St. Louis Conference: 2011
Table of Contents
Lord's Table, Supper, and Day
Address—Bill Prost
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We sing together #312.
312 Lead on Almighty Lord, lead on to victory. Encouraged by thy blessed word. With joy we follow thee.
312.
I have to say at the beginning of this meeting that.
Maybe others have this experience that whenever I am asked to take a responsibility like this, right up until the last minute, I guess I am much before the Lord as to whether what I have on my heart is directly the Lord's mind.
And I want to say how much I was encouraged by the two of hymns given out at the prayer meeting #134 and #8.
Both of which bore very strongly on what I have before me. I trust it is of the Lord. I'd like to speak this afternoon on the Lordship of Christ.
The Lordship of Christ.
And to begin, I would like to turn to a verse in the second chapter of Acts.
2nd chapter of Acts.
Verse 36.
AX2 and verse 36.
Therefore, let all the House of Israel know assuredly.
That God hath made that same Jesus.
Whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
We all know, and I'm speaking mainly to Christians this afternoon.
And I might make another comment here, the brother of the local brother here that had the responsibility of asking me to have this meeting reminded me, he said. Bill, remember there are going to be 100 plus young people there.
I was glad to hear that, Very glad to hear that.
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And it really encourages our hearts, those of us that are a little older, to see you young people making the effort, spending the money, taking the time off work or school to come to meetings like this.
I say again, we're speaking mainly to believers, and we know that this world gathered together when the Lord Jesus was here on earth, instigated first of all by the nation of Israel. And then we know, sad to say, the Gentiles joined in to reject the Lord Jesus Christ. But here we have Peter's testimony on the day of Pentecost resounding over and above all of that rejection and saying.
Let the House of Israel, all the House of Israel, know assuredly that God hath made that in Jesus.
Whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
I know that each one here who knows the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her Savior would gladly join with me in saying yes. I am so thankful to know that the Lord Jesus.
Is my personal savior. You acknowledged him as Lord.
And you know you can't do that unless you are truly saved. You cannot acknowledge the Lord Jesus as Lord except in the power of the Spirit of God. Excuse me?
No man can call Jesus Lord but by the Spirit of God. And so if you call the Lord Jesus Lord, if you have acknowledged him as Lord, it is evidence that you are a true believer. And there have been many occasions, some of us here have experienced it, where someone has claimed to be a Christian and we have said to them, can you acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord to the glory of God the Father?
Can you say Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior? And you know, you would think, humanly speaking, that it would be relatively easy to frame those words.
They can't do it. They cannot do it, They cannot will not. There is something in the natural man that will not frame those words except by the power of the Spirit of God.
But I say to you, each one of you who is a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, I say it to my own soul, if we have owned Jesus as Lord for our salvation.
Have we owned Him as Lord in our lives? And I don't mean merely in an outward way. I don't mean merely in saying the words. But what I mean is.
Is the Lord Jesus practically the Lord of your life and mine as we enter upon our day-to-day activities? Is He the Lord of my life as I worship?
Do I recognize him as Lord when it comes to where I would go?
To worship? Do I recognize Him as Lord in the decision making of my life? Do I recognize Him as Lord when there is a difficult choice to make in my life?
We won't turn to it.
But you can read it in the 12Th chapter of John, how that the Lord Jesus Christ faced, I suppose, if I could use these words, the most awful dilemma in the history of the universe when He was on the way to the cross.
And on the one hand, he said, Father, save me from this hour.
And on the other hand, he said, but for this cause came I under this hour.
And you and I can only bow and humble adoration and praise as we see the way that Blessed One settled that issue.
What settled it? 4 words. Father, glorify thy name.
Father, glorify thy name. Oh, how simple the decision was. Yes, Lacrosse lay before him, but if the Father's name was to be glorified, he must go through with that awful cross and everything that went with it.
But how wonderful. But at that very moment it says, Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.
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And we know that as a result of that work on the cross, we read this verse in Acts 2, that God hath made that same Jesus, both Lord and Christ. And you know what a wonderful thing it is to acknowledge Him as Lord in our lives.
We don't have time to go into all of the ramifications of that, but I want to say this one thing.
In a very practical way.
And you will forgive me if I tread on a toe or two when I say this, because I don't mean to, but I say it from the bottom of my heart. There have been occasions, and they have been particularly more numerous in the last few years, when I have talked to dear believers, some of them whom I knew very well, some of them who were at least at one time gathered to the Lord's name. And I have talked to many dear believers who are not gathered to the Lord's name.
And not infrequently, I hear.
When God is referred to, he is referred to as God.
I remember speaking to one young man.
Quite some time ago and he was living in a place and I said to him, how long are you going to be there? Do you have any idea? Oh, I guess I'll be here until God tells me to leave.
What's wrong with that? Another young man whom I was speaking to.
And he made reference many times in his conversation to how important God was to him and how important God was to his family.
We don't wanna be critical. We don't wanna make a man an offender for a word either.
We won't turn to it again because time does not permit.
But if you read the Book of Revelation, you will find that there are those who in no way bow before God in the right way. But what do they do when they feel the awful effects of the plagues that God is going to allow on this world? It says they blasphemy the God of heaven.
Why that expression? All because that is at work, keeps God at a distance. He is the God of heaven.
Yes, we know that this is His hand. We recognize the power in these things that He is allowing, but they call him the God of heaven.
There is no recognition of Him as the Lord of all the earth. There is no calling upon Him as Lord.
And I say to you and to me.
And again, I hope this does not tread on any toes. It is not intended to, but I wonder sometimes if.
In referring to God as God.
We perhaps even unconsciously, get away in our own souls from the recognition of Him as Lord.
When we read through the writings in the New Testament of the Apostles, particularly the Apostle Paul, we do find him referring to God as God when God's nature or power are in question or being referred to.
But whenever Paul talked about things in his own life, whenever he talked about things relative to his own pathway, it seems to me that the vast majority of times he addressed the Lord as Lord. Isn't that wonderful? And I say to you and to me, while our words are not necessarily always a reflection of what is inside.
Yet nevertheless.
The words we use very often do reflect our internal attitude, and sometimes using the right words helps to frame a proper attitude.
It's nice to recognize Jesus Christ as Lord.
I said earlier that we don't have time to talk about all the ramifications of the Lordship of Christ.
But I would like to talk about something very practical this afternoon.
Something that has been brought home to my soul lately, and I don't suppose it's anything new to many here, but I would like to talk about the Lordship of Christ in three areas.
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And it is in three areas that, so far as I can see, are mentioned only once in the Word of God.
Now that's significant, isn't it?
I've said this before and you'll pardon the personal reference, but when I was going to medical school a few years ago now, some of us were pretty overwhelmed with the volume of work that they were throwing at us, and I will remember some of us taking great deal of comfort. Excuse me?
From one professor who said remember anything that is really important.
You are going to hear it over and over and over again. And that was true. We found that to be the case.
But on the other hand, we find in the Word of God that there are things that God does repeat over and over again, but there are also things that God says only once.
They are significant because of that, and these three references to the Lordship of Christ at first glance tend to have somewhat of a negative connotation, and the references are, by our standards, a little bit.
Shall I say unusual?
The three things I want to speak about this afternoon are the Lord's Table, the Lord's Supper, and the Lord's Day. Let's turn first of all to the passage that speaks of the Lord's Table in First Corinthians chapter 10.
First Corinthians, chapter 10.
10 verse 15.
I speak as to wise men. Judge ye what I say. A cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?
The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? That word communion could read fellowship. It's the same word in the original language. For we being many are one bread or one loaf and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread.
Behold Israel after the flesh. Are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What say I then, that the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrificed idols is anything?
But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrificed to demons or devils and not to God. And I would not that you should have fellowship with devils or demons.
Now here's the expression. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils. You cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of devils.
Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
Time again does not permit us to go into a lengthy discussion of what the Lord's Table entails. I suppose that.
There has scarcely been an expression in the last 100 years or 150 years that has caused more controversy and more bad feeling among believers than this expression.
And yet, I don't believe we should shy away from the expression because Scripture uses.
Lords Table.
Oh, what a wealth of thought that brings before us, the thing that when you and I come together on Lord's Day morning.
Where there is a loaf in the cup on the table.
You and I as believers, have the privilege of partaking at the Lord's Table.
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We're in the United States of America, and I am sure that anyone sitting here would counter the great honor to receive an invitation.
To have dinner at the White House.
You would consider it a great honor to go there and have dinner with the President of the United States. Those of us that are Canadians would consider it equally a great honor, whether it were the President of the United States or the Prime Minister of Canada.
But here we have the Lord's Table.
What gives us title to be there? Oh, it's so beautiful. And this is not going over anything that is new to most. Here we notice that in verse 16 the cup is mentioned 1St and then the loaf. Why is that?
Because the cup speaks of the blood of Christ, and you and I have to be under the shelter of the blood of Christ before we can be members of the body of Christ.
Which is what the one loaf speaks of. And so the cup is mentioned first, because that is the order in which you and I come to the table. That is the means by which you and I have, shall we say it, the privilege of being at the Lord's table, the blood of Christ applied to wash away our sins, and then when we are truly saved.
Well, you're indwelt by the Spirit of God and by that same spirit.
We are baptized, made members of a baptized body, because the baptism occurred only once on the day of Pentecost. But you and I partake of that baptized body. The Spirit of God indwelling us makes us members of the body of Christ, and we are represented in that one law. Isn't that precious?
All I say to each one here, every true believer has a place at the Lord's table. And I say to each one here, beloved brethren, let our hearts be as broad as the heart of Christ.
To include every true member of the body of Christ.
It is his table, not ours.
On the other hand, there is an expression here connected with the Lord's Table that speaks to each one of us, doesn't it?
Because when the Lord's Table is mentioned, it is mentioned in contrast with tables of demons. Oh, what was happening? Some of those dear believers in Corinth were going into places of idolatry and perhaps not even realizing what they were doing. They were eating food that had been offered to idols and was connected with the idolatry that was so rampant in that day.
And in that way they were on the one hand eating at tables of demons, and on the other hand, on Lord's Day they would come to eat at the Lord's table. And Paul says you can't connect the Lord's table with tables of demons. Are we going to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Oh, what an awful thought.
What does that mean for you and me today?
The principle is very clear in verse 18. Behold Israel after the flesh. Are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?
You will remember back in Israel when the 10 tribes separated from the two tribes, the Jeroboam.
Fearing lest the people in worshipping at Jerusalem would eventually end up honoring the king there, the descendant of David, and falling away from him, he set up two false centers of worship in Dan and Bethel. He set up altars there with golden calves and instituted sacrifices and made priests of the ordinary people and so on, and set up his own worship.
And you will remember that later on, God sent a faithful prophet from Judah to cry against what he didn't cry against the golden calves.
He didn't cry against those false priests.
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Those that ate of that altar identified with the idolatry that was going on there, and the principle holds true today that whenever we eat at a table, we identify with what is connected with that table.
And so I say to you and me all, every true believer, and this truth, I am sorry to say.
It's being challenged on every hand today, on the one hand, from God's side, and I thank God for it. Oh, I thank God for it, that there is a place for every true believer at the Lord's table. Thank God for that.
On the other hand, we are not living in Apostolic days when there were basically a Lord's Table and tables of demons. That's all there was in those days. But things are not like that today. There have been many tables set up, many connected with wrong teaching.
Many connected with.
Shall I say it, the failure to recognize the authority of the Lord in the midst of His own?
And we say, without fear of contradiction, that we never read of more than one Lord's Table.
Oh, someone has said, Do you think you own the Lord's Table?
Absolutely not. It's the Lord's Table. But there is one Lords Table, and by his grace, may you and I want to be at the Lords Table.
Some of us here are old enough to remember, and I quoted him before our brother Harry Hajo.
And someone asked him one time.
If a company of believers is to be recognized as being scripturally gathered, what criteria would you apply?
And he answered very simply. But you think about this for a moment. We don't have time to develop it, He said. The Lord must have set it up.
And the Lordship of Christ must be owned.
Doesn't take long, does it?
The Lord must have set it up.
And the lordship of Christ must be old. Very simple, but if I can say it without trying to be flippant or irreverent, that expression covers all the bases.
Covers all the bases.
And if you and I seek by grace to be at the Lord's Table.
It's going to be a matter of faith. It's not going to be, if I could say it, a matter of a fact that could never be disputed or challenged. No, it's a matter of faith in these last days.
Someone said to me some time ago, you think you own the Lord's Table. I said absolutely not. They said if I didn't think I was at the Lord's Table, I wouldn't be there. And I never read of multiple expressions of the Lord's Table any more than I read of the body of Christ being divided in the eye of God and the Lord's tables connected with the unity of the body, not with division. How wonderful.
Is it going to be a difficult path for you and for me? Yes it is.
Because there is a ditch on each side of the road.
There is the ditch that says.
Well, things are in such a mess of that. There's no place. The Lord's Table is nowhere. It's gone.
You just have to go wherever you feel like it. And there's the other ditch on the other side of the road that says the Lord's Tables anywhere where Christians gather. It doesn't matter even to the point of saying that the Mass and the Roman Catholic Church is the Lord's Table. I've heard people say that. Well, I will say this, that if there were a simple Roman Catholic who didn't know any better and thought it was the Lord's Table, I trust that I wouldn't try and take it away from, but I would hope that he would learn better.
But I say from.
The side of what God approves of. We cannot connect the name of the Lord with that which is not according to His Word and to the Lordship of Christ.
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And you and I are being called in these last days to walk a very narrow path.
And it's difficult.
Because there are those on the one hand who would say.
I'm going to have a broad heart and I wish to God we all had a broad heart. I hope we do, but a broad heart that includes the whole body of Christ. They would some take take that to an extreme that says that's going to mean a broad path where I won't worry too much about what honors the Lord.
The other extreme is that if I walk a narrow path, I end up with a narrow mind that basically says that anyone that isn't, in my judgment, connected with the Lord's Table, for all practical purposes doesn't exist.
If you walk a broad path.
With a broad heart you will get bricks thrown at you from those who have a narrow view of things.
If you walk the narrow path with a narrow view of things, you will get bricks thrown at you from the other side from those that walk the broad path.
But as our late brother Norman Barry told me once, he said if you walk that pathway, a narrow path.
With a broad heart.
You will get the bricks from both sides.
And that makes the pathway difficult.
Some of you young people are being hit hard by some of this.
I say to you, on the authority of God's Word, God wouldn't speak of the Lord's table if there weren't such a place.
I'm not going to tell you where it is, but I say, but if you want to be there, the Lord will show you where it is.
Chapter 11.
1St Corinthians 11.
Here we have the Lord's Supper, and we'll read from verse 20.
When you come together, therefore, no one place this is not to eat.
The Lord's Supper for an eating everyone taketh before others own supper, and one is hungry and another is drunken. What have you not houses to eat, and to drink in, or despise ye the Church of God, and shame them that have not?
What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise You not, For I received the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread twain. He had given thanks, He'd break it and said, Take, eat. This is my body which is broken or given for you. Let's do in remembrance of me.
After the same manner also he took the cup when he had sucked say.
This cup is the New Testament in my blood. This do ye as OFT as ye drink it in remembrance of me.
For as ofti, as she eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come.
Oh, I say to your heart and mind what precious scriptures these are.
The Lord's Supper.
The word supper has a special connotation, doesn't it? Sometimes there are arguments between cultures as to what to call the evening meal. Is it dinner or is it supper? And there can be different points of view. But no one, I don't think, has ever yet tried to say they were having supper at noon. Some people say they're having dinner at noon, but not supper, the Lord's Supper. It's usually the last meal of the day.
The day when the I should say the time of day when the cares of the day are laid aside.
When we hope the family gathers together and sad to stay in modern North America, it's becoming increasingly less common.
Where the family would get together, eat together, share together, enjoy one another's fellowship, company food.
Supper wonderful term.
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And here we have the Lord's Supper.
And I say to each one here what a tremendous privilege it is to eat of the Lord's Supper.
We aren't going to go into it in detail, but there's a little difference in thought between the Lord's Table and the Lord's Supper.
In Chapter 10, the emphasis is rather on who is at the table.
In Chapter 11, in connection with the Lord's Supper, it brings before us what is on the table.
In the chapter 10 it's more responsibility. In Chapter 11 it's more relationship.
And God brings these things together in His Word, one chapter right next to the other, to show these two wonderful truths.
What a privilege it is to come together in that way.
I say to your heart and mine, have we responded to the Lord's request? As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come.
Excuse me, I read.
A statement the other day.
That really hurt.
It really hurt.
It was written by a man.
Who was far, who, as far as I know, was not ever gathered to the Lord's name, but who knew much of the truth of the assembly, if I could use that expression? And he had given much of it up. And one thing that he had, among other things given up was the importance of partaking of the Lord's Supper every Lord's Day as.
Shall we say the foremost meeting of the day?
And his reason for giving it up was this, He said it is not a very conducive meeting to have that first. And well, let me rephrase that. It is not a meeting which, when it is first and foremost, is very conducive to having strangers and other people come into your place of worship.
And so in order to facilitate, to encourage people to come in.
Oh, I say, dear brethren, if I may be so bold, let us never fall into that kind of thinking. Let us never put what is man word before what is due to the Lord Himself. That's why it calls it the Lord's Supper.
My wife and I don't make a habit of watching videos or movies.
But once in a while, it's interesting to watch a documentary.
The other day we watched one that I found very, very moving.
Maybe some of you have seen it.
But it detailed what happens to an American serviceman.
If he is killed in action, especially overseas.
And it followed, and this was based on a true story that followed the body of a young man who was killed in action near Baghdad and Iraq from the time that the encounter occurred in which he was killed until the time that he was buried with military honors.
In his hometown in Wyoming.
I was very impressed.
Very impressed with the dignity, the honor, the respect that was shown.
To that body at every point.
Way over there in Iraq, it was taken to a special facility where loving hands.
Cleanse that body of everything that naturally came about when a person was killed with gunfire.
And then that body was carefully put in a flag draped coffin, put on a cargo plane, flown over to, I think it was Dover in the state of Delaware.
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Lovingly cared for.
And a special escort took it on a plane.
Way across the country, military honors at every point, every time that vehicle, that Hearst that carried the body was there, everybody was called out to stand at attention and pay honor.
We won't go into all the details right down, of course, to the final volley of gunfire over the grave and then the flag carefully folded up and given to the family.
I didn't see anyone. Can I be practical?
I didn't see anyone sitting in the audience at that funeral.
Texting their buddies across the room.
I didn't see anybody at that funeral.
Chitter chattering to someone in the back row.
I didn't see people.
It was serious.
And even on the plane on which that body was flowing across the country.
There were people who initially were enjoying themselves, but when it was made known over the PA system that in the cargo hold of that plane there was a body of a fallen American serviceman, and that on that plane was sitting his escort, everybody's eyes turned to that man in uniform who was the escort. Everybody sat quietly in their seats, didn't move. You know what happens when the plane pulls up to the.
Skywalk. Everybody jumps out of their seat to grab their stuff from the overhead bins. You you've all seen it. Nobody moved a muscle.
Well, that man with dignity walked off the plane and so on.
All the honor that was due, and I wouldn't take away from that for a moment, I say to you and to me, what a privilege to remember the Lord. What a privilege to give him the honor that is due to him.
What a privilege.
To remember the Lord in the world that continues to reject him, that continues to use his name.
In swearing.
Can we eat and drink unworthily as it says here in verse 27? Yes, we can. We can do it in an unworthy manner. Oh, I say to your heart and mind.
When we come together to remember the Lord.
Again, you'll forgive this comment.
But it is perhaps the most sensitive.
Pulse.
Of where we are as an assembly or as a gathering like this, as to what happens at the remembrance of the Lord.
Is there that true?
Bowing of our heads, sitting in quietness before the Lord, and then?
That praise welling up.
From hearts. I don't mean there shouldn't be joy there, you know, I don't mean that. I don't mean that we shouldn't at some point raise our voices in joy and Thanksgiving for all that the Lord is and for his resurrection and his glory. But at the same time, let's remember that it's ye do show the Lord's death till he come. How precious that is.
Let us remember that. Let us remember that what is God Word must always take precedence over what is man word. Let us never fall into the trap of thinking, but we have to reach this world with the gospel. All beloved brethren, we do.
And I may say this in this connection, lest I be misunderstood.
The Scripture presents the gospel primarily as an individual exercise.
Now, it doesn't mean there can't be a group of individuals, but it's an individual exercise. It's not presented as an assembly responsibility.
No, that doesn't mean that an assembly can't be involved in it, and I'm very thankful if they are, but it's an individual responsibility. Excuse me.
But, and this is important.
If an assembly is merely.
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What we might call a delivered body, delivered from all of the effects of sin through the blood of Christ. But if it ceases to be a delivering body with an outreach to souls.
It will tend to wither and die.
I'm not pointing the finger anywhere, but right here at my own failure.
God does not intend believers to be in this world enjoying all their blessings and having nothing to say to a lost world.
The Ways and Means may vary from place to place, from culture to culture, depending on the part of the world you're in.
But God will always have you and me to have hearts that have an outreach before them. Yes, let's never forget that.
But equally true, the heart that has the biggest outreach, the heart that is filled with Christ, will be the one that has sat and partaken of the Lord's Supper and given the Lord his rightful place.
The Lords supper remember that the Lord is there. Don't disconnect 1St Corinthians 10 or 11 from Matthew 18 and 20. They are connected. It's interesting that the Lord's Table is only mentioned once. The Lord's Supper is only mentioned once, and so far as I can recall, the presence of the Lord in the midst of his own is only mentioned once.
But for a heart that beats.
According to what Christ is for a heart that really cares for him, if he says something once, that's enough.
And that brings us to the last one.
Revelation chapter one.
Now I know this is all seeking to be extremely practical.
When I was young, I always liked it if somebody was really practical, even though occasionally I went away from a meeting saying Ouch.
But sometimes that's a good thing.
There was a girl at our Sunday school back home.
Few weeks ago.
And all the children in our Sunday school, without any exceptions, come from ungodly homes.
And this girl likes to cut up.
She's a big girl, she's about 13 and she's every bit as tall as I am, but she likes to cut up.
She did it once too often.
And I got her in a corner.
And gave her about a two-minute lecture that she was big enough to learn to behave herself. She went upstairs saying Ouch.
My wife thought I'd pinched her or something, but I assured her that such was not the case. The rebuke was totally verbal, but she got the point. She knows we care for her. There's been a big change in her behavior since then. She's been up to our home since then. She knows we love her.
So it doesn't hurt sometimes. It never hurt me when I was young to walk away from a meeting and say Ouch.
Revelation chapter one.
Verse nine I John, who also am your brother.
And companion in tribulation, and in the Kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ.
Within the aisle that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Let me read that as it is in the Darby translation. This may not be dead on, but it's roughly the way it is.
I, John, who also am your brother and companion in the tribulation.
And Kingdom and patience of Jesus leave out Christ.
Was in the aisle that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day.
And heard behind me a great voices of a trumpet saying I'm Alpha and Omega, the 1St and the last and so on verse 12. And I turn to see the voice that speak with me.
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The Lord's Day.
What a precious privilege that is to hear those words of the Lord's Day.
Again, it is only mentioned once in the Word of God.
And here in most, shall we say, interesting and instructive connections.
Where was John when he wrote this on the Isle of Patmos? And so far as we know, he was banished there to a place where, again, as far as we know, there were no other believers.
He was all alone, and I can only imagine how lonely the heart of dear John must have become.
As time went on and he had no Christian fellowship.
Privilege, not an individual one. And here was dear John.
But you know, not only did he keep track of the days.
He mentions that on that day, which was the first day of the week.
He mentions that not only was it the Lord's Day, but he was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day.
I've asked myself a number of times, why is it that that expression occurs only in this passage and in the connection in which it is here?
I make a few suggestions.
Number one, God was first of all going to pick out a man who was being deprived of almost every Christian privilege that you could think of, except of course, communion with the Lord himself. Everything that he would normally have enjoyed, he was being deprived of.
Secondly.
It was not by choice he was being forced into this position.
God takes that man and says.
Excuse me?
Here is a man.
Who calls it the Lords Day?
And who is in the Spirit?
But it's no accident.
That verse 10 follows verse 9.
John says I am your brother and your companion in three things.
The Tribulation, the Kingdom and the patience of Jesus.
And at the end, it's the testimony of Jesus.
Why Jesus All because for the moment his Lordship is not mentioned, and for the moment his title is Christ, which means the anointed one is not mentioned, simply his name of Jesus.
Relationship is brought in here.
Because the Church has failed in every aspect of this relationship. It has failed in recognizing that the Christian pathway is a pathway of tribulation. It has failed in recognizing that the Kingdom.
There's a future one and that we follow one who has the rightful king has been rejected. We are part of his Kingdom, but it's a Kingdom in mystery because the rightful king is disowned. And thirdly, it's connected with patience. It's connected with walking in the truth and the pathway that he is marked out.
In his patience as much as in our own, the Church has failed in every aspect of that. And may I suggest that in one in all of those areas because of our failure.
We can tend to fail in connection with the Lords day.
People who grew up in my generation can remember when stores were never opened on Lords Day. You could scarcely buy a bottle of milk or a loaf of bread.
But it hits even closer to home.
Again, can I be a bit practical?
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And in starting out I want to make it clear that in no way do I put us under law. That is not the point. But if I recognize the Lordship of Christ, then the expression the Lord's Day has a meaning.
Some years ago now, I had lunch with a young couple that weren't gathered, but they were interested very much in the truth and they wanted to talk about it. And we had a very nice time together. And I can't even remember how the conversation drifted around this way, but one of them said something about the Lord's Day. And how did I usually spend the Lord's Day? And what did I do when I was studying?
And I hesitate to mention this, but I think it's all right.
Well, I said, you know, in my generation at least, anybody that I knew that was gathered to the Lord's name didn't study on Lord's Day and their eyes got big.
Really. I said. Yes, really.
I said nobody did. It was a given. Nobody had to argue about it. It was just you didn't study on Lord's Day.
He stayed up late Saturday night if you had to. You got up early Monday morning if you had to, But the Lord's Day was the Lord's Day.
My late father-in-law, Albert Hayhoe, told the story and he told this publicly so I can repeat it.
How that when he was a little boy, how long ago would that be, 1920s maybe? He was coloring a picture on the Lord's Day and his father came to him and said, Albert, what are you doing on Lord's Day?
And Albert said I'm not finished yet. And he wrote the words God is love across the top of the picture and that satisfied his father. Was that going a little overboard? Well, I just say that.
We're not under law, but I do say.
That if you and I are willing to honor the Lord on His day.
The Lord will, I believe, honor you and you young people, you're having a tough time these days. And if you're going to school, courses are difficult and university is hard and things are very, very demanding. And it's very, very easy for me to go and remember the Lord and then to say, well, I did my duty.
And the devil is persuaded, if I can say it, many dear believers, that that's all they have to do. You have to go do quote church on Sunday, and then you've done your duty and you can go and spend the day.
However you wish.
But you know what happened to John here? On the one hand, he recognized that he was following a rejected Christ and people were watching him. What does this Christian do? Because I don't believe that he was all alone on that island. And I believe that when he was there, he bore a testimony. And when the Lord's Day came, people knew that he treated that day differently. What happened as a result? He got the most wonderful revelation.
And it started on the Lord's Day. And I say to you, and I say to my own heart, if you and I are willing to devote the Lord's Day to the Lord, we will find.
In the words of one of our dear brethren who is now with the Lord, that the Spirit of God works in a special way on the Lord's day, and I don't say that he doesn't work other days.
But the Lord works in a special way.
Does that mean that children can never have any fun on the Lords day? I don't think so.
An older brother long since with the Lord said.
I would like to make children as happy as possible on the Lord's Day. Let it be a most happy day.
But let it be a happy day in the things of the Lord, not in idle pleasures.
Again, we're not going to make a man an offender for a word. You know that, and we're not putting anyone under law. I just say to you and me. But there is a danger in these last days of these things being neglected, and I merely call your attention to that expression the Lords day, without pretending to define.
All the Ways and Means of honoring the Lord on his day.
I know our time is gone, but I'd like to sing one verse of one last hymn.
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#150.
Just the last verse.
Of the vast universe of bliss, the center, thou and sun.
The eternal theme of praise is this to Heaven's beloved 1.
Worthy, O Lamb of God, art thou that every need that thee should bow #150 verse six. And I don't think we can sing this him sitting down.
1 Corinthians 12:1-8
Gospel 1
Gospel—Michel Payette
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.
To our gospel meeting.
You should have a hymn sheet and we'd like to sing #10.
There is a Savior on high in the glory, a Savior who suffered on Calvary's tree.
A Savior is willing to save now as ever. His arm is almighty, His love great and free. Oh come now to Jesus, that dear loving Savior. Receive him this moment and peace shall be thine #10 Someone started for me, please.
Well, the passage I have on my heart tonight.
Is.
If I could say in my own words, is a bit of a hard passage.
It's in the book of Numbers.
Old Testament book.
Call the Desert Book.
A time when the children of Israel were in the desert and their hearts were tested and didn't they didn't do too well.
And there was much judgment on the people because of their failure.
So numbers 15.
And we just read from.
Verse 22.
And if you've erred and not observed all these commandments which the Lord had spoken unto Moses.
Even all that the Lord had commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the Lord commanded Moses, and henceforth among your generations.
Then it shall be a thought be committed by ignorance, without the knowledge of the congregation. Then all the congregation shall offer one young Bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour unto the Lord.
Verse 27 If any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring.
A she goat of the first year for a sin offering.
Verse 30 But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously.
Whether he be born in the land or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord, and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he hath despised the word of the Lord and had broken his commandment. That soul shall utterly be cut off. His iniquity shall be upon him.
There was a provision here by God for those who were ignorant.
You know, many people in this world tonight are ignorant of many things about God.
Might not be your case and mine, but it is a condition of many, many a soul on the face of this earth tonight and God can see the difference between those that are ignorant and those that are negligent.
And those that are outrightly rebellious.
And we're going to read about this man now.
In the 32nd verse about one who had a mind of his own about those things that the Lord had commanded.
Verse 32.
And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found the man that gathered sticks.
Upon the Sabbath day, And it had found him gathering sticks, brought him to Moses, unto Moses and Aaron, and on to all the congregation.
And they put him in a ward because it was not declared what should be done to him.
And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones, without the cap.
And all the congregation brought him without the camp and stoned him with stones.
And he died.
As the Lord commanded Moses.
Read a passage like this.
A hard passage to comment on.
And not to react to in our personal hearts, because in our own judgment.
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This man did not kill anybody, didn't do wrong to his wife.
Didn't steal anything. They didn't curse the name of God.
All he did was pick up some sticks.
Perhaps you wanted to have eggs and you wanted to cook his eggs, and you didn't have any wood.
Ah, Sabbath days. What's the difference? I mean, just to pick up a little bit of wood and cook my eggs.
And you picked up some wood.
And he died.
Some would say, oh God, it's so.
Unjust. Oh, that God is not unjust. He cannot be unjust. He is absolutely just.
The Sabbath day was an ordinance of God.
Was something that he required for himself.
And though this man hadn't done nothing wrong to his neighbor.
He greatly offended God in what he did.
And he lost his life.
James, we read that one whom is guilty of one commandment of trespassing, 1 Commandment is guilty of all.
You have a transgressed one of God's commandments.
I'm sure none of you are guilty of picking up wood on the Sabbath day.
Because that's no longer a provision in Christianity in the New Testament.
But you and I have done many things.
That offend God and that we have to answer to and answer for.
We noticed before that there were sins of ignorance and it's very interesting to consider.
With the people of Israel.
Because you know, when the Lord Jesus came into the world, he was born as a Jew, when he walked those streets in Palestine, in Jerusalem and Nazareth and Bethlehem, and these people, they saw him, they heard his discourse, they saw the miracles he performed.
And in a general way they said, we will not have this man to rule over us. They rejected their king, and more than that, they said away with him, crucify him.
They asked for him to be crucified as a malefactor.
To become a curse on that piece of wood.
They requested that from the governor pilot.
But then when you go to Acts of the Apostles.
Chapter 3.
This is the apostle Peter speaking in verse 14, he says.
But he denied the Holy One and the Just.
And desired a murderer to be granted unto you.
You recall that Barabbas, Barabbas and Jesus was offered to them, and he chose for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be crucified. That's what they did.
You're eating Luke's Gospel when the Lord was crucified.
He prayed Father forgive them.
For they know not what they do.
The Lord allowed them to be ignorant.
Recognize them not as not knowing what they were doing.
And then in the Acts of the Apostles, Peter was preaching to them, and he says, verse 15.
And killed the Prince of Life, whom God had raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses.
And his name, through faith in his name, hath made this man strong. He just healed a man there.
Whom you were, whom you see and know. Yeah, the Faith which is by Him hath given him.
This perfect soundness in the presence of you all. And now, brethren, I walk that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.
Recall when we read the numbers, when there had been sins of ignorance, there was a provision.
There was a sacrifice that could be offered for that sin to be forgiven.
And here we see in the Acts of the Apostles.
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Even after this nation was guilty before God of rejecting and crucifying their own Messiah, that God would offer to them to be at the benefit, you might say, the benefit from this very sacrifice offered on the cross by the Lord Jesus himself. What a wonder of mercy and grace on God's part to offer this people again.
Now dead and resurrected Christ One they requested him to be crucified.
He was offered to them again to be a savior and we know many were touched in their hearts.
And were brought into blessing and were saved by the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross.
But you know, we live.
In the last days of God's testimony to this gospel, that we have the glorious gospel of the grace of God.
And I doubt if anyone in North America is ignorant of the name of Jesus and who he is.
And what he said to be so. There are many things we cannot plead ignorance about.
I ask God tonight to help me.
That when you leave this room tonight, you will not be ignorant.
Of God's desire for you to be saved forever.
By the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross.
If you are not saved tonight.
There's only one day I can think of where you can be saved.
And it is not tomorrow.
It is not on the Lord's Day.
It is today.
And if there's one moment?
In time.
When you can be saved for sure. There's only one of those, and that one is now.
Tonight.
God gives us the opportunity once again to open His Word and to hear.
The callings of his love to those that are lost.
And I'm going to perish forever, lamenting and torment, weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth.
You know the gospel is a message of love from the heart of God.
And God warns us because he loves us.
And he wants no one to be lost. He wants all men to be saved.
And did it come to the knowledge of the truth?
It's God's will that you be saved tonight if you're not.
Several of us brothers, before the meeting we were praying on our knees for you to be saved tonight.
We all want you to be saved tonight. God himself and all of us who know Him.
Are you saying in your heart, but I don't want to be saved?
Well, I trust that before this meeting is over, you'll say I I wanna be safe.
Well, in parallel with this portion in Numbers chapter 15, I like to look at some verses in the book of Hebrews.
Chapter 10.
Bill is speaking this afternoon of some scriptures perhaps that are brought before us and sometimes they make us uncomfortable.
Well, tonight I trust as we read these scriptures, some of you will not be made uncomfortable.
Because if you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, these verses shouldn't make you uncomfortable.
But if you don't know him, if you're not saved tonight.
I hope you're gonna be uncomfortable.
Uncomfortable enough to say I'd better do something about this before it's forever too late.
Hebrews, chapter 10.
Verse 26.
Hebrews 10 and 26.
For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice.
For sins, remember those in the Old Testament. They sinned through ignorance. There was a sacrifice they could offer.
But that man that sinned willfully.
He went against what God said willfully.
Picture of this man here. If we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there's remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. There was no sacrifice for him in the Old Testament, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. He that despises Moses, Moses law died without mercy, under two or three.
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Witnesses.
There's that man in numbers 15.
He just despised what God had said.
Then rob a bank. Didn't kill his neighbor, didn't commit adultery, just picked up some pieces of wood.
And he was judged without mercy. Not that God has no mercy. He has mercy.
And grace and forgiveness. But this man is given to us as an example.
My friend tonight, do not despise the Gospel of God.
It's so much greater in the revelation of God than the law of Moses that put forth his righteousness, His Holiness.
What God has us here tonight.
And is proclaiming in this world tonight is not the law of Moses. Keep God's commandment and you're going to be blessed.
Nobody gets blessed that way.
What God is proclaiming to us tonight is His mercy and grace and forgiveness through the work of His Son.
The Lord Jesus Christ.
This man died without mercy.
With two or three witnesses, that was enough.
Verse 29.
Remember it said there.
Because of this man's special case, they didn't know what to do with that was a question they had to put it to, Moses said. Well, this has never happened before. Somebody so willful to do something like that.
It wasn't specified what they were going to do with this man.
And you know what we're gonna read? It's not specified what's going to happen to those that do what these verses bring before us. It says in the 29th verse.
The whole 29 verse is a question.
Try and answer that. Try and answer that question.
Of how much sore punishment?
Suppose he.
Shall be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot?
The Son of God.
This man, he picked up some little pieces of wood.
And he lost his life.
And you think you can step on the Lord Jesus and blasphemous name and neglect the cause of God, and there's not gonna be judgment?
It's incomparable. How can you compare that?
It says Who had trodden under foot, the Son of God, the one who walked down here, who accepted in his face are spittle.
The hits from our fist when we blindfolded his eyes, the crown of thorns and the mockery and railing and insults when he was on the cross. And God kept quiet so you could hear tonight. The callings of God, the pleadings of God for your soul to save you forever.
And that counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified.
An unholy thing.
The Lord Jesus, God Himself, God the Son, partook of flesh and blood.
So he could die.
And he shared his precious blood on the Cross of Calvary.
And I, John one and seven, tells us the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son.
Cleanse it us from all sin.
Somebody says the blood of Christ.
It has no value.
God knows what they're thinking and what they're saying, and there's a day coming when he will vindicate.
When he will judge every idle word pronounced against his son.
I pronounce idle words against his son.
But there was a time in my life where he came to knock at my heart's door and call me to repent and believe. And I did have you already.
00:25:01
Are you still thinking about it?
There's not much to think about, you know.
God asks you not to think. He wants you to believe. Repent.
Unbelief.
And have done despite unto.
The spirit of grace.
You know, the law, it kind of was a spirit with the law.
If you do, you're gonna be blessed.
And if you don't, watch out.
You had to perform perfectly, you know, go up to an exam in school, university, you have exams, you want good marks. Well, if God puts you in an exam before him and his righteousness, you have to have 100%.
The Pass 99.
You don't pass on your school system. They keep lowering the standards, 60 percent, 50%. You come to the exam, we'll let you pass.
That's not the way it works with God 100%. Nobody's 100%.
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So God says, OK, I'm going to undertake for you.
Not just in any way in My way to satisfy My holiness and My righteousness and to glorify My name.
And there it is, the Lord Jesus on the cross, object of derision, all mankind guilty before God.
And God manifesting his perfect righteousness and holiness and the love.
But they cannot measure by the gift of His son.
And the Spirit of God for 2000 years now the Spirit of grace is calling men to repent and believe.
This Jewish nation that the Apostle Peter was addressing in the Acts.
You know, in the year 70.
Roman armies came.
And they overtook the land of Israel and they killed one million 100,000 people.
Adolf Hitler. He murdered 6 million of them.
As we do a little book recently, it's called I believe The Destiny of Israel. It was a book in French.
But it went through the interval of time between Adolf Hitler and and year 70. How these poor people have gone through so much difficulty in trial. And in the end God is going to bless that nation as He's promised. But how much sorrow they brought upon themselves by the rejection of their Messiah.
But God in his plan of mercy to you and I, who mostly are not Jewish.
Was that His grace and love would be extended to all men, and at the work of the Lord Jesus would benefit.
Billions.
If they'll simply come and believe.
Now we are not living in Arab nations where this book is forbidden. And perhaps you yourself, you were brought up in a Christian environment. Perhaps you come to meeting all the time. Perhaps your mom and dad are Christians.
I don't know you personally, all of you.
But you have a measure of responsibility tonight. You had one when you came in this room.
And you'll have one when you leave.
And it might be a greater responsibility.
When you leave.
Because you will have heard the gospel.
Because you will have heard of God's plan to save you. Because you will have heard of God's warning not to despise.
The callings of His Grace.
You know it says.
In the 26th verse, verse 27, for a certain fearful, looking for a judgment and fiery indignation.
Which shall devour.
The adversaries.
There are those who are God's adversaries or enemies.
Enemies go to war.
And somebody wins.
I can tell you ahead of time.
God is going to win over his enemies, absolutely.
And we were all, at one time, his enemies.
But God says I made peace for you.
I made peace for you so it wouldn't be enemies anymore.
I want to adopt you in my family.
It's not that he went and filled out papers or took out money and paid for you that way. We read in the book of Romans. Let's turn to that Romans chapter 5.
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Verse 10.
For if.
When we were enemies.
Is that what we were? It says verse eight. God commanded his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us when we were sinners.
Enemies of God in our minds and our practice and our words and our thoughts, we were enemies. We were reconciled to God.
How by the death of his son.
It's beyond me to take it in. I can't understand that, but I believe it. I can't measure it, but I know it's true that God did not spare his own Son.
To have me as a son.
To have you as a son. He didn't spare his own son, but delivered them up for us all on the cross. The torment.
I can't understand that.
But I believe that.
It reaches into my soul.
It blesses me, makes me thankful, gives me a desire to serve a God who loved me so much.
You know, you can't measure how many gallons of water in the Pacific Ocean, but you can stand beside the Pacific Ocean and appreciate it and say wow.
And you and I can gaze at God's love and at the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, and we can just.
Wonder and praise and adore and worship. Do you know anything about that?
Goes there goes the Pacific Ocean.
They do say I move around a lot but.
For we were enemies who were reconciled to God by the death of His son. Colossians, Chapter one.
Verse 21.
And you?
That were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works.
Yet now had he reconciled.
In the body of his flesh through that to present you wholly unblameable and unreprovable in his sight.
The price that God paid.
To bring you into such blessing that He played for you. He paid for me the expression of His love.
This man in the Old Testament given us to us as an example.
Died without mercy for breaking Moses law.
I ask you, what sort of punishment will be thought worthy?
He that draws on their foot the Son of God. The apostle in Hebrew says, How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?
How can you think of standing before God and answering for yourself?
Not having the Lord Jesus as your Savior, not having the value of His blood to wash your sins away.
Not having been reconciled to him.
By the death of his Son, to stand before God as his enemy.
To wicked works.
Can you answer that?
People answer that very easily. They say God doesn't exist. I'm not going to stand before God. Well, God has news for you.
God says you will.
Well, if I will, then I'm gonna tell No, No, you're not gonna tell him anything. It says every mouse stopped the whole world guilty before God. God not gonna put up with any of your arguing, reasoning, none of that. God has one solution for you tonight. He has one solution tonight for this world. Though despised and rejected, that solution is the Lord Jesus. It's not gonna change.
It's offered to you tonight. Well, getting back to Hebrews.
00:35:06
Verse 30 For we know him that had said, Venge it, Vengeance belongeth unto me.
I will recompense, said the Lord. And again the Lord shall judge his people.
Verse 31.
It is a fearful thing.
Fall into the hands.
Of the living God.
The Apostle Paul.
In Two Corinthians.
Chapter 5, I believe he says.
Knowing therefore, the terror of the Lord.
We persuade men.
You know the Lord Jesus spoke of hell.
Of a place where fire is not quenched, where the wound I it not he spoke of that.
You spoke of love, forgiveness, eternal life, but he also spoke.
Of a place of torment.
A place that should terrify each one of us.
It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
As I mentioned before, you can look at the history of Israel as a people, the Jews as a people, and say.
What hardship they endure. They're not the only ones that have endured hardship, but special hardship.
Especially people.
You're indifferent to that.
Well, you know.
A lot of things when I consider in the scripture, I like to consider them.
In their absolute might say, you might say.
And I've wondered at this verse. Fearful things have fallen into the hands.
Of the living God.
And I do not believe.
That as yet sinners.
I've completely fallen into the hands of the living God to receive.
What they deserve.
Hasn't happened yet. So the fullest measure of God's holiness and what we read in God's Word.
But I believe one man.
Has fallen into the hands of the living God.
And received the full measure of his wrath and judgment and terror.
Over soon.
Let's read the 88th Psalm.
Some verses there.
Verse 13.
But unto thee have I cried, O Lord, And in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee, Lord, why cast it thou off my soul?
Why hideest thou thy face from me?
I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth. While I suffer thy terrors. I am distracted. Thy fierce wrath goeth over me. Thy terrors have cut me off.
They came round about me daily like water. They compassed me about together.
Lavern friend stop put far from me and my acquaintance Into Darkness.
Here's one who's gone through the fierce wrath of God.
And his terrors. It's a prophetic Psalm Speaking of the sufferings.
Of the Lord Jesus.
Think of the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Arctic Ocean, Indian Ocean. Think of all the waters on the face of the earth.
The Lord Jesus says prophetically in the Psalms, all thy ways and thy billows.
Passover, Me.
Can you count the ways? And the billows? Nobody knows, but he knows. All thy waves and billows they Passover me. The waters have come into my soul.
00:40:02
It's piece of fire that will devour the adversaries, it says in Lamentations chapter one. Let's go to that verse.
Lamentations, chapter one.
12.
Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by?
Is it nothing to you who hear a gospel calling? Behold, and see if there's any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord had afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger from above hath He set fire into my bone.
Chapter 3.
Verse one.
I am the man that had seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
He had led me and brought me Into Darkness, but not into light. Surely against me as he turned, he turned his hand against me all the day.
The hand of God.
Against him.
The fiery wrath. The terror.
From God that I deserved.
That millions deserved, that you deserve, that I'm never going to get.
And you're never going to get if.
You have him as your Savior if you let God reconcile you to Himself by the death of His Son, if you accept the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior.
But if you don't.
You're going to fall.
Into the hands.
Of the living God.
And knowing the terror of the Lord, we would persuade you, young person.
Young boy, young girl, older one. Don't put that off.
Be serious. Consider.
What do you answer to that question in the book of Hebrews chapter 10?
What do you think God is going to do with those that despise such an offer?
That cost him.
To forsake the Lord Jesus on the cross in your stead and mine.
That had the Lord Jesus cry on the cross. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
There was no reason in him, all the opposite.
There was reason in you and in me for us to be forsaken forever, not in Him.
Is beyond me to understand.
To measure the love of God. But it's true.
He spared not his own son. He gave him for you tonight.
For you will hear the calling in the gospel message for you to be saved.
And my friend, if you leave this room tonight.
And you're still unsaved.
Maybe it's my fault.
Believe me, but I can tell you, when you stand before God, you won't be able to blame me.
You won't have a word to say.
You'll be pale and trembling and you'll hear the verdict.
They brought that man to Moses because he picked up some wood.
What's the verdict? The Lord said that all the congregation of Israel stone him, and they stoned him.
What do you think the verdict is going to be?
When you stand before God without Christ, you cannot plead ignorance.
You won't be able to say I didn't know.
I didn't understand, I don't speak English.
You'll have no excuse.
These verses in Hebrews 6 and Hebrews 10 are often used.
By those who don't understand that measure of the work of the Lord Jesus.
For you and I.
And they keep true believers in ignorance as to the result of the work of Christ.
On the cross.
And we need to remember it's the book of the Hebrews. He's writing to Jews who had a particular.
00:45:03
Responsibility. That's why I said at the beginning, I I wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable with these verses in Hebrews 10, Hebrews 6 because you know the hands of the living God.
They're the same hands that are holding me tonight and holding you tonight if you've trusted the Lord Jesus as your Savior. Let's go to John's Gospel, chapter 10.
Verse 27.
I trust you're one of these, my friend tonight.
Not an enemy of God, not an adversarial despiser, a mocker, a negligent, but that tonight you're one of these. And the Lord Jesus says, verse 27, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
I and the Father are one.
Some of you might recall this.
Publicity from NU insurance company in the state, it's Allstate insurance used to say had the little saying you're in good hands with Allstate and they had a little picture that two hands there and had a little car in there, a little dog, a little house and you're in good hands with Allstate. Well, I can tell you not in good hands with Allstate.
They don't pay very good.
But you're in good hands.
If you're a sheep of the Lord.
God has two hands.
The hand of the Sun and the hand of the Father.
The son who went and bore the judgment that you deserved, and the father who gave this son to have you in his household.
Are we ever safe?
Save forever in the hands of God the Father and the Son.
Where are you tonight, my friend?
Are you in the hands of the Father and the Son, safe forever?
Are you perishing?
And on your way to falling in the hands.
Of the living God, to know everlasting terror and sorrow and weeping and wailing. Not because you're a Sinner.
We don't go to hell because we're sinners.
We go to hell because we refuse to be saved by the only savior of sinners, the Lord Jesus. Tonight, my friend, our time is almost up. You've heard this message many times. You haven't believed it yet. How many more times do you think you might hear it? You might never hear it again? Maybe tonight the Lord Jesus coming and it's all gonna be over and God is going to deal with this world. He's gonna start with the Western nations, those who publish it, published Bibles.
And are falling into gross immorality and approving things that are called abominations in the word of God.
God is not indifferent.
But he is patient, long-suffering. Is he waiting for you tonight?
Don't make him wait. Come tonight, come before it's forever too late. Doesn't matter who you are, what age you have, you can say tonight I accept the Lord Jesus as my personal Savior. I do not want to fall into the hands of the living God an answer for my sins. I accept that somebody else answered for me because God is patient, loving, gracious, merciful, and He's not willing that any should perish. But also come to repentance once you come to repentance tonight.
And put your trust in him.
We plead with you, don't put it off. Let's sing number.
1.
Almost persuaded now to believe, almost persuaded Christ to receive. Seems now some soul to say, Go, spirit, go thy way. Some more convenient day on thee a call number one.
00:50:01
Almost.
Transactions.
When you purchase a house.
Might work in the states like it does in Canada. The way it works is you see a property like to to buy and you make an offer you make an offer you set the conditions and you set a time frame because you don't wanna spend the week not sleeping, not knowing if the person is gonna accept your offer or not. So you said conditions and you set a time limit and once that time limit is expired that offer is no longer valid and off times you know the buyers and sellers they make offers and counter offers but.
When the ultimate offer is made, the last offer is made.
And the time has expired that offer is not valid anymore.
And you know, I don't know when God's offer will expire.
I know it's valid right now.
It's valid for a few more minutes, don't put it off.
Because if the Lord Jesus comes, you might run after the train, but the offer is no longer valid. You'll be able to call upon the name of the Lord and knock on the door. Lord, Lord never knew you, but you preached in our streets. I heard you in Saint Louis I.
I never knew you.
Trust it never happens to you.
We leave on him tonight. Let's pray.
1 Corinthians 12:8-12
Lord's Will
Address—Don Rule
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
#100 and 66166.
Lord Dallas drawn us after.
Now let us run and never tire.
Thy presence shall our comfort be.
Myself, our hope, our soul desire 166.
To begin, please turn with me to.
Sums 145.
So I'm 143, not 5.
Some 143.
Verse 10.
Teach me.
To do thy will.
For thou art my God.
Most at one time or another, if not all of us in this room and I speak to you as believers.
Have asked or expressed the desire in us to know the will of the Lord.
00:05:04
As it relates to our lives, this afternoon we're going to take up that subject, the will of the Lord.
And.
We want, we say, we ask.
Lord, I want to know your will in my life.
I'd like to start right in the beginning and make the statement. That's not a very adequate desire.
It's a little bit incomplete. Notice the verse that you just heard.
It doesn't say Teach me to know thy will.
It says, Teach me to do thy will.
It's essential to us.
To begin with, the desire to do there are no promises that I know in the word of God.
Where the Lord is going to teach us to know his will, apart from the willingness to do it. John 717. A very commonly referred to verse is, If any man will to do his will, he shall know of the doctrine.
There are, if I may call it that, prerequisites to knowing the will of the Lord. There are certain things that are necessary.
Before the Lord is going to make his will known to us.
And one of them is the willingness to do it.
Also.
As we use the expression, teach me to do thy will and the way I'm using it, O Lord.
O Lord.
That assumes that there is a relationship between US and the one whose will we want to know, that we acknowledge and recognize him.
As Lord.
If he's not Lord.
Then knowing his will is not particularly perhaps important to him in that sense, or to us either.
I want to illustrate the point by making an application. I visit a detention center regularly.
And quite often when I visit the detention center, there are young people there who will come to me personally and say, well, you pray for me.
And four times out of five, I could tell them I could ask for them what they want me to pray about.
Most of the time they're going to say to me something like this, I have a court date on Tuesday. Please pray for me that I'll get out.
Well, I don't suppose anybody in the room has a court date on Tuesday.
So I don't suppose in that exact way it applies to you or to me.
But the point that I sometimes try to make to them is this.
It takes me a little while to make the point. I don't wanna spend the full time to do it, but I'll just put it this way. Sometimes we wanna draw on God when we have a need.
And, uh, we haven't been able to handle it ourselves.
And so we would like God and I speak reverently to be our servant and handle it for us.
But when things are going the way we kind of like them to go, then we'll manage and we'll take care of things for ourselves.
So we pray, Lord, let's get out on Tuesday and we get out on Tuesday and the Lord recedes into the background of our lives until the next time we get put in the detention center. And then we say, Lord, help me, I need your help. To know the will of the Lord in your life doesn't work that way. You're not. I'm not going to know the will of the Lord in the sense of using him.
To take care of certain things in my life that I would like him to for my benefit.
And so.
00:10:02
We have to start with the proper perspective, if you will, if we're going to know the will of the Lord. Turn with me now to Ephesians chapter one.
Ephesians chapter one and verse three. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. That we should be holy and without blame before us before Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself.
According to the good pleasure.
Of his will.
We all have wills.
I have a will, you have a will, God has a will, Satan has a will. There's lots of wills. In fact in scripture I looked up the word will and it's variations and it occurs almost 3000 times in the word of God and many many other instances where will is being expressed without the word being used. It's a big word. It's a common thing. It's sub Adam and Eve sinned because they exercise their will.
And so here we find, it says, according to the good pleasure of his God's will.
You wanna know the will of the Lord for your life?
It can be simply expressed in the fulfillment of the will of God.
Not your will, not my will, the will of God.
Take out your if you've got it, take out your Saint Louis invitation card for a minute. The brethren nicely expressed on their card the will of God for you, so you can remember what God's will is for you and for your life. What is it to the end? That He may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God.
You wish to know the will of God for your life. That's it. That's one variation, or at least expression of it.
It's God's will for you that He might establish you.
Unblameable in holiness before him.
Or as we read that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.
It explains some of the things that are going to happen and are happening in your life and mine. Sometimes we like to go like this and God puts us in circumstances that go like this and the result is why? Because He's doing His will.
And His will is to accomplish an end result in us for His honor and glory for eternity.
I know when we say the will, we want to know for me to do.
But in truth, we have to look higher than that and say what is he doing, what is his will? And that's gonna triumph in the end.
Sometimes our lives are going to be taken outside of our control where we can't even exercise our will.
Because of his greater will.
Couple of days ago, I was talking to a friend of mine named Alan Yurki, who's in prison for life. And I said to Alan, I said, Alan, you know Steve Jobs, who just recently died.
And if you know anything about Steve Jobs, you'll know that he made no profession of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior. He said 50% of the time he believed in God and 50% of the time he didn't.
Whose life has more power for eternity, Steve Jobs or Alan Yurke in prison for life?
00:15:03
Allen No comparison.
Allen is be because of activity, things that he has done in his life. The circumstances of his life are largely in some ways beyond his control, but not beyond God's control. To make use of him for bringing the eternal blessing of his word to souls that will last for eternity and his lifetime can count with eternal value for souls. In contrast to a man who had to say at the end of his life when someone asked him about all his money.
He says the amount of money you've got doesn't matter much in the cemetery.
Where if we want to know the will of God, the will of the Lord, we need to see it and appreciate it in its larger sense. When it says, teach me to know thy will, Oh my God, God's first, perhaps. Well, I want to say this.
God wants every single person in this world to know His will.
Without exception.
You sit there, I stand here before a God who wants you and me to know his will.
It's his pleasure, it's his delight to make himself known to us.
We see that throughout the Word of God. When He had a relationship with somebody, the Lord, he wanted them to know Him. He wanted them to know His mind. He wanted them to know His will.
If you're married or if you're a child in a family, do you think your father or mother wants you to know their will? Of course they do.
If you are in a relationship of marriage and it's proper and it's going on as it should, then both want to know the will of the other. It's natural, it's proper.
If you don't know the will of God or the will of the Lord in your life in the broad sense of it.
It's not because God's fault.
There's something missing on the receiving end, not the giving end.
And so it teach me to know thy will, Oh my God, and it's his delight.
To do it, He wants you to know it. He wants you to know it in your life.
But again, it brings in the Lord.
In Luke we won't turn to it, but in Luke chapter 5.
Peter gets saved, as we call it.
One day the Lord Jesus.
Asked to use his bow.
So Peter said. OK, master, we'll do it.
And the Lord used it.
You know the story. When they were done, the Lord was done.
Preaching.
He gave Peter some instructions, which he followed halfway.
Didn't follow him completely, but he he came halfway. He was told to launch out in the deep and it doesn't say he went out in the deep. He just launched the net one. He was told to launch more than one. He launched one, but he sort of did what he was told to do.
And the fish came up to break the net and so on.
And then it gets saved.
At that point in his life, he says, depart from me, for I am a sinful man.
Oh Lord, that was his conversion. I am a sinful man, O Lord, There's his repentance and there is acknowledging Jesus as Lord.
And he's a saved man.
The first sentence of salvation out of the mouth of Peter is to recognize the will of the person that saved him.
Oh Lord.
Paul was going along the road to Damascus, and as he's going down that road and the light from heaven.
Exposes itself to him.
00:20:00
He gets saved.
The first words out of his safe soul are Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
Do you think he found out the will of the Lord for his life?
Sure did. Sure did.
To know the will of the Lord in your life.
You have to own him as Lord and mean it, not halfway, not part of the way, not some of the days, not some of the things of life.
It's not Get Me Out on Tuesday.
I need help on Tuesday but I'm OK on Wednesdays and Fridays it is.
What did the Lord say to Peter?
He got the will of the Lord essentially for his whole life immediately.
But what did he say? He said come follow me.
And I will make you fishers of men. Did he have the will of the Lord for his personal life? Yes, he did. What are almost the last words that are spoken to Peter by the Lord Jesus on earth before he goes to heaven?
What is that to the?
Come.
Follow.
Thou me, did it change? Did the will of the Lord change for Peter? No, He got it in the beginning. Come follow me at the end of his life. And we need to be reminded, like Peter frequently when he gets to the other end of the Lord's time here on earth. Not the end of Peter's life, the Lord says to him.
Follow follow down me.
You need the will of the Lord for your life. Follow the Lord.
All the Lord.
End.
He will say whatever he wants to say to you. I will make you a Fisher of men. I will make you a mother of children, whatever comes afterwards. But the first thing has to be established.
The following.
And the submission to his will.
OK, let's turn over to.
Psalm 25.
Psalm 25.
And verse one unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in thee. Let me not be ashamed. Let not mine enemies triumph over me. We're going to go through at least part of this Psalm. It's a, there's a number of principles here about knowing and doing the will of the Lord. And, uh, we can get them out of the Psalm, I think, Oh my God.
I trust.
In the.
Or I confide in thee.
You won't. I won't really know the will of the Lord apart from faith.
And I think if you as we go over this and what time we have to go over it.
I'll just make this general comment.
You can't know the will of the Lord in its personal application to you apart from Communion.
There are many, many, many people in the scriptures who followed and did the will of the Lord one day in their life in a a day later or a year later. We're totally missing the will of the Lord, because doing the will of the Lord and properly knowing it cannot be separated from your fellowship.
You can't say I know the will of the Lord now, and for the rest of my life I'm going to do it.
You need to have.
His will in his daily detail before you, and you will miss it, you will lose it if you get away from following the Lord and get away from obedience to his will as you know it. But here it's the first thing in this Psalm is, Oh my God, I trust in thee.
You know, if you submit yourself to someone as Lord employed in, that is the confidence that you have that when he says jump, you jump.
00:25:12
Or he says stay, you stay.
It isn't a counselor. You know when you to know the will of the Lord. Don't treat him as a counselor.
A counselor, someone says, I don't know what to do about this. And so they stop and they go ask somebody, what do you think? And they ask him for some instructions about it or opinion about it or his thoughts about it. And sometimes we do go to one another in an improper way and seek counsel.
But with the Lord, don't bring it down to that low level council.
With the Lord, it's absolute.
It is when he says it. That's it.
He says jump to jump.
Use present way of saying things.
When he says stop, you stop.
And to have that relationship, to know his will, will involve trust.
And so he says, I trust in thee.
We must to know to do His will. And again I say not sometimes we do know his will sometimes, and we don't do it because we don't trust.
We have a sense of His will.
In us at times, but it's teach me to do and we stop short of doing because we don't trust.
M.
Enough.
Verse three. Let none that wait on thee be ashamed.
And verse five, the end of the verse, on thee do I wait.
All the day.
Sometimes in practice, the knowing the will of the Lord to do it requires waiting.
We're not good at waiting. In this day in which we live, we are culturally conditioned to jump from one thing to the next to the next and not spend very long on anything. Not necessarily muse over it, that is. Meditate and think about it. It's.
The Internet is conditioning the mind of man even by secular people who say people are losing their capacity to think. They want instant something to satisfy a wish without having to think about it.
There's a book written to help you generate a website that's titled Please Don't Make Me Think.
And it's a serious book.
But often times to know the will of the Lord.
Requires waiting.
Turn over to Psalm 40 for a verse or two. Hold your place here if you want. We're coming back.
It's not this, not what I want. I think I want Isaiah chapter 50, the verse I want.
Isaiah chapter 50 and verse four, the Lord God hath given me this is the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary.
He wakeneth morning, by morning he waketh mine ear to hear as the learned.
The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned thy back.
This is prophetically about the Lord Jesus, the perfect one in his life who followed the will of his God.
He says in John's Gospel chapter 6, when they were disputing with him, he said I came to do the will of my father.
With us which has sent me.
At times the father said go and he went at times and following the will of his father, he stopped. He didn't do anything.
00:30:06
You remember when Lazarus was sick, they expected him to go immediately and he didn't because he waited.
To the will of the Father.
King Saul was told.
By Samuel I'm going to come here on this day and you wait for me.
And so I'll waited until the 7th day and the day started to progress and he saw the people all drifting away and and he just, he says he forced himself.
And he acted against the will of the Lord.
Part of doing the will of the Lord and even knowing the will of the Lord is the willingness to wait and submit.
To his time.
If you have asked the Lord His will in a matter, He will tell you in His time.
And sometimes he will tell you what his will is, but he'll also show you what's not yet.
And you have to wait or you should wait. Don't force yourself.
While we're here in this 50th Psalm, I want to show you one other thing about the will of the Lord that's important. It says the Lord verse five. The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned I back.
OK, he was obedient.
To the will.
But look at the next verse and what he was obedient to. Look at the next verse.
I gave my back to the smiders and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting. That's what he submitted to according to the will.
Of God.
Do I want to know the will of the Lord? Unless.
Unless their shame and spitting.
Or.
Something else is not pleasant.
Is knowing and doing the will of the Lord going to mean that life flows along like a little Millennium until we go to heaven?
You can almost say it's guaranteed a life in the will of the Lord is going to involve suffering.
It has to.
Because you live in a world of sin and everything is out of order because of sin.
And as a consequence, things don't go right until the Lord comes in the Millennium, and then they will be set in order. But if you're going to know and do the will of the Lord, you must recognize you are going to submit yourself to things that aren't pleasant, that aren't fun, that aren't wow.
I gave my back.
If it be possible, let this cup pass from me.
Not my will.
But thine be done.
Then he went out to the cross, came back to Psalm 25.
Verse 4 Show me thy ways, O Lord, teach me. Thy paths, lead me in thy truth, teach me.
For thou art the God of my salvation.
There can, and generally there is. I believe in our lives.
A general path that the Lord will lead us in.
Through life.
Your path will be different than mine in a specific way.
And the psalmist here said, lead me, show that way to me. Teach me your path.
You know, if you go outside this door here and you go down the hall to the end outside the children's room, there's two photographs on the wall that are both.
Uh, really of the same thing, but taken at a different time of day and perhaps time of year.
00:35:01
And they have a walkway that goes out over water and then it turns and turns and goes and whatever.
And if.
You wanted to get to the other end. You could get on that pathway and as long as you stayed on the path, you won't get a drink in the water, but you will get safely to the other end, I'm sure.
God has a path for your life and mind. That's His will for us that will take us all the way.
And it's just to walk in it.
It's not again the Lord Jesus, I came to do thy will. Oh my God. To put it another way, we missed the mind of the Lord, or we missed the level of the Lord because we want to do our own.
And we end up in the water sometimes.
The second thing about those two pictures is one of them is very cheerful.
Taken with flowers and so on around framing the picture at that time of year. The other one is rather somber, must be taken at dusk without the flowers showing, and so on. And sometimes the path of the Lord has that characteristic. Sometimes it's flowery, it's fun and we're happy to go in it. But sometimes it has the characteristic of being somber, and yet it's the same path.
It's the same time and if we get on and allow the Lord to teach us.
He will lead us down the path and protect us from getting off and jumping off in the water if we're submissive but.
To know the will of the Lord means to put aside your own will. Sometimes we don't know the will of the Lord because we've got our own agenda. We have our own will, and so we want to do our own thing. If you want to know and do the will of the Lord, that's it. It's the same words. Put your own will aside.
Put your own agenda aside and submit yourself to his.
Verse six. Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving kindness, for they have been ever of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions, according to thy tender mercies. Remember thou me for thy goodness sake, O Lord.
Good and upright is the Lord, therefore he will teach sinners in the way.
Look at a verse in First Corinthian or First John chapter 3.
First John chapter 3 and verse 20. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things.
Beloved, if our heart condemn us, then not then have we confidence toward God that whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
Doing the will of the Lord and requires obedience and if we.
Are disobedient and circumstances come as a consequence of it. One of the things that's very natural to us is we lose confidence.
In the will of the Lord.
As to knowing it for ourselves?
Because from the beginning there tends to be in our heart. The Lord will show me as well, as long as I'm a good boy.
But it depends on me to be a good boy, and if I'm a good boy, then he'll do the good thing. But if I'm a bad boy?
Then he's not gonna. It's too bad. Why do the young people, the detention center asked me to pray for him? Why don't they pray for themselves? Because they're at that moment look upon themselves as a bad boy and a bad girl, and they don't have confidence, so they ask somebody else to do something for them.
David, who didn't have the indwelling of the Spirit as we do, and that you. This is not our position or our relationship with the Lord as His was, but we still experience something like it at times in our lives. Remember, oh Lord, thy tender mercies. Oh Lord, Please remember what you are.
00:40:02
Because.
Don't remember this my sins.
God is greater than our hearts. We need to learn that.
We do fail and we do miss the mind of the Lord, and we do have consequences as a result of it, but the Lord would ever want us to turn back to Himself.
We don't say to Alan your key in prison, Alan, you missed the mind of Lord big time. You'll never know it. No.
It can, within the circumstances in which he is in the government of God, know and do the will of the Lord, and the Lord wants him to know and do His will. There is always, as long as we live the rest of our days.
And we always need to remember that sometimes, OK, I miss the mind of the Lord, and so now I'm where I am. And So what difference does it make? And we use that as an excuse to keep on doing our own will.
And finish our life by wasting it.
Don't be that way.
Always go back and say, Lord, Remember Me according to your loving kindness. And He does, and He will.
And that's a lesson we need to learn.
He says he will teach centers in the way sinners.
That's where we start out and that's where we sometimes get along, acting like sinners in the way. But He will teach us.
Not always easy to be taught. He'll teach centers in his way. Let's Makes reminds me of the 32nd Psalm. Let's turn to that for a moment.
Psalm 32 and verse 8.
I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine. The new translation is, I will guide thee with mine eye upon thee. You ever seen a little child when he is learning something new or doing something he hasn't done before? And Mother, father looks right there and watches him, whoops, whoops, and maybe puts their hand on his shoulder, or guides his hand to teach him to do it the way he wants him to do it.
The Lord so interested in you, knowing and doing his will, that he says I'll guide you with mine eye on you.
That is, I'll watch you, and as you need an adjustment, I'll give it to you.
So that you can do it better.
That's his interest, the level of interest he has in you and I doing as well, that He will guide us with His eye upon us.
Verse 9.
By contrast, be not as the horse or as the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held with a bitten bridle, lest they come near unto thee.
Sometimes the Lord is so interested in us having to do as well for our own good.
He'll put a bit and a bridle in her mouth.
And use us to do as well, like a horse.
Is that the fun way? No, it's not.
It's not a fun way.
But it is an expression of sometimes to get the end result of God's will in our lives if necessary. He loves us enough that He will literally, figuratively speaking, put a bed and bridle on us.
So that we can learn.
And if we learn a little bit, then it might be taken off if we don't need it.
Back to the 25th chapter.
All the verse 10, all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth. That's the will that you want to walk in.
The path of mercy and the path of truth.
And so it says unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. Hold your finger here. Go to Psalm 40.
00:45:02
Sum 46 Sacrifice and offering. Thou didst not desire my nearest. Hast thou opened burnt offerings and sin offerings? Hast thou not required? Then said I, this is all about the Lord Jesus prophetically. Lo, I come in the volume of the book. It is written of me by delight to do Thy will, O my God. Yeah, Thy law is within my heart.
His law is his will.
This is expressed here.
Where do you need the will of the Lord to do it properly?
In your heart.
This gives you his will.
You need to feed on it.
So that it becomes a part of you.
You can't just use it as a thumb index. Oh, I need to know what I'm gonna do next week. I think I'll look here. Oh, yes, this is. You're not gonna find it that way.
And if you try, you'll probably miss the will of the Lord.
You know Satan, he used the Bible. If you go to the Word of God and your heart isn't submissive to his heart, if it's not following him and you want to have the verse to guide you for what you want to do, you'll probably find it.
To your own destruction because you'll misuse it.
And if you can't find it and you go the next step and you say, well, I'll pray about it. You'll probably pray with yourself.
And then you'll do what you wanna do, and so will I. We're not different.
The Lord had and if the will of God, and you know the will of God, and you do it because it's right.
But it's not according to what's in your heart. You'll give it up in time. You won't continue in it.
Something else will come along and steal your heart, and you'll follow it because you were doing it because it was right, rather than you were doing it in obedience of your heart to the your Lord.
So it's it's a serious matter to want to follow and do the will of the Lord. He wants you, He'll tell you what it is.
But learn to do it from the heart, like the Lord Jesus did.
Verse nine of our chapter 25.
The meek will he guide in judgment.
The meek will he teach his way.
Probably the easiest way to miss the will of the Lord in one's life is pride.
Right, the meek.
He teaches his way.
We missed the way of the Lord, perhaps as easily as in any way in our lives, when pride is allowed a place in US.
May the Lord, in His grace and mercy do that which makes us.
Make.
Joe was proud until the Lord finished his lesson with Job and and when he was done, Job said, I abhorred myself and repent and dust and ashes. And that's when he got to meekness. That's when he gave up his pride and that's when he truly understood the ways of the Lord in his life and got the blessing of them.
12.
What man is he that feareth the Lord Him? Will he teach in the way that he should choose? That he should choose is the way the Lord chooses.
That's what's meant here.
The man that fears the Lord, the Lord will teach in the way that he, the Lord will choose.
Verse 14 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him.
And he will show them his covenant or his will.
The secret communications of the Lord.
That's what the secret's about here.
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The personal, individual, private interchange between the soul and the Lord, in which His will is appreciated and acted upon.
Is for the man that fears him.
Fear here means to give him his full, honored place in the heart.
This is the man.
Really more than any other.
Walks in the will of the Lord and knows it. The Lord says if you will walk with me independence and obedience and humbleness, we will have communications together and I will guide you daily step by step.
In what you eat today, what you do today.
Where you go today as well as the bigger.
Activities and choices that are made in life. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. I hope you'll remember those words. To me, they're the highlight of this chapter.
The secret. If you see Mr. Darby's translation, the footnote of secret, it's the private, intimate communications between the Lord and his soul are found.
In the one that.
What Scripture calls fears him has that deep personal respect for his person.
Gonna look at that twice more. Go to uh.
I can think of where the place is Luke Chapter 11.
Luke Chapter 11, verse 34.
The light of the body is the eye. Therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body is full of light. But when thine eye is evil, thy body is also full of darkness. Take heed, therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light. Here he is saying in a moral sense.
To know to have light, to see everything as it is, is with the simplicity of a single eye.
In the measure in which your mind, your eye of your heart, the eye of the will of your life, the eye of submission.
Is single, focused on the Lord Jesus Christ. In that measure, your body will be full of light to the knowledge of His will for you every day, every step of life.
He wants that.
It's his desire that you and he walk through life with a full understanding of an intimacy of will between you. But if there's part darkness, there'll be part darkness, as it says here. If there's a little bit in me, that's for me. My well, please.
Not I delight to do thy will, Oh my God, but a little bit for me.
Then there will be a little bit of darkness, and if there's a lot for me, there'll be a lot of darkness. And every one of us, I dare say, needs to be sure that we grow in the sense of having a single simple.
Motive that governs our life. I want to show it to you in closing in an incident in the life of the apostle Paul that I find.
Very instructive in Philippians chapter one.
It's actually this passage that.
If you will, the light bulb came on and my soul at the Montreal conference in a reading meeting.
That has led to these remarks today.
Here's a man.
Who knows the will of the Lord, and presents it to us in a very remarkable way, that is showing us what it means to have a single eye that gives us to know the will of the Lord.
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In our lives, here's Paul, we're not going to read the whole, but verse 12 it says, and I'm going to read the new translation. But I would have you know, brethren, what the circumstances.
In which I am that the circumstances in which I am. So these remarks start with the circumstances of his life at that moment. What are they?
He's in prison. He's been in prison for years.
As we would say, naturally he doesn't know until he stands before Caesar, who, it would appear, has the control whose will is going to determine whether he lives or dies.
He might have just sat in prison each day and said, well, it's up to Nero whether I live or die. I it's out of my hands. I can't control it.
I'm a prisoner in prison. That's his circumstances.
So what does he say we will skip down to?
Verse 19.
I know not. I hope not. I think not. I wish, but I know.
I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer.
And the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
Your prayer was an expression of dependence.
On the at the throne of God for Paul and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, Paul had that sense that the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ working in him was going to result in his being set free, his salvation. Now we could look at it and say, well, he didn't know whether he was going to be set free by death or by life.
But what follows, I believe, shows us that he did know he was going to be set free in life.
Notice what it says.
According to my earnest expectation and my hope now he says, hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed. But in all boldness, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. He's saying, Well, I, I want in this circumstance in which I am, it's my desire that Christ be honored. He be magnified, His name be.
Defended before the king when I stand before him, whether it results in life or death, he says I want.
My desire, well then he goes on or time slipped away here he says for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. That's the key verse of this sequence and we'll come back to it. But if I live in the flesh, this is to the fruit of my labor. Yet I shall not choose. I want not, for I am in a straight between 2:00 to having a desire to part, to be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is needful, more needful for you.
He stops and says what are my choices? What would my will be?
Live or die? Well, if I had my choice, I'd like to go to heaven to be with the Lord.
But for your sake, there's a need there. You need me. And so it's a hard situation.
What do I do? What do I think? What do I want?
Verse 25 Having this confidence I know.
That I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith.
That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ.
Backing up to the 21St verse, what he's saying is to him the will of Christ was everything.
That was it.
To live was Christ perfectly in that sense simplicity with the whole body full of light. And he looks at the situation and as it were, his heart is formed by the mind of Christ and the mind of Christ. Is there something for Paul still to do on earth?
And so judging the matter without a will of his own for me, he wouldn't know. But allowing the Lord Jesus to have this supreme place in which he says for me to live is Christ. He can look at the situation. He can see it, if you will, through the eyes of the Lord and the Lord's fall. You're going to be here around for a while because I have something still for you to do.
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And.
In that the will of the Lord manifests to Himself.
It didn't matter what Nero said.
It didn't matter that the most powerful man on the face of the earth, living at that moment had supposedly the power of life and death over him. No, he didn't.
I know I shall remain.
He knew the mind of the Lord.
And the hand of the king is secondary. It's in the hand of the Lord, the heart of the king. And so he would remain.
Brethren.
I don't think anyone of us would claim to be quite where Paul was in Philippians one in our present condition of soul.
But may the Lord help us to grow in that direction.
That he might have the pleasure.
Of having His will in that degree expressed in our lives.
1 Corinthians 12:12-31
Reading
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115.
Head of the jersey I wanted.
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All the way again.
OK.
First Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 12.
Perez The body is one and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body. So also is Christ. For by 1 Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.
The foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body. Is it therefore not of the body?
And if the ears shall say, because I am not the eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body?
If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the hole were hearing, where were the smelling?
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But now his God set the members, every one of them, in the body, as it had pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say under the hand, I have no need of thee, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you, nay, much more of those members of the body which seem to be more feeble or necessary.
Those members of the body which we think to be less honorable. Upon these we bestow more abundant honor, and our uncommon parts have more abundant comeliness.
For our comely parts have no need, but God has tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care one for another.
Whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles and gifts of healing, helps governments, diversities of tongues.
Are all apostles, Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret, but covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet show I unto you a more excellent way.
To perhaps just mention before we go on and we didn't have a chance to mention all these particular manifestations of the spirits and the verses beforehand, but there is one called prophecy and there was a sense of prophecy before the Canon of Scripture was complete that God used men to speak his word for the particular time. You have that in Acts chapter 13 where.
The Spirit said, separate me, Barnabas and Paul for the work which I have called them. There were prophets that spoke the word of God according to the particular need at that moment. We don't have profits in that sense of the word. We do have prophecy In chapter 14, verse three says he that prophesied speaketh unto men to edification and exhortation and comfort. We have that kind of prophecy today.
But, uh, just wanted to comment on that. Another one is, uh, that Don mentioned this morning, I think is a very important one is the discerning of spirits. And there are those that God gives to discern spirits. And it's a very important thing. You can be right in everything you say, but wrong in your spirit. And there are those who the Lord helps to discern spirits.
On, on what Bob just mentioned about the profits versus helpful in that regard is Romans chapter 16.
Romans chapter 16 and verse.
25 Now to him that is of power to establish you, according to my gospel, the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets.
By the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God made known to all nations.
For the obedience of faith the prophets used in this verse since include Paul and John, whose writings are prophetical in some of their character, and they were foundational because.
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That there was a mystery that God was making known that had not been known to his church.
And so he established at that time prophets who would make that known. And it has for some of them. Not all of the prophecies, As Bob said, it was found at the beginning before the written word was available. But we still have and we still benefit from that gift today in the word itself that has been given to us by those who were used of God. And now we have the scriptures of those prophets.
Apostles and prophets are no longer with us. They laid the foundation.
Don't lay 2 foundations for a building. But I was thinking in, uh, verse 13, just a doctrinal comment here. Uh, we, we uh, hear of people Speaking of the baptism of the Holy Spirit as if it was some, uh, new manifestation, some outpouring of the Spirit upon a person, an individual, but uh, the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Really took place just once, and it occurred at Pentecost. It was collective. It's never individual. Now we're exhorted to be filled with the Spirit.
That he might control our actions and thoughts and.
Our manners and so on, but the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Actually only took place at at Pentecost. And when a person is saved, they are not baptized of the Holy Spirit again, they are added to the church. It's like a.
Verse 13 by 1 Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have all been made to drink into one. Spirit really looks back to Pentecost there.
Umm and umm, it's like a company that has been incorporated. For instance, we have in Canada a very famous umm.
Company, uh, established about 1680 called the Hudson's Bay Company. It was incorporated at that date. Now there's been members added to the board and to the committee down through the years, but they don't reincorporate the company again. Every time that a new member is added to it or a new employee is uh, is put on the payroll, there's not another incorporation of the company. It has been done once.
They are added into an existing.
A body. And so it is with a person who is saved. Now they are added into a body that already exists and umm.
And uh.
So the Spirit of God does that adding, but it's not a baptism of the Holy Spirit. This might be, uh, good to be accurate on those points that we don't get, uh, many other many baptisms that would indicate that many new bodies were being formed. So, uh, the intimacy is so great in verse 12 That it says being many, uh, all the members of that one body, being many are one body.
So also is Christ, the intimacy, the union is so.
Uh, close here That, uh, the body and Christ are spoken of as Christ.
Not, not separated. We are united to him by the Spirit of God.
Into that mysterious yet wonderful union of the body of Christ, our head in heaven, and we as members of that body here on earth, but joined intimately with our risen head in the glory.
A little bit, because the Scriptures are very, very careful to guard in the New Testament, lest we ever think that there is more than one church or more than one body.
And as John has brought out, the Church of God was formed on the day of Pentecost.
By the descent of the Holy Spirit, something very remarkable happened on that day.
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Not only did the Spirit of God come to indwell individual believers, but to form, if I can put it this way, a new unit, the Church of Go, the Church of God, and to dwell collectively.
In that unit that was formed at that time. But some have been a little confused because you go over to the 8th chapter of Acts and the 10th chapter of Acts, and at first glance, it may seem like there was a repeat of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in those two chapters. Now again, I, I want to put this as carefully as possible, but I, if I can put it this way again, it's the Spirit of God being very careful to guard lest we ever think there was.
A Jewish church, a Samaritan church and a Gentile church.
Or even a Jewish gentile church with a hyphen and so in the.
8th chapter of Acts, where the Samaritans were brought in. Let me back up a minute. When the church was formed on the day of Pentecost, it was Jews, about 120, who were gathered together.
Who formed initially the Church of God or made-up the Church of God when it was formed?
Later on in the 8th chapter, the Samaritans are brought in and there was, if I can put it this way, a little addendum to what happened. Not a repeat of what happened in the second chapter of Acts, but a little addendum to it. To guard last. We think, as I say, that there was now a Samaritan church being formed. No, they are brought into what was already formed by the Spirit of God on the day of Pentecost. Then when we come over to the 10th chapter, we have.
In the home of Cornelius the truth going out to the Gentiles.
And the Gentiles are brought into the Church of God. And so there's another little addendum to what happened on the Day of Pentecost to bring to bring them in. But as John said, and I think it's very good to be clear on it, the baptism of the Holy Spirit was something that took place on the day of Pentecost, never to be repeated as such again. And I know we've already quoted it, but at the end of that second chapter of Acts after the formation of the church, it says.
And the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved. And we could put it this way, for our purposes this afternoon, the Lord is still adding to the church daily, such as should be saved.
If someone got saved last night when the gospel was preached, they're added to what was formed on the day of Pentecost. They become a member of the body of Christ.
They become part of the Church of God and that work of the Spirit of God.
In compelling sinners to come in and to bring souls to Christ is going to continue.
And souls are going to be added to the church until the church is completed and the Lord Jesus is then going to come and the church is going to be raptured to glory. So there's only ever in Scripture the thought of there being one church or one body.
Oh, Brother Jim, to see the expression the baptism of the Holy Spirit mentioned in chapter one of Acts and verse five in connection with what was to take place in chapter 2, notice it for John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. That's in relation to what takes place and.
Chapter 2 and it's for like you say, the formation of the body of Christ, and when you go over to chapter 10 you have the Gentiles brought in and in Chapter 11 Peter is called to account for what happened and he says in Chapter 11.
Verse 15 As I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. So you see, the scriptures themselves use that term in connection with the formation of the Church of God at the beginning of the Christian era. Think it is helpful because in those two cases in the dead penny cost in connection with Cornelius and his household.
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It was the Holy Spirit that fell without any human instrumentality, and I agree with you that.
Acts 8 is kind of an addendum, but it does not say that he fell on them. It was through the imposition of the hands of the apostles that they received the Spirit of God and were.
Incorporated into the same body.
Maybe I could use a little simple illustration that I sometimes use before, and that is when I was a boy, my parents bought me a set of building blocks. And I remember using those blocks and one day I built some kind of house or building with those blocks and I ran out of blocks before the building was completed. I wanted to build something a little bigger than the capacity of the block set was able to accommodate.
And I remember keeping that building set up, built until I made perhaps it was a birthday or some special day. I had been promised that some more blocks would be added to the set. And when those blocks came on my birthday or whatever day it was, I still remember opening that box and adding those blocks to what I had already built. I didn't build a new house. I added to what was already there.
And that perhaps helps us to understand a little bit what the work of the Spirit of God has been.
Since the day of Pentecost, adding those living stones as we get in first Peter to the church. And so when, as I say, when that last living stone is added and the church is completed, the work of the Spirit of God will be done.
And brethren, isn't it wonderful? We've talked about the work of the Spirit of God at great length in these reading meetings.
And isn't it wonderful to realize that the Spirit of God will not leave until the work is completed? And when he leaves, we leave too. That's why at the end of the Book of Revelation it says, And the Spirit and the Bride say, come. He doesn't leave till we leave. And the fact that the Spirit of God is still here shows that there is still some work for the Spirit of God to do.
And he does that work, as we've been saying, through each one who is indwelt by the Spirit, by the Spirit.
He had, in other words, he has some work left for you to do. He has some work left for each of us. And as long as the church and the Spirit is here, there are going to be opportunities. There's going to be needs, there's going to be the power to go on.
Individually and collectively, as we've been saying, there's going to be the resources to go on in the assembly and to be fed and to have collective worship and praise and prayer and singing in the spirit and ministry.
I think that's a great comfort, but it also ought to exercise us as members of the body of Christ.
And the fact that the Spirit of God is still here ought to exercise each one of us.
To take up our part and function as a member of the body of Christ and seek to to manifest that in each of our lives for the good and blessing of the other members.
Verse 12 to see the word one, how often it is mentioned and brother and I just must say, I really think this is something to rejoice in. We are one. It is a fact today, even though the outward testimony is in such disarray and we can say that the testimony has been broken up.
The truth of the body of Christ that its one remains today just as much a reality and we need to be exercised.
In meeting together or at any time to be exercised in view of all the other members of the body of Christ, because God has set his heart on them and he's going to bring them all home to glory in his own purposes of blessing. And so the body is one beautiful, wonderful truth. You know, there's just so many factors in today's world that seems like want to pull us apart.
But, brethren, we are.
Baptized by the Holy Spirit into one body, we are one body. Remember when there was a time of trouble amongst the brethren in Bolivia? And I remember some brethren got off track and I went to visit one of the brothers who was a son-in-law to Leno Bueno. And as we sat down in his home, he says to me, Brother, how sad it is that the body of Christ is all broken up into pieces.
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I said to him, Brother, I come to you to tell you that I am with you. Even though we are not breaking bread at the present moment, we are still one body in Christ. We're not acting like it, but we are still one body in Christ. Thank God he came back into fellowship, that dear brother. And and it's that truth, brethren. It's the reality of the fact. And some of us like I was saying yesterday.
Have the privilege of going from 1 Country to the next.
Prove the reality of the fact that there is one body and it says at the end of verse 13 within all made to drink into one spirit. It's the same spirit that unites us. They're talking about Chile or Argentina or Haiti or or Dominican Republic or Cuba or wherever you want to go. It's the same body. It's the same spirit. It's a wonderful reality and we are called to.
Walk in view of that truth. It's not possible to walk in fellowship with all our brethren, but the truth of the body of Christ is a reality, and you and I should walk in view of the reality that truth.
On a verse in chapter 10.
Connection with what's before us.
First Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 32 give none offense.
Neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God.
If I wanted to trap you, I might ask you, are you a Jew?
And you'd probably say no. Well, what if I ask you if you're a Gentile?
If you said yes, you're missing the truth of our chapter.
There's from God's perspective, he has now divided. Before the church was formed, you could look at this world and say he divided into two classes, Jews and Gentiles. But since he formed the body of Christ on earth, he has now divided the world into three classes, Jews and Gentiles and the Church of God.
And as long as the Church of God is on earth, if you become a member of it, you leave the other two classes before the eye of God. You're not a Jew anymore. You're not a Gentile anymore.
You are something else. You are that one new thing in the earth. When the rapture takes place, that body leaves the earth and it will return to the two classes. It will return to the class of Jews, and it will return to its class of Gentiles. But it is well for us in our thoughts and in our associations to recognize I don't want to offend a Jew. I don't want to offend a Gentile.
You probably are around some Gentiles a lot. Nor do I want to offend as Bob was just talking of the Church of God and all the association I have with it. But it's important for us to seek to maintain God's view of it. Otherwise our thought patterns and our activities and we'll get get us while I'm I'm part of the church, but I'm also a Gentile and I'm this, but I'm also that.
Umm, there are false teaching.
That is very destructive to the purposes of God, although God will triumph over it. But there is that which mixes those three classes together in such a way that S Satan uses it to oppose God.
That white on the word baptism is used here.
Baptism in Scripture has the connotation of separating us from what we were connected with before and associating us with others, or maybe just as an individual in a new position. And so we don't want to give the impression that the baptism of the Spirit, because it occurred once on the day of Pentecost, has no relevance to you and me today.
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Paul was writing to people who had not been there the day of Pentecost.
Nor was Paul himself. And yet he says we all are. We all baptized into one body, and so there is a separation from whatever we have been connected with before.
And if I meet a fellow believer, I meet him as a member of the body of Christ, as Bob has said, no matter what part of the world he is in.
And we may say, not seeking to be critical, but that truth, that precious truth, is often not particularly understood. I well remember visiting in a country some years ago.
And enjoyed very much the opportunity to speak with believers there. And in some cases they already knew about the truth of the one body.
But then they said to those of us that were there, now let's see, Bill, you're from Canada and you're from the United States and you're from the western United States, and one brother was from another country, not even in North America.
How do you 4 all get to know each other anyway?
And to them, it was a tremendous revelation to realize that.
The body of Christ didn't just comprise believers within a certain locality, or believers within a certain country or a certain culture, but rather it was universal. Well, I'm happy to say that that precious truth had its result in those that heard it, and they began to absorb that.
But then it says, as we've been mentioning, drink into one spirit.
What does that mean?
I don't pretend to be able to explain it fully, I think Bob put a very good construction on it, but could we suggest this thought?
It is not merely that the Spirit of God has formed us into one body. In one sense, we could say God has done that. That's his work.
But he's made us to drink into one spirit.
Could we suggest that that means if we're members of one body, God intends us to act like it?
I remember well, some years ago, quite a few years ago now, there was a brother who had been raised among those gathered to the Lord's name, and he had left.
And I had a good chat with him, I knew him quite well.
And after a while, he kind of closed the conversation by saying, Oh well, Bill, anyway, we can thank God for a unity of the body that we can't break anyway.
Was that true? As Bob has been saying, indeed it's true.
But could he shrug off his responsibility merely by saying, well, I'm thankful I'm still a member of the body, and so are you? No, as Ephesians 4 tells us, there's one body and one spirit. 1 body means that we all belong and are part of that same body with Christ as the head. But the Spirit forms us into that body. We drink into one spirit in order that we might live and move and act.
Together, as members of that body. And that's what this chapter brings before.
The 15th chapter.
Verse 44, we read there's a spiritual body and a natural body. There's a natural body and there's a spiritual body.
Now we all know, uh, and specially those who are employed in the medical field, you can't take any member out of a natural body and put it by itself and make it operate or make it function. It's impossible.
Well, the same, I believe, is true to the spiritual body.
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How can you make? How can we function when we are?
I divided or somebody goes by himself and starts something new again and says he is part of the body. I can't understand people that leave the assembly.
Gathered to the Lord Jesus, knowing that we all embody and they can go someplace else and then function there.
Suppose I.
In Chicago there's hundreds of them, Hundreds of so-called churches. Churches.
Now I would leave the meeting and go to one of those. Could I function there?
And then go the next one. Could I function there? I couldn't function in any of them.
It would be impossible. I would throw up my hands and say it's all lost. They are all divided, they are all different.
But knowing that.
As much as we can't leave.
The natural body.
Cannot leave the spiritual body either and function.
We have quoted several times, and Bill just did Ephesians 44. But it might be helpful to go there for a moment in connection with our responsibility and what ought to exercise our souls. Ephesians chapter 4, and I'll begin reading at verse one. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation, wherewith ye are called with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering.
Forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit, as Mr. Darbys translation says, in the uniting bond of peace. And then he says there is one body and one spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling. And so as we've been saying, as far as the unity of the body that's in the hand of God, nothing can can not touch that. Thank God the responsibility.
Of the keeping of the unity of the body was not committed to man, because everything man does, everything that has been committed to man, he fails in some way. But there is a responsibility placed upon the members of the body of Christ, and that is that we are to endeavor or give diligence to keep the unity, not of the body, but the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.
You know, when you're LED of the Spirit and I'm LED of the Spirit, there's going to be unity and peace.
And if you, if you're walking in the Spirit, I'm walking in the Spirit, that is going to be the result. The trouble is, so often we don't walk in the Spirit, We're not following the Lord in the way that we ought to. And it leads some often to sadly to divisions, to differences, to not being able to go on and fellowship or full fellowship with other members of the body of Christ.
But I thought of it when Bill was speaking about drinking in one's spirit into one's spirit, if there isn't a connection here.
With endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and maybe someone else can make some comments and develop the thought. What do you think, Bill?
Well I guess the way I have enjoyed it, and I'd like to hear others comments too, but it seems to me that the way the word of God presents it is that yes, we are all members of one body, but.
You and I are to, and again, I prefer the Darby translation of Ephesians 4, Ephesians four and three, using diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.
Sometimes we hear the expression that we can break the unity of the Spirit. I well remember using that expression in an address at least 30 years ago and being corrected by a brother my own age who said to me afterward, Bill, where do you read that in the Word of God? And I had to admit that I didn't. And he was totally right. We no more break the unity of the Spirit than we break the unity of the body.
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The unity of the Spirit is there. That is, the Spirit leads.
If he's given the opportunity.
To how shall we word it lead every believer.
Into the full truth of God, according to the word of God. He's there to do that.
What am I doing to allow that unity practically to be manifested? I am to use diligence to keep that unity in the uniting bond of peace.
We don't want to belabor the point, but.
Let me use an example.
There are some parts of the world where things are done a little differently in meetings.
Sometimes I've been in assemblies where when someone prays, everyone stands up. Everyone.
You can imagine what it's like in a prayer meeting. Nobody goes to sleep.
We don't do that here.
And we could get into a squabble about it. The scripture say that we have to stand up or sit down or something.
Or kneel down.
The Scripture doesn't make instructions that extreme, does it? And so there's the opportunity to use diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We have been raised in different backgrounds, in some cases different cultures.
Different thoughts about things, different temperaments, different characters, and I believe God has allowed that. But what he has done is in many cases taken the most dissimilar group of people out of every different walk of life, put them together in the church and said, now I'm going to give you.
As it were the Spirit of God to enable you all to rise right above all of that and walk in peace and harmony together. First of all, for my glory.
And then for the edification and blessing of the Church and the preaching of the Gospel.
Is that the thought? And to do that, Yes. And to do that there needs to be then with us the spirit of loneliness, meekness.
Long-suffering and forbearing one another in love. I'm reading the second verse of the 4th chapter of Ephesians that comes before the exhortation, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit. And it takes that, doesn't it? And if I can put it very practically, you know, when we sit down at the Lord's table to remember the Lord Jesus in the breaking of bread, we practically express the truth of the one body in the breaking of bread.
And that brings us into a relationship. One with another causes us to rub shoulders, if I can put it that way. One with another in a way, in a relationship that's closer than any other relationship on earth outside of the family tie. I, I trust this won't offend anybody, but just to make my point, you can go to another fellowship and you can sit on a chair or a bench and you hardly know the person.
A few rows behind you. Never mind the person in a distant city who's in that same fellowship.
But as we've been saying, they'll use the illustration of the brothers that were together from different.
Countries in different parts of the continent, it brings us into a relationship that's very close.
But having said that, brethren, if love and forbearance and meekness and lowliness aren't exercised, if the 13th chapter of First Corinthians, the oil that we spoke of yesterday.
Isn't flowing the machinery's going to seize up? Why is it so? Often things great and difficulties arise because we are brought into that closeness of relationship, because we sit down and break bread and seek by the grace of God to express in a practical way the truth of the one body at the Lord's table. And so it takes the constant exercise of soul.
That there would be that meekness and lowliness and grace. And those of us who have the privilege of traveling to other cultures and countries, you don't go in and seek to change them. When we've had our conference in, uh, in France and our European and British brethren are there when we, when there's a, when there's prayer, we all stand up together. We're, we're there in Europe, we're in fellowship with our brethren in Belgium, uh, and breaking a Brown Lord's day, The routine is just slightly different.
00:45:22
It with loneliness and grace. We trust, we uh.
We go on with with our brethren, with our brethren there, and sometimes it takes.
Real humility and grace to go on. That's that's a very easy situation that Bill has mentioned that I have met. But there are other things that take that real exercise and sometimes out that long-suffering has to be in place. But it is important not that we ever want to compromise principles rather and far, far be the thought we never want to compromise principles or truth.
But we need to exercise that proper spirit that we might go on together.
The spirit is something that we keep or else if I act in the flesh, I do not keep. But like you said, Brother Bill, we don't break it. I myself was corrected on that matter one time and it's a it's a beautiful reality. Either I act in the unity of the spirit or I do not act in the unity of the spirit. And so we're.
Exhorted to keep that unity in the bond of peace, but to go on, brethren, in our verses here, because our time is advancing. Verse 14. The body is not one member, but many.
So we go to the truth of the fact that the body of Christ is formed by many different members. Not one member is like another. And so if the foot shall say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body?
The foot is kind of a lowly member in the in the body. The hand is the prominent member, always active doing things and perhaps the foot would say, well, I don't have that position. Maybe I'm not important brethren, let's be delivered from this spirit of self occupation. It leads either to.
A. As in these verses. A uh.
A, umm, complex of thinking bad about ourselves, or as it is later on, a complex of thinking highly, more highly of ourselves. Either extreme is wrong. We need to be occupied as our union with the Lord Jesus. What a wonderful thing. We're united intimately to a man, a real man, in the glory of God.
And it is in the measure that we are sensitive as to His presence there in glory, and responsive and obedient to His direction that we can go on together. And so the body is not one member, but many.
Oh, the wonderful truth of it, brethren, the members of the body of Christ to meet in that simplicity as members of the body of Christ. And I'd just like to say that.
When we speak, uh, being gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus on the ground of the one body, this is what we're talking about now. There is one body and each believer in the Lord Jesus is a member of that one body, and so it's acting together.
In recognition of this precious truth.
This is jumping ahead, but I there's a summary verse that for this section that we're getting into, and that's in verse 7, and it also ties in with Ephesians.
Verse 27.
I think it should go, and I certainly be well to be correct on this, but I think this is the thought that now you are the body of Christ and you are part of the members.
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And to remember, too, that, as it says in our chapter, he's placed the members in the body not as it hath pleased us, but as it hath pleased him. When we realize how precious those members each member is to him, and that he has placed that member in the body because it has pleased him, I believe it adjusts our perspective and our interactions with one another.
And again, let's bring it down to.
The local assembly, you know, you go home and you say, well, it's not quite the company I choose to be, I'd be to be associated with. In fact, you look around today, I look around and most of you, if not all of you in this room, I would never have known if the Lord hadn't saved me and the Lord hadn't saved you. That's what has brought us together. We're from all different backgrounds, all different bends to our nature.
We're from all different parts of the continent and even the world and what is it that's brought us together? He's placed us in the body as it has pleased him and not only that, but by his grace and it's only his grace. We've been gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We've been brought to the place where we believe this truth is expressed as Bob has has just brought brought out. But as you look around when you go home on.
Our next Lord's Day, or whatever meeting night you have for reading and prayer.
And you look around and you see those that are there. Remember, the Lord doesn't let us choose our company. He chooses for us. I know it's a little different, but I often think of Gideon, you know, when Gideon went out to fight, the men that were associated in fellowship with Gideon to win the battle. I don't think we're necessarily men that Gideon would have chose if he had had a choice. But the Lord said to Gideon, whom I say shall go with thee, shall go with thee.
And whom I say shall not go with thee, shall not go with thee. The Lord chose Gideon's army.
He, if I can put it this way, he placed the soldiers in the army as it pleased him, not as it pleased Gideon.
And Gideon had no choice but to go out and associate with those men. And when he did, there was a great victory in Israel.
And so to remember, brethren, that He has saved each one and placed them in the body according to His perfect love and wisdom. He's gathered different ones to His name by His grace, and we need to see it from see it and see them from His perspective. And that then, I believe, helps us to function as members of the body for the health and edification of the body.
I'd like to make a comment on First Peter chapter 4.
Verse 10.
First Peter 4 and 10.
As every man has received the gift, Even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praised and dominion forever and ever. Amen. I was enjoying the thoughts and just suggesting this thought and connection with that expression in the 13th verse of First Corinthians 12 as to the baptism of the Spirit and of drinking into one Spirit.
Now we have a picture there, I believe in the expressions that are used of water.
And uh, it is on certain verses where the Spirit of God is compared to water.
And on the day of Pentecost, the house was filled, and so were all those that were in the house that were filled. On the other occasions in the Acts, the house was not filled, just the individuals that were filled by the same Spirit. So we've been made to drink of the same Spirit. We read in Ephesians chapter 5 it says be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit. And I'd like to make think that in parallel, what we have here, the ability to minister, to speak at the oracles of God, to serve with the strength that God gives.
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I believe we won't be able to do that if we're filled by the Spirit of God. The Lord. Jesus says in John seven that rivers of living water were to flow from the bellies of those that would have His Spirit, not just from their minds, but from the deep affections of their souls for the Lord and for their brethren. That we would minister to one another with a heart of love from the heart of the Lord by the Spirit.
Each one has his, uh, God-given place in the body and, uh, a different work to do. I often think of the sons of Aaron, the Kohites and the Marathi Maraites and the, uh, Gershonites. They each had a, uh, special, uh, place to fulfill in the work of the Tabernacle they were appointed by.
Aaron to that service or to that burden, and they fulfilled it. It might not have been.
Very prominent in the eyes of their brethren. Some of them were only carrying a few pins, but they were doing the work which, uh, God had given them to do through Aaron and they could be happy in it. I think. But referred to yesterday that that we can, uh, better turn to the verse in Galatians chapter, uh, six. But every man prove his own.
Better terms of the verse and Galatians.
6.
Let every verse four, let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another, For every man shall bear his own burden. So there it shows that.
We each one have a place to fulfill in the body of Christ. Different to someone else, there are different gifts and uh.
If the Lord hasn't given us a gift to to perform a certain function and let us be satisfied with what He has given to us.
I was thinking also where it speaks there in the verse that our brother Bruce referred to, uh, verse 27. Now ye are the body of Christ or body of Christ.
Uh, and members in particular, it doesn't mean that, uh, the Corinthians, of course, were the only, uh, expression of the body of Christ. They were an expression of the body, but they weren't the total body, uh, on the earth at that time. They were members. By the way, you, you don't have members of an assembly in the scriptures. You have members of the body. You don't have members of the, a church or anything of that sort in the Scripture. I was thinking of the illustration, you know, in.
Canada, we have a very, uh, famous, uh, military force, uh, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, well known all over the world. Well, there's the detachments in Ottawa and there's detachments in Regina and other parts of the country. Now in, uh, a commander might say, now remember, you are Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He's speaking to the, uh, the force in Canada, in Ottawa.
Well, that's not the whole force.
There are other detachments throughout the country, but you are Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Umm, doesn't mean they were the whole detachment and everyone would understand that. So we are the body of Christ. We are the representative locally of the complete body of Christ. Now that might be helpful. Another thing we might mention is don't introduce into the assembly anything which would hinder the, uh, the operation of the Spirit of God in the meeting.
That would bring discord. That's our responsibility, is it not?
Versus the differences in the members of the body and we are different brethren. Nobody is like another. Sometimes we see things a little bit differently. Notice in verse 17, I've enjoyed this verse. You have three different members mentioned there. You have the eye, you have the hearing, you have the smelling. Remember a brother commenting on that in South American one of the conferences, he said.
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There's things that are very evident and openly you can see it. There's other things you don't see, but you have another member and you hear it. And then there's things you don't see and you don't hear, but there's another member of the smelling that tells you something's not right. And so we need to be careful to not despise any of the members, but seek to operate together.
Remember in South America we were in a particular assembly down there and there was a brother that seemed to always.
Being a little bit at odds with me and I was talking to him one day and I said, brother, I say we have some differences. It's evident.
But you know what?
I didn't choose you to be a member of the body of Christ, and you didn't choose me to be in the body of Christ. Somebody else chose us both and put us in the same body. Now we gotta figure out how to get along, and that's what we have to do. Brother, we're one body. Don't think just because you have those differences, I'm gonna separate and go off my own way. That's not of God.
Let's seek to strive together and there are differences. I I'd like to suggest something that I think is.
Very helpful. It's been very helpful to me and Philippians Chapter 3 in connection with those differences that we have sometimes as members of the body, how we're going to handle them. Let's not let these things be an occasion of the enemy to pull us apart, brethren.
Notice in chapter 3 of Philippians verse 15. Let us therefore as many as be perfect, you're full grown. Be thus minded, and if any in anything ye be otherwise minded.
God shall reveal even this unto you. So it's not agreeing to disagree, it's not agreeing to agree, it's waiting on God to give us.
Like mindedness, may the Lord help us brethren. And just simply, if there is differences, well, what are we gonna do about it? God shall reveal even this unto you. Sometimes it's a matter of grow spiritual grow. Times a brother doesn't understand a thing, we're gonna force it. No, we don't have to force it. It's by the Spirit of God that we are brought into the truth of God.
So as we wait on the Lord, He is able to reveal even this unto you.
Verse 18. It's already been common on, but to add a little to it.
God has set the members, every one of them, in the body as it hath pleased him.
As it had pleased him.
A lot of this reading meeting and every time we talk about anything, it's where I fit in.
And that's important to us. And we wanna fit in, and if we're a nose, we wanna smell, and we're and we wanna do what the hand does, and so on. And we'd like to know what we are, and we'd like to do it, and so on. But, brethren, it's good to get away from ourselves once in a while. God designed the body for His own pleasure.
Imagine, by contrast, if we were allowed to set up a committee to design it and we were allowed, or we had to go to everybody and say, what do you want to be?
Can you imagine what the body would look like if everyone in this room was given their choice as to what they'd like to be in the hall?
You probably wouldn't wanna be a part of it, but God has formed something for his own pleasure, and He has done it. Look at the human body. It was formed according to God's own choices, and it couldn't be better. He could have designed it so that it didn't enjoy color or taste or smell, but he had. God likes variety.
With unity, he likes both. God is one, and yet it's his own pleasure.
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To have created a universe that has a variety to it and still maintain a common unity connected with it. So God decided when He created us, He'd give us eyes and then He'd give us something to look at that had variety in it. He decided when He gonna provide food for us to give us a variety, and then He gave us a capacity to enjoy it. But when it's the church.
It's especially for his own pleasure.
He made us in a way that we can enjoy, but when it's the body of Christ, it's that for His own pleasure as it pleased Him, and He has so designed it that it will fulfill that pleasure of which He has, if I can accept that.
What difference does it make what I am? I don't have to worry about it. I don't have to be preoccupied with whether I'm a toe or whether I'm a muscle or whether I'm a tooth. It doesn't really matter if he gets his pleasure out of that which he has designed. And so it is for us to not say, well, I'm not a tooth or I'm not a this or I'm not a that, so I don't matter.
No, God is so designed it to create an interdependence upon the members of it, and that's his own pleasure, that he wants us to be interdependent and not sufficient in ourselves. If we have the choice of design, I can just imagine we design a whole bunch of parts which were pretty self-sufficient. Just in case you didn't operate very good, I'm still gonna be kind of self-sufficient. I'll be able to operate, OK.
But not God, He has so designed it that only only by His operation can all the parts work together, and without the parts the members, then it isn't going to function to His pleasure. One other thing I'd like to mention and connections goes beyond this chapter. But I enjoyed it in my own soul. In this reading, there's wonderful diversity.
But when you come to God.
The the Lord and the Spirit. There's something of unity connected with each one that is also manifested in the body that is so wonderful to maintain its unity in its diversity. The 1St is in first John four. God is the sole source of love.
And the love of God is.
Shed abroad into the hearts of the members of the body. But there's only one source of it, and it provides a common love, the source of which is God. And you can't generate it in any other way. You can't generate it within yourself. The body has only one power, which is of God, and it's the Spirit We're all made to drink of 1 spirit.
And so there is no other pot, there is no other power to make it work except the one source of it. And in not in the sense of the Lord. There's only one life in the body.
You know, I have a lot. I have a body, but it only has one life. It's not a whole bunch of lives going on my hand and my heart and all the rest of it can't. Nothing can exist without the rest. It's just one life.
Represented in it wonderful thing in the body of Christ. When Colossians teaches us that Christ is our life, there is no other. The life of the body has just won its Christ in you.
And so we have all been mar made to partake of 1 spirit. We have all also been made to partake in one life. And consequently, when the body is working as it should, it only has one life. It's not a whole bunch of members, each with their own life, each with their own agenda, each with their own anything in the true sense of this, the the way the Word of God presents it to us, we're part of one body, one person.
Which has one life, Let's enjoy it and let's not try to live separate from it.
Three different bodies that are spoken of.
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There's one body spoken of in First Corinthians chapter 6. It's know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have of God, and you are not your own, for ye are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body. And we see there that we have an ownership, one that has bought us and paid for us, and He owns this body. When you go to 1St Thessalonians 4 and four.
You read the words that everyone of you should know how to possess His vessel in sanctification and honor. We're sitting here possessing this vessel, this body, but it's owned by him. When we got to this passage that we're in now, we're Speaking of the one body.
Uh, the true church, God's church, the body of Christ. And we have read that it has pleased him the way that he's positioned us in it there. The third body is found in First Corinthians 15. We've been there before and it is Speaking of the spiritual body if you read verse 38. But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him.
So we see two out of the three there. It says that as it has pleased Him, we're also going to receive an eternal body, spiritual body. That'll be one that has pleased Him. Isn't it the problems that people get into? And you can almost read verse 18 before you start on the passage in verse 12. And it helps you to understand it, that if He's placed us in the body as it has pleased Him, therefore it should please us where we're positioned at.
And the problems they get into is that we think.
That the gifts back in the passages before that there may be some more honorable than other gifts. Those those gifts, singular or gift plural, were bestowed by 1 Spirit.
And that one spirit bestowed him, and there is nothing more honorable than any other gift.
They're all equal. They have diversities, yes, but they're all equal.
And the Lord lets the Holy Spirit give them out. God energizes those gifts. So when we get over here to this passage here, if we're happy.
Understanding and pleased within ourselves that God is pleased where He has placed us that that that's the key to it. Then I'm comfortable.
I'm happy he's using me. He's filled me well. He's taken what he's given me for a gift.
And he's and we've read according to your ability back in First Peter, haven't we? And we're all different. We hear that. But it's beautiful to know that the Lord has placed me where He wants me.
You see, and, and it, it's the same with that body that I'm going to receive later on. It, it pleases him. That body I don't know nothing about a spiritual body is going to be able to live outside of this Earth's atmosphere. But he's given this body right here, every breath and every life within my blood, this physical body. But over here I'm placed in his church, singular, his church, the true church.
We're not talking about local churches here, are we?
We're talking about God's church. He's placed us there. And when we understand that, then it's it's OK. If I'm this little piece of skin that is attached up here between the hair and the ear, that's fine. So be it. That's where God wanted to place me. Now I can go on.
For fulfilling that place, as you mentioned there, it may be a very insignificant.
Work that the Lord has appointed for us to do in the background, behind the scenes, so to speak. The sisters, many of them.
Fulfill their place in the body in a very uh.
You might say.
Insignificant, non, non public way, but they fulfill that service. It's like the Apostle Paul could say that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which the Lord has given me. So if we do that little service, uh, in the body of Christ that, uh, the Lord has given us to do, uh, there will be a reward for that in that coming day.
The Lord will not forget any uh.
Even a cup of cold water given in His name. And if we perform that little service for the Lord, there surely will be a reward. Not that it is the motive, but certainly it is an incentive to, uh, to press on in the path of faith and faithfulness.
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Have you, John? You've never seen your heart, Have you? Don't want to either.
But it's a pretty necessary member, isn't it?
Very necessary, and sometimes our sisters may think that they're not that important. Sisters, you are just as important as any brother in your place.
And verse 21 has the other, we want to touch on it, the extreme that we can get to we had in verse, uh.
15 and 16, the inferiority complex. And we have in verse 21 The superiority complex. The eye cannot stand to the hand, I have no need of thee, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
Nay, much more of those members of the body which seem to be more feeble.
Are necessary. Let's bear with one another, brethren, let's go on together. This is the truth that we have been called in one body.
Thankfully we need each one of our the members of the body so the eye cannot say to the hand, I don't have any need of you.
Verse 25 Our time is going.
Anybody in the medical field will tell you the body is also healing. We can help it heal.
But our bodies heal by themselves, don't they? So we speak of unity and function. And here we have in a 25th verse that should be nose kism in the body. So there should be unity and it says but that the members should have the same care.
One for another.
That we would be healers of one another.
Concern for one another.
This is the expression of the care of 1 member for the other, the member the head.
Cares for all the members and I believe if he would have free course in our hearts we would be caring more for each other too. Any measure that we are led to have contact with believers that perhaps do not meet with us brother and we should at the same time have a care for them. That's the truth of the body of Christ.
One member suffer, all members suffer with it. A lot of our brethren in countries that are Muslim, countries that are suffering severely, are we interested rather than them? Are we praying for them? Are we doing what we can to help them in their sufferings? I think we can be exercised in a practical way to say to the Lord, what can I do to be a help to those fellow members of the body of Christ?
Wherever we meet them, brethren, whatever measure we can, we're not talking about walking in fellowship together, but to do what we can to be a blessing to them. And the measure that we can. Let's not miss out too on, on the members that are in the chairs beside us and in the little meetings where we go, the ones that the Lord has placed in our environment to be really concerned about those two. Mm-hmm.
So we've spoken a great deal about the body of Christ. We've used the expression the Church of God and so on. I think it's helpful to realize that when we speak of the body of Christ.
It's one way in which the Church of God or one aspect or context in which the Church of God is brought before us. There are various ways that the Church of God is brought before us, but when it's the the body.
It's the function of the members here on earth. Now, when there's a loaf on the table tomorrow, that loaf will represent to God. And I trust to our hearts as well, every believer alive on the face of the earth as a member, functioning member of the body of Christ at that moment, if I can put it this way, my parents who have been with the Lord for some time.
And who functioned as members of the body of Christ on earth? They're beyond that now.
Now they will be part of the Church in a coming day in the aspect of the bride of Christ.
The Lamb's wife, the church described as a city in her millennial administrative function in reigning over the earth with Christ in the coming day. And so I think it's helpful to see that the church is taken up in different contexts and different aspects. Sometimes it's every believer from the day of Pentecost when the church was formed, until its completion at the rapture. Sometimes it's a local aspect, the church, which is in my house.
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And that aspect of things, the local expression of it, and sometimes as in connection with the body, it's every member alive on the face of the earth at that one given time. And it ought to again exercise us to realize that it's not just a few that are here. It's not just those who are in fellowship with around the world this afternoon, but it is every believer alive on the face of the earth at this moment is a.
Member of the body of Christ, a functioning member, and it ought to exercise us to function in the proper way for His glory and for the edification of the other members.
No longer in the body.
Now, as members of the body, they'll be part of the Church of God in its completion in that day.
We sing 330.
330.
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Perhaps just two verses.
Acts Chapter 20.
Verse 30.
Or 29.
Acts 20 and verse 29.
For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you.
Not sparing the flock.
Also of your own self shall men arise, speaking perverse things.
To draw away disciples after them.
Therefore what?
And remember.
So we pray.
Summary of Revelation
Gospel—Bob 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.
Behold, behold the Lamb of God.
On the cross for us. He shed his precious blood on the cross.
#23.
Uh.
Just going to read a few verses before I pray.
The Lord Jesus speaking and he says about the Holy Spirit when he is come.
He will reprove the world of sin.
And of righteousness and of judgment of sin, because they have.
Because they believed not on me of righteousness. Because I go to my father, and ye see me no more.
Of judgment, because the Prince of this world is judged.
Well, the Lord Jesus, in Speaking of the Holy Spirit and his coming to earth to convict this world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment is a very real thing. And I'd like to go tonight to the Book of Revelation because.
I really, truly believe we're getting down to the time when things.
00:05:04
That are prophesied there are going to take place. My purpose tonight is to give more of an overview of the book.
Then concentrating on any particular part of it, but with the purpose of bringing your soul and mind into the presence of God. We have to do with God.
And the question of sin cannot go ignored. There are people that try to ignore that question and they are successful to a certain point.
But you cannot ignore the question of sin. Sin is lawlessness.
It is doing your own will. Like we heard last night there was a man who was specifically told to wrest the Sabbath day and he went out and picked up sticks. Doesn't seem like a bad thing in our eyes, but it was lawlessness. And you know it says that which is not of faith is sin, Says in the book of Proverbs. The plowing of the wicked is sin.
What's wrong with a man plowing his field?
If I had a field and one day I lookout there and there's somebody out there plowing my field.
I didn't give him any right to go plow my field. I go out there and I say, what are you doing in my field? Plowing my field? And so he stops and he says, am I doing something wrong? Yes, it's wrong when you do it without reference to me, the owner. And so it is if you live your life without reference to God, it's sin.
And God takes sin seriously.
You know why? Because sin wrecks people.
You remember how old Adam, the 1St man that was created and put into this world, lived to 930 years old? Pretty impressive isn't it? Whatever happened to us? We can barely get up to 100 years and not many of us get up that far. Whatever happened.
Sin degenerates, and that's why God takes it so seriously. Even little sins will keep you, keep you out of the presence of God forever.
One little lie is enough so that the gates of that heavenly city will be barred against your entry.
Oh, I want to ask you to get into the presence of God, to see your condition before God because Scripture tells us plainly all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And the Lord Jesus said of sin, he's going to be in the spirit of God is going to convict this world.
Because they believed not on me. The Lord Jesus, a completely perfect man, came into this world.
How was he treated? What did they believe him? You know, you'd think you people would like a person like that. He could go into our hospitals today and just empty the hospitals, going from room to room to healing people. Wouldn't they want somebody like that? No, absolutely not. Tremendous rejection of his person.
They proved their sin because they did not believe on Him.
Of righteousness, he says, Because I go to my father, and you see me no more.
He wasn't treated righteously down here, but he was treated righteously when he back went back into heaven.
And then he says of judgment, because the Prince of this world is judged, the whole world system of which.
We live now in which we live now is under the judgment of God. It's not going to continue on the same way.
You know, it's something to try to think about.
And it's tremendous to try to get the picture that Scripture paints for us. But.
Things are not going to continue the way they have for many centuries.
Things are going to change dramatically.
In the future, it will not be a democracy any longer, it will be theocracy. God is going to send his Son and there's going to be a tremendous change in the government of this world.
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God is going to step in to this world to do.
Judgment and he's going to establish a righteous reign in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let's go to the Book of Revelation, chapter one.
It's the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him. You know John is the one who is the human author of this book, and John knew the Lord Jesus in life.
He was very close to him. He leaned on his breast at the Last Supper.
And we could say, John, did you know the Lord Jesus? Yes, I was close to him. But in this book he is given the revelation of Jesus Christ in a way that he had not known him before. And it is so powerful, the revelation that when John sees him, he falls at Jesus feet as dead. Is this the same person? This is the same person.
This is the person that you and I must meet. This is the person that every human being that has ever lived on planet Earth will meet face to face.
You know, I look at people sometimes we go into prison in our area to preach the gospel, and I like to stand at the door when the prisoners are coming in to greet them, shake hands with them. And it is interesting to me to see when they come in, how.
They look lots of them will say hello and greet me with a friendly smile, but other ones they put out their hand but their heads way over another area. They don't want to look me in the eye.
OK, that's all right. You don't have to look me in the eye, but there is someone you're going to look in the eye.
It's the Lord Jesus Christ, and in chapter one of this Book of Revelation we have the Judge presented.
But just before we get down to that, I just want to.
Comment on verse five. It says from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the Prince of the kings of the earth.
Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Isn't this interesting? The Lord Jesus is presented.
The faithful witness, there's so many witnesses that are not faithful today.
The first begotten from the dead. What does this mean? First begotten from the dead?
Weren't there others raised from the dead before he was? Didn't he himself raise Lazarus from the dead?
Yes, and as far as we know all the others that were raised from the dead before.
Died again.
The Lord Jesus was the first to rise from the dead in the power of a life that death no longer can touch.
He is alive forevermore. He is the first begotten from the dead. He is the.
Head of a new race with a life that cannot die. Wonderful. But then it says the Prince of the kings of the earth, because he's coming to intervene politically into this world.
And then it says unto him, that loved us. You know, I find that quite interesting. At the beginning of A Book of Judgment, he's talking about love. What is this?
You know God is love.
And even though he has to take up his hand to judge.
It will never change what he is in his own person. God is love.
The same time, I think it is important to realize that because God is love, He will not allow evil to go on indefinitely.
In the 10th chapter of this Book of Revelation, an Angel comes down from heaven and sets his foot, one on the land and one on the sea, and lifts up his hand and swears to him that lives forever and ever that there should be no longer delay.
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In other words, to allow sin to run rampant without any brakes put on.
Is not a God of love, and God is going to intervene in this world in judgment.
It is established already. The day is established, the judge has been appointed.
And this is the judge, and to him that loved us and notice it says and washed us from our sins in his own blood, this same one who is going to be the judge of that future day is the one who hung on a cross.
1900 and some years ago and there on that cross.
Paid the price of our redemption in full with His precious blood.
We know the story of it, how the Lord Jesus was crucified.
Taken outside the city of Jerusalem and nailed to a Roman cross.
And there he hung from 9:00 in the morning till 12 noon.
Suffering the abuse and the.
Mocking and jeering of the crowd. And at 12 noon everything got dark. And then for three hours it was dark and there was silence from that middle cross. What was happening in those three hours?
God takes sin seriously and God does not want to judge any human being.
It was interesting to me some time ago, down in Ecuador, the statement was made in a gospel meeting.
God has not prepared any place for the person who does not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because he wants all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
And if you reject Christ, you will go to a place prepared for the devil and his angels.
Because God does not want you there, so He never prepared a place for you to be rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ.
God takes sin seriously and when Jesus was on that cross in those three hours.
It says in the book of Isaiah that God laid on him the iniquity of us all, and that storm of divine judgment broke in all its fury on the Lord Jesus.
For three hours the waves and bellows of divine judgment roll over him.
I don't understand.
Stand and awe of what he did for me most three hours.
The end of those hours he cries out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
The God that was his strengthened stay, the God that had he had done his will all his life, forsook him in that most intense hour of need.
God takes sin seriously, Tremendously seriously. Then Jesus cried. It has finished.
The price of your redemption. The price of my redemption was paid in full by the Lord Jesus Christ. He bows his head and dies, and a soldier comes up and opens his side up with his fear and outflows blood and water. He washed us from our sins in his own blood. The price of our redemption was not paid with silver or gold.
With the precious blood of Christ, thank God that price has been paid in full. How do I know that? Because God, who was satisfied with the payment made, raised him from the dead the third day. And Jesus is a living man today. He was 40 days down here in this world, showing himself to be alive.
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At one time, over 500 brethren at once saw Him. No, it's not a fable. These are historical facts. One of the best confirmed facts of human history, even if you ignore the Bible, is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He rose from the dead. That means that God was satisfied with the payment made for our sins.
And Jesus, after 40 days of showing himself to be alive.
Was received up into glory, and there is a man in the glory of God.
Wonderful to think about it, look up by faith, and to see that man in the glory of God, a real living man, one of the human races sitting there in highest glory.
A man of flesh and bones is there.
Tremendous, tremendous. And that man is going to come back. Notice verse seven gives us what this book is about. Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so. Amen.
Why do they wail?
Partying's over. No more drinking.
No more taking liberties like you think you have liberty to do.
Even though sometimes who call themselves Christians scares me what they say.
Oh God is a forgiving God and we'll just do it a few times and God will forgive us. Person that talks that way shows that there's been no repentance at all.
God takes sin seriously.
And the day is going to come when he comes out of heaven, and every eye shall see him. This is not the rapture.
This is his coming in judgment and people will realize he's coming and we've got the face.
The judge.
Well, going down a little further.
John hears a voice behind him, and in verse 12 he turned to see the voice that spake with him.
Being turned, he saw 7 golden candlesticks in the midst of the seven candlesticks won like unto the Son of Man.
Interesting doesn't see the Lord Jesus first, He sees the candlesticks first and that's where the testimony is today amongst those who are called out, people, the church, and there in the midst He sees one like us, the Son of Man walking in the midst.
He's here tonight. He's walking right beside you. He's observing.
What's going on in your life? He knows every detail. You cannot hide anything from him.
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow.
Great age and wisdom, and his eyes as a flame of fire.
You can hide things from me. You can hide things from your parents.
You can hide things from your brethren.
You cannot hide anything from him who you have to meet.
His eyes as a flame of fire, extremely penetrating.
Remember, you're gonna have to face this person. This is the judge.
His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace. Brass in Scripture is divine, divine righteousness and judgment.
There was the brazen altar at the entrance of the Tabernacle.
And his feet are his ways.
He's walking today in the midst.
His voice says the sound of many waters, and he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp 2 edged sword. His word and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
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Oh, the tremendous glory of this person that you're going to have to face. There is no way to escape Jesus. You must face Him.
He wants to be your savior. He wants to take care of those, the question of your sins.
But if you refuse it, you will still meet him. Like our brother said last night, you may deny it. That changes nothing. You will meet him. You will be have to give an account to him.
Well, John says, he falls at his feet as dead, and he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not.
I am the 1St and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen.
Have the keys of hell and of death.
He's the one that has the keys before he died and rose again.
Satan had the power of death and he kept people enslaved because of the fear of death.
But when Jesus went into death, he took that power away from the devil, and he has the keys of death and hell now.
He is alive forevermore. Wonderful. So here's the judge introduced now chapter two and three. We have the seven churches and.
Judgment begins in the House of God.
And the Lord's coming is mentioned in the last four.
Of the seven churches.
The Lord is coming again.
And it is not always the Lord's coming in the rapture that is mentioned in the address to the church at Sardis. He says, behold, I come as a thief. That's not the rapture.
Remember, brother Chuck Hendricks used to say.
Is the church gonna go through the tribulation?
His answer was yes and no.
The true church will not go through the tribulation, but there are those who are professors without reality.
And they, yes, will go through the tribulation to meet the Lord as a thief.
You know the thief comes at the least expected moment. You don't want a thief to come to your house.
You don't wait for him, but he will come as a thief. The least expected moment.
There he is and you will have to face him. And so I'm not going to dwell a lot on the.
Seven churches. I would like to go to the last church.
Laodicea, which characterizes that which is the Christian testimony today perhaps more than any of the other six.
And the thing I want to point out here is.
Where Jesus is in relation to this church, He's walking in the midst. He's observing what's going on.
And it says in verse 20.
I stand at the door and knock.
If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will Sup with him, and he with me.
Where is Jesus in this church?
Outside of a closed door.
No room for him. Oh yes, they're religious. Oh yes, they take the name of Christian.
But no room for Jesus.
Let me ask you, dear young person, do you have room for the Lord Jesus in your life?
Do you take time to read his word?
There he is knocking and it's an individual call, he says, if any man or woman.
Hear my voice and open the door. Give him some place, some time.
I will come in, he says to him, and Sup with him, and he with me.
Where is Jesus in your life? Is there a place for Him in your life?
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How important that is.
So with the SE 2nd and 3rd chapters the church era seems to be over and a voice in chapter 4 from Heaven says come up hit her.
And I will show that thee the things which must be hereafter. And notice says immediately I was in the spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one set on the throne.
Isn't this interesting?
You know, if I would have written this, I think I would have said I saw one sitting on the throne.
But before it speaks about one sitting on the throne, it talks about the throne.
Why is this?
In chapters 4:00 and 5:00.
Establishes the rights that God has to judge this world. On what basis is God going to judge this world?
What rights does he have to intervene into the affairs of this world?
And in chapter 4, the rights that he has is because he is creator. Notice the last verse of the chapter.
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. God has the right to judge this world because He is the Creator.
Tremendous to think about. But in Chapter 5 we have something else.
Another ground upon which God has the rights to judge this world.
What is that? In this chapter you have?
A throne spoken of in verse one as well. Throne is the basis of judgment. And so there is a strong Angel in verse 2 proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof. And no man in heaven nor on earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look upon thereon. I wept much because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
Those days the book was a scroll. Think you recognized the term? Here is a scroll and it was sealed with seven seals. This book is the title deed to planet Earth.
Who is worthy to open the book?
And so, John, there is a search made, and it seems like there's no one worthy to open the book. You know, seems like this is the way this world is today, the confusion, the revolutions that are taking place.
What is sometimes called the Arab Spring.
It's the Arab Spring, all right. It's springing out of control. It's totally incredible what's taking place in the world. Where is the man that can put order to this? Where is the person that can make any sense out of it all?
Well, one of the elders steps up to John, and says, Don't weep. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
And I beheld and Lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts.
And in the midst of the elders stood a lamb. Isn't this interesting?
Is it a lion that we're talking about, or is it a lamb?
It's both.
He's the lion because it tells us in the book of Proverbs, the lion turns not aside for any. And when Jesus comes back to do judgment, nobody is going to stand in his way. He's going to go straight forward and his judgment doesn't matter how powerful the armies are.
But he's also the lamb.
Why? Because he paid with his own blood. The price.
Of redemption. Notice what happens when he takes the book.
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Verse 8 When he had taken the book, the four beasts and the four and 20 elders fell down before the Lamb, having everyone of them.
Harps and golden vials full of orders, which are the prayers of Saints.
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof, for thou hast slain.
And hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and has made us unto our God.
Kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.
Redemption. What does redemption mean?
Means to be bought back and set free.
So the one who is going to intervene public Indian affairs of this world is the Creator in chapter four. He is the Redeemer in chapter five. He paid the price to take back this world for God and he's going to set it free from sin and its results. Wonderful, wonderful day that's ahead now when we go to chapter 6.
The lamb begins to open the seals of that book.
Of judgment. And it's generally thought, you know, there's a time after the true church will be taken out of this world.
Of great tribulation there is a week of years. Of Daniel's 70 weeks the last week, seven years still remain.
To fulfill Daniel's prophecy of the 70 weeks.
It's not the rapture that indicates the beginning of that prophetic week.
You know what it is?
According to Daniel Chapter 9, it is the signing of a pact between the Roman Prince and the people of Israel. You notice how the United States, the present leadership of the United States, has turned a little bit away from Israel. I'm sure they're looking other directions for support, and they're going to get support from Western Europe. When that pact is signed, the prophetic clock will begin to tick again, and it'll be seven years.
And the Lord Jesus will set his fate down on planet earth again.
So thrilling. It's tremendously thrilling. We're seeing some of these things start to happen before our eyes.
That he begins to open these seals and in the Book of Revelation you have 3.
Sets of seven judgments. 7 seals.
The seven trumpets and the seven vials.
Well, we can't comment very much on any of them.
Because of lack of time but.
The Seals are generally thought to be in the first part of the Great Tribulation period, the 1St 3 1/2 years, perhaps more providential judgments, civil war, famine, some of which are we are beginning to see in the world today.
The end of chapter 6 people recognize that things are spinning out of control. And it says that in verse 15 of chapter 6, the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men, every bondsman and every female hid themselves in the dens of in the rocks of the mountains. And said to the mountains and rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne.
From the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of His wrath is coming, who shall be able to stand?
You know, people are starting to recognize things are spinning out of control in this world. Is there anybody in control of the way things are going in this world?
We believers know that there is, but this poor world does not know that.
Well, in Chapter 8, the Lamb opens the 7th seal, and the 7th seal introduces the trumpet judgments. The trumpet judgments are more direct judgments, especially on the western world. You'll find in connection with the trumpet judgments often mentioned the third part of the earth.
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That area of the earth that has been so tremendously blessed.
With the gospel.
Will be specially affected in that second-half of the Great Tribulation.
You know, Europe was where there was such blessing at the time of the Reformation. Europe is apostate now.
One of the last times, not the last time, I was over in Europe, on the metro in the city of Madrid, they had.
A, uh, sign.
Probably there is no God.
Have fun in your life.
I don't know why they said probably.
I think it's because in their conscience they know that there is a God.
But they are apostate, tremendous to think what's coming on that, uh, continent.
But let's go over to the last of the seven trumpets in Chapter 11 and verse 15.
The 7th trumpet.
Introduces the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7th trumpet, therefore is right down at the end of the tribulation period.
And the 7th Angel sounded and there were great voices in heaven saying.
The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.
And the four and 20 elders which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces and worshipped God, saying.
We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art and West and art to come, because thou hast.
Taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
Oh, the tremendous time when the Lord Jesus is going to reign supreme in this world.
You know when he comes, he's gonna reign in righteousness. It will not be a day of grace. Today is a day of grace.
God has waited patiently for sinners to come to repentance. He is waiting for you tonight. If you haven't settled the accounts with God, He's waiting for you. But he won't wait forever. He's going to intervene and he's going to come to reign, and it will not be.
A day of grace.
It will be a day of righteousness reigning.
People don't realize how serious God is about sin.
It's already wrecked this world that we're living in terribly.
And when he comes back to Reign, he's not going to allow it to continue.
People will step out of line, they say, well, I don't think you'll mind if we send just a little bit.
And when he reigns?
The next morning it's going to be cut off. It won't appear again. No need for trials, no appeals gone.
Another one steps out of line gone the next day. I think people will get the point pretty quick. Realize with this government we can't play around the Lord Jesus is coming back. Well Book of Revelation is interesting book, but we go back when we get to the 12Th chapter.
In history to the birth of Christ.
And the purpose of Chapter 12 and 13 is to introduce to us the three main players of the Great Tribulation period.
You know there is a Trinity of evil on the earth, and in chapter 12 we have.
A dragon.
First of all, there is a woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet and her head upon her head crown of 12 stars. That's Israel. She being with child cried, travelling in birth and pain to be delivered.
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And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold, a great red dragon.
Verse 9 tells us who that dragon is. The great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the Devil and Satan, one of the main players of the Great Tribulation period.
Yes, he is a very real personality Satan, and he's bent on destroying you.
It's interesting how he leads souls along little by little to get away from the Lord.
It's no time to be getting away from the Lord, dear young people.
But he sit stands in front of the woman.
Who is to bring forth and when? And his purpose was to devour her child as soon as it was born. This was what took place when Jesus was born.
God allowed Herod, an agent of the Roman Empire, to give the order to go kill all the babies from 2 years old and under and all the coasts of Bethlehem. He thought in that way he would get rid of the Lord Jesus. But here we don't have the Lord's death resurrection. He's caught up to the throne and the woman flees into the wilderness. That's the one actor.
Chapter 13. We have two other actors of the Great Tribulation period.
First one is in chapter. In verse one it says I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rising out of the sea.
Having seven heads and 10 horns, and upon his horns 10 crowns, and upon.
His heads the names of blasphemy.
Notice verse.
Three. And I saw one of his heads, as it were, wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon, which gave power unto the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying.
Who is likened to the beast and who is able to make war with him? Here is the.
Political head of the Western of the Western Europe, what it's called today, perhaps the European Union.
There are probably some changes that are gonna take place. I think you all realize the terrible economic crisis that Europe is in right now.
Tremendous. The sea comes out of the sea, this beast. Waves of religion, waves of politics, powerfully moving people.
Out of this tremendous confusion rises this beast. Call the beast because he has no reference to God in heaven. A beast looks at the earth, and he's only occupied with earth.
This is the political head, what is thought to be the political head of Western Europe.
You know, it was the Roman Empire as we mentioned.
Herod tried to kill the Lord Jesus when he was a child, and Pilate gave the.
Order to crucify the Lord Jesus and when Jesus comes back again it's going to be that same Roman Empire revived. That is going to be the instrument that Satan uses to go after him to try to rid themselves of Jesus again. And this time it's not going to happen the same way. But here in this chapter if you go down to verse.
11 You have another second beast. I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
He exercised all the power of the first beast before him, and caused with the earth them which dwell therein, to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed.
This is thought to be the Antichrist who will have his seed in Jerusalem.
Linked up in power with this first beast, remember?
Today, earthly powers authorities are given their authority from God.
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Here it is very clear that these will not have their authority from God, they will have their authority from the devil, and to submit to these will be automatic condemnation. Awful to think about. Well, I want to go on in the chapter but like to go over to the.
19th chapter now.
Chapter 17 and 18.
The great religious ***** is judged.
That rides the beast. There is a power. That rides the political power.
You know, it's interesting. When I was over in Italy, when Brother Grenade was still alive, he said the people in this country have to negotiate between two major powers. One is the Roman Catholic Church and the other is the Mafia.
And they're very real powers to be dealt with.
Well, the Roman Catholic Church is not only the Roman Catholic Church, but those that.
Join up with them.
Is the great horn they influence politically in this world, but they're going to be judged. And when they're judged there is rejoicing in heaven. And then in verse seven it says, let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is coming. His wife hath made herself ready.
Wonderful, wonderful time that's coming.
Remember a brother that told me, he says. You know, I shed more tears at weddings than I do.
At funerals.
You know why? He said.
Because it makes me think of a tremendously glorious wedding that I'm gonna be a part of in the future. And oh brother, and what a tremendous thing to think of what's coming. The glory when publicly we're going to be united to the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. His wife hath made herself ready until her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of Saints.
And He set to me right. Blessed are they which are called into the marriage supper of the Lamb, and.
Saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
Now notice verse 11. And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a White Horse, and he.
That sat upon him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he does judge.
And make war. Did you notice this? Not only judge as he makes war. You know, war is not just one single battle. It's a series of encounters of military encounters and Jesus coming back to make war. Tremendous to think about it.
Verse 12. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself, and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood.
And his name is called the word of God. No question as to who this person is.
Out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations.
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Hath on his vestion, on his thigh a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
There's the revelation of Jesus Christ. He comes back to reign supreme.
What we had in the seventh verse of the of the first chapter, what we had in the.
7th seal in the 12Th chapter or the 11Th chapter?
But notice verse 19. I saw the beast, the political head of Western Europe, and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army.
And the beast was taken, and within the false prophet that wrought miracles before him.
With which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.
These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
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Imagine the scene. This is the revelation of Jesus Christ and brethren.
I really believe that this is going to be the most glorious time in the whole history of planet Earth.
When God introduces and publicly vindicates the glory of His own beloved Son.
It just throws my heart to realize we're getting close to these times. I plead with you, if you haven't got serious about the things of God to take them seriously. God is going to take sin seriously. He's not going to let it go.
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet, the Antichrist, and they are both cast directly.
The lake of fire, they're not given in their even on a trial.
They're caught in open handed rebellion and they're the 1St to arrive.
In that place called the Lake of Fire.
And the rest were slain with the sword of him that sat on the horse.
We won't have to fight in that battle. We're gonna be witnesses of it when we come out of heaven. Imagine the glory as the Lord with the with his sword of his mouth. One army after another falls dead.
In the battlefield.
Chapter 20. We're gonna go on a little bit further here, Chapter 20. You'll notice in verse 234567.
That it mentions 1000 years. I think in every one of those verses, 1000 years is a Millennium and it's the time when Jesus is going to reign supreme. And after the Millennium there is a further judgment and then there is what is called the great white throne at the end of time. Just like to read that to finish our meeting tonight, verse 11, I saw a great white throne.
Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away.
Yes, this earth is going to pass away. There is found no place for them. I saw the dead.
You may die and be buried, but you're gonna come back out of that grave. Every single grave that has contained human bones will be emptied before this world passes away. I saw the dead, small and great stand before God in the books were opened and another book was opened, just the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things that were written in the books. According to their works. The sea gave up the dead which ran it, and death and hell, they've alerted that the dead which were in them.
They were judged every man according to their works, and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire. The End.
Are you sitting here without having settled your accounts with God? I plead with you to not fool around with these serious issues any longer. With all those who are real believers. We want to say, come on, get serious. We're here. If you need to talk to us, come up.
Will be willing to talk to you afterwards to get the matter settled in your soul. Don't go on the way you are if you don't have peace with God. Things are coming down to the wire in this world. We don't know how much longer we have.
That when thing we know that today is the day of salvation, you can be saved. You will simply repent of your sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Rich Jesus Became Poor to Make Poor People Rich
Children—John Kemp
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.
Girls and older ones, if there's any more children that would like to come up on the front seats here, we welcome them.
Not too many here yet. Anyway, uh, we're going to start.
With some songs and on your hymn sheet there.
Uh, which I think everyone has.
If you don't, pick up one from a chair there and look at the back of the hem sheets.
Alright.
Let's see, now that's on the back.
Let's start with number 4646. Everyone go has it.
That's the spelling song Glad TIDINGSI wonder what that spelled. Hey, I wonder what that spells? Can you tell me this boy?
Yeah, that's right, we don't use that word too much today. Tidings. Umm, what does it mean?
Someone.
Yes, this boy.
Yeah, that's right. It it's an old word for news. That's right, good news. So let's say #46.
You are going to come to live in the past. Let me begin the beginning of the beginning of the beginning, beginning, beginning.
See this.
This cardboard here, what does that say?
Good. We're gonna talk later on about a man whose name means God saves.
Just what we sang about there.
We're going to speak about him in a few minutes. I've got his name right here and find out something about this man. In fact, I'm going to show you his name right now, but we'll speak about him later.
What does this say?
This boy here?
Elisha, everyone said Elisha. Now you've got to be careful here because there's another man.
Who, uh, has a name that is like this? But it's not the same. But we'll talk about that later. Who has another song for us now?
Uh, this boy.
41 OK.
00:05:39
Courier.
Well, you know, boys and girls, in that coming day, there's going to be children.
From all the nations of the world. Now when I go to India.
Doctor Frost, too. We speak to a Sunday school and it has about a 250 children in one room, standing room only, but they're not standing, they're sitting on the floor.
They have different colors of skin than you, but more they can sing the songs.
Wonderfully, but I can't understand one word.
But do they sing beautiful songs about the Lord?
Most of these children, 95% or more, don't hear anything about the Lord Jesus in their homes.
If you went into their homes, you'd see some ugly idols sitting there on the shelf.
But they come to the Sunday school and learn so many verses from God's Word in Tamil.
Uh, they can learn 12 verses or more, and I believe that many of those children were going to meet around the throne of God in heaven. They're going to be there not because they've been good boys and girls, no, because they've heard the gospel.
In the Sunday school and they have come to the Lord and believed in Him, and they turned from those ugly idols. They don't pray to them anymore. Now who has another song for us? Let's see now.
Oh, oh, behind me, this little girl, Yeah.
Number six, Number six. OK, let's turn to number six. Yeah, Oh, that's a nice one.
God in mercy.
Thank his son.
For the can I see the light?
Well, another song by someone here.
Who is going to volunteer this girl?
#30 what's #30 Let's see.
#30.
Yeah, alright. Weeping will not.
Be.
In the deer breaking. Well now save me.
00:10:12
Give us when I ***** ***** it is not a problem.
That dreams.
Last verse.
In the red sunlight.
Now many rounds, very thin, crunched, little sake.
Isn't that wonderful, boys and girls, that the Lord Jesus can save us?
From our many sins because my sins were like the hairs of my head. They were. There's so many of them you couldn't count them, nor could I. This week I had a call from a a boy. Well, he's not a boy anymore. He's a big man. His name was Roger. Now go looking back quite a few years, Roger came to Sunday school. But boy, he was a cut up. He was a bad boy.
We used to pick him up there at his home.
Year after year, others, uh, worked harder than I did, but Roger was in my Sunday school class. But I had a lot of problems keeping him quiet. And he talked back and he would act up and, uh, but I tried to have patience with him. Well, Roger called me just a few days ago. Hello, Roger, How are you? Fine, thank you. Where are you living now? Well, I know where he lives.
Glad to hear your voice. How are things going, Roger? Well, I'm working. You know, he's not very well educated. He does simple work at thrift stores and so on. But I say, Roger.
How about I can't remember exactly what I said, but how are things going on in your spiritual life? Yes, he says, now I'm serving the Lord, Now I'm he's witnessing for the Lord there where he works, he speaks up and I've known Roger for many years and I know that he truly loves the Lord and that it when the Lord comes, he's going to be taken up to meet him in the air.
I hesitate to say this, but he says I was saved through you, Mr. Kemp, at the Sunday School. Oh, I said I didn't, I didn't know that. Roger. Umm, I'm glad to hear it, but the instrument the Lord uses is not important. But Roger had come to the Lord through hearing the Word of God. And we hope that each one of you too will, uh.
Do what Roger did. Put your face.
In the Lord Jesus and what He did on the cross for you.
So I'll have one more him or so before we pray this girl.
32 Oh, that's a nice him. Yeah. What can wash away my hands?
Oh, oh, oh, crying, dying, then I'm falling off the high flame.
Third verse.
00:15:03
Cannot come and I think I come by my opinion.
Now, boys and girls, we're just going to bow our heads and close our eyes for a moment.
Ask the Lord's help, Blessed God. Now here's a story about India.
There was a man, I don't know his name.
But he was very, he was, he came from a very rich family. Now in India there are millions of very poor people which, uh, Doctor Frost and I have often seen many beggars in India, many children who have no shoes on their feet and ragged clothes and lepers and so on. But this man was not in that class. He was from a very wealthy.
Family. In fact, some of the families in India are fabulously wealthy.
Anyway, he heard the gospel someone brought before that Hindu man.
The fact that he was a Sinner and that Jesus died for him.
And he listened. You never heard that in his home. Though he had lots of money. He had never heard the gospel that someone died for his sins. He knew he was a Sinner, and maybe he was washing in the rivers to try to get rid of his sins. But when he heard that Jesus died for him, he believed. But he had to go home. So he went home and opened the door. And his father, of course, was a very wealthy man. He had more money than he knew what to do with.
And when the sun came in, he told his father.
What he had done, that he had accepted Jesus as his Savior. You say the Father was happy. No, in no way he was angry. He was very angry with his son. You know, if you go to India Today, you'll find the same thing, right where Doctor Prost and I visit.
We visit, uh, some people there that have really suffered because they accepted Christ as their Savior. One young man, he accepted the Lord and, uh.
He was chased by his father with an axe, ready to take his life, and this poor young man had to get up into a tree because his father was pursuing him with an axe. Imagine that. That happened just a few years ago in India where we visit where the gospel is going out. Another young man, he accepted Christ and the same thing happened to him as is going. I'm going to tell you about this wealthy young man. See the door there?
The father said out the middle of the night, this poor young man had to leave in the cold night in North India it's cold and he had no place to go. He had to walk many miles to come to Mr. Jonathan Jazz House. Yes, in the middle of the night, It's me giving his name. Young man, I haven't got any place to sleep. Of course, Jonathan was happy to open the door and let him come in.
00:20:03
But you see, he suffered for Christ's sake, finishing the story about the young man.
In India.
Wealthy young men. Well, he told his father, his father said, I'm going to give you, I forget, 24 hours to think about this and you tell me what you are going to do. Are you going to give up this, this religion, this new religion?
Or not, I give you a certain time. Well, the day passed and the sun came down from his room. There was his father, wealthy Indian Prince Raja, and this man said, I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back. See the door out.
Though first of all, he took him downstairs and he showed him all his riches. Oh.
Riches, this is yours, my son. This is yours, if you will.
Don't give up your religion.
But this young man said, I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back. Out the door he went with nothing, nothing in his hand but the clothes on his back and.
He lived for the Lord many years.
Don't know if his father ever got saved or not, but he did live for the Lord many years. Let's sing that song I have decided to follow.
To get his heart. I'm burning by no turning back the world behind.
All right, what have I got in my hands here? Yes, right. Are they all the same size?
Or different sizes, right? Some big ones and some small ones and some medium. I'm going to ask a question. Listen, now I want to know. These are representing all the people we have here. You see, there's some, uh, big people here, a lot of big people, older people, some children, some young people. I want you to show me which candle is the big people, This little girl come stand up here.
Put your hand on it, yeah.
Thank you. OK, Now I want you to show me which is the little people in this illustration. Is this little boy OK? Will you stand up here and point to the candle that is the little people? Thank you. OK.
Now show me the medium of the, the young people will say the young people in the meeting room there who can, uh, show me that.
These are not old people, are not exactly children, this, but they're young people. Where would they be here? Can you show me?
Right here, right there. OK, Thank you. I'm sorry to tell you, boys and girls, you're all wrong.
You're all wrong.
Yeah, you say, Mr. Kemp? What do you mean?
Well, I'm going to try to explain it.
Everyone seems to think this this are the are the big people in the in the meeting this morning? Maybe the fathers and mothers or grandparents.
But you know that's not the case.
The older people like me and some others are like this.
Yeah, why?
Because our lives are going to soon be over. We don't have a a long time to shine for the Lord anymore. Well, we might have a few more years, but look you boys and girls, if the Lord doesn't come.
00:25:14
You have your whole life before you and you can shine for the Lord for many years if the Lord doesn't come. So really, these are the older people and these are the boys and girls who have their lives before them to shine for the Lord. I'm not gonna, I'm not going to light these candles. I don't think they want us to do that here in the hotel.
But I want to speak about.
A little story and then time is going here. In the land of Israel there were many lights burning. There were believers in the days of this man Elijah. I haven't shown you see his name. There were many that were shining for the Lord in the land of Israel. They were lights amidst darkness. But there was an awful woman.
Here she was a terrible woman and she said I'm going to put out all those lights.
Every while put out every light I can, Every servant of the Lord, I'll. I'll catch him and I'll.
Grab him.
And furthermore, I'll take his life. So Jezebel. She lived in a beautiful palace.
And she was, I suppose you'd say, a Pretty Woman. She was all painted up, but all her heart was wicked, and she was going to put out every light of Jehovah in the land, if you speak about Jehovah.
You're gonna be killed.
However, and she put a lot of people to death and she sat down and.
I've done the work, the work of Satan, All those there's not a not a servant of the Lord left in the land. She made a mistake. There was one that she never got her hand on. Where? Where was he now? Here. Here he is. Elijah. She never found him.
He was a servant of the Lord, kind of a rough, bold man. I don't think you might, you might be very, uh, happy to see him coming along. He was very strict, you know, very bold. But, uh, he was a real servant of the Lord. And Jezebel, she never got her hands on him. She sent spies out to catch him, but the Lord kept him and he.
Lived in caves and and in the wilderness and he would appear suddenly and then he disappear. And Jezebel tried her hardest to get a hold of him, but she never did.
Alright now.
Elijah was a prophet of the Lord, but there was another man.
Here, his name, we've already referred to him, Elisha, right? And he was a younger man and he was a farmer. I think we have farmers here. This morning he was plowing, he had 24 animals, oxen 24, and he was plowing and going through the fields there.
He was a pretty wealthy man too, because he had 24 animals and he had servants and he had a real nice home.
There's a man coming across the field. Look at who is it? Strange looking man.
Rough clothes, you know, rough clothes on that he he wasn't.
Very well dressed. He had a mantle, which was the sign of the prophet's office. But he was walking across the field and Elisha looked. Yeah. Oh, yeah, I know that many strange we they've been searching all over the land for this man.
I know him, he came along and if this boy will come up here.
That he, he came along and here was thank you. He here was Elijah working with the plow and he just took off his mantle and he put it over and on he walked. On he walked thank you.
00:30:10
Now Elijah knew what that meant. He knew that that mantle was the sign of the prophet's office. And he, well, he might have thought, Am I going to follow Elijah? But I've got a beautiful home.
And he ran after Elijah and he said, can I go back to my father and mother?
Elisha said you can go back if you want.
But he wasn't going to force him to follow the Lord. But you know, Elisha had made his decision already. He knew that mantle that meant he must follow the Lord now. And so he, he turned his back on his plowing. First of all, he made a big feast. You know, he took one of the animals and killed it and he made a feast for all his servants. Because the call of the Lord is a call of joy. It's not something that.
Is going to be awful hard and depressing but now he knew that he was following the light he was following Elijah here's the two men that we got it here and Jezebel was still seeking the life of Elijah as much as she could but now these two men oh they became wonderful friends they became the best friends in the world for seven years Elijah.
Uh.
Walked with Elijah, oh what wonderful times they had in communion speaking together. But of course it wasn't an easy path. Elisha no longer had a beautiful home to live in. He was living in the caves with Elijah and and going from place to place and he had to suffer quite a lot. But he had the company of Elijah.
You know, boys and girls, that reminds me of the Lord Jesus.
He left his home in the glory.
Where he was rich verse of scripture I am going to read to you in second.
Corinthians, you have your Bible. Open it up.
And we'll read this verse in Second Corinthians chapter.
9.
Chapter 8. Verse 9.
Who's going to read it for us there this boy, if you'll stand up, please, and read out aloud.
Verse 9 yes.
Thank you SO.
The Lord Jesus left his home where he was rich, and he came into a world where he was poor.
Here in my.
Here in my bag, I have something for you from Canada.
I live in Canada.
This is, uh, what we call in Canada, Aluni. It's $1.00.
But don't try to spend it because it's not going to work. It's a chocolate *****. And uh, so we're going to give that to you after, OK. But the Lord Jesus reverently speaking now, he didn't have a, a penny and he came from heaven's glory, gave up. He was the creator of the universe and he was rich. But down here, for your sakes, remember we read it for your sakes. He became poor, he came down.
For you boys and girls to die on the cross and to suffer, oh, how much he suffered, I can never tell you, Mr.
Tony was speaking last night about the sufferings of Christ. Did you listen about how much he endured in the hours of darkness on the cross of Calvary? We can never know how much he suffered. Well, finishing our story now. Elijah and Elijah went along together.
But the time was coming when Elijah and Elisha were going to be separate.
Something was going to happen.
They were going to be separated forever, and along they went, through the land, the dusty roads and down near the Jordan River. They walked together and talked over the miles.
00:35:13
The hours seven years they had been together. But now Elisha said I'm I'm going to believe you behind.
And Elijah says, I want to be with you until the last moment, the last few miles, the last steps, they came to the river. And Elijah GR Elijah, great prophet though he was, he took his mantle and he hit the river.
Jordan and the river Jordan separated and they walked over. The river Jordan is a picture of death. The river Jordan is a picture of death. And it tells us the Lord Jesus went into death, went into death for us, and he came up again. And now all of a sudden the heavens opened and what did they see but a chariot of fire coming down and horses of fire.
Elijah looked on.
He had said to Elijah, he said.
Elijah said what can I do for you before I go leave the world? And Elijah said give me a double portion of your spirit. Well, Elijah said you've got to keep your eyes on me. If you're going to get that wonderful heritage, you've got to keep your eyes on me.
He didn't have much to give. He didn't have much money. Elijah wasn't a wealthy man. He, he didn't have, uh, much to give in the way of, uh, earthly possessions, but he did give him a wonderful heritage. Well, let's see what happened. There's the Chariots of fire. Elijah was looking and Elisha looked and he saw his best friend.
Leave the world.
And go up into the glory. There he was transported.
Right before his eyes.
And Elisha said.
The chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more.
He saw him no more. You know, that's what Jesus did. He went up into the glory.
And we haven't seen him since he left, but he's coming back. So now Elisha was left behind, left behind.
To to take Elijah's place. Oh, there's the mantle. He didn't take the mantle with them into heaven because his work was finished, but it was right there on the shore of the Jordan River.
So Elijah went over and he picked it up, and he put it on. Now he was going to be a worker for the Lord in the place of Elijah, because Elijah was gone to heaven.
And this is the meaning of the Elijah's name. God saves, so Elijah's turned around.
And he went back, oh, there's the river Jordan. Let's see what's going to happen here. He took off the mantle. Where is the Lord God of Elijah? And he took the mantle, and he hit the river.
And it opened up just the way it did before. And Elijah went over and, uh, when your home, boys and girls, you read of all the wonderful things that a life Elijah did. Oh, I couldn't tell them all to you now. But, uh, he helped widows, he fed the multitudes. He did so many wonderful things and he showed that God saves. He was a different man than Elijah. He was a gentle.
Kind, loving man and his whole ministry was goodness and grace.
You know, Elijah was very stern and bold, but Elisha was a servant of the Lord who did so many things, so many wonderful blessings, just like the Lord Jesus did when he was here on the earth.
Now I had something for you here too.
In this.
Container here this box, so I'm going to give this to you at the end of the Sunday school.
00:40:05
What is it? Well, here it is.
What is that?
That's right. That's a key chain. This comes from the country of Brazil.
And.
My wife, Eleanor, she knows the man that makes these, his name is Chris Stovall. But you know, Cristobal cannot walk or run. He cannot even get up to eat his meals. He's he's always in a wheelchair because when he was a young man, someone shot him and the bullet went right into his back and it paralyzed Christoval. I think he's been in a wheelchair for about 30 years.
But he uses his time for the Lord making these things for boys and girls. And this has come all the way from Brazil for you. OK, so that's a little a little prize for you. OK, so.
Our time is going here. We don't have very much time left. I don't even know if we have time to tell this story, but uh.
If you will wait for a moment, I'll tell it very quickly. OK, the story that I like to tell, but I need to have someone hold this rope for me. This boy here on one side and who's going to hold the other end? This girl here. OK, now hold it up. Now I come from Canada and I'm going to ask a question. How many boys and girls have been have been to Canada?
Have you good the two, uh, volunteers have to hold it up in Canada, of course you all know there is a beautiful Niagara Falls and, uh, that Niagara Falls is, uh, not far from where Doctor Pross lives. He's seen it many times. So have I and, uh, in Niagara Falls there's a, it's a very, uh, high falls, about 300 feet high. And, uh, the water's underneath are swirling. Boy, they're.
They almost scare you to look at them, but you know, people have walked across the falls on a tightrope, Pull it up, pull it tight. Their children, they walked across. And maybe the most famous man that ever walked across Niagara was a man from France. His name was Blondin. Blondin. Oh, he was a remarkable man. There's been many stories told of Mr. Blunden.
He would walk across. Now we're going back over 100 years ago, 1860 area, but he would walk across. He would turn a somersault, he would push a wheelbarrow. He would sit down and eat his lunch there. He would do all sorts of things on the rope with the dark swirling waters beneath him and the crowds, oh, 100,000 people.
From Toronto and Buffalo, in every place they brought special trains to see Mr. Blunden perform these, these awful, these feats on the rope. He did everything he would just like a monkey going back and forth. One day he went right across, you know, to the American side and he said, now who will go with me back? I don't want to go back along there on the other side.
Uh, who will go with me over the re the river? Umm remember we said that Elijah and Elijah went across the river? Well here's Mr. Blonde and he says I want someone to go with me. There was the big crowd of thousands of people. He shouted out who will take my offer and come boy, everyone was was trembling. No one would come.
Even the Prince Edward, who was going to be, uh, King Edward the 8th, I think.
There he was looking at the performance and the blondin turned to him and said, Prince Edward, will you come? No, thank you. He he would not come. He knew that he could do it because he had seen him walking across there with his big long pole. Well finally, well, I don't want to go across alone.
Finally, his manager, Colcord, he said I will go.
00:45:04
Get on my back and they started across foot by foot, inch by inch call cord trembling in his boots, lifted up there so we can see it and they got over to near the center of the tight rope and below were the the angry waves waiting to catch them and but something happened the.
Rope began to sway back and forth like this.
And all blonde and thought something's wrong. Yeah, someone had loosened one of the ropes over here that held it.
And that rope was swaying back and forth. And Blondin, for the first time in his life, he was afraid. He knew that this was dangerous. Were they going to make it to the other side? I don't know, he says.
Get down, call court and hold me by the hips there and remember.
He said remember, you are no longer Colcord, you are blonde. Then if I sway, you sway. If you try to balance yourself, that's the end of both of us. So call. Cord got up and he held on to the shoulders of Blondin and he said hold on. He grit his teeth. This was the greatest test of his life. Would he make it or not? He said there's only one way.
I've got to run and he ran for all he was worth and he got over safe and sound to the Canadian side with that man Colcord on his back. That was the last time that Blondin ever went over.
The tightrope, he's gone now and all that great company of people have gone.
Into eternity. They've crossed over the river of death into the next World. Thank you, John. Whether they were saved I do not know. But no man has gone across that river of death alone. The Lord Jesus only can take you across, boys and girls. He wants to put you on his shoulders. He won't let you go. He holds the world on one shoulder. He'll put you on his shoulders. He'll take you across if you come to Him today.
Say Lord Jesus, I believe.
That you died for me on the cross. I accept thee as my Savior. Time is gone, let us pray.
Four Anchors
Address—Doug Buchanan
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Could we open our meeting this afternoon with hymn #22 in the appendix?
22 in the back of the book.
The Holy.
1.
In the circle all my life.
I have four things on my heart to speak of.
They are, I believe.
In a general way.
The four things.
That the Lord was pleased to recover.
To the gathered Saints.
Nearly 200 years ago.
There are many more than 4.
But we're going to.
Reduce it down to four.
I feel like that we are in a situation similar to the Apostle Paul.
When he was on that voyage to Rome near the end of his journey.
And the the Great Storm.
For 14 days.
Tormented them and.
Threaten them.
Because they had not obeyed Paul's word.
And as they drew near to shore.
They realized that they had.
Stop the boat.
And they cast out four anchors out of the stern.
Because if they continued, they would dash on the rocks.
This has often been likened to a picture of the Christian testimony at the end that threatened to be destroyed.
00:05:02
And I believe those 3-4 anchors that were cast out.
Were cast out of the stern to hold the boat.
And I believe that the Lord.
Through his people.
Revealed.
For particular truths that would be helpful to preserve the Christian testimony, and these have been handed down to us through the years.
And by his grace.
We are the responsible people to hold fast these things.
Young people, you have a tremendous heritage.
That most Christian young people.
Don't know anything about or very little about.
If we turn to Second Timothy, chapter 2.
As the introduction.
Paul writes to Timothy.
Near the close of his life.
N inverse 13.
This is our theme.
First Second Timothy, chapter one, verse 13 Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love.
Which is in Christ Jesus.
An individual.
Word to hold fast.
Mr. Darby says an outline.
It's my desire.
Two.
Encourage our hearts.
Not in a doctrinal way.
Not to give a exposition of what these four truths are, but to name them in a way that I hope we can understand them, and that.
It would be a help.
To hold fast.
What we have?
Because much truth is being given up today.
And I believe that.
These four things.
Will keep the Christian testimony.
In its feebleness and ruin, in an outward way that we see it today.
In Revelation chapter 3, we have a similar word.
Given to a collective group.
The Assembly and Assembly in Revelation chapter 3.
And verse 11.
The last words to the church in Philadelphia before he speaks to the overcomer.
Revelation 311 Behold, I come quickly, hold that fast which thou hast.
That no man take thy crown.
Is it worth while to go on for the Lord young people?
There's much to discourage us today.
We've been through troublous times.
Some of our Christian friends that we loved most.
May not now necessarily be with us.
These things test us.
Is there something worth holding on to?
Has the Lord given us something of value?
00:10:05
There's another analogy in the Old Testament when there was a time of recovery when Ezra and Nehemiah.
Went back to Jerusalem and Ezra in particular was giving given those treasures of the First Temple.
Furniture of gold and silver of great value, that had been carried away captive to Babylon, which God in his mercy preserved, and when the remnant went back to re establish a testimony in Jerusalem.
Those treasures were weighed out to different individuals that carry them all the way back.
And they were responsible at the end of the journey to be weighed in again to give the same treasure that had been given to them at the beginning of the journey.
I like to think that we are in that kind of a situation too.
We have treasures, not physical treasures, not monetary treasures. We have spiritual treasures.
That cost much.
And did not give up.
Will the next generation.
Be handed the same treasures that have been handed to you and to me. This is the challenge before us. This is the this is the subject of holding fast that I want to impress upon our souls.
Most all of us have seen.
Some of our peers.
Whether young people are old?
That have sold out spiritually, at least in part.
Some things that they once enjoyed in their souls.
May the Lord impress upon us.
To hold fast.
Both individually.
And as a feeble collective testimony gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus.
The first.
Truth that I want to speak of.
MMM.
Is justification by faith.
Most of us remember that Martin Luther.
Got a hold of the beginning of this truth in his soul.
But most of the reformers did not get hold of the.
Wide full spectrum.
Of what deliverance from sin is.
And our ancestors.
Met together.
Dug deep in the Scriptures, the book of the Romans is a is quite a profound book.
I used to think I understood it.
I'm beginning to doubt that I see it all clear in every sense of the word.
Yes, I know my sins are forgiven.
I understand a little of the two natures. I understand a little of the difference between being.
Justified from my sins and having justification of life as to a new nature in Christ.
These are.
Wonderful foundational truths.
Or in some a truth of justification. Sometimes it's referred to as redemption.
You know, if you doubt your salvation.
You really can't be a worshiper in the full sense of the word, as we were this morning. You cannot draw near to God in full assurance of faith, as we did this morning.
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As to your eternal destiny or as to your relationship with God right now, where you sit in your chair, if there's something in your life that's troubling in you and on your conscience and bothering you.
You can't enjoy full fellowship.
You may have broken the brain. You may have partaken.
The justification by faith is a very important thing to hold.
There's a.
I have four questions that I'm going to ask.
During the course of these four things.
Not with the sense necessarily of answering the question, but to provoke.
Your interest and thoughts?
And these are not new questions. These are questions that have been asked over and over. In fact, I was asked one of them this week by a young man who used to be gathered to the Lord's name.
And he got away from the lower.
Got into the world.
The good American life, if you please.
And the Lord put his hand upon him.
At this moment.
He's in the hospital.
Cannot walk.
But there's been a measure of restoration in his soul.
And he came back to me.
The place place where he was brought up.
He lives far away from the meeting now, can't go.
It looks like the Lord may take him home.
The first question is how do you know you cannot lose your salvation?
Justification by faith will this turn to a couple of scriptures before we go on to the next one.
Romans, chapter 3.
Verse.
24.
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Chapter 4.
Verse.
24 at the end.
Jesus our Lord. Well, let's begin at the beginning of the verse. Romans 4/24.
But for us also to whom it shall be imputed.
If we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Chapter 5. Verse 18. Verse 17.
These are all verses that have to do with justification.
For if by one man's offense death reign by one much more.
They which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by 1 Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as the offence of the one judgment came upon all men to condemnation.
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Even so, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification, justification of life.
And one more in chapter 8, verse 3.
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin.
Condemned sin in the flesh.
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled.
In US who walk not after the flesh.
But after the Spirit.
There are two parts to justification.
When the Lord Jesus died, He not only dealt with our sins.
He also dealt with the sin nature.
And as a believer in the Lord Jesus, it's a good thing to enjoy both.
And be at peace with God concerning your sins and know that you stand in perfection of Jesus.
That the righteousness of God is yours if you are in Christ.
And it's also a wonderful thing to know that the end of that old Adam nature came to pass when Jesus was crucified and we no longer look for good in it.
In ourselves and that the power to walk the Christian life comes by faith.
In Jesus through the power of the new life by the Spirit of God that dwells in US.
Justification.
You cannot lose your salvation. What you can lose is you can lose the joy of it.
And there are consequences to those who walk carelessly, and the enjoyment of your salvation will become less precious.
Hold that fast.
The second point that I want to speak about is the.
Holy Spirit.
Dwellings.
In the assembly.
Individually, in believers and collectively.
As a leader and a guy, I understand that you have in the meetings here yesterday and the day before.
Romans.
Uh, chapter 12.
First Corinthians chapter 12. Sorry. Thank you, Bob. And uh, I believe that there's much there about the Spirit of God.
A question that has often been asked us is this.
Why do you not have a preacher or a minister?
The gathered Saints are different.
Because.
Those believers began to understand the implications of what the of the Holy Spirit down to indwell.
The body of Christ.
The church. The Assembly.
And that he is still present and active, and the power to carry on individually and collectively.
There were two signs that were given.
On the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit of God came down and baptized into one body.
The assembly.
There was the rushing wind that filled the house.
There was also individually over each one.
Those two signs represent the two ways that the Spirit indwells.
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In this day, the Lord Jesus referred to it in John's Gospel chapter 14. We might just turn to it to see it.
John's Gospel, chapter 14.
And verse 16 John 1416.
And I will pray the Father and He shall give you another comforter, that He may abide with you forever.
Even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive.
Because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
In this verse is mentioned the two ways in which the Spirit of God dwells.
With us and in US.
Holding the truth of God in connection with the presence of the Spirit of God means that we be submissive individually and collectively to His guidance.
Over the course of my lifetime.
As gathered to the Lord's name I have seen.
Different ones.
Attempt.
To set themselves forward.
Beyond the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
For A cause, A good cause.
But I believe.
It was not through the energy of the Spirit of God.
As in the book of Acts, you see the Spirit of God.
Filling those believers and acting in and through them.
To establish the Church in the beginning of its history.
I fully believe that where there's a group of believers.
Give the Holy Spirit His true liberty to guide and direct. He will guide them into all truth. I have seen it over and over again. It's when we impede, when we quench the Spirit, or we grieve the Spirit that the limitations.
Or if we get ahead of the Spirit of God that is has been done in our own strength, seek to do things, they may even be good causes.
And some of my good Christian friends.
That I have been near to over my short life. I have seen some of them.
Go astray.
They are no longer gathered.
And I believe.
It was because they did not wait on the Spirit of God.
There was a zeal there.
But it wasn't according to God and the guidance of the Spirit of God. The truth that we must hold is submission and obedience. The Spirit of God guides us through the Word of God.
It's the Spirit of God that baptized the believers in the beginning, and this is an anchor to hold us and to keep us.
Wear too much dependence on a minister, a preacher or a gifted man.
Takes away from the guidance of the Spirit of God. The people of God will suffer.
There will not be the same growth.
That doesn't mean that there's liberty for anybody and everybody to participate.
No, we must be submissive.
An obedient.
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You know, it's amazing to me in in the little that I've read of church history to see how that.
Or even just in the Word of God, how God began.
The Christian era with just a few people.
That were obedient.
They didn't have a they didn't get together and have a campaign to to form a cause to start a new religion.
It was the spirit of Goth that guide it.
And the Spirit of God is here with us today.
Hold that truth.
Do not infringe on it.
Do not quench the spirit.
And He will guide you in your life.
This is one of the four anchors.
This is one of the things that's different about those gathers is the Lord's name.
I've had people come and when an explanation is made about how we meet and how we wait upon the Spirit of God, more than once in my life I have been told, well, that won't work.
They're half right.
It won't work if we turn everybody free to do what they want.
Under those circumstances.
But if each and every one of us are submissive to the Word of God and to the Spirit of God.
It will work. It has worked. There is a testimony still to that truth.
I'm thankful for it.
The third thing that I want to speak of.
Is the truth.
Of the church.
As the one body.
United to the Lord Jesus Christ, our Head in glory.
Ephesians chapter 5.
This is not new.
This is.
This involves much.
The realization and appreciation of this truth.
Had fallen by the wayside.
During the Christian testimony.
And it wasn't just a intellectual understanding of these verses that we read that was recovered.
Nearly 200 years ago.
It was an obedience and a going on.
In the reality of the truth of it.
An owning the headship of Christ, to whom we are united as members of the one Body.
Ephesians 5.
Verse 29.
For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord, the Church.
For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh.
This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.
This truth was revealed to the Apostle Paul the very day he was converted.
On the road to Damascus when he was persecuting Christians.
And the Lord Jesus smote him down there with the great light.
And when Paul asked who he was that spoke, he said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecute.
And Paul realized in his soul that the Christians that he was persecuting were livingly linked to Christ in heaven.
00:35:01
And he felt it.
What a wonderful place to be.
You know this truth is I'm thankful that many Christians outside of those gathered to the Lords name also enjoy to a certain point.
The truth of the one body.
Especially in the expression of it between ourselves.
And we enjoy it with them too, when we meet them on the street or wherever.
There's nothing like going off to a foreign country and then you meet a Christian and immediately there's that bond.
And you feel it. You may not even speak the same language, but there's a bond.
What I feel the Lord, the attack that is being made.
Because we have an enemy, you know?
That would seek to destroy.
The testimony.
Not so much because of ourselves, but because the enemy hates Christ.
And the closer we walked to Christ, the more we are going to be an object.
Of attack from the enemy.
We are being attacked.
As to holding the truth of the one body continuously.
First Corinthians, chapter one.
I'm going to read a series of verses.
In First Corinthians.
Chapter One.
Verse 2.
Unto the Church of God, which is to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be Saints, with all that in every place call upon the name.
Of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.
Chapter 5.
Verse 4.
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together.
In my spirit, with the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Chapter 10.
Verse 15.
I speak as to wise men. Judge ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not communion of the body of Christ?
For we, being many, are one bread and one body, For we are all partakers of that one bread.
When the early brethren got a hold of the truth of this again.
They began breaking bread as members of the body of Christ.
Have you ever been asked what denomination do you belong to?
Have you had difficulty answering that?
In order to give a good answer or in order to understand the answer.
You really need to understand the truth of the one body.
There is one body.
There all will always be one body.
In God's eyes.
And our brethren.
Went back.
To that basis that groundwork and began breaking bread.
On that basis.
Owning no other name.
The name of the Lord Jesus.
00:40:02
And that's a good name to have. You don't need to be ashamed of it.
It's just that people don't understand it.
I want to say one word about.
An improper balance, An improper emphasis as to the truth of the one body.
We are not.
No. How am I going to say this?
The fact that you are a member of the body of Christ and I am a member of the body of Christ along with everyone else who has believed in the Lord Jesus and has been sealed with the Spirit of God.
Those are the ones that compose the body of Christ.
What we need to hold is not our relationship.
With one another as members of the body of Christ.
The most important part of the truth of the one body that I believe we need to give particular emphasis to is our relationship to the head of the Body of Christ.
Not our relationship with one another.
I hope you are understanding what I'm saying.
It's a wonderful thing to receive believers to the Lord's name.
As gathered to his name, and to receive all who are indeed members of the body of Christ.
But it isn't the fact of receiving all such members, though the door is open for them all, that makes us a testimony to the truth of the one body.
And I believe this side of the truth is sometimes too much emphasized.
Rather than our relationship to Christ as head of the body.
That's what makes US1 body. That's the part of it we need to take particular care.
Owning.
The Headship, the Lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Head of the Body.
And when we are right in our relationship to him.
Our relationships were one another will fall in line I believe.
In their proper order.
Don't invert that order.
So they answer, what denomination do you belong to, or what church, or what name do you go by?
Is.
We belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.
To the only church that he has formed.
And we meet in his name alone, and putting any other name of a creed, of a place, or a doctrine, or a famous person.
Detracts and takes away from the place that the Lord Jesus should hold as the head of the Body of Christ.
And there are many other truths that stem from this as to meeting together as believers.
Members of the body of Christ.
Now the last of the four that I want to speak of is.
The truth about the Lord's company.
Actually, this is the one truth that.
Those early breads that recovered some of these things that we are appreciating here that mean a lot to us.
And that have held us together as a as a people of God here on earth.
00:45:04
The desire of those early brethren was to study prophecy.
And as they began getting into the scriptures, they did begin to understand the prophetic scriptures and become enlightened in a great way.
And the truth of the Lord's coming, the two parts of it, became known to those brethren.
The difference between the rapture of the Saints and the Lords appearing.
Was understood. The difference between Israel's earthly blessing and the Church's heavenly blessing was understood.
And it's so important for us to understand.
These things.
This will be an anchor that will hold us in these last days.
The truth, the prophetic truth, has been revealed in a remarkable way.
Not only among ourselves, but Christians meeting in many places have got a hold of many of these things.
But I see something going happening now.
That there is a great endeavor to intellectually understand prophetic things.
Why do we have discussions about?
Pre Trib, mid Trib, post Trib rapture.
Why is there confusion?
Why is there doubt about these? Why is it that people are not seeing eye to eye real Christians?
Can you answer the question?
How do you know that the Church will not go through the tribulation?
Now I could read some scriptures.
And we might read a couple of them. Let's turn to 1St Thessalonians.
Chapter One.
This truth of the.
Lord's coming was specially revealed to Paul. Only to Paul.
In this book of Thessalonians he gives it but notice in chapter one.
They in the verse.
Uh, beginning with verse 9.
For they themselves show.
Of us, what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how you you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven.
Whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us, or our Deliverer from the coming wrath.
As a better translation reads.
Did the Thessalonians?
Believe in the Rapture.
At this point.
Were they looking to go through the tribulation?
Had they been doctrinally exposed to the teaching that we have?
I don't believe so.
But in the simplicity of their faith and believing in Jesus, they did not believe.
That they would come.
Now perhaps that includes all other judgments too.
But if we turn over to the 4th chapter here, we there we find that the Apostle Paul got it as a special revelation.
The Lord's coming before.
His appearing to gather his own out.
Before the judgments.
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And chapter 4 and verse 15.
For this we say unto you, by the word of the Lord.
That we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent or go before them which are asleep, those who have died. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God.
And the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you, for yourselves. Know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say peace and safety, then the sudden destruction cometh upon them, and so forth.
You have here the two parts to the Lord's coming.
His coming for his own, and then his coming with his own.
A wonderful anchor to the soul.
We are being attacked.
On this truth.
Not just that we would intellectually give up what we say we believe.
But all truth is only our truth if we take it into our souls and enjoy it.
And in the measure we do walk in it, the enjoyment will increase.
And in this way, yes.
We are being attacked.
It involves.
Understanding the difference between earthly blessing and heavenly blessing.
What has Cod called us to?
Blessing on earth. Though they are looked at as mercies. Our blessings are heavenly. Our hope is the Lord Jesus coming from heaven.
The enemy of our soul is dressing up this world to become very attractive.
And to make us earthly minded.
And if I sell out heavenly blessing in my daily life and begin enjoying and get occupied in my soul with the good things of earthly blessing.
I will be a loser.
I am not enjoying practically the Lord's coming.
And so this is a way to hold fast.
And so there's much involved in this subject.
The prophetic understanding.
Of Our Calling. It's a wonderful thing to know that the Lord is coming and to walk in the good of this.
And I believe.
That it is intentionally put in scripture.
That the times and seasons do not refer to the rapture, they always refer to the Lord's appearing.
The second part of his coming first, the Lord Jesus is coming to gather his own and take them to heaven. The dead in Christ shall be raised.
We will be changed. The believer. Every believer.
Afterward, the Lord is going to come back.
To begin his dealings with earth again, there's going to be a great day of manifestation and appearing and the heavenly company also are going to be put on display and that's going to be for those who are not ready. The Lord is going to come as a thief in the night. And Bob mentioned last night how that there was a there is a warning to Sardis of the Lord coming as a thief in the night.
That's the part of the the church, the false church, that's going to go through the tribulation.
Beth, Solemn.
To think that there are those who profess to be Christians.
00:55:02
But are like the foolish virgins who didn't have oil in their lamps and they did not go in when the bridegroom came. Like the wise, the key is to have the oil in your lamps.
Being a testimony is not enough. Having a lamp is not enough. You have to have the oil.
The Spirit of God, you have to be born again. You have to be saved.
Don't give up the truth of the Lord's coming.
So these four things.
Art can be anchors to our souls. It's interesting that when Paul and those on board, there were 276 of them, you know, they I noticed something today I hadn't noticed ever before, and I was. This is in Acts 27 to close.
When they cast out the four anchors, that held them fast. As long as they left those four anchors attached, they didn't.
They didn't crash the shore. They didn't shipwreck.
It was when they pulled up the anchors.
They tried to make it to shore. The shipwreck took place.
I believe as long as we hold the four anchors.
The testimony will be intact.
In the measure that we give it up.
Things will fall apart.
There was another thing that they did and this is the part I never noticed before.
They cast the wheat.
Into the sea.
Little insignificant thing we say. Well, why did they do that? Well, they wanted to lighten the ship, no doubt, but it was their food.
What does wheat speak of?
Wheat is the heavenly food. Wheat speaks of the Lord Jesus, the man in the glory.
You give up the enjoyment of the man and the glory.
You may make shipwrecked in your life.
Spring.
Gospel 3
Gospel—Jim Hyland
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In the Gospel meeting this afternoon with hymn #4 on the gospel hymn sheet, 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. Hymn #4, if someone will please start it.
I'd like to, at the beginning of the Gospel meeting, read a number of scriptures. The first one is in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 3.
Matthew's Gospel, chapter 3 and verse 3.
For this is he that was spoken of by Isaiah, saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight, And then at the end of the chapter, verse 17, and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, And then a portion in first Peter.
First Peter.
Verse chapter one and verse 25.
But the word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word which by the gospel.
Is preached unto you and then a familiar verse in first Timothy chapter one.
First, Timothy chapter one and verse 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.
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John's Gospel chapter 3.
John, chapter 3 and verse 19. And this is the condemnation that light has come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. The 17th chapter of this same gospel.
John's Gospel chapter 17 and verse 3.
And this is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God.
And Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent? At first glance, these verses that we have connected together at the beginning of this Gospel meeting might seem like they were chosen randomly. And I suppose even if they had been chosen randomly, they are the living word of God. And if we were to close our Bible now and pray for blessing, God could bless sinners in this room this afternoon.
Because it's the living word in all its power that is going to bring about blessings in the power of the Spirit.
But these verses were chosen because while there are many differences in these scriptures.
There's one little phrase that is the same and that is 2 words that you will find common throughout these verses, 2 words that may seem at first insignificant in themselves and those two words are this is.
It's an interesting little combination of two words, and it runs through the word of God. I've never counted how many times you have this little phrase. Are these two words together?
This is. But you know, I've thought lately a lot about these two words because we use them in everyday conversation quite a bit. We use it to point out something specific that we want to draw someone's attention to. If a salesman is trying to sell his product, he says this is this is the product and this is what it does, and this is the benefits of it. We use the phrase perhaps more than we realize.
Now, everything that God says in His word, we need to give attention to that's true.
But it is interesting in tracing out this little phrase that there are some things that to my own soul at least, it's just as if God would say I don't want you to miss this, this is and then something very important, something vital that follows and I trust will see this as we comment very briefly on these scriptures that we have connected together.
But what was significant in my own soul in tracing this out?
Was to find that in the New Testament, the first times that this phrase appears, it draws attention to God's beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, because that's the one we want to point to tonight. That's the one that we want to draw a particular attention to today in the in this gospel meeting. Because there is no other way of blessing has has so often been pointed out.
And was pointed out last night in the Gospel and the night before. It's not religion, it's not sociology, it's not Reformation that we preach.
When we present the gospel, it's a person and it's the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the gospel is a reality. It's not some vague thing that is pulled out of the air. It's not some philosophy. It's not some, shall I say, even theology. No, it's a person and it's a reality. And when John the Baptist came to it, what did he come to do? He came to announce the coming of Christ.
He was, as we often say, the forerunner of Christ back in Isaiah 40 and other places.
It was prophesied that this man would come, and his message was short, but his message was wonderful. He didn't preach for very many years. But, you know, God tells us what he thought of John, and his message. The Lord tells us what he thought, he said of those born among women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist. What a message John the Baptist had, and that message was a message.
00:10:03
Of grace, of hope, a message of repentance. Because John the Baptist, I say he pointed to no one but the person of the Lord Jesus. When he saw the Lord Jesus walking in this world, he said, behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And it's interesting that the first time we read this phrase in the New Testament is in connection with prophecies in the Old Testament.
It takes us right back to what had already been written before and prophesied before John the Baptist presented his message, because if we were to go back to the Old Testament, we find that in the light of the New Testament, it all speaks of Christ. You know, I've enjoyed that in connection with reading of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts who was reading in the 53rd of Isaiah.
And as he sat in his chariot reading, he pondered, Who is the prophet Speaking of and directed by the Spirit of God? An evangelist named Philip climbed up and sat in that chariot, and sat down with that man. And the man said, the Ethiopian eunuch said, Of whom is the prophet speaking? Is he Speaking of himself or of another? And I love what it says it says. Beginning at the same scripture he preached unto him, Jesus.
You know, it wouldn't have mattered where that man was reading in the Old Testament. The Evangelist could have begun at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus, because this is what was in the heart of God from the very beginning, from the time that man sinned and coats of skin were provided for Adam and Eve through the death of an innocent victim or victim. And the the announcement of that glorious news, that's a woman's seed, would bruise the head.
Of the serpent, and in the fullness of time God did send forth His Son. And so we find here where we read in the end of Matthew 3 The heavens open up.
As the Lord Jesus is here in this world, heaven opens up, and Ohio heaven delighted to look down at that blessed one about the Son of God in this world. As the poet said, there was finally an object in this world that might commend the place. The Lord Jesus was here, the only perfect sinless man that ever walked the streets of this world. He was here, and as he comes up out of the waters of baptism, the heavens open up and how they delighted to open up and heaven gazed down.
And a voice declares, This is my beloved son. This is this is no doubt about it.
My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Oh, have you looked to that blessed one tonight? I know that most of us, perhaps in this room, have had a glimpse of the man in the glory. We know him as Savior. But our hearts are burdened today to think that there might be someone here, someone who sat in these meetings as we spoke together in the readings of the the tremendous place and privilege.
Of being brought into the body of Christ as members of the Body of Christ. As we've had one another minister. The truth in afternoon addresses, as we've heard the gospel faithfully presented on two previous evenings. To think that you've sat here and you haven't come to know this blessed one as your savior. You don't have that subtle peace by looking to the Lord Jesus, but here we find.
Lest there was any doubt in the minds of those that looked on on that occasion.
Lest there was any doubt in their minds as to who this person was at the beginning of his public ministry, a voice declares this is my beloved son. If we were to turn to other gospels where you have this same account, there's another little comment added that's not here in Matthew's Gospel, because in the, I think in two other gospels where you have this incident, the little comment is added.
Here.
Have you listened to the voice of the Lord Jesus speaking to you? You know he speaks once, yeah, twice. And yet it says yet man perceiveth it not. I wonder how many times the voice of God, the voice of the Lord Jesus, has spoken to you, knocked on the door of your conscience, sought to get your attention.
00:15:13
Just as this voice here.
Got the attention sought to get the attention of those that were standing by and watching this event that took place at the beginning of the public ministry of the Lord Jesus here.
Ye him it tells us in another place, he that hath ears to hear.
Let him hear how solemn it is when we stop our ears to the voice of God.
And the voice of the Lord Jesus. And that's really why I read the portion in First Peter, because here we have that little expression again in first Peter chapter one where it says, but the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word. I'm gonna stop there for a moment. This is the word, you know. This is the word of God.
This book we hold in our hands, I believe, beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Is God's voice speaking to you and to me sad to say? People have closed not only their ears to the word of God, but they've closed the word of God. They don't want it. They don't want it's light. They don't want to listen to it. Because the Word of God reveals what we are through and through. It reveals what we are from the inside out. It tells us what our hearts are like. It tells us what we are by nature.
It tells us things like all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It tells us that the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.
Who can know it? My wife and I were just in England a few weeks ago and I was reminded of a little story in connection with Queen Elizabeth the first of England. As we know, Queen Elizabeth the 2nd sits on the throne as sovereign of the realm today. But many years ago there was a queen named Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth the 1St. And if you read about that era, it was an era of great vanity.
And Queen Elizabeth was a very vain lady, and as she got older.
And begin to notice as she looked in the mirror the aging process, as we call it today, and those wrinkles that began to appear. She decided that she didn't want to see herself in the mirror. And history tells us that for a number of years she did not have the heart to look at herself in the mirror. And her ladies in waiting were very, very careful to keep a mirror from her presence. It angered her when a mirror was brought into her presence.
Why did she not want to look in the mirror? Because mirrors don't lie. Mirrors tell the truth. You know, no matter how long you look in the mirror, it's not gonna change things. You can stare at a mirror all day and it's still going to give you an honest, perfect reflection of yourself in that mirror.
Where I come from, I think we're even more liberal and godless than the United States. Perhaps not quite as bad as Europe. Halfway between Europe and the United States can't have the word of God in the in the schools when my girls were going to public school, even on special so-called religious holidays, there could be nothing concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.
Man doesn't want to know.
His true condition?
The Word of God tells us the truth. And so it says, And this is the Word. But you know, it says, here in this verse we read together. This is the word by which the gospel is preached unto you.
I think it was Brother John in the Sunday School this morning pointed out that word.
That the children and those of us who are older often spell in that song glad TIDINGS.
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And that word is tidings, or good news. And that's what the gospel is.
Oh, if people could just realize tonight the good news of the gospel.
They would open the pages of the Word of God and read it if they could just understand that this book not only contains.
The mirror that shows us what's in our hearts, naturally speaking.
But it contains the remedy it is, if I can put it in the illustration we're using. It's the soap and water to clean our dirty face.
It's the remedy, you know. You may stand in front of the sink and look in the mirror, but that's not going to clean your face.
But in front of you is soap and water. And you take that soap and water and you apply it to your face and you still looking in the same mirror, but now you find your face is clean, that there was a remedy. And oh, tonight the wonderful thing is there's a remedy in God's word. That is the Lord Jesus came into this world. The Lord Jesus came down from heaven. He not only walked up and down the dusty streets of Palestine.
He not only spoke faithfully to those about him, he not only healed the sick, he not only cleansed the leper, but at the end of it all he went to Calvary Cross, and there he laid down his life. There he bore my sins in his own body on the tree. There he shed his precious blood, that remedy for sin, because it is the blood of Jesus Christ his Son.
That cleanses us from all sin. It's through that blood that we have forgiveness. It's through that blood that we have redemption. We're redeemed. Those of us who know Christ not with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. You know, I am so thankful, especially in the day in which we live, where we're so aware in current events of the devaluing of different currencies and the economic woes and.
Of different countries and so on. Aren't we glad that we're not redeemed with something that changes in value? You know, when the markets closed on, I suppose they closed on Wednesday because of Thanksgiving. But when they closed here in the United States and when they opened tomorrow morning, we may find, if we were to check it out, that the price of gold and silver and the value of the US dollar against the Canadian dollar and the euro and the Japanese yen may be very different.
Just in three or four days, things change in value. And things that men once put stock in currencies that people used to invest in, They're finding that those are not the sound investments that they thought they once were. But my redemption isn't based on something that changes in value from day-to-day or year to year. The blood of Christ is as precious to the heart of God.
As valuable to the heart of God as it was when it was shed on Calvary's cross.
And when it says the precious blood of Christ, thank God, that isn't my value of it, my estimation of it, That's God's estimation. I trust that the blood of Christ is precious to every heart here. But again, I'm thankful that my redemption, my salvation isn't based on my appreciation or my value of the blood of the Lord Jesus, but it is based on God's value of the blood of His Son, the Lord Jesus.
And so we read in Romans that were justified by that blood. In Hebrews, we're sanctified by the blood of Christ. Oh, I pray that everyone here has come under the value of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the only remedy for sin. You know, we were just, again, we were just in Europe. And I'll just see how things are being shaken in Europe. The very foundations, you know, it wasn't very long ago, it seems, when the euro was so strong.
And people were turning from the American currency to the euro, but you know, people, the EUR being shaken today.
Different countries in Europe are finding that their economic infrastructure isn't as sound as it once was. You know, if we were to go to a certain museum in Rotterdam or another art gallery in Vienna, we would see a painting by an artist, one of the most famous Flemish artists that lived back in the 1500s.
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His name was Peter Bruegel, very famous Flemish artist. He did two paintings.
Of the Tower of Babel 1 hangs in Rotterdam, the other in Vienna. And I'm sure if we were to bring a print of those paintings here today, you would recognize those paintings because often in a Bible where there's pictures inserted to illustrate Bible events and so on, that's the painting of the Tower of Babel that you will see, kind of a spiral shaped building, unfinished at the top.
You know what is very solemn?
We've all heard of the EU, the European Union, and there are two headquarters to the EU, one in Brussels. My wife and I just recently walked around the grounds of the EU headquarters in Brussels, but there's another headquarters in Strasbourg, France.
In fact, it's a bit ridiculous and it's a really a money waster because they have one month in Brussels and then they move everything over to Strasbourg for another month and back and forth. So there's six months each place, but it's month about it, take it. It drains the economy of millions and millions of dollars. However, to satisfy everybody. This is what they do. But what's interesting is that the EU headquarters in Strasbourg.
The main building, called the Louis Wiese Building, is built after the pattern of that famous painting of the Tower of Babel, and it looks unfinished at the top. They even have a metal framework around it that looks like scaffolding and it is purposely built like the Tower of Babel. And one of the EU officials said when that building was finished. We have purposely built this building.
To represent the unfinished Tower of Babel, because what they failed to complete 3000 years ago, we in Europe are going to complete.
Not solemn to think about how godless Christian, so-called Christian nations have become when you think of the.
Seed plot of Christianity being in Europe and when you read about countries like France and Belgium and Switzerland and all those other countries that are part of the European Community and to think how godless they have become and I might just say this in passing.
I'm in Europe at least once if not twice a year, and there is a cloud of apostasy that hangs over Western Europe that presses on my soul harder than the clouds of apostasy of heathendom, that hangover. Many other countries that I have visited, I have been to the darkness of heathendom. But, and it's a very real darkness sometimes, a darkness that you can feel, but the cloud of darkness that hangs over Western Europe and Britain.
To my own soul I find more oppressive because it is the darkness of apostasy.
And it is deeper than the darkness of heathendom. Because the scripture says, if the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that? Is that darkness? A man has risen up like they did on the plains of Shinar. He's risen up in independence of God-given up the light of the Word of God-given up the light of Christianity. And you know where the Tower of Babel ended, Not ended, but you know how it where what it developed to, it developed into a system of things.
Where the king looked up and said, Is not this great Babylon which I have built, it's man in his confusion, in independence of of God. And so this is the Word, The word. The word, the word of the Lord, endureth forever. And this is the word by which the gospel is preached unto you. Oh, tonight it is, I say, the gospel. It is indeed good news. And with that in mind.
Let's quote the verse again that I read in First Timothy chapter one and verse 15. This is. Remember what we said at the beginning when we have this little expression? This is it's God particularly drawing our attention to something that's vital. This is.
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Again, like the salesman, he wants to get your focus. He wants to get your attention on that product so that you'll buy that product.
And that you'll prove it's it's worth. This is a faithful saying. You know the word of God is full of faithful sayings, isn't it? God is indeed faithful. God is faithful. It tells us in another place, and God's Word is full of faithful sayings. Sometimes when the gospel is preached, we don't really our folks don't really like to hear sometimes what the preacher has to say.
But these are faithful sayings. It tells us Faithful are the wounds of a friend.
Maybe you feel wounded by being told that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Maybe you feel wounded by being told that you're on your way to a lost eternity if you don't know Christ. But faithful are the wounds of the of a friend. Wouldn't you rather have a friend that warns you about a course you were on than to have someone who would say, oh, it's just all right, and pretty soon you you're driving your car and you go right over the precipice. They didn't warn you that the bridge was out. They thought, oh, they'll see it eventually. No, that wouldn't be a very faithful friend. We like faithful friends in this life, but we have one who has been faithful and is faithful, and this is one of the faithful things, one of the many. But this is a faithful saying.
That Christ Jesus.
Came into the world to save sinners. I'm going to repeat a little story I know. It's been told in the gospel not only by myself, but perhaps by others.
But every time I read this verse, I am reminded of two men who lived in Western Europe many years ago. They lived on the side of a mountain and they worked together. I'm not sure if they were goat herders or what they did to.
Make a living. But they work together on the side of that mountain for many years. They had a little cabin there that they lived in, and the years went by and they got on in age and one morning they woke up and one of them was really gasping for breath.
And his friend became concerned. He came to his bedside and he said, are you OK? His friend said. I don't know, I I seem to have a problem I I might be having a heart attack, he said I might be dying.
Said. Can you go down to the village below and find me a preacher?
Strange, isn't it? Men will push all that aside in the good years when they have health and strength. They don't have time for those things, but they they face eternity. All of a sudden they want a preacher.
His friend said, well, I'll try. He didn't really know a preacher, but he said I'll try.
And so he left their cabin, and he started down the mountain to the village below.
He got close to the village. He thought, What am I going to do? I don't really know a preacher, but he did remember.
An elderly lady sitting on her front porch as he had passed so often.
Reading her Bible in her rocking chair with a smile of contentment on her face.
And so he decided that rather than try to find a preacher, he would go and talk to this lady.
Surely she would be able to come up and help his friend, and so he came to her home. And sure enough.
There she was sitting on her porch reading the word of God. And so he stepped up and he said, excuse me, lady, he said, But I've seen you reading your Bible so often and I've got a friend in a cabin up on the mountain and he seems pretty sick today. I think he might be even dying. And he sent me down to get a preacher, said, I don't really know a preacher, but he said, could you come up with your Bible and read him something?
From the word of God, you know that elderly lady? She looked up that mountain.
She shook her head. She said my days of walking up the mountain are long gone. I just can't make it. Oh, he said. What am I going to do? I can't go back to my friend without something from the word of God, she said. I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll give you one verse of Scripture, and you take this verse of scripture to your friend. And if he receives the message of this verse, he can die in peace.
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And this is the verse she gave him. Christ Jesus came into the world.
To save sinners, she had him repeat it several times. She wanted to be sure that he got it straight. And he finally turned and started up that mountain trail again towards that cabin, over and over again, repeating to himself. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. But you know, he got close to the cabin and he got a little troubled, He thought to himself. You know, I've known my friend for many years. We've worked together.
We've been companions here on the side of the mountain and I just don't know if I can walk in and tell a dying man he's a Sinner.
And so he opened the door and his friend was really gasping. He said, did you get a preacher? He said no, but I got you a verse from God's word, the Bible.
He said Christ Jesus came into the world to save folks.
His dying friend said. Say that again.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save folks.
Dying friends started to weep, he said. I must have heard that verse somewhere before.
Maybe in my youth, Because he said I thought it should have said sinners. Oh, I wish it had said sinners. If it had only said sinners, I know it meant me and I could die in peace. His friend was now beside himself. He got down on his knees beside the bed. He said it did say sinners, but I didn't want to walk in here and tell you you were a Sinner. But it really did say sinners. He convinced his friends that this was indeed the truth of the verse and his friends.
In those life giving words.
And in his dying moments, he received the Lord Jesus Christ as his savior, recognizing that he was indeed a Sinner.
But that there was a savior for sinners as we were singing, and he took the message of that verse to his soul.
And it wasn't very long until he was absent from the body and present with the Lord, till his spirit had winged its way from that cabin caught to the courts of glory. And oh, today you can go away from this meeting knowing that the Lord Jesus not only died for sinners, but he died for you.
I know I've said this many times, but I'll never forget it as long as I live. 2 little girls about five years of age who came to some gospel meetings that we were holding, I suppose some 30 years ago in a place called Truro NS. And those two girls had come on a number of occasions. 1 little girl I knew was a believer. She knew the Lord Jesus is her savior and she brought her friend. And one morning that little friend.
After the morning Bible hour, Didn't want to leave until she knew.
That she was saved and I will never forget as those two little girls five years of age.
Left that building later that morning, hand in hand, and the one who had been saved, and the one who had just got saved, the one who had been saved said to the one who had just been saved. Now you can say that Jesus died for you.
2 girls of five years of age, understanding that the Lord Jesus had died for them, that the Lord Jesus was their savior. And so this is a faithful saying, but it's not only a faithful saying. It's worthy of all acceptation or in our language today, it's worthy of acceptance. Have you accepted the truth of this faithful saying that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners? He came into the world, but you know he's not in the world today.
It's true, he did come. But notice its past tense here. When the apostle Paul penned these words to this young man named Timothy, it was past fact it had taken place. But where was the Lord Jesus? When Paul wrote these words to Timothy? The Lord Jesus was no longer in this world. The Lord Jesus was no longer on the cross.
The Lord Jesus was number longer in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. No he had risen from the dead.
Because what a glorious fact of the gospel this is that Christ died.
He was buried and he rose again the 3rd day. It's vital to understand and accept the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, because if Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain.
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And you are still in your sins, but thank God he was raised again.
For our justification. And God has given witness testimony to all men in that he hath raised him.
From the dead because the resurrection and the ascension of Christ their gods. Amen to the work of Calvary.
Two very vital things that Christ rose from the dead, and that after there was ample testimony given to his own.
That he had bodily risen from the dead, appearing even to about 500 brethren at one time.
His feet eventually left the mount of Olives, and the cloud received him out of their sight, and they saw him no more. And God has proof of his satisfaction, has seated him at his own right hand. You want proof that God is satisfied with the work of the Lord Jesus on Calvary's cross? Just look up my faith and see where he is now. The one that Stephen the martyr saw. I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.
You want confirmation that the Lord Jesus is risen? Stephen gives us.
That confirmation he saw him standing there as Stephen Drew his last breath, gave his last testimony, and was stoned by those who were so angry and those who were Christ rejecters.
At that, at that time, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. But tonight there's a Savior on high in the glory, a Savior who suffered on Calvary's tree. A Savior is willing to save. Now, as ever, His arm is almighty, His love great and free. Oh come now to Jesus, that dear loving Savior receive him this moment and peace shall be thine.
No, I've had the privilege for many years now in many of the islands, but especially in the Bahamas.
Of going from school to school each January and presenting with pre arrangement.
A simple gospel message to the student body. By the grace of God, I have estimated that some years I have been able in two weeks.
To address some 24 to 26,000 students in different islands in the Bahamas, namely Nassau and Freeport. Some of those schools are huge. 1500 students gathered in a courtyard to hear the gospel and then I'm I'm able to leave something for those young people to take home. At the end of the day, if I address 12 or 1500 students in a courtyard, the administration would like me to leave 12 to 1500 something so they can all take.
A gospel tract or a messages of love or a wallet, calendar or something. Home at the end of the day, tremendous opportunities. And when I go to the Bahamas in January, I try to put together some simple gospel message that relates in some way to perhaps current events, perhaps the geography or history of the Bahamas. Something that we can use and apply from the Scripture to make it simple.
For the young people have opportunity to speak to children and young people anywhere from five years of age.
Right through secondary school, and I remember one year as I was on the Air Canada flight from Toronto to Nassau, I was praying and really exercised about what I would, uh, use to present the gospel that year to the students in the Bahamas. And as I was praying about it, I reached out and took the In Flight magazine from the seat pocket in front of me. And as I I kind of idly thumbed through that In Flight magazine, I noticed an article.
And an advertisement for a new museum that had just opened in Nassau, Bahamas.
This museum is called the Pirates of Nassau Museum.
And as I read the article, something just seemed to nudge me and say when you get to Nassau, take an hour or two and go to that museum and see what they have to offer. And it was very, very interesting. I must say. It's very well done. And it's like a wax museum. There are different displays and they take you from 1 display, from 1 display to another. And there are there people there dressed in period costume who will give you a little rundown and commentary.
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In connection with the display and the pirates that they are portraying. And there were many, many pirates, many notorious pirates who plied the waters in and around the Bahamian islands.
There were even lady pirates, 2 very famous ones. Anne Barney and Mary Reed, very famous women pirates, ruthless pirates. But I suppose the most famous of all is Blackbeard. But you know, as I listen to those commentaries and went on my way, I thought of this verse. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Because what I realized in listening to the commentaries concerning those pilots.
Those pirates that were in and around Nassau and the Bahamas at that time, I realized those pirates only came to that area for one reason, to get something for themselves. And they didn't care how they got it. They didn't care who they murdered, who they plundered. They didn't care about the residents of those islands. They were there to get something for themselves. But oh, I was thrilled to be able to stand up in front of those schools of children and tell them.
That while the pirates of Nassau came to Nassau and the other islands to get something for themselves, there was a man who came into this world, not to get, but to give, to give his life at Calvary's cross, to give his precious blood shed there, and as a result from the heavens, to give the gift of God, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Just as a little sidelight, I'll tell you a little story in connection with Blackbeard. You know, Blackbeard with no, no legend. His name was Edward Teach. He was born somewhere around 17 or died somewhere around 1718, and he was a ruthless, fearless, uh, pirate.
And as the story goes, on one occasion he said to his men on board ship we're gonna create a hell for ourselves. We're gonna hardly imagine such a thing. But he forced his crew to go down in the hold of that pirate ship with himself, and they set brimstone, afire and some other mixtures of acid and so on. He closed the Hatch and they set that that those fires.
And the deal was that they were to see how long they could stay down in their.
And to see who was the most fit for Hell. And Blackbeard prided himself in the fact that he was able to stay there the longest. One by one, those men had to leave, choking and coughing.
And he stayed the longest and he boasted from that point on.
That he was the most fit of any of his crew to go to hell.
Solemn, isn't it? You know, Hell is no laughing matter. Hell is a reality and those who go to hell. It tells us that it is the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone. It tells us that it's a place where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth, where there was a man who went there who wanted one drop of water to cool his tongue. He simply wanted momentary relief.
From his situation, he never got it. You know, sometimes when I'm in the tropics it's so hot and so humid that I think if I could just open a can or bottle and get one blast of cold air, it would be feel so good. Just some momentary relief.
My comfort is that in a few days or a few weeks, I'm gonna be on an air conditioned plane out of there. But you know those who go to hell, there won't even be momentary relief. There will be the realization that it is a fixed state of things.
And there will be the realization that there isn't so much as a drop of water for momentary relief. What a solemn thing. Let me read again the verse I read in John in John chapter 3, because it goes along with what we're saying in connection with with judgment. And here we have the very words of the Lord Jesus himself in John chapter 3.
In verse 19. And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. You know, it tells us of the Lord Jesus that the light shone in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. You know, you can hardly take in that imagery because no matter how dark a room is, or somewhere in this world, you can go down into the heart of the earth.
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And no matter how dark that cave is, how some light is going to penetrate. If you have a candle, if you light a match for a moment, there's gonna be a penetration. If you have a Lantern or a flashlight, there's going, it's going to penetrate that darkness. But when the Lord Jesus came into this world so deep was the moral darkness that existed in this world, it says the light shone in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.
And not only that, but they rejected the true light, and it only brought down condemnation.
It sealed the doom and the judgment of this world, and especially when they took that true light and set away with him. Crucify him. They took him out and nailed him to a Roman cross. They said we won't have him.
Judgment hangs over this world. He's appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. But more than that, as we've been saying, there is a judgment that is so final and so severe that it is called the second death, and that is to be taken and cast from the presence of God forever, from the presence of the Lord Jesus for eternity.
Into that place called the lake of fire. That place called hell. But oh, as we have heard already in these meetings, that place was not prepared for man. It was prepared for the devil and his angels. And that's why tonight the gospel is still going out. The gospel is available. You know, some of us were saying before this meeting with the things that are happening in this world, it can't be long until the Lord Jesus comes to claim his church to take every blood bought St. home.
But you know, I said as we discussed the matter. God is a lot more gracious and patient than I am.
God is a lot more gracious and patient and long-suffering than any of us in this room, long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And so we read in John 17. And this there's that expression again. And this is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent. We've come to the end of this meeting.
Do you know God is your Father? Do you know Him in relationship? Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? Are you the possessor today of eternal divine life? Have you accepted that gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord? If you have not, then, as I say, you're condemned, you're you're on your way to hell, and if you leave this world as a Christ rejecter.
I say you will experience what is called the second death, but I want to end by reading one more portion of scripture.
This is really on a personal note and as to personal testimony. Song of Solomon, chapter 5.
Song of Solomon chapter 5 and the last part of verse 16.
This is my beloved and this is my friend.
I thrilled to read these words.
I want to say again the one we have presented tonight.
Ever so feebly, perhaps, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is my beloved.
He's my precious savior, and I'm thankful that he is.
For many years, almost 50 years now, I've known the Lord Jesus Christ.
As my savior, this is my beloved. I'm thankful, and it's only by the grace of God. But I'm thankful that at least in some measure, he's dear to my heart. He's precious.
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I love to be able to present him as the savior of sinners because he is my beloved. He's precious.
And this is my friend. This is the one that has cared for me in spite of myself for almost 50 years.
He is my friend. I wouldn't want to trade places with anybody that isn't a Christian. He holds my hand. He's a friend. As it says in Proverbs, that sticks closer than a brother.
You know, I have one brother.
And while I love that brother very much, I rarely see him. In fact, I haven't seen him since my mother's funeral. He's gone his own way. He's chosen a pathway.
That is very different from what I desire for him. But I have a friend that sticks closer than a brother. He's there. He's promised never to leave me, nor forsake me. When I've got away and gone my own way, he's come after me. He hasn't left me. He holds me by my right hand as the as the Psalmist said, thou hast told me By thy right hand thou guide me with my thy counsel, and afterward receive me the glory.
Oh Christ, Jesus came into the world to save sinners. This is my beloved.
This is my friend. Can you say this is my beloved, This is my friend. I hope that no one will get out of these seats without being able to say that as those who are washed in the blood of Christ, the possessors of eternal life and on their way to glory, let's pray our God and Father.
1 Corinthians 12:1-7
Buy the Truth and Sell It Not
1 Corinthians 12:8-11
God Has a Job for You With Responsibility