Address—Bob Thonney
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We started our breaking of bread meeting this morning without him.
Lord of glory, we adore Thee.
We need to be challenged by that title, brethren. Lord, what does it mean? Is it just something we automatically without any knowledge of what it means to use?
With Jesus, Lord, Jesus, I hope, and I say it for myself. I have to sometimes challenge myself as to how I use that. What does that word Lord mean? We don't use it too much in English language. Maybe we say landlord. We know what that means. But one who is Lord is one who has supreme authority, one who has.
The command in our lives, is that really true? Or is that just something we say with our lips without really making it real? That's the challenge that comes to my own heart. I'd like to present it to you too. As we sing this hymn, let's think about it. We're addressing somebody that's sitting in highest glory at God's right hand. Let's mean it when we say.
Oh Lord, we had worthy. I'd like to suggest we stand up to sing this in.
Oh Lord.
Glory.
To God, I want to cry and fall from the tree.
I saw.
Him.
Irish.
Praise, praise and my heart.
Nsnoise.
We walk by faith.
Knotts.
That's correct.
Other so careful for our Lord Jesus.
Glorious man.
For thy precious word. I'll have another opportunity this afternoon. Just open.
We're thankful for thy spirit.
00:05:02
That is the power of understanding my precious word.
In our new siren this afternoon, is that a spirit without liberty?
I get across, we pray, Father, for blessing and help as we open my word, not only for ourselves, but wherever they people may be opening that word, that it would be Her blessing.
We give you thanks and that most wonderful name of Lord, Lord Jesus.
My wife and I have been going over the book of Job in recent times and we came over a chapter that rather I found very interesting and I want to refer to it as kind of an introduction to what I want to speak about this afternoon. Job, Chapter 28.
Job evidently knew something about mining.
Interesting talks about veins of gold and silver.
But what I was impressed with as they read through the chapter.
Were two words that seemed to stand out for me.
In verse seven, notice it says there is a path.
Which no foul north, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen, The lion's whelp have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.
There is a path.
Little further down in verse 12 Says, But where shall wisdom be found, and where is the place of understanding?
Verse 20.
Whence then cometh wisdom, and where is the place of understanding?
Verse 23 God understandeth the way thereof. There is the word for path again, and he knows the place thereof. So the two words I want to draw attention from this chapter.
Are the path and the place. You know, we talk a lot about the place of the Lord's appointment.
And how important that is.
But sometimes, you know, I don't think we focus on the path to that place. And I think that's important. We talk about these things and there are principles in Scripture that are very important to consider in connection with the place that the Lord wants His people to be gathered.
But do we reflect on the matter of the path to that place? There is a path, and it's a path that no foul knows. You sometimes see a vulture way up there in the sky, and those birds have tremendously good eyesight. They can see from way up there a little mouse that's scurrying along the ground.
But they don't see this fact.
And it's figurative of people in this world that have very.
Good sight as to perhaps economic matters as the business matters.
They're like that vulture, that bird of prey up there that is looking down at the ground. But this path is something that that vulture does not see. And this is not a matter of human wisdom, This path and this place. It's a matter of.
Laying hold of it by faith. And as we read before we prayed, we walked by faith, not by sight. Very important principle for the day in which we live.
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We walk by faith, not by sight. What does that mean?
You know when we shut our eyes, when we walk? No, God is.
Give us eyes and we should use them, but it means that we're not guided by what we see.
I did buy something else that is invisible to the.
Natural human eye.
Don't know anything about this. The energy and strength of youth doesn't know anything about this path.
Nor the fierce lion passed by it. And there are some pretty powerful men in this world today. They have no clue as to what we're talking about now, because we walk by faith and not by sight. But what I want to say when we talk about faith, Scripture says very clearly that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
It's just not some idea that kind of pops into my head. That's nothing.
Faith is based on some revelation of God.
And so we have the complete word of God in our hands, and we should be guided by what that says. That's faith that goes by what God said God says, not by what we see.
But by what God says, and that's so important, increasingly I hear of younger people, sometimes older people too.
That do not think that there is a specific place for the Lord to meet with His people here in this world.
And so they go off in other directions.
You know, I'm not the judge of that when it happens. Sad to me because going down to South America, it's the other way around. People are laying hold of what that means and it's not something that you can point to.
Sometimes, you know, we make the mistake of pointing to something outwardly.
If I say to you, young person or older one too, this is the right place, you're gonna act on what I say, that's not faith. I want to give you some of the word of God, some principles that have made it very clear in my own soul as to the position I occupy.
But I'm not going to make myself the reference point, no, because that would not be the faith of the Word of God. So I want to show you some scriptures that have been very helpful to me in making that matter clear. You know, in the old, in the New Testament, when we come over to the New Testament before we do just want to mention two instances.
One is in Luke's Gospel, chapter 22. We're not going to look at it now, but.
There the Lord said to his disciples.
Uh, go prepare us a place that we may eat the Passover.
And Peter and John were the ones addressed, didn't say, well, let's go see what places might be the best. According to our understanding. No, they asked the Lord for directions and the Lord gave him specific directions. He said when you enter the city, there will a man meet you. He didn't say you're going to meet this man. No, the man is going to meet you.
Bearing a pitcher of water, follow him into the house where he goes, you know, that's the path to the place. And we need to be exercised about what it means to walk by faith. And so as they went to prepare the Passover, they had to be careful simply to do exactly what the Lord had told them to do.
They went into the city. A man met them.
Bearing a pitcher of water. Pitcher is a figure of a human vessel, perhaps made out of play, but it's filled with water. Water is the word of God. And so the Spirit of God is able to direct you to the right place. And I just want to challenge you to ask the Lord sincerely, young brother, young sister.
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Older ones too, because I find that sometimes our older ones are the ones that are going off.
I think it's because we have not laid hold of these things by faith. We have related in our convictions to what's outward and visible. Oh, you're just a few little people over there. Do you think you are the people?
It's not about us. That's not the point at all. That's what our humanistic culture has done for us. It's made us focus in on ourselves. What I like, the people that I get along with, the music I like to hear, Those things tend to affect you in your decisions.
That's not the point at all.
The Lord Jesus Christ must be the reference .0. It's so important to have that before us. But I say again what it impresses me as I go between South America and North America quite often to see the difference to the way the culture in this in this United States of America. Thank God for all the liberty we enjoy, but it's doing damage to the Christian faith.
Because it's telling you you have the rights to do what you want to do.
What about Jesus being Lord?
What about asking him?
What about doing what he tells you to do?
So they went on that path, they followed the man bearing the pitcher of water. They came to the place that the Lord had appointed. The place is important, but remember there's a path to that place and we have to, we're going to enjoy this. Know what it means to walk by faith. There was one other example I wanted to mention. It's in John chapter one. We don't have to look at it now either.
But John the Baptist with two of his disciples were standing there one day, and the Lord Jesus.
Was approaching and John says behold the Lamb of God and those two disciples started following Jesus.
And the Lord turned around and said, What seek ye?
In the Lord's answer, brother.
Rob Bullard yesterday mentioned it, or the day before.
3 words, come and see. He didn't say, well, if you go down to that street and that number on that street, that's where I'll be. No, no, they had to be exercised to follow Him if they wanted to get to that place. And I think that's something that applies to you and me today. You want to get to the place of the Lord's appointment, follow him.
It is so beautifully, wonderfully true. You can follow him by reading the scriptures, by obeying what he has to say, not only in collective matters, but individually. Because if you don't obey him individually.
It's not going to last very long. You come to some collective expression of what God wants us to to, uh, express in this day.
So those are two things that show the importance of the path. And then the place. To me it is clear there is a place. But again, I say I remember her brother Chuck Hendricks used to say, I'm not going to tell you where that place is. The Spirit of God is able to lead you there. You follow Him. I might lead you astray, but He will never lead you astray.
I thought that was good advice, so I want to give you 4 portions of scripture that have been a help to me in discerning the place of the Lord's appointment. I trust you can.
Uh, jot him down and think him through. Meditate them on on them. Because I can't say that I've come into a whole lot of understanding.
In a very short time, it's been over the course of quite a few years, the Lord has given me what I believe is the teaching of the Spirit of God in these places, and I just want to present it as objectively.
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As possible. I hope you know what I mean when I say objectively as possible, simply mean that I don't want to use myself as a reference point in connection with it. I want you to see the Lord Jesus as the reference point. I might be there. Or maybe, as Brother Chuck mentioned, maybe I might make a mistake. So please don't follow me, but I want to.
Show you these scriptures and explain them as the Lord has given me.
Understanding.
Consider it, please meditate on it and be guided by what the Lord says. First verse that I want to go to is Matthew chapter 18.
There's been so much controversy over this verse.
And I think it's because we get people in the picture.
But in Matthew's Gospel, let me say this, that we have the Church mentioned twice. It's the only one of the four gospels that mentions the church. Interesting, isn't it? Why Matthew?
Matthew's Gospel is the introduction into the New Testament and what is the main theme of the New Testament?
The church. The church is a word that means called out ones. The gospel is going out and there are people that are responding to the gospel and those who respond and repent and believe in the Lord Jesus.
Are part of what is called the church and so this is the. In the 18th chapter is the second time the church is mentioned.
Let's read from verse 15.
Because that's where it really starts. Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church. There is the mention of the church for the second time.
In the book of Matthew. But if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican.
Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
And I say it to you, that the two of you shall agree on earth, as touching anything that they shall ask, It shall be done for them of my Father, which is in heaven, for where two or three are gathered together in my name.
There am I in the midst of them.
Who's the reference point? The Lord Jesus?
There am I, Am I interested then about this verse? I'll tell you I am. Why? Because he says there am I. It's his words here. And he says where two or three are gathered together.
It's passive. In other words, I'm not the gatherer. There is someone who is.
Gathering, and as we have had in these meetings, the Spirit of God is the one in this day and age who is gathering.
He is active, says in John 16.
He will guide you into all truth. So that's the purpose of the Spirit of God. He dwells in me ever since I believe the gospel of my salvation.
Ever since you believed. And the Spirit of God is what binds us together in one body in Christ. The church is the body of Christ, and so He's there to guide us.
Now tell me.
The Spirit is one. Is he gonna tell you to go One Direction and need to try to go another direction when the truth of God is one, the Spirit of God is one, and the body of Christ is one.
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I don't really think that that's the picture. I want you to meditate on it. Don't take my word merely for what I'm saying, but let it be something that stimulates you to meditate. What God is saying here.
I remember when I worked at Bible Truth Club these years, a number of years ago, a brother from another group of believers came in and we were chatting together in the book room part. He was buying some books and.
We got talking about the positions we occupied and he says, you know what? Bobby says, I think the Spirit of God guides me to go where I go and guides you to go where you go.
I say, brother, be careful. I would prefer to say that I was mistaken in the way I thought the Spirit of God was guiding. Because if we say that both the Spirit of God is guiding both into division, and the Spirit of God would be the author of division. I prefer to say either I'm mistaken, or maybe you're mistaken, or maybe both of us are mistaken, but we can't both be right.
And be divided the way we are right now.
The Lord Jesus is the center, and it doesn't mean that the Lord is not with His people on an individual basis. He is. But when it comes to His collective presence, we have this expression used in Scripture in the midst. It means He's the center.
Because throughout all Scripture, it's really interesting to go through Scripture and meditate on that expression in the midst. And it shows that God has a Sinner for all his purposes. It's the Lord Jesus. And what a wonderful privilege it is to be in the place where the Lord Jesus says, there I am, I in the midst of them.
I leave that for your meditation. Please think about it. To me it has become very precious.
To my soul.
Next chapter The next place I'd like to look at is in First Corinthians chapter 10.
First Corinthians chapter 10 we have the subject of the Lord's fable.
It's mentioned.
Inverse uh.
21.
If you look over to Chapter 11, you have the subject of the Lord's Supper.
That's mentioned in verse 20th Chapter 11.
The Lord's Table.
The Lord's Supper. They go together in Scripture. They're not exactly the same thing. Sometimes people don't distinguish, but the table is the place where the Lord's Supper is to be celebrated.
The supper is what we celebrate in that place. So it's two distinct things, but they're very intertwined in a connected and I find this very interesting portion to meditate you speaking to the Corinthian believers who were intelligent people. And he says in verse 15, I speak as to wise men, judgy, what I say in other words.
Think about it, you have a head on your shoulders. Use it.
Judge what I'm saying, Is this right or not? And so he goes on to say, The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ, the bread which we break? Is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many, are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread. Behold Israel after the flesh. Are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?
What say I then, that the idol is anything or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything but? I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils or to demons, and not to God. And I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils. He cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of devils.
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Well, he begins here talking about the Lord's Table by saying the cup of blessing which we bless, Is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? Why does it put the cup first here?
Isn't it in the breaking of bread we have the loaf first? Isn't that the proper order? Remember, we're not dealing here with the Lord's Supper. We're dealing with the Lord's table. And what is it that gives me any right to sit down at the Lord's table? It's the blood of Christ, the only title I have to sit there. And if you are cleansed by that precious blood.
You too have a place at that table. Maybe you are not occupying that place, but your place is there.
And I think that's so important to understand.
Then he says, the bread which we break, is it not the communion or the fellowship of the body of Christ? Now, when we say the body of Christ here, we're not talking about the Lord's physical body. We're talking about the body which all believers in the Lord Jesus are united together. That is what it's talking about. That loaf on the table represents every true believer in the Lord Jesus on planet earth.
They are represented there.
And there are many who do not.
Express in this divinely appointed way that they are members in part of that one body.
And I see, and I want to be sensitive that so often these things are given up because we start looking at people and failures. We got a lot of them.
Don't start looking too much at me, brother and sister. You're gonna find some failures. I know you will. And you might be stumbled. You know, you can look at brethren for good, or you can look at him for bad. Either way is a distraction. That's not gonna help you. Don't do it.
So it's the Lord's Table, and we have the fellowship of the blood of Christ. We have the fellowship of the body of Christ.
I sometimes give this illustration to help in South America when I'm speaking about this subject. Suppose in one day.
I have the idea that I'm gonna have supper with President Obama, the White House. This is just my idea. I don't really have any invitation, but I'm gonna go and try to get in and see if I can. How do you think I'm gonna fare?
I don't think I'm gonna get past the front gate. I'm gonna be told I have no right there. And that's true. But suppose in one day here in the mail comes a letter from the president. Come and have supper with me at 7:00 PM at such and such a date. OK, Now I do have a right to go in. And so here at the appointed time and appointed.
Our I'm going along the streets of ocean in DC to have Pres. To suffer with the president.
But I'm not walking very carefully and all of a sudden at a corner I I fall in the mud hole.
I got some real problems. What do I do? You know, I still got my invitation in my pocket. I think I'm gonna just go ahead and present myself at that front gate of the at the White House. How do you think I'm gonna fare now I've got the invitation?
And I think they're gonna tell me that I'm not in a condition that is worthy of the president. But I got the letter of invitation.
It will tell me yes, and they're putting a place there for you at that table, but go get cleaned up because you can't come in in the condition you are now. You know, there's sometimes people think that they can come at any moment and ask in the received to the Lord's table right on them spur of the moment.
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No. There are things that contaminate moral problems. There are doctrinal things that impede fellowship as well.
And the apostle here in this portion goes back to the Old Testament to take.
A uh.
Teaching very interesting verse 18.
Israel after the flesh, behold him.
Are not they which eat of the sacrifices partaker of the altar? So he takes a lesson from the Old Testament. Let me make it as simple as possible. You remember.
That the Lord appointed Jerusalem as the place where He wanted sacrifices to be done.
But in the course of time there was division in Israel and.
Jeroboam.
Took ten of the 12 tribes and divided off from Rio Bon, Solomon's son.
And so that the people wouldn't go up to Jerusalem, he set up two other altars with their corresponding idol, a golden calf, one in the north and one in the South, so that the people would go to there and not go to Jerusalem.
There's a teaching here that we need to understand.
And supposing there was a godly Jewish family in the north of the country, and at a certain time he's accustomed to offering a sacrifice to the Lord. And so he takes his animal, and he sets off for Jerusalem.
But on the way he passes this other place.
Oh, here's an altar. Maybe I could offer my sacrifice here.
I don't really believe in that idol, but I'll just offer my sacrifice to the Lord here.
Could he do that?
The teaching that we have here says if he eats of the sacrifice at that altar, he's approving all that is done there. He is connecting himself with the idolatry of that place.
Very important principle. People think that they can go most anywhere, worship the Lord, offer their sacrifices of praise to the Lord. Remember, the place is important if it is a place that has something to do.
With doctrine that is contrary to the word of God, you are showing fellowship with that place.
That's a very important thing, and Paul is using that for the Corinthians because in Corinth there was a lot of idolatry taking place.
You know, Greece had lots of idols, and so they'd have a temple, they'd have that idol in there, and they'd have an altar before the idol. And then after they sacrificed to the idol, they would have a table in there where they would eat the meat of that sacrifice.
Let's bring it down to there. Supposing there's a brother in fellowship, the Lord's Table in Corinth that.
Is going along the street and he passes in front of this idol temple and inside he sees one of his work companions eating at a table in there.
And he says, work companion says come on in here, I got a nice good chunk of meat here I'm going to invite you to partake of.
I know you're a Christian, and so you don't, you don't have to bow down to that sacrifice, but just come on in here and I'll give you a piece of this meat.
Did you do that?
No, why not?
Because if he sat down and partook there, he was showing fellowship with what was involved there.
I want to be careful on how I apply that in today's world because there are many true hearted believers in the Lord Jesus and different denominational structures.
And I don't call them tables of demons. It's tables of demons when there's idols there because there's demons behind the idols deceiving the people. But today's world, there's a lot of what we would call man's table where man has set himself as to be the authority. It talks about in Acts chapter 20 of.
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Or 2121 is 20 of men who would arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. The center is no longer the Lord Jesus, it's them and their particular teaching. And so we have many groups that way today.
And I say, I don't judge people as to their reality of their faith in the Lord Jesus, but it is important where we offer our sacrifices of praise to the Lord. And he says this is another, uh, principle that I think is very important. He says, you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the couple of cup of devils. You cannot be partakers of the Lord's table on the table of devils. Why not?
Because if they did in the table of devils and came and participated the Lord's table, what would that show? That would mean that their fellowship between these two tables.
Impossible for there to be fellowship between the Lord's Table and the Table of demons.
So think about that. Those are principles that are very important as to discerning the place of the Lord's appointment. Time is going fast and I want to continue on to two more. Second Timothy, chapter 2, please.
Second Timothy, chapter 2.
And I say I hope I can present this as objectively as possible.
And I want to say if you think I'm mistaken.
I'm open after the meeting. You can come and tell me where I'm mistaken. I'll listen to you. But I'm not gonna be guided by what you say. I want to be guided by the word of God. That's what's important.
Second Timothy chapter 2, just by introduction, mentioned that in verse 17 we have two individuals mentioned that we're teaching bad doctrine. They said that the resurrection was passed already and they were overthrowing the faith of some. That doctrine contaminates just like that living contaminates. And we have to judge things like that. Not judge the motives of the heart, but judge what's outward and visible.
We're responsible to do that.
And so it says here.
And uh, verse 19 and this is where I wanna start. Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his hand. Let everyone that name is the name of Christ of the Lord depart from iniquity.
I love this verse, especially that first part. This foundation of God stands sure. It will never change. The foundation has been laid and it's sure. Oh, that's a con consolation to my own soul. You know, in the Old Testament, when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, even the foundations were broken up. And when they came back in the time of Ezra, they had to.
Relay the foundations.
But in the New Testament, even though there is a lot of confusion and ruin that has come into the Christian testimony.
Still, the foundation of God stands sure.
You don't have to worry about it. It's here. Sometimes I say I have to dig down through the rubble of my own thinking to get to where the foundation is. But when I find the foundation, it's sure.
It's solid, it's eternal. Thank God for it.
So the foundation of God is sure, but the other part is says it has the seal. There's two parts to the seal. The Lord knows them that are his. In other words, as I look across the Christian profession today, I don't pretend to be able to say who is real and who is not real. The Lord knows them that are his and I don't think we have to.
Bother ourselves to try to determine which ones are real and which ones aren't. But there is on the other part of the seal, something that relates to our responsibility, and it is this. Let everyone that name us the name of Christ, or the name of the Lord, because he's Lord, depart from iniquity. In other words, if I name that name, don't connect that name with iniquity in any form that presents itself, whether doctrinal.
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Or moral, or whatever way you want to talk about it. Don't connect that name with iniquity. We're responsible for that even now, in these days of outward ruin of the testimony.
What are we gonna do? Verse 20. In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some to honor, and some to dishonor. If a man purge himself, and therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
So it's speaking about a great house. You know, in the first epistle of Timothy, it speaks about the church as the House of God. And there was order in God's house in the beginning.
But it has now encompassed so much that it is hard to distinguish who are real and who are not real.
What are we to do in this case? He says there's four kinds of vessels in this house, gold, silver, wooden and earth. And then he adds this.
Some to honor and some to dishonor. You know, it's interesting he didn't say which ones are to dishonor, but he does tell us which ones are to honor.
Doesn't necessarily mean that a vessel of gold or silver are to honor. You might think if you come to my house, I don't have any gold vessels in my house, but supposing I had one, you came into the kitchen and you see that I have my gold vessel as a garbage container.
Is that a vessel to honor?
Afraid it's not a vessel to honor in that position, even though it's gold, even though it's worth a lot of money.
It's not a vessel. Done.
What is a vessel to honor?
If a man notice, it's individual. This is what you and I individually have to be exercised about. There's a lot that contaminates in today's world. Moral things, young people be exercised. God wants to use you, but he can't use you if there's contamination. You know today's world, there's so much.
That is, that hinders God from using people. Somebody told me the other day that *********** is.
Epidemic proportions in this country.
Is there somebody here that's involved in that?
You know what, if you allow those kind of things in your life, it's gonna hinder the Lord from using you.
Don't give it place, purge yourself. This is what scripture says. If a man purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel of honor, sanctified, set apart, meet for the master's use, prepared to every good work. That's beautiful to see young people that are in that characteristic. I I must say I, I really rejoice to see some young people that really take time to be vessels.
Of honor for the Lord. God bless you. God help you to keep yourself pure so that you can be a vessel of honor. I come into my house, I'm thirsty and I need a drink of water. Where do I go? I go to where you keep the clean vessel, clean glasses.
There I have one that's ready to use right away.
Maybe they're all used. So would I do that? I have to go and clean one up so that I can use it. Sometimes that happens, but I say God comes into his house. This is the House of profession, of Christian profession. It's where the name of the Lord is named. And so it's the House of Christian profession. And God wants to use you to do our work. Let me tell you, it's a beautiful thing to see the way God uses people.
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In blessing today, sometimes young people, sometimes even children, sometimes older people.
It was a beautiful thing to me to read about some brother that was supposed to be retired and taking it easy and he decided he didn't want that kind of retirement and he went over some part of the Far East and was put himself in extreme danger.
Uh, to be able to serve people in the name of the Lord. What a beautiful testimony that is.
God wants to use you, and He will use you if you give Him opportunity. But if we allow ourselves to be contaminated, He can't use us that way. He'll have to clean us up before He can use us. So let's be exercised to be vessels unto honor, to separate from that which is contaminated. People don't like that idea of separation, but let me tell you.
If I go to some brother or sisters house and I after the meal in the evening, I offered to do the dishes and you see me that I got the dishes on one side and supposing there's no dishwasher there, but I pick up a plate and put it in the water and I wash it and I put it right back with The Dirty ones. Is the sister of the house going to say anything to me? I think she will.
Supposedly now I've got a whole bunch of clean dishes over in this side that I've washed. All of a sudden I pick up one dirty dish and I put it over there with a clean one. She's gonna say something to me. We don't use those kind of practices in our homes. We take it for granted. But sometimes when it comes to the Lord's house, the great house, we try to practice those kind of things. Doesn't work.
We need to be separate from that which.
Contaminates.
One more portion I want to point out before we come to the end of our time, and it's in Hebrews chapter 13.
Hebrews, chapter 13.
And.
Verse 11.
Here's another portion that has been helpful to me in discerning the place of the Lord's appointment.
For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto Him. Notice the reference point unto Him doesn't say unto the group of people there, no unto him.
Without the camp bearing his reproach, for here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
So here we have another portion that speaks about the camp, and I'd like to try to explain this as simply as possible. The camp is not the same as we have in Second Timothy 2 where it speaks of a great house. Sometimes I think we mix those two things up in our thinking. It is not the same. The camp is the professing House of Christendom.
I should say the great house is a great house is the professing House of Christendom. But the camp is Judaism. It is where those Judaistic practices of the Old Testament were in practice. They had a separated priesthood. They had a temple of stones and gold and silver and fine wood.
Built. That was part of Judaism. They had fine music to worship the Lord. This is all part of Judaism. Also in Judaism, another point was that they practiced tithing. 10% for God, 90% for me.
But this is Judaism and we're called to come out of the camp. We're never called to come out of the great house. We are called to come out of the camp.
What is the camp then today and how do we come out of it in any way that Judaistic principles come to light? We need to come out of it. And I say sometimes, brethren, we need to be exercised. Sometimes we say, oh, we're outside the camp. Are you really?
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Why is it that sometimes enlarged the morning we leave it all to two, or three or four brother, as to worshiping the Lord?
Isn't that a principal of the camp? There's some that can do it, and others. No, I don't think I will.
Careful, you are adopting a principle of the camp.
Sometimes young people like music a lot. I like music a lot, I'll have to tell you that. But when we come to worship the Lord, we don't come for our own pleasure. We come for His pleasure. And what satisfies His heart is worship in spirit and in truth. And so in the New Testament, the only instruments that we have for worshiping the Lord are the heart and the lips.
That's what God wants us to use in praising Him. I don't say that music is wrong, and I don't think it's wrong that we have maybe in our homes. But let's remember this is a principle of the camp is to worship the Lord using musical instruments.
Others think that you have to have a fine, elegant building.
I heard one man say he filled Solomon, really put a lot of money into it in his day. Why shouldn't we put a lot of money into it now?
Because we're not part of the camp, we are called out of it sometimes. I've had the joy of breaking bread with believers under a tree. Where we in the temple.
Yes, because we are the temple of God, not only on the days we come together, but every single day we are His temple. So we are called to come out of the camp.
You know, I just wanted to explain the question of tithing because it's such a big thing and many Christian circles.
And I use this illustration sometimes. I say if you tie, you give 10% for God, 90% is mine.
But when we come to the New Testament, we find that the Lord Jesus paid his precious blood to buy us back for God. Not 10% is His, 100% is His. And if I try to practice tithing now in the New Testament, I'm really robbing God of 90%. It's all his. I'm a responsible steward in using what He puts into my hand, and I will give an account for that in the future day, but it's all His.
So it's so important to distinguish between what is Jewish, the camp, and what is Christian. In this day and age. There are two distinct separate things. Judaism was a religion for man in the flesh. Christianity is heavenly in every way you want to talk about it. So I just leave these considerations to you, young, personal, older ones to.
There are.
Real, specific principles of the Word of God that show us where that place is. Now, I encourage you to think it through, to take the path of faith. We walk by faith, not by sight. If you start looking around, looking at people, looking at different groups, that personalities, I know you're gonna get sidetracked, but I want to encourage you to look to Him.
Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
One further comment brother, that I think is important to make. I trust it will be understood. I've heard the comment made sometimes by.
Maybe, well meaning brethren, that we have the Lord's table.
My response has been we do not have the Lord's table. The Lord has His table. It's His and I should recognize His authority there. It is my desire and my exercise to be at His table.
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And if my conviction was otherwise, I you wouldn't find me here. But it's not my table. It's not our table. It's His table. And it's important to keep the focus right on His glorious person. What a privilege it is to be gathered to His precious name. But that's not think of ourselves when we speak about that, brethren, Let's think about His glorious person.
Time is up, so let's just close with prayer. Father, we're thankful for Thy precious Word. How clearly it speaks to us.
We do pray that Thou hast help us to be grounded in these wonderful principles of Thy Word. Help us, Lord, help the younger ones, help the older ones too. Lord, help us all to continue on walking by faith, not by sight, looking to the precious, infallible principles of Thy precious Word. We ask for blessing the rest of the day now in that most wonderful name of our Lord Jesus.