more foolish and weak?
Man crucified, apparently helpless on a cross. That was their assessment. That was God's salvation.
God is not willing that any should perish. And in talking about dispensations, the dispensation of the Millennium that's coming and going back to the other dispensations, we are in the dispensation of the gospel of the grace of God, and it's the longest 1 so far.
Remind me what Brother Hail used to say to us about the unsaved and the?
Well it was this. In the Old Testament he says to Ephraim, which is Israel rejecting God. Ephraim is joined to idols. Then he says let him alone, God giving him up. What we've read about God giving up here in a future day, but I don't think anybody can say today that God gives somebody up. He may, but he I don't think he can say it. It's open to all.
So it's a blessing to see the God God in grace working in parts of the world, brethren.
Not many noble, it says. Not many wise men after the flesh. Not many noble, not many mighty, not many noble are called.
Still, remember the story of Queen Victoria.
Who was queen for a long time in England?
She was a real believer and she said I'm so glad of that. M on the front of many doesn't say not any. It's not many. She was one.
That there were not many, but she was one that was one of the called so God in his mercy works around the world and tell your brother and such a pleasure to see God working in his grace and bringing souls to salvation. The Lord Jesus, Lemoyne and I had to joy and Cochabamba. This last visit Lord's day. After the meeting was over there was a young man.
And he came to their local brethren there and said.
With evident emotion and tears, says I want to be saved.
No, it wasn't exactly a gospel preaching at the meeting after the breaking of bread, But.
You can't get far from the gospel, brother, and we shouldn't get far from the gospel.
He was saved, and God works amongst those that are poor. Under the poor the gospel is preached. Isn't that a beautiful, wonderful those that boast themselves in their wisdom?
They're far away. They're blinded many times. Thank God there are some of the wise of this world who are real believers.
Not many, but it doesn't say not any.
Remember the story of the Japanese man that was at the breaking of bread?
And after the meeting was over, he stood up and he said.
We all broke up.
We all broke up.
He was weeping.
There's nothing like it, nothing like no.
That.
That we should actually be able somehow to see the power and wisdom of God in these things.
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Because we were once in the world, in the world.
You know you read the.
Verses that have been spoken of already. You read the first chapter of John, for instance, and it speaks of the world being of darkness, how the light shone in the darkness but the darkness comprehended it not, and and yet it seems that God has brought us to a place.
Where somehow?
We can appreciate in our hearts.
In some small maker.
What it is that he has done for us.
I, I really and I and that doesn't elevate man because it is, I believe, entirely God's grace, a gift that he's given us.
I was. I've been thinking a lot as we've been talking about how he is not to be found in in the wisdom of men and of this world.
By our own reasoning of the natural man and all these things.
That was thinking about chapter 2 and verse 9.
Where it says but it is written. I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered the harsh man. The thanks of God has prepared for them that love him. And so often I hear that verse quoted and then we stop right there. But it's wonderful to see the next verse. But God hath revealed them unto us.
By his spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things Jay, the deep things of God.
It would be a terrible thing. It seemed to my in my mind that if God should bring us into the blessing, every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
And we should not comprehend it, I mean.
To be in a place like that and not know it and not be able to enjoy it, but gone and his grace.
Has given a resource for you and me that this world does not have.
He's given by his spirit for us to be able to comprehend and to enter into and enjoy.
All that his love has for us, and that's an amazing thing to me, brother.
It's a marvelous thing.
That's the grace of God.
Connection with what you're saying, brother verse 6.
2nd Corinthians 4 verse six For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness. That's referring to Genesis 1/3.
He's shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Just as he said let there be light. He said that to you and to me. To all of us, that's what you're saying, so we can enjoy it and realize it.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the Excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us beautiful.
Verse 27 says, God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.
Isn't amazing how God uses little things so often?
To accomplish his purposes. It's not necessarily the wisdom of people that he uses or the power of people.
That's little things that God uses. Insignificant things. That way God gets the glory, not us. It's like that verse that you asked to be read. It says we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the.
Excellency of the power be of God and not of us. So who gets the glory?
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How can we glory? Maybe that he does use us and then little insignificant way, but are we going to glory in that? No, let's glory in the one that has is going to work his purposes of blessing any measure that we want to glory in what we are, brethren, we hinder God's working and we need to flee from that.
The Lord help us. There's a natural tendency in our hearts to want to glory in what we are in any way, and it's obnoxious to God. He's not going to allow it. No flesh will glory in his presence, but he that glorious let him glory in the Lord. We get home to glory. There's not going to be any ranking.
And say boy, I made the grade. Absolutely none.
Any glory will be in the Lord brethren. And if there is any glory as to any position we might occupy, thank God for the simple truth that there is one body in Christ. But if I glory in that position?
For my own glory, God is going to blow on it. He's not glorified in that.
Lord, help us, brethren. I trust. I trust we have learned some lessons and what he's allowed.
In His governmental ways with us that we cannot glory in ourselves in any way, there's going to be any glorying it must be in the Lord.
It will be casting at his feet.
Go a little bit further in the Second Corinthians chapter 4, verse 10, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our bodies. For we which labor always delivered unto death, for Jesus sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in US and life in you. This brings us back to the aspect of the cross we're talking about in Galatians chapter 6.
Our position is, having been crucified, my legal place before God is having been crucified to this world, and the world is under the judgment of the cross. But practically, we don't always walk this way and the way that we should live up to our position. Yes, there's moral oblivion, obligation, but it's much more than that. The cross is the way I live that way, as I identify, as I put my faith in the fact that I am positionally crucified with Christ.
The earthen vessel is broken and the light shines out. And what happens when this light shines out? For I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It is through our identification with the cross, because we gain the power to declare the cross and going on to another on the same level. On the practical side, we've been hearing about the preaching of the cross, But do we preach it when we leave here, when we go home?
We go back to our factories, back to our jobs for people, might make fun of us, might persecute us in a slight way. In America, are we ashamed? The gospel? Are we taking the heart, the words that we've been hearing?
Left. I don't think we've touched verse 30 yet. And that was the verse you mentioned, Brother Clem earlier.
Maybe you could help us on that verse.
The question that answered it, but it is a lovely verse of him, I suppose that's God. Are ye in Christ Jesus like our brother Eric Smith says.
In 2nd Corinthians 517 it says if any man be in Christ Jesus, there is a new creature, He is a new creation.
Now we are in Christ Jesus.
Of him are ye in Christ Jesus through faith. Who of God he himself is made unto us Wisdom. That's the first thing that God exercised to show from the Scripture our need, and the one to meet that need. All of Scripture is about Christ.
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Righteousness, as we've already said, nothing that Christ has done.
Is our righteousness. Nothing that he does is our righteousness, but He Himself is our righteousness. Christ is our righteousness.
And the same thing that I believe are true about sanctification and redemption. That's a pretty cool thing. Maybe somebody else can explain that.
Meanwhile, I'll say about boasting when we get up there. Yeah, but I had the faith to believe. No, you didn't. By grace are you saved through faith, and that none of yourselves. It's the gift of God. Even the faith God had, had to give to get us up there.
Of his own will be, yes, by the word of truth. Of his own will. It wasn't even my will.
It is God that worketh in you both the will and to do of his good pleasure.
You can just say that. Use that word both. That seems so simple to me.
According yet is written he that boasteth let him boast in the Lord. You ought to brag about the Lord, you just go right ahead. You can't brag too much on him.
I was enjoying looking at Blanket Chapter 5 the other day and of course it more applies to Israel, but.
Just those first few verses.
Says, Now gather thyself in troops. O daughter of troops, he hath laid siege against us. They shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
We've talked about the Cross of Christ. Think of the his own nation and the chief priests.
Using their authority to put the Son of God to death.
The preaching of the cross.
It's what a thing to think. Why preach A crucified Messiah? No, but then it goes on to say, but Thou Bethlehem afraid of though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel.
Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
Oh, there's a root there, isn't there? That is eternal, this blessed person.
Therefore, will he give them up? We've read some in Romans One about being given up.
Until the time that she which travaileth has brought forth, then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. There's going to be repentance for that nation, and there must be repentance for any soul here that is yet in their sins. The cross is the end to the first man, but when he is raised in resurrection life in that position he is made unto us wisdom.
Righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Then the next verse says.
And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, and the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they shall abide.
What a lovely phrase. Where now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth?
The one who loves us and gave himself for us is yet to be exalted in this very earth. And then the next phrase says, and this man shall be the peace. Look at the world clamoring for peace today. What does all the effort to make peace in the Middle East lead to? Nothing. There's going to be continually the overturning of it. He's given them up until the time the travel brings the very nation of Israel to repentance.
And he wants that in your heart and mind there should be repentance, because.
That that nice little saying, the secret of the whole book of God.
Is God retreating into Christ when man in every way had disappointed him?
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Here's one man who has pleased God utterly, infinitely.
And it takes all that we were right down into the grave.
And all that He is in resurrection life He now offers.
Will you take him?
You may trust him.
All night we were.
All.
Alive.
Two Colossians, Chapter 2.
Colossians Chapter 2.
At the end of verse two and permit me to read it in the new translation.
The full knowledge of the mystery of God, in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Right. Our loving God and our father. We've been privileged.
7 Feasts
Gospel—D. So
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To the Gospel meeting tonight.
Perhaps we'll begin our meeting by singing hymn #4, hymn #4 in our hymn sheet here. Christ is the Savior of sinners. You know, we had just before us in the last meeting what we have been exalted to preach. Christ, the one who was crucified for our sins. Here, the hymn writer reminded us, Christ is the Savior of sinners. Christ is the Savior for me.
Long I was chained in sins darkness. Now by his grace I am free. And as I look around the room this evening I know some of you.
The many new faces that I don't know, but I know that some of you, and perhaps I trust most in this room, can sing the second verse from the heart. We can sing and say, now I can say I am pardon.
Happy and justify free. Saved by my blessed Redeemer. This is the Savior for me and we know many of us.
With the conditions the next verse have reminded us in just as I was, He received me seeking from judgment to flee. Now there is no condemnation.
This is the Savior for me, Savior of sinners, Savior of sinners like me, shedding His blood for my ransom. This is the Savior for me. Perhaps we can stand and sing this hymn together.
Let's turn to a verse in John's Gospel, chapter 20.
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John's Gospel, chapter 20.
Verse 30 through 31, the last verse in this chapter, but.
These are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
And that believing.
He might have life through his name. Let's ask the Lord for help.
What a wonderful privilege to be able to tell for the story of God's love, to tell that Christ Jesus is the Savior of sinners. Think of the verse that we just read in John chapter 20 verse 31. Oh, it tells us here how all these the Word of God is written.
What for? Oh written?
That ye might believe. What are we to believe in? Believe that Jesus is the Christ. He is the one who came into this world.
As the Son of man, he being the Son of God, came to suffer, to bleed, to died on the cross, by believing in that He might have life through His name. Oh what blessedness it is for us. And if there is not anything to be heard this evening, I pray that the name of Jesus may ring in your heart, that you may believe that He is the Son of God.
And by believing that you may be saved.
It was a few years ago.
I remember going to a Body Shop with some need at work in our van. I won't tell you why we need to go there. My children often remind me not to embarrass them. I was told about this man who does very good job on body work and his name is Muhammad Ali.
My first impression was like some of you just did. Oh, I thought, OK, I would have to meet this Muslim man, but he's supposed to have a very nice Body Shop. So I did. I took my car there and my van there. And when I got into The Body Shop, I found that he wasn't available. He was busy in the back. So I sat in the front lobby for a little bit. And some of you may know the feeling, having to wait.
And I noticed a few things different. I went with the same impression of seeing this Muslim man, Muhammad Ali.
I noticed there were pictures of doves on the wall and I thought wow, I didn't realize that Muslims believe in doves. And then I look as I was waiting, I looked in the wall on there I saw a text. It says As for me in my house I will serve the Lord. I go at that point still say that I didn't know Muslim used the same word of God that we do.
Few minutes later, Muhammad Ali came out. We talked about our problem.
They gave me a quote and after that I couldn't help but to ask him.
Ask him why they would have verses and texts like that on the wall.
And to make the Long story short, I found out that Muhammad Ali was not a Muslim, he was a Christian.
Sometimes we look at someone and say how can he be a Christian? Here is a man I have never met prior to that. His name led me to believe he's not, so I asked him this simple question.
I said to him, Muhammad, how were you saved? And he came in, answered that I could never forget.
He looked at me.
With no expressions on his face. And he said by Jesus, of course.
Well, dear friends, tonight we're going to talk about the same Jesus. It is the same Jesus that was saved. Whether someone have a name that sounds like a Muslim, whether you sitting here who look just like your neighbor, we're going to talk about Jesus because is this the name of Jesus that can save us many here. I know we're here this afternoon.
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We have the privilege of going over the Word of God about Jesus, but I believe we have some visitors here.
I don't know you well. One disadvantage when I come so far away and I don't come visit this part of the country often is I don't know a lot of you. I trust that you know the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior. But for the next few minutes, please bear with me as I address you perhaps as one who do not know the way of salvation.
What a serious thing to think that if you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior.
We have a phrase that we use that you are lost. You're lost. You're not on your way to where God wants you to be. Sometimes we say you're not saved, but I like that expression lost a lot better if you young people, if you children do not know that the Lord Jesus.
Came into this world to save your sins that they came to. Died on the cross.
To shed his blood for you and by believing in His name, you can be saved. You are lost.
One of my favorite stories about this boy. And you know, I watched some of the young ones here and I noticed here in the area of the Midwest, young people can be pretty witty too. And they were very quick with comments and they just reminded me of a story I tell often, this young boy.
Met this man and this is a godless man and he recognized the fact that this boy knows the Lord Jesus as his savior. This man thought he was wise and he wanted to trick this boy. He said to him, boy, which way is to hell? What a terrible remark in question, Which way is to hell?
And this young boy, and I trust that he had the Lord's help.
And he gave him a beautiful answer. He said, Sir, you just keep right on going.
Oh, we don't need to find hell.
You disappointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment.
For all have said, the word of God tells us that we cannot deny that fact.
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And then we learn as children from Sunday school that what verse for the wages of sin is death. How terrible to know that, but this world turned its blind eyes refused to believe that the wages of sin is death. We had before us the book of Corinthians. And if you remember one of the brother remarked that the condition back in current.
Was terrible immoralities wickedness.
Oh, all these terrible things around.
And then all we have to do is to look around us. I have not yet been able to drive or gone into the city of Saint Louis. We came up the highway and came straight to the hotel, which I'm thankfully we did. I'm sure Saint Louis being a major city would be no different than where I came from. From Toronto, Canada, where often you can even get the file by looking at billboards and all the terrible immoralities the city have to offer.
Do we know how easily this world ignore God?
But yet, God reminded us this afternoon about the Lord Jesus Christ.
The one who loves you. We talked about the cross. Do you remember that, young people?
The cross.
In John chapter 3 we know that well known verse for God so loved the world.
We know that, don't we? But we'll go back a little bit further. And he said as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
Foretold the fact that the Son of Man has to die in your stead, because the wages of sin is dead. And for us there is no way out. We cannot.
Obtain any from our works, the work of redemption. But God is merciful, He is gracious. Then we read that well known verse in John's Gospel, chapter 3. It says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish.
00:15:19
But have everlasting life.
And then they go on.
It tells us for God send not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. What a gracious God. What a loving God who would send his Son so that you and I can be redeemed by Him shedding the blood on the cross and be brought into his family.
We will remind of the Philippines jailer and many of you know that story. He asked a question to Paul and Silas. He said, sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And we all know the answer is so simple.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And as if that's not enough, he go on in his head and thine house. Oh.
He loves you, He wants you. The work of redemption has been accomplished. Only believing in His Word do you believe.
Do you want to believe that God sent his Son so that you and I can live?
As I look across, I trust that most here knows the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I thought I would take the liberty to use examples that maybe we don't often use, but from the Word of God.
I sometimes find when someone tell me things I have a tendency to listen well, but I go right through me without understanding it.
I don't know if you find that and often objects helps now in a meeting as such, I didn't bring any object lessons, so you can feel relief on that. But I thought perhaps I can paint a little picture. Then we can see what I had before me tonight was perhaps even look at through the Lord's help, the grand scheme of things, of how God is in full control of everything.
How we had before us these last two day things. We've been predestinated. We have been chosen before the foundation of this world. Oh God had everything preplanned and manned and with man's failure cannot change God's purposes.
And to see God's love through his word of what He did to redeem us. And I thought sometimes if we paint a little picture in our own minds or perhaps have a little framework or an outline, if you were, and some young people have probably heard me mention this before, it's like playing a puzzle. It's nice to be able to see the picture on the puzzles first and then do the puzzle, isn't it? I know many of you know that I don't know how to do puzzles very well.
I enjoy helping the little ones when they come in eight pieces, that's a lot easier for me. And for some of you who take those 5000 pieces puzzles, well, I can't tell the difference between the cloud and the water anyway, so they're difficult. So I thought perhaps if we can paint a small puzzle and look at the picture and let's turn with the time here. Let's turn to the book of Leviticus. And some of you know that I enjoy that book and particularly to the 23rd chapter.
You may look and say, well how is the gospel going to be presented in the book of Leviticus?
Remember, this whole word of God we have before us is about Christ. It is about the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything we read off in the Old Testament point toward the cross. Things we read of in the future. Today we quote it in the book of Ezekiel. That's the future temple. Oh, they were to look back toward the cross.
And we'll find that God has his Son in mind for us before long, before you and I exist in this world. And I'd like to use this as an example, perhaps as a small framework, because it's nice to know the counsel of God. Leviticus, chapter 23. We won't have time to read through this, and I would encourage the young people here to study this chapter.
00:20:14
Just as a side comment and some of the well known writer would tell you that when you learned in this book here called the Seven Feasts of Jehovah, when you learn the seven parables in the in the Gospel of Matthew and the seven churches that we touch on briefly this afternoon.
To say that's when Christian knowledge begins. So I encourage you to learn. And this evening I'd like to look at briefly, I don't profess to be very well versed on this, but briefly, the seven feasts of Jehovah and how the Lord Jesus is presented in these seven feasts. And for some of the young people you want to write down next to this, it may be easier. And I will tell you where these seven are just to keep things easier for the younger ones.
Some people call what class it perhaps age feasts because the Sabbath, some would consider it as a fee, some won't, or some would class it as include a Sabbath, but they class this the Passover and the unleavened bread together. I'd like to look at it as the Sabbath plus the 7th feast. It's like any book. The introduction tells you everything, doesn't it?
Introduction is the Sabbath because it tells us that the remaineth to be a rest for God's people. That's God's purpose. Now let's go into this. I want you to write down, if you want to, the first feast in the fifth verse.
We'll find that in the 14th day of the first month, in the evening, it's the Lord's Passover.
The second feast is mentioned here in the sixth verse.
On the 15th day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened bread unto the Lord Eve. Seven days he must eat unleavened bread. That's the second feast. The third feast we found in verse 10.
Partway through, perhaps toward the end there, we're finally as if they're off. Then ye shall bring a sheaf of the first fruit of your harvest unto the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for you.
On the moral after the Sabbath, the 4th feast, we find here.
The 15th verse And ye shall count, and young people like this you can count.
Unto you from the moral after the Sabbath, From that day ye shall brought the sheep, and the wave offering seven Sabbath shall be complete. The 4th one you have to count 7 weeks and the moral after. So you know your mathematics. Seven days in seven weeks gives 49 days plus the day after.
You will have what we call the Feast of weeks of 50 days.
The six feast we find in verse 24 In the first day of the month ye shall have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets and holy convocation. This is what the Jews, you probably often heard them refer this to the Rosh Hashanah or as the New year. 27 verse the 6th feast. Also on the 10th day of the 7th month there shall be a day of atonement.
The Jews called out the Yom Kippur. You probably heard of that too.
And then one more to complete the seventh verse 34.
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The 15th day of the 7th month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord.
I'm sorry we took a bit of time to go through this.
But it helps to see where the seven and what the seven fees are. Let's go back to the very first feast, the Feast of Passover.
What do we remember about the Passover Exodus Chapter 12? We all know that chapter well. On the 10th day they depict that lamb. Did they keep that lamb until the 14th day between the evening and in that evening?
00:25:03
They had to kill that lamb. Do you remember that story?
Then they had to take the blood.
And they had to put it on the doorpost and on the upper door post.
We know the story, don't we? And when that destroying Angel came that night, it tells us from the word of God it will look and see the blood on the doorpost and it will say when I see the blood I will.
Passover. You.
Passover is a picture of death. Here's the Lamb of God. We know that in Corinthians he mentioned that Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for you and the Lord Jesus, the one whom we are preaching tonight, came to fulfill God's word. He was the perfect Passover. We won't have time tonight to go into details, but when you read through the gospel.
You'll find that he entered Jerusalem on the appointed time. We find that six days before the Passover in John chapter 12, he was at a place where Lazarus was six days before. The Passover is the 9th day if you take the 14th day as the Passover is a little bit hard to follow, but I like the way the Catholic presented. They call it the Good Friday and the Palm Sunday.
I'm not advocating the system, it's an evil system, but what they have taught helps us in the reference to this.
Friday was the crucifixion. The Passover must be killed in the evening of the Thursday to the following evening of the Friday. That's what it means by before between the evenings. But then Scripture said on the 10th day they had to choose this lamb. And you'll find that on the 10th day he entered Jerusalem. There he rode on. That *** is cold. Their men would be out there crying, Hosanna.
He entered Jerusalem on that day to fulfill what the word of God told him to do and to think of this one who knew full well what was before him. He came into this world as the Son of God. He knew full well what was before him. We found Scripture recorded, as it says, that He set his face as a Flint to go to Jerusalem. Nothing would deter them. He knew His purpose for being here.
Is to be that Passover lamb. He know his purpose is to die because of your sins and my sins.
So he came.
But four days before his suffering, he went into the city of Jerusalem. There he met with his own. We won't have time to go through all his those days, but we find that on that Friday.
Early in the morning men came and they took him away.
There we had before us. Men were mocked him, they would punish him, men were cried out. We would rather release Barabbas.
We as men will say, away with Him, crucified Him. This is the heart of man in the Passover feast, reminded us.
That there is one who came as a willing victim.
The one who came to bear your sins, my sins, our sins, on his own body, on that tree there we know on the cross on that Friday, the 15th day of the month.
At about 12 noon.
The sky was darkened.
Until it was three hours at 3:00.
Our blessed Savior was cried with a loud voice. He said on the cross, it is finished. The work of redemption was accomplished. He died. He gave up the ghost.
He was the only one that can say that he came to do the Father's will.
And he said I have the power to lay it down and I have the power to take it up again.
And he said this is the commandment of the father. Oh.
00:30:03
Dear friends, he died for you. As if that's not enough, we know from scriptures.
The soldiers came with that spear, and with that spear it peers into his precious side.
And we can read from scripture, it says forthwith came.
Came blood and water.
The Passover feast. Death.
Feast of Unleavened Bread, immediately after his death, they were the purge, all the leavened out of them. We won't have time to go into that, but I'd like to talk about the next feast. We said that was Friday. According to the Jewish calendar, it would be the 15th day of the month.
Saturday would be the 16th day we find in Scripture. Nothing happened. That was the day of Sabbath. They sealed the tomb. They guarded it by soldiers.
So no man.
Can claim they come and took the body of our blessed Lord away.
The next feast is the feast of the first fruits Israel of old on the 17th day that they bring these the sheaves of first fruits. It's interesting to think of this part.
This feast happens around the time frame of March and April.
Now I know I'm a city boy. I don't know much about farming and I have to be careful. There are many farmers in this room and I stand corrected.
What first fruits do you bring?
Around March and April.
And if I understand it correctly, it was that fruit of barley. What a beautiful picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. I was told barley was put into the ground in the winter or before the winter, and it sits there as if it was dead. Came springtime, the first thing that came up was barley. Barley was the despised food. It was animal feed.
I talked to a farmer one day. They said there is not much nutritional value in it. We found a little boy, poor boy, who had fishes and barley loaf. What a beautiful picture of the one of the Christ that we're presenting to you. The one, the word of God said he was despised and rejected of man, a man of sorrows and the one who was acquainted with grieves. And he said we hid this of our faces from him.
Or he was despised and rejected? Dear friends, are you in the same position 2000 years later, looking at this Christ that we are preaching to you, as if it was foolishness that you despise the Son of God who loved you, who gave himself for you? This first fruit of barley was brought.
Let's go back to the tomb at the cross.
On the 17th day, that early Sunday morning, you can read through scriptures. There very early in another passage, they find our blessed Savior was no longer in the tomb when those came. They find the Angel telling them he is not here, He is risen. And dear friends, tonight not only are we presenting to you.
Of Christ, who loved you and who died for you. We're presenting to you a living Savior, the one who conquered death. He is now risen on high. Oh, there is power in the word of God. There is power from God to raise him from the dead.
You know we often preach Christ crucified. Oh, how sad. Sometimes we forget to preach resurrection. Romans 10 and nine. Perhaps I haven't turned to a lot of quote. Let's turn to Romans 10:00 and 9:00.
I know most of you, if not all here know this verse very well.
Romans 10:00 and 9:00.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus. Oh, you know this verse was so dear to me for many years and still is, but it's only until recent years I see something different in this verse.
00:35:07
It was not very long ago.
I realized I have not been reading this verse properly.
We talk about believing in our hearts instead of our heads and then we forget what are we to believe on. Let's read this carefully and I'm sure you are not as foolish as I was here. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Oh, what a wonderful message of resurrection. We are to believe that we are to confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord.
Oh, we know that, don't we? But we're to believe in our heart that we have a living Savior, that God hath raised him from the dead. There's no other religion in this world can claim they have a living Savior, and we do not have a religion here. Tonight we are presenting to you a living Savior, the one who came into this world as man, very God, but yet became a man so that he can die for you.
And God, this is God's way to say the work is finished and that he is satisfied with Jesus, that he raised him from the dead. Oh, if you would confess with your mouth, dear friends, and believe that God has raised him from the dead. It says here from the word of God, and thou shalt be saved. What a wonderful, wonderful verse we have before us. So we have these three fees.
We often find Passover and unleavened bread go together.
And now we're reminded of the resurrection.
The 4th feast.
Verse 15 And ye shall count unto you from the moral after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering seven Sabbath shall be complete. Even unto the moral after the 7th Sabbath, ye shall #50 days. And ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord.
Perhaps I should read the next verse too. And you shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two 10s deals. They shall be a fine flower. They shall be bacon with leaven. They are the first fruit unto the Lord.
From the day of the Feast of the first fruit, from the Resurrection Day.
The other count 7 weeks plus one more day.
It spells it out here 50 days from the resurrection. Did they bring this two meal offerings and we know from the word of God the meal offering is a picture of the perfectness of our Lord Jesus Christ. We find throughout the Old Testament, except in this place, what me you're offering is to be offered without leavened.
But in this case, Levin was introduced and it was baked. Oh dear friends, what happened 50 days after the resurrection day? We know the Lord Jesus stayed 50 days. He was shown. He appeared unto many.
On that fifty day, 50th day, what do we have we have known as the day of the Pentecost. God had all this before him that He wanted you and I to be part of the church. What an exciting dispensation we're in. As our brother earlier mentioned about dispensation here, we're in a dispensation of grace. God has sent His Son so that you can believe in Him.
By believing you're saved. But that's not all He did for us. He bring us into that body of Christ and that we become part of the Church, the Bride. What a glorious thought, young people.
How many of you have heard of the gospel story? And perhaps you can stand up here and tell it better than most of us can.
But have you received Jesus as your Lord? Have you received the fact? Have you acknowledged the fact that God is in control over all this and that it is God who want to bring you into blessings? Over the day of the Pentecost the church was formed, and we find the church.
00:40:19
Us and we'll find another passages that there's no more Jews.
Or Gentiles, it is all if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, become part of that church. What blessedness?
What Gray work? Because of the cross, because of Christ who was crucified for you. So we are now brought into blessings. But you know, dear friends, that blessing, that call, that opportunity for you to receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior.
As the time limit to that many of us here who knows and believe.
Knows that the Lord Jesus will come back for us.
At any moment.
Then where will you spend eternity?
This is the gospel message.
The message of good news. The message of good sounding.
What would you do with Jesus? Knowing is not enough. Here we see the Church being brought into blessing. The reason I tell you this is the seven feast tells us what's to happen next. We find the 1St 43 fees happen very closely together. We find there was the 14th day, and then the 15th day, and then the 17th day in three days. And then only 50 days passed that and then there's a period.
That we don't know much of. And then let's go down to the.
Feast now that was the 1St of the month. Now we are into the 7th month.
Verse 24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing, of trumpets, and holy convocation. Oh, as redeem ones, dear brethren.
What does the picture of the trumpet remind us of? Oh, many of us are waiting for that shout. One that Trump shall sound. We know that the Lord shall descend.
From heaven, oh, many of us know we will be rapture away, and we know the precious thought, and the dead in Christ shall rise 1St, and we which are alive and remain is that we shall be caught up, and then together we will meet the Lord into cloud, and then he says, and then we will be forever with the Lord.
That's the preciousness for the word of God is A2 edged sword.
What about you, dear friends?
Perhaps you can quote scriptures?
Perhaps you know your parents believe in this.
Do you have the full assurance?
That you will be there.
And you know the way of salvation is simple. Believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. The time is coming so ever near.
But here to jitsu the Israelites of old, that was a picture you see here. This is God's grand scheme of things. Blessings, earthly blessing especially belong to Israel, is not ours. In fact, as a brother told me one time, he said whenever you hear someone talk about prophecy concerning the church, you don't need to go any further because there is no prophecy concerning the church.
Is about Israel. So here it's a picture that Israel is God's people, but because of the unfaithfulness God has to deal with them. They were scattered. 10 tribes were scattered around 700 BC. Yeah, the two tribes still didn't learn the lessons and they were taken into captivity of 587 BC, or perhaps 606, depending which captivity you look at.
And here the nation of Israel ceased to be a nation.
00:45:00
Until 2500 years later, the year 1948, when United Nations granted them to be a nation again. Now we have Israel we know of today, but for 2500 years they did not have a homeland, they did not have a nation. The time of the Gentiles began the 606 BC and the church began.
After 50 days from the resurrection day, the Jewish nation, as if it were, was set aside. But remember, God is gracious. This is not forever. This feast of the Trumpet is a reminder that God is going to wake up the Israelites of old. The trumpet is for them so that they can be awakened from their sleep. But we know, as we deem one, we know we will be caught away.
Before they get awakening.
So we know that and then verse 27 also on the 10th day now we find that the event happened quickly. In these last three feasts we find God's timetable is very interesting. Often we see nothing, nothing. And then when it's his time.
It happens quickly. So here on the 10th day, verse 27 also on the 10th day of the 7th month, there shall be a Day of Atonement. It shall be an holy convocation unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls and offer an offering made by fire, and ye shall do no work, and so on. Oh, we find the Day of Atonement.
Do you remember?
When you were Sunday School, we learned about that great Day of Atonement.
With a high priest.
We're allowed to go into the Holy of Holy.
Do you remember the Tabernacle that you have taken up?
There, this dwelling place where God, as a God of love, wanted to dwell with his people. He had them build this Tabernacle. And there he said, I will dwell above the mercy seat in between the cherry bombs.
If you can picture that Tabernacle.
There is only one entrance.
By the Eastgate.
Going into the Eastgate.
Looking in, you see the brazen altar or the altar of burnt offerings.
5 qubit by 5 qubit halfway across is degrade interwoven fires to be burned continually? Where the burned offerings to be made.
I thought there was that labor.
In the outer court, do you remember that?
What picture? It speaks to us. There is only one way to access God. There is only one way to Jesus.
For he says I am the way, there is no other way. No man can enter except through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The burnt offering, it is by the shed blood.
That we're constantly reminded. Do you remember the law of the offerings where the offer would have to bring the offering in front of the altar, and there the offer which slay the offering, and the priest would sprinkle the blood in front of the oxen. What a reminder of the bloodshed, the labor, the water where priests have to cleanse himself before he can do any work.
And dear young people, we have the word of God before us to keep us from all defilement. But then, if you remember, there was the curtains.
The Veil.
A commoner could not go in.
Priests could go in. When you enter into this first veil, there you see inside.
Glittering in gold. Do you remember that there's a golden Candlestick, the picture of the Holy Spirit?
On the other side.
We see the table of Showbread.
But then, as we look carefully, there are yet another set of bail. Behind that veil is the Holy of Holies, where no man, no man could go in. Inside that is the mercy seat.
00:50:17
The Ark, The cherubim looking down.
And what does it look down upon?
Oh, blood.
Because the high priest we're allowed to go in once a year and not without blood.
There he was to make an atonement for himself and then for his people. So here the Day of Atonement, they were reminded back then to look forward to that day when our Lord Jesus will shed his blood on the cross. There at the cross, the center of two eternity.
The question of sin was settled once and forever, and I'll blessed Savior can cried on that cross and he said it is finished because there's no more to be done.
And then we found in the book of Matthew.
The veil of the temple reigned in train, and we find as we read in the book of Hebrews.
How precious that he can say brethren, we can now bully going into and have that free access to God through that man, that man Christ Jesus. Oh the day of atonement one more here's our time is slipping by the 7th feast in verse 34, speak unto the children of Israel saying the 15th day of the 7th month shall be the feast.
Of the Tabernacles.
This feast, this is the feast where they talk about all the harvest to be brought in. Picture of that millennial scene when their work, when the Sabbath, the true Sabbath that rests, are fully accomplished. As our brother asked me earlier on, that in the fullness of time, when is the fullness of the dispensation of time? In that day when Lord should reign.
Supreme.
That blessed day shall come, and I believe a brother in this end made a very interesting remark.
And I don't know if some of you have caught it. It was something to the effect that he said that day could very well be as little as seven years from today. What blessedness that we can rejoice knowing that the coming of our Savior, the return of our Savior is so overnight we yes redeem one can rejoice. That's why in the book of Corinthian where before us until you who believed he is precious.
Is this truth precious to you to know that God had laid on this grand scheme, but above all He had you and I in mine? That you have been predestinated, that you have been, that you will be conforming to His image, to the image of His dear Son. And then he tells us that we have been justified and that we're going to be glorified. What a wonderful thought that we shall be like Him and shall be with Him.
But it is a gospel meeting, and the solemn side must be presented to. And I ask again.
Where will you?
Where will you spend eternity?
Work will not save you. Your parents can save you.
The Word of God give us solemn warnings that He sets. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Tomorrow could be too late. Let's close by singing hymn number.
Perhaps it's not.
I was thinking to him that says weeping will not save you. Yes, hymn #30 we paying will not save you.
Though though my face were bathed in tears that could not allay my fears, could not wash the sins of years. Weeping will not save me, Working will not save me. Purest deeds that I can do, Holiest thoughts and feelings too.
00:55:12
Cannot form my soul anew. Working will not save me.
This third verse I find it even more solemn because I know many of the young people.
Fall into this category. We know that we need the Lord Jesus as our Savior.
But we are waiting.
Please heed to what the hymn writer is warning us. Waiting will not save me. Helpless, guilty, lost, I lie in my ear is mercy cry. If I wait, I can but die. Waiting will not save me. Jesus bled and die for me. Jesus suffered on the tree.
Jesus waits to make me free. He alone can save me. Let's sing this hymn together.
Jesus Wants to Be Your Friend
Children—T. Totems
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Nice to see you all, such bright shining faces.
Let's start by singing some of the songs on the back of the song sheet.
Children's hymns and choruses.
And we're going to sing the first and last verses of these, unless they just have one or two verses.
So who has a selection? Kevin.
#41.
Around the throne of God in heaven.
Glory to God.
And God.
Because the Savior shed his much away their sins. Now watch Him, that most precious one, behold in my head, clean singing glory.
Glory.
Glory, glory bigger God.
Sometimes it doesn't make sense to sing the first and last verse, does it? There's something missing. But who has another song? Yes, in the.
47 Thank you.
47 when he come out.
Like the stars of the morning.
Do you boys or girls know any of the names of the stars that are out there, or the constellations?
Kyle.
The Sun, is that what you said? That's the biggest star that we know close to us, isn't it? Yes.
OK, the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper in the North Star.
Of Venus.
OK, good.
Kevin.
Forgot they're not very bright, but they the North Star, like you said, is a star that has been a guide to people for years, The North Star children.
It's wonderful to see you shining even now, like those little twinkling stars. OK, another song.
Yes.
Thank you #45.
Two little eyes to love could fall. Could it come here to hear his words?
Do little things to walk his ways.
To has to work for him Almighty.
One little time to speak is true.
00:05:25
You have two hands, but they're not too small. TOO small? No. When they're busy for the Lord, you can do a lot of things, Eliana.
Jesus loves me #40.
Jesus loves me beside you.
Yes, I'm taking your hearts, King. I'm ******. And swastika, that's what he made.
Jesus loves me all the way.
If I trust him, should I die, he will Take Me Home my night. Yes, Christian.
Song.
This girl 43 Thank you.
43.
Go ahead, 39 OK on the inside.
#39.
First and last.
What a friend. We have been cheating.
Everything to God in prayer.
Take into the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despite.
Take you to the morning Prayer.
In the day and your mind's in a day, and she'll be now.
This song says take it to the Lord in prayer.
Let's do that right now. We'll sing a couple more, but let's.
Bow our heads, bow our hearts, and pray.
00:10:04
Our God and our Father.
Everyone of us in this room was a child once.
And there are some children who are are small, they're not grown up yet.
But our God.
Thy tender care.
Because I have been challenged by the Lord to say John 316 to people.
It only takes a maximum of 10 seconds.
Oh, but it's so hard. It's so hard.
Anyway, OK, we're going to talk about that a little later.
10 seconds.
We're going to talk about some things this morning that don't take very long, but they're hard to do. OK, I have something in there. I want you to kind of help me. Tell me what you think is in this bag.
It is it, It could be a toy. Oh, it's kind of an expensive toy. You don't count for a little bit here.
And I have one of them, but you really have to have two of them to have the most fun.
It's something that I want to.
Have a relationship with somebody? What do you think it is?
Oh man, first guess he got it. A walkie-talkie. You're right. How did you guess?
OK, because I wanted to have two of them, OK.
Somebody in this room.
Has the other one.
You don't know who he is, do you?
Yeah, you do. Now be quiet.
You're going to give it away.
I've known him for some time, but for the sake of our illustration here this morning, I want to pretend that I want to establish a relationship with him.
What does relationship mean first of all?
I want to have a relationship with him, yes.
Like a friendship that's good. Like a friendship. I want to have a friendship with him. And what do you do when you have a friendship with someone?
Do you talk to them? OK, we talked to them.
We'd be nice to them. That reminds me of a story that our children were playing with some other children and they weren't being too kind. And one of the children says the Bible says be nice. The Bible says play with me.
OK, so a friendship is where we are nice to someone.
We want to be with them.
The last couple days we've been having some words like fellowship and.
Us getting to know God or God knowing us. OK, so I want to know this person.
Now I'm going to try to talk to him.
You boys and girls know how to work these right? You push the button on the side and then you talk into the speaker and he should be hearing me right now. Hello friend, do you hear me? Hello, do you hear me?
Now, what normally happens when you talk to someone on a walkie-talkie?
Kevin.
Yes, you. Well, they hear you and then usually they push their button on their phone and they talk back to you. But he's not talking back. Hello friend, do you read me? Are you there?
I don't know.
Hello. Hello. I'm trying to reach you.
Hi.
What's wrong? Why isn't he responding to me?
What do you think could be the matter?
His is off. OK, that's a very good suggestion. What could be some other reasons why he's not responding to me? Yes.
The batteries are dead. OK, that could be you have a suggestion.
00:15:02
Maybe he doesn't know me good enough. That's right. Maybe he doesn't want to know me.
What do you think?
That's right, he may not like me.
Oh, now those are.
Hey friend, I'd like to like you. Do you want to like me?
Kevin, why? Why isn't he responding to me maybe?
Because he doesn't want to.
This is getting painful. Why do you think he may not be responding to me?
Because he doesn't want to talk on the walkie-talkie.
He might be dead.
OK, I don't think he's dead.
I see some of you brought Bibles here this morning.
Would would you read a verse for me? Revelation 320.
Go ahead and stand up and read Revelation 320.
That you can talk into this one.
That's that's one of the expressions of our dear Lord wanting to have a relationship with us if any man will open the door.
He's knocking and if any man hear my voice and open the door.
I will come in to him this morning. Someone knocked at our door and I looked at that little peephole and I said don't come in yet, OK? He had to wait a little bit.
But he's going to be welcome.
The Lord Jesus wants to have.
A friendship with you He wants to.
Tell you that he likes you.
That he loves you.
I want to see if I can find a verse here.
Ephesians.
Ephesians chapter 2 and verse five says even when we were dead in sins.
It is such a sad thing to think how every boy and girl that is born into this world.
Does not have spiritual life to God. They are dead in trespasses and sins. Now my friend is not dead, I'm quite certain of that. But in a picture, he's dead because he's not responding to me.
And maybe he doesn't want to respond to me.
OK, I've given him a special clue. That is his signal.
To turn his walkie-talkie on.
Boys and girls, you don't need to have a special clue, a secret signal from God.
If you feel the Holy Spirit.
Encouraging you to bow the knee and confess with your mouth that.
Jesus is Lord, that's the best clue you need.
And I know many of you have, but I wonder if you're still holding off because you don't want to have a relationship with Jesus. You don't want to accept his love.
OK.
Would whosoever has the other walkie-talkie please turn it on? I heard a noise.
Oh friend, are you there?
I'm here. Oh, thank you. What a joy to hear your voice. What is your name? My name is Jason, And it's wonderful to talk to you, my friend.
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Oh, what a what a kind response.
Well, Jason?
You've satisfied a lot of questions here this morning, who you are and where the walkie-talkie is and if you're alive and if you do like me.
I certainly do.
Would you like a drink?
Yes, thank you. Would you, would you get me a drink, please?
Thank you. While you're gone, I'm going to talk to these kids.
How hard do you think it is to turn this switch on on this walkie-talkie? Do you think you can turn it on?
I know you could.
I think the youngest child here could turn it on. You know what? I think there are some real people in the world who could not turn this switch on.
Who do you think I'm talking about? Real, live people who could not turn this switch on.
Who?
Oh, OK, babies. Good. I wasn't thinking of babies. I was thinking of someone who might be 30-40, fifty years old who would not be able to turn this switch on. Who would they be?
A what?
Like old people.
Yeah.
Kevin.
Sinners. I wasn't thinking of that. Who? Who could not turn this switch on? Yes.
Someone who was paralyzed from neck down. Oh, Jason, thank you so much.
Someone who is paralyzed from neck down, actually, you know what, they might be able to use their teeth and and turn the switch on. But isn't it sad to think of some boys and girls in this world who they can't use their fingers to turn even a little switch on like this? That is so sad to think of that. You boys and girls, I love to watch you run and jump and play and swing. That's so wonderful.
But do you know that when it comes to the matter of our soul salvation, it's even easier than turning a switch on?
You, you don't. You could have your hands tied behind your back and you could still accept Jesus as your Savior because it's not hard.
But it is hard. What makes it so hard?
I wonder if who else? Kyle, you have a Bible? Would you read Isaiah 53? Three for me, please.
This is one reason why it's so hard.
Go ahead, stand up and read Isaiah 53. Three.
Sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hit us. It were our faces from him. He was despised, and we esteemed him not. Thank you.
The the one of the things that makes accepting Jesus as our Savior so hard.
Partly is because we humans think we can do everything ourselves. I've even seen young children. I asked them if they need help doing something. No, I can do it by myself. I can do it by myself.
And especially when it comes to having someone who is maybe.
Ugly.
Weak. They don't like them, then we don't want to have them help us.
And here the Lord Jesus is despised and rejected. He's a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
We even hide our face from him.
Oh, we can hide our face So many ways. We can look at somebody and just turn our eyes.
Just a quick little turn of our eyes. Maybe they caught our glance just a little bit. But we turn our eyes, we can hide our face from them, or we can see them coming down the hall and we step into a different hall. We hide our face from them.
And then, even sadder, is when we start to laugh.
Look at, look at them and we get other people to laugh with us.
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We despise them and we make fun of them.
I remember so sadly when I was in school.
The school bus picked up some kids down the road. Their last name was Scott.
And there were three or four children that got on at that bus stop. And 1:00 Monday morning we got on the bus. And as we were traveling, we heard that we would not be picking up the Scots today because Kathy had been playing in their garage and she found something that looked like a.
A used up bullet, a fairly large rifle cartridge and.
She was poking a Bobby pin in this thing and it blew up in her face and it blew part of her nose off and her eye and her cheekbone.
A number of weeks went by before Kathy came back on the bus.
I remember as a young boy how I quietly laughed at Kathy.
And I feel so bad that I ever did that, that I laughed at her.
And you know, Kathy didn't do anything special for me after that. She was a nice friend, but the Lord Jesus.
He took your sins on Calvary's cross is your heart. Are you turning your face from him? Are you hiding from him? That's what makes it so hard to turn on your relationship with him because we don't want to have someone who looks weak.
And.
Ugly. This morning in the hallway I passed two men.
That were just specimens. After I passed them I thought how handsome they are.
Just wonderful specimens of the human race. Now I would like to have someone like that help me if I was stuck or had a flat tire.
Then I got to thinking, how would I have treated those people if they were coming along carrying an old beat up satchel and they were kind of limping along and would I have smiled at them and been kind to them? Oh it, it touches me in my heart of what I do and how my heart is.
Now you know the Lord wants us to have a continuing relationship with Him.
Boys and girls, I hope that you will.
Like John 112 Says.
Receive him but as many as received him to them gave you the power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name just believe and then as we go on in life we.
Should continue our talking with the Lord.
How does the Lord talk to us?
Kevin through the Bible.
And I know some of you maybe can't read yet, but.
If you can, that's a wonderful thing to start reading your Bible. And how do we talk to the Lord?
That's right, by praying, and we can do that anywhere also. So dear boys and girls, continue that relationship because we also have the Holy Spirit who dwells within us and He loves to encourage us.
To tell others about the Lord.
How long does it take to tell someone else about the Lord?
It can take about 10 seconds and we were talking about that earlier. I was at a little cookout one time.
There was a nice campfire and we had some logs around the fire. Some of us older people were sitting and I heard the boys and girls behind us playing and I heard a boy, his name is Tim also like mine. I heard Tim say to another boy that was playing there. I want to time this also.
He said.
Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior?
How long do you think that took to, say, Kyle?
Very good. 33 seconds and 31 hundredths. Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior?
The boy was.
00:30:02
Not saved and he said.
You know, he kind of stuttered and no. And then they went on playing. But that little 3 second question has lingered in my heart for years. We don't have to have an hour sermon.
We can just ask someone. Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? May the Lord encourage you.
To do that, I love to see the courage that the boys and girls have at school or at different places shining as a light for the Lord.
Now I do have something I want to give to you kids.
Raise your hand if you believe that I have something to give you.
OK, we have all of all of you are believers and.
I do.
This is a gold coin. At least it looks gold.
I'm grateful that you trusted me.
This is only worth a dollar.
But the gift that God has to offer you, you're welcome.
Is worth far more than a dollar. Many of you are saying thank you as I go by. That is so thoughtful of you to do that. You're welcome.
May our hearts respond to the Lord that same way with thankfulness.
You're welcome.
He gave himself.
He gave himself for me.
He's he's worth trusting.
If if you haven't.
Established a relationship with him, trust him, even though he was crucified on the cross and it looked like there were three wicked men there. God's plan was that the middle man is our Savior.
I just want to make one comment about a brother here. Not not Jason, but a brother with the last name of Jennings.
I've been touched in watching him the last couple days, he just can't seem to keep his hands to himself.
He loves to. He loves to.
Touch people on their shoulder and he. I think he likes to bridge bridge gaps. He reminds me of God.
Who has one hand on Jesus and one hand on the Sinner, and He wants us to meet God. God's heart is so full of love that He just wants us to meet and to find out the joy that there is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I love that brother David.
OK, let's let's sing just one last little song.
Who can?
Let's see #44.
And I want to.
Encourage each of you to tell it again. You've received salvation. I'd like to encourage you to tell someone.
My my dear wife, she enters into my challenges. She's such a dear Christian. I was talking about trying to say John 316 to different people and.
On the elevator, she said.
She got off, came to our room, she said. I just said John 316 to somebody. I feel all sweaty.
And I thought that is so wonderful. And I saw John 316 on someone's tie here in conference. I've seen John 316 on bumper stickers on T-shirts.
I got on the elevator and I saw someone looking at a little red thing. It had John 316 up in the corner. How wonderful, how wonderful. They're they're telling it again. Let's sing number the first verse of #44.
Into the tent, whereas gypsy boy lay. I ain't no no.
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Nobody ever has told it to me.
Tell it again. Tell it again.
Salvation story leaking.
Lord, never mind, you can have to take out the children again. Nobody ever has told me before.
There are some people never heard. In fact, I'm trying to remember.
I don't think I've ever had anybody give me a gospel tract.
In my whole life.
Wow.
So I wonder how many other people haven't received one? All right, let's close our eyes and pray.
Grace
Address—R. Thonney
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.
Grace is the sweetest sound that ever reached our ears.
Conscience charged and justice frowned. To his grace removed our fears.
I thought when check started yesterday he was going to take the theme that I had on my heart. But I think what he had to say was very good background for what the Lord has put on my heart. So let's sing #10.
Is the sweetest sound.
The Replication Soccer nation.
What function started across the was?
Great with our tears.
Demonstration without pursuit of sledge.
It is like I remember seeing.
Grace.
Is thy spot grace? Praise my God.
Here's my way forever.
Our grace and we never have to stay.
I feel all day we're all going through speech.
Seven and sing that one as well.
To pray I.
Mean I want nothing.
May your name Grace. Grace, Grace, grace.
Soul strengthening heart murderer.
We're not asking the agency.
Perhaps like that's what I.
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Deserve.
You know, it's nice to be able to sing sometimes more than one hymn at the beginning of a meeting.
That there's one thing I've learned, a Latin brethren in South America, they love to sing. And what the spiritual contact we have in our hymns is a way to get it into the soul. When you sing it, you're enjoying what you're singing. If you're thinking about it anyhow, and.
They will often at the beginning of a reading meeting, sing for 1/2 an hour. Of course they have three hour readings so.
That leaves a little space, but it just encourage singing. It really is a happy thing. Let's pray 3 Scriptures want to talk about grace this afternoon. Kind of a follow-up, maybe more on a practical level.
Of what the brother Chuck gave yesterday on the book of Galatians, which was so helpful but.
To get the picture of where we are, I want to take 3 scriptures. First one is the present age in which we live.
The second one will be the coming age, which is the Millennium. We've talked about that in these conferences, in these meetings. And the third one, third Scripture is a scripture that.
Deals with God's eternal day. Let's go first of all to Romans chapter 5.
This was a.
Part of one of our Bible readings down in Salta, Argentina last weekend.
We had Romans 567 and eight in the readings. Really enjoyed it, but this stood out as we came across it. Romans chapter 5 and verse 20. Moreover, the law entered that the offence might abound, but where sin abounds.
Grace did much more abound. Now notice verse 21, that as sin had reigned unto death, this part, Even so might grace reign through righteousness.
Unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. In a certain way you can say this is what characterizes.
The age in which we live, this present day, we call it the dispensation of the grace of God at times. But I like to put it this way, grace reigns through righteousness. If God is going to act, he always acts in consistency with Himself. And if this is a day of His grace, he's not going to do it in a way that compromises the question of righteousness.
This is the day in which grace reigns through righteousness by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now let's look at the one to do with the Millennial day, Isaiah chapter 32.
And verse one.
Behold.
A king shall reign in righteousness.
And Princess shall rule in judgment.
This is describing the millennial day. This king that is spoken of in verse one is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's going to ring. It's not grace raining through righteousness.
No, in that day it will be righteousness that will reign.
And I don't know that we really have an appreciation with how it's going to be in that day. We are so used to the fact that we live in the day of grace that we kind of take it for granted that it will always be that way. But in the millennial day, it's going to be different. It will not be a day of grace in the Millennium. It will be a day in which.
00:10:05
Righteousness reigns. It tells us in the Book of Psalms that every morning he's going to cut off the evil doers out of the city of the Lord. And a person during the millennial day, Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit.
And a person that dares to sin will know it. You will not be deceived by Satan. He will know that he is acting in direct rebellion to the Lord Jesus Christ. And then next morning, what he's out of there, he's gone.
People will learn fast that they can't get away with stuff. I mean, everybody does it today, and even Christians sometimes get into the rut of just taking liberties. It won't happen in that day. It will be righteousness raining. But now let's go to a verse that speaks of the eternal day.
In second Peter chapter 3. Now when I say the eternal day, I'm talking about eternity.
Time. I like to think of time as a little bubble.
In eternity, God inhabits eternity. We live in time, and God came into time, and the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, that God in the fullness of his being, inhabits eternity. I don't know if we can grasp that very well, but it's interesting to think about. God inhabits eternity.
But the time is going to come when every created thing is going to pass away.
And.
Then it will be God's.
Eternal day. Remember, eternity is just one day.
Because there's no night there. It's one day.
But it's a day that is never ending.
Fact. Even to use the word never ending, we are Speaking of it from our viewpoint in time.
So it's it's difficult for us to think in any other way, but let's read this verse in second Peter chapter 3 that talks about the day of God verse 12, second Peter 312 looking for an hasting unto the coming of the day of God. We're in the heavens being on fire shall melt.
Shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.
Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Each one of those three time period or three verses we've spoken about, it talks about righteousness.
Because God is righteous and his character, He cannot be anything else.
This is the day of His grace, but it's the day when grace reigns through righteousness. In the millennial day, righteousness will reign, and in the eternal day, righteousness dwells because there's no longer any sin present.
In all of that new creation.
No suggestion of sin in it at all. Righteousness dwells no longer any need of raining.
Because there will be no sin there at all. Wonderful to think about.
Well, today we live in the day of grace and going back to.
Romans chapter 5, just to comment a little bit more about that because I think it is helpful. Grace reigns through righteousness. It's because of what Jesus did on the cross.
In satisfying God's holy character, sin had called into question.
All that God is.
And the Lord Jesus so fully satisfied the holy claims of God as to the whole question of sin.
That now God can come out in the fullness of his being and show grace to a lost world. It is not the day when righteousness will reign. People say. Why does God allow so much sin and sickness and suffering in this world?
00:15:16
You know it should touch us, brethren, I really believe it should touch us more than it then it seems like it does at times. The awful misery of this world.
It's happened over in Pakistan.
Over 80,000 now dead from that bad earthquake.
Whole schools just leveled with the children inside. Thankfully many of those children went straight to the glory because Jesus died. And if they were not at an age of responsibility, they are in the glory. So grace.
Abounds where sin abounded. I've heard of places in the world where.
Children 90% die before they attain the age of 1 year. Think of that 90% of the population going direct to heaven.
Isn't that beautiful? His grace abounds. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Thank God he's not limited and he can show grace because of what Jesus did on the cross.
Grace reigns through righteousness. It's not a day when righteousness reigns and people want sometimes for God to execute righteousness.
Sometimes I've spoken to some of them. I say be careful what you're saying. You want God to fix up that guy over there that's doing stuff that's wrong.
When God starts fixing this world up, He's not going to just stop with him. He's going to go all across the board and it's going to hit you just as much as Him. Be careful.
Though we're so used to just accommodating sin.
God does never accommodate sin. He's going to be gracious, but it's because that's in question has been so fully addressed by the Lord Jesus and the cross and taken care of.
Still remember when I first we first moved to Bolivia and they required me to get a Bolivian driver's license.
Well, that was quite an ordeal. It took me about two weeks working on it and about $100.
After I got done with the process, they told me that I could have just gone into the office and laid down $200.00 and they would have given it to me right across the board if I didn't know how to drive or not.
That's the way this world is, you know, accommodate situations.
God isn't that way, and it's important to realize that. God shows grace, but he doesn't accommodate the question of righteousness. It has to be satisfied. It will be satisfied. It must be satisfied.
Remember one part of the test that I had to take for the drivers was a parking test at the parallel park and for some reason they made you take it with a truck. It was a six wheel truck.
And they measured the length of your truck and they said we're going to give you one extra meter and we'll put the barrels at at those places, one extra meter in the length of your truck and you have to park it in those four barrels.
But if you like an extra meter, it'll cost 50 pesos. If you're like two extra meters, it'll cost you 100 pesos.
That's the way man accommodates himself, doesn't he? Isn't that wonderful, brethren, that God's righteousness He does not accommodate Not the least thing. And I think we need to have our thinking adjusted sometimes when we speak of grace, remember it's grace reigns through righteousness by Jesus Christ our Lord. He's satisfied all the holy claims.
Of God. So God is gracious. Thank God he's gracious. There wouldn't be much space for many, many of us if it were anything else. But God will never show his grace compromising his righteous character. Let's go back to John's gospel chapter one.
00:20:27
John's Gospel chapter one and verse.
14 The Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, was made flesh and dwelled among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Verse 17.
And the law, for the law was given by Moses.
But grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Just to show that there is a contrast with the principle of law and the principle of grace.
Law is focused on what men can produce.
Grace focuses on what God is now because of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I think we all realize that grace is a word that means.
Undeserved favor. God shows his undeserved favor because of what Jesus did on the cross like was brought out yesterday. That doesn't leave any room for you and me to be boasting about ourselves.
Not one iota can we boast of ourselves.
The law as was brought out yesterday. I'd like to turn to Romans chapter 10 just to show what the law basically says, that principle of law.
And even in the Old Testament under the dispensation that we sometimes call the dispensation of law, it really was never pure law, because men could never have survived it. But here is the principle of law, verse 5, Romans 10, and verse 5. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law.
That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
So the principle of law is you obey it, you will live by it.
Problem was nobody.
Could obey it.
Only one, that was the Lord Jesus Christ, that one who could say thy law is within my heart, the only one. So that's the principle of life, you do something.
You get what you do. If you obey, you will live. If you disobey, it will be death. That's the principle of law.
Principle of grace is completely different. The law was given by Moses.
Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, so it's a completely different principle.
As we've mentioned, it's not.
Foregoing God's righteousness. But it is a completely different principle in which God, because of what Jesus did on the cross, can show His supreme favor to us. Wonderful thing.
Like to look at a verse in Chapter 11 Romans to show that you can't mix those two principles.
Laws on one side, grace is on the other. You can't mix those two things. Notice in Chapter 11.
In verse five, at the end of the verse, he's talking about a remnant according to the election of grace, and then he says clarifying what he means by grace. If by grace, then it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace.
00:25:01
But if it be of works, then it is no more grace. Otherwise work is no more work.
It's got to be one or the other. You can't have it both ways.
If you want to be on the ground of your own responsibility before God, you can't embrace grace. People like to do that. You know, say I'm going to try to keep as much as the law as I can. And you know, we all fail, but God is gracious. You can't do that. You can't mix those two principles. God doesn't know how that they are two distinct principles. And so you stand before God.
On the groundwork of your own responsibility or you stand before God on the ground of his sovereign grace and He can do that, but not if you embrace your own righteousness. The apostle Paul had to learn that he had a righteousness according to the flesh, which was admirable. He could say as to the righteousness which is of the law was blameless. Nobody could point his finger at Paul and say hey Paul, you've messed up in this part of the law. No, they couldn't do it. He was blameless.
There was something that really got to him, but it was something inward that others didn't see. It was Thou shalt not covet that got him, but it was not something that others could see.
So Paul had that that, you know, when Paul was on the way to Damascus, he was Saul of Tarsus then and the Lord Jesus appeared to him and he realized that he could have the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ. He says that righteousness that I used to have, that I used to boast about.
Get out of here. I don't want to have anything more to do with it. I've got something so much supremely better.
In the Lord Jesus.
And so he didn't want that any longer. He realized he couldn't mix those two. It was either law or grace. You cannot mix those two principles. Some people like to think that the law is a rule of life. It is not the rule of life For a believer in the Lord Jesus, the law is holy, just, and good. We're not speaking against the law, and the law is as valid today as it ever was.
What's changed is my position to the law in Christ. I have died. And what does the law have to say to a dead man? Sometimes I give an illustration. The brethren down South, there's a criminal in the prison. He's condemned to be executed tomorrow morning at 8:00 in the morning.
730 the guards go into his cell to get him out and get him ready to be executed, and they find.
That during the night he died, there's a dead man laying there. What are they going to do now? You're going to take him down to the execution cell and execute him? No. Why not? The law doesn't apply to a dead man. It applies to a living man. And so it's us who have died. The law continues in all its validity and force.
But my position has changed because Christ died for me.
And I accepted him as my Savior and identified myself with him in baptism. The law has no longer anything more to say to me. We are free from the law. Sweat Scripture says. Sometimes people say, well, if you're going to say that, then you can do anything you like and get away with it. I say to them, have you ever seen a dead man doing anything he likes?
If he's dead to the law, he's dead to sin as well, and you will not see a dead man doing anything he likes. That doesn't happen.
Well, those are principles that we need to realize. I must say, brother, and this is where I want to get around to the practical side of it.
I just found in my own life.
And it seems like the principle of law is what kind of prevails in our way of thinking.
And I, as I study the life of the Lord Jesus, I marvel.
I desire to be more like him. I don't think I'm very far yet, but I marvel at the grace that there was in his person as he met people and dealt with him. Let's go back to the back of John again just to notice a couple people he meets up with.
00:30:17
And the gracious way he deals with them.
Never compromising sin.
You know.
The law condemns.
And the law repels.
Grace attracts and draws souls, and when the Lord Jesus met up with different ones in his life. Let's go to John chapter four, we have the Lord Jesus.
Coming.
From Judea and he's going towards Galilee, and he passes through the province of Samaria, and there he sits, wearied with his journey in this beautiful.
The eternal God, there he is sitting there as a man.
Wearied with his journey.
I find that so beautiful. You ever get wary?
He understands what it means to be weary. There he was sitting there, and here comes a woman of Samaria.
And this woman was not the best of characters.
And he knew it. He knew everything about her. She wasn't going to even talk to him because she thought.
That Jews don't have anything to do with.
Samaritans, that was the law. There were to be separate, not to intermingle at all. And yet he asks her, Give me the drink.
And we never read that he got his drink.
But.
They got into conversation and the Lord Jesus in the course of conversation.
Offers her living water beautiful. Verse 14 Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman has necessarily attracted, and says, Sir, give me this water.
She was attracted, but there is something that had to be addressed.
It was her life. How is he going to do this in a way that doesn't repel her?
You know, I've often addressed the question of sin with people and I can tell immediately they.
They feel like running. They want to get out of there. That was not the case of the Lord Jesus.
She never felt that way.
But he says to her, because the story of her life had to come out into the light, God is light.
And if there's something in your life that is hidden nobody knows about, it's going to come out in the light sooner or later. Because God is light. He knows every bit of everything about you.
And so he says, go call your husband and come here.
Don't have a husband?
Kind of 1/2 truth, you know, we like to answer that way, don't we? Get away with a half truth.
The Lord Jesus a beautiful, beautiful grace. Thou hast well said, I have no husband, for thou hast had five husbands in the one you have now is not your husband that you said truly?
She realized she was in the presence of someone who knew everything about her, that she could not hide a single wit, but at the same time she is not repelled.
I just, I just covet that for myself. What beautiful grace.
What beautiful grace did he make light ever sin? No, you know what he does? He simply brings it out into the light.
So that she can realize where she is in connection with the light. He didn't come to condemn, He came to save. And in His grace, he attracted these people.
00:35:07
And so they begin a conversation, and it ends that.
She says, I know that Messiah's cometh, which is called Christ. When he has come, he will tell us all things. And isn't this beautiful? What he says? Aye, that speak unto thee am He?
She was in the presence of the Messiah. He revealed himself to her.
And she goes right into the city, now liberated from having to keep everything undercover.
You know, a person that tries to have that has to try to keep everything undercover is not a free person.
They're a person that's in slavery.
But she goes in, she realizes he knows everything about me. Now there's no sense trying to hide anything. What liberty of conscience that gives. And she says to the very men of the city. Evidently she'd send with some of those men. She said, come see a man that told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ?
Had he told her everything she'd ever done? No. But she realized she was in the light and she couldn't hide anything.
Instead of being repulsed, repelled, she was drawn, She was attracted. That's the power of grace.
Law would condemn her, but grace attracts her. That's Christianity. Let's go over to the 8th chapter briefly. There he meets up with another woman.
And.
The Pharisees he was teaching in the temple, and the Pharisees bring this one.
What hypocrisy.
Sin of adultery takes a man as well as a woman, and it was in the very act. Why didn't they bring the man as well as the woman? The Lord realized the hypocrisy that there was there.
And when they said?
Moses and the Law said we should stone this woman.
What do you say? They thought they had him trapped because they knew he preached forgiveness of sins and if he said forgive her then?
That would set Moses Law aside.
With the Lord Jesus.
The perfect Son of God, what beauty there is, he doesn't answer. You know, sometimes we think we have to answer everything right now. Floor Jesus sometimes didn't answer right away. He Stoops down and writes in the dust, doesn't say what he was writing there.
But they keep asking him, what do you say? Finally stands up and he says.
He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her.
Did he condemn them?
Not really.
They were condemned by their own consciences. He just brought them into the light of his presence, and they realized that they were as guilty as that poor woman.
One by one they go out.
Because they didn't want to face the light.
Until just the woman there, and the Lord Jesus, and he had stooped down to write again, and when he stands up again, only the woman left.
Yes, there was one without sin that could have cast the stone at her, but he had not come to condemn, he had come to save. What does he say to her woman? Were those thine accusers as no man condemned him?
No man, Lord.
Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. You know what it costs Jesus to be able to say. Neither do I condemn thee. It cost him having to go to the cross and to pay for those sins that she had committed. That's what it costs. God couldn't lay his righteous character. Decide to say, I don't condemn you.
He said I don't condemn you, but be so that would be possible. He had to go to the cross. That's grace. Grace doesn't condemn. Grace saves. You know how long moon?
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Soul to be more like that rather than the Lord give us to be more that we live in a world where they have the idea that God is this austere someone out there in space that's ready to strike him. Dad.
Is that a fair picture of God?
Not at all. The God we know in Christ is a God.
That gave everything he possibly could give his only son that we might be safe.
I'd like to just mention one other case of grace working in an individual and.
We can't go to because our time goes too fast. It's.
David in the Old Testament.
He met up with Goliath in the Valley of Eli in the 17th of First Samuel is the story. Remember for 40 days, Goliath, that giant, had shouted his challenge to the Israelite troops, and even though Saul was head and shoulders above all the people, he didn't want to take him on.
And David comes at shepherd boy.
And David goes down into the valley to meet the giant.
And in his simplicity of faith.
He kills the giant, comes back out of the valley with the head of the giant in one hand and the giant sword in the other. What a victory. There was somebody on the Israelite side that was watching it all. His name was Jonathan.
The son of King Saul, the one who was in Direct Line to inherit the Kingdom of Israel.
But when Jonathan saw what David had done, he comes up to Saul. The next chapter talks about it.
And he says, Jonathan.
Here's my sword, my bow. Here's my robe. Somebody say you have to give it all to David. Was there somebody there forcing him to do that? No. Why did he do that? It was grace working in his soul.
And he did it because what David had done.
If we can apply the picture now, go back, dear brethren, to Calvary, not talking about David, talking about the Lord Jesus Christ who went down into the valley of death.
They nailed him on a cross.
His head crowned with thorns, His face marred more than any man's, His hands and his feet nailed to a cross.
Hanging there, an abject pain and suffering. You know, sometimes we focus on the fact that the most intense sufferings were the three hours of darkness. And I have no question that that's true. Sometimes we don't realize the gruesome awfulness of crucifixion. It was awful. I think we'd be shocked if we'd see it. We'd be shocked. We come in to remember the Lord and we sit on nice, comfortable seats.
You're comfortable in here, nice air conditioning and everything and.
And nothing wrong with all that. Thankful for it that they say we don't get the picture of the gruesomeness of what crucifixion was.
There's God's eternal Son, the Creator of the vast universe, hanging on a cross to rescue this poor Sinner from eternal hell.
And then not only the physical sufferings which were awful, but that part that we have to stand at a distance. Rather we can never grasp it properly, those three hours of darkness when God laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all, and then he picked up the rod at his judgment and poured out unmitigated judgment on Him for three solid hours.
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Mr. Darby's little poem The Man of Sorrows.
Puts it beautifully.
O'Day.
Of mightiest sorrow day of unfathomed grief, when thou shouldst taste the horror of wrath without relief.
Lustended across the sea.
Suffering for me, it captivates my heart breath.
Nobody is standing over me with a club and say hey, you got to live straight. It's not that. It's a totally different principle that operates now. It's a principle of His grace.
He won my heart, I love him. I want to do everything I can to please him.
Jimmy Smith used to have a little saying that he liked to quote, he said.
I could not work my soul to save, but I would work like any slave in love to God's dear Son. That's the principle of grace. That principle is far stronger than the principle of law. And I see brethren putting themselves under legal codes. I say, Oh brethren.
Don't we understand what happened on the cross? How can we ignore it?
Like to read a few verses in the New Testament that talk about grace and what it does. Again I say.
Grace is a principle that is far stronger than the principle of law.
Let's go to a verse that was mentioned during the meetings. Ephesians chapter 2A, well known verse.
Ephesians 2 and verse 8.
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.
Grace is what saves the soul his unmerited favor.
So there's no one that's exempt here. The chief of sinners is already in heaven.
Nobody can claim I'm too great a Sinner. No, because it's only by God's unmerited favor that we can stand before Him.
Like to go to another verse that was read in these meetings, Titus chapter 2 and verse 11.
The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.
Teaching us that.
Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God in our Savior Jesus Christ.
Here we have that grace teaches us. It's not a legal code of the law that teaches us that there's certain things that are not right. No, it's grace that teaches us. Isn't that interesting?
Something to meditate on. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 13.
And verse.
9.
Be not carried about with diverse and strange doctrines, for it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not with meats which have not profited them which have been occupied therein.
Grace.
Establishes a soul.
He's talking here about diverse and strange doctrines, and there are a lot of what Scripture calls winds of doctrine in the world today.
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Naze say out on the street there, there's a piece of paper somebody dumped there, and here comes the wind from one side. Whoo carries that paper off over in that direction. Comes the wind from the other side and wow, he goes off over in that direction. Let's not be like that.
Going any direction at any specific time according to the wind of doctrine that we may be listening to at the time.
You know, where that kind of people, that kind of paper usually lands up, ends up in the garbage.
Let's not be that way. It is good that the heart be established with grace, and grace will establish you. Go back to the 12Th chapter.
In verse.
15.
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up, trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.
What does it mean to fail of the grace of God? It is, brethren, to lose the sense in our souls that we stand before God on this groundwork, and that we are debtors to God.
And that all are standing as in the ground of his sovereign grace, and we lose the sense of that. And we think, oh, this brother should act better than he's acting, and that sister should do better than what she's doing.
We're losing the sense of grace. We're not saying we can accommodate just anything. No, sometimes there's need of help reading the scriptures together. But let's not fail. Let's watch diligently that we don't fail of the grace of God.
In the end of chapter 12, we have one more verse that I'd like to read.
Verse 28 Wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. And if I had written that, I might have said, let us have zeal. No, it's not zeal we need. All we need is grace to serve God acceptably with reverence in godly fear.
Another verse, Second Timothy, chapter 2. This verse was mentioned during the meetings as well.
And verse one.
Thou, therefore, my son, be strong.
In the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Here he is addressing Timothy.
Right down at the end of his life in the 4th chapter, he says I am ready to be offered. The time of my departure is at hand.
And he talks about the last difficult days in Chapter 3.
What is it that's going to make a strong brethren to continue on in these kind of days that we're living?
It's not any legal code. It's the sense of grace and the soul that will make you strong. Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Another verse in First Timothy. I'm sorry, First Corinthians chapter 15.
First Corinthians chapter 15 and.
Verse 9 he's talking about all those who saw the Lord in resurrection and.
He says in verse.
Verse eight and the last of all he was seen of Maine also as one born out of due time from the least of the apostles and not meet to be called an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God. Verse 10.
But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly than they all. Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Isn't that beautiful? Wasn't Paul? He doesn't create credit for laboring as he did. Nice. This is the grace of God working in me.
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If there's anything I will set you to work for the Lord Jesus, it's.
That principle of grace, we live in a world that is a tremendous needs. I just wish sometimes I knew how better to challenge you young.
Brothers and sisters to use your life for eternities day.
Don't strive for big things down here.
Keep your sights set on God's eternal day. You won't be sorry if you do.
Remember an old preacher?
That used to pray to the Lord. He said Lord in grave eternity on my eyeballs.
We forget about it. We think about present advantage. So much is taken up with material things down here.
I live in a world that's needy China.
1,300,000,000 People.
Forget I saw the other day the ratio of Christians to how many Bibles. I think there's maybe one Bible for every 100 Christians in China.
Is there nobody here has it on their heart? They could take some Bibles over to those Christians over in China.
Think of the misery over there in Pakistan now with that earthquake.
Is there nothing we can do to help out?
I know it's such a vast problem that you don't know where to start, but I say start by praying about it. The Lord told His disciples to pray, the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into his harvest, and then the next chapter He sends out those that were praying. So start by praying if nothing else. Never know what God will do with you if you just put yourself at His disposal. But live young people.
This life is too short. Don't live for present advantage, live for eternity's day.
Grace of God will set you to work for the Lord Jesus. I just want to mention our time is just about it.
First, Peter chapter 5 and verse 10, we're not going to look at it, but it says the God of all grace, who has called you into his eternal glory by Christ Jesus.
God is the God of all grace.
You're feeling you're kind of at the end of your tether. You don't know what to do.
Go to him, he has plenty to give.
Never be ashamed to continue to go to Him. And one more verse before we close Hebrews chapter four. We read this earlier in the conference.
The last verse of Hebrews chapter 4.
Let us therefore come boldly. I love that word boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy. Find grace to help in time of need.
Let me encourage you to pray.
The needs are tremendous everywhere you look. Do you spend some serious time in prayer?
That God will work in His grace.
Do it, we're told, to come boldly. There's no ranking in God's family, some that have more privilege than others.
No, as we were mentioning in the conference, all believers are priests equally.
Able sisters as well as brothers, to come boldly to the throne of grace to present.
Our needs.
To obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Never be ashamed to keep on asking. He is the God of all grace.
Oh, brethren, I just want to confess the end of this meeting. I don't feel like I'm a very able person to address this subject and I just find increasingly the Lord has shown me.
01:00:13
That my thinking has been more in the lines of law so often.
In my relationship with my brethren.
And it hasn't pleased God.
Lord, help us brethren to emulate.
The blessed person of our Lord Jesus Christ, that one through whom grace and truth came. Let's pray, Father.