Address—Jim Hyland
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Let's ask God's help and blessing our blessed God and Father how thankful we are for that rich resource we have in Christ as a result of that finished work accomplished so long ago for Thy glory and satisfaction. And we thank Thee that we have found in Him not only our salvation as to that which is ahead, our salvation from a lost eternity and for glory, but we thank Thee that we have provision all along the path of faith and service.
And that as thou didst provide for thy people of old our God, we thank thee that thou art providing for us every hour of every day. We thank thee for these happy meetings. We've enjoyed the privilege we had this morning. And now, as we have another opportunity to open thy living word, our God, we pray that what thou wilt feed us with food convenient for us, encourage us, strengthen us, admonish us, whatever the need might be. We pray that thou help us to stay alert and to take in what thou has to say for to us.
So we ask thy help and blessing owning we have no might of ourselves but our eyes are upon thee. We ask this with confidence and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
By way of introduction to what is on my heart this afternoon, I'd like to turn first of all to Second Timothy Chapter 3.
Second Timothy, chapter 3, and we'll begin reading at verse 14.
But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them and from and that from a child thou has known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Just hold your finger here. We're going to come right back. But I want to read a portion also in First Peter chapter one.
First Peter, chapter one and verse 23, Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the Word by which the gospel is preached unto you.
I noticed on our schedule that this meeting is simply designated as an address, And I was thankful that it wasn't designated for any specific age group in this room. Because I trust that what's on my heart this afternoon will be relevant, relevant to every age group here, whether it's the boys and girls who know the Lord Jesus as their Savior, the young people, those who are raising families, those of us who are a little further along in the path of faith and service.
Because, you know, I used to sit as a boy and young person in meetings like this, and I used to look at the older brethren and think they've arrived. But I want to tell you, we haven't. Because the exhortations and the word of God that we speak of so often is needful for all of us. None of us can say that we have we're home free or we have arrived in the things of God. That takes continual exercise to live for God's glory. It takes.
Continual living in the presence of the Lord Jesus to walk the path of faith.
No matter what age we are here, but the wonderful thing is, brethren, that the resources that we have in Christ this afternoon are the same limitless supply that has always been available to the people of God. And I want to speak specifically of one of those resources this afternoon. And I know it's an age-old subject, but I want to impress this particularly on my own heart, and if it impresses you as well, then so be it. And that is the resource that we have.
The living word of God. We have a tremendous book in our hands and I want to look at some scriptures that bring before us how the word of God.
Is necessary in every aspect of our lives, no matter how young or how old we are. Because, you know, it's wonderful to come to meetings like this, to sit and hear the word of God ministered and preached. But you know, we're going, we're going to go home very soon if the Lord leaves us here. And there are many challenges and difficulties in the path of faith. And as you go on in your little assembly, in the family circle and as an individual, you're going to need like never before.
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To have the word of God before you. This is one of the great resources that's going to preserve us in the path of faith and service. And I began here in Second Timothy, because here the apostle Paul, at the end of his life, is writing to Timothy. Timothy had heard the truth. He'd had it ministered to him. He'd had the Old Testament before him, through his grandmother and his mother, who were two godly Jewish women.
He had had the truth ministered to him from the apostle Paul, as it was given to Paul. And now Paul's desire was that Timothy would continue in the things that he had learned and been assured of. And that's my desire for every one of us in this room, at least in some little measure, by the grace of God. I know there's many here who have gone on in the truth of God for many years, but brethren, young and old, we need to be exercised because the enemy is so busy today to discourage.
To confuse, to divide the people of God. And he's had thousands of years to practice and we're not we don't want to be ignorant of his devices, but all I say we have this powerful resource. And so Paul, as he was passing off the scene, he was about to lay down his life for the testimony and his desire and prayer was that Timothy would continue on.
And that he would be used in blessing. I never thought I'd be to this point in life, but I look at my younger brothers and sisters, and that's my prayer for you. Those of us who are older are not going to be here forever if the Lord leaves us here. Some of us have learned by recent experience how fragile and short life really is. And my prayer is that you young brothers and sisters would really take hold, and that the truth would get hold of you, and that there'd be that real purpose in your heart to stand and walk in the truth.
That you might carry on and be a blessing and a testimony to others. Well, we find here that he reminds Timothy that he had heard the truth from the time he was a child. What a wonderful heritage. Now I realized that there are no doubt some here who didn't hear the truth in the their home, your home when you were growing up. And the Lord has come in and in one way or another saved you and brought you to be gathered to the Lord's name.
And that's a wonderful thing. But I realize there's many like myself here who have been brought up in the truth. We've had a godly heritage. I had a godly mother and father by the grace of God. I had godly grandparents on both sides of the family. I had godly great grandparents and great, great grandparents. And I know it's only by the grace of God. But, you know, I heard an expression one time. And I know we've repeated it before, but it went some goes something like this.
The first generation often buys the truth at great cost. The second generation enjoys it and the third generation often squanders it. And I don't want you to squander the truth. Those of you who have had a godly heritage, I just want to say before we pass on, oh, let's get into the presence of the Lord and seek to value the truth that you have been brought up in. And you can go through scripture and find the truth of the statement we have just made. There were so many both in the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Who had godly grandparents? They had God fearing parents and they themselves squandered the truth. You know, we see that when the life of Samuel don't wait. Samuel had godly parents. Samuel was a great godly judge in Israel, enjoyed the position he was brought into, but the next generation didn't appreciate it. And I think maybe Paul was a little exercised about this when he.
Encourages Timothy to carry on. He'd had a God fearing grandmother, a godly mother he was, and I know it's a little different, but he was, as it were, the third generation, at least for our application this afternoon. And then he brings before him the need for the Holy Scriptures, he says, which are able to make the wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. I believe this salvation has a broad application.
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It was mentioned in our meetings that salvation is taken up in different ways in in the word of God. I'll just first of all apply it in this way. You know, it's the word of God that first of all shows us how to be saved. None of us would know God's way of salvation apart from the word of God, but it's spelled out so clearly in Scripture. It says a wayfaring man, though a fool, may not err therein. And so it's the word of God that shows us how to be saved initially.
And I would say too, in passing, if there's someone here and you've sat in these meetings and you're not saved, you don't know the Lord Jesus as your savior. I want to give you one more appeal. From the heart of God, from the heart of the Lord Jesus, He desires your blessing. You know the way of salvation. You've no doubt heard it many times. But have you come in faith that repentance and faith and receive Jesus as your savior? But the Holy scriptures do something else too.
They show us how we can be preserved in the path of faith after we're saved and how we can go on and live for God's glory. And so he says all scripture is given by inspiration of God, All scripture. I'm going to go back to something I think it was Brother Eric mentioned in one of the meetings. And that is that we need all of the word of God. I know some who only read certain parts of the word of God.
But they're unbalanced, and they don't have a full appreciation of the full scope of the truth of God. It was mentioned, but I'll repeat it, that in the Old Testament we have the pictures, the types, the foreshadows. And in the New Testament, we have the instructions, the doctrines. As to Christianity, those who know me best will confirm that I'm no good with my hands. You wouldn't want me to try to repair something. You wouldn't want me to try to build something for you.
In fact, one year in school I had to take a shop to graduate out of junior high. I opted for woodworking. I spent from September to June with four little pieces of wood and made a little stand for about 12 books. I think the teacher gave me an A and said don't ever send this guy back to A to a shop. It was very painful for him and for me and so I'm not good with my hands. But one time after we were married I thought I was pretty clever and I bought a bookcase that said some assembly required on the box.
Well, I spread it all out at our home and I worked feverishly to put it together, got everything put together, went to put the middle shelves in and found I put the whole thing together backwards. And my wife came along and she said, Jim, why didn't you look at the diagram? I was trying in 12 easy steps to get from point A to point B, but I had completely ignored the diagram and when she turned the page and showed me the diagram.
Then I was able, as frustrating as it was, to take the thing apart and to put it together properly. And God has given us both. I say He's given us the written instructions in the New Testament. But to go back to the Old Testament and read those stories, and with the sacrifices and so on, this gives us a different perspective, a proper perspective, a more complete understanding of what we have in the New Testament.
And so I want to encourage you to read all scripture because it is given by inspiration of God. Men didn't just write down their own opinions. No holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And then he says it's profitable for doctrine, for for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness. This is certainly not original, but someone has said that doctrine teaches us what is right, and doctrine is simply teaching. It's another word for teaching.
And that's what doctrine does. Reproof tells us what's wrong. Correction tells us how to get right when we are wrong. And then we have instruction in righteousness. That's how to keep right. And so these things are helpful. And again, we need the whole word of God. And then we read in first Peter chapter one, because here we find that not only is it the word of God that shows us the way of salvation.
And I want to go back to the thought of salvation initially in our lives. But it is the word of God in the power of the spirit that God uses to impart divine life to us. And I want to just say a word in our presentation of the gospel. You know, I believe that we need, whether it's speaking to souls individually or whether it's in a more public setting, we always want to use the word of God. My explanation is not going to save a soul. It might be helpful.
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And when you go to the book of the Acts, we find there's plenty of room for preaching and explanation. They so spake that many believed, and we want to be exercised to present the gospel in a way that's clear and simple, and that the Spirit of God can take it and use it in blessing. But my explanation, or my telling a story about someone that almost drowned isn't going to save a soul. It might help to make a point, but it is the word of God in all its living power.
This is the only book in the world that's living. That's why you'll never exhaust it. That's why we can come to conferences like this and take up the same portions again and again. And it's always fresh. There's always something, some aspect that we haven't seen before. In fact, this book, being living, we're going to have a fresh enjoyment of it for all eternity. We're no longer going to know in part, and prophecy in part. That's true, but we're going to enjoy it forever. It's settled in heaven.
You know people that men have tried to eradicate the word of God from earth. They in past centuries have taken it and burnt it in big bundles. You read stories about how they went into the towns and villages in Europe and tried to root the word of God out. Why have they not been successful? Because the originals in heaven. There it is safe and and secure and God thankfully has preserved it to us. But just to go back, I want to encourage you when you present the gospel.
Use the word of God. That's where the living power is.
And so, whether it's again in a public setting or individually take the word of God, it's the sword of the spirit. It's living and powerful. Well, as we say, it endures forever. But now I'd like to go on to another aspect of the importance of God's word in our lives. And as I say, I want to show how this practically applies to every aspect of our Christian pathway. Let's go to the book of Job for a verse, Job 23.
Job 23.
And verse 12.
Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. Now again, hold your finger here. I want to read a verse in first John, First epistle of John.
Chapter 2.
And just the last part of verse 14 I have written unto you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abideth in you, and you have overcome the wicked one. Well, we've spoken of how the word of God shows us the way of salvation, how it is profitable for instruct doctrine and instruction in various aspects aspect of things. But now I want to speak of it in connection with food for the divine life.
We mentioned in the reading meetings that the life that we have, when we get, when we got saved is a when we were born again is a divine life. It's the very life of Christ. It's a perfect life, but it is a dependent life. We're born again, as we had in Peter, but that life needs food. If that life is going to grow and we're going to be healthy, happy, fruitful Christians, we must feed the divine life.
And so, Job said, I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. You know, I didn't see anybody hesitate to go down to the cafeteria for the good meals that we have enjoyed over the last couple of days. You know, we take good care of the physical, don't we? We're careful to eat three good meals a day, sometimes a snack in between. Perhaps this generation is even more conscious of healthy food, healthy, healthy eating, than they ever.
We ever were before. But suppose we treated the physical as we treat these the the, the spiritual. You know we've become very weak, naturally speaking, Wouldn't we at least I only can point at my own heart and and leave my finger pointed There, Job said there was something more than just having three good, healthy meals a day. I've esteemed the words of his mouth, Jeremiah says. Thy words were found and I did eat them.
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And they were unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. It's the manner that we speak so often about, and we're not going to turn back to the 16th chapter of Exodus. But I just want to make a comment or two in connection with the gathering of the manna. Because when Israel entered the wilderness, there was nothing for them apart from God's provision to eat or to drink. I've been a number of times on the Sinai Peninsula, and when Scripture calls it a wilderness, that is exactly what it is.
And I believe that the thought in a wilderness, in scripture, is there. It's a place where there's nothing to sustain life. And in this world, there's nothing to sustain the divine life. There's plenty to feed our lusts. Just seems you can hardly drive down the highway, stand at the checkout counter in the grocery store anymore without seeing something to feed our lusts, to feed the flesh. And we need to be careful because as we've said in these meetings, we don't want to feed the flesh or the flesh is going to take the upper hand.
And so we need food for our souls, just as Israel needed physical food in a physical wilderness. Brethren, we're in a spiritual wilderness, and we need food for the divine life. And what is that food? It's Christ himself. It's defeat on Christ. When I was a boy, we often in Sunday school sang that little hymn. Feed on God's Word in the morning, Feed on God's Word at noon, Feed on God's Word in the evening to keep your heart in tune.
I suggest that when it's the thought of feeding, it's because we take it in and becomes part of us. And remember, it's not what we eat that does us any good, it's what we digest. And we'll speak of that in a moment. But what I want to notice, and you can go sometime at your leisure to the 16th of Exodus and trace this out. First of all, they were given men, It was the bread of heaven. And if we were to go to John Six, we would find that that man was a type of Christ. And there are a number of characteristics of the manner that correspond with the man Christ Jesus.
But it's confirmed by the Lord himself that the manna that they ate in the wilderness was a picture of himself, and he encouraged his own there to feed on the bread of heaven, which was Christ himself. Because when we opened this book and read it, it presents various aspects of the person and work of Christ, whether it's the Old Testament or the New Testament. But they needed fresh man every day, because the manner they needed today was not the manner they needed tomorrow.
And you and I need fresh man every day. We need something of Christ. We need to feed on Christ from this living book every day. You know, those of us who've had children, we didn't feed our children a good meal on on Lords Day and expect it to do them the rest of the week. No, we made sure that each day and before they went off to school, they ate a good healthy breakfast and that they had a lunch pail with them and a good dinner when they got home at night.
And so the manna fell early in the morning. In fact, it fell on the dew, and that's significant, but we don't have time to go into it. It fell on the dew. And they had to get up early in the morning and go out and gather before the dew melted. And again, having been on the Sinai Peninsula, I realized how early that is because as soon as that sun comes up over the desert, the any moisture evaporates very, very quickly. But I believe it speaks to us as to the need of every morning before we go out into the world.
Feeding on God's word. Because the minute you go out into the world, Satan is going to have everything to feed your lust and every kind of thought and activity to keep you from thinking about Christ and reading your Bible. I know some of us are mourning people and some are not, but there's a very interesting comment made about the manna. It says some gathered more and some less. In other words, it wasn't the amount of manna that they gathered that was important.
It was what they did with it. And so they gathered it and they put it into their armor, a certain measure, and they took it with them. And it says when they dipped into their Omer during the day, he that gathered much had nothing over. In other words, if you're a morning person and you have time to read two or three chapters in the morning and maybe a little commentary with it, thank God for it. You'll never overeat when it comes to feeding on God's word, but maybe you have to leave early and you struggle to get up in the morning.
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But he that gathered little had no lack. Maybe you only have time for a few verses, but again, it's not what we eat that does us any good. It's what we digest. And I believe that gives us the thought of meditation. It's taking it in our Omer and dipping into the Omer during the day.
And I want to encourage you. It's not enough to read a few verses, shut your Bible and never think about it during the day. That's not what's going to feed your soul. It's to stop. And I know you have to discipline yourself to do it. But to stop during the day for a few moments and meditate on what you read, That's why the psalmist in the 119th Psalm said, oh how love I thy law. It is my meditation all the day. Now again, it takes discipline because when I was growing up, we would hear about past generations who.
Could prop up their Bible and work at their at the shop, or follow the plow and think about scripture and so on. You can't run a computer like that. You can't drive down the highway like that. You can't conduct a business meeting like that. What do you have to do? You have to stop.
Can't just make a conscious effort to stop during the day and dip into your Omer and you'll be surprised. You'll find even if you only had time for a verse or two, God knew just what you were going to need for that day. But there's something else that in the in that portion. Now brethren, what I'm going to say now, I don't want in any way to take away from the individual need and exercise of gathering food from the scriptures every day. But you know, usually when we see an artist depiction of the gathering of the Manna.
We usually see them depicting the women gathering the manna, but if you notice there carefully in the 16th chapter of Exodus, it was not the women that gathered the manna.
They were specifically instructed that every man was to gather for himself and for his household responsibility of the head of the home. And I would just like to say a word to those of us who are husbands and fathers. Here are we gathering for ourselves and for our households.
It's our responsibility to not only feed our own souls, but to have something from the word of God, something of Christ, to feed our families. You know, I grew up in a very busy home. My father was a busy man, but I remember he always took time to sit at the breakfast table with an open Bible so he could catch his children and young people as they trickled out to breakfast and hurried off to school and other responsibilities.
He didn't always read us much. Usually there wasn't even an explanation, but he made sure we had something of the word of God before we hurried off to school. We were Speaking of this one time, and a young brother came to me after the meeting and he said, Jim, it's interesting what you said because he said I have to leave about 4:30 or 5:00 for work and he said my family is not up. So he said what I do is I read a little portion of the word of God.
I enjoy a little thought. I write it out and I put it with a magnet on the refrigerator door. And when my wife gets up to get the children ready, she shares what I have enjoyed with the children. There was a man that gathered for his himself and for his family, and again, I know it takes discipline. But I say I look back and while I didn't always appreciate it, I thank God for parents who are exercised to set aside time for family reading as well as prayer in the home. Young Fathers, you'll be well rewarded if you do it. The scripture says them that honor me.
I will honor. I beg of you, I beseech you to take time in your busy schedule to feed your own soul so that you can feed your wife and your children and those who are under your roof. And so they were to go out and gather it every day. If they tried to keep it over. What they needed today was not what they needed tomorrow. Oh, let's be exercised. How sweet are thy words to my taste? Yeah, sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. But maybe I hear someone say, Well, I find it difficult. I just can't seem to discipline myself. And I don't seem to enjoy the scriptures when I read them like I know I should.
Well, I want to use another little illustration that we've used before, but you know, when I was growing up as a boy, there were very few vegetables that I liked. And one of the vegetables I particularly did not like was green peas. And my mother was very gracious. She told me I could leave those things when I was home, but when I was out, I had to eat what was served. And having traveled amongst my brethren for many years, I have found that green peas are often the vegetable.
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That is served at the dinner table. But you know, having disciplined myself to eat green peas over these years, I actually thoroughly enjoy them now. And I'll take a second helping if they're offered, because I've developed an appetite for something that I didn't naturally have an appetite for. And maybe when you first start to read the word of God, you don't have that appetite. But read it. Discipline yourself. Exercise godly. Exercise takes discipline.
But discipline yourself and you'll be surprised. As time goes on, you will unconsciously develop an appetite for the word of God. You'll enjoy it, and you'll want more and more. So it's food for our souls. But now let's turn to another aspect and go to the 119th Psalm.
Psalm 119.
And verse 105.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Well, I want to speak now of the word of God as light and instruction for our pathway. You know, sometimes I talk to young people, and some who are not so young, and they will say to me, well, I'd like to know what the Lord has for me. I'd like to know the path that He has. But you talked to them a while, and you find they're not reading God's word. We'll never know the path that He has for us.
Unless we orderly and consistently read God's word. I just want to say that a word about this because I don't believe the Lord guides us so much by when we're faced at a crossroads in our lives, putting the Bible on its spine on the table, letting it fall open and putting our finger on a page and hoping that we're going to land on a verse that God can use. Now, I've heard in different circumstances, God used that and in our weakness.
God is certainly gracious, but I believe God guides us through the Scriptures when we orderly and consistently read His Word. And in my Christian life, I've experienced it time and time and time again. I've come to some decision in my life, some crossroads in my life, and I'm just reading in my regular portion. And there's a verse that jumps off the page. It may not be really the meaning of the verse. It may not mean that to anybody else. It may never mean that to me again.
But it is God directing my footsteps through the the reading of His Word. And so we need to orderly and consistently read the word of God. We need two to have a desire to walk in obedience to it. Because it's one thing to read the Word of God. It's another thing to have a heart that's open to its direction. There's a little progression in the Psalms that I've enjoyed in this regard. If we were to go back to the 27th Psalm we find there, David says, Teach me thy way, O Lord.
And lead me in a plain path. And that's a good desire for everyone of us. I know every believer here deep down has that desire. But is it really the prayer of your heart and mind on a daily basis that we would have the desire to be led of him in a plain path here in this Psalm? And this is a remarkable Psalm. It's a the longest chapter in the Bible and in every verse, almost every verse.
I think there's two or three. But in almost every verse there's some reference to the word of God either called commandments or precepts, or thy statutes, thy law, some reference to God's word. Because the psalmist here recognized that if there's going to be light and instruction for his pathway, it had to be the word, the word of God. But then we find in the 143rd Psalm, it's verse 10. You can look it up sometime. There we find another little expression.
The Psalmist there says, teach me to do thy will. Not just teach me thy way or teach me thy will, but teach me to do it because if any man desire to do his will, he shall know as we read in John's Gospel. And sometimes I've had to hang my head and say I wanted to know, but I wasn't willing to carry it out. Sometimes it was a big step in my life and I'm like, well, Lord, OK, I wouldn't mind if it wasn't something quite that way.
But we need to seek grace and to have a desire to follow the word of God, whether it's a big step or a little step, whether it seems hard or whether it seems easy. Because whatever He has for us in His word and in the path of faith, again there's going to be the full resources and the strength to carry it out and to walk in it. So it says, in all thy ways, acknowledge him and he might direct thy paths. No, He shall direct thy paths. And brethren, if we don't know the mind of the Lord in our lives, it's no fault on God's part.
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It's no fault on the part of the Lord Jesus. It's something in our lives. It's either we've set our will in a different direction, We're not reading His His word, we're holding back and in some way. But His desire is to show us and to make the way plain and brethren do. We think we can go through life, whether we're young or old here today. And we don't need instruction from our maker. It says, I know that the way of man is not in himself.
It is not in man that walketh to direct his footsteps, Solomon said. Who knoweth what is good for a man in this life? If the Lord Jesus came and stood right beside me and said to me, Jim, I know what you want isn't my will, but I'll change it and and and I'll make it. I'll make it the way you want it. What would I say? What would I say? Oh yes, Lord, I think just this time it would it would work out if you just change it and let me have my way.
Or what I say, Lord, help me to submit, just teach me to do Thy will, lead me in a plain path, and so on. So the word of God is light and instruction for our pathway. But let's just back up in this same Psalm for another aspect here.
Psalm 119 and verse 9.
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed. Thereto, according to thy word with my whole heart have I sought thee. Let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Well, here we have the cleansing effect of the word of God in our lives. It's the washing of water that we speak so often about from the New Testament, You remember in the Old Testament in connection with the Tabernacle.
There was the labor that contained water where the priests were to come from day-to-day, and during the day to wash their hands and their feet as they became soiled through their service for God. And that labor speaks to us of the word of God. How often contained water in the word of God is a figure of the word of God and the Lord Jesus. Before he left the disciples here in a world of defilement, he brought before them the truth of feet washing.
Not so much literally washing one another's feet, but he was using it as a figure and how we need to have the washing of water by the word. And first of all, we need to have him wash our feet. There was a elderly brother in my home assembly for many years. He's with the Lord now, but he used to tell us that in his working days when he came home from the office, he needed a good wash and he wasn't talking about soap and water, he was talking about the cleansing effect of the word of God.
And feet washing isn't always to remove sin or defilement from our lives. It's those things that dull our affections and chill our souls. Because there's so many things in this world and as we go about we we we rub shoulders with the world, We see, we hear things during the day. And I know it's school and in business you can't help it. But come home and open this book and let it have its moral cleansing effect on your life.
So we need the word of God in the morning as food for our souls. We need to meditate on it during the day to encourage us and give us the strength to go on. And then when we come home at night, we need to have its cleansing effect. You see how it affects every part of our day and every aspect of our lives. No book like it. And so wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word? And then he speaks of the heart here, because it really is a matter of the heart.
And when you open this book, remember that, well, it's good to have a knowledge of Scripture, and we need that script. The word of God does not discredit knowledge. We need to grow in grace and the knowledge Peter said at the end of his epistle. Knowledge is important. As we've been stressing, we need the teaching and the doctrines of Scripture. But in itself it's not enough. It needs to reach the conscience and touch our hearts. So again, it's often been said that the entrance of the truth is the mind. There must be that knowledge.
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The channel is the conscience, because the conscience must always be reached. And the dwelling place is the heart. And when the truth enters and rests in that way, then there's going to be true power and blessing following. And it's when the truth of God gets ahold of our hearts that it's going to preserve us in the path of faith. And here he says, my whole heart. Read through this Psalm sometime and find out how often the psalmist says speaks of a whole heart.
You know, what God wants from us today is not half heartedness. He doesn't want 90% hard heartedness. He wants wholeheartedness. And so let the word of God sink down. We didn't mention it, but we read earlier in connection with the young men in First John that were strong.
You know the glory of young men is their strength. But when John wrote to the young men, what was the source of their strength? Not because they got up and worked out every morning or went to the gym. Nothing wrong with that. I like to run on the treadmill in the morning when I'm home too. And bodily exercise profits for a little time. Scripture does not condemn that. But what made the young men in John's day strong? The word of God was abiding in them. They weren't just reading the word of God, but it was abiding in them. It had reached their heart through their conscience.
Was part of them now, and that was what gave them, gave them strength. You want to be strong Christians. You want to stand fast for the truth of God. You want to have fruit in your Christian life. The word of God's got to get down into your soul. It's got to abide there. So he speaks of wholeheartedness. Thy word have I hid in my not my mind, but in my heart that I might not sin against thee. This is what is going to preserve us, is to take up the word of God and hide it.
In your heart. So we need its cleansing effect just still in this same Psalm. Because there's so much in this Psalm, we're just touching on a few things. Go back to go over a page again to this time to the 98th verse.
Thou through thy commandments, hast made me wiser than mine enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation. I I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. Well, here we have something else, because it's the word of God that shows us the future. You know, wise, worldly statesman today in high places are trying to figure it all out by their own intellect and by their own devices.
They're only becoming more and more confused, you know, because of the way I travel and the extent that I travel. I have a path to the corporate and business lounges of the major airports of this world. And so I often find myself rubbing shoulders with the top echelon of the business and political world. And I have learned to watch their faces as they watch the news, because usually on one end of the lounge there's a flat screen television.
With CNN or Fox News, and depending what other country you're in, it might be CBC or BBC on another end of the lounge. And I watch these people as they turn away from not good news but bad news. And they shake their heads and they say, where is it all going to end? Because men in high places, if they're honest with themselves today, realize that they are dealing with an interplay of economic, political and social forces.
That are far beyond their control and it's no longer if it the elastic is going to snap, but when is it going to snap? And men's hearts today are failing them for fear and looking for those things that are coming on the earth. And I read often the fear in the eyes, the faces of men and women in high places. But you know, while we always want to be concerned about what's going on around us, we don't have to be overwhelmed. We can be aware, but not overwhelmed.
And so the Christian who's reading his Bible is more intelligent as to what's going on because God has told us what the future holds. You know, I we, some of us were taking up a little bit in Revelation not long ago. And I made the comment that there's much of Revelation I don't understand. But one thing I understand from Revelation, God's man is going to be victorious in the end. God's man is going to win. And that's a great comfort to my soul.
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And so yes, we're seeing the breakdown of every level of society around us, but we know what is ahead. Not that we know every detail, but we know who's in control and where it is is all heading. This book we hold in our hands to is more up to date than the daily newspaper. You know, when I was a boy, there was a large bookcase in my parents hallway, and on that top, the top shelf of that bookcase, there was a row of old books that simply collected dust.
Because they were old school books that my parents had studied when they went to school. And sometimes on a snowy evening or a rainy afternoon, we would pull those books down and we would look at them as we used to say, just for a laugh, because we would say to each other why we've left those things behind. Long ago, men's ways of thinking had changed men's ways of teaching. And now, even if I were to take the books I had in school and show them to you young people.
Oh, you'd say, Jim. It's a lot different than when it went then, when you were going to school so many decades ago. Men's opinions change, but the word of God hasn't changed. I say it's more up to date than the daily newspaper. It fits what's happening in the world today, and it will do the same same tomorrow. Do you want to be wise as to God's purposes for this earth and his purposes for his, for his heavenly people? You must take this book and you must read it diligently.
And prayerfully now I'd like to go to the New Testament to Romans, chapter 15.
I'll just say this, while we're turning there, what we're looking at this afternoon are just a very few of the aspects of the word of God that apply to a practical, in a practical application to our lives in the time allotted to us. We're just looking at a few. There are certainly many more, and I'll leave them for your further meditation. You know, really a ministry orally in the assembly is to wet the appetites of the listeners so that they will hopefully be like the Bereans who go home.
And search the scriptures to see if these things are so. But let's notice another aspect here in Romans 15 and verse four. For whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. First of all, we find that the things that were written aforetime were written for our learning. You know, the stories we have in the word of God are more than just interesting stories and historical facts.
They are interesting stories, and they are historical facts, but they're far, far more than that. They're written for our learning. Someone has said happy is the man that learns from his mistakes. Happier is the man that learns from others mistakes. But happiest is the man that learns from the word of God.
And if we take up these stories of men and women and young people, and these illustrations that are given to us and learn from them, then we are again going to be happy, fruitful Christians. And so these things are written for our learning that we, through patience or and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. I just want to speak of the encouragement and comfort of the word of God.
I never understood the import of this until I went through some very severe trials myself.
And I want to encourage my brethren, because I never realized the power of the word of God in comfort and encouragement, especially in times of trial. And my wife and I learned to appreciate every eye message with a scripture, every text, every card with a scripture, every e-mail, every little note that had a verse of scripture. And we would sit down and read those scriptures over and over.
And over again, I didn't realize what sending someone a little verse of scripture would mean in a trial. But it has been in that's one of the aspects of my life that has been enlarged. We spoke of that earlier, how that impression he enlarges us. And I, by the grace of God, I have an enlarged appreciation for sharing the word of God with others, and I want to encourage you to do that. Sometimes a brother or sister would stop in and they say, Jim, we can't say long, but I want to give you a little verse.
I meant so much.
It strengthened our souls. It encouraged us. It helped us over a little difficult time, a little pain. We were going, we were going through. The word of God is tremendous. It has a power. I'll share it with one another. Because going back to the thought of feet washing, the Lord washed the disciples feet. That's necessary. We need to have the Lord wash our feet and encourage and refresh us with the word of God.
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But then he said, wash one another's feet. We need encouragement in the path of faith, brethren. There's so much to discourage today. We don't have to look for things to discourage. There's so much on every hand to discourage. But where are we going to find that which will encourage one another in the path of faith? It's sharing what we enjoy from the scripture. It doesn't have to be great. It doesn't have to be an explanation. Just share the word of God with your brothers and sisters.
Normal conversation always bring in something from the scripture that you have enjoyed. That's what true fellowship, that's what true encouragement, that's what true comfort is. And so I just leave that for your exercise. Our time is almost gone, but I want to look at one more scripture. It's in Acts chapter 2.
Acts chapter 2 and verse 42.
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers. I want to apply this in connection with the assembly meetings here. They went on together in these things. And I want to apply it particularly for our in our context this afternoon in connection with the apostles doctrine. And I want to apply it in a broad sense, because I want to encourage each and every one of us to avail ourselves.
Of ministry in the assembly. Because I believe it's in the assembly where we get the balance. Not that the Bible needs balance, The Bible is the only balanced book there is, But it's we who need the balance. And I have noticed that those who do not avail themselves of ministry in the assembly are a little bit like Ephraim. It says Ephraim, is a cake not turned. You know if you put a cake on the griddle and you don't turn it, it gets too well done on one side and not enough on the other.
And I've noticed the people who do not avail themselves of ministry in the assembly, they often go off on certain tangents. It may not be wrong in itself, but it's unbalanced. Now, it doesn't mean that every assembly meeting for ministry is balanced, but it means in the scheme of things, if you avail yourself of ministry in the assembly over time, you're going to get that balance. Not only that, if something said that's not right, another by by the spirit of God can correct it.
Can bring out the doctrinal principles and lay them out clearly. Others can make practical applications. Some can even bring out the gospel application of that portion. And you get that balance. Can I just say this too? When you read written ministry, and I want to encourage you to do so, But when you read written ministry, it's good to read a number of authors as well. You know, I'm thankful that Mister Darby can lay out the doctrinal principles for us. Mr. Bellitt can bring out nice little Nuggets and applications.
Woolston can bring out the gospel aspect. And when you do that again, you get a balance when you read a variety of of different authors. And as we had displayed here earlier this weekend, there's no shortage of good Christ exalting ministry. That will be a help to you in your understanding and appreciation of the word of God. Avail yourself of it and remember this too. And I'll say this particularly to those who are young.
The scriptures that I have quoted in these meetings are not scriptures I learned yesterday or last year. They are that which I learned in my youth. Thank God. I want to encourage you to store up your mind with the word of God. Not just meditate on it, but memorize it, read good solid ministry that will be a help to you in your appreciation and understanding of it. And that is what is going to stand you in good stead as you get older. You know, a lot of what I read today I enjoy, but I don't always remember.
And so your mind is keen at the time. But I say again, avail yourself of ministry in the assembly. I know some of us come from very weak situations. We come from situations where maybe we say we go on reading meeting night.
And doesn't seem to be much food there. There's nobody with a real gift to teach or explain.
But you're there. The Lord is there. The word of God is there. The Spirit of God can take it, and in ever so simple a way, He can feed our souls when we're in the presence of the Lord and exercised and be exercised. Bring something. Maybe you won't always have opportunity to share it. I'm talking to the to the brothers now. But bring something and you'll find you'll be encouraged in your own soul. Brethren, we've spoken so very quickly of the value and need of this precious book.
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But I say again in closing, we need it no matter where we are in our Christian experience, whether it's physically or spiritually. I heard of a young boy. He went to school and the teacher gave them a little assignment. They were to start a little paragraph by My greatest treasure is and this young boy, he wrote. My greatest treasure is my Bible. I knew an older brother and when they found him having passed away into the presence of the Lord.
He was sitting in his armchair with an open Bible. You see it. It's for it's for youth, It's for middle age. It's for families. It's for those of us who are a little further along. Oh, may we value this book. And as the songs often say, we sing Cling to the Bible, oh, cling to the Bible. It's the most precious possession you'll ever have. Let's pray our blessed God and Father how thankful we are for this precious book.
And how thankful we are for the one that is presented in it, thy beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we go from these meetings, we're thankful for the time we've had. But we pray that we might take our Bibles with us and learn to value them more, to read them, to meditate, to memorize that our souls might be encouraged and fed, and that we might be kept strong in the Lord until His coming. So we commit this meeting to Thee for thy blessing in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.