Children—D. Mearns
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Somebody here in the front row have a number for us.
Nobody wants to sing.
Everyone running #22.
Let's turn to #22 There's lots of hymns in this hymn sheet. There's ones for the children on the back, but we can sing any hymn you'd like.
So let's start off by singing hymn #22.
Right from Sun, welcome to play Rise and take her home.
Bring your lamp, lamp, your granny, bring your lamps and be ready.
For the bridegroom tonight.
The right friend comes, let no man down the land. For those who's lands are up there. Why no one? No oil, no island divine.
Bring your lamps and be ready. Bring your loud and be ready.
Trim your hands and ready for the bridegroom.
Night.
We're ready ourselves and her in the marriage being swell and begin and every near me.
I bring your lamp and get ready. Bring your lamps and you're ready.
Break your hands and surrounding while I'm crying around.
Me to like play now feel nursing all fringe.
Will somebody else have one for us #19 Well, let's look at #19.
Now none but Christ can satisfy. That's a good one. How about we sing the 1St and the last verse of that one number 19?
All crying spanly my soul and bound get me alone.
I'll be some joy. I saw someone.
Let's tell now. I hope now and I love my pride. Can't laugh.
There's love and my friend last night.
'S found in the.
Planters of thy Sandy, for my never went for thee.
Yeah, I'll raise the light as I'm breathing my lovely day.
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No, no, but I can't stand his life. Another name for me.
There's my.
Well, how about we turn to the Backpage and we sing one more 41?
#41.
Around the throne of God in heaven will many children sing, Children whose sins are all forgiven Will heavenly anthems bring #41.
Around the throne of Thai heaven will many children.
Save children within the whole world and singing glory, glory.
Worry.
Your shining round and clock left my.
Will be afraid.
Will begin never bustling length and joy that never breaks thinking glory.
Glory.
Glory.
What brings them to that world of love that has a bright and fair?
We're all in peace and joy and love have come a children. They're singing.
Marie, Marie.
Me, the God.
Just before we open the word of God, I've got a bag here and I've got something in this bag.
Wonder if someone can tell me just what's in that bag. Can you tell me what's in that bag?
Rocks. Yeah, there's a whole bag full of stones. I'll put a couple of them here on the table.
Big stones. I'm going to do something here with these stones. You know what I want? I want all the children to come up here and to get a stone. Can you all come up here and get a stone out of this bag? I'll put it right here. I'll come up here and get a stone.
It's just one.
Just one.
Well, we've got more children here than we're in the front row.
Okay.
Does everybody have a stone?
Well, there's still a few left. There's some more you can have a stones.
Sure.
A stone, Another one. There we are. They're all different colors, these stones.
So I could have a stone. OK, I'll put it in the pocket. OK, you can have it there. That's right.
Now I'd like to turn to a verse in Luke's gospel.
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Luke's Gospel.
Luke's Gospel, chapter 22.
It says that the Lord Jesus was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast. You know, I always wondered just why I said that, why it didn't say that he was withdrawn from them about an eighth of a furlong or whatever other measurement of distance they used at that time. Why it says here he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast.
And this morning I want to take up a little subject.
About the throwing of stones, and maybe we can find out why it says here that the Lord Jesus was withdrawn from them. About a stone's cast, you know, boys and girls.
We read in God's precious word.
That there were eight people that died.
By people throwing stones at them.
Isn't that something we read of eight people that had stones thrown at them and that's how they died?
I remember when I was a little boy and I went out into the woods.
And my brother was throwing stones and he was throwing stones about this big. That's a pretty big one. It's bigger than the one you have in your hand. Well, he took a stone and he threw it into the woods and it went that direction. I was way over here, but it hit a tree and it bounced off the tree and it hit me right in the head.
And that's all I remember. That's all I remember. The next thing I remember is I was in the living room and I was on the sofa and had a big bump on my head. I was hit by a stone. You know, that's a solemn thing, boys and girls, to consider this subject of throwing stones because we're going to look at some people. And the first one I'd like to look at is in the book of Joshua.
Unless you don't have to turn to it boys and girls. You can if you have bibles but in Joshua the 6th chapter.
Or the 7th chapter rather. We read about a man and his name was.
Hey, Ken. And you remember the time that the children of Israel went to Jericho and they marched around Jericho?
And they blew trumpets. And who can tell me what happened to the Walls? What happened to the Walls of Jericho?
That boy right there. No, that's right. You.
They fell down flat. That's right. They fell down flat. Well, you know, the Children of Israel were were told to destroy everything that was in Jericho and they weren't supposed to take anything. But this man Akan, he saw something that he wanted and he took it. He wasn't supposed to take it, but he took it and he hit it. And when the children of Israel went to the next city and they thought they were going to win the battle there, they lost the battle. And it was because of this mannequin. Well, we're going to read here in the 7th.
Chapter.
About a can.
And they?
The 16th verse that says Joshua rose up early in the morning and brought Israel by their tribes. And the tribe of Judah was taken. And he brought the family of Judah, and he took the family of the Tzar Heights, and he brought the family of the Zahar Heights man by man. And Zabdai was taken, and he brought his household man by man. And he can the son of Carmi, the son of Zapdi, the son of zero of the tribe of Judah was taken. And Joshua said, unto Akin my son, give, I pray thee glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him, and tell me now what thou hast done, Hide it not from me.
And he can answer Joshua and said, indeed, I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel.
And thus and thus have I done, when I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold.
50 Shekels wait, I coveted them, and took them, and behold, they are hid in the earth, in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent, and behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. Verse 25.
Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this day in all. Israel stoned him with stones and burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
And raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day, both boys and girls. I wonder if for just a minute we could go back to that time.
And the Lord had told the children of Israel that they weren't supposed to take anything.
And this man, he can. He took something that didn't belong to him.
I think there's anyone here that's ever taken something that didn't belong to you.
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You know, I have to put up my hand because I've taken some things that didn't belong to me. Ever taken something from your brother and sister that they didn't want you to take? Or something that your dad and mom said not to touch?
You know, here was a man and he took something that didn't belong to him.
And knew what the Lord said you to take that man out and stone him with stones.
Isn't that a solemn thing? If we could pretend that we were there, let's pretend it was done in this building, and here we are. Maybe.
3500 years ago and this man, a can, he's taken and we're all standing there with our stones and the Lord says you stone that man until he's dead. Isn't that a solemn thing? Just for taking something that didn't belong to him? That man was taken out and he was stoned with stones. It says that Israel stoned him with stones. It wasn't just the big people, it wasn't just the middle-aged people. It was all Israel took him and stoned him with stones.
Isn't that a solemn thing?
Let's turn over now to another book. We go back a couple of books to the Book of Numbers.
And in Numbers, the 15th chapter.
We read about another man.
Numbers 15 and verse 32. Let's just listen to this story. It's 12345 verses long.
This man didn't take something that belonged to him, he did something else.
Number chapter 15 and verse 32. And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found the man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses, and Aaron unto all the congregation. And they put him in war, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones, without the camp.
And all the congregation brought him without the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died.
And as the Lord commanded Moses, you know, I thought of this little portion, I thought of this man, and you know what he did? You know what the terrible thing was that he did? He went and he gathered some sticks.
Does that seem like such a terrible thing?
You know, last night we heard about a man that shot 21 People and killed them.
And that was a terrible thing, wasn't it? Here's a man, he went out and he gathered sticks. Does that seem like it's such a terrible thing? Doesn't that sound kind of severe, boys and girls, that a man goes out and he gathers sticks on the Sabbath day, and the Lord says, you take that man out and stone him with stones.
The Lord had said that they weren't supposed to do that and he was disobedient.
And he did something he wasn't supposed to do. And it says all the congregation of Israel, they took him out and they stoned them with stones.
Until he died.
Let's turn to Leviticus.
Leviticus.
Leviticus chapter 24 we read about another man.
Leviticus, chapter 24.
And verse 10 and it says the son of an Israelitish woman whose father?
Was an Egyptian went out among the children of Israel, and this son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp. And the Israelitish woman Sun blasphemed the name of the Lord, and cursed, And they brought him unto Moses. In his mother's name was Sheila Meth, the daughter of debris of the tribe of Dan. And they put him in ward, that the mind of the Lord might be showed them. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp. Let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregations stone him.
Thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin, and he that blast theme at the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall surely stole him as well. The stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death. And the end of the 23rd verse says.
Children of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses. They took this man out.
And they stoned him with stones. Now why did they stone this man? Who can tell me why they stoned this man? Can you tell me? He cursed the Lord. And we read about a man and took something that didn't belong to him. We read about a man that was disobedient. He gathered sticks when he wasn't supposed to. And now we read about a man that said something he wasn't supposed to say. He was naughty with his mouth. Now I can remember a time when I was a little boy and I came in the house and I said something that was bad.
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And you know what my mom did? My mom took me into the bathroom and she washed my mouth out with soap.
But this boy, this man here, he said something that was wrong and he didn't have his mouth washed out with soap.
He was taken out and he was stoned with stones and you boys and girls, I want you to look at the stones that are in your hand.
You look at that stone.
You know what's so solemn about looking at that stone? That if we were living back then, at that time, these three men that were taken out and stoned, it was a solemn thing for all the children of Israel, because every one of them, they picked up a stone, they all had a stone. And in each case the man was standing there. And the people, they threw their stones at that man until he died. And what is so solemn, boys and girls, is that every one of those people.
That threw a stone knew that they were guilty too. They knew that they had said things that weren't right. They had done things that weren't right, and they were throwing a stone at someone that so easily could have been themselves.
What a solemn thing to be there and to stand there and to throw those stones.
Isn't that a stolen thing? You know, we've heard the gospel.
The last two nights where the gospel has been preached and we've heard how to get saved, and I can't help but think this morning that there are boys and girls right here in the front row that are perhaps not saved. Not saved. You don't know the Lord Jesus as your Savior.
Well, we read in that portion in Luke's Gospel, he was withdrawn from them about a stones cast. And I can't help but think that the Lord Jesus was thinking of those three men as he was about to go to the cross. And as he faced that situation, he said, Father, if it be possible, remove this cup from me.
The reason that the Lord Jesus said those words is because He knew.
What a great cost it was for him to go to the cross. And boys and girls, I just want to paint a little picture for you today.
These men that were stoned with stones.
It was for one little thing that they did. They were taken out and stolen. They didn't have to pay a fine. No, they were taken out in stone and they had to lose their life.
And as I think in my life and I think of the things that I have done.
The Lord Jesus tells us in his word that all the sins that we've committed, everyone of them.
Are going to meet their just recompense of reward. Everyone, every one of those sins meet their just recompense of reward. And I can stand here and it's a fearful thing because, you know, I look at this building and I think of how high it is. It's a high building, isn't it? And that's about the height of the pile of my sins. Doesn't that look like a big pile?
And if I can say it this way, the Lord Jesus.
We're standing on holy ground when we say this. Then in the three hours of darkness we sing that little hymn sometimes that says, Oh Christ, what burdens bow thy head. Our Lord was laid on thee. Thou stoodest in the sinner's stead.
To bear all I'll for me, the Lord Jesus.
On Calvary, during the three hours of darkness, if I can say it this way, the stones of the wrath of God, they fell down and they reigned upon the Lord Jesus. We sing that little hymn, Jehovah lifted up his rod, oh Christ, that fell on me, and the stones reigned and reigned upon the head of the Lord Jesus. And then.
One of my sins had met. Its just recompense of reward.
One of those things was paid for, and then the stones reigned again, and they reigned and they reigned some more.
On the head of the Lord Jesus and another one of my sins.
Was paid for, the Lord Jesus shed his precious blood. And when you think of the mountain of my sins.
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And we think of all that the Lord Jesus went through for all of my sins. Oh, I'm so thankful that he did. But boys and girls, I want you to look at those stones in your hands again.
What about you?
Have you had your sins washed away in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus?
What about you this morning?
Or do you still have your sins on you?
Now I'd like to look at another portion.
In First Kings.
First Kings.
The 12Th chapter.
First Kings chapter 12 and we find here that there's a king.
And.
He asked for some advice as to what to do.
And he asked for some advice from some old men.
And then he asked for some advice from some young men.
And it says here in first Kings chapter 12 and verse 16.
So when all Israel saw that, the King hearkened not unto them.
The people answered the king, saying, What portion have we and David? Neither have we inherited in the son of Jesse To your tents, O Israel. Now see to thine own house David. So Israel departed unto their tents. But As for the children of Israel, which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. Then King Rehoboam sent to Doram, who was over the tribute in all. Israel stoned him with stones that he died. Therefore the king Reboom made speed to get him up to his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.
So Israel rebelled against the House of David unto this day.
The first three men that we read about that were stoned with stones.
This was at the command of God. He commanded that these ones should be stoned.
But there are five others we don't read that there was a command from God to stone them. Here we meet about this man Adoram.
And we read here that Israel rebelled. Israel rebelled against the Lord.
And we find, too, that this man reabelled Bohm.
He took some advice and it was bad advice. The good advice? Well, boys and girls, I'd like to tell you a story.
But another man who took some bad advice there was a French king.
And this French king, he had a very, very faithful servant.
And this servant looked after a lot of the King's things. He looked after all his buildings. When the king needed something built, this man did it.
And the king, he said to this man, I want you to build me a castle.
And he showed him the place that he wanted it to be built. It overlooked the sea.
And the king gave the servant a large amount of money and he said, you go and build this castle. So they had an architect and they drew up the plans for this this castle.
And the man who was the servant, he started to build this castle and one of his friends said to him.
If you were to take maybe some material that was not real good material and you were to build this castle, you could use some inferior material and use it in a place where it's hidden and nobody would see. At the end of it, you'd have some extra money and you could take the money and you could put it in your pocket.
So the man, if he thought about that, the servant thought about that and he thought that that sounds like a pretty good idea. So he, he went out and he thought, well, what won't you see? Well, you won't really see the foundation. So he, he went and he got some, some beams that were sort of rotten and they weren't real first class ones. And he put them down in the foundation and, and you know, I did it quick so that it could be all covered up. And then he started to build on top of that. So here's this foundation underneath and it's not very good.
Well, he, he continued to build the castle and by the time he was getting to the end of it, it looked, it looked magnificent. It really looked nice. And he came to the end and it was all finished and it really looked nice. And he had the keys to the, to the gates of the castle and he went to the king and he said, here's the key to the castle. I finished it. So the king went to the castle with him and he went around it and he said, boy, you've done a wonderful job here. You've done a wonderful job. And they walked around the castle and the man showed the king everything that was in the castle and at the end of it all.
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The king said to the servant.
He said you have been such a faithful servant. He said, I want you to have the keys. You can live in this castle.
You know, boys and girls, I wonder how that man felt.
He took some bad advice, he took some bad advice.
And sometime later there was a hurricane that blew against that coast, and that castle collapsed because it had a poor foundation. And that man was in the castle and that man died. He took poor advice. Here we find this man Rehoboam. He took very bad advice. It seemed like good advice, but it was bad advice. Miss Manadoram was stoned with stones.
Now let's turn over a few chapters to 1St Kings chapter 21.
First things chapter 21. You perhaps all know this story about Naboth. Naboth.
He had a vineyard, and King Ahab wanted that vineyard.
And he asked Naboth for the vineyard. And I wonder if anybody can tell me what Naboth said. Did Naboth want to give him a vineyard? What did he say, David?
That's right. He said no, because it's in the inheritance of my father's and he didn't want to give up his vineyard. He wanted to keep it for himself. But Jezebel, Jezebel who was Ahabe wife, she heard of it and she said to have I'll get you the vineyard. I'll get you that vineyard. And we won't go through the whole story, but we find that Naboth he was he was taken and he was falsely accused and he was set up on high among the people. And there were those that said that Nibahathi blast seen God and the king.
And they took Naboth out. And what do you suppose they did with Naboth?
What do you suppose they did when somebody tell me that's right, they stoned them with stones and he died?
Neighbor Naboth valued his inheritance and there are some in the word we find where stone with stones and because they value things.
You know, we read about a man, his name was, this was another French king, his name was Charlemagne. And Charlemagne died and they dug up his grave. And when they dug up his grave, he was sitting on a throne, sitting on a throne. It was just his skeleton. And the word of God was open on his lap. And there was a Bony finger that was on the verse. What shall it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul?
Wouldn't that have been solemn to dig up a grave and find a man sitting there?
With the word of God on his lap, and that skeleton sitting there, and that 20 finger on that verse, what shall it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul? Well, this man.
He didn't want to lose his soul and he held on to that which Dave has just told us. He held on to the inheritance of his father as he had a value for that.
Oh, but it cost him his life. It cost him his life. Let's flip over now to.
Second Chronicles.
Second Chronicles.
Chapter 24.
Second Chronicles, chapter 24.
And verse 20.
And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them thus.
Saith the Lord.
You suppose it's important what the Lord says?
Thus saith God, why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper, because ye have forsaken the Lord, He hath also forsaken you. And they conspired against him, and stoned them with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the House of the Lord. This man's message was thus saith.
And what God has to say is very important. Very important, boys and girls.
We've heard in the gospel meetings what God has said in his world in his Word. We read that God commandeth all men everywhere to repent. I suppose that's important. Yes, that's very important. It's very important to be obedient to the Word of God.
There was a man in the 1700s.
And he dug a well in his backyard.
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And while he was thinking that, well, he discovered.
A city.
And they excavated and they found that it was a city that had been destroyed by a volcano right close by.
And as they chipped away the rock, he found.
Different people in this city and there were those that were running away from the city and they died as they were running away. And there was those that were climbing stairs to get up onto the top of their houses so that they could get away and be safe and they died there. There was one man they they found and he was, he was huddled around a whole pile of money. He was trying to hang on to his money.
But there was one man and it's very remarkable, he was this this century for the city, and he was standing at the gate.
And he was told to stand there and guard the gate. And when they chipped away, here was this man who was still standing there in his armor and with his sword drawn. He hadn't been told to do anything else. And that's how he died.
What we find here that the Lord wants us to be obedient, and here we find this man, Zechariah. He had a word from God and he told that which was true, and he preached the word of God. It cost him his life, but it didn't cost him his life, his eternal life. I believe we're going to see that man.
Boys and girls, there are two men in the New Testament that we find we're stoned with stones. The first one is in Acts Chapter 7.
We're not going to take very much more time here, just more people. Acts, Chapter 7.
And it's about Stephen.
Accept verse 54. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. And he, being full of the Holy Ghost, steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. And when they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him, with one accord, they cast him out of the city, and stoned him.
And the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was Song, and they stoned Stevens.
Calling upon God, saying Lord Jesus receive my spirit. And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice. Lord lay not this sin to their charge. When he had said this, he fell asleep. Now here's a man that's stoned. And is it different than the man that was stoned when he was picking up sticks? Is it a little different, boys and girls? It's really different. Here's a man, he looks up into the glory and he sees the Lord Jesus. And I believe his face was just radiant. But they still took him out and they stoned him with stones. And Steven is with the Lord Jesus now.
Oh, what a wonderful thing. We look over this building here and there's a whole pile of people, and I would say that most of them are going to see Steven. Most of them are going to see Steven and are going to see the Lord Jesus. What a wonderful thing, boys and girls, to be able to know that our sins are washed away in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus and that we're going to be with Stephen and be able to see the Lord Jesus. But is there someone here and you don't know the Lord Jesus?
And your sins, they're still on you. They haven't been washed away in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus.
The last one, let's turn over a few chapters.
To Acts chapter 15.
Acts Chapter 15.
Psoriatic Chapter 14.
In the 19th verse.
And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people in having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city. Supposing he had been dead, albeit as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up and came into the city, and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derby.
And when they had preached the gospel to that city and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith.
And that we must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God. 27 first, and when they were come.
And gathered the church together. They rehearsed all that God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith under the Gentiles.
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Here we find a man that loved the Lord Jesus. This man was taken out and falsely taken and stoned. The Lord didn't order that this man was to be stoned, but the people took him out and stoned them because of what he said. They didn't like to hear what he said. Maybe there's boys and girls here that don't like to hear what we're saying.
But Paul was taken out and he was stoned with stones. He loved the Lord Jesus so much.
Boys and girls, there was a there was a time when there was 40 soldiers.
And they knew the Lord Jesus. 40 Roman soldiers. And because they said that, they didn't want to disown the Lord Jesus.
They were going to have to die at least 40 soldiers. And the way that they were to be executed was they were to have, they were taken to a lake in the middle of the winter and they didn't have very much clothes on and they had to stand on this cold lake until they.
And they built a big bonfire on the shore, and they told those forty soldiers that if they would decide that they didn't love the Lord Jesus, that they could come away from that lake and they could go warm up by the fire if they would renounce the name of the Lord Jesus.
Well, they all stood out of there in that lake, and they all started to freeze. Well, one man.
He decided that it was just going to cost too much and he went to the fire to warm up. But the other 39, they stayed there and it's so impressed, the Centurion that was executing the whole scene.
That he decided he was going to take that man's place and he.
Went out to the lake and he froze with the other 39. He loved the Lord Jesus.
He came to know the Lord Jesus. It was a wonderful thing. And we don't have something like that that's going to happen today if someone turns to the Lord Jesus. No, nothing like that's going to happen. But oh, what a wonderful thing if there would be someone here this morning that would realize that the Lord Jesus died for your sins and that you would come to know him. Well, I'd just like to end by looking back at Luke's gospel chapter 22 and just reading that little verse again.
Luke's Gospel, chapter 22.
Boys and girls, I want you to look at those stones that you have in your hand.
And here in Luke's Gospel, chapter 22.
And verse 41 it says, and he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast.
I wonder if we could pray?