Vestal Conference: 2002
Table of Contents
Matthew 13:1-14
Reading
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Guide us so, thou gracious Savior.
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My birthday tomorrow.
Night.
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The same day when Jesus out of the house and sat by the seaside, and great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship and sat, and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow, and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up. Some fell upon Stony places where they had not much earth, and forthwith they sprung up.
Because they had no deepness of earth, and when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and choked them. But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit some hundredfold, some 60 fold, and some 30 fold. Who hath ears to hear? Let him hear. And the disciples came and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven, but but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whosoever hath not from him shall be taken away, even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables, because they seem see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
And then them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith By hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see and shall not perceive.
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For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull appearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When anyone heareth the word of the Kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.
This is he which received seed by the wayside, but he that received the seed in the Stony places, the same as he that heareth the Word, and Anon with joy receiveth it. Yet hath he not root in himself, but doreth for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the Word, by and by he is offended.
He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word, and the care of this world, and his deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that receives seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it, which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth summon hundredfold. And some 60. And some 30. Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The Kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field.
But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tears also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou so good seed in thy field? From whence then hath its heirs? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servant said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
But he said, Nay, lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. And in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles, and burn them to burn them. But gather the wheat into my barn. Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The Kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field.
Which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh the trees, so that the birds of the air come and lodge, and the branches thereof. Another parable spake he unto them. The Kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven which a woman took.
And hid in three measures of meal till the whole was leavened.
All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables, and without a parable spake he not unto them.
That it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Prophet saying I will open my mouth in parables.
I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house, and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man, The field is the world, the good seed of the children of the Kingdom, but the tares of the children of the wicked one, the enemy that sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world.
And the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world.
The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend.
And them to do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire, where there shall be wailing a gnash of teeth.
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father, who hath ears to hear.
Let him hear.
Again, the Kingdom of the Kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field. The witch, when a man hath found, he hide us, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who, when he had found one Pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a net which was cast into the sea and gathered.
Of every kind which when it was full, they drew ashore and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
So shall it be at the end of the world. The angels shall come forth and sever the wicked.
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From among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Jesus saith unto them, Have you understood all these things? They say unto him, Yeah, Lord then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a man, that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.
Perhaps it might be useful to set the scene here.
The Lord Jesus, of course.
Truly, Son of God, truly man was on the earth.
And John had announced him. And if we go back to the third chapter.
For free. But what John the Baptist said was Repent ye, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.
That was John the Baptist Gospel.
And the gospel was to the nation of Israel, your king.
Is among you. If they had recognized him for who he was, acknowledged him, they could have gone into a time of unparalleled blessing.
For their nation. Now we know, of course, it was in the purposes of God that the Lord Jesus Christ will go to the cross. But in the first chapters of Matthew, we find that the Lord Jesus Christ is presenting himself as that one who was their Messiah.
Now what was the effect on the heart of the Jews? And, and, and, and, and? Of course we want to separate ourselves in this way from them, because it was in the heart, common heart of man.
Was even though they recognized him for who he was, they rejected him.
And we find that in the 12Th chapter of this gospel, we find that rejection is sealed when they attribute His works, the works of the Holy Spirit as He describes them, to Satan. I think we perhaps should look at that purse.
3124 but this. But when the Pharisees heard, they said, This fellow does not cast out devils by by everybody else above the Prince of devils, and then of course the Lord.
Addressing that as an issue, and in the 31St verse he says, Wherefore I found you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, but blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be given unto men.
And so we see the Lord as rejected in the 12Th chapter. Now this makes this a pivotal time, shall I say, in the, in the history of, of man and, and, and, and of the, and even of the word of God.
Because the Lord is now rejected by the nation. We know, of course, that rejection wasn't complete until He was nailed on that cross of Calvary.
But what the Lord now does is He starts instructing his disciples on that which will characterize the time in which we now live.
This day of grace. And so we find that the Lord is no longer addressing necessarily the total of the multitude. It's he that appears to hear, let him hear. And umm, so he would take up in these parables that which characterizes the day in which we live. As we've been told quite often, there's a gap in the prophetic history. There's a gap between the 69th and the 70th chapter of Gen. of, of.
Daniel And that's the time in which we live. It's the day of grace, it's the time of the church. And then the Lord instructs the disciples here in that which characterizes this day, and he goes on later on to talk about the church.
In and such in this 13th chapter we have, I believe, the first instruction from the Lord Himself. The key verse is umm 1St 11.
And the answers and said unto them, because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven. Now, the mystery in Scripture is not something that can never be understood. It's something that's only understood by the initiative.
And Paul says in Second Corinthians.
Uh, anyway, perhaps I would rather than tell you to say where it is, Paul said. I have not seen, nor ear heard, nor either I've entered into the heart of men the things that God hath prepared for them that love him. That's a straight quotation from Isaiah, and Isaiah had to stop there.
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But then pause it. But but God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit. The deep things of God are revealed to us by the Spirit of God. And here the Lord starts to reveal these things which He calls mistress.
This is Christianity 101.
And the teacher is the Lord.
Brilliant. Why we have ears to hear.
It's very helpful to see what the Lord is doing in this chapter because as our brother has been pointing out in Matthew 12, the Lord was rejected. There was a perfect testimony and the power of the Spirit, and that was rejected, and that was blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. Nobody, none of us can claim that we've rendered a perfect testimony in the power of the Spirit, but the Lord did. They attributed that to the devil, and so he went into a far country to receive for himself a Kingdom, and so he lived.
In a period called the Kingdom of Heavens, now our king has gone to heaven.
Now he's going to come and rule in power, and he's going to reign on this earth. But that is a future time when the Kingdom is going to come in power. But now he's in heaven. And so we get an outline of that period of time. Whenever God does something, he gives us a little outline. I believe at the outset we see that in the first chapter of the Bible He furnished this earth for man's habitation. And so in those seven days of creation, he gives a little outline.
Of creation from the first to the last in seven days, when he separated Israel out and chose him, He gave an outline of Israel's history in the book of Leviticus, in the seven feasts of Jehovah. And if you follow that, you get an outline of Israel's history. And now here he has gone to heaven to receive for himself a Kingdom. And he gives us a little outline of that period prophetically.
That is revealed to faith, as our brother was telling us. It's an enigma to man, a puzzle to man. But the faith?
It's a revealed thing as to what is happening because there's many things that are very puzzling.
Looking at them from the outside, but to the initiated, as our brothers said, the Lord reveals these things by faith. And so you get the beginning.
A sower went forth to sow That was the Lord himself, and all the seed that he sowed was good seed.
The problem was not with the seed, it was the ground in which the seed fell. And so finally you get a development of things through this age until, uh, the end of the age, this period of time outlined in the, in the seven parables that we have in this chapter, There's a verse in a couple of verses in the first chapter of Proverbs that, uh, we might anticipate why the Lord spoke in parables. He's explaining that.
But in Proverbs chapter one.
And verse 2 Solomon writes to know.
Wisdom and instruction. To perceive the words of understanding. To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice and judgment and equity. To give subtlety to the simple to the young man. Knowledge and discretion. A wise man will hear and will increase in learning. A man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels. And this is what I was particularly thinking of. To understand a proverb and the interpretation.
And the words of the wise and their dark sayings. And you'll find that generally men who are not of faith may complete confusion of the parables, but they're plain to faith. And they give us a nice outline of this history. I might say that there's a fourth set of sevens in the Bible, and that's quite obvious in Revelation 2 and three. And what you get there is an outline of the church's history as a responsible testimony here on the earth, not in the character of Paul's ministry.
But in the character of a responsible testimony. And so you drive by a building and it says church and it's got the name on it, or there's a verse on the front and you realize that Christians meet there and these are responsible testimonies, whether it's holy angels or whether it's Bible church or whatever it is, these are responsible testimonies. And there's a history of the responsible testimony here on the earth from Ephesus right to the very end.
At the time when the Lord comes, when the testimony is rejected and laid at sea, and it's spewing out of his mouth.
And the Lord gives his appraisal of the responsible testimony. I say that's not.
In the character of Paul's ministry, because in Paul's ministry, the church is regarded as viewed entirely composed of believers. And if one whether they are or not, if they don't act like a believer, they're put outside of the church. That's not the way John takes it up, but is one that professes to be the testimony. What we have here in Matthew 13 is this thing that we call Christendom, and rightly so, where this circle of profession called Christianity into which men are.
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And how it came to be and the development of it.
It's very clear in reading this that all that are in this sphere of privilege and responsibility have life. Something that's not generally understood, that a man may be in a place of privilege and responsibility and yet not have life, but he's going to be judged according to the profession that he takes. If a man bears the name of Christ in this world, it is a privilege. It's a privilege to bear the name of Christ in this world, but if he's not real?
God's going to take him up and judge him. And it helps us to understand many Scriptures where it says take that wicked servant and slay him before me. It's not talking about a real believer and it's not talking about a Muslim. It's talking about one who was in the Kingdom of heaven, who was in a place of privilege and responsibility and yet did not have life. And this is what we're dealing with here in this chapter is a development of that here on earth.
I just mentioned also in connection with the first verse that he went out and sat by the sea. And you'll notice in Scripture that there are certain symbols. The sea really speaks of the Gentiles.
And the nations and the land speaks of the prophetically speaks has to do with Israel. And so when you see the Gentile power, it's the beast rising up out of the sea.
When you see that one coming up out of Israel, he's rising up. The ram with two horns is rising up out of the land. And so it's a fairly consistent thing in Scripture and so now.
He's been rejected by his own, and so he's turned to the sea, so to speak, and you find that he's now, uh, addressing that situation. This is consistent also with the 1St chapter. Have you ever noticed that the sun and the moon and the stars were set in their place on the 4th day?
Well, why is that? Naturally speaking, you would think that that would happen on the first day, but the Lord, after 4000 years, He came into the world.
And the source of light in this world, the Son of God, appeared and was set in his place. And it was after that that the seas became fruitful.
Oh, it's the the the. These outlines in scripture are consistent if we look into them.
He disowns Israel after the flesh.
The end of that 12Th chapter, doesn't he?
He says whosoever shall do the will of my father, which is in heaven, the same as my brother, sister and mother. Uh, his brethren after the flesh was standing without these arms to talk with him. So now the Lord goes out of the house in verse 13 chapter 13 verse one, I believe the house there would speak of Israel after the flesh afterwards in this chapter he goes back into the house. You see that the further on when the disciples come to.
Ask them about it. Verse 36.
But here the Lord goes out of the house.
And commences with the sower, the sowing seed. The Lord is no longer looking for fruit from this vine. Israel Isaiah chapter 5. It had proven to be unfruitful A and now he's sowing out to the Gentiles.
My brother Neil was telling us it would bring before us God is seeking a new crop from amongst the Gentiles.
That brings to mind another symbol that's consistent in Scripture and that's the house, because the house is a place of profession and it's a, it's a dwelling place. And so there's, there was a house that there was a place where God's name was owned. There was a people that owned the name of God. And as you pointed out, he went out of that house. Israel was rejected. Now there's another house and we get that in Second Timothy because what did the Spirit of God do?
At Pentecost he came down, and He filled the whole house. The dwelling place of the Spirit of God now is in the profession of Christianity. The name where?
The place of God where the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is honored, that's the dwelling place of the Spirit of God now. But we read sadly in Second Timothy that the House of God has taken on the character of a great house. And because of the unfaithfulness of man, there are vessels to honor and vessels to dishonor in that house. But the house presently has christened them. And so the Spirit of God, that's the place that the Spirit of God occupies now. And in the assembly, of course, we trust that the Spirit of God is been given liberty as our brother prayed at the beginning of the meeting to guide and direct.
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But there is a certain responsibility in connection with being in a house, the father says. You know, as long as you're in my home, this is the way you're going to conduct yourself.
And there is a responsibility in connection with being in the House of God, Israel, of course.
Was rejected and now we have this new house, so to speak.
The sowing of the seed is going on today, isn't it? Just thinking of a verse in Ecclesiastes.
It tells us that.
Chapter 11 Verse six In the morning so thy seed, and in the evening this whole not thine hand. For thou knowest not whether shall prosper either this or that, whether they both shall be alike good. And the Lord is using his servants to sow the seed beside all waters today, isn't he? Uh, he doesn't use an Angel. It was an Angel who told Philip to join himself to that chariot there and to preach the gospel to this Ethiopian eunuch. The Angel himself did not.
Preach the Gospel. But he used Philip, later known as an evangelist, to give the gospel.
The Lord uses redeemed sinners today to spread the good news of salvation, to sow the seed beside all waters.
Lovely too, to see that this this seed was sown by the Lord Jesus himself and it's good to see. But as we read those verses down through there, we see the way it's received. It's not always received as it is from the hand of God. And notice too, the great multitude in verse 2. Great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he.
Went into a ship and sat, and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
And he spake many things unto them in parables. Later we find the disciples want to know.
What he meant, and he explains that to them, doesn't he? So that these parables, each one of them, the whole four of them have a character. And we find the Lord Jesus as so good seed, the seed that the, umm, the truth of God is in what he has said.
And it's still as, as Reuben said, the truth of God is still going out, isn't it? The word of God is still being proclaimed. And men, uh, they either receive it in strange ways or they don't receive it at all.
I think of this, uh, the first uh, mention here is the some esot and some fell by the wayside. Well, I think the wayside brings before us the devil's work.
So he, they, it, it didn't reach the heart. It fell by the wayside. Did God intended to fall by the way? No, he didn't. He sought to reach the heart. And Satan comes along, as it says.
Fell by the wayside and the falls came and devoured them up.
And uh, if you connect that over with verse Aviva's verse 19.
When anyone heareth the word of the Kingdom and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one. See, the Lord Jesus gives us the key to these verses, doesn't He?
Each one of them, as I've often said, reading through the Word of God, certain places, things you don't understand. But read far enough and you'll find a key to that.
To that understanding of that verse so.
Uh, verse 19 fits in with our verse 4, doesn't it? The fowls of the air devoured them up. And then it says when anyone heareth in verse 19 word of the Kingdom, he understandeth it not then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart, that he that is, that is, this is he which receives seed by the wayside. So very clearly the Lord goes ahead and explains to us.
What he means by these parables and the others from following also.
It's interesting that.
The Lord in, in, in. Using these parables brings before us certain characteristics of this age.
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And you'll find some common themes run through these parables.
Here it mentions a sower. It mentions a merchant, It mentions a man in several of these.
Parables. Well, who is it talking about?
Is talking about the Lord Himself.
We will find that when the man that the Lord Himself is presented to us in these parables, we find every excellence of love, of wisdom and patience is revealed in that man, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So we find here that the sower goes forth to soul.
When you look at the results, there might have been lots that would be discouraging.
But does the seller quit? No, the seller does not quit. And the gospel of the grace of God will continue to go out right until the end of this dispensation, when the last one accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour.
And so the gospel will continue to go forward. So the the results might be very mixed, very discouraging, and perhaps that brings the next characteristic of this time.
Before us, and I think our brother Little has touched on it.
This is not a time like it will be in the Millennium when Satan is bound.
And so we find that if there's a work of the Holy Spirit to the honour and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Satan will try and mark that work and so that's a common characteristic that the that's characteristic of this time and it will carry on right until the time when the Lord Jesus Christ comes to take us to be with himself.
Notice in our chapter 2 also that down in the chapter he speaks, he gives that verse, Uh, uh, who hath ears to hear? Let him hear.
And now his disciples come to him. The disciples came and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto us to them in parables? I think Neil has already inferred to that, that without the Spirit of God, without listening, without hearing what God has to say, you'll never understand these parables. The natural man can never understand it. He's got them all mixed up. But I noticed here that when he comes to the explanation of these things.
Notice what he says in verse. Umm.
Verse 11 He answered and said they asked him a question, Why speak a style unto them in parables?
Then he says, He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you.
To whom? To those who believe, those that are accessible to this, the Word of God comes to them, unto you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven, but unto them it is not given. Man must first be fear. The fear of God is a beginning of wisdom, and without it you'll never understand anything of the Word of God. It will all be confusion. Have you ever noticed that when you're speaking to somebody?
And you quote the word of God, they say to you, and they disagree with you. They say, well, you see it that way, I see it differently. But that's not what you pointed out to us. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing the word of God. Does it? Does anybody ever said to you, Charles, I don't hear it that way? No, the word of God is playing to an exercise conscience. They say, I don't see it that way. Like it was a difference of opinion. Will your assembly believe this? And you believe that we believe differently. But what does the word of God say? It's plain to faith.
And so there are some things that the Lord puts in enigma. And so Paul said that in Corinthians, he said let him that be ignorant, be ignorant. And so there is a government of God in connection with one who will not hear the word of God. And so that's why it talks about Stony places. I understand that the best soil comes from the breaking down of rock, the crushing of rock and man that like that little hymn and that the children sing, God's word is like a hammer that breaketh the rock and twain we need to be broken down.
To produce good soil, to receive the seed. Man doesn't really believe that he's a Sinner. He's not really broken down.
And so he doesn't really see his deep need of a savior. And it really requires a breaking down of that Stony ground, the crushing of it. Uh.
I understand under the burden of ice we sometimes think people need to be warmed up, but it was a great glaciers that ground on the rock that produced the best soil. And so that's a work of God to prepare the because as has been pointed out, it was good seed, but the the ground was bad.
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This fifth verse it says some fell upon Stony places.
Where they had not much earth, and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth, and when they sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root.
They withered away. Now go over to verse 20.
But He did receive a seed unto Stony places, the same as He adhereth the Word, and none with joy receiveth it. Yet hath He not root in Himself, but during for a while, or when tribulation come, or persecution ariseth because of the Word, by and by He is offended. Isn't it lovely? Now the Lord is explaining we. He gives the parable to the crowd, to the multitude. Then when the disciples asked Him, He begins to explain those parables.
And it's very touching to see that this Stony ground.
Is, is, uh, just the fact that they hear something, they hear the word, but uh, and it's with joy, you know, we're not told that I know some of us when we receive the word of God where it was joy for a while, but then there were trials. Come God test that, he'll test your faith. You may have trials after that.
And so receiving it with joy was just in the mental thought in the in the head. It wasn't in the heart. So he says in verse 21. Yet he hath not root in himself, but dirth for a while when tribulation or persecution.
Uh, uh.
Ariseth because of the word by and by he is offended too bad gone doesn't believe in anymore because the trials have come. God is testing that faith. God will test your faith no matter who you are, no matter how young you are, no matter how old you are, that faith of yours is going to be tested. How what is the reception? How do we receive that? Do we receive the test? Do we accept the test or do we turn away from it? And I think that's.
The thought in connection with the Stony places where he had not much earth. In other words, the thought is in a Stony place. Things don't grow very well, do they? My poor father had a farm in Pennsylvania, all full of stones. Us kids has to go out and pick up stones in a stone bowl, but he couldn't grow anything there. Too many stones.
The carrots would grow with a cricket coming up to the ground, so we see the example that God gives us here, he says.
It it where when they had no, not much earth, they sprung up, didn't have much earth, they didn't have anything on the ground, nothing to hold them, so he says.
Yeah, the verse 5 where it had not come on earth and forthwith they sprung up because they had no depth of earth, there was nothing to hold them there.
Wind comes along and grows them over. So we see that here it answered the Lord answered that prayer that that, uh, parable in verse 20 Stony places.
And to complete the picture, some fell among thorns. That's right. And that is interpreted by the Lord, verse 22 as.
Being the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, which choked the word, so that you have all three.
You have the, uh, the wicked one coming, taking away the word. That's where the devil prevails. And you have the person who doesn't have much root. Persecution comes and he's offended. That's where the flesh prevails. Then you have the world coming in and there's cares of this world and of course that's where the world prevails so that the seed is unfruitful.
How does going I'm sorry I'm often parcel just now I.
Read this parable and.
Even look at the Lord's explanation of it and say, well, which of these categories of four people would you call saved? Umm, And I wonder if that's even the right way to look at this parable. Maybe I should. I would appreciate some comments on that.
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Well, he's really taking up profession in Matthew 3013, I believe, and the reality of profession. And so we get that also in Hebrews. We don't get that in Paul's epistles because Paul assumes everybody who is in the assembly is real.
But in Matthew and in Hebrews, in Matthew 13, here and in Hebrews, you get profession. Also in Peter and in James and in the epistle and Jude, you get profession. But again, as I say, in the assembly, Paul, look at the addresses to the assembly. He, he owns it. Everybody is real. And if they don't act like they're real, they're put out not as a beloved brother, but they're put out as a wicked person. But here you have profession. And so this can be true of me too, of my heart too, that.
The seed can fall on Stony ground and so that's why the exhortations in Hebrews come that were to hold faster profession. It's not because a person can be saved and lost, but a person may be professing something and not real God. Maybe there's somebody here who's passing as a Christian. God doesn't want you to abandon your profession, He wants you to make it real.
He doesn't want to chase you out. Perhaps somebody's professing something. He wants it to be real. And so I believe that that's why the side of things that we have here. And so that's why it says it's impossible to renew them to repentance, That if one abandons a profession of Christianity and goes off. And that's why it's such a serious thing when somebody who professed the name of Christianity is happening in this land, many turning to Islam or to, uh, to Eastern religions and so on.
They've even abandoned the very profession of Christianity is a very, very serious thing.
But that's really what he's bringing out out here is what response does the word have in my heart?
So a Christian might find himself in the position of being a as as one who was.
A seed among the thorns that the players of the world and and and choke the word of God and there isn't fruit in his life. That person may be a a Christian rather than just a professional. I understand. Is that what your point is rather?
How did thorns come in anyway? Where do we Why do we have thorns? Because of sin?
And sorrow.
They came in after the fall, didn't they? There was no thorns before that. But I was just thinking of this. Verse 8. But others fell, No, but verse seven And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and choked them.
And someone has already mentioned in verse 23 says he that has received the seed among the thorns as he that heareth the word, the cares of this world deceitful and riches, I think Luke says, and the cares of other things. We can even have over care in our families, in our homes. And it can rob us of that truth of the truth of God. We can be so occupied with it. So it's it's not only it says.
Doesn't say there was sin there. It just says and he, he that received seed into the good ground, he no, I'm sorry. Verse 20/30/22 He that received the seed among the word, the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, deceitfulness of riches. He's going after something else. And then it says choke the word. It's choked. He can't develop.
He's not enjoying the Lord. So it's a it's a solemn question isn't to think of that and it says umm, and he become a unfruitful God is looking for fruit in our lives, isn't he? He's looking for us to produce fruit. And if we're full of cares as dear Martha was, the Lord says you you're caring about many things, but one thing was needful and Mary had chosen that good part.
So I just thought of this here, where in in, uh, far among corner. It doesn't. Verse seven is the only verse that mentions the thorns here at that point, and some fell among thorns. The thorns sprung up and choked.
So that's all it says about it, but those thorns can be very, very fatal. Sometimes we can hear the word of God. And I remember going one place and met this young man and he was, he, uh.
00:45:04
He was accepted, he had accepted Christ and he was going on happily for the Lord.
Sometime later I went back. He's no more with a He's no more enjoying the Lord at all. Something had come in and robbed him in his soul. Well, there was a thorn there somewhere. Something had happened.
Some care, perhaps some some riches, I don't know. But he was no longer in the joy of the Lord. And isn't that true? Isn't it so that God's desire for you and for me is that we might be the in the enjoyment of that glorious heritage that we have, which is Christ. So God's desire is for us is that we might be in the enjoyment of that, that we might in injustice into our hearts.
We might ingest it. We might enjoy a person of Christ. What a glorious inheritance we have.
A couple verses, might want to turn to Psalms. Regards Brother Little just brought out. It was very helpful. Psalm chapter one.
Verses came before my heart and I enjoyed it much with myself.
Some one and two.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And we see the result of that in the next verse. And he shall be like a tree.
Planted by the rivers of water, to bring us forth His fruit and his seasons. And his leave also shall not wither, And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. I believe the key here is that the meditation of the Lord's word day and night.
And there will be fruits that will be the result of that, and we will prosper in that fruit.
I believe this question that Brother Dave Rd. has raised is very important for us to realize. And this is important in a side that's neglected. Dear Martin Luther labored under a system where they believed that they could be received remission of sin by burning candles and giving money to the church and so on. And he was just so glad to find out that just shall live by faith. But when he came to the book of James and it said faith without work is dead.
He called the Epistle to James the Epistle of Straw, and troubled him.
And I think sometimes we so far swing over that we want to know.
The saved side of things that we don't understand the truth here that there's fruit. If a man is truly saved, there's fruit for glory. And this is what our brother's been bringing out. The first Psalm really is speaks of the Lord. He's the only man who fully fulfilled that. But it's true what that which is true and him is true in US. And so the proof that a man has divine life is that there's fruit. And so, uh, that's why this chapter is so helpful because it's taking up profession.
And people want to say, well, who are you to judge me? I know I'm saved and I gave my life to the Lord Jesus, and I received the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior.
But that's not the line of things that is being taken up here. What has been the response of the seed in the soil? What kind of soil has the seed been received into? What is the fruit? People say, well, judge not that ye be not judged. And so they, they, we are, every one of our hearts tends to that. But what is being taken up here and in the book of Hebrews is there's a profession, but is the reality to that profession? And again I say in Paul's line of things, it's different. There's now therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. And so here was a man who was acting.
In a way, in First Corinthians 5 that completely denied he was a child of God and so he was put out of the assembly, not as a beloved brother.
But as a wicked person.
And they questioned the man in second Timothy two there were vessels taught in the.
House Again, we have that in our chapter in the great House there were vessels to honor and vessels to dishonor. The point was not whether they were real or not. That is irrelevant. The fact was that those vessels were to dishonor.
And so a man had to purge himself from these. And so we get this line of things we need to move on in our chapter. But I believe that it's essential for us to realize that because there's a great deal of people objecting very violently. Well, I know the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior, and you shouldn't judge my behavior and I won't judge yours and so on. But what we have here is what has been the response of the good seed and what kind of soil is it found its lodging place in?
To be correct to say that the first three bring before us profession.
And only the 4th, the seed that fell on good ground, would bring before us reality. I was thinking of some verses over in the in Jeremiah chapter 17 connected with rather Brother Brown has mentioned also.
00:50:14
Jeremiah 17 beginning at verse seven. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is, for he shall be.
As a tree planted by the waters, refreshing, developing, growing, isn't that beautiful? And that spreadeth out his roots by the river and shall not see when heat cometh. Find here in this parable that when the when the when the trials came, they, they, they melted, they failed. But here it says when, when he cometh.
He shall not see when he cometh.
Well, why is this? Because he has his eye upon the Lord Jesus Christ, so he says, and then?
Uh.
But her leave shall be green, and shall.
Not be careful in the year of drops, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. How precious this is. God's desire is that we bear fruit, and if we can't there, no fruit is born if we're not.
Near to the Lord Jesus, to the refreshing stream of God's mercy and goodness.
How precious this is, and it isn't how much we know. I often think of that. It's not a question of what where we know all the details of chapter 13. It's just whom we know. Are we enjoying what God has given us?
That's a very interesting thing. We had that in our meeting at Vessel the other night, whom we know, whom we know, a person of Christ.
Just a notice, a burst in Mark's gospel chapter 4, where the Lord is speaking about, uh, we have before us here too, the uh, thought of the parables and verse 13, Mark chapter 4, verse 13. And he said unto them.
Know ye not this parable?
And how then will ye know all parables?
So the understanding of this parable gives us understanding in all the parables. What is it that's key about this parable that, uh, helps us to understand all of the parables?
I believe it brings before us two things, God's sovereignty. He sowed good seed. The seed was all good and man's responsibility.
Every work is initiated by God.
The sower here while our brother alluded to those that go and sow the seed, and that's true, that the sower here was the Lord Jesus Christ himself, and every work begins with God himself.
I'm glad you turned to Mark four because just in commenting, there's a very false notion that Christianity is growing and going to take over the world and and Christianize the world and so on. But you'll notice.
In Mark, if you've opened it there, it said Mark four and eight and some other fell on good ground and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased and brought forth some 30 and some 60 and some 100. You get a different order in Matthew's Gospel. In Matthew's Gospel, some 100, some 60 and some 30. And I had this thought in connection with it as the profession is declining.
The outward character of Christianity is in decline, but in Mark's Gospel he takes up the servant's work. The servant ought not to be discouraged, because there's nothing going to be lost at some 30, some 60, some 100.
Perhaps another has another thought in connection with this, but we need to be preserved from the thought that is rampant and Christendom that Christianity is going to reform the world and conquer the world and so on. What we see in this parable is a declining state of things.
I would just like to mention that.
Lord has given us.
She does supply through His word. I just wanna give a word of encouragement.
And that's the question is, have we solved today?
Is there anything that we have sold for the Lord?
As I say, this is passing because there are many golden opportunities, so the seed which the Lord gives us.
00:55:06
This morning.
Did you leave a track or a Sunday school paper or thank you card for the maid that made the road?
What about the coffee shop? We made it this morning for your breakfast.
Give something to the waitress that served you. What about the cashier that made your deal?
Friends are our many opportunities that we as the Lord's people.
And sold that precious seed in practical ways.
I just want to say this more encouragement.
This is moving down to the 15th and 16th, 1St, I believe it brings up this question that was raised earlier that I raised earlier about hearing and not really hearing.
And blessed are your eyes and see that we see things because we believe.
But it is possible for a believer to be blind.
You see that in Laodicea that they were going on. And again, I say that shows that it's not really taking up the assembly as it is in Matthew 18 or as in Paul, because the Lord is standing at the door. He's not in the midst. And there's no promise to come in and commune with them collectively of any man, not if any man, if any man hear my voice. But how does he describe them? They're blind. And then Peter said, giving all diligence to add to your faith.
And he says if a man doesn't add these things to his faith, then he's blind seeing, not afar off. And so we can be as blind men, even though we're real believers. And so that's really what man wants, to see things. But if we really lay hold of the truth by faith, if we hear the word of God, then he's going to cause us to see things.
A woman who covers her head in true obedience to the Word of God, not just because that's what they do.
One sister who is in fellowship with us, once somebody asked her why she covered her head. She said, well, that's what they do at the church where I go.
Well, if somebody does that in well, but if somebody does that in real faith, then they're going to see the truth in connection with that. We walk in the truth. We'll see these things, but we'll never see them if we don't really receive it by faith in our hearts.
See that the Spirit of God gives the understanding too, doesn't it?
Get that in verse 23.
It's not only says hear it, but understand it. So it reminds us of Luke 24 when the Lord opened their understanding.
So it's nice to see how the Spirit of God does work in the good ground, prepares the ground for the seed, and there's fruit and the heart and lies of those that believe and understand.
How can a man be held responsible, though you may question, when he can understand it?
Like in verse 19, he hears the word of God and he understandeth it not well. How is he responsible therefore?
Remember, brethren, that the Lord makes the word of God so plain that the wayfaring man to a fool.
Need not are therein. That's Isaiah 35 and people do not understand the word of God because.
They won't have it. They don't want to receive it. Uh, the truth of God does not enter through the intellect, it enters through the conscience.
And these folks here, they receive it quickly with joy. Uh, the conscience has not been reached. The.
They were sinners and so they endured for a while and then they fade away. I think there's a mistranslation in the, in the book of Acts there when they received the word of God there, this is Acts chapter 2 and verse 41. It says then they that received the word were baptized. Omit that word gladly. Uh, you may have a lot of this gladness and so forth at revival, revival meetings and so forth in, in the world, but.
Generally you get very superficial results. They receive the word with joy and uh, they are soon offended and they turn aside. But the the truth of God has to enter through the conscience, giving us to realize that we're sinners in his sight.
And then God can work by his Spirit.
Because we're tested, every child of God, every everyone in this room, everyone, whoever accepted Christ as his savior, God is going to put him to the test.
And sometimes those tests can be pretty severe because God is trying to bring out the reality of that soul.
01:00:09
Since you mentioned that about baptism, that's really how we enter the profession of Christianity. We just make that note is that people come into the profession of Christianity by baptism. I was at a friend's house in Halifax. He was a Catholic and he got saved and his, umm, he was telling me he's praying for his grandmother that she gets saved. And he said his grandmother was a professing, well, she was a Catholic and she said I'm praying that grandma will become a Christian. And his grandmother said to what are you talking about?
And I said, you need to tell her she needs to get saved. She's in the profession of Christianity. She bears the name of Christ by baptism. Maybe how it was done and who did it was not right, But she bears the name of Christ by baptism. And he said, well, I'm a Christian and I'm not baptized. I said, well, that's a strange thing. His uncle was base commander of Halifax. He said, what would you think of your uncle Jim went to the Army base and you never wore a uniform. He said, well, that would be a strange thing. I said, well, that's the way you are. You're in the profession of Christianity and never put on the uniform. He said to me, the next time you see me, I'll be wearing the uniform.
And I we need to be simple about these things, but I'm glad you raised that point.
I also want to point out something in Hebrews.
Umm, in connection with this having received the joy the this umm Hebrews 6 and verse 4.
Because this sometimes verse is used to unsettle ones as to being saved and lost, the possibility that one who is saved and lost. But I think it's because the church has generally has confused this idea that one can be in a place of privilege and responsibility and not have life.
Her brothers spoke about responsible, for it is impossible for those who are once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted of the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, if they should fall away. To renew them again to repentance, seeing they crucified to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to open shame for the earth, which drinketh in the rain, and cometh off upon it, and bringeth forth herbs, meat for them by whom it is dressed.
Receiveth blessing from God. It's possible that there is a young person or an older person who has been right in the meetings and they've enjoyed. They've been made partakers of the Holy Ghost, not embroiled by the Holy Ghost, but they've enjoyed the fellowship of God's people. They've been raiding them. I don't think we realize what a blessed thing we have. They've gone to conferences on the West Coast and the East Coast. They have friends everywhere. They've been in the very enjoyment and bosom of Christianity. And they say, I don't want any more of that.
And they leave that profession. And here in Hebrews, the danger was that they would go back to Judaism. But some have left the very profession of Christianity and gone to Islam or to, or to, uh, even Buddhist religions and so on. Well, the word of God gives a very serious and sober warning. But it's possible for a person to have been in the very enjoyment of the same blessings of one who's gone to heaven and not be real. Not the one who is saved should be lost against, but one who has enjoyed the blessings of Christianity and not be real.
With the joy of life.
Do you lose weight at this time later?
On.
Where you are my father?
In the hands of all.
01:05:13
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The Grace of God
Grace
1 Peter 2:9
Matthew 13:24-40
Reading
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.
Oh my God, we are.
Saying.
Father, Father, the God of all grace, by grace we stand. What have we that we have not received? Where would we be who are not for Thy sovereign grace? Reaching down, picking us up, making us thine own, bringing us into Thy very family within dearness and dearness of Thy Son. Blessed God, all eternity will be too short to utter all Thy praise for Thy matchless kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.
We thank thee, bless God for the Spirit of God to join this little interim of time, and we see our Savior face to face who delights to minister Christ to our hearts and to occupy us with that eternal scene to which we are journeying on to.
We do pray now that as we open the sacred page that we may have teachable spirits and that we may realize it is the Word of the living God, that Word which will live and abide forever when heaven and earth will pass away, and may it have its effect upon our lives and our manner here below. Do look to Thee for Thy help as we wait upon Thee, giving thanks in the name of our precious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Amen.
Matthew chapter 13, verse 24.
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The Kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field.
But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
When the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tears? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him With thou then, that we go and gather them up. But he said, Nay, lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers gathering together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn. Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sold in his field, which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree.
So that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. Another parable spake he unto them. The Kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the hall was leavened. All these things spake Jesus under the multitude and parables. And without a parable spake he not unto them, that it might be fulfilled. Which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things.
00:05:07
Which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house, and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth a good seed as the Son of man.
The field is the world, the good seed are the children of the Kingdom, but the tares of the children of the wicked one, the enemy that sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels.
As therefore the tears are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of the world.
The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of peace. Then shall the righteous.
Shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like under treasure hid in the field, the which when a man hath found, he hide us, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who, when he had found one Pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that is, that was cast into the sea.
And gathered of every kind, which when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down. And gathered the good into vessels, But cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world. The angels shall come forth and sever the wicked.
From among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire, there should be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Jesus saith unto them, Have you understood all these things? They say unto him, Yeah, Lord then said he unto them. Therefore every scribe which is instructed under the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a man, that is a householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.
On the 1St parable we had the Lord as the sower and the seed was all good.
And we had before us the condition of the soil into which that seed was received. And the 2nd parable we have the Lord is the sower again, and the seed is all good. But we find men in responsibility here. It says, Well, men slept, The enemy came and sowed tares. And so we find Paul to the elders at Ephesus, telling them to keep watch over the flock of God over which the Holy Ghost had made them overseers. But they didn't.
And so we see very early in the history of the Church that Tares came in. It was the work of the enemy to bring in those. They were distinguishable.
From the wheat, but they grew up with the wheat because there was not diligence in the things of God is to watch over that. I just point this out in connection with sleep because sleep is used two ways in Scripture. In the original language, one has to do with the condition of the body. And so we get that that when Christ after the Christ rose from the dead, the bodies of the Saints that slept arose. And so the apostle Paul's body is asleep. His condition now is he's in the glory unclothed. His body is in a grave somewhere.
And we perhaps have grandparents or brethren whom we love, and their body is in a grave. Their bodies are asleep. Scripture never speaks of a man dying and being in soul sleep. That's an error of the enemy. But many people are alive and they're in sole sleep.
Believers and unbelievers alike, the rich man was in a state of sleep.
But he certainly was not in a sole sleep in hell, because he lifted up his eyes in Hell.
And he was conscious, he lived this life absolutely unconscious of his peril and so on. But it's possible that his believers that we could be in a state of sleep because it says here while the men slept, the enemy sold so terrorism. So we get the same thought in First Thessalonians 5. Let us not sleep as those that sleep in the night is that it's possible for there wouldn't be an exhortation if it wasn't possible for us as believers to be asleep.
And also.
We have the parable of the 10 virgins. They all slumbered and slept. Five were real and five weren't. Five had oil in their lamps and five didn't. But if you were walking by, they all looked the same. And so here we find man in responsibility asleep, and the enemy does his work. And so the work of oversight to keep watch over the House of God is an important work.
00:10:17
The city of Jerusalem had walls and gates and bars, and it was for the protection of the God's habitation and peace. And so it's well worth reading the book of Nehemiah to see.
What happened when there wasn't carers to that, how the enemy actually got a place right, a lodging place right in the, the enemy of the truth of God got a lodging place right in the temple. Uh, because there was, there was an insinuation of one who had no business being in there, being there. And so we see the fruit of it. Another thing that we see here is that when we fail in responsibility, there is no remedy.
Turn the clock back, so to speak. And so they asked him, you know, should we go on? Uproot the terrace and no.
And so it's great mischief to think that we can reverse the damage that has been done in the profession of Christianity by unfaithfulness. Ours is just to go on faithfully for the Lord.
And and hang our heads in shame that we have not been faithful in what the Lord committed to us.
I think what Neil has brought before us is important because.
We are talking here of the responsibilities of Christians.
In the administration of the Church in the world.
Where the Lord goes on to deal with that of course in the 18th chapter, but with.
We made the 25th chapter.
By all slammers and slipped. They all slambered and slipped. There's none of us that can say that we have fully lived up to our responsibilities as Christians.
I believe it's Mr. Darby said that at the end of each dispensation we see the utter failure of man in whatever responsibility God had given him.
His superior faithfulness on our part, I think we've got to confess our part in the general failure. Those that sleep are not aware of their responsibilities. And we see the divided state of the Church in its outward form, shall I say, in this days, because men have slept. And I don't think any of us can separate ourselves from that and say I've always perfectly lived up to my responsibilities.
That doesn't apply to me.
And so I think it should be careful. We should be careful as we know that we have that privilege of being gathered to the Lord's name. We should be careful that we never, ever claim any credit for it. It is by his grace alone.
That we have the privilege of remembering the Lord in His death, according to His word, Lord's name by Lord's name. May we continue so until He come.
Just another interesting thing in connection with this word sleep.
That it's not always a bad thing to be asleep because the, the word that is used when it said the Lord slept in the boat was not the sleep of his body, but the sleep of his soul. If I may put it this way. He was oblivious to the storm that was going on around him. And you know, a brother pointed that out to me when there was all this hysteria about Y2K and somebody said to him, you've got to listen to these prophets of God. You can't ignore the prophets of God. He said there may be a storm because of things coming on the earth.
And the Lord may allow troubles, but the word, I have no word of the Lord to be excited about it. And there was a storm going on and the Lord was asleep. And we would do well to sleep when the Lord sleeps and get excited, if I may put it reverently, when the Lord gets excited. And I think often we occupy ourselves with things that we should not occupy ourselves with, and then we're negligent in those things that we should be aware of. And then afterwards we just have to hang our head and say we were chasing a.
We're just chasing a balloon, you know?
These things come and go, and then after a while then people realize it's like chasing those bubbles children blow. They get tired of chasing them, and they turn us. The effect is that they turn aside from the Word of God. We need to be diligent in those things God's directed us and to leave all these worries about whether there's going to be oil in the ground and the ecology and all the rest of it and computers and all the rest of it. Leave it with the Lord.
00:15:18
Well here in Matthew you have 6 similitudes of the Kingdom, 7th one is Matthew 25. So it's interesting to see that the military is a likeness of the Kingdom.
So we know that this is not the gospel of the grace of God.
But it's a similitude of the Kingdom. What's going on now? The Lord has sowed that good seed, but it's being mixed up with everything else. And so the, uh, the fact that they fixed finilitudes in this chapter and then the 7th one, of course, is in Matthew 25. And it's very interesting to read that how that just noticing here.
Uh, they say.
Verse 27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, dost thou not so good? See.
In the field which then has these hazard tears, he said unto them, An enemy had done this.
The servant said.
Unto him wilt thou then that we go and gather them up now.
He said, he said to them, Nay, lest while ye gather up the tears, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the time until the harvest. At the time of the harvest I will say to you, to the reapers. Who are the reapers? The angels.
Gather the, gather the together the first appears and bind, uh, bind them in bundles to burn them. But we know this is not really the gospel that we preach. We don't do that. Says and, uh, and gather the wheat into my barn. That's the principles of that Kingdom, isn't it, that he's bringing out from here.
And this is not the church, people say, well, you're not to root the terrors up. This is not the church. This is the Kingdom of heaven, that sphere of profession, but the Lord, the word to the Lord is very of the word to us in the assembly is very clear in Second Corinthians, umm.
2nd Corinthians, chapter 6.
Verse Chapter Verse 12. You are not straightened or narrowed in us, but you are straightened in your own bowels. Now for a recompense in the same I speak as unto my children, be also enlarged. Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? What communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them.
And walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and I will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and my daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Come out from among them and be separate, and I will receive you. That's the word to the assembly in connection with this. What we have here is we're to be separate. We often think about well.
How does the Assembly receive? We should receive he who the Father has received, and the condition of that is to be separate from this religious confusion.
And we shouldn't receive what the Father hasn't received. And if a person refuses, the word is to those that are going on in this confusion, come out from among them and be separate, and I will receive you. Man wants to continue in that religious confusion.
Then we see what the word of the Lord is. But here in the Kingdom of heaven they were just to acknowledge their failure of having slept, and just to let the tares grow up together and to go on in faithfulness, in a pathway of faithfulness.
I think in First Corinthians, of course, the apostle distinguishes between those that are within and those that are without, and I think there's the area there of our Christian responsibility relates to those that were within.
00:20:02
The principle is that those are without that are without God judges. And so, as you say, it's quite right. Our word is to separate.
The word to ask is to separate from that which is without, from those tears that we find without. We uh, umm, I was thinking too of, you know, uh, to put a practical point on it. When the, uh, uh, a pestle, sorry. When the apostles, right, the Galatians. I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you under the grace of Christ, under another gospel. Is that a tear, brother?
Well, I did.
Back out there, there are lots of tears and I think you're right to say, well, we separate from them. It's not just separating from tares in First Corinthians, and I hope I didn't confuse things by my remark, but it's those that refuse to separate themselves.
From that confusion and so if I'm happy to go on.
In confusion, then I can't be received. That's what that's the truth. I've gone beyond what is here. The point that he's really bringing out here is we cannot remedy that state of things and Christendom, the the wheat and the tares are to be allowed to grow on together.
There's three spheres of things in Ephesians chapter 4 might be profitable to look at. Sometimes that's fairs and such things. You see a a balloon Bender and he has a balloon one blown up inside of another.
And so you might have three balloons. There's a little one inside, a bigger one outside, and then a big one outside that. And that's three spheres of things that are mentioned in Ephesians 4. Starting with verse four, there is one body.
And one spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling. Only true believers are dwelt by the Spirit of God. Only true believers in this time are part of the Church of God. That's that very insight.
Spear. Only that which is real is part of that sphere. There's another sphere outside of that one Lord. 1 faith, one baptism. That's the sphere that we're taking up in our chapter in Matthew 13.
It's characterized by those three things, one, Lord and the Kingdom of heaven is a sphere of things in this earth that owns the authority of Christ in heaven 1.
Lord, they own him as Lord, they take that name.
Christ is Lord 1, Lord 1 faith. We're part of the same faith. We follow that Lord one baptism. That's the door, the entrance to that sphere. To be brought into that sphere, you have to come into through the door of baptism, the government of the sphere that owns the authority of Christ in heaven. He's gone from this theme.
It's the time of the Kingdom of heaven. The king isn't here. It's a mysterious form of the Kingdom. There's a coming day and a coming form of the Kingdom when the king will be here and he'll take his rightful place and he'll take up all events failed in and responsibility to God, and he'll discharge him faithfulness. But that's not the day that we're in. He's gone and he's in heaven. There's a spear that owns. He's there and he has all authority and power.
They own them as Lord and they come in through baptism. Doesn't mean they're real. They may be real. You know that inside balloon that's part of the sphere of the outside one, it's included in it, but all that's in the out. The other sphere may not be part of the very center. All that professes Jesus is Lord is not real. There's some that's not. There's another sphere outside of that. The next verse one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all.
That is the sense. In the sense of creation, He is the Father of all as creators.
All of creation comes into that sphere, whether they own Christ as Lord or not, whether they've been baptized or not, they're in that. So as those who are real, we're at all three. We're in the very center. There are those who are in the next one that are not real, but they own Christ as Lord and have come into that spirit through the door of baptism. And there are all the rest that are outside. And the last clause was adverse. And in you all is like an arrow that comes right to the center. Again, He's only in the true believer.
So Christ is in heaven now these parables are given, that we might know how to conduct ourselves in the day of of His absence from the Kingdom.
00:25:05
In a sphere of profession where there are those who are real and there are those who are not, and the 1St.
4 parables and we'll distinguish those. The first one is a parable, the rest are similitudes is rather little pointed out. And just as a little side, there's 10 similities in Matthew and we need all 10 similitudes of the Kingdom to really get the full picture of the Kingdom of heaven and the full instruction of the Lord.
As a how to conduct ourselves Or is the parable or the similitude of the talent of the the marriage of the King's son, of the wise and the foolish virgins, and of the unfaithful servant who grabs the other one by the neck and demands what he's owed. We need all those similitudes to have full instruction for our souls as to how to conduct ourselves in this day that we're in. The primary feature is is that it's a mixed.
Sphere of things and how will we know all these parables, except we know the first one that brings out He's so good seeds. But there's been various results in the hearts of men.
And the consequences come out in the similitude. We need to know that first one or will not understand all the rest but the first four given to us.
And this chapter have outward features that aren't a mystery to the world. They've seen the rapid rise of Christianity in this world. They've seen it grow and spring up, the blaze springing up while men slept. They know that there's people who are real Christians and people who are.
They know the difference they've seen this thing grow should have been a the smallest suburbs into a tremendous mustard tree and and become that which is the protector of every kind of vice and awful thing in this world. They understand those things that there's evil doctrines promoted bad things. They understand that, but then there's the last three. That's what's precious to the heart of Christ, that treasure hid in the field. They don't see that.
That Pearl of great price, the Church of God. That's right, the Kingdom of heaven is a different thing than the Church of God. But we get a little picture of what's precious in the Kingdom of heaven to him, that center sphere, the Church of God.
And then those fish, the good ones left on the shore, and the good, the bad left on the shore, the good gathered into vessels, all those who are the objects of God's counsels and purposes in Christ, the objects of his affection and Christ's affection. The last three are the secret of the heart of God. He says, Now I want you to see what's precious to me. Here's the first, Be separate from this. Know how to walk, but now see what's precious in my sight.
See what's valuable to me, you value it. There's a couple of things to notice here just so that we can move along to some of those precious things, is that the tears were bound into bundles. And the notion that there's going to be one world church is not really entirely scriptural because he says bundles. And So what we see the act of before the harvest we see, and I believe we particularly seen it in the last century, century and a half, is these bundles being formed.
Of those that are manifestly tares and it's the work of the of the angels doing that and they're being prepared for judgment. And so within the Kingdom of heaven, those are those groups that are very obviously and very clearly not composed of believers. Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, these these damnable heresies that have arisen the, the ecumenical movement. They're they're the bundles into which the tears are being bound. And so the call is.
For us to be separate.
And the other thing I'd just like to reemphasize, I think it's been brought out about the fruit and our brother mentioned that in connection with the 26 versus a verse in Romans and then go back to Hebrews 6 Romans.
Chapter 8 and verse 9 because it describes a true believer here in verse 9.
Of Romans 8 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
How do we know that the Spirit of God dwells in an individual? The answer comes now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is not of his, doesn't say have not the Spirit of God, but have not have the Spirit of Christ. How is it that I know that somebody is saved and indwelt by the Spirit of God as he manifests the Spirit of Christ? And you look at the gospels and you see the Lord Jesus answering the devil, Man shall not live by bread alone.
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But every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God is a very frightening thing, when a believer takes up the word of God and says, you have your opinion and I have mine.
Because the character the Spirit of Christ is that he took the Word of God as the Word of God. The Spirit of Christ is that our brother brought before us obedience.
Submission This is the this is the proof that one is indwelt by the Spirit of God. And if you don't see that proof the Spirit of Christ in an individual, then a.
Person doesn't belong to the Lord to get that thing. Also in Hebrews chapter 6.
In connection with this.
Because I mentioned this in connection with profession, but Hebrews 6 and verse 9.
We'll be reading from verse 8 because it's speaking about fruit here.
Maybe read from verse 7. But the earth which drinketh in the rain, that cometh often upon it, and bringeth forth herbs, meat for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessings from God. There is fruit for God, but that which bear thorns and briars is rejected, and is nigh under cursing, whose end is to be burned. So both are receiving the rain. But here in the ninth verse. But we. But beloved, we are persuaded better things of you.
Things that accompany salvation, though thus we speak. And so he spoke as ones that professed, but he was persuaded to these ones that he was written better things, because they had that which accompanied salvation. They had in the language of James, they had works with their faith.
And noticing here the in verse 31.
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The Kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which.
Uh.
Which a man took and sowed in his field, Which indeed is the least of all seeds.
But when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree. So the birds of the air come and lodge in the tree, lodge in the branches thereof. Well, the Kingdom of Heaven says, is like or likened unto this grain of mustard seed. It's a very tiny little seed, but it takes root in the earth, and it grows into a tree. And who lodges in that? And who lodges in that tree?
Well, I read this a little picture to us of all the, uh, doctrines and all the isms that these teachers come and they lodge in that tree. It's good seed that was sown. But here it says which indeed is the least of all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greatest among herbs and become of the tree. So that the birds of the air, I speak of the unclean, the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
So they're in those, they're in that sphere where the Kingdom of God is. And as has been already pointed out, they're not real at all, but they're lodging in the branches there they are.
Men are listening to them, they have all their, the religious elements with them. And we find here that God exposes that, doesn't it, That we have to see that for ourselves. So it's great. I remember one of the older brother mentioned that to us years ago about the, the, the, the umm, all the various ones with the CLA in the cloth, you might say, that are lodging in the branches of that tree.
It's a religion within.
So there's no reality in it at all.
But the seed was a good seed.
Yes, in the history of the church, the.
Church, instead of taking out, being content to take a outside place, you're not of the world, it really, the Roman Empire died and the church took the PLA, the professing Christendom took the place of the Roman Empire and so it got a place of power in this world. And it's a very serious thing because there's a great deal of that today, the church occupying a place of power and for good in the world.
That it was never intended to have.
00:35:01
It was a herb, it wasn't a tree, the mustard plant, and yet it became that. And it is a similitude that that is what has become of Christendom. It's become a great thing, accommodating thing in the world.
It's interesting the reason the Lord gives you know, we see a front side mentioned earlier the the infinite wisdom and patience of the Lord in as as as the the man here, umm the servant, say unto him, well, they'll go, wilt thou that we go and gather them up. Now of course, we've seen examples of this in the professing church.
Umm, probably the most striking example was the Inquisition where?
Umm attempt was made to root out that which was, uh, of course true to the Lord. Umm, in umm, the Song of Solomon, we they talk, she talks about the vines.
For our vines have tender grapes, and so that fruit that we, umm, have read of in the previous, uh, parable is very tender. Umm, if we see that which is honouring and glorifying in the Christians life, that's good to see it, but it's very tender. That's why the Lord in the 18th chapter begins to talk of offences, because that fruit is easily damaged.
And so the servants here in their perhaps their enthusiasm to serve the law, they would have gone out and ripped up all those tears. Well, I appreciate there's the aspect of profession that we've been bringing out, but there's also a practical aspect here that as we see growth in the Christian, we encourage that growth. We may also see some things that concern us. Well, we've got to have wisdom as to how we deal with those issues because.
Otherwise we'll like these servants, We stunt the growth, we cause an offence, the fruit is spoiled because we don't have the Lord's mind somewhat sometimes in how we deal with these things.
Verse 33.
Another parable put he unto them. The Kingdom of heaven is like. Good to remember that.
Not really it's it's likened to it says is likened umm uh, the Kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven which a woman he took and hid in these in three measures of meal till the whole was leavened again thinking of the good seed of its planted.
But along comes this woman as he were, and she hides in it. Leaven. Leaven is a type of sin. And so the Lord explains this, doesn't he very clearly that, and we find that.
Not to speak against the Sister here, but the many of these evil doctrines.
Are led by women.
I want to name them over, but many, many of those evil doctors, those wicked doctrines are led by women.
So here it tells, it brings that out, he says, uh, why? Which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the hole was levered.
All things of farce, not the not the seed that God sowed, but it has become that by what has been put into it, added to it. We know that man likes to add to things. So I just think of it here, these various stages of the Kingdom of heaven. So we're in a sense, we're in the Kingdom of heaven. We are.
But because the King is up in glory.
And that Kingdom of heaven is territorial. We're down here.
But there's reality in that, too.
So we find that later in our in the familiar self as to responsibility, the Lord said thou sufferest that woman. I have this against thee, that thou sufferest that woman, Jezebel to teach. And so the meal was fine. The fine meal spoke of Christ, but it was not the fine meal that was the problem. That was wonderful, but what was needed into it. And it wasn't just sin like poison or contamination, but leaven is active living evil.
You know, you take leaven and it's a living thing. It's not a static thing and so it's needed in.
And so these doctrines were needed in and contaminated. So yes, the the, uh, eternal sonship of Christ is held as sinless humanity as virgin birth. But what is needed in with that and the woman?
00:40:16
It was is not to teach, as you pointed out.
And the church is not to teach. The church is the bride of Christ. And we've often heard people say to you, well, what does your church teach? The church is not to teach, it's taught.
It's taught by the servants of the Lord, and it's taught from the Word of God, from its living head, his head over all things, to the Church.
He raises up his servants to teach, but the church is not to teach. People say, well, what does your church teach?
Doesn't shouldn't teach anything. It's to uphold the truth.
One of the writers, uh, I've forgotten now which one it was, might have been CHM or one of them, They put it this way, They said they did not feel that, uh, false doctrine was, uh, something that sweeps itself in all at once, but it's a little at a time, fed in to the truth of God a little bit at a time. And after a while it's, it's, it's in there and you can't get it out.
So I, I'm not quoting it exactly, but that was a good point that it's not a question of the whole thing sweeping right in like that. We, we'd say we'd be frightened, but it comes in a little at a time, little false doctrine at a time and creeps in and it permeates the whole truth of God. Thank God for the, the word that we have that we can be maintained and kept by the Spirit of God according to the word, being deceived by all the isms and all the.
Uh, doctrines that are coming in and there's more of them all the time. Almost every other day you hear of some doctrine, some teaching new age movement or, uh, about the, of the person of Christ.
And talking to the man that I met, he didn't even know Christ.
In knowing I said the Lord Jesus Christ was not only man.
But he was God. Oh, he said. That's a false doctrine. That's false doctrine, I said. If that's all you have, you certainly are on your way to a lost eternity.
Because Christ is my saving and He was God.
He went under the cross for me, bore my sins. Who else could do it?
So I think it's, it's, uh, good to see that. And that's insidious because he said, well, I believe in Christ.
But he didn't. He didn't know Christ.
So we gotta remember that too, that there are those that make that profession, but there's no reality at all.
Like we mentioned earlier that the unregenerate men can't appreciate these parables.
And I think in the three measures of meals we get the parable that is most, shall I say, misapplied by.
Shall I say professor in Christendom?
And the thought is as expressed by such that eventually the gospel is gonna take over the world and there's gonna be this growth, shall I say, of Christianity that is eventually gonna take over the world. And that's there seems to be their hope. But I think it's important to notice that Levin always speaks of sin. And So what we have here.
Is what we've had before us. It's the introduction of that which is dishonouring to the Lord, and eventually the whole is leavened. Now something else I've noticed about this too.
Why are three measures of meals?
Here we get 3 measures of meal mentioned elsewhere in scripture. Well, we do.
We get it in the 18th of Genesis, when the Lord appeared to Abraham and the plains of memory three men. The Lord appeared in that form of three men to Abraham on the frames of memory.
And notice what Ibrance says to Sarah. And Abraham hastened into the tent, and Sarah and said, Make thee ready quickly. 3 measures of our meal.
Needed to make cakes upon the heart.
What is that? 3 measures of meal? It's a meal fit for God Himself. What does God delight in? God delights in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so I think that's what we get in those three measures of meals, that which God delights in presenting the person of the Lord Jesus Christ to God, which I'm sure we will do tomorrow morning.
00:45:11
Notice how easily the leaven would spoil that meal. And that should be a lesson to us. I think there's the, shall I say, the prophetic application of this. There's also the practical application too. How easy it is. There's a little bit of lemon can.
Spoil that meal which is fit for God, and that's presenting the person of the Lord Jesus Christ to God.
Way where we, we, we, we may. When we do that, we be careful of any living anything associated with the flesh being introduced to that meal.
This is why it's important not to confuse the Kingdom of heaven and these Spears that our brother Steve was speaking about in the assembly, because the assembly's responsibility, according to First Corinthians chapter 5, is to purge out 11.
Because the assembly is a pillar in support of the truth. Because as to the reality we see in our parable that the whole lump is going to be leavened. There is no remedy. There's going to be no turning back of the clock, but what God has preserved as a testimony to the truth. And the leaven is to be pro. We're not to eat the bread with the leaven of malice and wickedness, and we're not to tolerate wicked doctrines to the person and work of Christ, and we're not to tolerate moral behavior, that is.
Uh brings dishonor on the name of Christ because it's leaven, but let's not confuse.
Be realize that Christendom is going the entire lump is going to be leavened till the whole be leavened.
Exodus 12 is a couple of verses here. I think it helped us to read.
Regarding the 11 loving bread.
12 and 18.
The first month on the 14th day of the month and even we shall eat unleavened bread till the one and 20th day of the month at even.
Verse 19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses, For whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel.
Weather he be a stranger or born in the land, believe that speaks very clearly how God.
Wants separation to be brought about. If there's any kind of leaven at all, it has to be totally separated.
That's just the first time we I believe we read of leaven brought out like this.
Where's the connection to what we're having here right now?
I just point this out in that connection because we remember the Lord in his death, and there's a loaf with leaven in it on the table. And at Pentecost 2 loaves were waved before the Lord, and they had leaven in them, because Christ our Passover, He was sinless, spotless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and as thus there could be no leaven in that at all. But the loaf we have on the table reminds us that he made him to be sent, he who that knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, and that he condemned sin in the flesh.
And so we see that the lo, the leaven in the loaf has been through the fire and it's not an act of living thing anymore. And so we see the pictures is wonderful in Scripture. But as to this leaven that is brought into the meal, it's not to be brought in as you pointed out.
And the assembly is a place where the truth of God is to be maintained. It's not the government, it's not Christendom. Lo each has a responsibility to maintain the truth that everyone that bears the name of Christ, it falls on everyone that names the name of the Lord.
In First Corinthians, it's the responsibility of all them that call upon the name of the Lord, both ours and theirs.
That if a man calls in the name of the Lord, he bears the responsibility to come out and to be separate from that which is evil.
But if my brother won't come out, it doesn't mean that I shouldn't. And if I won't, don't go on with me.
In Leviticus 23, where we have the feasts mentioned there just going down in that, uh, chapter, verse 15 And he shall count unto you from the Morrow after the Sabbath which has begun, brings us to the first day of the week. And as it's already been said, the day after, from that day that you brought the chief of wave offering seven Sabbath shall be complete.
00:50:07
Even unto the Morrow after the seven Sabbath, which is again the 8th day or the first day of the week.
You shall bring verse 17. You shall bring out of your habitation two wave loaves of 2/10 deals. They shall be a fine flower. They shall be bacon with lemon.
Uh, they are the first fruits under the Lord. The point is that that leaven has been killed by the, by the heat. It's been put in the oven and destroyed. Who destroyed the leaven? Who took care of that for us? The blessed Savior himself. This is connected with his remembrance, isn't he? The feast of the Lord in the Leviticus 23. But it's a precious to see that.
That blessed one on the cross, he went through the oven, he went through the suffering for us and so it's gone all in the person and work of Christ. How precious this is to see that we beg that we don't we don't use remember the Lord with with unleavened bread. Use regular bread because it's been put in the oven. The fire has been applied to it. The leaven is dead.
So were the precious savior. It's a, it's a very lovely thing to think about that. And that's, uh, I'm not too. I can't say that I enter into it all, but I enjoy that fact that that blessed one who bore all the judgment for him.
We have to mention at the house again, and I think rather literally had a thought on that this morning that might be worth repeating since the he, he leaves the House of I, I presume that's Judaism in the first verse. On the 31St verse, he goes into the house and I think they had a thought on that. That might be well repeat them at this point, I think.
Is that the house that we get in First Timothy?
3 and 15 But if I carry long, that thou mayst know how thou honest to behave thyself in the House of God, which is the pillar of the living God, sorry, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and round of the truth.
He goes inside and begins to instruct the the the disciples in in the details of that which he had already missed outside.
I'm glad you mentioned First Timothy because I simply mentioned Second Timothy this morning, and in the beginning it was so that the House of God was in order and so he could own the House of God as the Assembly of God.
But in Second Timothy this house has taken on the character of a great house because of the unfaithfulness of man.
And so he gives instruction in Second Timothy as how to behave ourselves or not to leave the house.
We can't leave the House of the profession of Christendom, the place where the Lord's authority is owned in an outward way, as our brother was saying.
But in Second Timothy Chapter 2, we get instruction what we're to do when there's vessels to honor and vessels to dishonor in that house. I believe it's also true that in we get the house in Acts, so they said this morning.
The Spirit of God came down and filled the house, the whole house, and so the Spirit of God will lead wherever He's given liberty.
And and is at work wherever he's given liberty, but.
Again, of course, in the assembly, because we're in that house, we ought to give the Spirit of God liberty. Man has to restrict the freedom of the Spirit to act and systems because the Spirit of God would break up the systems if he was given liberty.
I think in Second Timothy it's described as the Great House.
Now in first Timothy, of course, the description that I referred to the term the House of God is in opposition to the phrase which is the Church of the living God or the church, of course, is the called out ones, literally the clawed out ones. And so the church here would include, would only include reality. It would not include profession. I, I, I, I, I first remedies, second Timothy, it's the great house.
That would include the profession also.
Hopefully here the way the Lord in our chapter again, going back to our chapter, uh, verse, uh, 34 all these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables unto the multitude. They didn't understand this. He spoke to this to them, uh, and and he spoke in parables.
00:55:18
Without a parable speaking not unto them.
But his disciples were there too, and they wanted to know. So I just thought of how he says and and then Jesus sent the multitude away. It's like he was saying, well now you go, I've got something to tell my own.
My people.
Got something else to tell them, something you would never understand? But he didn't say that, of course. But here Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.
Nice, Sarah, See that isn't it? It goes back into the house. And his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable, The tares of the field go back to that again. And so the blessed Savior, he says.
He answered and said unto them, either soweth a good seed is the Son of man. He didn't say the Son of God. He said the Son of man because as Son of man he's going to take, he's going to assume all his re, all his glorious responsibility in this world, everything that will be headed up under the Son of man in the coming day. Isn't it so as he says here, he answered and said to them, verse 37.
He that soweth a good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world.
Field of the world, the good seed of the children of the Kingdom.
But the tears are the children of the wicked one.
Is that clear? The Lord Jesus explains this to them.
And if we're in the right spirit, He can, we can understand that and enter into it all, but we can understand it. See the difference between that is which was real and what is not real. So we have that truth brought out here, don't we?
In the in this in this account of the parables of the Kingdom.
Now what you were mentioning and what brother Steve was mentioning brought this to mind is that, you know, even unbelievers, they say, well, he's a real Christian. Sometimes their language is more intelligent. People say, well, he's a Bible believing evangelical fundamentalist, born again Christian. We talked that we hear people talk that way. But uh, unbelievers put it very simply. Sometimes they say, well, he's a real Christian and they can tell the difference between wheat and terrorists. But what they don't understand is why God is allowing this to go on.
My Barber said to me once. He said why doesn't God get rid of all the bad people of the world? I said I'm very glad he didn't.
Because I would have gone straight to hell and.
Let this go on together.
Why Mansfield and responsibility? But why? Because the weeds still growing up.
And so man doesn't understand this. He looks and he says, well, if there's a loving God, why does he allow this to go on in the world suffering and so on? Because the.
We're having to suffer along with everybody else and but the Lord is patiently waiting for the harvest and he sees the end. Mr. Darby warned against the way that the gospel was being preached in the last century with a mass appeal to the flesh of man through.
Entertainment and music and so on, But he said it doesn't worry me as most people think, because all the good fish are going to be caught.
But it does have a damaging effect. And so we see when we understand these similitudes, these mysteries, He takes us into the house that as it were, and we understand this, that the Lord just patiently allowing this to go on because souls are getting saved.
And we know the end from the beginning.
But man looking at it outwardly, he just sees a breakdown and confusion and so on. And he says, well, who's to say who's right? There's so much confusion and all they see is confusion and Christendom and in a certain sense they're right. It's been a a very great reproach on the name of Christ. But God is patiently bearing with it. And I think there's something else that's important in connection with the tears. Paul said that I may labor according to his working. It's important when we go to a job.
That we understand what our job is because if we don't, that we might labor according to the Lord's working, We're not going to occupy our place. So there might be a construction company. One's the secretary pays the bills, another one, uh, organizes the material and and so on. And each one different has a work. The angels are going to take care of the tares, but it's not occupy ourselves with that work. The wicked man in first Corinthians 5, the devil, the Lord had an instrument.
01:00:17
To shift them. And it was a devil. And brethren often hop in and try to do the devil's work. God's committed the work to break down a man who's fallen into gross sin. He's committed it to the devil. And people say, well, we gotta go and pastor him.
That's not our work.
Now, we may not have power to deliver to Satan, but it's Satan's work. He's got to work for you to do. He's got to work for me to do. And we should know what it is and do it.
And the the angels are going to take care of these tares.
And verse 39 you get that brought out clearly.
The enemy that sowed them is the devil. He always sows the evil doctrines.
He's a liar from the beginning, and he continues in it. Then it says the harvest is the end of the not the end of the world, but the end of the age. That age, that's the end of the age. And the Reapers are the angels.
Not, not the chapter, not a Christian.
The angels are the reapers because they're going to bring this into judgment.
We, we preach the gospel of the king. We, we, we don't preach the gospel of the Kingdom, but preach the gospel of the grace of God and the God of grace that is in glory right now and we have nothing to do.
With casting those in the in the pit that the angels do that.
God will take care of that pardon. We don't do that. We can't condemn we all we do is present the truth of God for their salvation and their enjoyment.
And the results, God takes care of those results. But here again says.
The the harvest is the end of the age and the Reapers are the angels.
So we know the Lord has very clearly set that thing for us.
Nsnoise.
I am my love, honestly.
Not hearts are my heart.
Are sunlight and heart stray love?
When I said.
To our gratitude.
The hardest thing followed.
Power of before.
Of one Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
Right. So how are you?
I don't know.
01:05:35
Nsnoise.
Every time.
Wonderful things in the Bible I See
Gospel—Henry Sikora
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.
Welcome to the Gospel meeting.
Can we begin with singing #31?
#31.
I will sing of my Redeemer and his wondrous love to me. I will tell the wondrous story How my lost estate to save In his boundless love and mercy he the ransoms really gave #31.
I will say good morning.
I love you.
I'm 30 promises.
Grace.
Before we pray, I'd like to read a prayer. I think we can call it a prayer because it's addressed to God.
Found in the 119th Psalm and the 18th verse.
It says.
Open.
Thou mine eyes.
That I may behold.
Wondrous things out of thy law.
Open thou mine eyes, is the plea, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law this evening.
We've opened up, and we will open up with the Lord's help, this precious book, and I don't say that lightly, this wonderful book that God has given us, given by Him for us to read. His word, not my words. They wouldn't be worth very much, but we read in the first chapter of the book of Hebrews.
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The first 2 verses it says God has spoken.
My friend, God has spoken in His word.
And there are wonderful things that God has written in His Word. Often when I put the children to bed at night, they like for me to sing to them. And one of our favorite songs is this. I am so glad that our Father in heaven tells of His love in the book he has given.
Wonderful things in the Bible. I see this is the dearest.
That Jesus loved me.
And I'd like to open God's Word this evening and read about some of these wonderful things. But let's first bow our heads. Seek God's help.
God our Father.
How we thank thee that this evening and we have this wonderful privilege.
Of speaking to thee of openings thy word, and asking thee as we do so.
To direct us, to guide us, as we seek by Thy grace to tell of the wonderful story of Thy love shone forth in the gift of Thy beloved Son.
Oh our God, what a privilege and what a responsibility this is. We pray for the speaker, for words from thyself guide and direct in what is said here this evening, and we pray for those who are listening.
We know that that is thy desire.
That thy word should go forth and bring forth the fruit, we pray for ready ears to take in thy Word, and we pray Thou by Thy Spirit will apply that which is of Thyself to some needy souls here this evening. Our God, we depend upon thee, and we ask this in that ever precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen. Wonderful things in the Bible, I see.
I'd like to speak of five things especially that the Lord has pressed upon my soul. Let's begin at the very beginning of the Bible, Genesis 11.
Words that are familiar to to all of us.
In the beginning.
God created the heaven.
And the earth, this first thing we read as we open the pages of this wonderful book.
Is that God is the creator God has made.
The heavens and the earth.
And you know, these things that we're going to talk about this evening, we wouldn't know them unless God had told them to us. God has revealed himself in his precious word because these things are hid from many people because they have not read the word of God and what God has told us.
If you went to a school like the one we're in right now, they teach other things than what we read in God's Word.
And I know as I was growing up, looking over books that I had at school, there were all sorts of other things that people thought.
00:10:06
Caused this world.
And the heavens, the sun, the moon, and the stars to be where they are. I remember seeing a picture in a book.
Drawn by a man from India.
Depicting how for many years they taught there in that place that why the earth was carried on the back of a giant turtle as it went around and that's how things existed. Foolish ideas. And you know, you say why that's ludicrous. Who would believe that? But even in the schools of men today, they will not give God credit.
For what he has done. But it tells us plainly.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. God is the creator of God and this creation is the beginning of the revelation of God. It says in the word of God, He that cometh to God must believe that he is, that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently.
Seek Him. And as we go on here in this chapter, just a little bit of detail.
God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also were given this little detail on the 4th day. God did this. Why has he set these things up in the sky? These inanimate objects, objects that don't have light, He set them there.
They are testimony.
That he is the creator God and that he has made things. Uh, David would say.
As he looked up, he said, I believe it was him that wrote that song.
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the earth the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth forth his handiwork. And it says further, there is no speech and there is no words as we gaze at these things that are out there in space that God has made, yet their voice is.
Heard its mute testimony that God has given.
That He is a creator God and He has made all things the world and all things that are in it. As we go through this chapter, we see item after item that is mentioned. I'll just go through them quickly.
Verse 11 God said let the earth bring forth grass and the herb yielding seed and the fruit tree yielding fruit. The third day God made the trees that we enjoy as we go outside and we look around and that green grass and on the 5th day.
Verse 20 God said, let the waters bring forth abundantly.
The moving creature that hath life might take that to be the fish.
There on the 5th day made by God and further on down verse 24.
We have the living creatures that are upon the earth, and God said let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind.
God has made all these things. He's a creator God. But you know, as we read this account, there's something that comes.
At the very end, God, as it were.
And he does this in many ways. He leaves the best.
For last. The very best God leaves for last.
Verse 26.
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Here is the crowning point of the creation of God.
The best for last and God said.
Let us make.
Man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over battle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God.
Created man in his own image.
The very high point of the creation of God is man. Have you ever thought of that?
Have you ever considered it?
We read in the book of Proverbs when the creation of the world and all that God has made is brought before us. It's all outlined there, the things that God did. And you know what it says at the end. And my delight were with the sons of men. Do you understand? Do I understand that God takes special delight?
In you.
In need that God took special pleasure in making us, not just in Adam and Eve, but God has a special interest in you.
He has a special interest in me and God has made us and God has placed us here. This wonderful thing that man has turned their back on, this wonderful truth.
That God has given us in his word. Do you believe it? Do you believe it that God has done this? He that cometh to God must believe that He is.
I'd like to go on to the second.
Wonderful.
In the Bible, I see. Let's turn to the book of Galatians.
Galatians.
Chapter 4.
And verse 4.
When the fullness of the time was come.
God sent forth his Son.
God sent forth his Son.
We read first of all about creation.
This we call.
Incarnation.
A wonderful truth.
That we read in the Bible.
And this is a wonderful story.
God became.
A man.
The thrill of this is wonderful.
John writes about it.
He says the word.
In the beginning was the Word, The Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. And it says furthermore, And the Word became flesh and dwelt, lived among us.
The Word became flesh and lived among us.
The Son of God became a man.
Why? Why would God become a man?
There's a reason for very important reason.
Into this creation that God has made.
James Sin.
And it came through that one that God had special delight in when he made him and his wife.
Sin had come into the world. There was a reason why God became man.
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Sin had come into this world.
It says here when the fullness of time was come.
From the time Adam was created and placed in the garden.
There was a lot of time that went by.
There were 40 centuries.
4000 years, Why that much time?
40 is a time of testing.
Man was fully tested in this world.
And was found to be a Sinner. It says the Lord looked down from heaven. Think of this for 40 centuries the Lord looked down from heaven to see if there were any, if there were any that do good, they are all gone out of the way. They are all together become unprofitable.
There is none that doeth good.
No, not one. That is what the eye of God saw.
And.
As a result of that.
We would not have faulted of God if He had simply destroyed man and started all over again. In a certain sense, He did.
But God looked down from heaven.
God of love for God.
So loved the world. There was a remedy. God sent forth His Son.
This is a story of love.
Sent to a world of sin.
Sent to those who had turned their back on God.
Sent to those who were corrupt.
Who were filthy, Who were no good.
Yes, God sent forth his Son. There was a plan. There was a plan, a plan of salvation. First Timothy 1:15. I believe most of the children in this room are so familiar with this verse. Why did he calm Christ Jesus?
Came into the world to save sinners. Christ Jesus came into this world.
To save you and to save me. And the story of this birth is so wonderful. How did he come?
God sent forth His Son made of a woman. He came into this world the same way that you and I came into this world, and I pulled this before because it touches my heart. I have seen five of my children born into the world.
And every time this thought has crossed my mind.
My Savior.
The Son of God came into the world the very same way down from His glory.
My God and Savior came and Jesus was his name born in a Manger.
A child, he took a body.
He took a body.
Just like you and me. One difference.
He didn't have sin.
Cinepart, he took a body as you and I have.
And we're gonna read why he took that body, and He clearly demonstrated who he was to remember as we read through the 1St chapter of of Genesis, how he created those inanimate objects when the Lord Jesus was here.
00:25:00
He rebuked the wind and the waves with three words. Peace be still and they cease. Clear demonstration who He was. We read about how He made the herb and the trees, and we read about the Lord Jesus Christ as clear demonstration of who He was. He cursed that fig tree.
The next day it was dried up from the roots and he created the fish.
He told his disciples cast the net on the other side of the ship.
And those disciples who had toiled all night, they cast their net on the other side of the ship, and the net was full of fishes. Clear demonstration of who this one was who was born of a woman. And he made, he made the the animals we read there in the first chapter.
The Lord Jesus.
Took this full of an *** upon whom never yet man had sat.
Did it buck him off? Did it resist in any way? No, it patiently.
Follow the commandments, the commandment of its Creator, and faithfully carried him. But you know, when it comes to man, man's a rebel.
Rebel man is a rebel. He will not listen to God. He will not be subject to God and the Lord Jesus.
He came into the world to save sinners.
How could he do that?
Let's turn to another verse.
First Corinthians.
Chapter 15.
We've read of creation.
We've read of the incarnation.
God becoming a man.
Something else that we read that's wonderful.
1St Corinthians 15 and verse 3.
Just read a phrase.
Near the end.
Christ died for our sins.
According.
Christ died.
For our sins, why did he take a body?
Why did he become a man?
So he could die.
So he could die.
He didn't die for his own sins.
He didn't have sins.
Even those who observed him before he was taken out and crucified, Pilate clearly said. I find no fault in this man.
The very man.
Who betrayed the Lord Jesus? And I am guilty of the blood of this innocent man. When the Lord Jesus was hanging on the cross, he was observed.
For hours.
By another man who is hanging on one side of him. You know what the testimony of that man was. He said this man half done nothing amiss.
Born without sin, he went through this world without sin.
Why did he die?
Christ died for our sins.
Did you ever realize that he died for you?
Do you understand that the Lord Jesus came into this world?
To die for your sins. Have you ever thought about that? About your?
Sin your sins. When I was a young boy, I sat in many gospel meetings like this.
00:30:08
And my sins troubled me.
I knew that I was a Sinner.
They didn't always trouble me. I'm sure many gospel meetings I sat in, I didn't realize that I was a Sinner. Have you come to the place where you realize that you.
The Word of God says that plainly.
That we are sinners, it says.
For there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, who is excluded from all? No one. It includes you, for all have sinned.
The Lord Jesus Christ.
Die for your sins. What a story of love this is. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. It doesn't only mean that he sent them into this world, Oh no.
He sent him into this world to die. God so loved the world that he gave.
Where do I see the gift of God? I look back to Calvary's cross.
And I see the Lord Jesus Christ with his hands nailed to Calvary's cross.
The sacrifice for sin.
The sacrifice for sin, and for three hours.
He hung there.
And then it became dark.
And the wrath of God.
Was poured out upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Not for his own sins, He did none.
For my sins and for your sins, if you put your trust in Him. But that wasn't all.
Christ.
Died for our sins. He suffered the final penalty for sin. He bowed his head and he died. And we read that when he was dead already.
A soldier with a spear pierced his side and forthwith flowed there out blood and water. We can stand here this evening and tell you from the pages of this precious book.
The blood.
Of Jesus Christ, his Son cleanseth us.
From all sins, Christ died for our sins.
According to the scriptures verse four, he was.
Varied, and he rose again the third day.
In kind hands. And those who loved him, I believe, took him down from the cross. He was really dead. And I think of this every time that I stand before a casket and I see a body of someone who has died, I think.
Christ died from my sins. Can you say that?
Can you say he died for me? How can you not help but love him?
For what he was done. But that's not the end of the story.
He was very.
And he rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures. You know, when the Lord Jesus was there on Calvary's cross.
My sins and the sins of all those who put their trust on Him.
Were laid upon his precious head.
And he suffered for them.
What has happened to those sins?
00:35:03
You think he ever could have come out of the grave if he still had those sins upon him? Oh, no.
Never.
It says he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.
Giving clear demonstrations that the work that he did.
On Calvary's cross he has put away sins.
By the sacrifice of himself, and he rose again.
The third day of my sins are gone. Gone. The Lord Jesus has taken them away forever.
He takes away the sins of all that put their trust by faith in Him. And He not only rose from the dead, but we read that 40 days later, not only did he rise from the dead.
But as he was with his disciples.
He lifted up his hands to bless them, and he was carried up into heaven. He rose from the dead, and he went back to heaven.
And what of them now?
Let's read.
2nd Corinthians.
2nd Corinthians, chapter 4.
2nd Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 3.
But if our gospel be hid.
It is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world that Satan.
Hath blinded the minds of them which believed not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, or the gospel of the glory of Christ should shine.
Unto them.
Where is the Lord Jesus?
Today.
You and I wouldn't know.
Unless we read it in this precious book. Furthermore, it says that the God of this world.
Has blinded the minds of them that believe not Satan does not want.
Those who do not believe to know what has happened to this one who was sent into the world in incarnation and suffered on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead even in We've been talking today a lot about profession, those who profess to be Christian, and I've heard this said.
They say, well, we, we do you really believe in a physical resurrection? And I've heard people that say that they're Christians say well.
We we we don't really don't believe in a physical resurrection.
Think of it with the word of God has told us this wonderful thing that we read in the Bible. There's many that call themselves Christians. They don't believe it.
Furthermore, they don't know that the man that hung on Calvary's cross, the Sinbaire, has been received to the right hand of God, and he's there in his glory.
Satan is actively blinding the minds of them that believe not. Are you blind to this? Do you believe this? Have you seen this?
The God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not.
Lest the light of the gospel, of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them, God has exalted His Son. God has found delight in his Son, in the work that He has done for him on Calvary's cross, and He's received him into the glory.
And there he is at the right hand, and we can preach the gospel of the glory of Christ. The Lord Jesus is not as He was when he was here upon earth. It speaks of him in the Word it says.
00:40:17
He hath no form nor comeliness when He was here on the earth, no form nor lordliness. And when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. Is that the way he is today?
Just a couple words I want to read to you from the revelation that describes the Lord Jesus Christ.
And his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. There are artists who have tried to picture what the Lord Jesus looked like when He was here on this earth. I don't care much for such pictures, but they've tried to do that.
There's not an artist in this world that can describe the glory.
Of the Lord Jesus Christ at the right hand of God.
John, who knew him so very well, when he saw the Lord Jesus Christ in his glory, he fell at his feet as dead. This describes the glory that the Lord Jesus has been received into, and there he is at the right hand of God, waiting to receive.
All that would trust in him. Verse six. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts.
To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God.
In the face of Jesus Christ, it is God alone.
Who gives this wonderful light face of Jesus Christ, and he's waiting today to receive all that come to Him. How can you turn away from such a person as this exalted and at the right hand of God?
You know, the gospel goes forth with a warning. I want to read something else that's wonderful. It has two parts. The first part.
We read in John 14.
John 14 and verse 3.
The Lord Jesus is speaking.
He says I go and prepare a place for you.
Then he says I will come again.
And receive you.
Unto myself.
That's written to believers.
The Lord Jesus is coming back again.
His coming is as sure as the day it's going to happen.
I've heard that for many years.
I remember my dear mother talking to someone. I don't know if they were saved at the time.
Impressing upon them the need to be saved.
MMM And saying this, it was New Year's Day, she said. This may be the year when the Lord comes for his own. You know what this person says? Oh, I've been hearing that for years and years.
I've been hearing it for years too.
But it's just not an idle tale.
Found in the pages of this precious book.
Every word of God is pure. Yeah, let God be true and every man a liar. You can believe every word that you read in this wonderful book. He's coming again. And here he's speaking to believers.
Those who have put their trust in Him, Those who have had their sins forgiven.
Through his precious blood that he shed on the cross of Calvary, they belonged to him.
00:45:00
He has purchased them with His own blood. They belong to Him and He is coming to call them away out of this world, the living and those who have fallen asleep. It is His promise and He will do this. What about those who do not believe the 1St chapter of Revelation?
He's coming for them too, but it's just a little bit different. Verse 7.
Behold.
He cometh with clouds.
This is a different time.
And every.
Eye shall see him.
They also which Pierce him.
And all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of.
M.
Even so.
Amen.
He's coming and every.
I shall see him.
But here it's not happiness.
It's wailing, he says. Behold, I come as a thief in the night.
Unexpected.
An unwanted for those who do not love him, for those who refuse to have him as their savior. He's coming again, and He's coming for judgment.
Judgment, those who want to go on in their sins.
They still have their sins upon him, upon them. My sins are gone. The Lord Jesus suffered for them.
Thank God they're gone.
The sins of many in this room, they're gone, and we praise God for it every day. What a wonderful assurance. We can lift our voices to God. Blessed assurance. Jesus is mine to know him, to know that we're going to be with him, to know the forgiveness of sins. But if your sins are not gone?
All kindreds of the earth shall wail. Reading through the Gospels, I remember.
One that is particularly solemn.
Where the king comes back.
And he says.
Bring my enemies, those who would not have me reign over to over them, he says. Enslave them before me.
That's the only thing that's left for those who reject God's offer of love and mercy.
His enemies are slain before him.
And what about those that died? It says I saw Great White Throne.
And him who sat on it, from whom the heavens and earth fled away, who is sitting on that throne, Have you ever thought of it? It's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Himself, God has given him authority to execute judgment because He is the Son of man.
And execute judgment he will, whosoever was not found.
Written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire.
It's a sad thing and we cannot preach the gospel without giving out this warning that a God of love who has given his Son, who has first created you, and then when sin.
Came into this world, sent his son into the world as the sacrifice for sin.
And the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave his precious life.
And died for you went into death and has been raised up to the glory of God. And who is coming again?
To receive those who love him. To be with himself forever. For those who reject the story of his love.
00:50:05
There's one thing left.
Judgment.
I remember a story that our brother Yamanaka told us. He suffered for the name of the Lord in Japan.
And he was brought before the authorities there. They heard that he was a Christian.
That he loved the Lord Jesus, and the Judge said to him.
He says, I hear that your Bible tells you that.
Someday.
You are going to rain.
And our brother was faithful.
He says yes. He says I'm gonna reign with the Lord Jesus Christ someday. The Bible tells us that.
And the judge's eyes got big, he said. Oh, he said.
If you who are so lonely are going to rain.
What's for me? My brother was faithful, he said. Judgment for you.
Judgment for you and he was taken to jail.
Judgment for you.
If you turn away from the Lord Jesus Christ, sing #3.
Eternally his promise stands.
My name is Graven on his hands.
Let all around my soul give way. He still abides.
My lasting stay on Christ the solid rock I stand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
My hope and love and love.
Love you bring the Lord and God, and sorry being stressed.
I dare not cry.
For a holy day without once again blast man.
20569.
805905 90 10-4 0 10-4 90.
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God our Father, we thank thee for thy word again and again. We thank Thee for the certainty of it. We thank Thee for the promises that Thou hast made. We thank Thee for the work.
00:55:16
Of thy beloved Son on Calvary's cross, which has made us fit to be in thy presence, we thank thee for the privilege of proclaiming him as the Saviour of sinners, and we pray.
For any who have heard this message that their hearts may be turned to the Lord Jesus.
From their sins, turn to Him and be forgiven and welcomed into Thy family this very day. Bless thy word, Father.
Feebly spoken.
But bless it, we pray, in that precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Obedience
One Thing
The Shepherd's Voice
Dispensational Truth & The Mystery
Matthew 13:44-52
Reading
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.
Umm, and here it's our turn of our God of everything.
But trust.
Let's great, let's see.
Our hearts when I eternal.
And.
Matthew 13, verse 44.
Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure in a field, the which, when a man has found, he hide us, and for joy thereof goeth and sell it all, selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who, when he had found one Pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea.
And gathered of every kind, which when it was full, they drew ashore, and sat down. And gathered the good into vessels, But cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world. The angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just.
And shall cast them into the furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus saith unto them, Have you understood all these things? They say? They say unto him, Yeah, Lord Then said he unto them. Therefore every scribe which is instructed under the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder.
Which bring us forth out of his treasure things new and old.
Man asks why does God like what goes on in the world? Go on.
And as Brother Stephen was saying yesterday, there are certain things that are very evident to even the eye of an unbeliever that they're wheat and tears in the field.
But God, man does not see in this world what is precious to the heart of God, and so all things were created by him and for His pleasure. They are and were created and what was precious to the heart of God.
Is hidden to the eye of man that treasure that was found in a field and so.
Man sees the field, but he doesn't see the treasure.
Treasure is made-up of individual gems, isn't it?
Brings before us.
Uh, individual believers, I believe the, the Pearl of great price would bring before us the collective aspect of things. But in the, the treasure be the individual, like Paul would say in Galatians 220, the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. We can each individually say that perhaps this treasure would, uh, bring me for us that which was restored in the, uh, at the time of the Reformation, eh?
With the work of God commenced. It wasn't complete. I believe all the truth as to the church was not brought out as the Reformation. We have that, uh, some 150 years ago or so that when Lord Jews, Brother Darby and others to show that uh, believers joined together as one or form the church and that the hope of the church is the rapture. These were wonders, truth that were in Scripture but were not seen before.
00:05:27
It's an important thing to see that.
He found the treasure.
He for joy goes and selleth all that he hath. He buys the field. He bought the field for the treasure. We should just turn to Second Peter to see this.
It's a line of things that is taken up.
Second Peter chapter 2 and I just say this. Peter was given the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.
And so I believe that he particularly feels a responsibility in connection with that, was given a responsibility in connection with that. And so his first epistle he gives the government of God in connection with believers, and in the second epistle he gives.
The government of God in connection with false professors.
And to put it very simply, so that even a child can understand is there's a custodian in this facility and he was given keys to open up this facility.
And our brother stood up at the beginning of these meetings and he says there are certain responsibilities connected with those who have come to these Bible meetings in connection with things in this facility. And so there's a responsibility as those that profess to be at these Bible meetings have come to these Bible meetings. Now a person may come in here and the custodian may see him wandering around and say, what are you doing here? He says, well, I'm here with the Bible meetings. He didn't come here for those at all, but he's causing mischief.
And.
He may likely well call the police and have the man charged with trespassing. He was professedly on the same ground as those that were here at these vital meetings. And so his conduct is going to be judged. Also, those of us who are here is going to be judged. And second, Peter is taking that up. I just mentioned that in connection with that, that we have a responsibility in connection with being in the Kingdom of heaven.
And Peter opened up the keys, he had the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. He admitted first to Jews, then the Samaritans, and then the Gentiles. We see that in the book of Acts. But here, now I just wanted to read this in second Peter chapter 2, in connection with the purchase of the field, because there but there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you who shall privately bring in damnable heresies.
Denying even the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction. He bought the whole field. They weren't part of the treasure, but they brought in damnable heresies.
And so this chapter, this whole chapter really develops that.
Thought that these ones were bought. He bought the whole field.
They were not redeemed, and that's the difference, but they were bought. And so a man who takes his place as a Christian and in Christian profession bears a terrible responsibility because he's going to be judged as one that that was part of that possession.
Go to my Bible here. Christ gave all when he bought that field, gave his life for the for his children. I also wrote in your treasure being Christians.
The price gave all for that field wasn't just purchased, it was gave it all.
As the treasure brings before us, uh, preciousness of.
Of that particular thing, doesn't it? So.
I'm like, I think that the Lord found.
A preciousness in US of value to us.
As has been said, he gave all he had to buy.
I believe there's also something else practical here in connection with this in Very Precious is that we know that the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, and we see the heavenly city in the Book of Revelation in chapter 21, that the foundations of the wall were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was Jasper, the second sapphire.
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The third chalcedony, the 4th and emerald, the 5th Sarnox, the 6th sardius, the 7th crystallite, the 8th barrel, the 9th Topaz, the 10th croissant processed, the 11Th adjustment in the 12Th amethyst, that these were precious stones. And I do not believe that you can separate the individuals from the truth that came by them. And I think that that leads to a very practical difficulty when we do that people want to separate.
Doctrine from what is precious to the heart of God. And it was that doctrine that brought us to God.
And we can't separate the two.
The Lord Jesus said I am all together. He was altogether what he said he was, and you could not disconnect the Lord's person from what he taught. And so this treasure found in the field is connected to, I believe, with the truth that was given to man, that brought man to God, these precious truths.
Very precious to the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. As our brother said, he purchased it, but what was the cost of purchasing it was already had?
We shouldn't despise what God treasures.
The 19th chapter, the same book, there was a certain man who came to the Lord and said, what so I do that I may have eternal life. And the Lord told him in verse 21 of that 19th chapter, that won't be perfect. Go and sell all without haste. Give to the poor and come follow me. And you would think, you know, that was a pretty hard, uh, thing to request of somebody. But God never asked us to do something that he himself would not do. And in our chapter here it says.
Those concerning the treasure in the field and as to the Pearl of great price, in both instances it says that he sold all that he had versus 46 again, he sold all that he had. And so Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. You know, this Pearl is a very apartment picture of the church. The Pearl is a unity. Uh, you can't carve a Pearl the way you can a diamond or an emerald.
Uh, the Pearl is, is one whole unit and also a Pearl. I understand it's, it's something with maybe a grain that gets inside the oyster or a grain of sand and causes suffering. And, uh, it secrets a certain substance which grows around that grain and thus the Pearl grows within that oyster. And so the church is the product of suffering, isn't it?
And, uh, just like a Pearl, it grows gradually, uh, silently. Uh, the work of the Lord is being done today, isn't it? Uh, I think this, this Pearl brings before us the church. We collectively like the treasure does we individually.
I don't want to get too fanciful, but in connection with the gemstones, if you were to place where they were created in Genesis chapter one, you'd have to say in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, that they were created in the earth with the earth before the seven days of creation. But the Pearl was something formed in time. And so, as you said, the Pearl was formed in a living thing that was very precious, and it's made-up of living members. And that's why the Pearl is such a lovely picture of the church.
And it can't be chipped away at our fashioned, as you said, it's it's as it was formed.
Throwing the thoughts here are the words great Christ the Lord, he lost his Pearl, the great price put some value on it. He used the word great. I was thinking how child of God can't put a value on a child of God.
Bought with a great price and we are a great price of parts value to him searches out he gave himself for us. I think of that one sheep that he finds those after out of 99 is there in the 100 sheep he goes and looks for.
I think you know that one sheep goes looking for in a very great price searching it out.
Again, I believe this has very practical implications, you know, because when you see the cost of redemption and you see the cost what it was to the Lord Jesus Christ to have the church for himself to weave out, do we place that value on these things?
And I think sometimes we exercise more care over our material possessions than we do over souls and over the truth of the assembly. A man may look take more care over his car and his bank account than he does over the truth of God. And he becomes very casual sometimes about the diligence we had in the earlier part of the chapter. While men slept, the enemy came in and sowed tares. But as we as careful with what is introduced into the assembly, or is careful, do we value this treasure?
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There was hidden appeal in connection with the truth to be diligent in connection with these things.
Realizing the cost of these things, what we're handling, you know, many have squandered inheritances and the natural inheritances, and we can also squander an inheritance that has been given to us of God.
And that he puts a great value on.
And we need to be very diligent in these things, because the Lord was. We have twice this expression. He selleth all that He hath, and there was joy in connection with it. I marvel at that expression. And Isaiah 53. He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul and be satisfied. Every one of us in this room have bought something, and then sorry that we wasted our money on what we bought, But the Lord is satisfied with the price that He paid. He went with joy.
And may our hearts value what in this earth what the Lord values he values the assembly. He died that he might gather together and won the children of God that are scattered abroad. Do we feel that on Tuesday night when it's prayer meeting or Wednesday night or whenever it happens to be. Do we value that fact that the Lord Jesus Christ died that he might gather together in one the children of God that are scattered abroad and we know that every Saints going to be a gathered St. that the wraps.
But in a practical way, does that have power over our soul now?
You know, when somebody says to you, well, you have your doctrine and I have mine, and so on, do we value the fact that for this treasure hid in the field that he went, and he sold all that he had? We feel the jealousy and connection. A jealousy in connection with the jealousy is a good thing. Envy is a terrible thing, but jealousy is a good thing. We have a jealous God. Are we jealous for the truth and the things that the Lord put such a great value on?
What we get in these verses that we've just been considering from verse 44 where we get Israel in here verse 44 again, the Kingdom of heaven like unto a treasure hid in a field.
The witch when a man has found, he hideth it, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buys the field again. The Kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls out of that same feel that he bought. He's seeking this goodly Pearl, like it says. And when he had found one Pearl out of all that possession, a great price. I wonder we have a verse over in.
Psalm 135.
So I, I don't know, I'm just submitting this thought umm in Psalm 135, verse four. For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his.
Peculiar treasure. I wonder if we don't find that in 44th verse, where I know that the Lord is great, that the Lord is above all gods. But out of that field he sought 1 Pearl of great price.
So I don't know, I'm just submitting. I don't want to confuse things here.
Because it says again, the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls. So out of that field, out of that that he purchased, he finds 1 Pearl great price.
And he said all he had and he bought it. I I just submit that I'm not saying necessary.
Certainly includes the Jews, doesn't it? In fact, the 1St to the Jew 1St and then to the Gentile.
Israel as a nation was set aside. Weren't they just thinking what Peter says in first Peter chapter 2 and, uh, verse nine, he mentioned that peculiar people there, but he's referring to believers there. First leader 29. He also chose a generation of royal priesthood, a holy nation and a peculiar people. And he's referring to that passage. I brought a little just referred to, but applying it now to all believers. And, uh, I think that the Lord had such, such delight in US.
It's also instructive to notice that first you get the individual, then the collective things at the Pearl, and then you get the gospel that the net of evangelization, evangelization, uh, but you don't get that until you get the truth of the church brought out first one girl. And then the center is directed into the assembly. Uh, just like in Luke chapter 10, that that thief that felt that, uh, man went down, fell among thieves. Well, the Good Samaritan took him to the inn. Hey, that would bring before us the assembly also, wouldn't it?
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A place where you sheltered and fed. So these that were gathered here, uh, in verse 48, not to anticipate which when it was full, they, I believe these are those who go out with the gospel. Uh, it's, it's not the angels, uh, it's never angels gathering. Uh, it's angels that sever the just from the wicked further down verse 49. That's the work of the angels, but the Lord uses redeemed sinners to.
Together the good into vessels, that is, the evangelist, is to bring them into the assembly where they are fed and separated.
Appeal.
Hit in the field, it wasn't just filed in it, it was hidden in it in that field. And if we look at Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse eight on the most high divided to the nations, our inheritance. When he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. The Lord of portion is his people. Jacob is the Lord of his inheritance.
Israel, I don't think was hidden in the earth because the field of the world.
But they were marked out as God's chosen people in a public way. But there was a Gentile treasure that was hidden. Hidden.
Start seeing and again, I believe the thought is individuals.
Pearl is one, but I don't believe Israel is hidden.
Lovely too there in Revelation and connection with the heavenly city that the 12 gates were seen as one Pearl. And now people look and they see things in a divided state, but in that day they're going to see there was one Pearl on what was of great value to God. Man, every one of us values something in this world, but what in that day it's going to be manifested what was of value to the heart of God.
Man's chasing a dream in this world and so on.
But the Lord had something here that, as our brother was saying yesterday, that is not evident. It is evident to man that there's wheat and tears in the field, and so on. But what is not evident to him, what he despises in fact, is of great value to the Lord. It's invisible to the eye of man.
Very interesting in connection with fishing because we hear a great deal about fishing and off the Grand Banks, you know that they practically fished the oceans dry and there will be enough fish for the Son of Man to reign over. But it's interesting that man is cast a great net into the sea and they pulled up good fish and bad. And they say now that they've banned cod fishing for a number of years and they say there's less cod now than there were ten years ago, that man is just depleting the oceans of fish.
And in one sense, we can rejoice in the fact that every good fish is going to be caught. But we see the way that man fishes is that he just drags up everything. And it is going to be a work to separate the good fish from the bad. And so we see this, a great work is being done and bringing souls in, but the end is that there's good fish and bad fish in the net. I understand in the Pacific Ocean they were using Nets that were.
200 kilometers long, this great big Nets and dragging everything up and, uh, rather irresponsible way to fish in the Atlantic Ocean. Nets that were 20 and 40 miles long, dragging everything up and irresponsible way to fish. But nevertheless, God is above man's irresponsibility and every good fish is going to be caught and the the bad severed from the good. But it just shows the way. This is the last similitude that we have here.
Of the way that that work is being done. And I believe that that is why Paul has said to Timothy on a day of ruin in second Timothy, I believe that Timothy had the gift of an evangelist. And I think that the assembly is good to recognize those that are gifted in that way. And Paul, he said, do the work of an evangelist. Why? Because it was a discouraging thing to bring souls to Christ and you see them maybe leave the assembly go off into confusion and so on and he said because the.
House had taken on the character of a great house and it became very discouraging. And he said, well, what's the use of doing work to have children saved in Sunday school and then see them go off and so on? Well, he said, do the work of an evangelist, don't give up. And so it has to be diligence and, and unfortunately a great deal of the work that we have to do today is just preaching a clear gospel and straightening out souls that have have really heard many confusing things.
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But continue to do that work to announce the good news.
That depletion you're speaking about, Neil, will be healed in the Millennium. Ezekiel 47 and uh, verse nine, that shall come to pass, that everything that liveth, which moveth whithersoever the river shall come, shall live.
And there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because the waters shall come thither, and they shall be healed, and everything that liveth whither the river cometh. The Lord will correct things in the Millennium in large measure, I'm sure.
There's 47 of her chapter says gathered of every kind. I just think it made for some of the younger people every kind I believe means of every nation the golf is going to go to the world and this gathering in the next sea and speaks of the world and gathering of every nation from every nation there will be those gathered in.
With every kind, with all kinds of fish in the sea, We went, uh, a little charter fishing cruise down the Dorothy some years back and the lines would go in and we'd haul up the fish. And I thought, so that's a sea rod. And he takes off her throwback. No good. You know, what kind was going to come out? All kinds came out all kinds come in as the gospel that comes out all kinds. There's good times and there's bad. And then Jeremiah, there's a little verse, Jeremiah 15.
Verse 19. It's the middle of the verse.
If I'll take forth the pressure from the vial, thou shalt be as my mouth. And so then that goes out, that gospel man and those who draw it in, those who are casting the net and drawing it in.
They need to separate pressures from the mile.
You know, it's the angel's job to take what's left on the shore and cast it into the fire. That's not our drive. We have wonderful job to separate the pressures from the mind.
We're not. We don't. The Church of God and we as individuals do not have a cherubim character.
We are not the executors of God's government judgment in this earth. He has those who will do that job and take that up. Does the government affair is not a sword in vain? And there are the angels who will come forth from the completion of the age, and gather up the wicked to cast them into the fire. But we have a happy job, and there is a man.
In the Old Testament in second King chapter 10 and God had a man called two men in this chapter one is a terrorism character. He's an executor of God's judgment and you know he's really.
Not a man of God at all. He's just an instrument of God's hand. His name is Jason. But there was another one, John Adam. He is one that separates precious from the vile and 2nd Kings chapter 10, who had been sent by God to execute judgment on the House of Ahab. And he meets the man in verse 16, excuse me, verse 15. And when he was departed, then he lighted on John and Dab, the son of Recap, coming to meet him.
And saluted him, and sent him to him as Einhart. Right. My heart is with thy heart they have answered. It is, if it be Give me thine hand. And he gave him his hand, and took him up into the chariot, And he said, Come.
With me and see my zeal for the Lord. So they made him ride in the chariot. We go down through the story. We finally gathers in all the worst crews who fail into the temple of Bail, and he's going to purpose to slay them there. The priests and the worshippers that fail, that worship that Ahab had introduced and that Jezebel had brought into Israel. And Jonadab is sent in verse 23. Jaywen and John Adab the son of Greek have into the House of Bail and said unto the worshippers of Baal, search and look that there be none there be here with you none of the servants of the Lord, but the worshippers who failed.
Home, he has a precious job, he knows who are the Lords, Jehu really can't pick them up, and Jonathan stabbed his views of God to separate the precious from the wild effort.
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The job he's given to us as well, so.
You just read a verse in John chapter 20 in this connection, because I don't believe you have assembly administration here, although that would fall into also what our brother was saying, but John 20 and verse 23 or 22. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost, Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them. And whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained.
Now we know that we do not have the power to remove sins from an individual, but the but there is a separating of the pressures from the vial. And so a fisherman he looks and as our brother was talking about fishing, there is a difference in scripture between a clean fish and an unclean fish.
And we have a responsibility to recognize that. People say, well, who are you to say that? I'm a believer well.
We may not be the foundation of God's standards. Sure, the Lord knoweth them that are His, but we can separate that which is precious from that which is vile.
A clean fish has scales and fins, fins so that it can direct and scale so that it for protection and separation and to go against the current. An unclean fish slithers along the bottom and follows the currents. And so we have a responsibility in connection with that, not to execute judgment, as our brother said, but to be diligent in the work of God. And so he's given us in Scripture instructions as to what needs his approval and what doesn't meet his approval.
In each case, there is an end resolution to this question because as we've said, what we have in Matthew 13 is the sphere of profession of Christianity. And what we see is there is going to be an end to this because.
Verse 49. So it shall be at the end of the world. The Angel shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire, and there shall be wailing and gnashing of tea.
They gnashed on Peter with their teeth. And I appreciated what brother Ron Clawson said, that it's been a million years. You opened the gates of hell. Not one man would come out. He would stand at the open gate of hell and raise his first against God, angry for him, putting him there and gnashing his teeth against God. There will be no repentance in hell. And so I believe our brother, very rightly so, brought before us the appearing and I believe that the brethren in the last century.
Properly used, the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, behold, he cometh with 10,000 of his Saints to execute judgment, to exercise the conscience of souls. Professors, I don't believe it's proper to threaten people with the rapture, but it is a solemn thing to think that one professed the name of Christ and there is going to be a resolution of this matter.
It's a solemn thing to think that one should be left behind to see the Lord come in the character of judgment.
The question was regarding verse 48. This one, it was a full. They drew to shore the Nets. He spoken up here is this was a rapture. Recurse and that and the net is full.
Think it's an ongoing work because it's the fissures of men that are doing this labor and at the point of the rapture, there's, that's the end of that time of fishing for men. The fishers of men are currently at work and the gospel that is currently bringing in. And, uh, so there's a responsibility there to separate what depression, those that are truly the objects of Christ's affections and the, and the eternal counsels of God chosen in Christ before the foundation of the earth.
Separate them, pick them out. What about the bed? Doesn't say they were thrown back into the sea. That thought of cast out means just left on the shore. And that's really where we need to leave False professors. Just leave them on the shore or it's going to take care of that. When he sends the angels don't have anything to do with it. Leave them on the floor.
You might say they've already been gathered in by the net.
I'll throw in the back end of the seat.
They have come into that sphere of profession, and they'll lay there responsible when the angels come in judgment.
It very much helps us to understand the book of Hebrews.
Because, umm, and to understand these scriptures in the Gospels that people use for this idea that somebody can be saved and lost and so on. It really is, and we emphasize this, that man will be judged. A man that professed the name of Christ will be judged far more severely in that day of judgment than a Muslim or a Hindu.
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Because they were one that were was drawn. They were bad fish, but they were drawn into the net. They were in the place of professively along with the good fish.
Doesn't the Nets go further and, uh, include the Gospel of the Kingdom here?
Goes right to the end when the the judgment is going to be executed by the angels.
A very solemn time, one of when mentions the tears being burnt and the.
The fetching locks for judgment.
Or it comes and puts in the sickle, as it were. Judges, I don't know.
Believe there's something practical here too, in the beginning of the 52nd verse.
Then said He unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder. Why does it mention the scribe? Because the scribe has to do with the written word of God.
And the great difficulty is that the Saints of God are not acquainted with the Word of God, and so we can't be instructed. The Spirit of God can't take up and instruct us in matters that we're not acquainted with.
And so that's what I believe, why it says every scribe that is instructed. And so we take up the word of God and we read the word of God. And I believe every time that we take it up, perhaps as we had in the book of Proverbs, there's an enigma or a puzzle to us. And that's why he asked him if you understood these things, because he's working on our souls. And we say, well, what is the Lord talking about here? And so, but if we never read it, it's never going to present a puzzle to our souls. But that's how the Lord instructs us.
And so the Spirit of God has nothing to work with unless we read the Word of God. And it creates these puzzles. And we see these puzzles because it is a puzzle to man when he looks out and he tries to rationalize what he's seeing out there under the name of Christ. But when we read the Word of God, we meditate on it and we get hold of these truths and it really gives us to understand what God is doing, what God values.
For something very precious here too, he brings out of his treasure things new and old. Now I don't know about you, but if I had a treasure box and I had something very old in it, I would probably bring you out the most old and valuable thing first.
Why does it say things new and old? Because we have in Scripture, we learn from the book of Leviticus, and in Song of Solomon two we find that order. We have the new, the old because of the new. And so when we're really grounded in the doctrines of the New Testament and the truth of the New Testament, then we can really go back to the Old Testament and see these treasures in the Old Testament.
You didn't understand the truth of the church, the Spirit of God going across to get a bride for Isaac. Then you would never see the lovely picture. If you didn't understand the truth of the church and what God is doing, what God is for God. You would never understand and see in that lovely picture of the servant going to get a bride for Isaac. Or you would never understand the picture of Joseph rejected of his brethren taking a Gentile bride.
And being raised to a place of glory. Why do we understand that? Because we understand the doctrines of the New Testament. We have the old because of the new. And so he takes out of his treasure things new and old all talking to Timothy as looking second Timothy, uh, two and 15 May help a little bit of the thought. Brother, study to show thyself approved unto God a Workman that needeth not to be ashamed. I mean worthless. Look at rightly.
Dividing the word of truth keyword there is rightly dividing. There's all kinds of people who take the word of God and and give false doctrines, sad to say, and but here we says rightly dividing the word of truth. That doesn't come till you have meditated on the word and studied the word and made it your own. That's when you you could rightly divide them if you're just listing somebody else all the time.
You just listen to their teaching and it might be wrong doctrine. You wouldn't know.
Until you have made it your own and studied it for yourself. I believe that's what Paul is saying here to Timothy for our own understanding.
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And these familiarities we've had, those great outward features that men can see, that was started out so small and sprung up like the blade in the field, that mustard seed that grew into a tree, something that was great in the sight of men.
And those things, and then that which is in this mixture, in the Kingdom of heaven, which is precious, the sight of Christ and the sight of God the Father, those that will shine forth as the Son and the Kingdom of their Father.
And the other similitudes later in Matthew we get the individual responsibility as a servant to that Lord that is owned in that sphere, and we see the.
The end of the path for fault professionals involved, would you mind pointing out?
Later in Matthew, probably working backwards, Matthew 25 is the five foolish and five wise virgins. And then, uh, verse 14 of Matthew 25, the Kingdom of heaven, it says a man traveling into a far country and the servants and the talents.
I believe it's earlier we get the the unrighteous servant, uh, chapter 22, the marriage of the king or the King's son. Excuse me, but I don't spot the unrighteous servant right now. Chapter 1823. Thank you. That's the servant who took his fellow servant by the throne and demanded what he was. They all have to do with individual responsibility as servants, that Lord that they professed to own.
Do you think that when the Lord asked him this question verse 51.
Have you understood all these things they say, Yeah, Lord, you think they were saying the truth there? I mean, we could read this passage and there's so much that we do not understand of it. Uh, it tells us First Corinthians 13. Now we prophecy in part. Now we understand in part, and now we prophecy in part. And another passage in John's Gospel, 16th chapter, the disciples told the Lord, now thou speakest plainly and neatest not that any man should, uh, tell thee.
Do you think they plainly understood everything the Lord was telling them?
I did not the Spirit of God, when he came after Pentecost, bring much to their remembrance so that they were more fully able to understand and reverend, even today you read a passage like this 13th and we don't I don't think we would pretend to enter into all the.
The details that the Lord has here, all that he would have us to, uh, glean from this chapter until we are finally brought to glory. Uh, and then I believe that the Lord will, as He did with those two going down to Emmaus, unfold the scriptures to them and 'cause our hearts to burn fully.
Enter into it more than we ever have had here below.
You wonder why the Lord would ask a question like that. He knew the answer to it.
I believe that sometimes, if I may put it this way, we can see farther than we can walk, and we have an outline of Scripture and it's a good thing. And we have a picture, and it is a good thing that Paul desired that Timothy have an outline of sound words, and it is a good thing. The Lord desires us to have an outline of things. And as you pointed out, we very often realize how little we really do know, but how helpful it is to have an outline of these things.
It would be a terrible thing if somebody came from Egypt or South Africa or South American came to North America and he had no idea where Washington, DC was in relation to Washington State, in relation to California.
And he was left to try to wander around without a map. And yet many Christians are that way. And so the Lord has an interest in a desire that we understand these things and have a picture. And I think the moment that we think we learn something, we haven't really learned it as we ought, but the Lord would desire that we have a, an outline of these things because it's helpful. A lot of believers are just wandering around lost in this confusion. And there is confusion. Wheat and terror is growing up in the field, good fish and bad.
What is precious to the heart of God is is not evident to the eye of man. And so we need these scriptures to see. And then, as our brothers pointed out, we need to know what our responsibility is so that we might conduct ourselves properly in connection with this. Because there is a responsibility. We've been admitted to the Kingdom of heaven.
The Kingdom of God Paul took up and it said spite of things. Perhaps we don't ignore, we ignore, but Paul took up the Kingdom of God and at the end of Acts and there is a, perhaps somebody else could explain it better, but I've enjoyed this illustration is that people say, well, that's the, that's the what mall house. And then they say they don't do this there or they don't do that there. There's a moral character to it. And the Kingdom of heaven is a little bit like saying, well, that's that's what the Lord's put his name on.
00:45:28
And then there's the side of things. There's the moral character that even unbelievers are aware that is suitable to that place where God's name is given. And even a unbeliever may say to you will have a real Christian wouldn't talk that way or a real Christian wouldn't do business that way. They understand that there's a moral character that's suitable to that. And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house at the end of Acts. Again, we have the house there.
And received all that came on him, preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern.
The Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding, is that Paul taught those things that were morally consistent with his place of profession, into which we've been brought as perhaps a side of things that we've ignored.
The first chapter they asked, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel? Last chapter he was preaching things concerning the Kingdom of God. You know the truth of the Kingdom was not new. This is old.
But that it should embrace the whole world and not be exclusive to the Jew, but go out to the Gentile as well, that was new. And the fact that it was to be established on the principle of faith and belief in the Word of God and not positional nearness.
That was new.
Now it's in their verse and Luke's gospel that says, you know, when you hear about something new, you don't, you don't want that right away. You know it's.
How's that going?
In the last verses, chapter five of the loose, no man having drunk wine, uh, drunk old wine straightway desirous new preset. The old is better. Well, we don't want to say that, brethren. We don't want to say the oldest better, the newest better. In this case, you know what God is revealing from Matthew 12 back at the end of Matthew 12. Backwards is the old one, but forward from Matthew 13 on the Lord's bringing out that which is new.
And I believe getting a, a, an outline of that, which is new, our brother Neil is just bringing before us, helps us to understand the old, there's a verse in, uh, Leviticus that, that, uh, I think would explain that to us.
Leviticus 26, verse 10.
2610 says Ye shall eat old at store, and bring forth the old because of the new.
That is, we'll understand the Old Testament if we read the New Testament. But how?
Have a person who doesn't see dispensational truth, how do they understand the Old Testament? But the New Testament is the flashlight, isn't it? That helps us to see the pictures, the wonderful pictures that God has in the Old Testament. But certainly what He's revealed in the New is far better.
I believe that's what the secret things of in Deuteronomy. You may notice that verse there, the end of Deuteronomy chapter 29 and verse 29. The secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children. You know his secrets were grace. That was the unrevealed secret that was hidden from the old, the Saints of old when the people failed under law.
God still has another thing up his sleeve when they use accommodate express. He intended to bring in Israel on the ground of grace, not law keeping. He's going to bless them. Uh, they failed in keeping the law, but God has a secret in mind and God would find Ways and Means of justifying them by by faith a man had proven himself a total failure under law, but on the grounds of faith, God is going to.
To bless all mankind. And uh, but that was not revealed in the Old Testament, was it? That was a secret thing then, but now it's revealed to us by the Spirit of God.
The Kingdom of heaven goes beyond.
Uh, simply the church.
It definitely does. It is named as having existed, but at the time of John, and it certainly goes on to the Millennium where they sit down with Abraham. We're, we're rightly drawing up on her the application of it to the church and the Pearl and the treasure. But it's, it's, uh, it has application even for the Jews during the tribulation, uh, the Lord and his Beatitudes spoke to the Kingdom of the heavens.
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Kingdom of heaven as it is here and uh, so it that we understand that is, we certainly would call it that that's, that applies to the Jews government too. So, uh.
But we're drawing from this is right, but it goes beyond our own interests in the assembly and in the church and Christianity.
Well, it's good, too, to remember that there are young people here and perhaps some of these things are over your head. You don't always understand them, and it's good for us to remember to each one of us. I was going over to.
Jeremiah chapter 50. You'll need to turn to it. I'll just read it.
Jeremiah 15 and verse 16. Thy words were found, and I did eat them. Now what does this mean? It means when you eat something, you don't throw it up. If you do, you're sick. You assimilate it. You make it your own. So my words we found, and I did eat them, and they were unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. For I am called by thy name, O Lord God of us, so we don't need to worry.
I think, well, all these things are some of these things are cloudy to me after all these years. I don't say that I know everything, but I know the Lord Jesus and I want to get into his word and seek to understand it and it that takes time. Where Isaiah tells us we learn here a little there a little line up online, precept upon precept. So we don't need to get discouraged because we don't see clearly.
Like this this chapter we've been having before us.
There are many things in it that we don't see, but that doesn't mean that we can't enjoy the Lord.
I think it's very precious, uh, to think of that in that way. I'd like to read a verse and saw some verses and Song of Solomon, which kind of connects that thought with what Reuben read and Leviticus 26, Song of Solomon, Chapter 7.
I am at verse 10. I am my Beloved, and your desire is toward me. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field and let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the vineyards to see if the vine flourished and whether the tender grape appear.
And the pomegranates flood forth. There will I give thee my love?
The Mandrakes give a smell, and our gates and our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.
And it is in communion. I'd just like to turn back by the Charles to a scripture that you referred to in First Corinthians chapter two, I think yesterday, because I think this is really the secret of how to lay hold of these things and perhaps why we don't.
In the hindrance to these things.
First Corinthians, chapter 2.
And verse 9. But I But as it is written, this is a quotation from Isaiah. I have not seen nor heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, ye the deep things of God.
For what man knows the things of a man, say the spirit of man, which is in him, Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. There's a slight variation between here and Isaiah, because it says have prepared for them that wait for him in Isaiah. They were hidden then, but they're not hidden now.
They're revealed by the Spirit we've been given, the very Spirit of God. But what is the hindrance to us getting a hold of them?
Is not giving place to the Spirit. And so we make provision for the flesh. We occupy ourselves with earthly things, and we don't really get a hold of these wonderful and precious truths.
So somebody said made this comment, if we could say that we knew everything that we read, we absolutely knew it, it wouldn't be the word of God because we will never fathom all the truth.
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You can get glimpses of it, we can get samples of it, we can get points of it, but we will never, never fathom the Word of God has adept that we cannot fathom at all any portion of scripture we read.
Dear Mr. Gill used to say, we say it might mean this, but he said it could mean more than that too, could mean more than that. So God allows us by the Spirit of God to learn some of these things and we can enjoy them. Enjoy what dear brother Gordon used to say, don't let the things you don't know, don't understand keep you from enjoying the things you do understand. And I believe there's a lot of truth in that.
There's many things that I don't understand this precious book.
After almost 70 years, still it's the word of God. Can I say, I know, I don't know, I can't, but I can enjoy it. I can enjoy the precious things that God has revealed to me. So it's it's a lovely thing to remember that that we're not dealing with the with the schedule on a newspaper. We're dealing with a living word of God and God lives, his word is living and we need to be guided by the Spirit of God in order to notice.
Gospel 2
Gospel—Randy Hale
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.
Begin the gospel meeting tonight by singing together hymn #9 Come every soul by sin oppressed.
Mercy with the Lord and He will surely give you rest by trusting in His word for Jesus shed.
His precious blood rich blessings to bestow. Plunge now into that Crimson flood that washes white as snow.
Yes, Jesus is the truth, the way that leads you into rest.
Believe in Him without delay and you are fully blessed.
Come then and join this holy band and on the glory goal to dwell in that celestial land where joys immortal flow. Only trust him. Only trust him now. He will save you. He will save you now.
#9 come every.
4/2, 91925638, 10-4.
Four J 74520123920, 10-4, 07807070720, 10-4, 3080.
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2018 How about you?
So him starts off come every soul by sin oppressed. There's mercy with the Lord. Last night some of us were down in the cafeteria singing hymns together, and one of the hymns we sang.
I don't remember the exact words, but it was to this effect that there was coming a day when the Lord Jesus would cease to call sinners to repentance. And someone at the table said that's a very sad song. And I thought about it. You know, I've never known a day in my life. I'm 48 years old and I've never known a day.
When the Lord Jesus wasn't calling sinners to repentance. There is nobody in this room, no matter how old you are, that's ever known a day when the Lord Jesus was not calling sinners to repentance and saying, come unto me.
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But there is going to come a day.
Just think of it, there's going to come a day when the Lord Jesus is not anymore going to say, come unto me.
And nobody knows when that day is going to be.
Maybe it's today, maybe it's today. Let's look to the Lord for help, our blessed God and our Father.
We thank thee for the gospel of thy grace. We thank thee, Lord Jesus, for that mighty work accomplished at Calvary without its lay down thy life. We thank thee, Lord Jesus, that thou art still inviting sinners to come, that thou art still looking and searching out those who need a Savior. And we thank thee, our God and Father too, that we can have a gospel meeting here in this room tonight and proclaim the good news of salvation.
But we know too, that there is coming a day when that call will cease to go out, and never again will there be another opportunity for sinners to be saved. Oh, Father, we pray if there's anyone in this room here tonight that doesn't know the Lord Jesus as their own personal Savior, that they'll make a decision for Christ before they leave this room, before they leave their seat tonight. Lord Jesus, we pray that they'll decide for Christ this very night. Our Father, we look up to Thee and pray for help as we open Thy precious word. We feel our weakness keenly.
And we just pray that Thou will take thy word and use it in blessing here in this in this room tonight. And we know Father too, that on this Lord's Day evening, the gospel is going out in many places across the land and across this world. And so, Father, we just pray blessing upon Thy word. Thy hand is not shortened that it cannot save. And we pray for the salvation of sinners because we know that that day is soon coming, Lord Jesus, when those of us who belong to Thee are going to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
But all our God and Father to think of those left behind, perhaps those two who have listened to the gospel many times over and over again.
Left behind for judgment, never again to hear those wonderful words of the Lord Jesus. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Father, we just pray for the salvation of souls. We ask these things, giving thanks and the precious name of the Lord Jesus our Savior, Amen.
I'd like to turn to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 16.
16th chapter of Acts.
And begin reading at verse 16. And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, there are certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation. And this she did many days. But Paul being grieved, turned and said to the Spirit.
I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. And when her Master saw that the hope of their games was gone, they caught Paul and Silas and drew them into the marketplace.
Unto the rulers, and brought them to the magistrate, saying, These men being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe being Romans.
And the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded to beat them.
And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely, who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stalks.
And at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God.
And the prisoners heard them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bands were loose, and the keeper of the prison awakening out of sleep.
And seeing the prison doors opened, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
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And thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they speak unto him the word of the Lord.
And to all that were in his house, and he took them the same hour of the night.
And washed their stripes, and was baptized he and all his straightway.
And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. And when it was day, the magistrates sent the Sergeant saying, Let those men go. And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul.
The magistrates have sent to let you go now therefore depart and go in peace. But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly, uncondemned being Romans, and have cast us into prison. And now do they thrust us out privately? Nay, verily, but let them come themselves and fetch us out. And the sergeants told these words unto the magistrates, and they feared when they heard that they were Romans.
And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city.
And they went out of the prison and entered into the House of Lydia.
And when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them and departed.
Well, this little story that we've read together begins with It Came to Pass as we went to prayer.
And, you know, just down the hall, I'm sure most of you are aware, there was a little prayer meeting just before this gospel meeting.
And brothers came together last night and tonight, and they prayed for the salvation of souls.
Why did they do that?
They did that because they loved you.
You have brethren here. I look around and I see a lot of children and young people of the Saints, and your brethren are concerned about you. They're concerned that perhaps there's some of you that still don't belong to the Lord Jesus. And so there was prayer made. But you know, I was thinking of another man who prayed. In a certain sense, the Lord Jesus told the story, and it wasn't a parable. It was a true story about a very rich man. And you know, this rich man, he says he fared sumptuously every day, yet everything he wanted in this world.
He was not in want for anything.
But there was one thing he neglected.
He wasn't rich toward God. He left God out of his life. He had no thought of his responsibility to his Maker.
And the Lord Jesus said that man lifted up his eyes in hell, being in torment.
And you know what he said when he was there, he looked off, and he saw Abraham. And he said, I pray thee.
Send a messenger to my brethren that they come not to this place of torment. You see, he had five brothers that were still living, and he prayed that someone would go and tell them.
About salvation and tell them.
Where he was so that they wouldn't come to that awful place. And I thought to myself, maybe there's someone tonight that you know, that's passed out of this world.
And maybe in hell they've lifted up their eyes and maybe there's someone that's very nice, that's praying that you would not come to that place of torment.
We're getting very near the end of this dispensation. As I said at the beginning, soon the Lord Jesus will not invite sinners to repentance anymore.
But that door is still open, Dear friend, there may be that you have mothers and fathers that have prayed and are still praying for the salvation of your soul. I know that we have family that we love, friends that are around us, and we pray for the salvation of their souls. And friend, there's not much time left. The young people and children, I hope you've taken up with the offer of salvation because the time is short. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
Well, as they went to prayer, it says a damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us.
Herein comes this young lady and she has a problem. She has a very serious problem and there's a lot of problems in this world, isn't there?
There's a lot of people with some very serious problems.
I had a neighbor one time and he was a very confident man. He was a very intelligent man and he thought that he could have all the answers. He was sure that his own mind could figure out all the deep questions of life. But you know, there came a day when his wife was very sick and he didn't feel so confident anymore. And he asked for prayers for his wife.
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You see, he realized that he wasn't able.
He finally came to the realization yet. But you know, it's sad to say his wife got better and you know what happened.
That man went right back to his old ways again, and he still today feels that he has all the answers.
You know God speaketh once, CA twice, and man perceiveth it not. How many times has he spoken to you? How many times have you sat in a gospel meeting like this and you've heard the way of salvation and you're still turning away? God speaketh once. Yeah, twice. Maybe he won't speak anymore.
Well, this young lady, she had a serious problem, a lot of problems in this world today. But you know what?
She found an answer to this problem.
No, you'll notice it says which brought her master's much gain by soothing. You see, this lady wasn't her own. She wasn't making her own decisions.
And there's a lot of people in this world, in particular young people, who think that they have the world by the tail, so to speak, and they're going to make their own decisions about life. They're going to make their own decisions and run their own life. But I want to tell you something.
You're not free to run your own life.
There's 2 powers that are greater than men in this world. One is the power of God and the other is the power of Satan.
And if you're not under the protection of the power of God, there's another one whose power you fall under. Man is not a free agent that chooses he please. If you haven't put yourself under the protection of the Lord, the devil is your master. The devil is your master. And you may think you make your own decisions, but you don't. You don't. Because that one, that devil, that that's Satan, is far more clever than you or I or anyone in this room. He's had 6000 years of practice.
To deceive men and women and children and young people, you're no match for them. Not a person in this room is a match for them. So I urge you, this young lady found release from these masters and she found it in Jesus.
And it doesn't matter what the problem is, you're gonna find the answer in Jesus. Some of you here know, because I've said it many times, that one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible is the 107 Psalm, verse nine. And it says he, Jesus, satisfieth the longing soul. And I know, I know particularly you, dear young people, some of you have some real deep longings down in your heart. Every one of us have deep longings, you know, and nothing in this world can satisfy it.
You may find someone you love very much. Maybe you have a wife or a husband and you have children.
And maybe there's a lot of love in your home, and it's a wonderful thing. I'm very thankful for natural love. That's of God too. But even in a case like that, there's times that come when there's a longing inside that nothing can feel. And I don't, I want to tell you now that nothing will ever fill it in this world. There's nothing in this world that will satisfy that Jesus is the only one He satisfied the longing soul. And those deep things that you feel inside can only be satisfied by Jesus.
Well, this young lady, she found a release from her masters. You notice what she says though in the verse 17.
She followed Paul and she cried, saying, These men are the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the way of salvation.
You see, she knew that these men had the key to her happiness. She knew that these men spoke the way of salvation.
But as we read through the narrative, we never read that this young lady was ever saved. Oh, she came into blessing all right. She enjoyed the benefits of this wonderful news. And she believed that these men knew and and told out the way of salvation. Maybe there's someone here and you've heard the gospel and you know the way of salvation just as much as anybody else in this room.
But maybe you're still turning away.
Brother Neil spoke in Hebrews 6 about those who enjoyed the benefits of Christianity. That is, they enjoyed the blessings that came with that profession, but they weren't real. They didn't know the Lord Jesus as their own personal Savior. And you know, the great fear of those of us who are parents, those of us who are in the assembly, is the fear that maybe some of the children and young people, the Saints, are just like this young lady. They could tell you the way of salvation themselves better than I could.
But you're not saved. You're still not saved. You never read about this young girl ever being saved. She got a blessing, but it seems she didn't take Jesus as her Savior. Don't be like her, young people, children of the Saints. I look around and I don't see anybody that I haven't seen before.
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Don't. Don't play with fire, young people. If you're not saved, you better make that decision tonight before you leave this room.
Well, she knew the way of salvation, and it says this she did many days, but Paul being returned and said to the Spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ.
To come out of her and he came out the same hour. You see, the blessing was there and she enjoyed it.
Maybe you're in a Christian home and you enjoy the blessings of a Christian home, stability and love.
But you don't want the one who gives that stability and love.
That's Jesus.
Well, we see that Paul commanded his spirit to come out, and this girl was blessed. But you know what happened? I didn't take long before her masters found out that she was of no use anymore. And you know what the devil is like that the devil is your master tonight. If you haven't come to Jesus and taken him as your Savior, the devil is your master. And he's just like these masters. They cared nothing for this young lady. All they wanted was what they could get out of her. And that's what the devil wants to. He just wants what he can get out of it. He promises you all kinds of wonderful things.
He holds out the world to you and he makes a glitter and he says, come on, you can have a good time.
And all Owen that there's pleasures of sin for a season. The Bible tells us that there is pleasure in sin, but it's only for a short time. And I'll tell you something just like these masters, once he's finished with you, the devil just cast you sign. You know, you read about it in Proverbs. Maybe we should look at it. I think it's Proverbs chapter 5 and I'll just read a couple of verses.
In chapter 5 it speaks about the strange woman as a little picture of this world, and it says verse four or verse three. The lips of a strange woman drop as in honeycomb, but her, and her mouth is smooth than oil. But her end is bitter as Wormwood, sharp as A2 edged sword. Her feet go down to death, her steps take hold on hell. And this verse is important, lest thou should ponder the path of life. Her ways are movable.
That thou canst not know them. You know the devil is very clever. He'll let you think that you can figure things out for yourself.
And that you have the world by the tail, but you don't and you never will because you have three enemies. You've got the world, the flesh and the devil. And the devil is an expert at combining those other two things, you know, outwit you every time. And her ways are movable. You'll never figure it out. I know a lot of people. That man I spoke about my neighbor, he thought he could figure out all the answers. But there's going to come things in your life you won't be able to figure out the answers.
And her ways are movable. The devil is an expert deceiver. That's one of his names. That's what he's called the deceiver. And then at the end down here in that same chapter, it says.
Verse 11 And thou mourn at the last when thy flesh and thy body are consumed. And that's what the devil does as a master. He'll just take you and use you for what he can, and he'll leave you consumed in the end. Some people don't follow after that Master. Turn to the Lord Jesus right now. He loves you. He loves you more than anybody ever could or ever will. You may have parents that love you, and that's a wonderful thing, but nobody loves you like the Lord Jesus. Let me tell you how much He loves you.
I wanna tell you how much he loves him.
He says.
Speaks about a woman.
And a sucking child.
And she says that's not a woman.
Uh.
Uh, pity her sucking child. Does she not have compassion?
On the child of her womb. Will she forget the child of her womb? He says, yeah, they may forget, yet will not I forget thee? Behold, I've graven thee upon the palms of my hands. And I think it's wonderful. The Lord puts things in a way that we can understand. We can all look around and see mothers with babies here and we can see the love in their eyes. But the Lord Jesus says even a mother might forget her little one. He says, but I'll never forget you. I have you engraved upon the palms of my hands. And for all of eternity He's going to have those marks of those nails in his hands, dear friend.
That's like your name engraved upon there. He can never let you down. Nobody loves you like the Lord Jesus.
Well, we'll go on here and see what happens. These masters, they lost all their hope and gain, so they just tossed her aside and we read about her no more.
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Verse 19 It says, When her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, and brought them to the magistrate, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city.
Here were these men who could tell out the way of salvation, and they said they trouble our city.
Last night there was a faithful gospel message went out in this room. A faithful and a very plain gospel message went out here and.
Tonight, by the grace of God, the gospel is going out again.
Time and time again the gospel goes forth. Does it trouble you? When you sit here and you listen to the gospel, does it trouble you? You feel kind of like you'd like to get out of here and go and do something else. That's what these men said. They trouble our city. If you're a friend, if you're still in your sins, I hope you are in trouble. I hope the Lord doesn't leave you alone until you make a decision for Christ.
Well, they tucked them and it says the multitude rose up verse 22 together against them, and the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded to beat them. Well here we see a whole multitude was stirred up against these men. A whole multitude. You know God says in the Old Testament, he says thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.
And you know something, if the multitude's doing it, it's probably wrong. It's probably wrong the young people you've heard over again, I'm sure everybody's doing it, can't be wrong if everybody's doing it. But God tells you the opposite to that. He says, thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil. And if everybody's doing it, young people, you can pretty well be assured that it's wrong and it's going to get you into trouble and.
That's what happened here. Everybody was caught up in the multitude. Be careful, be careful. The Lord Jesus said there's few that find that narrow Rd. There's few that enter in by the straight gate. So be careful young people, don't follow the multitude.
Well, they beat them and they handed them over to this jailer. And this is the man that we're going to spend a little bit of time on here. Verse 24. Uh, the jailer who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stalks. Now here we see a man.
And I have no doubt that he was probably a man that had been through some very rough times.
A job like this, I don't think it was an easy job even today to look after prisoners. It's not a very happy job. And so I think this man probably was a pretty tough customer.
And you know, he received a charge to keep these men safely. And in those days, if he let those men go, if they escaped, he would pay with his life.
So you see, he really earnestly wanted to make sure that these men didn't get away. He didn't want to lose his life. And so he took them and he thrust them into the inner prison, and he made their feet fast in the stocks and they couldn't move.
So this man, he had a charge given to him.
Maybe you have a charge too. Maybe you've got a job to do and it's so occupying you that you have no time to think about Jesus. Maybe you're going to school, maybe you're going to university and you really enjoy it and you're really looking forward to getting ahead. You've got a charge and you want to get ahead in the world, and so you have no time for Jesus. We're going to find out that this man came to a time in his life when it just didn't matter anymore.
You know, there's a lot of people in the world that are climbing the ladder to success.
But you know when they get to the top, they're going to find out that the thing was leaning against the wrong wall.
Because there's no blessing. They're going to get to the end of their life and I've seen them before. They get to the end of their life and all they've got to look forward to is a grave.
Oh dear friend, if you don't have Jesus, you've got nothing.
Well, verse 25 says at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them. Isn't that a marvelous thing? Here were two men. They weren't like this jailer. They weren't busy. They were in stocks. They were thrust into the inner prison. They were probably rats around and all kinds of things and dampness. I'm sure they were very uncomfortable, but what were they doing? You'd think they might have been moaning and complaining and groaning, but no.
They were praying and singing praises to God. Isn't that marvelous?
Do you think that you could be in a situation like this and sing praises to God? Well, that's what happens when you have Jesus. Jesus is your savior. You have a new life, something that nobody understands. The world will never understand the true Christian. You'll never understand the true Christian. Well, there they were, and they were singing praises unto God. And there's something I'd like to mention to those of us here who do belong to the Lord Jesus, and that is these men were singing praises to God.
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You know there's.
There's people today that would encourage you and say, don't waste your time. You go to that little meeting and and you go there and you remember the Lord. That's not really important. The important thing is to get out there and preach the gospel and get sinners saved. Well, I don't deny that that's important. That's why we have a gospel meeting here tonight to tell you the way of salvation. But you know something, the very first thing, those of us who know the Lord Jesus is Savior, the most important thing and comes first.
Is worship. Every service begins with worship. There were a few of us here this morning and we came together and we remembered the Lord the way He asked us to so very simply. And it was wonderful. He had the Lord in our presence who sang praises to him. And you know what? It was to God. It was a sweet favor to God.
God appreciated.
It was a sweet saver to her. Do you think that's a waste? No, it's not a waste of time. And as a matter of fact, you'll notice what it says at the end of the verse. The prisoners heard them. Was there an effect? Yes, there was. Not only was it a sweet favor to God, but there was an effect on others. The prisoners heard them and you know.
When you worship the Lord, there's other people looking on and they see it in your face. You go home from the morning meeting and your neighbors look on.
They know what you've done, they know where you've been. They may not understand a great deal, but they know where you've been and it has an effect on them.
So you just go right on praising the Lord. He appreciates it. It's a sweet favor to him. And you'll find out that it does affect others. It does bear a testimony to those around you. Well, verse 26, God comes in here because He has his eye on that man, and God has his eye on you tonight as you sit in your chair. He knows the number of hairs on your head. That's how much He knows about you, and He loves you. He's got an interest in you, and He wants to save your soul and bless you.
And so.
With this man, it says in verse 26, suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Along comes this mighty earthquake that God sent and the foundations of the prison were shaken. And not only that, it says the doors were opened and everyone's bands were loosed. You ever been in an earthquake? I'm not talking about a physical earthquake. I've been in an earthquake too. Not a big one or anything like that, but I felt the earth shake and it's a, it's a strange feeling. It's a strange feeling because you just feel the power of God and how He can take this earth.
And shake it and do it every once.
But I'm talking to another kind of earthquake.
You ever had an earthquake in your life? Maybe somebody really close to you has been taken away in death.
That's an earthquake. That's an earthquake. It hurts and it shakes you up.
Maybe it's your job. Somebody's giving you a hard time and you have to face it every day and you can't get away from it and you're tormented or at school. That's an earthquake. That's something that shakes you up and you don't know what to do about it. There's a lot of questions. Fear is another earthquake. A lot of people are afraid today. You know, men's hearts are failing them for fear right now of the things that are coming upon this earth. That's an earthquake.
Loneliness that can be an earthquake.
Well, you know something, God sends earthquakes. He sent this earthquake, and maybe that earthquake in your life He sent to because he has something to say to you. He's got a message for you.
He's got something He wants to say to you. Well, this earthquake came and it shook the foundations of the prison. And what happened? The doors were opened and everyone's bands were loosed. You know what the Lord wants to do with that earthquake in your life? He wants to loose your bands and set you free. That's what He wants to do. If you're like that young lady we spoke about and your master is is Satan. He wants to set you free from those bands and that's why the earthquakes come, so that you'll turn away.
And look at Jesus, and you'll come to him, and he's the one with the answers. I don't have the answers. The wise men in this world don't have the answers.
They don't, but Jesus does.
00:35:01
You know it was all things that he has all the answers. So if there's an earthquake in your life, I hope you're listening because God's speaking to you and what he wants to do is loose your bands. He wants to save your soul. Lord Jesus said if the sun shall make you free.
You shall be free, indeed, the truth shall set you free.
And that's what Jesus wants to do.
You're just saying, well, I have some problems in my life. Maybe you've got some besetting sin, something that you really find hard to shake off. And you say, well, I don't know if I could be a Christian. I got these things that I don't think I could stop.
You know what, it's just like that girl. She was captured by something, but the Lord set her free. And the Lord could set you free too. He can not only save your soul, but He can set you free from that sin that's beset him, from that difficulty that you have. He has all the answers. Well, their bands were loosened. Now what happens about this keeper of the prison in verse 27, He awakening out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing.
That the prisoners had fled. This man, he was there in the earthquake. All the prisoners bands were loose, the doors were opened and he thought it was all over for him. He thought all those prisoners were going to run away and he'd have to pay with his life. So you know what he was going to do? He was going to kill himself.
He was going to kill himself.
That's a real problem today, you know, especially among young people.
And we've all been touched by it.
We've all been touched by people we know.
It's an awful thing, isn't it, when someone takes their own life?
You know, we're not our own. We don't have the right to take this life. Life comes from God. He gives life.
But there's a lot of people who think that they can get away from their troubles.
But you know what God says? It's appointed unto man once to die, but after this, the judgment, after this the judgment. And death is not the end. Death is not the end. You may think so, but God warns us solemnly, it's not the end. You're going to have to stand before God. And what then? What then? That's going to be far more fearful than anything you have to face here, no matter how bad it may be.
If you stand before God in your sins.
In Revelation, it tells us about a great white throne.
And the one who sat on it, from whom the earth and the heaven fled away, there was found no more place for them.
And and John says he saw the small and great, The dead small and great stand before God in that throne.
And the books were open and they were judged out of those things that were written in the book according to their deeds. And if you don't know Jesus as your savior, and you leave this world in death, whether it's by your own hand or some other way.
If you lead this world, you're going to stand before that great white throne.
And my friend, I'm going to tell you something.
All the fear you've ever known will be nothing like the fear you feel when you stand before that throne. And fear will cleave right through to your soul because you'll know what's coming. You'll know that you're gonna be cast into that lake of fire, and it won't be for a million years or 2 million years. It'll be for eternity. You'll never get out of there.
There's nothing that you've ever experienced yet that can be compared to the kind of fear you'll feel in that day. But you don't have to be there. You don't have to stand before that great white throne.
You can come to Jesus just as you are.
Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done. Maybe you've done some pretty awful things in your life. The Lord knows all about them because all things are naked and open under the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. He knows the secrets of your heart. It tells us in the Bible. But He still loves you. And He went to that cross of Calvary to bear your sins in His own body on the tree. If you'll accept Him as your Savior, He shed His precious blood.
And it tells us in first John, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin, not just some sin, all sin, no matter how bad they are.
Precious blood of Christ cleanses from all sin. You don't have to stand before that great white throne.
You can have Jesus as your Savior, and there will come a day when the blood of Christ will speak on your behalf. Well.
00:40:00
This man was really shaken up.
But what did Paul say? He cried out with a voice, with a loud voice, and he said, do thyself no harm, for we are all here.
And I want to tell you that God doesn't want to harm you.
God doesn't want to harm you. He doesn't want to judge you.
Let's read a verse in in Genesis chapter three. I think it is. Just turn back there for a minute.
Genesis chapter 3.
And we know the story of Adam and Eve, I'm sure everyone here does, and how Adam and Eve sinned and then they hid themselves in the garden. And verse nine it says, the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, where art thou?
You know, when I was younger, I used to think that God was saying to Adam, where art thou? Because he knew he'd sinned and he wanted to punish him. And there's a lot of people like that today. They think that God wants to punish them for all their sins. And so they try to hide. They don't want to look God in the face. They don't, they don't want to have anything to do. They just want to hide like Adam. But you know, that's not the sense of that verse. When God said, Adam, where art thou? It was the call of a broken heart.
Because God desired to have Adam's company, and Adam had spoiled it all. He's the one that had brought in a separation by his sin. And God said, Adam, where art thou? It was the call of a broken heart. He didn't want to punish him. He wanted him to bless him. He knew all about what he'd done, but he loved him. And dear friends, the Lord knows all about you, all the things you've done or thought, everything in your life, and yet he still loves you. And he says, where art thou?
He wants to bless you.
Why don't you come now? Why don't you come now while there's still time?
Well, Paul cried with a loud voice, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here, and he brought them out, or I'm sorry, I skipped verse 29. Then he, that is the jailer, called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas.
This is important. You know the work of salvation was accomplished 2000 years ago on that cross account.
The work, the mighty work of redemption has all been accomplished. Jesus did it all long ago.
But there's one thing that's necessary for you and I, and that's repentance towards God. The Bible says God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent because he hath appointed a day into which he will judge this world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. And that man is the Lord Jesus. There's a need for repentance.
There's a lot of people today will tell you about the love of God.
And that's certainly true. God is love. It's his very nature. But God is also light. God is also light. And sin must be paid for. And so God commands all men everywhere to repent. You know, God wants truth in the inward parts. And just a light confession of the Lord Jesus is not good enough. It's gotta be hard work. It's gotta be hard work. He looks for truth in the inward parts.
With this man it was heart work. You see, it says he came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas. Have you ever trembled before God? Have you ever got into His presence as a Sinner and seeing yourself as He sees you?
You know the story of Job.
God had a had a good opinion of him. God said he was a perfect man, upright, one that is chewed evil.
But you know what Job finally had to say when he got into the presence of God? He said I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever really seen yourself as God sees you?
This man came trembling. There needs to be repentance, dear friend. It's gotta be real. You can't just be with the lips, it's gotta be with the heart. Well, he called for a light, this man.
And this is the light of God that I hold in my hands. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Thy word, the entrance of thy word, giveth light. And this is where you're going to find the answers. That's what we're talking about tonight. It's not my ideas. It's what's written in this book.
And he says, he called for this light, and he came and trembled, and he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And what was the answer? It was so simple, so simple. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Isn't that a simple thing? Salvation is not hard. We used to sing a little song in Sunday school. A little child of seven or even three or four can enter into heaven.
00:45:09
Through Christ, the open door, little children three and four years old can understand that they've done bad things and they need a Savior.
Salvation is not hard to understand, dear friend, don't use that excuse at all. It's too complicated. It's not complicated. Jesus did everything long ago and all you have to do is come and believe. But I say again, it's got to be real. There needs to be repentance towards God. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And they didn't stop there.
He said, And I have Thou shalt be saved in thy house. You know, that's a wonderful verse, and I'm so thankful that it's in the Bible because I have children.
And there's people here tonight. You have children.
And maybe you're worried about him.
Maybe you're worried about them. Well, I can tell you this much. If you pray for the salvation of their souls, you're in communion with God. You pray in communion with God because God will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. You know something else a young sister once told me a good number of years ago, she said, I don't believe that God gives us children to raise for hell. And I thought about that an awful lot. And you know, I always appreciated that over the years.
Because God doesn't give us children to raise for hell.
He doesn't.
And you know, you can trust God for your children. You can trust them for those children. It's hard to do because probably the things we love most in this world are our children.
But we can trust God for them. We can trust God for them. You know what? You know what Joseph said way back in chapter 50 of Genesis when his brethren came to him, he said, fear not, I will nourish thee and thy little ones.
And he was just a picture of Jesus.
Jesus will nourish those little ones and he'll save them. He'll save them.
You trust you count on him for those children of yours and you.
Well, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved in thy house. And then it says, they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. Isn't it wonderful? You know after you get saved, God gives you a new life, He gives you a new desires, and now you have a thirst for the things that are in the word of God. And so they opened up the Bible for this man.
You belong to the Lord Jesus. Don't neglect the meetings come to the reading meetings. Take the time to read the Bible yourself because it's nourishment for you. You need it. What would you think of a person who who said I'm not gonna eat any more food. I think they were pretty foolish because you know they'd get sick while a Christian gets sick if they don't read their Bibles. You need to take in the word of God. It's refreshment. And so they they speak the word of God to him in all his house and what did he do? He took them verse 33 the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized he and all his straightway.
And when he had brought them into his house, he said, Meet before the men rejoiced, believing in God.
With all his house, you see, there's the promise. I was just speaking about children. You notice there's a progression. The promise is thou shalt be saved in my house. And then it says the word of God was spoken to him and to all his house. The word of God was brought before his children. And then finally it says he rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. And I've always taken those verses as a promise from God for your family, for your children. You may see a lot of things. The Lord may use those children to humble you.
And even bring sorrow into your life because maybe it's necessary. But I believe God promises you. Trust me for those children and I'll take care of them. Well, they believed in God the whole house, and they rejoiced. And I want to tell you something. If you come to Jesus, He'll give you joy in your soul, down deep in your heart, that nothing will ever take away from you. Nothing.
You may go through some pretty awful sorrows, and Lord doesn't promise us that when we could become Christians, we'll have an easy time. In fact, He promises us tribulation. But I want to tell you something. He'll give you joy down deep in your heart that no problem will ever take away from you. You may have tears, you may have deep sorrow, but there'll be that joy inside that nothing can take away because God gave it to you rejoicing. Rejoice in the Lord evermore. That's wonderful too, because you know, it was mentioned, I think, in these meetings.
00:50:01
God wants you to have a happy life. He didn't save you so that you could be miserable. He wants you to have a happy life.
Not just for eternity. He wants to save you for eternity. That's wonderful. But he wants you to be happy here too. And.
And so they rejoiced.
But now we're going to notice these men, these magistrates. In verse 35 it says when, the day, when it was day, the magistrate sent the Sergeant saying let those men go.
And the keeper, the man, Miss Philippian jailer, he came back and he thought he had good news. He said, He said, saying unto Paul, the magistrates have sent to let you go. Now therefore depart and go in peace.
But it was all covered up, you see.
Magistrates wanted everything covered up.
It says.
Verse 37 Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly, uncondemned being Romans, and have cast us into prison. And now do they trust us out privily? Nay, verily, but let them come themselves and fetch us out. And the sergeants told these words under the magistrates, and they fear when they heard they were Romans. Now is the time of the magistrates to be afraid. Now it was the time for the magistrates to be afraid. And you know, it's not easy confessing the Lord, is it? It's not easy to let people know that you belong to Jesus.
You. You suffer for it, don't you?
You tell somebody you belong to the Lord Jesus, they might laugh at you.
They might do something else. It's not easy to do, is it?
But I wanna tell you something. There's coming a day when the Lord is gonna display his church, each one that's been redeemed by his precious blood. He's gonna display them to this world in all its beauty. In all its beauty. And then they're gonna look and they're gonna see those ones that they that they marked, those ones that they looked down upon and laughed at, and they're gonna see them with Jesus in the glory. And it'll be their time to be afraid. It'll be their turn to be afraid, because they won't have anything to look forward to except judgment.
Judgment is ahead for this world because it's guilty of murdering the Son of God.
You ever think of that God as a controversy with this world It murdered his son to?
2000 years ago and he's gonna deal with this world. And if you don't know Jesus as your savior, and he should come tonight and take us home, you'll be left behind for that judgment. And that's not the great white throne. That's that's yet to come after, but you'll be left behind for the judgment that's coming on this earth too. And then and then in 1000 years, it tells us in the Bible, then you'll stand before the great white throne as well.
It's a solemn thing to reject.
So great salvation, don't reject the Lord. Well, now the magistrates were afraid, and verse 39 they came and besought them and brought them out and desired them to be to depart out of the city didn't want anything to do with them. And if you become a Christian tonight.
Maybe some of your friends won't wanna have anything to do with you anymore.
But you ask yourself this question, is it worth it?
Is it worth it to spend eternity with that rich man in hell who lifted up his eyes being in torment?
Is it worth that losing a few friends?
You better weigh it carefully, but don't take too long because the Lord's coming. You make that decision for Christ tonight. Well, the last verse, verse 40.
And they went out of the prison, that is Paul and Silas, and entered into the House of Lydia. And when they had seen the brethren they comforted them and departed. Last week we were in Rio Ferry, and there was a brother who got up and he spoke a little bit about comfort. And I appreciated it very much because this is a day when there's a lot of.
Difficulty, sorrow, anxiety in life and people are looking for something to comfort their hearts. Even Christians, we often look for something that comfort our hearts. Maybe we get a little bit away from the Lord and and we get all upset about things and anxious about things.
And so we like to have a little comfort. Well, God is the God of all comfort. It's a wonderful thing. There's been a lot of sorrow lately, hasn't there? Among the people of God. The Lord has taken a lot of dear ones home, hasn't he?
And it's hard to understand. Some of them were a real help.
And we wonder why? Why did the Lord take that person home? And.
And there's things that we just don't understand.
But you know, God is the God of all comfort.
And he can comfort you.
Tells us in Corinthians He is the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulations, that we might be able to comfort those who are in any tribulation. And that's why the Lord allows difficulties to come in your life and in mind.
00:55:11
That's one of the re, the reasons so that we can be a help to others. If I have a problem and somebody comes to me and I know that person has been through the same kind of a tragedy, the same kind of a trouble, uh, that person can really comfort my heart because I know they've been through it and they can put their arm around me and they can tell me. I understand. I understand. And so God, those of us here who belong to the Lord, let's not be weary. It's hard, it's getting harder, it's not getting any easier.
And the sorrows are getting greater all the time. But God is the God of all comfort, and He allows things in our lives so that we can be a help to others, not just so that we can break down, but so that we can be a help.
And a comfort to our brethren. Not a wonderful thing, you may have thought.
When it says here, when they seen the brethren they comforted, you may have thought that it was the brethren that comforted Paul and Silas because they'd been through all this prison and and put in the stocks and beaten. But it wasn't. It was Paul and Silas that Co that comforted the brethren. So you see, God puts you through trials so you can be a comfort to your brethren. He's the God of all comfort and he's the God of salvation.
Read it in. But you know, the greatest comfort of all in the Bible, I believe, are those verses in Thessalonians.
And it says, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout.
With the voice of the Archangel, and the trump of God, And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain under the coming of the Lord, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and listen to this soul. Shall we ever be with the Lord? And the Spirit of God adds, Comfort one another with these words. I don't know of any more comforting words in the whole Bible than the coming of the Lord. So shall we ever be with the Lord? He's just about ready to come.
Those of us here who belong to Him were looking and were longing for that day. And there's nothing more comforting than that. Let's not lose that, brethren, because the devil is working to take that away from us. All the tragedies and the sorrows of life, He's trying to, he's trying to take away from us that hope of the Lord's coming. But He's coming soon. And if you're sitting here in your sins, He may come tonight. Don't you put it off. You accept Him now. Let's sing #8 I believe it is in closing.
Shall we gather at his coming?
Yes, we'll gather at his coming, His glorious, glorious coming. Gather with his Saints at his coming. If washed in the seder's blood #8 shall we go?
000 0359748 hours to go over it out and uh yeah, you're doing the same.
Time.
In the morning to save your money.
Las Vegas, Nevada.
Employer, yes, and it's already on.
Your way to my sister and daughter.
In the center.
1/5, 30989.
10/14.
Will be in a month for love and grace and praying for the same.
Matthew 13 Parables
Assembly Truth
Open Mtg. 2
Open—R. Ruga, C. Little, D. Brown
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.
The scream that from the past and the flow and I'll be turn of love the empire.
Oh yeah.
Oh, there gifts come up. If I've had anything I blame.
We lost to see the Savior saying.
You're just saying those lovely words.
Redeemed by blood and saved by grace, we look to see the Savior's face.
When a brethren is weakened.
Stole the grace of God together.
Apart from the grace of God, we are nothing. We have nothing. We owe it all to the redeeming blood, to the saving grace.
Of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Where would we be this afternoon were it not for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ? Would any of us be here? No, we'd each be our separate ways.
Forgetful of the Lord and of His kindness, of His love, and of the finished work that He accomplished at Calvary.
Look with me the scripture in Genesis.
The first book of the Bible, Chapter 9.
Suppose we are in glory.
And uh, we walked down that street of goal and we meet this man, Noah.
Up there we say no, I'm why?
I knew I was gonna meet you here because you certainly were a righteous man.
You are a preacher of righteousness for 120 years.
And God finds you alone, upright amongst all others.
00:05:03
Little wonder, Noah, that you're found here in glory. Not surprised in the least.
You know what? He would answer me.
This 9th chapter.
Verse 20.
21.
I began to be a husband. Then I planted a vineyard and I was drunk the wine and I was uncovered in my tent.
You know, left to myself, I wouldn't be here. It was the grace of God that brought me here.
You omitted to refer to another passage in the 6th chapter, I believe, concerning myself.
And here's why I'm here.
Genesis chapter 6.
Verse 8.
I found grace.
I found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Do you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ?
That's the only grounds upon which I'm hearing. I would say I found grace in the eyes of the Lord after He spared me and my family. I turned aside so quickly from following the right way. I'm not here because of my righteousness.
Or because of any good that I have done. I'm here because of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Turn to the next book of the Bible, Exodus.
Chapter 2.
And as we continue.
I walked down the street of glory. We meet this man, Moses.
When Moses.
The neatest man upon the face of the earth. Weren't you the one who forsook all the treasures of Egypt and identified yourself with the people of God? That was quite a choice you made. Little wonder God took you, brought you up here to heaven.
Didn't you interpose on behalf of the Lord's people, and they had so quickly turned aside to idolatry?
And you had said, Lord, blow my name out of my book.
And God wouldn't do that. And that was certainly commendable.
That was honorable of you to do that, Moses, and I see that now. You are in glory. You know, Moses would correct me and he'd refer me to a verse here in the second chapter of Exodus.
He said. Have you never read verse 12?
When I looked this way that way.
I saw nobody, and I slew an Egyptian.
And I hid this Egyptian in the sand.
You know, Ruben, that was murder. I'm not here because I was better than anybody else.
No, I'm here because of the grace of God that had pity on me, the grace of God that spared me from just punishment.
He could have terminated my life just then or my service for him just then and said, Moses, I'm finished with you.
But instead, he gave me another chance. He allowed me to learn lessons for 40 years on the backside of the desert.
And then to lead his people for 40 years.
I can understand.
Why Moses would know something of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Turn back a few pages in your Bible. The end of Genesis. Is there not another illustration?
Chapter 49.
This man was used of God.
To the priesthood in Israel, a signal of honor to the tribe of Levi.
They had murarites. They did this service and the Tabernacle in the wilderness.
Finnegan's most faithful in God's judgment was about to be poured upon Israel.
Hi Levi, your name means join. Join to the Lord. Ah, I knew I'd meet you here in heaven.
I'm afraid Levi would tell me. You know, Ruben, you have the wrong slant on my life. I didn't deserve a bit of it. I didn't deserve a bit of it in that 49th chapter of Genesis.
00:10:10
And verse five, Here's what Jacob, my father, had to say in all truth about me.
Simeon and Levi are brethren. Instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. Have you never read what I did when I tried to avenge my my sister Dinah and my brother Simeon and I? We went into that city and we slew all the men. We put them to death. I said I know something about that Levi I knew.
They're useful to the whole city for one man. I knew of multitudes of people who were saved by one man, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
He said yes.
I was saved as a result of his work too.
Levi joined to the Lord blessed in such a favorite position of drawing nigh to God on behalf of the people.
But not because of any worth of his own.
Not at all. It seemed as if God chose the very worst there amongst his people, and showed grace to them and brought them nigh so that they could serve in the most holy things.
What a position, what an honor.
And so he's brought into glory because of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the New Testament, dear brethren, let us turn for a moment.
To Luke.
Chapter 9 You know who is the beloved disciple who leaned on the bosom of the Lord?
Young man, I'm sure.
Doesn't like to refer to himself. In his Gospel of John he refers to himself I think 7 times as the disciple whom Jesus loved.
Very close to the Lord.
So much so that the Lord committed to John his mother there at the foot of the cross. Oh, John, I suppose you're here in heaven because.
Of your affection for the Lord and what you did for the Lord's mother.
And furthermore, all that I've read that you have suffered before the Lord.
I understand that. And they banished you to the Isle of Fatness and uh, the Lord gave you a wonderful revelation concerning what would happen to the church in the last days. John knew certainly in that way way continued on until the coming of the Lord.
Well, he would tell me, you know, that all that is true.
But you know, I had a very wrong spirit when I was down there on earth, and the Lord had to reprove me.
Read Verse.
54 of that 9th of Luke.
When his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?
You know, when I was down there, I wanted to destroy all those Samaritans.
You think I deserve to be here in glory? I had a wrong spirit about me. The Lord had to correct my spirit. I do trust that He did because later on in the 8th chapter of Acts I went back to those same people with Peter and I called down the Spirit of God from heaven, not fire.
But the Spirit of God came down from heaven when those very same Samaritans which I would have destroyed had received the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. No, I'm not here because of any merit on my part. I'm here because of the grace.
Of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I continue walking down the courts of glory, and I encounter another man.
Surface of reference says to him in First Timothy, First Timothy chapter one, the great apostle Paul.
You would think of anybody deserved to go to heaven.
The apostle Paul should be there. What he endured for Christ's sake, model to the believers. He's shipwrecked. He was in the deep a night and the day thrice was he beaten with 40 stripes.
00:15:09
Save one, he was stoned. Prison oftentimes.
This dear man suffered much for Christ.
Paul Flynn wonder that you are here. You certainly deserve to be here.
You know, I think that the apostle Paul would say there's a scripture which I wrote to Timothy in that first chapter, which I am forgetful of, verse 13.
Before I was a blasphemer.
I was a persecutor. I was injurious.
But I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly.
In unbelief.
In the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is exceeding abundant towards me. No, I'm not here because of any work on my part. I was the chief of chiefest of sinners. I was mad towards Christ. I was persecuting those that were of the way even unto other cities, and bringing them and hailing them into prison.
But First Corinthians 15 But by the grace of God, I am what I am.
Dear President, what about you?
What about me?
Are we any better? Can we lay claim to glory that we deserve in any way to be fair?
I'm trying to the gospel.
Look again, Gospel of Luke.
Chapter 14.
Lovely words, redeemed by blood, saved by grace. We look to see the Savior's face. Well, here we are in the 14th chapter of Luke present.
Where verse 21 There we are. Here's our description. So that servant came and showed his Lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry, said to his servant, go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bringing hit her, the poor, the main, the halt and the blind. There we are.
The boy named.
Hall and Blind.
That's the ones God calls in. Do we not know?
Grace of God.
By the grace of God, we are what we are.
There's a strange place for me, but I have a few thoughts concerning grace.
If you turn with me to the book of Titus.
I believe it's Titus.
Yes, Titus.
Chapter 2.
Beginning at verse 11.
For the grace of our Lord, the grace of God, which bringeth salvation.
Hath appeared to all men.
Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts.
We should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.
Looking for that blessed hope.
And the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself.
For us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a per a peculiar people, zealous of good works, these things speak.
And exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
Very interesting here to think that God brings in the thought of grace. Grace teaches us something, doesn't it? What does it teach us? It teaches us to be kind, to be gracious, to to help others.
With love and compassion, the grace of God. We will never fathom the grace of God. So I just thought of this, these few little verses here it says the grace of God.
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That bringeth salvation, as our brothers brought out. How would you know anything about the Lord Jesus if it wasn't for His grace that is wrought in your heart and caused you to turn from darkness to light to serve the living and true God? It's the grace of God.
We know it's the mercy of God too. You have mercies of the God every day, even here, and everyone in this room has the mercy of God.
But those blessings are eternal.
You've never seen one of them yet, but the grace of God has brought us something.
You know, we don't just sit there and relax and say, well, I, I thank God for the grace. And so I'll just go on from there.
No, that's not it. God's grace has brought you, taught you something. Are we learning? Are we listening to what He has said? I think it's very precious to see that when God teaches, He teaches us something that you'll stay with us for eternity.
Oh, we practice it now if we do.
But then in those scenes of glory, when we look into His blessed face and we see that kindness and love, compassion of His.
Are we gonna question that? We're gonna say, oh, the grace of God has brought me into this position.
Because of my being, here is the grace of the living God that is wrought has brought me into a place of nearness and blessing. And so I just think of these little verses here. The grace of God that brought salvation has appeared to who? To all men. Have all men received it? No, they haven't.
And they're the losers.
But the grace of God has appeared to all men. No one will ever be able to say in that coming day, why didn't know that?
No, you will not say that.
Because it appeared the grace of God, the mercy of God has brought into this picture here for us and he says teaching us.
It's appeared to all men and it teaches us something.
What does it teach you? What does it teach me?
Well, I think it's very precious to see that He teaches us to be gracious, to be kind, to be loving, to be favorable towards all men, not just some men. You know, we can all, we can certainly don't agree with the sins of man, but we can certainly love him and seek to help, be helped to him. How do we know this? By the grace of God.
The Lord Jesus Christ came into this world in grace and truth.
Would you like to put it differently? We like to say truth and grace, but that's not the order. The order is grace and truth.
The Lord Jesus Christ, he manifested that in this world and so I just thought of this, these few little verses here that remind us that this grace of God.
It says teaching, teaching us that denying ungodliness, that's the first thing, denying ungodliness. Turn away from that which is ungodly, which is not pleasing to God.
It teaches us that what teaches us the grace of God, because the Lord Jesus Christ manifested all that grace toward us. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
You didn't know that, did you?
That God, in his love for you, He knew you before you were born.
We can't preach the gospel by telling people that because they say well.
They'll they'll do work it out for themselves. But God knew you were before you were born. So the grace of God has come and brought something to you. And I say to myself, what am I doing with it? Am I practicing it? Am I putting it into practice? Am I using that? That's what God has given me. And so it's interesting to see here the first thing is denying ungodly lusts.
00:25:03
Are you tempted to do something wrong?
Be careful.
You should deny it. You should turn away from it.
So it says, denying ungodly lust.
Uh, that we should.
That we should.
Live now, he says. You turn away from those ungodly things and live.
How soberly, righteously and godly in this present world.
Soberly.
As to yourself.
Not foolish, not uh, with crazy thoughts, but soberly and righteously toward others.
And godly in the presence of God, knowing that he knows all about me.
These are precious things and they've been taught us.
And God isn't going to change his word. He's not going to say, well, I told you that in Titus, but I'm not going to. I'm going to change that. Now, has he done that? Never. Never. The word of God is forever settled in heaven.
You'll never change it. No matter how we change, He doesn't change. So I just think how lovely and precious this is soberly as to my personal self, as to myself living soberly. Then righteously toward you, toward others, that we might always remember the grace of God that is wrought in our hearts. Then he says godly. And when do we do this? When we get home. No, no, no, no.
That's what the Scriptures tell us here, doesn't it? In this present world right now, we can live soberly, we can live righteously, we can live godly. Why? Because the grace of God has taught us this. It's the grace of God. You don't do it. You can't do it yourself. You can't do it in your own strength. In my early days, I was, I was a might say, short fuse person.
Again.
Yeah, angry quickly, but God had a lot to teach me.
So I learned something from the grace of God.
His matchless grace, he taught me to be sober, to be righteous toward others, and to be godly in the presence of the one who is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. How precious this is to see. And then he says, in order that, you know, we speak about thinking of the Lord to come, we speak about the coming of the Lord. And I think if you look at Thessalonians first, Thessalonians 4, we find it.
Before he speaks about that at the end of that chapter 4.
He tells us about.
The way.
Of walking plainly in this world and godly in this world. You read the first part of that first chapter or 4th chapter of Thessalonians. You find that.
So it's beautiful when we think that God has has that the grace of God has taught us something. I always ask myself, how much am I learning? How much have I assumed? How much have I assimilated the truth that God has given me? This is what he wants on us.
I'm sure every I'm sure everyone here knows the way of salvation, but what are we doing with it?
How are we treating it? How are we have we how we how we accept them? Have we practiced it point of thought there something to think about looking for that blessed hope in verse 13 and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. And then he has to add who gave himself for us. That's precious truth he gave himself.
In Saint Abrie or Michael.
He gave himself, He came down to that cross, bore all the judgment we deserved. Have you ever thought as we sit this morning? He sat this morning remembering the Lord. Have you ever thought how much it cost him?
We will never know how much it cost.
Eternity will never exhaust it.
The sufferings of Christ.
And the glory that you found.
Well, I just thought of that looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing, the great God and our Savior. Notice it says great God, the Blessed One, the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back, but also He's coming for us first.
00:30:09
Then he's coming in judgment as we, as we heard our brother with the gospel spoke concerning the judgment of God. He's coming when he comes back, he comes back with the Saints. The 19th of Revelation tells us so.
Comes back with the Saints of God. But this is all connected to my soul, at least with the grace of God that has been extended to me and to you, to each one of us. The grace of God so who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity.
Redeem us from all iniquity.
I've heard many, many sad stories about real children of God. I say real. At least they profess.
And their life doesn't prove it.
What do you think about that? Solemn, isn't it?
If we make a profession or confession of the Lord, we better be careful.
That we practice it.
Because God is not going to be mocked.
Merry man is going to receive.
His deeds done in the body. So here he says, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity.
Not only so redeemed from iniquity, but then purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Now there's so much in this, I'm not going to take up more time, but I just thought of these verses. How precious it is to see that it's connected with the grace of God. God's grace. You know God's grace has gone out to all, but if you haven't received it, if you haven't listened to it, if you haven't taken it in.
Then you're still in your sins, but here, he says.
In verse 14, Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself.
A peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Wonderful thing to think that once we were on a downward Rd. we've been brought to an upward Rd. For one thing, that we might honor God in our pathway, a path of good works. Good works won't get your salvation, but the scriptures are very clear that after you are saved, your works should follow. Good works should follow, but it just the the climaxes. These thoughts, these verse 15, these things speak.
And exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee. Now I can stand here and tell you this with the authority of the word of God.
I can't say I'm perfect, I can't say that I can do these things, but I, I'm responsible, knowing this, to bring it out. So he says these things, speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority. What authority? The authority of the word of God. That's all. That's the only authority we have. We don't have any other authority. We can't do it as an individual, but it's the working work worthy of the word of God.
I just commit submit these thoughts and the precious thing is.
To enter more in your soul into the grace of God. The grace of God that has brought salvation has taught us these things. Sometimes we're poor learners, aren't we? We don't learn quickly. We don't learn enough. We don't listen to the word of God. So my little conclusion here would be to remember the grace of God and to listen to what he has to say.
And to follow the injunctions of the word of God.
Thinking of brother little was saying and some.
Thoughts here might help us too.
First Peter chapter 2 and verse 9.
You are a chosen generation.
A royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of him who have called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
Just a few brief comments thinking of the word chosen. We don't choose ourselves as God has chosen us.
00:35:01
You chose this eternity past.
Since generation here believes the Thus we are as a Christian, uh, nation you might say, the Christian people bought by the blood of Christ. We are that generation, you might say, we are chosen by the Lord.
And what that comes responsibility and look at the words royal priesthood and I looked at revelation one verse there connects to that revelation because one and six revelation one and six is have made us kings and priests unto God and his Father to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.
And thinking how we are made a royal priesthood now, while we're in this pathway, we still have, we have responsibility as a royal priesthood in this world. It's thought to be taken lightly.
We have the truth of the Word of God and that being gathered through the precious name of the Lord Jesus.
And when these truths are precious, should be precious to us, and it comes with the responsibility in our walk and our pathway here to show forth these truths.
And connecting to that thought is this is we're in a holy nation that Scripture tells to be holy as I am holy.
If you're going to walk the responsibility or role of a royal priest, there's holiness required there.
What's involved in holiness? Well, our brother Little talked about grace.
Grace rolling forth love to those who don't love us.
So kindness.
Show the.
Give these scriptures out as far as.
Salvation is concerned. That's so important. We're saved by grace and we should show forth that salvation the Lord has given us. We shouldn't just talk that we should walk it.
This holding nation was set aside. Next word says peculiar people.
I wrote in the side of my Bible here, Treasure. God sees us as a treasure, and the margin says we're purchased.
We've been bought at a price that cannot be measured. We bought redeemed by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus.
So where are his treasure while we're here? And the word peculiar means also set aside.
We are his own, we don't own ourselves, we've been bought.
And young people and older ones alike, it's so important to remember that we do not belong to ourselves, we belong to the Lord.
That means we should walk circumspectly. We should walk righteously.
We should walk as chosen people. We should walk as royal priests. In other words, we are not part of this world. Scripture says we are ambassadors for Christ. We go a little bit further down the chapter here and.
I just there it is, verse 11. I'm sorry, dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, we are not part of this land.
Anymore, we're born here, yes?
And we walked in this world as this world at one time in our lives. But we've been purchased now. We do not belong to ourselves. We are pilgrims. We're passing through the land. We're, we're, we're looking for something greater. We have a hope that's assured and it's before us. We'll be with the Lord soon. That's what our hope is. That's what we're looking for.
But we must not forget that we are to.
Act as royal priests. We are to be holy. And what's the result of that? When we do these things, we get this fact brought out in verse nine. It says praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. When we walk as a chosen people, when we walk as a royal priest, when we walk as someone is holy as unto the Lord, when you walk as a peculiar separate person, what are we doing?
We're showing praises to the Lord by our actions.
We're not just doing it for the sake of doing it.
The Lord is praised in our actions. He's praised in our words.
These are so important. Anybody can carry on things like being holding an appearance and and words and so on.
00:40:06
But it's if you can't, if it's not done without realizing that you're doing it for the Lord, it doesn't mean anything because you do it for yourself. If you think you can do these things in your own, you're doing it for the Lord. You're doing it unto the Lord.
So you're showing forth these praises to him, It says Here we've been called out of darkness into his marvelous light.
The Lord has given shed His light to us with His precious word, and with this light we have something to show us in our pathway here, to give us instruction on how to be a chosen people, on how to be a royal priesthood and how to be holy.
That's why this book must be read, must be meditated, honestly having in the first, uh, book of Psalms.
There's only one way to know what the Lord has for us is to dig out those Nuggets.
The Word of God is so many precious thoughts for us, so many Nuggets for us, but we must dig them out.
So we know how to walk as his children.
The world has no idea how to walk for God.
Because it does not know what is in this precious book that we have here in our hands.
Verse 10 says which in time past were naughty people, what are now the people of God?
I was speaking that briefly for a second ago, stating that we are no longer of this world, we are now the people of God.
We are not our own.
Ruth Paul says having your conversation honest among the Gentiles.
We must be honest, we must be speak with truth, integrity.
This world has given up on truth, has given up on integrity.
World doesn't know what it means to be submissive.
To the rulers did not Sadly, in the family home today is breaking up so much because there is not submission to the mom and dad.
There's not submission from the wife to the husband. There's not submission in a sense the husband to the wife needs.
It's a different meaning there, of course, but there's submission that's lacking. And verse 13 says submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to be the king as supreme, or unto governors as unto him.
That are sent by him.
It's for the Lord's sake we're to do these things, not for us.
Verse 15 says for so is the will of God.
There's 15 again. 4 So is the will of God. It's God's will that we do these things. It's God's will. How is it be? That's why to pray for the powers that be. Sad to say, many of the powers that be don't even know who their God is.
But we are to submit to them because if you don't submit, you have just orderedliness. The nation has this ordinance, the home has this ordinance, the assembly has this ordinance. There's no order, so we must submit ourselves.
And because it's the will of God. And when we do these things, we go back up to our verse.
Umm 9 I'm sorry, it says praises of Him. What are we doing? We're praising God when we submit to his will, to his authority, when we show love, when we show grace. All these things, of course, must be done in truth.
Because you can't show grace and then just say, oh, he's a Sinner, but I'll go along with them.
There must be proper order obviously, but God shows love to us by going to the cross in Calvary. He loved us 1St and our response is to return that love to Him and the small measure we can do and remembering that He has chosen us before the foundation of the world. We did not choose Him, He chose us.
And we have responsibility that comes with it. Just a few brief thoughts that came into my heart and brother little is talking there and and thinking how we are procure people. We're chosen people and we've been bought with a price that cannot be measured. These are nice thoughts to leave with us. I trust the Lord touch your heart as he touched mine reading these verses.
Because we are his, his own. We are his dear, dearly beloved.
00:45:07
Oh divine, all praises.
Joy of Heaven.
I wish him heartbreak all the way. Dreams of hearts. They make his crown.
Nsnoise.
This is the sweetest sound. I'm glad I had Larry. Sorry here.
When conscience, charge and justice come, what dreams of dark fear?
To create a 2000.
And 17.
I can't take a break.
Nsnoise.
And we shall reign with him, and shall we see his head?
Hanson, Florida.
Oh oh, 02/02.
Find Jesus thine.
Lord, and thy heart of mine.
I think tomorrow.
Is for a hungry.
Lord.
00:50:34
Nsnoise.
And.
I'm lying for ever and more.
Lord.
See.
Uh, 11/3, 6:11.
Nsnoise.
43543 7.
359129.
Uh.
Umm.
Open Mtg. 6
Open—S. Ruga, R. Ruga, N. Wood
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.
First book of the Kings. First Kings chapter 20 beginning with the verse 35. First Kings 20, verse 35.
And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbor.
In the word of the Lord.
Smite me, I pray thee.
And the man refused.
To smite him.
Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice.
Of the Lord.
Behold, as soon as thou art departed from me.
Lion shall slay thee.
And as soon as he was departed from him.
The lion found him.
And slew him.
Then he found another man and said.
Smite me, I pray thee.
And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him.
So the prophet departed and waited for the king, by the way, and disguised himself with ashes.
Upon his face.
And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king, And he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle.
And behold, the man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man, if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life.
00:05:03
Thou shalt pay a talent of children, and as thy servant was busy here and there.
He was gone.
And the King of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be thyself. Haste decided it.
And he hastened and took the ashes away from his face.
And the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets.
And he said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, Therefore thy life shall go for his life and thy people.
For his people and the king of Israel went to his house, heavy and displeased.
And came to Samaria.
If we're at all familiar with the setting of this portion.
We recognize that it.
It was a low time in Israel's history.
Things were not going as they ought to. The Lord's people were not following the Lord with their whole heart as they should have. And, uh.
They had a bad king at this time.
And he had a bad wife.
But, uh, God has recorded these things.
So I'm good, but they would not have been written.
And uh, Ahab had just, uh, had in his hands.
His enemy.
And he had let him go.
He had even addressed this king of Syria as his brother.
What a sad time in the history of God's people.
When they associate with the world, when we mix with the world, when we mix with those who hate God's people and call them brother. But that's the spirit of the world.
It, it, it wants to, uh, entice us into this thing of one large fellowship. We're all the same, but we're not all the same.
Some here. It'd be nice if we could say all here.
Are going to spend eternity with Lord and glory.
And anyone in this room?
It does not know the Lord is their savior is trying to spend eternity in hell. You see, we're not the same. We're going two different places.
And it behooves us, those of us who know the Lord is our Savior, that the little time that's left us here, that we seek to walk with His glory and honor.
And uh.
This Van Haydar was delivered into Ahab's hands and he let him go.
Did the Lord take notice of it? Certainly he did. He raises up this prophet.
A certain man of the sons of the prophet, he laid aside our friend Elijah for a little bit.
And he's showing him some of those 7000 that had never been vowed to need a bail. And he brings someone else to, uh, speak to a hand.
And, uh, Ahab didn't listen when Elijah spoke.
Will he listen when this man speaks?
And it just caught my attention that, uh, the way this, the Lord brings this prophet, uh, into the public view.
He addresses his neighbor.
Perhaps another brother in the Lord, if we can speak of them that way. Another one of the sons of the prophets, someone close to him and he says.
00:10:03
Smite me, I pray thee.
Were those the right words to say? Smite me? Does that sound like a word from the Lord? Does that sound like ministry from heaven?
What does it say?
He said unto his neighbor in the word.
Oh the Lord, he got that those instructions right from the Lord. That's why he said it. He said smite me, I pray thee.
And the man refused to smite him.
How would we behave under those same circumstances?
Would we have said to this prophet, brother, this is no time to to.
The harsh talk like that, is that what we have said?
Would he have said umm, I don't understand why you're saying that.
We live in an age and that spirit seems to be creeping among God's people, where if we don't understand something, why we don't have to do it.
But whatever this man's excuse was, he was wrong. He was wrong because the word was from the Lord. This prophet was speaking in the word of the Lord.
And uh.
I hope none of.
Those new to the faith or our dear young people, when your parents try to steer you in a straight direction like you say, I don't understand.
You sure you tell me the right thing?
It is not a question of understanding.
He got the message from the Lord and.
He refused to smite the prophet. A hard thing, yes. I don't know if I would be up to it. Would any of us be up to it?
Well.
He pronounces uh.
A judgment on his neighbor. He says, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the Lord. He didn't say, because you haven't listened to me.
Oh, that we would hate. A word from the Lord is coming from the Lord.
And so this prophet says, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me.
A lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he departed from him, the lion found him and slew him. Why? Why did this lion kill his neighbor? Perhaps another?
Brother in the Lord, if we can speak it that way, one of the sons of the prophets.
Why did he slay him? Because he disobeyed. He was told by the word of the Lord to smite him and he didn't do it.
And the lion came and killed him.
Doesn't that make us tremble?
That God places such a premium on obedience to His Word.
For our life's sake, for our spiritual good and perseverance in the things of the Lord, brethren, we've got to obey the word of the Lord. And whether or not we like it, whether or not it it it, we understand it, that the Lord says something, it's for our good, and we better obey it.
And really?
The Lord was preparing this prophet to, uh, speak to Aham.
No, it's going to be a proper word.
Proper ministry. A word from the Lord. I believe the Lord prepares his servants ahead of time. Things that we don't know anything about.
Hayham didn't know any of the things that we are reading about here.
00:15:05
The importance of obeying obedience is implicit year one if we're going to be happy.
And faithful in the pathway while we wait for the award.
And so this man who refuses to smite the prophet, he turns and goes away.
He could have humbled himself, he said. He could have said, is it that important that, uh, I smite you that a lion's gonna catch me when I leave you? He could have said something like that, but I don't believe he had any confidence in, in that profit at all.
He didn't obey the word of the Lord, and he said smite him, and if the Lord tells him the lion's going to get him, he still doesn't believe it, but he he went his way and the lion came and slew him.
He might have looked just like the prophet who asked to smite him.
He might have been well known among all the other sons of the prophets.
But he was smitten because he disobeyed the word of the Lord. You know, sometimes we may wonder why we get smitten, why some of God's people get smitten.
Could it be because we disobey?
Remember another prophet when uh.
That's the case there.
When Jeroboam set up this, uh, these false altars of prophet came down, he was told by the Lord to speak against that bad thing that Jeroboam had set up and, and, and the, the place is so filled with iniquity. He shouldn't stay there. He should go home another way. And that's how God wants us to feel about iniquity, brethren and about.
Bad religious associations. God wants us to separate from all that, deliver our message, be faithful in it, and go our way. But that man, he disobeyed the word of the Lord to a prophet.
And the lion met him and killed him.
Why he disobeyed? How important obedience is.
That's why parents ought to insist on obedience in their children and teach it to them. And you children don't get excited when your father says no, you can't do it. And when your father says yes, you're going to do it. Be thankful for that. Be thankful for parents that say yes, that say no. They're trying to bring you up in the fear of the Lord. Don't rebel against it.
You may lose your life someday.
You may not grow up in the meetings. Does it mean anything to you to see your father and mother sitting in those seats? All their life they live for the Lord. They've tried to bring you up the same way. Well, it won't happen if you're disobedient.
And this man, he walked his life away and slow him. There's still lions out there, there's still pitfalls. And if we're going to be saved from them.
We've got to walk in obedience to the Word of God.
Well, the Lord meant what he said.
This prophet had to be smitten, so he finds another man and then he says smite me.
This man, we don't know if it was.
Perfect obedience.
Simplicity and belief for what? But he smote him so hard he says he wanted him.
Well, he said to smite me, it says, uh, he smote him so that he's smiting. He wounded him.
We don't know how bad he heard it.
But the word of God says he wound that man, a man that was going to be used as the Lord to speak to Ahab the king. He had to be wounded first.
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I don't know. We like to to think of those in the Word of God. Before God could really use them, he, uh, took them aside.
And taught them some very serious lessons, whether it be a Moses or a Hall or a Gideon. God took them aside and prepared them. And now He was prepared. Do you know how it hurt sometimes for your brethren to get up and speak the truth? You know that they were wounded for you. They obeyed the voice of the Lord. They acted in the fear of God.
They said things they wouldn't normally say, but that the Lord laid it on their heart.
So he wounded him.
Now the Prophet can go.
And wait for the king.
The voice of my own soul.
That, umm.
The Lord deals with us, prepares us.
Humbles us. That's a humbling thing to be smacked hard by your.
My neighbor, My another brother.
But that was the Lord's way of preparing him. And how wise are God's ways?
We don't want to get to the point where we say, well, that's what they think, or that's what mom thinks, so that's what dad thinks.
They think that way, my friends, because they've learned a few lessons from the hand of the Lord themselves.
Well.
He presents himself to the king.
And, umm.
The king understood the message.
Hard thing to say but.
He gave the message, and the King understood it.
It says in verse 41 He hastened and took the ashes away from his face, and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets.
Isn't that nice when uh.
A word is given and we recognize that it was from someone who is walking with the Lord.
And uh.
If ever a word is given.
In the assembly of God's people.
May it be more and more.
From those who are walking with reward.
And so he tells him that he was going to die.
His life was going to go for the life of the man that he let go, and his people for his people.
I believe this is this is the second time Ahab uh was spoken to very strongly by one of the Lord's servants.
And, uh, how does the the chapter end? The king of Israel went to his house heavy and.
Displeased.
Had he not heard the word of the Lord?
Could he not humble himself before God?
But he went away heavy.
And to squeeze.
Can we not see that Ahab was wrong?
He didn't like the message, he didn't like what he heard. He was upset. He was angry. He was back.
If God brings something home to our souls, how good to humble ourselves and learn.
What we ought to learn.
When the Lord speaks to us later on.
The Lord brings his servant Elijah back, and he speaks to him once more, and there seems to be some repentance on his part.
Oh, God doesn't want some repentance, fellow believers. God wants us. If there's something in our lives that is displeasing to him, He wants us to give it up, to humble ourselves. There is a government of God and we can't escape it. But oh, we can bow under the hand of God and walk into humbleness and the humility before him and seek to encourage.
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Uh, the people among whom God has been pleased to set us.
May God help us then.
And, uh, a little time that's left us before the Lord comes to.
Seek to be obedient to His word.
Book of Joshua, Joshua chapter 23 further this morning in the reading meeting mentioned that lovely portion there I'd like to turn to in a few moments.
Where the Lord instructed Martha by saying one thing is needful, but firstly I have my heart. Joshua 23.
And verse 14 I'll find that same expression again.
Joshua is now an old man.
He says there, Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth.
And you know in all your hearts and all your souls, that not one thing have failed. Of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you, all are come to pass unto you. Not one thing has failed thereof.
And so all the promises of God this afternoon in Christ are yay, and in Christ are all men to the glory of God by us. He is faithful that promise.
Is there any way that we could this afternoon lift up the finger against our maker?
And dare claim that he has not been good to us.
Indeed, we have that lovely expression there in the Book of Deuteronomy. I often think of it.
Satisfied with favor and full of the blessing of the Lord.
Here the Lord has called a little company of us this afternoon. We have liberty in this favored land where our present lot is cast to come. As we are here, the Word of God open on our laps, the Spirit of God having liberty to take it and make it good to us. So many good things.
There hath not one thing failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you. And so I trust it's a word of encouragement to every one of our hearts, that we serve the living and the true God, and wait for His Son from heaven. He will keep His promises, the word of God.
God's promised Book we hold in our hands the promise, of course, that most of us are looking for. Our brother already alluded to it this afternoon.
For yeah, a little while. Hebrews 10. He that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Is the Lord slack concerning His promise? Absolutely not. He will keep that promise. If I go away, I will come again. Receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. So we can count upon the precious promise that came from the lips of the Lord Jesus. He will come again.
Well, if the promise of his coming. Or perhaps there's those of us here this afternoon who are a little younger. We haven't been on the path for as long as some of our dear older brethren, and we just wonder. Sometimes we look out in the world, we say, how do we find our way through such a maze as this?
I often think of that passage there in Jeremiah. I know, Lord, that the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. And so we have in Psalm 119. I word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my half. You pick up the word of God as our brother just exhorted us. Ask the Lord to help us to obey it. Put it into practice in our lives.
God has promised. I will Psalm 32 and verse 8 instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye, so we have the precious promise.
Not one of these things will fail.
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Turn now to Psalm 27. Psalm 27.
And verse four, one thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after.
That I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.
One thing it's a wonderful the Spirit of God has made the path of faith so plain.
That even a man, though a fool, he could not air therein. The Scripture says one thing very, very simple. What's the one thing here That I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life. Our brother just encouraged us, and many of us here this afternoon have had the precious privilege, like little Timothy from a child that was known, the Holy Scriptures which were able to make thee wise to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
We've been brought into and I apply this verse to the assembly.
The House of God, the Lord has promised His presence where two or three are gathered together.
Unto my name there am I, in the midst of them. We've heard from our earliest days the precious word of God. Don't take it lightly. As you grow older, you will appreciate more and more of the fact that you've heard these things from the earliest days. But we want to encourage you from the word of God to get a hold of it for yourself. And it says in Proverbs 23 and 23 by the truth.
And sell it, not make it your own. What did the psalmist have here? As a desire that I may dwell in the House of the Lord All the days of my life, Lord, I have loved the habitation of my house, the place where thine honor dwelleth. I was glad when they said, let us go up onto the House of the Lord, not forsaking the assembly of yourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more.
As you see the day approaching, oh, there's a tremendous influence in the world today. The enemy of our souls would love to draw our precious young people and children away from the assembly because he knows that that is the place of blessing. So I trust it's a word of encouragement to each of our hearts to not listen to the subtlety of the enemy of our souls, but to earnestly desire.
What the psalmist did here, One thing have I desired. Can we make it very plain? Brethren? One thing I want to do now is to be found with the Lord's people gathered around the precious Savior as He has promised. Well, let's turn now to the New Testament in Mark's Gospel, Mark chapter 10 and verse 21. Read from verse 17. I'm sorry to get the connection.
And when he, that is Jesus, was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good master, what shall I do, that I may inherit eternal life? Verse 21 Jesus, beholding him, loved him, said unto him one thing.
Thou lackest go thy way. Sell whatsoever thou hast give to the poor. Thou shalt have treasure in heaven. Come.
Take up the cross, follow me was the sad result. He was sad at that saying and went away grieved, for he had great possessions.
This year, man, it says Jesus loved him. Jesus loved, you know, I just appreciate that expression so much. The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men right now. Looks at each one of us in this room. I believe most of us.
Save redeemed with the precious blood of Christ shed of Calvary. He beholds you and He loves you.
But what does he see?
Perhaps hidden away in my heart.
One thing lacking my son, give me thine heart. The Lord says he doesn't want 50 or 75 or 90%. He wants this 100% for him. And here's a dear man Jesus loved.
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Jesus says there's one thing lacking.
This man's money had come to mean more to him than his own soul.
Here's this one. I believe he, this dear man, was attracted to the person of Christ by the Spirit of God. Something about Christ magnetized his soul when he comes to the Lord and the Lord loves him, but he goes away and we never read about his salvation, his repentance, salvation, His money had come to mean more to him than his soul and the person of Christ. There's something in my heart.
There's something in our hearts this afternoon that needs to maybe be judged, put away, something that we're not willing to give up. Think of what the Apostle Paul gave up all of his importance as a Jew, that religion of things that he prospered in above all his equals. He said I lay all those things aside, tell them. But Dung, we're going to turn in a few moments and read what he had to say about that.
Well, I trust each of us to be willing to make the sacrifice, whatever the cost may be. Give it up by all, Christ. It's more than worth it. Lord, He didn't promise this dear man much, did He?
Thou shalt have treasure in heaven. Come, take up the cross and follow me. Follow me. The Lord doesn't promise us anything here and now, does He? He only promised the cross to His disciples.
But the cross and the crown go together, and there's a lot of faith that goes in between those two. But will the Lord disappoint us as we already indicated previous? No, he is faithful that promised so this dear man, think of what he here forfeited by hanging on. So if you gold coins that he had to let go, perhaps just a few years later in death, when he could have had the greatest treasure that the earth has ever known.
The apostle Paul who gave all those things up, he said we have this treasure in these earthen vessels. Ah, he had come to know Christ in a very personal way. Well, trust it would be so with each of us turned out to that passage that our brother little quoted from earlier today Luke chapter 10. The next gospel by Luke chapter 10. Beautiful little portion will read it quickly verse 38.
Now it came to pass as they went, that he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. She had a sister called Mary which also sat at Jesus feet.
And heard his word, And Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she helped me. Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but here it is one thing, one thing is needful, and Mary.
Have chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her. Mary was found as a worshipper at the feet of Jesus, says here she sat at his feet, she heard his word and there was a response on her part there in John chapter 12. She would come and take that box of spikenard. Very precious.
And break it. We know from combining the gospel narratives that she anointed the head and the feet of the Lord Jesus because she had sat at His feet and heard His words. She was perhaps the only one who entered into a little bit of what he was going to have to endure to save her precious soul. So she was a worshiper. God save you not only to deliver you from hell, but to make you a worshiper.
That the high praises of our God may be found in our lips from day-to-day.
I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually.
Be in my mouth. The worshippers, O Lord above is one with thee are blessed on earth. The song begins. And so to be a worshipper. Is there anything more important? Yes, service is so important, so vital. It is to serve the Lord, as we have so many instances in the Word of God to prove. But worship first to be found as invited by the Lord.
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At His table. We will, Lord willing, tomorrow morning, be here at His table, worshipping Him in spirit and in truth on the Lord's Day. As any higher calling than that, brethren, I hardly think so. In closing, I said we would turn and look at what the apostle Paul had to say about this. Philippians, I'm sorry.
Chapter 3. Philippians Chapter 3 and verse 13. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do there. It is one thing, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God.
In Christ Jesus, when the apostle Paul was traveling on his mad course down Damascus Rd.
Trying to stamp out the way, as was known, those followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That would appear that heavenly vision, that to which he was not disobedient. My brother talked about obedience a few moments ago. Paul was one who was obedient. The Lord from heaven says Paul. So. So why persecutest thou me? Who art thou, Lord? I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the ******. So that man was changed on his mad downward pursuit from then on.
Forgetting the things which are behind, reaching forth unto those things which are before. One thing captivated his heart, and that was the man and the glory. The man at the right hand of God this afternoon, seeking to win our hearts, draw us up out of this world, attaches to Himself, causes to walk as invited by Him. Ephesians 2 and verse six in the heavenly places.
That's what you and I have been invited to do, separation from this world. One thing, one thing I do. Satan is a wonderful remembrance, Sir, isn't he? We know from Revelation 13, he's even now in the presence of God, accusing the brethren. And he comes and he whispers things in your in your ear and in mine. Well, what about that that you did? And what about this? And what about the other thing? Maybe, maybe we haven't done a very good job.
A fowl in the Lord up until this point in time, July 6, 2002. But from this time forth, one thing I do for getting those things which are behind I press toward the Mark May be so in your life and mine.
Just very briefly, in John's Gospel chapter 10 and verse one, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but timeth up some other way, same as a thief and robbers, but he that entereth in by the door as the shepherd of the sheep. And then it was the next few verses I was looking at to him the Porter openness, and the sheep hear his voice.
And he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he put it forth his own sheep he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
Isn't it a marvelous thing?
That you and I this afternoon know the shepherd of our souls, the man that went to Calvary's cross and gave up so much for us that we might be with him for all eternity.
And we have, haven't we? In our few short months or years that we've known the Lord, we've gotten a little bit to know his voice. And it's a marvelous thing, isn't it? It says here.
That the shepherd, the sheep, hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name and he leadeth them out. Isn't it a marvelous thing that our Savior, our Shepherd, is the one that goes before us at this very moment, all through the day and all through the months and all through the years until he leads us home? He's gone before us, and it's our privilege, is it not, to follow Him?
00:45:16
Says he knows our names. He has such an interest in us that he knows our names and that he goes before us. We can see him and we can follow him. Isn't that a marvelous thing? Our hearts are affected and so we desire to follow him. I was struck with.
What the man said in Mark 10 at the went down the 10 commandments. He says thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not.
But Christianity, on the other hand, is a marvelous man that affects the heart.
And this is the, the marvelous influence the Lord has as our heart is affected by what He's done for us. We have that, uh, desire to, uh, follow after him. Now I want to just read, umm, uh, this, uh, hymn that we started with. Because I don't think there's anybody here whose heart has been affected by the Lord that can't enjoy so much that we have in this him #27 in the appendix.
There is such a marvelous, so many marvelous thoughts in here that affect our hearts.
That it has to have an effect on us and give us a greater desire to walk to please the Lord. It says a minded, perfect peace with God. Oh, what a word is this? A Sinner reconciled through blood. This, this indeed is peace.
Uh, well, that's the gospel, but then number, uh, Sansa 2 all of us, uh, that know the Lord, uh, have a feeling for what it means in verse two. It says by nature and by practice far, how very far from God makes us think of the prodigal son. You and I were that far away, yet now by grace brought nigh to him.
Through faith in Jesus blood. And how near are we so near so very night of God I cannot near be. For in the person of his Son I am as near as here. And how dear are we to God, to our Savior, so dear, so very dear to God, more dear I cannot be the love for witty love the sun.
Such is his love to me, Ken. We can hardly take that in.
And then the result of that in our Christian lives, why should we ever careful or full of care? Why should I ever full of care be?
Since such a God is mine, he watches or me night and day and tells me thou art mine.
Matthew 13:1
Matthew 13:24-43
Matthew 13:44-58