Vestal Conference: 2003
Table of Contents
Acts 20:17-25
Reading
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Loving Godfather behind me this morning.
For the gas and thy beloved Son, our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, and we thank Thee this morning, that He is the keeper of the sheep, and He will not allow any.
We thank you this morning at this time together, we thank you to have the peace and quietness of the plan and that allows us to do so in this manner.
And we thank you again for bringing some money together after these two days of meetings.
We pray now which we have ever and everything before us that give us something for myself.
We need know the needs of my people are great and each one here this morning when we were youngest, the very oldest.
Have names as we walk through this pathway.
Until this morning, I just had my word before us. We press.
There might be something for myself, so get directions. I'm sure it's guiding something that might help each one. If you pray our God your Father, don't you? Each one here might mean something by word this morning.
Just pray for Heather Knights listing ears and that we won't receive and myself what thou hast for each one of us. So just in that time.
Thank you and the worthy and precious name of the Lord Jesus name ma'am.
The person are often remembered.
Especially.
They make a profound impression on one.
I think you can think of different ones that you can remember their last word.
Brother uh, Reuben's father, the last I ever heard from him was Ministry of the Word, that Brother Alan Hadley's home the night before the Lord took him. I'll never forget what he spoke on.
And I was wondering if.
We could think of and meditate on.
Paul's last words to the elders in Ephesus, as we have been in Acts chapter 20. Would that be agreeable to the brethren?
Very good.
Read the whole chapter Brother ****.
Acts Chapter 20.
And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them.
And departed to go into Macedonia. And when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece. There abode 3 months. And when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia. And they accompanied him into Asia. And of the Thessalonians Aristarchus and Secundus, and Gaius of Derby and Timotheus of Asia, and Tikakas.
And Trophimus.
He's going before Terry for us at Troez, and while we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened bread, and came unto them to throw, as in five days, where we abode 7 days. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the Morrow, and continued his speech until midnight.
And there were many lights in the upper chamber where they were gathered together.
And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus being fallen into a deep sleep.
And as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves, for his life is in him. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even until break of day, so he departed, and they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.
And we went before to ship and sailed into ASOS. They're intending to take in Paul for. So he had he appointed mindful himself to go afoot.
And when he met with us at Asos, we took him in and came to methylene, and we sailed fence, and came the next day over against chaos. And the next day we arrived at Samos and tarried at Trojillium. And the next day we came to myelitis. And Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia, for he hasted, if it were possible for him to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.
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And from my latest he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church, And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews, and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you.
But have showed you, and have taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now behold I go, bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem.
Not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I myself, I my life dear unto me, to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the Kingdom of God.
Shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers.
To feed the Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
For I know that I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you.
Not sparing the flock also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn.
Everyone night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among them which are sanctified. I have coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel. Yeah, ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have showed you all things how that's so laboring. You ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of our Lord Jesus.
How, he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all, and they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him, souring most of all for the words which he spake.
That they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.
I had particularly verses 17 onward on my heart, but I feel when the brother asks you to read the whole chapter, I think you get the the flavor of what the background for this that Paul is about to say. And so I would suggest we start with verse 17 unless the brother has an exercise to say something about the verses before that.
I enjoyed what a brother said yesterday.
When Ervin Claussen made a comment when he said only Luke is with me, that he said, imagine Luke having Paul all to himself.
But Luke in writing the gospel of error, the acts, he had an understanding of Paul's life and it's written in a moral order so that we don't just get histories, but they're put in an order. So that and the development of things. And so we see, uh, how things are going to end up acts as written in that way and how things develop. I just wanted to read a verse in connection with Paul in first Timothy.
Umm couple of verses in first Timothy chapter one in connection with Paul.
Uh, giving his testimony, as you might say to Timothy, first Timothy chapter one. And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me for that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious. I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly and in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. And this is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation.
00:10:23
The Christ Jesus has come into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
How be it for this, 'cause I obtain mercy, that in me first Christ Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them, which should hereafter believe on Him to Everlast to life everlasting?
But particularly arrested me in connection with Luke's gospel on the pattern that we get there is that Paul wanted Timothy to have an outline, or I believe it's the same word pattern of sound words, but his life was a pattern as well.
And so we, uh, the chapter begins and not to go back as her brother suggested, but to start the 17th 1St but just to comment is that, uh, Paul's ministry has caused an uproar.
And the reason is that, and particularly among the Jews, because the Jews were.
On legal ground, and legal ground says what's right with this and what's wrong with that? And you do this and you get that.
And man acting towards God based on what man is. But Paul's doctrine and Paul's gospel really brings the grace of God before us, which acts according to man, according to what is in the heart of God. And this is not understood by the natural man. And it's an offense to man. Man is constantly trying to improve the 1St man.
And Paul's gospel sets the 1St man entirely aside and sees man in Christ.
And so it is true today that Paul's doctrine causes an uproar. I asked a dear Christian. I said, would Paul be free to preach in your church? And he thought for a moment and answered, I think thoughtfully. He said, no, if Paul preached in my church, it would bust it up. And so we find the charge of this brother to the elders as to what was really to be their care for the Church of God.
As our brother was praying, I thought that to us belonged confusion of faces.
And that is certainly the case in Christ. And I mean a certain sense he has put out a pathway, a clear pathway for us and revealed his will to us. And so he would desire that we walk in it. And he's made every provision that we should continue in that pathway with clarity and not to be confused.
It's.
Lovely to think.
That the Apostle Paul had a certain manner.
Some of us were reminded of that the other day as we were looking at Thessalonians. First Thessalonians.
I'll just reverse.
But from you sounded out the word of the Lord in Macedonia.
And so on.
Verse 9 For they themselves show us what manner of entering in we had unto you. And I noticed in our these verses that our brother has called us a tank called attention to it says in verse 19 serving the Lord with all humility of mind with and many tears which befell me lying in wait of the law.
And so after he said he could say.
Uh, in verse 18. And when they were come to him, he said to them, You know from the first day that I came unto you, what manner I have been with you at all seasons. Brethren, it's one thing to preach the gospel, another to talk to Saints, but what is our manner?
What is our manner? What is our attitude?
I believe that has a lot to do with the truth of God because someone could say to you or to me, I don't like your manner, I don't like the way you say that. And that's very important to see that you should have that attitude. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, not truth and grace, but grace and truth. And I think that's very important.
00:15:14
We also get the same thoughts, don't we, In, umm, Second Timothy 3?
Verse 10.
I was fully known my doctrine and manner of life.
The two have to go together to say, and the doctrine has to square with a man of life, otherwise we do not have weight for what we say.
I think it's true, isn't it, John, that in umm, in a practical sense?
Speaking of ourselves.
That the message always goes much further than the messenger.
Shouldn't be that way, but that's the way it is. I don't think there's anyone who totally comes up to the message but umm, in the Lord, when they asked him who aren't I, He said altogether that which I said unto thee, that is, there was no difference, no conflict between what the Lord said.
And what he was perfectly setting out what he said, is there anyone of us that can say that about our own ministry?
Anyone that could say well, but I say that's what I am.
It ought to be, and I think that's the point that's being made here. I have a friend who sometimes says we ought to be very busy giving out the word and if necessary, use word.
What is his point? There are life workers set it out.
Brother Jim Robertson says that about every two weeks to it.
You have to set out in a practical way what you're saying.
In Doctor Now Paul had a manner of life that went along with what he said, didn't he? Not perfectly. There was only one who did that perfectly and that was the Lord. But there was a consistency and notice in verse 19 it says it was all loneliness and with what?
Tears, dears. We don't know enough about that, do we?
Humility of mind How often do you.
Get into a subject and somebody says, well, I think this and I think that and man is not afraid to express his opinions on all kinds of things, even in natural things. I, you know, I saw this bold headline that they completely mapped the human genome and then they said that we found 2000 chromosomes that didn't do anything. I think even in a natural sense, man is not very humble that he looks at something and doesn't understand what it is and he says it doesn't do anything.
But when we take up the things of God, this is what He had to take up with the Corinthians. There was not humility of mind there.
Is just to go by the wisdom and revelation of God, because what we find in this book is contrary.
To the wisdom of man, and we begin to think ourselves wiser than God.
There are two things in connection with this. I was thinking what Mr. Darby said. We can see farther than we can walk. And the doctrine came first, and it was his manner of life, as you pointed out, Brother John.
But sometimes with the younger people, there's a manner of life and they don't understand the doctrine that is behind that. And we need to understand the basis on which we enjoy the peace and the love and the freedom that we enjoy in the assembly. There's a basis of teaching in it. And sometimes you see a tendency to want to hang on to things and discard the doctrine that's behind it. And as has been pointed out too, that there may be a tendency to have doctrine and not the manner of life that is associated with it. And we need both.
You know, maybe many of the young people have grown up in the assembly and they've never questioned that they should be anywhere else.
And they are in the right place. But you need to understand Paul's doctrines and understand what the foundation of it is.
And we've seen many that really wanted to hang on to the thing, the manner of life, and discard the doctrine that was the foundation of it.
And so there was the both with Paul. And that's why there were tears. He wrote to Timothy and he said, I know thy tears. He valued these things.
It struck me in Des Moines when we were taking up geographies who loved the preeminence. He said he receiveth, not us. It wasn't he didn't say he didn't receive them. That is people coming to the assembly. It was the apostles. And why is that? Because man will take up with wrong doctrine and and and attack the US. That's the apostles, the apostles, John, the apostle Paul. Because as they say in marketing, you need something to differentiate yourself, your product from everybody else. So somebody will take up a doctrine.
00:20:27
And use it to differentiate themselves from everybody else. And they really don't have a, a value or a care for the doctor. And it's just something unique to themselves. And like a football player, they pick it up and they run with it. But there is no love. But Paul valued the truth. And he realized the departure from the truth was going to bring sorrow. And so there were tears associated with Paul. There was tears associated with Timothy. I know thy tears. And so he really cared about these Saints.
And he desired that they would go on in the truth of God, because he knew there were going to be drastic consequences if they didn't.
And we actually get a record of that in the book of Acts and a typical way in the busting up of the ship.
But Paul desired that they would go on, and the truth of God as he had delivered, in all the purity of which he had delivered it to them.
No, this assembly at Ephesus was certainly highly favored to having heard the last words of the Apostle Paul as a freeman.
And also having received.
The highest truth concerning the heavenly calling of the church and its character on earth. I suppose we have the the highest in the Epistle to the Ephesians. So therefore, it's little wonder that when you get to the second chapter of the Revelation and you read about this exemplary assembly there at Ephesus, that the Spirit of God has to say, I have against thee, because thou swift when I first loved.
And God really felt that, didn't He? If you love someone very much, you feel it if they do the slightest.
Infractions in the spirit of God self and John takes it up where Paul left off.
And addresses that favorite assembly saying I have against you because you've left my first love, even though they're going on with everything else so very nicely.
They weren't doing as the Lord did. The very first verse of this acts is concerning Jesus and all that He began to do and to teach. They perfectly coincided, didn't they? What the Lord did and what He said was always in perfect harmony.
But here are these who had received such high truth, were not subsequently found walking in a way the Lord knew their hearts. Maybe externally it looked like they were going on wholeheartedly for the Lord, but the Lord knew that inwardly they had left the first love. And that's always the point of departure when you lose your first love for the Lord.
But he turned together to Colossians chapter one and verse 10.
Blossoms after a gun were scanned.
Nakima walk Dorothy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good word, and increasing in the knowledge of God.
The Jews lay, wait and wait for Paul because the Jewish religion is one that puts man in an ideal set of external circumstances.
God gave to man. This was not a man made religion, although it had.
Certainly departed from the Lord, but it took man and put him in an actual, absolutely ideal set of circumstances. Now you could go to any religion and open up the word of God and immediately find faults with it, but you could not do that with Judaism.
Because it was all established. It was a scripture for everything that they did.
But one could go and make all the right sacrifices and do all the right things and yet not have one speck of divine life.
Now there were those in the midst of that that were real men of faith.
But that was set aside as a system because it was a test of man, because the test of man was really over at the cross, because there was a perfect display, as her brother was pointing out, in the life of Christ of the perfect servant. And they said away with this man. We will not have this man to reign over us. And so God says, I'm going to take if any man is in Christ, it is a new creation. And so it entirely sets aside man's wisdom and putting man under good circumstances. I fear that.
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Your president has discovered we often heard from Harry Hagel, a man is basically good, and if you put him under good circumstances.
Is you're gonna bring out the good in him and he's gonna discover to his sorrow that that's not true. Putting man under good circumstances. Well, that was the whole thing of Judaism. Man was put under the most favoured circumstances that man could be put under.
And what did he do? He said away with this man. We will not have this man to reign over us. And they crucified him. So God, Paul's gospel brought in something entirely new. The setting and the entire setting aside of the first man instead of any man is in Christ. It is a new creation. And he brings us into a place where if you sat down and wrote the rules of how the assembly operated, you brought a newspaper reporter in here, he could jot down half a paragraph of how the assembly works and it wouldn't be too difficult to.
Say what we do and we don't do, but it is a path. It is a pathway in which it is impossible for the flesh to walk. It has to be walked by faith and dependence upon the Lord, or else you have to find some substitute for the Lord to run things.
And so we have a pathway which makes everything of Christ. We don't always, but we have a pathway which makes everything of Christ and is impossible for us to walk and if we don't stay close to the Lord. And so the Jews there was great antagonism because in Judaism I had something to boast in. Paul had certainly a great deal to boast in because he said concerning the law he was blameless. And nobody ever in an outward way saw Paul violating the law. And yet he had to call himself the chief of sinners.
And now in Christianity.
We have man who's brought a rebellious Sinner, brought into the presence of God and fit for heaven.
And it entirely makes much of Christ and nothing of man. And the Jews hated that, and man will hate that.
Simple pathway of submission and obedience to the word of God, setting aside man's wisdom. And so there's ever in a constant being lying in wait of Paul by the Jews in a typical sense.
Sometimes there's a tendency in our hearts.
To hold back on a line of ministry because we don't think the Saints will appreciate that line.
And I think it's very instructive that Paul says I didn't hold back anything of what would be profitable for you.
He enlarges that a little further than he says, He is not shunned to declare unto them the whole council of God.
How thankful we can be that for brothers who are willing to declare all the counsel of God, not just the line that they like and or think the Saints will like everything profitable for them. And that's instructive here.
Where did he do it? What for him did he do it in? Well, he did it publicly.
But equally important, he did it from house to house.
And I believe that's an important aspect of ministry that is sometimes overlooked is the ministry in the home.
I can think of preferences made to brother Harry Hagel earlier by our brother Neil, and I recall times, the precious times when he had a dinner at our home for breakfast.
And you never get up from the table. And lo, the sisters had to get up and make lunch.
What was it? Small talk?
No, it was the word.
Word of God.
We have such an abundance of truth that has been ministered to us and we can thank the Lord for it, and I particularly think emphasis should be put on.
The fact that Paul not only gave this publicly in addresses, in informal meetings you might say, but in house to House ministers.
It's such an important thing. We put a premium on brothers who have a gift for for public speaking, but I can recall brothers who are much more helpful in the home than they were on the platform.
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And it's an important work involved in it both ways.
That's very interesting because we think of this, again, going back to what you have said, there is the platform ministry, which is very important, but there's also the pastoral care of visiting in the home and going over the scriptures together. And I think, brother.
Years ago in one of the writings.
His brother said the greatest need among the gathered Saints at that time, this was back in the 1800s, was pastoral care.
Well, if it was needed, then what is it today?
It is a much needed thing today too, to be able to go into a home and with one desire just to visit a little bit and talk about the Lord and go over the scriptures together. Very, very important that is, and it's very helpful.
For us, and that was the Apostle Paul, because he had said earlier here, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, whether it was on the platform, whether it was in the home, wherever it was, whether it was on the street corner, perhaps it was all the personal Christ that was before him. And I think that's very important thing to say.
This kept back nothing. A brother said to me that his daughter said, well, I can't really enjoy much fellowship with you anymore. She left the Lord's Table.
I said you should tell her there's a whole list of subjects that she doesn't want to discuss now.
But I said there's no subject that I know of that I couldn't sit down and discuss with you and open up the Word of God with you. And there's no subject. I believe in the assembly that we can't sit down and open up the Word of God. Maybe not everyone publicly, but there's no subject which we should be afraid to open up God's Word and see what it has to say. But if you get into a pathway where you leave the Lord's Table, there's a whole host of subjects you can't discuss. They're off limits.
And it's very we're we've really been brought into a place of liberty. And if there's a subject that I really wouldn't like a laboring brother to or a brother or a sister to come and raise with me, then perhaps I ought to get before the Lord about it and see why. Because we've been brought into a place of liberty where we can pick up the word of God and expose everything to the truth of God's word. And Paul didn't shun to do that. And when we find when we get into a situation as well, we better not let that.
We hope that brother doesn't talk about this or that or the other thing. I mean, I'm not talking about grinding axes and attacking people's persons, but talking about the way that we dress and where we work and and the kind of things that we go on with. If we find that there's certain subjects we would rather not be raised than we need to get into the liberty of the Spirit so that we can feel absolutely free in the Lord's presence about those things and be going on in a way that is consistent with the Word of God.
And you find that when that happens, when we get careless, that we're not really too happy when Paul comes with our house to house or to the assembly and would start to minister on a certain line of things.
Very lovely to see here following that verse.
Where it says.
Verse 20, where he taught publicly and from house to house. The very next verse says testify in verse 21, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks.
They repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the testimony. Repentance toward God. Why? Because we've sinned against God.
And the testimony further goes.
And faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who accomplished it all for us. That's a testimony that is needed as we go from house to house. Or whether the platform ministry, it's both. It's both things are needed there, aren't they? Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Somebody asked me that question one time. I said, why does it say repentance toward God? I said because it's against God that you have sinned.
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So it's repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who came.
And accomplished redemption's work for you on the cross.
Confession is an act and repentance is a process.
Confession is an act I say of sin that I open up the word of God and I said I didn't make a mistake. I confessed something. I confess what I am, but repentance is a process whereby we had we've often heard we had wrong thoughts about God and we had wrong thoughts about ourselves. And so as we open up the word of God, repentance, it is towards God. It's not well so often we hear well, don't do that. It's going to offend the brother. Well, I'm glad, if I may put it this way that I'm in a place where my children and I myself.
Would be ashamed to do certain things were help to one another and I don't want to cast that aside.
I'm glad I'm in a place where it's not easy to do the things that they do in the world. But repentance is not towards brethren. And if that's the only thing we put up before our children and keep to ourselves is the fear of the brethren, we get into a snare. Repentance is towards God. Don't worry. I do worry what the brethren think about a thing because God's maintain a testimony. But if that's the only thing that's before you, there's been no repentance towards God.
And it's repentance, as we know, is to rethink.
And so we have wrong thoughts, we have wrong thoughts, but have we absolutely everything? And those of us who are older remember growing up in a world when things were more or less in many ways or some ways Christian in an outward way. But now every pretense of being Christian is being abandoned. And so it in a way it's easier because we realize that nothing, the world's view about nothing, marriage, dress, nothing is, is right. And so we come to the Lord. A brother said to me when he got saved, everything in my life had to change.
Everything, the way I did business, my relationship to my wife, everything had to change. I believe it did too.
That's repentance. It's a process.
I was thinking when Brother Charles was speaking before about verse 21 That there are really 3 aspects of Paul's ministry.
And they're clearly brought out in this chapter.
The first one is summarized at the end of verse 24, but perhaps we get the details of it in verse 21 is.
To testify the gospel of the grace of God. Is that all there is to ministry? The gospel of the grace of God?
Well, I rejoice particularly in hearing brethren speak of that glad tidings of the grace of God and to see an activity in that ministry.
But that's not all.
Universe that I don't want to anticipate.
But in verse 25.
He went and preached.
What? The Kingdom of God? That's God's moral rule.
That's important, important part of ministry.
And then?
I believe we get the third aspect of it is in.
In the umm 28th verse, it's transferred. That responsible is transferred to others, but it's really to feed the flock of God which is among you.
So that all that has to do with the church is brought out in connection with that all the counsel of God.
There was a three fold and complete ministry there. I remember years ago I gave I had a friend who eventually became a doctor. We were friends in high school and college.
In fact, we took a course in Group instruction and piano so that we could have time to sit and talk together about the Scriptures. I don't know how good that was to do that, but we did that and we.
Uh spent hours over the word and he seemed to be taking hold of things.
And one day he said to me, you know, I've got a, a conviction that really we should.
Stress the gospel and we're not stressing the gospel. All these other things seem to divide the Saints.
00:40:06
For the gospel unites the Saints. And he said, I really think that's enough. That should be our main track. And I picked up and took from him his Bible, which I had given him a copy of Mr. Darby's translation. He appreciated it very much.
And I took it and I said, now the Gospel, right? I said Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. What do you think about the Acts?
Well, that that's that's an extension of that. I said, well, what about Romans then? You know, Romans of yes, very much so. I took his Bible and I made as if I were going to tear off the rest of it. What are you doing? You said, what are you doing? You don't need that.
Yes, I do, he said. I need it.
I'm sorry to say that this brother never was gathered.
And spend a career in ophthalmology.
However, he was the means of Sterling hope being gathered. Sterling Howling and uh.
Just about a year or so, maybe two years ago, he got back into reading the Ministry of the Brethren and the Old Time Brethren, and he's been rejoicing him. Whether he'll ever be gathered, I don't know, but.
I've often thought about how many people have that attitude that the gospel is what we ought to concentrate on, and so some the professed to be gathered to the name of the Lord.
Have deteriorated into what a brother used to call bread breaking missions. Bread breaking gospel mission.
Is that what testimony we're called to?
It was all the council of fraud.
Every bit of the Council of God.
The church was purchased with the blood of his own.
Believe that's how that should be, The blood of his own, not God's own blood. That's a very touching expression in itself, but I believe more correctly, it's the blood of his own, his own beloved Son.
He purchased the church with that. Is that going to mean nothing to us then? And we'll say, well, it's only the gospel.
I trust not. I trust that each one of us would be exercised.
And.
I would emphasize again, there are those 3 aspects of ministry that for all.
Was occupied in the gospel of the grace of God, praising the Kingdom, that is, the application of God's word to our daily lives and ordering our daily lives and the flock of God. The truth concerning the church.
You know, we probably should make a correction. Uh, verse 22.
Says, Behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem. Now look at the next chapter in verse 4.
In finding disciples, we tarried there seven days, who said to Paul through the Spirit that he should not not go up to Jerusalem.
Seems like a contradiction here. One place the Spirit of God says go up, next place it says do not go up to Jerusalem. We perhaps should correct our Bibles here as it is in the new translation verse 22. Behold, I go bound in my spirit.
Unto Jerusalem. He wasn't LED of the Spirit of God to go there, but Paul purposed in his own spirit to go. It was a wrong step, but nonetheless God stood with him, you know, encouraged him when he was there, and let him further to take the gospel to Rome.
Yes, when he got there, he had to preach, and he said, God hath not sent me to you, but to the Gentiles.
And so that would be quite a message for somebody to come. I've come to Vestal and it would be quite a thing for me to have to stand up and say, well, God's told me that he didn't send me here.
And that's really what Paul had to do because he was bound in his own spirit. You find an axe that the spirit forbath him to go into Asia.
And there are times in which we would have to go against the Word of God in order to do something. In this Spirit of God forbids us to do something. We'd have to be disobedient. The Spirit of God will never lead us contrary to the Word of God.
00:45:06
And then it says also the Spirit, and it's not clear in the King James, but it's really the thought is the Spirit of Jesus suffered him not to go into Bathinia. And there were certain places where the Lord didn't go as a man. Jesus was his name as a man because he wasn't welcome.
The Spirit suffered him not to go into Bathinia, but here his own spirit was desirous to do something. And really, as you pointed out in the next chapter, he was prophesied into the Spirit that he should not go. And he went, and he didn't know what was going to happen to him before him there. But he wound up in Rome, and I think really he was there in prison for two years on his way to Rome because the Jews were waiting for a bride.
The king had forgotten the Jews wanted him there. The king was waiting for a bribe, and then he forgot about him for two years.
And then you find a man who's at true liberty. He's standing before the king, and he says, I wish that thou art altogether as I am, yet without these chains. That was a man who was free. And if we're in the current of God's will, we may have chains in our hands, but we're going to be free. But Paul was not free here because he was not really on the current of God's will.
What Reuben and Neil have just brought before us is very important from the standpoint of what often occurs today in our lives. We.
We confuse being bound in our own spirit to do something with the leading of the Holy Spirit. I'm sure that Paul.
Had an idea, or at least he thought he ought to be doing what he did.
Of course, you got him into all sorts of trouble.
We're not here to expose the apostles failures, are we? But we learn from those things.
You and I can be so determined on something.
That we missed the real direction of the Holy Spirit in regard to something.
I use an illustration. Perhaps I'm bent on going to a certain place and living.
And I'm so bent on it that I missed the Lord's direction in so doing. Now I'm glad it was pointed out that the Lord is forgiving in those things.
He gives grace even in those circumstances, but we ought to recognize and not confuse the two things, being bound in my own spirit to do something with the leading of the Holy Spirit.
It seems to me that Paul was so determined on it that when the brethren pleaded with him not to do it.
He was going to do it anyway.
And their answer to him is a gracious 1 The will of the Lord be done. They didn't say, well, go ahead, you know, and get into trouble. They say the will of the Lord be done. So I think that what has been brought out, we need to keep very carefully before us that.
A determination in our part to do something, even to do something that is good in itself, is not the leading of the Holy Spirit to do it, or the direction of the Holy Spirit.
David had good intentions, but it was not the mind of the Lord for him to go ahead with the construction of the temple. Nevertheless, it was good that it was in his heart.
The 23rd and the 24th 1St we can say is the work of the Spirit of God though.
And that's often why the Spirit, the Word of God is essential, because it divides what is between the soul and the spirit. And I may form a natural desire. He naturally loved his people, and a natural love may get hold of my spirit. And that's why He said He was bound in His spirit. But here we really find in this 23rd and the 24th verse that that really was a work of the Spirit. Say that the Holy Ghost witnessed it in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. That was really.
Uh, and Paul really was a tremendous, suffered tremendous suffering, uh, in his ministry for the Lord. And if you read in Corinthians, there is second Corinthians, you see all of the things that befell Paul.
00:50:00
And you come to the end of the chapter and he says, and he was let down in a basket over the wall. And I think that that's what the world would say was a straw that broke the camel's back. He was a proud man. And it was a very humbling thing for him to be let out of the city that the stripes and all of the rest of it he endured. But it was a very hard thing for Paul to to, uh, to experience this, to be whisked out of the city by been being let down over the wall in a basket.
There, but you see what Paul suffered and their suffering. Connection with and connected.
With the truth. And if you take a stand for the truth, or if I take a stand for the truth, there's gonna be suffering connected with it because it's worthwhile.
The devil wants to steal it from us because it's worthwhile. A thief wants to break into your house because there's something there that's worthwhile. And so there's gonna be difficulty in the assembly and there's gonna be attacks because there's something very much worthwhile to the Lord there.
Very interesting to see too, and a little encouragement for us as we read the apostle about the apostle Paul, his own spirit in which he went there. But at the same time, it's lovely to look. I was looking at Second Timothy chapter 4. Just read a few verses there.
Where it speaks about those that turned away from the apostle.
Dynasty.
Second Timothy chapter 4 verse beginning verse 15.
Of whom be thou?
Where also for yet greatly withstood our words. That was Alexandra Alexander.
My first answer.
No man stood with me.
But all men forsook me.
I pray God that it may not be had held to their charge, but notice this last verse 17 verse notwithstanding.
The Lord stood with me. Oh, how precious that is to see we make many mistakes. We do things in our own spirit. We make, uh, many, many blobs, if you will put it. But it says here, notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me.
Why? He was the Lord's servant. He made mistakes. It shows again 2 doesn't it, that he was only human. He made mistakes. Someone has said to her as human, but to forgive is divine.
Precious, so he says it says here in verse 17.
Strengthen me that by me the preaching.
Might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear, and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. What a comforting verse that is to know God is always with his own. He said I will never leave thee, nor for safety. He did not forsake the apostle Paul either.
No, Paul had made a mistake, and many times we make mistakes too, but God is always there for us. That's a very encouraging thought to me.
I just pointed out too that.
Another little.
Perhaps correction?
Sometimes I'm a little hesitant to say correction, as if we're casting doubt on on Scripture in any way, but in verse 24.
In our common translation, it says that I may finish my course with joy. That's wonderful to finish your course with joy. Actually, the text says that I may finish my course one way or another. To finish our course. It's nice that it can be with joy, but.
The.
There is a course that the Lord has laid out for us.
Administrative.
And the important thing is to finish that ministry, whatever it is that the Lord has laid out.
It isn't. The emphasis is not on with joy here. The emphasis is on finishing the court.
00:55:06
Often, umm.
Amazes me to.
Read about someone who starts out on a.
Course and might say almost with flood lights and and all sorts of publicity.
And then they don't finish the course. I suppose, Brother Paul, when you were running, you saw some of that, didn't you? The people would start out like a flash and didn't finish their course.
And then somebody else who just ran along finished it, and that is what was before the apostle Paul here is finishing the course, and some of us are coming to that point.
We're finishing our course.
Let's not step out of the path.
In the last little bit.
The glories before us.
Guan keep on the path.
Isn't it true that it's the end of the path that proves?
What we've been occupied with.
We could be occupied with a lot of things and end our course.
In failure, which some have done, but how lovely to know that God's desire is.
That we might continue on, and perhaps sometimes not, with joy. Maybe we're sorrowful, maybe we're sick, maybe we're in a bad condition. But God is always there and of course will be completed with Him.
Just point this out in the first chapter Philippians in connection with this.
Converse that's often quoted.
I'm gonna just read from the fifth verse for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.
Seem confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work, and you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ, even as meet for me to think this of you all.
And this should be more properly translated because you have me in your hearts.
And that's borne out by the latter part of the verse. In as much as both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you are all partakers of my grace.
Paul was convinced that these Philippians were going to end well, that God was going to finish that which he'd begun in them because they had Paul in their hearts. They had Paul's doctrine and they in it, in the, in his defense and confirmation of the gospel, they stood with him. And I believe that that's important because we need Paul's doctrine. People say that we don't need it. We do need it. And if we're going to finish our courses that was being brought out that, uh, we're going to need Paul's doctrine. People are throwing things over.
But it's making disaster of people's lives.
And we see that in society, in Christian society all around us, is that the forsaking of the And again, he's speaking here not just of the gospel, but the last thing that the Lord spoke to the disciples about was the Kingdom of God. And the last thing that Paul spoke to them about it. And that in the book of Acts, the Lord speaking to them, the things concerning the Kingdom of God. And then again, the last thing that Paul is speaking to them is things concerning the Kingdom of God.
And it was that teaching concerning what is morally suited to the character of God.
We have an everlasting Kingdom and we're part of it, and there is that which is suitable to him in that. And so Paul ministered those things.
Practically speaking, that's our manner of life.
I was thinking also in regards to finishing the course, I like to relate it to a, uh, a marathon or uh, a race to where you run a certain car course.
And then you give the torch or whatever it is you may be carrying to the next runner, uh.
There should be the thought of finishing the course, the cards that we're calling about to do, but I'd like to also think of the fact that do we pass this charge, this life in Christ, Can we pass that on to someone else who is ready to take that torch and to continue on? I like to think of it in that way, that we finish the course, the portion that we're assigned to.
01:00:09
By the warranty is Christ, but also to carry the torch or give the word the crowd to someone else so they can continue the race.
276.
Guide us all.
Right.
Thank you. Oh God bless her right now.
Nsnoise.
$120.00.
If you want to try.
To break down the end, it makes you know where you're going to make me follow up with him and the difference in the life of my life.
Uh-huh.
All the time for the New Year's Visa card, so I don't know I'm talking about.
Our God, our Father, we thank Thee for this little time and Thy precious word. We think of these things that have been brought before us that our souls need to be established in, and we pray, and by the Spirit of God we might be established in the present truth, that we might have our hearts continually occupied with that Lamb burnt wholly to ashes for us.
A fresh look at Christ and Calvary's cross and all that he did for us in the gospel, and that we might press into the Kingdom to his uh, with energy of the Spirit of God.
01:05:08
The determination to, to judge ourselves and all things we we desire that our spiritual feet, Lord Jesus would be in thy hands for the washing of the water of the world. For we know that we picked up the fileman in this scene, in our thoughts and our words and our associations of life in, uh, our habits and perhaps even our companions, May we, uh, lay hold of those truths that concern the Kingdom as to our manner of life.
And to walk in it, and to that we might be established in those eternal councils to know that our beginning was from before the foundation of this world, and my purposes chosen in Christ, and that thou art called us in time. And justify us when we think of that coming day, when we'll be with our Lord Jesus Christ in the display of glory before this world that cast Him out and on into that eternal day when the Lord will.
Himself administered to our souls all the fullness of my heart. Maybe we be established in those eternal councils that were sealed with His words. Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. And so we look to Thee that thou give us, Lord Jesus, as we continue through these two days. Should thou leave us here, that which is suited for us, for myself, that we might be washed from, uh, the defilement that we picked up in this scene to have.
Fellowship with the Lord Jesus and that our souls might be refreshed. We do as I continued blessing and we thank Thee for what we've had already from the Spirit of God, Thy name, Lord Jesus.
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Our Heart
Where is Your Heart
Jericho
Acts 20:25-33
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Please go to me last day.
Or upstairs, turn off the standard.
Come on.
Give me a minute to talk to me afterwards and then I'm on the phone tomorrow. I've been using it.
Nsnoise.
Uh.
Blessed God, our Father.
We thank Thee for the lines of this little hymn we've been singing.
We go to meet the Savior, His glorious face, to see what manner of behavior in all our ways with Thee. Lord Jesus, we thank Thee for that glorious truth, that one day soon we will look into Thy blessed face and see Thee and praise Thee in a manner that is be pleasing to Thee.
For now, Lord, Thou knowest our prayers are checkered with self. Many times things brought in that are not according to Thy mind. We know these things, Lord, but we just look forward to that day when we see Thee. We see Thy blessed face and we hear Thy voice. We've heard it now in the Word, but what a day that will be when we hear Thy voice there in the glory and look into Thy blessed face.
To see that one. And we know then that voice will be a voice of love and kindness and grace and mercy.
We thank Thee, precious Savior, for that glorious thought that soon, soon we will be with Thee in glory. So we are to Thee now, while we're here, we think of these many, uh, things that we have in Thy word, some thoughts perhaps brought out even today. We just asked thy blessing, Lord, now upon a little time together, for we know it's a limited time. Time is short, but we know, Lord, that that day is soon, far near, soon near to come.
The day when we will hear the shout, and be caught up to meet thee in the air.
00:05:00
So we thank you now as we look to Thee for the portion of Thy word that is before us, that we may be encouraged and built up and edified as we wait for thy return. Lord Jesus, all in thy precious and in thy worthy name, Amen. Amen.
Acts Chapter 20.
Verse 25.
And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the Kingdom of God.
Shall see my face no more.
Therefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take he therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn.
Everyone night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. Yeah, ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have showed you all things how that's so laboring. You ought to support the weak.
And to remember the words of our Lord Jesus, how he said it is more blessed to give than to receive.
And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with the mall, and they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him.
Souring most of all for the words which you speak.
That they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.
Can you imagine the chill that must have gone through their hearts as they heard these words?
Paul was loved by them.
And he loved them and they loved him.
And to hear that this one who had gone about.
I believe faithfully proclaiming the Kingdom.
Now they were not going to see his face again.
We were on the way up yesterday. We were driving up in my.
My wife remarked to me about some dear and beloved faces that.
We were used to seeing at these meetings.
And.
It brought tears to our eyes to think about it.
Men who faithfully brought the word of God before us.
I don't want to unduly praise anyone, but we were thinking of Gordon and Norman Berry.
John Curry and there's probably others we didn't think of, but those we thought of.
And.
Yes. What is it that should concern us?
I don't want to jump ahead too much, but down at the end of the chapter it says they were specially pained by those words.
What Paul brought before them in the verses in between was.
That some very tragic things were going to happen with regard to the testimony.
Both from outside and from within.
That's what should have consumed their art.
I don't think it's wrong that they should feel the the pain of not seeing Paul again.
But the more serious thing?
Because God raises up others as we go along, and each one.
In his generation serves the Lord.
And they fall on sleep.
Thank God fills in the ranks, so to speak.
00:10:07
I don't mean to say that there will ever be.
Another exact.
Gordon Hayhoe.
There'll never be another.
JND.
They'll never be another Norman Berry, exactly like our brother, but the Lord raises each one up for his generation, doesn't he?
But what is most painful in the verses that intervene?
And that we need to pay attention to is that there's a flock.
That needs caring for, that is precious to the Lord.
Precious to the Lord.
And.
Paul, first of all says I'm clean of the of the blood.
Makes one think of the verses in Ezekiel.
In connection with the.
Raising up of a watchman to.
Announced that there was judgment coming.
And it talks about the responsibility of sounding the trumpet and if it was not sounded.
That of blood would be upon the person's.
Hands that.
That had that responsibility and didn't do it.
Paul could say.
I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
I think that's wonderful.
And uh.
We tend to be specialists sometimes.
I know the Lord has given different gifts and different emphasis to different ministries.
But each one who has a responsibility among the people of God has a responsibility to declare all the council of God.
Not to hold anything back that is profitable.
That's why Paul could say.
A minister of your blood.
It's a tremendous responsibility to take a place of leadership among God's people, and This is why it was such a important thing that Paul could declare himself innocent of their blood because he didn't lead the people of God astray. Was thinking that when you mentioned Brother **** that man who wrote those books left behind, that he feels badly that some drew the inference that you could be saved after the rapture, that you're glad that there's personal repentance there. But he bears a terrible responsibility for all of the people that believe those books.
And he did not declare the counsel of God and misled the people of God into error.
And so I believe that it's a very important thing that Paul here is one who took the lead among God's people.
Could say that he had been faithful in communicating the truth of God. A teacher shouldn't be judged by what they meant to say, but by what they said. I think that's one of the blessings of the reading meeting in a day of weakness as one may say something and not be exactly right in what they say or balance and it's if the desire is to communicate the truth of God will be glad to be corrected.
Because we don't want to leave a wrong impression as to the truth of God. But when books are published and things are broadcast and the people of God are brought into real error.
It's not just the servant that is brought in to reproach, but is the Lord when people say the word of God says this.
Then, and the people of God follow them, after a while they start to scratch their heads and say, well, the Bible, you can't make any sense of it. Because this person told me the Lord was going to come in 1984. And this person told me that that at the year 2000 there was going to be disaster. And this person told me this. And people are carried about by every wind of doctrine and the slate of men. And after a while they just get burned out. It's not to excuse the sheep.
Because the sheep know the shepherd's voice. But there is a tremendous responsibility.
That the apostle Paul felt in connection with taking a place of leadership among God's people.
00:15:06
And I believe that This is why he was charging the elders at Ephesus, that the elders too were responsible because we often take very great care and we ought to rebuke non elder sharply but entreat him as a father. But I think there needs to be great. Paul was greatly concerned not just about the these ones, but he was concerned about the sheep that were going to be affected by their actions. And we need, there needs to be care in the House of God and this is what he's bringing before them.
Care in the House of God is to the effect upon the sheep of these things.
Heresy is to choose.
And that's what the word means. And so when I was young, somebody gave me a book. Decide what you believe. And so you're to work through it and see what your position was on a variety of subjects. But that's really training a person to be a heretic. The truth of God stands together. The whole council of God stands together. And I may not understand it all, I may not know it all. I may not walk in all of it. I shouldn't say may I don't.
But I am in a place, the Assembly of God, where the truth of God is maintained, and if I am faithful to the Lord, I'm going to learn the truth of God in that place.
When a man specializes in a truth, he rarely gets the truth he specializes in, right? It's interesting.
Have you ever met anybody that claimed to be meat on the ground of, uh, what happened at Pentecost? They don't understand what the baptism of the Spirit is.
Ever claimed to meet somebody who meets on a particular mode of baptism? They don't understand what baptism is and what it does.
You have to meet on somebody who meets on the ground of what church government is. They don't understand church government in the Scripture. God has seen to it that man rarely specialized, gets clear the doctrine that I met many believers and they're clear on a lot of things, but they're rarely clear on the doctrine they specialize in.
So that's why Paul made it so clear that he would not shun to declare the whole counsel of God.
And thus receipt re keep himself guiltless from their blood. Because if I mislead somebody.
I'm really responsible for where I lead them.
There's a little expression at the beginning of verse 28 that we don't want to overlook. I very much appreciate what you had to say, uh, Neil, about the, the responsibility of leadership, but there is something introduced before leadership. Take heed to what?
Yourselves.
Take heed to yourself.
Pay attention to yourselves.
One, uh.
Might aspire to leadership, and I think it's important to notice here that it's the Holy Spirit that sent them as leaders, as overseers.
In the to shepherd the Assembly of God. It isn't that I decided to do it. I know there's a sense in which, uh, and Timothy, it's talks about a man aspiring to exercise ownership, uh, over, uh, seership or oversight. I guess our normal translation says their desire is the office of a Bishop.
Maintaining the ecclesiastical umm terms of the the time, but.
It's the Holy Spirit that sets one in that position of responsibility.
And what is it that is so important in doing in in considering one's responsibility in that?
That would be sure and shepherd the flock of God that said right away after what I called attention to, but it first says take heed therefore to yourself, to yourself.
How I walk, what I do, what I say, how I knit. There's no sense in talking about shepherding the people of God.
If I don't pay attention to my own walk, my own responsibility.
00:20:00
Told Timothy the same thing, didn't he? First Timothy 4 and verse 16. Take heed unto thyself, and secondly unto the doctrine, continuing them. For in doing this thou shalt both saved thyself.
And then that here they.
Even Paul admitted, didn't he, the possibility that he himself should be a castaway. And so that's the thought of save yourself. Paul even admitted himself that having been the vessel to deliver this truth, that he might make disaster of his life. There's a little pamphlet there, Wrecks on the Burma Road, and there have been many.
That's still in print now do you know I think it Mark had some copies of it here on the table. I don't know. I'm glad to hear that because I would like to recommend when I before.
Where I was gathered, in fact, I remember coming across that little pamphlet and reading it and re reading it.
And rereading it.
Because it is a tremendous help and I wanna suggest if there's any young people here that have not read an older ones too, get a hold of that pamphlet. It's written by Brother Willis as a result of it.
Trippy made over the the famous Burma Road and the wreck that he saw along the Burma Rd. in the spiritual lessons from those wrecks.
I'm glad to hear it's available. Mark, how many do you have?
Three or four, you get up there fast and get them before somebody else gets it. But I'm sure there's more available somewhere. And it's not like maybe it's something we can reprint, but what a lesson to my own soul.
I hope I've paid attention to it.
But when some of those things we need to remind ourselves again and again about.
We have so much.
A fact the one man ministry that I'd just like to draw attention to something in this first.
To feed the floor, to feed the Church of God, which he had purchased with his own blood.
That in Ephesians where it talks about the gifts given to the church.
Pastors and teachers are joined together.
There's some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors teachers. It's almost hyphenated because a lot of people want a pastor and now they call it counseling. But you can't pastor without teaching.
How you can teach, perhaps without pastoring, but you can't pastor without sound teaching. And so if there's not clear teaching set before the Saint of God, we're going to lead a person. A person is gonna be LED, but they're gonna be LED in the wrong direction.
The Lord values his flock and.
Oh careful, we should be. It doesn't say here to rule over the flock, it says to feed them.
And uh, that's the important thing, isn't it? Then they grow, then they get strong, and then they fall along the Lord with the with the Lord. We got the same thought in Peter, don't we? These are ******* gross.
Watch the Commission to be there before He, before he went to the glory to feed the Lamb.
I noticed that J&D translation says shepherd the flock, and I've thought about that a little bit, that it's a lot more than just feeding too, isn't it?
There's a lot of care and we have a brother in our assembly who worked on his grandfather's farm with sheep and he can tell you some of the things that they had to do. We often enjoy remarks that Paul Thomas makes about, uh, different aspects of shepherding sheep. But, uh, it's a lot more than just here's something to eat.
It's a really a care for all the needs, isn't it?
Now, uh.
Shepherd and pastor is the same word, isn't it?
Alright, alright, say the same word, shepherding and pestering.
00:25:01
Well, doesn't this in itself, besides any other scriptures, show us that God did not have a pastor in the church in Ephesus?
Sometimes some of the footnotes in Bibles will say Timothy was the pastor of the church in Ephesus.
It aggravates me to read that footnote because first of all, it's not a scriptural footnote, and secondly, it goes against the teaching of right here. Here we're the pastors of the assembly in Ephesus, those who shepherded the assembly.
In Ephesians, Paul didn't say, Come on over here, Timothy, I have a special thing to say to you.
He called all the elders together, didn't he?
And he pointed out that the Holy Spirit had made them, not the denomination or the board or the OR the elders or whatever. Man has set up systems that are so contrary to the Word of God. And if they'd only read, if we'd only read carefully. God has protection against those wrong ideas right here in his Word.
Like to add this thought with regard to that.
I believe, and it's a personal exercise that I'll state and be corrected by my brethren.
For a long time now I felt that in reacting against.
The.
Notion of appointed formal elders.
Which we have no authority for.
Only an apostle or a delegate of an apostle had that authority.
We have gone too far.
And not recognizing that the Holy Spirit does raise up people as overseers, and in First Thessalonians 5 it tells us to recognize them, that is.
To realize that the Lord has put someone in that position and is to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake.
It's not an easy thing.
And, uh, the work the we've gotten so, umm.
So enamored with the idea of.
Of democracy in this country and in Canada probably too, that we have forgotten that the Church of God is not a democracy.
There is leadership.
There is responsible leadership and there is the the responsibility for us to submit not ruling, not who was it? Was it you ruled that said didn't say ruling over them.
Somebody did it here anyway, it doesn't matter, but it was an important point. Doesn't talk about ruling.
Ruling is not the thought. The thought is example and and admonition.
But there is leadership.
And let's be careful we do not re reject the idea of that.
And have this idea of a democracy among the people of God that is totally foreign to Scripture.
Yes, I've heard it said even in general meetings, where are you going to find men that are fit to do the work of overseers? And I thought I know all kinds of them. There are those that are fit to do the work. And Paul told to Titus, he gave Titus to ordained elders and it was increased. And we know what the natural characteristics of the tree creeks were. They were slow bellies, evil beasts and lazy gluttons. The word of God says.
And yet there were those there that could be found that were fit the qualifications to do that work and its great mischief when those take up the work of God on themselves. It's the Holy Ghost. And so that that puts a person fits a person and qualifies a person to do that work to take oversight in the House of God. And we see the seriousness of it in connection with Paul that he counted himself not guilty of their blood because he had been faithful and when those.
Take up that work and they're not. It causes mischief. Now, it's true that there's no authority to ordain elders or pastors or anything else. I remember when Brother Dan Anderson used to say before he was gathered to the Lord's name, he was an ordained minister. He said they laid their empty hands on my empty head. And what he meant was that they had no authority to order. I have no authority to ordain anybody to anything, nor does anybody else in this room.
00:30:22
And one who may submit to such a thing really doesn't know the mind of God.
But there are qualifications that would fit a man for this work. And just because there may be an, a, an assembly, none that are apparently qualified to do that work, then there can be a humble looking to the Lord as to what to do. We still have the word of God. But there were those that were fit for that work and a recognition of the foes against the assembly because there were two types of foes that were to come. Wolves that serve their own bellies.
And then there were those that wanted to steal a sheep and they were really serving their, so to speak, their wallets. They wanted a following. And there are those that come in and they don't really care what happens to the sheep.
And, uh, they, they pick on the weak and they devour them. And we've seen that. And there are those that really do care what happened to the sheep because they want the sheep intact.
A sheep thief doesn't want the sheep alive and well so that he can keep them. And so there were the two. And so Romans said they served their own bellies.
That there are ones that really are just like wolves. It's the character of a wolf. They're hungry and they want to feed themselves.
And they really don't care about the sheep of God at all. There are those that do care about the sheep, but they want the sheep following them. But a true pastor will have the sheep follow the Lord.
Peter had to say in his first epistle of Peter in the 5th chapter the elders verse one, the elders which are among you. I exhort Paul was exhorting the elders of Ephesus, wasn't he? And Peter here says who am also an elder?
And a witness of the sufferings of Christ.
And also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God. Feed them.
Feed the flock of God.
Which is among you taking the oversight thereof? Not by constraint, not because it's you have to something you have to do. I've got to do this, so I've got to do it, but not by constraint.
But willingly.
And for not for filthy lucre, not for pay, not because I'm going to get some a check out of it.
But of a ready mind.
And I'll tell you that that's good advice that Peter gives here.
And though we Paul did the same similar thing to those at at Ephesus, when he could say, take heed, therefore in verse 28, take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost have made you overseers.
To feed the Church of God, which he had purchased with the blood of his own beautiful. So those things are good, whether it be Peter, whether it be Paul.
Paul, of course, was the one to the Church of God.
I was thinking when Neil was talking about.
Lack of qualification, that.
I remember a time and I it's to my shame. Perhaps I should repeat this, but it might encourage someone.
There was a time when some of us in our assembly in Chatham, in the days when Brother Alan Hadley was still alive and her brother's care meeting, suddenly realized that none of us.
We're totally qualified for oversight. None.
None of us. We got down on our knees and cried to the Lord about it. I'll never forget that.
He said Lord, the work needs to be done.
And we're not qualified.
And I believe in that case where there's a humbling before the Lord that He gives grace.
And.
There was a a sense in all of our souls that the Lord would give grace and help in doing it. He isn't going to leave the flock without.
00:35:05
Care.
After a wolf has been among the flock, you see the ravages of it.
You see what a wolf does after he's been in among a flock of sheep, and I think 1 great thing that happens is that people often become hard on the shepherd in dealing with wolves.
But it's too late after the damage is done.
And it takes a certain courage to face a wolf. I mean, these are very vivid pictures that the Spirit of God brings before us. And we look afterwards and we say, wow, look what happened. Well, where was I with respect to the one who stood up to the wolf? Was I encouraging him, helping him, submitting him to him? Or was I nattering about how he was handling the wolf?
And the the IT spoke, Brother Charles, when you read that verse about a ready mind, it speaks about men speaking perverse things. The children learn verses in Sunday school and to be perverse as to go against truth that I know.
And you'll find that not everybody who is in error is going against known truth. But her brother once asked a minister who taught that she could be saved and lost. He said, Do you really believe that yourself? He said no, but it's the only way I can keep my flock in line.
It's the only way I can keep my flock in line. He knew that people couldn't be saved and lost, but he taught that to keep his flock in line. And very often you'll find there's perversity connected with the truth. And again, I repeat what I said this morning in connection with geographies. Geographies was not somebody in the assembly who was careful in reception. He said he received a thought. Let's read it. And because this Scripture is often abused.
To insinuate that somebody who is careful at a time of reception is being a geographies. But let's, uh, look at what it exactly says.
The character of this man in John's third epistle in verse 9.
I wrote on to the Church but geographies who loveth to have the preeminence among them.
Receiveth them not. No, he says. He receiveth us not. That was the apostle.
And that's perversity. A man will take up a doctrine and you see why is it some of the foolish doctrines people have caused divisions over?
Among the people of God.
On atonement or?
For the blood of Christ, where the blood of Christ came.
Came in or foolish things which people get attached to and stubbornly attached to, and they form a following around a particular little doctrine, not sparing the flock of God, but just coming in. They oppose themselves to the apostles doctrine. And what is the motive? It tells us because He loves the preeminence.
Romans says they love, they serve their own bellies. And so naturally, uh, we shouldn't be suspicious of people's motives, but the word of God reveals what those motives are. And so that's why there had to be that ready mind. And if we stand for the truth of God, then we're going to protect the people of God. I was struck with Abishai wanted to take off shimmy eye's head when he railed against David, but David had told him how to deal with Saul. He, he said take away his spear and his crews of water.
That was to take away Saul's means of fighting and his source of refreshment.
David really fell into error and he had to apologize for it because he ripped a piece of Saul's garment off. And we want to do that. Sometimes you want to attack a person's testimony. But uh, he really gave good advice to him was to take away his fears, means of fighting and his means of refreshment. But this is what a perverse man does, is he opposes the apostles doctrine and he uses that to form a party around himself. And really almost any doctrine will do.
For the perverse man. And you'll you'll meet people like that. They'll raise an argument, and then they'll discard that argument and pick up another one.
And pick up another one, and another one and another one. And then you realize that the point is not that they are taking a moral stand or a stand as the principle, but they're just picking up truths and throwing them away to accomplish an end, a perverse end. That's what perversity is.
Actually, Neil, I noticed it says in J&D's translation Perverted thing.
Perverted things I don't mean to take away at all from the idea of perverseness about it, but it's just to give a little twist or something to turn it around, to serve the end of drawing the disciples away.
00:40:15
After themselves. That's key here, isn't it? After themselves, they want a following.
It's happened so often.
A man rises up.
And he puts a little twist on something.
Perverts it in order to draw away.
The disciples.
The disciple, not just the little following, but he wants all the disciples after himself, after himself.
So.
That ends up sometimes in some tragic.
Visions.
And afterwards the brethren who follow him.
End up being known by his name. They've been drawn away after.
Him not after the Lord, the real servant of Christ.
Draws the sheep after Christ.
And that's something that we need to be alert to as we listen to ministry and hear our brother speak. Who is he drawing away the disciples to Christ?
Or himself.
And I was thinking of Absalom.
It says He stole the hearts of the people of his, of of the children of Israel. He stole their hearts.
When that news came to David.
It must have been an awful thing for him to realize that his son had done that.
That absolute spirit is so quick to arise where one sees a need among the people of God.
Absalom said. See, there's no one appointed by the king to hear your matters.
Oh, I wish I was there. I'd take care of it.
And in that manner he stole the hearts of the children of Israel.
What wonder did David then went up weeping as he went, and all the people weeping? I believe the heart of the Lord weeps over that. It's true to say that the, uh, grievous wolves some or the coming from inside of the Lord's people.
Certainly God never caused one of his own a wolf.
That I know of. They're entering in. Remember, they're not there, they enter in.
CHM made a.
Quite a statement, he said. That idolatry, he said, is not. He doesn't see idolatry as something flooding in among the Saints of God. He said it's just one little thing at a time that comes in and robs him of this point. At that point, it's just one little thing at a time. It's a little foxes that spoil the tender vines, and I believe that was so in those early days.
And in our past 10 years too, some little things come in and they've taken hold of it and made a doctrine of it.
And deceive the Saints of God.
The question as to whether, and I appreciate what you would say, I never call one that I knew to be a brother a wolf. But the answer to that question in a certain sense is irrelevant because the effect he's really talking is really presenting a picture to us here. And it's like in Second Timothy, we're speaking about vessels to dishonor.
The the quality of the vessel, whether it's a crystal vase or a rusty tin can is irrelevant. It is what is in that vessel.
And he's really speaking about the effect of one that may come into the assembly and ravage. And some very obviously are just plain trouble makers.
And they bear the character of a wolf, and brethren shouldn't be shy about dealing with that.
There are others that are more subtle, and it's not apparent that they're trying to draw away disciples after themselves, but they manifest themselves by being perverse, and that is.
00:45:01
That they're going against known truth and you quickly reveal, say, how do you tell a pure heart?
A pure heart isn't somebody who knows everything.
What a pure heart is when you show them a scripture that their heart is inclined about of that scripture.
What a perverts man is one who picks up and uses principles of scripture and discards them as tools for a particular cause. You may not be completely apparent as to what the cause is, but they pick them up and and discard them Willy nilly, if you may put it that way. And so I think it's really the picture here. And I think we sometimes trouble ourselves by trying to wonder whether these ones are real believers or not. And we say, well, no, he's not a wolf, he's a real believer.
In a certain sense it's irrelevant because there are those that come in and cause untold damage to the people of God, just like the way a wolf does in a pack of sheep.
And you have to leave that question with the Lord as to whether they're really the Lords or not.
I'm sure there's, there's, uh, important aspect of that, uh, brother Neil, but I think basically what brother John said is true of that passing these people enter in and don't spare the flock, whoever they are.
And I think in general the we understand that people who do that are not the Lord. The wolf cometh not but to kill and the steal.
And to destroy, was that what kind of the thought you had, brother John? I was thinking of John 10 and also Jude verse 4 where it says certain men crept in unawares and ungodly men turning the grace of God of the service. We have to be watching out to those kind of things, don't we?
In, uh, Jeremiah 15.
I was reading a couple of verses there.
Very important thing to see and I think Paul infers that here when he says to take heed to thyself and sober in Jeremiah 15. I'll just read verses 15 and 16.
Oh, Lord, thou knowest.
Remember Me and visit me.
And revenge me of my persecutors, take me not away in thy long-suffering.
Know that for thy sake.
I have suffered rebuke, Jeremiah. Then notice 16 Thy words were found.
And I didn't eat them.
And they were unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.
For I am called by thy name, O Lord, God of hosts, and so on. And we find if we followed this out, we would find there's an answer here. He gets an answer for this too, but I just thought of it in connection with.
This chapter that we have here, taking heed to thyself, how do we do that?
Ingest the word of God, make it good to our souls first, then it can go out to others. If I don't know what God is telling me, how can I tell you?
So it's interesting thing, isn't it, to see.
Jeremiah could say, thy words were found, and I did eat them. Have you or I ate eaten of the word of God? Do we make it our own? Do we assimilate this? Do we we make it as we read it? Is it? Is it meant for me? Do I use it as that which is given to me? I should, and in that way I can be a help to others.
In connection with this, umm.
Next first, uh, 31 Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn everyone of you night and day with tears. My brother was commenting on the difference between Paul's tears and the elders tears. They were crying because they wouldn't see Paul anymore. But Paul was crying because of these things that he saw coming in and he was warning them. And we often don't like to be warned about things. Look at the the book of Zechariah in the first chapter.
And we don't like and I told you so attitude either. But just speaking from, well, we'll read it in Zechariah chapter one.
00:50:06
And from verse three, therefore say thou unto them. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Turn ye unto me.
Saith the Lord of Hosts, And I will turn on to you, saith the Lord of Hosts. Be not as your Father's, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, turning now from your evil ways and from your evil doings. But they did not hear or hearken unto me, saith the Lord your Father's. Where are they? And the prophets? Do they live forever but my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants, the prophets?
Did they not take hold of your Father's? And they returned and said, like as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath He dealt with us.
So there is a sense in which Paul warned them beforehand, but then the Spirit of God would turn them back and say, you know, it's just just exactly what Paul warned them happened. And so we need to heed and we need to think back when there's been a difficulty. Was I listening to the warnings?
Were we listening in the assembly to the warnings that came of difficulties that were going to come? We have to look back and say, well, just as we were warned, it happened, and so we can take heed to those warnings. But that's really what Brother Little was reading in Jeremiah was that he commanded them to the word of.
God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among them that are sanctified. So if we really feed on the word of God.
There were going to be strengthened and our thoughts are going to be formed by the word of God and we're going to be protected from this sort of thing but.
We often have to say I was told and I didn't listen.
The person tells us something, they may be mistaken, but when the apostle Paul said this, that grievous wolves would enter in among you, not sparing the flock, he said that by inspiration, uh.
He didn't conjure this out of his own mind any more than did Moses in the Old Testament. Remember that?
Where he spoke of what would befall the people of God thereafter his departure in Deuteronomy.
Chapter 31.
And verse 29, Moses says these words for I know that after my death, very similar words to the apostle Paul uses. I know that after my death he will utterly corrupt yourselves and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you. And evil will befall you in the latter days, because evil to evil in the sight of the Lord, to be broken to anger and so forth. How did Moses know that by any special insight that he had known God revealed to Moses.
Exactly what would be the latter end of the people of Israel, just like the Apostle Paul?
Have revealed to him the, the future of the assembly. I mean, they would tell you today that there's such a thing as Apostolic succession. Well, the only thing that the apostle Paul tells us here is going to succeed the apostles as grievous wolves. That's what he said would come in amongst the people of God. It's not a very good prospectus, is it, President? I mean, suppose you want to invest in the stock of a corporation. You would first, uh, obtain a prospectus of that corporation and see if it looks good.
If this company has good prospects and if it does, why maybe you'd invest in it. Uh, but here's the prospects for the assembly. It doesn't look very good, does it? It would rather deteriorate instead of getting better after the apostles.
Verse 31 Says that remember that by a space of three years have ceased, not blown into everyone's knife, and they were tears.
If you can turn the Hebrew after 13.
277 Remember him, which has the rule over you.
Wilson City, the Word of God.
They followed subsidiaries against the third on September 16th.
Notice that there's there's no commending of them to the councils or to the.
Uh, Magisterium of the Church.
To the.
Synods.
To even to decrease.
But to God.
And the word of His grace.
Well, I think that's so important and.
00:55:00
We are not commended. As much as I appreciate and and value the ministry of our brethren of the 19th century, we're not commended to that. We're commended to the Word of God.
Any ministry that we receive must be tested. Our brother Dave Imbo set out at the Des Moines meetings that the touchstone is this book, the Word of God.
It's so important to keep that before us.
I, uh, mentioned that there is a tendency.
Sometimes to have a syndrome called.
The CW 21 Syndrome.
That everything is decided on what's in the collected writing. That isn't how we decide things.
No, don't, don't go back and say Brother **** doesn't appreciate the this the collected writings. I do. I have them referred to them and I enjoy them. But that's not the touchstone. The touchstone is the word of his grace, isn't it?
It's God's precious word and the moment we descend from that.
To use the words of.
One of the old writers who said were satisfied with the bucket instead of with a fountain.
It is implied with the bucket instead of the fountain. I do believe, though, that the verse that Brother Davignon pointed out to us in Hebrews 13 and seven is very important and I'd like to call attention to it. I do want to say this about The CW 21 syndrome. I think we are more afflicted with The CW Volume 00 lethargy, and I want to encourage you young people to read the ministry. I do realize that ministry has been used in an abused way.
But it's more of the volume 00, page 00 lethargy that we have then overuse made of ministry. But I I believe the verse that you read here is very important, brother, because in connection with this whole subject, because we were talking about oversight.
And in Hebrews 13 and verse seven it says, Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God.
It is the Word of God whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation or their way of life.
So there are two things here. So there's the Word of God ministered, and there's the end of the pathway of the one who ministered that word.
And we're to consider that we consider that an engineer builds a bridge and you look back over and you see what's his track record and you read ministry And the word of God instructs us to consider what was the end of those that wrote that ministry. We have divine instruction. This is the word of God. And it's not to make us critical, but if a man may minister the truth and make disaster himself at the end of his pathway doesn't say reject everything that he wrote.
But you're to consider that fact.
We're to get the truth from those that walked in it and not only walked in it when they were living in it, but as Paul who finished his course, as we were saying later, in a faithful way.
There's too much taking up and natural things. Our brother was talking.
Umm, about investing. I don't invest, but talking. People are very careful about their money and they're very careful about their health and so on, but they're not very careful about who they read and what the end of their conversation was. And it's a very important thing. We're to remember that and consider it. I think it's especially telling that this comes up in Hebrews, because in Hebrews we don't have.
The Apostle Paul is the writer, but we have Jesus as the apostle in Hebrews.
He's the author and finisher of faith. He's the captain of salvation. And so how does he resume at the end of the epistle? He says consider them that have the rule over you and were to consider the end of their conversation or their way of life. And if a man may have taught everything right, then you're you're you're perfectly right and entitled and instructed to consider how he ended his pathway with respect to how he worked out that doctrine in his own life.
This portion of the 20th chapter that we're discussing right now is very similar to Haggai chapter 2, isn't it?
Well known verses, but in Haggai chapter 2 you see how the remnant era is encouraged.
01:00:01
And, uh, and what are they to take urge Notice three things there in verse, the end of verse 4, Peggy I chapter 2, the end of verse four, I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts. The Lord's friends would be with them. We have that today, Brevin, just as the remnant did then. And then in the next verse five, according to the word that I covenanted with you, we have the word of God in our laps. Don't we breath in today? Same as the remnant then had the word of God that they could consult.
And then lastly, the end of verse 5.
So my spirit that should be capital S incidentally, so my spirit remains among you, a little different today and better than then the Spirit was made among them. But today the Spirit of God indwells us. We have these three things to encourage us through one faithfully.
Who are the sanctified that are mentioned at the end of verse 32?
Is this a special class as the UMM as the Wesleyan taught and teach? Or is it?
A. Something else?
The sanctified to give us an inheritance among the sanctified.
Every believer, every blood bought child of God.
The word sanctified means set apart, set apart.
And in a very special way, every believer has been set apart.
For God, when one becomes one of the sanctified by believing in the gospel, receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as one Savior, he then is one of the sanctified. It's not a class among the people of God is.
In the next verse, the next verse there.
Verse 33 shows how the grace of God wrought in the apostles heart, because if there was one thing in which he he failed before, it was that he he was covetous. You see that in Romans 7, seven. I had not known lust, except the law had said, thou shalt not covet. He felt that that that slew him. You know it was just almost as natural as breathing to covet. What does Paul say here? By the grace of God?
'Cause now I have coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel. Uh, brethren, if we're not covetous, I don't think it's something that you've attained to it. It's the grace of God operative in your heart. And uh, Samuel said that too at the end of his life. Remember, he, he lays before the people, He says, who of you can accuse me of taking any man's ox or sheep or cattle? He, he was not a covetous man. He said a good example. Too bad his sons didn't follow in the examples that their father said.
And isn't it true rube that the umm.
Coveting of things has led to disaster in the ministry of so many good people.
They they begin to.
Want what the people of God have? There's a wonderful verse where Paul says I don't want yours, I want you.
I don't want what you have, I want you. And that's the main motive of a true minister, isn't it? Who wants the not what the people have, but he wants them themselves to go on for Christ.
And I.
They've been distressed to see how easily covetousness arises in our hearts.
But do we want the Saints? Is that what we want? We want them. We want to see them go on for God.
166 or.
Lord Alhamdulillah.
01:05:16
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Our blessed God and our Father, we thank Thee that we have been.
They will do gather together again this afternoon.
To have thy word before us.
And you have a nice spirit. Remind us of the dangers that are ahead of that which has indeed happened to thy people.
The the the Church of God that has so loved.
And given myself, Lord Jesus, for we thank thee, our God and Father, that I loved it and does not change. And that's already ever the same, Lord Jesus, as we've been reminded yesterday, today, and forever. So we just looked at thee, that we may indeed take heed to that which we have had before us this afternoon, that we may indeed walk before thee, Lord Jesus.
In the truth of thy word, and seek to honor thee and to serve thee here.
We thank Thee for the promise soon, Lord Jesus, as I return, when we will be with in the Father's house to go no more out than to be there for Thy praise and Thy glory forever.
01:10:04
So we thank you for this and the care and give these thanks for this privilege you've had of being together in this way. And may we, each one of us, take heed in our own hearts what we have heard, what we ask in thy name, our Godfather, thy name, O Jesus, Amen. Amen.
Fight Prayerfully
Ask and Ye Shall Receive
1 Corinthians 16:1-17
Reading
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Phone number 5013738972627877092574.
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Having God and Father, we thank Thee for Thy love to us, Thy goodness and I care. And oh Lord Jesus, we thank Thee especially as we think of what others endure for us on the cross, saving our souls, bringing us into a place of blessing and nearness, keeping us, preserving us, giving us light from Thy precious Word. So we pray now, as we have Thy Word open before us again.
We just ask that I will speak to each one of our hearts and draw us closer to thyself. Lord Jesus, we think of these things and how much we need to be found looking to Thee and desiring the goodness, the grace, the mercy, and the kindness of Thy love toward us. So we thank Thee for these times together. You know this will be the last reading meeting for this conference. We just pray that our guide and direct us in this.
And that we may realize that perhaps before another meeting is another conference comes, we will be at home with Thee. Lord Jesus, we think of this. Thank you for it. So we pray now concerning the going forth of Thy word this afternoon. We ask that Thou guide and direct us in the portion and also the thoughts concerning I love, beloved Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus. So we ask these things, Lord, as we commit our way to Thee now.
And thy precious and worthy name. Amen. Amen.
Acts Chapter 20.
Verse 34.
Yeah, you yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that are with me I have showed you all things, how that so laboring you ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of our Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And when He had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him, souring most of all for the words which he spake that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.
00:05:24
1St Corinthians 16.
Now, concerning the collection for the Saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, Even so do ye.
Upon the first day of the week, let everyone of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, then will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem. And if it be meat that I go also, they shall go with me. I will now I will come unto you when I shall pass through Macedonia, For I do pass through Macedonia.
And it may be that I will abide, yeah, and winner with you, that ye may bring me on my journey whithersoever I go. For I will not see you now, by the way, but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permits. But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost, for a great door and effectual is open unto me. And there are many adversaries. Now if Timotheus comes, see that he may be with you without fear, for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do.
Let no man therefore despise him, but conduct him forth in peace, that he may come unto me, for I look for him with the brethren.
As touching our brother Apollos, I greatly desired him to come unto you with their brethren. But his will was not at this at all to come at this time. But he will come when he shall have convenient time. Watch ye stand fast in the faith. Quit you like men. Be strong. Let all your things be done with charity. I beseech your brethren, ye know the House of Stephanus, that it is the first fruits of IKEA, and that they have addicted themselves.
To the ministry of the Saints that you submit yourselves unto such, and to everyone that helpeth with us and Laboureth.
It's obvious that the Apostle was.
Not establishing.
A principle that.
Umm, that men needed to supply their own needs as they ministered the word. There's other scriptures that shows that that's not so, but he was setting a good example, wasn't it, for them. And, uh, so he did that.
His hands administered to my wants and to those that were with me. He not only provided for his own.
Needs, but also for those of his fellow laborers.
That's quite an undertaking I would think and.
And that, of course, backs up what he says in verse 33.
And he has then in verse 35 says, I've showed you all things it does laboring. We ought to come in aid of the week.
And now we get something very interesting. We get a quotation from the Lord Jesus that I don't think we have anywhere else in Scripture. Am I wrong?
Anybody know where there's a record of the Lord saying this other than here?
For the four years, they know quite a bit about the Gospels. Do you ever read that in the Gospels?
I have a list of quotations from scriptures that I compiled. A great effort.
I have a lot a list of a lot of quotations and this is one of the few that have.
Uh, the the refers nowhere else.
But that doesn't mean the Lord didn't say it did that. The Holy Spirit through Paul says remember the words of the Lord Jesus. It must have been something that they had commonly spoken of.
And he had quoted the Lord to them before and tells them, remember that. It's a beautiful expression. I think it's wonderful to consider in the Apostle Paul's life, and I think you alluded to that yesterday, that the commandment that slew Paul was, Thou shalt not covet. He was naturally a covetous man, and you see in the working out of his salvation that he was in a rich assembly at Corinth.
00:10:03
And he was moved among some wealthy people, but he labored with his hands that he would be chargeable to no man, that the ministry would not be blamed. And how often we've seen the ministry blamed by, uh, conduct towards money.
And so he sought rather than a right, men demand their rights. And then he could say with a clear conscience to the Corinthians that they were not to muzzle the ox that tread out the corn. You could say that with a very clear conscience. But he graced rose above the difficulty, and he said, well, he would labor with his own hands. He was an intelligent man, but somewhere he picked up tent making and he used that as a skill.
And apparently, as it said, insufficient funds not only for himself, but for others.
I believe that's too what pricked Paul's conscience, because here he was a covetous man concerning the law, outwardly was blameless. And then he looked at these Jews at Pentecost and they were sharing everything. They were sharing what they had selling. And, uh, by the work of the Spirit of God, there had been a radical change in these people and their natural characteristic. I don't think it's offensive to say that that is a natural characteristic of that people.
And he saw wrought by grace, what the law could not do in him. And so the Lord said to him, It's hard for thee to kick against the ******.
And so Grace produced in Paul what was in the in the Jews at Pentecost, and in Paul what was not common to their nature.
Years ago I was in Yugoslavia on business.
And I made a bus trip, or rather a train trip from.
Ubiana.
Place I like very much to Zagreb.
And there were a lot of interesting things to see out the window of the train.
One of the things that struck me was.
In almost every farmer's field they were not so tractorized. In those days there was an, uh, a wagon, uh, there.
With a horse that had been unharnessed and kind of tethered to the wagon.
And in each case, it was munching on the hay that was in the wagon.
And I thought, what a lesson then a simple thing that's taught in Scripture. And it was kind of beautiful to see. That is what you were just saying. No doubt. Not the muzzle, the ox that treaded out the corn. They didn't say when I come here. Whereas you gotta go over here so you don't get into this, Hey. And uh, it was as if the Lord said to me probably 25 or 30 times on that trip. There's an example of it. There's another example of it.
There's another example. So even in the rudimentary farming that they were doing in those days, uh, there was a, a beautiful lesson, umm.
I don't know what you do with the tracker to to let it, uh, do that same thing, but with the horses. It was interesting to see there were horses outside to every one of those wagons, unharnessed while they were working in the fields and tethered to the wagon, but enjoying itself now. Pole doesn't avail himself of that though, does it? Because you were saying in Carn for for an important reason.
Because of their spiritual condition, I believe.
Umm, and uh, here, he said in a beautiful example.
In emphasis so.
There is a horrible thing that has attached itself, a cancer that has attached itself to the Christian testimony, and that is the picture of servants of the Lord out to get money from those they preach to.
And there have been some terrible examples of it.
The Lord, uh.
Gives us in the Old Testament a wonderful picture in the case of Elisha having given instructions to name and by which he was cleansed, Naaman comes back and the the near the most logical thing in the world is a heart of gratitude. Wants to give something, then.
00:15:05
Why did he refuse it? It's such a lesson. Why did he refuse it?
No, we're representing giving God.
Some people are surprised that we don't, in the gospel meeting, pass around an offering place. They're so used to that system of passing out, of trying to get money from.
And they'll even talk about it, You know, they, oh, I don't go to church because all they want is money.
And so it is prostituted the gospel to an awful degree.
And when Gehazi lets his, his lust for that, his covetous lust, uh, influence him to try and get some of that material.
The the leprosy of mayhem and judges itself to him.
And, uh, it was a terrible thing. And so I believe God sets a wonderful pattern for us there, uh, freely have received really good and I believe that carries over into all, all aspects of Christian ministry.
Is it Wong for Saint take care of one who is preaching the Gospel? Of course not.
But the Spirit should be I've received it.
Freely I'm giving it freely.
He really summarizes the truth.
In that quotation from an unknown source, but from, I shouldn't say an unknown source, it was from the mouth of the Lord is more blessed to give than to receive. Christianity is not known by what it looks for, but by what it gives.
And it it is a lesson to each one of our hearts because we live in a very covetous society and get what you can and demand your rights. And I think you probably found, as I have, that the most difficult time as a Christian is when you're in a bad situation and you're in the right. We put it this way, and you stand for your rights and you walk away saying, I lost a real opportunity to show the spirit of Christ in this situation.
It doesn't mean that you lay down and let people walk all over you. But there really was a case here that he, he wanted God to be known as a giving God. Billy Brockmeyer told the story at the picnic and Walla Walla that when he was young, he, uh, was having a haircut. His dad sent him in with the money for a haircut and the Barber kind of nicked his ear a little bit and hurt him and he howled. So after he got the haircut, the Barber put the money back in his hand. He says, here, keep the money, kid. He goes out and his dad says, why do you still have the money? And he said, well.
He said the Barber nicked my ear and his dad let him buy the hand back in and he said we're Christians. He said you give him his money, he cuts your hair.
No, I'm not saying he would have been wrong to have kept the money, but I do believe that he, uh, he used the opportunity to show a gracious spirit towards the Barber.
I once made a comment West and my brother came. I said we can lose our children for $5. And the brother came up to me and he said we can lose them for two and we can take our kids into the buffet and say he's 11 and the kid knows he's 12 in order to save $2.00. Or we can demand our rights. And even when we're right about a thing and really our kids are watching and we can lose them as a result of that. What you see is Paul, who's speaking to the.
Elders at Ephesus, and he really desired that they would lay hold on this truth, the character of Christianity.
Is known by what it gives.
Now, it's true that people will try to impose their bad conscience on you and demand you unreasonable things, but, umm.
And you can't let people impose your bad. Well, you're a Christian, you'll lend me your car, you're a Christian, you'll lend me your tools and so on. That's not Christianity, that's people imposing their bad conscience on you. But the apostle here, really, his life was characterized by giving.
There are two verses in 2nd Corinthians 12 That I believe are very, very important in understanding the spirit with which the apostle labor. 2nd Corinthians 12 and verse 14.
You hold this third time, I'm ready to come to you and I will not be not be in laziness in charge.
00:20:04
Laziness is a.
Endemic thing and our hearts, you know, we we can be very lazy. I will not be in laziness in charge because if I'm lazy, somebody else has got to pick up the other half of it. I remember a team of horses that we had on my uncle's farm, Baldy and Jerry. And you know, horses are often nicely matched, but these two were not and umm.
Magnum is just up from here. You Dave, you know where Citizen Day this is. That's where it was. I worked up there in Cincinnati.
Five years and, uh.
Baldy was was.
Was a worker.
Just couldn't wait to pull and Jerry was lazy, let the the other ones fall and in laziness he was a charge to Jerry to Baldy and they worked that way as a team and I I watched them.
I said, boy, he's going to wear Boldy out. It's interesting that Jerry died of a heart attack, uh, before Baldy did, but.
Uh, by being a char but lazy, we're charged. Let's go on from there, he says. For I do not see yours.
Click Hue.
I'm not looking for what you've got, I'm looking for you as I want you.
There's a big difference between wanting what people have and wanting them.
And Wall makes it very clear what is is. Umm, motive was.
The children ought not to lay up with their parents, but the parents were the children.
Now the next verse. Now.
I shall most gladly.
Spell and be span.
Different things.
When I spend something, I reach into my pocket and take it out and voluntarily give it.
When I am spent, it's what somebody does to me.
So he says either one.
Most gladly, therefore, will I spend.
And B stand.
For your soul.
Even if an abundantly loving you I.
Less love? Well, that's hard, isn't it?
And yet that's the standard that.
The Spirit of God sets and used for as an example.
For it and set forth then in a practical way what the Lord Jesus said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
It's wonderful when there's the affections are not constricted in the.
In difficulties, no. Paul had to write to the Corinthians. He said, You're not straightened in US or narrowed in us, but in your own vowels. Paul's heart was enlarged in love to the Corinthians, and yet they did not receive his love. He said the more I love, the less I'd be loved. He manifested his love to them. But here in charging these elders at Ephesus, umm, there was real feeling connection and connected with it, and they got down and prayed about it.
And, uh, they all wept, I believe Paul, that includes Paul. And uh, there was affection between them.
And that is really how we're going to go on, as if we have real affection of our hearts. We had a little bit of that in the open meeting.
That the affection for the Lord to go on, and for Paul, and for Paul's doctrine.
But I believe you spoke on the 38th verse in the last meeting that they sorrowed rather that they would not see his face anymore, rather than really soaring over the fact that grievous wolves were going to come in sparing not the flock, and perverse men from among them own cells are speaking perverted things. We're going to come in. And there was a real case when there ought to be tears in connection with these things.
00:25:07
I believe it's a warning to us because one of the most unappreciated works is oversight today and, uh.
Nobody wants to take up that work. I mean, it's not telling people what to do. Everybody wants to be a leader and organize and tell other people what to do, but really just take care of the flock of God and to take a stand against evil and the assembly. That is a very unpopular thing. And I believe that we need to make the job of those who do that work easy.
Paul wept because he saw what was coming and they were going to miss Paul's guidance and direction. But really, this is really the only Apostolic succession that we have is that the authority given to the apostles was passed on to the two or three gathered to his name.
And he's really doing that here. And it was really a a thing that was going to have to engage their hearts.
It's true today that, uh.
Speaking generally for the the church and this theme, they'll see Paul's face no more, and they don't see it.
If we turn to the end of Acts.
Chapter 28. The last two verses.
Verse 30 and 31 and Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house.
Received all that came in unto him.
Preaching the Kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him. All's face doesn't have to be hidden to us, but we have to go to Paul.
We want Paul's doctrine. We're not going to find it generally at large in the church. We're going to have to speak it out.
Well, two whole years in his own hired house, he didn't receive support from any other organization or any, uh, thing that we might say would be the arm of flesh.
And he received all that came to him.
Paul's doctrine is not wanted.
In the Church of God.
But Paul will receive all that come to him. If you want to walk in that Paul's house, if I can say it that way, his hired house is open.
If we could turn also to Second Timothy, chapter 4.
Versetime.
Redeem us hath forsaken me.
Having loved this present world and is departed unsuccessful and icon.
There's 4 assemblies in this last chapter that were all assemblies that Paul wrote to.
And I'm not R.
Perhaps there's many different thoughts that could be brought up, but Cecil and Aika was that assembly.
Where the apostle Paul only was there for a few weeks, proclaimed the gospel, they received it and walked in it, and freshness and vigor and the testimony of it went out to all of Macedonia and nickel. But they needed further instructions in the Kingdom of God, and so those letters were written to them.
To establish some of the truth, Beamus loved this present age, this present.
Electron he went to an assembly that if we could make an application speech source of the gospel. So the fact that put it this way, he said, you know.
I can't walk with Paul anymore. Those things divide the Saints. We can't be nitpicky over these little fine doctrines that Paul takes up. No, let's be happy with just the cardinal gospel truth and let's just all try and get along together. And he said, you know what makes it comfortable in this present age that I love? I can't walk with Paul anymore. Earlier in this book, he said all day in Asia.
All they would be in Asia have forsaken.
Me. It doesn't say they persuade the gospel doesn't say they persist the Lord, and Bemus doesn't say he forsook the Lord or forsook serving the Lord. He forsook all. And I think in that sense, picture to us Paul's doctrine, Paul's doctrine.
00:30:08
Paul dwelled two whole years in his own hired house, and what did he teach?
Because those things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.
I think perhaps that would take in those deep eternal counsel of God in Christ and all that is in Christ for us. And he also taught the Kingdom of God. We had that earlier in our chapter.
That it was not only the gospel that he taught them, but the Kingdom of God was preached to them. And those councils of God, he shall not to declare all those unto him.
The Kingdom of God is manner of life.
It's our associations in this life.
It's how we talk, it's how we dress, especially in the Lord's presence.
It's our habits, our companion.
All those things, it's our manner of life.
They must didn't want that and he perceived all if you're going to go to Paul, if you want Paul, he's going to preach to you the Kingdom of God. That's Corinthians, the two books of Corinthians, the Kingdom of God.
All those things are taken up first and 2nd Corinthians. If we forsake those things, it won't be long before we say, Paul, I'm just going to leave you behind. I want to be comfortable in the present world.
And will soon lose the truth that we need to establish our souls in the eternal counsels of God and Christ and the place that we have in Him.
Paul said the truth must be maintained and so in Second Timothy 4 Citrix.
And I said to Africa.
He was close to Paul. He was a fellow laborer of Paul, a servant of Paul. We could read that, or a fellow servant with Paul. Fellow prisoners can read that into Washington. I think he would have long to have had him with him, but he said no. Ephesians truth, those eternal councils of God.
In Christ must be maintained.
Go to Africa.
And then?
Erasmus devoted Corinth. All those truths which concern the Kingdom of God are manner of life here.
A practical display that God ruled in my life and displayed an absolute, unquestioning obedience to the Word of God from the heart.
He bought a Corinth that those things would be maintained. He could have bamboozled.
So I just say we might look beyond the man himself and see that Paul also represents his doctrine in Scripture. Let's not forsake Paul.
He's dwelling in his own hired house. He doesn't need any help from the systems of men.
Why people dwell alone?
We don't need any help from assistance with men to go on in the truth of God. We don't need any help from the arm of flesh to go on and the truth of God.
About a year. A little over a year ago.
I had the joy of visiting.
Brother Grenade for the last time.
We spent some time, quite a bit of time together.
Last day came.
I was leaving to go home.
I'll never forget the.
A deep feeling that there was.
Between us.
And I wasn't going to see him anymore here.
Both West.
And I can picture and I don't wanna take away from what Steve has been saying because that has to do with the the application of it, but it was.
Was it? It was a feeling that I just will never forget as we embrace and kiss one another and.
Yeah, he's gone.
00:35:02
With the Lord.
And it made me think of an earlier situation when we were.
Ruth and I went down with Brother Hans Joachim Weber to visit the grenades and we had spent some time there.
We were on our way further on toward visiting other assemblies. Brother Grenadi was a wonderful person and that they would not just often think Gordon used to tell us about somebody who would not just tell you how to get out of there, but he'd show you how to get out and Brother Grenade.
Uh, said no. Come on, we'll you follow me, I'll get you right up on the Expressway to go down to Italy. I had to go up to Spain.
And uh, I got to the entrance to the.
The on ramp to the Expressway and I thought, uh, this is where he'll get us on, but he went right on to lead us on. Then he pulled over and stopped the car and got out.
I think this was about 12 years ago, but anyway, we got down on our knees.
Right behind the car.
We bored our hearts out from the Lord for one another and wept.
And.
I believe that this weeping sore here was, even though they might have it was.
You might say human affection and not enough exercise about what was happening, and I'm the one who made that remark.
I think it was very real for me.
I think the feeling between them was real. They loved him.
And he loves them.
And it was a wonderful experience.
We gotta pull up our knees.
Got in our car and they got in theirs and they went up to the next exit and left.
Ruth and I continued on our way.
It made me think of this. They went down to the ship.
They were.
They accompanied them to the ship.
It's a practical thing, brother, and I think we.
If our hearts are affecting toward one another in that way.
One of the things that's touching in Latin America is that the brethren all want to go to the airport to see you are.
They all want to go and you can have, I remember one time in Buenos Aires, we had such a, a number there that a man who got on the plane, I was taking Canada air that that time and back to, uh, Toronto for a special, umm, fare back to United States and.
I sat next to a professor from one of the universities in Canada.
They said, who were all those people that said that came to see you all?
You look like you were the like you were a dignitary. I said no, this is my brothers and sisters in crisis.
And that opened up. We talked for hours. It's a long trip up from there, something like 10 hours. And we we talked a good bit of the way and open up the gospel.
That affection between the Lords people.
Is a testimony.
It's not a formal thing, is it? It doesn't have to be organized. You know what I'm saying? All right, now you and you and you must go out to the airport and see so and so off.
No, it was. They actually struggled to go out.
We were sitting in a car one time in UMM, in La Plata. Uh, the brethren were driving this over to Buenos Aires to go on the airport, to the airport and, uh, Doug Buchanan.
Leaned over and with tears in his eyes and said to me, I hate these.
Goodbye, say.
He said. Why, he said is tear you up.
They do.
But the accompanying of one another in that way is a testimony. We had a little meeting in the airport in Buenos Aires. I believe Chavez preached the word and who sang hymns.
It was a wonderful time.
Again, I'm not, I don't want to in any way diminish Brother Steve the, the spiritual side of that, but, uh.
00:40:06
These things only have a spiritual meeting because they have a practical side to them.
Maybe we can move on to 1St Corinthians.
Good idea. My exercise in bringing this up is because I believe, I think we've all felt, as Paul said, I've coveted no man's silver and gold. That and we've talked about Paul's exercises and we probably won't even scratch this, but we really do get in this practical side as to the handling of money and the exercise of the Lord's servant as to where he goes. And I believe that there's some helpful things here.
Her brother **** spoke about collecting money at gospel meetings, But there was a necessity there that Saints in Jerusalem had sold everything at Pentecost, as we know, and the gospel had gone out from, uh, Jerusalem. That's where the apostles had been supported.
And there was a debt and a duty that was owed to Jerusalem.
And to the poor Saints in Jerusalem that had been left there because of that.
And we ought to feel that there are the widows of the laborers, there are those that have expanded themselves for the truth of God, and we have a responsibility in connection with those ones. And I really believe that that is what Paul is bringing out here in connection with that.
The care for the poor is a different thing.
And you'll notice here that Paul did not carry the money to Jerusalem.
He said he may go with them, and I believe that it is a mistake according to the word of God, for those that minister the Word to distribute money.
I believe according to the word of God, it is a mistake for those that minister the word to distribute money. I agree. I believe that's the teaching that we have here. And Paul and his pattern of life, he didn't even collect it for himself. He labored with his hands and he I'm not saying never.
But you see, the pattern here was that he would go with those, Perhaps go with those.
That took their liberality, but he was not involved in the collection of it.
Nor was he involved in the taking of it to Jerusalem.
And a great deal of the difficulty that we have seen with money in other places has been as a result of failure to acknowledge what we see here and the pattern that we get in Paul's own life. We have wisdom in the word of God is for these things.
And the other thing is that of course, that those that handled the money, uh, were handled, the money was handled not by ones that umm, Paul should approve, but that the the assembly should approve in a formal way, by letters.
There were ones that were reliable in order to do this, that their liberality would be brought to Jerusalem.
We cannot change people's circumstances, though our heart may go out to them, but I believe that with Jerusalem we have a special case here where there was.
A, A, uh, a giving and a supporting of the apostles in a time of need. And now they found themselves in need and there was a returning of that in liberality to them. And, uh, Paul would have gone with them in that.
Carrying your thought a little further, I recall Brother Evelino Chavez having a long talk with me about the danger and the damage that had been done in South America by that, by laborers being the dispensers of aid. They did a lot of influencing, and his exercise was it. It should be turned over to responsible people who will.
Know how to administer it and I I believe I learned that from my brother.
With the Lord now, but I believe we was correct in that.
In the passage in Acts, Umm Paul determines to pass by Ephesus. So that lets us know this is a different occasion, isn't it? This is a time when he says, I remain in Ephesus until Pentecost because the Lord had opened a great and effectual door.
00:45:04
And.
It's very interesting, beloved. I think we've, we've understood this, that when a great and effectual door is open, the adversaries are many too, because the enemy does not like that.
It's very interesting in connection with this tenth verse.
That Paul had sent Timotheus to Corinth, if we turn back in the chapter in the book.
I just have to put my finger on it. Uh, yes, the 4th chapter and the uh.
16 First, but let's just read, umm, the 14th verse. But I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons, I warn you. For though ye have 10,000 instructors in Christ, yet ye have not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Wherefore I beseech you that ye be followers of me.
For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved Son and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways, which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church. It's very interesting that Paul said that ye be followers of me, but he says of his ways that be in Christ, because man would like to detach the following of Christ with real man.
And that's a little bit what our brother brought before us, that you were to know those.
That have instructed us in the pathway that they have been followers of Christ and not to follow them.
But be followers of them as they have been in Christ, because we see Christianity manifested in a real way.
People would say I don't want to read books, I don't want to follow men, I just want to follow Christ. And generally people who speak that way get into a great deal of danger.
Because Christianity is a real thing, and it's a real work of the Spirit of God in men's souls.
And we see Christ in one another, and we are to follow those that walk in the ways of Christ. But my point in connection with reading this was that he had sent Timothy in the 17th verse unto them, because Timothy, Timothy would go not with Apostolic authority to correct matters at Corinth, but to show Paul's ways which were in Christ. But when we come to this chapter. Now here he says, if Timotheus come.
That Timothy remained this Lord's servant.
And he went. It's not when he comes, it's if he comes.
And then there was a responsibility on Timothy's part as to whether he went or not, if he comes. And there was a responsibility for the assembly there. See that he be with you without fear.
Paul himself, the apostle at Corinth, we read in the second chapter when he came to Corinth.
He said, Brethren and I brethren, when I came unto you, came not with the Excellency of speech or wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
But down in the third verse. But I was with you in weakness and fear, and in much trembling. Why, that assembly of Corinth was a pretty intimidating lot.
And we can, as those that sit under the ministry of God's Word.
We can make it difficult for one to warn us. We can make it difficult to hear the word of the Lord. And so that is why He's exhorting them, that when Timothy came, that Timothy would be without fear.
We very easily get offended at.
And at the way people say things to us, and I'm not excusing saying things in a rough way.
But the other side of the coin really is, is do I make it easy for somebody to come to me and speak to me frankly?
And so you see the exercise there of Timothy going, and you see the way in which the Corinthians were to receive him. And we are to acknowledge those that work do the work of the Lord.
The Corinthians apparently were prepared to receive those that were not doing the work of the Lord, and they went so far as demanding of Tim of Paul a letter of commendation, when the assembly of Corinth really wouldn't have existed without Paul's laborers.
00:50:04
And so we see what the result of that is here.
Nice to see the confidence that if possible had it. Timothy is nothing.
That he sends them, as you say, to uh, to cards and do a certain message work for the Lord on his behalf, you might say.
And then he also seeing we're talking about Ephesians, he also in First Timothy.
Chapter one and verse 3.
As I have besides you to avoid steel emphasis when I went to the Macedonia.
That's all my discharge some, but they teach them all the doctrine. So there again Paul uses if you can say it that way.
This young man, Timothy, who uphold the truth and stand for the truth.
Write an emphasis that where where we've been considering those things were creeping in in offices as well.
It has to be corrected.
Brother John, he also he spoke of the charge not to teach other doctrine at Ephesus. We often talk about what goes on in the camp, but it's much more important that Paul should exercise Timothy that he would charge those at Ephesus where they received the highest truth, not that others teach wrong doctrine. But he also charged, he said to Timothy, charged them that are rich in this world not to be high minded, but to condescend the men of low estate. You know, you think of that. That's quite a thing for a young brother to charge them that are rich, not to be high minded.
He was a timid man.
And we ought not to shrink from the truth of God.
We're living in days of political correctness on every side. I think we understand what that word means today when speaking the truth, we just speak the truth. And love has become a very unpopular thing.
And Timothy was to go there to Ephesus. He was to go to Corinth in the spirit of Paul and to speak the truth. And the assembly was to receive that without intimidating him. And I really believe that if we walked in this way there would be more liberty to go on in the truth of God. There was a tendency to despise him. There were people that the assembly of Corinth well received.
But apparently there was a danger that they would despise Timothy. There's another thing here in the 12Th verse that just bears this out because it's touching our brother Apollos. I greatly desired him to come unto you with the brethren, but his will was not to come at all at this time, but when he shall have convenient time. I think that just in in reinforces the fact that the Lord's servant was to be led by the Lord.
No servant of the Lord has the right to tell any other servant of the Lord where to go and when to go.
Megan and.
Uh, when the when the chips are down.
It's the Lord. He's responsible too. Is that what you're saying? Yeah, He's the Lord. He's responding. Nobody has a right to tell him.
I think it's a beautiful expression of the spirit between two brothers here. Yeah, well, Paula have a right to tell them no, he doesn't.
And he begged him to go.
And.
It wasn't his will right now. No, brother, I don't feel a word it sent me right now.
But he will go when he has opportunity.
That's a nice spirit between the two is.
Don't you think there was a difference between that and Timothy and Titus in connection with Paul?
You know, sort of under his wing, you might say there were young brothers.
And so Paul directs them in a more direct way. But Apollos was a senior, can we say more senior brother? And he is responsible to the Lord to go where he wishes.
But even with Timothy, he says if he comes.
And I I believe what you're saying is true. There's a verse, I'm just having a little bit trouble finding it now, where the spirit for bad Paul to go into Asia.
00:55:06
Umm, in acts, I believe it's helpful in connection with this Sixteen six. Maybe if somebody has the new translation, they could, uh, read that. Umm.
And when they had gone through, uh, out for you in the region of Galatia, they were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the Word in Asia.
And after they were come to miss you, they have to go into Bathinia. But the Spirit suffered them not. I believe Mr. Darby's translation says the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not.
And what is the difference? There are times when the Spirit of God would forbid us to go to a place. Our brother read before us that verse. Come out from among them, and these separate, and I will receive you. There are places and religious associations into which the Christian ought not to go. We're forbidden of the Spirit to go. Touch not the unclean thing. And if I have to get involved with that which is contrary to the truth of God, then I'm touching the unclean thing, and the Spirit of God would forbid me to go there.
There are scriptures that would would make very plain but then it said the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not to go into Bathinia was Why does it say the Spirit of Jesus? I believe Jesus was his name as a man and the Lord didn't go where he wasn't wanted.
There are times when we may press a brother to do something.
And he just simply may not be inclined to do it because of things that have gone on and so on. And we have to just leave that with the Lord.
Our brother has spoken of this affection between Paul and his elders at Ephesus, and some of these things come in and they interrupt the course of these affections and force affections. And Christianity is real, and you see this in these practical ways in the relationship between the Saints.
And the working of the Spirit of God and working these things out, fellowship is not a forced thing, it's a real thing. And so when these things come in, we leave them with the Lord and leave them to the exercise of the, of the servant of God. But there may be a case where the Spirit of God would forbid us to do something. Or maybe I'm prepared to go ahead and do something that the Spirit of God, the Word of God would forbid me to do. Then we ought to be faithful with one another in connection with that and bring the Word of God before a person.
Well, I see our time is going, but it's just in connection with this. I was thinking of these verses 1314.
And 15 But you know, he said, uh, verse 13 particularly watch she stand fast in the faith which ye like man and be strong. Her brother brought before us the armor of God in connection with the, with the, the believer in the open meeting. But he said, quit she like man. There is a time to deal with things, if I may put it this way in a manly way. There is a time when the child has to run to the mother and cry in the mother's skirt.
About a problem. And there is that mothering influence, that's proper. But there is a time, and it was needed at Corinth, when the brethren should put themselves like men. And to fail to do that, there was a time when the elders at Ephesus had to quit themselves like men.
And meet the matter at the door, so to speak.
And so this is really what he's speaking about here to them is what she stand fast in the faith.
You like man, equip yourself like a man and be strong.
And these are necessary things. And I believe that we've had in the chapter that our brother suggested for the readings, uh, Paul's charge to the elders at Ephesus, and we have seen the failure of that.
And we have an exhortation here in connection with these things that we might go on.
When the Spirit of God addresses the seven assemblies in Revelation, He speaks to the angels.
The responsible elements in the assembly.
All spoke to the elders of ephesus and here with this expectation as well, which you like men and assemblies character really is largely formed by the ministry it receives in the oversight.
That is exercised in a.
Hers, the Senate has the numbers 25.
01:00:02
24 I behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace.
It was a difficult day in the assembly of Israel.
Yielded the feasible fruit of righteousness.
Should not fear they could stand according to the truth, even though it may be a hard thing at the time. No chastening to the present seemeth to me joyous, but rather grievous. Maybe a difficult thing.
Yield us, yield us the peaceable fruit of righteousness, and there is a peace.
And the flock of God which is brought about, and that which would trouble it, was taken away.
We don't have time to take it up, but that's very germane to what we've been speaking about, uh, Brother Dave, because Eli was of a line that took the priesthood, but it was not theirs to take the covenant of peace with the line of Phineas. And you see the end of Eli's line in, uh, the book of Samuel. What it led to was that Eli had taken something that was not his. And you see the disastrous results, the sunset and the, uh, temple and took of the offerings with flesh hooks and were drunken.
And then a woman came who was broken in her spirit, Hannah, and she was really broken before the Lord. And what did Eli do? He spoke to her as if she were a drunken woman. And you really see the suffering in Israel caused a failure to acknowledge these things. A man, a man Eli, the wrong line usurping something that was not given to him. And so we need to be exercised about this when it says over which the Holy Ghost have made you overseers.
Is that if any work is done in the Assembly of God that it be done?
First of all, let all things be done with charity. That was the next verse and 2nd Corinthians. The charity has God as its object.
And we're to add to brotherly love, charity or divine love, that as God is the subject, and if we really have the Lord before us and the love of the Saints before us, then we'll do what is honoring to the Lord and we'll have that confidence that it will result in peace for the people of God. We set man as our object like Eli did. It'll just bring in sorrow and confusion.
Sing 312.
Lenovo.
No, almighty Lord.
Lay long stupid.
Don't bring and turn.
Thigh blaze at work.
With joy we fall.
Lovely.
We are.
So they are God.
And.
Dream.
01:05:06
Nsnoise.
Nsnoise.
Uh-huh. So they should, uh.
God and our Father, we.
Look back over these some.
Meeting in these two days of meetings.
Surely we can, uh, thank you for the word of God that we've had before us.
That we just thank you for richly beating our souls.
Think of that peaceful shore that we were just singing out and.
We look for that day, Lord Jesus, when the old come and.
Take us to that home which is always prepared for us, and we will be then in our.
Element we will be where we belong.
But as we sang these 2 * 2 Times what emphasis lead on most gracious Lord, so we just as I keeping as we.
Depart these meetings and uh.
As we go back out to our various, uh, daily occupations, we, uh, pray that, uh, we might remember some of what we've had before us.
We would pray about the address.
Tonight and, uh, pray that I'll give our brother a further portion, uh, from thyself for us. And, and so again, we thank you for this, uh, time. We thank you for so many that have been able to be here. We thank you for fellowship one with another and, and, uh, just thank you for all thy mercies, Our blessed Lord Jesus, we pray in thy worthy and thy precious name, Amen, Amen.
Amalek
Address—David Mearns
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So we open our meeting tonight.
By singing hymn #76 the 1St 6 verses.
Rise, my soul.
And what I want to hear is that I'm just about to say I don't know if I could do anything considering it's like a lot of other stuff and they've been through anything.
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Nsnoise.
OK. All right.
And the way we can surrender of the city is around the evening.
And then there's not, well, there's anything right now. I've been together and then it's blouse and then I don't want to let me.
Santa Nella.
We asked the Lord for His help, our God and our Father.
We thank Thee for our precious Savior, the Lord Jesus.
Thank you for this hymn that we've been able to sing together.
Thank you for this time we've been able to have here.
And we just would pray now as we would open up thy precious word.
Read from explicit pages.
That that was Grant us a portion from thyself.
That we would hear thy voice.
Because we find ourselves our God in this wilderness scene.
Be able to.
Find something of refreshment for our souls.
That the things that remain might be strengthened.
And so we just would commit the time into thy hand.
And pray for Thy blessing, thinking of those on the road traveling homeward with Thy journeying mercies for each of them.
We'd ask these things, our God give me thanks and the worthy and the precious name of our Savior.
The Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Turn with me to 1St John Chapter 2. I'm thankful to see these young men in the front row.
Much of what I have to say has to.
To do with young men.
In first John chapter 2.
And verse 15, we read these words, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
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If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him for all that is in the world.
The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father.
What is of the world, and the world passeth away in the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God.
Abideth forever. Now turn over to Galatians chapter 5.
Galatians chapter 5 and verse 16. This I say then walk in the spirit. Ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. These are contrary, the one to the other.
So that you cannot do the things that you would.
If he be LED of the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest. Which are these adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations or jealousy, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like, of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things.
Shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. We had a comment made to us in these meetings.
I believe it was in the first reading.
And the comment was this.
That it's impossible.
To walk.
The pathway of faith.
In the flesh, it's impossible. I appreciated that comment.
And a view of what we've just read in First John and in Galatians chapter five. I would like to look for a few minutes this evening at the history of Amalek.
The history of Amalek.
Often when we hear of the nation of Amalek, we hear of it in connection with Joshua, who did battle against Amalek.
But I would like tonight to look at 5 different times.
That there were people of God that did battle with Amalek and were victorious.
But each time, those five different ones did battle with Amalek.
There was some characteristics of Amalek that showed themselves.
And so tonight, as we go through this subject, what we're going to do is we're going to look at the characteristics of Amalek and then we're going to look at the deliverer in each case five different times. So the first characteristics we're going to look at we're going to find in Deuteronomy chapter 25.
Deuteronomy, the 25th chapter. Amalek was the nation. We're going to find out as we look at Exodus chapter 17.
And it says that the people of God were to do battle with Amalek from generation to generation.
But here we find in Deuteronomy chapter 25.
As we look at this nation of Amalek and to realize that it pictures to us the flesh.
Which we combat in our lives.
And in Deuteronomy chapter 25 and verse 17 we read.
Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt, how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee.
When thou was faint and weary, and he feared not, God therefore shall be, when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it.
That thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
Thou shalt not forget it.
You know, if we can picture.
The scene as the people of God came out of Egypt. You know, we sang this morning. I believe it was the white that gave it to him. Guide us all, thou gracious Savior pilgrims in this barren land. Here are the people of God. They found themselves in a barren land.
And we find here in the 18th verse it says about Amalek what he did unto thee by the way, how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost that's.
What characterized Amalek is they drew along alongside or they came up behind the people of God. And there were those amongst the people of God that were falling behind. They were the hindmost. And it was those that Amalek zeroed in on. You know, it's, it's been something to me to to read these words because it says here.
00:10:18
Most behind most of the even all that were feeble behind thee when thou was faint and weary.
You know, we read about the people of God, and let's do that just for a moment in Psalm 105.
We read about the people of God when they came out of Egypt and it says this about them. Psalm 105.
And verse 37.
It says he brought them forth also with silver and gold, and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.
That's interest. Interesting statement, isn't it? There was not one feeble amongst them. And yet here in our chapter it says that he smote the hindmost, even all that were feeble behind them. How is it that the people of God got to be feeble? How did that transpire? When they came out of Egypt? There wasn't a feeble one among them.
And we find, it says behind the one thou is faint, and when thou wast weary.
Yeah, we had before us today in in Hebrews chapter 12. Consider him.
Who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself? Less ye be these same words weary and faint in your minds. Is there anyone here this evening that's ever felt feebleness in the Christian pathway?
Ever faint felt faintness?
Ever felt weariness?
I'm the only one here that's ever felt that. It's not likely. We feel those things, don't we, in the pathway.
At such a time is the time that Amalek draws aside and he smites the hindmost of the people of God.
Now the characteristics that we find here in connection with Amalek is that he feared not God, His brazen character. You remember Pharaoh when he was speaking with Moses, he said who is the Lord? That I should obey his voice? Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? That's the same characteristic that we find here in connection with Amalek. He feared not God, No Fear of God with Amalek.
And he draws alongside those that are feeble, those that are faint, and those that are weary.
Well, we know that that transpires in our own lives. Feebleness, weariness in the pathway, faintness.
In our minds, you know, that's where the Helmet of Salvation comes in. It's armor for the mind.
And I've appreciated turning to proverbs and reading about the cones. It says about the cones, you know, that they're a feeble folk. A feeble folk. But it says.
They make their dwelling in the rock. They make their dwelling in the rocks.
A female folk and yet.
There's a haven for them.
And when there's feebleness amongst us, there's weariness and there's faintness.
There's a refuge. There's a refuge just like the cones. Who are those feeble folks?
And I'd like to turn now to the account that we find in Exodus chapter 17.
When Amalek drew alongside and he smelt the hindmost Exodus chapter 17.
And verse one and all, the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of sin after their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched and refed him, and there was no water for the people to drink.
Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water, that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? Wherefore do you tempt the Lord the.
People thirsted there for water. The people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this, that thou hast brought us up, that of Egypt to kill us, and our children, and our cattle with thirst? And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? They be almost ready to stone me.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee the elders of Israel, thy rod, wherewith thou smartest the river. Take in thine hand, and go, Behold, I will stand before thee upon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, and the people may drink.
And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel, and he called the name of the place Massa and Meribah, because of the trading of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us or not?
Then came Amalek. You know this portion that we've just read the 1St 7 verses.
Is the portion that shows to us.
00:15:03
Provided the fertile ground for Amalek to be able to come upon them and do his work.
Chiding against Moses and against the Lord, and tempting the Lord.
Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel, and repedim, and Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out and fight with Amalek.
Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.
So Joshua did his Moses said unto him, and fought with Amalek, and Moses and Aaron and her went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed. When he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses hands were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat thereon. And Aaron and her stayed up his hands, the one on the one side and the other on the other side. And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people at the edge of the sword.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial and a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah Messiah. For he said, Because the Lord has sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
Here we find this scene and we find Amalek comes to fight with Israel.
And we find now that Joshua is victorious against Amalek.
But we know that there were times when Moses hands were let down, or at least one hand was let down.
I believe it was her hand.
And at that time, we read that Amalek prevailed.
And when Moses hands were held up, we find that Joshua prevailed.
What we find here that in connection with the deliverance that Joshua was obedient, Joshua fought with Amalek, he was obedient. But I'd like to turn to a verse now in First Timothy.
First Timothy. Two chapter.
And we're going to find a picture of what transpired here.
As Moses was up on the mountain and Joshua was down in the valley fighting with Amalek.
First Timothy, chapter 2.
And verse eight we read. I will therefore that men pray everywhere.
Lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting.
In the first 7 verses of the chapter that we read in Exodus 16, what we find is wrath and doubting the people of God.
They're ready to stone Moses. They're filled with anger and wrath, and there's doubting.
And what was the doubting in our chapter? It says in the seventh verse, the end of it such a solemn thing.
The people of God tempting the Lord and saying, Is the Lord among us?
Or not. What a question, you know, that's been asked generation to generation by the people of God. Is the Lord among us or not? And that to me is a picture of the hands that are hanging down, the hands that are hanging down that we heard about this afternoon. Oh, what a marvelous thing to lift up holy hands. And as Joshua could fight there with Amalek, what an encouragement it was to look up at Moses and see those hands being held up.
And to realize that there was victory ahead for her and all, I would say that when Amulet comes into our lives, it said he met Israel in the way.
That's where he met Israel.
And there was feebleness, there was weariness, and there was faintness.
But there was victory when Moses hands were held up.
Or may this encourage our hearts to see those characteristics of EMLEC and to see Joshua victorious. Now let's turn over to First Samuel where we find another one.
Samuel, Chapter 15.
We find another event in connection with Amalek, and this is in the life of Samuel and Saul.
And in the first part of First Samuel 15, we'll find the characteristics of Amalek.
For Samuel 15 and verse one Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people over Israel. Now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts. I remember that which Amalek did to Israel. Now here's the characteristic how he laid wait for him in the way when he came up from Egypt, he laid wait for him in the way. And Reuben when he was speaking this morning, used that expression connection with the the Jews and how they laid wait for the Lord Jesus.
00:20:20
We find it a number of times in the word. You remember Samson when he was in Gaza, it says there about the Philistines that they laid wait.
For Samson, he took the gate and he took the bars, and he marched them up to the top of the hill.
We find that in connection with the portion that they've brought before us this morning or had brought before us in connection with the window and how Paul was let through a window.
Over the wall in a basket. But just before that it says that there were those that were laying wait for the apostle Paul. I think we find that same expression in the chapter that we had before us in UMM in Acts chapter 20. I'll just turn to it for a minute because it's the characteristic of Amalek in Acts chapter 20 and the the third verse. They're abode 3 and they're about 3 months. And when the Jews laid wait for him for he was about to sail into Assyria.
That's a characteristic that we find in connection with, with Amalek. It's that sneaky characteristic where someone lays for someone else and doesn't want them to know about it. That's what Amalek did unto Israel and he caught them by surprise. We know what it's like to be caught by surprise. Just a couple of weeks ago, I had something happen to me that caught me by surprise. I was, I was doing some work in a, in a, in a home.
And I arrived at the place and I was eating my lunches. I arrived there and I had my water bottle on the dashboard of the truck.
And I went into, I went into do my work and I came back out and I hopped in the truck and headed off down the road. And I just picked up my water bottle and, and took A and took a mouthful of the water. What I didn't realize it happened was a wasp had crawled up the side of the water bottle and gotten inside the water bottle. And I just took one mouthful and the wasp was in my mouth. You know, it took me totally, totally by surprise, totally unaware. And, and you can imagine the scene when I realized there was something in my mouth. Well.
I tried to get rid of the water as quickly as possible and I sprayed it all over, but not before, not before.
The Wasps stung me, caught me by surprise, and just had its chance. Now, what's the likelihood of that happening? You know, the enemy of our souls.
He knows our weaknesses and.
And he catches us unsuspecting every time. And we find here that the Lord spoke and his desire was that Amalek be destroyed because he laid weight for the people of God and knew that that was going to continue to happen. So now he says go and smite in verse 3, go and smite the Amalekites and utterly destroy all that they have and spare them not.
Slay both men and women, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ***. And Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in to lay them 200,000 footmen and 10,000 men of Judah. And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and laid weight in the valley. And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from the Amalekites. And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah. Until thou comest assure.
That is over against Egypt, and he took Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
That's all in the people spared Agag the best of the sheep and of the oxen, of the fatlings and the lambs, and all that was good and would not utterly destroy them, but everything that was vile and refuse they they destroyed utterly.
Now this is a sad account.
Because the word of the Lord had come to Saul saying Go and destroy the Amalekites.
Every one of them. And we find that Saul goes out and he does battle with the Amalekites, but it says he took Agag the king.
Of the Amalekites alive, he destroyed all the people at the edge of the sword, but he spared Agag.
You know that reminds me of what we had before us this afternoon in Hebrews chapter 12. Let's turn to it just for a moment.
Hebrews, the 12Th chapter.
Because this is an important.
Point as we look at the history of Amalek.
In Hebrews chapter 12 and verse one it says Seeing wherefore seeing we are also accompanied to bow with so great a cloud of witnesses.
Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. You know, I'd like to look at the Amalekites here as every weight, but I'd like to look at Agag as the sin which those so easily beset us.
00:25:18
You know, everyone of us here, we have strength and we have weaknesses and perhaps we have a particular weakness in our life. It's a besetting sin.
And here the apostle.
Would exhort to lay aside.
Every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us. If we turn over in our chapter, we find that Saul goes out and he does battle with the Amalekites and he cleans them all out. But there's just one that he saves a life, and that's Agag.
Now often that's the case in our own lives. We see that in the case of many in the Word of God.
Where there's something in their life.
That perhaps recurs time and time again, a weakness.
Besetting sin.
We're going to find out how Samuel dealt with Agag. We find that Samuel came to to Saul.
And.
In the 17th verse. 16th verse.
Samuel, Samuel said in the 16th verse unto Saul, say, And I will tell thee what the Lord has said to me this night. And he said unto him, Sayon. And Samuel said, When thou was little in thine own sight, was thou not made head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed thee king over Israel, And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners of the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. Wherefore then did thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and did evil in the sight of the Lord?
And Saul sent him to Samuel. Yay, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and I have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and I brought Agag, the king of Amalek, and I've utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, the sheep and oxen, the chief of the things, which would have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God. And Gilgal. Notice Now if we look back, we would find that it was Samuel with the people. You know, it reminds us of Aaron. And he said, you know, we threw this, we threw all these earrings and this gold into the fire, and it popped this golden calf.
We find that in connection here that saw that it was the people that did that.
You know Saul didn't have a relationship with the Lord. Notice what it says here in the end of that 21St verse.
To sacrifice unto the Lord my God in Gilgal, is that what it says? No, it's the Lord thy God. Twice we find that in this chapter that Saul refers to the Lord as Samuel's God, not his own God.
And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of Rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou has rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee.
From being king, no Rebellion is something that we find in each one of our hearts. I look at these young men in the front row and you know boys.
We have within our hearts rebellion. It's there.
And the word here to Saul.
From Samuel is what the Lord appreciates is obedience.
Obedience to the Word of God.
As opposed to rebellion. And the 24th verse, it says Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned. You know, he comes right out and he says I have sinned. But we find that in, in Samuel's life, we find he says that he uses that expression twice. Once he says it to Samuel and once he says it to David. He says I have sinned. But we never find Saul saying that to the Lord. Never once does he use that term. I have sinned. He says, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord in my words, because I I feared the people.
And obeyed their voice.
Now turn it over to.
The 32nd verse.
And this is how a gag was dealt with by Samuel.
And this is.
The way that our besetting sin has to be dealt with, with such aggression by the word of God. And Sam then said, Samuel, bring ye hit her to me a gag. The king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, surely the bitterness of death is passed. And Samuel said, as thy sword hath made women childless soul, shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel now notice the wording. It doesn't say that he took his head off, doesn't say that he smiled him under the fifth rib.
00:30:09
Now Samuel took that sword, and it says Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
We had before us this afternoon in connection with the armor.
Sort of the Spirit which is the word of God, and that is the only way.
To be setting a sin in our life is to be dealt with.
Those characteristics that we've seen here in connection with Amalek as he laid wait for the people of God.
And how agag was spared. Agag was hewed in pieces before the Lord. Notice where in Gilgal, that place of self judgment, that place where there was no place for the flesh whatsoever. Agag had to be hewed in pieces.
Now turn with me to.
The rest of this story, which we find in the book of Esther.
The Book of Esther.
Such a solemn thing to me to see that when the Lord issued an order here for the Amalekites to be destroyed.
That it wasn't followed to the letter.
And the result was that there was someone that was spared. They don't know for how long, but we find that here in this chat, in this little book.
Which is the last mention of the Amalekite.
We find that there's a man raised up in the second chapter, the fifth verse. Now in Shushan, the palace, there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jer, the son of Shimei. Now notice this expression, the son of Kish, a Benjamite.
The Lord raised up in the book of Esther someone from the same household as Saul.
From from the from the household of Kish, a man by the name of Mordechai. And then and then in the third chapter, we read these words.
After these things did Ajay whereas promote Haman the son of Hamadassa, and now he's here we find a descendant of Agag and the Agagite and advanced him and set his feet above all the Princess that were with him.
Interesting isn't it, that the Lord would raise up someone from the household of Kish to destroy?
The Amalekites to destroy someone that escaped from the House of Agag. And we find that the characteristics of the Amalekites are here in this third chapter. In chapter 8, we read chapter 3 and verse eight. It says that Haman said unto king of Haji. Whereas there is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of the Kingdom and their laws are diverse from all people, neither keep they the King's laws. Therefore it is not for the King's prophet to suffer them.
If it pleased the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed. Now notice here, and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it in to the King's treasuries.
You know, Amalek is willing to pay a tremendous price. He's not willing to spare anything. And here Haman was willing to give so much to do away with the people of God. You know, we find in connection with the king of Sodom, You remember when Cheddar Lay Omar went against the king of Sodom and he came back and when he's speaking to Abraham, he says, you know Abraham.
His comment is that he wanted to keep the person. He didn't care about the good, he said. Abram, you can keep all the goods. Just give me the person.
He was willing to pay a high price for the person. And that's what the enemy of our soul is willing to do, pay a high price for the persons, for our souls.
So we would make shipwreck on the pathway of faith, and here we find that Haman is willing to pay all this tremendous amount of money.
To do away with the people of God.
Well, for times sake, if we were to go to.
The 7th chapter of Esther.
We know what transpired in connection with the banquet, and Esther spells out to the king in the fourth verse of the 7th chapter. We are sold by my people to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. We have been sold for bonds men and bond women. I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the King's damage.
And we find that the final analysis is that Mordecai is Vic.
The 10th verse it says they hanged Haman on the gallows, which he had prepared for more to chaise than was the King's wrath pacified.
And then in my chapter we would find that his ten sons were also hanged.
I'd like to look at the the very last chapter, Esther chapter 10.
00:35:02
And we find Mordecai who is victorious, it says in the very last verse. For Mordecai the Jew was next on the king of Haji, whereas I was great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.
You know, we had before us a portion today. Dave brought it up in the reading meeting. Let's just turn to it in Exodus Numbers Chapter 25.
In Numbers chapter 25, we find the story of how Zimri brought Cosby into the camp and Phineas took his spear and he slew them both.
That takes place in the 25th chapter of Numbers. But in the 24th chapter we have what promoted such a scenario. In the 25th chapter it was to do with Amalek the 20th. 1St we find in connection with balanced prophecies. When he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable and said Amalek was the first of the of the nations. But his latter end shall be that he perished forever and we don't read of Amalek.
Physically, after the book of Esther, in principle he has war with war with the people of God from generation to generation, but his end is that he will perish forever.
Let's turn now to the, umm, to the book of, uh, Second Samuel.
Second Samuel.
Where we find the third time if the amalekite is.
Is destroyed.
Second Samuel. The Beginning.
The first chapter.
Actually, if we turn to the last chapter of First Samuel, we'll find the characteristics here.
We find in this connection that it's David that's victorious over Amalek.
But we find the characteristics in in First Samuel chapter 30, which is the portion where.
David comes to Ziklag and we find that the Amalekites have invaded the South.
And they've invaded Ziklag, and they've burned it with fire second verse and taken the women captives that were there in they slew not any, neither great or small, but carried them away and went on their way.
We find that people are Speaking of stoning David.
6th verse David was greatly distressed for the people's sake of stoning him, because the soul of the people was grieved every man for his sons and for his daughters, but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. And David said to Abiathar the priest, the himalek's son, I pray thee, bring me hit her the ephod. And Abiathar brought him, hit her the ephod. You know David here is in his wilderness wanderings, but we find that.
There's an epod that's available, and in all our wilderness travels the high priestly service of the Lord.
Is always available to us.
And we find here that David, he's bent on going after the Amalekites, and he goes and it says in the 11Th verse they found an Egyptian in the field.
And brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat, and they made him drink water, and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins.
When he had eaten, his spirit came again to him, for he had eaten no bread and nor drunk any water. 3 days and three nights. And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou, and whence art thou? And he said, I'm a young man of Egypt.
Here's the characteristic servant to an Amalekite and my master left me because three days ago I felt sick.
That's what Amalek does.
It uses Amalek uses the man of this world, a young man or a young woman for all they can get, and then leaves them in the ditch to die.
What a solemn thing in connection with Amalek. Well, let's turn over now to find in the That's a characteristic in the second book of Second Samuel, Chapter One.
We find that umm, paint the path.
After the death of Saul, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites and David abode 2 days in Ziklag.
It came even to pass on the third day that, behold, a man came out of the camp of Saul with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head.
And so it was when he came to David that he fell to the earth, and did obey him. And David sent unto him, From whence cometh thou? And he said, over the camp of Israel, I am escaped. And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee, tell me. And he answered, The people were fled from the battle. Many of the people are also fallen and dead. And Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.
And David said unto the young man that told him, how Noah saw Saul and Jonathan his son be dead. And the young man that told him said, I happened by chance upon Mount Kilbourg. Behold, Saul leaned upon his spear, and lo, the Chariots and horsemen followed hard after him. And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto me. And I answered, Here am I. And he said unto me, Who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite. And he said unto me again, Stand I pray thee upon thee, and slay me, for anguish has come upon me, because my life is yet holy me. So I stood upon him and slew him, because I was sure that he would not live.
00:40:23
After that he was falling, and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and gazed and brought them hit her unto my Lord. And David took hold on his clothes and rent them, and likewise all the men that were with him. And they mourned and wept and fasted until even.
For Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, for the House of Israel, because they were fallen by the sword.
And David said unto the young man that told him, the young man that told him, Whence art thou?
And he said I'm the son of a stranger, an Amalekite.
And we find a sad account here where there's this man.
And the crux of the matter here is that this man had a hard time telling the truth.
Now, sometimes our tongues get us into trouble as the people of God here is a man and his tongue got him into trouble. You know, David knew that when he was speaking with this man that some of the things he was saying just didn't add up because because David said, you know, how do you know that Paul and Jonathan are dead? And the man said, oh, I just happened by chance on Mount Gilboa. You know, David knew you just didn't happen by chance on Mount Gilboa. Mount Gilboa was the scene of a raging battle.
And you just didn't go for a walk on Mount Kilboa. And the man says, well, I just happened by chance. And, well, here's Saul, you know.
That didn't transpire at all.
And David, so David, at that point, he knew that he knows that there's something wrong with what this man saying. So he asked him again and he said when Sartell, he was trying to probe, he was trying to find out what his, what his roots were, just who this man was. And the man says in the 13th verse, he said, I'm the son of a stranger, an Amalekite.
At this particular time, I want to look at the first time that Amalek is mentioned in the Word of God. And we have to we have to go back to the book of Genesis for that. So let's just for a minute look back at Genesis chapter 36.
Genesis chapter 36.
Because I believe that.
David had already known because he had asked the man who he was. He had already known that this man was an Amalekite, and he put together the things that he said. It just didn't add up. And David knew the roots of Amalek. And so we find here in Genesis chapter 36, you know, I found this so solemn in connection with what we had before us this afternoon in the 12Th chapter of Hebrews, because it says here in verse 9, verse one, it says, now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.
And then verse 9. These are the generations of Esau, the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir.
And these are the names of Esau's sons. Eliaphas the son of Ada, the wife of Esau Rule, the son of Bashamath the wife of Esau. Of the sons of Eliathaz were Teeman, Omar, Zephol, and Gathem and Kines. Now notice the 12Th verse. And Kimna was concubined to Eliophaz Esau's son, and she bare to Eliaphas Amalek.
You know Amalek was the grandson of Esau. Remember what we read this afternoon?
About Esau. He was that fornicator, that profane person who was willing to sell for one morsel of meat his birthright, a man totally of the flesh.
You know, David probes this Amalekite thing. Now where did you come from? And the man comes out again. He says I'm a malachite.
And notice how David deals with this situation in Second Samuel, the 2nd chapter.
1St chapter rather.
The 14th verse. And David said unto him, How was thou not afraid?
To stretch forth on hand.
To destroy the Lord's anointed.
And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him, And he smote him that he died. And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy hand, for thy mouth.
Have testified again thee.
I explained the Lord's anointed.
Now this man had trouble telling the truth, and we find that he came from a long line of those that were men of the flesh.
And I would just like to reach out to those who are younger in the faith here this evening.
00:45:00
To realize back at that time when Esau came in from the field.
And Jacob was cooking that pottage.
And to realize that Esau was willing to sell his birthright.
Just for one morsel of meat, he was willing to sacrifice the entire future for just a little bit of the present.
We've seen so much with that amongst the people of God, of those that have showed such promise, and then to sacrifice the future for just a little bit of the present. You know, we see that with the in the life of Shimmy Eye, who's mentioned several times. And we find that at a time when Shimmy Eye doesn't go with Ananija, he shows such promise.
But in Solomon's day, Shimmy Eye was willing to sacrifice his life so he could spend a day with his servants. What a solemn thing to sacrifice the present for all the future.
Well, now let's turn to the last one. And we find it in First Chronicles, the 4th chapter.
First Chronicles, chapter 4.
We find this as a bright spot amongst the simianites.
Where we find very few bright spots. But here in the 24th verse of First Chronicles chapter 4, the sons of Simeon, the 39th verse, it says, they went to the entrance of Ghidor, even unto the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks. And they found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide and quiet and peaceable. For they of Ham had dwelt thereof old. And these written by name came in the days of Hezekiah the king of Judah, and smote their tents.
And the habitations that were found there, and destroyed them utterly unto this day, and dwelt in their rooms, because there was pasture there for their flocks. And some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, 500 men went to Mount Seir, having for their captains Palatia.
Neeraya, Raphiya, Uziel, the sons of Ishay, and they smote the rest of the Amalekites that were escaped and dwelt there unto this day.
So in this case, this is the account. But to find the characteristics of Amalek, we have to turn to the book of Judges. So let's just do that just for a moment, and we'll get up, We'll get the characteristics of Amalek in connection with this deliverance and Judges, the 6th chapter.
Judges, Chapter 6.
You remember the story of Gideon.
Who was victorious over the Midianites? But it says in Judges chapter 6 and verse 3. And so it was when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the East, even they came up against them, and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance.
For Israel neither sheep nor oxen, nor ***. And they came up with their cattle in their tents, and they came up as grasshoppers. For a multitude. Both they and their camels were without number.
You know, the characteristic that we see here in connection with the Amalekites was the Amalekites didn't go into slaughter. The people of God here, it says they came in and they took the sustenance in Israel. They took everything there was to eat. They took all the grass, they took all the corn, they took the the sheep and the oxen. Everything there was to eat they took for themselves. That's what characterized Amalek and that's what characterizes Amalek today. He takes the food. You know, he does it today in a different way, the enemy of our souls. He does it by taking our appetite.
You know, Stan Jacobson shared a little something with me in connection with Anorexia.
It's a disease that, that people, they just don't have an appetite. In fact, it means that thing. The, the, when you, when you refer to someone as being anorexic, anorexic is 2 words. Ana means without and rexic means appetite without appetite. And that's what the enemy of our souls, that's the way he does to take away the sustenance from the people of God. He takes away our appetite. So there's no appetite at all for the word of God.
We find here such a solemn thing in our chapter in First Chronicles chapter 4.
Because these men of Simeon, it says that they.
They went to seek pasture for their flocks.
And you know, they found pasture with nice lush green pasture for their flocks.
But we read of the Amalekites, but doesn't it doesn't say that they pose any threat whatsoever. They're way off there in the distance. But you know, the Simunites knew. They knew that one morning they'd wake up and their pasture would be gone. One morning they would wake up and the sustenance for their flocks would be gone. And so when it says here they thought, pastor for their forest, they found fat pasture and good. The land was wide and quiet and peaceable. The MOX, the Amalekites here, they weren't threatening at all. They were seeking to be peaceable. But the Simeonites went out.
00:50:12
And it says they smote the rest of the Amalekites that were escaped.
And they dwelt there unto this day.
Just in closing, let's go back to Galatians chapter 5.
Galatians, chapter 5.
We've looked at that which characterizes Amalek, the lust of the flesh in the 16th verse to the end of the 21St verse, but just read without comment in the 22nd verse. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law. And they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with the afflictions, with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Let us not be desirous of Vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another.
Well, may the Lord bless His word as we've looked at this little subject of Amalek and to see those five different ones.
And now, firstly, there was those characteristics of smiting the hindmost.
And those hands were lifted up and Amalek was defeated.
And then to see how Saul went out and how he spared Agag.
And there is that besetting sin in our lives that needs to be dealt with in the same way that Samuel dwelt with Agag.
And then to see how Haman, a descendant of Agag, and how he was willing to pay a great price for the people of God.
And that Mordecai was Victoria over the Amalekites.
And then to see David.
And those characteristics of.
The young man being a servant to the Amalekite, and the Amalekites just leaving him for dead after he used them for all he could.
And to see that characteristic of not telling the truth.
And David slaying the Amalekite with the sword because his mouth had testified against him. And lastly, to see the characteristics of how Amalek seeks to take all the sustenance in Israel, to take the food from the people of God, to take the appetite away from the people of God. So there's no appetite for the things of God. We would have an appetite for anything else but the things of God.
And to see those simulates and how even when the Amalekites were not posing a threat, how they could go and defeat all the Amalekites. Oh, may these principles.
Be good in our lives as we seek to walk this pathway that's before us in a wilderness scene before the Lord. Could we sing those last year verses of that hymn #76 that we started with?
#76 starting with verse 7.
On to Canada.
Which we're doing today.
So I want to know what's my name? So I'll talk to her in his squeeze. Brilliant.
Wednesday.
Night. I wish I had a great day.
And then we're trying to hear, so I'm not going to be, no, I'm not going to do this. So I'm going to go there and get the correct experience we're going to spend.
I don't know, how much Scotland did you get? Strange. There's a lot of things for blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:55:04
Uh-huh. You know, Mr. Rice fell out of the green tree and his graveyard.
Life.
Open Mtg. 3
Open—N. Wood, P. Hadley, R. Ruga
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.
Gracious God, our loving Father, this is quite a prayer that we have sung in Thy presence.
Now with divorce or affections from this world.
We confess how often times we are distracted from anything but Christ.
And our thoughts are taken up with things around us.
But we are heavenly people. We are not of this world, even as the Lord was not of this world. We're turning on to our eternal portion.
And we desire to reflect Christ to those we encounter defeat on Christ.
As our daily portion to be found going on in fellowship with our risen glorified Christ in heaven, we desire mercies until this end, and thou art wean us from this world. Give us that spiritual appetite. Work by thy Spirit this afternoon.
Grant that message, which would be with the edification of comfort.
The upbuilding of those dear people, we pray our God now it's direct that in all things he may be exalted.
That's my dear people may be encouraged we do pray to for our loved ones back at home if they may be a like portion for them as well. And so we ask thy blessing on the meeting to follow in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
Ezekiel chapter 36 and verse 26.
A new heart also will I give you.
That and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the Stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statue. Well, obviously this scripture is directed toward Israel, and it's not my thought to talk about prophecy.
00:05:03
But, uh, here, uh, we see, uh, uh, the promise by Ezekiel, the prophetically to a future day. We know that Israel rejected the, the statutes of the Lord. And so they had it because they had a Stony heart.
And but the Prophet looked forward.
With the Holy Spirit's writing here to a day when that Stony heart would be removed and the Israel will be given a heart of flesh. And that's going to happen, isn't it, very, very soon. But you know, it's similar to us before we were saved. We had a Stony heart. There was no love for Christ, no thought of God.
But when we became born again, there was a new life put within us, and shall we say, a new heart.
That could appreciate God and the Lord Jesus and all of His marvelous love for us.
And I've been thinking about the heart, your heart and mind. We get a lot of information, shall we say, for the mind. And that's fine. We have to know.
What's in the word of God so that we can follow the Lord and please him but you know, as we sang this hymn that our brother gave out nothing but Christ as on we tread. There are comes to mind two things that are absolutely necessary for.
That to happen in any degree in our lives. And number one is to have the knowledge from the scriptures that would show us the pathway, but just as important is to have a heart that would, uh, desire these things that has love for the Lord. And, uh, you and I, if we know the Lord is Savior, we have a life within us that enjoys nothing else.
Then the Lord Jesus and the Father and but you know so many times our heart gets taken up with something else.
And the heart is a very important, shall we say, organ.
Because whatever we want to do, the chances are we're going to do that. You know, when my brother and I were boys on the farm back in Rita Ferry.
In the summertime when we got through with all of the hang and the, the that that day and we'd be tired, but you know, we had something in our hearts and that was to go fishing that night.
For that evening and those long summer, summer evenings were beautiful for fishing and that we really wanted to do that. And so there wasn't anything that was going to get in our way. Yes, we had maybe 20 cows to milk and we got those at those right away after supper. And pretty soon we had those cows milk and the milk and the cooler and we had some worms dug and our lines ready. And back to Bass Lake on our bikes and out in the little rowboat we had with the anchor and out to the favorite fishing spot.
And there we caught lots of, uh, nice, uh, fish.
Before the mosquitoes came along and you know, we all enjoyed those next day for dinner. And but we, you see, we love to go fishing. We love the sport of it and we love the pleasant quiet evening. And of course we love eating them. So there was absolutely nothing that was going to get in our way. Now, our father loved fish too, and he didn't have to tell us. Norman, Jim, boys, I want you tomorrow.
After Milken to go back to bath, they can get a mess of fish. He didn't have to tell us that because this is something.
That we really enjoyed doing and you know it that way isn't it spiritually with the the new life, the new heart that God has given us, if we can get everything else out of the way, the things that we'd like to do naturally than just automatically you and I enjoy the things of the Lord and it's a marvelous thing and it's so marvelous and such an enjoyable.
Thing I can just only ask my heart Norm, why don't you do that more often? Well, it's just a word today to all of us. Umm, uh, we get a lot for our minds in the reading meetings and we're thankful for that. But let's not forget, as it were, the part of the force behind the a successful life and that is having a heart to please the Lord. And we have various scriptures in the, the, uh, Bible that, umm, certainly worth.
00:10:29
Spending just a bit of time on let's take a look at Proverbs 4 and verse 23.
Proverbs 4 and verse 23.
OK, this is familiar. Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. And so I say to myself today as I stand here, Norm would keep your heart.
Focused on the Lord and His things and make sure guard it from getting involved in the things of this world which are so attractive to my old heart.
And so attractive to your old heart. And so we have this verse which is familiar. Keep thy heart with all diligence. Why? For out of it are the issues of life. There's nothing more important than our lives, than our hearts, our affections and what they're based on, what they're targeted on. Oh, I say to myself and to all of us here, keep our hearts focused on our Lord Jesus.
And try to keep all of this, a lot of this other stuff which is necessary out of our lives. There are things that are very necessary in our lives, our jobs and our family and all of that, that have to be looked after. But, you know, we let things spread out too wide and before we know it, Satan has those hooks in US, which draws away well, another verse.
That I want to look at and that is, well, let's look first of all at Philippians chapter 4 and verse seven. We just had this verse had Rita Ferry, I think on Tuesday.
Philippians 4 and verse seven. I don't want to go into this verse, but what I want, I just want to read it to show there is a connection between our minds and our hearts.
Umm, here's the verse and the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds.
Through Christ Jesus. Now this is a lovely verse, but I don't want to get sidetracked on it. I just want to show that here's a verse that has our hearts and our minds together physically. There's no question the physical mind and the physical heart are very much connected. There's at least two main nerves that go from the brain to the heart, one that feeds the heart and the other that that slows it down.
Well, physically, of course. We need our minds. We couldn't enjoy any thoughts without our minds. But so nice when they're connected together. To get to know only thoughts about the Scriptures and facts would be a great shortcoming, wouldn't it? And they wouldn't have much power in our lives unless we really enjoy those thoughts. And another verse in the Hebrews 10 and 22.
Uh, just a lovely section here, but I'll zero in on verse 22.
It says let us draw an ear with a true heart.
In full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, well, let us draw near with a true heart. What a marvelous thing it is for a Christian to have a true heart. Now we mentioned previously that the the center has a hard heart, and you know sometimes our hearts as Christians become hard. What a marvelous thing it is for a Christian.
To have a soft heart, a heart that is sympathetic to those around, what a marvelous thing. Well, to have a true heart, that would be a heart. I believe that's true to Christ.
But it goes on. Now let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. Well, a conscience isn't evil is that God gave us our conscience. It's not evil. But when we're involved with thought or practice and bad things or evil things, and our conscience tells us.
00:15:21
It works on our hearts well. It's a marvelous thing to have a soft heart and a tender conscience.
So that these two, shall we say, organs in our heart, in ourselves can work together. Marvelous thing to have our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience because we have a heart that can enjoy evil. And then one last verse.
In Luke 24.
And verse 32, Luke 24 and verse 32, this, this is a marvelous chapter that draws the hearts out so very much.
In in the Christian, but I just again want to zero in on the one verse.
Umm, and verse 32, we know this well, let's just take a, a, a moment to set the stage here because maybe some of the younger ones have forgotten about this chapter. But this happened after the Lord was crucified and buried and two of his own that didn't recognize what was happening, that he was going to arise from the dead in discouragement. The as it were, left Jerusalem for a home. And I can understand that because I can see myself in their shoes.
But it's a lovely passage and draws the herd out. How we see the Lord come along somehow, shall we say, disguise. So they didn't know him, and he walks with them, These two, perhaps a husband and wife.
And he starts to bring the scriptures before them to talk about the scriptures, which would be the Old Testament ones. And he's a very nicely, I'm sure be a treat. Wouldn't it have been there as he drew out of those Old Testament scriptures some beautiful examples of himself And it affected their hearts. It affected their hearts because if we go down to the verse that I want to look at.
And then, of course, I should finish up. But then it became nightfall, and the hearts of the disciples were so drawn out to this man who talked about the Lord Jesus so very nicely that they wouldn't let him go on. They said, Oh no, you come in, you come in and stay with us for the night. And so he did come in, and he broke bread with them.
And as he broke the bread, he was known to them. These, uh, deer.
Two disciples. Now let's go on to umm the 1St. I was looking at the verse 32.
And they said one to another, did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures? Isn't that a marvellous thing? And you know, you and I have experienced that at various times, haven't we? Perhaps at conferences, perhaps at our home assembly when a brother gets up and ministers about the Lord so nice and about his love, and our hearts burn within them.
And it's such a marvelous thing and.
But the the thing I wanted to look at here was this verse, the one word it says did not our heart burn within us? And you know, I wasn't, I haven't been very attentive because it was just a week or months or so ago that I recognized it didn't say heart, but it said heart did not our hearts burn within us. No, this couple said did not our heart. That is, they had the a similar, the same heart for Christ.
And isn't it a marvelous thing, you and I here this afternoon who love the Lord and they're in communion. Uh, can't we say today all of us did not our heart does not our heart burn within us while he talked with us, by the way. And you know, he walks with us and he talks with us. Now I want to just read a poem, uh, before I sit down. And it's partly related to the him, him that we sang nothing but Christ is on, we tread and this.
00:20:12
Poem. I'll just read a verse or two. It's a hymn.
But this was written, I believe, by our, uh, Mrs. Rule, Mrs. AH Rule years ago.
And it talks about our hearts and the the direction of our love says love, not the world. It smiles, it hopes may lure the arm, But cup of joy and dream of bliss will soon be gone. Those dreams will fade as mist and mourn. Those hopes will die. And in that cup of steaming joy deep sorrows lie. Love not the world live with its lust must pass away.
His pleasure sweetest hope so bright must all decay, Its glories too, Must have an end, Must pale and die, And all its empty bubbles burst their satan's lie. But he who does the will of God. For I will live and drink the streams of heaven's delights which Christ will give. He'll weep no more on that bless shore, no marvel less, For Joy's well up and fill his cup.
Not, not, but blessed.
Dear fellow Pilgrim in the past, look up, look on their waits above a home of love, where Christ is gone, and pleasures bright, and courts of light shall ever be throughout a happy.
Long and blessed eternity. Well, you know, I'm just kind of talking to myself today.
My father was up in years when he got married and and so when we came along.
Four children. He was pretty getting up there pretty good, a nice man. My parents were very kind.
But he developed some interesting habits, habits he used to talk to himself.
And he'd be out in the garden talking to himself. And there was a hedge between the garden and the lane. And Jim and I had walked down the lane and we'd hear our father talking and in the garden. And we say, I wonder who's over there with Dad? And we'd go to the hedge and spread the hedge. And he's just there by himself talking. And so this afternoon, the person that needs this message most is myself. And so I'm just talking to myself.
And if anybody, if it hit the cord and anybody else, well that's fine too.
Can we continue this subject?
I'd like to look at First Samuel.
17 Perhaps that won't seem like we're continuing the subject, but.
You'll see.
Verse 25.
The men of Israel said, Have you seen this man that has come up? Surely to divide Israel, if he come up, and it shall be that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter.
And make his father's house free in Israel.
Now it's turned over toward the end of the chapter.
Verse 58.
It's all said in him. Whose son art thou, thou young men? David answered. I'm the son of thy servant, Jesse, the Bethlehem.
Used to think this is because.
Saul didn't know who he was talking to.
Not the case.
Is because that freedom was proclaimed to.
The House of his father. So he he needed, he needed to know whose house that was.
The freedom wasn't the only thing that David was to have. He was to have a wife.
And so we find that the wife was promised to David.
Chapter 18.
Uh, verse 17, it's all said to David, Behold my elder daughter Mehra, Her will I give thee to wife only be thou valiant for me, and fight the Lord's battles and so on.
Verse 19 But it came to pass at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel, the Maholo fight to wife.
00:25:06
I gather.
That Merab didn't care for David.
And.
Somehow must have interceded with her father that she not be given to David. I think that perhaps in connection with the next verse, because that's like a contrast. And Michael, Saul's daughter, loved David and they told Saul and the thing pleased him.
Well.
Uh, and let's go on a little bit.
So.
The servants of Saul told him of the verse 24.
No, I'm sorry, that's not the person I'm looking for.
Verse 25 And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but 100 foreskins of the fellow stands to be avenged of the King's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines, and when his servants told David these words, at least David well to be the King's son-in-law, and the days were not expired.
Work for David arose and went, he and his men in slew of the Philistines, 200 men, And they had brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the King's son-in-law. And Saul gave him Michael, his daughter's wife.
Uh, there's more verses to be read, but uh.
Like to bring out the thoughts so you know where I'm going with this.
That is, David had won his bride already. How come he had to buy her again?
He won her.
But then he had to buy her again.
She was given to another and they had to buy. Buy the second choice, you might say.
And then we go on and read.
In verse and chapter I think it's 23.
Well, we have David.
Left.
In the wilderness, fleeing from Saul.
And the wife that he bought.
It doesn't seem went with him.
Jonathan didn't go with him.
Neither did the wife that he bought.
Bought twice we might say. Didn't go with them.
Now I can't imagine a young man and a young woman getting engaged.
And the day comes when they're married.
And.
Somebody asked them, well, what are you going to do now?
Well, I'm going. I gotta go back to work. Of course, the husband says. I've got to earn a living. Help. Smart my wife. And what are you going to do, missus? Whatever, she says. Well, I'm going back home.
To be with my family.
Uh, or I'm going to some entertainment place.
You know when a man.
Get the bride he wants. A few things.
He wants affection and that's what we've had thus far.
And he wants companionship.
And he wants service and.
Don't mistake that.
Uh, to mean something else.
But he wants affection and what?
Would it be if I had a wife that didn't care for me?
Yet where are we?
As the bride of Christ in our affections we sing nothing but Christ, And as our brother prayed, it was.
A prayer that we wish was true, was better, was more true of us.
Where are we?
As far as affections for Christ.
And.
Not to. I don't mean that as a criticism, but as an exhortation that our affections might be stirred up.
I think the reason that we're all here is because we all have affection for Christ.
Unless you've been dragged here.
But the reason we're here is because we have affection for Christ. So I'm talking to those who have affections for Christ.
00:30:05
But you know.
We are failures in our lives so much.
Our time is robbed by so many things.
There's so little time for the study of His word has to be made.
If you don't make it, there will be none.
Companionship that the Lord wants from us. How much time do we spend with Him? We have to make that time, because if we don't make it, we won't have it.
And service.
He wants.
When I say that I expect those things are are long for those things from my wife as every husband does.
We serve one another.
But, you know, I think sometimes us as Christians, if we think of ourselves, we're like a bride who says I love you.
And I love spending time with you, but when you come home, she doesn't pay any attention to you and.
There's nothing done. There's no no meals made, no house cared for.
The husband and the wife serve one another. As I say, the Lord has not failed in His service toward us.
But you know, I have a great sense in my soul that I failed.
In my service toward him.
And much of the service that my wife does is not because.
That is forced to Connor, but because.
It's motivated by affection.
I appreciate that.
Services work and it's hard.
Perfection.
And well done and well done is what makes that service enjoyable.
If we love him, we need to serve him.
There's a field of service for you and me out there that may be with your neighbor or with your classmates or maybe a gospel tract or whatever.
Whatever that field of service is.
That field needs to be tended to.
I was thinking.
As I say that, Michael.
Didn't go out with David there.
And in chapter, I think it's 24, we find that she's actually given to another.
Well, maybe that's not the chapter, but.
Don't need to refer to it. We know the story. She's given to another.
But when David takes the throne.
You said you're not gonna see my face.
Until you bring Michael, my wife.
Now she belonged to David the whole time she was unfaithful.
She should have followed David.
She shouldn't have accepted another husband.
But David called her his wife.
Because he never called. He never thought of it as anything else than that.
Our Lord is faithful.
We fail.
In our service for him.
And in so many ways but he.
He's always there for us.
One other passage in Isaiah.
Chapter 44.
I was thinking.
Of the Lord, how that he has rights to us?
In so many different ways.
He is our Creator.
And so he has rights to us.
Not only is he our creator.
But He's been with us and taken care of us and sustained us every step of the way. And, and for all those blessings that he has given us and all that help, we are under obligation to Him.
00:35:01
Every answered prayer.
That you have received and I have received puts those under more obligations.
To him who has done so much for us.
And.
And yet.
There's so many other ways that we are obligated to him.
He being the one who has fulfilled prophecies.
Does that mean nothing to us? Where Adam failed, he succeeded.
Adam, I think failed the first chance he got, but our Lord went through that.
40 days and 40 nights in the desert, without food and without water.
And at the end of that time.
He would not succumb to the tempter.
Where where Noah failed in government, the Lord would say that he would not take a Kingdom unless the Father gave it to him.
Where all those failed under law, he kept it every bit and told us.
She told us to keep it too.
Not that their way of saving salvation.
But in all that?
We should see Him as the one who is our Lord and our Master.
Like the look in that connection at verse 24 of Isaiah 44.
Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer.
It's interesting to me that these things are in reverse order.
Uh, the Redeemer being the most recent thing that he's done for us.
He had formed thee from the womb. He's the one who has sustained us every step of our life.
From.
The moment of conception through our death. He's there with us. He's formed us from the womb.
I am the Lord that maketh all things. He is the one who is the Creator of all the world, that stretches forth the heavens alone, and that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself.
Just thinking of him, who would ask us?
For our hearts.
Of his glories, of his worthiness.
Of His power and of all that He has done for you and for me.
But he would.
Even want to have my heart.
It's an amazing thing, is it not?
But he would stoop down and ask for my heart.
I think I'll just refer to 1 mother more passage in loop 9.
Uh, and.
Somewhat in connection with that.
Luke 9 verse 22 Saying the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders.
And chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.
Uh oh, the verse before that.
He's greatly charged them and commanded them to tell no man that thing.
That that he was Christ.
No, he had worthiness.
To be proclaimed Christ.
On the basis of his fulfillment of prophecy.
On the base of his of his royal lineage, the direct.
In Direct Line on the throne of David.
He had worthiness.
For for that.
Yet worthiness on the basis of the words that he spoke.
No man speak like that man. He had worthiness on the basis of the miracles that he did.
All that he did, all they said.
But you know, he wanted his worthiness to be called Christ, to be based on his death and his resurrection. Isn't that amazing? Doesn't that draw your heart a little bit after him? That he doesn't want to come to this world and say, I'm your creator, You got to worship me. But he would come to this world and say, I'm dying. I'm dying for you.
00:40:12
And you've got to worship me. You've got to recognize who I am, because I'm dying for you.
Well, I just think how the Lord has bought us.
And redeemed us, made us all those things, and would warn our hearts, maybe in a little bit of measure.
Commit to giving him our heart.
Oh.
00:45:26
Looking at our schedule, I noticed that this meeting goes to 3:15, so we do have time. Where would you like to live if you had a choice? You know, I think there's a city in the word of God, which seems quite plausible. A very nice city. If you want to turn to Joshua chapter 2 and see if you would agree with me. Josh with the son of Nun sent out to Chitham, two men to spy, secretly saying go use the land, even Jericho.
What was so nice about Jericho? You know, four times in the Bible, Jericho is designated as the city of palm trees.
Hot day like today. Wouldn't you like to live in a city of palm trees? You're nice and shaved and get out of the hot weather. This is quite the thing.
Think we live on the equator or something? You know what Jericho means? It means fragrance.
Almost put your mind maybe about like when you go to visit the purse assembly, they're right next to the soap factory out there in Perth. And during the meeting you get this delectable odor of the fragrant soap that's being manufactured right next door to the meeting room in Perth. Jericho had all this. I think I would have liked to live in Jericho through all these palm trees, fragrant odors.
Who's, uh, a mighty city?
Dude, I didn't like, I don't like its proximity to the River Jordan, which would speak of death. But you can forget about that as long as you're having a good time in Jericho, right? Why not live it up when you're in Jericho? But let me tell you, dear, you're saying to God that Jericho.
Was the first city that the children of Israel had to encounter gave them opposition Jericho pictures the world in the in opposition to the child of God and to the enjoyment of your portions in Christ. That's what Jericho pictures.
It's not like Elon. In Exodus chapter 15, you read that the children of Israel, they came to a place called Elam, which had three score and 10 palm trees and 12 water, the wells of water.
There are the children of Israel found refreshment. Did they find refreshment in Jericho? No, none whatsoever. You remember that Jericho was a city placed under a curse.
And now picture of this world. It's been cursed by sin.
We cannot find our home here. We ought not to. Brother Paul was telling us that we find a lot of distractions down here.
That turned our.
Eyes and our gaze away from the Lord Jesus Christ. You know we very glibly sing hymns. Nothing but Christ is on we tread ever condemn you this thing that does me when I realize how little I I live for Christ.
Nothing but Christ, a living bread.
Lord had against his people, because they had forsaken him the fountain of living waters, and had hewn them out. Sisters, broken cisterns that could hold no water. Jericho was not about to yield to the children of Israel coming over.
They were straightly shut up with their high wall.
Could you find refreshment?
In the city of Jericho. Let me tell you something else about that city.
The ground was barren and the water was not. There was no refreshment there. And Jericho, you get that in First Kings chapter 2.
No refreshment for the child of God and Jericho.
And yet how often we think we can find, boy, there's some pleasure in this. We're that, and I don't mean, dear brethren, to set aside the natural joys that the Lord gives us and the wonders of God's creation that we tend to enjoy with with our families. And rightly so. We should enjoy these things.
But you know what else this world has?
It has its religion to occupy your mind. Who else lived in Jericho?
Remember the sons of the prophets? Didn't they live there? Didn't they know the scriptures? Maybe they know the scriptures better than you do in the world.
00:50:09
You want to live in Jericho?
With those sons of the prophets willing to go out with Elijah to follow Elijah.
Across the Jordan River, which speaks of death through the flesh.
No, they would stand and view afar off, but they weren't gonna go. They have the knowledge of the Bible. You know, it's grieving. How many people?
Leave the place of the Lord's appointment.
To go into the camp.
Because there's a lot of attraction there. Look, there are sons of the prophets. There are many of them. Why go out there with just Elijah and Elijah?
Why not remain with us? After all, we're numerous. We have quite a congregation, you know, and we're studying the Bible.
You want to take the outside place with Christ.
That's a place of reproach.
Not many numbers.
Just a few. The world has its religion.
Be sure of that, dear brethren. What happens when you leave the place? Look, in Luke chapter 10, Jericho is mentioned again.
Luke, chapter 10.
You know the passage well.
And verse 30.
A certain man went down from Jerusalem.
To Jericho.
And he got blessed in his soul.
Is that how your Bible reads?
He fell among thieves that wounded him, stripped him.
Left him half dead.
Why didn't that man remain in Jerusalem? Why was he going down to Jericho?
It could have been a number of reasons.
You didn't believe the curse rested on that land. Neither did I.
God's Word is true, dear brethren, we reap what we sow, and Heil lost two sons in the laying of the foundation and in the constructing of the walls of the city of Jericho in fulfillment of Joshua's curse upon Jericho.
This man was going to go down to Jericho and leave where the Lord has been pleased to place His name, Deuteronomy 12.
In this city, that one city amongst all the tribes, the city of Jerusalem. But hold on.
There's more. The 18th chapter of Luke's Gospel, Luke chapter 18.
Another reference to Jericho verse 35 came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the wayside, begging.
And hearing the multitude passed by, he asked what it meant, and they told him Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. This is the last time that the Lord passed by and passed through. If you compare the accounts in the gospels, pass through Jericho.
And the people whom he came to call, he came to his own, and his own received him not. But to as many as received him to them gave he the right, the privilege of the authority to be the sons of God. He was a blind man who saw by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is passing by, passing through Jericho, the son of David. Is this what they told him?
No.
He cried out. All they said was that this was Jesus of Nazareth.
But he said, Jesus, thou son of David.
Have mercy on me. You see, this blind man had more spiritual insight than those who had their natural sight, who lived in Jericho. And Jesus just passed by on the way to the cross, because Jericho. The passing by Jericho was the last instance of the Lord on his way to Calvary.
How thankful I am, dear brethren, that.
Although this world attracts with its fragrance its palm trees and the waters being healed and measured in the days of Elijah, that Jesus came here to this place which was so cursed, this world, and he passed by, and he called sinners unto himself. Is that Our Calling to tell others in Jericho that Jesus of Nazareth has passed by the Son of David a more, the Son of God?
00:55:17
Was in this world, and he passed by. Came only once. The second time they'll come without sin unto salvation to all those who look for him.
I'm.
Uh.
OK.
Umm, just, uh, let me see if you're gonna try anything on.
OK, OK blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Dial Zero 252 10-4 31.
01:00:11
Our gracious God and our Father, we thank thee for the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. Lord Jesus, we thank thee for speaking to our hearts needs. We just do pray that our hearts might be served by what is and brought before us.
Father, Lord Jesus to me.
Heathrow has spoken to our need.
These in our own hearts and these, uh, in our families. Lord Jesus, we thank you for that demonstration of love and thou which thou hast lay them in the hearts of our brothers. Pray that it might truly reach down into our feet, into our consciences, and we give thanks.
We do uh, thank you for the faith. Good night, my love and good thanks. And the precious, my precious and worthy name, Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Amen.
Open Mtg. 5
Open—D. Gorgas, L. Mayhew, G. Simard
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1.
147 dollars.
And 89.
Years ago.
Have to be sharp, and I word again hear from those whom without lead speak, Pray thou blessed thy people who have expressed in the same, uh, weakness or neediness, start our provider.
And uh, we would look to the provision for our souls this afternoon and we might be helped and encouraged. In my word, yes, I have lessons. And I got it in the Emperor largest Christina.
We turn to the 12Th chapter of Hebrews, the 12Th chapter.
Of Hebrews.
I'll make this introductory remark.
Usually.
Good idea to avoid introductory remarks and start with the word of God, but in this particular case I just want to notice that which we already know that the 11Th chapter is a glorious list.
Of people who have gone on in the path of faith.
Wonderful witnesses to that path.
Now in the 12Th chapter.
Verse one Wherefore seeing we also?
Are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses.
Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us.
And let us run with patience the race that is set before us.
Looking unto Jesus.
The author and finisher of our faith or just of faith?
Who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross?
Despising the shame.
And is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
00:05:08
For consider him.
That endured such contradiction of sinners against himself.
Lest ye be wearied, and faint in your minds, you have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin, and ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, my son.
Despise not thou the chasing of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son.
Whom he receiveth.
If he endured, chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chastens not?
But if he be without chastisement, where of all our partakers, then are you ******** and not sons?
Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh, which corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits, and live for they verily for a few days chastened us.
After their own pleasure, but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of His Holiness. Now no chastening for the present, seemeth to be joyous, but grievous nevertheless Afterward it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised their body. Wherefore.
Lift up the hands which hang down.
And the feeble knees.
It makes great paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up, trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.
Lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meals sold his birthright for you know how that afterward when he would have inherited the blessing.
He was rejected, for he found no place of repentance.
Though he sought it carefully with tears, I think we'll just stop there.
Perhaps I'll read the last verse.
For our God is a consuming fire. That's a line of things we don't often speak of, but it's clearly in the word of God.
We dare not overlook it. Our God is a consuming fire.
As we, our hearts have always been thrilled, haven't they? As we?
Red dot eleven chapter and seeing how the Spirit of God brings before us the great number of the faithful ones of faith who have gone before us, and some not even named but just enumerated kind of.
Others, it says, endured this and that.
It kind of.
Staggers us, doesn't it, to look at those.
But now the Spirit of God would put before us a single object. It isn't to put Moses before our souls. It isn't to put Abraham before our souls.
Those are encouragements or instructions to us. They thrill our hearts as we read them.
But the Spirit of God would put before us one man.
One precious man.
Looking unto Moses and what it says, looking unto Abraham.
Looking unto Enoch.
No.
Looking unto Jesus.
Jesus.
The author.
00:10:01
And finisher?
Of our faith or of faith?
The one who was the beginning.
And the ending of the path of faith.
Precious Jesus.
I remember reading about William Tyndale struggling with the translation of this passage of Scripture as he sought to put it into English, and he experimented with various.
Uh, words that were synonyms and finally came to author, author.
The author.
The beginner.
Of the path of faith, the Lord Jesus Christ and the finisher.
Of our faith.
Who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross?
Despising the shame.
And is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. That's where he is, beloved brethren. He's at the right hand of the throne of God.
Doesn't that and doesn't that bring joy to our souls to think of him in that way? And the spirit of God says look at him now, there's the one to put your eye on.
I find the stories of men like George Mueller and Hudson Taylor thrilling to read.
I recently read one about William Carey that was quite.
Umm, quite inspiring.
But in every one of those, you're going to see failure. You're going to see failure.
And the Spirit of God says there's one to put your eye on Jesus.
Jesus, and that's what I have on my heart this afternoon.
To start here with that, with our eye fixed upon that Blessed One.
Where is he now?
The right hand of the throne of God.
The cross is over.
The shame is finished.
Never more will he be shamed.
Never more will he be dishonored.
God will answer all of that with glory.
And he's at the right hand of the throne of God now.
Verse five says for consider him.
J&D translates that for consider well him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself.
Do we consider him well?
Oh fix our earnest gaze, O holy Lord, on thee, that with thy beauty occupied, we elsewhere none may see.
What a view for our souls to have that blessed one set before us. Consider well him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds, I believe Satan has made a special effort.
To weary the Saints.
I believe he's made a special effort to cause fainting among the people of God.
What's the antidote to that?
What will counteract that?
Looking unto Jesus, considering him well.
Verse six says You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Have you?
Have any of you laid down your life for?
Struggling against sin?
No, we haven't. But there is one who did.
I think it was put by.
J&D and his Meditations.
He died rather than allow sin to exist before God.
What a blessed one has been set before our eyes, the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:15:03
Now he says in verse five, you have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord.
I think we generally have a a thought of chastening a punishment.
I think it has a much broader sense to it than punishment. It includes it.
I think it was Brother Ichi Hajo that used to refer us to Job 37. I think it's verse 13 and speaking about that.
Drove 37. We'll just look at it in a minute.
Talking about the the wind and the storms that come upon the earth, it says verse 13 He causes it to come. That is God causes it to come whether for correction.
Well, how many times we need that? And God brings things into our lives that are designed to correct things that are not pleasing to Him.
But then it says or for his land.
That's a remarkable expression for his land, but it has the idea of making that land more fruitful.
More fruitful.
Don Hinesley always likes to use words that start with the same letter, and I can remember his talking about this and talking about it as punitive.
The first one correction purgative.
Getting rid of what hinders fruitfulness.
And the last one was it says.
Or for mercy?
What does that mean? Well, the best illustration I've ever thought of in connection with that was given to us in the New Testament when Paul was caught up to the 3rd heaven.
He heard things that it was.
Not lawful to utter. Not permitted to men, to utter.
A tremendous revelation he received.
Unless he be lifted up. That's mercy, isn't it? He was given a thorn in the flesh.
If you ask Paul about that thorn in the flesh, Paul, is that a punishment for something you did in your life?
I think in the light of Second Corinthians chapter 12, he would probably say to you know, it's mercy, it's mercy.
Because it will.
Keep me from being lifted up.
So that's the three purposes of the chastening of the Lord for correction.
For his land.
Make us more fruitful.
And for mercy, so that we don't get into things we shouldn't.
And he goes on to point out he says despise, not.
Thou the chastening of the Lord.
How do we despise it? I think there's a way of despising it which would say this.
I'm driving along the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and all of a sudden I hit a pothole and my tire blows out.
Now I can say that happens to everybody.
They would want to take care of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway better than they do, and they should take care of it better than they do.
But to see God in all of that is so important instead of.
Instead of, umm, taking the attitude of what happens to everybody.
That's despising the chastening of the Lord.
The Lord allows something to come into our lives an adverse circumstance.
Fire in the home or major sickness?
See, everybody gets major sicknesses. Anybody can have a fire in the home.
If you treat it that way.
That's despising the chastening of the Lord, but then the other side of it is neither. Faint thou.
00:20:02
Uh, I can't go on.
This is too hard. I can't go on.
The Lord.
It didn't bring it on you to make you faint.
And so both things are important, neither to despise it nor to faint under it. Now I want to skip ahead a minute and go down to verse 11.
Now, no chastening for the present Seemeth to be joyous. You have a tire blow out on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and I want to pick on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. I could have picked on Canal Street because that's the last experience I had like that. Thank the Lord Jason Hadley was in the car with us that night and helped us out. But.
And a truck driver came along and helped us, a Christian truck driver.
It is enjoyous.
That's not a happy experience.
But is grievous.
Nevertheless, nevertheless.
Afterwards.
It yieldeth.
The peaceable fruit of righteousness. To whom?
To those who are exercised thereby.
All Beloved ones is whatever the Lord allows in our lives. Let us learn to take it from Him and say Lord.
Is there something you're saying to me about this?
You might not immediately see.
But don't despise it and don't fade under it, but be exercised.
By it and there will be peaceable fruit of righteousness.
From it Wherefore verse 12, lift up the hands which hang down.
I think we live in a day a much hanging down of hands.
I don't know what to do. I can't. There's nothing I can do.
Everything is against me.
All sorts of circumstances that we come into my life lift up those hands that hang down.
Lift up the feeble knees.
I see two applications of that. I'm impressed with you. The one that is the correct one, but.
The knees are give way.
The whole body gives away.
We use the expression weakness sometimes.
But I'd like to apply it another way.
Are those needs feeble when it comes to getting down before the Lord?
And getting into his presence.
To lift up those feeble knees, get them going.
And then it says in verse 13 and make straight paths.
For everybody else's feet.
Is that what it says?
Read it, Saints. Read it.
Make straight paths for whose speed.
So it's easy to make straight paths for other people's feet. We're very good at that.
We're very good at saying so and so shouldn't do this so and so should do this so and so.
But it says make straight paths for your feet.
For your feet.
And I like to link that with the verse we were considering this morning or yesterday rather in the afternoon.
In connection with the elders of Ephesus, it says, Take heed unto yourselves unto yourselves.
Make straight paths for your feet.
The big job, isn't it, to make straight paths for our own feet.
Because if we don't.
Somebody who is lame is going to be turned aside.
Do you care about the lame?
Do you understand that there are people who are coming along behind you and maybe you can negotiate A tortuous path, but they can't?
00:25:11
When we used to camp at the Sour Neck Lake.
The outhouse was back about 100 yards behind the camp.
And during the night, if you'd get up and you'd want to go out there.
He had to take a flashlight with you because the path was not straight, I'll tell you that.
And you could stumble and fall.
A straight path.
A straight path.
For who?
Is it my job to tell Graham what path to walk in?
How to walk in it? Where to go?
You know your past ought to do this, and your password No.
No.
I am to make paths straight paths from mine feet.
From my feet.
If each one of us did that, beloved brethren, I believe the lame would not be turned aside. Many lame have been turned aside.
Through our failures to make straight paths for our feet.
And I'll put my hand up to the first one to say that.
Not without shame.
Straight path.
Three path.
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left.
How easily we deviate.
From the path.
Then it says not only that that which is lame may not be turned aside, but it says, but rather let it be healed. Healing. What a blessed.
Thing, that is.
There are lame.
Probably more lame than we realized.
Do we have pity on them?
Do we care about them?
Well then, we better make our own path straight.
Verse 16 verse 15 Looking Diligently, I'm sorry 14 Follow peace with all men.
And holiness and holiness.
I don't think that we. I think we've lost some of the sense of the holiness of the Lord. I'm speaking for myself, but I believe we've lost some of the sense that.
As He who has called you be holy, so be ye holy.
Peter says in all manner of conversation.
Were to pursue holiness.
Yes, please, with all men, but don't forget that it says, and holiness without which no one shall see the Lord. Verse 15 looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God.
List any root of bitterness springing up troubled you and thereby many be defiled.
I don't want to be too occupied with that, but.
The older I get, the more I realize how much that has destroyed.
Families, assemblies, his roots of bitterness that spring up.
Offenses that were taken.
Over something.
Often it's over a financial matter that's terrible.
It's terrible.
Shows how what a stock we put in money instead of in the things of God.
But that root of bitterness?
Grows springs up.
And defiles many. Defiles many. It's defiling. Bitterness is a defiling thing.
Let there be any fornicator.
The fornication and spiritual fornication of this day.
Is appalling.
00:30:02
Unfaithfulness.
Immorality spiritually.
And physically.
Profane person, as he saw.
Who for one morsel of meat.
Sold his birthright.
I happen to like lentil soup. My wife makes a really good one.
As an Austrian recipe for it, but he just.
11 Brother we knew when I was younger used to say to my mother who used the same recipe used to say that's like catnip to a cat.
Is it worth selling your birthright over things like that?
What do we value? Do we value our birthright?
As children of God.
Or are we putting emphasis on the material side of things?
The morsels of meet the.
Things we like as natural men.
For you know.
Then afterward when he would have inherited the blessing.
My father, bless me, bless me. Isn't there any blessing left for me after Jacob stole his blessing?
Get things right in your own mind. He despised the birthright and sold it for a morsel of meat.
That's the order of things.
Lenny got cheated out of the blessing.
The First Born Blessing.
But first, he despised the birthright.
And then he comes to his father and says, My father, isn't there some blessing for me?
I I've already blessed him.
Now what did he seek earnestly?
That's important to see. The text may be a little bit obscure here, but if you read it carefully, you'll see that what he sought earnestly was the blessing, not.
Repentance. It looks like repentance when you read it first. It's not repentance. He didn't wasn't seeking repentance. He found no place for repentance.
There wasn't any repentance in his heart.
I just mentioned that because I think it's important that we get a hold of that we understand that what Esau sought.
Was not repentance and he couldn't find it.
I don't believe there's anybody like that.
Who really?
In his heart seeks repentance and can't find it. What I think it is, is the order of things is that he sought the blessing and he found no place for repentance and so there was no blessing for her.
Yes, God gave him a blessing, but not the blessing that he despised.
Beloved brethren.
I'm gonna sit down now.
But I want to leave this thought.
The Spirit of God occupies your heart and mind with Jesus.
With Jesus.
We can get distracted with all sorts of other things, even principals.
That we think are important.
Principles never work against Jesus, and Jesus never works against principles. But we can think that that's what our object is. But the Spirit of God says Christ before you.
Let Christ occupy your heart.
I don't know.
I was thinking yesterday I talked to Bill War maybe about three or four days ago on the telephone. I didn't intend to. I was talking to Elaine and UH or to UH, Kathy and Bill asked if he could talk to me.
And we, uh, we chatted a bit.
And he said, Brother **** if you get there a little ahead of me, he said, hang on, I'm coming.
00:35:07
I didn't know whether I might get there ahead of. I didn't know whether that was a little word from the Lord that I was going to go before him.
But.
I thought to myself, if you don't have any other opportunity to talk to the Saints, what are you going to say to them?
Looking unto Jesus.
The author and finisher of faith consider him well.
Brother, before I, uh, talk to you about what I was having on my mind, my heart.
I just thought of a story.
That happened to me. I don't want to.
Blow anything itself. Because it wasn't.
But I used to run the engines, the trains, and I went from, for a while, from Montreal to Sherbrooke.
And we came to this place in the mountains, and you came around the curve and over the sound, and then back up a hill.
On this day you come down the hill, so I wasn't using the engine very hard. You couldn't hear anything. I came around this curve.
And lo and behold, there was two teenage young people in the middle of the bridge.
Right in the middle of this bridge.
What could I do?
I couldn't do anything.
The two of them took off and started running to get over across the bridge to get out of my way.
I stood up.
And I watched.
And in seconds we went by them.
With the engine.
I was just thinking last night we got a real gospel.
I'm telling you about where you're gonna spend eternity.
What would happen if that was one of you children? What would happen if it was one of you children? You know all the answers. How many of them? Said John, 316 this morning.
But would that be the time to be starting to think about getting saved?
Would that be the time to start to think about turning your heart over to the Lord Jesus?
You know.
There's a time for you to get saved.
A date.
And you can't find it on any calendar that's ever made. You can't find it. We all know. We all know what that what that date is.
Now, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation now.
Is it 5 minutes ago? In 10 minutes from now? It's now. And if there's any young person, any child, any teenager here that has not accepted the Lord is their savior, do it now. We're not promised the end of this meeting at 3:15. We're not promised. And what I'm going to say?
After, if you're not saved, it doesn't apply to you.
You know.
In creation, God made everything and He made it perfect. He made it good. But what happened? Man was put in the world and what happened? Sin came. It didn't take very long to get some sin.
First man sinned.
The first man that was born killed his brother at a rage.
Hatred.
And what does he say when God?
Comes to him.
Does he say I'm sorry? I I'm sorry. I'm sorry what I did. My punishment is greater than I can bear. My punishment is greater than I can bear. Isn't that sad?
00:40:02
No, it's not a repentance at all. My punishment is greater than I can bear.
Now man comes to.
Nose Day and what happens? What happens with Nose day?
Manga was wicked, very wicked. What did God have to do? He sent a flood that only goes in New York. Were saved. What happens, my friend? But what did God do after the flood?
He put a rainbow in the sky and he said it's never going to happen again. This world is not going to be done by water. Think of it.
Then he turns. We go a little farther, go farther.
In Genesis.
Lots in Sodom.
Shouldn't have been there. He had a house there. He wasn't supposed to. All he was supposed to have was a tent and and umm, an altar. He had a house and saw him. He was trying to make make it better, make Sodom and Gomorrah better.
What happened?
God saw that the wickedness was terrible there.
God saw that the wickedness was terrible in that day.
What did he do after Lot was taken out of Sodom?
He sent fire fire from heaven. Sodom and Gomorrah were burnt.
And this is serious, serious brethren for each and everyone of us here this afternoon.
These two countries that were founded on the word of God.
Are going back to Sodom and Gomorrah.
It's not something I'm thinking about. It's true.
We go Thursday night.
When they got umm, they gave the ruling here in the state. One young man stood on a platform and he said welcome to all you sodomite. And what did we hear last night? Where the sodomites are going to go?
Into hell.
There was no rainbow at at at at Sodom. There was no rainbow. It's gonna happen again. And everyone that wants to be that way is if they don't accept the Lord as their savior, they're going to hell. And we can look in revelation, the sad case of people that we would maybe even sort of like look down a little bit on and they they they deserve to go to hell, we'll say. But you know something?
The head of that list is scary.
The fearful and the unbelieving leave that list.
The fearful and unbelieving are the ones like you.
To have all the knowledge of the Lord Jesus that you.
We'd rather go to the cinema tonight.
Then stay behind after a gospel meeting.
You the one that enjoys everything and you know all the answers.
Think about the fearful and unbelieving.
How terrible. How awful.
Were in sad days. I won't mention there was a case in Canada. Just happened.
For a dear Christian lady stood up for her, for her faith.
And uh, she's been very, very well reprimanded by our government.
For standing up, they say we don't want the Bible anymore.
Don't want the Bible. It's hate language. There's hate language in it. We don't want Bible. We don't want anything like that.
So I'm trying to put the word of God out, but it's been around longer than anyone of them have, and it's going to be here after they're gone too.
But you know, when I stood up here, I didn't want to stand up and.
Tell you all the sad news I could tell you about, even though it's true, I want to give you some good news, because this same book that tells all the bad ones, it tells some good news too.
And what is it? Turn over to Ephesians 6.
Ephesians 6.
Verse 13.
This is the good news. And this is not just for me as the speaker. This is for you, everyone that knows the Lord Jesus as your savior. This is for you. I'm not just talking about myself now. It's you. So if it's for you, listen.
00:45:12
Wherefore take on the uh six and 13.
Wherefore take on to you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, And having done all to stand, stand therefore, having your loins gird about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation.
And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. Watching your undo with all perseverance and suffocate, suffocation for All Saints.
How did you say put on the whole armor of God?
What would happen if you only put on 3/4 of it? Would that be good?
No. And you know, a rope.
A chain is as strong as its weakest point. How do I mean that? You can take the biggest change you want and have two chains together and put an elastic around them to hook them together. And what good is a strong, strong change? If you've got an elastic, they're broke apart.
So what it says here put on the whole armor of God. Don't put it on. Uh, half on.
And after you put it on, what do you do? You have to stand, And how are you to stand?
Go out and fight. Go out and fight. No. Are we supposed to go out and fight all these people and and and get everything right here? No. No. But we're supposed to stand.
On our knees, stand. On our knees. If you're in an army, where do you get your orders from?
You make up whatever you wanna go today, tomorrow or next week, you just decide you gotta go to the chief to the head.
That's where we got to go. You got to go to the head and he'll tell you what to do, where to go.
That's what we gotta do and it to stand. Think of it A at the the, the, the crucifixion of Jesus after the the people have done all the horrid, horrid, horrid things they could do. What did they do? They sat down and watched. How terrible.
They could sit down and watch the Savior die. They thought they were going to see it.
Make their heart feel better.
But when he was dealing with.
God vote our sins question.
I'm gonna say something. I said it last night to a brother.
You know.
You ask a person on the street.
How are you going to get to heaven? Oh, it's no problem. I'm going to have my good deeds and my bad deeds when I get to heaven, and God's going to take a look at them. And if the good ones outweigh the bad ones, I'm going to be all right. But if not, well.
You know, at 100 sins a day, if you're 50 years old, you only committed 1,825,000 cents.
It's a little bit heavy on one side.
What about my good deeds? What about them? What does God say? All my righteousnesses are filthy rags. What goods that gonna be?
How good is that going to be?
What do we gotta do?
There is an answer to that. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin, whether it's 1,000,200 or 5 million. The Lord's blood, the blood of Jesus will clean them if we'll only bow our heads and accept Him as our Savior. Now I want to put on the the the thing the armor put on the breastplate. No, put on, uh, the loins. Have your loins girded. Don't let anything into your stomach. That's not true.
Don't let anything in there. The devil wants to pump it up with all the things from hell, but he doesn't. Don't do it. Keep it clean. And then he says put on the breastplate of righteousness. What is the breastplate of righteousness? What they want to cover the breastplate. Cover your heart. Don't let the devil get into your heart. Keep it there.
00:50:20
And he says, put on shoes on your feet. Have your feet well, shod with the gospel. Go around and tell everybody, don't be mixed in the world. You know, You know what it's like out on the beach and all that. If you're going in bare feet, you get sand in your feet. You're Mexican with, uh, the world with with the the, the sand. But what happens if you.
Uh, put shoes on. It lists you above the world, you're not down in it, and you're giving out the gospel. Then what else does it say?
And you're to put on, uh take your shield of faith that you can protect yourself anywhere there's not other uh protection. And then it says put on the helmet of salvation. Why don't let the devil get into your head. Put on the helmet. Don't let him get into your head.
That's what happens. A lot of people that grow up in a meeting, they got head knowledge and the devil uses that. You need heart and knowledge from the Lord, from the Lord to carry on and.
Then it says you got to have the sword of the spirit, you got to fight. And fight what, with a dagger sword. No.
The Word of God.
Is anybody here to say, well, I know all, all the word of God, I don't need to learn anymore. Anybody want to stand up? Well, I hope they don't have to stand up because I am and I don't. I really don't believe that I know it all yet. How much more there is that we can learn. And if you think you know it all, somebody can come and give you another thought on the precious scriptures, that that's wonderful.
So what are we to do? Praying always with all prayer and supplication. That's what I said, where to stand. We're told to stand in the army. What? What good are the soldiers if they're all sitting down? They got to stand. Stand on our knees. It says here. Praying always with all prayer and supplication.
For all the Saints, the last part of it, for all the Saints, I'm gonna say something.
Yes, we pray for everybody, but how many of us take everybody in our assembly at home, in your closet? How many take everybody and pray for them?
It's it's it's startling thought. How many people pray Oh we pray. Oh yes no worries. Family and I I don't stand don't ever say I said that they're in problems but what about the people in your assembly and you know something if you're praying for somebody.
How can you be throwing stones at them? Because that's what the devil wants you to do, is throw stones at your brethren. And how can you throw stones at them if you're praying for them?
So, brethren, I've only said a few words, but I pray that what I've said will uplift us and that we'll fight because.
I'm sorry, we're we look back in Scripture and in the Dark Ages, some people had to go through some terrible things because they love the Lord Jesus and it's getting around.
That maybe before the Lord comes, if he doesn't come very, very soon, we are going to be crying, crying to go home.
The Gospel of Luke Chapter 7, as many people who speak normally say, I'm going to say also.
I speak to myself before speak it to me. I need to hear it more than most of you, if not all.
And verse 40 of Luke Chapter 7.
Jesus answering, said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee.
And Revelations chapter three or four? I don't remember. Let me check.
Jesus wants to speak to us. Hopefully we're all going to listen.
Hopefully I have the Lord's mind in this. I do believe so.
But I'm very weak, so please forgive me for the weakness.
00:55:02
Verse 20 Behold, I Stand at the door. Revelation Chapter 3.
And not if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him.
And the Gospel of John, chapter 21, we hear Jesus saying to Peter, Do you love me?
He sang to everyone here. Do you love me? If you don't know Jesus as your savior, He wants to be your savior. Let him in.
And you will have peace, everlasting life, forgiveness of sins, and so much more.
The Gospel of John, Chapter One.
It's wonderful to hear the the word of God.
Especially when you're anointed savior.
Can remember a couple of years ago I was, uh, taking the bus.
And many times during that day, that day I heard.
People talking to other people and saying do you love me? I think I heard that that saying three times in one day.
Another day I was reading a booklet. I think it's Hamilton Smith.
One thing, the title if I remember correctly, Speaking of at least one thing I I have desired.
I don't remember exactly what it is, but uh, I was in a coffee shop and I heard, uh, at least three times somebody saying one thing and kept repeating that thing, one thing. And that was just after I read, uh, that booklet. One thing, if my memory serves, serves me right.
Recently at Montreal, there's a certain word that came before my soul In my heart. I don't know exactly how to say it.
Many times these last few weeks and today and yesterday also.
That word is the Gospel of John.
But as many as received them in verse 12.
He received asked the word.
To them gave the power to become the sons of God.
He went to them that believed on his name, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld his glory, The glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, turn to the first epistle of John, Chapter 3, verse one. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.
Therefore the world knows us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, not are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be.
But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.
And verse 11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another not, as Cain was of that wicked one, and slew his brother, and wherefore slew him, because his own works were evil, and his brothers righteous. Verse 16 Here perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Verse 21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us, not, then have we confidence toward God. Whatsoever we ask, we receive as the word receive again of Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
So many.
Things I'd like to say, and I don't know exactly how, the first time I speak here, it might be the last, I don't know.
Welcome Matthew 18 verse 5.
And also in verse 4, Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the Kingdom of heaven, and whoso shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me.
So if you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, He's in your heart, as it were.
Uh, no. I don't know if I should say it that way.
01:00:00
OK, well, it wasn't. And and your heart is where when you accepted him. He'll never leave you. But sometimes we say we don't want you right now to rule over us. Maybe your savior. You may be our savior, but we sometimes we say we don't want you to be our Lord.
So he has to knock on our door again and say can I come in?
It's a blessed thing to say. Yes, Lord, come in, because we read in Two Corinthians.
Chapter 6, verse 16. One agreement at the temple of God with idols, for ye are the temple of the living God.
God, I said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God and their and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be separate, saith the Lord, And touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive You will be a father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
So as this has been said before, that every believer as God as their father.
But when you touch not the unclean thing, when you walk in the holiness separation, you can see that God is your Father. You can feel His loving kindness.
When we read in Psalm 24.
UH-25.
Verse 14 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them His covenant.
This is a little I believe I could be wrong, but it's like John the disciple Jesus loved John when he was leaning on his breast. He said Who is it Lord? And he told him.
So when we walk with the Lord, we hear him speak to us and say wonderful to hear his voice.
Like I said yesterday, today and these last few weeks, the word we see was before me. I thought maybe the Lord maybe wants me to speak about that.
I wasn't sure 'cause I'm one of the least of all things. I've failed many, many times and I'd like to say I'm sorry to those who know me and to uh, to those who I've met today, that, uh, I'm not very loving and very weak.
But I endeavor to please the Lord. And then He's a faithful God, merciful, and He restores our soul when we fail and when we turn back to Him.
I went to outside.
During lunch and I decided to stay with the Lord alone and to read and pray. And uh, I was sitting on a picnic table.
I looked at him on, I said maybe there's a because there was a lot of handwriting on the table. I said maybe there's something for me there. So I look in front and besides my right and I look to the left.
And lo and behold, the word received was there, wasn't it? It wasn't a great thing, what was written there, but it wasn't interesting, it said. If I wish for it, maybe I'll receive it.
If I get it, then maybe I'll believe.
Well, we know that's not the the way of God.
The Way of God is Matthew 21 verse 2221 and 22 of Matthew.
Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
There's another verse.
In James Chapter 4 verse 3.
Which many people know here.
Perhaps we can start at one or two. Let me see here.
I guess two you lost and if not, you kill and desire to have and cannot obtain the fight and war. Yet you have not because he has not yeast, and receive not because ye ask amiss that you may consume.
It upon your last the adult words, and says no ye not that the friendship of the world.
Is enmity with God. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world Is the enemy of God.
Do you think that the Scripture says in vain? The spirit that dwelleth in US lusteth to envy, but he giveth more grace? Wherefore, he says, God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble. Draw an eye to God, and he will draw an eye to you. Cleanse your hands. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
01:05:08
Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness.
Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord when you shall lift you up.
OK. Well the time is going fast and more thing to say about that, but look 7 hour.
How he was received in the house, but he wasn't very welcome there.
UMM didn't receive any water.
He didn't receive any kisses.
And so on. But someone in that house, well, who came after, had received the Lord Jesus as our Savior, and she knew what to do.
She kissed his feet and she wept. And so on. It's very beautiful, and this reminds us that it's so important.
Uh, to receive one another, to see that Jesus is an every believer and that that we have to love every St.
If we don't, we're not pleasing God.
We ought to kiss one another.
And so on. I don't want to take too much time here.
Well, I guess I'll send it here.
Before our precious Savior, and we thank Thee for the word of God that has been before us. It is a Searchlight into our hearts as we consider some of the things that we've had before us this afternoon. And we think of the root of bitterness that may lodge in our hearts, and the hands that may hang down on the feeble knees, and the pathway in which we may walk. And we just pray our blessed God and Father that as we've had before us in these scriptures too, that have been brought before us in connection with the heart.
And the way that we receive thee, that we may have hearts that are devoted for thee, that though we see weakness on every side, that there might be an earnest desire to go on for the.
To give you a warm reception, blessed Savior, to have a large place for thee in our hearts and for all Thy people, and that we may walk a right in these days We are in, as we have heard, a fierce battle, and we have not to go to war, but to stand for the truth of God. And we pray that we might have that diligence that we have had before us in Thy word, to fit ourselves for the battle, and not to be losers, but to go on for thee in this day of weakness.
And so we just thank thee for thy goodness and thy graciousness to us. We just pray that thou must take each one of these verses that have been read before us this afternoon and use them in blessing to our hearts that we may be a blessing to thy people. We just thank thee for this privilege of being in thy presence and our Savior's name. Amen.
Consider Him Well