St. Louis Conference: 2018
Table of Contents
Jacob and His God
Address—Stephen Rule
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Some brother would start #238 for us, we appreciate it.
Our Shepherd.
People are consideration of my heart.
What do you mean by one of the one?
Umm.
Hotel Beauty.
I.
'M shocked we didn't see everything I am all I have no.
Umm, I think it's like I'm not looking forward to everything and praying with all your mom's that I'll be.
Turn with me to.
Malachi Chapter one, this is not where we're going to spend our time, but it it captures the spirit of what's on my heart.
Reverse two Malachi chapter one and verse 2.
I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet you say wherein us thou loved us.
Was not Esau Jacob's brother? Saith the Lord?
Yet I loved Jacob.
Sorry, I, uh, don't think it's nervous, but it might be, I thought, but in tears 10 times or so over the last couple days as I've been enjoying the life of Jacob. It's amazing. It's just so full, so rich. My prayer is that I don't get caught in the byways of all the interesting things and the wonders that are there, but that the Lord brings out to your heart and to mine the God of Jacob.
You know the God of Jacob, that expression.
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In his word, call himself the God of Jacob. Perhaps there are many here that relate in a practical way the Jacob and Jacob's life. Enter into that. I just want to encourage your heart this afternoon to come to know the one.
Who was Jacob shepherd? Now read the half of the burden. I'm going to save a good part to the end, and I'm going to give you the A theme so you don't get lost. I'm going to turn to a verse toward the end. I hope we'll come back here in Jacob's life. It's just an unbelievable full story.
Well, we've turned to it in in Genesis 48.
She turned there.
Reading through the life of Jacob two days ago, it took me about an hour and a half or so just, and that's pausing to stumble and looking and all and then wake up and keep moving because it's so it's a wonderful story. So there's so many things there. I would strongly encourage you to read it. And one other word is we begin. Just finished my personal reading yesterday, the book of Malachi, reading through the prophets ending with Malachi.
Enjoyed the verse?
But if you read the two together, the life of Jacob with the prophets, it's a beautiful, beautiful connection and it's full of all kinds of themes.
For the Lord's help, I wanna focus this afternoon on one and probably stumble on a few other beautiful byways, but that one is captured in this verse. Genesis 48.
And verse 15 Read 15 and 16.
And he blessed Joseph, and said, This is Jacob. He blessed Joseph and said, God, before whom my father is Abraham. And Isaac did walk.
But God, I'm gonna switch over to Mr. Darby's translation in verse 15.
The God that shepherded me.
All my life long to this day.
Not a beautiful statement.
All my life long, you know the story of Jacob, your mother, your grandmother, your father, your son, your school teacher taught you the stories from the life of Jacob years ago and you've enjoyed it. This is Jacob looking back over that life and he says every single day of my life.
My shepherd was with me.
Every single day of my life. I love that word in this verse here.
All my life long until this day.
You look at that life and you say, well, we'll come to that later. I don't wanna get distracted. Turn to the beginning. The Genesis, chapter 25.
Genesis chapter 25.
So it's a theme that'll come up again.
Many themes in his life, but Genesis chapter 25 and verse 21.
And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord was entreated of him. And Rebecca his wife conceived, and the children struggled together within her.
And she said. And again, I'm going to switch over.
Two verse Umm well, it's good here the children St. struggled together within her and she said, if it be so, why am I Thus she went to inquire of the Lord. This is the unborn Jacob and his mother is going to the Lord about her unborn son. But I want you to think of this in the term in these terms.
This is a spiritual ultrasound. Sure, if you're pregnant. I don't.
No, for a moment. Some of the things I say are just not gonna have enough context. I don't for a moment suggest you don't get an ultrasound. But I think it's beautiful right here that the spiritual ultrasound shows so many things you can't get any other way. You can't get what she finds out any other way than from the Lord if you're young parents.
You have a small child. You have a small child coming. You got a small child in your arms.
A small child in your heart that you're looking forward to. I strongly encourage you to go to the Lord for your spiritual ultrasound. And here's what she finds. Verse 23. And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels, and the one people shall be stronger than the other people.
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And the elder shall serve.
The younger.
The elder shall serve the younger. We're gonna finish there at the end.
Here's the vision from before this child is born. The elder shall serve the younger. I just want to encourage you in this. And the burden of my heart is that you'll see the God who's walking with you every step of your life. We're going to go through this life from birth to death, and everyone in this room sits in between those two.
Uh, in fact, there's some in here that are unborn. You're still included in what we just read.
From before that moment of birth to the moment of death. Oh, Lord is walking with you. He's looking into every single detail of your life, and it's for good. It's for your good. It's for your blessing. We're gonna look at the end when Jose, when Jacob looks back over the whole thing. We only read part of it. There's more to what he reflects on at the end.
But here, from the very beginning, there's this elder. So serve the younger Lord a purpose in this life. And he had a love for Jacob. I want to encourage you that there's a purpose.
In your life and that the Lord Jesus has a personal love and interest and care for you personally, for you as an individual. You'll see there's many, many faces and you'll have to enjoy most of them on your own in the life of Jacob, but many might touch on a place where you're at at the moment. So I want to step forward and keep moving to the 27th chapter.
OK.
27th chapter.
And by the way.
I the life of Jacob is packed with the importance of the government of God with self judgment of reaping what we sow in a negative sense and so on. That's that's an important part of the story. It's just not the part the Lord laid on my heart this afternoon. As you read through it, the Lord can lay that part on your heart. It's a very important part of the story. It's very much there. It ties in so beautifully with the prophets with all that Israel needs to learn and when the Lord refers to.
19 Genesis 27 and verse 19. And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau, thy first born. I have done according as al badest me. Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that I found it so quickly, my son?
And he said, Because I'll watch carefully the Lord.
My God brought it to me. The Lord thy God brought it to me.
I don't believe we can say exactly how old Jacob was at this moment, but if you flip back to the last chapter, we can say he was a minimum of 40 years old.
You may be in this room, you may be 40 years old, you may be approaching your 40th birthday. If you want to do a little math, I'm going to try to avoid most of that because it's a distraction perhaps, but Jacob lived 100 and 4740 years old.
Was over 1/4 of his life and that's a minimum that he is in this chapter. You don't know how long your life is, but perhaps it's over a quarter over.
And when you talk about God in your own heart, I'm not saying with your lips, but with those that are close to you, those that know you best. What does Jacob say when it comes to that point? He says Jacob says.
Gotta read the exact words.
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Sorry, in the 20th verse.
Umm lost it here on the page.
That's umm, because the Lord thy God brought it to me. It doesn't say the Lord my God. How could he? He was lying to his father. He was far from the Lord at that particular moment. But just notice here.
But Jacob reflected on this moment at the end of his life, and he says my God was with me at that moment. When he looks back at this moment at the end of his life, he says my God was there with me and he had something to show me in this moment. Jacob had 17 years at the end of his life to reflect, to go back, to look at this period of life. And he says my God was here at this moment, but he didn't know it.
And perhaps in your particular moment in your life, your father.
As a God and you can talk to your Father about that God, but it's not personal in your own soul.
There's a patient Shepherd. He's walking in your side at the moment. That patient Shepherd wants you to know him. Turn to the next chapter.
The next chapter, what we're going to read Curves, I believe sometime later, Genesis chapter 28.
We do know how old Jacob was in this chapter, you can find it out.
You can trace back. You wanna go through that Afterward, I'll go through it with you, but I'll give you this much.
Jacob was over half of his life at this point.
Jacob was past the midpoint of his life in this chapter when he heads out for Payton Aram. When he heads out for Uncle Laban's house, over half of his life is gone. Let's take stock of what Jacob has. Jacob has thy God, not my God.
Jacob has We won't have a time to look at the verse. Jacob has a staff.
Jacob has no wife. Jacob has no children. Jacob has nothing for Sam.
He says when he meets the Angel that he, when he reflects back on, he says when I cross that river going out, I came out with a staff and later he says I came back with multiple companies. So here as he goes out and maybe you look at your life and you say I'm over half the way through my life.
And what do I have?
Lord hasn't brought me a wife. Lord hasn't brought me children.
Yeah, I'm supposed to have.
A better place than my brother. He saw my brother Esau. He's been married for 37 years. Sorry I gave you the number. My brother Esau has been married for 37 years. My brother Esau has children. He's not just my brother, he's my twin.
Where is the word of the Lord?
Where is he?
That's where your heart sat at the moment.
Wanna encourage you?
So you could look at this moment, this moment in his life, and he said my shepherd was with me in this moment. My shepherd was at work in my soul, bringing me to know him, to know him personally. There's a work that the Lord's doing in your heart. If you look at it with your eyes, looks like that's another thing you can look at. You have to look at it on your own. The word, the number of times that Jacob sees this and Jacob sees that, and Jacob sees the other.
Jacob had throughout most of his life, he's looking at this and he's looking at that, and even later in his life he hears the words of Joseph. But when he sees the wagons.
His heart changes.
But that's not how Jacob's story ends. And if you're in the middle of your story and you're looking out and you're saying, well, I see this.
But I don't see God want to encourage your heart that the God who walked with Jacob every single step of his life, if you know him as your Savior, he's at work in your life and everything that he's doing in the moment, at the moment in your life is for a purpose. And we'll see some of those purposes at the end of Jacob's life. But here in chapter 28, we'll read verses 3:00 and 4:00.
And Isaac speaking to his son.
Arise, go to Peyton Arum, to the House of Beth you will, thy mother's father, and take there, oh, take thee a wife from them for the daughters of Laban, my mother's brother.
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And God Almighty, bless thee, make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people.
What an encouragement. What an encouragement from his father. Where's his father saying to him, you know, Jacob, you deceived me. You know Jacob, you put on an elaborate show to get the blessing. You deceived your brother Esau to get the birthright.
Jacob, you don't deserve anything. No, Jacob didn't deserve anything. But that's not the point. Isaac knew God had revealed himself to him as almighty God. God had revealed himself to Abraham as almighty God. Jacob will learn God as almighty God.
Let me pause for a moment. Take a brief digression. So it's beautiful study. Take it up on your own. There are at least 4 characteristic names of relationships in the Word of God.
Where God specially places himself in relationship with His people, this is the first of them, the Almighty God.
The second is Jehovah with his people, Israel. The word Jehovah has already been used throughout in this book of Genesis up to this point, but he reveals himself in a relationship.
With his people under Jehovah, he reveals himself as the Most High and he reveals himself in particular relationship as Father. We're not looking at that Father relationship at the moment, because the burden on my heart is that you will know the character of the person who's walking with you. But as an aside here at the moment.
Jacob, I'm sorry, Isaac takes what he knew, the characteristic relationship of God.
And he expresses it, He speaks it to his son's life and what you know, if you're a parent, your grandparent, you have a father role or a mother role in the assembly, whether or not you have physical children, What you have in your heart of God is what you have to give, what you know. And that relationship that God has brought you into is what you have that you can pass on to another. And here.
Does it with his son. To me it's sweet. But Jacob hears these words.
He's going to know the reality of it before his life is over. The Lord completes what he starts. If he started a work in your life, he will complete that work. And so he that work here in Jacob's life, even though it's over half over, he's at work.
A little further down in the chapter just to read it. Jacob's on his way now.
No, it's not the voice of his Father, it's the voice of God.
Verse 13 And behold, the Lord stood above it talking about the vision and the Jacob's ladder and so on. It's got a millennial figure. There's wonderful teaching in it.
Verse 13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. No, it doesn't say that.
No, it doesn't say that he's going to hear the truth of that in his life. He's not ready for it. He's got to go through certain experiences before he's ready to hear those words, before God can delight to use them over and over again.
So the verse says, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac.
The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed, and thy seed shall be. And he goes on. And there's a lot more here. I want you to notice this. That's another important lesson to my soul, meditating on the life of Jacob.
Your life, in my life, is not all about us.
Isn't that beautiful?
Your life is not all about you.
Wherever you get your sources of information in the world, the world is all about maximizing you.
Maximizing your pleasure, maximizing your legacy, maximizing your impact. Maybe some of them are good things.
But a very important lesson that Jacob has to learn in the course of his life is that it's not all about Jacob.
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There's the God of Jacob. There's all of that.
But right here I say that in this context, because in verse 13 it says To thee will I give it, and to thy sea.
And till they see there's lots there, there's the promise of the great nation and so on. You can't have that without children. So there's of course that. But the point that I want to emphasize morally to your heart and mind, and that's this, the experiences you went through yesterday or a week ago or a month ago or perhaps last year that remain unexplained.
They don't have an answer yet.
When you get to glory, perhaps in this life you'll see part of it, but when you get to glory, you're going to find out that it was for a whole lot more than you.
It had a whole lot more than you than you.
So, Jacob, it's expressed in this way to the I give it until I see now the land is very important. That's another theme. If you want to trace it out, you can trace it out for yourself. There's no time to pause for it.
But if you're reading it on your own, the land is vitally important in the life of Jacob. A little bit further down and verse 17 or verse 16.
And Jacob awake out of his sleep, and he said, surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.
And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place? This is none other than the House of God, in this the gate of heaven.
Bethel, the House of God, how dreadful is this place?
You know.
The Lord was going to bring Jacob back here. You know that. He's going to bring Jacob back here, but it wasn't just going to bring Jacob back here. He's going to bring Jacob back here and show him not just the place, but the person.
Not just Befell, but El Bethel, not just where he had spoken to him, but the person who was there. That's the burden on my heart that each of us would know the person that's walking with us and to enjoy, not to shake our heads here and say, oh, poor Jacob, if only he learned when he was younger.
You say that about any of our lives. Well, rather to say this.
That's shepherd Walk with Jacob until then.
That shepherd walked with a person who made those mistakes.
I know that person is walking with me.
He has a purpose of good in my life and he's going complete. Let's move forward.
Chapter 32.
Skip over the intense period of Jacob's life.
There's a ton of experience there, and a ton of experience I dare say not a single person in this room will ever go through.
But he had an intense time.
Thankfully none of you will go through it. I certainly haven't in that period of time we just skipped over.
Jacob had multiple He had 12 Children born in a period of just over six years. He had four wives, multiple of them pregnant at the same time.
You have to calculate it out for yourself. He had wives bickering with each other. He had wives bickering with him.
And in that period of time, he was intensely busy with his job. He was out all night. He pulled all nighters and his work over and over again who come in at night tired. And there were the bickering wives.
Now we come to this chapter here.
Jacob's 2/3 of the way through his life.
Trace it out. I believe it's given to us in scripture. This isn't something that comes from tradition. In this chapter here is 97 years old.
I doubt there's a single person in this room.
Maybe I'm wrong.
Our sister Dorothy Thompson, there's a person I met this past Lord's Day. He's 102. Maybe there's somebody in here that's 97 plus, but I think we're all under that number.
Jacob's about to learn a vital lesson, so if you haven't, you haven't learned it yet. We're probably not there yet. That's OK.
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There's a shepherd who waited longer to teach Jacob this lesson and.
Wants to show it to you now. He's not wanting to wait. But you're gonna learn it younger than Jacob if you learn it today. And it's here at the end of the chapter. Read from verse 24. And Jacob was left alone and they wrestled a man with him till the breaking of the day. We saw that he prevailed not against him. He touched the hall of his thigh and the hollow.
But Jacob's thigh was out of joint.
Because he wrestled with him and he said, let me go for the Daybreak. And he said, I will not let thee go.
Except that was.
I will not let that go.
So it's a blessing.
Think it was now hanging on the one who came to meet him.
It's not working. For that blessing. You can look at all the things he did when he was in Laban's house. He had to go to the University of Uncle Laban, the master of deceit, to learn his own heart.
He's graduated.
He was on his way home.
On his way home, he was mad.
Not by messenger, I believe by the Lord Himself. He clings to him. Bless me.
You know, maybe you were raised in a home or it wasn't just the Bible that held guilt, Hedges.
Where's your parents might have.
You carried with you, maybe it wasn't your parents, it was someone else in your life. And you carry with you that feeling that need to perform and if you performed up the spec and if you made it to the standard, God would bless you.
Take nothing away from the very important I don't, I said at the beginning, there's comments I'm going to make along the way that don't contain enough context, and this is one of them. But I want to keep to that main lesson and that's this when God teaches his purpose in teaching.
We need to be brought to self judgment. Jacob sure needed it.
But his purpose in teaching, So what we'll see at the end. And Jacob gets to this vital lesson here, and that is, I want God to bless me. I can't earn it. You know, he's going to forget this lesson over and over again. But this is an important moment in his life. The dawn breaks. The dawn breaks as he learns this lesson. You may have learned a lesson in your life from the Lord. You really learned it from the Lord. He's the one that taught it to you and you forgot it.
That comes ahead in Jacob's life, but there had to come a moment when it was really learned, and Jacob really learns it here. My God wants to bless me.
I don't have to earn it, I don't have to get there on my own.
So you're deadly doing's down. Oh, that's a gospel song. Yes, it is. It's not just the gospel song.
For the Jacobs in the room, it's for all of us who want to make progress in the flesh.
Bless me, and he is, but he doesn't learn everything yet. It's not all here. He wants to know. He receives this new name, a Prince with God, the Israel, a Prince with God, Wonderful new name, fantastic thing. He learns it, gets it, and he wants to know God's name.
He wants to know more personally. There's more things he has to learn. And you know, maybe you've reached a point in your life, maybe you're 2/3 of the way through. I trust we're 99.99% through and the Lord is going to come before this is over. But I'm referring to the natural side of things perhaps as the natural vigor. You're 2/3 of the way through. And there were still many more lessons for Jacob to learn. And so he asked for God's name.
It's not given to him yet.
Because he wasn't where he needed to be. He wasn't where he needed to be to learn more. So a shepherd is going to bring him there the next chapter.
Can't give you a age for Jacob on this. I don't believe scripture pins it down exactly.
Umm, but the last verse of the next chapter, chapter 33 and verse 20. And he erected there an altar and called it LA Israel. God, the God of Israel, uses that name that been given to him.
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Between the Brooke Jabek, when he crawled, when he wrestles.
And he learns that God blesses him from that moment to the moment he sends out Umm Joseph to go seek his brethren in chapter 37. There's eleven years in there that we can get to get from Scripture. Exactly how the period in between is divided, I'm not sure, but I believe that we're fairly close to the end of that period.
I can't give it to you on the third authority of Scripture, that's what counts, but you want to look it up? Umm, Mr.
Mr. Kelly believes he's very close to the end of that period, and he gives several reasons from Scripture. My memory is not not good enough to give them to you, so you'll have to look them up. But I do believe he's toward the end of that period. And you know where he spent that time before this altar. The majority of that time is spent on the wrong side of the Jordan in the chapter. And what we skipped over, he splits and he deceives his brother Esau. I'll come down where you are. And as soon as Esau leaves, he goes the opposite way.
And he heads up almost to Shechem, but he parks where Reuben Gavin half drive of Manasseh Park on the, uh, eastern side of the Jordan. It doesn't crossover into the land that was given to his fathers until this moment. And you know, the moment he enters, he gets an altar.
When the land is important in his life and the minute he gets back where he belongs. God met him where he was. But the moment he gets back where he belongs.
Gets an altar and he says God, the God of Israel, he recognizes God in relationship with himself. He's carrying something with him that doesn't belong in the chapters we skipped over, you know what it was? There were those family idols that Rachel had under hid under her saddle. And they're still with him and he's parked and he's built a house and he built booths, booths for his cattle. And he made a nice spot in the beautiful land for cattle, just exactly where Ruben Gavin half drive in Manasseh would do it many years.
But now he enters into the land that was promised to him, into his seat, and immediately there's an altar. And when we take those steps of faith as God instructs us and directs us, there's more of himself that we come to know. It's not that he's he's doling it out because he's trying to hold it back from us until we perform. It's because he's drawing us to himself so that he can show more of himself to us.
That's what he's at work in each of our lives with. And so he comes and he crosses that Jordan, he enters the land and he builds an altar and it's wonderful. And so the next chapter is going to be filled with vineyards and, and flocks and all kinds of blessing, right?
There's Simeon and Levi and the whole message. Check them and it's just a it's a disaster.
But but the Jacob performed. He built the altar, and what does he get for it? He gets a mess and he's terrified and he's afraid the people are going to kill him and kill his family, getting all kinds of promises.
Couldn't have happened. That's not our point at the moment the Lord uses this period of his life a very quiet period of his life, a period of his life were not a whole lot is happening and it's passed over those almost 11 years between here and and what we're about to look at. He uses that period of his life to work in him What we're about to see. I believe that that was one of the things at least that God was working during this period and perhaps you've had a quiet period of your life.
You're still in that quiet period of your life. Maybe others are going through the, the horror of Shechem and all that happened there and seeing the fruit and the children and so on. Well, that was an important part of what he was learning. But maybe you're in a quiet period of your life. The Lord's at work and I believe this following thing. Let's turn to, uh, chapter 33, the beginning of the chapter.
Just read the first few verses.
And God said unto Jacob chapter 33 I'm sorry, I said 33 didn't I?
Umm, I should have said Chapter 35. Give me a moment to get there. Chapter 35.
Chapter 35 And we'll read the first few verses. And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar unto God that appeared unto thee, when thou fledest from the face of Esau thy brother.
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Jacob sent him to his household, and to all that were with him. Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments. And let us arise and go to Bethel, and I will make there an altar unto God. We'll pause there.
The only part the Lord has put on my heart that really is for the conscience.
It's strange. Gods.
They didn't have bail, they didn't have Asherah, they didn't have the great Canaanite gods. The word here I believe relates to the little household gods, the little tariffs, him, those things that Rachel brought from her parents home.
I'd like to apply it in this way.
They're things we brought from our parents home.
That have the effective idols in our life.
And.
There are things I'd like to apply it in this way. I'm sure that the the type here is much broader. I'd like to apply it in this way. These little household gods had a purpose, and they were for divining, for figuring out the way of God, for the operation of the household, for the little things of life. And this word comes up multiple times in the Old Testament. You can trace it out for yourself, these little gods.
Weren't the big ones that show and this isn't the one the statue of the Nebuchadnezzar set up?
This isn't a Grove the Gideon tore down. These are those things, the little things, the things you can hide under a saddle, that are there in the life, that remove the need for God in the life.
That's what an idol is, isn't it? Those little things that remove the need for God in the life going to give you only two. Just to give illustrations, the principle, you have to apply them for yourselves.
I'm going to give you 2. One of them might be food now. I hope you enjoy good food yesterday and hope you enjoyed snacks during the break. The point of this is not to place guilt in any way.
On enjoying food, it was given to us by God, and God himself said of the meal that Abraham served him, that the food was tender and good, if God himself could say that of a meal. I hope you enjoyed the snack you had in your break. What I'm referring to is not.
Might might apply just as much to a person who is 20 lbs below the height and weight chart. What I'm referring to is this turning to food as a way of.
Patching over loneliness, turning to food as a way of a pick me up. Now there's a need for food for a pick me up. Jonathan did it, remember? He dipped the end of his staff and honey and he brought a little of that honey to his mouth and his eyes were enlightened. So there's a place for that. But what I'm referring to is taking those things and substituting them for that fellowship that God wants with our hearts.
And if you turn.
And nobody sees it. They're hidden in Rachel's life. They were hidden, right? Nobody saw it. I'm not talking about anything that anybody can walk out of this room and say, oh, and look at you. I'm talking about those things that the Lord sees, and they're hidden.
I believe that those eleven years were to bring those to the surface. Those eleven years were to bring them up so that they could be buried, so they could be gotten out of the way. So they give you 2. I wanna give you one more just to illustrate how far reaching this principle is. I believe it's important. When the hour was come, they sat down. I believe that timeliness and orderliness are very important.
And yet I'm going to suggest because it's been true in my own life. Now, this was very personal.
That taking time and using it as a way to control your environment.
Can be an idol.
I can't tell you.
Much damage done in my life by insisting on a false. I'm gonna call it a false because there's a real timeliness, right?
On insisting on a false timeliness, you said a certain time to get out the door to get to meeting. What a nice thing. You know you wanna arrive in time to hang up your coat and go to the restroom and sit down and have a moment of quiet before the meeting starts.
00:45:03
I still do.
So you're ready to get out the door and you prepared everything. Maybe you don't. OK, I'll put it. Change the pronouns here.
I want to get out the door.
And so we've established the time and we planned ahead and we've got everything lined up.
And somebody has a legitimate need and you're going to get out the door. I'll give you the old time of getting out the door at 9:00 on Lord's Day morning. And it's one minute to 9. And somebody has a need and what comes out.
I'm in control of that clock.
I'm in control of that clock. You're not in control of the clock. And I'm going to use that hidden thing and I'm going to make another suggestion here, and you'll trace it out for yourself. If you have anger in your life, I don't mean the explosive kind that everybody else sees. There's cold anger too, right? There's ways of expressing anger that have nothing to do with shouting and yelling and using inappropriate words. There's all kinds of brands and flavors of anger.
And it smolders. Maybe you don't say it. Your attitude toward the person making you late changes.
You can bring a lot of damage into your family.
Or you can vary that idle as an idle as a control thing, as a way of replacing dependence on God. That's what I really mean to say and move on. That's what Jacob does here. He buries the idols. He goes down to Bethel and in verse 9.
God appeared unto Jacob again when it came out of Peyton Arum, and blessed him.
What?
Came out of pain there I'm eleven years ago.
No, it says here.
God appeared unto Jacob again, and he came out of Python arrow.
Jacob's gotten down to where the next he clung. He clung. When he came out, he said bless me.
What happened in the last 11 years? What was that blessing?
The shepherd was walking with him and the shepherd was bringing to the surface this idol that needs to go and that idol that needs to go, and those things that other people don't see. Maybe they wouldn't even condemn if they did. They need to go because I want you in fellowship with me. And now he arrives from Payton there and he's blessed. God appears to him this time, and God says.
God bless you. That's beautiful. She gave us so much more to learn in his life, but God is meeting him now and he wants to bless him and he says he's going to bless him.
And then notice this in uh, verse 10.
God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob, That's the planter. Thy name shall not be called anymore, Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name. He called his name Israel. He did that eleven years ago.
When He called out for the blessing, the cycle is complete and it's being refreshed in His soul. Your name is Israel. Perhaps there's more to it than that. It's just what I've enjoyed. And God said unto him. Here's the first time he hears in his life I've got Almighty.
He does Father say it. He talked about his father's God. Now he knows him. Now that very one is revealing himself to him in that character. Have you enjoyed God? Is your Father the characteristic name of the dispensation we're in? Do you enjoy them in those councils?
And not just heard your father enjoy it, not just heard your mother enjoy it, but in a personal way, God Himself.
Has revealed himself to you as Father. That's where he wants to bring us. That's where he wants to bring each and everyone of us in our lives, not stop short.
But get to this point where we know him and his character just as he wants to reveal himself to us in our day. And that's the journey we're on. Had a lot of stops, didn't it? Our, our lives have a lot of stops. I've got a lot of steps with every single one. Let me emphasize it again. Every single one was necessary.
Every single one. He needed them all.
Well, God that shepherded me all my life long unto this day.
00:50:04
It's nothing wasted. You had a lot to learn. Yes, I know there's reaping and there's lots of other lessons and they're important, but in the perspective when the Lord's laid on my heart is this everything that He's doing in my life and everything that He's doing in your life is absolutely necessary for His purpose, a blessing not just for you.
But for many, many others.
As well, Let's move on and I'll touch on them lightly. Chapter 46.
An awful lot happens in here.
Quite a bit more of Jacob really in these chapters.
22 years rolled by.
You flipped your page. You did it in about 3 seconds. You just flip past 22 years.
Jacob's life.
And you know, there's an awful lot going on in our lives, and sometimes you just miss. It goes right on by. There's something that God was working out in those years, and we get some of it here. Chapter 46, Jacob's ready to go down into Egypt.
Umm.
Maybe I should read the last verse of the prior chapter, chapter 45 verse 28 and Israel said it is enough.
Joseph, my son, is yet alive. I will go and see him before I die.
And Israel took his journey with all that he had, came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices under the God of the his father Isaac. God noticed this God spake unto Israel, Prince of God, and the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob.
It's a tough moment.
And Jacob's liar. I'm going to suggest at least I have enjoyed the following.
Jacob's come to appreciate the land. He's been promised that land.
It's important to them.
Now he's got to leave.
It's kinda late, the body will end up there.
The descendants will end up there, but he has to leave and God's purpose is for him. He's gotta go down into Egypt. And so when the Lord calls out to him, he calls out and he repeats his name. He says Jacob, Jacob. You can trace those out. You can't look them up in a concordance very easily, but you trace out the repeated name, Samuel, Samuel, Saul, Saul, Jacob, Jacob, and so on. Umm and, and other expressions, Earth, earth, earth. How Jerusalem, Oh, Jerusalem when it's repeated.
There's a a a need to hear because it's hard to hear.
Just take it that way. There's a need to hear because this is hard to hear. Isn't it beautiful? The Lord has brought Jacob to the point where he doesn't want to leave the land that God put him in. I think that's beautiful, and I think that's why the verse starts with at least to my own soul, I enjoy it. Israel's journeying. It's Israel.
And yet the Lord has to get his attention because this one's hard, Jacob. Jacob. So he speaks to him and he says and gives him the promise in verse four. I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I will also surely bring thee up again. Joseph. She'll put his hand upon thine eyes. Let's move on to.
Let's skip over I think what I believe to be the highlight of of Jacob's life. I want to finish there in a minute or two. Skip quickly to chapter 48.
Best blesses Manasseh Nephriam side of the chapter and umm come down to verse UMM 15 again where we have already read or read it again. And he blessed Joseph and said God before whom my father's Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long.
OK, that's a lot more now, doesn't he?
Looking back, I believe here he's about to die. The next chapter is an explosion of prophetic beauty. There's so much in it. And he gathers his feet into the bed and he dies. I believe he's almost at the end here, 147 years old, seventeen years in Egypt. He's looking back over the whole thing. Maybe the Lord's brought you and you're close to the end of your natural pilgrimage and you look back over the whole thing. Jacob could have looked back. And this is what I want to emphasize. Jacob could have looked back and said, oh, how much I wasted.
00:55:05
Oh, look at what I lost.
Once they look back to see.
It looks back and says God was with me.
God was with me and he had a purpose of blessing. Not only that, we didn't touch on it. It's a beautiful theme. You can trace it out for yourself. There's fear. There's fear all through Jacob's life.
He's worried the nations are gonna kill us because of Simon and Levi. Esau is gonna. Esau is going to kill me. And he runs, he comes back, Esau is going to kill me. You can look at all the presents and all the things that he does to try to work his way around being control of the situation so that he doesn't die.
Now he's ready to go. He's 147. This is the end for Jacob. Listen to these next words.
The Angel which redeemed me from all evil. Bless the lads. I believe in this context often in the Old Testament. That's how I take it here and correct me later if it's wrong. I believe that really what he's talking about is all those bad things that happen and they they happen to teach lessons and they happen for.
Whatever purpose God has, and it says the Angel which redeemed me from all evil, just looking back and he's saying, look at this situation here. I lost my wife by the roadside in her childbirth. Is he grieving over it now? No, the Lord kept me out of trouble because I had something to learn there and on and on and on.
You know, one of the things that may brought tears in my eyes yesterday as I saw it for the first time.
Two days ago. You know that gap.
For like 16 years between Joseph and Benjamin, all the other kids packed together in six years, and then there's this big gap and then Benjamin.
Joseph's the suffering Messiah, right?
Benjamin looked at the prophecy in the next chapter. Benjamin's the reigning Messiah.
Say, hug and leap earlier than this moment here. And it's a beautiful thing in itself. You and I live in that gap.
There was a purpose in it. There was a purpose in it. In between the one and the other, there's a big gap. And you and I live there. It doesn't all about Jacob. It's about you. It's about me. It's about God's purposes and blessing. Let's finish with this.
Turn over.
And I'll suggest in a moment while I say this, I believe is the high point of his life, Chapter 47, verse 31.
The end of the verse.
And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head. Isn't that exciting? Let's read it Mr. Darby's translation.
And Israel worshipped.
On the bed, Ted.
You don't have time. Turn over to Hebrews 11. You've got time and look at it and trace the footnotes. Hebrews 11 when it says he worship leaning on his staff, talking about this verse, it's trans. It's given to us in Hebrews 11 from the Greek translation of this verse.
In Genesis.
He worships and then blesses. But when God summarizes that part that He wants to give to us in Hebrews 11, what does he do? He says he blesses and then he worships. The order is reversed. And Hebrews 11. What was the crowning moment of Jacob's life? He worshipped, He knows God, He delights in him.
Time's gone, we'll finish with this thought. It's been precious to me in the last month or so. Maybe you've enjoyed it your whole life long.
Came to Mayo, I'm meditating on where my dad's at at the moment in his life and others like him.
Lord Jesus, I'm on that cross and there are nails in his hands and in John 19.
He didn't have hands to take the vinegar in his mouth.
So if they put it to his mouth, he didn't have hands to take it. Divine Son of God, during the become man on the cross, during the greatest work that will ever be done, did it without him. He did it without feet.
01:00:00
Yes, he wants us his servants.
My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. He wants us his worshippers. He wants us knowing Him personally, and that's why He's our God every single step of our lives.
1 Peter 1:1-2
Reading
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166.
4.
9.
Difference to my heart.
But I need to change my whole life.
Oh my God, Oh my God, I'm saying.
This is 31 in the appendix.
#31 in the appendix, the first and last verse.
00:05:52
We have been reminded in these meetings.
It's already that, well, we're on our way home to glory. We're still here in this world, often referred to it as a wilderness world. It's a spiritual wilderness. We have experiences, we have lessons to learn, the Lord's dealings with us. And I've had a burden for some time. And in regard to that and some of the hymns we've sung, as well as what was before us in the last meeting, like to suggest that perhaps we could take up the 1St chapter of First Peter.
First Peter chapter one.
So Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bathinia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you, and peace be multiplied.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Which, according to His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, through an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled. And that fate is not away reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found under praise and honor and glory at the experience of Jesus Christ.
Whom having not seen ye love, in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls, of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you.
Searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them, did signify, when it testified beforehand, the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow, under whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us, they'd administer the things which are now reported under you by them.
That have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. Which thing is the angels desire to look into?
Wherefore grew up the loins of your mind, Be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust and your ignorance, but as he which has called you is holy.
So be ye holy in all manner of conversation.
00:10:01
Because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy. And if you call on the Father, who without respect of persons, judges according to every man's work past the time of your soul journey here in fear, for as much as you know that you are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation.
Received by tradition from your Father's, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world. What was manifest in these last times for you?
Who by him do believe in God that raised him up from the dead?
And gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God, seeing you have purified your souls, and obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren. See that you love one another with a pure heart fervently.
Being born again, not a corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.
We're all flesh is that grass, and all the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falls away, but the word of the Lord endureth forever.
And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you.
It's helpful when we take up any portion of the Word of God to not only see the context, but to see who the Spirit of God used to record the words. And so we find here that it's the apostle Peter that is used to pen by divine inspiration this first and 2nd epistle and when we go back to the life of Peter in connection with his sojourning with the Lord Jesus on earth.
And his public and oral ministry. In the book of the Acts we see Peter was a man of real experience.
And he was a man of zeal, sometimes his zeal. He had more zeal than wisdom in the things he said and did. But he was a man of real zeal. And he was a man who went through real experiences with and for the Lord.
But I was thinking in connection with some of the hymns and scriptures that were read earlier, Peter at the end of the Lord's pathway, his heart is really brought out in connection with his public restoration.
In John's Gospel chapter 21, and Peter, the one who was impulsive, the one who often spoke up when perhaps he should have held still and listened to what the Lord was doing and observed, are saying and observe what the Lord was doing. He's the one that the Lord really brings out Peter's heart. And there's no doubt as the life of the Lord Jesus is about to end here on earth and he's about to go back to heaven.
And he has those final words with Peter. There's no doubt that Peter really does love the Lord.
He had come to know and experienced the grace of the Lord with him, his patience with him.
And he has to say, Lord, you know my heart. He's no longer self confident. He's not the one who sang, though I'll deny thee, yet will not I deny thee. And even when the Lord says, do you love me, Peter says, Lord, you know, you know what's in my heart and you know that I truly love you. And it's that very instrument then that had learned to appreciate the grace and the love of the Lord Jesus as he walked with him in his pathway here. It is that very instrument then that the Lord raises up the Spirit of God uses here to pen really experience in the path of faith and service.
Peter's ministry is very different than the ministry really of all the other New Testament writers.
Paul puts us right in heaven. We're seated in heavenly places in Christ. Paul brings before us particularly the heavenly blessings.
And of course, conduct connected with that walking worthy of our vocation and so on. But Peter brings us right down to Christian experience. It's sometimes been referred to as wilderness ministry. Some of us here will remember our brother Bob Brimlow, and he used to say this is where the rubber meets the road. And brethren, we're going through experiences today. Many of us are going through real trials and difficulties.
00:15:22
Circumstances that we've never been perhaps called on individually as families or even collectively to pass through. We're right at the end of our history here, but I believe Peter really brings before us that which would encourage us even in the midst of real trials and difficulties which these ones he was writing to were going through. He encourages us as to what we have in the Lord. He puts the end before us because in Peter it's we're still here in the past, but the end is in view.
But we're right here in the experiences, and Peter gives us the encouragement to go on in the resources that we have with the end in view, in spite of how difficult the trials and the difficulties may be. And brethren, I feel more and more in my soul that we need that. We need to be encouraged. We don't want to be indifferent to what the Lord is passing us through. We don't steal ourselves to it and become callous. No, we feel it.
But we also realize we have like these ones Peter was writing to a tremendous resource. And even when there's failure and difficulties come in, we can always turn to the one who's leading us as our shepherd, safe home to the glory.
So as we know from the opening of this epistle, Peter is writing to those who had been born Jews and had been saved by the grace of God, and those particularly now who had suffered persecution and been dispersed really throughout the known earth, particularly after the stoning of Steven. So at the stoning of Steven, the Jewish leaders.
They really sent a messenger after him saying we will not have this man to reign over us. They rejected the Lord Jesus at his trial and had him crucified. They rejected the witness of the Holy Spirit in the preaching of Stephen. Really the culmination of that nationally, it was the sin against the Holy Ghost for Israel. The leaders rejected the preaching of Stephen, a man full of the Holy Ghost. They stoned him and as a result there was a great persecution broke out.
Against the Jewish believers, those of whom Peter had said on the day of Pentecost.
Repent and be baptized and save yourselves from this untoward generation. They stepped outside now the nation of Israel that had rejected the Lord Jesus. They were saved by the grace of God.
They were saved for heaven, They had a heavenly portion, and now they come under this tremendous persecution. And so Peter now writes to them to encourage them as to what their heavenly portion is and the resource that they have in the meantime, in the midst of what he later refers to as fiery trials.
Fossil to the circumcision, wasn't he? And that's why he addresses those that have been scattered, like you mentioned, Jim. And, uh, but it's interesting. This was addressed after the church was formed. And so the truth that applied to these Jewish believers is the same truth that belies to us as well. Although it's good to keep it in that context that he was addressing them and encouraging them.
They had lost everything, but now they find out there is an inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled, and that fades not away. So it must have been a real encouragement to those Jewish believers to have this letter addressed to them.
00:20:06
I'm as strangers.
This world anymore, isn't it?
Israel. Israel had a earthly inheritance that was what was given to them in the Old Testament. But through unfaithfulness they lost it all and now here they had been scattered. And so it's characteristic of our being here in this world. A word in the Spanish is foreigners, strangers or foreigners. We are foreigners in this world because our home is in heaven. Notice in verse chapter 2 and verse 11.
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims. Strangers because we're foreigners, because our home is, our citizenship is elsewhere, and pilgrims because we're on the way home.
That's helpful. And it's interesting Mr. Darby's translation in our English, in our first verse of our chapter, it's sojourners. And again, a sojourner is one who's only here for a little time. And so he's encouraging them that this isn't the end of the story. As you say, Brother Bob, they might have wondered what's happened. We've tried to be faithful to the Lord and remember these are those that had been brought up under the teaching that was proper in its in the Jewish order of things.
That if you were faithful to the Lord, you'd be established in temporal things. That promise was given to Abraham. And we see it with the patriarchs and the Old Testament Saints. When they were faithful, they were established. Even their enemies were at peace with them. They, they had cattle and lands and large families and temporal blessings. And these brethren might have wondered, well, what's happened? We've turned to the Lord Jesus. We've received him as our Savior, and now we've lost everything.
They'd been driven from their homes. They'd lost everything in a temporal way. And Peter is really writing to them to encourage them. It's not here. It's all on the other side of this. This life and your blessings and your inheritance are not temporal anymore. It's not that which can be seen. And you're a sojourner. You're passing through. And I would like to make this comment in connection with the expression that Bob read to us in the second chapter.
Because you have this expression twice in the New Testament. You have it in chapter 2 where Bob read Strangers and Pilgrims, and you have it also in connection with the patriarchs in Hebrews 11, where it says they confess that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Now notice the expression. The order in which it's given is very important. God never lists things in a haphazard order, so to speak.
Sometimes when we quote this expression, we quote it pilgrims and strangers. That is not what it says. It's always on the two occasions, strangers first and then pilgrims. I'm gonna repeat a little illustration that has helped me to understand the order here and why it listed in this way. When I step up to an immigration booth to come into the United States, I put my Canadian passport on the counter and the first question they asked me is what's your citizenship?
And I tell them I'm a Canadian, and the very next question they usually ask is how long are you going to be in the United States or whatever country I'm entering? Because as soon as I announce I'm a stranger or a foreigner, they recognize that I'm only in their country for a little time. And brethren, if we don't realize that we are strangers, we are foreigners. We're heavenly citizens with the Saints and of the household of God.
As we have in Ephesians 2, if we lose sight of that, then we lose sight of the fact that we're sojourners, that we're pilgrims. A Pilgrim, as Bob said, is one who is just passing through. But as soon as I settle down in this world.
And become worldly minded. I'm not passing through. So let me continue with the illustration. Let's suppose I decide in the course of time to take out American citizenship. Now I step up to an immigration booth coming into the state and they asked me my citizenship. I say I'm an American. They don't ask me how long I'm staying because I belong here. And so maybe that helps us to understand. And Peter, the Spirit of God through Peter wanted these brethren to understand.
00:25:02
Said, well, they had lost everything. In an earthly sense, they had lost nothing, or in fact, they had gained much as long as they realized or that he wanted them to realize that this was not their goal, their aspiration. This was not where things were that we're going to abide, but that they were just passing through and that they were on their way to something far better.
And brother, we're on our way to something far better. Why are we clinging to temporal things here?
Not that we despise those mercies, we use them for the the benefit of our families and for the benefit of God's people and the furtherance of the truth. But let's adjust our perspective as we go down these verses, as I believe these brethren did when they read this epistle. It adjusted their perspective that everything here is temporal and transient. We can lose it in a moment like that, but we have something that is eternal that we will never lose and enjoy forever.
I think in his first verse, it's a word for stranger here or Sergeant is different than what it is in later in this chapter, in the 17th and in the next chapter. They really were strangers of the dispersion. They really that's what they were. They were foreigners scattered from their their home country. I'm in a sense in a similar position. I live in this country, but it's not the country of my citizenship.
That's what they were as people, but nevertheless, it didn't matter anymore, did it? To these Jews. They were no longer looking for a home, a nation down here on earth. There was something beyond that. And so that's what they were nationally. But it no longer mattered because spiritually we all are strangers in pilgrims in this in this world in which we live in first has already been said for Jew suffering persecution after they had been saved was a very difficult thing for them to understand. So multiple.
Portions of the New Testament addressed this. The book of Hebrews takes it up in particular. They they didn't understand it. Here we are, we we're, we're saved. We received Jesus as the Messiah. We recognize our part in place in what we did to him. Why then are we suffering persecution? But it was so indelibly etched into their psyche, if I can put it that way, that salvation meant salvation from circumstances that they needed to see beyond that. So you notice how it says rather.
Interestingly, in the ninth verse, receive the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls, because up until this point in their history they always look for salvation not of their souls, but of their circumstance. So it is rather interesting expression in Nehemiah. You don't have to turn to it, I just use this as an example of this. But in the 9th chapter of Nehemiah there's a recounting of Israel's history and in the 27th verse it says thou gavest them saviors who saved them.
Out of the hand of their enemies.
That's the way a Jew looked for salvation. But now they had something that was far beyond that. They no longer look for a promised land, a Kingdom here on this earth. There was something beyond that. And the suffering they went through was is characteristic for us of this present day and age, which we love.
Abraham, which is uh, that uh, verse you mentioned in Hebrews 11 is in reference to Abraham.
He, uh, looked for a city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God. I've often wondered where he found out about that city. It does say in Acts Chapter 7 that the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, Maybe something of that appearance. But anyhow, he looked for a city and.
Even though he was a fairly wealthy man, he had 318 servants. I don't think anybody here has a company with 318 employees. But he was a wealthy man. But he never lived in anything more than a tent. And why was that? Is there some prohibition? I don't think so. It was simply that he had his eyes, his heart set on heaven, that heavenly city had seen somewhere.
That's what he was waiting for.
00:30:00
So, brethren, it's the nation that we have our sights set on heaven. And you know, we look at earth and there's a lot of interesting things in this sphere called earth, but if we get a glimpse of heaven, earth fades into the background pretty fast. Far, greatly, far beyond our comprehension is what is in that heavenly scene waiting for us. And so if we would see it.
It would make us simple in our living habits. If we're not, if we're occupied with accumulating things down here, it's because we haven't gotten a vision of that heavenly city.
Brethren, we're going through is really what is normal Christianity, isn't it? And I want to say this ever so carefully. Brethren, I'm thankful for the mercy we enjoy here in North America. I'm thankful that we have lived in a land where we enjoy the freedom to meet like this. We are have No Fear of the authorities busting down the doors today and coming in and arresting us or shooting us for having a Bible meeting.
We can freely propagate the gospel, we enjoy many temporal mercies, We're not afraid of people coming and burning down our homes because we're believers and so on. But that is not normal Christianity, what we experience in North America. And again, we don't want to despise it. We're thank God for it. And we are to pray that we live peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty and that the authorities will continue to allow us to live and meet in this way. But brethren, when you read the book of the Acts.
And when you read of what these brethren were going through, that is normal Christianity. And it's interesting too, in the New Testament that there's no such thing as a Christian nation. Is that interesting? Now, again, I understand what the expression that we have used when we talk about a Christian country. And so I understand that. But again, let's be careful. God never speaks in the New Testament of a Christian nation. In the Old Testament there was a nation that was peculiar to Jehovah.
And that was Israel, of course. They were a peculiar nation, chosen Abraham because he responded by faith and obedience to God's call. God said he would build of him a great nation. And God will yet in a future day bless that very nation in the in the Millennium. And Jerusalem and Israel are gonna be the center of the world. And the other nations will recognize them as such. And if they don't, they will be brought under famine and pestilence and so on. But in Christianity.
It's out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. And again, I believe this is one of the lessons or one of the truths that these Jewish believers, those who had been converted from Judaism, it's one of the things they had to learn that now it was not God blessing a nation, but it was God blessing individuals. And I believe, brethren, that is why in the second verse he immediately speaks of election.
Because in the New Testament, in Christianity, election is never national or collective. We we need to get that firmly implanted in our souls, brethren. And I say that because there is a doctrine afoot in many Christian circles today to teach otherwise. But let me repeat myself. In Christianity, election is never national and it's never collective. It's never in connection with a nation.
Or is the church collectively elect? It is always individual and when you and I don't suggest you do this, but if you listen to those who seek to propagate that the church is is elect as a body, it leads to all kinds of ramifications and false teaching and assumption that is not according to the word of God and it puts responsibility and onus on man that God does not put on man in the New Testament.
And it negates to a great degree the the the sovereignty of God. So I just say that we want to be very careful. But I do believe that's why he goes immediately we indeed, in addressing these Jewish believers, he immediately speaks of election. It's not national. Now he's saying to them, it's not collective. You've been elect individually from that nation, yes, but now you've been delivered from it and brought into something brand new.
00:35:10
Is that right, Steve?
It's, uh. It also connects the thought of stranger.
That it is really the sovereignty of God.
And his choice and his call that has made us strangers.
That's what made Abraham a stranger. You know, when it says in Hebrews they confess they were strangers and pilgrims. You, you find that and he and Genesis, when it comes to bearing Sarah, he says I am a stranger and a sojourner among you. You know, it was really the death of that which was dearest to him.
That brought home to his soul the fact that he was indeed a stranger and the soldier in this scene. And so we can get things that tie us pretty down tight, pretty tight to the scene and the Lord may have to bring in the situation that.
Cuts those things off to make us feel our our place of strangers and sojourners. So their brother Nick brought out.
Advanced failure was why they were scattered, and man's persecution that's why they were scattered. But it was the call of God that made them strangers. And so he brings in the truth of election here.
It's what relates to, uh, election, what we have in Ephesians chapter one and verse four, he says, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, choosing is election. You have elections. You choose a certain person for a certain position. So he chose us.
Before the foundation of the world. So here's how Peter puts it. He says elect according to the four knowledge of God the Father. He knows everything beforehand because God's characteristic is that he inhabits eternity. He is not limited by time and so he knows everything. There is no such thing for God as past, present and future. When creation came in, then there was time.
And then we were born, and the purposes of God were made, uh, known to us. But I say he had these purposes in that past eternity. Only God and his eternal purposes there. And they involved us. Amazing, wonderful truth.
Election, certainly that's a sign, the thought of salvation by works or by performance, how we've had elections in this country and the elections took place.
And all of these different candidates, they were evaluated.
Based on what their abilities or their performance has been and they were elected.
On that basis, but when it comes to the election that we're speaking about here, we find that we are elected or chosen before we even came into existence, so how could we possibly?
Think that based on our performance we're going to obtain some kind of position or favor before God. So I think it's a wonderful subject. You know, this thought of election that we are chosen and we might well question, well, why me Lord?
And my only answer is that this is pure sovereign grace. We have nothing to do with it, but we are elected or chosen.
Before time in the past.
And so I think it's a beautiful verse, and it also brings before us the Trinity because we have here.
Elected by the Father, but sanctified by the Spirit, the Holy Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. So we have every person of the Godhead involved in our blessing now, even though salvation is not by works. Notice what it says here.
00:40:09
We are sanctified unto obedience.
That involves works.
And we find out that we were chosen in Christ and that we're saved by grace without works. But the fact is, we are created in Christ Jesus under good works. And so as we contemplate the goodness of God, his sovereign grace, it has an effect on our performance and our behavior. And our desire would be to live to the glory of God.
The one who has shown us such favor, we who deserve nothing but hell and judgment, brought into this wonderful relationship.
To find out that we are holy and without blame before God involved.
54 know about us before knew that we would be centers, and that we would be at enmity with him.
And that's what he knew about us, and that magnifies his grace because it gives him all the credit.
Nothing to boast in. You won't be able to look at me and say, well, I deserve to be there more than you than you do, Brother Jim. Or I won't be able to look at somebody else and measure. Because we're all going to realize in perhaps a way that we've never realized before, that it was all the grace of God. And we won't turn to it. But it is interesting when you read in Luke 14. And Luke always brings before us man's responsibility.
But when you read that parable there of the man who made a great supper, the first two that were invited made excuse, but the third one, who'd married a wife, he made an interesting comment. He said I cannot come. And that's our true condition as sinners.
We couldn't come rather than there was nothing in us that would respond. We were dead in trespasses and sin. We couldn't come except for a work brought in by God of sovereign grace and we'll get to that later on in the in this chapter. He brings that out and so we just want to mention it in passing, but we could not come. But I would like to say this about election before we pass on and just give a a simple illustration.
That at least helped me to understand what election really is as far as it being individual and not collective. So as Brother Wally said, we have elections, We've had them in Canada, you've had them here, and every person that makes up either the House of Parliament in Canada or Congress here, or whatever other house you have here, the Senate or whatever, every one of them were elected as individuals.
In their own writing, they were not. Congress or the House of Parliament is not elected as a body. They're elected as individuals. Now, collectively, when they get to Ottawa or Washington, they become a collective body. And so it's true. Collectively we are the Church of God. We're the bride of Christ, we're the body of Christ. Whatever expression there's different expressions are used to bring before us different aspects of what we are collectively, but collectively we are the Church of God.
But we weren't elected collectively. We were elected individually. We're elected as individuals. God foreknow us. And back in that past eternity before the foundation of the world, and we were elected as individuals. And because of the work that has brought us into blessing, now collectively we are the Church of God. So perhaps that helps us to understand the difference between election and what we are collectively as the church.
I'm just going to say that.
What we have, uh, what we have commented on is, uh, precious truth that, umm, the Lord knew all about us before we even came into this world. But I think we need to keep things in balance, brethren. I, I, I think that all would agree that is a responsible preacher. He's responsible for his actions, as Doctor Wilson puts it. And I, I couldn't improve upon it.
You S you come to the door, It says whosoever will may come. We don't know anything about the decrease of God. We don't know, uh, the councils of God in a past eternity. We know that man is a responsible creature. Whosoever will may come and take of the water of life greeting, come in the door. Then we learn the secret of the family that we are elected according to the foreknowledge of God and so on a precious truth. But I just mentioned that, brethren, that we keep things in balance. There is the sovereign.
00:45:35
The sovereign, the sovereignty of God, without doubt.
But man is a responsible creature, and that's the way we present the gospel, is it not?
Sovereignty isn't it electing, choosing us before the foundation of the world?
It's interesting this part through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. It's interesting if you go back to Exodus 24, you'll find what relates to this reference in the giving of the law. In Exodus 24 and verse eight it says and Moses took the blood.
And sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which.
The Lord has made with you concerning. I should have read verse seven. I'm sorry. And he took the book of the covenant and read in the audience of the people, and they said all that the Lord hath said, will we do and be obedient.
And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words. But it was a covenant that depended on their obedience.
And since it did, they failed in it. But here now we are brought into Christian ground, and it's unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Not only the sprinkling.
But the obedience and so ere sanctified unto the obedience of Jesus Christ.
His obedience was different than the obedience under the law. He says, Thy law is within my heart. I come to do thy will, O God, from the heart. He wanted to. In the Old Testament, the heart of man was not wanting to do the will of God. And so that sprinkled blood brought condemnation in the Old Testament. But here it's the obedience of Jesus Christ, the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.
Were brought into a blessing, but with a nature. Now, because we are born again, we have a nature that loves to do the will of God. That's the obedience of Jesus Christ.
Sanctified were set apart, and this is not practical sanctification here. This is what another has referred to as absolute sanctification. So when Israel was redeemed, they were set apart. They went through the Red Sea and they sang the song of redemption, but they were no longer under the authority of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. They were no longer on Egyptian ground. They were set apart. They were sanctified.
Moses was the one they were baptized unto Moses. Why? A picture of Christ. He was the one that was going to lead them. Now they were under his authority. And so they never got back into Egypt. Now in their hearts, Steven said, they returned into Egypt, but positionally they never got back there. And brethren, we have been sanctified. We have been set apart, not for this world anymore, but as a heavenly people. And so these Jewish believers, whose hopes.
And goals and aspirations before Christianity were centered in this world. They now were set apart as a heavenly people and then, as Bob has said, sanctification of the Spirit under obedience.
So when Saul of Tarsus was converted on the Damascus Rd. what did he immediately say?
Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? There was immediate desire now, because there was a life imparted now, the very life of Christ, a life that delights to do to, and can do nothing but obey. Obey, as you say, the heart is involved. But the Lord Jesus, when He was here, He said, I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of Him, Him that sent me. I do always those things that please the Father. My Father worketh hitherto, and I work also.
00:50:15
As Baba said, Thy law is within my heart and and so on.
And so now we are brought into this same position we have, we see the obedience of Christ is the perfect example. And now we have that very life we've been set apart with that very life that delights to walk in obedience to to God and in in practical separation. We're gonna get that later on in the in the chapter, but this is absolute separation, sanctification. The obedience is before the blood.
Why? Again, if I'd been writing this, I probably would have reversed it. But when Saul of Tarsus said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? He really didn't understand the efficacy of the blood. He came to understand and appreciate that later on. And so a person, when they're when God imparts divine life to a person, they get that nature, but they don't perhaps understand right away that I rarely, if ever would they understand right away.
The the value of the blood, the efficacy of the blood that comes later. So you get the order here we're sanctified, we're set apart. There's the O, there's obedience, and then there's the appreciation and the realization of the blood of Christ.
Yes.
This characteristic of faith isn't it speaks in the book of Romans of the obedience of faith. If you do not obey what Scripture plainly says, you're basically are saying, I think I know better than God.
But if you really trust God, you will obey. And so it's interesting in this very chapter, if you go down to verse 14, it says as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former less than your ignorance. Again in verse 22, seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth. It's what's characteristic of the Christian faith is.
Obedience.
Where the subject is new life and there's, there's the, uh, expression obedient of obedience and the keeping of the commandments. And so that's, it's very, uh, the to go along, umm, very well with what we have received as believers, a new life and faith and those things give way to obedience.
Aren't we? And that faith manifests itself by obedience.
Like John or uh.
Like umm, you were saying rather that.
Paul said immediately, Lord, what will thou have me to do? He doesn't even know who is talking. Who art thou, Lord? Is what he said first, And then he said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? But he didn't even know who it was. But he didn't know he was Lord.
And it might seem a contradiction to what we're speaking about that we are saved by grace through faith and that of works. But I think what James is saying is that.
Its face that truly saves.
It doesn't depend on you or me, but we are saved to live for the glory of God in this world. Otherwise we could be taken home as soon as we're staying. But we're here for a purpose, and I believe it's to shine for the Lord Jesus and each of us have that privilege.
Like the little song says, you know, like little candles.
Burning in the night.
And so.
Faith and works really I think go together and I noticed there's a Greek word, I think the word is piso. And if you look it up you'll find out that it means both believe and also obey the same word. I believe it's peace. So I think works is very closely connected to faith.
00:55:17
But it's truly by grace we are saved through faith.
But we manifest that faith by what we do.
On the statement that was made, we were saved by faith without works, but the SA faith that saves is a faith that works.
Ministry were justified before God and there it's not by works, but in James were justified before men. And so show me your faith, show me your works and I'll believe your faith is basically what James is saying. You tell me you have faith, but it doesn't manifest itself in your life. So I think it's helpful to see that to be justified before God, it's simply by faith. It's on the basis of the blood of Christ. It's the grace of God.
But if we're going to be justified before the world, we must show our works. And so Abraham was one who not only had faith and was justified before God, but he had faith in what he did, and he was justified before the world. But another characteristic of Christianity is what we have in the end of verse 2, grace and peace be multiplied. You know, this must have been a great comfort to these brethren as well, because as we've been saying.
Outwardly there was number peace things were things were in turmoil. They were as I say they were suffering things that I think perhaps none of us in this room have ever been called on to suffer in our testimony for the for the Lord driven from their homes lost everything in a material way, physical persecution and and reproach. But he said says great grace unto you. And so grace is what characterizes Christianity. It's what gives us.
The ability to live from day-to-day, no matter what the circumstances are. He give us more grace. Do we need more grace? He give us more grace. Is it all we need? My grace is sufficient for thee. Do we need more? Do we need more grace? He give us more grace. And so on. And then peace. Now, this is not an outward peace, brethren. And brethren, if we're looking for peace in this world, outwardly, we're mistake. We're gonna be. We're gonna be. We're disillusioned. We're sadly mistaken.
But with the with grace to enable us to go through the circumstances of life and that inward peace that he has given us. Not just peace with God, that's what we received when we got saved, but the peace of God in our circumstances. As there is that obedience and faith exhibited in a practical way, the peace of God that passes all understanding what resources we have. Brethren, there's no excuse if I give up, if I say it's not worth it.
If I get discouraged and cast down, I really have no excuse. And when I stand before the Lord Jesus at the judgment seat of Christ, I won't have any excuse to give for any failure or discouragement or giving up in my life.
He's going to say, as it were, I gave you all the resources you need. You were elect, you were chosen, but not only were you elect and chosen, but I gave you my grace for the pathway. I gave you that inward peace that comes from from a path of obedience. All the resources, and there's many of them we could enumerate, but brethren, we have everything like these early Christians. We have everything we need then to go on, no matter how difficult the circumstance.
Perhaps just one more thought question with regard to obedience as a person in the blood. Uh, first John chapter 5, it came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ, not by water only, but by water and blood. So it's a thought there. Uh, the moral cleansing, of course, it comes by, uh, new birth, but judicial cleansing, of course, even though the order is, uh.
Say reverse perhaps from the way we would put it, but by water and blood the Lord Jesus came.
01:00:06
Yeah, stand up so I can.
Heard better when it's a bit of water. Does it not refer to, uh, the new position that we have been brought into at new birth?
Uh, a cleansing, a moral cleansing, uh, in a new position before God. And then the blood speaks of expiation or the putting away of our guilt before a holy God. But, uh, there's a difference there. Umm.
The water is, uh, new birth and bringing us into a, uh, a new position before call that we didn't have before. Maybe someone can, uh, elaborate. Yeah, water always brings us into a new position. So again, when they cross the Red Sea, a figure of baptism, baptism brings us from 1 ground into another when we as as John said, new birth brings us from one position into another. And so when the.
Soldier with a spear pierced his side forthwith came throughout blood and water. And I appreciated the simplicity. In which chapter Macintosh commented on that incident. He said blood cleanses my sin, water cleanses the Sinner. It brings me into a new position. So when the priest was consecrated on the day of his consecration, there were two things. There was the blood and the water. The water didn't make the man a priest.
What made the man a priest was he was born into Aaron's family, but it brought him into a position where he could serve as a priest. So I believe has been said that it it brings us into that new position and it has. It's a moral.
It has a moral effect.
In Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 22, you have those two things mentioned. Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. That's the sprinkling of the blood and our bodies washed with your water. That's being, that's the washing of regeneration being brought into a new position, like you say, Brother John.
The the practical, umm, manifestation of.
In the in The Walking ways of the believers and not.
Sequence. It's already been spoken about, but it's grace and then peace.
And we find it here in Peter's official Paul's epistle. His epistles Grace and peace always in that sequence.
And it's because.
Grace makes everything of Christ and nothing of self, and if I don't appreciate and understand what grace is, then I'm going to be thinking about myself and what God is looking for from me in order to enjoy His favor and His salvation. And I certainly will not have peace.
But if I realize that.
Grace is God's riches at Christ's expense makes everything of the person in work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Then I have peace because I rest on his finished work.
So it's quite simple. Peace follows grace.
Just another little thought and that connection. It's interesting that back when these epistles were written, grace was the Gentile salutation and peace or Shalom was the Jewish. And it's very interesting, isn't it, that in the epistles the two are connected? Because I believe it brings before us that now in Christianity there's neither Jew nor Gentile, and the Christianity, the Church of God now is made-up of those who are saved.
From a Jewish background and from a Gentile background. So I know our brother Bill is here today. He's been saved from a Jewish background.
Most of us are saved from a Gentile background but were brought into a new entity. Now, if I can put it that way, the Church of God, the body of Christ.
01:05:00
And so we often find that the apostles, when they write, they connect these two expressions, that which was, I say, the, the Jewish, the Gentile salutation and the Jewish salutation, bringing them into focus now that in Christianity there's neither Jew nor Gentile, but having been saved from those backgrounds, were brought in as the, as the Church of God.
I could just share a little thought regarding grace and truth. Grace is based on who God is and peace is based on what God has done. It's just something that's going to help to me.
He multiplied. Interesting, isn't it? You know, we need to grow in this brother. We need to appreciate it more and more. Do we have some little appreciation of grace? Do we enjoy the peace of God in our soul?
Peter wanted to to be multiplied. He wants it to be increased in our in our souls and rather than as we go on with the Lord and as we enjoy what we have as to what he has provided for us in as to the heavenly inheritance, the heavenly blessings, the inheritance that is ours, all we have in him, the provisions for the pathway, then grace and peace will be multiplied. And at the end of his epistles he says growing grace and the knowledge.
And so we never can say we've arrived. He wants it to. He wants us to grow in the appreciation of these things, and He wants it not just to be added. To add is one thing, but to multiply is something even far greater, isn't it? And if we leave, if the Lord leaves us here and we leave this room on Lord's Day evening, and grace and peace have been multiplied, our appreciation of grace and peace have been multiplied in our souls, then it's been well worth our time to be here.
He uses that same expression in verse 2. Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. So it's what he does for us. But when it comes a little later in that chapter to exhorting us, it's in verse five it says add. So we add, he multiplies.
Grace and peace.
You know, I think it's an Old Testament scripture live. It's found in Job a quaint now thyself with him and be at peace, and thereby good shall come unto thee. So Peter speaks about growing in grace and in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. But that's not a new thought because in the Old Testament.
The exhortation is.
Acquaint now thyself with you.
And how wonderful that we can get to know God.
And know him better day by day, month by month, year by year. And I think that's really what Abraham found to be so satisfying because, you know, he says a lot. You just choose what you like and life chooses the well watered planes.
Of Sodom. The ends up in the gate of Sodom.
And I don't believe he had a happy life because it tells us he vexed his righteous soul with the filthy conversation of the wicked. He didn't have to be there, but that's what he chose.
On the contrary, where is Abraham? He's dwelling in the plains of Mammoth, like the wide open spaces where Hebron is.
And am I right in thinking that Hebron means communion? Is that the meaning? Well, here's Abraham enjoying communion with God.
And it was so satisfying, I'm sure. And I believe we're gonna find it to be the same. So let us continue to get acquainted with our wonderful God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
01:10:15
212 The 1St.
7 verses #212 Verses 1-6 and seven.
Cold from above.
And beginning of all your life, forever and ever again. That's a chance of all together.
Here.
We've seen all that. I'm looking at you all.
Umm.
Yeah, down to #265 to go along with that. Him 265. Just a second.
Questions
Gospel—Wally Dear
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Good evening.
Welcome to the Gospel meeting.
So nice to see.
All here tonight, we've got a wonderful message to proclaim.
No, I was just thinking.
Had a remedy, a surefire remedy for cancer, and you had it in your pocket.
And you knew all about it.
And you never said a word about it to anybody. That wouldn't be very nice, would it? You know, people in the world tonight are looking for a remedy for cancer. It hasn't been discovered yet, but I want to tell you something.
We have a remedy.
For a far worse disease than cancer. And it is.
The disease of sin.
SIN.
And we have a surefire remedy for sin.
And so the message that we have tonight, I do believe, is even more wonderful than proclaiming a remedy for cancer.
So we're gonna talk about.
This. I'm gonna sing a couple of hymns for my hymn sheet. Hopefully everybody has a hymn sheet.
And the two hymns that we're going to sing have questions. In fact, every.
Verse begins with a question. Question.
So we're gonna talk about questions here tonight. You know, when questions are good, because I think questions make the message personal.
And I would really like to be able to talk with each of you here tonight, one-on-one.
You know, it's just.
As important to talk one-on-one as it is to stand up before a crowd of hundreds or thousands.
One-on-one. Now you know God. He tonight makes the message of the gospel very simple and he makes it personal. Personal. So we're gonna sing some questions, and these are personal questions. The first him I'd like to sing is number 11.
Will your anchor hold in the storms of life?
When the clouds unfold their wings of strike, When the strong tides lift, when the cable strain, will your anchor drift or firm remain #11 Perhaps we could stand as we sing #11.
Nsnoise.
And you have an auto. I'm like, oh.
We hide everybody.
Now we have another him #14 #14 Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the land?
Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb #14? Perhaps we could remain seated as we sing 14.
Umm, I don't hear you all in the world.
You know, I don't have to do a lot in the water. I am.
00:10:31
I'm reading a lot.
Of time.
I'd like to talk tonight.
About four questions.
And we're gonna call two of the questions.
Sin Questions.
And we're gonna call two of the questions.
Son questions.
Send questions, son. Questions like to turn, first of all, to Genesis chapter 3.
And we'll begin reading.
That verse.
8.
Genesis chapter 3 and verse 8.
And they heard.
The voice of the Lord God.
Most of us know who the day referred to, the first man, first woman, Adam and Eve. They heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees.
Of the garden.
And the Lord God called.
Onto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou?
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden. I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou was naked, passed out, eaten up the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gave us to be with me, she gave me of the tree.
And I did eat in the Lord. God said unto the woman, What is this that thou has done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me.
And I did it. Now most of us, I believe, are familiar with this story. Now, this is a true story because it comes from the Word of God, the Bible, this book that I hold in my hands.
Was not written by men, it was written by God.
He is the author of the Bible. And somebody says, how do you know that? I think this book was written by men. I don't think it was written by God now.
If it was written by men or angels.
They would have to be.
Bad man or bad angels that write the book? Or they would have to be good men or good angels that write the book. Well, think about it. It wouldn't be bad men or bad angels that write this book because this book condemns the evil.
This book opposes the bad.
This book promotes holiness. In fact, the name on the front of the book is Holy Bible Holy.
Means to.
Hate the evil.
00:15:01
And love the good.
Bad men, bad angels aren't like that. So what about?
Good thing and good angels.
Possibly. Would it be them that write this book? Well, you know, it wouldn't be good men or good angels because.
In the Bible it is written. This book is given by inspiration of God. God is the author, and so good men or good angels would forfeit their goodness by saying that they wrote the book.
Who does that leave to be the author of this book?
God himself, God.
Wrote the book It's true he used.
Men of all different walks of life.
Some are shepherds, some are kings, some are fishermen, all different walks of life. Men were used to write God's book, but they were like the pen that writes the note. You know if I write a note and I give it to you.
I see. Here's a note.
And they say, well, who wrote this note? I'm not gonna say the pen wrote the note.
They are the food.
No, I wrote the note.
There was tonight God has given us.
His book.
Written by 40 different men.
Over a period of about 1600 years.
And this book is a mine of wealth.
It's like a gold mine.
In fact, it's.
More to be desired than gold than much fine gold. It is the word of the living God. God is speaking to you and to me through this book. And as we read the book, we get better to clean it with the Lord Himself. And it thrills our souls that we have this opportunity.
To become personally acquainted.
With the God who made the universe is marvelous.
A man asked me one time. He said you know God.
I said I know God. He looked me up and down.
You wonder, do I know what I'm talking about?
Well.
I told this dear man, I come to know God.
Through the Bible.
To accepting God's own dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the Lord Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh. And so as I look into the Bible.
Somebody said, you know, we need to put our face in the book. And when I look into the Bible.
I become acquainted with God, he said. Well.
I go to a place and they tell me that God is spelled God and it stands for good orderly direction.
You know God is good.
And God is a God of order.
And God does give direction, but he is infinitely more than good orderly.
Yeah, direction.
So.
Good opportunity to speak with this man.
We pray for him that he might come to Christ, but here we find the first sin quest.
Did you notice the question? It's found in verse nine. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
Where are you, Adam?
Why is that? Umm not?
They're in the presence of God. God was looking to enjoy fellowship, companionship.
00:20:08
With his creature, he made Adam in his own image, and now Adam is nowhere to be seen. He's hiding. Why? It's because of.
SIN.
C sin is awful.
It is.
Absolutely horrendous sin.
And it's far worse than the sight of God that it is in your sight or mine.
I believe it was Mr. Darby, he said something to the effect that.
One sin in the sight of God is worse than 10,000 sins put together would be in your sight or mine, because God is holy, holy, holy.
He is a pure eyes, pure eyes, and behold iniquity. You cannot look upon evil.
And so sin has separated.
Adam from his God.
And that's what's happening today, dear ones. I wanna say seeing is in this world. It's the root of the problem.
In this world, whether it be social, political or whatever.
SIM sin separates. It separates couples, it separates families, it separates neighbors.
It separates.
Nations.
And somebody said that sin.
In Prospect.
Is attractive.
But sin in retrospect.
Is.
Horrific.
Bible says that there's pleasures in sin for a season.
Four Seasons for a short time.
And so we find that sin has entered.
Into the world, and this tells us how it came about.
And Adam?
He says in verse 10, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid. He is afraid of the voice of the Lord.
In fact, I think Adam was terrified.
As God came into the garden.
In the cool of the day, looking.
To commute with Adam and Eve.
Well, how is it with your soul tonight, dear one?
I'm gonna put the questions to you tonight. Where are you?
Where are you?
Are you hiding from God?
When we speak, the word of God is at that which is terrifying to your soul.
Or are you enjoying the presence of the Lord and His Word? And as I look around here tonight, I can see that most are here in this conference because.
They are attracted to God and His Word.
You're here because you want to hear the word of the Lord. It's not a terrifying experience. It's a very pleasant and wonderful experience to hear God speaking to us.
But we find that Adam is hiding and Eve is hiding, and they sought to cover their nakedness with clothes of their own making. They sold fig leaves together. Certainly doesn't sound to me like a very durable garment. I would have think that you'd have to be kind of careful about your movements.
If you're clothing freely, but such was the case.
But it didn't.
Yield any comfort to Adam and Eve, this fig leaf diamond they were still hiding.
00:25:05
So today, you know people, they tried to deal with the same problem on their own.
So yes, we're so together. Fig leaves and they attempt.
2 preps.
Clean up your life and give up this bad habit, that bad habit and.
Go to church and so on and so forth.
But you know God requires that which is past, and the fact is one sin.
Will disqualify a person from the presence of God. It will disqualify a person from the Father's house because God will not tolerate 1 scene in his happy home above.
He's holy.
And we find that in this account, it was God who provided a covering for Adam and Eve. Let him know the story. And it's a beautiful story it tells us later on.
In verse.
21.
Unto Adam also, and to his wife, did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothe them.
Now that was a good cover.
That was a covering that would last, a durable cover. Who made it? God. God clothed the Adam, and he provided the cover.
Until once tonight, if you think you can make yourself presentable to a holy God through your own effort, through your own good works, forget it. It doesn't work.
All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Filthy rags.
I got a box in my garage and it is filled with rags that are dirty grimy.
Oily, They smell and they're dirty and there they are. And I wouldn't even think about taking those into my wife and asking her to make a suit. How it goes, Rags. What would she say if I do such a thing? She would think I'm going out of my mind.
Do once tonight.
We're not trying to be funny, but we're trying to impress on you the fact that it's God who provides the cover. And if you turn over to Isaiah, in contrast to the filthy rags you find.
The Prophet speaks about how he rejoices because he has.
Clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has done it, the garments of salvation. He's covered me with the robe of righteousness. Oh, how wonderful to be covered God's way and to enjoy his presence.
Not only for time, but for eternity to know that all is well.
Because.
God has provided.
The remedy. I'm gonna talk more about the remedy.
No, that's one same question. Where art thou?
Very important question.
No, I got a little GPS.
Yeah, I noticed on the GPS.
Yes.
You're programming.
Where you wanna go?
The destination, the first question that comes up, where are you?
Can you give your location?
Then if I can't give the location.
Forget it.
That GPS is of no use to me.
Well sometimes it says will you allow the GPS?
To give you location. And so I said yeah, So then the GPS does it somehow determines where I'm at and then?
00:30:12
We can go to the destination because we know where we're at. Well, there once the night.
This is so important. Where are you?
Many people don't realize where they're at, that they are in their sins, that they are covered.
From head to foot.
Because it we're with leprosy.
You know, there was a man, we read about him in Luke's gospel. I believe it's chapter five. He was full of lepers, full of it.
And he knew it and he came to Jesus. He came to the right person, and he said to the Lord Jesus, If thou wilt thou kids, make me clean.
The Lord Jesus said I will.
Reaches out and touches the man immediately. He's cleanse.
From his leprosy. Well, there's a man that knew where he was at that he was a leopard. Do you know tonight that you are a Sinner?
Do you know that?
You are bad.
It's not a popular message.
But the fact is that it tells us the Lord looked down from heaven on the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God.
And what did the Lord observe?
They are all together, become filthy all together.
There is none at 2 is good. No not.
And I like what Mr. Darby? Yeah, it's one little word even. Not even one.
Not even one good person in this whole world. No, that's God's viewpoint. You say, well, I don't think I'm all that bad. I think I'm a pretty decent person.
Yeah, I don't do what he does.
He goes out and he gets drunk and he's running around and doing all kinds of bad things.
And here's a man here, he's behind bars. He deserves to be there. He's committed crimes. I'm not like that.
But you know what? God says there's no difference.
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But people don't realize how bad it seems really is. You know, back in, I believe it was the 19th century, about the middle of the century.
There was a Hungarian physician, his name was Ignas Semmelweis.
And this position noticed that.
Sad to say, many.
Mothers were dying.
After childbirth. In fact, I believe it was like one out of six.
And he began to wonder, why is this happening?
So somewhat he comes to the conclusion that maybe we should be washing our hands before doing examinations.
Because I understand the practice was to come from the dissecting room working with autopsy and the physicians hands would be kicked with blood and perhaps even grind and they would continue to.
Through the physical examinations and so on through the day, no thought of any gloves or washing hands.
Semmelweis said I think we need to wash our hands, and he began to wash his hands.
And.
The mortality rate among.
Those mothers went like from one out of six to one out of 50.
Now symbolized. Didn't exactly know why this was happening.
00:35:01
What they really needed, I think, was a microscope.
And it wasn't until sometime later that Lewis pastor the other.
Medical.
Then they uh.
Come to realize the importance of antiseptic.
And you know some of ice even though.
They could see results as a result of this hand washing. He took a lot of persecution. Most of the medical profession said we've been doing this.
Procedure this way for years and years and we don't subscribe to your thinking. And you know, this man actually died early. I understand he died in the same asylum. I just could hardly believe the opposition to what this man was introducing, which was so good. The problem was deadly bacteria.
And the medical profession didn't realize.
How deadly bacteria was, if they knew about it, they knew about that theory. Well, I just thought of this in connection with sin. Many people today, they have no inclination, they have no understanding of how deadly sin is, and so they don't do anything about it.
Well, tonight our desire is that you might feel the weight of your seats.
That you might indeed.
Come to the one who can meet your need, and His name is Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who on the cross of Calvary, shed His blood in order to put away sin. By the sacrifice of himself He gave himself.
In love for you and for me, and tonight.
We can stand here with the wonderful message of the Gospel.
And we can rejoice as we tell it out.
The glad tidings of great joy said unto you, and unto me, his born Savior, which is Christ Jesus the Lord, the Lord Jesus came into this world.
Knowing what would befall him.
As he came into this world, he tells us that he was afflicted and ready to die from his youth.
He had to cross before him.
We don't know what's going to take place in our lives.
Next week, next month, years. The Lord Jesus knew exactly, but he came anyway because He came to seek and to say that which was lost.
The Lord Jesus could say I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He could say I came not.
To be ministered unto or to be served, but to minister or to serve, and to give my life a ransom for many. That's why He came. He came in love.
And you know, it tells us that God spared, not his Son.
He delivered him up for us all. Well, how wonderful to talk about the message of the gospel because it concerns.
The Son of God.
It concerns Jesus Christ our Lord.
It concerns God himself. You know, the heart of God is told out in the gospel. The message of love has come down from above to cheer your heart and mind. And that precious Savior went, and he suffered there on that cruel cross.
You know, I thought.
How they spit in his face.
We're seeing it here, don't we? Lamb of God, our souls, authority while upon thy face. Quick case.
They're the Father's love and glory shine in all their brightest rings. Can you imagine the glory of God the Father just shining out in brightest rays from the face?
00:40:03
Oh, Jesus.
But what do we read in Matthew chapter 26? It tells us that.
They spit in his face. He had no appreciation for who he was.
Yeah, he was the Son of God. Yeah, he was the one who was the perfect expression of what was in the heart of the Father. And they spit right into his face, and then they punched him in the face.
I saw a man the other day, he been in a fight.
And his eye was puffed out.
I'm not exaggerating. It was put, uh, you couldn't even see his eye.
You can hit in the eye.
The Lord Jesus, it tells us, was buffeted.
They smote him with their hands, and the Lord Jesus submitted to it.
He says I gave my back to.
And my cheeks to those that plucked off their hairs, I hear not my face from shame and spitting.
He tolerated this dear once.
And that wasn't the end of it. You know the story. It was marked with crown thorns.
Ultimately taken out to the C Calvary and they're on the cross crucified.
He could say they pierced my hands and my feet.
Blessed Savior.
Why love for you and for me?
There's a.
A believer.
And I think she has faith, but she drives around in a vehicle and sometimes she puts on the vehicle little stains. And this one kind of caught my eye. It said the crown of thorns.
Was on his head.
The cross was on his back.
And you?
Were on his mind.
Yes, he was thinking about you and me and nothing would deter him. He went all the way, having loved his own. It tells us he loved them to the end and so he was crucified.
And you know.
The climax of His supper, I believe, was not at the hands of wicked men, but it was at the hands of a holy God for your sin and mind. During those hours of darkness the Lord Jesus suffered. Yes, the sun was darkened, and from 12:00 noon till 3:00 in the afternoon, the Lord Jesus took my sins.
And yours too, if you trust him upon himself. He made them his own, He could say prophetically. Psalm 69 Thou knowest my foolishness.
My sins are not here from thee.
Who seems He made my sins his sins. He became the substitute. And God's holy anger, His fierce wrath, came down upon His Son in judgment, one stroke after another after another after another.
Until the Lord Jesus had answered to God for each and everyone of those transgressions, those sins or iniquities, He was wounded for my transgressions.
He was bruised for my iniquities. The chastisement of my peace was upon him, and with his stripes I am healed. You can say the very same thing. You trust him? He took him down from the cross, but before they did there was a soldier who in.
I believe bitter hatred, enmity. He took his spear and he pierced the side of Jesus, and of course with immediately came out blood and water. We spoke about that today.
The blood cleansing from sins, and you know, the water is that which cleanses or washes from moral defilement.
The salvation that God has for us, it is absolutely complete.
God through the death.
00:45:00
In resurrection of the Word, Jesus has met our needs totally.
And you know, somebody said it's the death of Christ that puts me away.
And there's something actually worse than Sims. It's the root of the problem. It's just me, but the death of Christ deals with that, with the root. Now the blood of Christ deals with the fruit, the sins themselves. Washington away. We know how that the Lord says, come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord, so your sins be.
Is scarlet, it shall be white as snow. So they be red like Crimson. They shall be as wool.
The Lord Jesus can wash you white as snow. Well see, our time is running out here.
Chapter 4 There's another same question and this has to do with King. Now King slew his brother Abel.
Because God accepted Abel's sacrifice, but Cain had the opportunity to repent and come God's way and offer.
A sacrifice like his brother people.
He was mad. He was angry, not doing that.
And what did he do? He murders his brother.
He was opposed to his brother, but really opposed to God.
And here in verse nine it says, And the Lord said unto King, where is Abel thy brother? He said, I know not.
Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood cries unto me from the ground.
Not only was.
King a murderer. He was a liar.
But God puts the sin question to him.
He says, What hast thou done?
King didn't want to admit it.
What has that done? What have you done?
We need to be honest, you know, We can't hide anything from God.
God saw evil's body there in the ground, and God looks down tonight and he looks right into our heart, and he knows.
The state of your heart, whether it's been cleansed in the blood of Christ or it is still.
Stained with sin he knows.
So don't try to cover up anything somebody said one time.
We can pull.
Some of the people all the time.
And we can fool all the people some of the time, but we cannot fool God any of the time.
All things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
Now.
Let's go to the Sun question, Matthew, chapter 23.
Matthew, Chapter 23.
Ten first.
41.
May I ask you?
I'm sorry, 22 Matthew 22 verse 41. Well, the Pharisees were gathered together. Jesus asked them same what thinking of Christ? Whose son is he? They say unto him, the son of David and so on. I don't have time to read it all. This is the question, what?
Think he of Christ.
And son question, what do you think about him?
It's a five word question. I enjoy A5 word answer that you find in Song of Solomon chapter 5.
Yeah, he is altogether lovely. Is that how you view the Lord Jesus Christ?
00:50:00
He is.
All together lovely.
He's the one who here on earth perfectly fulfilled the will of his father. You could say I do always those things that please the father, and he went about doing such good.
Healing the sick, Opening the eyes of the blind.
Opening years.
Feeling those that were lame.
And you went to the cross.
And there he suffered the chest for the unchest.
Suffer for sins just for the unjust to bring us to God.
Now, you know, we spoke of the cross and what transpired there, but we want to make it plain that the Lord Jesus, he was taken down, He was buried, He was with the rich and his dead.
Rich man's too.
But he rose again the third day.
That's what we believe.
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
He was buried and he rose again the third day, according to the description. Now the best thing you could do is take God. That is worth That's faith. Believe it.
Somebody went into a blacksmith shop one time, saw all these hammers and they were all worn out. And he said to the blacksmith, now how many anvils did it take to wear out all of these hammers?
And Blacksmith said just one. Dear Ones, tonight I'm gonna tell you something. There's an attack on this book.
And we have skeptics, agnostics, atheists, so to speak, and they're hammering away at this book. But those hammers are all getting worn out. And the Bible stands because it's God's book and we need to take God at his Word hearing.
Believing, you know, it tells us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Now there's another some question in Matthew chapter.
27.
And we'll just finish with this question.
Matthew, Chapter 27.
And verse 22.
Pilots saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ?
They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.
And that's a question I'm gonna put to you tonight there once. What will you do with Jesus?
You're gonna reject them, you're gonna say no and end up in a lost eternity.
In hell, you know this world is a ticking time bomb, and this world is coming under the judgment of God.
God is a point of the day in which he will judge this world in righteousness by that man who He has ordained, wherein He has given assurance unto all men, and that he has raised him from the dead. And that man is Jesus. And the Lord Jesus is coming back to reign. But before he does, He's gonna eliminate all the opposition. He's gonna be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels inflaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know that God.
And that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. You're gonna be on earth at that time. It makes me shudder to think maybe there's somebody in this hall here tonight. You're saying no to Jesus.
And you're gonna find yourself.
Under the judgment of God.
Tonight, why not come to Jesus, except Him? It's so simple. The Lord Jesus could say, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believes him that sent Me shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life.
So.
How simple do you hear tonight?
Oh, with the God you're here, the message, the Lord Jesus said over and over. He that has ears to hear, hear. Let him hear. Let her hear.
00:55:07
Do you believe? Believe is to take out of this word. I think if you look up a definition for faith or believe, it is to put.
Trust or confidence in somebody or something completely.
Complete confidence. Well, tonight the Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of your confidence.
He alone is worthy, neither is there salvation any other none other name under heaven give him a man whereby we must be saved. There was a woman that.
On the plane and I was talking to her. She's telling me, you know, I live in California. I'm heading back home, but I really don't want to go there.
So why do you live close to the fires? No she's I live about 3 hours away but the air quality is terrible.
I don't really wanna go back.
And so we're acquainted with these fires. They're terrible fires. It just burned and burned and burned. And there's one community by name of paradise. It's not a paradise any longer. It's smoldering ruins.
This I said to this woman and I gave her a little gospel calendar card and he's still calendar beautiful to pass out and spread the good news. And I gave her one. I said, you see this first right here. Look at that word perish. That word perish.
The network.
PERISH. It stands for pass Internally ruined into sinner's health. This is a fire that will never be put out. It's eternal, eternal punishment. But God doesn't want you to perish. And so then I went over the first word by word.
Can she listen? I said. You see what it says here? For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. See what it says. Whosoever believeth.
In him should not perish.
**** it's so simple.
And you know what she said.
If it were only that simple.
In other words, she didn't believe it could be so simple. Well, I wanna tell you tonight there was gospel. It is simple.
God's desire is that we might be saved. He's reaching out to the little children, the three-year olds. That's why he's made it simple. The four year olds, the five year olds, and he reaches out to whosoever will may come.
That takes in you, but the question tonight is where are you?
What have you done?
What do you think of Christ?
What shall I do then with Jesus?
Which is called Christ.
That's great, our godfather turn.
Peace Making
YP Talk—John Kulp
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.
I enjoyed singing with all of you and listening to our musicians as well.
I'd like to, with the Lord's help, to speak a little on peacemaking this evening.
And so let's turn for justice, a phrase, part of a verse to 1St Thessalonians, chapter 5.
It's a very short phrase that can be overlooked unless brought especially to our attention, I suppose.
First Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 13 at the end.
Be at peace among yourselves.
Now I'm exercised. We've been burdened at times about the path of peace, Peace in the, uh, Assemblies of the Saints and in Christian homes as well in our own home.
And so perhaps just a few thoughts on peace and the path. The peace, you know, uh, I won't turn to it, but in Proverbs chapter 3, when Solomon writes about wisdom, he says he writes in all her paths are peace.
You know, for almost as long as the Church of God has been in existence on the earth, Satan was the enemy of all God's purposes in Christ has worked to cause difficulties among Christians and we see this very near the beginning of the church's history and.
Acts chapter 6 when discontent and complaining arose among the Greek speaking Jewish believers or.
Called the Grecians against the Hebrew believers because of the very practical.
Matter of, uh, the neglect of the Dis in the distribution to the widows. And we're not told how serious this problem was, and we're not told whether there was any hypersensitivity on the part of the murmurs. But we can be reasonably certain about a couple of things, and that is #1.
This potential rift was not doctrinal in nature, so that revealed Christian truth wasn't imminently in danger of being compromised. And secondly, we also see that the 12 apostles who were all of Hebrew stock, they weren't of Grecian stock, but they were led to a .7 Greek speaking Grecian men.
Whom the whole multitude had selected to administer the distributions, and they resolved this practical dilemma in that way.
What a gracious path, uh, these peacemakers of those early days walked in when there could have been much more difficulty and and dissension, you know. Sadly, since that happy ending to a tense situation, the enemy has had much success over the centuries in dividing and alienating even real believers due to an endless number of disagreements over practical matters, personal feelings.
And you know, preferences are even godly personal exercises regarding matters of.
Appearance and conduct. Language translation usage.
Hymn selection locations and times and frequencies of meetings, even involvement in gospel efforts, and many other similar similar practical considerations have played a part in the offenses that brethren sadly have allowed to trouble or divide them. Now you may be wondering why a brother would be addressing young people on a subject like this, since you're not leaders in your assemblies, generally speaking, and perhaps.
Don't carry the weight of older, more experienced ones. And while sadly, we've seen many young people leave gatherings over the years, we on the other hand, don't usually see them in the middle of the, uh, the difficulties and the disputes and the divisions in the assembly. But I have no doubt that many of the difficulties among brethren over the years had their roots decades earlier, when those in the middle of those difficulties were much younger.
And so the question I would have for you young people is this.
How do you view and how do you treat your fellow young people, whether at a conference like this or more importantly, in your local gathering, and perhaps most importantly at all of all, in your own home?
If you have sisters and brothers, of course, you know too often pride and the resulting strife among those who ought to be closest to one another.
They cause rift over time and it may take years to manifest and break out. Our brother Bill Prost at a recent conference.
00:05:04
Uh, gave this challenge and, uh, it came from his father-in-law, as I understand Mr. Albert, hey, ho many years ago. And I will have to paraphrase liberally because I wasn't able to, uh, find the quote in the conference recordings, but he said something like this problems in assemblies haven't usually happened over the years because Saints didn't love each other.
But because they didn't like each other. Now think about that for a moment. They didn't like each other.
We can convince ourselves that we love the brethren as John commands direct several times in his first epistle, and we can approach that love imperative in a legal way, but still not be kindly affection 1 to another in brotherly love with honor preferring one another as Paul, and joins us in Romans chapter 12 and verse 10.
Oh, how great is the need for kindly affection between believers and.
Those words shouldn't be too difficult for us to understand kindness and affection.
Kindly affection is what we need between each other. The Lord Jesus showed us such kindness and such affection.
And so we ought to between each other as well.
So what is a peacemaker to do when believers are estranged from each other?
Either in heart or in practice, whether they meet together or not. How then may Saints who are at odds with each other be brought back into the enjoyment of practical fellowship with each other, happily keeping the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace? How can healing be wrought and peace restored among Christians? You know, if those who don't see it eye to eye with each other stoop to.
Self righteously view and treat each other.
With either ambivalence or animosity. It's doubtful that reconciliation or restoration will result from that, but.
A deep exercise of self judgment and humility and communion with Christ will bring with it the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit. You have a question back there?
Umm, like you don't really care about?
Your brother like doesn't really matter what they do.
That's not that's not good, and animosity is worse, but uh, ambivalence isn't good either.
You don't care about them. Thank you for the question, Isaiah. You know in Galatia.
There was a lack of sincere love and affection for one another, and the danger there was that they would even devour each other. Now, that's of course figuratively speaking, but that's what the apostle warned him against. And that's the context and the reason for the wonderful list of spiritual, spiritual fruit that Paul encouraged their in Galatians chapter 5.
Love.
Joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, fidelity, meekness, and self-control. And that's the way Mr. Darby puts that list. This is the path to peace and happy fellowship among brethren. Now we need to pause here, uh, for a moment and declare that, you know, that unity or reconciliation of separated divided groups of Christians based on the principle of mutual concession is not of the Spirit of God.
For that principle presumes to allow for compromise as to the truth, and there's no scriptural basis for an open communion or an unguarded table. But it's the reconciliation between individuals who find themselves at odds with each other that can end in restored fellowship with each other, Enjoyment of communion together at the Lord's Table.
And that's most beautifully done through Mutual.
Confession.
Not mutual concession that would be wrong, but mutual confession of faults and failures. Confess your faults 1 to another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed, James says in chapter five of his epistle.
That humble confession of faults or failure may be done at almost anytime and under most circumstances, without compromise to the truth of the Word of God.
Believers who profess to maintain a unity according to God on scriptural ground should never be guilty of uncaring attitudes.
Or, uh, harsh words to their brethren in Christ. I would just mention and point out without turning to it, the fleshly and mean spirited, uh, attitude and character of Rio Boehm, King Rioboam there in First Kings chapter 12 during that awful rending of Israel's unity. And we can contrast against that.
00:10:24
The godly character of Hezekiah's humility and his confession.
That initiated and gave weight to his invitation to the 10 tribes of the northern Kingdom of Israel, uh, with the result that many of them repented, we suppose, and returned to worship at Jerusalem, the place, of course, of God's choosing. Godly humility encourages repentance in others.
That's of course what Hezekiah showed there. Godly humility encourages repentance in others and smooths away for the restoration of some who may be.
Languishing in carnality or bitterness of soul. Now we ought to look at the Lord Jesus.
First of all, as those who are his followers.
And his perfect example of meekness and loneliness toward all. He never gave offense. He never took offense. And he was the one of whom it was written in the Old Testament and we haven't repeated in Matthew chapter 12A. Bruised Reed shall he not break? And smoking flax shall he not quench, quench. He was gentle, tender, kind toward all.
Maybe we'd be more like him in our relationships with our brethren.
And there are a few other number of other, uh, passages in the New Testament that, uh, speak of making peace and, uh, restoring brethren to ourselves as individuals without conceding truth or compromising righteousness in our dealings. And here, just a few of them, we don't have, uh, much time, just a few minutes left. And so let's turn to just a few of them. Romans chapter 15.
And verse one.
We then, that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Well, if God has given you any measure of strength in the path of faith.
Certainly not something to be uh.
Puffed up about proud. But if he's giving you any measure of energy and strength, you have the responsibility to bear with your brethren, young or old, of course, and not please yourself. Well, let's go to Matthew chapter 5 for another couple of scriptures showing what a peacemaker.
Would do no on the Lord Jesus said in the first part of that chapter.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. But let's look at chapter 5 and verse 23.
This suppose is a rift that has come in personally, individually. Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there remembers that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way. First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. We see from that the great importance that the Lord Himself.
Put on peacemaking.
You know it, it ought to be taken care of before worship, before worship in Galatians chapter 6. And we don't need to turn to it, but we know that, uh, the first verse, brethren of a man be overtaken in a fault. Ye which are spiritual restore such an one and the spirit of meekness, lest thou also be tempted.
Spiritual brethren, if the Lord has given you any measure of spirituality, well, you're to take the initiative in restoring those who perhaps are weaker or have been overtaken in a fault. That's your responsibility.
First Peter 5. Let's go to that for a moment.
And then one or two more.
Uh, first Peter 5.
Verse 5, middle of the verse, your second line, Yeah, all of you, be subject 1 to another and be clothed with humility, for God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. So humility and submitting 1 to another in practical matters is a scriptural expectation.
00:15:08
And we already, uh, touched on what James said.
Confessing false one to another, with prayer and intercession for each other as well, that ought to be made on behalf of those in need of spiritual healing and restoration.
And I'll just mention Hebrews chapter 12.
Christians are enjoined there, directed to make straight paths for your feet, that that which is lame be not turned aside, but that it rather be healed. Pursue peace with all and holiness.
And we can refer to James again. We ought to practice his teaching on.
Bridling the tongue, bridling our tongues and, uh, having wisdom from above. And he ends with this summary in James chapter 3 and verse 18, A harvest of righteousness. And this I, I'm quoting another translation.
Not a paraphrase, it's a translation. It's uh, the, uh, esvi trust you will not be offended using that for this because I thought it made it so clear. A harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. Those of you who are peacemakers, I would encourage you to continue in that. That's a much needed work and you will re reap a harvest of righteousness.
In doing so.
So, dear young people, in in winding down here, now is the time in your lives to be judging unkind thoughts and words toward each other in the assembly or at home. Now is the time to pursue those things which make for peace, as we would read in Romans chapter 14.
When once someone has deceived himself or herself to believing that behaving in a cliqueish, prideful or unkind manner is acceptable.
Under the letter of the law of loving his or her brethren, you know it will almost inevitably develop into strife, schisms, full blown division in the future of the local assembly.
Should that kind of spirit be allowed to go on and without being judged before the Lord? So turn finally for one more verse to 1St John chapter 3.
First John, chapter 3.
And verse 18.
Children should be.
Starts out with children. Let us not love in Word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
Be before the Lord now.
While you're young.
Concerning your relationships with your fellow young people.
Whether at home, whether in the assembly and learn not only to love in Word theoretically.
But indeed, and in truth, in actual practice and practically, this is the path of peace and unity in the Assembly of God. And the Lord Jesus, I have no doubt, is honored by those who in lowliness and meekness seek to put forth every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Well, let's close with prayer and thanks for the refreshments.
1 Peter 1:3-8
Reading
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Umm.
And 2400 and 200 and.
Get very far in first Peter one yesterday, but are hymns that we just sang seems to suggest we start at verse 3.
First Peter chapter one and verse 3.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that faded not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith.
Unto salvation.
Ready to be revealed in the last time?
Wherein ye greatly rejoice go now for a season if need be you're in heaviness through manifold temptations that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perish us though it be tried with fire might be found under praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
Whom having not seen ye love, in whom, though now you see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls, of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, Who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you?
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Searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify.
When it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.
Under whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us, they administer the things which are now reported unto you.
By them that have preached the gospel unto you, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, which things the angels desire to look into.
We're for gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought under you at the revelation of Jesus Christ as obedience, children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts. And you're ignorant, but as he which has called you is holy, so be ye holy.
In all manner of conversation, because it is written, be holy.
For I am holy.
Did you call on the Father who, without respect of persons, judge us according to every man's work past the time of your sojourning here in fear?
For as much as you know that you are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your Father's.
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who barely was foreordained before the foundation of the world.
What was manifest in these last times for you who by Him do believe in God?
That raised him from the dead and gave him glory to your faith and hope might be in God.
Seeing you have purified your souls, and obeying the truth through the Spirit, unto unfeigned love of the brethren.
See that you love one another with a pure heart, fervently.
Being born again, not a corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.
We're all flashes as grass, all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass wither it, and the flower thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth forever.
And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you.
Mentioned yesterday, this epistle is addressed to Jewish believers. Those who had come from a Jewish background, had received the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, and not only so through persecution, had been scattered from their homes throughout the known world at that time, and they had lost everything in a temporal way, and it must have been a great comfort to them now, as the apostle Peter writes to them of this hope.
Hopes, as someone has said, is an indispensable quality of life, and for the Jew, their hope within the Messiah. But they had killed their Messiah, they had crucified him. And so as far as earthly hope at that time, that was finished.
But now the apostle Peter can bring before them a hope that is really out of this world.
And it's a living hope. It's not a dead hope, but it's a living hope because it's based on the fact that the Lord Jesus had not only died on the cross, but that he had risen again.
And brethren, I believe this is something that we all need to get a hold of Indiana, our souls more and more.
Is to realize that what sets Christianity apart from, if I can put it this way, all the other so-called great religions of the world is that we have a living hope and we have a living Savior.
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Every other religion boasts of someone who's in the tomb. Mohammed is in the tomb. People will spend great amounts of money and at great sacrifices to themselves to visit the tomb of Mohammed. But Buddhist in the tomb, Confucius is dead. We have a tomb as well. But across that tomb is written. He is not here, he is risen. Come see the place where the Lord lay. Because if Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain, and ye are still in your sins.
And we need to tenaciously hold on to the truth of the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus, because there have been those down through the ages who have taught that the Lord only rose in spirit. That is a false teaching. When the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, He remained on earth long enough to give ample and complete testimony to His own that He had risen from the dead bodily. He said, Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bone as ye see me have. So what a wonderful thing it must have been for these believers.
And for you and for me to realize that now they had a living hope based on a living savior.
And they had now an inheritance that could never be taken away. They'd lost everything earth in, in an earthly way. The inheritance was gone. And uh, now, but now they could hold, hold on to something that was reserved for them and something that is we're going to see they were going to be preserved for as well.
Is based on the truth that the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, and when he rose from the dead, he rose in the power of a life that can no longer die. Death has no longer any dominion over him. There were those that were raised before the Lord from the dead, but they all died again.
But now we have a hope that is based on resurrection life, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. He is the first fruits of them that slept, and when He rose, He rose in the power of a life that death can no longer touch. To me that is the most wonderful thing. And it's interesting if you want to even set aside the testimony of Scripture. Even human history designates one of the most well established facts.
Is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It is a historical fact, and so beautiful, brethren, to know that that's where our hope is based on the Lord's resurrection in that life of that new life, resurrection life.
Death can touch our bodies, but it cannot touch the life we have within these bodies. It's resurrection life, and it will never die.
Open this context. It's never uncertainty, is it? Hope in this life is always uncertainty at best. Hope connected with the 1St man, hope connected with the circumstances down here. It's always uncertainty. So we hope after these meetings are over to return to our homes and so on. But if we sat here this afternoon, this morning and said beyond a shadow of a doubt, Stephen and Carol would return to Vestal and Jim would return to Smith's Falls and so on.
We'd say, well, that's presumptuous things come in to, uh, frustrate our hope and some of the plans we've made in our lives, they've never come to fruition as carefully as we planned and laid, laid them out. But it's interesting when, uh, the apostle writes to the Jewish believers in the book of Hebrews, he speaks of their hope there as well. And he says it's a sure and a steadfast hope, only hope connected with Christ.
And the next World can be referred to as sure and steadfast. Here it's in connection with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
But I believe in Hebrews it takes us even a step further because if we were to notice and we won't take time to turn to it.
But the end of Hebrews 6, where he talks about that sure and steadfast hope there is. Sure and steadfast not only because the Lord Jesus has risen from the dead, but he's gone back to the Father, He's gone back to heaven.
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And our forerunner is there, and the fact that he's a forerunner, Christ is a forerunner entering into the presence of God.
Denotes that there has to be after runners. Who's that? That's you and me at his coming. And so we have the resurrection here. A living hope in Hebrews it sure and steadfast. And again it's written to Jewish believers. But of course for you and for me and for our encouragement and certainty as well. Isn't it wonderful, brethren, that Christianity links us with Christ in resurrection and ascension? And that's why we often say that in Christianity.
Our hopes and our goals and our aspirations are not connected with this world in any way. We're a heavenly people. As we said yesterday, we're set apart as a heavenly people. The cross of Christ has severed our ties with this world. Paul said, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
We have nothing to do with this world, brethren, except the fact that we're still physically here and have to operate from day-to-day. But as far as our hopes and goals and aspirations, we're connected with a risen, ascended and glorified Christ.
Pulling this verse, uh three to see how it corresponds with Ephesians 1/3. The first verses. Our first words of the verse are exactly the same. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and God is so beautiful. We have been brought into the knowledge of God. Like our brother was saying last night in the gospel, we can say that we.
Know God, amazingly wonderful thing. And how do you know Him?
Well, we know Him first as God, but then we are brought into the family of God by being born into His family, which He mentions here He is begotten us again. This is new birth and that's why it says again, because we have been born once into this world and now we are born again into the family of God. At the end of the chapter it mentions that in verse.
23.
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. First time I was born, I was born of corruptible seed. And that's why you get aches and pains in your body, you get diseases sometimes and my hair is turned white. Why is that corruptible seed? But I have a life that can never get old.
It is resurrection life. I've been born again into God's family, and so we have been brought to know God as Father. It's interesting, when the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, he sent Mary Magdalene to speak to his disciples and to say unto them, Behold, I send to unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God and your God. Why is it that order?
Because for the Lord Jesus, from all eternity, his relationship was with his Father.
He was gone, but when he became Incarnate, then he could say my God. And that's why it says in Psalm 22, Thou art my God from my mother's belly. As soon as he became Incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary, he could say, my God. I think that is so beautiful. The perfection of Scripture. Oh brother. And we have been brought into the knowledge of God and now in Christianity as fathers was mentioned yesterday.
In the Old Testament, they knew him as the Almighty, they knew him as Jehovah and a number of other names that we have in the Old Testament. But is there anything so intimate, so amazing as to be able to look up into the heavens and say the God of the universe is my father? I can say ABBA father in that tremendous thing. It's so amazingly wonderful, brother, and we've been brought into.
The family of God. And so he says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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At the end of that, uh, chapter one, we see how the apostle Paul, he prays for the Ephesians and what is his prayer in verse 18, Ephesians 118 The eyes of your understanding, being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints.
And.
What is the exceeding greatness of his power to us? For who believe according to the working of his mighty power? Martin says the might of his power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead.
And so on.
So I believe in our chapter we have brought before us the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. I don't know of any power in the universe that is greater than resurrection power.
And your pastor Paul desired that the Saints might have their eyes enlightened to understand and appreciate something of this power. Well, we have power in our chapter. It tells us in verse five that we are kept by the power of God. So this is the same power that raised Christ from the dead, that keeps us, that guards us, and that's gonna bring us home to glory as it tells us in dispersed.
Kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. So the salvation in this chapter is not only the salvation of our souls, but the salvation of our bodies and the Lord Jesus.
Is about to return and we're gonna be caught up in our bodies. It tells us we're gonna be changed.
And we're gonna be fashion like his own body of glory, and we're gonna enter on this inheritance. And there it is. It hasn't been corrupted or defiled. It hasn't faded away or diminished in the lease. And there it is reserved for us in heaven. So grace for the pathway leads to glory.
And the power of God, they would just think about it and realize that this is the power that is at our disposal.
And this is how God keeps us day by day, by his power.
It's wonderful in that verse in Ephesians, those verses in Ephesians when it talks about the power of God in resurrection.
Ball just seems to run out of adjectives and talking about it, it is far greater than the power of God in creation. And the power of God in creation is incredible, so much so that none of us can comprehend it. But the power of resurrection is a totally different sphere we're talking about. And this is the power that now works both towards us and if you look in chapter 3.
Of Ephesians it works in US who believes so it's it's the power of God. Wonderful how it's working for us and in US knowing Christ and the power of resurrection in Philippians 3 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection because it's been said that's the power for our lives, isn't it now and it's interesting that we don't have a scripture that would teach us to pray for power.
And Paul didn't pray that the Ephesians would have more power or that he would have more power himself. What did he pray? That their eyes would be opened, That they would see and avail themselves of the power that was already at their disposal. And brethren, we don't have to pray for power today. What we need to do is get before the Lord and be exercised that we would appreciate and avail ourselves of the power that's at our disposal, because this power is for every St. of God.
It doesn't matter if you got saved last night or you've been saved for 75 years. That power is available to you if you will avail yourself of it. And that's why it's, I think we alluded to yesterday, when we get home to heaven and we stand before the Lord Jesus, we'll have no excuse for any failure, for any discouragement, for any giving up in our lives.
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There's provision for it, of course, but there is no excuse for it because all the power that we need.
Is at our disposal, but I want to ask a question here as we move along. What is the inheritance? He speaks of this inheritance here and I would suggest it's a little different than our blessings, but maybe we could have some explanation on it.
And addressed in Ephesians one as well. We go back to Ephesians 1.
It says in verse three he has blessed us with.
All or every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ.
Their spiritual blessings because they're not blessings that can be seen with the physical eye. Just to give you an example, in verse seven it says we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Brother Jim, do you have forgiveness of sins? Can you show me some document please that shows me that you have that?
Well, how do you know you have it? Basis of the word of God and faith. That's right, exactly. And so it's a spiritual blessing that you can't show people but that you possess by faith. And so there are those spiritual blessings that you cannot see with the human eye, but they're very real. And so those verses in Ephesians one take up from verses 3 down through perhaps we can say verse.
8:00 and 9:00.
There are spiritual blessings. But now notice in verse 10 of Ephesians one, it says that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are in earth. Even in Him in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.
So there we have the inheritance mentioned and it's when the Lord Jesus takes the Kingdom as is mentioned in the.
The Psalm chapter, Psalm 2, it says, Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost part of the earth for thy possession. So the time is going to come when the Lord Jesus is going to come back to this world.
And he's going to take the inheritance, the Father is going to give it to him, and he's going to possess it. That will take place at the end of the great tribulation, when the Lord Jesus physically returns with his people to take the inheritance, and we will inherit it with him. So that's the inheritance. And here in Ephesians, I think we have the inheritance in its widest possible, uh, view. And it's all things which are in heaven.
And which are on earth, every created thing is our inheritance in a certain way. Like you say, Brother Jim, we haven't taken the inheritance yet. We have the Spirit of God, which is the earnest of our inheritance so that we can enjoy it right now, but we don't have the inheritance yet because the Lord Jesus hasn't taken the inheritance. So it's a little different, yes, than the spiritual blessings.
And I wondered why it says in our chapter Reserved in Heaven. I pondered that because as I believe what you say is right, that the inheritance is all created things. But let me use a little illustration that recently helped me to at least understand what I believe is part of the reason it says reserved in heaven.
Recently we had some question about our property title at home. And the piece of property on which our house is built is kind of a bit of a hodgepodge on the corner of a subdivision. And I think the roof of the the eve of the roof of the house beside us overlaps our property line and so on. And so we wanted to look up the deed and some of the papers connected with when we bought that property over 30 years ago. And so I said to my wife, where is the deed? And she said, well, it's safely in the the safety deposit box at the bank.
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It wasn't on the property, it was in the safety deposit box. If I can put it this way, the title deed was reserved somewhere else from where the property is. And so in time we went to the bank with the key to the safety deposit box and sure enough there it was reserved safe in the bank. Concerning our property on which we live, we live and I thought of that in connection with this portion. As we we've said the inheritance is all created things.
And he's going to take it back his right entitle, not only as creator, but in redemption as well. We're going to share it with him. And I believe the fact that the Lord Jesus is now in heaven and holds the title deed to the to the inheritance. And we could go to Revelation four and five and perhaps see that clearly brought out. The title deed is held by the one who accomplished redemption here on earth. It's held as it were in heaven.
Just like our title deed was reserved in the bank for us, and there it is. And is there any question that it's going to be opened and that he's going to take his rightful place in the coming day? No, it's secure. It's sealed there. And as we know from Revelation 5, he's going to be the one and the only one that will be worthy and able to take that deed and open the seals thereof and to come back and to take that inheritance.
But isn't it beautiful, brethren, to think that he's not going to take it until he shares it with us?
Isn't that I? I find that a tremendous thought. We see not yet all things put under him. He does not have his rightful place here in the world yet. He hasn't taken outwardly the inheritance yet.
What's he waiting for? He's waiting to have his bride by his side. He's waiting to have his heavenly people with him. And then when that moment comes, then we're going to come back with him and we're going to share in it. Brethren, why do we want it now?
Why do we want it now? Why do we want things down here? Why do do Christians rise up and want to take take power now and try to bring things into order, bring the governments into order? And I know many of us have been taught that falsely, that we're a moral force to change the world and usher in the Kingdom and bring in righteous government and so on. Brethren, if we try to do that before God's man does it, if I can use a very mundane expression, we're just banging our heads against the brick wall. It's not gonna happen until the Lord.
God's man, the worthy and the able one, opens the seals thereof and comes back to take the inheritance for himself.
There are a few verses I've enjoyed in connection with Peter's own life and the inheritance, and the first one is and. This account is given in several gospels. I just like to look at it into Matthew chapter 19, verse 27.
Then answered Peter, and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee. What shall we have therefore?
I'd like to turn over to Mark chapter 10 where we get the same account, but I like the answer there, I think, uh, in connection with our portion.
And Mark chapter 10, Here's the Lord's answer, verse 29 Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or brother, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the Gospels, but he shall receive 100 fold. Now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands with persecution.
And in the world to come, eternal life.
When Peter asked that question and he said that it was true. Lord, we've left all and followed thee. What shall we have? Therefore, I think that's the same question that the dispersion was asking. We've left all, we've left it all. What are we going to have there for?
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And it's been brought out. Their hopes are in this earth. While the Lord tells Peter, you know, if you follow me, there's an aspect of things in this earth you're going to have and enjoy. And all of us have been brought into a place where we have brothers and sisters in Christ, We have mothers and fathers in Christ. We have homes that are open to us day and night or we're welcome where we're taking care of. I have to say, our younger brethren.
Travel and are cared for in a way that few other groups of Christians are and well fed too, and mothers in abundance and Dutch uncles as needed and so on. So thankful for that that we enjoy. But he says with persecutions for this scene, you know, I don't think Peter hardly would have entered into what that meant. Turn to a verse in First Corinthians 4.
There are several verses.
1St Corinthians 4 and verse 9. For I think that God has set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed unto death.
For we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake. For your wise in Christ we are weak, but ye are strong.
You're honorable, but we are despised even unto this present hour. We both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place and labor. Working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless. Being persecuted, we suffer it. Being defamed, we entreat.
We are made as the filth of the world and are the off scouring of all things unto this day in the world with persecutions. The Lord said he knew exactly what Peter was going to go through. Peter didn't. He'd be given strength at the time and Peter brings out the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow and that that's our path to.
And so when he speaks of an inheritance that's laid up in heaven, reserved for you, I really think he's taking in that aspect of the inheritance that concerns our portion in heaven. Paul takes up the inheritance as our brother Jim brought out in his broadest aspect and takes in all creative things. But I think Peter is zooming in on this aspect of it, our portion.
In heaven, not on this earth. And it's reserved there for us and we are reserved for that place. You know, Peter left all, he left his boat and he left his Nets on the day that he got the biggest haul of fishes he had ever had in his career as a businessman. There was a day that was a day like no other day.
You know, it's like the guy selling real estate that sells a $60,000 house one day and a few weeks later sells another, then he sells a $5,000,000 mansion. You know, he just, it was tremendous. He walked away from it all to follow the Lord. Where are those Nets?
Where is that boat? Maybe it had Peter's name on that boat. His business name is gone. It's all gone. But you know, there's a day coming and Revelation brings it out when that new Jerusalem is going to appear. And it has 12 foundations. And in those very foundations are the names, engraving of the 12 apostles of the Lamb.
What an exchange.
From all that he had here.
For what is yet to come? What shall we have? Therefore he hardly knew the persecution that he was going to pass through.
And these dear believers that he's writing to perhaps hardly knew they were beginning to experience it. What shall we have there for? Oh, there's an inheritance laid up in heaven for you. Words can't describe it. It's far beyond anything that could ever be offered in this world. It's worth leaving everything behind.
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Can't lose, can we? And it really threw Paul's persecutors.
It really confounded them, or we say threw them for a loop because after Saul of Tarsus was saved.
They decided to persecute him. Oh, he said, I counted all joy. Oh, they said, we can't give him any joy, so we'll kill him. Oh, to die is gain. I I get promoted. You know, they really didn't know what to do with them. They really had never had somebody like this before. But as Christians, we can't lose. And that's what you brought out here because first of all, the inheritance is reserved for us. But then, as Wally said, we're preserved for the inheritance.
Let me use another little illustration. Let's suppose someone promises you that when they die, they're going to leave you an inheritance, and when I'm gone, this will be yours. But suppose the person in their later years needed assisted care, living and and so on and went. By the time they died, the inheritance was gone. There was nothing left. You lost out. But something else could happen too. Someone could promise you an inheritance, and you could predecease the person.
You weren't reserved for the inheritance. And when they did die, the inheritance had to go to somebody else. But either way, brethren, we can't lose. The inheritance is reserved for us, it's sure. And we're going to be preserved for the inher, for the inheritance. Brethren, if that doesn't thrill our hearts and wean us from earth now, I don't know what goes on within our hearts to realize all that is ahead for us in the heavenly scene when we come back to reign with Christ. Whatever aspect of things you want to take up in connection with the future.
If that doesn't wean us from earth, then I say I don't know what goes on within our heart. I'd like to turn to a verse and type a couple of verses in Titus that bring 2 very important things together in connection with what is future.
In Titus chapter 2.
He says, I'll read from verse 11, For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly.
In this present world, our present age, I'll stop there for a moment and just make this comment. Grace here is a teacher and tea. Grace teaches us how to live for Christ in this present age. That's right where we are today. Whether it was Paul writing to Titus, whether it was the days of our forefathers, or whether it's right here where we are near the end of 2018, just before the Lord comes, this is the present age.
And grace teaches us how to live where we're we find ourselves in our history. But then I want to notice this two things. Looking for that blessed hope now, brethren, that I believe is what we are expecting at any moment, Maybe before lunchtime, we'll have the fulfillment of this blessed hope, that sure and steadfast hope. What is that? The Lord Jesus coming at any moment to receive us to himself. But there's another part to our hope.
You know, we often say our the proper hope of the Christian is the Lord's coming forth. That's true, but it's not the whole truth. There's something else that's connected with our blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. And that is more particularly what Peter is occupied with, isn't it? He's looking beyond the Lord's coming for us. He's looking at the appearing, and the appearing is always in connection.
With a day of manifestation, a day of reward, a day when he's going to come back and take his rightful place, we're going to share in all created things with him and so on. And that really is part of our hope as well. And brethren, I believe too, that is what is going to help to give us the proper character of strangers and pilgrims that we spoke of yesterday is to realize that not only is the Lord coming for us at any moment.
But we're going to share in the Kingdom in that glorious appearing in the coming day. And that's why Paul, at the end of his life, he said to Timothy in almost the last words he wrote by inspiration, all those that love his appearing. That's not what we're expecting this morning. His coming. I hope we love that too. I hope we're looking for that too. But do we really love his appearing brethren? The thing that there's a day coming when he's going to have his rightful place.
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And take his inheritance. Do we love that we walk down the streets of Saint Louis or our hometowns or cities? We have to recognize Christ is not outwardly owned now. He's still the song of the drunkard. He's still on the lips of the cursor. But there's a day coming when he's going to have his rightful place. Do we love his appearing? That's what Peter really is bringing before us in his epistles, the time when he's going to appear.
And we're going to have the full salvation. We have the salvation of our souls now, but we're going to have our full deliverance and the salvation of our body, bodies of glory like unto His body of glory, and share in everything that is rightfully His.
That is going to deliver us from materialism, isn't it? And I, I really believe we need to get that before us. I enjoyed what Steve brought out about it being more the heavenly focus here, because brethren, I do believe that what occupies our minds so very much is earth and earthly things. Just stop at the end of the day and ask yourself.
How much of today have I been thinking about heavenly things? I'm afraid it's not even a double digit with me percentage wise. It's it's just, it occupies so much of our thoughts. And if we would compare heavenly things with earthly things rather than it's far beyond any of our capacity to be able to comprehend. And Paul was caught up.
Into the 3rd heaven to see those things he didn't even remember. Did I have my body on or was I out of the body? I cannot tell. It was so tremendously.
Before his soul that he couldn't remember anything about himself. So that I think heavenly blessing and that heavenly portion of the inheritance is far greater.
But it will, if we think of it, we're going to inherit this world as well under the reign of Christ. And I remember a brother in the Dominican Republic that was so occupied with earning material things that we went to visit one time. And it's beautiful where he had his land, extremely beautiful. But we said to him.
You're going to inherit everything in a few short years when the Lord Jesus comes again. Isn't it enough? Which you have already. Why do you want to continue to get more and more and more? It's just really a distraction to you to understanding and enjoying what is truly yours in Christ. And so brethren, it will deliver us from materialism if we are enjoying the fact of.
Our inheritance, that which we will possess when the Lord Jesus takes his rightful place.
Peculiarity of the Christian position is that we're both in Canaan and in the wilderness and in Ephesians we find that we're already seated in the heavenlies, whereas in Peter, as we've been talking about, it's reserved in heaven for us. So it's a a thing that's ahead of us. But you know, I'm so thankful for the ministry of Peter because.
We are in a wilderness. That's the character the world takes on to us. If we have the correct perspective, it becomes a wilderness. But the wilderness is associated with trials. We still have our cattle, we still have our tents, we still have our children, we still have our families. All these are things that were part of the wilderness experience and with our responsibilities that we still bear. Now we can't escape them. And we read as we go on, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. We have two aspects there. We kept by the power of God, but it's through faith. That brings an owl walk as well. Of course, the faith is from him.
Uh, as well, we have to admit that, but it's through faith. There's, uh, there's a sense of responsibility and connection with that. And then not to skip ahead, but there are trials that we face and those trials are real. Umm, it speaks of, yeah, in heaviness and Mr. Davis's grief, there is grief connected with the wilderness and these things that we've been Speaking of encourages. And they lift their eyes up to look Heavenwood, but don't ever suggest they take away.
00:50:19
The grief, the pain, the suffering connected with the wilderness. They're they're, they're very real that God has a purpose in them for us. And that's where the encouragement is. And then just to change subject a little bit, I was struck as their brother was reading from Ephesians, that speaks of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints. Do we ever stop and think of that?
They his inheritance is in the Saints and the only way I can explain that and these thoughts aren't mine is that.
God, Jehovah God, possessed Israel, the physical land in Israel, through his people, Israel the inheritance connected with created things, and he will possess it through created beings. He will possess his inheritance in the Saints.
Explain to us Brother Nick in verse six it says, ye greatly rejoice, and then it says.
You are in heaviness. Is that possible to greatly rejoice and be heavy at the same time? Absolutely.
I think the wherein you greatly rejoices connected with the things that we've been Speaking of. You know I.
This is a very feeble example, but I recently went back to Australia in anticipation of being with my parents who had not seen in two years was something I greatly rejoiced in. From the point of time I left the terminal in Denver or left home until I went to bed in my brother's house was about 30 hours. 30 hours of traveling, 30 hours of uncomfortable in an economy seat in the airplane there was some minimal.
Grief associated with that but.
That's that's where we are as believers in this world. We we greatly rejoice knowing what we're looking forward to, but meanwhile we are exposed to the the system choose of life in this world here.
An expression in Second Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 10 that I believe answers Bob's question as well. I'll just read it. Second Corinthians 6 verse 10. Paul is Speaking of some of his experiences. And notice this little expression as sorrowful yet always rejoicing. And I think this is helpful because as someone said earlier, we want, we don't want to think that in Christianity we become callous or indifferent.
Or steal ourselves to the circumstances God allows in our lives. The Lord Jesus when he was here was the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He wept at the grave of Lazarus. He felt the effects of that sin had brought in. He empathized with those who were going through real trials and difficulties. And so we don't want to, as I say, steal ourselves and feel we need to be above all that. In fact, I believe as Christians.
Our affections and sympathies have been opened in a way that the unbelievers have not. I've sometimes said at the coffin or the grave of a loved one. I believe a believer sorrows deeper than the unbeliever.
Because his affections, her affections, have been opened in a way that theirs have not.
The only difference is they don't grieve or or mourn with despair. It's always with hope and the joy of what is on the other side and and what is is ahead. So sorrowful yet always rejoicing.
And these brethren that Peter was writing to, he wanted to encourage them, as they felt very keenly.
The circumstances they were going through, He wanted them to have the joy of the Lord in their souls.
He wanted them to go through it with rejoicing and another thing he brings before them, not to back up, but ready to be revealed in the last time.
Go to a verse in, in uh, Second Thessalonians, and I find this a tremendous verse and a tremendous encouragement to my own soul. Speaking of the day when the Lord Jesus comes back, heaven opens up to reveal him, coming in power and glory, crowned with many diadems whose right it is to reign and so on. And notice what it says in verse ten of Second Thessalonians chapter one.
When he shall come, that's his appearing.
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To be notice this glorified in this thing and to be admired in all them that believe I'm going to skip the italics in that day. Now in that day is always connected with the appearing and when he comes brethren and the world looks up and they see the Lord Jesus coming in power and glory. The one that they cast out and said we will not have him. They're not only going to see Christ coming in power and glory.
But brethren, we're gonna be revealed with them. Think of it. And when the world looks up and they see Christ coming in power and glory, wherever they look, they're gonna see Christ. He's coming to be glorified in his Saints. You know, we ought to glorify Christ in our bodies now and in our lives and so on. But I can only point the finger at my own heart and say sometimes the pretty clouded picture, they don't always see Christ manifest in my life like they ought.
But it throws my soul to think that the day is coming.
When they haven't opened up and they look at you, they look at me, and wherever they look, they see Christ, brethren, he's coming to be revealed in his Saints, coming to empower and glory. And again, that that is given to encourage us that whatever little sacrifice or thing we might think, we give up now to follow the Lord, whatever little. And we don't know anything about persecution much really like many of our brethren do in other parts of the world today, but whatever we feel we've sacrificed or given up to follow the Lord.
What is it, brethren, in comparison to that day of Revelation? Christ and His people coming and that glory, the glory of His Person shining through every St. of God. Tremendous, isn't it?
To what we're doing for him it's what he's doing in US and that's what we have in verse 7, isn't it that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perish it through though it be tried with fire might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. So it's when he.
He comes again, it will be with what He was working in us through the trials of the way. Sometimes we bring problems on ourselves. But brethren, God is so great in His grace that He takes even the trials that we bring on Himself to work what He has purposed for us from that past eternity.
There's a couple of things in the six. It says, though, now for a season, and I can't say in my life that I've had many trials, but it's good to be reminded when we're going through a trial that it's for a season. There's a time limit on it. And then secondly, it says if need be, you know, Job, it's a great mistake of Job's friends was to try to figure out why Job was suffering and they were sure that it was because he had some secret sin in his life.
We make 2 mistakes often in our own lives and with the lives of others. One trying to figure out why a person is going through something and the up or or in the case of ourselves, what it is that we've done. That God is putting us through something and all the focus comes on ourselves. What God would have us in trials is to turn the focus to Him. And that's really what Eli who did in Job's case. He turned his thoughts from himself to look upward. That's all all he did. He couldn't answer the question either as to why.
Job went through a trial. Job was a righteous man, but there was and needs to be in his life. Uh, in connection with my comments, we've often heard the three PS the why God allows trials in our life. They're preventative, positive, umm, punitive, and I always forget one, umm.
Preparative, thank you. And we always tend to focus on the punitive. We always tend to focus on the punitive, but God allows lives, uh, trials in our lives for various reasons. But, and, and in Job's case, that's what his friends were doing, looking for a punitive reason why Job was suffering. There was a need to be in Job's life, but it wasn't for punitive reasons. And so there are needs fees in our life and God allows trials in. Umm, it's interesting. We're just being going through some, you know.
Sunday school Bible reading and the meeting back in Englewood and went through some 11 and it says there.
01:00:08
Uh.
Verse five The Lord triath the righteous.
But the wicked in him that loveth violence is so haters, the Lord trieth the righteous and so we have needs bees and God allows those trials in our life. The second thing, another thing to remember I'm not counting them here, but another thing to remember in connection with trials is that we don't the metallurgist doesn't try base metals in the fire. He tries gold and so we're going through a trial is because God sees value in US. We're gold. It's not because we're base metal.
So he tries not to prove that there is faith.
But he tries like gold is purified in the fire, to bring out its qualities. Because.
Faith trusts God and that glorifies God, and so it's found to praise and honor and glory because trusting God glorifies God. And so the needs be is.
Think of many things, but I think primarily the needs be is to bring out the qualities.
Of faith and the believer because it's for God's glory. That's really what you have with the blind man in John 9. You know the disciples when they came to brought the blind man to the Lord, they said who has sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind. You know, we were bringing out what you say, Nick at a conference on another continent recently and uh, a sister came to me after and she said to me she said it's interesting what was ministered because she said.
My father, his whole life tried to figure out why the Lord allowed trials in every other Saints life and he ended up miserable. But since that was a very interesting observation. But it's interesting when the Lord answered the disciples in John 9 as to why this trial had been allowed in this man's life, he first of all said neither this man nor his parents, and then he gave the reason that the works of God might be manifest in him. Isn't that interesting? It was really as you say, Brother Steve, in the end.
That glory was going to be brought to the Lord Jesus and to God in the healing of this man.
And so we tend to judge why things are allowed in others lives. Now I do believe when the Lord allows trial in our lives, it's good to get into the presence of the Lord and to seek the Lord's. The reason why the Lord has allowed this in my life. And maybe there is some sin in my life, maybe it is for his chastening, but not necessarily. And I am not to judge in another's life why God has a has allowed the trial. I'm to learn by it.
Because when one member suffers, we all suffer, and we all can seek to learn by what the Lord has allowed in another's life.
But rather than trying to search their hearts, search my own heart. Why has God allowed this? What lesson does God have for me in allowing a trial in Brother Nick's life or Brother Steve's life, but not trying to judge what it why he's allowed it in your life? And with Job's friends, as you say, many of the things they said were right, but they had the wrong spirit and attitude toward Job and they had the wrong perspective as to why God was allowing this in his life.
Would have been hard for Peter to write these words, wouldn't it, if he didn't have the words going through his mind. I have prayed for thee that thy faith hail not. And so when we see another going through a trial or about to go through a trial, if we share the heart of the integrate intercessor, we're going to join them and say, I pray for these thy faith. They'll not.
So we have to hold up the hands that hang down and strengthen the feeble knees when we see others going through trials, aren't we?
Umm, he was, he was speaking to his own people. Peter was familiar with what was going through the soul of these Jewish believers. Their inheritance had been defiled and they had been, you might say, uh, set on a shelf because of their disobedience. And that in itself probably was a blow to, uh, a Jewish person. But.
Umm.
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Peter reminds them that they're, they're, they're now given an inheritance which cannot be defiled, and he's encouraging them that even though they're going through manifold temptations and trials that, umm, there there is. It's all going to work for future blessing in a coming Kingdom. So he's setting their eyes on a head to the time when.
They're going to take part in a Kingdom that's going to be far a far more glorious inheritance than the one that they defiled. And so his, his heart here is set to encourage these believers in their present circumstances and just setting before them that all of these things that they were passing through are going to have.
A, a, a rich blessing in the future. And you know, it's wonderful if we can we, we were talking about how, umm, we have a tendency to want to figure out why, what something is going on in someone else's life. Well, it's, it's a wonderful thing if we can have this spirit of encouragement when we see someone going through a trial that we can, we can see the very best result that God is seeking to produce.
Through this trial, not necessarily seeing the flaw that God is trying to correct, but to present to them the very greatest blessing that's going to come through this trial. And, and I think that's the spirit of the of, of Peter here is he's encouraging these Jewish believers that there's a, there's a, there's, there's a Kingdom coming and everything that they're going through is going.
To be to the praise and glory of the Lord Jesus in that Kingdom. It's gonna be on display in that Kingdom and it's all gonna work for Rich Blessing for them.
Have a thought or could explain what it meant when the Lord said that thy faith fail not.
I don't know what your thought on it was I did enjoy it in the context of kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. That is that the Lord keeps us through to the end and one of the things he used what he uses his faith and so he strengthens that at the way he operates just as he places just says by faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. He uses that word of God at the very beginning of our conscious souls journey to.
Bringing faith in each one of us. And so he keeps that alive all the way home, keeping us in that way. Peter had faith, didn't he? The Lord wouldn't have worded it that way if he didn't have faith. But it was not that Peter didn't have faith. It's thy faith, as you say. But he prayed that the enemy wouldn't get the upper hand and distract him and discourage him. And so there's faith there. Every believer has faith. I believe in some measure. But what happens is we get our eyes off the Lord.
Off the end of the cert of the journey, off the end of the thing, and the enemy gets the advantage. And I believe that's why he goes on in the eighth verse to speak of the object. Here we've spoken of the inheritance and the glory and all that is ahead, but it's really centered in a person, isn't it? It's at the end of verse 7. Jesus Christ, whom not having seen ye love, He puts the person before them. The apostle Paul often does that, doesn't he?
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, and pressing towards the mark for the prize, and the prize, the goal, the object in the Christian life is always Christ. And so Peter says to these Saints, you've never seen Christ with the physical eye. But is he any less real to the eye of faith? No, he's very real to the eye of faith. And brethren, for us, we've never seen the Lord Jesus with the physical eye. Like Paul said, he was one born out of due time.
He never saw Christ here on earth, but he did see Christ in glory, and with that before his soul, he could press on.
And brethren, I believe this is what is going to give us the courage and the fortitude to press on amidst the trials and the difficulties. They're very real, maybe not in the same way these brethren had, but that we have, we have trials and difficulties and temptations and shall I say, even persecutions in the Western world that are very, very different. They may not be outward physical persecutions. As we said yesterday, we're not afraid of being shot or put in prison for having a Bible conference in this hotel facility this weekend. But there's very real trials and difficulties.
01:10:24
For for a season. But what's gonna preserve us? It's to have the one that we've never seen with the physical eye, but who is very real to the eye of faith. And then in the measure in which we have him before us, we can rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. You know this word unspeakable. I'm just gonna digress for a moment because, and I'll just leave it for a little meditation. You have it three times in the New Testament.
You have it past, present and future. So in the past it says thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. We look back to that unspeakable gift of the Lord Jesus and everything else. Every other blessing is based on that.
And then Paul said when he was caught up to the 3rd heaven, he heard unspeakable words. It was not lawful for a man daughter. And we're going to be caught up there soon too, brother. That's what's ahead for us. But what about the present?
You return now, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. This is for the wilderness, this is for the circumstances, this is for the present. Because God always, from the beginning of history, has done two things for His people.
And I think it's good to get a hold of this in our soul. He always gives them an eye to the future and he gives them a present portion. That's why the psalmist said the Lord will give grace and glory. Glory is what comes at the end, but grace meets our present need. Let me give you a little illustration from the children of Israel. You know, when they got into the wilderness, they became very quickly discouraged. Why? Because they looked back. They, they looked back to Egypt. They said we, we, we were, we were fine back there by the flesh pots and we ate the, the fish and the leeks and the cucumbers. And having eaten them myself, I can see.
From a natural standpoint, why they wanted to go back and get some of those things that they had had left behind, but they were looking back and around and it discouraged them. Moses cried under the Lord. And what did the Lord tell Moses to do?
He told them, tell the children of Israel to turn around. They're looking back, not ahead. And when they looked out over the wilderness, what did they see? All the many weary miles and the, the rock and the sand that was in front of them? No, they saw the glory of the Lord in the cloud. And as long as they kept that before them, they were encouraged to go on. And brethren, as long as we have a vision of the coming glory and what is ahead, we're gonna be encouraged to go on step by step in the wilderness journey.
And as long as we have Christ as the object and heaven as the goal, we're going to be encouraged. So He puts these things before them. The inheritance, yes, but it's all centered in a person whom not having seen ye love. So now you see Him not yet rejoicing you, yet believing there has to be that faith, believing you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Brethren, we can have that too.
Giving is so important, isn't it's what brings that joy? Uh, because as you say, if you look at circumstances, you might not be that way, but it's believing what God has said. I like to read Romans chapter 15 and we have the same thing there in verse 13 says now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace.
In believing that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. So it's the same thing there.
It's in believing that you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
Apostle John.
You said this is the victory that overcometh the world.
Even our faith.
And faith is the gift of God. We know that from Ephesians 2. By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it's the gift of God. I think it's important to see that not only salvation is God's gift, but the faith to believe. I talked to a man one time and he was in tears because he said I don't seem to have enough faith. Well, I believe.
01:15:09
That his faith doesn't originate or it's not sustained from our own effort ourselves, but it's God that gives the faith and He's the one that sustains it. And truly it is faith that enables us to endure in this world. And faith, it does bring the present to the future. I should say, the future to the present, that we might enjoy the future.
Even now.
So you pass it to speak of how we don't look on the things that are seen because the things that are seen are temporal. We look on the things that are not seen because they're eternal. And in this chapter we find truly there are.
Temptations or trials?
And he wants us to know it and to enjoy it. Now the world has its pleasures.
And we might be envious.
Of the world because it seems to be having just a great time, but the fact is the pleasures of sin are only for a season, just like the trials of the believer are for a season. The pleasures of sin are first season and Moses.
Tells us that he chose rather.
To suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
And he has seen the reproach of Christ.
Greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, which no doubt to the natural. I were awesome, you know, the pyramids, the gold, the treasures. But it says he had reckoned respect into the recompense of the reward. So he was looking ahead. And if I could just turn to one song and I think this Psalm.
Perhaps fares on this subject that we're considering in Psalm 73.
It says in verse 3 the psalmist says Psalm 73 verse 3.
He says, I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked, and so on. Verse five, They are not in trouble as other men, and so on and so forth. Don't have time to read all this, but verse 12, Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world. They increase.
Enriches. So he's looking about and he's thinking that I'm losing out.
He says in verse.
16.
When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me.
Now here's the turning point.
Somebody might refer to it as the game changer in verse 17.
Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood either in surely doubt. It set them in slippery places. Thou castest them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation? As in a moment they are utterly consumed with tears. So we see the psalmist. He kind of was.
On the wrong track, you had to get back on the rails, so to speak.
And get the right perspective.
And how is it that he did this? He went into the sanctuary, which I believe to be the presence of the Lord. And when we get into the Lord's presence and we get into His word.
This is when we get the right perspective.
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And you know, it's been said that truth is God's perspective, and if we want truth, we need to be in His presence, in His Word.
I heard recently somebody said we need to have our face in the book, and the book was the word of God. And when we do this we get a perspective and we find out that our portion in Christ is absolutely.
Awesome. It's out of this world. It's so wonderful that which we have in Christ. Now here in the Old Testament, the psalmist speaks in verse.
24 And surely he didn't have the same vision as we have now that we're involved by the Spirit of God, we have the complete word of God. But he does say in verse 24, Psalm 7324, Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me the glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire.
Beside the.
I'd like to go back just for a moment to the Lord's expression to Peter. I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not connected with our portion kept by the power of God through faith.
That is, having the proper objects for faith set before us. It's not just a blank statement kept by the power of God, period.
It's through faith.
It's necessarily linked with it. What was Peter's failure? He had his eye on himself.
He had hopes for an earthly Kingdom. He drew the sword to accomplish it.
And he failed morally. Being kept is being kept morally through this scene and view of what's ahead for us. He keeps us morally by putting the proper objects for faith before us. And that's Christ and all that we have in him.
What was the danger with Peter then was brought out. It wasn't that he didn't have faith, but that faith would fail.
You know, speaking with a young brother once, and I think perhaps all of us have passed through this some measure, and perhaps you're passing through it now.
There is moral failure.
Small things, maybe bigger things.
A lot of discouragement. Try to get back on the path, fail again.
And what was brought before him were those scriptures in connection with needing to judge the flesh, needing to spend time in the Word and so on. And his reply and his discouragement was, I know all the tricks.
Just not working.
And that was a danger for Peter.
The Lord wasn't big enough to keep me.
Just doesn't work. This Christianity thing just not worth it anymore.
He wasn't able to keep me.
But the problem was he didn't have his eye on the Lord.
And that's the danger and the failure of faith and for which the Lord prays for us. We can get discouraged to the point because of our own lack of keeping our eye on the Lord and our own moral failures and kind of say this whole Christianity thing, it just doesn't work.
Just doesn't work like I hear in all the conferences and the meetings and all the nice things there. Just doesn't work for me nor as much as saying the Lord is not able to keep me.
He's prayed for us.
He intercedes for us above, and his advocacy is working on our behalf.
That our faith would not fail. He is big enough to keep us, but He wants to set the objects for faith before us. That's how we're going to be kept, having our eye on Him. And I know I'm repeating, a number of things have already been said.
I don't know. Umm.
Together.
Go ahead and pray.
For us to heal the way of all the end and everything come around 1500 and the radiator.
While I continue to pray for all.
Day.
All the things going on.
Government
Address—Steve Stewart
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 start the meeting this afternoon by singing 312 and 313 in succession 312 and 313?
Lead on Almighty.
And Grand Slam to the world.
Where somebody for all the holy grains?
Right.
Like to read one verse before we ask the Lord's help this meeting? Psalm 62.
And verse 11.
Psalm 6211.
God has spoken.
Once, twice have I heard this, that power belongeth unto God.
Twice have I heard this.
Once with our ears, but then again with our hearts. Power belongeth unto God. I'd like to, with the Lord's help.
Look at the subject of government.
I'd like to look at why there is government.
The ways of God.
In the dispensational ways, in this present world, in connection with government and with calling.
The place that we have as Christians in connection with government.
And then government and its future.
My heart's been somewhat burdened lately as to the involvement of Christians in the political realm.
A place that I don't think we can find any.
Any foundation in Scripture to support that we should be involved in that arena.
I'd like to start with romance and the 13th chapter.
00:05:06
Where we get?
Instructions for us as believers in connection.
With government in this world.
Romans 13 verse one. Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers or authorities, authorities higher than us.
For there is no power authority, but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation or judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.
Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power?
Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same, for he is a minister of God to thee for good.
But if I'll do that which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is a minister of God, a revenger, to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For this cause pay tribute also.
For they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render, therefore to all their dues tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom fear.
To whom fear honor, To whom honor?
Three times in this portion we find that.
God ordained authority. God ordained government in this world is his minister, his servant.
Power belongs to God. Man has no power in himself.
It comes from God, He gives it to whom He will, and He has established authority or power in this world for a particular purpose. And three times God ordained government has called His minister, first of all to thee, for us, for good. He has us in view.
In connection with the government that he is established in this world, he has our blessing in view.
Also.
A revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. He's a minister of God.
To restrain evil in this world.
That's his job.
And thirdly.
He's a servant of God. He has an office that is given to him of God to collect taxes.
We've talked about an inheritance.
All created things are inheritance.
And he's a minister to collect taxes to maintain our inheritance until the day comes that we possess it with the Lord. So we can thank the Lord for that and not complain.
Does that mean he does a good job with it?
That's another thing.
Power is one thing, but it's execution and use is another, and it involves the gravest responsibility before God who has given it.
Why is there government? Well, we've had three things that are given to us.
But if we turn back to Genesis and look at the dispensational ways of God, we'll see.
The chief reason there, in his dispensational ways, that he established such authority in this earth. Let's turn back to Genesis 8.
The dispensational ways of God unfold in this present world. There's three worlds in second Peter 3. The world that then was overflowed with blood, the world that now is reserved in store with fire against the day of wrath and judgment. And there's a new heavens and new earth. The dispensational ways of God unfold in this present world, properly speaking.
In the first dispensation was given the first administration.
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From God in order dealing with man, order dealing of God with man on the earth in Genesis Chapter 9. But the reason for it is given in chapter 8, chapter 8 and verse 21 upon the sacrifice that Noah offered. It says the Lord smelled a sweet savour. And the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground anymore for man's sake, for the imagination of man's heart.
Evil from his youth. Neither will I against might anymore. Everything living as I have done. God says, as it were. As Noah steps out on that new earth. We're going to begin again, but we're going to begin upon a new understanding, and that is that man's evil through and through.
Only thoughts of his heart are evil from his youth. I'm not going to start again on the principles of the antediluvian world, because it just ended in violence and corruption. I'm not going to let man go unrestrained. Chapter 9. He institutes that restraint.
Chapter 9 and verse 6 Whoso shutteth man's blood by man, shall his blood be shed, For in the image of God made he man. And you be fruitful, and multiply, and bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
This draws our thoughts back to the very first sin that we read of in the Word of God after the fall, and that was the murder of Cain or murder of Abel by Cain.
And God says to Noah.
That was an unwarrantable assumption of what only belongs to me because the life is in the blood. Life belongs to God. Man is not allowed to take it.
And if he does, this is the punishment. His life is to be taken. But I'm not going to do it. You're going to do it. And he put into man's hands the responsibility to restrain his fellow man and to execute judgment.
If evil raises its head, and so it's given in principle every detail of long government, not given here, but it's given in principle to Noah, that man is responsible to restrain man, and God gives him that authority.
The very next thing that happens.
And that with that man to whom government was instituted in principle, is that he fails to govern himself. And at the beginning of every dispensation of God, there is some sin that characterizes the general failure of that dispensation.
He failed to govern himself and he corrupted himself.
And it says in verse 21 he drank of the wine and was drunken, and he was uncovered within his tent.
Well, we know the story.
Ham Caesar's father. He thinks it's funny, he mocks. He despises his father.
And he tries to get his brothers to go along with him in that.
They refuse, they honor their father and they go in backwards in that tent with a blanket and cover him.
No awakes out of his drunkenness, realizes what has happened and he says.
Verse 25 Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of shaman. Canaan shall be a servant. Canaan was Ham's son.
It would seem that perhaps I don't know how old he was, but it was Noah's grandson who first noticed.
Listen told his father.
Who then LED?
The sin of despising that man in whom God had invested authority and power. Not only was he his father, but he stood there as God's minister.
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And holding the sword of government.
Gonna come back here to Genesis in a minute. Just turn to Jude.
A curse came upon Ham's family, Canaan in particular.
And blessing for Sham and Japheth.
Let's look at Jude.
Chapter Earth. Excuse me, verse 8.
Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion and speak evil of dignities.
Verse 10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not.
Rather, how careful.
We need to be with our lips.
In connection with God ordained government in this world.
It failed from the beginning.
It's still failing today. Nonetheless, power belongeth unto God, and He put them in their place. And we are not to speak evil of dignity.
If we do and despise dominion, despise those that God has set in authority, we take our place with the filthy dreamers that crept in unawares into professing Christianity. We don't want to stand there.
In professing Christianity, there's a tremendous.
Backing of the current administration.
And coupled with it are some of the most vile things that could be said about the previous.
About a man whom God put in the highest office in this world for eight years.
Who bore the responsibility before God as to that office?
And Christians don't blush to speak evilly of that man.
That's irregardless of his failures or what he was promoting.
Irregardless. And the woman who was his vice president.
As they chant in their rallies, Lock her up, Christian voices are there.
Despising Dominion.
Oh, they take their place.
So those that crept in unawares.
In Genesis says time went on.
We know the next thing that took place was they built that tower and the plains of Shinar.
God came down in judgment upon them, and he separated the peoples by language.
Divided them into nations.
And so thus far in this new world, we have government ordained, we have certainly we know marriage and is from God and we have God telling Noah to be fruitful, multiply. God is families are his institution and now government is as well or or nations are as well. Yes, it was in judgment.
But he did it. He.
Is the one who created the nations.
And he had it with a particular object in mind.
I'm gonna just read from Deuteronomy chapter 32.
And verse 8 when the most High divided to the nations their inheritance.
When he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel, for the Lord's portion is His people. Jacob is a lot of his inheritance. He was going to have a particular people and a particular place that he had for them in this earth.
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Interestingly enough, that land that he purposed for that nation was seized upon by the very one who came under the curse, Canaan. Mr. Darby says he seized the jewel of the Orient.
But God displaced him in time and brought his people into that land.
So we have families.
Extended family. We have nations, we have government.
Things that are ordained by God.
Set up by God.
There's a problem.
Sin can come in any of those things.
And it did.
And so God brings another principle in, and he calls a man named Abram. And the God of glory appeared to our father Abram when he was in Mesopotamia, Stephen said. And he said, get out, get out, and he called him out of Father's house.
Immediate family, Kindred, extended family and nation.
He didn't say reform your father's house. We know they were idolaters. We read that in Joshua 24.
He didn't say reform your extended family. He didn't say reform the nation that you belong to. He said get out, and he got out and he came into that land of promise. The Canaanite dwelt there. He went through the length and breadth of the land. He left everything just as it was.
Was his inheritance, but he left everything just as it was. God didn't call him out of moral corruption. Yes, there was moral corruption. He called him out of those things that he had instituted himself.
And He brings the principle of calling in, that there might be a principle that would act upon us, that we would not be bound to the very things He is instituted when sin comes in.
It's a higher.
Caller, it's a higher authority.
While God had separated the sons of Adam, he had a nation in mind, and in time we go on through the Scriptures.
And that family of Abrams grows, and then Hosea, and the 11Th chapter we get a beautiful verse.
Hosea 11 and verse one.
When Israel was a child then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt.
Israel was called by God as a nation, as Abram had been as an individual those many years before. That's what Paul calls in Romans 9, the adoption. They had a place of sonship nationally before God. He called his son out of Egypt. That was the birth of that nation, the Exodus.
They were called by God.
Not only that, if we turn back a little to Jeremiah in the third chapter.
In verse 17 we read this. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, the throne of Jehovah.
And if we were to look at First Chronicles 29 at the coronation of Solomon, we would read these words then.
Solomon on the throne of Jehovah in the stead of his father David. Yes, David's throne was the throne of the Lord in this earth.
And so now we take these two principles, these two dispensations.
Government and calling, and they are brought together now in one nation.
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Called by God the seed of His government in this world.
Turn over to Scripture in Second Samuel.
Chapter 23.
Second Samuel 23.
Verse two in the spirit of the Lord, spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said the rock of Israel spake to me. He that ruleth over men must be just ruling in the fear of God, and he shall be as the light of the morning when the sun rises, even a morning without clouds, as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.
Although my house be not so with God.
Yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things ensure, for this is all my salvation and all my desire, although he maketh not to grow. But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands, but the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear, and they shall be utterly burned with fire.
In the same place, David.
Was the benchmark king.
But he was a failure as much as Noah.
And really, the history of the kings of Israel and Judah are nothing but a history.
To show that the 1St man cannot hold the scepter in righteousness. He can't and David acknowledges that.
And he looks on to someone who's going to come and be just.
And rule in the fear of God.
And bring blessing as a consequence.
And restrain the sons of Belial. Restrain evil in this world.
He looks on to that day Great David's greater son.
Well, if we were to turn to Isaiah One, we would find that that favored nation failed in their calling.
And they served idols.
They failed in government and they did not execute just government in that land even.
And God cast them out of that land. The Shekinah glory left the temple in Ezekiel, went out of Jerusalem, went up the side of the mountain. The Lord follows the same pattern in Matthew 23 and 24. Out of the temple, out of Jerusalem, up the side of the Mount of Olives. And they'll come back at that same place that He left, just like the Shekinah glory.
No longer.
The throne of Jehovah.
And they were cast out of that land.
Let's turn to Daniel chapter 2.
Daniel Chapter.
Two and verse 38.
Daniel speaking to Nebuchadnezzar. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
We know the story. Nebuchadnezzar had the dream of that tremendous metal image. He was quite awestruck by it, later tried to copy it, build his own.
The plains of Dura.
And Daniel gives them the interpretation of the dream that he had as to that mighty tremendous metal image, that it was the success of Gentile empires, and he was the beginning of that succession of empires. And we find that the sort of government.
No longer resides within Israel as a nation, but it's transferred to Gentile powers and Nebuchadnezzar is head of that. The sword is put into his hand and there's a succession of empires that are going to follow after him from the Babylonian to.
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The Medo, Persian to the Grecian to the Roman.
And the Gentile powers held the sword of government.
Nebuchadnezzar says.
Maybe it's not exactly Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel chapter 4.
If the context here.
And another vision.
It says.
Verse 17. This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones, to the intent, that the living may know that the most High rule within the Kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over at the basest of men.
Nebuchadnezzar got lifted up in pride of his position and power and independent in his thoughts as to receiving that from God, and God was going to have to cut him down until he knew that the power he had came from God, because power belongeth to God.
And so he was cut down. But he hears this. He sets up over the Kingdom of men the basis.
Oh man, the lowest of the low. Why are you surprised, dear Christian?
When you see the basis of man sitting on the Thrones of power in this world.
Why does it give us any right to resist that power? Absolutely not.
Absolutely not. Not Only we should know, more than all others that he sets over the Kingdom of men, the basest of men. We should know. We shouldn't expect anything different.
But we're so surprised at times how thankful we can be if He sets a righteous man in that place. They're responsible to God to rule justly.
That's true, but don't be surprised he sets up over the Kingdom of men, the basest of men at times.
In this chapter we see Nebuchadnezzar pictured as a tree, and he's cut down.
But the stump of the roots is left in the earth.
Like to apply it this way, you know that's a succession of kingdoms came to an end.
Around AD 460, somewhere in there follow the Roman Empire.
But the stump of the roots is left in the earth.
Till the day comes when this world learns what Nebuchadnezzar needed to learn, that the Most High rule in the kingdoms of man and the stump of the roots is still there today, and they bear not the sword in vain.
It's going to revive you. Cut a tree down that's, uh, in vigor and full of SAP. You'll find that pretty soon there's springs that spring out and grow up. Pretty soon you can have a tree again.
It's going to flourish again someday.
But we know the man that's gonna bring that to pass.
What about?
Calling.
The sword transferred to the Gentiles did the call of God, No.
In Romans 11 we read the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance.
God is not changed his mind.
As to the call of his earthly people.
And the time came.
When that promised king that David looked for was born.
Where is he that is born king of the Jews?
He came.
But they put them on a cross.
And they put that title over, and this is Jesus the king of the Jews. And Israel's hopes were dashed, as was brought out earlier.
They were dashed.
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And that Kingdom that he would have established was postponed.
He hasn't changed his mind.
The gifts and calling of God are without repentance, but it is postponed until another day.
And then what unfolded?
All that deep secret that was in the heart of God came out, that mystery that was hidden, gone from ages and from generations.
The truth of Christ in the church and the Spirit of God came down on Pentecost, and that church was formed.
And brought into existence, united to Christ in heaven.
And we read in Hebrews, Holy brother.
Partakers of the heavenly calling.
We read in second Peter, God has called us by glory and virtue, the same God of glory that called Abram long ago.
Has called you and I.
Into fellowship with him, we read in Colossians were called in one body.
This is the time of the calling of the church. Oh, did Israel's call get transferred to us? No, the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. And if Israel's call could get transferred to the church, then we stand in danger of losing it ourselves, where we failed every bit as much as the church as Israel had.
But the gifts and the call of God are without repentance.
We have been called by God.
But the sword of government remains firmly with the Gentile powers. It was never given to the church. Sad to say, there are those and some dear believers and men of God. Zwingli is one that comes to mind. Who took the sword? Luther said of him. They that take the sword will perish by the sword. And so he did in the battlefield.
It didn't belong to him.
The Lord said to Peter, Put up thy sword.
Put up Lysol.
You and I have not been given the responsibility to restrain evil in this world.
Why, then, do Christians protest at abortion clinics? What are they trying to do, get sinners to stop sinning?
And all of the other protests that they get involved with trying to stop sinners from sinning. Who's been given that responsibility? God ordained. Government's been given the sword to restrain evil, not the church.
We've got no place being involved in that.
We have been put in here as we find in Matthew 5. Ye are the salt of the earth. You have the light of the world as we walk in the truth of God.
As we walk through this world in obedience to Him.
We are going to have a preservative effect upon this world, and so it has been.
The more the Saints of God walk in the truth of God, and the closer they stay to the Lord, the more this world feels the preservative effect of us being salt. But salt can lose its savor.
And what are you gonna make it into salt with? If it isn't salt anymore, you nothing. It's worthless.
As we walk in the light of His Word, we're dispensers of divine light in this world.
That's the place we have been given. God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts.
To give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ. We have this treasure in earthen vessels, but it's for the shining out.
And Paul goes on to say, we are we then are ambassadors for Christ.
And we have a message that has been given to us in a ministry of grace and glory, and that message, as we beseech you, be reconciled to God.
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That's our job.
Not to get sinners to stop sinning, but to bring them to Christ. What do you expect from a Sinner but sin?
You're not gonna get anything else. They need a new life. They need a savior. They need to be reconciled to God.
Anything else is an empty remedy. The government can restrain sinners from sinning and they get out of prison and they go right back to their sins.
First, Timothy gives us some other help in connection with.
Our place and respect of government.
First Timothy, chapter 2.
First one. I exhort therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings, and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge.
Of the truth.
That's something we've been given to do, to pray.
For those that are in authority.
Oh, I see a lot.
A lot of encouragement floating around the Internet put out by Christians to pray for the current administration and president.
Where were they for the eight years before that?
It's a it's a little lopsided.
Says pray for all of them.
He put them in their place.
We need to pray for them that they would do their job.
Because if they do their job and restrain evil, we're going to live quiet, peaceable lives.
Do we just pray for the ones that we think are favorable to Christianity and speak evil of the rest? That's not for Christian.
Need to pray for all of them.
If a rebellion arose in this land and the current administration was overthrown.
And a new one took its place that was antagonistic to Christianity.
Go back to Romans 8 and Romans 13. The powers that be are deemed of God, not just the ones that were yesterday, the powers that be right now.
Are ordained of God.
It would be our place to submit.
Now another principle comes in.
And we read in Acts chapter 4 that Peter says should judge E whether we should obey?
God or man?
We're never to be in a place where we don't submit.
But it may be we need to submit to God above man. We're never to be in the place where we disobey.
But it may be we need to obey God rather than man.
Thankful for that principle, but it can involve a tremendous cost.
But it's there. Otherwise, we're to submit, we're to acknowledge that those authorities are from God, and we're to pray for them.
Nero was in power.
When this was written.
Christian human torches lit his gardens.
Paul said where to pray for all that earn authority, kings and so on. That's our place as believers. Intercession. What a happy place. What a better place than protest and resistance and struggle.
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That's where we fit in.
A brother some years ago just been saved and was struggling with where we fit in.
And.
He came to Brother Bruce Conrad and I'll mention his name because I think it helps, you know, Brother Bruce came to Bruce struggling with these things. And he, he put a piece of paper on the desk and he took a pen and he wrote something like the left and the right and drew a line between them and handed them and says, where do we fit on this line?
Bruce took the pen. He threw it. That's where we fit, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling. We don't fit on that line. We're not left or right or centrist.
Or Green Party or anything else.
We're called from above heavenly men by birth, who once were but the citizens of earth.
Turn a little over and Timothy.
Chapter 6.
Here's our fight.
Verse 12 Fight the good fight of faith.
They hold on eternal life, wherein to thou art also called, and hast professed the good profession before many witnesses. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, Who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession, or the good confession, that thou keep this commandment without spot unrebukable until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That commandment was found in the first chapter where Paul gives his mandate to Timothy that he was to remain in Ephesus to make sure that nothing else but the truth of God was taught in Ephesus, and he adjores him and in connection with the Lord Jesus Christ and his good confession before Pilate. So let's turn back to John's gospel.
Where we can find that good confession?
John's Gospel, chapter 18. The Lord had been brought by the Jews and accused to Pilate.
That he had made himself king and was endangering Caesar's interests, and Pilate was responsible to maintain Caesar's interests in that land.
And so he had a concern.
And he says to the Lord.
And verse 33 Art thou the king of the Jews?
Jesus answered him, Sayeth how this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? Pilate answered, Am IA Jew. I know nation and chief priests have delivered thee unto me. What hast thou done? Jesus answered, My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom or of this world, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is my Kingdom not from thence.
Satisfied question asked Are Caesar's interests in jeopardy?
Not by a man whose Kingdom isn't of this world. What does Caesar care about a Kingdom that's out of this world? They don't care anything about that.
No fighting servants.
Nothing to worry about there.
This little interchange with Pilot, you might say, is in two sections. First, his concern for Caesar's interests.
But the second part.
This pilot demands.
Do you know?
Caesar's interests were secure. There's something about this man. There's something about this man.
And now he comes as pilot demand, not the governor.
And he says, you know, I just think of him getting close to the Lord, just looking at him. Art thou a king, then?
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Thou sayest that I am king. To this end was I born.
For unto us a child is born.
And unto us his Son is given, and the government shall be.
Upon his shoulder.
Yes, for this end he was born.
Came.
Who they are about to put upon a cross.
But then he says something else, and I think this is the good confession.
For this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.
Everyone that is of the truth here with my voice.
All Timothy.
If you maintain the truth that I've been given from an ascended Christ among the Saints of God axis.
You'll be partaking in the good confession of our Lord Jesus Christ before Pilate. He came to bear witness of the truth.
You and I have been put here for this same reason.
The Church is the pillar and the ground of the truth.
Philippians.
Chapter 3.
Verse 18 For many of whom I have told you often, and now tell you, even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
There were those who were minding earthly things, that is, they were seeking to bring.
The earthly religion of Judaism into Christianity in order to make it more palatable and to avoid persecution.
Avoid the sufferings that came.
With bearing the cross.
I minded earthly things. Oh, why is it that Christians are fighting to have a Christian government, are protesting to stop sinners from sinning? Because they want to live without anything to bother them?
They wanna go on and on and on and on until, well, I die and go to heaven.
In a land where there's nothing to oppose or to offend me in any way.
Oh, brethren, it's mine, the earthly things.
We don't look for salvation here.
We look for a Savior from heaven.
He's our man.
Isaiah 32.
Verse One. Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness.
And Princess shall rule in judgment, and a man shall be as in hiding place from the wind, and a covert from The Tempest, as rivers of water in the dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
Verse 16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. In the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation and ensure dwellings and in quiet resting places.
He's our man.
He's coming.
He's gonna set everything right.
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It's gonna be like a morning without clouds.
And he must ring.
Until everything is brought under his feet.
Till everything is brought into subjection to God.
And he only can do it.
He's the one that we look for.
Ezekiel.
Chapter 21, it says I will overturn it, overturn it, overturn it.
It shall be no more till he come whose right it is.
And I will give it him. It's his by right. He's the lion of the tribe of Judah. He alone can open that book with its seven seals and bring to pass all the councils of God.
In Thessalonians, time is getting down there and Thessalonians and, uh, second, second Thessalonians, second chapter.
We find that there is.
One who restrains evil in this world.
Unnamed.
And, uh, perhaps it's a little different than some have had, uh, thought of it, but I'd like to bring out what I think is the truth of this little portion. There is a mystery of iniquity that works, but there is that which withholdeth in verse six. That he might, the man of sin might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work. Only he who now letteth will let until he be taken.
Out of the way.
God is going to, by the power of the Spirit of God, sustain God ordained government in this world until the church is gone.
When the apple of his eye, when the object of his affections, has been taken out of this world, the time for judgment is going to come, and not before. Not till Lot, so to speak, was taken out of Sodom did judgment fall on that place, and the man of sin is going to be revealed. But what is restraining him now? What has always restrained sin in this world since that new earth?
Began that Noah stepped down on God ordained government.
Sustained by the power of the Spirit of God.
And in the 1St 3 1/2 years with tribulation you see the Spirit of God removing his power supporting Aubrey institution that man is dependent upon in the whole thing crumbles into a horrific mass of confusion and revelation. 17 we read that then the beast comes out of the pit.
And the first time in this world there is going to be a government.
That is not ordained by God. The Lord said to Pilate. He could have no power against me, except it had been given to you from above. But that beast is going to get his power from underneath.
And the Lord is going to come.
And he's gonna destroy him and his Kingdom and establish his own.
Well, in first Peter, second Peter, three we read of the world that is yet to come, and new heavens and new earth says wherein righteousness not reigns, dwells, because there's no evil to put down, there's no evil to restrain.
In that new heaven, the newer it's all gone.
It's every trace is gone. Righteousness will dwell, but there's going to be no government to restrain. Just like the world before the flood, there was no government, there were no nations, all were one language. And the new heavens and new earth, there's no government, there's no nations, all one language.
Now is the time of the unfolding of His dispensation, but we look forward to that day of God and everything will be brought into accordance with Him. Could we say 115?
115.
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Head of the church.
By breakfast.
So he said to the West main, is there anything?
Oh my God.
So patience.
0123.
Oh my God, I was right down.
And rest all the reason.
Agreement and so on. The nation needs to grow. I, I, I, I, I, I I don't know. I don't know how to do that. You know, right now, umm, they're gonna have anything we're gonna do with Raymond.
Ah.
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah and now.
Our God and our Father, we come in like precious words to thy help by the power of the Spirit of God and its application to our hearts.
Once I was spoken, help us to.
1 Peter 1:9-25
Reading
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.
Reading and, uh, first Peter chapter one.
And I think we're two above verse 9, which is the end of a sentence that starts at verse 6. But I don't think we want to go back that far anyway. Umm, verse nine is about the salvation of your soul. So I'll start in verse ten, of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently.
Who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ?
And the glory that should follow, unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us, they administer the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you.
With the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, which thing is the angels desire to look into? Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind. Be sober.
An oolt to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust in your ignorance, but as he which has called you is holy, So be holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy.
If you call on the Father, who without respect of persons, judge us according to every man's work past the time of your sojourning here in fear. For as much as you know that you are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your Father's, but with the precious blood of Christ.
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As of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who barely was poor, ordained before the foundation of the world.
What was manifest in these last times for you?
Who by him do believe in God that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God?
Seeing you have purified your souls, and obeying the truth through the Spirit unto one thing, love the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure heart, fervently being born again, not a corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.
We're all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass.
Grass withereth, and the flowers thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
Too, So here we have the Christian focus of the salvation of our souls, and then it goes on to develop that in the verses that follow, of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should be, should come unto you, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them, did signify.
When it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. Rather, we don't realize how much we have to give thanks to God for what the Spirit of God brings to light for us. We understand those Old Testament scriptures. The Old Testament prophets were inspired by God to write what they did, but they often did not understand what they wrote.
And they stood back and they said, now what would that mean? For example, David wrote in Psalm 22, they pierced my hands and my feet.
When he wrote that, I don't know, but perhaps he said, what does that mean? My hands and my feet are not pierced, so it wasn't revealed to them. But now we understand what it all means. It comes together.
The Spirit of God has revealed it, but it's interesting that it brings it. It calls it in verse 11, the Spirit of Christ. It's the courses of the Holy Spirit, but it's the Spirit of Christ.
That was in them.
Interesting, some people have often asked in Hebrews Chapter 11 it talks about Moses that esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. Christ did not come yet. Why does it say it that way, the reproach of Christ? But those are things that are very interesting to meditate on. Brendan. So what characterizes Christianity is intelligence, isn't it? And that's why in Ephesians chapter one and verse 8.
He, it says he's abounded unto us in all wisdom. And I'll quote from Mr. Darby's translation and intelligence. And even in the Old Testament their service wasn't necessarily an intelligent service either. If you had stepped up to the altar and asked the priests and the Levites, why do you have to do certain things with certain sacrifices? Why when it's a bird, does the head have to be pinched off and the crop and the feathers set aside? Why when it's a bullet to certain things have to be filleted in a certain way, and so on.
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And some things are reserved for you and some for the for are, are not and so on. They would have said, we don't know, but we know the consequences if we don't carry this out to the letter. We remember Nadab and Abayu who offered strange fire. They didn't follow God's instructions and we saw what happened to them. They were slain. And so it wasn't really an intelligent service. And as you say, the things they wrote, righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Was that David that wrote that I, I believe it was he must have wondered how can those two things go on on the same plane together? Well, we see in the light of what we have revealed in Christ that how how it can be, how it's fulfilled. And so they, they must have really, as Bob said, pondered those things that they wrote. I believe that they understood very clearly though that they were writing by inspiration. And though they didn't understand it, they were understood that this was what God had told them to wrote to write.
And in spite of being able to understand it, they wrote it according to as God had told them.
Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. But isn't it a wonderful thing? Brethren, think of the age in which you and I have been been brought into the Christian era where these things are revealed to us. I wanna just encourage us all to avail ourselves to of the writings of men that God has raised up to bring out and explain to us from Scripture these precious things.
We don't want to set aside the Word of God and the Spirit of God. It's the Word of God and the Spirit of God that teaches us through the Word and it's the Word that's living. But how many of us this weekend have availed ourselves of some of that good Christ exalting ministry that is be for sale on the shelves behind us? You know, God has raised up men to write things that are very helpful and he's given them intelligence and discernment in these things.
And you'll find that what you buy at the back of the room here is based on the word of God. Men that have used scripture, it's not just their own thoughts that they have written. It's not just self help ministry.
Of which there is much of that as well. And I'm not discrediting some of those things in their place, but you want to have a deeper appreciation of the things that we have been Speaking of and all that is ours in Christianity. Read the word, yes. Let the Spirit of God teach you, yes, but also avail yourself of that which God has allowed men to write that are real helps in edifying in that regard.
So I recently had comments on a book in April 13 where it says in verse seven, I read from the Sandy translation, remember your leaders who have spoken to you the word of God and consider the issue or the end of their conversation or their life, their conduct, imitate their faith. The emphasis is really those that have passed on and we're to remember what they said, what they wrote. We haven't recorded for our admonition.
And then in connection with the verse that we have before us, it's good to remember that the gospel was promised. And so in Romans 2 or Romans one and Romans 1 verses one and two, Paul says Paul the servant of Jesus Christ called being apostle separated onto the gospel of God, which he had promised before by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. And Mr. Davi has a note on that. The Holy Scriptures he says it should just say.
Uh, in holy writings, because it's broader even than the scriptures that we hold in our hand. And we're taking the Gentile as well. But in the Old Testament, we have the promise of the one that would come. We have the, the, the suffering Messiah, He's the Lord speaks to those at the end of Luke on the way to Emmaus and says in Luke 24, verse 20, uh, 26. So we're beginning in verse 25. Then he said unto them, O fools and slow of heart or senseless ones.
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And slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and entered into His glory, beginning at Moses, and all the prophets expounded unto them in all the scriptures of things concerning himself? So it's good to keep in mind that you know the gospel was promised, but when it comes to the church, then we find that it was a secret. It was not revealed. The only place we see it in the Old Testament is in picture, and that could never have been understood without the light of the New Testament.
So just one example of a verse that would speak of that is in the end of Romans where it says umm, in chapter 16, verse 25. Now to him that is of power to establish according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began. So when it comes to the church, we don't have it prophesied in the Old Testament. We don't have that promise, but we do when it comes to the gospel. In fact, we could preach a gospel and never turn to the New Testament. That's what Paul had to do.
And the early writers, because they didn't have the New Testament at that point.
The cost too, didn't they? They turned to the book of Joel and seems like a strange application of scripture, but that is all that that, uh, they had. I would just say this is a safeguard now that we have the full revelation of what we have in the New Testament. We don't want to set aside the Old Testament now. And so we go back and those Old Testament figures, type shadows, foreshadows, pictures, those are all helps to, uh, help us to understand.
What we have in Christ and the doctrines and writings of the New Testament. And so they didn't understand it, as you say, they were just if, if we didn't have the light of the New Testament, they would be interesting stories and historical facts. But now we see it all revealed in the light of the New Testament, the story of Isaac and Rebecca. That would just be an interesting story if and, and God's dealings with, uh, with Abraham finding a, a, a wife for his son Isaac.
But we can go back and see it as a picture of Christ and the church.
You know, it's interesting in that regard that Isaac's the one of the patriarchs. You never read taking another wife. Isn't that interesting? Well, because he's such a beautiful picture of Christ in the church. That's just a little aside. But I'm just saying that we to go back and to see, take up those Old Testament types, the sacrifices, the stories of of Jacob and David and and so on and Joseph and to see them as figures of Christ, it's very beautiful and it helps to magnify and gives us a deeper appreciation.
Of what we have revealed in the new, so it says, we bring forth the old because of or in light of the new.
Christ, umm, uh, verse was read earlier in these meetings in second Samuel chapter UH-22 uh, sorry, chapter 23, second Samuel 23, the end of verse one, it says the sweet psalmist of Israel said the spirit of the Lord, the spirit of Jehovah spake by me and his word was in my tongue. We know explicitly from Scripture that the psalms of the, the, the spirit of expression of the spirit of God and so many of the psalms you begin reading where it's clearly says the Psalm of David and you begin reading and say, yes, I can see where David.
Uh, this occurred in David's life. Or why he might write these things, but a few verses down you say, well, no.
This goes far beyond any experience that David had, and we see the expression of the Spirit of Christ because it's Christ speaking now through the psalmist by the Spirit of God.
OK, indicted these scriptures.
The profits would have made mud of it. His brother used to say, how would you like to write a book on astronomy, which, uh, very few of us would be capable of doing. But, uh, we see that, uh, the early writers.
Were imbued. They were directed, inspired by the Holy Spirit.
To bring forth these, uh, precious truths.
Without understanding the true import of them the brother was mentioning.
00:20:05
His address the Church of God.
Uh, really? Apprentices within a parenthesis, Uh.
The whole idea of Gentile domination is a parenthesis, really, and the trash is within that. Well, just that's an aside that shows that the Spirit of God has, uh, purposes in view here that were not understood by the, uh, authors themselves. And now we have the revelation, the unfolding.
Oh, you can.
Do you have an intelligent service as our brother Jim mentioned? Uh.
We know why we do these things. Why do we gather as we do? Is it some uh.
Use some, uh, intuition we have. No, there's definite scriptures as to the meaning of gathering uh.
Outside the camp, outside the whole Judaistic system, uh, to the name of the Lord, There's, there's meaning there, there's, there's a divine umm.
Divine.
Pattern given to us and we should know that forever, especially the young people, we should know why we are gathered as we, as we do and what, why we remember the Lord in this way with one loaf and sword. These things now have been revealed. So we have an intelligence service. Uh, as uh, mentioned, the Old Testament believer did not have the intelligence because he didn't have the Spirit of God abiding within him, uh, as we now have the Spirit of God.
As a divine person on the earth and as one who indwells the believer and reveals these things to us that were, uh, that were not known in the Old Testament. In fact, we as the Church of God are, are the first born ones where mentioned in Hebrews chapter 12, Church of the first born sometimes misunderstood. Uh, it's not referring to Christ there. Uh, it's the Church of the first born ones. We are those.
In that category and uh, we have that special place of nearness to the Lord as members of his body, as the Church of the first born one since the place of preeminence.
Above all, the Old Testament Saints.
Uh, and uh, these truths that have been mentioned are now, uh.
Comprehended by us and enjoyed by us. It's God's desire that we should gird up the loins of our minds. Don't let our minds wander wherever they want, but to gird them up and to be sober and to, uh, hope to the end to enjoy these revelations that, uh, I mean, they've known to us.
Is that the end of the path? With the exception of verse 9. So it's kind of helpful to see that it doesn't stand out immediately. Brother brought out that it's in contrast to the temporal salvation that Israel looked for, but they look for salvation out of all their trials and oppositions in an earthly sense. But you know, the salvation that's to be brought to us in these verses is gonna deliver us out of all trials as well.
But not here for this earth, but to, uh, a heavenly inheritance and portion. And so he speaks of salvation ready to be revealed in the last time in verse five. It's at the end of the path, verse 9. There's an aspect of it. We've already received the salvation of our souls. But then he goes back in the next verses and he takes it up and it's full sense and.
It's prophesied about.
And then we find in.
Verse 12, it's been preached unto us and it's going to be in verse 13 brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So again, it's the full salvation. Now he kind of we've got the salvation of our souls presently, but the full salvation spirit, soul and body.
00:25:00
Has been prophesied, preached, and it's going to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ again. It's salvation now at the end of the path, not only of soul, but a body as well.
Regards to just take a moment and put salvation in its proper perspective and the way it is presented to us in the New Testament, lest there be any confusion. You know, again, as I think we alluded to earlier, God takes up things in a way that we can understand them, and God takes up things in the three tenses in which we operate in this world and with our physical bodies and limitations. That is the past, the present and the future.
And so in Romans 5 it tells us we are saved from wrath through him.
And it through the death of Christ that we have the salvation of our souls, because apart from the death of Christ giving his life and shedding his blood, there would be no salvation, no redemption for man. And so we look back to the cross and we're thankful for that mighty work. We look back to the time when there was a work of God in our souls. Some here look back over many years, maybe some just over a short time. But aren't we thankful that we have been saved from coming judgment?
Because the Lord Jesus died for us on Calvary's cross and shed his blood, then there's a a present salvation. And that you have in Romans as well, it says we're saved by his life. We're saved from judgment by his death. But because of his intercessory life for us now as our high priest to preserve us and our advocate to restore us when we fail, we are saved or preserved. It's really the thought of preservation, isn't it?
Where preserved in the path of faith for his glory by his intercessory life. That's a present salvation that is ongoing from moment to moment in our Christian pathway. And then as Steve has said, and this is particularly the way Peter takes it up and again you have it in Romans now. Is our salvation nearer than when we believe? You said I thought we had salvation. I thought we were saved and we are being saved. We've been saved from Roth through his death. We've been saved. We're being saved by his life. What's future?
Well, that's what Peter's taking up. That's the time when we will be delivered from this world. When the Lord Jesus comes, we get bodies of glory like unto his body of glory, and were delivered completely both from the presence and power of sin, and we have glorified bodies like himself. So I just say that I think it's helpful to keep things in its perspective and remember this, brethren, when you read about something.
In one place, it doesn't mean it always means that in every other place. And there's been a lot of confusion in that regard. So the word salvation doesn't always mean the same thing. There is another aspect in which it's taken up. It says he's the savior of all men. It's preserver I, I, I, I think in Mr. Dowry, but it's so he's the savior of all men. What does that mean? He give us the light, all life and breath and all things. Everybody in this world is preserved in their natural life.
Because there's one who gives life and breath to all things. And that's why Daniel said to Belshazzar, The God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified. So it's important, isn't it, to keep things in their proper context.
I think it's Mr. Kelly that says salvation in many cases is not used in relation to the salvation of the soul. More often it is used in the, the other senses. And, uh, I mean, what Jim brought out is, uh, is important, saved by his life, uh, has been misunderstood by many, uh, teachers, uh, in past years.
It's not the life of Christ down here.
Saves us in any way. Uh, the Lord had, could go back to the glory at the end of his perfect pathway down here. He had every right and thrilled to return to the glory apart from death. And then we would all be lost forever. But, uh, and the righteousness of God is not the righteousness of Christ put to our account. So, uh, it's important to see that, uh.
00:30:02
That reverse that that Jim referred to Romans 5 saved by his life.
Is his present intercession.
God's right hand as our high Priest.
Now the word was took high priestly function after his death, his resurrection intervention, then he took the, uh, the office, we might say, of high priest and advocate that is ongoing as long as we need it in our pathway down here until the war's coming.
Profits that prophesied of the Lord.
Diligently searched and it wasn't revealed to them. It was revealed that it was for us that they were writing those things. But it's interesting, at the end of verse 12, we find that there's another group of created beings that desire to look into these things.
And don't have the understanding that we do. It's the angels. I think it's fascinating to think about the angelic hosts in Ephesians chapter 3, it speaks about.
The mystery and it says in verse 10 to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places that would be.
The angelic host might be known by the church, the manifold wisdom of God, so that the angelic hosts learn by observing the church, they observe us. Why do their sisters have a head covering on? Says very clearly in First Timothy, First Corinthians Chapter 11 That it's because of the angels.
And when the sister covers her head, not only in assembly meetings, but when anytime they pray or prophecy, the angels are watching. So why do they do that? It's because they find the man uncovers his head and the woman covers her head. That is the way that they see that we respect God's authority, order of authority that.
Christ is the head of the man, that the man is the head of the woman. It's not a question of a of inferiority or superiority in creation, but it's a question of respecting authority where God has put it.
So they learn in US, brethren, the manifold wisdom of God. Remember Brother Eric Smith saying, what do the angels say when they watch us? When they see a careless, disobedient Christian? Remember the angels, if they sin once, it's automatic condemnation without any hope of salvation. And here they see believers.
Who profess salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus and.
We're careless in our walk. What do the angels say?
So in view of we are told to gird up the loins of our mind and he he's abounded to us in all intelligence. But brethren, we need to bring every thought into captivity under the obedience of Christ. And as Brother John has said, not to let our minds wander or to set our mind on things here in this world. Go to Colossians chapter one and I think you'll you'll see it very clearly.
I'm sorry, in Colossians chapter 3 and verse one.
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Now notice this. Set your if you notice your margin and Mr. Darby's translation, set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth. It's a question of what what we're setting our mind on the affections too. But that's really not the subject here, because he's Speaking of the fact that in Christianity now.
We have intelligence and we have an intelligent service to render to God in the full revelation of what we have in Christ and in the epistles, in the New, in the New Testament. And I just want to say a warning, and perhaps especially to parents, you know, in the education system in many places today, they propagate the thought and teach that it's good to empty our minds. You never have a precedent in Scripture that would teach, tell us that we should empty our minds.
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Because the minute we empty our minds, we, the enemy is right there to fill it with everything that is corrupt and bad. And if you and I don't suggest you do this, but if you look into Eastern religion and cult, that's what they do. That's really what Eastern meditation is all about. It's emptying your mind. And when you do that, as I say, something's going to come in to fill the vacuum and it's not going to be good. What are we to do? We're to set our mind on things above. Where is Christ now?
Not in this world, as we said earlier in these meetings, he's at the right hand of God. Where are our hopes and, and blessings and inheritance connected with this world? No, we're everywhere. We're a heavenly people. We're disconnected from this world through the work of the, of the Lord Jesus and the, the absolute sanctification that Peter has spoken of earlier in this, in this chapter, We're, we're a heavenly entity. We're a heavenly people.
Where are our thoughts supposed to be? Where are our minds supposed to be on earthly things? Now I realize we have practical responsibilities, brethren, and I realize you students, you have to get through your studies and you have to pass your exams and at work there's copious information today that needs to be read and absorbed and taken in to get through your job and and so on. But where are our minds really? What are is our focus? What is, where are our minds really set?
Are they set on the precious things of Christ and where he is now?
Or are we earthly minded Christians? Brethren, we can become earthly minded Christians, and when we do that, then our focus is not Christ. Our focus is what we can accumulate here, and our focus becomes inward as well. And that is not according to Scripture.
What we think about, isn't it, uh, as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Sometimes we hear the common saying you are what you think about. But here it says gird up the loins of your mind. And I like to put it in this way. Control your thinking processes. Don't let your mind go helter skelter in any direction.
Think things that are positive and I like to go to Philippians because there it takes up the same thought in chapter 4 and verse 7.
Should speak uh, verse six. It talks about be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving. Let your request be known unto God and the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Then verse 8 is a filter through which you can process your thoughts whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are.
Are honest whatsoever things are just whatever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely.
Whatever things are good, report if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things. So there's the filter through which you can pass your thoughts. When there are thoughts that are not in accord with that verse, don't let them through your mind. It will be a great help to you if you can do this.
There's another good First and 2nd Corinthians chapter 10.
And it speaks here about the weapons.
Of our welfare first floor 2nd Corinthians 10 and verse four it says for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every I think that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every.
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What to the obedience of Christ? So this is, I believe, controlling our thoughts. They are to be brought into captivity. Every thought to what the obedience of Christ.
Something going to follow so we've had an introduction in this chapter and then at verse 13 it says wherefore good off the lines of your minds. And so he now brings in conduct suited the Christian relationships into which we have been brought. So we have children in relation to father redeemed in relation to Christ brethren and uh, babes in the next chapter and so on. But if you look at examples of individuals in the Old Testament, the good it up their loins. Why did they do it so they could run unhindered. And so to go up the lines of our minds is to because serious.
We've got something ahead of us. Pay attention.
Sober is that too, isn't. It's not under the influence of something we've taken in. And you can be under the influence not only with alcohol, you can be under the influence by sports or by music or any other things, business. And so it's important, brethren, to think soberly as we ought to.
The filter that you spoke about in Philippians 4, when you read those things that are listed there, they're really attributes of Christ, aren't they? And I really believe this is the remedy. And I say that because when I was younger, I struggled with this. I had bad thoughts, My mind would wander. And then I try to fight with those thoughts to get rid of them. But that only makes matter matters worse. And so how do we gird up the loins of our minds? How do we turn from from those?
Thoughts that are defiling and and so on. It's really to turn our thoughts to Christ and to have our thoughts governed by the word of God. That's what Wally read to us. It's bringing every thought into captivity under the obedience of Christ. And that's why in type we have it with David in the 23rd Psalm, he said, thou anointest my head with oil. The head is, is the mind. It brings before us the thoughts and oil invariably in Scripture is a type of the Spirit of God.
And so you alluded to it by the Bob, but it says in Ephesians, be not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit. And when we're filled with the Spirit, when the Spirit of God has control of our thought process, what's he going to do? He's going to occupy us with Christ and the truth as it is in Jesus. And that's really the remedy. And just in a practical way, what I found helpful in my own soul is when those thoughts come to me or my mind wanders, those thoughts that are not good or my mind wanders.
Go back to a verse of Scripture, think, quote the word of God in your soul. And something else that's been helpful to me is what it says in both Ephesians and Colossians. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Not interested. Speaking to yourself. You know, sometimes in the night I wake up and things go through my mind that ought not to go through my mind. I'm thankful that I'm in my youth had the.
Direct the Lord encouraged me to memorize good scriptural hymns and to go over a verse of of a good Christ exalting him is going to gird up the loins of your mind. It's going to bring those thoughts into captivity under the obedience of Christ. It's having your head anointed with oil as as David said again, there was a special piece of armor for the for the head in Ephesians 6 is that which protects our mind and our thought process.
Made a statement when I was young and struggling at times with my thoughts because sometimes bad thoughts come at the most inconvenient times. And he said you can't keep the birds from flying over your head, you can keep them from making nests in your hair and I thought that was good. So they say those thoughts may come, but like has been said, try to replace them when they do come with something positive.
00:45:10
Immediately don't let them lodge in your mind. That's where it becomes sin. If we entertain a wrong thought. The fact that they fly through our minds is not sin in itself, but it's what you do with it. So Lord, help us in girding up our the loins of our mind. And then what is following this so interesting? As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to your former loss and your ignorance, but as he which is called you is holy.
So be ye holy in all manner of conversation or manner of life, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy earlier in this.
And yesterday in the readings we read about sanctification of the Spirit in verse 2, which is something that is a position that we occupy. We are holy. That's our position in Christ.
And so now that that is our position, we need to walk practically in holiness of life. Sometimes I use the illustration of a bride who puts on a beautiful white dress and maybe she has to go outside to be transported to where she's getting married. And as she does, she walks down the street. There's some dirty cars.
Along the street. Do you think she's gonna be careful how she walks? I think she's gonna be very careful. Why is she so careful? It's because of that beautiful white dress she has on. And brethren, when we understand that God has in Christ put us in a place of complete sanctification, then we in a practical way should walk not to obtain.
Holiness. But because we are holy, we need to walk in holiness of life practically as well, and that's what we have in these verses.
And so a thought and reproduction, so an action and reap a habit. So a habit re reap a character. So a character reap a destiny. So what has been before us is certainly important to.
Going back to the bulk of Ephesians, the apostle speaks of having put off the old man with his, uh, he's turned back to that scripture, Ephesians chapter 4. It's something that is looked upon as having been done. I know sometimes taken as an expectation is that.
420, uh 4/22.
Uh, that you put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is ground reporting to the deceitful lusts he removed in the spirit of your mind, but that is looked upon there as something that has already been done. It's not an exhortation. And uh, so we follow holiness.
Because not in order to obtain it.
But because we now have a holy life and nature that delights in the doing, the will of thought. And so, uh, holiness becomes God's house, separation from evil and delight in that which is good. So we mentioned water yesterday. Uh, I was pulling us into a, an entirely new position before God at new birth. That's the washing of water. They're at new birth.
Puts us in a new position, morally cleansed.
But there's also the washing of the water in the practical sense. Day by day we need the washing of the Word of God to cleanse our ways. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his ways by taking heed thereto, according to thy Word. So that's the other application of washing. That is a practical sanctification. We've had now a positional sanctification, or I suppose you could say absolute.
00:50:08
Mentioned several times.
But now there's a practical scientification, uh.
Recession 5 to pray God. Maybe we should just turn to that first. Uh, Thessalonians chapter 5 is well known verse umm.
7520 First Thessalonians 523 I'm the very God of peace. Sanctify you only.
This is the practical aspect of sanctification here.
This is.
Uh, ongoing and I pray God, your whole spirit notice spirit comes first because what we think about and pursue after is an object controls our lives. Spirit comes first and soul and body preserve blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sir, I am Holly is says is because it is written. This is a text that they would have been very familiar with. I think that there is sometimes a misconception that under grace that God overlooks things. That's what grace is all about, isn't it? It's about overlooking things. It's not what grace is about at all. In fact, under law we might say that God had to overlook things in a sense in anticipation of the cross.
Because man could not live up to it. He couldn't. But God's character has not changed between the Old Testament and the New. He is still a holy God. And so in Leviticus 19, uh, when he says in verse two, you shall be holy for I the Lord your God, I'm holy.
That this is true today as it was then under law in the 18th chapter. Uh, he begins there by saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the Lord your God.
After the doings of the land of Egypt, where ye dwelt, shall ye not? Do you know that is as true today as it was for the Israelites in that day? We're not to do like those around us in the land of Egypt. So as I said, I never suppose that under grace that God is less holy. Far from it, in fact.
If you look at the Seminole so-called Seminole amount Matthew 567.
Uh, a lot of times, well, in Christendom, the 5th chapter has often been taken as a spiritualization of the law. It's not, it's the characteristics of the Kingdom of heaven given in contrast to the law. And what the Lord presents there goes far beyond what we have in the law. Under the law, divorce was committed. But when we come to what we read there in the 5th chapter of Matthew, God tells us otherwise that.
It should not characterize our lives. It's inconsistent with what God had planned from the beginning. So.
Again, just to repeat myself whenever supposed to under grace that God.
Lessens his standard. In fact he can now uphold His standard is he never could before. Law was a principle that God established in dealing with Israel. Grace is an entirely different principle upon which God now deals with man. You cannot ever mix the two. There are two different principles in which God deals with man under law.
There was a demand made of man. He got asked him to produce fruit in grace. The exact opposite is true. God gives us everything that we need now, not just for our salvation, but for the earthly pathway in which we walk. He gives us, He eclipses us with everything that we need to meet that standard of holiness.
The, uh, feasts of Jehovah, the first two feasts were the feast of Passover and then from that first day or the 14th day of that first month, it was for seven days. They were to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. So they were connected together. And I like to think, brethren, that we have these two feasts represented here in verse, uh.
18.
19 and 20 we have the Passover and the verses just previous to that in verse 1516 and 17 we have the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Why do we live holy? What's why do we? It's because that we know that we were not redeemed with silver and gold, corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.
00:55:21
We think of the tremendous cost that was paid to redeem us from evil. O brethren, it should take away any desire to go in a direction that would be defiling. It's not because somebody is standing over us and controlling the way we're acting. It's because we realize the awfulness of the cost of our redemption. Just think of it. The Creator of the universe.
The Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God hanging dead on that cross, the soldier piercing his side and out blowing blood and water. That's the cost of our redemption. And we look at that and reflect on it. That was for us that he paid that awful price. How can I go out those doors and give myself to send? It just doesn't fit into the picture. And so those two things go together. The feast of the Passover.
And the Feast of Unleavened Bread, I just like to point out in First Corinthians chapter 5 we have the same two feasts mentioned.
First Corinthians chapter 5 it says.
Verse seven. Purge out, therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump. For as ye are unleavened, or even Christ, our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, that's the Feast of unleavened bread, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. So those two things go together. Why do we leave? Lead lives?
Of holiness. It's because of the awfulness of the price that was paid to redeem us from all iniquity.
They were to eat at the Passover once a year to remind them of what God had done in redeeming them from Egypt by the blood of the Passover lamb. Tomorrow we're going to sit down if we're left here in this world and we have a memorial to a remembrance. And before Israel was could partake of the Passover, their memorial, they were to keep Levin a type of sin, invariably a type of sin in Scripture out of their homes for seven days.
Brethren, does that speak to your soul and mind? Have we kept leaven out of our homes for the during the week in anticipation of sitting down to feast at the Lord's table to keep our memorial seven days out of their home? They were to keep that which was a type of sin. And I believe it's a real exercise for you and for me. I want to just say this too, that I think it was Brother John earlier quoted that verse from the 93rd Psalm. Holiness becometh thy house, O Lord, forever.
And when you carry that over to the New Testament, you find that Paul said to Timothy in First Timothy how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the House of God. That is more, brethren, than just behavior. When we come to meeting. Now, when we come into the presence of the Lord on Lord's Day or for any other assembly meeting, I believe we need to have a sense of whose presence we are coming into. And there's a conduct in keeping with that. But that is more there than just conduct.
So when we come to meeting, why do I say that? Because Hebrews 3 tells us whose house we are. We are the House of God. Whether we're gathered together in a setting like this, whether you're at school, whether you're in your home, whether you're at work, whether you're at the mall, wherever you are, remember you're you're the House of God. We are the House of God. And there is a conduct, a practical holiness that is in keeping with remembering at all times.
Wherever we are 24/7 as the expression goes, that we are the House of God, and holiness becometh thy house, O Lord, forever.
I think it's important that along this line, brethren, that, uh, we are, uh, referring to now, uh, in our verse. If you call on the Father who without respective persons judge you according to every man's work past the time of your soul journey here in fear. That's very important to know the context here and the reference. It's not referring to the judgment sea of Christ.
01:00:22
And it's not referring to eternal judgment, of course, that is fast for the believer forever through the finished work of Calvary, but here.
Which is really the subject of the first Epistle of Peter, the government of God in the House of God, and.
As Jim has just, uh, referred to it, we are always in the House of golf and.
Umm, there is a behavior that is becoming to being, uh, children of God in the family and the Father's eye is upon us now. When I was younger, uh.
As some of our older brethren will remember.
Brother HEA Hole, whose ministry I remember very well in Ottawa times without number, you would say to us, we get off with nothing, brethren, we get off with nothing. That was drilled into us from the time I was 15 years of age and I never forgot. It was not that we are afraid of God's judgment falling upon us.
But knowing our weakness, knowing that we have that old nature within us.
Conscious of its, uh, presence there until the Lord's coming. Uh, his presence there doesn't, uh, need to hinder communion unless we let us act. But, uh, I was thinking of that verse in First Corinthians 11, uh, in connection with, uh, the subject we are on 31 If we would judge ourselves, we should not.
Be judged, what does that mean? If I come to the Lord's table was sent upon my conscience, not only do I defile myself, but I defile everyone else in the assembly and I come under the government of God. That is being mentioned here in verse 17. In other words, I partake of the Lord's Supper and I'm going on with something in my life that caused the Lord.
The suffering that I profess to remember.
In, in the breaking of bread and breaking of the cup. How serious that would be. Anyone could see that. So we are to judge ourselves unsparingly, not our brethren. We have lots to judge within ourselves before we come to the Lord's table so that we are in a state of soul where we don't, uh, incur the, uh, governmental dealings of God.
In our lives because they're very real whatsoever a man saw that shall he also read applies to saved and unsaved.
There too, our time is almost gone on redemption and what we have in connection with the blood of Christ. Bob has already alluded to it. We sometimes limit the thought of redemption, don't we? I've heard people say redemption is to buy back, and that's true, but it's not the whole truth. We have two things in Scripture, purchase and redemption Purchases to buy to, but to redeem is to buy back, to set free.
And so you and I now have been not only purchased, but that we have not only been bought with the blood of Christ. You get that in Corinth, Corinthians. We've been bought with a great price and so on. But it's more than that, isn't it, brethren, We've been set free. We have been brought into a place where we are delivered from the ******* of sin. The ******* of the old man were brought into a brand new position. But what I wanna notice here too, is when it says the precious blood of Christ.
That is not our estimation of it. First of all, I'm thankful that my redemption does not depend on something that changes in value like silver and gold. You know, when the markets closed on Friday, silver and gold had a certain value, but when they open on Monday and next Friday when they close again, they may have a very different value. Those commodities change in value, money changes in in value and the Canadian dollar against the US dollar and the pound and the and the euro and so.
01:05:20
And so on. I'm thankful that first of all, my redemption doesn't depend on something that changes in value. But I'm also thankful that it doesn't depend on my value or appreciation of the blood of Christ, because again, that may be very scanty at best. And my appreciation of the person and work of Christ may, may change. But I am thankful that my redemption this afternoon.
Is based on God's value of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that in that tremendous to get a hold of and God says today that the blood of Jesus, the work of Christ is as precious to his heart as valuable to the heart of God today as when it took place. I just want to point something out because we often go to verse seven of the next chapter. Just notice it unto you, therefore, which believe he's precious.
Now brother, I trust He's precious to every heart here, but there's two things that are given to us before this verse and they are God's perspective on the thing. The 1St is what we've just mentioned, God's value of the work, and he says that work, the press, the blood of Christ is precious to him. And then twice in chapter 2, in verse four, he says at the end of the verse, chosen of God and precious.
That's Christ. And then in verse six, verse, the middle of the verse, I lay inside in a cornerstone elect precious. This is the person, because it's the person that gives value to the work. And God gives us first of all, his estimation of the work and the person who accomplished that work. And then he says, not till then does he say unto you, therefore which is it? Believe He's precious. Why? Because I believe that the preciousness of the person and work of Christ.
Depends on our appreciation of what the working person of Christ is to the heart of God. I'm going to repeat that because I believe it's vital to get a hold of in our souls our appreciation of the person and work of Christ. How precious He is to you and to me depends not on our value or estimation of it, but to get a hold in our souls of the preciousness and the value.
Of the work and the person to the heart of God. And then that will deepen our appreciation and make him more precious to our souls as well.
So there's the work of God for us, and then there's the work of God in US. And that's what we have towards the end of this chapter and what you were speaking about, Jim, the precious blood, that's the work of God for us that he has done. It's accomplished fact. But now at the end of the chapter, it's the work of God in US.
And accept there be that part too. There would be no appreciation of the work of God for us. And so it's the being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God, which lives and abides forever. For all flesh is as grass, all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away the Word of the Lord.
Endureth forever.
Thank God for that. Brethren. How long is a flower in its beauty? It doesn't last that long. And you see young sisters in their natural beauty, How long is that going to last? Give another 50 years. How will that natural beauty appear now? So it doesn't last, but there is something that is lasting.
Forever, and that's what God has worked in us who believe we have been born again.
Not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God lives and abides forever. It never ever gets old, thank God.
01:10:09
We have a love of the brethren too, don't we? 22 I believe if we reflect on the work of Christ and his love pulled out through redemption and the fact that He shed his precious blood, deliver us from sin and Satan, we think of the value that He places on you and me because He loves us.
And if we enjoy that love in our souls, I believe we're going to love one another because we see each other through the eyes of Christ. And you are one for which he died. You are one who evaluate enough to redeem with his own precious blood. So if he places that value.
Upon you, I ought to value you as well.
And so it tells us here that we ought to love one another with a pure heart.
And fervently, I think I heard one time that fervently means with a white hot heat.
And I enjoyed the thought.
337.
337.
The call did well.
All the way.
Home.
01:15:21
We also sing the fourth verse of 231, just verse 4 of 231.
The Blood of Jesus
Gospel—Jim Hyland
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.
Well, we want to welcome everyone to the Gospel Meeting. The Gospel Meeting is a meeting of good news, and it's a joy and thrill to our souls to be able to proclaim once again that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Some years ago, two young people were heard to be speaking together just before a meeting like this at a conference. And they said, well, it's just another Gospel Meeting. It'll probably end around 8:00.
You know, this gospel meeting probably will end around 8:00, but no meeting is just another gospel meeting. It's a an opportunity to hear the glad tidings of God's love and grace, the story of salvation. And I trust that if there's someone here who's not saved tonight, that they will be saved. And I trust that every one of us who know Christ as our Savior, whether we've known him for years or for a short time, we'll have our souls refreshed and thrilled.
As we speak of the precious things of Christ together once again like to begin with hymn #3 on the gospel hymn sheet, my hope on nothing less is built than Jesus and the blood he spilled. Let's stand up to sing this number three and if someone will please start it.
I hope for nothing.
Nsnoise.
Christmas.
All over the crowd, there is waking Sun.
And on his hands.
Don't forget everybody. He's still alive. My life's been flaring.
All the Christmas, Always.
Said Oh, I've been crowned and they drink sand.
All over the ground, Many things that.
By way of introduction to what is on my heart tonight, I'd like to read a verse in the Old Testament back in the book of Leviticus, Leviticus, chapter 17.
3rd Book in the Bible, Leviticus, chapter 17.
Verse 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar.
To make an atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Tonight we are going to stress as we seek by the grace of God.
To present the gospel ever so simply, we're going to stress the remedy for sin, and that is the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. When I was growing up, I grew up under the preaching of an evangelist by the name of Ernie Wakefield. And he used to often tell us that when you preach the gospel, preach Christ and make much of the blood, because that really is the gospel message we have a glorious person to present to you.
00:05:23
Who performed A glorious work long ago on Calvary's cross. And it is a thrill to my soul tonight to be able to open the word of God. And not to present something new or even try to give some different slant or flourish to it, but to present simply the glorious gospel in its simplicity, the gospel that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
But as I say, tonight we're going to look at some scriptures and stress the remedy, the cure for sin.
Because we're going to see that God has only one way of blessing.
And God has taught from the very beginning of man's history of sin.
That's a way of blessing is based on the death and the shedding of blood.
Of an innocent victim. It was brought before us last night, but we'll go back a little bit. We find when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden. When they took. When Adam took in disobedience.
The forbidden fruit sin entered the world. It tells us sin entered in death by sin. So death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. And if God was going to be able to bless, it had to be on the basis of the death of an innocent victim or victim. I realized that the blood is not mentioned there. I realize that it doesn't have the word sacrifice. The first mention of sacrifice as such is later on in connection with Abel, but we, I think, very quickly realize.
That to provide coats of skin for Adam and Eve. There had to be the death of a victim or victim. And then we find later on that Abel. It says he brought a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. Cain brought the fruit of a cursed earth. Abel brought out something from the flock. There was again death and the shedding of blood. No doubt he knew the story from his parents and what had happened the day they had sinned, and how they had to be driven out of that beautiful garden, and how sin had entered into the world.
But that God had provided through shedding of blood, those coats of skin for them.
And then we come through the Old Testament and all those sacrifices.
One after another, they all speak in some way or another of the Lord Jesus. God was looking forward in his thoughts and in his heart to that time when his son would go to the altar.
Go to Calvary's cross, and there be offered as that supreme sacrifice, and shed his His precious blood. And yet it tells us of those sacrifices in the Old Testament that they never put away sin.
And the Levites and the children of Israel, the priests, as those sacrifices were offered from day-to-day.
They understood this very clearly that that sacrifice only atoned for that one sin.
And then they had to bring another and another and another. And it tells us in the book of Hebrews, chapter 10, that every priest standeth daily, ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which could never take away sin. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God. And so we find here where we began. It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. And so in the Old Testament.
Things were put, so to speak, on account as there was sin, and they brought those sacrifices. And I say God could accept those sacrifices when they were offered in the proper way, because as I say, he was looking forward to his Son offering himself as that supreme sacrifice. And so we're going to go to some scriptures in the New Testament as time permits, and we're going to see different aspects of the blood of Christ.
And the effect that it has when it is applied to in our in our lives. Personally, and I want to stress that the gospel tonight is for you personally, for a few moments. Don't worry about the person beside you. Don't worry if some of the other young people are listening or not. I want you to focus for a moment on what God is saying to you through His word, because it is the word of God that is going to have its power tonight.
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We didn't have time in the reading meetings to take it up at any length, but at the end of the chapter First Peter One, it tells us we're born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible by the word of God that liveth and abideth forever. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing. By the word of God He that hath ears to hear, let him hear, because it is tonight the word of God in all its living power, that is going to have blessing in your life.
It's the word of God applied in the power of the Spirit, and open your ears to hear what God has to say.
That's why when we present the gospel, we open this living book, we quote, we read from the word of God. Our presentation tonight is not going to save a soul, but it's a living word in all its power that God can use to impart divine life and to further give you assurance as to your salvation. And so the verses we turn to tonight are very familiar verses, verses that perhaps most of us in this room have heard.
From the very early days of our youth. But, you know, I'm burdened tonight. Sometimes I have opportunity to present the gospel to an audience where I feel perhaps most have never heard it before, or at least have never heard a clear gospel from the word of God. And that is a tremendous burden and challenge. But I sometimes wonder if it isn't a greater challenge to present the gospel.
To those who have heard it many times, because we can hear something so often that we become dull of hearing, we close our ears to the message. But thank God. The word of God is as a hammer that breaks the rock in twain, and the Spirit of God can reach you tonight. And that's our prayer that the Spirit of God would so work that you will realize first of all that you are a Sinner.
Secondly, that there's a great Savior and that there is a cure, a remedy for sin through his death and the shedding of his blood. Let's go first of all to the first epistle of John.
First John chapter one.
First John chapter one.
And verse 7. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we were to back up leading of the believer, it tells us earlier in this same chapter that our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ, and as a result we are brought into fellowship one with another. I'm Speaking of believers now.
And what is the basis for it? The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Because sin separates as we had last night. When Adam and Eve sinned and they received a conscience, it separated from God. They hid themselves behind the trees of the garden. And it tells us later on your iniquities have separated between you and your God. Sin separates, and if we are going to be brought back into fellowship with God, there must be the shedding of blood.
There is only one basis. And so when you remember the story of the prodigal son. When the prodigal son returned in Luke's gospel, he was brought into a place of fellowship and relationship to his father.
That he had never enjoyed before. But what was the basis of it? They fed on the fatted calf. Their fellowship was based on the death of an innocent victim. There was no fellowship with the Father for one who had gone astray, except to sit down at the table and to feed on the fatted calf. And tonight you can be brought into fellowship with God the Father. You can be brought into fellowship with the Lord Jesus.
And with the family of God. But it is only on the basis of the fact that the blood of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanseth us from all sin.
I remember reading of a young man who went to a gospel meeting very similar to this.
00:15:04
And the preacher was stressing that it's the blood of Jesus, and the blood of Jesus alone that cleanses from sin, that washes away sin. We sometimes sing that hymn What can wash away my sins?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. And finally this young man stood up and he said to the preacher, he said, I don't understand.
He said how can blood wash sins away? How can blood cleanse sin?
Well, the preacher thought for a moment. But there was some water on the table for the preacher, just as there is on the podium tonight. And he picked up the water and he said to the young man, I will ask you a question too, how does water quench thirst? The young man thought him, and he said, I don't know, but I know it does. Just so said the preacher. I cannot tell you exactly how blood cleanses sin, but I know it does.
And I know there are just so many here tonight who will give testimony to this. We know our sins are gone. They're washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus. And notice what it says here. The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses from sin. That's true. But there's another little word inserted here. All sin, every stain of sin, is gone from my, from my, from my soul. I'm not afraid of one charge of sin being brought up against me.
Because it's been all taken care of in the blood of Christ, let's just in our minds. I go for a moment to Calvary, and I'm sure many of us have pictured this scene many a time, where they took the Lord Jesus out to Calvary, the place of a skull, and there they nailed him to a Roman cross, and there he hung as a spectacle for men and angels. There there were those who passed by and reviled him.
Others sat down and watched him in his agony.
There were ladies there that had affection for him that came, and how it must have pierced their soul to see the Lord Jesus there on that cross, his mother there at the foot of the cross, the Apostle John. And he's the only one of the apostles, we read that was at the foot of the cross, But there they were, and there the Lord Jesus hung. There are they heaped upon him.
One thing after another. Not only had they spit in his face.
Not only had they buffeted him at his trial, scourged him, giving him every kind of torture imaginable, but there he hung in his agony and suffering. They gave him vinegar to drink, they mocked him and and and so on.
And then there came a moment. There came a moment in the history of this world when God said that's enough.
God shrouded the scene in darkness.
And there, in those hours of darkness, I stand to tell you on the authority of God's Word.
And the assurance in my soul that he bore my sins in his own body on the tree there he took the punishment for me. And I trust you can say the same for your yourself. As I say, it's very, very personal. And then after that was over.
Time went on, and the soldiers were sent to hasten the death of those that were there on Calvary. The soldier came to one of the malefactors and broke his legs. He came to the other malefactor on the other side of the Lord Jesus and he broke his legs as well. But when he came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already, he break not his legs. Why? Because it had been prophesied.
A bone of him shall not be broken. And so it says With a spear, with a soldier, with a spear pierced his side. And I love this expression. Forthwith came throughout blood and water. You know, if it just said there came out blood and water, that would be enough. But to my own soul that little word forthwith is so very precious. And I'll tell you why. To me it's just as if God was in a hurry to bless. It's just as if God said, this is the moment I've been waiting for.
And forthwith came throughout blood and water. And here we read the blood of Jesus Christ.
His son cleanseth us from all sin.
Yes, this world is full of sin and sorrow tonight, isn't it? And I have no doubt if we could get a glimpse into the hearts of those in this audience, we turn away and say we can't stand it.
Their sin and sorrow on every hand and even in the believers life, their sorrow and burdens and cares. The only difference is we have the Lord Jesus.
00:20:09
Who carries those burdens and cares for us and with us, and we have the assurance of a wonderful eternity ahead. But there are sorrows and cares as the result of sin.
But all tonight there's a remedy for all that, and that is the blood of Jesus. As far as sin, if it's still hasn't been taken care of and dealt with in your life, the remedy is there.
And it's all sin, I say again. I'm not afraid in my own life of one charge being brought up against me, because it's all been taken care of.
All sin again. The story has been often told, but I've often thought of it in this connection. Some years ago in one of the towns here in the United States of America, there were two businessmen walking down the street together, and one was a believer, One was an atheist. The atheist was also a soap manufacturer. He had a large plant in the town where they manufactured.
And different kinds of soap. And as they walked along, the atheist said to the Christian he said, You know, you talk about.
The blood of Jesus being able to Washington away sins and to clean sins and he said.
Look at the corruption in this world. Look at all the the the sin. And that's rampant in this world and it's getting worse and worse and worse.
Well, the believer didn't answer for a time and they came to a corner and there was a little boy in the in the ditch and he was playing in the mud and he was absolutely filthy. And of the Christian turned to his friend who was a soap manufacturer and he said look at this, he said you tell me you advertise your soap is so good.
And that your soap is the best and that it will clean up any mess. And look at raiding your own town. There's a little guy here and he's absolutely filthy and you tell me you're so, so good. Oh, the atheist said. Don't you realize if he went home to his mother and she took our soap brand and used it, applied it, Why, he'd be sick and span in no time. He'd be as clean as ever. Oh, just so, said the believer. Just so it is with the blood of Christ, why is sin so rampant today?
Why are men going on in open rebellion against God? Why is violence and corruption filling the earth today? It's because they haven't applied the blood of Christ. It has nothing to do with the efficacy of the value of the blood of Christ or its ability to cleanse from sin. And I want to tell you tonight, if you come to know the Lord Jesus as your savior, if you accept God's remedy for sin tonight, you'll find out that the blood of Jesus.
Is as able to wash sins away as it has ever been.
And so it's the blood of Jesus Christ his Son, that cleanses from all sin. But let's turn to another scripture now in the book of Ephesians for a little different aspect.
Ephesians chapter One.
And verse 7.
In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. I want to talk for a few moments about the forgiveness of sins. Are you a forgiving Sinner?
Let that question sink into your soul. We're all sinners, but you're either a lost Sinner or a save Sinner. You're either a forgiven Sinner.
Or you're going on in your sins and the blood of Jesus has had no effect as of yet. Are you a forgiving Sinner? I know we repeat our illustrations, but I am reminded of a Doctor Who years ago practice medicine in one of the small towns in in Scotland. And in those days, and I'm still old, I'm old enough to to remember when doctors made house calls. But in those days doctors made house calls and this doctor would take his bag and he would go from house to house in the village where he.
Practiced medicine and he would see his patients.
00:25:00
In their own homes.
But this village was not a very wealthy village. There were a lot of poor people in this village, and there were often times when there were those who had been in the care of the doctor, who could not pay the doctor for his services. And as the story goes, the doctor had on his desk in his office at home a large Ledger. And in that Ledger he kept the names of those that he had.
Are treated over the years, and there was a column to the right with the amount of money that the patient owed the doctor for his services. But the doctor also had something else on his desk. He had a large red pen, and there were times when the doctor would realize that there had been certain patients in his care who would never be able to pay the debt they owed him. And when he came to this conclusion, he would take his pen and he would write across their name and the amount of money they owed one word.
Forgiven And they say as the years passed, there was hardly a page in that Ledger where there wasn't at least one person with the word forgiven in red ink across their name and debt. Well, the doctor in Time passed away and as often happens, the airs flocked around to see how they were going to benefit from the doctor's estate. And as they were going through his things, they came upon this Ledger.
And they began to look through it, and they determined as they saw these names with the red ink. Forgiven, forgiven, forgiven.
They determined that if this Ledger was taken to a court of law, perhaps at least some of these debts could be paid and they would benefit as a result. And so a court date was set and you can just picture the scene. There was the judge sitting on the bench, the family members in front of him. They present him with the Ledger. He opened it up. He ran his fingers up and down those columns. He flipped the pages. Slowly. He saw that red ink. Forgiven, forgiven, forgiven.
He looked at those air, standing expectantly before him.
He slowly closed the Ledger. He handed it back. He said there isn't a court in this land that would uphold or enforce payment of those debts. You know, those people were not afraid of someone knocking on the door and trying to extract money for them that perhaps they themselves had even forgotten about. No, the fact that they had the word forgiven in red ink, written across their name and death, meant that no one could ever collect that debt.
And all that is what it is to be to be forgiven of my sins. I have the word forgiven written across my sins. They're gone. It says as far as the East is from the West.
So far hath he removed our transgressions from us. I'm glad it doesn't save as far as the South is from the north. You can measure that. But you know you can't measure how Far East is from West. You start going east, you'll still be going east. No matter how many times you circumvent the globe. You go West, you'll still be going West. No matter how many times you go around this planet. You can't measure how far the East is from the West. And God says our sins are removed. They're they're gone. He's blotted them out as a thick cloud.
I love that little expression too. In Hebrews, Thy sins and iniquities, I will remember no more. You know, God doesn't forget. We sing a little song about that in Sunday School, and that's OK. But God never forgets. That's human weakness. You know the things I want to remember, I forget. And the things I want to forget, I remember. My grandmother had an expression. I forgive and forget, but I always remember. Isn't that the way it is, humanly speaking?
God doesn't forget, but there are things He chooses not to remember.
Only a divine person can do that. The things I choose not to remember are the things I'm going to remember, perhaps even more keenly than before. And so thy sins and iniquities I will remember.
No more little boy came home from Sunday school very excited one Sunday afternoon. And he said to his mother, he said, you know, mother, they taught me in Sunday school today that there's something God doesn't see well, His mother, who was a believer, she was a little bit distressed because she had always taught her young son that God sees everything. In fact, she had used that many times to curtail some of his activities and antics.
00:30:09
Now remember, Son, the eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good.
Remember, Son, the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth. Thou, God, seest me. And so she was distressed at this. And she quoted some of these verses. And he said, yes, mother, but there is one thing that God cannot see. And after several attempts to convince him otherwise, she said to him, What did they tell you at Sunday school that God cannot see? He said, Mother, it's my sins when they're washed in the blood of Jesus.
I thought that was so good. It's simple. We wanna make this very clear tonight. The gospel is not complicated. Sometimes we complicate it. But it's not complicated. It's the fact that the Lord Jesus came into this world as a man. He went to Calvary's cross, he laid down his life, He shed his precious blood. He rose again the 3rd day according to the scriptures and he's back in heaven.
Tonight, as the savior of sinners, I've never been there myself, but there is a large cemetery outside of New York City called Evergreen Cemetery. And there they tell me that there is a large tombstone with one word on it. No name, no dates, nothing else. Just the word forgiven. Isn't that all that's needed? Just the word forgiven if you were to die tonight. If you were to draw your last breath tonight.
Would they be able to write on your tombstone forgiven?
I'm thankful to say that they could write that on my tombstone by the grace of God.
You know, some of us in this room have had a little brush with eternity. Recently. We've learned how short life really is and the uncertainty of tomorrow.
How wonderful it is to be ready for what is ahead.
One time my wife and girls and I were driving and we saw bumper sticker in front of us and it said this those who wait till the 11Th hour to be saved.
Searching, isn't it? You know we have no lease on life. We can take a breath one moment and step into eternity the next. There is a step between me and death. It tells us in the word of God, our life is as a shadow. Our life is as grass. We had that in the meetings today. You know, it comes up, it puts on a display, but there's nothing abiding. You run the lawnmower over it.
The frost comes and it's it's gone. It's only there for a for a moment. What is your life? Is it? It is even as a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. You ever watch the tea kettle when it's boiling on the stove? You watch that vapor come up, and what happens? It comes up a little way, and then it's gone. It vanishes away. It only lasts a little time. I thought of it in connection with the clouds, too.
You know, when I was a boy, we like to go out on a cloudy day and lie on our backs in the backyard and watch the clouds as they passed over. And we were, we often like to pick out different patterns and designs in the cloud. We'd say, well, that looks like the head of a bear, or that looks like a horse, or that looks like someone's face. But, you know, you watch that cloud and it didn't last very long. It moved on. It broke up. It changed shape. God says your life is like that. It's like a vapor. It's like a cloud.
It's only there for a little time. And I know sometimes when we're young we think we have a lot of a lot ahead of us. Sometimes when we're young, life seems to drag. You know, when I was a boy, I thought, oh, it'll be great to be a teenager. Oh that, that'll be wonderful to be thirteen. And then when I got to be thirteen, I thought, oh, if I could only drive a car, if I was only 16, I could drive a car. And then when I got to be 16, I thought if I could only be 18, I could do certain things and 21.
But you know, you blink and it's gone. It's like a vapor. It's like the Weaver shuttle. It goes back and forth. It's like that shadow that appears and then it declines. Not only that, but I want to just digress for a moment and stress something that I believe is vital and that is that there is an event going to take place, a momentous event, and it's going to take place at any moment, and it may well take place before I step down from this podium.
00:35:10
Before this gospel meeting is completed, the Lord Jesus may come on the cloud and give a shout and summon every person who's washed in the blood of Jesus home to heaven.
I wonder if that happened in the next 20 minutes or so, if you would look around and realize that it was too late. Because Scripture is very clear that once the Lord Jesus comes and takes those who are washed in his blood to heaven, there's no more opportunity.
You know, those who are in heaven, they're going to sing, as Revelation 5 tells us, of the blood of Jesus for eternity, the blood of the lamb, and they're going to be redeemed out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. But when you come over to the 20th chapter of Revelation, it's quite a different story. There's people resurrected there, and they're resurrected to stand at a great white throne. They're they're going to stand, and there's no mention of the blood there.
The opportunities are now, not then and there. They stand to be judged.
To be judged in their sins and they're going to be taken and cast into the lake of fire for all eternity. How awful it's going to be. And I believe that there will be many who heard the gospel, many who perhaps sat in meetings like this and they neglected or rejected.
In the Old Testament, there was a man who went to heaven without dying. His name was Elijah.
And when Elijah was caught away to heaven, who was it that missed him?
You know, it wasn't the general populace in Israel that missed him. It says it was the sons of the prophets.
And I often wonder when the Lord Jesus comes if it isn't going to be the sons and daughters of Christian parents and grandparents.
That are going to at at first understand what's taking place, who say, oh, I realize what's happened, but the searching and solemn thing about it is that very quickly Satan will launch out with a lie and he will deceive because they receive not the love of the truth. You know it's not the heathen that are going to believe the strong delusion after the after the Christians are gone. Not the heathen, it's those that heard the truth and didn't receive it.
Who rejected or neglected it, you say? How can that be? How will they be so deceived? How Will Young people that heard the gospel be so deceived that they believe something that is completely false but so strong? Will not delusion be so strong? Will God allow that lie of Satan to be that they will believe something else?
But they're going to go in the end, to a lost eternity. Oh, it's solemn, it's real. Someone was asked at the end of a gospel meeting as they left the room, What did you think of the gospel meeting? Well, they said the preacher was passionate about what he what he preached. And we are tonight. We are passionate about it because this is real, this is reality. And this is not just something that affects us for time, just for this little flash of life that we've spoken about.
This is something that affects us in a real way for all eternity. You know, we talk about spending eternity, and I understand what we mean when we say that, but, you know, we can spend a bank account, we can spend an inheritance. But I'm not sure we can really, in this true sense, spend eternity. How do you spend or use up something that has no ending? And what is very searching is to realize that those who end up in hell.
Lost eternity will be there for as long as we who are in heaven are with the Lord Jesus, and there'll be nothing to measure time with. It'll just be, it'll be eternity. You can't explain it, nothing to measure time with. And you know, it's very solemn when you think about the man in Luke's gospel that the Lord told about who went to a lost eternity. You know it says He lifted up his eyes in hell, being in torment.
You know, that was a real story, not a parable.
00:40:03
And that man, I'm not sure how long he'd been in a lost eternity when the Lord told the story, but he's been in the a lost eternity for 2000 years plus since, and he will be in the lost eternity for eternity. Is that where you want to end up? That's not where God wants you to end up. That's not where the Lord Jesus wants you to end up. God loves you. The very fact that you're here tonight, that the Lord Jesus hasn't come, and that we have the word of God before us and we're Speaking of these precious things.
Is a proof that God loves us, that Jesus loves us, and that he desires our blessing. It tells us that God's desire is that all men would be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. The Lord Jesus said, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Come unto me and drink. The Lord Jesus said he wants to bless you. He wants to give you eternal life.
Which is the gift of God. He wants to wash away your sins. He wants to forgive you.
Of your sins. And now I want to turn to the verse we ha verses we had this afternoon in First Peter chapter one. We've spoken of the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus. We've spoken of forgiveness. And before we read these verses, I want us to turn to our hymn sheet. And we're gonna take a moment to sing another hymn here this this evening. It's hymn #34 on the hymn sheet.
Hymn #34 if someone will please start it.
Permission, right?
Now.
It is always.
Making.
The World Party Spring gone, Red, White Friends and different stars.
First Peter chapter one and verse 18.
For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, from your vain conversation, received by tradition from your Father's, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.
Oh, what tremendous truth. These verses contain. The Lord Jesus in the aspect of the Lamb of God, that one that John the Baptist saw walking here in this world and proclaimed, behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And those of us who were here in the reading meeting this afternoon will forgive me, but I'm going to repeat what we said in connection with these verses, because it is a thrill to my soul tonight to realize.
That my redemption does not depend on something that changes in value. Suppose our redemption depended on the value of gold and silver or other precious commodities. As we said this afternoon when the markets closed on Friday, gold and silver and money was was at a certain value. But when they open on Monday, there's going to be changes and by next Friday.
There might be very different value placed on those commodities.
00:45:04
Traveling the world, we deal in all kinds of money and it's always a bit of a shock to us sometimes when we go to change pounds and euro and American money into Canadian money and and Guyanese money into uh E Eastern Caribbean currency and so on, to see how much there can be a change even from one day to the next. You know, in Guyana, South America, the money changes on a daily or even an hourly basis.
And what you paid for that money this morning may not be what it's worth this afternoon. Sometimes it's worth 200 to one, sometimes it's worth 2000 to one. You never know, It changes in value. Sometimes you basically need a suitcase of it just to get through the day or to get a accommodation. Remember the time. Hence, Buchanan and I were down on the South American coast and we were staying in a in a guest house. Just what I would call a cold water.
West Indian style guest house with a shower down the hall and so on and we were paying $80,000 a night for a call accommodation.
I think we figured out in the end it was about $23 in in US funds. But isn't it wonderful that we don't base our salvation or our redemption on something that changes in value? And isn't it wonderful as we said earlier today?
But when it says the precious blood of Christ, it's not man's estimation of it. It's not our estimation of it. It's God's value of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that value hasn't changed.
The blood of Jesus is as precious to the heart of God as when it was shed on Calvary's cross.
And I believe when those of us who are saved get to heaven, it's going to be precious and fresh to our souls for all eternity.
But again, that's not what I'm basing my redemption, my salvation on. Because my appreciation of the person and work of Christ might be very feeble at best. My value of the blood of Christ might change with my state of soul from day-to-day or year to year. But oh, I say I rest on the fact that I am redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, and to be redeemed, as we said earlier today, is to be not only bought, but to be bought back, to be set free.
Like those slaves back in the days of slavery, sometimes there were merciful masters who would purchase them to to set them free. How wonderful. Oh, this is, I say, the precious blood of Christ. And I do trust that it's precious to every heart here that we place some value, at least on our souls, on the blood of the Lord Jesus. And if you don't tonight, then I question whether you've ever felt experienced it's cleansing power.
Again, I'm going to tell you about a little girl who lived back in the days when Dwight Eisenhower was the President of the United States of America. Her name was Carol Ann Miller and Carol Ann Miller was a 12 year old girl who lived in Oxenhead, Maryland And Carol Ann Miller was born with a very serious heart defect. Now I realize in the day in which we live, there are two wonderful surgeries that they do at the Heart Institute of.
America and other countries.
But she was born with a hole in her heart and it was a very serious problem back in those days. But there was something that compounded the problem.
Carol Ann Miller was also born with B negative blood, a very rare blood type, and as Carol Ann Miller got a little older, she realized the seriousness of her situation.
And at 12 years of age, she sat down at her death because they had told her parents that they would not perform surgery unless they had at least 20 pints of B negative blood in the Red Cross blood bank for transfusions if necessary during that surgery. And Carol Ann Miller One day, realizing the seriousness of her situation, she sat down at her desk in her bedroom.
And she wrote a letter to the president of the United States. And that letter, in essence, said the doctors need 20 pints of B negative blood to perform surgery to close up a hole in my heart. It's very serious. If you know anybody with this kind of blood, please contact my mother right away. She put that letter in an envelope and she addressed it to the White House in Washington, DC.
00:50:10
And somehow that letter reached the desk of Dwight Eisenhower, the president of the United States of America. And he read that letter and he picked up the telephone himself. And he called the Red Cross and he told them that this was on the authority of the President of the United States, their number one priority, that this trumped everything else, that they must find 20 pints.
Of B negative blood and it wasn't long till that blood was collected.
And Carol Ann Miller had that surgery, and it did save her life and she lived for many years after. But all tonight, we're not talking about be negative blood or some special blood type that the Red Cross or some Heart Institute needs to perform some delicate surgery. No, we are talking about the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're talking about the most precious, the most valuable blood that was ever shed here on planet Earth.
On the 14th of April.
1865 was it.
Might have the date wrong. Abraham Lincoln and his wife and a friend of their theirs, Clara Harris, sat in the presidential box at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC.
And as the production went on, we know the story. The president of the United States was shocked.
At close range, it was just a few days after the emancipation of the slaves.
Just after the Civil War had ended.
And the story goes that as the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln stumbled forward.
Clara Harris, who was sitting there in that box with a white silk dress, took the head of the President and cradled it in her lap until the confusion subsided enough so that they could transport him across the street, where a few hours later he died. But when Clara Harris returned home that evening, she realized that this very expensive white silk dress.
Had the stains of the blood of the President of the United States?
Her first thought was to send the dress out and see if it could be laundered and the stains removed and the dress spared. But on second thought, she decided against it. She took the scissors and she cut out an 18 inch square around the blood of the of the President of the United States and she sent it off to Springfield, IL and the the city fathers of Springfield, IL.
Which was the home of President Lincoln for some years. They were more than happy to receive this white silk with the stain, with the blood of the great emancipator of the slaves.
And for years, it was displayed in a museum in Springfield, IL. As I understand from my research, it's now under lock and key at the Smithsonian in Washington.
But that's what the the city fathers thought of the blood of Abraham Lincoln. That's what the United States thinks of the blood of that great president who was used in a mighty way. But what about the blood of the Lord Jesus?
What is your appreciation? What value do you put on the blood of the one who gave himself at Calvary's Cross?
Our time is almost gone, but let's just go to one more verse in Ephesians Chapter 2.
Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 13.
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Oh, here it tells us that we are made nigh or near by the blood of Christ.
As we mentioned at the beginning of this meeting, sin separates, and sin brought a distance between God and man. Adam hid himself behind the trees of the garden and even throughout the Old Testament.
00:55:13
When there were those sacrifices, and under the Levitical order there were those who could come so far and no further. There was always a distance, denoted both in the Tabernacle, in the wilderness, in the temple that was built, in the in the in the land of promise. When they entered there, the temple that was built at Jerusalem, there was always a distance, but now we can be brought, if we sometimes sing a hymn so near.
So very near to God I cannot nearer be. Isn't that wonderful? For in the person of his Son I am as near as he the it's the blood of Jesus that gives us access, brings us into the presence of God and the presence of the Lord Jesus. And it is the blood of Jesus that is our title to heaven. Every person that will be with the Lord Jesus in heaven will realize.
In a marvelous way that it was only the blood of Jesus, that's why the Song of the Redeemed.
As we mentioned earlier, is the blood of the Lamb that was slain redeemed by that precious blood brought near by that precious blood? All this Gospel meeting is about to conclude.
But I trust that there will be no one get up off their seats tonight who's still on the Broad Rd. that leads to destruction. Secure. The remedy for sin has been provided. Are you going to take that remedy? If you leave that remedy behind as you go out of this room, God will have no choice but in a future day.
To send you to a lost eternity where you will be completely separated from God forever.
Jesus, that brings us nigh to God now.
That can bring us near and into His very presence and be comfortable in His presence. But all the rejection of that remedy will separate you in a place where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. But all the wonderful gospel is tonight. That's the blood of Jesus. Cleanse us from all sin. The remedy is still being offered. It's the blood of Jesus that is secure. God has provided it through His Son, the Lord Jesus. He's offering it to you tonight and as I pray.
If there's someone here and you're not saved, it's as simple as this. You can talk to him in your heart because he hears what you say, whether you utter one word aloud or not, and it's the sincerity of your heart.
You can talk to him, confess that you're a Sinner, but receive his wonderful salvation.
And receive the forgiveness of sins and it tells us that you'll be justified.
Through the blood of Christ brought into a position before God in Christ, where you are going to be perfectly comfortable in His presence now and for all eternity.
Time, Trust, Love
Defeating the Giant
Children—Dave Bilisoly
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.
Nice to have all your kids here in the front row. Does anybody have a song they want to sing? You can either pick one off here or if you just know the words to one you like at home, we could sing that one. Anybody has one to get us started?
Jesus loves me all right. I think this one's on the back.
#40 Jesus loves me. Maybe somebody could help me with these tunes, getting them going.
Jesus loves me as I love what I want to do and bring on. They are weak by being strong.
I see, but it's been.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, in the plunge with the My Lord and the I don't know.
So you need to run so much. Maybe he could die. Have a mistake with your old friend. Why he will wash away my sand land. There is no child coming.
Yeah, I see. Past one week.
Yeah, she must like me.
Yeah, she's not one screaming. The Bible tells me so.
Do you have to let me go? I'm glad and be awake to make me cry, wait to hold me in his arms. It's me, safe from every harm.
That she has lost me.
And she must love me.
He has because I love seeing my heart.
Tells me so.
These are like me like instead of when I merry we can do on His shining. O my heart, let me dwell, watch me where I lie.
Yes, because you must win.
Yes, please. I don't love me.
Yeah, I'm waiting on my phone, tells me so.
You don't love me, he will say. Because beside me all the way.
And I trust him. Should I die here, you will Take Me Home on my.
Yes, he comes from swimming. Yeah, Jesus loves me.
That's such a good song. You know, I think if you boys and girls get a hold of that early in your life that Jesus loves me, that'll help you your whole life long. Because sometimes when you get older, there's times when you're not sure, like you were when you were young, if Jesus loves you. But you find as you go on that sure enough, Jesus loves me. All right, who has another one?
All right.
#44 Thank you.
Alright.
00:05:23
No one can stay on the children of men. Nobody ever has told me before.
Very good. All right. Anybody else have one? All right #32 All right, thank you.
Nsnoise oh, grass just made some glow. Thy makes me fly against no, no other felt I know nothing but the bloody love.
Oh my God, in their thighs thee nothing but the bloody God born in this lightly nothing but the blood of Jesus. All the grass just is the floor.
That makes me white as snow.
No one there found Dino. Nothing but tomorrow.
No, I'm saying 94 sends us know nothing but the love is done now I'm good that I have done. I think that's the one he's done. Oh, right, just there thy blood.
That makes me quiet as long.
River lands on fire by Justin Not enough?
All precious There's a glow that makes me whine. That's no no other one time, no nothing but so much in.
Alright.
#29 Thank you.
00:10:01
He must be born again.
I barely, barely stay up with me.
For nothing.
It is a thread and they went a ransom. The son of a land, the light never lasting. If he would have seen, he must be born again.
He must be born again.
All right, maybe one more.
All right, I don't know which one down here. All right, how about you on the end?
#11 All right. Thank you.
Mm-hmm. Well, you're right, girl.
'S life when they come on, fall their wings on strike, When the strong guys land and the Hazel sprayed, we'll hear anger. That's going to rain, man.
Will your anger hold in the fall of them?
Where the water is cold during your day to impress.
On the rising sun, you can never fail while you're having your hold within the bell.
Will your eyes be hold through the morning?
00:15:06
Light, who are the Gold and the Heart River? Ride wherever you ain't going to say why the hell of a storm.
OK, good.
Alright, so I think I think the verses in Proverbs 110 and I need to look at it again. I.
Let's see here Proverbs 110 My son is sinners entice thee, consent thou not. So if you learn that one or a different one, does anyone wanna start? All right.
My son is the nurse in Tice. They can sit down on Proverbs 110. OK, very good. Who'd like to be next? All right. My son is sinners in Pisi. Consent thou not.
Very good.
Alright, got one at the end.
My son is Sinner entice me consent thou not Proverbs 110 Very good. All right. My son is centers in Thai Sea and sent that on Prophet's 110 Very good. All right. OK.
My sin is sinners entice the consent them not preppers 110th very good. All right. You want to say it all right very good. I sent as soon as enticing consent. They're not Proverbs 110 a perfect.
Anyone on this side wanna try it?
Oh, very good. All right.
My son is serious and tasty. Can sound or not. Barbers 110. All right, good job.
Anybody else?
Alright, well, very good. Thank you all for being brave. I know it's scary with so many people here. All right, well, I wanted to tell you guys a story today. And it's not exactly a true story, but it's a story that will hopefully teach us a true lesson. So this story, yeah, it's not from the Bible, but it it teaches us a lesson from the Bible and the lesson that I'm hoping it'll teach us. You listen to this first here in Psalms.
Verse in Psalms chapter 44.
Psalms, chapter 44.
And verse six. So this is the lesson we're going to hopefully learn today. I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. But thou has saved us from our enemies.
Does anyone want to take a guess here? It says I'm not going to trust my sword, but that won't save us. Do you know who it's talking about? Who's the vow? You're right, all right. You were all right at the same time. Yeah. That's the Lord Jesus or God that will save us. All right, Well, I brought a few props today just to help us maybe remember this lesson. All right.
So who can tell me what what two things we got here? All right?
Very good. All right. Sword and the shield. Now I got another question. Is anyone ever heard of this story called Pilgrim's Progress? All right, maybe a few people. I think somebody read it to me when I was little and I didn't get much out of it. I had a trouble understanding the story. I like Sugar Creek Gang and other stories better. But but Pilgrim, he's a guy. He he grows up in in a city called the City of Destruction.
And it's full of sinners. And then somebody tells him a story and he wants to go to the Celestial City like heaven. And so along the way he meets all kinds of different problems and things, but eventually he gets there. Well, I want to tell a story about Christian. And this isn't a story from the book, but it's kind of a story to teach us. I will not trust in my sword or in my bow.
00:20:13
But I will trust the Lord so.
Let's imagine Christian, he's on the pathway of life, all right? He's going to start over here.
And he wakes up early in the morning. He's ready for a big day on the pathway of life. In fact, he's in such a rush that he doesn't have time to read this morning, his Bible or anything. He's excited to go on. So he has a little bit of breakfast and he's off on the path of life. All right, so here he goes. He's going down the path of life, kind of a skinny path here. And, you know, he's going, he's going. And all of a sudden he notices. You know what?
It looks like the path of life. It goes all the way down there, then it curves around, and then it starts coming back. But you know what? If I just went through this nice white area, I could get there a lot faster. I wouldn't have to go all the way around and come back to here. Does that seem like a good idea to you guys?
Maybe kinda hard to tell, huh? Well, he has a map in his pack. But you guys, you know how it is with maps. Sometimes you take him out and you look at him and it's hard to figure out where you're even at on the map, especially if you haven't been looking at along the way. You don't know if you're at this Y or that Y. And you know, maps can be a bit of a pain. And then once you figure out where you're at, you gotta figure out which line you're supposed to be going down. And you know, he figures I can kind of see everything.
I can pretty much see that path goes around here and.
I might as well just go through here. It'll be a lot faster. So he's feeling pretty good and he walks down this nice wide path and he can see everything around and it's a beautiful day. There's lots of birds and a blue sky and he's going down the pathway of life and he gets to thinking about what it'd be like to own his own castle. Can you imagine? You could have the have all your servants, you could say, hey, I we need to go pick some apples today. And yes, Sir, I'll.
Pick those apples. And yeah, he could say, oh, can someone bring the coach around? I want to go somewhere. And here they come. And he's feeling pretty good walking down this pathway and he starts to come into a Canyon. Does anyone, can anyone tell me what a Canyon is?
All right.
I'm talking about something else. Yep. Anybody else have a guess?
Well, a Canyon, it's kind of like you walk down and there's a Rockwall on this side and a Rockwall on this side. So he he gets down into this Canyon. All right, So now he's got a Rockwall on this side and a Rockwall on this side, and he's walking through the Canyon and he's just thinking about his castle and.
All of a sudden he comes to a a blank wall. You know, there's just a rock wall here, he said. What in the world like?
Why is there a dead end here? You've got a Rockwall on this side. A Rockwall on this side. Dead end here. It looks like there was a path here. Like a lot of people have come through here. It looks for a tunnel. No, there's, there's no tunnel through. And it's pretty high. Not really easy to climb out. So I guess I'm gonna have to go back and take the long way around, huh? So he turns around and he starts back out of the Canyon and.
Stops in his tracks. You know what he saw.
Oh, a dragon that's close. He you know what he sees? He sees a giant in the middle of the path, and that giant's holding the club. And Christian says, oh, oh, I've got myself into a fix here. He says, you know what? I've stuck in this Canyon walls on both sides and now a giant and I'm trapped in here. But you know what, Christian? What do you think he should do? Anybody got any guesses? What should he do?
Pray, but he should. You know what he says I'm going to do, Says I'm going to fight my way out of here.
All right, so he's, he's a brave guy, I'll give him that. And he's got a lot of confidence. You know, sometimes that's good and sometimes not so good. But Christian, he, he walks right up to that giant. He says, you move out of the way. You think that giant is going to move. No, you're right that giants not moving. So Christian, he pulls out his sword, He gets his shield up and he's ready to face this giant. And he he comes up in the giant, lifts up his club and.
I.
Boom he gets hit by that giant man, that giant strong. He's never been hit that hard. It goes again. He's trying to hit it Boom oh, a giant strong and no way around him just so we just got a tough through it and he got boom and now he's down Oh, oh, Christians had a fall. You know that that happens sometimes in life when when a Christian he he has too much confidence and he's in a place he really shouldn't be in and then.
00:25:12
You know, it's, it's a sad thing, but Christians, they sometimes have a fall. Well, Christian, he's, he's embarrassed and he's ashamed of this fault that he has, But you know, he gets up with even more confidence. He said, I made a big mistake and I got to fix it. I'm going to, I'm going to fight my way out of here. So now he's up against this giant again. And this time he's a little more sober and he's going at that giant, uh, giant hits him hard.
You know what you slowly he's getting pushed back with this giant. He's a lot stronger than Christian. He's trying hard.
Uh, uh, but you know what? This giant, this giant is just too strong for him and he keeps pushing him back. You know, Christian, he fights the best he can, but he keeps going back. He doesn't see this rock behind his foot and oh, oh, right down again. Oh man. And this time it's worse than the first time. Uh, what's he going to do? You know what he does?
He finally prays a little bit. He says Lord help me, then he.
He tries to get up again and fight the giant again.
This time he's he's not quite as confident as he was at first. He's a little scared of this giant. It's quite a bit stronger than he thought he was going to be. And so he goes at that giant and he's a little more cautious now, but he tries to fight it. Boom, he keeps getting hit and he keeps backing up a little bit.
And he keeps going backwards and backwards. You know, that's the way it can be sometimes in the Christian path. We we try to keep fighting.
I mean, I read you a little bit about a man that's fighting a giant here. It's just kind of a little story and it's in, it's in Romans 7 here. I'll, I'll try to explain it a little bit as I go.
Romans, Chapter 7.
Romans Chapter 7 and verse 15.
For that which I do, I allow not. For what I would that do I not, but what I hate that do I Then you go down to verse 19. For the good that I would, I do not, but the evil that I would not that I do.
Now if I do that, I would not I it is no more either do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death.
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So then with the mind, I myself serve, serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. Well, this is maybe a confusing part of the story, but, you know, sometimes, even sometimes when we're little, but a lot of times when we get big, we find these, there's these giants in our lives and we try to fight them over and over and over again. You know what? It seems like every time they keep beating us, they keep pushing us back further and further and further.
Boy, that can sure be discouraging in a Christian's life to have that experience. You know, Christian, he's, he's really got no choices here but to keep fighting. What else is he going to do? So he, he gets out, he gets up and this time he, he draws, draws a line. I'm going to pull these rugs out a little bit. He draws a line in the dirt. He says, I will not cross this line. I will stand here. I've I've gone backward too far already and I'm not going to cross.
Fine, so he's up against that giant again.
Boom.
Boom boom.
What's happening?
Is he crossing the line or is he not?
He's crossing the line. Uh, you know, sometimes we try to draw lines and we say, I will go this far, but I'm not going to go further. And then somehow over time that giant keeps pushing us back and we cross those lines that we weren't going to cross. And Christian either are fighting. He keeps going back or he keeps going backward and, uh, he's down again.
Oh man, what a discouraging story, huh Christian? He's down now and he, uh, he's.
00:30:07
Doesn't feel like getting back up. Why do you think he doesn't feel like getting back up?
Yeah, he hasn't prayed. And not only is he tired and hurt, but he's starting to get discouraged. He doesn't think. He thinks if I get up, I'm just going to fall again. There's no way I can win. So he doesn't want to get back up. But you know, Christian, he's got a mom that loves him. He's got a dad that loves him, and they're praying for him because they can see something's wrong. And so the Lord helps him and he somehow he gets up again.
And you know what? He tries to fight the giant again.
Uh.
Oh, oh, boom, boom, boom, boom. See winning. Is this fight going well? Not too good, Uh, just keeps going backwards. Well, I don't want to drag this out too long because this isn't the happy part of the story, but it does happen, unfortunately, in our lives sometimes. So he's backward, he's backwards, and one more time he's down.
And you know what he he thinks of a verse, The just man. He falls seven times and he rises up again.
So Christian, he gets up one more time, but you know what? He kind of knows deep down inside that even though he gets back up, he knows this war, he's not going to win it. He's fought his best. He's used all his strength. He can barely swing his sword anymore. And he knows, you know what? This fight's over for me. And finally, here's the back wall of the Canyon behind him. He's fighting that giant, but he's not swinging very hard. He's done.
And he's back against the wall.
And he tries to block the giants club with his sword and his hands too weak and Oh no more sword and he's just trying to hide under his shield and just survive. Does he have any options? What do you guys think he should do?
You should pray. That's what he does finally. And you know, he doesn't just say, you know, Lord help me. You know, he says he said something a little different. He says, Lord save me because he's out of options. He doesn't just need help right now. He needs somebody to do all the work because he's just totally beat up and he's hiding there behind his shield. And he just says, Lord save me. So who thinks the Lord is going to save him? Or who thinks the Lord is just going to say, you know what, you went too far.
You think the Lord is going to say him? I think you're right. All right.
Let's, uh, read about it in in Psalm chapter 18.
So Psalm chapter 18 and verse 5.
The sorrows of hell compassed me about, the snares of death prevented me, and then here He calls out. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God, and he heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry came before him even into His ears. Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations of the hills moved and were shaken because he was wroth. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth. Devoured holes were kindled.
He bowed the heavens also, and came down, and darkness was under His feet. He rode upon a cherubim Did fly. Yeah, He did fly upon the wings of the wind. And then verse 13, the Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave His voice. Hailstones and coals of fire. Yeah, He sent out His arrows and scattered them. He shot out lightnings and discomforted them. Then the channels of the waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered. At Thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast.
Breath of thy nostrils He sent from above, or I like a different translation. It says He reached down from above. He took me, He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me, for they were too strong for me. They prevented me in the day of my calamity. But the Lord was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place. He delivered me because He delighted in me.
Well, I don't know.
If you understood the Psalm entirely, but you know what happens.
Yeah, you know what happens here.
You're right. And so Christian. He's there. He doesn't have a sword no more. He's just hiding behind his shield.
And that giant, he's just about to to finish Christian off. And you know what happens? So Christian praise and then a lightning bolt comes down.
Right in front of the giant. The giant he, he doesn't like lightning bolts very well, so he takes a step back. Whoa, what was that? And you know what happens next? Another lightning bolt.
00:35:07
Giant He thinks this is not a good good weather day for killing Christians. So.
He takes off back for his shelter wherever he came from. And so Christians left there and Christian, he's pretty beat up and tired. But you know what? The Good Shepherd comes, Good Shepherd picks Christian up as he often does. And it says there, it took me to a large place. So the Lord, he, he picks Christian up and he takes him to a place where he can rest. Nice fruit trees.
A quiet stream, good soft grass to lay down.
And Christian, he gets some time there to to rest and recover his strength. You know, the Lord often times he, he knows when we've had all we can take and he'll pick us up, carry us somewhere where we can recover. So Christian, he has a few weeks and you know, Christian needs the same. He's the same guy and he looks the same, but something's different inside. You know, he's learned part of our verse here. I won't trust my sword. I won't trust my bone either will my sword.
He learned a good lesson and that lesson is he's not strong enough to beat the giant. All right, He tried his best and he tried for quite a long time and he finally figured out, you know what? I can't beat the giant. I need help that doesn't involve me. All right, Well, that's a good lesson. So he's, he's a quieter person maybe than he was. He's, uh, sitting thinking a lot more than he used to, not running around so much. You know, he, he's learned a good lesson.
Well, he's there for a few weeks and he gets stronger, his wounds heal.
And it's sunny every day, and it's nice. But, you know, one day he's sitting there under a tree just thinking, and all of a sudden the cloud comes over the sun. That's unusual because he hasn't seen it be cloudy here before. And then he looks up and, you know, in the distance, you know what he sees? He's a big guy walking across the orchard. Anybody guess who that is?
Big guy with the club.
Anybody ever? Yeah, a giant? Oh no, here comes the giant again.
Uh, Christian, he's not too happy to see that giant again, but you know, he, that giant was never killed. A giant Lord, uh, delivered Christian, but a giant still out there. And here he comes across the field. Well, Christian, you know, he's, he's a different Christian than he was a few weeks ago. And he, what do you think he's gonna do now? You think he's gonna rush off and fight the giant? Pray he does.
Yeah, now he's, he's dependent. He looks to the Lord and he he just admits to the Lord, You know what? I know I'm not strong enough to fight that giant. I tried my best last time and I was not able to win. And so he just has to say the Lord, Lord, this is your battle because I'm not strong enough to win this one. All right, so Christian, he just stands under the tree and here comes a giant.
He just waits for the giant to come.
And the giant, he's giants, not afraid. He's just laughing. I beat you once, so you're done. Now. I'm going to have you on the ground in no time, Christian. He's just standing there. You know, he's calm inside. He's not afraid because he knows this isn't his battle, all right? So he just stands and he waits for that giant says that giant. He says, Yep, you're stronger than me. You're right. And you're right. I can't beat you.
But but the Lord's on my side this time, so I'm gonna win. All right, Giant. He doesn't believe that he's coming after Christian. So Christian, he just takes one step forward. And you know what? He feels a change all of a sudden. His sword arm, it almost feels like it already knows what to do. He's hardly swinging it. It's just doing its own thing. And his shield arm and his feet, they're so. He feels so light on his feet so fast.
And he's just.
That giant, he never seen anything like that. It's like there's three swords hitting him at once and he's stepping back and Christian, he's going for.
And he's just, uh, pushing that giant back and back and back. And then finally Johnny goes to him and Christian swings his sword and cuts the Giants club right in half. Giant. He's never seen anything like that. And he's, he's off and running. You know what, Christian? He's as fast on his feet as a deer now and he's on that giant in a minute.
That giant, he should have worn more armor on his back if he was going to run. So he's not doing so good now. And now, now he's down and Christian, he's just.
00:40:02
You know what? For very long, that battle's over and who won.
You're right, let's let's read about it because if it's just a story that doesn't do as much good, but if the Bible says it then it then it's worth something. So let's read about it in Psalm 18.
And you guys, you listen as I read this, and you tell me whose strength won the battle. All right, this, this portion, it tells us whose strength won the battle. All right. Psalm, chapter 18.
And verse 32 It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. He maketh my feet like Heinz feet, and setteth me upon my high places. He teaches my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation, and thy right handeth. Hold me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.
I have pursued mine enemies and overtaken them. Neither did I turn again till they were consumed. I have wounded them that they were not able to rise. They are fallen under my feet. For thou hast girded me with strength under the battle. Thou has subdued under me those that rose against me. Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I may destroy them that hate me.
So whose strength Did anyone catch that? All right.
God's strength. Yep. That's the difference. You know, Christian, the first time he was, he was relying on Christian strength. He thought his arms were big enough and he was good enough with his sword that he could take the giant. But this time he knows he can't take the giant. And sure enough, there's the Lord's strength there to help him. All right, so you think after this battle, you think Christian gives himself a big pat on the back and says, yeah, I'm a real giant Slayer, aren't they?
No, he doesn't, does he? What do you think he says instead?
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, thanks to God for helping him win the battle. Let's read one more portion here and then I'm about done here. Umm Yep, the last last few verses of Psalms 18 here. And this is what Christian says when he finally wins the battle.
Verse 46 The Lord liveth and blessed be my rock, and let the God of my salvation be exalted. It is God that Avengers me, and subdue with the people under me.
He delivereth me for my enemies. Yeah, Thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me. Thou hast delivered me from the violent man. Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name. So Christian, he's, he's happy now and he's thankful to the Lord. He figured out finally that it was the Lord that could help him win his battles. So I hope, uh, hope we can learn that here while we're still young. Let the Lord.
Win the battles for us and not try to win them ourselves.
Wheat
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.
Perhaps we could open our meeting with #37 in the Appendix 37 in the back of the book.
The Lord of life is risen, Has left the darks and grave, and death by him abolished. He's mighty now to save. And we with him are risen, The fruit of all his toil, The first fruits of his harvest, His sufferings richest spoiled #37 in the back.
The Lord of life and dreams and the end of the end. And I've, I've, I've had and I've had a brother come praying.
Really, my emails will spread.
And bring my skin on breath and I'll let you know that I'm curious about all the hills and all I want to do.
Umm.
Yeah, that's fine. Maybe what I can do.
Uh.
And then whenever it's OK, and then.
Listen to my question.
And get my skin and information that I have here.
The subject I have before me is different.
I don't remember ever hearing anybody speak on it.
Umm. I hope that it will mean as much to you as it is meant to me.
And that is the subject of what wheat is a picture of in the Bible.
God has taken and used examples.
In His word to teach us His ways, and they are often related to things that are common to us in our daily life.
Like sewing and reaping.
And, uh, the Lord Jesus gave us that parable of the sower.
And.
In.
In Mark's Gospel.
Wait a minute, did I get it right? And one of the Gospels, he said.
If ye know not this parable, how will ye know all parables?
Seems to me that it's very fundamental.
To understanding what God speaks to us through parables, and that refers to the parable of the sower.
00:05:10
That's what the Lord said about it.
Now I'm a farmer and I'm not very knowledgeable as a farmer but I do appreciate.
Growing wheat.
I believe that there's some lessons for us in it, and these scriptures that we're going to read refer to that.
Wheat and barley. I see another wheat farmer here in this room. Umm, there's probably some others too.
Wheat is a interesting plant.
It's a plant that grows at a different time of year than most plants.
Driving over here, we saw the wheat fields are already planted.
And the harvest will come depending on how far North and South you are.
In some time between May, June, July, I think it's out in or even in August up in, uh, Washington, isn't it July or August?
It is a harvest that is different than other harvests.
Like apples, fruit, pigs, olives and so on.
Also.
We.
Every season you plant it, it grows and it dies as it gives fruit.
Apples don't do that.
Grapes don't do that.
God uses the fig, the vine, the olive tree.
Quite consistently to refer to Israel.
Whenever he refers to the church and the heavenly people.
Consistently.
Wheat or barley, this is a crop.
Now, isn't that interesting?
And I wanna say I believe every scripture in the Bible that refers to we refers to the heavenly harvest that the Lord gets at the close of this dispensation.
And that we are waiting for his coming.
And that very soon he will gather the wheat into the garner.
Let's read that verse. It's an announced by John the Baptist in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 3.
Matthew 3, verse 11.
John the Baptist speaking, I indeed baptize you with water and repentance, but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly or thoroughly purge his floor.
And gather his wheat into the garner. But he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
Interesting the communication that began here with in the New Testament early on.
John the Baptist, in announcing the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, distinguishes him in this way.
I don't believe John the Baptist understood all that implications that we should understand today about gathering the wheat into his barn or Garner.
I believe he understood the judgment that was Go was to take place.
Simultaneously with that.
And I don't believe that this verse really takes into consideration what we hope for.
00:10:02
Well, let me rephrase, rephrase that. I don't believe that John the Baptist understood how the gap the Lord Jesus would gather his wheat into the garner. His view of it was the judgment and the separation that was going to take place at that time.
Because during this time of the Day of grace, when after the sower has sowed the seed and people receive the seed in their hearts, and depending on how they receive the seed, the seed in their hearts is the results and the growth and the fruit, We're gonna get into that.
In a little.
But what he did understand and emphasize was the burning of the chaff.
That is the judgment of the unreal.
We're living at the close of this dispensation of grace.
We are living in a time when God has forborn with the Christian testimony and all those who name the name of the Lord.
And there's a great mixture out there in the in Christianity of wheat and tares.
Real and false.
So much so that I suppose the Muslim that looked on the West, the Christian testimony would really not get a very good understanding at all of what Christianity was really about.
May I ask each of our hearts, what kind of testimony are we giving?
About what God is doing right now, what place we have.
Before God.
Our our hopes in this world or our our hopes in heavenly things?
The harvest that we participate in is a heavenly harvest. I looked through our Little Flock Him book to see if there was a hymn.
That talked about the heavenly harvest and I thought I wasn't going to find one, and I found this one. Mr. Fraser wrote that I believe he was gathered to the Lord's name, if I'm not mistaken.
We owe a lot to our older brethren who appreciated these truths and would put them in poetic form in a way that our souls and our hearts or our understanding can unite together and praise to sing in the Spirit and sing in the understanding of the hope of the Lord's coming.
Now wonderful.
So we are living at the close of this time after the sower has sowed the seed.
And God is bearing our forbearing with this great mixture of testimony that exists.
Earlier in this chapter, no, let's let's turn on over now to uh.
To Matthew G Uh Mark, Chapter 4.
Verse 26.
We wanna talk about this parable.
Of the sower and of the sea.
Mark 4.
26 And he said, So is the Kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up. He knows not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of its herself. First the blade.
Then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he puteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
This is the only place.
00:15:02
Where the Kingdom of heaven is described in these three.
Terms.
First the blade, then the ear, and then the full corn of the year. Now I wanna talk about wheat a little bit.
There are when you plant wheat.
There are about 9 stages of its development and growth.
We're gonna condense it down to three.
These three that are mentioned in this verse, the blade and the ear and the full corner in the ear.
The blade is has to do with germination.
When you plan out wheat seed, well, this is true of any seed.
There is life, there is a germ in that sea.
And it is put down in the ground.
With water, nutrients and so on, it swells up.
And.
A sprout comes out.
That's life.
The Lord has sown.
His Word in our hearts.
You receive it, and if there's a right environment, it can grow.
The first thing.
A. A a center needs.
Because he needs life.
Without a new life we are dead in trespasses and sins, and so the Lord was that sower.
And he sewed.
He is the great sower.
Just to put it in perspective with what was before the Lord and how the Lord was introducing something new.
That stands in contrast with how the Lord dealt with Israel in the Old Testament.
He talked about Israel as being a vine, and he came and looked for fruit.
And he talked about Israel and Judah, and Judah was that pleasant plant. That's a nice area.
When the Lord Jesus came into this world and Israel, he found no fruit.
In basically a very short time, the Lord came to the conclusion that He must introduce something new.
Instead of looking for fruit from man, he was going to give of himself. And in Matthew 13, when he speaks about the sower, that's what he's doing. He's opening up to us what was about to be developed in Christianity, and it has to do with wheat, a sower.
And the seed is sown, and it falls into three or four kinds of ground.
Three of them don't produce fruit and one does the good ground.
Now those three places where the the where the seed may fall correspond to this verse that we read.
Going back to our our verse, the blade.
The leaf that sprout comes out.
If the sower sowed a seed and it fell by the wayside.
The birds of the air came and plucked it up and ate it. It never germinated.
It's gone.
There are people who hear the gospel.
And before they go out the room, Satan is already taken away the seed, and they go away.
And they continue. They never bear fruit.
No life.
Never had life, no germination.
Then it talks about.
00:20:02
The ear.
Now, as the Plea wheat plant grows.
A blade, a leaf comes up first one.
And then it starts a thing called tillering. Is that right?
Not very many plants do that, but wheat does. It sets out these little other shoots and they also go, these shoots go out in the ground, they root themselves and they also.
A sprout multiplies out of them, and it one seed continues to do this until you have a whole clump.
Of wheat from one seat.
And I don't know what the average of them is. It might be 10 or 12 of them, uh, depending how thick you saw it. But it's possible as many as 20 or more could develop under the right circumstances. This is.
A picture.
Of growth.
This is what is called the growth stage.
And then and every one of those shoots.
That that it rises up.
There'll be an extension and growth as time goes on in the springtime.
We have a problem here in the spring of an early frost if a frost comes too early.
It can kill that hit. The head is the part that has the fruit on it. Did you know that the head starts out right at the base?
Of the plant and it pushes up as it grows and the head will keep pushing up on the inside of the wheat stock and so as it grows there somebody who knows what they're doing they can pinch those stocks and they pinch it and then they'll feel a little bump that's the head depending on how high the head is if it's too high and it frost.
It will not. It will. It will kill it.
The head will die. That's where the fruit is. This is a picture of Christianity. This is a picture of the word of God sowed in our hearts. And God is interested in a people for himself, and this is how he's going to get a people for himself.
And at the end, there's going to be some fruit for him.
But as we go through life.
We are tested.
And so the first enemy is the the birds of the air.
Then you have that which fell on the Stony ground.
Now what was the problem with Stony ground? The Stony ground inhibits that a root go down into the soil itself.
It can't.
And so.
That's a picture of a Christian who has no root.
No real faith and it cannot grow.
Then there's the third stage.
Among the thorns.
That is a picture of the cares of this life.
And that affects it in stage three of the growth of the wheat plant.
So that we farmers know that if you have weedy wheat.
We eat anything, any plant, it will choke out and uh, there will not be fruit.
So we have.
The the the 1St the blade that has to do with life.
Then the ear that has to be to do with growth in our Christian life. And the third stage is fruit. Interesting. That's the significance here of these three things. The sower that sows it. I'm talking about this process. Don't really know that much about that. I can even explain that.
00:25:06
Last night in the gospel we heard you those words about Do you understand?
How this can happen?
And the answer was no. But I know what happens.
We can say that about sewing.
God put in the wheat or the barley plant this those genetics and it happens and it proves what God says.
So it's a wonderful thing to be a part of this harvest.
And my exercise in talking about it here is that we.
Appreciate what God is doing at this time, what His purpose is is, and what kind of a harvest is he looking for.
Now there was another parable and we, we're not going to have time to go to those, but where the Kingdom of, uh, of God is is likened to a grain of mustard seed that was planted. And this is another view of what's going on today in the harvest that God has before him. And the purpose of the God's harvest is to have a people for himself in heaven.
But if you misunderstand that and you think that Christianity is about this earth, you're going to miss the point.
Because that's exactly what the Lord told us ahead of time about the grain of mustard seed. The first purpose of a mustard seed was for it to be a herb.
But if you make a great tree out of it, you ruin the purpose.
People like to make Christianity a great thing in the world, to have an influence down here, to change this world, and it's not God's purpose.
The Lord is gathering a people for Himself in heaven.
How wonderful to have that.
You know, I re recently I had occasion to go back and read some of the history of the early settlers of this country. I'm talking about back about in the 16 and 1700s when this the the first colonies came over here. And I was surprised how much information and writings there are about them and what their religious beliefs were. And they were godly men.
I'm, I'm impressed, uh, with their godliness.
But I'm also impressed with their lack of understanding of what we're talking about here right now.
Of a heavenly harvest. They didn't know about that. That truth had not been recovered at that point of time.
It was largely disk unknown.
We're thankful that God used a group of.
Separated brethren to recover and to give us ministry along this line.
And my purpose in speaking on this is to in this way, is to add to our understanding what the wheat harvest is about.
And that we are a part of it and how it's going to unfold very soon here before us right now, because I believe we're at the end of this day of grace.
And the separating process of the wheat and the chaff.
Is starting.
Let's go on to, uh, Matthew 13 with that.
In Matthew chapter 13.
Oh.
Verse 24.
Alright.
00:30:00
Uh, let's just read a little bit here. Matthew 1324 Another parable. Put he forth unto them, saying, The Kingdom of heaven is like unto a man which sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the weak, and went his way. When the the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tears also.
So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou so good seed in thy field?
From whence then hath it tears? And he saith unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servant said unto him, Wilt tell them that we go and gather them up. He said. But he said, Nay, lest while you gather up the tears, you root up also the wheat with them, Let both grow together until the harvest. And in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye to gather first. The.
And bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.
Now let's go over farther down the explanation.
Umm.
Verse uh.
Verse 36 And Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house, and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered, and said unto them.
He that sowed the good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world. The good seeds are the children of the Kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked One. The enemy that sold them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the world, or it should read the end of the age. And the reapers are the angels, as therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire.
So shall it be at the end of this age, as it should read. Then the Son of Man shall send forth his angels.
And they shall gather out of His Kingdom all things that offend them, which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, Let him hear.
Now we want to be very careful how we.
Decipher or interpret this these verses.
Because a lot of confusion, it looks like first glance, like the first thing that happens is that the tears are burned up. And that's not exactly true. It says they are gathered in bundles to burn.
And then it says, gather the wheat into the garner.
And then the bundles are burned. Now, I believe that's exactly how it's going to happen at the end of this dispensation.
We believe that our our our great hope is the Lord Jesus coming to take his home to heaven.
But at that time, before and after, there are the gatherings of the Bo of the of the tares into bundles.
I believe we're close enough to the time of the Lord's coming that we're seeing groups of people gathered together in various.
Groups.
Can be over doctrinal issues, it can be over political issues, it can be over a lot of different things, and there's a lot of bundles out there that profess to be Christian.
But they're bundles of tears.
It's an exercising question of who you're associated for with.
In that regards.
God purposefully does not put the separating of the wheat and the tares in the hands of men.
We're not smart enough. We're not good enough.
Back in the dark ages, there was an attempt made by the Roman Catholic Church to do exactly what the disciples said here. Let's root out, pull up the tares.
00:35:01
And instead of rooting up tares, they pulled up and put to death many Christians.
That's not our place to do that. It's not talking about the assembly. It's talking about the world, the Kingdom of heaven. This is the larger sphere. Yes, the Church is inside of this and it's a part of it, but it's not that what we're talking about here.
So the angels gather these into bundles.
We see. Take that. Well, that will take place. What John the Baptist spoke about burning the chaff.
Notice in verse umm.
Notice in verse 41 The language. I wanna reread it.
The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his Kingdom.
All things that offend them and them which do iniquity.
I believe what this verse is saying is the Lord Jesus has already gathered his wheat into the barn.
And there is.
A testimony here on earth of Christianity that is composed of.
Bundles of tears.
And it professes to be Christian.
And it has as its object a Kingdom on earth.
And they are seeking to make the Christian testimony that and the Lord is going to look down on it and say that's not my Kingdom.
And he's gonna judge it and he's gonna take it out because it's about time for him to set up his earthly Kingdom, and that is not a part of it.
And those who will come and say, didn't we prophecy in your name? And so on. And he'll say, depart from me, workers of iniquity, I never knew you.
All of this will take place in the name of Christianity.
There should. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. I believe every time that scripture is referred to, it's referring to the judgment at the end of this day of grace. Other judgments aren't so severe as that judgment. Why is the judgment at the end of the day of grace so severe? Because the privilege was so great.
Because Grace gives in this time. What?
No one has an excuse or reason not to receive.
Grace rejected is worse than the rejection of the Lord Jesus when He was here on earth, in a certain sense.
That's why.
Weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Well, it's a privilege to be lived at this time that we we are living in and to have a measure of understanding about this. And I, I hope the Lord will encourage us to be faithful to go on for him looking for the Lord's coming.
It's so important.
Her brother at the at the dinner table this noon was was referring to me. Let's just turn to it in Hebrews 10 Umm the what the lo, what the apostle said there the the writer of the book of Hebrews, what he said to those Hebrews who were were suffering. It's in Hebrews chapter 10.
Umm verse.
A34 I wanna reiterate this to us.
For ye had compassion of me and my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven. Notice those words that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. Cast not away, therefore your confidence with hath great recompense of reward.
00:40:04
For you have need of patience that after you have done the will of God.
You might receive the promise for yet a little while, and he that shall come will come and will not tear. How appropriate these words, the same words that he spoke to those Jewish believers in the very beginning, and they were a part of that people of Israel that had earthly hopes.
And now they had a better hope, and the Hebrews tells us about that.
I heavenly hope.
And they had to suffer the consequences, and many lost all their goods on earth.
Are we prepared to give up our goods on Earth?
Is that our focus? We need to be careful. It's not the goods that are the problem, it's our esteem of them and what they're used for that we need to be on our guard.
They can be used for the heavenly Kingdom. Wonderful opportunity to use those for things but.
Speaking from experience, it's easy to.
Have a tight fist on those dollar bills.
It's easy to hold back.
And did not use it for the heavenly things.
Let's turn now to umm.
John.
Well, John's Gospel, chapter 4.
I've spoken on this verse before, but I wanna reiterate it.
John 4, verse 35.
We'll reverse starting with verse 34.
Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye, there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest. Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes, and look upon the fee on the fields, for they are white already to harvest, and he that reapeth.
Receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto eternal life, that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is the same true One soweth, another reapeth.
I sent you to read that were on Ye bestowed no labor, other men labored, and ye are entered into their laborers.
It's a wonderful thing to participate in this harvest, this sowing and reaping.
The Lord Jesus what what told his disciples about that when He was here on earth? Now, as I mentioned at the beginning of the meeting, there were two harvest times in Israel. There was the early summer or late spring harvest of wheat and barley, and then there was a normal fall harvest when most crops mature and are gathered in.
The children of Israel were to gather together both of those occasion and go up to Jerusalem.
And to present some of those first fruits that they had gathered in on those two harvest times. A lot of people don't distinguish between these two harvests. That's the burden of my heart, is to distinguish the two harvests, the heavenly harvest and the earthly harvest, the wheat harvest and the fall harvest of grapes and olives and all the other.
Fruits that mature at that time.
And the Lord Jesus here was with his disciples, and I think their mindset was on what was pictured in the fall harvest.
And then the Lord Jesus is walking through this time of year, and it must have been spring and the wheat and the barley were ripe because they are the crops that turn white when they get over when they're ripe. Uh, it's a wonderful thing to see a field of wheat waving in the wind and actually when it gets white, it's over mature. It's really golden when it's ripe.
00:45:09
It bleaches out in the sun and.
First, here on earth, I want you to be occupied with the heavenly harvest, the harvest of wheat. There are four months between those two harvests. Don't wait until Israel is going to be blessed to enter in and join in the harvest, because the Lord wanted Israel to participate as the heavenly people as well. And if you please, they got first chance.
For the gospel was presented to the Jew first.
And also to the Gentiles. And it really wasn't until the Jews rejected it that the Lord broadened it out and to include all nations. And that's where we have come in. And during this this dispensation that we're living in, it's largely been through to the Gentiles that the gospel has been blessed. But we're living down at the end of this dispensation. And even the Gentiles now are turning up their noses at the at heavenly things and.
Focusing back on what Israel the distinction of this dispensations is being given up and people are returning to the theology that our early forefathers that wrote the King James Bible only understood.
And replacement theology is taking away all hope of a heavenly harvest. That is the burden of my heart.
It's one thing to be ignorant of these truths. It's another thing to imbibe it and then give it up.
If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness? I believe that refers to the false Christian testimony that God will have to come down and judge. But that doesn't make any less the hope and the wonder. The Lord is going to get every soul that he died for with Him in glory.
And All Souls are going to be.
Gazzard in and so we know that and we're thankful for it.
Let's turn to Acts. Acts chapter 27.
Interesting little verse here.
I thought about asking this question at the beginning of the meeting. What was it?
That the last thing they cast out of the ship when Paul was shipwrecked.
What was it that they cast out of the ship?
After they had took their last meal. Let's read it.
Acts chapter 27 and verse 38.
Well, let's read ver yeah?
And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and cast out the wheat into the sea.
This is often been likened to a.
This shipwreck, this voyage of Paul has been likened as a prophetic picture of the history of the Christian testimony and how it would be end up in ruin at the end of the dispensation. And I like that. And then fitting it in with that.
What is pictured here in casting the wheat into the sea?
Giving up of the heavenly harvest.
Brethren from among us that I have known.
Have done so. Some of my dear brethren have done that.
00:50:08
I believe.
It's a burden to my heart.
To give up our heavenly hope and be occupied with earthly blessings.
Is, I believe, pictured in this verse.
But they all did get safe to the shore. So wonderful. There won't be a soul left behind that is born again.
All those seeds that fell on good ground are going to bear some fruit. I believe every believer will have some fruit.
But there are those 3 stages in which we.
As to life, we can give up and not we as Christian, but the the hearers of the gospel can give it up or it can be taken from them. It can be rendered fruitless because they have no root, really no faith.
Or it can be the cares of life that a soul it gets so taken up for them.
In the later stages of what the wheat plant develops that there is no fruit.
First Corinthians, chapter 15.
When the Lord Jesus was here, he told his disciples, except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die.
It bring us forth much fruit.
He was speaking that those words about himself and his desire, I believe the Lord was telling us.
In those words, because this is in the 12Th chapter, this was in the 12Th chapter of John and took place.
And that last week of the Lord's life here on earth, Even the last day or two, maybe.
He was saying I'm about to go back to heaven.
I don't want to go alone.
I want to have a people in heaven with me.
The only way that's possible is for me to lay down my life and to die.
And the result of that death will be?
Much fruit.
And the much fruit is through the sowing of the gospel.
And we who believe receive that good seed.
What's in the chapter that you took up here?
Being born again not a corruptible things.
But it how is it the?
I'm sorry, when you get old you can't quote scripture anymore.
See it?
Being born again, not a corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. That's the good seed sown in our hearts.
And it liveth and abide the tares work didn't we did never converts into tears, and tears never convert into wheat. They are two different origins.
You have to be born again. You have to receive the word of God in your heart to bear fruit.
And so.
The Lord Jesus, this is how he's getting.
Is harvest. This is how he's gathering his people in heaven.
This is what we are are partaker of.
Now in for First Corinthians chapter 15.
Verse.
35.
But some men will say, How are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die.
00:55:04
And that which thou so was, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but bare grain. It may chance of wheat, or some other grain, but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him.
And to every seed, his own body. And so the Lord Jesus makes a comparison here with the sowing of a seed and the plant that grows out of that seed. And then a body is taken, and that plant doesn't look like the seed necessarily, but it's of its life and nature, and it grows.
And so.
The seed that's been planted in our hearts.
Can bear fruit when we receive it and allow it to have its way in our life. What a wonderful thing to bear fruit for God. And we're getting close to that time when the Lord Jesus is going to transform these bodies and he's gonna give us that new body like his own.
And that's compared to the process here that we're talking about.
Of the sowing of seed and the the life that comes forth out of that, and of the change that will take place ultimately when the dead rise.
And that's why when we gives fruit, it dies. We that are alive and remain are the exception to the rule.
In the Millennium, it won't necessarily be that way.
Only the wicked will die.
And they will live on.
The heavenly harvest is about all those who die in faith.
Along with those of us who are still alive when the Lord comes and we have that special transformation that's going to take place and He will clothe us with new bodies like His own.
Gospel 3
Gospel—John Bilisoly
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Once again, I'd like to welcome you to the gospel meeting as uh, was done Friday night and Saturday night. Umm, maybe you were out those, there's someone here that was at those gospel meetings that is still struggling with, umm, salvation that still has not come to the Lord Jesus as Savior, to accept him as Savior as a remedy for their sins through the work of the cross and his shed blood.
If you're in that case, I'd like to share with you that there's a verse in the book of Job, I think it's the 33rd chapter, and somewhere down around verse 14, and a man named Eli Hugh is speaking to Job and he says this God speaketh once, yeah, twice. Yet man perceiveth it not.
I don't know if this is your third Gospel meeting, this conference. I don't know, umm, if you're going to refuse again, I don't know how many times God will allow you another opportunity. That doesn't say that in that verse. It doesn't say God speaketh three times. Perhaps he will give you another opportunity, but the important thing is don't put it off.
I'd like to sing #6.
And in particular, I, umm, was wanna emphasize the second verse of number six on our hymn hymn sheet. Sin and death. No more will shall reign. Jesus died and lives again in the glorious highest height. See him. God's supreme delight. I was just struck by those words. God's supreme delight.
Umm, what I have on my heart this evening or this afternoon.
Is to speak about what pleases God that we have in his word. And I wanna look at that subject and see what we can find. It's a, it's a big subject. We won't be able to cover all the references, but it's a wonderful subject to think of what pleases God. Man is in this world to see what he can find to please himself. Perhaps you're feeling that way. What can I find to please myself?
Well.
I hope that by the end of this meeting you will see value in seeking to do what pleases God. Well, let's sing this to Him. Maybe someone can raise the tune for us.
God and mercy satisfied.
One realistic on my life.
Yeah, no worries already.
To die remembrance like again.
00:05:33
Little rain.
Every.
Song at last will hold you through the pride of my own.
You might have heard the story about the man that was walking and looking in the windows of the shops and he went by a clock shop and there was a clock there in that window that had a plaque that had been.
Inscribed upon and it was on that mounted on that clock and it had two words another time.
And as I recall the story, if I remember right, that man was a man that was under conviction, but he was one that often would say another time he would hear the glad tidings and he would say another time and that spoke to him. And as I understand or remember, I believe that he was saved through that. Maybe you are like that tonight, Maybe you are saying.
Another time, maybe you have said that many times.
You know, you don't know if you're going to have another time. So we would urge upon you tonight as you hear the Gospel that if you are still in your sins, turn to the Lord Jesus. Don't say another time. You don't know what will happen. You don't know if you'll have another opportunity. Well, as I mentioned, I wanted to speak about things that we are told that please God.
And we know that.
When we talk about the word please, we're talking about it in the, in its verb tense. It means to, to satisfy, to bring gratification to, uh, to delight. It Could we could refer to it that way. And I wanted to look at that subject in Scripture. So to start with, let's turn to.
Umm, Hebrews Chapter 11, because we want to establish at the very beginning.
Uh, concerning this thought of pleasing God, we want to establish a few things here right from the start. So we find in verse six of Hebrews 11, we find some words that are very emphatic. We cannot misunderstand what it is saying. It says without faith, it is impossible to please Him.
For he that cometh to God must believe that he is.
And that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Dear one, tonight in this room, I wanna establish at the very outset of this little meeting that without faith it is impossible to please God. That's what the word of God says. Who are you gonna believe? You're gonna believe your own reasoning mind or the reasons of men or are you going to listen to God's word that says.
Without faith, it's impossible to please him.
What is faith?
Faith is, uh, as we sometimes sing is a very simple word, though little understood. You know, it's, it's umm, it's never ceased to amaze me how.
Men and women go on every day of their lives and in a sense they are living out and practicing this thought of faith and I'll explain what I mean. I call it subconscious faith. Umm, I noticed that some moved around in their seats to different locations and came in a little closer. I appreciate that.
Umm Barry, I noticed you moved over here and I I wanted to ask you.
00:10:02
When you moved into that road there, did you have any concern that that light fixture that you're under might fall down? No, OK. I mean, uh, Barry wasn't concerned about that or I'm sure he wouldn't have moved his sister and her husband and his wife into that role. Umm, how about all of us here? Did we have any thoughts that we might, uh.
Come into this room and that this whole ceiling could collapse on us.
I don't think we even gave it a thought. Uh, we climb into our cars, we take off down the road, we're coming up on the a stop sign or a stop light and we get into break. We begin to break. Do we have any concerns or thoughts that these brakes might not work and I'm going to go flying through that light. We probably don't even think about that most of the time.
We put a lot of faith in that which man has done.
We have faith that however they anchored these lights, the architects, that we're pretty sure they're gonna stay up there. So we're not really concerned about sitting under Maori, Jim, that they're gonna fall down and do a lot of damage. Umm, you know, there's just so many examples like that. We get on the elevator. Many of us are using the elevators, some of us are using the stairs.
Uh, not because of this, but umm, we get on those elevators.
And we don't even think that they're not gonna work. I got stuck on an elevator once and it wasn't very pleasant. Uh, we were probably on it at all 20 minutes or so before, uh, help came and they were able to, to override whatever was wrong with the elevator and, and get us down. Umm, things fail like that, but we have a lot of faith, umm, on in what man has has done, isn't it? Isn't it rather, umm, amazing, isn't it?
To remarkable that men put so much faith in what their fellow man has created that they depend on you climb on the airplane and you probably have had this thought. I usually do is I hope these are good pilots. Uh, I hope they're sober. I hope they, uh, really have a desire to, to get us to our destination safely. Uh, we think about those things, we pray about those things, but we don't live in fear of those things.
But you know, people in the world, you think, why aren't they in fear of that, that these things could all fail and yet they'll trust man, but they won't trust God. They won't trust God concerning their eternal souls, destiny. Doesn't that remarkable that man put so much faith in everything else. But when it comes to God, when it comes to divine things, No, no, he's, he's.
He turns away from it. He doesn't have the faith to believe.
Because faith is a gift from God. And dear ones, tonight I hope that if you are in your sins, I hope that you will be given the faith to believe the gospel tonight. So without faith, it is impossible to please him. We'll turn to one more verse to establish this fact in another way. Enrollments, uh, given to us there a little differently.
In Romans chapter 8.
So the apostle Paul here is is talking about the flesh that principle of evil that is in every man that was born in Adam's race. That's all of us has this principle of evil at work in him that Paul is calling the flesh and he says in verse eight they so then they that are in the flesh cannot.
Please God.
Pure ones tonight. Take God at his word. Here is 2 uh.
Two testimonies to the fact that without faith and in the flesh you cannot please God. God has given adequate testimony to the fact that nothing outside of faith will please him. And so why try? Why are you trying to come up with your own scheme, your own estimation of what might please God?
Whatever it might be, maybe you think that if you.
Give to worthy causes of your means, money or whatever that might be, that will please God. Umm, maybe you think that if you seek to do the best you can and and live, umm, an upright life before your fellow man, you don't cheat him, you don't cheat your employer. You, you seek to live in an honorable way that that will please God. Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
00:15:06
They that are in the flesh cannot please God.
How planar can God make it to us that there is no way to please him outside of faith, faith in what he has done and which we'll get into now. Let's go to umm. Now that we've established that, let's go back and let's start at the beginning. We, we've talked some about creation, the wonders of creation, the marvel of it. Let's look at a verse in Psalm 115.
I think it's so amazing to think about the creation, the heavens and so on, and the stars and the sun, the moon, so many things. But here in Psalm 115, Psalmist says in verse 3.
Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. You know, I, I think it's good to establish that at the beginning too, that God, when he created the heavens and the earth, he created it according to his pleasure. And we're told that when we look at that record of creation in Genesis 1.
And he creates different aspects of what we know of of as our world now.
It says he saw that it was good, and then he creates man and in his own image and likeness. And when he's done with that, he says at the end of it he saw that it was very good. You know, God did these things as God as he pleased. He didn't take, umm, instructions from anyone else but God.
Created them for His pleasure.
And it says that for his pleasure, they are and were created these different things. So you think of all the variety of, in the animal Kingdom, you think of, uh, uh, the celestial creation and so on. It's all for God's pleasure. He it was, wasn't it what they are and were created for his pleasure. And then when you think of man made in his likeness and image, I think there's a difference there.
Umm, sometimes the image is more the thought of, of a reflection of something else without Rea really any, uh, regard to its like the features. It's not so much that it looks alike, but it, it represents something else kind of like the Lord. It says of the Lord that he was the image of the invisible God. Uh, he represented, you might say the Godhead and we'll look at a verse for that.
Umm, sometimes we look at a child and we say, look at a little boy and we we, we see his father and we say.
He's the image of his father. Umm, we don't make anyone an offender for a word, but in the way it's used in, uh, our Bible, in the, the Old Testament, it would be better to say he's, he's the likeness of his father because likeness has to do with characteristics that are similar and so on. And so when, uh, when Seth was born, I'll, I'll just read that verse because it kind of brings the two together.
And in Genesis chapter five, you don't need to to turn to it, but it says and Adam lived in 130 years verse four or verse 3.
And begat a son in his own likeness and in his own likeness after his image and called his name Seth. So, umm, Seth, not only, uh, in a sense, you might say, had some features of, of his father that you would say, oh, that's that, that must be one of Adam's sons. Umm, he also was to represent his father.
And when God created man, he created man to represent him on this earth, to be his representative. He, He made him in his image.
And in his likeness, I think that's beautiful to think about, uh, God doing that and doing it as he pleased. Uh, another verse to support this thought of God doing as he pleased in creation is in the 135th Psalm. So just turn over a few pages in your Bibles to Psalm 135.
And it says in verse 6 whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and in earth.
In the seas and in and all deep places. So the Lord did as he pleased. He He had a perfect plan, and He didn't consult with you and I. And He did it in perfection, and He did it for His pleasure.
00:20:12
Now let's, uh, so, so to carry that on, God creates man in his own image and in his likeness and man doesn't do a good job of representing him. And pretty soon it wasn't long before, very short time later, sin comes into the world and the representation of God is ruined by sin. Uh, that which man was to represent.
God to be God's representative on his behalf.
Man fails in that. So God has now a situation where that what she created in His likeness and image is not representing him, is not like Him at all. And so God has to go back to work. You might say God has to begin to deal with this situation that we call sin that came into His creation.
And so.
We know that, uh, God does deal with that. He deals with it through the flood. And as we've, we've had in these meetings, umm, there was a, a new earth that Noah and his wife and his sons and their wife stepped out onto, but it wasn't long before man failed again in his representation of God and, and being in God's image. And so sin comes back in.
And spoils it. And this goes on and on and on. And so we know that God has to bring in.
Something else. And that is where salvation comes in through the work of His Son the Lord Jesus. And so let's see what God the Godhead does concerning this issue. Let's go to Colossians and read a verse.
There I mean Colossians chapter one.
What is God going to do concerning this?
Well, in Colossians chapter one.
It says in verse 19.
For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell.
We could look at a little different translation of that and we could, uh, read it this way. For in him all the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell. For in him the Lord Jesus, all the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell. So we know that, umm, God is going to send his Son, the Lord Jesus.
And the Lord Jesus is going to be the representation.
On this earth of the Godhead, it's marvelous to think about that God coming down in the person of a man to represent him. Beautiful to think of the Lord being, uh, presented in this way, in this, in this, uh, Colossians one. And it says that it pleased.
The Godhead.
It pleased the Godhead to do this.
Isn't that marvelous to think that man had ruined God's perfect creation and.
Had UMM made a a terrible mess of things and God sends his Son in the likeness of man into this world to represent him concerning this, But if the Lord would have just come as God's representation?
And lived a perfect upright life, which he did. What would that have failed you and I as sinners? And so God goes further in that, doesn't he and what he's doing here. And so we have, uh, we have not only the Lord Jesus coming in time into this world, representing the Godhead as a man on this earth.
But we see him living a life down here.
As a man going through the experiences that you and I go through and culminating in the cross. But before we get to that, let's look at the testimony of his life that we have so often in the word of God. And let's go to Second Peter to pick up on this. So in Second Peter chapter one.
It says.
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Second Peter chapter one and verse 17.
Well, I'll read in verse, uh, sixteen. Start there, for Peter is speaking here, for we have not followed cunningly devised fables.
When we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His Majesty, For he received from God the Father honor and glory. When there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Now, we won't take the time to look at the references to these, but there's six times in the Gospels that this expression, umm, this is my beloved son and whom I am well pleased are given. There's three in Matthew, there's one in Mark, there's one in Luke, and there's this one that we have in Peter.
So, umm, 6 times.
And we have this expression, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. It's like, uh, God is, is not only going to mention it to us once. He's not only going to mention it to us twice, he's going to keep reminding us of this. And then all of the witnesses that he uses the, the writers of the gospels, umm, with the exception of John, he gives us this expression, This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.
This one, that God that represents the Godhead that came into this world, this one perfectly satisfies the heart of God. He is one that God is well pleased with. And so if we want an example of one that pleases God.
Of a man on this earth that pleases God. Let's look at the Lord Jesus. He's our supreme example.
We have 4 gospels that detail to us his life, umm, down on this earth. We also have the Spirit of Christ given to us in the Psalms. So we have much in scripture to encourage us as men concerning a man that was in this world that perfectly honored and glorified the Father and one in whom God could say I am well pleased.
Beautiful. He holds a distinct place that no other man.
Could possibly hold in all of God's thoughts and God's counsels and God's heart of love. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. You know, we had quite a bit this morning in our morning meeting about him doing the will of his Father, even when that will meant going to Calvary's cross and being made sin the sinless one. We cannot.
Begin to enter into what that meant to him.
To be made soon, but he did it in perfect obedience to His Father. And I was thinking this morning in the meeting of that verse in John eight, I think it is. And it's somewhere around verse 29. And it says this at the end of the verse. It says the Lord is speaking to those his own and those around him. And he says, I do always.
Those things please my father. Now none of us could ever say that.
Of any relationship that we were in, whether it was husband to wife, wife to husband, uh, child to parent, none of us could ever say. I do always those things that please my father. I do always those things that please my wife. That would be very presumptuous and and absolute lie, but this one did always those things.
That pleased his father. What a wonderful one we have to look to.
He's our example, umm, he's the, the, the standard, you might say, uh, the one that we look to, the pattern for us. He's the one that we can look at if we want to see what pleases God. Look at his life, look at what he did in different situations. Look how he responded when he was, uh.
Umm tormented because our brother was bringing out after at the close of the meeting.
His tormentors, what they did to him, look at how he responded. We can learn so much from looking at him. He's the one that pleased the Father. Now let's, uh, let's go on and look at, uh, a verse in Isaiah 53 that we're familiar with.
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So we talked about this one that came into this world and the testimony of God concerning Him and how He walked in perfect obedience to His Father.
Always honoring him.
And then, like I said, he could have been here and done all of that. But where would we be if it wasn't for the work of Calvary's cross? And so God goes further. He sends this blessed One who is all his delight to represent him. And then it says in verse 10, we're going to look at just this verse.
Of Isaiah 53 yet it pleased.
Jehovah to bruise him, he hath put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. Have you ever pondered that and thought about that? The significance of and what I'm what I have to say is gonna be very shallow. I'm sure it will only be scratching the surface of of this subject.
Of how the Lord pleased God in His work on the cross.
But here it seems more that the emphasis is on it. Please God to bruise him. And you might say, why would it be put that way? Why would it be put that God was pleased to bruise him well?
For one thing, when you think of.
The glory that was brought to God the Father concerning the question of sin. Sin had come into His creation and here was one who was going to answer to that in a perfect way, and God was going to be glorified as a result of His work concerning this question of sin.
God was going to be not only glorified, but he was going to be eternally satisfied by the sacrifice that the Lord was, was going to make on Calvary's cross because of sin. And we don't have time to, to go into it, but umm, I, I'm sure you've enjoyed and heard this before that when John sees, umm, the Lord Jesus.
In John one there, and he makes that proclamation, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away.
The sin of the world that it's not sins there because it's it's dealing more with the question of sin the the larger issue of sin. It's not the Lord's dying for my sins and his propitiation for my sins there. It's it's taking away the sin of the world. And because of his work on the cross, the Lord Jesus has not only provided a remedy for my sins individually, but he settled.
The question of God.
Concerning sin and not only settled the question, but he's his because of his work on the cross. The the final outcome of that work will be that sin will be eradicated. When we get to the eternal state, there will be no such thing as sin. It will have been eradicated the work of Calvary's cross.
Is so far reaching that the Lord as the Lamb of God, God's providing.
Has taken away the sin of the world. It's it's still future in the sense that the final, umm, you might say the, the completion of that has not been seen yet. We still live in a scene of sin. We still see the effects of sin in the Millennium. There's still going to be sin. It's going to be judged every morning. Umm, it will be a righteous reign. But when we get to the, the eternal state, righteousness will dwell. Sin will have been completely eradicated.
And it's because the Lamb of God took away the sin of the world. I think it's marvelous to try and enter into that. I feel like I explained, uh, it very feebly, but, but just to leave that, that little, uh, seed with you, uh, what a wonderful, far reaching effect his work has had. Well, I need to move on in this first. That goes on to say.
Umm, he shall see his seed Will stop there a minute. He shall see his seed. I think this is another beautiful thought.
You know, for a Jew to not have any posterity, to not have any children was a thing of shame. It was a, it was a very, umm, hard thing for a Jew to bear not having children. An example that comes to mind is with, uh, Zacharias in umm, in Luke's Gospel chapter one, we see him there, he and his wife Elizabeth, she was barren. That was a thing of reproach for a Jewish woman.
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And it looked as if, you know, the Lord could speak of being cut off in the midst of his days, and it looked as if the Lord was going to pass out of the scene with no seed, with no posterity. And that would have been a, a very much of A reproach. But it says here in this prophecy, which is amazing, that Isaiah would bring it out in this way.
He shall see his seed.
You know, our brothers, uh, uh, just have the, the address of brother Doug. He talked about 1/4 of wheat falling into the ground and dying that we have in John 12 There. And if it, uh, corner wheat FA except it fall into the ground and, and diet a bite us alone. But if it dieth, it bring us forth much fruit. And so you think of, of the Lord Jesus there as that corner wheat as he was, umm, gave up his life.
And as a result of that, after that work was finished.
Umm, he can then say in Hebrews 2, he can, as it were, present all of his seed before the Father, and he can say, Behold, I and the children which thou hast given me. Isn't it beautiful to think that his seed, he shall see his seed. Yes, He was cut off in the midst of his days, but God ruled overruled in all of that, and as a result of his obedience, he is going to have.
Uh, tremendous result from that, a bountiful harvest. And he's still harvesting souls today, as our brother said, and we can share with him in that. That's a wonderful privilege. That's why we have gospel meetings. But I just enjoyed that thought of he shall see his seed. He's going to have a spiritual posterity. He's going, he's got, he's bringing many sons to glory. I hope you're among that.
Number this evening that you can say that you are his, that you are going to to be among that seed. What a wonderful thing that is. And then it goes on to say.
He shall prolong his days well.
Because of his death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus has an old death. Death hasn't been destroyed yet. And Paul can talk about the last enemy to be destroyed in in First Corinthians. I think it's maybe in the first chapter and I can't remember for sure.
He says the last enemy to be destroyed is death. So we know there is a coming day when again, as a result of what the Lord has done on Calvary's cross, death is going to be destroyed. It's not destroyed yet, but it has been annulled. The power of death has no more claim over us. Umm, in a sense. So when we pass away, if the Lord calls us home before his coming.
It's looked at as sleep, because sleep is something that's temporary.
And so you and I as believers that pass away, we are asleep in Jesus. We're not dead in the sense of, of death as we think of it. And so he shall prolong his days resurrection. Just think of that. He's, uh, risen from among the dead and he's the glorified man and the glory of death has no more power over him.
It, it can't touch him. It's he's, uh, we, we get it so beautifully in the.
The 15th of of First Corinthians. At the end there it says, uh, he says.
Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is thy sting, O brave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus has an old death. What a wonderful thing. And then it says.
At the end there and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. What does that mean? Well, I think at least this much that, uh, because of what the Lord Jesus again has done, blessing can go out to all the earth, uh, because of, of his work. And so it's wonderful, isn't it, to see these, these things that have been.
The result of his work on the cross? Well, let's just, uh, pick up a few more here before we finish up.
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Umm wanna go on now to umm, another one in UMM.
First Corinthians, chapter one.
Something else that pleases God.
First Corinthians chapter one and verse UH-12.
21.
For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the preaching of foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Now back up just a few verses to verse 18.
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. You know this is a wonderful thing, that umm, it says here that it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. You know, when you think about it from a purely natural earthly standpoint.
The story of the cross. Someone being taken.
And crucified and put to death who has come as the Savior, as the deliverer to the natural heart of man. That sounds like foolishness. To take someone and put them to death and say that that's going to be the means of salvation and blessing is hard for man to conceive. And to him is foolishness. The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness.
So you and I that have been saved, well, we we look back, don't we? We've been brought into God's family and we can see the value.
Of what the Lord Jesus did on the cross and the absolute necessity of it. But standing on the other side, it's hard for the natural man to see this. He just thinks that God's plan of salvation is foolishness. But oh, it's wonderful, isn't it, that it's that very thing that man would say is foolish, it pleases God to have.
The cross preached, the cross of Christ preached and present, the Lord presented as the Savior of sinners.
Whenever God hears that it pleases him, it tells us that it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. I'm sure thankful for those that preach to me. I don't uh, remember much about it, but because I was had the privilege of being brought up in a Christian home and from my very earliest memories I was brought to where the gospel was preached.
And I do remember this assurance of my salvation coming when I told my mother one time.
That I was the saved, that I was the Lord's. I don't remember a specific moment of being saved. I'm not sure that, uh, we, we have to know that I'm, I'm thankful that we don't, umm, it's nice when we can, when we have that memory, but I, I believe with all my heart that I am his and he delights when we have opportunity. And it doesn't have to be at a setting like this.
When we can preach the cross of Christ to those that need salvation and know that when we're doing it, don't worry about umm, and I say that as I'm, I'm not umm, I'm not an example of an evangelistic person. I wish I was more bold. I, I, umm, just value those that have that courage. But just think of this, that whenever you're doing that, you're pleasing God whenever you're telling.
Available the cross of Christ God is pleased. I think that's nice to a nice encouragement for us to keep giving out the gospel. OK, let's go to one that we covered in our our reading meetings. I'll just do it briefly and 1St I mean in Ephesians chapter one, umm but and that's the thought of the election.
That we were chosen. Uh, I think that's so wonderful to think of, of being.
Chosen so.
As I understand it, and this is a simple way of putting it, uh, someone explained it this way, that election has to do with our person, that we've been chosen, We've been, uh, brought into a place of favor. So it has to do with, with me, with, uh, uh, me as a person. And predestination has more to do with the position that I've been put into. So election has to do with me, my person.
00:45:10
Predestination has to do with what I've been placed into, I've been placed into the, the family of God. I've been, I've been brought into a, a place of favor. Isn't that wonderful? They're both true. They go together, but they're at least distinct to that degree. And I'm sure there's more, but it says in, uh, first four, according as you have chosen us and him before the foundation of the world.
Before you were born, God said. I'm going to take that one.
And I'm going to bring them into blessing even before they're born. I know about them. I know that they're gonna be born on a certain date and at a certain age, they're going to accept my son as their Savior. I will bring them in That God predestinated us. He chose us, or first he chose us. And then it says, uh, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love having predestinated us. Verse 5 unto the adoption of children.
By Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. I wanted to bring this out. God elected you. God chose you. God predestinated you according to His pleasure, because it pleased Him to do it. Not because you deserved it, not because you merited it, not because He knew that you were going to be a wonderful servant for Him, but in spite of who we are, in spite of our failures, in spite of.
Everything God said sovereignly and divinely, He said I'm gonna choose that person to bring him into blessing because I want to. I think it's beautiful to to see that that God does this at his because it's according to the good pleasure of His will. He wants to. He wanted to choose you. He wanted to predestinate you. Isn't that wonderful? Just thank him. Don't try and understand it.
Don't, uh, get caught up with saying, well, I don't understand why he chose me and I failed so much and so on. That puts in the focus on the wrong in the wrong place. Just thank him for it. He did it according to the good pleasure of his will. I don't understand it, but thank him. And if it reduces you to tears, that's OK. Just, uh, let him, let him speak to you in that way. All right?
Umm, First Corinthians again.
I wanna look at uh, chapter 12 now. So God sent his son because it pleased him to provide a savior. Umm, and now he's, we've learned a little bit about what he's done towards us and his love and his good pleasure. And now what he has done and, and saving one here and saving one there is, is he has joined us together.
Into a body, the body of Christ. And so we have in.
In First Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 18, it says, but now hath God set the members, every one of them in the body as it hath pleased him. Now I think that's very important because, umm, I think if we laid a hold of that in our souls, it would take care of some of the problems that we have as being members of this body. And as we know with our umm, human bodies there are.
Members that we perceive to be more important than other members.
And so on. And we can get hung up on that. But I think, uh, what I like to see in this is that I like to look at it as a whole, that our body works together as a whole and the body of Christ works to should work together as a whole. And that God has set every member in his body as it has pleased him. So what right do I have to say? Well, I would rather be this member or I would rather function like that member.
That's doing what I want to do. That's doing what pleases me.
See, that's the problem is and that's when when problems come in is when we start looking and saying I'm not real happy with the part that I have. I, I feel like I'd like to do a little more. God have set the members in the body as it have pleased him. Well, I'll just leave it there. There's a lot more that could be said about that. Umm, brother Steve.
Umm rule was sharing with me that there was some brothers that came and put a new rough on roof on his house. I don't know if you all knew that.
But, uh, that was a nice thing to do and he said I never really, uh, he shared with me this, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I passed it on. He said I never really fully understood, umm, the significance of that, that gift that's called helps until this happened to us. He said I got, umm, a fresh.
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Uh, understanding of what it means to be a help. So, uh.
I thought that was nice. Uh, there, there they were just, umm, working away on the roof. Probably most of us didn't know it. And uh, they were being a real help to him and his wife. So God had set the members in the body as it had pleased him. Not you or I, not what we'd like, but what God delighted to do or what God pleased to do.
OK, just a couple more Umm.
I just wanted to mention briefly Galatians one because.
It's, umm, this vessel that the Lord raises up, not to put attention on this vessel, uh, the Apostle Paul, but it does tell us in, uh, verses 15 and 16 of Galatians, one that pleased God to raise him up. And I, I think as we look at that, the glory still goes to the Lord because it's him that pleased to take someone like the Apostle Paul.
Who was such a umm, He called himself, umm, umm, insolent and overbearing. He calls himself, uh, I think he says a blasphemer. He persecuted the Church of God and so on. But God in his grace picks him up and he says in verse UH-15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace to reveal his Son and me, that I might preach him among the heathen immediately.
I conferred not with flesh and blood.
Neither when I up to Jerusalem and so on. So he just is bringing before the Galatians here the fact that it pleased God to separate him. And I just, uh, enjoyed that, uh, aspect there that, uh, Paul recognized that he was a chosen vessel of God because of God's grace, his sovereign grace. He chose him to use him for him.
Umm, I think in a sense we could all say that with, uh, with the apostle that it pleased God.
To separate us from our mother's womb. And I know in, in this sense, Paul was raised up in a special way, uh, to fulfill a specific purpose and a need in God's dispensation. But each of us in a sense has been called, as we mentioned earlier, OK, Just, uh, just wanna finish up here. Umm, what I wanna talk briefly about in a few minutes here about a man named Enoch. Because, umm, Enoch is very special.
Me, uh, for a reason I'll mention here, uh, in just a minute, but if you go back to the 11Th of Hebrews.
In chapter Chapter 11 and verse 5.
We read about Enoch.
Says inversified by faith, Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him for before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God. So the last little part of what I want to talk about is maybe some exhortation for us as believers. Uh, if you're not the Lord's umm, still listen because our desire would be for you to be able to be brought into the family of God through.
Faith in his son, the Lord Jesus. And that someone like Enoch, Enoch would be an encouragement to you. And we don't have a lot about him. Umm, but it says that he pleased God. And I thought about this a little bit and wondered if we can learn anything as to what it was about him or about what we're told about him that.
Uh, gives us to know that he, I mean in that as to why he pleased God.
That's what I'm trying to say. Uh, what? What was it about Enoch that pleased God? Well, we don't know specifically, but this is simple, but I just enjoyed this for myself. Is that he pleased God because he walked with God. That's what it says here. It says umm.
He had this testimony that it, it says he had this testimony that he pleased God. And we'd have to look back in umm, in Genesis to see that it says that he walked with God. But that's to me that that's the secret is, is he walked with God And, and as he walked with God, umm in companionship, he became, you might say, more and more attached to him just like.
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Umm happens here. I mean you see a couple start together and they.
They share things together and so on, but that, that relationship gets deeper and deeper and more meaningful and, and more and more is conveyed and, and the longer they are together, they begin to, uh, almost be able to read each other's thoughts to some extent. Sometimes it's a little bit unnerving. Umm, those of you that have experienced that.
And my wife and I have had that experience and uh, uh, it's neat in a way, but it's also.
It, it makes you realize, umm, what a, a responsibility those relationships and, and to think of him walking with God and, and as it were, enjoying communion and fellowship with God. It says he walked with in the garden in the cool of the day without him and Eve before sun came in. So he walks with Enoch and it's like, umm, if I can say Revere reverently, it's like he's saying I want to have his company with me all the time. And so he just trans.
Out of the scene, umm, and takes him and you know, I don't know that this is absolutely the case, but as far as I can tell from the, the research and if someone knows differently, I appreciate knowing, but I believe that this is the only individual in scripture of all of the individuals that are named in scripture or that we have a record of where it says he pleased God. Uh, and I'm not saying I many, many of the.
Testament Saints and New Testament Saints please God. It's obvious that, that Ruth, the Moabites please the Lord. It's obvious that umm, Abraham, umm, pleased God, but I couldn't find anyone else where specifically said using that word that they please God except Enoch and I, I thought that was interesting. Umm, I don't know, uh, I, I hope that's, that's right. But anyway, take that for what it's worth and, and enjoy it and.
Justin enjoyed the thought of him pleasing God because he walked with God.
Just a couple more without much comment. And 1St Thessalonians 4, I'll just, I'll just read these, umm, because they're, they're pretty much self-explanatory. Uh, here's one that tells us how we ought to walk and to please God. It brings the two together like with Enoch. So in first Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse one. Furthermore than we beseech you, brother, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus.
That as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
First, uh, not first, the Hebrews 13.
Verse 16 But to do good and to communicate forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Do you want to please God? Don't forget to do good and to communicate. Umm, I'll let you decide what communicate means. And then a little further in that chapter, umm.
In verse 21.
I'll just read verse 20 now. The God of peace that brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his well working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight. Beautiful, isn't it? And then, uh, I just, uh, noticed today is, umm, the brother in the morning meeting was reading from.
Ephesians, I mean in Philippians, uh, it says in umm.
Chapter 2, it says umm, verse 14, no, the verse 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. So uh, may the Lord encourage us in this. Umm, there is one that umm I have for the children that says, children, obey your parents and the Lord.
For this is well pleasing.
Unto the Lord. We don't have very many children here, but for any that are here, uh, there's a specific exhortation for you to be that will be pleasing to God, as if you obey your parents in the Lord.
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