Address—R. Thonney
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115 Head of the Church live Audi O Christ, the great salvation, sweet to the Saints, it is to think of all thine exaltation, all power to these committed, all power on earth in heaven.
The name of whitest name above all glories given with the believers seated.
Raised in the on higher, seated all guilty once, but cleared by the redemptions toils completed. And when thou Lord and Savior shall come again in glory, there by thy side thy spotless bride shall crown the wonder story at length. The final Kingdom no bound, no end possessing, when heaven and earth, God All in all.
Shall fill with largest blessing All root of evil banished, No breath of sin to winner Whither on earth on high not else but joy and blissful peace forever. Someone please start.
All lightning location, all hours to become heaven.
In the past few years that I have been able to go to conferences.
Quite a number of times we have taken out the Ephesians one in the reading meetings.
But I don't remember a time when I have enjoyed it so much as this time. And we've taken it up in this conference. Each time we've taken it up, a fresh challenge comes to my soul and view of it all. And I don't want to present anything especially different this afternoon, nor anything any new thought especially. I just wanted to present to my dear young fellow believers.
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The challenge that comes home to my soul every time we take up this wonderful portion, this tremendous panorama of the blessings that God has blessed us with in Christ Jesus. And to do that, if you just bear with me a little bit, I just like to put them in their setting again and just briefly go back over these few, these blessings that we've been enjoying, you know?
I feel it's so important in our lives as young believers that we not only know these things in our heads, but that we get them into our souls and enjoy them there. That's where they're going to have power in our lives. Why is it so often that we come to these conferences as young believers and we go and there's little change in our lives? Oh, I confess for myself, oftentimes I feel it's because.
These precious truths haven't gotten down into my soul and all. If we don't get them down there, we're not going to. It's not going to have the power in our lives that it ought to have. You know, the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt, they were on the way to Canaan. And like was mentioned on Saturday, Kanan is a picture of what we have in Ephesians.
A lot of our hymns Cain and is spoken of as something that is figurative of death or at what comes after death, after the Jordan. But really, as it was explained on Saturday, Canaan is something we enjoy right now, something to enjoy right now. And the challenge that comes home to me is that.
Of the two or three million that left Egypt and traversed that desert.
And they came to Payton Arum the first time, or Kadish Barnier rather the first time, and they sent in the spies to spy out the land. And those spies came back with a good report of the land, but of all those two or three million that were out there in that desert on the borders of that land.
Only we have recorded. Only two got into that land in joy.
And all as we view the Church of God at large, all the believers in this world, I'm not talking just the believers that are gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus. I'm talking about all believers. How many of them enjoy the precious truths that we've enjoyed? How many of us who are gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus enjoy these precious truths that we've enjoyed?
Oh, it's a challenge to my soul, and I want to present it again to my dear fellow young believers here this afternoon.
Are we going to turn back into the desert?
Again, as we go home now, the same way we've come. Are we going to enter that rich land of heavenly blessing to enjoy it in our souls as we go home? Oh, I trust it'll be the latter, but perhaps we could bear with me a few minutes. Now turn back to Ephesians 1 again.
Portion that never seems to grow old.
Just to briefly go over a few of these.
Tremendous blessings.
We'll begin with 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.
All, dear fellow young believer, we have all spiritual blessings. You can't think of one spiritual blessing.
That is not yours right now. Do you really believe it? Do you really enjoy it? How can you be sad? How can you be preoccupied with circumstances when you realize that God hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ? No, this isn't material blessings. God blessed Israel with material blessings if they obeyed.
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God, they were blessed with lands and houses and.
Large families and good cattle, all material things, but God hasn't blessed us that way.
We might see one brother who is poorer than another in material things. That doesn't mean that the richer brother has more blessings than the poor brother. No, we are all blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Your brother mentioned yesterday the youngest as well as the oldest.
Is equally blessed. Those who are older who have gone on for the Lord perhaps enjoy their blessings more than us who are younger. But we all have the same rich, eternal portion in Christ.
Blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
I'd just like to share again something that I've shared with some of you before. I know. But sometimes when you get down into the with those dear Latin American folks down South, these things come home to your soul in a way that.
Sometimes they don't appear.
I say according to my own experience, but I remember especially one dear brother in the Dominican Republic. We sat in his house.
As poor as any brother I know. I really believe although that island isn't that poverty stricken, this brother is poor.
Materially speaking, but oh, as we sat down in that house.
And as we, as he got out the Bibles, because there wasn't anything else to talk about in that house. It was just to get out the Word of God and speak about those things and to sit there and to listen to that dear brother and his simplicity of faith. He wasn't very knowledgeable in the doctrines of the word of God.
But in the simplicity of faith, to see the enjoyment he had in his soul, oh, it came home to me real force. How much of this rich heavenly blessings that we have in our hands.
Do we enjoy in the depths of our souls, dear fellow young person, all these material things that God has given us here? He's given us plenty here in these lands, but they're just mercies, just something to help us get through this world, and that's all. Because when we're through this world, we're going to leave them all right here. But these things that we've been speaking about are eternal. They're not seen with the physical eye. They're eternal.
Like the Apostle Paul says in Second Corinthians chapter 4, while we look not on the things which are seen, but on the things which are not seen, or the things which are seen are temporal, the things are not seen are eternal. And so we've been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
And then verse four has been gone over. We have been chosen in Christ, in him.
Before the world's foundation that we should be holy and without blame. Before Him in love. Oh, what a wonderful thing to think that each and every believer in this room, before God had built this world, before He had hurled the stars out in their orbits, God had in His perfect and unlimited foreknowledge.
Foreknowing each one of us and chosen us to be holy and without blame before him in life. Oh, something else to enjoy. I love to enjoy these truths with those dear poor believers down there. So wonderful to see the expressions on their face when they really get it down into our their souls. And oh, let's get it down into our souls this afternoon. Let's not go home after these meetings are ended.
The same way we came, let's go home in the rich enjoyment of these rich blessings that God has provided. And then verse five, we've been predestinated.
Not only chose us, but He predestinated us unto the adoption of sons.
By Jesus unto the adoption of children, by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, He predestinated us so that we would become his children. Oh, what a wonderful thing like was brought out in the meetings. We're children by birth too. We've been born into God's family. That means we have God's very nature, just like a child born into somebody's family has that same.
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Life of the parents and you can often see the characteristics of the child and the parents.
That's the life we have. We have the very light, the very life of God, but in connection with adoption.
There's choosing because if somebody wants to adopt A child, he has to go to where the children are and has to choose them. And so we've been both adopted and we've been and we've been born into God's family. What a wonderful thing to simply look up into the very heavens and say.
I know that God is my father. Oh, what a wonderful thing to be able to say. The God that created the universe, the God that maintains everything is my father. Oh, what a wonderful heavenly blessing we have here. Like I say, dear fellow young person, these things are all spiritual. They're not material and in our the society we're brought up in.
It's ingrained in us in our schooling that we should measure everything according to a materialistic standpoint. What profit will there be that in this if I get this job or or what profit if I take this vocation? It's all in a materialistic standpoint of view.
But if we're going to enjoy these things, we can't think of it in that way. My, my dear young, young fellow believer, no, these are spiritual blessings. We have to open our spiritual eyes to enjoy and appreciate it. We have to open the eyes.
Better said of our hearts, so that we can enjoy these things that we're talking about. Well, we've been adopted. We've been predestinated to the adoption of children according to the good pleasure of His will. Why in the world did God look back into that past? From that past eternity? He looked forward into time. Why did He choose me?
I have no way of ever understanding. It's past me. It's beyond me. The only thing I can say, it's according to the good pleasure of His will that He chose such as me. Oh, what a wonderful thing. God chose me in that past eternity. You know, the children of Israel in the Old Testament doesn't say that about them.
It says in Matthew 25 that the Kingdom, the Kingdom that will be set up in this world was prepared for those who will enter it from the foundation of the world. It didn't say before because their blessings are all connected with this earth. And so when God founded this earth, why he prepared the the Kingdom that was going to be set up that they could enter. But we have been.
We are a heavenly people. We don't belong to this world in any way, shape or form.
And so God, when he first chose us, why the world wasn't even existent. No, He was thinking of a different purpose for us. We're a heavenly people. And then verse six, we've been made accepted in the Beloved. He hath made us accepted in the beloved to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved. Oh, what a wonderful thing this is.
You know how few around this imprisonment actually enjoy eternal security in the way that God has meant it to be? The work of salvation is God's work. Man in his sins is looked at as dead. What can a dead man do? Absolutely nothing. God must work, and God has worked and the salvation of my soul from beginning to end.
Has been the work of God. Oh what a wonderful thing. And God, it says here has made me, he has made me accepted in the beloved. Oh, I say my dear young fellow believer, if God could refuse me now I say it reverently, God would have to refuse his only begotten Son, who is completely glorified him. And that is impossible, impossible.
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That's the security on which I stand before God now. What a wonderful heavenly blessing. How few really enjoy this today in Christendom at large, in the denominations around. But all dear young people, let's get it into our souls this afternoon and let's enjoy it. It's only there we can keep it. And then it says in verse seven in whom we have redemption through his blood.
The forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. More we have here we have redemption. God through the precious blood of Christ has bought us back that we might be set free. Oh what a wonderful thing we were the slaves of sin. But God has brought us back through that wonderful sacrifice of Christ on Calvary and through his precious blood.
And by means of that redemption, he has forgiven me all my sins. You know, I've said it before, but I really feel it bears repeating. Sometimes we think of forgiveness of sins as a gospel subject, and it is. It's a wonderful thing to realize that we have the forgiveness of all our sins. We have it. If I say I have it, doesn't mean I'm going to have to ask for it any longer.
But you, as we travel in Latin America a lot, and I'm sure it's the same up here in Canada and the United States, the majority of Christians, you hear them. Pray, forgive us our sins.
I think I mentioned that one time we were visiting the mountains of Peru and we came on.
This old brother, 88 years old and he told us, you know, I've been a believer in the Lord Jesus for 41 years.
He was connected with some denominational group and he said, you know, brethren, I pray for the forgiveness of my sins every day of my life.
And so we turn to this verse and justice simply read in home, in Christ, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. And we said, don't you see it? We've got it. It's ours right now. Christ has paid all the price. And when a believer believes in the Lord Jesus, he's got it, the forgiveness of all his sins before.
A holy, righteous God.
The Sinner who stands there must tremble in his sins, but all I can stand in the presence of God this afternoon.
And realize with all assurance, through that precious blood that Christ shed on Calvary, all my sins are forgiven. You know what he said? He said that's the first time I heard that. The first time I heard that. Think of it. A simple precious truth, like the forgiveness of sins. 41 years a believer, but he never enjoyed that precious truth. Oh dear young people, This is why I say so important.
To get it done into our souls and to enjoy it there and then.
It says in verse eight, He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom.
And prudence or intelligence, you know, sometimes we go over these scriptures.
We say, you know, I've just not got the faith. Some people say I've just not got the faith to take all this sin. I just don't have the intelligence to understand all this. But you know, it's not a question of, of having it naturally.
No, God has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. You can't excuse yourself on that basis then.
Dear young fellow believer, God has abounded in the Spanish translation that says God has super abounded to us in all wisdom and intelligence. Oh no.
We have everything we need, all the wisdom, all the intelligence that we need.
Here it is. And why has He done that? That because He has made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to the good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself.
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God has made known to us the good pleasure of His will. He is revealed to us all his counsels and purposes for this world, and all his counsels and purposes and concerning Christ, that Christ is going to head up everything in this whole universe.
You know, I've often said to those dear Latin American believers, wouldn't it be a tremendous thing, naturally speaking, if the president of your country came to you one day and he said, come out, I want to take a walk for you with a with you a little while. And on the walk, he said, you know, I just want to share with you all the plans and the tremendous.
Programs I've got in mind for Canada.
Why, you would say, why? Who am I that the president should come to me and share all those things with me, but all in such a far greater measure. God, the God of the whole universe, has come to right where we are. He's abounded to to us in all wisdom and prudence.
That we might know He has shared with us the secrets of His purposes.
Oh, what a wonderful thing to enjoy in our souls. And like was said yet the other day, Christian can be more intelligent as to what's going on in this world if he's reading the Bible in prayer, can be more intelligent than any of the wisest statesman in this world as to where this world is going. He knows why there's trouble over there in Israel right now. He knows why those Syrian powers are around there and they can't seem to make peace with Israel. He knows why Europe is shaping up the way it is.
And Russia? He knows why the wise worldly statesman don't know that.
Apart from the word of God.
And so in verse 10 we have that purpose, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ.
Both which are in heaven and which are in earth, even in Him. So God's purpose is to gather together everything under the feet of Christ, under the control of Christ.
You know, everything seems to be out of control now, but we who believe in the Lord Jesus.
We have owned Him as Lord, and it's a wonderful thing as we meet opposition and resistance in this world, to realize that one day He is going to reign supreme in this world. It's been a tremendous encouragement to me. He's going to reign supreme in this world, the one I own as Lord and the one I may have to suffer for as a result of owning Him as Lord in this world.
And then in verse 11 it speaks of something it's brought out this morning is still future, the inheritance in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who will worketh all things after the council of his own will.
We have obtained an inheritance.
What a wonderful thing.
You know this was brought out this morning. The inheritance is as it says here in verse 10. Christ is going to receive and have put under his power ought everything in heaven and in the earth, every created thing will be put under Christ's control in that future day. And as it says in Romans chapter 8, we are heirs of God.
Your joint heirs with Christ and so every created thing is going to be part of our inheritance with Christ. How wealthy we are, dear fellow young believer. We don't realize. We don't realize. I often tell those dear believers as they sit around the circle of meetings down South, you got to see them sometimes, sometimes in their bare feet, their ragged shirts.
And other clothes. But sitting around the circle, I tell them, don't you ever believe that you're poor? Don't you ever believe it? You're the richest people on earth. You're the richest people on earth. And it's true. It's true.
Every created thing is our inheritance. What a wonderful.
Thing to have, and then as was brought out, we have the Spirit of God in our hearts as the earnest of it, to help us also to enjoy those things that are ours in Christ.
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You know, it's often like I was said, it's like perhaps.
My father has left me a tremendous inheritance.
But I don't know anything about it and.
One day a friend after my father has died, because inheritance always goes to the.
Inheritors after the person's died, my father after after my father's dead. Then I'm walking down the street one day and a friend comes to me and he says, you know, your father left you an inheritance. Is that right? And I learned something. And I walk on down the street a little farther, and another friend says, you know, your father left you a tremendous inheritance.
My I said, I'm learning more all the time. And then perhaps another friend comes down the street and says, you know, your father left you an inheritance of $100 million. I said, wow, I never expected such a thing. And so it's the Spirit of God in our hearts that leads us into the enjoyment of these things. When we're first born into God's family, when he first received the Lord as our Savior, did we realize these things?
No, I didn't anyhow.
But little by little, the Spirit of God breaks open these secrets.
And let's us enjoy it beforehand. And all, dear young fellow believer, let's enjoy it beforehand. We don't have to wait to enjoy it. We can enjoy it right now. You know the city where I was brought up, Walla Walla used to be a man down the street.
And he lived in a real poor little shack.
Oh, it was a it was a house, but he didn't ever live in the upstairs. He always lived down in the basement and he always had it all full of junk and it just looked like it's about ready to fall down.
And he whenever you saw him out in his yard, he is all hunched over. He looked very poor as his claws were very poor and everything.
But, and I remember one time I saw him pushing a wheelbarrow and he couldn't get it up over a bump. So I decided to go over and help him and I did. He wanted to give me something for it. And I thought, this man's too poor. I'm not going to take anything. But, you know, he died a few years after. And I learned after he died that he, he was the owner of three or four tremendous ranches out there in the West. He was a wealthy man, but he lived like a beggar.
Oh, how are we living? Dear fellow young person, here's all these rich heavenly blessings.
They're ours. They're the only thing that ours eternally.
Are we enjoying them in our soul? Are we living like rich men? Are we living like beggars? Going back to the beggarly elements of this world? What are we doing? And then as was gone into in the towards the end of this chapter.
We have the prayer of the apostle, and he doesn't pray for more blessing. No, we can't pray for more blessing. We've got it all right now. But he does pray that their eyes, the eyes of their hearts might, might be opened, that they would understand and enjoy these things. And all that's my desire as I go home from these meetings. And as you go home from these meetings too, dear young fellow believer, my desire that you might go with your hearts full to the overflowing.
Rejoicing in what you have, you're going to meet resistance at home. We live in Satans world.
Satan is the God and Prince of it, and as was brought out this morning, the Kingdom of our Lord is in patience and in tribulation now.
It's not in power and glory. And so if we're going to own that king of that Kingdom as our Lord in this world where Satan is God and Prince, we're going to suffer resistance as it says in Matthew 11, the from the time of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent seize on it. Does that mean means that if you and I are going to recognize the Lord Jesus.
As Lord in our lives, we're going to suffer violence, and it's going to take spiritual violence to enjoy it. And so, as was referred to the other day, I'd like to turn over the 6th chapter for a few minutes now.
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We have conflict in this area.
And this is really impressed me.
Greatly is that one ever. We enjoy these things. Satan is right ready to rob our souls and the enjoyment of them. He can't rob us of the blessing, no, it's all secure in Christ, but he can rob us of the enjoyment of the blessing.
And so here we have in the 6th chapter, the battle, the spiritual warfare, verse 10.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the Wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day.
Having done all to stand, stand therefore having your loins gird about with truth.
And having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, above all taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for All Saints. Here we have this spiritual battle.
It begins by saying be strong in the Lord, the power of his might. You know, I forgot to mention in the end of the first chapter, we won't turn back to it now, but we have Christ mentioned and brought before us as head over all things to the church, which is his body. We're the body of Christ. Every true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ in the whole world is part of the one body that is united livingly, intimately.
With Christ the risen Head in heaven, what a wonderful truth to get ahold of.
You know, as Joshua led the horse of the Israelites into the land.
Of Canaan he met there a man had his sword drawn. And we know that that man must have been the Lord Jesus Christ himself, as he appeared in many forms in the Old Testament. And Joshua thought he was the captain of those mighty hosts. And so he goes up that man, he says, Are you for us, Are you for our adversaries? And the man said, the Lord said.
No, as captain of the Lord Sauce, am I come and so.
As they went in to take that land, they had the assurance that there was another going before them, going before one who was a conqueror, one who was.
Captain of all the hosts of the Lord, you know those hosts.
We're unseen too, because Elisha, I believe it was Elisha one time *** the Lord that he would remove. He would let a young man see all those hosts because the city where Elijah was was surrounded with the enemy. And the Lord let that young man see and he saw the whole area.
Filled with horses and Chariots of fire. And so as we go into this land, this rich land of heavenly blessing, this rich panorama that we've been enjoying in these days, dear fellow young person, we have one who's gone before our risen head, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's been placed over all authority. Everything has been put under his feet, all power.
He is in full control.
Right now, although it might not appear so.
He's letting man take his course, but he's in full control and nothing can touch you or me. Nothing can happen in our lives except that he directly allow it. Oh, what a wonderful thing to get ahold of in our Christian lives. Remember one? An accident happened in my life about four years ago.
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It was a shock, a real shock.
And my mind just kept going in circles until I wondered where I was going.
Until I read something that really helped me was this. That considering anything but first causes is the basis of infidelity. What does that mean? They say means that the only cause of anything that happens in the Christian life is the Lord allowed it. The Lord allowed it all. That set my mind at peace.
The Lord allowed it. Something happened in your life. The Lord allowed it. He allowed it for a purpose of blessing because He's in full control. Nothing can touch you, nothing can happen to you except the Lord allow it. And so he begins hereby saying, be strong in the Lord, in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand, to stand against the Wiles of the devil.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high or heavenly places, as it said in the says in the margin. And so there's a real battle going on right here in this room. There's a battle going on.
Satan's emissaries are here. They're trying to detract you in any way they can.
Maybe a person?
Who you're occupied with, some other person here in this room. Satan's going to use anything you can. Maybe somebody's offended you and your you and your mind are thinking about that thing they did against you. Satan's going to use that. Anything he can, he's going to use to rob your soul of enjoyment of these precious heavenly blessings.
Don't let him do it. Don't let him do it. You know, it's been so impressive to me is go around amongst those believers down South sometimes is to see when we're enjoying some of these wonderful things, sometimes we're speaking about a certain point that's really important. They see oftentimes right at the point we're just about to get the point out cross, somebody will come in then and down there they don't have a lot of chairs. Maybe they'll have to scoot up and make some more room for the others on the bench.
And everybody loses the attention.
So you have to start all over again and go back and try.
To see that they get it again, you know Satan used any little thing he can.
I think it's nice when the brethren here provided a room for the crying babies. I think that's the reason they have done that too, because if a baby cries too loud, then it's going to disrupt others around. They're not going to hear what's being said. These things are practical.
God or Satan used a little baby too sometimes. I think I've told you about in Bolivia last year, we were in a place where a young girl wanted to get saved, a young mother, and she came up and she had a little baby in her hands and it seemed to be calm. But as soon as she sat down to talk about the way of salvation, that little baby started kicking and shouting and screaming and didn't want anybody else but her mother.
And wanted to be taken right out of that room.
Who do you account that to? Satan uses anything he can get ahold of to rob your soul of blessing. He will beware as you go home, Dear fellow young person, don't let him do it. That's the reason that we have this whole armor of God now to put on. It's going to take energy to put it on, but let's put it on. You know, it's a nice thing to have a desire, and it's nice to hear when you hear somebody say about a certain young person have a nice desire.
The desire isn't enough, you need purpose of heart to live in days like we live.
The psalmist said one thing have I desired that will I seek after. We need purpose of heart. The slugger desireth and hath nothing, and so desire is a nice thing. It's not enough. You need purpose of heart too. And it's going to take purpose of heart to put on this armor now.
Says in verse.
714 Then verse 13 let's read. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, having done all to stand, stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth. Oh, there's nothing that strengthens like the truth of God. The loins are the part of the body. I suppose we're the most powerful muscles are, and there's nothing that gives us more strength than the truth.
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Remember reading when I was younger, one of the statesman in the United States made this statesman statement. Said error needs a strong government to back it, but truth can stand all by itself. That's what he said. And so if we're standing with our loins, gird about with truth, it's going to take diligence to gird our loins with truth, then we can stand.
And then it says having on the breastplate of righteousness.
This is a tremendously important piece that which covers the breast because here's the vital organ, the heart and if anything pierces the heart the soldiers done with and so it's tremendously important that we guard our hearts says in in proverbs, keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life. Be careful what gets into your heart.
Be careful. Don't let just anything get into your heart. Be careful what gets in there.
Keep thy heart, guard thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. I just like to speak of the heart a little bit. And whenever we think of the heart, we think of law. And what a tremendous thing love is, how important it is in our midst as we go on one with another, dear young people, is that we have love. You know what, these meetings we enjoy each other's fellowship.
And we enjoy what I believe we could say is brotherly love, an exchange of love. I like that brother because I enjoy fellowship with him. He's nice to me. I'm nice to him.
But you know, there's another kind of love that perhaps didn't get.
That kind of exercise so much here is maybe when we go home, it's divine love. Divine love is love that loves when there's nothing lovable in its object.
Oh dear young person, this is important. Somebody offended you.
As somebody not gone just the way you think they should, can you love them?
You know, it's not a question of trying to work up that love in my heart, no.
Yesterday the verse was read. We love because He first loved us.
And as we think of the immense, eternal, infinite love of God to us.
Then we can in turn love our brethren, even though they might be injurious.
Or they might be in, they might insult us, or they might do something else to us. We can love them. God loved us. When did He love us? When we were yet sinners, when we were rebels, when we were dead, and trespasses and sins. God loved us so much. He gave everything He had for us. That's divine love. That's the love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that is given unto us.
And all, dear young person, if you're really born again by the Spirit of God.
That's the love that's in your heart. That's the love you can love. Sometimes people say, oh, there's no love shown in that meeting. I just can't stand it any longer. But all, if there's no love shown, you go show it. There's your opportunity to show divine love, dear young person, and love against love. It'll be get love in your assembly too. It'll do marvels. It'll do wonders. I just like to recommend everyone to read 1St Corinthians 13.
Well, it's a tremendous treatise on Allah. Love suffereth long.
Is kind love envieth? Not? Love bondeth not itself, is not puffed up. Love does not behave itself unseemly.
Seeketh not her own, and so on. All these things are things that ought to come home to our souls.
And we think of our dear brethren, whoever they might be.
And so that's the breastplate of righteousness that covers the heart. I like to think of the breastplate of righteousness as what we have in First Timothy. A good conscience, a good conscience. You know, if we have a good conscience, we can face the enemy. But if we have an accusing conscience, if I've done something, my conscience isn't good and I go out, I'm not going to be able to stand before the enemy. Keep a good conscience. It's a priceless thing.
00:50:23
Like someone has said before, keep short accounts with God.
If you do something that you know has grieved the Lord, getting the Lord's presence immediately about it, and then you won't be so vulnerable to the enemy.
And then it says, your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Our walk is important.
How are we walking, how are we going to preach the gospel of peace if our feet aren't shed with shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace?
Sometimes I know I failed, and I've acted in such a way that I haven't felt at liberty to speak to souls about the gospel afterwards. My feet weren't shod with the preparation of gospel peace and all. We ought to be peacemakers. We ought not to be those who sow discord among brethren so important in these last days. We be peacemakers like we had in the morning reading the Kingdom of God.
His righteousness.
Peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
We're not saying that the expense of righteousness, no saying be peacemakers.
And then says, above all, taking the shield of faith. Oh, that's a wonderful thing. It's an important piece. It says, above all, taking the shield of faith wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Satan has fiery darts. He's often fired at him, at me, and maybe he's fired them at you too. Dear young believer. I'm going to just mention too, that he's fired at me sometimes when I was recent, more recently saved.
He often used to come to me and fire a fiery dart, he said. You're not saved, you just think you are.
And I really got trouble once in a while until I lifted that shield of faith. You know, faith is always based on the word of God. And I said the word of God says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. I believe God. I lifted that shield of faith and that dart didn't penetrate any longer.
Another dart he often threw at me when things were going bad in my life seemed like a lot of troubles. God isn't for you. God is against you.
It's the Dougherty threw at me. But you know, turn to the scriptures. In Romans 8, it says, if God be for us, who can be against us? Raise that shield of faith. That dart fell to the ground. Keep up the shield of faith. Don't let those darts in. Dear young person of times. You see the shield, she'll go down a bit and maybe a dart gets in and then the shield goes a little farther down and more darts get in until the person is completely fallen.
Well, it's sad to see young people that have fallen that way. Don't let it happen. Keep up the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation, the assurance as we enter the battle that we're going to leave that battle victorious. Victorious. I like that little hymn in the appendix that says for every tribulation, for every sword of stress in Christ, thy full salvation sure help and quiet rest.
It's a helmet of salvation.
And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. How important to be well versed in this. This is not our sword, it's the sword of the Spirit. And so in you, as you know, we should always be seek to be led by the Spirit of God to use it effectually. The sword of the Spirit. The Lord Jesus was tempted of the devil. He didn't resort to his own reason, although the Lord Jesus as a perfect man could have reasoned.
And better than anyone else that ever lived in this world. He could have reasoned with the devil, but he didn't. He didn't. No, don't resort to your reason either. Resort simply to the Word of God. The Lord Jesus said every time it is written, it is written again. And so Satan had to leave.
And then it says.
00:55:01
Verse 18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.
And with all perseverance and supplication for All Saints. And so it's important that we wear this armor and this attitude of dependence and prayer. Now, just as we close, I'd just like to present the challenge again as it comes on to my own soul.
Here we have, as Joshua had before him, that vast land of Canaan, that land flowing with milk and honey, that land full of wealth.
He had that man with the drawn sword, the Lord of Glory, going before his captain, the host of the Lord.
He had all the power that he needed. He was promised. No man shall be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life.
And then the Lord said, arise, get you into this land.
And through these three days meetings, dear fellow young person, we've had a vast panorama of heavenly blessing before us. We've had a person before us that's gone before. Captain of the host of the Lord, too.
He's gone before and we've been talking about this morning that tremendous power that works for our sakes, that works toward us, and that works in US.
Oh my dear young person, dear fellow young person, here's the challenge that comes home to my soul.
Arise get you over this Jordan possess it in.