Vestal Conference: 2009
Table of Contents
John 1:1-8
Holy Priests and the Service of Ministry
Rebekah Lead by the Spirit Home to Her Bridegroom
The Nourishment of the Body Through Its Members
John 1:9-15
Blind
Gospel—Paul House
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Hymn #26.
Can someone start it please?
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That's God's help.
Our loving God and our Father.
Tonight we would thank thee for thy beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank thee for the day that many of us have been able to have today.
To think about him.
To appreciate what he has done for us.
And now it's, uh, our opportunity, our God to once more.
Speak well of Thy Son and we just pray for help.
Help that we would be able to speak in a loving way, but to be faithful and to warn anyone in this room who doesn't know the Lord Jesus yet. And we just would pray, Lord Jesus, that thou encourage each one of us that are saved already as we reflect on the love that was shown by a holy God.
For sinners like us, we thank Thee that by looking to thee in faith, Lord Jesus.
We can have our sins forgiven, and we thank thee that there's a way to get to heaven, to leave this cold, poor, Dark World behind someday be in the presence of the Lord Jesus. Thank thee for this opportunity now to be together. Thank thee for the privilege to talk about the Lord Jesus Christ, and we pray in his precious name, Amen.
I was impressed today with.
The Lord Jesus.
But he would love me enough.
To become a man.
And to go to the cross and to give his life, and to shed his blood so that I could go to heaven.
So that my sins could be removed forever.
And then I can have a future beyond this world.
Tonight I have the privilege to speak about the Lord Jesus, the man who died for me, who loved me.
Before I ever was. We had that in the meeting this morning.
And tonight, I wanna just focus our attention a little bit on this.
#26 that we just sung together. We're not going to talk about the hymn and what it says right now.
But this hymn was given out earlier in the day by an old brother who's sitting up there on the front row. And I was impressed by that brother because he had a love for souls.
He had a love for your soul if you're not saved.
Many times this brother in the meeting brought the meeting around to the point that if there was somebody here that's not a believer in the Lord Jesus, that you would be today.
Today is your opportunity. Right now, we don't know what's coming in this world. We saw the planes going over today. We know what that means. People can't get along and there's strife. And in this country, we don't see machine guns on every corner. But there are some countries where that's the way it is. This world is not a very nice place for many people to live in. You know, the end is near. Not just. I mean, we can see that. We can see how fragile the systems of this world are.
But you know, the Lord hasn't promised.
Any of us, health and life forever in this world.
No, it's about a year ago my dad had a stroke.
And now he's like this all the time. He's in a wheelchair all the time. Thankfully he knows the Lord Jesus as his savior, but he's in a hospital where there's hundreds of people.
That have the same troubles. It may be they have Parkinson's and they've had a stroke and the list goes on from there. But there's people that are suffering in that hospital that's one city in one country. There's a lot of people that have troubles. What about you tonight? Maybe you're sitting there and you're in good health and everything is going well for you in this world.
00:10:03
But what about when you got a leaf? Are you ready to go?
Is there a place prepared for you personally by the Lord Jesus's finished work on the cross?
You know, we try to go to see my dad regularly. You know, it's tough to go in there.
It's hard to go down the rows past the rooms and see the people all bent up one problem after another after another, to see their loved ones that are visiting them and the sorrow on their faces. No hope.
You know my dad can't talk.
Very well. He can say my name, he can say Carrie's name, he can say Tommy's name, probably my brother and James and Darren and some of the other grandchildren that he has.
But there's people that come to my dad's room residents.
And I asked my dad to pray for them.
And I can't explain that, but it happens. They know he's a believer. He can't talk, but they ask him to pray.
You know, sometimes the Lord allows sorrows and troubles in our life to get our attention.
Is there somebody here tonight?
You're not listening to the Lord Jesus.
You'd be glad if it was 730 and I was done, or if I finished earlier, you'd be happier.
Then I'm talking to you if you're saying, yeah, that's how I feel.
This hymn that we had tonight.
It says there's light and a look at the crucified one. The Lord Jesus Christ can give you life tonight.
You know, it tells us that we are dead in trespasses and sins. Before we know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we're dead in trespasses and sins. Are you dead tonight? You say no, I'm here, I'm alive. Are you before a holy God? Are you dead? Are you dead in your trespasses and sins? There's life tonight by looking.
At the Lord Jesus. But you know what? It's the Lord Jesus, the crucified one, because he died for me. That's why I can stand here tonight. Not because I'm better than anyone. I'm a Sinner. But I asked Jesus to take my sins away. I confessed my sins before him.
And he washed me clean.
His precious blood. There's life and a look at the crucified one. I apologize to anyone in the room that certainly speak on this lately. I spoke on it just a few weeks ago at the retirement home. I wanna speak tonight about a man that could not see. One of my favorite chapters in all the Bible because there was a time in my life when I could not see.
Now.
I could see with these eyes.
But I couldn't see with my spiritual eyes. I saw no beauty in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I didn't love him. I didn't care what he wanted for my life. I left him out on purpose.
There's somebody like that here tonight. You're leaving the Lord Jesus out of your life on purpose.
Sad.
Terrible and I would warn you that you are on your way to hell if you leave him out of your life. He's the only one that can take you to heaven. You know, there's many times at the retirement home that we speak at.
When we present the Lord Jesus as the answer.
For people that are about to leave this world and don't know where they're going.
Do you know how many people plan for their whole life? They go to public school, they go to high school, they go to university, they plan their careers, they work hard, they get a home, they get cars, whatever. They have a family. They plan for their retirement. They invest their money on and on and on. But they don't think about the day they gotta leave here. And you know what? The retirement home, there's people that are 70s, eighties, 90s.
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Some even near 100 and you know some of them have never prepared. What does the word of God tell us? Prepare to meet by God, your Maker, the one who made you. You didn't just happen. No, I don't believe that God made me. I'm answerable to him and so are you.
Now we're going to talk about a man that was born blind. But before we turn to John Chapter 9.
I want to think about the air show today.
You know, we could hear those airplanes.
Going around this area.
But you know what? I think everybody here could see them too.
And I think we take for granted a lot of the time that we can see.
I really do.
You know, just think of the people in your family, your friends, what you had for supper tonight. You could see what the chicken looked like. You could taste it. Yeah, but you could see it. You could see the color of the potatoes, the gravy, the beans, the carrots. You could see.
You could see those airplanes.
You could see nature and what God has made.
But let's just try to imagine for a minute if you couldn't see.
Be terrible.
I can't imagine what it'll be like if I never seen my wife before, if I'd never seen any of my kids.
If I didn't know what a lake looked like.
Or a squirrel. Or you pick it if you can't see. How do you relate?
John 9.
We'll read the chapter.
John Chapter 9 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth, and his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin? This man or his parents said He was born blind. Jesus answered, Neither, neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but at the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me. While it is day, the night cometh when no man can work.
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle, And he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go wash in the pool of Siloam.
Which is by interpretation sent. He went his way therefore and washed and came, seeing the neighbors therefore. And they that which before had seen him that was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and baked? Some said, This is He, others said, He is like Him. But he said, I am. He therefore said they unto him, How are thine eyes open? He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus.
Made clay and anointed my noise, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam and wash. And I went and washed, and I received sight. Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not. They brought to the Pharisees him that a wartime was blind, and it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the claim. Opened his eyes. Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed and due see.
Therefore, said some of the Pharisees, this man is not of God because he keepeth not the Sabbath day. Others said, how can a man that is a Sinner do such miracles?
And there was a division among them, they say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet. But the Jews did not believe concerning him that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight. And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, whom ye say was born blind? How then does he now see?
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His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our Son, and that he was born blind, but by what means he now seeth we know not, or who hath opened his eyes we know not. He is of age. Ask him he shall speak for himself. These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews. For the Jews had already agreed, had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.
Therefore said as parents, he is of age, ask him then again, call they the man that was blind, and said unto him.
Give God the praise. We know that this man is a Sinner. He answered and said, Whether he be a Sinner or no, I know not one thing. I know that whereas I was blind, now I see. Then said they unto him again, What did he to thee? How open he thine eyes? He answered them, I have told you already, and he did not hear. Wherefore would you hear it again? Will you also be His disciples? Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple, but we are Moses disciples.
We know that God spake unto Moses, As for this fellow we know not from whence he is. The man answered and said unto them, Why herein as a marvelous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners. But if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since the world began, was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind?
If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.
They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and thus thou teach us.
And they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him out. And when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.
And he said, Lord, I believe, and he worshiped him. And Jesus said, For judgment, I am coming to this world, that they which see not might see, and they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, If ye were blind, you should have no sin. But now you say, we see.
Therefore.
Your sin remaineth.
A brother in the meeting today mentioned that the book of John was perhaps the last book of the Bible.
That was written.
Historically.
That was a nice thought to me.
I guess I was thinking about it this way.
I try to speak reverently.
God was writing His Word.
This was the last thing he wanted to go over in detail for us to really get it.
So he told us a number of stories that we could relate to and understand, and they're simple and straightforward. You can't miss it.
This is.
One of the chapters in John's Gospel that has been used by the Holy Spirit to bring many people to the Lord Jesus to be able to see with their spiritual eyes. Now, I said at the beginning that there was a time in my life when I was blind spiritually. And if you don't know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, tonight you are too. And our desire and prayer is that you would be able to see.
The Lord Jesus for who he is, the Savior, the Son of God who came into this world a perfect man and gave his life, shed his blood so that you could have your sins forgiven by simply trusting in Him. That's all I did.
I remember getting down beside the bed in my bedroom. I don't know how old I was. I can't tell you what day it was, but I remember doing it and I really meant it, right from the bottom of my heart. And I asked the Lord Jesus to wash away my sins. Have you ever done that?
Now you say, well, why are you telling me about when you got saved? Because I want you to get saved if you're not yet.
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And it's not tough.
This requires you to own that you've sent, and then you need the Lord Jesus as your Savior.
Won't you do it now? You don't have to make a fancy prayer. You just have to tell the Lord Jesus that you need Him and that you want Him to clean you. Give you a new heart with desires to please Him.
Let's talk for a moment now about the blind man.
The Lord has allowed me in my life to have some adversity.
Some sorrows, some troubles. Any of you are aware of that?
It's been a help to me in this way.
That often we're very quick.
To say, oh, I know why that happened.
Or oh, that happened to so and so I know why that happened.
Gotta be very careful.
These men said, Who did sin, this man or his parents?
That he was born blind. They gave the Lord two options. Either this man sinned or his parents sinned. Which one Lord? Lord said you're completely wrong.
Neither.
How could the little boy who was born blind be like I've done something terribly wrong? He wasn't even born yet. When he was, he was. When he was born, he was blind.
The Lord Jesus had something to accomplish in this man's life, in the life of the parents, and in my life and in yours. And that's why this man was born blind.
There's many reasons why the Lord allows things in our lives.
Now for the children.
Those of us who are young at heart.
I wanna think about what happened that day to this man.
Here he is a grown man.
A beggar.
You know we have beggars near us.
Every time I go to see my dad in the hospital.
I go down the Queen's Way and I get off at Bronson Ave. in Ottawa and I go north.
And there's a long straight stretch before the stoplight at the bottom of the off ramp.
And there's a man that stands on that corner with a Tim horton's cup that's empty and a sign.
And he's asking for money.
He's begging. This man was a Baker, but he had an excuse.
The man that's begging in Ottawa, on that corner, he can walk, he can see, he can communicate, but he's a beggar. I don't know what his circumstances are and I feel sorry for him, but this man was a beggar because he couldn't work, He couldn't see. He had to beg because that was how he lived. He relied on the kindness of other people to help him.
He was a beggar. Wanna ask you?
Would you like to be a beggar? Would you like to sit there, the side of the road with a cup or a can or something that you couldn't even see, and wait for people to drop something in the can and the only way you would know is if you heard a rattle in the can because you couldn't see?
So then the Lord Jesus comes that day. I love this story. Lord Jesus comes. The Lord Jesus was the only person that could make this man better. And you know, the Lord Jesus is the only one that can make you better. You say, well, I'm not sick. Yeah, you are. If you're not sick, not safe, you're sick. You're sick bad, sick enough to go to hell. You say, well, I'm not that sick. Yes, you are. If you die in your sins, you're gonna go to hell.
It's as simple as that based on this book.
Now let's picture.
A little bit more, it says here.
In verse 6, Lord Jesus it says He spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the eyes of the man of the blind man with the clay.
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Now, I don't know who's got mud in their eyes before, but I've had mud in my eyes. OK, that's what this is. This is mud.
No, we used to go to Redo Ferry a lot. That's where we live now. But when I was a kid, we went to ride a ferry and we had all kinds of fights, you know, like kids on rafts. We had mud fight. We had all kinds of football games. We had great times. But there was times when we got mud in our eyes. You know how much that hurts.
That kills.
It's terrible. The Lord Jesus took mud clay, and he put that into the eyes of this blind man.
You know what reminds me of a story in the Old Testament when God was going to send fire from heaven and consume an offering that Elijah was making on behalf for the people's sins, I guess. And he commanded that there would be water that would be poured on the offering, and then they poured more water on the offering.
And then when the fire came from heaven and consumed that offering, there was no question.
As to where the fire came from.
So this man, now he's got this mud in his eyes.
The Lord Jesus says you need to go to the pool of Siloam and you gotta wash.
Lord Jesus.
Can I put it? Can I say it this way?
Would an eye surgeon today, before he did his operation, fill the eyes of his patient with Sam?
No.
But the Lord Jesus, the proof, his infinite power.
If I can use it, He proved who he was by what he did. Now we know that this is a picture of the weakness of the flesh. You know we're made out of dust as humans.
But this man, he obeys God, and he goes and he washes in the pool. And what happens? It says.
In verse seven he came seeing.
Now I have never had this experience before where I couldn't see with my eyes.
And God gave me my sight. But I'm going to tell you a little story, and I'm sorry to tell you about me again, but it's one that I remember very well. In our meeting back home when I was a boy, there were four sections. And my parents sat where Mr. Stewart is right now. And I sat about where Josh is. And across where Mr. Sikora is over here, there was an old brother called Gordon Gray. Dear old brother.
And you know, I remember when I.
Tried to get my driver's license, I failed because I couldn't see good enough.
I had no idea. I, I thought I could see fine, but when I did the test they said, umm, can you see anything? I'm like, yeah, everything's fine. They said, well, you can't drive until you get glasses, go get glasses and then come back. So I got glasses. But then the next day or two, I went to meeting and I was sitting where Josh is and I could see Mr. Gray for the first time. It was great.
I can't imagine this poor blind man. He'd never been able to see anything.
The Lord Jesus put the mud in his eyes. He goes, and he obeys what the Lord told him to do, and he comes back and he could see.
I It's amazing.
Now I'm gonna tell you another little thing that happened.
When I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior, there was a change that happened inside of Maine.
I can't explain it, but it happened. There was a change in my life.
And you know what I'm talking about for you who belong to the Lord Jesus out there.
It's a wonderful change when we get a new life from God. There's nothing like it, but you can't explain it to anybody else.
But it's real.
If you've never been able to see spiritually, you don't know what I'm talking about. But you know when you get saved and ask the Lord Jesus to be your Savior. The wonderful experience.
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You know, it's such a treat. Some of the old folks come to the Lord Jesus, where we go with Mr. Judd.
To see them crying.
Right at the end of their life, so thankful that they belong to the Lord Jesus. Now what about you young people here? Many of you have had the opportunity to come to meeting your whole life and you haven't got saved yet. How come?
The Lord wants you, He loves you, He died for you, and you're saying Nah, not for me.
But he wants you. Tonight is your opportunity. Don't be blind anymore.
Gain eternal life tonight from the Lord Jesus. He wants to give it to you.
A new life. He wants to fill you with His Holy Spirit.
The privilege to be a Christian.
We saw that today. He gave us the privilege.
Now let's go on a little further here.
You know the Lord Jesus, when he was here as a perfect man, he had opposition from those who were the religious authorities at the time.
You know there's.
Sort of like that a little bit now, isn't it?
I'll tell you a little story.
Umm, there's a lady at the retirement home that just passed away.
Mid 90s.
When she was 92, and I've said this before, she told me that she didn't want to come to the Lord Jesus because she wanted to have fun.
92 years old in a wheelchair.
Many times she was prayed for in the assembly at home.
Many times by many brothers. I'm sure many sisters prayed for her much too.
Probably 2 months ago.
One of the young people, they told me this, went to see this lady.
I asked her.
Better so.
This lady said this.
She said get the blank out of here and don't you ever come back.
And I'm not gonna say what the blank was.
That Lady tonight is in eternity.
I do not know where, but she had the opportunity to come to the Lord Jesus.
How about with you?
Is that what you're saying?
Paul, be quiet. I don't want to hear about the Lord Jesus. I've heard about him enough.
Tonight may be your last opportunity.
You know, I think that when that young person went to see that Lady, God was giving her one more chance.
This is the last chance for you. Maybe tonight. Are you gonna say get out of here and don't ever come back?
My point is this.
In the newspaper.
Announcing her death.
She was gonna have a Christian burial.
I can't explain it. Someone who rejected the Lord Jesus, as far as I know to the end of her life, who said get out of my room and never come back. Don't talk to me about him again. He's going to have a Christian burial. Hello.
And I would say hello to you tonight if you're saying get out of my life, I don't want to be saved. Do you understand what that means? Go to hell.
When I saw that lady's picture in the paper, it made me weep.
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But I'll tell you something else about that Lady.
Few years before that we had an older man in the retirement home. They came quite often. I went to his room and got him many, many times and took him back.
I don't think he ever accepted the Lord Jesus as his savior either.
From what I could tell, the way he acted and talked to me and he grieved me many times and I couldn't believe it when I read this lady's death notice.
She was the sister of that guy.
They both were given opportunities.
The brother didn't want the Lord, and neither did the sister.
There's somebody like that.
There's somebody in your family, you know they're not saved either and you're not, and you're kind of making each other feel good about it.
You need the Lord Jesus tonight. Come to Him that He may open your blind eyes.
To be able to see beauty in him.
No, this story is kind of pathetic.
You know the parents of this man.
The Jews go to them and they say, is this your son, and was he really blind from birth?
You know they were wishy washy.
They were afraid of what others would think. Is that you tonight?
You know, I remember this when I was a boy.
We had there was a faithful gospel preacher. He said this and I'll never forget it. He said your friends can laugh you into hell, but they can't laugh you out.
I never forgot it.
What are you thinking about? If you're rejecting the Lord Jesus, why, When he died for you and he wants you and he's willing to take you to the most beautiful place that God could make, speaking reverently to heaven, and you're saying I don't want it? How come?
What's the reason?
Is it your friends? I don't know what reason would be good enough. There isn't any.
But you have one. If you haven't come to the Lord Jesus yet, what is it?
You don't have to tell me.
But someday you will stand before God. And then?
And then are you gonna be sorry?
But it'll be too late.
Now let's go down a little bit in the in the chapter.
The Jews were rejectors of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He was perfect. He did these amazing miracles they could not do.
They hated him without a 'cause they envied him, and they would not accept.
When he did something like this and they kept questioning the man as to like well how did he make you be able to see by putting mud in your they couldn't get it. What a testimony to the power of the Lord Jesus. He could take a man, put mud in his eyes and be for him to be able to see.
You know there's a verse.
In Psalm 146 and the eighth verse says this says the Lord openeth the eyes of the blind.
You know, there's prophecies in the book of Isaiah that talk about.
A prophet.
Being sent by God, that could open the eyes of the blind. And you know, these Pharisees and religious leaders, they prided themselves in knowing the Old Testament better than anybody else. Why didn't they know those verses? And when the Lord Jesus opened the eyes of this man, why didn't they accept who he was?
Unbelief.
In the goodness of the heart of God, I would ask you tonight, why don't you believe?
You know, many people here have been at the Gospel meeting many, many times. You've heard people speak faithfully from different portions all over the Word of God. Why don't you believe?
00:45:09
Why have you never come to the Lord Jesus? I trust everyone has tonight.
Trust that there won't be one left behind. But you know, I was impressed on me this morning. It was impressed on me that there may be there's somebody here that isn't safe yet.
You know, this your old brother up here, like I think he said it like four or five times.
Why do you think the Lord gave him to the discernment to know that you're not saved? I think so.
So get saved now.
Stop pretending, stop trying to fool everybody. Just come to the Lord Jesus, Have Him as your Savior.
And then tell somebody.
Confess him as your Lord.
Let's go down a little further in the chapter.
You know, we read those verses 31 and 30 and 3132, but you know, this man is used by God to give a tremendous testimony to these religious authorities, you know.
He makes it so clear.
It's never happened before.
No one's ever cured or made a blind man be able to see. It's like you guys need to get it.
And they didn't get it.
Is there somebody like that here tonight? You don't get it.
You don't recognize before God how awful your sins really are and how much He really loves you.
They cast him out.
Of the synagogue. They made him an outcast, treated him like he was just a useless Sinner that they didn't want to have anything to do with.
What a tragedy.
But it says in verse 35, Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
We're going to talk about the rest of the verse in a minute, but I love what it says here.
When he had found him.
You know tonight the Lord Jesus is looking for you.
He wants to find you.
Are you willing to open your heart to him?
Just come to him just as you are.
He'll save you.
When he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
You know, we've had lots about the Son of God today.
You know, I just love to sit.
And listen in the reading meetings, what a treat to hear this wonderful truth of who the Lord Jesus is, how he came from heaven, how he became a man, how he was born to a virgin. How like can't explain how that would happen, but it did.
And the wonders of his creation, a brother brought out how he sustains.
Everything by the word of his power.
That's my Lord and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm sure there's many in the room that rejoiced as I heard these words and you heard these words, but was there somebody here and you don't believe in the Son of God?
Could it be that you've come to reading, meeting your whole life and you don't believe yet?
Tonight, you can.
Just ask, it's that simple. Come to the Lord Jesus, He'll save you.
Verse 36 He answered and said, Who is he Lord, that I might believe on him?
Lord, I think that's part of the problem.
You know, there's a lot of people they don't want to have a Lord.
Is that you?
It's wonderful to have a Lord.
I remember this one guy that I went through school with.
And I beat him on a test and he said to me, he said, you know, it's not fair.
Because you can pray to the Lord and He helps you.
I said, well, you can come to the Lord too, and then you can pray and get help. He wouldn't.
00:50:06
But it's wonderful to have a Lord direction.
Stability.
Someone who cares for us every day.
He wants to be your Lord too.
That I might believe on Him. Our desire is that you'd believe tonight. You believe that the Lord Jesus died on that cross and He shed his precious blood for you personally. What you believe tonight?
Won't you believe?
To me, verse 30.
Seven is one of the most beautiful verses in the whole Bible.
I want to think about this first. You remember this man? This was the first day that he could see.
He lived his whole life as a banker.
Hoping to hear the little coins rattling in his tin.
He'd never been able to see the wonders of God's creation like you and I have.
He gets cast out of the synagogue like a sin. Just a Sinner they don't want to have anything to do with.
The Lord Jesus finds him, the Lord Jesus reveals now who he is to him, and it says here thou hast both seen him. This man could see for the first time that day, and who does he get to see?
The Son of God, the Lord Jesus, is standing there in front of him.
He says, Who is he, Lord? Thou has both seen him, he could see.
And it says, It is he that talketh with thee.
Tonight, the Holy Spirit of God is striving for your soul.
And if you hear a little voice knocking on your heart's door, that is the absolute goodness of God calling you one more time to have your sins forgiven. Don't say no. Come to the Lord Jesus. Believe.
You'll open your eyes, your spiritual eyes. He will give you a new life. He will fill you with His Holy Spirit. You will be a happy boy, a happy man, a happy girl.
A happy lady. You know, in Acts chapter 8, it ends by saying that that Ethiopian eunuch, he went on his way rejoicing. That is our desire for you, that your heart would be filled with the joy that we have those of us who belong to the Lord Jesus.
Verse 38 And he said, Lord, I believe, and he worshipped him.
What a privilege know if the Lord Jesus leaves us here.
Many of us.
We'll remember the Lord Jesus in his death.
You know, there's some people here.
Who have never responded yet.
It's a wonderful thing.
To worship the Lord.
When we think of what he's done for us.
How he gave his life, how he suffered, it's a wonderful thing.
Thank you to adore him, to reverence him, to honor him in a world that doesn't want him.
We have another minute.
The last three verses of this chapter.
I do not understand very well.
But I want to convey a thought.
That, I think is right from these verses.
And that is that the religious leaders who claimed to know the word of God at this time, who rejected the Lord Jesus.
They were blind.
The man that they cast out and they said he was a sinful man. They didn't want to have anything to do with him. He could see.
00:55:00
I love this chapter.
I trust there's nobody in this room tonight.
We could see what they're naturalized. You can see with their natural eyes, but cannot see beauty in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know what we sang at the beginning? There's life.
In a look at the crucified one, the Lord Jesus Christ, will you accept him tonight as your personal Savior? Let's pray.
Our God and our loving Father, tonight we would like to thank Thee so much for my beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The man.
Who died for us?
We pray for anyone in this room who cannot say this, who does not know where they will be when they leave this world.
We pray, Lord Jesus.
That there may be somebody here tonight who would believe, who would accept thee as their savior.
Be able to go on their way rejoicing.
We thank Thee, Lord Jesus, for that great gift.
The gift of love by life without its gift. And now we dishonor thee and thank thee, Lord Jesus, the eternal, spotless Son of God, And we pray in thy worthy and precious name, Lord Jesus, Amen.
Meekness
Children—Francois Leger
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.
Maybe we could start our Sunday school time by singing a few hymns.
Now who would like to choose the first one?
Do we have some volunteer?
Yes.
Which number?
#4.
Christ is the Savior of sinners. Christ is a Savior for me.
Long I was chained, and since darkness. Now by his grace I am free. Can someone raise a tune please?
And.
Save my my glass and breathe me. Merthyr's the savior for me.
Save your concern.
Save your own standards like me.
Shedding his blood for my random.
Now there is no condemnation.
This is a failure for me.
ANS.
Neurons and there's like a.
Blood for my grandson.
This is a figure for me.
Love with a lot that's unchanged.
Sagittarius one for my grandson.
This is the savior for me.
Suppose we have time for another one. Yes.
#39.
Uh, British name to die in prayer.
00:05:32
No, no, no. OK.
And it is a lot of large impression.
Well, we'll find out. Stolen Center.
The Lord Jesus is a wonderful Savior.
And he's a wonderful friend.
Let's pray.
Our God and Father would like to thank you for this time that we can have together, opening your word.
And learning about the Lord Jesus.
About this great salvation that He offers. Well, Father, we just come before you now and ask for your blessing. Upon your word, the name of Christ, we pray.
You know, it was so pleasant to be here yesterday afternoon and to consider the Lord Jesus.
In the Gospel of John, to see his beauty, his glory.
And you know.
I was thinking about the character of the Lord Jesus.
As a meek one. So today we will talk a bit about meekness.
And here we have an ice plant here.
It's a Lily and I'd like to baptize it. Meekness.
So we're going to call it today meekness.
And we'll come back to it a little bit later. But first of all.
We will look at the Lord Jesus as a person with meek. Let's turn to the Gospel of John chapter 6.
And verse 14.
That's the Gospel of John chapter 6.
And verse 14.
Now, before we read the word.
We're talking about meekness here.
I have a definition for meekness that would say.
It's a character of a person who will not insist on his own right.
A person will not insist on his own right? So uh, we will read umm John chapter 6 and verse verse 14 and 15.
Than those men when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did.
This is of a truth, that prophet that should come into the world. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king, he departed again to a mountain, himself alone.
You know, this is after the multiplication of the bread and some of the people they said, Oh my, this is the prophet. This is the Messiah.
We should, we should make him king now. We'll have bread all the time. You know he will provide for us if we wonderful.
00:10:00
The Messiah has arrived.
So when the Lord perceived that.
What he did, he just went alone to a mountain.
You know the government of this world will belong to the Lord Jesus one day.
But it was not the time, so the Lord Jesus did not insist.
On his right as to be the king.
It just went alone. It was not the time. First of all, they had to go to the cross.
In order for you and me to be saved.
Let's turn to another scripture now, in Chapter 7 and verse 53.
I guess we'll read 52 also.
No, reverse it. It is said here verse 53, and every man went on to his own house. And verse verse one of chapter 8, Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.
You know, in this chapter we see that Jesus is the temple.
And the artists richest people that are arguing with him.
And this is a chapter where Jesus said, you know, if any mentors, let him come unto me and drink.
So after that day of long discussion, these people, there they go, everyone to his own house.
And you know, when you come into your own house at night, maybe you have your own slippers there and your favorite chair, and you have your own bed.
But for the Lord.
Where did he go? He went to the Mount of Olives.
He had no place to rest his head. You know, he had created the whole world. You know, sometimes we we sing. It was a homeless stranger in the world he had made.
You know, last night it was very pleasant to be at the Henson.
But you know, it was cold.
Uh, I didn't have a long sleeve last night.
Oh my. I was very happy to stay inside, you know?
But for the Lord Jesus, I'm sure there were many Knights.
When he was outside in the cold.
You know, in Israel it could be cold at night also sometimes.
You know the Lord could have snapped the finger.
And have a big blanket, you know, and I have big house, you know, no.
You went to sleep there on the mountain.
Let's turn to another scripture now in the Gospel of John again, chapter 8.
And verse 48.
Then answer the Jews, and said unto him.
Save we not well that thou heart a Samaritan, and as a devil Jesus censored. I have not a devil, but I honor my father, and ye do dishonor me.
You know, these, these people, they, they try to put the Lord Jesus down.
And they said to him, you're US American. You were trying to despise him.
The Lord answered.
I have not a devil, but I honor my father.
You know, when it was an attack to himself.
It was on repetition.
You know, you could have said, well, no, no, I you know, I was born in Israel, here, my parents are Jews. Why do you say that? No. No.
It did not defend his own right.
We are so much unlike the Lord Jesus, you know.
Or sometime if somebody will say something against us, we'll try to to defend ourselves. We try to win.
But the Lord Jesus was not like that.
It was the IT was the meek one meek.
He says I am big and lowly in heart.
Beautiful character of the Lord Jesus, but you know you would say to them.
I honor my Father, so it would bring honor to God. It would bring honor to His Father.
Perfect life of the Lord Jesus. Let's turn now to another scripture and again the Gospel of John chapter 18.
You know the Lord Jesus is in the garden again. It's beautiful to see the Lord a few times in the garden, the Gospel of John.
00:15:03
There are different gardens there, but just beautiful to see. The Lord is that the garden that gets him any there and they come to arrest him.
So the.
There are people coming there with lanterns at night and the soldier come to to capture him. And uh, we read in verse 4, Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and said unto them, Umm Sikhi, they answer him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said unto them, I am he. And Jesus also betrayed him, stood with them as soon then as he said.
Unto them I am.
He they went backward and fell to the ground.
Then as, then again.
Whom seek ye, and they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
You know, by one word the Lord just said the soldier fell down.
You know, he could have said, well, you have no reason to arrest me. I did nothing wrong.
No, no, He just said one word and they all fell out. You know the power of the Lord Jesus.
Incredible. You know, in Luke the Lord says to Peter, didn't you know, Peter, that I could have called?
My father and he would have sent me 12 legions of angels.
Now it was good in math. Here it would seem like if an allegion would have about 3000 to 5000 soldiers.
Now 3000 * 12 here. How many does it make?
Who has the answer here? In the front row? Yes.
Thank you, Thank you. Now I have a harder one now for maybe older young people.
You know we read in the book of a chronicle in chapter 1929.1 Angel slew 85,000 people.
Now 36,000 by 85,000.
We'll give you time to calculate now.
You know the power of the Lord Jesus Christ had at his disposal there.
He did not insist on his own right.
He committed himself to him that judges righteously.
What a beautiful character of the Lord Jesus.
Now let's turn to another one in chapter 19 and verse 4.
The Lord is before Pilate.
Pilate therefore went forth again, and said unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that you may know that I find no fault in him.
Then came Jesus Fort, wearing the crown of thorn and the purple robe, and powered unto them, Behold the man.
You know, they brought Pilate, brought the Lord Jesus.
In front of the people said, behold a man.
What struck me here is that.
You know the Lord Jesus Christ again.
Could have called the father and he would have been delivered from this situation.
But we read in on the gospel that he opened not his mouth.
It was led as a sheet.
The.
You know Pilates said them to him. Don't you know I have power over you, to release you or to crucify you? The Lord said You have no power, if it came, can come from God.
You know the government of the world would be on the shoulder of the Lord Jesus one day.
And this man here, Pilot started. He has power over the Lord Jesus. But the Lord did not insist.
On his own right, it was. It was a big one.
Now you see, we have seen now the Lord Jesus. A perfect example.
But let's come today to the ground here.
You know, in our lives we must say that.
We don't know much about that.
We often want to fight for our own rights.
We must win.
00:20:02
And sometimes, you know, instead of being meek.
We become bitter sometimes we.
We defend so much our own right that it turns bad. Have another plant here.
Where is Francis?
I'm sure Francis would recognize that one here.
It's a Poison Ivy.
What a contrast between the two.
It's not good to touch that one.
And my wife told me that if you touch it and you rub your eyes, you may lose your sight.
So, uh.
We'll be busy with that one.
It's it's, I think it's more beautiful and it's less dangerous.
But you know, Poison Ivy reminds me of bitterness.
Bitterness is a poison.
And we will consider bitterness a little bit as a contrast, as a contrast.
We're going to turn to a verse in Hebrew chapter 12.
And verse 5.
Now it's verse 15. Sorry, uh, Hebrew 12/15.
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God.
Last, any route of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.
So we are encouraged there not to lock up the grace of God, because otherwise.
There will be some roots of bitterness, just like this plant here, Poison Ivy.
And you don't want that in your garden.
Admire the courage of the brother who brought it to me this morning at the risk of being infected.
But uh, you know, bitterness is not good.
We're going to turn to an example of the Old Testament.
Concerning these two contrast here, let's turn to the Book of Judges.
Chapter 8.
Excuse me, can you run with the cord?
Good. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
OK, Judges Chapter 8, we're going to talk about Gideon.
You know the story about Gideon, how that the Lord brought a wonderful victory? Travidian, Gideon.
It started with a 22,000 man and the Lord reduced it to 10,000 and then to 300.
And the Lord wrought a big victory.
You know, they had this, the Lantern and the trumpet, and at night they blew the trumpet and.
They broke the, uh, the Lantern. The light came out anyway, so we know that Midianites fled. They killed one another.
And then after that Gideon sent a different tribes to capture the rest of the people. But in chapter 8.
We will see there an example of bitterness.
An example of meekness. So let's start with verse one. And a man of Ephraim said unto him, Why as thou served? Why as thou served us, doth thou call us? Dost not when thou wentest?
To fight with the Midianites. And they did chide with him sharply.
And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison with you? It's not the gleaning of the grapes of Abraham better than the vintage of Ibiza.
God had delivered into your your hands, the Prince of Midian. Oh, Reb and Ziab, and what about and what was I able to do in caparism with you of you? Then their anger was abated toward him when he had said that.
You see, now you have Ephraim coming and say hey.
What have you done to her?
They were, he was really mad. He was from, they were better. Why didn't you call us to fight with the Midianite? You know they wanted to have the 1St place.
00:25:08
You know, in Proverbs it says that contention comes by pride.
Now what is the middle letter of the word pride?
Yes.
Hi, that's the root of many problems in our life I.
So here Ephraim is proud, Here I want to be first.
And you know one thing? Gideon said. Well.
You're glaring me. Look, what have I done? You want to capture the Prince? You know, like you're great people.
You know, Gideon was a humble person. He was a meek person. He did not insist on his own way. He could have said, well, the Lord told me to take 300 men. You know, it's not me, it's the Lord. No, it just took a low profile.
Now we're going to do something here. I want these five young men here to go on the other side, please.
And we're going to pull the cord here.
I'm in good shape this morning. I had a good breakfast.
No, I wouldn't need a a rafter. I need someone with Greer. I think I'm called David could do it for me.
Could you come home collaborate please?
You can stand there, please.
You can hold the core voice.
It's got a little closer.
You feel strong voice.
Hey, come a little closer. Come, come, come here.
OK, now.
No, you'd be a fair judge, OK.
Just a minute now. Just a minute now.
OK, just a minute.
Whoa, just a minute now.
OK, now.
It's just not goes this way. Understand the rule now and this one is to go the other way. OK now.
You know what you have to do, boys? Hey.
Let's go.
Oh my. OK, OK, come back.
Come back.
Thank you, Uncle David.
Now.
Who won?
One Uncle David, thank you.
You know, in the argument that we have here with Ephraim and Gideon, who won, you know, Ibrahim came a big number of people there and they pulled on the court. Do you know what?
See what Gideon did? He just let the rope go.
You said I won't fight with these people, I'll just let them win.
And you know.
I believe that Gideon won. I admit I have lost guys here.
But in the story we have here, I believe Gideon won. You won the battle.
You won the battle with a millionaire, but you won the battle with Ephraim also.
By being just like the Lord Jesus, not insisting on his own right.
Now.
You know.
Couple weeks ago we were uh.
In the country there and there was a trampoline and there were some young people playing on the trampoline and, and the rule is that there should be only one at the time. You know, we need almost a secret di secret security guard all the time there because soon enough there's two or three jumping in the same time. And then I would come and say 01 at a time and then you would hear it's my turn. No, it's my turn. Does it happen with you sometime, guys? Yes.
Everybody's insisting on his own, right? It's my turn. And then they start. Oh my.
Can turn bad sometimes.
And that's human nature.
But you know, Gideon was not like that. So you want to go, go.
00:30:04
Now let's turn to another situation when you have two person.
Who are better? Better Like, you know, very sad.
And, uh, we don't see meekness and it's, it's not very nice. Let's turn to the Book of Judges.
In chapter 12.
Again, the people of Ephraim now come to Jeste, or just out here.
And the men of Jesta gathered themselves together.
And went northward and said on to Jephthah, wherefore passed out over to fight against the children of Amman.
And it did not call us to go with thee. We will burn thine house upon thee with fire.
You know, it would seem like if Ephraim now does not judge their bad attitude in front of that meekness, but things are getting worse now.
They go through Ephraim many years after and they said to him, hey, what have you done to us now? Now you're in trouble Now, Jeff, we're going to we're going to burn your house and you're going to burn yourself. We're going to burn yourself also, so you know.
You know that little plant here?
If we let it grow, it would be bad.
Don't make babies and it will be everywhere.
And you know.
We see here that umm.
Ephraim is not getting better.
Getting worse, but you know, Jesse said. Helen Hallway. I'm gonna pull the cord. Also, you won't win. And sure enough, that time Jeff won.
And you know, sad to say, but 40,042 Thousand people died from Ephraim in that civil war.
Who won?
It was a big loss for the people of God. Big loss. You know, when there is a strife, very often nobody wins. Nobody wins. It's very sad. The Lord is dishonored above all.
And it's it's not good.
You know.
If we were to.
To look at this table here.
And say like this is my soul here.
In my garden.
I think that this plan doesn't belong there.
We should let that plant grow alone.
But some time in our lives we let bitterness come in.
And it's not good.
Do you have a hard feeling against somebody?
Well, sometimes we say, well, I.
I don't have our feeling at.
I'm not hungry, I just want to get even.
Oh, so good.
The Lord wants to get out the root of bitterness in our lives so that they would be meekness, they would be grace.
Now I need the two volunteers here.
Yes, come here.
You missed it there.
I need another one. Yes, yes, come.
You may sit here.
Now I have two $0.25 here, OK.
I'd like you to present your right hand.
I want you to hold it very tight. Tight.
Four My, my, the time is flying here.
For maybe 5 minutes but.
OK, can you do it? OK, we're watching you, eh?
OK.
We'll come back to you shortly.
So we said that, you know, bitterness is not good. It's not good to have that in our garden. What we need is, is meekness. Now let's turn to a verse in umm.
In Colossian.
00:35:04
Verse three, chapter 3. I'm sorry, in verse 13.
Forbearing one another and forgiving one another. And if any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, ye also ye also do ye.
You know, if there is a reason of bitterness, reason of being having a quarrel with somebody, the Lord says here, or you know, like the Holy Spirit by Peter would say.
You just forgive.
Just forgive.
And you might say, how can I forget? It hurt me. Well, we read here.
Why should I forgive even as Christ forgave you? How much did the Lord Jesus Christ forgive you?
It may be that there is someone here, a child.
Or maybe somebody a bit older you could say.
Keep that grudge and I wanna get rid of it, but I have a hard time. Could it be because you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior?
It could very well be that if you can't forgive, it may be that you don't realize the forgiveness that you have received from Christ and He is offering to you.
Oh my friend.
Open your heart to the Lord Jesus.
Let him take away that bitterness out of your heart.
You know, when Jesus was on the cross, they took a sponge there with vinegar, and they presented to him to his mouth.
Could you give your bitterness to the Lord?
He will take it from you. It will bring you meekness and joy in your heart.
Forgiveness.
It does that into my life when I was 1717 years old.
Most beautiful day of my life. You know, I read a biography a couple years ago about Ben Carson. He's, uh, he's, he's a brain surgeon in the, in the States.
A man who has been a blessing to many in the medical field. And, uh, you know, the story of Ben Carson is very interesting. When he was a young boy, he was a very bitter boy, very bitter boy.
He would get mad and.
But at some point, you know, he turned to Christ and he got saved, and the Lord delivered him from his bitterness.
There may be some Christians here, young people Christian and young adult two and.
And we realize that now bitterness is no good. We want meekness.
But it's hard. It doesn't come naturally.
There is a verse that is a big encouragement as far as Christian graces are concerned. Let's turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter 3.
And verse 18.
Are you still holding it tight?
Alpine.
You know, show me that you're.
Thank you.
2nd Corinthian because you're working hard, eh? But you'll be recompensed. Oh yes.
Chapter 3. Verse 18.
But we all with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, our change into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord you know what it means. As we are occupied with the Lord Jesus, as we, as we consider him, as we think of him, as we talk to Him, as we praise Him.
Our life will change.
You know.
From a better person, we can become big person.
But you know.
There are some days in our lives when whoop, bitterness must have come out. Why? Is it because sometimes we don't look to the Lord? Some days, you know, it happens to me sometime and I'm humbled about that. I get impatient about something and I realize, no, that's not right. And I turn to the Lord, you know, and I said, Lord, you're the meek one, you know?
00:40:12
I'm missing out on something.
But the Lord is gracious, always ready to restore, to encourage, and to remove those roots. Sometimes, you know, it could be that you're better against someone who said something wrong to you, maybe against your parents.
Over something that happened or.
Maybe an older brother in the assembly that said something one day they didn't like, I don't know.
But you know, I look at those boys there, they're holding it very, very tight. They have a $0.25 on their hands and they're holding it very tight.
You know, actually I think I want to give it to you that $0.25.
Would you accept it?
Sure. OK, it's yours. OK now.
I want to offer you something here.
I have a dollar.
Would you drop it?
And take it.
It's your choice.
This one no, no, no with the writer. Don't try to be tricky now.
This is yours now, it's $0.25 is yours, but I'm offering you $1.00 if you want to drop it and leave it there.
What do you choose?
Hey.
What do you want to do?
I'm offering you $1.00 if you drop that $0.25 there on the ground.
Now how many $0.25 are there in the dollar?
For my.
Sutton.
What do you do?
Pardon me, you hold it.
My.
I'm making good business here.
What would you do?
Hey, Timmy, what would you do? You would drive, Sure.
Well, listen, if you drop it, you have four times the amount.
It's yours now.
What do you do?
OK, what's your name?
What do you do?
Pardon me, You want to keep just a minute now? Just a minute.
Our time is almost Oh my, it won't be long.
We try to convince that boy to make a good deal here.
Which argument shall we find here?
How much you have on your on your hand now?
Is it better than the $0.25?
If you go to the dollar store, will you get something with that?
If you go with $0.25 at the dollar store, will you get something?
So what do you choose?
Just a minute, what do you want to hear about that?
I think I could be a good salesman, eh?
You made a good choice guys.
You know when we forgive. You know what we do? We release.
We release the Lord has so much more than a dollar to give this to us. But you know what we do sometimes we keep a grudge and we hold it and we don't want to let it go. But the Lord said, hey, come on, drop it. Have something so much better for you. You did a good choice, boy. I think it's great. No, no, no, no. You leave it there. You don't even look at it.
It's no more yours. You dropped it.
So in our lives, you know, that's the way it goes sometimes.
We need just to forgive, to release it.
Then the Lord can fill our hearts with His love and His good. But as long as we keep a grudge, the Lord cannot fill our hearts with His spirit. The Lord will have to show to us to confess it.
00:45:00
Now I will just conclude with a last verse.
In the Songs of Solomon.
Chapter 2 and verse 16.
My beloved is mine, and I am his. He sees it among the lilies.
You know, the Lord said in Luke 12.
You know it was a common flower.
The Lord says, you know, even Solomon was not dressed in all.
No, it was not dressed like one of these. You know the Lord is showing that the wonders of His creation.
But the Lord.
It says here.
He feed it among the lilies, you know.
The Lord.
Doesn't feed.
Among the bitterness.
No.
But with what is a character of humility, of meekness, the Lord delights.
So to enjoy the company of the Lord in our lives.
Let us judge bitterness.
Let us appreciate the Lord Jesus Christ as the meek one.
And we'll be happy Christians. God the Father will be glorified. And you know.
There will be a witness for the Lord. There is a lady that worked with us.
And you know, one day.
I was talking with the secretary and I.
About the Lord and.
And then that that Lady came and she said.
Are you at the same religion as Francois? She said yes.
She never talked a word, but that Lady is so kind. Her name is Muriel. She's so meek. She's she's ready to help everybody. And you know, she had heard from me the message of secretary, but she had seen it in the life of Muriel. And I believe that there is a powerful testimony when we let the Lord live his life in US.
Even for children, you know, because I understand this meeting is addressed for children.
So may the Lord help, help each one of us that in the garden of our soul there will be a flower of meekness. Let's pray.
O our God and Father, again we thank you for your precious word. We thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect one, the meek one.
Oh, Father, give us to be occupied with him. Give us to love him.
Following.
So that father.
You would be glorified, there would be happiness in our lives and it would radiate around and would be witness for you.
We ask his Father name of Christ, Amen.
Sufferings That We as a People of God Have to Pass Through
Warning Against Criticism of Worship
John 1:15-51
Reading
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Our God and our Father, we look up to these. We would have this last reading before us now. And I, precious word open once again.
To, uh, receive what thou let's have for our souls from this wonderful gospel of John in this first chapter. And we, uh, thank you for the subject of it, the Lord Jesus Christ, uh, God manifest in flesh here in this scene, fully displaying all, uh, the heart of God, all his nature, all his character here below. And so he.
Come before thee.
Ravens, Spirit of God might, uh, guide and direct us and, and, uh, all of our thoughts and that our holy meditation of thy beloved Son might be that which produces fruit in our hearts, that which thou dost desire in the hearts of thy people. And that might draw us closer to the one who loved us and gave himself for us.
Lord Jesus, we thank thee to.
Uh, to to know that Thou art in the midst of two or three gathered to Thy precious name, and Thou dost have the blessing of thy Saints upon thy heart. And so we, uh, just pray that thou just unfold to us that which Thou is set for us, Thy precious and worthy name. Amen.
1St UH-15 perhaps?
To the end, OK.
John, chapter one, verse 15.
John bare witness to him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake he that cometh after me, as preferred before me, for He was before me, and of His fullness have all we received, and grace. For grace for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
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And he confessed, and denied not, but confessed I am not the Christ.
And they asked him, What then art thou, Elias? And he said, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who? Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us, What sayest thou thyself? And he said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. And they which resent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptize us, thou them? And if.
Thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet. John answered them, saying, I baptize with water, but there standeth one among you whom ye know not. He it is who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoes latched I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethlehem, Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and Seth, behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
This is he of whom I said, After me cometh the man which is preferred before me, for He was before me, and I knew him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore am I come baptizing with water.
And John Bear records saying, I saw the spirit descending from heaven like a dove.
And it abode upon him, and I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me upon whom?
Thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him. The same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
And I saw on bare record that this is the Son of God. Again, the next day after John stood and two of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
Then Jesus turned and saw them following, and Seth unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, which is to say, being interpreted, Master, where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came, and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day.
For it was about the 10th hour. One of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah which is being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jonah. Thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation a stone. The day following, Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and set unto him, Follow me.
Now Philip was the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip find it Nathaniel, and set unto him. We have found him of whom Moses and the law and the prophets did right, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
And Nathaniel said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?
Philip said unto him, Come and see.
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and set up Seth up him. Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.
Nathaniel said unto him, Whence Noah saw me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, When thou was under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathaniel answered and said, Seth unto him, Rabbi.
Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believeth thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you hereafter.
You shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
Very great uh, testimony and witness for the Lord Jesus raised up especially of God, to uh, forerunner of uh, import.
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Set aside from his berth filled with the Holy Ghost and.
Faithful witness for the Lord Jesus.
Faith wavered at the end.
All of us would would have acted, would have displayed the same weakness, but the Lord spoke highly of him. Of those that are born among women, there hath not a risen of greater than John the Baptist.
But his baptism here was unto repentance.
The nation of Israel. It was not Christian baptism.
John could only point forward to the coming of the Messiah.
He could, uh, uh, direct the faith of the, of the godly remnant in Israel to the coming of the Messiah, but he could not give the assurance of salvation as we have. The baptism of John was, uh, to show that there were souls that were really waiting for the Messiah and, uh.
Conscious of their sins.
Baptism, George is gone. Bring the believers unto Christian ground. Or is John the Baptist part of the Church of God?
Very bright testimony.
Occupy the place a friend of the bridegroom in that coming day.
Not as part of the bride.
So, uh.
He always exalts Christ and humbles himself. He must increase. I must decrease.
So John always hid himself and pointed to his Lord.
Uh, and directed the faith of others to him.
The crowd said of John. John did no miracle.
And it's true he didn't and he didn't, uh, need to perform any miracles, wasn't given to perform any miracles as a proof of his, uh, prophetic utterances, because the Lord immediately appeared on the scene. So there was no proof needed of what he pronounced was coming. There he was, behold the Lamb of God. And so he was not needed, but he really culminated that great line of profits that began with.
Samuel, uh, who was raised up of God in the day that Israel culminated their sin of that, uh, started in the wilderness. They said, give us a captain and take us back to Egypt. It culminated in demanding a king and God raised up Samuel. So from Samuel, all the prophets that spoke after him, there's a great line of prophets that pointed on to the true king. Samuel anointed David, a type of, uh, that coming king, a man after God's own heart and.
John the Baptist is the Word culminated that in announcing, uh, the appearance of one bill.
Stop.
John could speak of the fulfillment of a promise, but he could not point the people to a finished work as we can do now. We look back to a work that has been completed.
To God's glory in the sacrifice has been made. We have peace with God now through, uh, the finished work of Calvary. But John could not give a message of that character. But he was a very faithful witness to the Messiah and there was a revelation given to him. This is the Messiah. I knew him not, but he that he should be made manifest to Israel, uh, he saw the Spirit of God descending from heaven like a dog.
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Upon the Lord Jesus, the Spirit of God had been hovering over this world for 4000 years, could uh, it was only, uh, ruined and uh, and corruption everywhere. There was no place that the dove could find, uh, a place to uh, alight.
Rest for the sole of its foot, but here, when John recognized who was before him.
He sent one of the Father, and he saw the Spirit of God descending and a lighting on the Lord Jesus.
Without any sacrifice.
Umm, you'll notice in the Old Testament.
That first of all the the blood was put on the individual and then the oil was put on top of it. The Spirit of God only abides in US, which is in picture the oil being applied to the individual. He only abides in us because of the sacrifice of Christ and the precious blood that was shed. But in the Lord there was no need for that. There was no need for a sacrifice. There was no sin in Him.
So here the Spirit of God who had been waiting for someone to, uh, to, uh, to see someone whom he could find complacency and delight in for 4000 years and had never found an individual was able now to alight on the Lord Jesus back to people say, well, you don't have the Trinity any place in the Bible, but there's the Trinity right there, uh, Matthew chapter 3.
The Spirit of God comes down as a dove and the lights on Christ, and you have the voice of the Father from heaven, and the Lord is being baptized. There's the Trinity right there. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
So John points souls to that person.
He uh.
Yeah, it does. He does not exalt himself.
We're having the inauguration of the dispensation of Grace now. It's, uh.
It's beginning in the manifestation of the Lord Jesus.
Uh, that whole testing under the law for.
Several thousands years only brought out the, uh, the enmity of man. There was no fruit there. But here the Lord comes displaying, uh, the heart of God. Grace and truth are met together, righteousness and peace of kissed each other. How can you reconcile those two things? I'm a Sinner. The truth of God condemns me, shows me my ruined condition.
But in Christ we have the.
The fullness of God's grace, uh, revealed that God is not demanding something from me anymore. I can't. I don't have anything to offer, uh.
The old nature cannot keep the law, and the new nature doesn't need a law. So here we have the inauguration of a completely new character of dealing with man, no longer demanding something from him that has improved under law, and man has exhibited himself as a complete failure. But God says, now I'm coming out in grace to you. I'm bringing something to you.
And providing something for your deep need. Uh, bankrupt sinners aren't asked to do anything for salvation. And so the law was given by Moses, the fiery law from Mount Sinai. It made them tremble and makes us tremble. But here the Lord didn't come in that character. He came displaying grace, mercy, compassion, which is the nature of God doesn't mean that God's nature.
Change at all doesn't mean that he compromised, compromised his, his character, no, But here was one that the grace of God, the heart of God was going to be revealed and the way was going to be opened. That one who had, uh, broken the law so grievously could be brought into God's presence and, uh, fitted to have fellowship with, uh.
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The eternal God.
Verse 18 says No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared.
That phrase he hath declared him, is that the same thought as he has, uh, manifested him, is that the same thought he had declared him? He hath made him known.
It's beautiful, isn't it? Doesn't say which came from the bosom of the Father, but it says in the bosom of the father.
Never left God's heart.
So that's the, that's the character of the.
Of the uh, declaration then too, as one who was uh.
Ever in the father's bosom, he declares him and uh, what would you expect of that declaration that comes right from the father's bosom There he is there and that closest place and he's saying, this is what I'm going to tell you about the father. It's not a declaration from a distance, but a declaration of one who is in the closest intimate relationship and love in the bosom of the father. And that's.
How he's made him known and declared him to us that we might know him in that same way.
We were brought into that relationship with children in the same gospel, aren't we? So we're in the very same relationship toward God as Christ is. This was never known in the Old Testament. They had no knowledge of such intimacy, such nearness to God. God was at a distance in the darkness and, uh, His power was manifested, but they did not know His heart. Now we know the heart of God and we are also in relationship.
To God I ascend, unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God. What a marvelous, uh, intimacy we, we can enjoy as children of God in the family, which is the, uh, the subject of John's writings.
I kind of, uh, connects brother with what's, uh, brother Roberts brought out the other day about uh, to them, gave he the right, uh, to become the children of God.
Which were born the the point is, is those who were born of God, now that the sun has come and, and, uh, revealed the father, they put their trust in him and they come into.
And open and acknowledge the known relationship as God's children, though they were born of God before that relationship was not known in that way. Who were born past tense. It's not that they believed in God born again. That's not the the thought, it's who were born.
They put their trust in him and now they came into that open and acknowledged relationship that they could not have known before.
You find the same in the Apostle Paul. He goes lower and lower in his own estimation.
Till he says I am nothing. So you see this the same character in John the Baptist, only a voice crying in the wilderness.
Uh.
Yeah, there's no exalting of himself at all here. Uh.
And that is true greatness problem with us. We want to have a place in the reputation and be recognized. But here the Lord he went down to the lowest place, himself and Paul.
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Says I'm least lesser than the least of All Saints.
It goes right down to the very bottom and we see the same beautiful humility.
Uh manifest in the uh.
The Baptist here. Humility is not thinking about how bad we are. It's not thinking about ourselves at all.
We're not worth, uh, thinking about. We, uh, we need to have our eyes outside of ourselves on the person of our blessed Lord Jesus.
I guess we've all noticed that the word behold, the words behold the Lamb of God appeared twice here in this chapter, verse 29, behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. And then down to verse 36, behold the Lamb of God looking upon Jesus as he walked. He said behold the Lamb of God.
Well, there's, there is a difference in those two, uh, expressions. I believe in the first instance in verse 29, the Baptist, uh.
Sees Jesus coming unto him.
And he knew who it was. He says, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is more occupied with the work that the Lord would accomplish to put away sin, not only our sins, but uh, the sin of the world. Because this whole scene has been corrupted, contaminated by sin. The heavens are unclean in God's sight.
And the world has been vitiated and ruined by sin. Uh, what's what's the solution to it? Environmentally? In every way, sin has wrought havoc in this world. Who's gonna put things right?
That's the subject of Revelation 5. Who can open the book, the book of God's counsels and bring to pass to fruition the setting right, of everything in this world? It's in this, it's in a state of, uh.
Alienation from God.
And the corruption and violence. But who's going to put it right? It's not by man's genius, man's politics or peace accords or anything of that nature. It's going to be put right through the work of the Lord on the cross. Sin is going to be removed, every trace of it from this whole creation that is groaning because of the sin of man. Animals suffer because of the sin of man.
Men and women are in suffering and.
Sorrow and sickness and weakness and infirmity, it's all because of sin.
The whole world is a is a sepulchre, but the Lord is going to put things right.
He's gonna take away the sin of the world in the Millennium in large measure. The outward effect of sin will be removed. Not entirely. There will still be those who will rebel during the Millennium. They'll but there'll be no toleration of evil then. God impatience allows evil to go on now. Not that He is indifferent to it, but this is not the day that He is openly manifesting His, His Kingdom and His glory.
And his judgments that not at the present time, it's the day of grace, but, uh, sin is going to be put away. And in the Millennium, in large measure, the effects of the curse will be removed. But it's all a result of the Lamb of God and his work. When it's the Lamb of God, it's always the thought of sacrifice. Our brother referred to it this morning, I think in Genesis 22.
And Isaac said to his father.
Father, where is the Lamb for the burnt offering? Well, there was 4000 years or 3000 years passed before there was the answer to that question, and here is the answer to it. Here, Here is the Lamb for the burnt offering. And that worked not only meets our deep need, but it also glorifies God and puts away lays the foundation for the new heavens and the new earth, when every trace of sin will be obliterated from this creation.
And there will be no more sorrow or.
A a trace of sin in the in the new heavens and the new earth and it's all a result of the work of Christ from the cross. But then coming down to verse 37 to 36, we see here John.
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Uh, it also makes the same remark. Behold the Lamb of God. But it's not now in relation to His work. It's now in relation to His person. He's just contemplating the Lord Jesus as he walked.
And he, his heart is, shall we say, uh, enraptured with the person of the Lord Jesus. And it's just a, uh, involuntary expression, you might say.
Spontaneous expression. Behold the Lamb of God. He had his eyes upon Christ as he walked, and his life down here his soul was occupied.
With the person of the Lord Jesus. So should we be Lord's Day morning and also throughout the week.
It's interesting in those two.
Uh, declarations of John that it's the second one that's connected with the two disciples and turning and following the Lord. The second one's the breathing of his heart. And they just picked up on that and they said, oh, that's what we want too. And they followed after the Lord.
And that was the purpose of John's ministry, wasn't it?
I'd like to look at a verse in the book of Hebrews.
And umm Hebrews chapter 2.
Just to show how beautifully.
John the Baptist really wanted to take any attention at all off of himself in In Hebrews chapter 2 we have the Spirit of God.
Umm, having the apostle write these words in umm, in verse 5, front of the angels happy, not put into subjection the world to come wherever we speak, but one in a certain place testified saying, What is man without mindful of him, The Son of man, that thou biddest visiteth him. Now the apostle well knew who that one in a certain place was. He could have said, you know, David says in the song.
But he doesn't do that. He doesn't want any attention put on the day that whatsoever. He wants all the attention to be on the Lord. So he just says, you know, want a certain place says and he, he, he quotes from the songs here. Well, I just mentioned that to show what John the Baptist does in the chapter that we have before. He does exactly the same thing. Let's look at it in umm, in chapter one.
We have in 19th verse it says this is the record of June when the Jews sent priests and Levi's in Jerusalem to ask him, who art thou? So they asked this question, Who art thou? Now first of all he answers in five words, then he answers in three words, then answers in one word. And so we have here in the 21St I am not the Christ 5 words. And so they pursue this. They said, what art thou? Art thou a lion? And his ministry was so close to Elijah's that they they said to him, you know, are you Elias? Elijah was, was, was occupied with seeking to bring the people of God.
He wanted only the focus to be on the Lord Jesus, and I just enjoy that spirit of John the Baptist that we see all through. His ministry was totally to show who that one was that was to come.
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I gotta ask a question. It's really struck me here. I've never noticed this before, but I think they were expecting, you know, John, the Pap just came in the ministry of Elijah as the one to introduce, introduce the Messiah, right? There was supposed to be this one crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord and to introduce.
The Messiah. And I guess they're they were expecting a king, right?
And, uh, and he introduces him and says, behold the Lamb. And would that have been in their concept from, from the Old Testament that he would introduce the Lamb of God? I would think they would be expecting him to introduce their great king.
But he says behold the lamb and I don't. They don't seem to be surprised by that, but I am. Maybe someone hasn't thought about that.
Ethiopian eunuch says this prophet speak of himself or some other.
There's a shape before her shears is dumb, so he opened not his mouth, but there an axe where it's quoted.
You just have to turn to it, uh.
That chapter 8.
Chapter 8 and verse 32 in the place of the scripture where he read was this He was led as the sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb.
Dumb before a sheer so opened he not his mouth.
So perhaps there from that.
That scripture they ought to have been expecting the Lamb of God.
Right, they ought to have been.
It seems the, uh, the Jews, the Pharisees, the chief priests, they were, they were waiting for a deliverer from captivity to Rome and uh.
No thought about the fact that they needed their sins cleansed, that they needed a lamb.
Uh, to be sacrificed for them?
It's interesting that word lamb appears twice in John in our chapter, and then there in Acts 8, and then one other time in, in, uh, Peter, uh, a lamb without blemish and without spot. And you don't get the word lamb again until Revelation. But it's a different word and revelation than what you have in these other 4 occurrences.
In Revelation, it means a little lamb. It's a diminutive form. Or a lamb can.
Something very small, you know, just like a baby lamp and the rest of the, uh, scriptures that, uh, those four occurrences, it's something more full grown. And the, the thought of it is it's the, the land that fulfilled all the Old Testament types of, uh, given to us of sacrifice from the Passover and from Genesis 22, God will provide himself a lamb. Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice.
And so on.
And so it's that Lamb who was offered and sacrificed to God, wholly satisfying God. And that's especially John's Gospel, but as well, uh, bearing our judgment.
When you get to Revelation, it's a little lamb and it's in contrast with what Revelation takes up as to the earth, the beasts of the earth, especially the, the Gentile beast. But there's also, uh, the Antichrist pictured as the beast, the beasts of the earth and the little lamb in heaven. And he appears there as a lamb that had been slain. Now it's not slain in the sense of.
Uh, the Passover lamp that they took out and slew, or if you brought a burnt offering and laid your head on the, on the head of that, uh, lamb, and then slew it and the priest would take it and offer it. Not in that sense slain.
But slain by the beasts of the earth. And what's going to happen in Revelation? The Lamb is coming back.
Guess what, that lamb that you hung on the cross and slew, he's coming back until you get the wrath of the lamp. It's the same word, lampkin. It seems like they wouldn't go together, a lampkin and rat, but that's the thought of it. It's not the Passover lamb sacrificed so much, uh, for us, umm, as it is that holy sufferer that, uh, was persecuted by the beasts of the earth and hung on a cross.
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And now God is going to, uh, bring vengeance upon this earth because of how they treated his Son. And so that's why he appears as the Lamb, which had been slain. There is the evidence the earth is guilty. Look at the Lamb. He's been slain and they made their furrows long upon his back, and God has not forgotten it. He's going to bring this world in judgment because of it. So there's two different ways, the word lamb.
Is used in the scripture. One's unique to Revelation, the other we find in those other 4 instances.
That's true. Uh, it's just Steven that, uh, you know, I've often done it myself is apply that verse in, uh, Revelation 5 to the, uh, toning sufferings of Christ. But what you have given is precisely correct. It's not the Lord there in, uh, in suffering and atonement, but it's what man has done to Christ that is the dominant, uh, subject there.
A llamas that had been slain and the the grounds for God's judgment, uh, the treatment that they gave to his beloved Son, the Lamb of God.
And yet they do worship him as the Redeemer there. Yes, redeem to God by thy blood out of every kindred tongue and nation. And again, those redeemed to God by thy blood are the tribulation Saints, the Saints in heaven are singing about.
Uh, the lamb and actually those redeemed there in that verse nine out of every kindred tongue and people and nation are the tribulation Saints and, uh.
In verse eight of Revelation 5, the odors which are the prayers of Saints are also.
The prayers of the suffering tribulation Saints as well. So it does touch on, uh, the, uh, effect of the sacrifice, but it's not really the, the subject in itself. It's in a certain sense on the side that.
But I wouldn't want that to take away the enjoyment of that scripture as we remember the Lord and we've often read those portions in Revelation. Umm, I still think that, uh, they have their application and for the enjoyment of our hearts in that way.
Well, the circumstances of the Lord's death is all part of his work, isn't it? What he suffered from in, in, uh, you know, the first three hours, maybe the young people.
Are not always clear about this, but the first three hours of the Lord's work on the cross were not in atonement. But we remember the whole work on Lord's Day morning, what he endured from the hand of man, although that was not in atonement.
It it showed the heart of of man and it showed the marvelous grace of the Lord. The second three hours were the hours of darkness were in atonement. And there we have the Lord as the Lamb of God, the sacrifice.
Bearing the judgment for us.
In between these two declarations of the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God, uh, just enjoyed, uh, part of the preparation that umm, that John used here in connection with introducing just who the Lord was. And so in verse 33, we have, I knew him not, but he that is sent, sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, unto whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same as he which baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Now we know that there, we don't know who it was that heard these things. We know that in the, uh, in the 35th verse, uh, prior to the next declaration of, umm, of John saying, behold, the Lamb of God, there's, there were two of his disciples there. The first recorded words that we have of the Lord Jesus to anyone was to Andrew. But here we find this, this, umm, this, uh, statement that John makes that shows that, umm, what he's introducing is different than what we have in, in Old Testament times. And so in Old Testament times, we have the Spirit of God was coming and going.
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And that happened through an Old Testament times. It came on someone that perhaps left him, then it came on him and left him. But now he introduces something that's different here. And so he says here, if hard way through the 33rd verse, upon whom thou shalt see the spirit descending and remaining on him.
Now that's a different character than what we have the Spirit of God through it the Old Testament time. So he introduces the Lord Jesus that that way as the Spirit of God coming like a duck and remaining on him something they haven't seen before.
It's very much anticipated in this verse, isn't it, David? Because these baptism of the Holy Spirit had not taken place, of course, at this point in time, nor did it take place during the Lord's life on earth, the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Only took place on the Lord's.
Resurrection and His ascension to the glory. Then at Pentecost, when the Spirit of God was sent down by an ascended Christ, filling the house and filling the believers.
And uniting them together into one body. I have a a bowl here with 120 beads.
I can pick them out and they're individual individuals in that bowl, so to speak. But if a girl comes along and puts a thread, takes a thread and puts all of those beads onto the thread, puts it together and ties it, she has a necklace. It's the same beads. But now they are united in a in a union that they didn't know before, they didn't exhibit before. So the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
An awful lot of wrong doctrine going around about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It does not take place now. It took place at Pentecost once and for all. It is not repeated. It is collective. There might have been a second installment to it in the time of Cornelius.
But it was all part of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and now we are not baptized.
Again, into the body of Christ. That's not correct. We are added to the body of Christ. The body of Christ has been formed at Pentecost. The baptism of the Holy Spirit spoken of in verse 33 took place at that time and it's not repeated. It's never individual, It's always collective.
And uh.
It's not something that it is is occurring today. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit and in that way we are brought into the body of Christ. We're not baptized into the body of Christ. That's not a scriptural expression.
I just mentioned those few things because there's an awful lot of error around in evangelical Christen Christendom about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Is that right, Steve? Yeah. Nor, nor was the Lord's baptism by water in Jordan the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
He received the Holy Spirit, and it says him hath God the Father sealed. And so we too, when the Spirit of God indwells us on receiving the gospel of our salvation, we're sealed with the Spirit.
That baptism took place once, as you say, at Pentecost.
But he received the Spirit twice.
Umm, here at, at Jordan, and then again, uh, Peter says that Pentecost, that, that, uh, being ascended to God's right hand, he hasn't received a well, I'd better turn back and quote it because I'm not going to be able to, umm, Acts chapter 2.
Verse 33. Wherefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, hath he shed forth this which ye now see and hear? So he received the Spirit of God here at Jordan, because of the purity and spotlessness of his Person.
But when he was exalted at God's right hand, it was as the consequence of his finished work, and we could be then indwelled by the Spirit of God as well because of the consequence of that finished work.
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This is the anointing of the Spirit in view of the Lord's public ministry beginning the anointing of the Spirit here in the case of the Lord Jesus was for power in his public ministry. Every act in his pathway down here was in the power of the Spirit of God, and he was stepping forth now into his public ministry, uh, among the, among the nation.
The Lord, when he spoke to the disciples, he related the baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to public ministry as well, right?
He said don't go out, you remain until you're endued with power from on high. That was for ministry, so it was the same.
But there's no indwelling of the Holy Spirit in John's Gospel. It's foretold of the coming of the Spirit of God. In fact, there is no indwelling of the Holy Spirit at all before Pentecost. And there will be no indwelling of the Spirit of God among the remnant during the tribulation period. After the rapture in the church is taken from this world, the Spirit of God will go as well. And as David mentioned, he will continue to work coming upon people saving a godly remnant during the Millennium.
All the work of God will still be by the Holy Spirit, but He will not be indwelling.
The believers at that time, as he is indwelling us on our, uh, confession of faith and the in the finished work of Christ, then we are, uh, sealed by the Spirit. He is the earnest of our inheritance. We're anointed and, uh.
He is indwelling the believer to reveal to us the things of Christ to make to make them precious to us.
Maybe we could look at the account that we have before us in Matthew's Gospel just to hear the commendation of the Father in Matthew's Gospel chapter 3.
It's umm instructive to read the chapter, but we'll just maybe read from verse 13. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized at him. But John forbade him, saying, I need to be baptized of thee, and cometh thou to me.
Jesus answering, said unto him, Suffer it be so now, for thus it become all righteousness. And he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway under the water, and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Enjoy two brother Dave when you go to the next chapter. The indwelling of the Spirit of God and the Lord Jesus Christ there at the Jordan commenced his public ministry. The very first words you get from the Lord are.
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Had a wonderful commencement to the ministry of the Lord Jesus.
The father's words and the words of the Son, beautiful together.
Our time is going here, and we.
Should make some comments on the latter part of the chapter before the end of the meeting. Umm, it's a beautiful example here of being attracted to the Lord, uh, and uh, a good example for us in our testimony for the Lord, uh.
Here we, uh, we find uh.
These words then Jesus turned and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They say unto him, Rabbi, where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came, and saw where he dwelt and abode within the that day, where it was about the 10th hour.
They spent about two hours with the Lord in fellowship. That's a searching question. What seek ye for each one of us.
00:55:05
What is our object in life? What are we living for? Well, they said they wanted to be in the presence of the Lord, and they were invited to come. They came and spent those hours with the Lord, where he dwelt wherever that was. Umm. And one of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. First find his own brother Simon, and Seth unto him. We have found the Messiah which is being interpreted to Christ, and he brought him to Jesus.
I guess our brother David could, uh, give us some, uh, nice thoughts on this passage because he's been speaking on the disciples. But the thought that I had was.
It was. There was nothing official here. There was nothing, uh.
Shall I say.
That was routine. It was simply a, uh, response to the person of Christ. Uh, their hearts were filled and no one told them to go. They, uh, they wanted someone else to hear the good news. They wanted to share. Like these that have found honey. They go out and tell their fellows where it is.
So they wanted others to be brought into this blessing. And if we are really in the enjoyment of what Christ has done for us, we want others to be brought in and it won't be hard to witness. Uh, sometimes we live at a distance from the Lord and, uh, we're not ready when the opportunities arise. But, uh, here he just spoke of Christ and it, uh, LED, uh, Simon Peter, that great apostle to the Lord's feet.
That right, David?
You know, I I enjoy the umm.
The question here that umm.
It's a good question for us all to ask in the 38th verse.
The Lord says, somewhat Seek ye. And they said unto him, Rabbi, which is the saving interpreted, Master, where dwelleth thou? Very good question for us all to answer. Now you know, the Lord could have answered and said, Well, you know, it's on such and such a street, at such and such a number. And they could have gone, and they could have looked up that street, and they could have looked up that number, and they could have seen where the Lord Jesus dwelled.
But that's not the way he answers them because he desired their company. And so when they ask that question, where, where dwelleth thou? And we might ask the same question. And sometimes we like a mechanical answer like that. We like something that's, umm, that's, uh, as I say, mechanical, a street with a number on it that at our own leisure, we can perhaps look up, umm, when, when we're good and ready. But no, they ask this question, where dwelleth thou. And it's just beautiful the way the Lord Jesus answers.
The beautiful little uh.
Picture to us there's days mentioned here and then at the end of the book we get some days and succession that have their own lesson but.
In uh, verse 35 it says again the next day after John stood and the Lord invites them come and see and.
He becomes that attractive center. And so first you get John's testimony and now we get the Lord's testimony. What's the result of that?
He becomes the attractive center to the disciples and gathers around himself. And that's the day that we're in. Now then there's verse 43, the day following, and we get the account of Nathanael, and he makes that wonderful confession that Israel, repenting the remnant of Israel will make in the coming day. Thou art the king of Israel, and he says Thou art the Son of God. And he makes that beautiful confession then.
01:00:12
Verse chapter 2, verse one. And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee. Oh, it's the millennial blessing that's going to be ushered in. And the Lord there in that chapter, he turns those water pots full of water into wine and brings joy to that feast that, uh, was lacking and brings blessing in, in a, in a wonderful way. And it just culminates those days, John's testimony, the Lord's now gathering around himself.
And in the coming day, in Israel's restoration and on into millennial blessings.
I suppose, and maybe this is, uh, kind of what you're getting at, Dave. Lord could have told him where it was. Maybe they say to themselves, well, maybe if we have some time this afternoon we'll go, or maybe tomorrow.
But he wanted he wanted them with him right then. So he doesn't tell me, just says come and see. That's beautiful.
Just one comment, our time is gone, but just in connection with Nathaniel.
Uh, the Lord says to him, umm, says about him.
That, uh, an Israeli, there is no guile now in this portion. He really brings before us two portions, uh, in connection with the life of Jacob. One is when his, his name was changed to Israel, Umm, and the other is the latter in the 28th chapter. So we have the 28th chapter and the 32nd chapter, but here at the end of the chapter.
He says unto him, you know, after Nathaniel responds and says, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God and thou art the King of Israel, for the Lord Jesus now opens up and he says in the last verse here, and I just enjoy that in connection with what we had before us in our open being.
Hereafter ye shall see heaven open and the Angel of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. You know our our brother Clyde brought before us the the thought of suffering and I just was enjoying in connection with that how Nathaniel when he saw got a glimpse of the Lord Jesus here he says, oh, behold the Son of God. Behold the king of Israel. But you know as the Son of God. Maybe that would be a little bit difficult to follow.
The footsteps that were put down and he said, you know, the king of Israel well, you know nothing from a line of royalty. That too might be a little difficult to follow in connection with the the footsteps of Lord Jesus and laid laid out. But what he presents himself here to Nathaniel, he presents himself and the Son of man and it's beautiful, isn't it, to see the Lord Jesus has walked this pathway before us as a man. We've had before us the deity of the Lord Jesus, but he's walked the pathway as a man. He knows all the feelings that we have.
#109.
01:05:06
Call Jerry McDonald's.
Hmm.
50 Three.
234.
2012.
God bless the God and our Father. We thank you again for this wonderful time we've had under the sound of Thy precious Word, and we thank You, Thou hastened. You've spoken to us in these last days by the iceman, so think of the refreshment and the goodness we have in this way gathered in simplicity.
And being honored to sound of these troops and we just pray that we could put it in practice all these things that we know.
Apply with our needs and our block as we seek to represent the here in this world that we would always do it properly using thy words, not our own, bringing all the honor upon thee and not upon ourselves. So we thank you now that we know these things, they are precious tooth. We thank you that doesn't work in the cross finish and we are completing these crazy, generous or precious boarding and our Lord and Savior, Amen.
Four Suppers
Gospel—John Kemp
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.
O blessed Gospel sound.
Yet there is room tells to all around.
Yet there is room number 15.
They held to all the ground he had, one that never reached her own.
Love and crying, what do you think?
Yeah, that's right.
All things are ready to come and have better mixed rooms.
9/7 Three, 8-9.
Well, I'm just will be now time. Yes, yes and restroom.
Call Ben Shrums bang Bros on the hill, paddles from home and I don't think I've got any grace no more. Well, I'll say.
Yes, yes.
Shall we pray? Our loving God and our Father, we thank Thee for the words of this hymn, which brings before us the heart of God.
Who desires that all men be saved? Come unto the knowledge of the truth.
Long-suffering and not willing that any should perish. Here we are in the last meeting of the conference of the day.
And this may be the last invitation.
That the God of all grace will offer to man.
For surely, Lord Jesus, we are on the threshold of thy return.
But if thou dost tarry a little longer.
We know that it is salvation, and we know that tonight.
Souls can pass from death unto life. Lord we.
Seek Thy help and Thy blessing on the Word here.
To give a message for each soul that is present for those of us who belong to thee, for the unsaved, for the message of the gospel is presented to man.
In His deep need so help us our God, for He acknowledge our weakness and dependence upon Thee.
That Christ may be lifted up, souls might be attracted to him, not to anyone else, and that we might be refreshed as we hear and we tell that wondrous story.
Of the love of God.
To perishing man we ask it all. We give thanks for our time of fellowship these few days. My goodness to us in the name and for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
And we sing another hymn.
#23.
00:05:06
23 Behold, behold, the Lamb of God. We have this verse before us this afternoon on the cross for us. He shed his precious blood on the cross.
And so on. What a beautiful hymn to remind us of the foundation of all our blessings #23.
3238, 697615.
Oh, Oh my God.
I'm not wrong.
2009 10-4 10-4 0 10-4 0 10-4 0 10-4 0 10-4 0 10-4 0 10-4 0 10-4, 0, 10-4, 0, 10-4.
One 10-4 1.
Umm, no problem.
10 Two 1101 Thousand and grand.
Dear friends, we invite, we are welcoming you to the Gospel message tonight.
The last meeting of our conference.
We're glad to see any who may not be regular attenders of the Assembly. You are most welcome to, uh, come to the meetings.
Uh, on a regular basis.
Here in Vestal, well, we have a message.
Of salvation tonight, not really any different from last night's faithful word that went forth.
But.
We want to again present the word.
Souls to everyone here in the, uh, audience. We don't know the names of every person I know. Many by name, some by face.
00:10:01
And.
Most, I think, already belong to Christ.
Which is a wonderful thing.
But I cannot say for sure if everyone in the company tonight is a believer born again names written in the Lamb's book of life. I could not say that God's eye searches the room tonight. All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
It's not someone here in the meeting you have to do with, but it is the eternal God.
The one who created you, formed you, and the one whom you must meet.
In either the day of grace or the day of judgment, that is certain an appointment that you cannot cancel. It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. So the gospel is presented to you tonight. It may be feebly, but it's presented to you.
For obedience of faith, not for reasoning.
Canst thou by searching find out God the Almighty unto perfection? No man with all his wisdom and knowledge. Look at the Greeks that we read of in First Corinthians. They reached a pinnacle of human wisdom and philosophy that has not been.
Excelled.
But the moral condition in Greece was so terrible, it's better not to read about it. So education has its place, but does it change the heart of man? In no way. And you may be an educated person.
You may be one of the Princess of this world.
High in the estimation of your fellow workers. Respectable. I'm not speaking against that. But that is not salvation, we read in the book of Job.
Umm, it speaks in the 33rd chapter.
Umm, I have found a ransom. God has found a ransom in the work of His beloved Son. You cannot find that ransom.
But if we turn to the 33rd chapter of God just to get the, uh, the correct words there.
Gets the.
In the 33rd chapter of Job, yet verse 24, then he is gracious unto him.
And saith, behold, deliver him from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom. Isn't that a wonderful announcement from the heart of God? Deliver that person from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom that which will meet their need, a payment for the enormous guilt that they have accumulated. You cannot find the ransom. You're not asked to do so. You're.
Completely unable to do that, God's claims of holiness are far too great for you to meet.
You're condemned. You can't answer God, it tells us in this same book. You can't answer him. One in 1000.
That is, there's 1000 charges against you and you can't even clear yourself of one, let alone 999. So you are condemned before God. But God says, listen, I want to be gracious, if only you will repent of those sins. I don't want you to go down to the pit. I have found a ransom, isn't that?
A wonderful music to the ear.
Of the center that God has found a ransom. You could never do it.
Your guilt and sin is so large that it's beyond your power to cancel it with anything you do or offer to God. But God has found the ransom and you know.
00:15:04
And I think everyone here would, would know that, uh, Christ is the ransom he's given a ransom for us.
He went to the cross to pay that enormous debt.
That you could never liquidate in 1000 years, but God has provided that ransom for you in the person and in the work of His beloved Son. That's the one we want to present to you tonight, the verse in first John chapter 4.
Verse 14.
It says the father sent the son.
To be the savior of the world. Here's the ransom that we were speaking about.
Chapter 4.
Verse 14 We have seen and do testify that the Father.
Sent the Son to be the savior of the world. Marvelous the Father.
Sent not an Angel.
But his own beloved son, we've been Speaking of him. We've been enjoying a meditation about him these last few days. Our hearts have been, uh.
Encouraged and.
Lifted up as we have contemplated the Son of God leaving the glory, becoming a man, the Creator of the universe, He could put his hand on all the treasures of the universe.
They were at His command. He spake and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast. Your Creator upholds all things by the word of His power. The very breath that you breathed tonight, like we read in the book of Daniel, Belshazzar, the God in whose hand thy breath is, Thou hast not glorified the one who holds your breath, Belshazzar, and he was defying the living God.
He was living in.
Open rebellion against God, though he knew better and he had a godly guess. It was Grandfather, but he was a careless.
Soul that had no respect for the.
Jehovah, the true God, and that night, that very night, he had the warning, the.
The writing was on the wall. He trembled as he saw thou art wade in the balances and found wanting. He knew that God was speaking to him. He knew his life.
He trembled in view of judgment that was coming. He had the opportunity, but he missed it, died in his sins. The Father sent the son.
To be the savior of the world. To be your savior, my friend.
God wants you to come to a knowledge of him. We've been Speaking of this at this conference, that the only way we can come to a knowledge of this of God is through His beloved Son. God wants to have you near to himself. Not only does he want to save you from that load of sin and guilt that you have and give you pardon, forgiveness, righteousness, He wants.
To bring you near to himself.
He wants to have you as his companion for all eternity. I've just got back from the country of Malawi. My wife Eleanor, who is from Brazil, and I had a month in Africa from the 22nd of May to the 22nd of June. We had a very interesting visit in three countries, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa.
I've been to Malawi before. My wife Eleanor had never been there before, and we, uh, arrived at a place called Bland Tire.
If you know anything of your missionary background biography, you know that one of the greatest missionaries of the world.
Umm was born in Blantyre, Scotland.
00:20:03
Blantyre is called after David Livingstone.
David Livingstone did quite a lot of exploration right in Malawi, the Shire River. He discovered Lake Malawi, which is a gigantic body of water there bordering on Mozambique and he went up and down the country. They still Revere his memory. A number of places are called after him. Livingstonia is a quite a famous educational center in the north of Malawi.
So he is well known and respected in that country. I'm sure that every boy and girl here has read the life of Livingston. He was a true Christian. His desire was to bring the gospel.
Although he spent a lot of his time toward the end of his life in the exploration, but I think his heart was always in the gospel and he visited many savage tribes in uh, Africa and the story is told of him approaching UH.
The land, a village area where he had never been before. He was in the boat with his wife and the baby and some other workers, and as he looked ahead of him there to the shore, he saw all these black men standing there stoically with long Spears. He didn't know what their response would be. Shall I make an attempt to land or?
Forget it, because, uh, they're well armed and I don't know what their attitude will be.
So he hesitated for a while.
Perhaps he was almost ready to turn back, but he wanted to bring the gospel to those people.
He knew they were savage and in spiritual darkness and uh, he said, how will I bring the gospel to these people?
Because they could dispatch me very quickly. So he turned to his wife.
And he said to her, give me the baby. So he took the baby from the arms of his wife. As they got near the shore, he stepped out of the boat, holding the baby in his arms. And he walked toward those black men standing on the seashore. You know, there was a immediate change in their attitude. They dropped their Spears. Their face lit up with smiles.
They were ready to receive him.
Any man who is willing to offer his son to us must be a good man. He must have a message for us of kindness and love. The door was open for David Livingstone to present the gospel.
To that tribe, I'm sure there was blessing.
Well, we found the door still open in Malawi and when we were able to enter many schools and to speak to large numbers of black children, high school level, primary level. And uh, we thank God for the opportunities the father sent the son to be the savior of the world. That's what God has done.
He gave the dearest object of heaven. He sent him. He is offering him to you this afternoon, this evening.
He is pointing you.
To Christ, who is the one who paid the ransom, who loved you and died for you on the cross, can bring you peace, forgiveness, redemption. But the day of salvation, my friend, is today.
This is an urgent message. It's not something you can accept or forget about. It doesn't. It doesn't really matter. There's a little poem that says the clock of light is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop at late or early hour to lose one's wealth is.
Sad indeed, to lose one's health is more.
To lose 1 soul is such a loss as no man can restore.
So we are before God tonight, and time is passing on.
00:25:05
They say that in the next in the hour that will transpire will say from 6:30 to 730 / 5000 souls have gone into eternity 5400.
The statistics say I don't know how accurate that is. Well, I've gone into eternity in this one hour.
Are you sure of having another opportunity?
To to hear the Gos gospel message. God doesn't promise you. He may give you another chance.
And he's probably given you many opportunities and you have neglected your salvation. Uh, you have, uh, put it off Procrastination, the thief of time, but more correctly, procrastination, the thief of souls. Procrastination means putting off to another time what you should do today.
Roland Hill, the great evangelist, he said procrastination is the recruiting officer of hell, and it has been said that there are.
More people in a lost eternity through procrastination than any other reason. If God is speaking to you tonight to be saved, whether you're young or old, listen to His voice.
Listen to the pleading of the grace of God.
With you and close in tonight with the offer of mercy you need.
The word of God you need.
A passport to heaven. You need to have the fair paid. When I travel around the world, I carry my passport. See it?
Many things that I can do without as I travel.
Sometimes I might forget my toothpaste or like I did on this trip, or I might forget a shirt or something.
Usually my wife looks after those things for me, but there's three things that I must have at all time. BTT One, my Bible that's essential the word of God as I travel to different countries #2 I need.
A passport.
The only way I can get into these various countries where we go share the word of God and three, I need a ticket. Someone has to pay for the ticket.
And you need that, my friend, boys and girls, You need the Word of God that shows you the way of salvation. Like Timothy from a child, He knew the Holy Scriptures. You need to know Christ. He's the passport to heaven and He's paid the fare at the cross of Calvary. He paid the price to put your sins away.
And to give you entrance into the glory.
So remember.
The work was done and it's offered to you as a finished work tonight.
Years of gold. There were three.
Very famous Chinese statesman.
Uh.
That's that thing I think was one of them. He was well known.
Umm, another one was by the name of Admiral Shen and I think the third one was Mr. Fung. They were all eminent men in the Chinese government, but there was a preacher of the Gospel, Doctor Eddie, and he gave a heart searching message one night in China to those people.
The hall was full, I suppose, with dignitaries, and they were moved by the message.
As I hope you will be moved by the word of God so much so that, uh, Doctor Chen, he said, uh, I'd like to have a, uh, decision card. I want to think about this matter seriously tonight. So as he was taking it and looking it over his friend Mr. Fong, I think it was he said, listen, think it over uh, tomorrow you will have time. Well, the evangelist saw that it wasn't much point in the.
Pursuing it that the door seemed to be closed, so he said, can I see you tomorrow? Admiral Chen at 11:00.
00:30:06
Yes, that would be all right. Well, we'll make that appointment. But you know by as he was leaving the building. Admiral Chen.
Was assassinated as he left the building. His life was taken next morning at 11:00. Doctor Chen, uh, Admiral Chen passed into eternity just at the time when he was going to have that interview.
He put it off whether he accepted Christ as Savior.
We do not know, but you have an opportunity tonight to receive the Lord. I was going to speak on 4 suppers. Time is going. We'll have to be very brief. Luke, Chapter uh, 14.
These scriptures are probably familiar to us, so we won't dwell on them too long.
But there are 4 suppers in the scriptures.
We can call them the Supper of Salvation.
The Supper of Communion.
The Supper of Joy and the Supper of Judgment.
Now, if you partake of the first Supper, the Supper of salvation, you will never partake of the supper of judgment.
You may partake of the second supper.
Umm, in an external way, the Lord's Supper and.
Not be saved at all, because uh, the Lord said thou hast eaten and drunk in my presence. And yet, uh, they did not know the Lord. They received uh, judgment. What they had eaten and drunken in the Lord's presence. They had gone through the external umm.
Motions of uh.
Of partaking in a religious exercise.
But they were not saved. Let's turn here and just look at the chapter 15, verse 15, chapter 14 and when one of them that sat at meet with him.
Heard these things he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread.
In the Kingdom of God, well, this man was a religious person.
He thought it would be a very nice thing to eat bread in the Kingdom of God.
He was playing paying the Lord a compliment here.
And.
But I don't believe that this man ever had eaten the bread of the Kingdom himself. But the Lord puts him to the test. So we go on in verse.
16.
Then said he unto him, a certain man made a great supper.
And bade many.
And sent his servants at supper time to say to them that were bidden come, for all things are now ready.
Well, God is reaching out in grace. This is a picture to us.
Of the wondrous grace of God. Why was that supper called great? Because of the one who provided it. Because of the elements that were on the table. There you have reconciliation, forgiveness of sins, eternal life, pardon. Look at what God has spread on the table for you to partake of great supper. And it was great also.
Because of the cost of that supper.
This rich man opened the door and the invitation went out.
But it's strange, the response his servant was sent out at supper time to say to them that were bidden. Come, for all things are now ready. And we say the same thing to you tonight. Come, for all things are now ready.
The work has been completed on the Cross of Calvary.
There is nothing left for you to do Come, The Lord has paid the ransom price. He is offering salvation. Come just as you are. Supper, the last meal of the day. After that comes the midnight of judgment. Not going to have another meal here tonight.
00:35:15
The Supper, the last dealing of God in grace with man.
And we are in that day now. We're just at the end of the day of grace. And what comes after that judgment, the midnight of judgment. Someone has said the morning is the time of innocence.
You remember that Adam and Eve were created in innocence. That was the morning of God's ways. They fell into sin and spoiled the whole creation.
And ruined their own lives. That was the fall of man. And then someone has said that the noonday was the testing of man under law. We had that this afternoon. The law was given by Moses. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. For several thousand years man was tested under the law, but he failed miserably.
You haven't kept the 10 commandments. You are, you cannot fit yourself for God's presence through keeping the 10 commandments. No, you have broken them, broken the law of God. You have sinned against your Creator. You are poor, you are maimed, you are halt and you are blind, blind to.
The beauties of the Lord Jesus as our brother.
So clearly presented to us last night Excuses. What excuse are you using for not coming to Christ? You are forging the chains that will hold you in a lost eternity by those.
Devilish excuses that you might bring forward for not coming to the Lord Jesus tonight. You're forging the chains. The devil has lots of excuses to offer you. You haven't got time. You're good enough. My friends will laugh at me and 100 more dear friends, those excuses will not hold when you stand before the the Lord in the light of God's counter.
Countenance in his presence. Will those excuses mean anything? No. We read in another gospel the parallel passage of the man who entered the the uh, wedding feast without a garment on, without the wedding garment on. And uh, the host said to him, friend, how camest thou in hit her not having a wedding garment?
Did he have anything to say? Did he have any excuse to offer to him? Not a word. He was speechless. And what was the outcome? Bind him hand and foot and take him away and cast him into outer darkness. I have people that tell me, oh, I'm going to have my friends in hell and we'll have a good time. You're bound hand and foot in a lost eternity. In the blackness of darkness you won't see anyone.
You won't be able to practice the sins that perhaps you can do down here.
But uh, not in a lost eternity. And so they made these excuses, were familiar with the passage, uh, and all they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground and I must needs go and see it. I pray they have me excused. Another said I have bought 5 yoke of oxen and I go to prove them. I pray they have me excused.
I don't know what it is that is being put between you and God that is hindering you from coming to Christ tonight. I do not know. There could be 100 things here is the possessions or it's the business or some social relationship, as in the wife that is keeping you. Is that keeping you from coming to Christ? Whatever it is, cast it aside.
And, uh, receive the invitation.
That the Lord has for you tonight.
These were externally polite. They didn't come out and say I don't want to come. That really was the truth. So man, this is a picture of man's heart. God reaches out in all the fullness of his grace.
00:40:06
He offers man a full, free and eternal salvation.
Uh, to be blessed, to be saved, man says. I pray thee, have me excused.
Isn't that an awful display of what is in the heart of of math when God offers him such a full salvation and his responses, I pray thee, have me excused. Well, God's health is going to be filled. Those souls that we met there in Africa, they're hungry as we distributed the word.
Never would you see a well, very seldom you see attracted, discarded.
Those poor halt names, those poor souls there in Mozambique.
Have an opened ear for the gospel. While many in these favored lands of Christendom where we live, where there's gospel hardening on every side, they've heard the message so often that it's like the hammer coming down.
Down like that place in Wales, the hammer came down continually, day and and night, for months if not years, until the people got so accustomed to it they could sleep through the thunderous roar. One day there was a mechanical problem and the hammer stopped. Everyone in the village woke up.
And that's what's gonna happen in Christendom. They wanted the hammers to be go on again. But someday, the hammer of God's grace, the gospel that comes down year after year. Here we are 2009 and it's going to come to an end. We don't know when God is long-suffering. He's waited here another year for the vestibule brethren to have a conference in gospel meetings. But.
It's not going to go on forever.
God's patience is going to come to an end, and one thing I will say before we go on that if you miss the opportunity of salvation in the day of grace, you will not have another one after you leave this world. That idea of a second chance is totally foreign to the Word of God, that they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but at pleasure in unrighteousness.
Well, these people here, they made their excuses. Then the servant came and showed his Lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry, said to his servant, go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, bringing hit her the poor and the maimed, the poor and the poor have the gospel preached to them. There were a lot of rich people in this area, but if they don't know Christ, they're poor and.
Whatever your condition may be without the Lord Jesus.
You are poor.
Money, the universal provider of everything except happiness, the passport to every place except heaven. And in these foreign lands that my wife and I have been visiting, the doors open. They're poor. They're, uh, in the, in, in the real poverty. Sometimes not enough money to, to buy food for their families.
But they're open to the message of the gospel.
The poor, the halt, that's the lane.
You can't get to heaven lame. You know you can't get in there if you're a a lame person. And that's what sin has brought into our lives. We're wounded, we're crippled, we're helpless. We can't get to heaven that way. The Lord wants to give you a new life and save you for eternity. The blind well, our brother developed this thought very well last night.
It was once a reporter.
Who worked for the Chicago newspaper and uh, he heard Mr. Moody about Mr. Moody, but he didn't believe in it in the message he was giving. He thought this, this man is just working on the emotions and there's not much substance reality to it, but I'll go to one of his meetings and so he sat up at the front with his.
Uh, pad of paper, he was going to make notes for the, uh, newspaper and.
00:45:04
And Mr. Moody said I read an account, he said.
An interesting, uh, story.
About a man in this town who was walking around looking for stories for the newspaper and he saw three little girls looking in a window, a shop window.
The shop was filled with beautiful toys and nicely dressed dolls and so on, and they were all excited as they looked there at the, uh, wonderful.
Gifts that they wanted to have. But one little girl, there was a complete blank on her face. She made no response at all, he said. I wonder why the other girls are describing to her all the beauties there in the shop and she's making no response. So I went over a little closer and looked and there I saw that she was blind. She couldn't see.
Anything that they were describing and.
He wrote that up in the newspaper. Mr. Moody told that story, and he said to illustrate about how people are blind spiritually. We do so much to present the glories of Christ as Savior and Redeemer.
And there doesn't seem to be a response.
Uh, they, they just go on as if it didn't mean anything. They can't see any beauty in the Lord.
The, uh, reporter sitting there on the front seat, he jumped up and he said, where did you read that story? Mr. Moody says. I read it in the newspaper the other day. Well, he says I was the man that wrote that story.
I was the one that saw those 3 little girls looking in the shop window.
And he says, I see that I am just like that little blind lady there, that I cannot, I have not seen any beauty in Christ. The gospel hasn't meant anything to me. But tonight I see.
That I am spiritually blind in darkness, a blind person. You can describe the beautiful landscape to them, but it doesn't mean anything. And the Lord can open the eyes of the blind, and he was saved that night. That reporter. Well, we're blind spiritually. But the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
And for I say unto you, that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.
Umm, guess we missed uh.
Passage there.
The Lord said.
That there was still, yeah, verse 22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. Yet there is room. I just want to dwell on that for a moment, that tonight there is room in the heart of God for you. There was no room for the Lord when He entered this world.
Uh.
The religious leaders didn't know he had come. The heavens went into ecstasy As for the first time they looked down and saw their Creator.
Born in a Manger.
Cradle there.
Among the cattle, the Son of God, the Creator entering man's world. No room for him. But there's room in the House of God for you. Room in the heart of God for you tonight.
Though, uh, man, with all his pleasure and business and entertainment, how many have room for the Lord Jesus, but he has room for you. We were all that way at one time ourselves. We must hasten on just a few remarks. First Corinthians Chapter 11.
There we have the uh.
The Lord's Supper.
Chapter 11 Verse.
23.
I have received of the Lord.
That which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same knight in which he was betrayed, took bread, took bread. We had that privilege this morning. You know, the breaking of bread is just like a photograph.
00:50:09
You might have a photograph of your mother that has passed away on the wall.
Whenever you look at it.
You are reminded of your mother as she was when she was living with you. That's like the remembrance of the Lord. It's not the Lord as He is now in the glory that we remember. It is as He was on the cross of Calvary. Keep that in mind, young people, when you remember the Lord. I know we often get occupied with the glories of Christ. Good, but the primary?
Purpose of the remembrance is to bring our thoughts back to the cross, to the sufferings and death of the Lord, to put away our guilty sins. The cost of our redemption is like that photograph. You look there and you remember what your mother was like. You look at those emblems and you remember what the Lord Jesus suffered for you, the blood that put away your sins.
And separate you from the world too. So this wonderful privilege, but those who partake of the Lord's Supper and are not saved, or they say the minister tells me this is a means of grace. It's not. It's a means of judgment. If you're not saved and you partake of the Lord's Supper, you're really drinking damnation to yourself. Don't do it.
Because you're saying that you belong to Christ, you're eating and drinking in His presence, as it were, and you don't know Him as your Savior and your Lord. Don't partake. That's the supper of communion. That's where believers who truly are saved. It's not for unbelievers. But if you are belonging to the Lord, then that is your place to be there at the Lord's table, and you'll be missed when you get to glory the Lord.
May ask you that question, why didn't you Remember Me and my dad?
You won't be able to do it in the glory, the only time you can remember the Lord.
Is down here now and share his rejection. But if you're not saved, it's not a supper for you. Coming on to Revelation chapter.
Uh, 19.
Read a few verses there The third supper.
This is, you might call this the supper of joy and uh, it's the marriage supper of the Lamb. Verse seven. Let us be glad and rejoice.
And give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready to her. Was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen.
Clean and white for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of Saints it should read. And he saith unto me, write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.
And he said unto me, These are the true sayings of God. Well, heaven breaks out into joy here. Why?
The hosts of heaven.
Unite in Thanksgiving because the marriage of the lamb has come. His wife. Who is that?
Believers in this room are part of the bride of Christ and we are preparing our wedding dress. It may be a young lady is getting married in a few months.
Night after night, she works on her wedding dress.
Stitch by stitch and no one sees anything of it.
No one knows what's going on, but at the wedding day it is all displayed for everyone to see.
We, brethren, are preparing our wedding dress now there's going to be a public appearance and, uh.
Every little act of service, every loving deed that we have done, our godly conduct in our pathway down here in this world, amidst all the rejection that we encounter as we walk down here, so we will be up there. The Lord will reward those things in our lives which pleased Him which had His approval.
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It may not be seen by other people, but it is seen by the Lord and it comes out here.
Righteousnesses of Saints, That's the conduct. The, uh, garment is something that is external, that can be seen by everyone.
And everyone up there will see what you and I have been down here for the Lord. That's a solemn thought. It's an encouragement, but it should.
It should constrain us to walk carefully down here because our lives will be reviewed at the judgment seat of Christ. The rewards will be given and they'll be displayed publicly.
At the marriage supper of the lamb, the practical life and conduct of the believer will then come out.
How we should want to live for the Lord now so that we can hear His.
Commendation. Well done, thou good and faithful servant. One more supper. I think it's in the same chapter.
Verse 17 and I saw an Angel standing in the sun.
And he cried with a loud voice, saying, To all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven.
Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God, that she may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of captains.
And the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them.
In the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. Well, the Lord is come back here now. No longer is he wearing a crown of thorns.
But many crowns are upon his brow.
No longer is he.
Dealing with men in grace. But here he is. The whole picture has changed. He is dealing in judgment here, and maybe with many of those who have heard the gospel. Now he is treading the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. Now is the time of retribution.
Man has trifled too often with God's grace and, uh, at this place here now we read about.
Not one gospel rejector.
We'll have another opportunity.
Many of these people that will come under judgment at the return of the Lord will maybe have heard the gospel of the grace of God. Uh, this is.
Umm, at the appearing of the Lord Jesus, not at the rapture.
And the Lord here is has his rightful place. The last time the world saw him he was on the cross nailed there between 2 Thieves.
Scourge crowned with thorns, spit upon, mocked and uh, uh, gazed upon. But when he comes again, it won't be in that character. He will come as the, uh, the, the, uh, executor of God's judgment, as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And this supper here will be for those who have rejected the message of the gospel.
Well, may the Lord bless the message to us tonight.
Because God gives you a warning and he points you to the way of escape, the way of salvation. I remember sitting in, uh, Mozambique.
Conclude I was sitting in the restaurant in Mozambique, Maputo, the capital.
We were buying some pizza for the brethren. That night we had a nice time of fellowship with the assembly in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. It's the city of 1.7 million people. Portuguese speaking city. As we were sitting there waiting to receive our order, some terrible gunshots went off.
I've never heard such loud.
Noises, I didn't know it, it was like 911 to me and people were rushing out and.
Trying to.
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Hide underneath the tables and I made my way to the washroom. I thought what has happened here?
Is this an attack upon us? It happened to be.
A A policeman who were there.
Chasing a robber and their, uh, their practice there in, uh, Mozambique is to shoot into the air. But it, it just sounded as if it was coming through the, the restaurant there and we were for a few moments terrified, but it passed over. But you know, the judgment that is coming from God will not be a false alarm. It will be, uh, the wrath of God administered by.
The Lamb, the one who had been slain, Oh, May God bless his word. And if you haven't received the Lord Jesus.
As your Savior, yet his arms are wide open. The invitation is for you tonight. It would be the joy of the brethren in Vestal and each one of us to hear that you had closed in with God's offer of mercy.
Bowed the knee in repentance. Repentance and faith in the finished work of Christ. That's all that is required in the blood that he shed in the sacrifice that he made on Calvary's cross.
When he bore the.
Awful penalty of our sins when he exhausted the judgment of God. May God bless His word as we sing in closing.
One or two verses of.
#20 Behold the Savior at the door, He gently knocks, says Knock before shall we stand and sing the first and last verses of #20.
Nsnoise.
Shall we pray? Our loving God and Father, we thank thee to Wendess him which tell us of thy longing desire to have fellowship with thy creature.
To bring us near to Thyself, to deliver us from the awful burden of sin and the guilt which we have by nature. We thank Thee for that wondrous grace that has spread the Gospel supper for whosoever and the invitation that is still going out here in Vestal and uh, throughout the world, for God is long-suffering impatience, we thank Thee.
For these happy days of meetings over Thy word, we pray that we may.
01:05:03
Walk in the good of the truth that has been ministered to us and that to us ambassadors for Christ. We may redeem the time because we are rubbing shoulders with those who are not prepared for eternity every day. So we thank the our God for Thy rich provision for us, and we ask thy blessing on the brethren here, on the young people and the children, any who are.
Unsaved in the company that they may feel their need this very night and turned to Christ. For those who are traveling, we pray for journeying mercies either tonight or tomorrow. If thou dost tarry, we ask. We give thanks and praise in the worthy and precious name.
Of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Open Mtg. 2
Open—J. Kemp, N. Wood, S. Stewart
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I don't know right now.
I don't know. We have a diamond and spread everything.
We pray together, our God and our Father, we thank Thee for the sentiments that are.
Have been expressed in this beautiful hymn that we have sang together, lifting our hearts truly above this present scene and all the difficulties and circumstances we encounter. But we thank Thee for that bright hope of glory that shines before us.
00:05:06
Uh, which at any moment?
Will be realized, fulfilled, but while we are here, our God in this scene of conflict.
Trial.
And, uh, exercise. We pray that Thou wilt guide in the meeting this afternoon, that there might be food convenient for us, that the ministry may be directed of Thy Holy Spirit.
About us Know the needs of every heart.
Every young person, each one of us, have special circumstances, perhaps different from other from every other. But we know that Thy Word gives us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. The principles of Thy word apply to every situation in our lives. Alas our God, how often we are not acquainted with them. So we do pray for help.
And the direction this afternoon?
In those that may minister the word to us, that our souls might be.
Strengthened and drawn out toward Christ, truly like the two on the road to Emmaus, that our hearts may burn within us as He talks with us by the way and opens unto us the Scriptures. We seek Thy blessing. We own our weakness and dependence upon Thee and how untrustworthy our our nature, our flesh is, and we pray that it may not be manifest.
In the ministry, today are the days that are before us. We ask thy blessing, we commit ourselves into Thy care with Thanksgiving and the worthy and precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
So we turned for a few moments, brethren, to First Peter chapter 4. I don't want to speak too long here, sure that another brother has something.
Or more than one Chapter 4.
Where is uh.
Verse 10. First Peter 410.
As everyone.
Has received the gift.
Even so, Minister, the same.
One to another.
As good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man minister speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.
If any man, minister.
Let him do it as of the ability.
Which God giveth?
That God in all things may be glorified.
Through Jesus Christ, to whom be praised and dominion, forever and ever. Amen.
I hope that we all understand that.
There are two things that should be distinguished in the Word of God.
One is priesthood and the other is ministry.
Priesthood is a common privilege of all believers in this present period of grace.
Uh, sisters as well as brothers.
Are priests. They have a holy calling. They are a spiritual house. First Peter 2A holy priesthood.
To OfferUp spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. That is an indisputable privilege of every believer in the room here today. It's not a priestly task that is set aside and ordained by man before they can participate. No, it is the privilege of each one. The youngest believer.
In the this assembly this afternoon is a holy priest made soul through the work of Christ and the blood that he shed separated from this world, brought into a place of nearness. In the Old Testament, of course, this was not the case because, uh, the priests were a class of people that were distinguished from the rest of the nation of Israel. Sons of Aaron, they were called to that office.
00:10:26
And no one else.
Dare intrude into it.
On pain of death. But, uh, now in Christianity we have been brought into this marvelous place of nearness to the Lord. Uh, no longer, far off, no longer enemies, strangers and foreigners, but we are fellow citizens of the Saints and of the household of God.
And having assurance, let us draw near with the true heart and full assurance of faith. Our place is in the sanctuary. That's our home. That's where we belong. And, uh, the priest is one who, uh, offers something to God.
Uh, in the Old Testament, it was on behalf of the people. Of course, we don't, uh, offer on behalf of anyone else now that our great high priest has finished the work.
There's no more offering for sin, but now that we have been brought to God, brought near to God in Christianity, there's no separate class of people in a privileged place that others do not enjoy. Just think how marvelous it is that we as believers can come into the very presence of the creator of the universe, as we were speaking this morning, who holds all things.
Uh, who has created all things and sustains them by the word of his power?
That we can move the hand that moves the universe in prayer. That's part of our priestly function. And then in the assembly, uh, by the way, there's no such a thing as a gift of prayer, uh.
In fact, priesthood is not a question of gifts at all. The simplest brother and sisters as well have the privilege of offering those sacrifices of praise and worship and prayer.
Probably, uh, we wonder sometimes why the prayer meeting is so poorly attended. I don't know how it is here, but sometimes there are very few at the prayer meeting. Maybe they don't realize that sisters are priests too and that, uh, it's an assembly meeting. I don't think Rorden chapter Acts chapter 10 would miss very many prayer meetings after her experience there. Well, prayer and praise.
Supplication is all part of the our priestly work.
And that does not depend upon gift or ability. If you have divine life and young brothers I'm speaking to who have the, uh, public, uh, responsibility, you can participate in a word of Thanksgiving or prayer. Perhaps you won't take a, a prominent teaching position, but uh, you are certainly at liberty.
To offer a word of thanks to the Lord in prayer.
And it's very encouraging to hear you. But we notice in our verse that we read here at the outset that there is gift. And we want to distinguish between those two things. Gifts, uh, has been imparted to believers in the body of Christ by the Lord after he has, uh, rose from the dead and he ascended to the glory.
He received gifts in manhood. Ephesians chapter four. He showered down those gifts upon his church. Gifts are for the body of Christ, not going to be gifts in heaven. In fact, I don't think it's proper to speak of the body of Christ in heaven anyway. The body of Christ is here on earth. It is functioning now like your body and my body.
And every member has a place to fulfill in the body of my hand.
Doesn't do its work well, uh, the foot perhaps could do something, but uh, it can never do it like the hand. And you have been given a place in the body of Christ different to anyone else. And those gifts were showered down by an ascended Christ after the body was formed, which was at Pentecost. And, uh, they are something that has.
00:15:24
Our brother mentioned this morning eternal life being put into the believer but also.
A spiritual gift has been deposited in every believer, or you say just the brothers who are taking part in the meeting. No, every member of the body of Christ has a gift.
An ability, a function, a work to do to every man, his work. In the Old Testament, you remember in the time of the Tabernacle there were the three different tribes, Mariah, Johath and Gershom. They all had a work to do.
It was appointed by Aaron. They didn't choose their own work. It was appointed by Aaron. And it was different in every case. Sometimes it was right out in the forefront, carrying the different, uh, pieces of furniture where everyone could see them. At other times it was in the background, maybe just carrying a few pins.
Uh, I think this was the sons of, uh, whole hat, but you have them all listed there in numbers Chapter 4, four and five.
To every man his work.
Appointed the work to do now you cannot go to anyone and say, brother, what is my work to do now in the body of Christ? We are all servants of the Lord. We all have a a part, a place to fulfill in the body. But you have to be before the Lord to know what your gift is. I know this sometimes poses a problem among the young people. What is my gift? What does the Lord want me to do?
Well, you have to go on in the assembly doing what comes to your hands and, uh, as you develop and as you continue, the Lord will, uh, open up the way for you and He'll make it clearer what work He has for you to do.
Now, naturally, we look to the, uh, the prominent place, the uh.
The uh, we might say the uh.
The public places something that attracts us, but that is not always God's mind for us. In fact, it is a very dangerous place. We need ministry. We need brothers who are well taught in the Word to minister. But uh, not everyone is called to public ministry, but everyone is called to a work in.
The local assembly in the body of Christ. It may be something that is not noticed by the public eye, but it's noticed by the Lord. And if you fulfill that place.
That work that the Lord has given you to do, and you do it heartily. Whatsoever thy hand find us to do, do it heartily as unto the Lord, and not unto man. The Lord will give you a reward.
But in our verse it says, As every man hath received the gift, Even so minister the same one to another.
Or the ability. This is not only in public ministry.
Uh, If you minister to a sick St. or the sisters who minister in providing for the temporal needs of this meeting and the, uh, fellowship teams and so on, this is a ministry for the Lord. But there is also the public ministry. We want to, uh, recognize this. Mr. Darby said if there was more devotedness among us, there would be more gift. Certainly there is.
As never before, a need for ministry that would establish, uh, souls in the truth. Ministry that would build us up. Ministry can be divided into those areas. Edification, building up. We need that continually, do we not? Uh, exhortation, stirring up. I like a brother that stirs me up because sometimes I find I become very.
00:20:10
Lazy in the things of the Lord and tend to become cold in my soul. I need a brother that would stir me up to get out with the gospel to the lost because I don't seem to have the energy to do it sometimes or to to minister the word we need to be stirred up. In fact, that's what Paul says to uh, Timothy in second Timothy, one stir up the gift of God that is in thee, which was given thee by.
Prophecy. With the laying on of the hands of the presbytery, he was imparted a gift by the Apostle Paul. But there was a danger he was a timid retiring man of then allowing it to to umm lie dormant. It was a day of great declension and giving up a lack of faithfulness.
Forsaking Paul and his doctrine, Timothy might just say, what's the use of ministering now in the this condition of things? No, the apostle says, throw up that gift.
Awaken it.
Minister the word uh.
To the Saints of God, well.
We minister as a.
As a mouthpiece of the assembly. So in fact, ministry is something that is peculiar to Christianity. You didn't have a ministry in the Old Testament. It was a very.
Uh, circumscribed, uh, group of both of people who outwardly were the people of God, but, uh, there was no outreach in Judaism.
They were confined among themselves, but now we have a ministry, the gospel.
In the in the presenting the truth of God to believers, we have a ministry that we are to fulfill, say to Archippus, Fulfill the ministry which thou hast received of the Lord.
Uh, and, uh, there was a danger of archipelas apparently, uh, giving up the ministry. Things were too difficult and he, uh, didn't continue. Well, may the Lord help us to fulfill that ministry which has been, uh, imparted to us. The Lord is taking note of, uh, everything in our pathway. All is recorded in the annals of eternity.
The judgment seat of Christ is before each one of us. We're going to have our lives manifest and reviewed our service.
Our motives, uh, our work, everything is going to come out in that coming day. So we should be exercised, umm, have I fulfilled the ministry which the Lord has given to me? Or like Demas, he forsook the apostle Paul, having loved this present evil, doesn't say evil world. It says this present world doesn't mean that Demas went into some outrageous sin.
But uh, he uh.
Did not want to walk with the Apostle Paul anymore.
This, it was too narrow for him. Uh, it was too restrictive. He wanted a wide path. Beware, there's a lot of believers that want a white path. Today we are called to separation. Eric Smith was once asked the question, if you say you are right, why is it that there are so few gathered with you? He said it's I'll give you 2 words.
That explain it. One is discipline, the other is separation. They will be careful that, uh, we are separate from the world. Yes, of course, from all its entertainments and its pleasures and its evil, most definitely. But also separate from all the ecclesiastical confusion that we have in the great House of Christendom today.
Let everyone that name the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Oh brethren, let us be careful in the assembly. There is place for the exercise of that gift. Publicly. Gift is given to an individual, uh.
00:25:03
It is not something only local. Office is local, but gift is universal. You might say a brother who is an evangelist in Vestal. He's an evangelist wherever he goes.
And in the assembly, it's not a democracy, but there are, uh, there's opportunity for those who have a gift from an ascended Christ to minister that gift.
Uh, but the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophet.
Let the prophet speak two or three, and let the others judge. My ministry is subject to the judgment of my brethren, and if it is not profitable, the kindest thing they they can do is to tell me so. Because the ministry should be profitable, it should encourage the Saints, not confuse them. It should build them up, and God wants us to.
Be exercised about that.
So young people, young brothers especially, you are preparing yourself for perhaps a future role in the assembly. And, uh, not to prolong my message here, remember that there is going to be a day of reckoning coming.
How wonderful it will be when we stand before the Lord and hear him say, Well done, thou good and.
Umm pro umm, good. And uh.
A good servant, uh, well done to hear his commendation will mean everything to have his approval. You know, I've noticed lately in studying the.
Uh, the, uh, lists of the mighty men that David records at the end of his life after the battles were all over and he was established in his Kingdom. Security and blessing, he relates.
The mighty men who, uh, shared with him his rejection, who were faithful.
And it's very difficult circumstances. Their names are recorded there in Second Samuel 2324. There's about 14 names, 40 names, but.
The surprising thing is, there's one missing.
There's 40 places there.
Uh, and I think if you count them, you only find 39. Did David not know how to count to 40? There's someone that is missing in that list. It was to be penciled in there. The place was was given to it, but the name is not there.
And uh, we wonder who it was. Was it Joab? Was it Jonathan? We don't know. The Spirit of God has not informed us of, of the person who should have been, whose name should have been put there. But it's a voice to every one of us. Hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Eternal life can never be lost. That link of relationship will never be broken. But we can lose our reward.
Our reward is connected with our walk.
And our conduct down here, our sins will never be resurrected to condemn us at the judgment seat of Christ. Praise God for that. Because of the work of Calvary, those multitude of sins in your life and mine that we would hate to see again brought up have been put away by the precious blood of Christ. But our works are going to be resurrected. How we have walked, how we have behaved.
How we have conducted ourselves in this world in the assembly of those gathered to the Lord's name, It's going to be manifest in that day. A lot of, shall I say, controversy as to whether it's a public manifestation or not. Uh, I, I cannot speak dogmatically because perhaps Scripture does not say so. In my opinion, I feel it is a public manifestation.
But others have different views of that. But there's going to be a manifestation and, uh, a wonderful it will be to hear the Lord's commendation.
00:30:01
Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of thy Lord. That will be worth it all, having, uh, occupied until the Lord comes. But there's going to be lost at the judgment seat of Christ as well. There's going to be lost. In what way we're going to experience that loss, I don't know, but it tells us clearly in First Corinthians 3 where it's a question of man's responsibility in building the House of God.
That if any man's work, if any man suffer loss, I'd better turn to it first. First Corinthians chapter, uh, three. We know the verse well.
Umm.
Uh, there's 14 If any man's work abide which you have built, thereupon he shall receive a reward. 15 if any man's work shall be burnt.
He should suffer lost, but he himself should be saved. It saw us by fire. Yes, a saved soul, a lost life lost a good example spend all spent his energies to try to reform and build up and change Sodom. And it was a dead failure from the beginning. He lost his testimony nearly lost. He lost his family and uh uh.
Escaped with the skin of his teeth. There won't be a much the Lord can commend, but, uh, in his life there will be something. But, uh, his, uh, his life as a believer, uh, was not fruitful. But we don't want to have an end like that. We want to have a, an abundant entrance and, uh, that which will abide at the judgment seat of Christ and hear the Lord's re, uh, approval.
For that which, uh, glorified him, thank you.
I have a scripture in Luke's Gospel Chapter 9.
Pardon me, Chapter 10.
Mm-hmm. And I don't wanna speak long.
And I'm looking at the Good Samaritan story, which we know well. I just want to read the last part of it.
Well, let's start at 33.
But a certain Samaritan as he journeyed came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to the inn and took care of him. And on the moral, when he departed, he took out 2 Pence and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again I will repay you. So this is a a parable that we all love very much, but I want to just.
Uh, speak toward the latter part of it. Our brother John was talking about the activities in the assembly, whether it's, uh, ministering or whether it's worshipping or praising, all of these types of things. And there's many others, which many, uh, Saints do, whether they're brothers or sisters or young people, those that are there that have a real interest in helping the Saints and anybody else perhaps going out in the gospel.
Well it says here, and of course the Samaritan is the Lord Jesus and perhaps his own beast is the Holy Spirit. And as the Lord the Holy Spirit brings us to the assembly, rather as the yes, the beast brings us to a sentence, the assembly, there is found the innkeeper who again is the Holy Spirit. And I think of that line of the hymn that says it relates to the hymn we sing at the start.
The Holy Ghost is leading home to the Lamb, his bride. Uh, but I was thinking right at the very end, uh, the end, uh, the, uh, well, the Lord says take care of him. He's brought him to the assembly.
And he asked the assembly, as it were, to take care of that newborn soul. And the the promise is, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come, when I come again, I will repay thee. And if you and I do something in the assembly or outside the assembly, if, if it's a private thing, the Lord is not going to be any man's debtor, whatever little thing we do.
00:35:25
The Lord is going to pay us back, isn't it? Now, that's not why we do it. We do it because we're interested in helping the Lord's people or in giving out the gospel and pleasing the Lord.
But as we end up here, the thought when I come again, and that's a marvelous thought and it's a thought that all of us need to keep in our minds. I'm going to turn to that hymn that we had 208 for just a moment and look at a couple of scriptures and then I'm going to sit down.
I will not speak long.
2208 And hopefully lift our wishful longing eyes, waiting to see the morning star arise. How bright, how gladsome will his advent be Before the sun shines forth in majesty. The whole hymn is so lovely, but I won't continue it. But the Lord is just about to come.
As we step along life's pathway, we're going to take one, we're going to lift 1 foot in the in this in our step and we're not going to put it down the Lord's. It'll be the shout from the glory and will be swept away. And whatever we're doing at that time, it will be left behind and we're going to be with the Lord for all eternity. Just to think that we're going to look into the blessed face of the man that died for us, that face.
That was so mired more than any man turned quickly to Luke or two. Genesis 24 again, the last half of that story, which is so sweet.
Where Abraham sends his elder servant out back to his homeland.
Or the land of his where he was born to bring a bride back for Isaac. We know this well too. I want to go right to the end.
Verse 58, Genesis 24 and verse 58.
And so, umm, down near the end of the chapter, umm, Rebecca's relative, uh, are here. And they called Rebecca, and said unto this man, said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. And they sent away Rebecca their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men. And they blessed Rebecca, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, unless I seed possessed the gate of those that hate thee.
And Rebecca arose and her damsel damsels, and they rode upon camels, and followed the man.
And the servant took Rebecca and went his way, And Isaac came from the way of the well, the Hey Roy, which means the well of the living and seeing one, And he dwelt in the South country, And Isaac went out to meditate in the field of the even tide, and he lifted up his eyes.
And saw and behold the camels were coming. And Rebecca lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac.
She laid it off the camel, for she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us?
And the servant had said, It is my master. Therefore she took a veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. And Isaac brought her into his mother's, Sarah's tent and took Rebecca. And she became his wife, and he loved her.
And Isaac was comforted after her mother's death. You know, we're just about at this point now. Maybe this afternoon we may not finish the meeting. And, uh, we see this company coming across the desert. Uh, they didn't take the long way around as Abraham was directed to do. And he was called out of the earth. He went up the gorgeous Euphrates valley, which was a Green Day here, and then back down the, into, uh, Israel.
About, uh, here the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit.
And as it were, this elder servant is leading Rebecca and her group right straight across the desert. And that's where we're being LED this afternoon and on our way home to heaven, where being LED straight across the desert. And the young person or older person, if that means nothing to you, I wonder if you're saved at all, if if you're just here in the the words here and saying, boy, norm, would I wish you'd just go Saddam, if it doesn't ring in your heart.
00:40:27
Are you saved at all, the Savior that suffered So for us in Calvary's cross, we're just about to see him. And here we are in Rebecca's place and the lovely verse 64. And Rebecca lifted up her eyes. You know, that's something we get to do every Sunday morning, every Lord's Day morning, if you will, at the breaking of bread, we come in to remember our Lord Jesus.
The best of all meetings and our hearts are tuned as various brothers.
Led by the Holy Spirit, pick out lovely scriptures and lovely hymns and there's lovely prayers said and it just lifts up our eyes and our hearts to the glory. And the same thing at a conference like this where the brethren have invited us and the Holy Spirit has gathered us together and we and there there's different things, different one says that touches our hearts right in here.
And we, our love for the Lord, just it rises up and our spirits rise up and we think about him. We think about his coming. And our thoughts are gathered away from this world of glory. Well, here Rebecca lifts up her eyes away from the desert, looking on to this one that she's been told so much about. You know, Adrian Roach, her brother, years ago, used to often say, ask the question, what do you think?
That the elder servant occupied Rebecca with when she crossed the desert. And his answer was this. Oh, I'm sure.
The the elder servant was telling her all about Isaac. And you know, that's exactly what the Holy Spirit is doing for us this afternoon and during these meetings and other times they're private readings. As we fellowship one with the other, the Holy Spirit is bringing up lovely things about the Lord Jesus. Well.
Here, uh, Rebecca lifts up her eyes. Uh, you know, we're looking ahead to this wedding that we're going to take part in, uh, that's going to occur so very soon in the glory. And you know, umm, I was thinking, often times our meeting rooms have a porch and a door into the porch and then the aisle goes straight up like to the podium here. And it's just, uh, you know, if, if, if we could visualize that this afternoon.
That that wedding party is almost on the porch. It's just about to step into the porch. It's that close, isn't it, Freddy? We're just about to be called home and then we're in very soon into Revelation chapter 5. What a marvelous thing that is. Now, verse two and Song of Solomon.
Just another minute or two.
Sonia Solomon. You know, I sometimes think the song, the song is Solomon.
Which brings our Lord before us.
Pictorially, I know it's a picture of the earthly pride, but, umm, if it's that marvelous for the earthly pride, how much more marvelous is it for the heavenly pride? Uh, I want to read just, well, verse 8A, chapter one verse, chapter 2, verse 8.
The voice of my beloved, Behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. He's just about to come, and you know, it says He's cometh leaping upon the mountains and skipping upon the hills. That reminds us of real problems, problems which occur in our lives. There are mountains before us. We wonder how we're going to get around it, how we're going to climb that mountain. But here the Lord is skipping over those mountains, over those hills.
There's absolutely no problem.
That will keep the Lord from coming for us.
All right, on to verse 10. My beloved baked and said unto me.
The Lord Jesus, the King of glory, rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. Does it sound like he's interested? You know, we have some couples here at the conference, which is so nice to see. And, uh, we can tell if they're really in love. You can see it in their eyes and how they affect one another. And it's so marvelous to see that. And, uh, and so here we have that the Lord of glory.
00:45:19
As it were, so in love with his bride says rise up, my love, my fair one, and come over here. Aren't those beautiful words? Shouldn't we, our hearts respond to that kind of of.
Of words rise up my loved one and come away for although the winter is past, you know, I sometimes think our lives are divided into The Four Seasons of the calendar. When we're born, it's the spring and as we get into our teens, perhaps it's uh.
It's late spring and then as we're adults, it's a full bloom of manhood and womanhood. It's summer. And then as we get into the fall, uh, you know, the white starts here and there's harvest and Li and the life is, uh, is trying to an end. And then the winter approaches and, uh, that's not so good. Some, uh, here have felt the, the, the fierce, uh, winds of wind already.
Uh, but, you know.
The spring is coming again, and there's no question here that spring speaks of the Lord's coming. And you know, we're just about into spring in the Lord's timetable, I really believe. Let's read it. My beloved Bacon said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, the winter is past. Isn't that something? The winter of old age and all the problems? And I'm not saying that maybe.
Youngsters don't feel winter too, for though the winters pass, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, The time of the singing of birds is coming. The voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land that we don't have turtle doves on our feeder, but we have mourning doves and they're very similar. Now here's this beautiful picture of spring approaching. I know it's talking about the Millennium here, but will transpose that and think about.
What we are going to experience when we get to heaven. The fig tree. Put it forth her green figs that would be Israel, And the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell. Arise, my love, my Fairwind, and come away over to one last verse.
Song of Solomon 4:00 and 6:00.
And this talks about at least we can read into this the Lord's coming too. Until the Daybreak and the shadows flee away.
You know, we're just about there. I will get me to the Mountain of Myrrh and to the Hill of Frankincense. Well, you know, the day is just about to break. The night of this Dark World is just about over. The morning star is in the sky, the promise of his coming and the it's starting to get light. So the shadows are fleeing away. And what are we to be doing at this time? I will get me to the Mountain of Myrne, to the Hill of Frankincense.
Well, there's no question, is there what Mer speaks of. We we read about the three gifts of the wise men to the Lord as they came so far and followed the star. Their Mer speaks of suffering and that speaks of Calvary's cross.
And the hill of frankincense, doesn't that speak about the Lord's beautiful life down here?
Well, rather than until the day break, which is going to happen so soon, that's where we should be, shouldn't we? We should be occupied as often as we can with the Lord, his beauties and the fact of Calvary, that terrible, awful suffering there, the marvelous victory that means so much to us. That and His coming, you know, Hebrews 9 and 3710 and 37.
Says he that shall come, will come, and will not tarry.
Ephesians and 4th chapter.
Ephesians 4.
Verse 15.
But speaking the truth and love may grow up into Him and all things, which is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplier, according to the effectual working and the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body onto the edifying of itself in love.
00:50:19
Verse 11 And he gave some apostles.
And some profits. And some evangelists. And some pastors and teachers.
For the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.
And then in, uh, Exodus.
15th chapter.
Verse 27.
And they came to Elam.
Where were 12 wells of water and three score and 10 palm trees, and they encamped there by the waters.
And then one more scripture in the Psalms.
Perhaps to some.
92.
And verse 12.
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the House of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat and flourishing.
And then just in chapter 990 or Psalm 90, verse 10, the days of our years, our three score and 10.
When Ephesians were we get.
The body of Christ and uh.
And these verses that we read together in the 4th chapter, we see the desire of, uh, uh, the apostle. And the purpose of God is that the whole body would, uh, grow up.
Into Him and all things, which is the head, even Christ, and then from Christ, from whom the whole body fitly joined together, compacted by that which every joint supplier. Just briefly this.
Body of Christ, of which we are all members, is nourished and ministered to by Christ the Head in heaven. But the way that He does that has been brought out earlier in this meeting is by those members of the Body of Christ, each in their place and each in their function in the body. And here they are pictured as that which every joint supplier.
Earlier he says he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists, that is, he gave a certain quantity of apostles, a certain amount of evangelists. And there in Ephesians 4, the gifts are pictured as individuals, uh, that are given by an ascended Christ to the church for the edifying of the body of Christ. But first he mentioned.
For the perfecting of the Saints.
If ever Christ's object.
Our head in heaven to perfect us that we might be fully grown up, mature in the faith, uh, fully entering into Christian truth and enjoying it and walking in it those truths that are proper to us as those who are part of the body of Christ. And for that end, he gave these ones as gifts to the church With a view to the ministry. Because of the Saints are perfected, then the ministry is going to be carried on with a view to the edifying of the body of Christ because of the ministries, ministries carried on, then the whole body is going to be edified.
And so as each one is stirred up.
And becomes useful in their function, where a joint of supply, each one of us, is a joint in the body of Christ. In that way we each give mobility to the body of Christ. We each give it ability to express what is in the head, Christ and glory reunited to him by the Spirit of God. And as that ministry, his love for his own flows from him. Down it goes through.
00:55:00
Uh, each joint of supply. So we have a joint action and we have a supply action. You think of like a, a copper plumbing and there's an elbow there. It, uh, it allows that plumbing to take a bend, but it also has as a channel for the water that flows through it. Each of us is a channel, a joint of supply for that ministry that flows from Christ to every other member of the body of Christ, but also when we're functioning as we ought to in the good.
Of New Testament truth and those things that these foundational gifts in verse 11 have given to us.
Then Christ is displayed on this earth and his body. If all my joints are frozen, you can't tell anything that's in my head, because my mouth couldn't even open.
Each one of us is a joint as well on the body price. And when functioning, then Christ is displayed in His body on this earth. The directions and that flow from the head in heaven can be displayed. I might, you know, reach out and pick up a hammer and take a nail and drive it into a piece of wood. And what are you seeing? You're seeing what's going on in my head carried out in the members of my body. But if I had no joints, I couldn't do it. So each one of us in the body of Christ has a joint action.
And the supply action?
Now we come to Exodus, where we read about Israel coming to that place of Elam, that place of refreshment. There were 12 wells, but really the thought is it's 12 wellsprings deep down in the earth, deep down in the earth where you could not see. There was a well of water and it came up through channels in the earth and it came out in those well springs.
Each one of us is a joint of supply. Each one of us has connected, united by the Spirit of God to Christ and glory produces. That is, which is for the refreshment of the Saints of God. They weren't individual wells, so to speak. They were well springs connected to that source, hidden source deep down in the ground. And so Israel came and they were refreshed. But what else was there? There were three score and 10 palm trees.
You know palm tree seems to grow and nothing else can grow.
There it comes up, and its leaves and the most arid conditions and greatest heat are green, and it produces refreshing sweet fruit. Those palm trees, when they're mature, can produce 100 lbs of fruit a year.
They have their roots down too, where that wellspring is. And a palm tree is a, is a extremely useful tree just in creation. God has put that tree in its place, uh, where it's very needed. And there's, uh, I think, uh, that, uh, book the land and the books that there's about 360 different uses for the palm tree from weaving together for mats from the fruit of it, uh, to the, uh, medicines produced from it.
There are many, many uses for that palm tree.
When we come over to Corinthians, I won't turn to it because it was mentioned before. We each have.
A place in the body of Christ and it says their gifts differing. How many different gifts are there? We can't tell. We don't know. But each one of us in that way has something like that palm tree that's useful. That's for the blessing of those who come to that tree and make use of it. And just in that same way, each of us is a joint of supply. Each of us has something as our roots are down there and and taking up.
From that hidden spring, that which is for the blessing.
Of the Saints of God, you know they produce fruit for about 70 years.
And we read in the 90th Psalm, our days are three score and 10. We have a space of time here and as our brother brought out, maybe soon come to an end that little bit of time. That's the time that we have to produce that which is for God first and for the blessing of the Saints. But I think of Israel coming to that little Elam, you know, they come across that desert and that must have just looked wonderful. They would have seen as they came on the green.
Of those palm trees long before they got there and they must have just looked forward to the sweet fruit and the shade that was going to be afforded to them. The city of Jericho and the word of God was the city of the curse. Picture of this world shut up with walls in between Israel and Jerusalem, the enemy of God's people. But you know in Deuteronomy in the end, we'll just read that verse before it close here and.
01:00:18
Moses, in his old age, is LED up to the Mount to look over that land that he could not enter into.
Verse three of Deuteronomy 34 and the South and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, city of palm trees. There is an aspect, and when it's referred to as the city of palm trees in Scripture, it's pictured to us as part of Israel's inheritance that God gave to them and for their blessing, not as a place of the curse. It's a city of palm trees. It's a place of refreshment and blessing.
And God will make it that in the coming day in reality for Israel.
And Moses sought from God's viewpoint of the wonderful land he had given his people, not as that which was opposed to the children of Israel, but in it as a gift of God for the blessing of his people.
It's a wonderful thing when the assembly is like a city of palm trees, their roots deep, drinking up from that hidden spring, each one a joint of supply. The whole body is edifying. It grows up, it matures under Christ, the head. And the full enjoyment of those truths that God has opened to us in his precious word through those New Testament apostles and prophets, those things which are peculiar, particular to us to walk.
OK.
Open Mtg. 6
Open—C. Roberts, T. Porter
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334.
I don't know.
Ready to get it?
Our loving God and our Father, we thank you for the confidence that we can have addressing thee and thy beloved Son.
Thou as shown and demonstrated thy love so much at Calvary's cross that we're assured, as this hymn has told us, that that all will be well. All must be well. We thank Thee for this confidence. We have both for time.
And for eternity. And now, as we commence this meeting, we pray that through Thy Holy Spirit, Thou will lead.
Brothers who have a burden on their heart to step forward to the podium and to give Thy message for us during this hour. We pray, Lord Jesus, for a real rich blessing upon us that we might be drawn near Thee.
Our precious Savior. And so we asked this Lord Jesus in the most precious name in it.
Something on my heart today I might want to share with folks.
00:05:00
I want to read a passage from Romans chapter 8.
And I'll tell you what is on my heart. It's the sufferings that we as the people of God.
Sometimes half the past through in Romans the 8th chapter and verse 18 says, For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in US.
Now, I'm not talking about the sufferings that we received from the chasing of the Lord.
Now the word of God tells us very clearly that God chastens everyone he receives.
And he also says he scourges every sun.
Have you had something of the chastening of God upon you? Have you been scourged by the Lord? I have. I've been to the woodshed many times, but that's not really what's on my heart this afternoon. I don't wanna have to run the whole gamut from Dan to Bathsheba on the subject of suffering. I just like to focus in basically upon the sufferings that we as a people of God have to pass through.
And there's not one person.
In this audience today, including me and everyone else.
Is sometime or another is not going to be called upon to pass through a trial. Sometimes those trials are are are hard and harsh. You know, someone has well said that we're either coming out of a trial.
We're in a trial.
Or we're going into a trial.
And it's not simply because the fact that we are being punished now, that's another fact in itself. I just mentioned that, but I'm not focusing in on that. And that's for true. We don't have to look at that so much. I'm basically thinking of people who have suffered because the Lord just puts them through that suffering and and obviously.
Last night when our brother Paul brought us that nice word on the gospel, when I got home last night, I opened up the Bible and I wanted to read Chapter 9 of, of John again, just enjoy it. And I did. And you know, the first part of that chapter, of course he was preaching the gospel on it and he, he wasn't focused in on the, the aspect that I am going to right now. But you know, they asked the question who sinned this man or his parents?
And the Lord said neither this man has sinned.
But this happened for the glory of God. Now the Lord wasn't saying this man was sinless. No, that wasn't the point. But he was just simply saying that actually there was no particular sin in this man's life or his parents, that God inflicted the the, the, the burden of being blind upon him. So the Lord allows us to go through different sufferings. Have you ever thought of it about Adam? Adam was the 1St man.
Born into this world or or really into the world, the Lord has created him. Adam had a life of sorrow. He saw his beloved son Abel, who was a dedicated man of God, following the ways of God.
He saw his brother Cain rise up and kill him.
Adam had a sadness to bear the rest of his life, didn't he?
Uh, he, he had a son who was a murderer, had another son who had, had they gotten killed. So suffering is something that we all have to contend with. It doesn't matter. Uh, uh, sooner or later, you know, I told my doctor this, he was sitting there and I have a number of doctors, but this is a female doctor and we're, we're pretty good friends. And I said, you know, I said, one of these days, I said.
All of us will have to be, uh, subject to suffering, I said. We'll probably be in a wheelchair someplace and probably decrepit, probably can't walk. Maybe somebody will have to feed us. Oh, she said, no, no, no, no, not me. But let me tell you something. If you live long enough, you'll be there. If you live long enough, if you get to be 100, maybe 105, I don't know what time it'll be, but if you live long enough, you're going to be subject to suffering. We all are subject to suffering.
00:10:05
The Lord has allowed these things.
Now we are studying, I would we were just going through the book of Proverbs, my wife and I, but I have noticed that in the book of Proverbs, there's a number of isolated verses there that tell us that God factors himself right into the very lifestyle and our our our domestic life. You can look for this if you would like it, but the fact is that the circumstances of life are ordered by God.
You know, there's a little verse that we've enjoyed so much and they had it on the the.
Invitation down at Nashville one time. But listen, this is very true, you and me. My life is butter weaving between my Lord and me. I cannot choose the colors. He workers steadily off times. He weave a sorrow and I and foolish pride forget. He sees the upper and I the underside. Not till the loom is silent and the shuttle cease to fly, shall God unfold the canvas and explain the reason why.
Those dark threads are as needful and we were skillful hands as the threads of gold and silver and the pattern he has planned. Suffering is a part of our experience. What did the Lord tell Atanias to tell Saul, or when he when he was coming in from the road of Damascus?
The Lord told of the great things that He must suffer for my sake. Suffering is a part of our life now. I don't have the time. We can't take the time to go into the various ones that we look in Scripture, but we know that Abraham had it, Isaac had it, Jacob had it. Look at their lives. Their lives is full of suffering.
Job.
Job suffered. Listen, Job was a righteous man. He didn't suffer because he had done sin.
I'm, I'm not saying Joe, Joe didn't didn't have a, the proper understanding of of God and so forth, but Joe was a righteous man. God put Job through terrible times of suffering and he put the apostle Paul. Look, Apostle Paul, you think we've suffered. The Scripture tells us this. Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier.
Of Jesus Christ, are you willing to endure?
The hardness Paul did, What did he say? Five times?
He was beaten with the whips, 40 stripes, saved 139 times. They brought that whip across his back. They used to put him on a pillar. I understand. He said three times I was beaten with rods. Can you imagine that? A rod, you know, it's a stiff, whatever it is. And he was beaten three times with that. And then he says, he said, I was stoned one time. The apostle Paul suffered all of God's people.
Sooner or later.
We'll face trial and face suffering. You think that John the Baptist, you know, John the Baptist was a great, great prophet, yet God allowed him to pass through sufferings. It doesn't mean that God didn't love him. The Lord spoke highly of John the Baptist. There was never been a prophet like John the Baptist, so forth. And he spoke very highly of him.
What did you, John the Baptist, have to do?
Because if he was preaching the righteousness, he was sown into prison and because of a a situation with Herod's he had, he took his head off. Can you imagine that? Well, you know, John the Baptist actually sent word to Jesus. He said, look, he said he's in prison. He didn't know what to think. The Lord was supposed to be the Messiah to come along and deliver them.
And, and, and John sent some messenger said Jesus. And they said, Lord, are you him or the one that come or are we going to look for another? And what did Jesus tell him? He said he just said, go back and tell him what you have seen and heard. He said the blind see, the deep hear, the lame walk, the lumpers are clean, the dead people are raised again the light. So John had to suffer, but he had the assurance that the Lord knew all about it.
00:15:00
And I imagine that was a, a terrible time to lose one's head. You know, back in those days, they, they decapitated people. How would you like to be decapitated? You don't know how you're gonna die. Neither do I. And we don't know the future. But that that's a pretty, pretty bad thing to be had taken off. Now, the Apostle Paul was the same way. Not only did was he shipwrecked, not only was he in pearls of, of robbers and so forth. Not only did he suffer all these things.
For the name of the Lord and that's what we should do. We should realize the fact that we were called to suffer in this world. You shall have tribulations. Can you imagine the apostle Paul and I, I enjoy that that that verse where he says I am now ready to be offered. The time of my departure is at hand. I have bought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.
But that night?
The day they come to get him out of that, probably that Roman prison, because they tell us now that they've just, archaeologists have just discovered what they think may have been the Apostle Paul's bones. And there's no doubt that's where they kept people that they were going to kill.
In that prison it was a hole in the ground with a great honor, I suppose, and that they still have it now as a tourist attraction. But I will I will often thought here is the Apostle Paul.
Is down at our prison hungry?
Probably thirsty, no sanitation. The ranks of the smell of it was Bobby would just overwhelm you. And that fatal day they came and they said come on old man, let's go.
Let's see now.
Here he wasn't hungry and emaciated. No sanitation down there.
Let him to the block to take his head off. And I've said just last week I was thinking about it and I had not mentioned it, but you know, this day and age we live in, they usually ask the prisoner, do you have any last words to say?
I need a possible in my mind would have said, I believe he would have quoted that Scripture. He would say, yes, I have something to say. And I believe he would say as he looked at that executioner or that blistering sword or whatever it was the broad act that was going to take his head off, He probably could see the places where the blood had been spilled and heads had rolled. And if fossil Paul said, I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him.
Against that day.
Well, I tell you.
The Lord will be with us when we pass through these these sorrows. And the Lord actually orchestrates a lot of these things. Do you remember when the Lord told them to get into the boat and go to the other side? And you know that it uses a word there. It says He constrained them. Now that is a very strong Greek expression. That means He more or less pushed Him into it.
Apparently they wasn't already to jump in to go to the other side, because being fishermen, they could probably see that there was a storm brewing perhaps.
But the Lord told them to get into that boat and go to the other side. And you know, when they got out there, they reached that fierce storm and there were the lives were in jeopardy. The Lord allowed it to happen. Take your circumstances from the Lord, our old brother used to say, and your difficulties to the Lord. And the Lord came to them.
Dire situation and you know the story.
He came to them and he calmed the sea, and you know the Lord can calm the sea.
There's nothing too hard for the Lord. You know, I, we had a brother in our meeting and maybe somebody are recognizing if I may, if I mentioned this, uh, but one of his favorite hymns were green pastures are before me, which yet I have not seen. Bright skies will soon be over me where the dark clouds have been. My hope I cannot measure my path to life is free.
For my Savior has my treasure, and He will walk with me. The Lord will be with us in the trial, and that's precious. Let me tell you, it's precious. I realize this afresh.
00:20:11
The last, I think the last episode that we were fishing commercially and I was at that time, well, I don't know what an 80 year old man is doing out in the fishing boat with 1200 foot of net over. But that's what the situation was. And Ruth Ann was with me and a storm came up, a wind came up, I suppose maybe it was 25 or 30 mph.
And there's no way that we could have got those nuts on the boat, not with the wind blowing when you're pulling 600 foot Nets and the wind just blowing you. You can pull it at the time if you're strong. But the two friends of ours.
Saw us out there in the middle of that situation and they got their boat and came out. They jumped on the boat and very muscular men and they were able to get the nuts on our boat. But you know what I really valued about that?
They thought enough of me.
And Ruth had come out and let me tell you, that's the most wonderful thing. The Lord will come and comfort us and sustain us in all of our troubles, you know, and we learned something from that. You know, I, I, I was through a fierce amount of suffering for 50 years. I was in a relationship that caused me with an unbelieving wife. I married before I was a Christian. I didn't do it after I was a Christian.
I'm not going to get the devil from the father-in-law.
But be be that as it may.
Actually, I, I went through, I, I wouldn't relate to you for 50 years. I, I know what it is to suffer and I'm not gonna brag about it. I'm not gonna tell you about it, but I can tell you one thing that the Lord has, was near me all that time. You know, there's a, a verse that I like so much and it has meant so much to me over the years. Uh, and, and it's the first hell of that, that, you know.
Oh, I'll think of it in a second, but the the point is that that the Lord comes for many a raptured menstrual among the sons of light will say of his sweetest music. I learned it in the night and many are rolling at them that fills the father's home sobbed out his first rehearsal in the shades of a darkened room. Let me tell you, we go through sufferings there isn't there There's a Christian life is not a better roses and the Lord is going to be there.
And he's going to be there to sustain us and as a precious verse that I like it so much and and and first Peter, where it tells us there casting all your care upon him for he careth for you. I like it in the in the original language of that verse, I believe it says rolling all of your anxiety over on him for it matters to him.
Concerning you now, our translators of the King James Version, that is not something that you could put into English language. They have to change it a little bit and they put it casting all your burdens on him. But the literal, uh, translation of that word would be, would be actually, it matters to him concerning you. And we do not have to worry or we do not have to, uh, fret.
Sufferings that uh, and and for us.
And I could multiply stories that would substantiate that. I remember a story of a man, he had just inherited the form that West and he was.
Converted and he thought, he said I'd like to be a missionary. He was a Christian. I got, he got converted. He sold his farm and had planned, I guess gone to the Moody Bible Institute. He wanted to get some kind of theological education. He wanted to go out in the mission field.
But before he even got there, he had a serious accident.
Within the hospital over a year.
Took all of the money that he had from the farm to pay the bill and it didn't quite pay at all. He was a cripple of the rest of his life and he owed thousands of dollars to the hospital.
That's some of the sufferings that we don't know why God allows people to go through their sufferings like that. And we, we, you know, you know, many cases, I suppose you can probably think of many cases. You can think of people who are going through sufferings, maybe some little child or maybe someone. And, and it's not the fact that that they've done anything to earn this. And I remem, remember now I'm focusing in on just the, the sufferings that we go through that God allows for some reason.
00:25:28
And I remember the story of Iris Sankey. I think I've told this story before, Iris. Thank you. Was DL Moody's, uh, song person in his great crusades and he sang some beautiful hymns. I think he was the one that put to the tomb. Uh, there was 90 and nine that safely lay. And he was a, a, a very instrumental and, and all the campaigns of DL Moody, But you know, he wound up.
A very sad, disillusioned person with health Health had escaped him.
Dale Moody died and passed away one of his 58 and Ira sank. He lived up until his 70s and the end of his life. He glaucoma left him illegally blind. He would found himself in a room an apartment in New York City. They said that he became very bitter. He became very.
Sad and some of the brother at that time, I don't know who it was, nobody can actually remember the name. Two brothers went around the scene and they they they they found he was that way. He was he was bitter. He was sad had no joy in his heart blind sitting in an apartment to spend the rest of his days. And before they left, they said that.
Mr. Sankey.
Would you say 1 Heaven before us before we go? And he didn't want to do it, but they prevailed upon him. So finally he drugged out old Melodia now, and it took the wrappings off of it. And those all theoretic fingers.
Found the keys and this is what he's saying. There'll be no dark valleys.
When Jesus comes, there'll be no dark valleys when Jesus comes to carry his loved ones home.
Oh, he looked up. They say that after he thought of that in that home above where the Lord was.
They said tears rolled down his cheeks.
What do you mean with Charlie? He realized the fact that there was a bright future for him. So my all my heart actually is the fact that we do suffer. And one of the things that we do not do, please or, and and, and if you remember nothing like this, if people who make you suffer, you don't retaliate to them, please. I mean, that's one of the things we don't do. We're so tempted.
Tooth for tooth and eye for eye. If you do me wrong, I want to do you wrong, you know, But that's, that's not what we want to do because Scripture is very clear. It tells us this. It says, dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. You know, I told her brother this not so long ago. I said to him, he thought he was being done wrong and he was done wrong.
But I said, I tell you what we have to do.
I said don't get, don't get in God's way. God says this is my business, don't you, don't, don't you dare intervene. I I intervene between the Lord. Let the Lord take care of this thing. Vengeance is mine, I will repay saith the Lord. So then if I find enemy of hunger feeding, if he thirsts, give him drink for so doing now so he calls a fire up on his head, Be not overcome of evil.
But overcome evil with good. And it tells us also when Hebrews there it it, it gives us a a real strong warning.
And Hebrews, uh, where it says that, uh, he had been often re uh, no, I'm sorry, uh, he's at despise Moses law died without mercy under two or three witnesses of how much sewer punishment suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who had trodden under foot the Son of God, handled the blood of the covenant as an unclean thing, and have done despite unto the spirit of grace. For we know him who saith vengeance is mine.
I will recompense, saith the Lord.
00:30:01
And again, the Lord shall judge his people. What do you think the next verse says? It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Oh, that's a that's a powerful verse. But let me tell you something. Please listen and see if I'm right. If I'm wrong, you tell me. But God is sovereign. He is in control. He's never one minute ahead of time or one minute behind time. God is in.
Full control.
What God does when God does it and how God does it, it's in his sovereign control. We don't have to worry about it not a bit. If I just made give you a personal story here and I can't help but mention this because I had to deal with the a person when I gave up my commercial license because it's a limited entry and people.
Are desperate to buy a license so I had it sold for a very astronomical fee.
And this uh, man that wanted to buy it begged me. He said please. He said I will, I will be qualified in a year. He said if you will wait. He said uh, I, I'd like to buy your license. He said I'll give you a down payment. I'll give you $4000 right now down payment. I said no, it's not only have down payment. He said, well we'll shake him a man of my word. We shook hands and when it comes to buy the license, he didn't buy him. He ain't found another cheaper a license.
But here's the thing, I didn't hate him. In fact, you can check with my wife. I gave him a lot of material after that. I gave him a lot of things pertaining to commercial fishery. But you know what happened to him.
About a two months later, they called him illegally with illegal equipment on his boat and they fined him $2500. Now I cost him maybe $10,000 more than he was going to pay me.
But the point is that God will take care of your problems for you. And I, I, I don't like to mention personal things, but I, I do want to just, I had mentioned that for to you, because take heart. If somebody has stepped on your toes, somebody has hurt you and somebody hasn't mistreated you, leave it with the Lord. Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. And I think if we do that.
We will find that God will be there to strengthen us. And now there is an old verse that I never have quoted this person and I have known this little verse for about 60 years, but I want to give it to you the first time that I have ever mentioned this publicly. But there's a little verse that says does the road wind up hill all the way? The answer came back, yes, my friend from all all the way. Will the journey take the whole long day?
From Bourne to night, my friend, Listen.
Let's look to the Lord when the trials come, thus realize one thing, that God is there and there's another, Him that you we all love. Through waves, through storms, through clouds, God gently clears away. We wait his time, so shall the night soon. In a blissful day, let's take heart. The blessed Lord himself is there to up uphold us, to sustain us.
And the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. I can tell you, even though I'm just going to read this one verse before we close.
Because it it really pertains to to what we're talking about and it tells us in Isaiah the 30th chapter. I just want to read these in closing.
Isaiah 30.
Uh, yeah. Let's just look at please at verse 18.
And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you.
Therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you.
For the Lord is a God of judgment. Blessed are all they that wait for him. You know the keyword here is wait. So wait for the Lord. Now look down at verse 20. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner anymore. But thine eyes shall see thy teacher. So the bread of adversity, the waters of affliction, they're gonna be there for you. They're gonna be there for me. But I can tell you one thing.
00:35:01
Being on this earth a little over 80 years.
I can tell you one thing, that the Lord has never failed me. The Lord has been there to sustain me.
And that's what he he'll, he'll do the same thing for you. And let us just close with that verse, casting all your care upon him for he careth for you or rolling all of your anxiety over on him. It matters to him.
Concerning you.
Second Samuel, I believe, chapter 6.
This is a portion where the Ark was brought back.
Because of the time, I want to shorten how much we read.
Let's begin at verse 12.
Second Samuel, chapter 6, verse 12.
And it was told King David, saying, The Lord had blessed the House of Obed Edom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the House of Obed Edom unto the city of David.
With gladness.
And it was so that when they had bare the ark of the Lord, they that bare the ark of the Lord had gone 6 paces. He sacrificed oxen and fatlings.
And David danced before the Lord with all his might, and David was girded with a linen epod. So David and all the House of Israel brought up. The ark of the Lord was shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
And as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michael Saul's daughter looked through a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord.
And she despised him.
In her heart.
And they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in his place in the midst of the Tabernacle that David had pitched for David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
And as soon as David had made an end of offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts.
Down to verse 20.
Then David returned to bless his household.
And Michael, the daughter of Saul.
Came out to meet David and said how glorious was the king of Israel today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovered themselves.
And David said unto Michael.
Listen carefully.
It was before the Lord.
It was before the Lord.
It was before the Lord which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord over Israel. Therefore will I play before the Lord, and I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in my own sight. And of the maid servants which thou has spoken of, of them shall I be had in honor. Therefore Michael, the daughter of Saul, had no child.
Unto the day of her death.
Want to speak a little about worship?
I have read in some writings of the older brethren, I believe particularly Mr. Darby.
That those that often take part in meetings, in ministry, when it comes to the Lord's Table, they should be hesitant to participate.
Vocally.
And after all, it's their habit to speak. Perhaps it's easy for them to speak.
But the Lord's Table is not a time for gift to be displayed.
Or exercise. It's a time for worship.
And that's a beautiful thing when at the Lord's Table, those who are quiet in other meetings and you never hear from, but you hear them OfferUp worship. It's a very blessed experience when that happens.
But it could be that many times those who do OfferUp worship may make mistakes and things they say.
Or perhaps their manner is.
00:40:03
Not so eloquent or.
Perhaps not even pleasant to look at. Maybe they get emotional, shed tears, their voice breaks, and so on.
But it is heartwarming, isn't it?
To hear people offer worship. I don't want to exalt our brother Ben. I really appreciate it.
The offering of thanks this morning at the Lord's Table.
I wish I heard it more often.
But this is my point in reading you this story.
You have to be very careful about criticizing worship.
What we have here is we have David.
He said I will be more base in my own sight. Didn't care about himself.
He forgot all about himself, his love for the Lord, his excitement.
For having the ark back.
Caused him to just forget about himself, forget about what he looked like, forget about what people think.
It was before the Lord.
And I'm sure before the Lord it was a beautiful thing.
She was his wife. Perhaps she was embarrassed.
But she criticized him, and it says she had no child unto the day of her death.
There are a lot of things which.
Think for oneself. The fear of saying something wrong or embarrassing oneself is probably a primary reason for being quiet and not offering up worship.
That really is based in pride.
It seems here David had completely abandoned pride.
And his love and his appreciation and excitement for the Lord.
No pride.
But if you criticize others worship.
Think about it. You sit there and you evaluate and you criticize worship.
How easy is it gonna be for you to worship?
Indeed, you may end up bearing.
You'll end up faring when it comes to worship.
You'll notice that Michael was Saul's daughter.
And I think those particularly.
Inclined or in danger of criticizing worship.
Maybe those who come from households that have been amongst the gathered Saints for more than one generation.
Her father had been king.
1St.
I just want to encourage.
The Saints, especially those who don't feel they have any gift or are not eloquent.
To worship to OfferUp, though it may be simple.
OfferUp What is due to the Lord?
I think the wisdom in advising those that minister in meetings.
To hesitate at the Lord's Table.
It's not just for them.
Because I fear that.
Those that are used to ministering and offer up some very nice worship.
Eloquent, perhaps, full of scriptures, almost ministering in their worship because it's their gift and it's their habit.
But it might lead our children to think that it has to be that way.
So they can't worship unless they can do that good.
They can't worship unless they can come up with something that good.
00:45:06
But wouldn't you agree, as you read about the Lord Jesus, And I don't mean to say that those who OfferUp such worship in the gifted brothers that may OfferUp worship are in any way, uh, displaying, putting on a religious show. I don't intend to say that at all, and I'm not.
But if you think about the Lord Jesus, the one that we worship, and you read about Him when he walked here, if one thing is clear, he had no tolerance for religious show, did He?
He had no tolerance whatsoever for hypocrisy, for religious show.
Clearly it was distasteful to him and it still is. He hasn't changed.
So I just say this by way of encouragement, especially to the younger ones, and not just to the younger ones, but to older ones too. Who, uh.
Who tend not to feel that they're capable of taking part in meetings when it comes time for us to remember the Lord.
And you have appreciation in your heart and you just have that, that urge, if I could put it that way, to give thanks. Don't wait till you have it right.
Don't wait till you got it right.
The Lord is going to listen to your heart.
And you should be like David.
And say it's before the Lord. I don't care about what people think of me. I don't care about myself. I just want to offer him the praise and the worship that he deserves. It is before the Lord.
Just say that to yourself. It is before the Lord.
Can you say #173?
Nsnoise.
00:50:59
We have no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no problems. Right now. I'm going to call my mom.
Or near my bride how everything I want.
854 Wednesday, today kilograms Stone.
2002 indicating forever.
Spray together.
Our God and Father, just thank Dave for another opportunity to have thy word opened and just thank Thee for thy working in our lives.
We're good, we just pray that as we would deal with the sufferings, trials of everyday life, that.
We might look to Thee for help and that Thou it's have the glory as a result of our lives. We just pray to You that we might know Thee. We might feel free to worship Thee and not be ashamed of our weakness or whatever it is. We just thank Thee for Thy love to us that we can have confidence in. We would just thank Thee again for this time and pray in the name of the Lord Jesus, Amen.
John 1:1-8
John 1:9-14