Address—N. Berry
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Well, I just hope that you're as happy as I am to the width of beloved Saints of God. What a wonderful privilege it is. And I also trust that what the Lord has laid on my heart may be for His glory and the blessing of of each each one of us.
What I would like to do is to trace.
For 3000 years.
Through the scriptures, One thread.
An expression that repeats itself often.
Those that were present.
Those that were present.
We have to admit, beloved ones. I want to talk frankly that we're living in dark days and our hearts are growing cold. Numbers are decreasing.
Attendance at the meetings Dropping.
And I'm not standing here now to try to encourage people to come out to the meetings.
But I'd like to show from the scriptures and these thoughts, this thought expressed in the statement, those that are present to see that God.
Has a joy and a reward for those.
Who are attending? And as we trace through the scriptures, I think we will see this born, born out. So let's turn first of all to first Chronicles, chapter 29.
I'm going to have to go rather rapidly, so I would just ask for your attention.
I'm not going to cover everything because it's too big a subject, but you can meditate on these things for yourself and I'm sure it will be for your blessing.
We're going to speak about Great King David first.
He's the first human being that is mentioned in the New Testament.
The revelation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David.
In this chapter we see that he has amassed.
An immense.
Storehouse, you might say.
Ready for the building of the greatest.
Edifice that has ever been built on this earth to the glory of God.
The Temple.
We read in this chapter, not the details of it.
But we will read now where David prays.
Praise.
Verse.
10.
Wherefore, David lest the Lord.
Before all the congregation.
And David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel.
Our father forever and ever. Just a pause there. You'll notice very often that there is that word all it comes to a climax in the next king that we will look at. But here we see already. It's all. You'll notice it repeatedly.
I'd like to say this just in passing briefly.
Up until the days of David.
We have the teachings of Moses and the commandments, but with the coming of David at the threshing floor of Ornan, we see a whole new day dawning, a day of grace. And the teachings and the writings, the words of King David are now going to not replace, but they're going to be built on top of the writings of Moses. And these are the words of grace.
A big a new beginning now?
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Look on into the glorious day of the millennial blessing for this earth. So we see there in that verse we read all the congregation. Now as I said, I'm going to be speaking about those that were present, but I want to show you how that God starts off with the greatest and the fullest and the most complete. And so in the days of King David and then Solomon, there were going to see that all everything was in person, beauty and in God's.
From Indiana, God's Order.
And he blesses God. He doesn't talk about himself. Verse 11. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory and the victory and the majesty. For all that is in the heavens and in the earth is Thine. Thine is the Kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.
All wonderful.
Wonderful. Here it was.
In Israel's heyday, in preparation for the summit where Solomon is going to reign, all now go down to the 16th verse.
Oh Lord our God.
All there's the word all again. All this store that we have prepared to build thee and house for thine holy name. How beautiful, thine holy name.
David was a man after God's own heart. These are indications of how well he knew.
The Lord for thine holy name cometh of thine hand.
And is all again thine own. I go down to the end of the next verse.
In the middle of the next verse, verse 17.
I have willingly offered all there it is again these things. And now have I seen.
With joy.
Thy people, he doesn't say my people. Thy people.
Which?
Are present here.
Have a tendency, beloved ones. I think it's just natural that we pray for those who don't turn up at the meetings.
But I'm inclined to think that Scripture brings before us, and I believe we'll see it as we go along, That God.
Has.
A heart for those who are there who are present, Pray for those those who have a heart to respond to the Lord. And so there he says with these seen with joy thy people which are present to offer willingly unto thee. It was catching, wasn't it? He was offering willing willingly, and the people were responding.
Ones if you go on dear young people that are here today, never mind the opposition, if you make the Lord Jesus Christ the object before you to be in His presence, you're going to taste these things that David is Speaking of. He's speaking here in type. I want to speak to you in a spiritual way. And the blessings I love to see the young ones whose whose prosperity not physical, not material, but whose spiritual growth is very evident, as Paul said to Timothy.
Well, there was the first one. He was a great king. Now we go over into the second of Chronicles.
Chapter 5.
10 years have gone by now. The first one.
I don't know whether I mentioned or not is approximately the year 1015 BC. Now I'm going to cover that 3000 years from 10 BC to 1989 AD.
Now here is 10 years later. The building is up this great glorious.
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Edifice verse one.
I noticed 7 Alls in these first verses.
Everything is all it's now at its great summit. Solomon picture of the Lord Jesus Christ in all his.
Glory and prosperity.
Reigning in the Millennium, but I'm not looking at that.
Side of it, I just want to apply it to you and to me in our assembly life.
Thus all the work that Solomon made for the House of the Lord was finished. Isn't that wonderful? He started the work we read this morning, John 17. Four. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. Here Solomon is saying, the work is finished. God is glorified. Let's go on. And Solomon brought in all.
The things I'm going to speak about those things in a few moments that David his father, he didn't say I'm going to initiate some some new ideas. Here he was following on in the footsteps and the fate of his father in all the things that David his father had dedicated. And the silver notice that the silver redemption.
And the gold divinity God God's.
Divinity and all the instruments. We're going to notice those later on. Just bear them in mind, I believe.
I just suggest this that these would represent the truth.
The person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Apart from that but the truth, the instruments.
You and I, beloved ones, have been given instruments, Instruments, the Teachings.
So valuable or are we listening in the meetings?
So in Needed we have been entrusted with these instruments. David had provided them, Solomon is using them. Are you using those that the teachings that you're hearing, applying them in our life, you're going to be blessed like these people were all the instruments. Put he among the treasures of the House of God.
Well, verse 2 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel.
And all the heads of the tribes, and I don't need to read any more than that. You can see for yourself at another time that they were all there assembled, but go down.
To verse 6 here is kind of a summary. And King also King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel. The whole of the congregation. I don't want to be guessing, but I would feel that there might have been millions at that time because the armies of Judah of Israel combined. This was the United Kingdom.
It went into millions. So here must have been a vast congregation, Must have been so thrilling for all those people to see. The response and the song of praise that went up to God. All the congregation of Israel that were assembled, the whole congregation was there. Now, we're not living in those days, but I want to show you that the responsibility committed to man always causes decline. But I want to have a starting point and showing that in Solomon's days.
There it was.
Everything was in perfection and in beauty, and they all were assembled there according to that.
Verse 3.
You might say, well, those are the good old days.
Good old days. I want to encourage you, beloved ones, that the present day is your day and my day.
Hi babe. Now let's go on a little bit farther to a third one. Now we're going to go on in a number of years and it's no longer going to be in perfection. Responsibility has come in and 500 years have gone by and go over now to the 30th chapter.
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The enemy of the souls, the enemy that is working against us.
We must always remember, I say it over and over again. Satan can never attack me or attack you unless the Lord sees something in me that I'm not listening to him. And so he allows Satan to come in, never indiscriminately attacking here and there, always as an instrument allowed by God to awaken us. And so here now we're going to see the decline.
Starting in, I am not saying this to discourage you. I want to show you that these days of difficulty can be the days when you and I can rejoice, as we will see as the days get darker and the numbers steadily decline. Now here we have the King.
This this king was king Hezekiah. Wonderful man.
He was the king of a divided nation. Now 10 tribes at this time were had been about this time carried away. Why? For idolatry, idolatry, gods, people carried off, never found again off in present day Iraq and Iran and Afghanistan. And there they are.
Gone did Judah, those two tribes that remained faithful to the Lord.
Do they learn their lesson and say, oh what? Look what God has done. They're taken away for idolatry. May we be preserved. No, they didn't. They fell into that same trap of Satan, and he's working in your heart and mind if the Lord sees it necessary. But let's not get discouraged and think, oh, Satan is too powerful for me. Never, never so. But we're learning these lessons, so here we see.
And that in the first verse of the 30s chapter and Hezekiah.
Now this is beautiful. I believe Hezekiah sent doesn't say to Judah and Benjamin. They were the 2 tribes over which he was the king. But what does they do? He sends messengers to all of the tribes. His heart embraced them all. Do you and I, beloved ones, embrace all the believers? Or are we just thinking about a little group with which we are connected? Blessed it is that we are, but our hearts must go out to the whole body.
Here is Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah.
Now, I have to say this that if you look into the story of Judah and Benjamin in the time of Hezekiah, he didn't have a lot of support. There was a work of Satan undermining these people too, and they're certainly going to be carried away. But here is Hezekiah showing that he is his heart is for God. You'll see that he has to be doing this.
It wasn't a spontaneous response from the people, says there Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh that they should come into the House of the Lord at Jerusalem to keep the Passover under the Lord God of Israel. That wasn't necessary. It wasn't necessary. Maybe he could have said, Oh well, they know about the Passover and we can take that attitude, can't we? Now the gospel is going forth. We don't need to be speaking to souls. Oh yes we do.
And we should be embracing all these ones in our hearts. And so.
There he sends out to invite them and the post. Let's go down farther.
Verse 10 So the posts passed from city to city.
Through the country of E freeman Manasseh, even under Zebulun, but.
They laughed them to scorn and mock them, going to taste a little bit of that of her faithful to the Lord, aren't they? Are we going to be afraid when they start to laugh? This is going to manifest your in my state of soul.
He kept on, even though the postmen with their messages, they were laughed at and and scorned. They kept on down to the 13th verse, and there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month. Second month wasn't the second month the proper month, but it was a day of failure.
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And so they could have said, well, we've missed the first month. No, the Lord in his graciousness, he knew this and that there was a permission to have it on the second month. But I'm emphasizing that it was the day of failure.
Congregation. Very nice. It wasn't all Israel. There was just a few. Nevertheless, they weren't discouraged and they had, We'll see in a minute.
Verse 21 And the children of Israel that were present there it is again that were present a lot absent, vast majority absent.
Those that were present? Or are you one of those ones in your home assembly?
That would come under that category that were present.
Let's go on. And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Seven days the perfect time with great.
Gladness wasn't nice to see a happy Christian going on, in spite of all the difficulties that.
Surround us. If we're depending on our circumstances for happiness, I often say we're going to lose, We're going to lose. It must be the Lord. If we're looking for happiness, we'll never find it. If we're looking for the Lord's glory, we will. But here they were, a few of them, small in number. And it says with great with great gladness. And the Levites and the priests. Notice the order. There should have been the priests and the Levites.
Priests that were for worship, Levites for service. Here it's reversed. We're living in a day when service.
Is getting more notice than worship that beloved ones.
It makes me sad to see it.
We must never realize, forget that as priests we are for worship.
Levites for service. And so here was a further indication of the weakness nevertheless. Nevertheless, on they went. Let's finish the verse and the priests praise the Lord.
Day by day.
And it weren't discouraged, even although things were in disorder. Now let's go on to the 34th chapter.
100 years have gone by now.
Decline.
Worse and worse.
Here's the man now on the throne of Judah.
Named Josiah Josiah surrounded by all kinds.
Of difficulties.
Verse 32.
First thing that is mentioned in that verse.
And he caused all that were present there it is again all that were present. It doesn't say all Israel, all that were present in Jerusalem. Smaller number now.
And Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. They weren't altering the word of God. They weren't bringing their opinions to replace the word of God. And that's what we're facing, aren't we, beloved ones?
Opinions replacing the word. May we cling with to the word of God, not seeking innovations. I'm not against change. If it is according to the word of God, I'm sure that we need to adjust. But we need to be close to the Lord, to know what is according to His word in His mind and what is just our own thoughts or our influences. By evangelism of today, I just say that.
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In passing.
Now let's go over, well, the 33rd verse. Nice verse there.
Verse 33 And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel.
There was separation from what we were hearing and the reading, meetings, how it's necessary to judge those things, gross immorality and so on. Here was religious doctrinal evil portrayed by the this idolatry. Here he sees the need of cleaning the house. You dear fathers and mothers, are we allowing in our homes those things.
That are just destroying our children, bringing the world into our homes.
Here is faithful Josiah. He's not a great king, but he's a faithful man. And so here he is cleaning those things and it says that it had affected all Israel. It wasn't only Judah. It says there that and made all that were present. Isn't that nice? All that were present.
In Israel to serve he was.
He was leading them even to serve the Lord their God.
Verse one of the next chapter. Notice that it doesn't say that there was a spontaneous response for the Passover. This, as I said, was 100 years after Hezekiah. Moreover, verse one Josiah kept the Passover. Doesn't say that all the people did, but it says that he was the motivating factor and that he kept the Passover.
They all did, but it was a Passover unto the Lord in Jerusalem was limited, now getting smaller, weaker.
And they killed the Passover on the 14th day of the first month he was.
Not only a restorer of the conditions, but he was a restorer of the word, the word to restorations they often have heard about.
Verse two. And he set the priests in their charges, not the Levites, back to the priests and encouraged them. Oh, I think that's one of them. I don't want to spend too much time on this, but are we encouraging our brethren? Is your life and mind an encouragement to the brethren?
Here is what Josiah said. I want to encourage you. Do you ever say that to those around you in the assembly? If you are doing that, you're close to God because he desires blessing for each one of us. But are you and I an encouragement to each other and encourage them to the service of the House of the Lord? Go down to verse 6.
There, he has to give more instruction, he says. So kill the Passover. They knew all that that had been going on. Oh, I would say for 506 hundred, 700 years since.
Moses Day, they knew all that, the individual homes, the fathers, they had the responsibility. But he has to stir them up. And we need to be stirred up, beloved ones, don't we? We need to be spoken to frankly and in love. And so here, he says.
So kill the Passover or notice this and sanctify yourselves.
Self judgment.
Sanctify yourselves. You had to tell them. To do that. We have to be reminded, don't we? I say this to the young people as well as those of us who are older. May we sanctify ourselves. There can be no sweet communion nor answered prayers. If there are things in our lives that are hindering the sweet communion, they sanctified themselves and And prepare your brethren.
That they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
Right, back to the word.
Today's darken. Now go on farther. Let's go into the book of Esther. Not very far, maybe three books on Chapter 4.
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115 years have gone by now.
No king.
The great king David's gone. The great king Solomon is gone. The faithful king Hezekiah is gone. The faithful king Josiah is gone. No king. But what do we find here? A queen?
Queen Witness.
Who is she? She's a Jewish queen in a Gentile world.
Is everything nice and rosy? Are we looking for the return back, beloved ones to days of ease and affluence?
We are never going to see them again. I don't believe that. Beloved ones. I believe, like my son was saying, it's not only getting bad, but it's getting bad quicker.
And that decline is on beloved ones. And may we take courage from these remarks and all their feebleness. Here was a man and a woman, the uncle and the and the niece.
And Esther is the queen. What does she say in verse?
15.
Then Esther died them, returned Mordecai this answer.
16 verse.
Go gather together all the Jews that are present.
Just a handful now, He didn't say We're going to go at ourselves.
And she didn't, she said. Gather all the people that are present that have a heart.
And what does it say that our present in Shushan? I'd just like to digress for a moment. Shushan is in the South of present day Iran, and all these countries are coming back to the fore, beloved ones. The day is on us when the Lord is about to return. Iraq and Iran and Afghanistan, all these parts, these are the center of the Lord's work in the day after we're gone. And here we have these wonderful lessons.
And it says all the Jews, not all Israel, all the Jews that were present in Shushan and have a feast.
No, he doesn't say that. Says have a fast.
For attending beloved ones, aren't we? Today's a feast.
Entertaining.
Socializing. Our homes are getting bigger and bigger, are we? And we're singing. We're pilgrims in the wilderness.
Doesn't seem to fit somehow, does it? Here was the day for fasting.
Why look at the rest of us.
For me.
And fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, neither day.
And I also, and my maidens will fast likewise. She wasn't just telling somebody to do something, she wasn't doing herself.
She says, you fast and I'm going to fast. They were in earnest. That's what fasting is an indication of for you and for me spiritually. Not necessarily to be going without our food, but if we do do it, let's do it in private. Not talking about it here. She was saying, you fast and I'll fast and notice what it says. And so will I go into the king, which is not according to the law.
And if I perish, I perish death.
That was.
Was facing her, and I don't know what's ahead of us, beloved ones. I believe the last verses of Revelation 3 bring before us affluence and the cry. We have need of nothing. But I believe, I believe it's Mr. Garvey that says that he that just before the Lord comes, he believes that there's going to be an upswing sweep of both affluence and the consciousness of need of nothing and great violence.
We're beginning to have the rumblings, aren't they? Here were the indications.
Of what faced this faithful young, this faithful woman, If I perish, I perish. Is that your attitude? I'm going to trust the Lord no matter what comes. It's not going to be according to good circumstances, but it's the Lord. He's never going to change. He's never going to let us down, but he's going to give us days of testing, I believe, that we've never seen before. And they're coming on us. And we need to plead with purpose of heart to Christ.
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So.
That's all we need to read there. If I perish, I perish.
Now let's go back to Ezra.
The last one of the Old Testament.
Ezra.
Chapter 8.
50 years later.
Darker and darker.
This is not.
In Shushan, this is up in Babylon, farther north.
Many of those Jews, I say Jews because it was Judah and Benjamin that were carried away.
They settled down.
And when the permission was given by King Cyrus to return and provision for them and they had to make a decision, are we going to stay here in this land or are we going to act in faith and go back? Go back where? Go back to Jerusalem. What was the condition of Jerusalem? It was in ruins. Go back to ruins. Go back to God's center.
And the majority of them had no stomach for it. They said we'll stay here, but in the days of Ezra a few said, I believe there were about 40,042 Thousand, one of the scriptures tells us.
Down, down and down from the millions to the 42,000.
Now let's read there in the.
21St Verse Ezra 821.
Then I proclaimed not a feast, but a fast again.
There at the river river of a haven that we might afflict ourselves. Oh, that is not very popular word, is it?
Amos 6:00 and 6:00.
The cry went out.
That there wasn't the affliction, there wasn't the humbling. I forget the how the word goes for the affliction of Joseph. Are we conscious, beloved ones, You dear young people that are here, are you conscious of the fact that we're following a rejected Lord like Jonah? He's been cast out of this world, and this is the one that we are following. And so it's a day that we need to be warned about.
It's a day when we require some fasting.
And So what does it say then I proclaimed a fast there to afflict ourselves before the people know, it says, before our God. Is that what we are doing, or for the effect that it has on our brethren? No. It should be before God to seek for him a right way for us. Is that the desire of your heart? A right way for us? Just for ourselves? What else does it say?
And for our little ones, I am to be frank with you. I am very concerned for the family life amongst us beloved ones. I believe that we are being careless as parents and we're not insisting on obedience with our children.
And I can't see down the road because I may not be around here, but I can just feel it, that if we don't insist on obedience with our children, we're going to have a rebellion. And we see it coming more and more.
Discipline in the assembly is essential for the happiness and the order of an assembly. And discipline equally is required in the home. Here were here was a person. Here where they were. This was Ezra faith. He wasn't a king, he was a priest and he was a faithful one. And here he says seek a right way.
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For you and for your our little ones, and for all our.
Substance.
24 verse 24 Then I separated 12 of the chief of the priests and so on. 12 What's that administrative responsibility? It was in order. He wasn't saying everything is ruined. So it just somebody pick up something and do it. No, He appointed 12 of the priests. He was in order. He was doing things in order. Ezra. Wonderful book to learn from for the present day.
He separated 12 verse 25. I love this verse 25. They're ready to leave now to go back.
To the land. And what's he say now? Verse 25. And weighed unto them the silver and the gold that goes back hundreds of years. And I mentioned that the the articles, these articles that had come out of the Temple of Solomon and here they had been preserved. And so now Ezra says, I'm going to give you some of these. And he weighs that out 3 lbs.
And that was the responsibility of each person, beloved ones.
You and I have been committed.
The truth, the teachings. Do we value it? Are we listening in the meeting? Are we becoming established? We need it. We need it. And so here he is weighing out onto them the silver and the gold and the vessels elsewhere. It says yes in verse 27. And two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold. Isn't that wonderful? That's the testing, the testing, you and I.
Have those testings, and God says they're precious as gold. And so they were.
Weighed out to them, and the vessels, even the offering of the House of our God.
Which the king and his counselors and his Lords notice this? And all Israel.
Their present was all Israel. There, anything but just a handful. But their thoughts embraced all Israel. Oh, how precious it is for you and for me to be thinking of others and desiring that they would be. They're starving these days. Christian groups are just going down so fast.
And all these these new thoughts that are coming in about ultra dispensationalism and humanism.
And the partial rapture, And so on. They're craving for truth.
Are we giving it to them?
I was presenting Christ in all his beauty to other Christians, as well as preaching of the gospel.
There they were in their thoughts, embracing them all and all Israel their present.
That had offered.
Verse 28.
And I said unto them, Ye are holy.
They weren't very holy.
But in the eyes of God they were Notice that what else? It says and ye are holy under the Lord, the vessels are holy. The truth is holy too.
That is beautiful, wasn't it? Are we valuing the truth?
Verse 29.
Couple of words. Watch he watch. Are we watching?
We're watching what our children are watching.
What is else? Say Keep them, Keep them. Don't compromise beloved ones. Keep them and watch.
I see fathers that keep an eye on their boys and their girls. Good fathers.
Good fathers. He saw a family at breakfast this morning and there was the were the children in order? And we just noticed how well behaved the children were. I said to Harry, I'm going to go over and talk to those people. I went over and I congratulated them for the behavior of their children. And then I leaned over and I said, are you Christians? And their faces lit up the whole bunch, including the children. And they said, yes we are.
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Yes, we are. For how important it is to watch, to see that our children are being preserved. And then he says in that 29th verse, Until it's beautiful. Until what? Until?
Uh, at Jerusalem, the end of that 29th verse, in the chambers of the House of the Lord. That's what they were going to carry, those vessels. That's where they want to take them to. Verse 31. Then we departed. There's the leave. Do you depart? I just want to point out that work. We departed. Look at the next verse. And we came.
Left the land, came to the land. That's the way the Rapture is going to be. And the departments were there. One of these moments they departed, and they came to 32 and we came to Jerusalem now then.
Verse 33 Now on the 4th day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the House of our God. They got there. Now what's going to happen to the records? We're going to check the records and so and so he had been given a couple of pounds of the vessels and he says here they are a couple of pounds beloved ones. You and I are going to give an account of that which we have heard.
I say this advisedly. I hope if I'm not listening in the meeting and something is said.
There that I should be listening to and held responsible, And these are the silver vessels and the gold vessels and the brass vessels.
That you and I are responsible for. We're going to deliver them into the glory. How are you going to?
Do that unless it is the purpose of heart that to value Christ.
Value of Christ. Then one of these moments, we're going to depart and we're going to be there and there. We're going to in those thousand years, we're going to be in responsibility according to your faithfulness and mind. We're going to be given responsibilities to replace the angels in the millennial reign of Christ, oh beloved ones, let's get a perspective on our life. Let's not think that life is dreary and it's all going to go on and on.
It's not beloved ones now, I think we.
I've probably covered enough there well.
Yes, I just want to read a little bit of verse 35 and the children of those that had been carried away. Here are the children next generation.
What about our children? Are there? Are they following in our footsteps? I know I'm touching a sense of the spot and I I just don't want to have any person in mind. But what about our children?
Are they following on? Here were the children, Next generation. What are they doing? Let's read it. Also, the children of those that had been carried away, which were come out of the captivity, offered burnt offerings under the Lord of the under the God of Israel. Notice what it says.
For all Israel well taught children, they knew the truth. They embraced the whole of Israel in their thoughts, the children.
Are we teaching our children?
I think that's all we need to do now. We're going to go ahead another 500 years.
Let's go to Matthew 18 and 20.
Here's the culmination of it all.
We looked at.
2 Great Kings We've looked at two faithful kings.
We've looked at one faithful queen.
And we've looked at one faithful priest.
Priests and kings.
They've all faded now. They're gone.
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That all beloved ones.
Here we come to today, to you and to me. Now we have the substance.
Now we have the anti type. Now we have the fulfillment of all those shadows of all those.
Men, even though they lived in those days, who am I speaking about?
And speaking about none other than the blessed Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And what's that say in Matthew 18 and 24?
For where to?
Down to that.
From the millions to the thousands.
To the twos or the threes. Why does it say that I'll just pass on what I believe?
That Scripture is teaching us, and that is that we are going to know what the twos and threes mean before the Lord comes. I believe He's at the door.
But there it is. Now I ask you this question, young and old alike, you're going to get discouraged because it's down to the twos or threes. You go into the meeting and you say, whoa, only 10/15/20 might be a larger assembly, a couple of 100 people.
It's getting down and down and down, but beloved ones, it's all pointing on to 1 glorious person.
Is he satisfying your heart?
Can you say, oh blessed Lord Jesus?
Does not have much glory left in this earth, and he sure doesn't.
Precious Blood of Christ is able to save the 5 billion people that are in the world tonight, today, and many are saved. Of those who are saved and many have a heart for Christ, I don't say that I have.
But to the degree that you and I say, for me to live is Christ, this is what we are going to be called on. I do believe the twos and the threes, not looking for great numbers, but for the person of Christ. Am I going to be negligent about coming to the meetings? I'm not just talking about the breaking of bread that they're usually well attended, for the Lord is there in all the assembly.
Meetings and what is it like in many of them? Empty chairs like this, particularly the first front rows.
My father used to say I want to sit as close to the Lord as I can.
Is he attracting my heart? Is he attracting your heart, beloved ones?
Or, as I said, he hasn't got much glory left now for all that he has done.
It's coming soon.
May he.
And Rapture, our vision? He's going to do it in eternity.
One glimpse of the face of the Savior is going to enrapture our vision forever.
He wants it now.
You want sit down?
And if he does, you and I are going to say I want to be where he is.
Blessed Lord Jesus, may he win our hearts more and more, let's bound prayer.