Address—Bob Thonney
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Well, if we start singing, the rest might hear the call to come in, so let's.
Thing #328.
Down Latin America, we sing four or five or six at the beginning of a meeting, but the brethren don't limit us to 45 minutes, so that's a little different. We'll have to just keep it to one him this time.
#328.
Lord Jesus, I stood down.
Why are you here for July and July?
Yeah. I mean, it's still working. Maybe it's still there. Let me go on.
There and go by and let's read uh.
Rain for the great time. I'm going to save it.
I'm really sorry staring at.
Oh.
It's down there, so.
Light and clouds go from the glory in the blood.
Let's pray, Father, we're thankful for another opportunity to open Thy precious Word.
And would ask for help.
As we speak about it, give us direction and clarity. The message that has put on been put on the heart might get over the channels to the hearts of our dear brother in here. Father, we just lay it all before the asking for blessing in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
I'd like to turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter 4.
This afternoon.
Going to read a good bit of the chapter, but I'd like to say this before we do that.
There's a verse in the chapter that we have taken up in our readings.
That has provoked my thinking in this direction, or at least encouraging it. Encouraged it.
Paul tells Timothy.
Do the work of an evangelist.
That's what I have in my heart this afternoon.
Encourage us to get out into gospel work, seems like.
In many areas.
We're letting that slip.
There's nothing more happy than gospel work, but it does take real spiritual energy and decision.
Some have debated whether Timothy was an evangelist. It really doesn't say.
It says do the work of an evangelist. What does an evangelist do? He evangelizes. He gives the gospel out. And we need to be encouraged to get into that kind of work.
Really think it is extremely important for the ongoing of the Christian testimony.
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Young people.
Older ones too. Are you involved in gospel work?
Getting out the message that Christ died for the ungodly.
It's a happy work, gospel work. Somebody says if you want to be happy, do gospel work.
Do you wanna have heartbreak? Be a help to your brethren?
And so gospel work is a happy work.
I must say I have found it so, but it does take real spiritual energy to get involved and I look at you young people and I think.
Wow, I wish I could get into your heart and encourage you.
To get off that seat and to go after souls.
Must say I was encouraged by others in my youth to get into gospel work.
Used to do St. preaching in Chicago. I mentioned Chuck Hendricks. He used to have a microphone.
And we could preach on the street because it was Skid Row downtown Chicago.
And a lot of drunks around.
And it took a little bit of wisdom to know how to deal with a drunk when he came around. Remember when he came around and he wanted to preach?
Is a little bit soused.
And Chuck Hendricks handed it quite wisely. He just went over to the microphone and switched it off and let the man speak all he wanted to when he got done and went on his way, Why We switched it back on and kept on preaching.
So it does take some.
Energy and take some decision and take some wisdom too, but there's so many opportunities all around us. I know where we are. We have opportunity to go into a youth village, kids anywhere from 12 to 17.
Who have gotten in trouble with the law somehow.
And they're not old enough to be treated under the regular Criminal Code.
It's a private institution that keeps them there, and they give us full liberty to go and give them the gospel.
But, you know, it has, I really believe the work in the gospel has a healthy effect on our lives in the assemblies. And I think it's very important that we be exercised in that direction. Sometimes I've heard people say, well, we're more occupied with the assembly side of the truth of God. Let other groups take care of the gospel. I say the truth of God embraces the whole.
Right from the gospel on. And if you ignore the gospel, you think that's not your burden. I say you need to think again. We need to all be occupied in giving out the gospel.
But let's read here a few verses from this 4th chapter of Second Corinthians and like to make some applications to us. Therefore, seeing we have this ministry as we have received mercy, we faint not, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully.
But by manifestation of the truth, commanding ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.
In whom the God noticed that small G the God of this world, hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.
Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves.
But Christ Jesus our Lord and ourselves your servants, for Jesus sake.
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts.
To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels.
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That the Excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus sake.
That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in US.
But life in you.
What a wonderful thing, dear brethren, that we have been brought into the knowledge of the true God. It is spoken of here in verse 7 as a treasure.
What is that treasure? The knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Brother Bruce, do you know God?
Yeah. How many of that is our most wonderful thing to be able to say? I know God.
You know what Muslim doctrine says God is unknown and unknowable.
Over a billion people in this world admittedly admit that they will never know God.
And you say you know him.
Isn't that wonderful, you young people? You want me to come back there and start asking each one of you, do you know God? Don't have time to do it right now, but it should really impress you. We have been brought into the knowledge of the true God in the face of Jesus Christ. Wonderful. The God that made this universe is the God that came into this world.
And loved us so much he went all the way to the death of the cross.
To redeem this rebel Sinner that stands here.
It's just tremendously wonderful.
But it says here, if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.
And there is the danger of hiding the Gospel or hiding the light. Matthew says we can hide it under a bed or under a bushel. Under the bed is just, I suppose, the figure of laziness.
It's easier to be laying down on this bed than to get up and go out and encounter souls.
The bushel speaks of business. Sometimes we get so busy, don't have any time for the gospel.
Oh, what a tragedy if the light he has put into your vessel is hidden from the eyes of man. And I stand up here, dear young people and others, to not as an example because I've failed in this.
Let me tell you just briefly.
Something the Lord used to search my soul. When I was in high school, I had a friend in my class.
He was my partner in chemistry lab.
He was the son of a college professor in that town were always brought up.
One day we were doing some experience, uh, experiments and bending glass tubing. And you know, glass doesn't cool down real fast.
And after a while I didn't know if it was cooled down yet, so I touched his arm with that glass tubing.
Anyhow, he came back a couple of days later and he says, look where you touched me on my arm. I'm going to carry that scar to my grave.
It was just as if the Lord said to me, you'd better tell him about the Lord.
You know what?
I just kind of put it off.
Put it off and a few months afterward we graduated and it was about 3 months after we graduated somebody came up and said to me, you know what happened to Paul Rempel?
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He was sky diving.
And his parachute didn't open in time, hit the ground too fast and was killed.
I never told him.
Lord, glad that to happen in my life. And I've learned, dear young people, that the Lord, put somebody on your heart. Go tell them.
Do whatever you can. If you don't feel like you can tell them, get a gospel track and give it to them.
Their gospel calendar. There's a lot of ways you can do it. I've learned that when the Lord puts on your heart somebody, you'd better get out.
And give them the gospel. Somehow if our gospel be hidden, it is hid to them that are lost. What a tragedy. You have the answer that this world needs, and you're not doing anything about it.
Again, I say I can't take a lot of credit myself. I've been encouraged by others getting into gospel work, but I have, especially in South America, founded a really a happy work to do. We used to in South America when I was still single.
And without hardly any responsibilities. I didn't have a car, I didn't have any house or anything. In those days we used to go off into the Andes of Peru, back beyond the end of the road.
And maybe get a donkey to carry our luggage that we go town to town, we get to a town, we would look for the authorities of the town and ask them for a public place to meet.
And uh.
They would usually give us the stool.
Of the town and then we would go around in the afternoon when the people got in from the countryside and leave a piece of literature in their homes, invite them to the gospel meeting. At night. Generally 25 to 30 people would come out and we were able to give the gospel very interesting responses. Things from 1 village to the next, it was totally different.
Still remember going across those High Plains one time and.
Way off in the distance, here comes three people running at us towards us. They thought we were prospectors looking for gold and they wanted to come and offer their services. The brother that was with me, he spoke Quechua, the Indian language that they spoke, and he started talking to him and I of course didn't understand Quechua.
But all of a sudden, the woman just starts crying.
Anyhow, afterwards I understood, she said. We live like animals up here. Nobody cares about us.
He has given her the gospel, then the gospel. What a privilege to give the gospel to people that have never heard. But whether they have ever heard or not, I say it's our responsibility to carry it out.
You know the scripture is very clear when the Lord Jesus before he went back to heaven, he said go into all the world, preach the gospel to every preacher, he that is, he that believes in his baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned.
Pretty clear, isn't it? Go out.
Doesn't mean that all have to leave the country, but when there's so much need in this world, I challenge you to put yourself before the Lord and ask him what she wants you to do with your life. We're not down here to make a big mark on it down here in business or in any way to make a comfortable life for ourselves. That's not the purpose he's left this year.
For one of the purposes is to give out the message of the gospel, and there's crying need in every corner of the world.
Oh, I long to see you, dear young people, exercise.
They say you can't be me and I'm not you, so you be yourself, but you put yourself before the Lord. You ask him what he would have you to do.
That's the secret, just like Paul when he was arrested on the way to Damascus, said Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
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There is so much need everywhere you look.
Just want to give a few examples.
Examples here or speak a little bit about these verses we've read first of all and then.
Speak some practical.
Councils about giving out the gospel. Notice in verse two says we have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
Bruce, you were mentioning of what's that man's name, Mahatma again? Gandhi. And that's the reason he didn't become a Christian was because of Christians. Is that is that it?
Inconsistencies of Christians so it shows that.
Our practical life is what commands the gospel, you know. Sometimes the illustration is given.
Of.
Gideon. Gideon.
When he surrounded the Midianite host to fight with him, had two things he had a.
Light a torch in an earthen vessel and he had a trumpet.
That's the two forms of our testimony, the light and the voice, showing and speaking. Does your life show the gospel?
Remember one of the old church fathers, I think it was said, preach Christ always. If necessary, use words.
And that's important that your life commend the message of the gospel. And sometimes we allow in our lives things that we know are not right.
Do you think you're gonna be prospered in the gospel effort if you do that? I say we have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty.
The Lord help us.
Dear brother, dear sister, in this I remember the testimony of a sister in another part of the country.
Who was quite timid.
And in the office, she worked quite a few other secretaries there.
She didn't say a whole lot, but one day one of the other secretaries came up to her and said.
You've got something. Will you please tell me what it is you have?
I can see it in you. And she was able to tell him, tell that other secretary about the Lord, and she got saved through seeing the gospel in that particular sister. It's important. Another thing here in verse two that I think is important in gospel work is commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. In other words, aim at the conscience.
Sometimes there is the desire, when we give the gospel, to make it an intellectual thing.
It's not a matter of being intellectual, it's a matter of the conscience.
And the Lord Jesus and his life down here aimed at the conscience.
So often when he was asked questions in his life here, he did not answer the question, he answered the conscience.
Remember when they brought that woman taken into adultery? What a shameful thing, that poor woman, standing in the midst of all his men accused of adultery. Such an horrible sin.
And.
The people around him said Moses in the law said we should stone this woman. Woman, what do you say?
Was a question.
He did not answer that question. He answered their conscience. He said he that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her.
And they got up, and one by one they left that place until it was only Jesus and the woman who were left.
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Aim at the conscience.
So brother, I know who has his doctorate in.
And, uh, I forget what you call it in studying insects.
But he often gets in conversation with other intellectuals.
Who want to confirm to him that evolution is true?
He said he's learned to simply say.
I'm not going to debate the question of evolution with you. I just want to ask you what about your sins? What about your sins?
He says they turn on their heel and walk away pretty fast.
We don't have to address the thing intellectually.
Although Christianity is very sound to rationalize, but if you get on the basis of one mind against another, they might be more bright than you are. So keep to the Scriptures. When you present this gospel, aim at the conscience, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. You know why?
Because the conscience of man, that is, the knowledge of good and evil, tells.
That person that what you are saying is right.
That's what it is. It's the knowledge of good and evil conscience, and it tells them that what you're saying is right. So aim at the conscience.
Just, uh.
Verse 6 here again for God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, that shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. I love this.
Where does the glory of God shine in all its fullness?
In the face.
Of a man.
Who is Jesus Christ? That face was more marred than any man's. He hung there on that cross, His head crowned with thorns.
His face had been beaten by the Roman soldiers. They had spit on him.
And then, in three hours of darkness, in a sight too awful for us to see, God laid on him the iniquity of us all, and the full force of divine judgment fell on Jesus in those three hours of darkness.
His face was so hard, more than any man's. It isn't that face that the full display of the glory of God shines.
Look at Jesus.
That's where you see the testimony of who our God is. God is love and God is light was shown at that moment more than any other time in the history of this world.
In the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. On that Christian. What a precious thing to be able to know God. You know what really concerns me, brother?
Is that they say the Muslim religion?
Is the fastest growing religion on the face of the earth?
Not that I.
Think there's any reason to apologize? The reason they are growing faster is because they're allowed to have four wives in most parts of the world and that's why they grow as fast as they do.
But it is now a fact that if we were left here, a question of 20-30 years, the Muslim population is going to overrun Europe and even in this country I don't know.
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Because they are decided.
And I see Christians that don't seem to be decided.
Please don't think I'm pointing a finger at you. Pointing a finger right at me. You know what's?
What's been the death blow to our Christian testimony?
Wanted to be comfortable, wanting to have things really nice down here.
We're not called to have things nice down here.
And I want to get to this in the last part of this portion we've read.
Verse seven says we have this treasure in earthen vessels. You remember how Gideon?
Fought the war with the Midianites. He instructed his 300 men to stand around the camp of the Midianites at night, and at a given signal they were to break the vessel and the light would shine, and they were to blow the trumpet, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. And God gave the victory over the Midianites.
The Midianites rose up and they killed each other, and then getting in his men finished off the stragglers.
But what is this? The breaking of the vessel?
And he explains, I think, what it is in verses 8:00 and 9:00, Speaking of some of his.
Own experiences.
In His service for the Lord, we are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed. It's going to be easy. No, it's not going to be easy.
You want it easy, go and lay down on your bed.
But that vets going to hide the land light.
What a tragedy. What a tragedy.
Don't let that happen.
Now notice verses 10 and 11. This is what comes to me as such a tremendous challenge.
Dear brother and sister in the Lord Jesus.
Says always.
Varying about in the body, the dying of the Lord Jesus.
The life of Jesus might be made manifest in our life.
This is something we should always do, always, he says, varying about in our body, the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in our bodies. The life of Jesus is life and resurrection, but it won't be evident unless you know what it means to have died, because resurrection takes place after death, and if you do not put this principle of death to work in your life practically.
The life of Jesus will not be made manifest.
So if I live down here to please myself, have the nicest car, the color I like.
And all the other things.
Dealing with clothes and whatever else it might be in your life, that life of Jesus will not be made manifest.
You know, verse 11 is kind of similar to verse 10, but there is a marked difference.
Notice verse 11 for we which live are.
Alway delivered unto death.
Doesn't say always bearing about in the body of the dying of the Lord Jesus. Now here it says we're delivered to death.
For Jesus sake.
That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our and notice what it says, mortal flesh.
You know what happens?
In our lives, God allows.
Trials, not something we choose, were delivered to it.
We heard about dear Nancy going home this morning.
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The way that dear girl lived allowed us to see something of the life of Jesus.
She struggled to stay as long as she could.
But it wasn't for her own sake. It would have been easier for her to go a lot. A lot.
The time before.
And God allows struggles like that in our lives.
Dear brethren, that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
And who of us don't have troubles and problems in life? Things that we don't enjoy were delivered to it. God allows that. It's God working in US. Why? Because he's put a treasure in that vessel of yours and He doesn't want it hid. He wants it to come out into the light. And so sometimes he breaks the vessel, especially when we do not carry about in our body the dying of the Lord Jesus.
In obedience to him.
He allows us to be delivered to something that is very unpleasant.
Why does he allow that? So the light can shine.
Nancy's dear children.
There is another family out West that went through something of the same thing, perhaps not so long protracted.
There's, uh, Lundin family.
Jeff Lundin and Joyce. She got a brain tumor and struggled for a while.
But my brother told me that they decided when they got the news that it was terminal. She was a beautiful woman, Joyce was.
But when they got the news that it was terminal, that she would only be there for a little while longer, they decided as a family to live life just as normal.
But letting the folks around their neighbors see the joy and the hope they had in the Lord Jesus.
And the testimony was tremendous.
I think at her funeral there showed up about 800 people.
There were some saved because of her testimony.
Why did God allow that to happen? Is that what God wants in our lives?
I don't think we have to say that the Lord does it, but He allows it. Why? Because He wants that light that He's put into the vessel to shine. And if you don't allow it shine on your own, He will allow circumstances in your life.
So that you will let that light shine.
There is a brother back out in West, I don't know if you ever met him, Brother Bill, uh, Albert to you as a man who was in the hospital in Gresham, OR do you remember hearing about him?
He was a man who was paralyzed from his neck down from the time, I guess after he was born, the doctors wanted to do some kind of corrective surgery on him and they accidentally severed his.
His spinal cord at his neck and so he was completely paralyzed. He only had the control of his face and he didn't have much control with that because.
The muscles in his face were ******* which means that he didn't control him very well.
And remember Oscar Frazier out there taking us to see him in the hospital. He was only in the hospital. That I know.
Because it required constant care. But Albert knew the Lord.
He took us to this stretcher that was wheeled around.
Almost made you ashamed to have to look at him and he was so twisted and his face was so contorted when he started talking about the Lord Jesus.
The light shined out of that face.
And everybody in that hospital knew about Albert and about Albert's Savior, the Lord Jesus.
That vessel is so broken the light shined up pretty freely.
Dear brethren, the Lord has left us here to carry out the gospel.
We mentioned this morning that Timothy or Paul in second Timothy was writing his last.
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Directions to his son in the faith, Timothy and he said.
Do the work of an evangelist. Timothy was a timid young man. I take it he was told by Paul, Let no man despise thy youth, which gives me the understanding he must have been fairly timid.
And yet he was to do the work of an evangelist.
I'm convinced, brethren, that there are unused gifts sitting here.
Maybe you have a natural gift in some area where you're earning big money.
But I want to encourage you to use that spiritual gift that has been given.
And even if you say you don't have the gift of an evangelist, how are you going to know it unless you start doing the work of an evangelist?
Her brother, Albert Hayhol.
Charlotte's dad telling about trying to encourage us young brothers to get on our feet and give out the gospel. He was a good gospel preacher, but he said.
When he first got up to preach the gospel, it was in Toronto and Toronto meeting was fairly large at that time I think.
And there must have been some pretty serious looking old men sitting out there. And so he said when he got up to preach the gospel.
His mouth went all dry and his hands were trembling so bad he had to take the cup with both hands to make sure it got into the mouth.
That's the way he started. You gotta start somewhere.
Let me encourage you, open your mouth.
Speak about the Lord. You don't have to start by giving an hour's length sermon, no.
Let me just encourage you to in speaking the truth of the word of God.
Use the Scripture. It's the sword of the Spirit. It's that which God uses to impart life to dead souls, and it's important. Use it, but speak of the person of Christ. Speak of the work of Christ. So often we get on a story like Blind Bartimaeus, which is a good story.
Right out of the scriptures.
Nothing wrong with that story, but get back to the cross, get back to the person of Christ, because that's the central part of the message of the gospel. And we're living in a culture, as we've mentioned this morning, that is denying the very basics of our Christian faith. And that's where you find them in the gospel. You deal with The Who Jesus is.
And what he did on the cross.
You deal with the question of sin and the importance of repentance.
Those are issues that need to be pressed on people's conscience, and that salvation comes through faith in Christ alone. All those are important points. We don't have time. Time's up right now. But let me encourage you, dear young brother.
Dear young sister too, don't think you're gonna be left out here. I don't expect to see you getting up on the platform preaching, no, but I know a lot of sisters down in Bolivia.
That take a handful of tracks and they go to the hospital and they're giving them out bed to bed. Who knows the fruit that will come from such efforts? You can do something such a tremendous opportunity to to get a handful of the gospel calendars that they're producing now.
Go around home to home.
Their people.
Not everybody is gonna listen to you, but their people waiting to hear knock on their doors.
Give him a gospel calendar. Maybe they'll open up. Maybe they'll be an opportunity to speak more. The Lord help us, dear brother, sister, and the Lord Jesus to the encouraged to do the work of an evangelist. Let's pray.
Father, bless thy precious word. We pray, Father, that we might be encouraged that there might be more of our dear young, especially that would rise up. In whatever way Thou hast show them to do the work of an evangelist. Pray thy blessing. Father, rest afternoon, and the name of the Lord Jesus.
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Same as though.