St. Thomas Conference: 2015
Table of Contents
Colossians 2:1-5
Hymnsing
Hymnsing Talk
Colossians 2:6-11
God's Sovereignty and Man's Responsibility
Address—Tim Ruga
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Because we begin our meeting this afternoon with by singing him #141.
141 In deep eternal counsel, before the world was made, before its see foundations on nothingness were laid, God purposed us her blessing, and chose us and his Son to him to be conformed, when here our earth was run. 141.
Individual.
Nsnoise.
My desire this afternoon to speak on the first verse of that hymn. First, let's ask the Lord for his help. Our God and our Father, we come before Thee this afternoon. It's a company, as I known, thanking people I love and Thy mercy. And for this privilege that we have to be here together without fear, free before Thee to open Thy word. We pray that Thou would speak to us here this afternoon. We ask it for thy glory in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
00:05:05
And so like I said, I want to speak about.
Something of the eternal counsel of God to choose us. In short, I want to speak about the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man with respect to salvation. And when I say the sovereignty of God, I'm Speaking of the fact that God is above all things, and when he chooses to do something, there is nothing and there is no one who can resist as well. He will do it.
And so in order to look at that, let's just turn right to Ephesians chapter one and look at the first few verses there.
Ephesians One, verse 3.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who have blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. In Christ, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without playing before Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace.
And let's also.
Just skip down to verse 11, the middle of the verse, according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the Council of His own will. And so here we have laid out in very brief terms.
The sovereign choice of God, and that is that He chose believers before the foundation of the world. I'm speaking this afternoon to those who know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, and what I am saying is for you.
For those who do not, there will be a gospel meeting later on and the gospel will be preached at that time.
We know something different, those of us who know the Lord, and I'm speaking about that. And so here we have in verse four, we find that God, that's he. God has chosen us in him. That is Christ. That was God's choice.
That we would be His, and He chose us in Christ. And the time of that was before the foundation of the world. And it tells us something more in verse five. It says it was according to the good pleasure of His will. And then in verse 11 we register part of it according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the council of His own will.
Not according to the Council of our wills, but his.
And then the last verses that we read there up in, uh, at verse six, to the praise of the glory of his grace. These things are to God's own glory and not the glory of man. And I hope that we'll be able to see that as we go through the subject a little bit this afternoon. Now, another, uh, verse that I want to read in connection with this is in Second Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 13.
It says.
But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord.
Because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation.
Through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Now we find some further terms to find that God chose for salvation from the beginning. We saw in Ephesians chapter one that that choosing was before the foundation of the world and the scripture speaks of various beginnings, but the only beginning.
That the Scripture speaks of that is before the foundation of the world is found in John chapter one and verse one, and the beginning was the word. And that clearly is speaking about eternity past. And so from this we learned that God has chosen you and he has chosen me as individuals before the foundation of the world, an eternity past for salvation and it was done.
Not by God looking down through.
And the avenues of time to see what you would do by the council of your will and making His decision based on that. But God made that choice according to the council of His own will, and He did it for His own glory. This subject involves the glory of God and the counsel of God's own will. That, in brief, is what I understand of this.
00:10:26
Umm, subject of God's sovereign choice, God's election of believers.
And the Scriptures also teach another truth that runs parallel to that and that is that man is responsible, all men are responsible. The Scriptures abundantly clear about this and the fact that it's presented that whosoever will, as we have in John chapter 3 verse 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, whosoever.
Should not perish, but have eternal life.
Romans 10 verse 13 Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That goes out freely. And the responsibility for accepting that message is also laid out in the plaintiff's terms in the Word of God, as we have even just a little bit later there in John chapter 3, the last verse. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God.
Abideth on him. And so we have these two things that are plainly laid out for us in Scripture, and yet they seem somehow to be difficult to fit together. But as believers, I've always enjoyed, umm, I'm sure many of us have that little illustration of how, you know, it came a time when perhaps you could think of it as walking along the road and you see this little, uh, stone gateway there. We've all heard this illustration, no doubt, and above it it says whosoever will may come.
Maybe not a verse, but found in Revelation 22 and.
So they say, Oh, whosoever that means me. And so I go in and I, I'm so glad that that meant me. And I get inside that door and I look up above on the other side and I see they're written, chosen in him before the foundation of the world. And so I have something new that I have to learn. And as we come to Christ, we turn around and we look and we see what we're taught in the scriptures and we learn something about what the word of God teaches. The fact that actually it wasn't me who chose now to go through that door and do that, but I was chosen by him.
Which is really what this whole subject comes down to did.
I choose God, or did he choose May?
So that leads us naturally to the first objection, and that is to say that how can you put those things together?
If God chooses those who will be saved, then how is it that man who can't come or be saved unless he's chosen is responsible?
And it's a difficult question, isn't it? One that perhaps most of us as Christians have struggled with at one point or another in our lives. And so I want to try to, uh, explain a little bit here, not the answer to that question because I don't know that I can do it. I don't think I can, but what Scripture says about it.
Some have likened it, of course, to two rails on a railroad track being like these two truths that run side by side in the word of God, God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. And they just run. They never meet together. They run parallel to each other, but.
Off in the distance, as you look down this railroad track, it looks like it comes together somewhere on the horizon, and so these things come together.
Even though it doesn't look like it here, well, that's an illustration some use. I still struggle with that because in my mind those rails are parallel. They never come together.
But I think the point of those who use it is to say that they don't come together in our minds, but with God, who is not limited by the limitations of our minds. These things are not in conflict. And so we can take up this subject and see what God has to say about it.
And lay aside our human reasoning and simply accept what God says. And that indeed is what I believe is the answer. Isaiah chapter 45 verses 8 and nine say my thoughts are not your thoughts.
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Neither are your ways my way, saith the Lord. For it's the heavens are higher than the earth. So are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
And this is what we need to do when we come to many subjects of the Word of God. There's something in the mind of man that wants to take everything that we're confronted with and reason it out and subject it to our own ration and reason. And yet we can't do it. Think about the inscrutable mystery of the Son of God, that one who made heaven and earth and coming down, taking upon himself the fashion of a man. And then.
Going to the cross and letting the creature which he created due to him, what they did to him, think about all the things involved in that and how that Holy One could have sinned, put on him. These are mysteries we can't understand. We never will.
The Word of God teaches them, we read that we accept it by faith and we give glory to God and thank Him for the truth of it. I believe that's the answer when it comes to this subject as well. And so we don't try to reason these things out. Instead, we look to the Lord and we seek guidance from him as to what he says to us through them, what they mean to us as Christians and.
When the Lord Jesus came here on earth, he was the one man.
Who did understand perfectly what this all meant, and he did set out to explain it in a way for men to understand something of it. At least this we find in Luke chapter 14. Let's turn there for a moment.
Luke 14.
And we just go to verse 15.
Because it introduces what the Lord is answering it says.
When one of them has sat at me with him, heard these things he said unto him, Blessed to see that shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God.
He's talking about how happy it is that there would be someone who's going to be in that future day eating bread there in the Kingdom of God. How wonderful, how happy for someone to be blessed in glory.
And somehow the Lord Jesus answers. How is it that that's going to happen?
Verse 16 Then he said unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden come, for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuses. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it, I pray thee.
Have me excused.
Another said I have bought 5 yoke of oxen and I go to prove them. I pray thee have me excused.
And another said, I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come. Now before we go on, I just want to say this one common thing. Of course, no doubt you noticed it with these three, and that is that they all with one consent began to make excuse. But their excuses vary the 1St to say.
Well, this is what I did. And so I'm not coming. I will not come.
The third one said this is what I did and I can't come. And so you have these two basic reasons. I won't come and I can't come. And the Lord Jesus addresses both of them and John, as we'll see in a moment.
He goes on here.
So verse 21 That servant came and showed his Lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry, said to his servant, go out into the streets in the lanes of the city and bring in hit her the poor.
And the names, and the halls, and the blind.
And his servant said, Lord, it is done as I was commanded, and yet there is room. Now notice something. The servant goes out and he brings in those who weren't at first invited at all, and they weren't able to come. He brings them in.
They're there for one reason. That is, he brought them there.
Now there's still more room.
And so he says, verse 50. Verse 23 And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, that none of those men was forbidden shall taste of my supper.
00:20:15
Very important passage. Some of put it this way.
That all may, and none will, and some shall. And that's what we see laid out here for us by the Lord Himself. There was an invitation that went out, and at least to those who were invited here, they all could. We'll find the others could as well. But the only ones who came in were the ones who were brought in or compelled to come in. They didn't want to come in.
And that's the truth of what we're talking about here when it comes to this subject.
Man does not choose to come. In fact, the case is even stronger than that. The Word of God teaches us absolutely that man cannot come. He tells us in Romans chapter 8 and verse eight. They that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Certainly it would please God if he would say, look, I've done everything for your salvation. All you have to do now is reach out and take it.
That would please God.
Days that are in the flesh cannot please God. We're going to see how definitely Scripture puts this. In fact, the Lord speaks of it. We'll go to those verses now in John chapter 6.
Verse 44.
The Lord says, No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me. Draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. Verse 65.
And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come to me, except that we're given unto him of my father.
It's not possible. We don't have the time, not gonna turn to it, but back in John chapter 5 verse 40, the Lord Jesus said you will not come to me, that you will, that you may have life. These two things cannot, will not the Lord address them both here.
Man is unable to come to the Lord, Unable because he simply can't do it. He won't do it. He's bond in ******* to sin.
A slave to sin.
Man can't do it because it's presented in the Word of God. He's actually dead. And let's see that in Ephesians chapter one.
Seasons 2. I'm sorry, verse one.
So is there a new Hath he quickened? Have you made a life who are dead in trespasses and sins? Verse 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened or made us alive together with Christ by grace. So you see.
Here are the cases presented. Man, naturally, each one of us, we're dead in trespasses and sins.
The contrast is given because you are dead now, you need to be made alive. You don't make something alive that isn't perfectly dead. That which is dead is dead, and before it's made alive, it doesn't have life. Word of God presents this and the strongest and most definite terms so that we'll understand. And because we are dead naturally in trespasses and sins, the only way that God can make us alive.
Is that he has to sovereignly come in according to the Council of his own will.
And implant life into that dead person.
Go back to John chapter one and see how this is presented there.
John, Chapter one.
Verse 11. He came unto his own, and his own received him not, but as many as received him to them gave he the power, the right, the authority.
To become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. We stop there. We say OK so far it looks like I've got that choice. If I receive him then I become the.
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Son of God.
But we have to keep going. How we get to receive him is explain. It goes on here. It says in verse 13 which were born.
How? Not of blood, Not because their parents were Christians, nor of the will of the flesh. That's the same thing we spoke about in Romans 8 and verse 8. These that are in the flesh cannot please God. Of course not. That will they can't please God has nothing to do with being born from God Himself. And it says nor of the will of man.
Somebody else can't choose this verse for us.
But he says of God, God himself sovereignly chooses that some who were dead should be made alive, and that they should be born into his own family.
Some have objected to using this analogy of life and death between physical life and physical death and spiritual life and spiritual death is strongly as I'm Speaking of it here this afternoon.
But I want you to see, because perhaps you've heard these arguments too, that the Lord Jesus himself speaks of them together. We just turn over a few chapters to John chapter 5.
John 5, verse 24.
We find the Lord Jesus is speaking about spiritual life and spiritual death. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent Me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but his past.
From or out of death into life.
Very clearly identifying the subject, he goes on at verse 25. Verily, verily, I say unto you.
The hour is coming, and now it is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that here shall live.
There came a day when this dead person, Tim Ruger, heard the voice of the Son of God, And when I heard that voice, I lift.
Oh, thank God for that day. It was his sovereign choice.
But this is the whole point, that these ones are dead, and they hear the voice of the Son of God. You may say, well yes, but still they heard. How does a dead person hear?
That person doesn't hear unless they're given life. It's not possible. Go on to John Chapter 11. You see there the story of Lazarus.
And Lazarus is there in the grave and he's dead. He can't hear anything. He's not lying there waiting for the Lord Jesus to speak. He was dead.
And then the Lord Jesus said, Lazarus come forth, and at that moment Lazarus had the hearing and the living, and he came up out of that grave. And so it is when God speaks to a dead Sinner, dead in trespasses and sins, that at that moment God gives that one.
The hearing and the believing. And so we have we go on here. The Lord brings in the whole other side of this, showing that he's thinking about these two things together. Verse 28 Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming, and the witch, all that are in the graves, shall hear his voice, and shall come forth. They that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of them nation.
And so the Lord Jesus here is putting these two things together. The one is just as vivid as the other. One is just as real as the other one. And God's sovereign choice is such that he takes those who are absolutely dead in their trespasses and sins and gives them life. And that's where we are today. And so.
All of the other things that tie into Salvation UMM are involved in this same.
Idea you can't get around it one way or another. Romans 10 verse 17 tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And so that word of God the Lord Jesus said the hour is coming with those when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God that's hearing the word and with that comes the faith as it says in Ephesians 2 and verse 8. By grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourself it the faith is the gift.
00:30:23
Of God. And so God gives everything that is needed, because if it were not so, then some part of that choice would be up to you or me. And it's not.
God chose you before the foundation of the world according to the council of his own will. Well, this leads us to another objection that often arises to say that if it's like that.
That God does that, and those who God doesn't do that to are just helpless and dead, lost in their sins in that way, then it isn't fair.
Maybe you've heard that. I sure have. It isn't fair.
And that's not the God I know.
Well, who are we to say what God is or isn't? Yes, it's true. God is light and God is love and He is perfect and those attributes, those divine attributes of his being.
But God is what God reveals in His Word, and we take that and we submit to it. This very question was answered in Romans Chapter 9, and let's go there and look at that answer.
Romans 9, verse 14.
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid, for he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth.
Nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for the same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in Thee, and that My name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore happy mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth, that will say then unto me, Why?
Does he yet find fault? For who hath resisted as well?
Nay, now mark these words carefully. Nay, but, oh man, who art thou that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it? Why hast thou made me thus?
In our case, we're believers and we thank God our future is secure with him in eternity. But we can be just as tempted to turn around and say, God, why hast thou made them thus? Or if that's true, then you're saying God made them thus. There's variations of the same argument that apply to Christians. We do well to listen to what's being said here.
Verse 21. Hath not the Potter power over the clay of the same lump, to make one vessel into honor, and another unto dishonor? What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction? Now I just want to stop here and say I'm not going to speak about this part of it.
Any more than in these next few words. Nowhere in Scripture does it ever speak of God fitting vessels to destruction or predestining men to be lost. Scripture does not speak that way. God does not do that. And if we ration that in our mind, the fault is with us, not with God.
Continuing on verse 23.
And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy.
Which he had a four prepared unto his glory, even us whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also the Gentiles. Now we find here two things that I want to emphasize, that God is talking about vessels of mercy. And that's what we were, that's what we are, we all.
00:35:16
Alike said no to God and he said well anyway, I'm going to make you.
A vessel of mercy, you are mine. And he made that sovereign choice. All glory to his name for that. And then it says as we had in Ephesians chapter one, which he had before, before when eternity passed before the foundation of the world, prepared unto his glory. This is for the glory of God. Well faced with these verses, it's easy to turn around and say, still it doesn't sound like it's fair.
I remember reading a book where the entire premise of that book, maybe some of you have seen it, what love is, this is the name of the book. And I'll tell you what love it is. I've known that love and I thank God for it. But the argument in that book was that this is not the God I know because if that was what God does and it's not fair, and every argument that I could find in that book seemed to be related back to this one issue, it's not fair.
And therefore it's not the truth of the word of God. And So what this?
Author did was in fact as far as I could see and reinterpreted every verse in the Word of God.
To meet his requirements based on that premise that it's not fair.
Now, in fact, so then we wouldn't have any examples in the Word of God where God ever did it. But as far as I can see from the Word of God, I know of at least four. Perhaps some here know of more. We will not go through them. I'll just refer to them. You can look them up later. But I know of Isaiah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, and the Apostle Paul, all of whom are spoken of as having been set apart from before the time when they were born.
And so they didn't have a choice in the matter.
Their destiny was fixed.
And so is yours.
It says of the apostle Paul.
In Acts Chapter 9, he was yet breathing out threatenings and slaughters against the Lord's people, and he was going from Jerusalem up there to Damascus, and he had letters and he wanted to take the Christians that he found there and delivered them bound to the chief priests. That's what he wanted to do, He says later on, I excessively persecuted the Church of God. He was so set against Christ and as he walked down that road.
God did not look down the avenue of time and say, oh, this is one who's gonna believe in me? He said, look at this man. He refuses me no matter what. I keep giving him ****** of conscience and he keeps on kicking against those ******. And now the time is over. I'm gonna make this one a vessel of mercy. It's over. And the Lord speaks to Paul directly out of heaven. Paul has no say in the matter.
He just falls down. Who art thou, Lord?
He finds out. I'm sure he was very surprised and.
He he's told to go right away and he right away says what wilt thou have me to do? Our brother mentioned it earlier. You don't read about Paul's faith. There is believing his repentance. You don't read about any of it. All you see is the evidence of what God had done taking a dead.
Vessel of mercy and implanting into that life and faith, and immediately that faith is acted on because Paul goes in the obedience of faith and he says later on he says, wherefore I was obedient unto that heavenly vision because he was sent out to preach that same gospel. Think of it. There are examples where God has done this in the word of God and so we can't say it's not the truth of God.
Because God would never do that. He did do it, and that is the teaching of His word. Well, this leaves us naturally to another objection that's often raised to say, well, if it's like that, then why should we preach the gospel? After all, if those who are going to.
Get saved. They're gonna get saved anyway.
And those who are not, are not going to anyway. Then why should we ever go preach the gospel? That's a good question, isn't it? Why should we have a gospel here later on?
00:40:07
Well, the fact of the matter is, there are a number of reasons given in the Word of God as to why we should preach the gospel, not the least of which is that same obedience of faith in which the Apostle Paul went out and immediately started to preach preaching Christ.
That obedience of faith was exercised by the disciples after the Lord rose from the dead. He told them, He said, you go out into all the world and preach the gospel. Then it says shortly after and uh, Mark chapter UH-16, it says there that they went forth preaching the Word and the Lord working with them.
They obeyed, and so we can go out and preach the gospel having the same exact motivation because the Lord told us to. But there's more than that listed in the Word of God. And one of the beautiful things is that we preach the gospel to those who need it, and the Lord knows who they are.
He sends us to go out and speak. Of course we give Him glory no matter where we preach that gospel, because we proclaim the truth in the world, whether the world wants to hear it or not. But there are those among those who are dead in their trespasses and sins, who are vessels of mercy. There's a beautiful example of this in Acts chapter 13.
Let's just go there and look at that for a moment. Acts 13. And here we have Paul.
Preaching in Antioch and very he had preached to the Jews and given such a wonderful message. We'll skip by all of that because we find that it was rejected by the mass of the Jews in that place. But if we go down to verse 28, it says when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord and his many as we're a danger to eternal life believe.
Now many people will turn this first around and read it like this. As many as believe were ordained to eternal life.
That's the understanding that many have this first, but it doesn't say that.
Says there's many as we're ordained, chosen to eternal life, believed, and that's how it works.
These are the ones who God has chosen. He chose them before the foundation of the world, and He uses the Word of God. That's why we're told to preach the Word.
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, and the Spirit of God sovereignly takes that word of God.
And brings it home to a Sinner who's lost and dead in their trespasses and sins, and uses that same word to implant faith in that one and produces life there where there had only been death before.
It's that stark in the Word of God. And here are these ones who were dead. They heard and they were glad they had been chosen to eternal life. And so that word came in, and these ones believed.
This has a consequence for us too.
If that's true, then don't try to go out and convince people of the truth of the Bible or anything else like that mistake that many Christians make today. But instead it's a life giving power of the Spirit of God by the Word of God that produces that in anyone who will ever hear it and nothing else. It's not the wisdom of man.
Let's see that for a moment in First Corinthians chapter one.
First Corinthians, chapter one.
1St 21 For after that and the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
There's no point in trying to try the wisdom route God went that route. It was proven a complete failure by the time of the cross. The Lord Jesus could say now have they both seen and hated both me and my father with that test was over and so God said enough. Now I'm going to come by the foolishness of preaching and why go down to verse 29 that no flesh of glory in his presence when it comes to this subject of salvation all.
Glory belongs to God. There is no glory that comes to man on this subject, not of work, lest any man should boast, not even in the willing, not even in the reaching out and saying, Yes, I will no part whatever.
00:45:07
Another thing we should know.
Those ones who are lost and dead and their trespasses and sins, they can't even begin to understand what you're saying.
Go over to 2nd Corinthians.
Her first, I'm sorry, First Corinthians chapter 2, next chapter sorry verse 14.
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. He's saying it's not possible.
Don't even try it. You hear about these debates, Christians debating with unbelievers. What's the point of it?
I've often thought of it as a man who's got eyesight, arguing with a blind man about whether there's any such thing as eyesight.
And the blind man argues and says, no, there's no such thing as seeing, so I can't see. And the one who says I who can see, he says I see. And there is such thing. And they argue and argue, well, the one who sees can never convince the blind man, and the blind man can never know.
What's the point?
It's only God who sovereignly does that work. And so we need to leave that where God puts it. Well, in our last few minutes, why do we talk about a subject like this? What is the value to us as Christians to even consider this subject of God's sovereign choice of individuals for salvation? Well, certainly it's the truth of God and because God did that.
There ought to be value in it for us. We also seek to know the mind of God in anything that He reveals from His word. But one of the things that has come home forcibly to me is that God wants us as believers to be so confident in His rest and His love and in His decision of us that we can rest in that love. And I really considered that.
Often through the years in Romans chapter 8.
And the verses there that we know so well, verse 28, we know that all things work together for good to them that love God and to those who are the called according to his purpose.
And then it says in verse 34, whom he did for now then he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son. Moreover, whom he, he did, uh, predestinate them He also called and he'll be called, and he also justified. And whom he justified them He also glorified. And you see there when you read those verses that God has put everything in the past tense.
And you and I are left quite out of it.
Only that were the recipients of this love from God. And so that it comes down to say further on in that chapter, who shall separate us from the love of God? And we see what God has done and sovereignly choosing us and placing us there to be the recipients of his love. Then we realize that we've got a simple occupation that we can just rest there and we can enjoy that love.
There's No Fear, fear of failure to fall out of his hands. There's No Fear that somehow we're going to be lost out of his family. No, that decision was made in his mind according to the council of his own will before the foundation of the world. And having made-up his mind as to that, he also made-up his mind as to all the other links in that chain. And so that it even says glorified past tense.
They feel like you're not glorified yet, and we're not. In that sense, God's mind you are. Rest in it, it's done, and we're to enjoy it.
Well, there's another one.
That comes to mind.
Who is a Great American who made a great speech one time? And he said.
Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last. And he was talking about the struggles of these people, which struggles are still in to this very day.
But here today we're talking about another ******* another struggle, another freedom, which is infinitely higher than that man was speaking about.
00:50:13
And we are the recipients of that freedom. We are the ones, brothers and sisters, who are free at last, you and I, because of God's sovereign choice.
Romans, chapter 6.
We had no choice. Once we were slaves to sin, we couldn't choose to come.
We not only would not, we could not.
But there came a time when that all changed.
Romans 6.
And verse 22 Says, But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life. We're the ones who've been set free. We're no longer in ******* to sin. We now are free to serve the Lord.
We have the choice to please him.
Whereas before, when we were in the flesh we couldn't please God, now we've got that divine life from God himself and we are free to please the Lord. We are the ones who are free. Men talk about men being a free agent and man having free will and all of these things. The word of God says no, there is no freedom there. But when the sun shall set you free, you shall be free indeed.
The Lord said, and brothers and sisters, we have been set free, and what have we been set free to do?
Is it set free then to go and live our own lives, our own way? No, the verse is very plain here. It says that we have become servants to God and we have our fruit unto holiness. Now we are set free to do the will of God, to serve Him, to give him glory and honor in our lives. These are not cold, hard, heartless truths. These are truths that should cause us to turn around and turn to God and say, I don't know why you chose me. It isn't the thought of why.
If this is true, doesn't he choose others?
My first thought in faith ought to be, Oh Lord, why did you choose me?
I expect that I will search for the answer to that question through all eternity.
But I have no doubt of this, that he chose me. And because he chose me, I owe everything to him.
There's nothing cold and heartless about a truth like that. We owe him everything.
This is emphasizer, brother. Read it last night.
2nd Corinthians chapter 5. We'll just finish with this first.
Verse 14.
For the love of Christ constraineth us.
Because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead, and that he died for all, that they which lived should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them.
And rose again, this is talking about the same truth and saying that if he had to die for all, then all were dead. That means that we were dead trespasses and sins. It's not talking about the fact that the fact that we have died and arisen with Christ is another blessed truth here. It means that we were dead and we were helpless. There was nothing we could do, and because of it, he had to die. And because he died, now God is able to go and sovereignly implant that life. And because God has done that, now he says the love of Christ constrains us.
Because we just because we.
Umm thus judge this matter.
And So what should we do?
And that he died for all the day which lived should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him.
Which died for them and rose again.
Oh, He has provided everything. He took care of us before He ever set out to even make this world. And when there came that time when we were born into this world, incidentally, we had no choice in that breath either.
00:55:17
God knew all about what we would do. He knew we would refuse him.
And there came a time when God said, now I'm going to call this one, and he called.
And then He brought us into that knowledge of His love, and He showed us all these things by His grace. And now He gave us to know this so that there could be a response of our hearts that we could turn around and out of love and gratitude to Him, give our lives back to Him and to serve Him. That is Our Calling.
In our life to do.
That is how I understand this truth and I hope.
That you too will understand something of what God has done for you. Incidentally, I hope you also understand that when it comes to the gospel, we should never stop.
The heart of God never pulled back from the gospel, and I'm glad that it will be preached here tonight. I am glad.
That God's glory will be proclaimed in this room tonight. I'm glad that the love of the Savior will be proclaimed.
Here in this room tonight, that story once and still captivated and captivates my heart and I will be glad to hear it again and I will be glad if there is someone or someone that God chose before the foundation of the world that will hear that message tonight and believe all glory to his name. I pray that it will happen, someone said.
Go ahead.
And preach as if man has that ability to hear and believe. God knows who does, and so we ought to do it. In the meantime, for ourselves, let's go forth and serve Him out of a heart of love and gratitude to him for all that He has done for us. Let's close in prayer. Our God and our Father, we thank Thee so much for all Thy love. That love which would even think about us in eternity past, and that love which.
Having known all the desperate wickedness of our hearts would say, I love that one anyway.
And we choose.
Ones like us.
Once whom the Lord Jesus said with a halt, the lame, the blind.
We own, I think, knowledge before they that there is no glory whatsoever that we can claim.
But that all glory belongs to thee, and we just thank thee for that I love.
That would choose us back in eternity past and bring us into such favor right now, today in the sun.
And that love and that grace that it will take all eternity for us to even begin to explore our God and our Father. We thank Thee so much for these things and for that blessed One who came and completed that work here on the cross of Calvary, so that Thy will and Thy love could be accomplished. We thank Thee and praise Thee. And his most precious and worthy name he meant.
Colossians 2:12-16
Gospel 1
Gospel—Don Mackewich
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
We'd like to say good evening and welcome everyone to the Gospel meeting.
Thank you very, very much for coming out. We hope that you have enjoyed the delicious, umm, dinner tonight.
It was so good, wasn't it? Nice Turkey dinner, dessert, something to drink, gives us something to enjoy. And now we are excited. Tonight we have a special message for every single person in this room. So whether you've been with us the entire day, whether you're joining us tonight, or whether you're listening to this recording from here in St. Thomas, ON, we say welcome.
We're glad to have you here.
And we hope that tonight this will be a life changing evening for you. We have the song sheets here. I'd like to ask that you turn it to the Backpage. We're going to begin with a song that just thrills my soul and I believe many in this room number 40.
The song that reminds us that Jesus loves me. This I know for the Bible tells me so little ones to him belong. They are weak but our Savior is strong #40 We want everyone to sing please.
Jesus loves me as I know.
Or in the Lord tells me.
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AM/2000 Plus 10-4 0680608060806020, 10-4 0609351.
Yeah.
If I lost me.
Crying here all the way in my front end. Should I die, he will Take Me Home on my Yeah I've been done while singing.
00:05:08
Before we pray, I'd like to sing one more song.
That's number nine.
I'd like to sing the first verse and the third verse.
Verse one says, come every soul by sin oppressed, there's mercy with the Lord, and He will surely give you rest by trusting in His Word. We're going to sing #9 the first verse and the third verse. We could have everybody stand for this if you're able.
Come every soul.
Grandparent was noisy and everything. That's why I'm taking care of this murder.
Oh my God.
Yeah, umm.
What's happening in the evening?
We're going to go over again. We're just ha ha, ha, ha ha.
You could please close your eyes and bow your heads, will pray and ask the Lord Jesus for His help.
Our blessed God and Father, we just thank you for the privilege of being able to share such exciting, such wonderful news, the gospel message. We just pray that we would have listening ears and open hearts. And we pray tonight that the entrance of Thy word would give light and that precious souls would be saved. That's a night would be a life changing evening for our friends here tonight. We ask this and Thy worthy and precious name.
Amen.
For those who joined us since we started singing again, a big welcome to everyone here. It's good to be here in St. Thomas ON Friends. We are thrilled to be able to open up the scriptures this evening. And when I say scriptures, I'm referring to the Holy Bible.
Because there is a message in here for each one in this room. It's a message that tonight, if you repent and put your faith and trust in Jesus, it will change your life for the better. So we are excited to be able to share it with you.
Perhaps you've heard some of this from your parents as you've been growing up. Perhaps you've had a Sunday school teacher who has faithfully told you about Jesus.
Maybe there's somebody on your block, a neighbor who has been speaking to you. Maybe this is gonna sound familiar to what somebody at work has been trying to tell you.
It's wonderful, we're excited, and we're thankful that we can share it with you. If you do have a Bible, would like to encourage you to open it and follow along. If you don't, you can just give me your best listening ears, OK, Paying close attention. And I'm gonna ask that we open up to begin with with a verse in John chapter 17.
We want to establish at the very beginning, we want to make this so clear that nobody can leave this room.
Unsure, wondering that tonight what we talk about, It's not opinions, it's not ideas. It's not something that I cooked up this afternoon for you. What we're gonna be sharing with you this wonderful news.
00:10:12
Comes from this book, and this book, the Holy Bible is God's word.
And I'd like to turn to verse 17 of chapter 17.
John chapter 17 verse 17, it says sanctify them through thy truth.
Thy word is truth. So as we share this wonderful news with you tonight, it's not something that we're just making up. It's not something that we're trying to brainwash anyone in this room. We are thrilled to be able to share with you truth, God's word, This is God's word.
I'm a school teacher, and at school we sometimes like to share good quotes with our students, quotes from famous men and women who have lived or who are still living. Maybe something incredible from Martin Luther King Junior, maybe something from John C Maxwell. And those men have made important contributions to our country, to the United States and others, say Sojourner Truth and other women who have made important contributions. But they are men.
In women like you and I. But when we quote tonight, we are quoting from God's Word. We are quoting truth. So I want you to listen very carefully.
Tonight you can have peace with God. Tonight you can have your sins forgiven. Tonight you can know with assurance.
That you don't have to go to hell.
Tonight that void that you have in your heart can be filled and satisfied, and it is only through one person, the Lord Jesus Christ. So as we have this gospel message, we're going to be referring verses in the Bible. I want you to follow them. I want you to listen carefully. It's exciting because the Scriptures say the entrance of Thy word.
Give us light. The scriptures are going to give us light.
And they're going to help us see wonderful things. Jeremiah could say. Thy words were found. And I did eat them, and they were the joy and the rejoicing of my heart.
The psalmist could say, I rejoiced at thy word as one that hath found great spoil. The two on the way to Emmaus could say, as the Lord Jesus was speaking to him, did not our hearts burn within us? Well, he opened to us the Scriptures. And then one more verse that could say in Psalm 100 and 19105, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
So as we get started, I want to just clarify something real quick. This message tonight, listen carefully. This message tonight is not try harder, become a better person. From this point forward, we're gonna improve ourselves. It's not the message you need. What we need is a message that will change our lives. And that's the message we have. And that's the message we are excited to share with you. And we're just so glad that you're here.
This message has changed my life. I was on my way to hell.
I was on my way to hell, I was a Sinner and I deserved to go there.
But the message that I share with you tonight, the person who is now my savior, can be your savior too. It's wonderful, isn't it? I'd like to begin with a verse in Romans chapter 3.
Romans chapter 3 and verse 23.
Romans chapter 3 and verse 23 says that all have sinned.
And come short of the glory of God.
So wait a minute. I came here and you're gonna start off by telling me that.
All have been.
I have to say that because it's true. If you want to have your sins forgiven tonight, we have to begin with the realization that when God looks at us, He sees us as we are, not as we think we are, not as we think we are. He sees us as we are. Like I said, this message applied to me years ago and I accepted Jesus as my Savior.
00:15:14
And it says very clearly you can put your finger on it as they read it again. Aw have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Now as a school teacher, I probably have had over 1000 students come through my classrooms over the years. I have had some tremendously talented students, students who will go on to accomplish great things. And I have ones who have been what we would call middle of the road. And I have had ones who unless things change, do not have a bright future. But I have never.
Had a perfect student.
I have never met a perfect person because they don't exist. The Bible says that we all have sins. I work with some phenomenal teachers who passionately spend long hours trying to help students grow. But not one of my colleagues, not one of the people I've ever worked with in the business world, has been perfect in the eyes of God. We all have sinned, and we all.
Come short. God's standards are not mediocre. God's standards are not average or low. God's standards are high.
Perfection. No sin, none, nada, Zilch 0.
That includes all of us, doesn't it?
And because of our sins.
We all deserve what is coming if we die in our sins.
Jesus said.
Not somebody just thinking up an idea, not some philosophy, but Jesus said if you die in your sins.
Where I am, you cannot come.
The situation is actually looking kind of bleak right now, isn't it? It's not looking good, and it's not good. We need someone to come and deliver us from the wrath to come. We need someone to set us free. We need someone to die for us. We need someone who can forgive us of our sins. We need someone who can save us from going to hell. We need someone who can fill that void.
That's in the heart.
And it can't be us because we've already established. God has told us that we've all.
Come short. We're not perfect. We don't have what it takes.
We all have come short, but here is the good news.
Let's turn to it. Turn to the verse with me, please, in.
For Timothy, chapter 2.
First Timothy chapter 2 and verse five. Guys, thank you for listening. Thank you for following along in your Bibles. Thank you for oh, this is so good.
We've established the fact that we all have sinned. We've established the fact that we can't get to heaven on our own.
We've established the fact that we can't get rid of our sins on our own. We can't keep ourselves out of hell on our own. We can't fill that void on our own. But here it is in First Timothy chapter 2 and verse five, there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.
Just quietly raise your hand if you've ever heard a story of the Lord Jesus dying on the cross.
Go ahead and put your hands down. It's a true story. So what happened years ago, over 2000 years ago?
The Lord Jesus was born as a little baby in this world.
Born in a city called Bethlehem.
He grew up. He always did what his parents asked him to do. In fact, he couldn't even sin.
And then when he was 33 years old.
The Lord Jesus was taken.
Along with two others who were guilty, who had sinned.
And who deserve to die? But the Lord Jesus was put in with that group of three men, and they were taken. And there was 3 crosses. And these three men, the Lord Jesus in the mid the middle, one on the right hand and one on the left, they were taken and nailed.
00:20:20
To a cross.
In the Lord Jesus, the one in the middle, he hadn't done anything wrong.
He hadn't sinned, but why was he there? He was dying as a substitute for you and I, if we would repent and put our faith and trust in him. So a substitute is as a school teacher, if I'm not there, they find someone to cover my class. That's the substitute. Someone is filling in for me. OK, so substitute. So there we needed a substitute, and we needed one who was perfect. Perfect.
And the only one who is ever perfect was the Lord Jesus, so there on the cross.
For three hours.
He suffered.
Physical attacks from then in the last three hours, God punished him for the sins of anyone who would repent and put their faith and trust in him. Jesus took the punishment that you and that I deserve. It's wonderful, isn't it?
And what happened next?
Is that the end of the story?
It's not the end of the story. It reminds me of a story I read in Springs in the valley of a little boy who was looking at a picture in a store window of the Lord Jesus on the cross in A businessman came next to him and the boy was looking at this picture and he told the man that man on the cross is Jesus.
Those are Roman soldiers.
And they killed them.
The man said where did you learn that?
He said. I learned that in Sunday school.
Well, the man started to walk and leave away. I'm sorry. The man started to leave and walk away.
In just a few seconds later, the little boy came up to him and he said I forgot to tell you something. He rose again.
This evening, the one who died on the cross where you and I, the one who took the punishment that we deserved, is alive.
And in the glory.
Victorious. He was the victim on the cross, but he's the victor now. He has conquered death, and we can share the good news with you.
Who would do such a thing? I'm reminded of another story. Our time is just about up. I believe it happened during World War 2. Some of you have heard this story.
A Japanese soldier there at the camp.
Was in charge of making sure that all the equipment was accounted for.
And a shovel was missing.
And the Japanese soldier gathered together the Ally or the Allies? Allies, the men and in broken English demanded.
That whoever was responsible for that missing shovel would come forth.
And be killed.
And he pointed the rifle at the men, demanding that someone take ownership, take responsibility for that missing shovel.
Finally.
A man stepped forward and said I did it.
He was quickly and severely beaten.
And died shortly thereafter.
Not long after, it was realized that all the shovels were in fact there. None of them were missing.
But this man had stepped forward and taken the punishment so that his fellow soldiers could live. Who would do such a thing? Who would give their life?
For someone else.
That's like what Jesus did for you and me. He gave his life so that you and I could have our sins forgiven, so that you and I wouldn't have to go to hell, so you and I could have that void that we have filled.
00:25:12
And satisfied.
I want you just to take your bibles and close them.
I can't just let you leave hearing this gospel message.
What I need to do now is I need to ask you to make a decision for Jesus.
OK.
You don't have to come up here with me right where you're said I want you just to.
Answer these questions in your mind.
Do you believe what the Bible says? It is true that you have sins.
And do you believe?
That because of those sins.
You will be punished someday.
Do you believe the message tonight that Christ Jesus?
Do you believe the message tonight that Christ Jesus came into the world?
Do you believe that Jesus wants to save you?
He believes that he wants to save you now.
Will you let him save you now before we sing a song in closing, I just want you to close your eyes with me.
We're not going to be looking at you, watching you.
But you know who you are.
You know how you stand or how you sit with God, and they're gonna give you about 30 seconds. If you've never accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, tonight you put it just in your own words.
You can tell him that you acknowledge that you are a Sinner.
That you believe that He died for you, you repented your sins and put your faith and trust in Him.
And you'll accept this free gift of salvation. We'll give you 30 seconds starting now.
As we get ready to sing our last song, if there's anything tonight that was unclear, if you have any further questions.
You'd like to talk with myself? I'd be happy to talk with you. You'd like to talk with the person next to you? You need someone to pray with you about something. We're here for you. We love you. We care about you.
But most importantly, Jesus does, and Jesus wants to be your Savior.
On our song sheet here, we're going to sing #12.
Just as I am.
With.
My God, I was there. I am full of everything. I am alive. I.
Because I'm still here in the hell.
00:30:38
Nsnoise.
Remember after we pray if you have any questions, anything wasn't clear you feel.
That your chest beating knowing that you're not right with God.
Just let us know. Let myself know. My name is Donnie. Doesn't matter. But you can let me know that someone else here know. If you need prayer for something or someone, you just need a hug, just need someone to listen to you. We're here for you. Let's pray.
Our blessed God and Father, we just pray tonight that there be ones in this room who will be able to experience the joy of having their sins forgiven by repenting and putting their faith and trust in Thee. We ask this in the worthy and precious name, Amen.
Let's Talk About Jesus
Children—Jonathan So
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.
#29 in our hymn book, The books of the Bible. Oh, there's many different ways of seeing this one.
I hope I can remember this one.
Genesis. No, I just can't remember it.
Like 1800% of any chronicle.
And rounding in my heart circle. And now the profile.
Well, they're going to put it in the.
Sun and I said there I'll have intention to be filled and look at it all. I can't die alone on my gun in 1/2 of a car. That's why I hide how it's like. However I am and can't stop the light.
IKEA Marathi store and Roman Christian.
Place sympathy and Philippians caution.
By the speakers and then chains, even until coordination and the one of God.
23.
Another one I do not know. Coming again. Coming again.
About the Lord Jesus is coming again. It's our truth of our salvation, the reason why we can stand here and say that Jesus Christ died for our sins, because we have a living Savior.
Maybe we can, uh, ask the Lord for some help and then we will sing some more songs. OK, Just pray for a minute. Are your godfather. We just do thank thee that we can have the opportunity to, uh, tell the children here of that good news to talk about Jesus.
And Lord, we just do pray that if there's anyone in this room, whether young or old, that they do not know thee is a personal Savior that will work in their hearts tonight, today, this very minute, that they may come to know thee.
Lord, we just do pray for the message, we pray for each and everyone here, we pray for the encouragement, and we thank Thee and thy name, Lord, Amen.
Is there another song that you like? Yeah.
78.
Scarlet Scarlet though you send me Scarlets and again I can't remember the tune.
And umm and enterprise, just one day shall be one.
96.
I know this one.
When he come out. When he comes.
To school.
I'm dead on.
00:05:05
The morning.
Crying ground on the water hit. Let's go to Tiger Shire's world.
Right.
You know how much you have to forehead Kingdom all that day one is all the bright 1 stood 1 Time.
So yeah, the song here says little children, little children who love their Redeemer are the jewels, the precious jewels. Each and everyone of you here are those precious tools that the Lord Jesus wants.
What's so cool about jewels? Does anyone know what we talk about? What's so cool about jewels? Yeah.
They're worth a lot. Yeah. And each and everyone of you are worth a lot to Jesus. So much that he came down to die for each and everyone of you gave up his life so that you could live. Is there another song? That one more song? Yeah, 82.
Tell me the old, old story.
Tell me the old old story of.
Thunder.
Down.
In the boring way to wake up.
Reverse for this week. Does anyone feel brave enough to stand up and say their verse in front of everyone here? Isabel, do you know the verse? OK.
Whosoever.
It's not South.
In the book of life.
Cast in the fire of like.
Celebrations 25 Good Job Revelations, 2015.
And like every good teacher here has some bribes if you, uh, say your verse.
Would anyone else like to say their verse?
Yeah.
Whatsoever.
The Book of Life was cast and the light was fine. Good job.
Anyone else? Yeah.
Found in the Book of Life, was cast into the Lake of Fire Revelation.
20.
Sorry, there goes that one good thing all wrapped up.
Anyone else like to say their verse?
I'll go to use it and then it's down there, yeah.
Revelations, 2015 Who? Whosoever was not found in the Book of Life? Who was cast into the Lake of fire? Good job.
Yeah.
In the book of life.
Wisconsin to the Lake of Fire.
Revelations.
15.
Whosoever.
It's not found without found written in the Book of Life.
Was cast into the Lake of Fire.
Revelation 15. I'm Sorry, 20/15/2015.
And there was one more hand somewhere over here. You got it. OK, so ever was not written in the Book of Life, the book of life.
Was cast in the Lake of Fire. Revelations. Revelations.
00:15:01
2015 good shot.
Now there's anyone who wants to say it afterwards in a quiet space. 01 more OK.
Whoever was not found in the written in the book of life was cast into a lake of fire. Revelation 25th. I will, uh, OK, you can come afterwards and we can, we can, uh, we'll do it after, after the Sunday school. I have tons of these sitting around now. It's kind of, uh, an interesting verse to start our Sunday school off.
Whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire.
Kind of doom and gloom in a way, but unfortunately that's the reality of of not knowing Christ as your savior. Does anyone know what the book of life is?
You know what the Book of Life is? Yeah. What's the Book of Life?
One of the hymns.
Do you know what the Book of Life is?
Uh, it's kind of a hard concept to understand, but the Lord Jesus has a book and all our names are written in that book.
Whether we are saved, we're not saved, and unfortunately, there's gonna be a time when the Lord Jesus is not unfortunate for many of us, very fortunate. The Lord Jesus is gonna come and call us up to heaven and we're gonna see him. And then we're gonna be either praising the fact that we are in heaven or unfortunately, those who are not found in that book of life are gonna be cast in the lake of fire. Now, do you know why we would be not found in that book of life?
Yeah, we have. We, we, we, we have to be able to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior.
And those who don't are living in sin.
Now since another concept that's kind of maybe hard for us to understand, does anyone know what sin is?
When you're doing something you're not supposed to, it doesn't matter what type of sin it is. Or is all sin the same?
All sin is the exact same and it has it has consequences to it. Maybe we could turn to uh, first John chapter 2.
And I like this first because it's written for you, each and everyone here, little children who are here. So first, John, near the end of the Bible, if you have it open.
And I'll read that verse starting in verse one.
My little children, so he's the Lord Jesus is talking to you, my little children, these things right I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
And He is the propriation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole.
World Now there's some big ver there's big words in that, in that in that verse here, but the main idea is that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one that came to die on the cross for our sins. And he's the one that is telling telling you to come to him. He's the one that can stop all that sin from happening.
And not just for you, but for the whole world. The whole world. That's pretty amazing, isn't it, to think about.
Now you're probably thinking, well.
Big deal. I have. I have been.
Not, not that big. You may have heard it from other people, You may have heard it from the gospel meeting. I think each and everyone of you here have been here for a while. You probably heard it, but what is the consequences of that sin? So I thought maybe we could do a little lesson. I need some help for that. Would anyone be brave enough to come and help me? You seem pretty big and strong.
So the first time you sin might be kind of interesting. You're like, OK, I got away with that. But you know what that's been kind of hangs on you. It's like a backpack, like a burden. And you might be OK to walk around. Are you OK to walk around with that? OK, go for it.
And you're probably thinking, oh, wow, this is pretty cool. I'm I got away with this, this is not that bad. And you might do it again. Well, guess what?
That thing keeps going.
How's that? Is that OK? OK.
How about now?
00:20:00
A little harder. Could you walk around all day long with that? Could you climb a mountain with that? OK, why don't you take the backpack off and try to lift it?
A little Javier, would anyone else like to try?
You wanna try? OK, come here and try to lift that burden of sin.
So you can put that on your back.
Let me try listening and holding on your backpack. Or is that too heavy to even pretty heavy?
Are you pretty pretty strong here?
Could you carry that around all day long? No. And that's what sin does. It's like a burden.
And in Psalms 38, maybe we can turn to Psalms 38 because my memory is not the greatest memory in the world.
In verse 3, Psalms 38 and verse 3.
Right in the middle of it, it says this. Is there any rest in my bones because of my sin for mine, iniquities are gone over my head as a heavy burden. They are too heavy for me.
And thin keep piling on.
And it'll keep piling on and this burden, even though I know many of you had trouble even listing it.
As you get older and older, it gets heavier and heavier.
And we're reminded.
We're reminded in Matthew to walk that straight, because the straight is gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there he that find it. Our path of Lord Jesus is that along that straight and narrow path. And could you imagine carrying that weight down a straight and narrow path? No, you're gonna be wobbling all the way around.
It's so easy to fall into temptation of sin. How many? Have you ever seen a mouse trap before?
Have you ever seen a mouse trap before? Well, we at our house, we have a problem with mice, as many of you had. And, uh, we have a, a new subdivision that just got opened up. And so of course that used to be where the mice lived. And so now they're trying to find new homes. So I've had to set a nice little trap out for them, unfortunately. And, uh, I, I filled the trap the other day and then I emptied it and put it a new bait inside. You know what? Within minutes, I had another mouse inside of it.
That temptation of peanut butter, that sweet temptation, It's too hard to resist sometimes.
And that's why we need the Lord Jesus Christ.
To help us cleanse our sins, right?
Does anyone know how we can cleanse our sins? Do you know what washes away our sins?
The blood of Jesus Christ.
Cleanses our sins, right? Do you wanna come here? Can everyone come here for a minute? I have something to show you.
And I, I kinda need you around here to kinda see it. And we might need to leave some space for some of the smaller kids. If you're taller, you can come here for a minute.
So I have here some pepper, lovely pepper. Do you want to come here and see you or are you OK?
And this is like sin. So we and our and our water here is kind of like our body.
So we send What? Do you know what's happening?
Well, you know, it's through our body.
Changing.
It's getting blocker. What about now?
We're getting dirty.
Would you like that to be inside your body?
You know, that's what our our hearts look like, our insides look like. Sometimes we have to learn sometimes that's what they look like with our without the Lord Jesus.
It does smell like pepper, right? Probably makes you sneeze.
What does this look like?
Blood, the blood of the Lord Jesus cleanses our sins, right? That's what we're told. What do you think is going to happen?
It's gonna turn red. Is that the only thing that's gonna happen?
Let's see.
It pushes it all the way to the outside. Unfortunately it doesn't cleanse perfectly.
As the Lord Jesus blood would. But what did it? What did it do?
00:25:00
Push it away. And what? What about the water? Now turn red and it's clear, right? It's no longer black so you can have a seat.
And in Ephesians chapter 2.
Verse 13 we're reminded of justice what happened here, right? It says Christ Jesus you sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
So I love this chapter for many reasons, but one here you know we were very far off. Does anyone know what that means?
We were very far off from Jesus. Yeah, we were very. We're far away. You know, unfortunately, the moment that we were born, we were born into sin. We're not perfect.
We're born into sin, which means that we need the Lord Jesus Christ.
To cleanse our souls, we need Him, and because of this, we're able to have to come to him into heaven and be written in that book of life.
We don't need to be in that lake of fire anymore.
Unfor uh, not not like our water where we kind of have like the pepper to the side, right? Our whole body will be cleansed, our whole soul will be cleansed. Every sin that we can imagine. Remember we said there is no difference in our sin, right? Whether we lie to our parents, whether we steal something, whether we tell a little white lie to our friends, they're all the same.
To Jesus.
And because of that.
Doesn't matter what we've done, we need to have his blood to cleanse us all from our sins.
And I was thinking of, umm, a story that maybe we might, might help tell that story. Can we turn to Acts chapter 16?
Acts chapter 16 and verse 25. Does anyone know what story I might be talking about?
Has anyone heard of the Flippian Jailer?
You've heard of the Philippine jailer? Have you heard of the Philippine jailer?
So there's a jailer, and we have here Paul and Silas. And Paul and Silas were apostles, right? Disciples, and they were preaching.
The gospel message to everyone around the world while he's here. They were telling others just like I am telling you about the Lord Jesus Christ and you guess what happened to them.
Guess what happened to them?
They got sent to jail.
Is that nice thing?
No, not very nice. What would happen to you, do you think? If you were in jail, what would you feel like?
Would you be cold?
I don't know, but you I'd probably be crying huddling in the corner, right?
Probably asking where my mommy is, most likely. It's a scary place, but you know Paul and Silas, you know what they were doing.
Here in verse 25, at midnight, which is way past my bedtime, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God.
And the prisoners heard them.
They were singing.
They were happy.
You know why they were happy.
Do you know why they were happy?
Say hi, the Lord Jesus.
You know, and and songs it's as happy as he trusts us in the Lord happy. Can you imagine walking around all day long being happy?
I hope you are actually.
And the prisoners heard them in verse 26, and suddenly there was a great earthquake.
And we don't really get much earthquakes here in Saint Thomas or in Toronto, Milton. I felt maybe a little tremor sometimes, but I know there are some great earthquakes out there that have destroyed many places. And so the foundations of the prisons were shaken.
And immediately all the doors were open and everyone's fans were loose so everyone could leave.
How many of you would probably be if I, if I were in jail and all of a sudden my bonds were loose and the doors were open, would run?
Would you run? I know I would. I would be running as fast as I can right to get away. Well, guess what?
When the prisoner, when the keeper of the prison awake from his sleep and he saw these doors, he was like, uh oh.
00:30:00
Uh, this is my job. I'm supposed to keep everyone here safe in this, in this prison. Oh, oh, they probably ran away, right? What's going to happen to me and so.
Unfortunately, he drew out his sword. He was about to kill himself because he he'd rather take to do that than what the consequences of his job would have been at that time.
But guess what? Paul cried out and said. Do thyself no harm. He was still there.
You say put.
Do thyself no harm, for we are all here. We are all here.
So then the keeper said that he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas.
And brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do?
To be saved.
The Philippine jailer recognized the importance that message that they were singing hymns and praises to God.
They are preaching and they were still there. He saw the amazing power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
What do you think? You, what do you think? Uh, Paul and Silas said.
What do you think? Paul and Silas said? The flipping jailers come to you. And he said, what must I do to be saved? What do you think he said?
That's exactly what he said. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Now do you think that Flippy and Jailer said. That's great, Paul, Thanks. You're here. I'm going to lock you back up. See you later.
Is that is that what he did and walked away? Thanks. You told me not to be saved. No. What did he do?
Mount Pond Island Home and Washington.
Yeah. And did he, did he take the Lord Jesus right then and there? Or did he say, I'll try it next week?
That's right. And it says here in uh, what? What must I do to be saved? And that's what they said. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And they decided Paul and Silas spoken to them about the Lord Jesus Christ and he took them that same hour of the night and washed their stripes and with fat pies. He and all his straight away.
You know, there was. There's another story in the Bible about King Agrippa.
Does anyone know that story?
King Agrippa, do you think he's a pretty popular man?
Would you like to be a king or a queen?
Would you like to be a king or queen? Yeah. You think he's pretty powerful? He's got everything in the world.
Yeah.
Being king is pretty cool. You know what the one thing he was missing though?
His Savior, do you think if he didn't have, if he doesn't have the Lord Jesus Christ, do you think he's going to be written in that book of life?
No, he's not going to be in that book of life because the only way to be in that book of life.
It's ask the Lord Jesus to wash away your sins. You know what King Agrippa said after hearing all this?
After hearing all the gospel, that's like I'm telling you after, after saying what must I do to be saved and Paul saying believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You know what he said?
Almost thou persuadest me.
You almost.
You almost. You almost.
So unlike the flipping jailer who said yes, I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ right this very minute, I'm gonna take you home, We're gonna praise the Lord Jesus right now and then, King Rippa said. Almost.
Persuaded me.
And I really pray that each and everyone, if you don't know the Lord Jesus, and that's for everyone out there, that you're not today coming to me and saying, Jonathan.
You almost persuaded me.
You know, boys and girls, we saw here how fast this blood cleansed our souls. Or cleanse this water, Was it instantaneously?
Yeah, it was pretty quick. As soon as I dropped that blood, that pepper went to the side, right?
And you felt.
This burden of sin.
00:35:01
Would you like to be carrying this around all day long? No.
The only thing that can cleanse our souls and wash our sins away is the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I thought we could read one more verse before we uh, closest some hymns. One of my favorite verses in Romans.
I can remember where my verses are.
Romans 10 and verse 9. And it's one of the verses that I learned as a boy and girl sitting right here where you are. And so I know next week's Bible verse is not this, but it is a verse that I think you should remember.
Verse Chapter 9. Chapter 10. Verse 9.
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus.
And shall believe in thine hearts.
That's the important part, that God has raised him from the dead.
Thou shalt be safe.
You know, we often see out in our world our friends. Maybe I'm a believer and they may tell you that, and you may say this to your parents. Yeah, I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm saying that.
But there's a second part. Do you believe it in your heart? Said the Lord Jesus rose from the dead.
And so before I as we end.
This talk part, I want you to think about that.
And if you don't know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, there are many people here.
Myself included, who will be willing to talk to you like Paul and Silas did to that flipping jailer?
And I hope that each and everyone of you will not come to me afterwards and say, you know, Jonathan, you almost persuaded me you almost because unfortunately, just like our verse said in the beginning of the of of the the Sunday school whosoever is not written in the book of life.
Shall be cast into the lake of fire.
Any of you have a song that we want to sing?
And someone who hasn't had a chance, maybe. Yeah, you.
Number one, Oh, I love that, I love #1.
Maybe we can sing.
Uh, I wasn't the whole thing. It's a certain man. A certain man.
Thank you.
Uh-huh.
00:40:24
One of the first stories that I learned about the Gospel when I was your age. You know Zacchaeus, he was a little man, right?
And at that time, I was a pretty small boy. And I remember him. I remember the story being told that he was in this crowd of people just like, kind of where you're here. How many of you have trouble seeing over your dad's and your and your parents and maybe your sisters and brothers? Yeah. And if you're in the big crowd, you want to see this, this auditorium or this person standing there, how many of you kinda have to do this?
Right, or you're standing on top of your parents head, right? Well, I can picture Zacchaeus doing that. He wanted to see Jesus so bad and so he decided to climb a tree.
And I've been known to climb trees a lot as a kid.
And I can. The Sycamore tree which he climbed is one of the easiest trees because it has very low branches.
And he climbed that tree. But you know what? What? What's the problem hiding in a tree? I mean, have you ever climbed trees before?
What's the problem of being in a tree?
No one can see you.
Except that the Lord Jesus is walking by. Let's keep going.
No, the story said, he saw him in the tree.
He knew exactly where he was. And you know what? The Lord Jesus knows each and everyone of us where we are.
He knows that.
Can you sing One more song 77?
My my favorite pick here.
And maybe just the first verse and the stanza. So salvation is a big word because it is a pretty big word. But hopefully after today you may be understanding what that salvation was.
Salvation is a.
Great.
Day a failure comes to peace and so I do love his heart with him again the quiet street or he's a primemost Sinner given you and he's.
I know salvation or the words we've used today might be big.
But the message is pretty simple. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and if you believe it, thy heart.
And confess it with your mouth.
But the two important things before I close in prayer, I just want to for those of you who did not know or did not say your verse, if you want to come and see your verse, you can come up to me. And if you can even say one thing that you learned today.
From this talk, one thing you can have another candy.
OK, so maybe I can close in prayer.
And your godfather, we just do sanctity that we still have this opportunity to stand before everyone here to tell.
How thou send thy Son the Lord Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins.
How that precious blood?
Cleans vessel.
And so, Lord, we just do pray that the boys and girls here.
So that will work in their hearts.
But I will be able to.
Show them the way to the salvation.
And that goes as well, Lord for everyone here too.
And so we just do pray that we, each and everyone of us, can be encouraged as our coming soon, and that we all can be truly happy knowing that thou art the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Savior of our sins. And so Lord, we just to command this meeting into thy hands.
We thank thee, thy name, Amen.
God's Working and God's Rest
Why Did God Make the Universe the Way He Did?
Burdens
Colossians 2:18 to 3:4
Gospel 2
Gospel—Bernie Roossinck
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Good evening everybody. It's a uh.
The privilege that I have tonight is to share with you a great message and a message that.
Has changed the lives of many, many in this room, including myself. It's it was at a conference like this when I was seven that I met the Savior.
And has been a little while ago. I still feel like I'm a young person, kind of.
But I love the gospel.
You know, I as we set through the meetings today.
I I just thought almost everything the Lord has placed on my heart we talked about already.
But together, I'd like us to to spend some time in the Word, and to give glory and honor to the Lord Jesus for what He has done, and then to invite you if you do not know the Lord Jesus as your Savior.
To invite you to open your heart's door.
Let's begin the meeting on our hymn sheets here.
With #10.
We have sung this hymn.
1000 times or more I I must say growing up at the gospel tent, the goodly heritage.
And I love the gospel. Let's sing #10 together.
I'm saying you're in hospital coming to stay away. Now I'm sad but.
I'm all my fitness cooperation and great.
00:05:36
Levi's Bay near Mall.
Forecast.
Our loving God and Father.
How thankful we are.
That thy Son, the Lord Jesus in every way was obedient to thy will.
In giving up that place that was his.
There in a past eternity with their God.
To be willing to become a man.
And to walk through this world.
And to go onward steady to the cross of Calvary, so that the question of our sins, our God, could be dealt with in a way that would allow thee to bless and save and be righteous.
We thank thee, Father, for the great work that was accomplished at Calvary.
We thank Thee for all that Thy Son has done. We pray, Lord, this evening that Thou is blessed Thy word. We pray, Lord, that anything that said tonight that is not right would fall to the ground and be worthless. We pray that the Lord Jesus would be honored and that our hearts would be warmed.
And Father, if there is one here that does not yet know the Lord Jesus as their Lord and Savior, that tonight would be the happy start of that relationship. So our God, we ask for help.
In Jesus name, Amen.
Well, it's.
Easter Sunday.
And, uh, to me, every Lord's Day is Easter Sunday.
But as I thought about.
What to talk about tonight the Lord laid on my heart.
To talk about why Jesus had to die.
Turn with me to the Gospel of John, please.
The Gospel of John.
I want to set this scene for you.
The Lord Jesus is standing before Pilate.
And, and we're going to read part of verse 36, John 18, verse 36.
I'm sorry, verse 37.
To this end was I born.
And for this cause came I into the world.
That I should bear witness unto the truth.
Stop right there. Think about that. The Lord Jesus is the eternal Son of God.
We could trace through the book of John and I suggest young people that you do this so tremendous word study to do. Look up all the times where the Lord Jesus talks about going to the cross, you know, obedience to his Father's will.
Here he says to pilot.
For this cause came I into the world.
What course to die on the cross for you friends? That's why he came. Why did he have to die?
00:10:10
Romans, chapter 5.
Romans chapter 5 and verse 12.
Wherefore, as by one man's sin entered into the world.
And death by sin. So death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.
Don talked about this last night.
All have sinned.
You know, I didn't have to put much effort into teaching my kids to be bad.
In fact, I I have spent zero time teaching them how to argue.
Nobody had to teach me how to stick my foot out and trip some kid up.
And I think that if we're honest with ourselves, we recognize all have sinned. Is there anyone here that could raise their hand, say not me, I'm the one guy who hasn't sinned? No, we know all have sinned by one man, Sin entered into the world and death by sin. That was Adam.
We had earlier in the conference how that God created everything and.
And it says he saw that it was very good. Let's turn into it. Turn back to the seed plot of the Bible. Those of you that know me know that I work in agriculture. The seed plot is where everything begins.
Genesis.
Is the seed plot of the Bible.
Read.
What happened in the Garden of Eden?
We know that God placed Adam and Eve in the garden and he told them be fruitful and multiply. He told them that I've given all this to you, take care of it.
But they were not to eat.
Of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Genesis 217.
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat it. Eat of it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
OK, what happens?
Chapter 3.
Verse 6.
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food.
And was pleasant to the eyes, And it's free to be desired to make one wise he took of the fruit thereof.
And did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and eat it eat.
In the eyes of them, both were opened and they knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together and made them aprons.
That's not a screaming cry of guilty. I don't know what is.
Let me illustrate what I'm talking about. When I was a kid, my mom had vitamin pills called Shaklee. Remember those?
Some of you older ones smile. They had green candy on the outside and we were told don't touch those.
But it was, and they were good. The medicine inside was terrible, but the candy was good. So my brother and I began to eat these, suck the candy off. And of course my face was green.
My mom said were you boys eating those?
No.
Why is your face green?
The Lord comes down into the garden.
He had communion with Adam before, right? And now here he is in fig leaves says had him.
Have you eaten of the tree?
This is human nature, right? What did he say? Well, Lord, the the woman that you gave me, she made me do it, right? He blames God, basically. He says, well, it's the woman and you made her and it's her fault. And that's how human nature, right?
No, it's not me. I'm not guilty.
Guilty.
00:15:02
Guilty. Now the the verse I love in Genesis 3.
We'll read 2 verses here. Let's read verse 14.
The Lord God said unto the serpent.
Well, we just read verse 15 for time's sake. This is God speaking to the serpent. I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head.
And thou shalt bruise his heel.
This is the announcement by God of the blessed news.
That the Lord Jesus would come to be the Savior of sinners.
Genesis 3.
God's atonement is announced.
That the sea of a woman would bruise the head of the serpent.
Now.
We might say, well, Adam and Eve were weak. I would never do that right, say.
It's not my fault that they sin, but death passed upon all men. When Adam sinned, he was the head of God's creation and he was responsible. And when Adam sinned, death passed upon all men. It said, in the day you eat, you'll surely die. Now there's a beautiful picture of God's grace in this.
Adam and Eve didn't die that day.
But they begin to die. But God clothed them in skins, and there was death that day, and God began to lay out the substitution. And all through the Old Testament we have it.
God clothed them in coats of skin, but yet.
All the way through the annals of time to right now, we feel the effects of sin. People die.
Your knees get bad.
Your thumb hurt.
Not as fast as you used to be.
Your eyes go bad. I just got bifocals this week. It's we feel the effects of sin, friends, God.
Cannot have sin in heaven. He takes it very seriously and.
There will be no sin in heaven.
There must be a substitute. And right here in the seed plot of the Bible, God announces the blessed news. I love the hymn that we have in our little Flock hymn book. Brightly it beamed on men forlorn, when Christ the Holy Child, her child, was born. Remember, I quote the whole hymn.
See Mercy Mercy from on high. They send the rebels down to die.
And I wish I could. I don't have my handbook up here, but anyway, it speaks there of, uh, of, uh, the woman's seed thy head, so, or the woman's head. Sorry. Anybody got their handbooks here?
128 Let me read it. It's a beautiful hymn that we sometimes sing together.
Soon as the reign of sin began, the light of mercy dawned on men when God announced the blessed news. The woman, see thy head shall bruise.
Brightly it beamed that men forlorn when Christ the Holy Child was born, and brighter still and splendor shone when Jesus died and cried Tis done what a great.
Song and thank you.
And that's where this began.
And yet we would say, well, I would never fall to that.
We're sinners, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. To illustrate that, they tell you a story that, uh, I heard when I was a young boy, I never forgot this. There was a, uh, a, uh, farmer who had a, a hired man and they'd be out working and be hot and tired and the, and the hired hand would say, Oh yeah.
When it when things were going badly. Oh, Adam, it's your fault.
And that farmer was a believer and he wanted to show his, his, uh, hired man what his heart was like. He said, I wish you had him. Wouldn't have done that. It's his fault.
00:20:13
So, uh, the, uh, farmer and his wife had, uh, this individual over with his family for supper and they had a really nice spread there on the table. There's all kinds of delicacies.
And, uh, presently, uh, a message was handed into the dining room that the, uh, the host would have to go out for a minute. He said, OK, I'll be right back, just go ahead.
Eat, uh, enjoy. Everything on this table is for you. The only thing I I want you to do is don't take the cover off of the pot in the middle of the table.
Right. Is that what is your curiosity wanna do?
Take the cover off right.
Oh no, we can't do that, he said. Don't do that. I will just have a look. He won't take any.
So the cover comes off and L jumps a mouse, a white mouse and it ran out is gone.
And then the host came back in the room. He looked in there and he said, oh, Adam.
Right, we see our own hearts in that it's easy for us to say, well, Adam and Eve should have known better. Our hearts are the same. And here sin was passed upon all men.
Romans 623 says the wages of sin is death.
That's why Jesus had to die.
The wages of sin is death. Sin always pays in full.
Send.
Pays on time.
Sin pays in full and without a Savior.
We cannot go into heaven where if you do not know the Lord Jesus as your Savior.
You are on your way to a lost eternity right now.
But the good news of the gospel is.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
You might say, well, I guess I'll just start being good now.
The scripture says God requires that which is past.
Suppose that, uh, I ran up a, uh, an account, Tim Ruga with you at your business and I owed you $100,000. OK, you guys, picture that.
And I go to Tim and I say now, brother Tim, I'm terribly sorry that this happened. It was never my intent that I owe you this money.
And from now on, I'll pay with cash.
You're going to be happy with that, Tim.
No.
But God requires that which is passed.
I mentioned the coats of skin that God made in the garden all throughout the Old Testament. Friends, God is announcing His intentions.
We've read this morning about Abraham and Isaac. It says God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. What I when I read that verse it just makes me smile. God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. It's the Lord Jesus.
Like it was Michelle mentioned when he was speaking how in the past eternity it says, uh, speaking prophetically of the Lord Jesus. Then then I was uh, by him as one brought up with him and I was daily his delight. And then what does it say My delights were with the sons of men. The Lord Jesus wants to have a relationship with you from a past eternity. He was thinking about you.
And he was thinking about me.
We read about Abel bringing a a sacrifice and says God had respect.
Why? It was reminding him of what His Son, the Lord Jesus was going to do on the cross for you.
The Passover.
A land without blemish and without spot, right? What's it reminding us God is pointing toward? The Lord Jesus giving up his life. The perfect, spotless Lamb of God.
00:25:13
So pointing ahead.
We hear that.
Uh, prophetic conversation in Isaiah 6 where the Father says, who shall I send and who will go for us? And immediately the answer is here, am I send me?
And the Lord Jesus was willing to give that up, that home of glory with his Father. Why? Because he loves you.
I can tell you with every fiber of my being, of everything that I could ever know, that God loves you tonight.
The Lord Jesus loves you tonight. He died to save you. He wants you to open your heart's door to Him.
Is struck with a person Joe recently.
Started job 34.
234.
Verse 14. I'm going to read this as Mr. Darby has it because it's a beautiful verse. Here's what it says. If he only thought of himself.
All flesh would perish together, and men should turn again into dust.
But God wasn't thinking only of himself. He was thinking about you and me.
If he only thought of himself.
It's all over for us. But he didn't. He was thinking about you and me.
And so we find the Lord Jesus standing before Pilate.
And he says for this, 'cause this is the reason I came, I came to die. We could trace through the book of John over and over again.
I think I can't remember who mentioned it this morning.
There in the temple. And when the Lord was 12, his parents were searching for him. What does He say? Wish ye not that I must be about my Father's business. You know what that business was? To redeem your soul from sin, to save you and bring you into blessing, to bring you into a home in heaven with Him.
To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world. John 1837.
John 1811 The cup which my father hath given me to drink.
Shall I not drink it?
Speaking of the cross, right?
Jesus, knowing therefore all things that should come upon him, went forth.
Was he surprised to wind up at the cross? No. He came to die for you, friends, for you. He came to die.
Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say?
Father save me from this hour, but for this cause came I into this hour.
It was for you and I that he came to die.
We see him there on the cross.
Enduring before he got to Calvary's Hill, the most terrible abuse imaginable that mankind threw at the Lord Jesus, the Blessed Savior.
They get to Calvary, they throw him down.
On the ground, stretch those arms out. Begin to pound those nails.
You know, if we was thinking about.
I was thinking about you.
He's thinking about me.
They lift him up.
And also main beam of that cross was upper net, maybe they dropped it into a hole. Thought there he is friends, the son of God hanging there.
For you.
And for me, but then.
God turned out the the light. For three hours there was darkness over all the land.
00:30:03
And we find in Isaiah 50 I think it is better turn to it to get it right. Isaiah chapter 50.
The Lord God opened my ear and I was not rebellious.
Neither turned back away.
I gave my back to the smiters.
And my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair.
I hid that my face from shame and spitting.
For the Lord God will help me therefore I know I shall not be confounded therefore.
Have I set my face like a Flint? And I know that I shall not be ashamed.
Actually, the passage I was looking for was not that one, but that does speak to us of the cross.
And his setting his face like a Flint to go there. Sometimes we sing the song.
Onward still to Calvary marching, onward still he speeds his way, His own Father's will, fulfilling love to sinners to display.
It's Isaiah 52.
That I was thinking of in the hours of darkness.
As many Isaiah 5214 as many were astonished at thee.
His visage was so marred, more than any man in his form, more than the sons of men.
And the Lord Jesus endured the wrath of a sin hating God for those three hours. And God?
Shut off the light.
And poured out on His holy, spotless, perfect Son all of the wrath and punishment for sin, for your sin, and for mine. Imagine the horror.
To the Lord Jesus at that time.
I there's no way to illustrate that I I can think back to when I was a kid and my dad would say when we get home for meeting, you're getting a spank and then the rest of the day would be evening would be oh man, I hope he forgets.
But the, the dread and that's not even that close to the what happened to the Lord Jesus. Think about something so, uh, abhorrent to your soul, to me, to me, I would think, imagine if I were dropped into a pit of snakes.
They terror and the horror of that and there the Lord Jesus was made sin for you and I.
Who knew no sin? Think of the smoke in the eyes, if you will, the the terrible repulsive agony of taking upon Him.
The God's wrath for sin.
And he did it for you.
And he did it for me.
And at the end of that time, it says the veil of the temple, something happened. There was a veil in the temple as Jews were so proud of their temple, right? I think that veil was about 15 feet high. It says the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. God did it. No man could reach that high and rip that up. God tore that veil away.
Because he was satisfied with what the Lord Jesus had done on the cross. Isaiah 53.
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.
And God tore that veil away. The separation between God and man was gone.
And the Lord Jesus has made opened up the way for us to be fully blessed and brought into full relationship with God.
Because of what was done at the cross.
And he went into the grave.
And then I love that story. The first day of the week, right? They come early.
He's not here, he's risen. What a great answer. He's not here, he's risen.
00:35:06
He won.
He defeated all the power.
Of sin and Satan against you and I.
He's out here, He's risen, He's our Savior today. There is a Savior on high in the glory right now. If you know him, that's awesome. If you don't, he's saying come now to Jesus.
The dear, loving Savior.
Receive in this moment, and peace shall be thine.
Says the wages of sin is death.
But the gift of God is eternal life. What a great gift.
Suppose Kyle, I brought you a nice birthday present, OK? And you looked it over and said this is rubbish, I don't want it. Yeah, he did it in the trash. Is it yours?
No.
Accept God's gift. The offer is there here, he says. I've done everything. I won.
I paid every penalty.
Will you take God's gift?
Are you willing to accept that or you're gonna say later, maybe another time? Is that convenient for me right now?
It'll be like Festus in the Book of Acts, I think Asbestos has said. When I have a more convenient season, I'll call for you.
We never read that there was another opportunity.
Or King Agrippa was mentioned right?
Almost now persuadeth me to be a Christian.
Now kids, what would you say to me if I said uh, uh, Dave almost got out of the way of the speeding train? Is that good enough, Dave? No, almost is about to fail.
God stands open now, ready to save you.
The work is done. God is satisfied with Jesus.
We are satisfied as well.
But I have to say.
As we close here.
Turn to John 3 to get to.
I'll explain what I'm saying here.
God does not force His way into your heart and life.
It was brother Dave that read this this morning. Gen. 3 will read verse 16 first. 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.
Now, verse 18.
He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already.
Because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. It's my solemn duty to warn you, friends, if you have not accepted the Lord Jesus as your Savior, if you have not said, Lord, I believe.
Come into my heart, be my Lord.
Saved me from my sins. You're already condemned.
Think about that if you die tonight in your sins.
You will go into a lost eternity.
That doesn't have to happen.
God stands.
In love says, Come unto me all ye that labor. The Lord Jesus says, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest the rest of God in your life. The fight against sin.
The Lord says, Come unto me.
And I will give you rest. I think it's John 7 where says that last great day of the feast, which is kind of like the last day of a great conference.
Jesus stood in Christ saying, if any man thirst.
Let him come unto me and drink.
00:40:02
You're thirsty in your soul, friend.
Lord says, come to me. The word come by its nature means leave where you are and come to me. Come.
The door is open. I think it's revelation we often use in the gospel. It says, Behold, I stand at the door and dock right. If any man open, I will command unto him and Sup with him. The Lord is not going to force his way into your life. But he says, I paid all of the price, the gift is yours.
Everything is done.
Will you take that? Have you done that?
Accept it.
God loves you. He did everything.
Everything.
To bless you.
To save you.
Are you willing to say yes? Lord Jesus, I am a Sinner.
Come into my heart, be the Lord of my life. Are you tired of trying to strive your way through life? Sin is a terrible master. Reminds me of the Good Samaritan. Sin is a robber. That man that was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho says that he fell among thieves and they stripped him and beat him and left him in the ditch half dead. That's what sin does. And the Lord Jesus goes down into that, came to us where we were.
Binds up our wounds.
That's the savior that we have. Is he your Savior?
Oh, I hope he is.
If he's not, you make that decision tonight.
We'll put it off.
This could be the last opportunity you ever have to decide for Christ. Sometimes we sing in the gospel meeting. There's a voice that is calling to thee, and it pleads in its tenderest tone.
Well, it bids thee from God's wrath to flee.
And whispers to Jesus, Now come Sinner, hear and obey.
Is the voice of the spirit that strives, that cries while he strives, yield to him.
Do not quench the convictions that rise. You feel the Lord speaking to your heart. Open your heart's door, you children, Open your heart's door. It's the greatest decision that you'll ever, ever make.
Times we enjoyed singing as a family when the kids were smaller at the heart's door.
Let's maybe we can sing it together. We'll close with this.
At the heart.
And you hear it. Everything I want to hear, we're all in the door. I've never been.
Oh, the Lord wants to bless you.
She'll let him be in. Let's close in prayer.
Our God and Father.
We just.
The one I think.
For providing every single detail of salvation.
In a way that totally, completely.
Settled the question of sin.
Our Father, thank you for the Lord Jesus.
Thank you, Lord.
That he rose again, and that he's alive right now with your right hand.
Father, I pray for.
Any that is here in this room that does not know the Lord Jesus as their Savior.
Oh Father, I pray that they would not be able to sleep tonight.
Until the question is settled.
Thank you, Father, for your heart of love.
Thank you for the Lord Jesus.
As in his precious name, we give thanks. Amen.
Open Mtg. 8
Open—M. Payette, P. Jennings, D. Rule
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
It's saying #275.
Tip #275.
Oh, we're going to slide.
The world fall.
I want you to come to my world that I'm going to show.
Versus suggested part by the him Exodus chapter 15.
15 and verse 23.
When they came tomorrow, they could not drink the water tomorrow, for they were bitter.
Therefore the name of it is called Mara. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? They cried unto the Lord. And the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast in the waters, the waters were made sweet there He made for them a statue and ordinance. And there he proved them, and said, If I will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and we'll do that which is right in his sight. We'll give you here to his commandments, and give all the statutes. I will put none of these diseases upon thee which I brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord that healeth thee.
And I came to Elam where were twelve 12Th waters and three score and 10 palm trees, and they camped there by the waters that the Lord for his help, our God and our Father were just thankful that we could come this afternoon with, uh, open Bibles and anticipation of hearing of thy word. We just do pray that they'll bless it to our souls. And so often we know that we feel that things are bitter around us. Sometimes we lack in our souls and our spirits without able to provide the wells and the palm trees.
And we just do kind of thank the that we can come into thy presence this afternoon and we seek a blessing from above. Thou surely provide for us. Lord Jesus, in thy name we pray to thanks, Amen. Amen.
00:05:14
Turn to a verse in Luke's gospel.
Chapter 23.
Verse 44.
It was about the 6th hour and there was a darkness over all the earth.
Until the 9th hour.
And the sun was darkened.
I'd like to talk a little bit this afternoon.
About what I feel a little bit on my heart.
Kept me awake.
I mean of science. I want to know how the world was made, and the Scripture tells us how it was made. Made by God's power, by his word.
But unbelievers, we can ask.
The God who made the universe made it a certain way. Why did he make it that way? He had a purpose and making it that way.
Proverbs chapter 8 says when he spread the heavens.
I was there at his side.
That's the Lord Jesus personifying wisdom.
So when God spread the heavens.
There was wisdom.
And how he made the universe, and how he spread the heavens.
And in the creation that we live in.
The brightest object that you have ever seen and that I have ever seen is the sun.
And the universe we live in, where there's life and seasons, is all centered around the sun. Everything revolves around the sun.
And it's wonderful that in English you have the sun and it's pronounced exactly the same. It's just a wonder.
We don't have that in French. You're privileged, the son.
Because I believe that SUN is a picture of the SUN, the sun. So I use the source of light and the source of heat we had in our him. God is light.
And we see the light of creation and how we need it, and we need the light that the Lord Jesus brings to he says, I am the light of the world.
Who are we?
To speak of such a one.
In the book of job it says in job chapter 42 I believe might be 40. I might look at that for a moment.
Zone 42.
Who is he There's three Job 42 verse three. Who is he that hide it counsel from knowledge without knowledge. Therefore I uttered that I understood not things too wonderful for me.
Which I do not.
His job and long discourse of Job and his friends too.
They did talk a lot.
But here Jolie kind of comes to a point where he says.
Who is he that without knowledge hide it counsel?
I mean that means that in my understanding.
Of things that I don't know.
I can be hiding something that I can't. Others can't see because because I've I've.
I've understood it wrong.
So he comes and he says I understood not things too wonderful for me which I knew not.
Many things I don't know and I'm sure everybody here will say.
We know in part.
There are things that we do know. They're clear in the Word of God. Other things.
Perhaps it's hard to define and.
Come to a conclusion on that and, uh.
Surely we can speak about those things, but we need to be careful. We're not speculating.
That we have the word of God.
Well, the basis of what we believe.
And speak to others of.
I thank the Lord I have wonderful opportunities in the gospel.
And I'd like to just share a little bit on.
00:10:00
Responsibility. We had some thoughts on sovereignty yesterday and.
I'd like to talk to you about my shower doors.
This morning I was in the shower in the hotel.
And my shower has sliding doors, 2 doors.
And yesterday I was in the shower and, uh, I had the doors mixed up.
So the handle I had, I would ending up on the counter so I couldn't get out there. I didn't have the right handle and the other door didn't have a handle. The handle was on the other side. So I did, I did slide it around. But this morning here I am, I come out of the shower, got all the and handle straight and the doors start moving by themselves. They did. They kind of slid back.
In the right position.
I was outside and the handle to get inside was on the outside.
And when I got into the shower this morning, when I was inside, the handle to get outside was on the inside.
I had a handle to come in and I handled the come up.
But the important thing I had a shower.
I don't wanna be funny.
Those two railroad tracks, I've mentioned it to others. It's on my heart. Brethren, I wanna share it with you.
Sovereignty. Responsibility.
But the important thing?
Is the train and the train is crisis.
You hear the gospel.
You're responsible to come in.
You know the gospel.
You're responsible to go out.
And tell them about the Lord, how it happens in the hearts of men. I don't understand. Ecclesiastes said that how how the bones are formed inside.
I know there's a seed and there's quickening life there, and that's what the Spirit of God does with the Word of God. But that's how he does it. He does it by the preaching of the gospel, presenting Christ, the souls.
And we need to feel our responsibility with that.
The Sun here in Luke 23.
It was darkened.
And I'm sure here this morning, every one of us doesn't matter where we our thoughts are we we consider the Son of God.
When he was made sin for you and me on the cross, where he echoed these words, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken thee? That's the center of it all.
That unfathomable person that the Father only knows, who gave himself for you and for me.
You know, in creation God has made times on the earth.
When the sun is darkened.
They had one recently solar eclipse.
We didn't get to see it here, but in Iceland I believe they got. If it was not a cloudy day, they could have seen an eclipse of the sun.
Total eclipse of the sun.
What is before the sun? When there's a total eclipse of the sun, it's the moon.
Who made the moon? God made the moon?
Who gave the orbs so the moon would come and blot out the sun?
God did that and his wisdom.
For the spectators that we are.
And I'm sure many of you in this room, it's not all you have seen.
Through the Lord Jesus on the cross, the eclipse of the sun for you.
I have one record in my life.
Of a real, uh, solar eclipse. And, uh, I didn't really see it because it was cloudy, but they did have warned everybody not to look.
If you stared at the sun, you would damage your eyes. But when there's an eclipse, you it it doesn't glare at you and it doesn't blind you, but if you look, you're gonna damage your eyes.
Of the uh.
Umm, the heavenly bodies. God has made the sun, the moon and the stars. 1St Corinthians 15 we know, Beautiful picture of resurrection, a star picture of the Saints and glory deferring glory from one to another. The glory of the moon. What's particular about the moon? It doesn't have personal glory. It's got reflective glory. It only has glory when it's directing its face towards the sun, and it reflects its glory. And the sun, Well, astronomers don't agree, but the sun to me is the brightest object in that sky.
00:15:13
That I can look at.
I appreciate start when the sun comes out, the stars disappear. When the Lord appears in glory, we're gonna be manifesting glory with Him. But he's the one that's gonna be seen in US, isn't He?
But I was, uh.
Touched by the fact that, uh, even when the sun is shining.
You can still see them.
And the Lord will manifest in glory that church which doesn't have itself a glorious body. We ain't gonna have glorious bodies, but the church.
Is a reflection of the glory of the Lord Jesus, of the measure of his love. It's a wonderful thing.
But what I want to talk about is, uh.
Eclipse.
What's an eclipse? Well, an eclipse is, uh, interruption.
Of the vision of.
A heavenly body by the interposition of.
Another body, you have eclipses of the moon.
Where the moon reflecting the sun is darkened.
And why is the moon darkened? Because the Earth comes between the sun and the moon.
What's the picture that God gave us in creation? Of what?
Well, I believe our reflection of the Lord Jesus is affected by the earth.
By the earthly things that take up our time, our affections, our resources, and instead of reflecting the glory of the sun, our testimony is darkened.
My dear, makes sense to my soul.
A simple.
What about?
Lunar eclipse.
The sun was blotted out, and Luke 23.
When the light of the world went Into Darkness for you and me.
Is it possible? And brothers sisters for us.
Individually.
Or collectively.
To blot out the glory of the Lord Jesus.
By our partial understanding. By our misunderstanding.
By over understanding of things perhaps too wonderful for us.
In him are his all the mysteries of wisdom and knowledge or intelligence. It's all in him.
And I only know them apart, and so do you. And I'm sure you know what I do. But.
It's only partial.
So I should have been late on my heart recently. I I want to share with my brethren here.
The table of the Lord.
The Lord's Table.
Receiving.
At the large table.
Who receives?
At the Lord's Table.
Hello. It's not the Lord. It's not the Lord's table.
And if it's the Lord receiving at his table through responsible ones, obviously we have responsibility with that it should bear the character of the Lord.
Romans, chapter 14.
Verse 15 rather.
#7.
Wherefore.
Receive you one another, as Christ also received us.
To the glory of God.
Thinking of prodigal son when he came home, he was received before he got home. What a reception he got.
On my phone, he's a father run up to him like this. He had open arms. He was longing for that boy to come back.
00:20:01
Would the Lord's heart be different?
Welcoming those he died for.
Whether we're receiving them in restoration or receiving them as what they are, truly members of His body.
I am guilty in my soul.
Of failing.
To reflect in my way of dealing with.
This subject.
I'm not truly reflect reflecting the Lord.
And I just like to mention this for our exercise because.
It's not easy.
Two aspects in connection with the Lord's Table is the ground of the one body that includes every redeemed 1 redeemed other precious blood of Christ.
And the authority and the respect due to the person of the Lord Jesus. He's the Lord. And if he's the Lord, we do things the way He wants. He's the Lord. We submit ourselves willfully to what He wants, the prescriptions from His Word. That's how we do things.
First Corinthians, chapter 10.
Verse 16.
Brother mentioned his verse this morning.
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion?
Of the body of Christ.
Whoa, the blood of Christ.
Millions of redeemed ones by the precious blood of Christ.
Members of the body of Christ.
Wonderful.
It's all Christ, his blood and his body, which is a church.
And then he goes on to exhort them about.
The Fellowship.
And I would like to suggest this thought to you in connection with.
My exercise and I I'm really open to be corrected on this. I wouldn't feel free myself.
To remember the Lord.
Anywhere else?
Then had his table.
Where he has drawn us around himself, where we submit his word, where we let the Spirit of God minister the truth to us and lead us in, in songs and worship and, uh, enjoy his person. Where he's the team and the center of it all Like the sun and creation. There's the sun in redemption. He's, he's the center at all. It's all, it's all about him and us and him.
But if one came as a member of the body of Christ, redeemed with his precious blood, and he wanted to remember the Lord in his death, and perhaps was not.
Clear as I would be as to where I would go or not go, but in simplicity of faith, he would want to remember the Lord in his death for us.
I think, I believe, I'm persuaded the Lord would greet him.
On the ground that he washed them with precious blood and that he's a member of his body that belongs to that person that belongs to the Lord, doesn't belong to me.
And so I just suggest this problem because it has enlarged my heart in considering these passages.
That's a table of the Lord, and the Lord's Supper is under his Lordship.
We can say many things in our discourse about the Lord and yet betray His character in how we behave and how we do things. May the Lord help us, dear ones.
It's a lot keep us from anything that we would take out of proportion.
To Eclipse.
His glory.
Is it possible?
That are being taken up with things that pertain to the church.
Would blot out the vision of the sun. That's what the solar eclipse is. The moon gets in the way.
You can't see the sun anymore.
This is the word of God.
00:25:00
From the first chapter to the last chapter, it has one object.
It's not you, it's not me, it's Christ.
And you and me, and him. Wonderful.
I hope you're on the train.
If you're on the train.
You can help in glory. That's where it's going. You're destined for glory.
How do you get on the train? You believe the gospel?
I am the door by me. If any man enter, you shall be saved.
And if you're on the train, I trust you are.
And your fellowship is with the Father and the Son.
And the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe with all my heart that the Lord Jesus loves souls.
He loves the Brethren and he loves souls.
And if you're involved, you put the Son of God and God our Father, you're gonna love the brethren.
You're gonna love souls.
Love puts you to work and that define the Saints, taking care of them, shepherding them, and going after the lost ones in the gospel. May Lord bless His word to our souls and just leave this thought with you. May God keep us, May God keep me. May God keep you from eclipsing in any measure the glory of the sun.
By my partial knowledge.
Uh, on my heart, uh, to share with you all this afternoon is maybe a little different than the message that we just received. Uh, it's, it's my desire to share, uh, a little on burdens. I know that, umm, as.
I'm 50, I just turned 56 by the way. And umm, in my life I've, I've, umm, experienced, uh, burdens, uh, burdens come in different forms, come for different reasons.
And uh.
And yet they're all real to us. We can be sitting in a conference like this with a smile on our face and a very heavy heart.
We can.
Feel.
Like we're just about to the point where we're ready to give up.
And it's my desire to share some of the things that I guess maybe life has taught and I trust as the Spirit of God has worked in my soul to bring me through some of the circumstances of my life.
Recently I was in the home of a young man and his mother.
And, umm.
This family had lost their father, uh, maybe four years ago or so.
And I was I was there to try to, to be an encouragement to them, maybe get a little some projects done that were hanging over them. I'm sure they were burdens and I'm sure that they were burdens that they looked to the Lord for answers for. And the Lord gave me the privilege to maybe lighten those burdens a little bit. But as I sat at lunch.
Uh, with them one one day.
I tried to help the young man understand.
That there are times when we can take burdens on ourselves that God hasn't given us.
I encourage this young man not to try to be a father in that home.
That there were gonna be responsibilities for him.
That God didn't intend for him to shoulder.
That there were gonna be, there were gonna be circumstances in his life where he would not be able to answer the need for his mother.
And that he had to learn.
That God promises to take care of us.
Maybe there's those this afternoon who are carrying burdens that God really doesn't. The Lord doesn't intend for you to bear completely. I'd like to start by just reading a familiar verse in Galatians chapter 6.
00:30:13
Because I, I do believe that we want a certain balance to this, to these subjects. And it's not a balance that I can guarantee you. I'm not necessarily one who is known to be, uh, very balanced and no others more balanced than myself. So I'll do the very best that, uh, the Lord enables me. So let's, umm, read and umm, verse five of.
Galatians 6.
Says For every man shall bear his own burdens. You may be bearing a burden today.
And it may not be a burden that you've brought upon yourself. It may not be a burden that you're not supposed to be bearing. God makes provisions for burdens.
You may be a student in a university and you feel like you're up to there in the requirements that are placed upon you.
The answer necessarily isn't to flee or run, or it's to accept the burdens that the Lord has given you and seek grace to help in those burdens.
I specifically want to speak to those who may be burdened.
Beyond the desire of God for your your soul to be burdened.
And yet life has a tendency to press upon us and sometimes we need answers. We need to know how God has provided for us to bear burdens. I like to think of this book as a tool box.
My son recently last year or so, he became a mechanic and mechanic. Mechanics like their tools and I might look in the mechanics toolbox and open the drawers and see see things I I absolutely have no idea what the purpose for is for them.
Umm. But my son, if he has any experience with these tools, realizes that tool has a specific purpose. If I use that tool and if I learn how to use it, I'll be able to skillfully perform the task that.
Requires me to to make a living. The word of God is like that. It's filled with tools that work. They work.
Was never in intended for God. God never intended his children to be overburdened. He told us that we wouldn't be given burdens beyond our ability to get through them. But He gives us tools.
To use in keeping ourselves from becoming overburdened, I'd like to just turn to Matthew Chapter 11.
This is a beautiful passage of Scripture.
Because the Lord Jesus, our example, is the one who's speaking and He is perfectly showing us how we can get through this life, no matter what the circumstances are, and be able to live with certainly a measure of peace. And if I have peace in my soul, I cannot be overburdened. The two don't go together, cares.
An overabundance of care and peace don't belong in the same heart. They don't belong in the same mind. And the Lord Jesus here gives us the key.
That we can apply the tool that we can use, that our life might be kept to a certain degree.
At at Peace and.
You know, when, when there's peace, there's joy. So let's just say peace and joy, they go together. Burdens, cares, that's trouble, that's clouds, it's difficulties. So.
Let's read it verse 25. At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, oh Father, Lord of heaven, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and has revealed and has revealed them unto babes. The Lord Jesus had spent his energies.
00:35:17
Reaching out to those that he loved, he'd been as as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. He had done miracles. He had healed. He had tried to relieve the suffering.
And what did he get?
Rejection.
You got rejection.
And if there was ever a reason why, maybe his soul wouldn't have been at peace. And I speak relevantly because I know him and that's not possible for the Lord Jesus.
But looking at it from our vantage point, you know peace usually comes when things are going well.
But things weren't going well.
Under these circumstances, for the Lord.
And yet, how does he respond?
I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth. He thanked his Father for the wisdom of his pathway. That's called submission.
In your circumstances today.
Can I ask you and myself, can we thank the Lord our Father?
For what he has chosen to bring into our path. Speaking to a young brother just a few minutes ago about that, about submission and it's.
Pretty universal forces and we talk about submission, we wanna, we wanna recoil, we wanna, you know, tell, talk about how hard it is.
But submission always brings victory.
It always brings peace. It doesn't change the circumstances.
It doesn't make the failures right, it doesn't necessarily change our immediate circumstances, but what it does is it interjects peace.
And brings peace in times of difficulty. You know some some things in life.
Are extremely difficult.
To take.
There might be sin in our life. There may be a failure.
And we may have to acknowledge that God had to allow that to happen in our life so that we could learn a lesson, get from this stage of growth to the next, from get getting from this phase of being made into the image of Christ.
I don't like to say talk about sin is necessary in in any in any circumstances, but it it is allowed of God because there's a, there's a, there's a, there's a process.
Maybe it's not sin. Maybe it's not sin in our lives. Maybe it's maybe it's sin in the lives of our families, our loved ones, our brethren.
Can we?
Say.
I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth.
Under those circumstances, can we can we realize God is in control?
And that circumstances have that circumstance has been allowed.
Because God in his wisdom.
Has seen it necessary.
Sometimes burdens come.
In our lives because.
We feel the shame.
We feel the shame. Shame is something.
That is extremely painful.
And shame is something that Satan uses.
To keep us burden.
We may have committed a sin years ago.
It may have been dealt with according to the Word of God, but for some reason it's hard for us to get rid of the shame in connection with it.
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I'd just like to share a well known verse in Hebrews.
If your fever is chapter 12.
This is.
The Lord is our example.
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
And for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.
Despising the shame.
Did the shame of the cross hinder the Lord Jesus?
From obedience in answering.
To God's.
Work that God had placed before him.
He would not allow the shame.
Of the Cross to hinder him.
From completing the work which God has for him to do now.
Are we going to go through life with the burden?
Of Shane and allow it.
To hinder.
Fruit bearing for God.
There might be a little.
Pride in that.
We don't like to think.
That were connected with something that.
Is shameful.
Not to make light of sin in any way. Sin is shameful.
The Lord Jesus.
It says.
Despise the shame.
And it's set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Are the burdens that you bear this afternoon connected with?
Some shortcoming, Something in your life, Something in the life of of of your loved one.
I just wanna share it. Not sure if this will mean anything to you, but it has meant something to me.
Umm.
And my my mind is gonna draw a blank, but that's OK.
We know no man.
After the flash.
We know not Christ after the flesh. We know no man after the flesh.
Often times, brethren, our reputations.
Are connected with what?
We are in the flesh.
Scripture says we we know no man after the flesh. We're in a new creation. We're in a new family.
We've lost our connection.
With.
Adams Race.
Do I suggest that?
A good name isn't to be chosen rather than riches.
Again, I'd like to put this in balance. Scripture speaks of valuing a good name.
That means we.
We don't carelessly tarnish a name.
But when it comes down to it.
We're part of a new creation.
We know no man after the flesh.
It's that truth.
Rests firmly in our souls.
It'll help for the burden to be lifted.
It might be connected with something that may have in some way tarnished.
My name.
You know.
We're all pretty broken.
00:45:00
And if we allow our brokenness in any way to burden us.
Down.
We're not gonna get very far.
I want to encourage us.
Are there going to be burdens?
We're told to each bear our own burden.
But God give us grace to know when we're trying to bear something God has not asked us to bear. I wanna give you an example of what I think that is.
Sorry, time.
I know of a little family with a mother I don't know, over time, maybe six or seven kids.
A mother and six or seven kids, obviously there's something missing there, isn't there?
Very.
Important component. It's called the Father. But like I said, we live in a broken world, don't we?
It's nice if you sit here, haven't had the experience of having a mother and a father. That's normal, that's God's design. But we live in a broken world, and this dear little family had a mother in about six or seven kids.
And as I watch this dear family that I love grow up, each one of the kids would get to the point where they were the oldest in the family, the one that the oldest one that was left.
And the burden?
Of trying to be the father, the responsibility of being the oldest one in that family.
Ended up when they got to that point they took off.
Because it was a burden they thought they had to bear natural. Here I am, I'm the oldest one in the family and all these things are happening all around me. And some of these things are happening and they're, they're wrong and they're, and the burdens became so bad. They said I got to get out of here. And they did. And it, it didn't end up in much blessing. I mean, I, I believe God's bringing much blessing, but sometimes it may not appear that way. Why they didn't understand.
Those were burdens God wasn't calling them to bear.
But if you're in that situation, what if your family has come apart?
Is it your responsibility to fix it?
Let me suggest that you go to the Lord if you're in a situation.
That is completely not Mayo is intended to be. Don't take that situation on yourself. Don't try to become a.
13 year old 14 year old father.
Go to the Lord and say I can't be the father of this situation, but.
I'm I'm willing to be used of you, Lord. I'm willing to take as much as you ask me to bear. I'm willing to go to you and do all I can, Lord, with your strength.
And so let's be careful with the burdens.
You'll have them.
God is there, remember whatever it is.
First of all, do what the Lord Jesus did. Father, I thank thee.
The way you've chosen.
For what you've ordered.
I think the submission brings peace.
Well, I trust that starts a little bit of an encouragement to you.
We're gonna look to add to what's just been said.
Uh, from the aspect of REST.
All of us.
Some part of our being appreciate rest.
Hopefully we experience some of the rest last night after we went to bed.
Our bodies require it and Scripture recognizes it, and I would like to.
Look with you a little bit at rest in connection with peace and burdens. So turn with me to the beginning of the Bible, Genesis chapter one.
Chapter 2, Genesis chapter 2, verse one. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them, and on the 7th day God ended his work which he had made, and he rested on the 7th day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the 7th day and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested.
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From all this work which God had created and made here in here in the very beginning of the word of God, we find that God went to work.
And he spent six days working, and on the 7th day he had come to the point where he had finished the work that he was doing, and he rested and he set that day apart.
He hollowed it. He he set it apart as something really holy.
That he has never given up.
From that day to this, and he will not that purpose of his own.
And so there is that in every life that God orders. That is the period of work.
Followed by rest.
God orders the proper amount of work and the time when that work is accomplished to be followed by rest. Makes me think, and I think it's France many years ago if I'm right in my memory, but one of the European countries decided, I'm going to put it this way, they were a little smarter than God and so they thought they could accomplish more. And as a consequence they decided instead of a.
Seven day week they have a 10 day week.
And uh, so people would work 9 days and then they would have a day off.
Didn't work. They went back to the seven day week.
You don't. Things don't work right when you change God's order.
And go ahead and order. He established an order in which he created us, and he expects us to stay within that order. And things go the way they should in contrast to ways they should not.
However.
God's still working today.
And he's not resting.
He's not resting.
You and I necessarily take periods of rest.
But I submit to you that God doesn't.
When the Lord Jesus was here, he said, My Father worketh here unto, and I work.
Why was that statement made?
Because God cannot, will not rest.
When there is sin.
Before his eye, God cannot rest in the presence of sin.
It is.
Unacceptable to his eye.
And so he cannot rest.
He will not rest.
Until it keeps on working to the point where there is no longer.
Sin.
And Zephaniah chapter 3, it says he shall rest in his love. There is coming a time when God will rest.
Not to work again.
That time is seen in Revelation. God's rest was broken in Genesis 3.
And his rest will be restored to him.
In what's described to us in Revelation chapter 21 where it says.
Righteousness shall dwell.
Right now we live in an unrighteous world and righteousness suffers and God can't live looking upon a a creation of his own that he had made, that he declared very good and watched man.
Act and behave and the consequences of it in the creation itself and in the animals and so on. And so God is at work.
00:55:08
Because of that.
But when He has removed from his eye all that sin is, and all that sin has brought, when he has created a new heavens, or made a new heavens and a new earth.
And righteousness dwells, and God will enter into rest.
And that rest will remain for eternity.
Turn to Isaiah.
Chapter 57.
Verse 16. Isaiah 5716. For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always wroth. For the Spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made. For the iniquity of His covetousness was I wroth, and I smote him, and I hid me, and I was wroth. And when He went on forwardly in the way of his heart, I have seen His ways, and I will heal him.
I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners. I create the fruit of the lips. Peace. Peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord, and I will heal him.
But the wicked are like the troubled sea, which cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
There is no peace, saith my God.
To the wicked.
God made you and I in His likeness and in His image.
There are certain ways in which we're like God, even naturally speaking.
Well, that's the way God created us.
And it's important to realize.
Not like God.
You will not find rest.
In send.
Man is like the troubled sea.
That cannot rest.
Sometimes in our personal lives, there's no rest.
Why?
Because the waters are casting up mire and dirt.
Because there's that going on within the soil.
In which there can be found no rest.
Sometimes we need to ask ourselves such things, because very often.
The real issues are not in the circumstances, they're in the salt.
We somewhat wrongly at times, think if only, and then we describe the proper set of circumstances in our lives. If only I had this, if only he wouldn't do that. Something somebody outside of us is doing that's affecting us in a way that we don't appreciate and we don't want, if we even say.
In young people growing up, at least if you were anything like me. And I think I'm looking face to face in water.
It's only my dad. My mom would let me do this or that. Everything would be great.
I wasn't made that way, nor were you.
It cannot rest.
Let's remember that.
We all appreciate rest.
But as God's presently working in the presence of sin.
So we too must recognize that if there's to be peace or rest in our souls.
It has to be without the activity of sin.
Let's go back to Matthew 11 That we were looking at. Add a little bit to it.
Matthew, Chapter 11.
Verse 28.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
01:00:03
Take my yoke upon you and learn of me.
For I am meek and lowly in heart.
And you shall find rest.
Unto your souls.
First, I want to talk about the person who said these words at this time.
In the beginning of Matthew's Gospel, the Lord Jesus.
Grew up.
The Messiah had come.
And when the time came, at approximately 30 years of age, he began what we call his public ministry. He began his work.
And as Matthew presents it to us, he went out preaching.
Most of us are familiar with chapters like chapter five and six, what we call the Sermon on the Mouth, and he presented to man a great message.
We would say we hope it was well received. It was a wonderful words.
It was his work.
It was rejected.
It was rejected.
By the general population to whom it was presented.
Lessened. Some of them at least.
But they didn't receive.
He went on to do.
If they wouldn't receive his words, then he presented his works. And so he went on working healing.
Doing miracles feeding.
And so on.
They hated them.
They started talking about putting him to death.
Bit of a burden, right? Not a very easy thing to accept.
In such a system circumstances.
How would you feel if you felt God had given you a message from himself and you had presented it and you had been enabled of God to do miracles and reinforced your message and your love of the love of God that you are presenting and people started to talk about how to get rid of you?
Sometimes it's not easy.
To reach consciences.
It's easier to talk about love and encourage things like that.
But sometimes it's necessary if one is to be faithful.
To warn and so earlier in this chapter in verse 20, it says then he began to upbraid the cities where in most of his mighty works were done because they repented not.
You ever warned anybody and found yourself upset in the process of doing it?
Lots of us have been parents here, and not so always parents, but you know, it tends to be pretty upsetting.
To say something, even if it's a word that's faithful and necessary.
But.
Might produce conflict.
And it's it's difficult. People normally don't feel very comfortable about it if it's done in the right spirit.
Yes, I know in the wrong spirit some people seem to enjoy telling people off, but that's not what we have here and that's not of God.
So here we have this person presented to us.
Who has already been said one of the very important keys to his person was what he said, which we've had and I'll just repeat it in verse 25. At that time Jesus said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth.
He submitted.
To the will of another in these circumstances and has already been set as a point of peace, very important point of peace.
What I wanna add to that?
In the verses that we read.
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What else does he say concerning himself?
He says in verse 29, I am meek.
And lonely.
I am meek and lowly.
To be submissive to God.
To be meek and to be lovely.
Our ingredients of rest.
The Lord Jesus himself wasn't talking about something he hadn't experienced or didn't know or didn't understand, but he thought it was a good thing to say.
He was speaking as we know.
The truth. He was the truth.
And he was Speaking of one who submitted.
One who was meek.
Big persons don't tend to give offense.
Lowly, Lowly persons don't tend to take offense.
There are those who.
You ever told somebody something and they didn't take it the way you thought they should and you were put out by them, as we say, upset because they didn't respond to you correctly. Or someone said something to you that you didn't like and your response was in kind?
Neither of which are characters of meekness or loneliness of heart.
So Lord Jesus gives us here something that helps us into that place where our souls can find rest. He says learn of me, but first of all, come to me.
Come to me.
You're burdened.
Whatever you're burdened about, there's a person that can help you.
Talking.
Uh, earlier today about a couple of people that.
Are troubled and things in their lives and uh.
Sometimes it's.
Hard for people to listen.
We think we have something to say to them and we kind of expect that we'd like them to receive it, but somehow we think they won't accept it from us.
Sometimes can't help because of that. Perhaps the problem is in US and not being able to help.
But we can always encourage someone to go to one that never is unable to help bring rest into a soul. Come unto me.
And I will give.
There are really no conditions placed here in this first step. Come to me and do this and this and this and this and I will.
The 1St and essential thing is simply the coming.
In my own soul when I see this passage.
I somehow visualize the Lord being such in the low place that we've got to come from our high place, if you will, down to get to where He is. And sometimes we're not willing to come down to that low place where He is to find the answer, the need. So it's perhaps in a figure sense at least it's come down unto me and I will give you rest.
Another aspect of it is already been mentioned. Take my yoke their submission in that.
As well, except my yoke.
And I'll say it this way, and I'm the more experienced of the two in the yoke, so if you get into yoke with me, I'm gonna take the lead.
And you have to submit to that lead of mine.
But if you will take that step with me.
Lord's gonna teach without you having to be occupied with it. Meekness and loneliness.
No, I was quite fascinated in Sunday school this morning.
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A lot of little kids sitting beside his dad, and he sat there and had the handbook open and he had the handbook out. And I doubt that he could read. I'm sure he couldn't read a word in it.
But he sat there, and he watched.
He watched the little girl across the aisle from him. He watched the bigger kids.
When it was time to get up and go around the illustration.
He was encouraged to get up and he went there and he stood in the back. I doubt that he saw a thing, but he got up and he he at least he went that direction and.
What's that little child learning? He's learning to imitate.
You're learning to imitate. He's gonna learn to talk by imitation.
Sometimes his parents may be very happy that my imitation he becomes a little bit like them, and maybe at other times he wish they might wish he didn't imitate them.
But there is that process of learning that comes from occupation with something, and he's not consciously imitating what he is imitating.
This is important comment to me about it.
You can't rest.
Being occupied with sin.
There's nothing in the activity that produces Lost in Us that produces rest. There may be excitement, there may be thrill, there may be pleasure, but there's no rest.
But occupation with the Lord Jesus.
Produces rest.
Because.
It's occupation with what's perfect.
What's holy, What's pure? What's loving? What is joy?
What is gives long-suffering?
In that occupation.
God does whatever he does to transform.
Through it to produce results.
And in his person here.
It brings rest.
Quickly like to turn over to Galatians 6.
Adding again a little bit to what we've already had there we had verse.
Five, where we should not. We were taught this afternoon not to take on burdens that God has given to someone else to bear, and he doesn't want us to try to bear them. They're not ours, and it's a mistake to try. But notice verse one, brethren, if any man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual.
Restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted, bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself, and so on.
Here it talks about helping somebody else.
There are some burdens that we are instructed to help others to bear.
What I want to emphasize or note for you here is first one says weakness, spirit of meekness.
We don't really want to look at ourselves and say, well, I'm spiritual, Yep, I can handle this. I'll go bear somebody's burdens. I'll tell them how to live or whatever.
But notice this person I'm going to suggest to you has been in Matthew 11 in their soul and come to the Lord Jesus and been yoked with him in such a way that they have learned thickness.
By observation and by God's work in them in seeing himself.
He that verse three if a man think himself to be something.
Uh, is that?
Loneliness being described.
And thinks himself something. No, that's not loneliness. It's really the opposite. Man wants to be something. He wants to think of himself something even may want to think of himself as a a good encourage or a good helper or a good doer of managing other people's lives besides his own and so on. But that's not really God's way. And so that which enables, you might say, in between here to bear one another's burdens is.
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First of all, we ourselves have to go through, if I can say, the joyful, beneficial, rest giving experience of what Matthew 11 gives to us, and then the Lord may say, I'm going to use that vessel.
To help someone else.
To help someone else in their burden and in that way help them to bear it.
May the Lord help us to learn.
And to bear.
And whatever the outward circumstances are, the Lord Jesus was a man of rest. In spite of all the pressure and all the burden that he bore in his life, He was also in his soul with God, a man.
Who had rest?
May the Lord help us to more enter into and enjoy that rest of soul as we head toward the resting day. As it says in Revelation 14 about some who have given their lives says they had rested from their laborers. We'll never be able to fully rest in the presence of sin, but we can't find rest in our souls if we are occupied with that person.
Who is the perfect object?
Of our souls in every respect, including rest.
Verse 3-4 and five of #27 in the back.
And ourselves, the most gracious God, our Father, we thank thee for food for our souls this afternoon. And our God now we pray that what we have, uh, had before us, that it might get into our lives and make a difference. So our God, we thank thee. They are so good to us. We thank thee for it. We ask thy blessing in the balance of our time together. In Jesus name, Amen. Amen. Amen.
How to Live a Happy Holy Christian Life