Address—Eric James
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Got it. I'd like to read a couple verses, first of all in the book of Job.
Job 28.
And verse 7.
Job 28 and verse 7.
There is a path which no foul knoweth, and which the vultures eye hath not seen. The lion's whalps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it. You know this verse has sometimes been used to identify the path of faith. You know the path of faith is not open to the natural eye or the natural senses. The path of faith is only known by.
Spiritual discernment and that discernment which is subject to God himself. And so this is a these are striking verses, aren't they?
There is a path which no foul knoweth.
And which the vultures eye hath not seen, The lions welts have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it. The strong don't know it. It's known only to those who listen for the still small voices. I hope we can get into a little later this afternoon. You know, I was overheard a conversation this morning before breaking of bread and somebody was not speaking to me but to another brother. And he said, you know, this is the climax, isn't it?
It really is, isn't it? He was speaking, of course, of the breaking of bread.
And so these three days we've been together, we've been over the precious word and, uh, we've been speaking about the path of faith we've used, we've heard that term a number of times, the path of faith and, and service, or as I like to say, sometimes the path of faith and fruitfulness. And umm, yet we came together this morning for the sole purpose of remembering the Lord Jesus and his death and what a happy time that is. So if that, that being true now we're on the down downside, aren't we? Some people have already left.
Some people, most of us are thinking about leaving. When you see somebody haven't seen for a while, they say, when are you leaving? Uh, where? I think if I remember my literature classes a little bit, they said you build up to the climax and then you have a short day. Newman. Maybe they use a different term for it now. I don't know. But the point is, it's a time to take stock a little bit, isn't it? And so I thought of that, uh, him we just sang Savior we long to follow thee.
It's time to take stock, and I'm not pointing fingers at anybody. I feel that just as much for myself As for any of us. But isn't this true? There is a path for faith through this world. There is a path for faith through this world. We've been speaking about the blessedness of it, but I wanna talk about it a little bit more this afternoon. You know, there's a Barna research company down in the States, and they do research.
And surveys on religious subjects and, uh, one of the common questions they ask at every, every so often is if you could ask God a single question, what would it be? And you know, the answer is usually about the same. And that answer is, we'd like to know what the purpose of life is.
People would like to know, at least that's what they claim. They would like to know what the purpose of life is. You know, there's a book that tells us what the purpose of life is, but there's a problem and that is that we need to be willing to learn it, don't we? Let's look at a couple of other verses. This is the path that it's Speaking of. Let's search through the pages of this book a little bit to find out that path of path for faith, the path of fruitfulness as well. Let's turn over to, uh, Psalms.
Ring Job. So if we just turn over a few chapters to Psalms, let's look first at the 16th Psalm.
The Lord Jesus has come into this world, hasn't he? And he's walked this path of faithfulness and fruitfulness. And this Psalm is a particular Psalm which speaks about the Lord Jesus is the perfect man.
You know, if God becomes a man, he's going to be the perfect man. And so it is with the Lord Jesus. And so in this Psalm it gives us particularly, I don't want to go through it in detail that that would be a wonderful subject in itself. Just want to pick out a few verses. But this poem gives us the inner breathing that somebody was mentioning in the Gospels. We don't get so much the Lord Jesus inter breathing and inner feelings. We turn to the Psalms. We tend to get that much more.
00:05:16
And this Psalm gives us the inner breathing of the Lord Jesus Christ as he walked through this world as a perfect man. And as such, it's the path of faith that he walked. And and so therefore, it's a helpful, he's, he's marked out the path and it gives us help to know what that path is. Let's look at just a few verses here. The very first verse, Psalm 16, you know, it says I might mention.
In the Psalms, you might notice there's often these little captions, and those captions are divinely inspired. This is a victim of David. And a mictum means a prayer or a meditation or a golden Psalm. It's a Psalm that was particularly precious to David, apparently. And so it starts. Preserved me, oh God, for indeed do I put my trust.
That's the first step, isn't it? And the path of faith is that we recognize our dependence as the Lord Jesus did. Hard to imagine, isn't it, that the Lord Jesus would breathe these words preserve me, O God, for indeed do I put my trust. But again, he's seen here as the perfect dependent man, and he realized his dependence as a man on God the Father. And so he lays this out. Preserved me, O God.
For indeed I put my trust. I suggest that's the very first step too in the path of faith that we recognize our daily, our moment by moment dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ. Preserve me, O God, for indeed do I put my trust. I hate to skip some of these verses, but for time we have to do it in verse 8. Here's again the inner breathing of the Lord Jesus as he walked that path of faith through this world.
And it's the same pathway for us. I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. And then verse uh, 11 here is confidence. Now I know this is a resurrection Psalm as well, but it also applies to the Lord Jesus path day by day that will show me the path of life in thy presence is fullness of joy and at thy right hand.
There are pleasures forevermore, so the first step in the path of faith is that we follow that pathway that the Lord Jesus himself took through this world. Let's turn over to Psalms 107.
Essentially, wanna call these first, uh, introductory statements the prerequisites for the path of faith. The 1St is to recognize that the Lord Jesus himself has walked in. We don't have to just guess at it, but we know that the Lord Jesus came down and he was that perfect man and he walked that perfect pathway of faith and fruitfulness in this world. That's the first great prerequisite for our walking in that pathway.
Well, Psalm 107 gives us another prerequisite. I think verse 8 all that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men for a satisfieth belonging soul, and filleth a hungry soul with goodness. We need a longing soul, don't we? No, I know this has often been said. I hope it's not trite, but particularly when the children were younger.
Well, I shouldn't say that.
It's true today too. Kids come home and they're hungry. Uh, but we often say, you know, don't eat too much snack food because you're gonna spoil your, your appetite come home. And, uh, we have one son particularly that loves to, to, uh, to junk out on junk food. And, uh, that's our tendency in this world, isn't it? We live in such a world that we live on snack food so much of the time. I'm not just talking physically, but spiritually. It's true too. We just live on snack food.
But here we have a second prerequisite, I suggest, for walking the path of faith and fruitfulness in this world. And that is that we have a longing soul and a hungry soul that we spend time in the Lord's presence and not be satisfied with just little snacks here and there. Remember, uh, our brother, uh, Lundeen came one time when I was a young person, that's been a few years ago now. He came to the meeting where I was and, uh.
00:10:08
Somebody asked the question, how can you increase your appetite for the word of God? And you know, I, I never forgot his answer. I know some have heard me say this before, but I think it bears repeating. How can we increase our appetite? Sometimes people say, you know, I just don't have an appetite for the word of God. How can we increase our appetite for the word of God? And his answer was read it.
That's a simple answer, isn't it? But you know, I found it to be true. Sometimes I find my appetite is not very good for the Word of God, and I pick it up, and if I don't get too far, maybe my mind is distracted, as it tends to be. But the more we read it, the more appetite we have for it because we start to realize that it is indeed our food. But we need a hungry soul and a longing soul. And so a second prerequisite, I believe, for the path of faith is that we have that hungry, longing soul.
We not be satisfied with the junk food all around us, spiritually speaking, but that we read the word of God and we try to plump what what the Lord has for us in it. Well, let's jump over to umm, the New Testament, the book of Hebrews. I know there's so many places we could stop here, but let's look at the book of Hebrews.
And Chapter 11, sometimes called the chapter of the honor roll of faith, and it speaks of so many in the Old Testament, of Old Testament worthies and uh.
There's a key verse in verse six of Hebrews Chapter 11. But without faith is an it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.
We must believe that God is God. I've often puzzled about that part of the verse. What does it mean? He that cometh to God must believe that he is. What's that mean? Well, I, others may have a better answer, but the answer that's come to me about that is that God is a great God. You know, when the queen of Sheba went to visit Solomon, she'd heard a great deal about Solomon and, uh, she came with her train and her gifts and so on.
And she had her breath taken away from her, didn't she, when she saw the beauty of Solomon's court, saw how his, uh, how his servants conducted themselves, saw their attire. And she heard the wisdom of Solomon.
You know, she didn't realize how great a King Solomon was. And often we don't respect how great a God our God is. You know, if our God is going to supply salvation, he's going to supply it in a way that's consistent with his own dignity.
And that's, I think, what we have here. Without faith, it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, he's a great God. And his dignity as such, that the salvation he has for us and the path of faith he has for us is such that's consistent with his own dignity. Don't set God apart. Don't put the platitudes on the path of faith, because God is a great God and he wants us to act according to the dignity.
That, uh, he's imparted to us. Well, we read in this chapter then of those who were dignified by the path of faith. Have you ever thought about that? Let's, let's turn over to chapter 12 to see that verse, uh, one of chapter 12. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about what's so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin which thus so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
Who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame?
And is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. You know, there's a great cloud of witnesses. I sometimes think in my mind's eye of this great line, this great parade of witnesses that goes all the way back to Adam. They've walked the path of faith. It's true that some had more intelligence than others. That's not a question. But nonetheless, there's many, many, many that have walked this path of faith before us and so.
In a sense, the apostles saying, now you get in line, you take your place, you serve your generation, you add to that great cloud of witnesses. Well, there's even more witnesses since this day, aren't there. You can get a good church history and read about many others that have witnessed the good faith. And, uh, it's a wonderful thing to learn about those. But now it's our turn and the Lord wants us to witness the good faith and, uh, and so we're told to.
00:15:28
Lay aside every weight and sin which doth so easily beset us. What is it that's hindering us in the path of faith? The Lord says lay it aside, it's not worthy of hindering us. And let us run with patience the race that is set before us, you know.
These were, these were dignified by the path of faith. Isn't that a wonderful thing? If you wanna walk a dignified life so that when we get in the Lord's presence, we have something to hand back to him, something worthwhile? You know, it's often impressed me that there's a danger of my getting home to glory and not having anything to give back to the Lord because I live my life for myself. The Lord wants us to walk the path of faith.
And fruitfulness, not only for our own happiness, but for His glory. And so He's given us these various prerequisites. He's a great God, and He's pointed out a pathway for us. He wants us to take our place in this grand parade of faith. If we don't take that place, somebody else will have the privilege. But He wants us to take our place and the path of faith to add to this great cloud of witnesses. As I say, it's our turn now.
It's our place and the Lord has requested that. So the path of faith dignifies those who walk in it. And we read about those who were so dignified in the 11Th chapter. But in the second verse of chapter 12, it's not that the path of faith dignified the Lord Jesus was it, but rather it's the other way around. He dignified the path of the faith. So when when we walk in the path of faith, the path of faith dignifies us, it makes us something which is suitable to God Himself.
Uh, in our, in our walk, and that's a wonderful thing, but the Lord Jesus himself has dignified this path. He sanctified this path. He says, walk in it. I've already been there. Now I want you to take your turn and, uh, walk in that pathway. Well, these are, as I say, in a sense, the prerequisites to the path of faith. There's many other verses we could look at, of course, but just wanted to bring these out. Uh, the Lord Jesus has walked in this path. There is a path of faith.
It can be known as a path of dignity. It's a path that the Lord Jesus has already walked in and he wants us to lay hold of eternal life as it says in the the end of first Timothy. I'd like to look a little bit this afternoon at the at an incident in the profit Elijah's life. Let's just turn over to the book of Romans.
Because I think it shed some light on this path of faith.
The foul doesn't know it, the vultures I have, hasn't seen it, but the word of God points it out for us. And I wanna point out some principles that have been, uh, helped to me. If we turn over to the 11Th chapter of Romans, we read a little bit about Elijah and reading about Elijah at home some. And, uh, had enjoyed some thoughts about that. And, uh, I feel that there's an illustration here of walking in the path of faith, our present path.
But let's look at some principles we have here. You know, the book of Romans is a very helpful book. It's the apostle Paul teaching the Romans the gospel. He's not preaching the gospel. I think that's something more reserved for gospel meetings. But he's teaching the gospel. These are those people who are already saved, and he's teaching them about the gospel. And so we have that particularly brought out in the first eight chapters of Romans. The first several chapters bring out man's condition.
And then from the end of the third chapter through the middle of the 5th chapter, we have the two fold remedy to man's condition. Man is guilty and man is lost. And so from the middle of the third chapter, as I say, to the middle of the 5th chapter, we have the blood applied to man's sins and that settles the question of our guilt before God. And then from the middle of the 5th chapter on to the end of the 8th chapter, we have the question of sin taken up.
Not only is man guilty, not only have we done things that have offended God, but we have a nature that's contrary to God. Sometimes it's, it's expressed as the root and the fruit. We have the root desire that results in sin. We plant an apple tree out. We don't expect to get pears off of it because it has a apple nature and it's going to produce apple fruit. And so that's what's explained in the first eight chapters of Romans, man's condition.
00:20:29
God's two fold remedy. And then starting in chapters 9:10 and 11:00, sometimes it's called a dispensational parenthesis. Umm, the words are not so important. But the point is these Roman Gentiles, remember Rome was the queen city of the world at this time. And they had some questions. And one of the questions that was nagging in the back of their mind was.
What about Israel? You know, we're Gentiles, the Romans were mostly Gentiles there that he was addressing. And we're thankful for all these blessings that God is, is bestowing on us as believers now. But what about all the promises made to Israel? And, uh, there's a good reason to ask that because in the back of their mind, the nagging question was if God made all these promises to Israel in the Old Testament and then he hasn't kept them Israel set aside.
Then how can we trust that God is good to his word? How can we trust that God is really faithful? If he's appeared to be unfaithful so far as the people of Israel go, then, uh, how can we expect him to keep his word to us? And that's a fair question, isn't it? And the apostle Paul knew that. And so he answers it in these three chapters. First of all, he gives us in the 9th chapter, he shows what the origin of Israel was. Some people say that these three, in these three chapters we have Israel passed.
Israel, president, Israel's future and we get some helpful, uh, principles brought out in these chapters. So how was it that Israel came about to be a people, a people, the people of God? Well, he points out in the early part of Chapter 9 without looking at any details, but he points out that it was God's sovereignty that chose Israel. He chose Abraham. That's true. Abraham had two sons, didn't he? He had Ishmael and he had, and he had, uh, Isaac.
It was God's sovereign choice to choose Isaac rather than Ishmael. Now Isaac had two sons. If you read the account here, the one son was Esau and the other son was Jacob. And I might add that if you had a choice of neighbors, as I've often said, you would choose Esau, not Jacob, because Jacob was not a very upright person. He was always trying to get the best end of the deal. It's no surprise that he's the father of the Jews, is it? But.
He would, uh, he would, uh, he would want, he would not be a very good neighbor. Esau would have been a better neighbor. But once again, God and his sovereignty chose Jacob, not Esau. So the lesson he's teaching to the, to the people here is that it's God's sovereignty that is the basis of election. And so Israel's position as a people, as the people of God was based wholly on God's sovereignty.
No merit of the people their own. But then in chapter 10, man's responsibility is brought in, particularly under the law. God tested the Jew and the Jew was found wanting, wasn't he? And as a consequent of his testing the Jew, the Jew was set aside. Why? God is sovereign, man is responsible. Two principles that go all the way through Scripture. And so as a result of man's responsibility, the testing of mankind.
Just as with the.
Belshazzar. He was weighed in the balances and found wanting. So Israel was set aside because they failed under the testing of God. Israel, remember, was the best sample of mankind. They were set aside.
But in Chapter 11 he brings out another point, and that is that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance, that Even so Israel, even while Israel has set aside for a time.
God and his sovereign grace is going to restore Israel in the future day. And so that's where we read a little bit about Elijah here. Uh, Elijah wasn't quite so sure about that. He, uh, lived at a time when, uh, Jezebel was firmly entrenched in the throne of Israel. She was a Princess, a Gentile Princess. She was a heathen Princess. She had no use for.
00:25:05
For the Lord God. And she convinced her weak minded husband who was the king of Israel, Ahab, to bring in idolatry into that land. And idolatry was widespread throughout the land.
And so the time came when, uh, Elijah came and we have in verse 2. Let's look at that a second in Romans 11 and verse two. God hath not passed away his people which he foreknew. Was she not what the Scripture saith of Elias or Elijah, how he marked make us the intercession to God say against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets.
And dig down thy altars. And I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what sayeth the answer of God unto Him? I have reserved to myself 7000 men who have not vowed the need to the image of bail. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no more of work, Otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of work.
Then it is no more grace. Otherwise work is no more work. And so we can say that this is Israel, past, present, and future. Israel in the past was chosen by God's sovereignty. They were under the testing according to man's responsibility. But in the future they're going to be brought in and blessing purely on the principle of grace, not because of their own merit, just the way that we Gentiles were brought in purely on the basis of grace.
And so it's sometimes been said that we have the fact that, uh, uh, we have, uh, God's sovereignty in Chapter 9. We have man's responsibility again in chapter 10. And then in Chapter 11, we have the irresistible purposes of God, God purposes blessing. And that blessing is going to take place. And what a wonderful truth that is. Well, let's look over in, uh, Revelation chapter 2.
Revelation chapter 2.
We have some similar principles.
You know, Israel was tested under the law.
They turn their back on the Lord and the time came when the Lord turned his back on them, although he re pro, he reserved a remnant. And so in the general testimony is so corrupt that the Lord can no longer be identified. It, uh, identified with it. He calls men out of it into what we call a remnant principle. And that was mentioned there in Romans, Romans Chapter 11, wasn't it? He preserved a remnant. Paul, the apostle Paul was part of that remnant at the current time.
And yet he recognizes that in the future God is going to restore Israel as a nation so that all Israel shall be saved. But he restores a remnant according to grace. Well, in Revelation chapter 2, we have a similar principle with the church. Remember, the church was.
And we have the seven churches of of Revelation here.
The first four churches are brought out in Chapter 2.
We have the original condition of the church and uh, and then shortly after the days of the apostles, we have, uh, what's called Ephesus here, what corresponds with Ephesus. And they had lost their first love. Their hearts had not been so hungry for the Lord anymore. And uh, they had lost their first love. They'd gotten their eyes off the Lord and as a result, there was a fall there. Notice what it says in verse 5.
Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the works. And so they're called to, uh, they're, they're, they're spoken to as if they had fallen. They had fallen. And then in time we see that there was a partial recovery in Smyrna. Smyrna means suffering, as we well know. We had that here a year or so ago. And there was a partial restoration under suffering. But then in Pergamos, pergamos means the word gamos in Greek is marriage.
And uh, I don't know what the per is, maybe somebody can tell me, but.
One person who thought he knew the answer at least said he thinks it's a perverted marriage. Umm, maybe somebody has a better answer for that. But Gamos, I know is marriage because I was able to look that up, but I think it's a perverted marriage. And what is a perverted marriage that took place in Pergamus? Well, we remembered that this was the time when Constantine came in and, uh, he became at the end of his life, at least a Christian. And prior to that time, the, the, the Christians had been persecuted.
00:30:14
And now they were brought into the government, brought into the mainstream of Roman life, and they were actually, uh, their, their favor was curried and they were encouraged by the officials. And as a result, it was really a perverted marriage, wasn't it? It wasn't that separate place that the Lord had preserved for his bride. It was no longer a chaste version of Christ as we're encouraged to be in Scripture, but it was a perverted marriage, joining the church outwardly at least.
And the world. And as a result, there was a further decline in the church. But then when we get to the 4th church, Thyatira, it's interesting that word Thyatira actually means burning incense. It's the full development of the, of the condition of idolatry in the church that corresponds, of course, to the Middle Ages, as we are well aware.
When Catholicism was a mixture of hedonism and Christendom. And uh, as a result, we have the name of this lady Jezebel in verse 20. Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants, to commit fornication that spiritually of course, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication.
And she repented not Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of her their deeds, and I will kill her children with death.
And all the churches shall know that I am he which searches the reigns and hearts. And I will give unto everyone of you according to your works. Well, what's happened here? You know, Jezebel is at the queen as I mentioned, that heathen Princess that became queen of Israel. And she was the one that was in entrenched in the throne of Israel during the days of Elijah. And uh, Elijah could go up and he could stand toe to toe with the king.
And he could rebuke the king and he did. He caused the, the, uh, he caused the, he prayed. And the fact was that there was no rain for 3 1/2 years. And finally he met the king who had searched all over for Elijah and, uh, and, and uh, Elijah actually speaks to Obadiah and says, you go tell the king that I'm here to talk to him.
And he could rebuke that king, and he brought reign after there was a measure of repentance. But then Jezebel, who was the queen of Israel.
That was one that Ahaz, that, uh, Elijah couldn't stand toe to toe with. Why is that? Because Jezebel speaks of complete corruption. She had completely corrupted the throne of Israel so that there could be no permanent recovery. And that's what we have here. You know, there's three women really in Scripture that speak of the decline of the church. The first woman we find in Matthew 13.
That's the woman that put the leaven in the three meals of and the three measures of meal. And she's a picture of the very early days. And Ephesus, when evil was slowly introduced. There was that those happy days in, uh, in, uh, uh, in the early chapters of Acts when the people of God went on together and there was so much happiness. But then Levin was introduced, wasn't it? The woman introduced those 3 measures of, of, of, uh, introduce that leaven, which is a picture of evil.
Into the three measures of, of uh, meal. And as a result, there be there was that fall that we have in Ephesus and then the pathway was down and down until we have here Jezebel in Revelation chapter 2.
And she's a figure, as we mentioned of the Co complete corruption of the original testimony.
And I just might mention the third one. If we turn it, we won't turn over to it. But in chapter 17 and 18 of Revelation, we have the final stage of the original corruption of the church. And that's of course, the great harlot that's going to be judged during the tribulation. You know, the outward church goes into the tribulation. That's an important point, isn't it? Because we're told to come out of it right now. And so there is the outward corruption of the church.
00:35:14
And the, there's, as a result, there's that which God is going to judge. Uh, just as in Elijah's day, there was that corruption of the Kingdom which could not be permanently remedied. So in the church, the original testimony came to the point where it was so corrupt that God could no longer recognize it. And that happens with Jezebel.
Read on and versus.
UH-24 But unto you I say, take out the next two words. The rest are the remnant in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine in which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak. I will put upon you none other burden but that which you have already Hold fast till I come. He that overcometh and keepeth my works until the end. To him will I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them with an iron rod of iron, as the vessels of a Potter shall he they be broken to shivers, as I have received of my father.
And I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Well, when we were here a year ago, we spoke about these seven churches. And we noticed how that at this point in the church's history, the the church, the outward testimony of the church, has become so corrupt that God now calls a remnant testimony. And I mentioned this because we're speaking about the path of faith.
You know, there's a great tendency today among Christendom to try to get everybody together and yet the word of God tells me that the path of faith today for the Christian is a remnant testimony. Why? Once again, because the church, the original condition of the church has fallen so low that God can no longer be identified with it. We might call it the Catholic Church, although.
I don't want to confuse it with that, which is only called the Catholic Church, but it includes that. But the condition of the Church, the outward testimony of the Church has become so low that God can no longer be identified with it. We'll look at some verses that bring this out a little bit further. And as a result, with Jezebel being entrenched in the throne, as we said with Elijah, he calls a remnant. That's how that word can be translated in verse 24. But unto you I say the remnant.
In Thyatira he begins to separate a remnant now.
He no longer speaks, first of all, he separates a remnant and you have a remnant. Uh, the last four churches have a remnant character. Secondly, he speaks of the Lord's coming. You know, in the first three churches, there was the hope that there could be a restoration back to the original condition of the church. And many people hope that that could happen today. You know, there's a great Pentecostal movement a few years ago and people were hoping that there could be a restoration back to the original days of the church.
What we call the charismatic movement, and that's still a strong movement, isn't it? But I don't believe God is in it because, uh, what we have here again is that the original condition of the church has become so corrupt that God himself can no longer be identified with this outward testimony. And so he takes up this remnant, number one. Number two, he points him rather to the Lord's coming rather than to a restoration of the original condition.
And then #3 you'll notice, and that's what we get in verse 28, for instance. And I will give him the morning Star points us on to the Lord Jesus taking us out of this scene rather than a restoration back to the original days, which was the hope of the first three churches. And then in verse, uh, 29, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches and the first three churches that was addressed to.
All that would listen.
But starting with church number four, it's always addressed after the message to the overcomer. The point is that only the overcomers will be the ones that will hear what the Spirit has to say. Now, why do I, why do I bring this up? I bring this up because I think we have a very important principle here, and that is that the great testimony of the church has been set aside by God. There's no possibility of a resto restoration back to the original days of the church.
00:40:05
As a result, the path of faith according to Scripture lies with a remnant testimony. And I wanna look a little bit more at that principle. Such an important principle, isn't it? Perhaps one that's hard to UN be understood. And yet it's one that we have over and over again in Scripture. We saw it in, in Romans. Uh, we'll see it in Elijah. Let's turn back now to Second Kings. I think we have an illustration of the principles of the remnant testimony there.
We have a few minutes to look at that second Kings Chapter 2.
Second Kings chapter 2 And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elijah from Gilgal, you know?
Elijah, we didn't notice, we didn't read it, but several chapters earlier he had been set aside in a sense. He, uh, wanted the judgment of God to come down on Israel, but God still had a testimony of grace and he wanted to show us grace through this, this, uh, this remnant that we read about it.
And, and Romans Chapter 11, the 7000 that were reserved, I don't know how many millions there were in Israel at the time, but there was a remnant of 7000 that had not yet vowed the need of bail. And so that's the remnant testimony. So Elijah then, uh, was, uh, was anointed at least was, uh, uh, uh, was, was to, uh, take, uh, uh, Elijah was to take Elijah's place. And here we have in this chapter.
That, uh, Elijah, Elijah is going to be taken home. He's going to be raptured home. And we have, in a sense, it's a path, an illustration of the path of the remnant in the last days, the path of faith in the day in which we live. Here we have it. And Elijah said unto Elijah, verse 2 Terry, here, I pray thee, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. Well, we noticed that this first started.
And verse one, uh, Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. You know, these are places, there's four places that are mentioned here in this chapter, the first half of this chapter, and the first one is Gilgal. The second one is Bethel. The third is we read a little bit further is Jericho and verse four. And then the last one as we read a few verses down in verse six is Jordan. These are important places in Israel's history, aren't they? And they have a lesson to us, I believe.
Adds to what our pathway is and the day in which we live. What is Gilgal? You know, Gilgal actually means rolling or rolling away. Gilgal was on the right along the the Jordan River. Jordan River of course we know speaks of death and Gilgal. At Gilgal they were circumcised. There are several things that happened at Gilgal. One of the things was one of the notable things was that they were circumcised.
It speaks of the time.
When the reproach of Egypt that tells us in the, in the book of Joshua was rolled away, they no longer were identified with the land of Egypt. Now there's a difference between the Red Sea and Gilgal or the Red Sea and Jordan at the Red Sea. Uh, what happens is they were separated from Egypt. And as a spiritual picture, we don't have time to look at it, but if we were to go to the book of Romans.
We see that, uh, the Christian is seen as as being in Christ. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, that's the first verse of chapter 8. There's therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. But if I'm in Christ Jesus now as a Christian, what was my condition before that? That tells us later on in that chapter that they that are after the flesh or they that are in the flesh, I should say, cannot please God. Before I was saved, I was in the flesh. Now as a believer, I'm in Christ.
And so that's what the figure of the Red Sea in Scripture is, if any, if, if, uh, it's a picture of me as, uh, being separated from Egypt. It's not a question of sin so much as it's a question of separation from the power of sin. And, uh, I'm no longer identified, uh, with that old man, as Scripture says, the old man is dead. I'm a new man in Christ now.
00:45:09
If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. So when I became a Christian, I was in a new position. I was in Christ. But what skill goal then? And that's figured, I might say by the figure of baptism. Baptism, we go down under the water and in a sense we come up a new person, a new creation. But because I'm a Christian.
Does that mean that I automatically act like a Christian? We still have the old nature, don't we? There's many verses in the New Testament that tell us that we still have an old nature. There's many ifs in Scripture that warn us because we have an old nature, there's a danger that we act on it. And so in the book of Colossians, maybe we'll just turn to that very quickly. Umm, we actually have what circumcision means.
OK.
Colossians chapter 3 we could look at the 2nd chapter. Well, let's look at the 2nd chapter first Colossians chapter 2 and verse 11. And whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting off the body of the flesh, it should read not the sins, but the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. And then in chapter 3 of Colossians and verse UH-5, mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth.
And then it gives some of the typical symptoms of the old nature. And we're told to mortify that. Well, that's what circumcision is. Mr. Darby says that it's a consecration of man to God, which sets, which, uh, sets aside the, uh, uh, practically set aside the flesh. And, uh, it's when we start to act like more, act like Christians. It's not just the fact that we are Christians, but now we're acting like Christians.
And as a result, the reproach of Egypt is rolled away. People don't think of us as worldly people anymore because we act differently. That's what Gilgal speaks of. So that's one step that, uh, Elijah, Elijah followed. Elijah in the second was Bethel. Bethel is another place that's, uh, auspicious in Israel's history. Remember in the 28th chapter of Genesis, we have Bethel. Bethel means the House of God.
That's when there was Jacob's ladder, the gate of heaven. I think somebody mentioned that this morning, the gateway of heaven. And that was the time when promises were made to Jacob. He was leaving the land of Israel. He was going to the land of Heron. And, uh, he was fleeing from his brother Esau actually, wasn't he? And uh, the Lord made unconditional promises to him, promises a blessing, promises about the land that he would preserve for him, promises about his seed, the people he would prepare for the land, and promises made to Jacob himself.
That he would be preserved, That the Lord would preserve him. Well, we have that the Christian is brought into the House of God, aren't we? In First Timothy we're told about the House of God. Let's turn to that well known verse in First Timothy chapter 3.
First Timothy chapter 3 and verse 15 but if I tarry long that's how may I know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the House of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. So the House of God. But you know something had happened at Bethel as a Elijah and Elijah we're walking together. They looked at Gilgal and they saw what it had once represented at once it represented that the people were at unworldly people.
But what had happened now there was altars to idols there. And then secondly, when they went to Bethel, they remembered that that was Once Upon a time the gateway to heaven, a beautiful place, the place of unconditional promises that God made to Jacob. But now what was it, Bethel? There was an altar there, wasn't it? Remember when Jeroboam became king of Israel, he put a golden calf at Dan and one at Bethel. And so there was the, the, uh, golden calf there.
And so the House of God, if we turn to two Timothy, we're told that it's now a great house. It's become that corrupted condition we spoke about before. And as a result, we're told to separate within the House of God to a clean place. And then it goes on to, uh, Jericho and verse four. And Elijah said unto him, Elisha Terry, here, I pray thee, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho. And he said, as the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.
00:50:17
So they came to Jericho. Well, it's a good thing that Elisha was persisted in this pathway, isn't it? And we need to be persistent too, in the path of faith, because there will be many who will try to discourage us. It's not an easy pathway. But what is Jericho speak of? Well, remember, Jericho and the children of Israel first came into the land. That was the juggernaut of the enemy, wasn't it? That was the very first city that they faced, and the very purpose of that city, if we could put it that way.
Was that it was placed there to prevent the Israelites from, from possessing their land. And so it is with the believer today, isn't it? We, uh, realized that, uh, at, at, at the, in the early days, the church realized that the world was very distinct from the Christian and they realized the power of the enemy in Jericho and that it had to be completely destroyed. But what happened afterwards? Remember when Joshua destroyed that city, he proclaimed a curse on it.
And, uh, he said that the place was cursed because it was so corrupt and the world is a cursed place. And he also proclaimed a curse on anybody who would rebuild it. And now as Elisha and Elijah went to that place, what did they see? They saw a city had been rebuilt there. Who was it rebuilt by? A man from Bethel. It had been rebuilt by those who professed at least to be Christians. And what does that speak of? Well, I think that speaks the Pergamos, doesn't it?
It speaks of that illicit marriage. It speaks of bringing the world.
And the church together. And then finally the, uh, Jordan River.
They cross over to the Jordan where, uh, as a result of this corruption, uh, they leave the land of Israel. You know, this is just the opposite of what happened when Israel came into the land of Canaan so many years before they came into the land. They left the wilderness, they came into the land and it was going to be the place of blessing. But what's happened now here in this figure is that the land of Israel has become so corrupt, these ancient landmarks.
That had been a place of such great blessing, had become so corrupt. Now that the Lord had left that place, in that sense, he could no longer own the testimony of Israel. And so they have to leave the land across the Jordan again, and that's the remnant testimony.
Well, I just, uh, wanted to look at one, one verse in Hebrews and this connection.
A uh.
Last verse of Hebrews, just two more, couple more verses I wanna look at and we'll be done. Hebrews chapter 13 in connection with the path of faith. You know, there's such a tendency to wanna join hands with all believers today.
And yet the path of faith is a remnant path. Today we have that in Hebrews chapter 13, don't we? Verse 13. Let us go forth therefore unto Him.
Without the camp bearing his reproach, for here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. You know, the original testimony of the church has been spoiled. We can't go back to the original condition. The Lord calls us out of it to where he himself is. He's outside the great testimony of the church. The church the House of God has become is called the great house. And uh, here's a little different thought, but.
The camp now has become that decrepit, corrupt system which God can no longer recognize. And just as he called Elijah and Elijah across the Jordan again, it's just the reverse of what happened to Israel. They no longer could stay in that land that had become corrupt. And he called them out across the Jordan River. And the Lord calls us out too out of this system of Christendom in a sense, uh, that system which.
Was originally, uh, formed by God, but has become so corrupt that God can no longer recognize it. And so it says, let us go forth therefore unto him, without the camp bearing his reproach. Just want to look at one more passage before I close over in the second Samuel.
00:55:00
You know, this place outside the camp is a place of reproach. It's a separated place for many others who are Christians, some who are real Christians, but it's the place where the Lord Jesus is. And umm, I've often been struck by a question that was asked in Second Samuel 19. Remember the story of Mephibosheth how the, the, how David picked him up when he was at Lodi Bar.
When he was a cripple on both his feet.
A restored to them all the lands of Saul, his father, his grandfather actually, he made him a wealthy man and a powerful man, and he had him sit at his own table. That was wonderful grace, wasn't it? You know, the path of faith. Then the time came when, uh, David was persecuted, he was pursued and, uh, Absalom, his son rebelled against him and David had to flee from the city of Jerusalem.
And some people follow David, and David said, why are you following me? It was just a few years ago that you came as a stranger and, uh, why do you follow me now? On my rejection and reproach. But when David finally came back to Jerusalem, there was one person who hadn't followed David, and that was Mephibosheth. Let's look just very quickly at that Second Samuel chapter 19.
And verse UH-24. And Mephibosheth the son of Saul, came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes for the day the king departed, until the day he had come again in peace. And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore whenest not thou with me, Miss Vivashet? You know, I think Mephibosheth had a good answer for not going with David. But I wonder about you and me today, brethren, we're talking about the path of faith.
The path of faith now is a remnant testimony. It's outside the great system of Christendom that has been corrupted. Doesn't mean we leave Christendom, of course not. But we leave that corrupted system and we follow the Lord Jesus outside of it.
We're just about at the end of the pathway now, aren't we? I've often thought that I don't want the Lord Jesus to ask me that question that David asked. Mephibosheth. Why didn't you go out with me, Mephibosheth? You know Jonathan was a dear friend of David's.
There's a little booklet, I think it's written by Charles Stanley as I remember, and it's called Jonathan or One Thing Lacking.
The time came when Jonathan realized that David would be the next king in Israel. And, uh, they spoke together and, and Jonathan told David that he said, David, after my father is off the scene, you're going to be the king and I'm going to be next to you. But you know, that never happened. Why did it not happen? Because Jonathan did not have the grace to.
Leave his father and be in the place of reproach with David. And so David felt that, and he asked us to do that. Now today, perhaps we don't like the reproach. Naturally we don't like the place of reproach. But I believe the path of faith today is outside the camp. Let us go forth, therefore, unto him without the camp bearing his reproach. I trust that we'll be exercised about that question.
That the Lord that David asked Mephibosheth, why didn't you go out with me? Mephibosheth? May the Lord grant that that would touch each of our hearts, that we might be found where the Lord Jesus is. You know, somebody said recently, just in closing, asking about their assemblies, they said, you know, there's only a handful where we are just 12. And I've often heard that we live in a day of weakness, don't we? But the great question is.
Where is the Lord?
If the Lord's there, does it make any difference whether there's two or three or two or three thousand? Isn't it better to be where there's two or three, where the Lords and the Mets, than with 10,000, a mega church where the Lord's not there? That's the remnant position, isn't it, to be where He is? Let's close our close our eyes in prayer. Blessed Lord Jesus, we thank Thee for this time. We've been over Thy precious word. We realize often with stumbling words, but we thank Thee that Thou hast pointed the pathway out for faith.
We thank Thee, Lord Jesus, for the du instructions Thou just give us directly and by example in the Old Testament of how the outward testimony under man's responsibility becomes corrupt and as a consequence, Falcon no longer be identified with it. Remember the time in Ezekiel when, uh, the cloud departed from the temple and ultimately departed from the city of Jerusalem?
01:00:18
Went back to heaven that the the, the Shekinah glory, the cloud of testimony. And so on our day too, we read in the history of the church that the time came when Jezebel was enthroned really in the church now could no longer be identified with that outward testimony and a remnant separated. And uh, we pray, Lord Jesus, that we might follow thee in that remnant place. We pray for commit ourselves to thee now for the rest of the afternoon. We do so now.
Remembering especially those that are purposing to travel soon, we do so now in Jesus precious name, Amen.