Vestal Conference: 2017
Table of Contents
Hebrews 13:1-5
Defilement for the Dead
Address—Tim Ruga
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Could we begin the meeting this afternoon by singing hymn #48?
Hymn #48.
High in the Father's house above our mansion is prepared.
There is a home, the rest we love, and there our bright reward.
High end.
Of everything else, I never had a manual call. I'm going to go.
Ahead and I'll have a lot of work. I don't know. I don't know why I'm in the bedroom. I don't know what I'm going to do.
Oh.
Let's pray. Our God and our Father, we look forward to that time that we've been singing about. We thank Thee that it will be so and that our place there has been won by the Lord Jesus Christ and His work at Calvary's cross. We thank you for giving us thy word. We thank Thee for this privilege that we have to.
Here this afternoon we pray that I will speak to us and that we would hear Thy word. We commit this time to Thee and ask for Thy health and Thy blessing in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
So we were singing.
About in the last verse, that all taint of sin shall be removed, all evil done away, and we shall dwell with God's beloved through God's eternal day. Wonderful time that is just ahead of us.
That we're just about to enjoy, but we're not there yet.
We're still in a place where there's evil and the taint of sin.
And what I have in my heart this afternoon is the subject that's deeply painful for me and for my family, but I have felt from the Lord that I should speak about it.
The subject is that of the assembly and evil in the assembly and putting away that evil.
And also.
Separation from evil.
This is not an encouraging subject, often thought of as negative, and it is, but it's important. So Word of God is what God desires for us. And over the years I have spoken to various ones, particularly young people, with some older ones as well, who said, well, we don't understand these things very well. They're often not taught so much at the conferences and other places. I know they have been. I've heard it.
But it's true, not often. And so that's what's on my heart this afternoon.
And I intend to take this up starting in First Corinthians 5.
Just looking at some of these things very simply if we can.
And then going on.
To Second Timothy 2 and then looking at some principles in the Old Testament.
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In particular.
Connected with being defiled by the dead.
These are the things in my heart. So First Corinthians chapter 5.
Please just read that chapter.
It is reported commonly that there is fornication among youth, and such fornication as is not so much as names.
Among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.
And your pops up and have not rather mourned that he hath that hath done this seed might be taken away from among you. For I verily is absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already as though I were present concerning him that has so done this deed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And you are gathered together, and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who delivers such and wanted to Satan for the destruction?
Of the flesh, that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out there for the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, even as as you are. 11 For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
Therefore let us keep the feast, not withhold leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
I wrote unto you in an epistle not to accompany with fornicators.
Yet not all together with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters. For then must he needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner.
With such an one no not to eat for what have I to do to judge them also that are without?
Do not ye judge them that are within, but them that are without? God judges.
Therefore, put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
This chapter is certainly the primary chapter in the Word of God that would describe putting someone away from the company of the Lord's people, not by any means the only one, but no doubt the primary one. And so as we look at this, it's important to understand the case. The case very simply was a man.
Who was guilty of fornication and as a result?
He had become defiled and unclean, and there was necessity to treat him and deal with him a certain way in the assembly. And the ones in Corinth had not done it. They were careless and they were indifferent. And so the apostle Paul had to write to them, and he writes this epistle telling them what they were to do.
And as you go all the way through this, we come right down to the end and he tells them.
He says that this wicked person, he says really two things in particular. One, they were not to eat with him.
Number two, they were to put away from among themselves that wicked person.
Certainly that one was put away from the Lord's Table. The language would require that it be self. And so He was put away from the Lord's people, and they were not to have Him in the midst of their company, and nor were they to go and eat with Him. And that is set down plainly as we have it right here. I am not aware of Scriptures that would overturn what we have here.
This is the word of God for us today. I am aware that there are other scriptures in the New Testament.
That take up other cases.
And we have to discern from the Lord what to do in such cases, cases such as dependence in a home or the marriage state, things like that. I'm not going to talk about that today. I want to keep it just simple on what it says here, that there were these ones, the case of the man here in Corinth who had committed fornication, he had not repented, and he then therefore had to be put away from the company of the Lord's people.
Now another thing I want to say in regard to this he was not put away.
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By the individuals.
He says put away from among yourselves that wicked person. But that wasn't all the individuals doing it. It was the assembly who put this man away.
There is responsibility in this chapter for everyone of us as believers to act on individually. I'm not going to take that up today, but you can read it. It's very clearly written here where it says about in verse 11, any man that is called a brother. We all have individual responsibility with regard to that, that we're not to you with one who's called a brother and is guilty of these sins, fornication and so on.
But the case in First Corinthians Five, that is taken off as a man who is put away.
And he's put away by the assembly. And we see this because if we just go back up to verse four, it says in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ when ye are gathered together.
And my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh. So you see that they were to be gathered together in the name of the Lord Jesus. It wasn't individual, but it was collective. And this Scripture agrees precisely with what the Lord Jesus himself laid down in Matthew chapter 18, that verse.
That our brother read to us this morning in the prayer meeting, Matthew 18 and verse 20, which comes after Matthew 18 and verse 18 which says.
Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth is found in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth is loosed in heaven, and so there's an action there. It is bound.
Found on earth is found in heaven, and if it was to be unbound, that is, to be loosed, it was going to be loosed on earth and then loosed in heaven. And it wasn't done by individuals, because as the Lord went on to say in the 20th verse, four, or because where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them.
It was a collective action, both the binding and the losing, which you also get the losing in First Corinthians.
I'm sorry, in Second Corinthians that part of the case is taken up in the Second Epistle of Paul through the same assembly.
And So what we have here in First Corinthians 5 is an assembly action.
The assembly discerned that this man was guilty of this evil, and the assembly put him away from their midst and doubtless from the Lord's Table.
And all of the individuals in the assembly were responsible to act on that. They could not have their own individual and the judgment in the matter, but they were bound by that action because what was found on earth was found in heaven, as our Lord said.
They couldn't go on later on and say, well, I know that things have changed with this person, so I'm going to go and I'm going to eat with him. You don't find that it was an assembly action and before that man could be eaten, with which he was. Later on we find out from the 2nd epistle, not specifically that, but they were to forgive him there, which would lead to them bringing him back into full restoration of fellowship. Before that could happen, the assembly had to lose.
Individuals could not make up their own mind about that matter.
These are the principles they apply to us today. If you haven't read through this chapter and seen it yourself, I encourage you to go back again. There's another very important thing in this chapter, and I want to pass on quickly here, but I want to notice that before we do. And that is that allowing evil in the midst of the Lord's people brings in defilement.
And So what we have here, although maybe negative and not the encouraging things of trying to build one another up in Christ.
Yet to ignore these things is to tear down the assembly of God's people, the fellowship of God's people, and to shut out the Lord because he demands that there be holiness in his house. And so it says here.
In verse six, your glory is not good.
Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven.
That you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened for Christ, our Passover sacrifice for us.
He's saying by going on with this you are allowing leaven there.
To allow this front end of your midst is to be leavened.
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He says you need to print it out and you need to go on a new lump unleavened. To allow evil in the midst of the Lord's people is to defile.
The Lord's people to bring defilement into the assembly. Let's go over to Second Timothy, chapter 2.
There it's applied individually. First Corinthians 5 is collective.
We all have individual responsibility in this Second Timothy, chapter 2.
Verse 19.
After having just taken off a case of Hymenaeus and Philetus, a man who had been guilty of profane and vain babbling, the apostle Paul then gives some teaching regarding.
The holiness that belongs to God's people, he says in verse 19. Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure. Having this seal, the Lord knoweth him that are his.
Whether or not those two men of the Lord he knows, but what is our?
Responsibility.
He says here.
And let everyone name it the name of Christ. There should be the Lord.
As He is the Lord to you and me, how we confess them, let everyone.
The name is the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some to honor, and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
And so here he speaks about the fact that in a great house is, which is what Christendom has been.
We come today, I won't take the time to go into that, but you look in first and second Timothy, you see this whole subject of the house developed. And today we're in a time when the House of God on earth has become likened unto this great house. And in it there are many things. There's not just what is pure, but there's even we have the vessels of gold and silver, that which is valuable and precious, and then those which are common.
Those that are of wood and of earth.
I believe beyond unbelievers included in that house. But he goes on to speak about another division there that is some to honor and some to dishonor.
And that which professes the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the House of God today, there is that which is to honor, and there is that which is to dishonor. And I'm not talking about doctrines, I'm talking about people, because that's what this chapter is talking about when it says vessels.
Here it means people, not things, not doctrines, because it says in verse 22, If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel. He's talking about persons.
Now if there are a vessel to honor and vessel to dishonor.
How can one be a vessel to honor?
Well, it's very plain. Only by purging himself from the vessels to dishonor. Obviously he's not talking about separating or purging from vessels to honor. The next verse talks about continuing on with him and Brother Jonathan quoted that this morning.
He's talking about separating oneself from vessels to dishonor, and if we will do that, then we can be a clean vessel for the Lord and useful to Him.
Conversely, if we won't do that, we can't be a clean vessel and useful to him now. Why?
Because association with evil defiles. The Scripture teaches this. It teaches it here very plainly and these very verses. It taught it collectively in First Corinthians chapter 5. We have it taught to us in other places and the New Testament as well. We're not going to take them all up. Instead, I want to go and just a moment and look.
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That's a case of being defiled for the dead, because I think it's a very important case. It's perhaps the primary case that God has given in the Old Testament to illustrate this principle. Remember, looking into it for the first time a number of years ago now. I'm being very surprised at how often that one subject came up in the Old Testament.
And so I think it would be very useful to look at it, but first of all, I want to go on and establish one of the principle.
You know, we need to be very careful when it comes to the Old Testament.
We have to be careful how we apply it.
All of the word of God is written for us, but it is not all written to us, and we have to understand that it is most important. The Old Testament is written for us. The New Testament is written largely but not completely to us, and we have to.
Learn to understand the difference between those things.
The Old Testament aside, is inferior. I hope not. It isn't inferior. Just look over.
Next chapter Second Timothy 3, verse 16. All Scripture, Old Testament and New Testament is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness, every word of it.
We don't want to say one word aside, however, having said that.
It's important that we also understand that we can't take scripture any way we want to.
It was given in a certain way and we need to understand that. Just turn back, for instance, to the chapter we're just in. Second Timothy 2 and verse 15 says study to show thyself approved unto God, a Workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
If there's a right way to divide the word of truth, then that necessarily means that there's a wrong way to divide it. And we can take up the word of God and we can divide it in a way that is wrong. And if we use the Old Testament indiscriminately and not understand it in the light of the New Testament, then we're surely going to get into error and make a lot of mistakes.
Why? Because, like I said, that which we have in the New Testament, much of it.
At least has written to us. Now I've said that and I just want to go and see it. Let's just go back to Romans chapter 15.
Just to establish this principle.
Romans 15.
Verse four, after having just quoted from the Psalms, the apostle Paul is led by the Spirit, says in verse four, for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. You see what he says here. They're written for our learning. Now let's go to 1St Corinthians chapter 10.
1St Corinthians 10.
The beginning of that chapter we find 5 examples taken from the Old Testament.
That the apostle Paul is using to illustrate a point he wants to make to the Corinthians. And then he says in verse 11, Now all these things happen unto them for examples, and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. And so we have the Old Testament given to us.
For our prophet, all of it. It's written for us so that we might learn things that God wants us to know.
We ignore it to our peril, but we take it up wrongly to our peril as well. Let's go to Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3, verse 19. Now we know that whatsoever things the law said, it says to them who are under the law. You see that difference now?
We have Old Testament presented to us.
And this previous two verses, and we're told those things are for us. Now he gets here and he's talking about these things in the law. He's saying whatever those things were, they're written to them directly applying to them.
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Can we benefit from the things that are there You go back and read with the Apostle Paul's quoting? Of course we can. We can all learn from those things.
But they're not written to us. And so we have to understand that difference and we have to discern how.
To read that and how to understand the things that are written there in the light of the New Testament.
Now, what about the passage that we had in First Corinthians 5? Let's go back and and justice look there again.
First Corinthians, chapter 5.
Verse 9.
I wrote unto you in.
In an epistle not to company fornicators, I understand that should be. I have written unto you in the epistle.
Mr. Kelly says that that would be this epistle.
But I've written to you. He's saying verse 11. But now I have written unto you, not to keep company any men. It's called a brother. So on. Written directly to who? Well, the Corinthians, certainly the Corinthians, these things are written to them. They were told what they had to do. But was it only them?
No, it wasn't only them. Go back to see how this.
Letter is addressed first Corinthians chapter one verse one. Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God and Sosthenes our brother unto the Church of God which is at Corinth to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be Saints. So certainly written to the Corinthians, but was that all?
Let's continue.
With all that, in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. And so these things that we had presented to us in First Corinthians chapter 5.
Were written to the believers who are sitting in this room this afternoon.
Directly to us.
And we need to be very careful before setting aside one word of it. We better have a very good reason as to why actually we're not setting it aside. But there's some other scripture that the Lord is actually presenting to us as to why we should act in a way that would seem different from what we have plainly presented here.
I just want to make that point because now we're going to go to the Old Testament and I want to look at types and I trust with the Lord's help, we'll look at them.
In a way that is consistent with the New Testament. And so I want to go to Leviticus chapter 21.
And I want to just start there and talk about this case of being defiled for the dead.
And as I do that, I want to say I am conscious.
That there is a teaching among us that takes this stuff in a different way.
And I'm going to explain that.
Quickly here before I go on to what I believe these verses do teach us.
The thought is.
That when one is put away from the Lord's table.
That there are certain ones you can eat with them, and these verses are used to support that idea.
And let's read the verses, and I'll just explain that briefly in verse one. And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto the priest, the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people, but for his kin that is, near unto him, that is.
For his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother, and for his sister. A virgin that is nice with him, which hath no husband for her. He may be defiled, but he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people to profane himself.
Now the.
Explanation I have heard is that.
This is speaking about the priests, and today in the New Testament we're all priests. Therefore this applies to us. And it shows that when it comes to someone who's put away from the Lord's Table that those who are close to them.
As we have laid out here.
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Are free to eat with them. And yet I don't believe that's the teaching here at all. I don't believe it because first of all.
As I already said, we have direct, clear New Testament instruction.
And I don't believe there's anything in the New Testament that would give us warrant to come and take an Old Testament type and set that aside and say that's not what we are to do in certain cases such as we have here, father, mother, so on.
I don't even believe that the dead here is talking about someone put away from the Lord's Table.
It's talking about another case altogether. If you want to consider one put away from the Lord's table, you need to go back.
About 7 chapters in Leviticus and get to Leviticus chapters 13 and 14. And there you can see the law of the leper. And the law of the leper you find that here is one who had leprosy on him so bad that that one could no longer be among the Lord's people. And so that one was put outside the camp and there was no fellowship until that one was cleansed and brought back in. And it wasn't a matter of certain individuals going and having communion.
That one during that period of time, but the priest who would look in on that one to see if the leprosy was still active or not.
An entirely different case, and we don't have time to take that out, but I believe that's what corresponds with First Corinthians chapter 5. Here we have the case of someone who had died.
And what does that mean? It means that we're no longer in the land of the living. And necessarily someone had to come and bury the body, no question about it. Otherwise it would just sit there and rot and spread defilement everywhere. We understand this very well. There's also no thought that there would be ongoing communion in the case with the dead. That's preposterous.
The dead body is buried. It's gone. They weren't going to dig it up a week later or a month later. That has no part of the thought here. But of necessity, someone had to go and bury that body, and so there was provision made for it. But what does this passage really teach us? God is taking off a principle that's very important, and that is that there are things that are dead or persons that are dead.
Is a thought here, and he doesn't even say what that would correspond to for us today.
I'll tell you more of what I think that may be in a moment, but the thing that's clear from this passage is that when one comes into contact with the dead person, what happens to them?
Whether it's allowed or not, what happens to them?
Says they're defiled. That's the point that God is making here. The point of this passage is until allow.
Contact, but it's to explain something about defilement. And I want to say too, this is not a matter of talking about somebody becoming dirty. That's not the idea here.
Look at what it says in verse four. But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, too profane himself.
Now I was not just talking about the file, this is explaining it here. What is profane?
You know, for saying this, it's the opposite of being holy. It's to be unholy. It's not a thing of being dirty. It's a moral thought that God is giving to us here.
He didn't set this example out among his people for their help. No doubt it would be helpful to their health. But he set this out and he takes it up over and over again in the Old Testament. As we're going to see some of the verses in a moment, I won't go to the mall. There's many.
So that we might understand that there's such a thing as to filement. And as we go on, we're going to see that the one who becomes the file is themselves to file it of others. And the need to put away that defilement is the point that God is trying to get at and what we have brought before us here. Let's go to Numbers chapter 5.
Numbers chapter 5, verse one, The Lord spake unto Moses, saying.
Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper and everyone that had an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead.
OK, now there we have the leper and justice like we have presented in Leviticus 13 and 14. If we were to turn there, that leper had to be put out of the camp. And it makes sense. And then there's one who's got an issue. That is the file that's coming out of that person. They had to be put out of the camp. God does not want defilement among His people.
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Now notice the next one.
It doesn't say put out of the camp the dead. That's not the thought here.
The dead was buried, he says. You put out of the camp whosoever is defiled by the dead. Now here's one who had gotten defiled, gotten dirty by this dead body.
Anything that one has to be put out of the camp, he can't be among the Lord's people. Why? Because association with evil defiled.
Verse three. Both male and female shall ye put out without the camp? Shall you put them that they defile not their camps in the midst where us I dwell. If they were to be left in there, they would defile the camp. And why is that important? Because the Lord is there.
That principle is clear, isn't it? It's the same for us today. The Lord dwells in the midst of his people, and He wants his people to be holy. He does not want to file me brought in among them. And if there is defilement, it is to be put out. I say this because I'm not going to go through right now and try to make it a precise application to every way we might handle this in the New Testament. Instead, I want to.
Before, so that we can think about the importance of what God is saying here about defilement in the midst of His people. In the Old Testament, before the perfect work of Christ, God laid out this picture that the one who was defiled by a dead body had to be put outside of God's people, outside of the company of God's people.
If we were to practice that today, it would be as the man in First Corinthians chapter 5. I don't say that we should.
But it's a serious thing at that time. That's where the person was put outside of the company of God's people. Now let's go over a chapter to Numbers chapter 6.
Numbers Chapter 6. This is the law of the Nazarites.
Takes up this issue again.
And the Lord spake. Verse one. The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves, to vow a vow of a Nazarite to separate themselves into the Lord, he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. And she'll drink no vinegar of wine or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grape.
Nor eat moist grapes are dried. All the days of his separation shall he nothing.
That is made of the vine tree, then the kernels even to the husk. All the days of the vow of his separation. There shall no razor come upon his head until the days be fulfilled in the which he separated himself unto the Lord. He shall be holy, and shall let the lock to the hair of his head grow. Now we could spend much time going into the law of the leper. I'm sorry, into the law of the Nazarite that we have.
Presented here, but the key point that we have is this one with holy, devoted or consecrated to the Lord, which we can certainly say from Leviticus 21. We're all priests. That's true. But are we not all Nazarites as well? And isn't it interesting that the Lord had this case of a Nazarite, if there was going to be one totally devoted to the Lord and have the days of his separation?
What would that speak to us of today? Should not that be the entire life of the believer? Doesn't First Corinthians, I'm sorry, Romans chapter 12.
Teach us that the believer today should be a Nazarite to the Lord. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice.
Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Isn't that what we're called to?
And God said among his people there for those so devoted that day.
Were to be holy to himself. And what else did he say? Read on here.
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Verse 6. All the days that he separated himself unto the Lord, he shall come at no dead body. He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, or for his brother, or for his sister when they die, because the consecration of his God is upon his head. All the days of his separation he is holy.
Unto the Lord. And so we have a case here where this one goes beyond even what God allowed for His people, even a priest in the Old Testament economy and the Nazarite could not be defiled. Even if it was one so close to him. God did not permit it. He was to be absolutely holy to the Lord. That's what we have presented here. Now, in case you think that I was pushing it too far.
To.
To say we are talking about moral things here.
I want you to notice what it says next.
Verse nine And if any man die very suddenly, I think Mr. Darby translates that if anyone died unexpectedly by him, then he got to file the head of his consecration.
Andy has to file the head of his consecration, then he shall shave his head, and the day of his cleansing on the 7th day shall he shave it, and to see more about that 7th day in a minute.
And on the eighth day he shall bring 2 turtles to her, two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the Tabernacle, the congregation and the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him for that. Now notice these words, for that he sinned.
By the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day. And he shall consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering. But the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.
We see something of how God views defilement here.
This Nazarene had gone on, he had done so well, and now someone died unexpectedly and what does God call it? Says he sinned by it. How did he sin? He didn't even know it was going to happen. I can't fully answer that, but I do see in these verses.
How God is viewing it and the point that he's making about it that.
The fact that the man was defiled with the dead brought sin on him, and God saw his touch. It was suffilement there, and it cost this Nazarite all the days of the separation that went before he lost, that he'd just start over. And so it would be.
It's really something to see how God looks at this, to try to get an idea of how that might apply to us today. At the very least, I hope, brothers and sisters, we can understand that God does not look at the filament lightly. It's a very serious issue with Him, and if we take it lightly, then we're sliding Him in His very holiness.
Let's continue on to numbers Chapter 9, numbers nine and.
Here we have at the beginning of the chapter the children visit. We're going to keep it the Passover they went to do it first text. It says there were certain men who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the Passover on that day. And they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day. And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man.
Wherefore.
Are we kept back that we may not offer an offering of the Lord in His appointed season?
Among the children of Israel. And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you.
Or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or being a journey far off. Yet he shall keep the Passover unto the Lord the 14th day of the second month. And even they shall keep it and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Now we see that this one, or these ones who have been defiled by the dead body of a man, they couldn't take the Passover. That was the memorial piece of the Jews.
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Again, if we're gonna try to apply this, we might think of the Lord's Supper.
I don't know that we should make a direct comparison.
But this is a case where they could not have the Passover, their memorial feast, until a month later. They were not only put out from the camp, but they also could and partake of the memorial feast that God had given to His people at that time. They had to wait. It's a very serious thing to be defiled in the midst of.
God's people in that camp where he dwelt.
Let's go on to Numbers chapter 19.
I'm sure instantly many in this room will grasp that we've gone on now to a well known passage.
We have the case of the red heifer in Numbers chapter 19 and the beginning of this chapter we learned some very.
Wonderful things about the provision of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ for that defilement that comes in in the wilderness, which is what Numbers is. It's a wilderness book. And we ourselves, what we're here in this world we're seeing is going through the wilderness and there's a need for cleansing from defilement. But have you ever noticed?
That numbers 19 takes up almost exclusively this issue of being defiled.
For the dead.
Let's look at that verse 11. He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean 7.
Days he shall purify himself with it, with it, talking about the water of purification that was explained before verse 11.
Speaking about the application of the word of God and the death of Christ to that one who's been defiled, and it brings in repentance as a result. And so it says in verse 12, He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the 7th day he shall be clean.
But if you purify not himself the third day, then the 7th day he shall not be clean.
We often have talked about these verses and they have been applied to the process that goes on in repentance, and I believe rightly so. The Spirit of God is teaching us that when a person comes into defilement, we get away and we sin before the Lord. There's a need for repentance. And the first part of that is that the word of God should be brought to bear upon us and we should come to see that that very.
That I committed cost the Lord Jesus Christ his very life on the cross of Calvary, and that he went down into all the bitterness of death to pay for that sin. And the third day brings in the realization of that of the souls to that the one who is thus before the Lord is now brought to that place of repentance, to say, as David said in Psalm 51, against thee, and against thee only.
Have I sinned?
And then the 7th day comes in which brings the end to the matter, as David says there in Psalm 51, Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. And he says here, if you purify himself not the third day, then the 7th day he shall not be clean. There's no way to get by the cross and the penance and restoration. We need to be brought right down to that point where we see what it cost him. That's the teaching that has so often been given.
This subject and it's right. I believe that's what the Spirit of God would teach in these words.
But have you noticed?
In what connection is taken up?
Verse 11 Again, He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean. 7 days.
And then it talks about what happens in those seven days and what is it talking about here?
Being defiled.
Now I wanna say what I think. The filament is being defiled for the dead. I don't believe it. I'm going and eating with someone put away from the Lord's table.
When it's talking about dead, it's talking about one who has taken in moral and spiritual death, and we take up with that person, that thing that's to be put away. We're gonna have nothing to do with that.
And that death is something that comes in and effects a believer, and we can now take it ourselves and we can pass it on to others. I don't know all of what it means. There's examples given, as we're going to see going down this chapter here. But one thing is absolutely crystal clear. Whatever the debt is in type, it brings in a most awful form of defilement. I hope you've seen by now in the verses we've gone over.
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That the Spirit of God is showing.
That that's a filement is something.
And that requires real attention among God's people. It's filthy, and God's holiness demands that it not just be left unaddressed.
Look at verse 13, whosoever toucheth a dead body of any man that is dead.
And purifieth not himself defileth the Tabernacle of the Lord.
And that soul shall be cut off from Israel, because the water of preparation.
Was not sprinkled upon him. He shall be unclean. His uncleanness is yet upon him. That strong language. Do we have that in the New Testament? I don't know the number of verses that are very similar. You go to 1St Corinthians chapter 3 and you see there presented about a Workman and his work and that which is built on a foundation, and you see one who builds.
There, perhaps, I take it, to be one building on a foundation that he himself isn't even on. It's an apostate.
But the language of the Spirit of God in First Corinthians chapter 3 is startling. He says, if any man.
Destroy the temple of God. Him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy. Which temple ye are collected the Lord's people. We are his temple. And that temple of God is holy. He demands it because he dwells there.
Very similar language, verse 14.
This is the law when a man dies in a tent, all that come into the tent.
And all that is in the tent shall be unclean. 7 days.
Now it's just somebody dying in the tent. This is sort of like the Nazarite. It wasn't their fault, you might say. They're unclean.
Defilement, however we come into contact with it, it brings uncleanness in and there needs to be cleansing because of it.
Verse 15. Every open vessel which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean.
I don't know all of what this means. We just read in Two Timothy chapter 2 about a man who is a vessel.
And maybe it's just another picture similar to that, that when we don't have a covering upon our vessels, then there's a communication of evil and we're to have a covering bound upon us so that there's not that free entry of defilement going into our vessels. At least I understand that from this portion. It goes on in chapter 17 and verse 17. I'm sorry.
Verse 16 and whosoever touches one that is plain with a sword in the open field or a dead body.
Or a bone of a man or a grave shall be unclean. 7 days.
Not going to take up all of that, but the first two are violence and corruption. The world is filled with it. The bone is that which doesn't even look like death anymore. It's been there for so long, washed over. Someone put it the grave. The Lord spoke about that with the Pharisees here. Why did sepulchre outside but inside full of dead men's bones?
Such as the character of the fileman. It comes in so easy.
And if we were to go to the rest of this chapter, we'd find it all the way through to the end.
He talks about this subject about the need for purification. You can read that yourself. Because our time is almost gone. I want to go on to the future and just see briefly how God considers this in the future. Ezekiel chapter 44, which takes up prophetically the condition of things in the Millennium.
We see this very subject is raised again by the Spirit of God.
Ezekiel Chapter.
44.
And verse.
23 talking about the priests that will be in those days, and it says they shall teach my people the difference between.
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Now the two opposites we've been talking about the holy and the profane. Remember I said profane is the opposite of holy. This verse shows us that they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. And in controversy they shall stand in judgment, and they shall judge it according to my judgment, since they shall keep my laws.
And my statutes and all my assemblies, and they shall howl my Sabbath. God is gonna have these.
Priests in that coming day do that because he is holy and he demands holiness in his presence.
And I'm sorry, brethren, if we have to take off a somewhat negative subject today, but God is holy and these things belong to us today, and we need to teach them not only by the words we say, but by our example. The things that we're talking about here belong to all of us, not just to the people, our brethren in the early days of the church or to the ones.
Albeit and type in the Old Testament or the ones in the future, but they belong to us and now.
Look at what he says next, Verse 25. And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves, but for father, or for mother, or for son or daughter, for brother or sister that have had no husband, they defile themselves. And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him, Seven days never changes.
Here again, there's the practical need that certain of these ones should go and bury the dead. But even then, God doesn't want the picture spoiled. There has to be that seven day cleansing period. We're the one takes off those waters of purification, just as we had presented in Numbers chapter 19. And they go through that process in their plans. Now let's go to my last verse, Hagee I, chapter 2.
Haggai chapter two and 1St.
And in the 4th and 20th day of the ninth month and the second year of Darius came the word of the Lord by Hagia the Prophet saying.
I think we know these first as well. They're often used to explain about the fact that association with evil defiles.
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Ask now the priest concerning the law of things. If one bare holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt he touched bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy?
And the priest answered and said no, because they knew the answer to that. They knew that something holy couldn't make something else holy.
And then, said Haggai.
If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean?
And the priest answered and said it shall be unclean association with evil defiles. And what is he talking about here? He's talking about being defiled by the dead, the same type. There's many other verses too. You can go through and trace it through the Word of God, the Old Testament, New Testament, many more verses taking up the same subject.
The sad thing is it 'cause people ignore that they cared nothing for His Holiness and they went on and got more and more careless and indifferent.
And So what does the Lord say to them? Verse 14 then answered Haggy, I said, so is this people in this nation before me, saith the Lord. And so is every work of their hands, and that which they offer there is unclean. That's where they got to in that day. The Lord could no longer dwell among them.
I'm not suggesting that that would happen to those gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus. I believe with all my heart the Spirit of God.
Maintains his testimony on Earth.
But we can get careless and indifferent, and we can teach the wrong thing, and we can come into defilement and think that it's nothing, and forget all about the holiness of God and go about among the Lord's peoples if it doesn't matter.
And what are we doing?
While we're teaching a terrible lesson, of course, to others, but there's something far more serious than that. That is, we're just honoring the Lord.
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God is holy. He looks for that holiness among his people, the apostle John said in second. In 3rd John he says I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
There's a Father that we have in heaven who also has no greater joy. These things are painful to act on them or is painful. Believe me, I know.
And yet it's what the Lord wants from us before any other thing. Does He want obedience?
And He wants us to have a sense of His Holiness, and He wants us to act on that and go on in the right way before Him. So I'm sorry I couldn't speak on something more uplifting today, but this is the burden that the Lord put on my heart. And I trust, if in any part this word is from the Lord, that you'll consider it in your own heart and mind.
Let's close with prayer.
Our God and their Father, we have a sense of Thy holiness and yet sown perfectly.
We so often say, oh, we pray that that would help us to understand that.
We thank Thee for all that is, Thy nature, Thy love, Thy grace, those things that we enjoy so very much. We thank Thee that we will always enjoy that.
But we pray that that would help us never to forget all that thou art, and thy nature of light is fall as love. And so we commit this time to thee, and we ask for thy help in the name of the Lord Jesus, Amen.
Hebrews 13:6-12
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116.
Surrender. Thank you all of.
Let's pray our loving God and our Father, we 15 singing of thy love and.
How it exceeds our power to tell, and we thank you for that. And now as as we have thy word open before us this afternoon.
We would ask that we would be reminded of thy love, thy care for us through the circumstances of our of our pathway and we we thank you for that verse that we've already considered that we've already read Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever how he doesn't change in his thoughts toward us. We thank before this and we would just ask for that portion for our hearts without us have for us this afternoon that our our souls would be fed and that would be encouraged.
Who would ask these things? In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
I would suggest that we read from verse 6, Hebrews chapter 13, verse 6.
Hebrews chapter 13, beginning at verse 6.
So that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what men shall do unto me. Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation. Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever.
Be not carried about with diverse and strange doctrines, for it is good. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not with me which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. We have an altar where they have no right to eat, which served at Tabernacle.
For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach.
For there, for here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come by Him. Therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But to do good and to communicate, forget not. For with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
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Obey them that have to rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief. For what For that is unprofitable for you, Pray for us, for we trust we have a good conscience in all things willing to live honestly. But I beseech you the rather to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner.
Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus.
That Gray shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exaltation, for I have written a letter unto you in few words.
Knowing that our brother Timothy is set at liberty with whom, if he comes shortly, I will see you Salute all them that have the rule over you and all the things they of Italy salute you. Praise me with you all. Amen.
If you'll bear with me, I'd like to just read the 5th and 6th verse in Mr. Darby's translation because I think it makes it very clear and very helpful, and the two verses are intimately connected. Let your conversation be without love of money, satisfied with your present circumstances. For he has said, I will not leave thee, neither will I forsake thee, so that taking courage, we may say, the Lord is my helper.
And I will not be afraid of what men do unto me. I think it's very significant here that when he speaks of covetousness, not being covetous, it's in connection with the presence of the Lord. Because if the Lord is everything to your soul and mind, we're not going to set our heart on the things of this world. And here he speaks at the love of money, just as the apostle Paul when writing to Timothy, he said the love of money is the root of all evil, not money, not nothing wrong with having money. We're thankful for those.
That God has given funds who are exercised to use them for the propagation of the Lord's work and the truth and the gospel and so on. And down through the centuries there have been many, and God has used them in a mighty way. Much of the written ministry we have is the result of those coming forward who have means and using those means for the publication and sustaining of those publications. And so here He tells us to be content with our circumstances.
Brethren, are we really content with our circumstances? This really smites me. Roberts heard me tell and heard his father-in-law tell too. About one time we were together, Brother Hammer and I, and we were on one of those poorer islands in the Caribbean and we were coming down a dirt Rd. one morning to visit a sister. And as we approached her home she was sweeping her dirt stoop off and getting ready for our visit, arranging a few little sticks of furniture, and at the top of her voice she was singing that old hymn.
I have Christ what want I more and rather hammer and I never forgot that it really spoke to our souls.
Because she had nothing of this world, she didn't have much money, she didn't have much to offer us.
Even to sit on was just a few rickety sticks of furniture, but she had Christ and there wasn't anything else that she wanted to satisfy her soul. And so it's nothing wrong with having some of this world's goods. We can have the world use the world and not abuse it and the unrighteous mammon we can use for God's glory. But it's what we set our hearts on if our and if our hearts are full of the one who has says he'll never leave us or forsake us if we get up in the morning and we're enjoying the company of the Lord Jesus.
And walking in his presence, then that's what's going to take fill our hearts. Where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. If Christ is really our treasure, we're not going to covet anything else. We spoke about fornication and adultery. We're not going to cover another's wife. We're not going to covet another that's not out hasn't been given to us in a godly way. And when it comes to monetary things or temporal things, we're not going to covet those things either.
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And so I just say, before we pass on, brethren, are we walking each day in the company of the one who has promised he will never leave us or forsake us? And the one who has promised that no matter what our circumstances, whether they're easy or difficult, he's the one that is, is going to be there to help us in in those circumstances. And if I can just make one further comment too. I don't believe, brethren, we need to get up in the morning and pray and ask the Lord to be with us.
Lo, I am with you always, even under the end of the age, he will have said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
But what we do need to do is get up in the morning and pray that we would walk in a way.
That we would have a conscious sense of the Lord's presence with us. And if we do that and walk in his company and in his presence, that I say is what's going to satisfy the heart. So that we really desire set our heart on nothing else, and we're told to set our heart, set our affection on thing or our minds on things above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God.
When I read this sixth verse, I'm reminded of a brother from Romania. Who.
Pass through our area about 20 years ago, not gathered with us, but a dear Christian and he experienced a lot of hardship under the communist government government there, under czecho and in a private conversation he recounted how.
He and his wife would often hide Bibles in the house, and every so often there would be a government inspector or inspectors coming to the house.
To look for those bibles but.
Most times they were not discovered, but on the one occasion they found a Bible and there were others that remained hidden. And he was called on a certain date to appear in court and perhaps face a prison sentence. And of course there was some anxiety about that. But he felt the Lord was his helper and the questioning began.
The prosecutor there said we understand that you hid a Bible in your house. And he said I'm going to have to stop you there because that statement is not correct.
And they didn't know what he was going to say, he said. In fact, we have hidden many Bibles in the house. And that was, of course, an unexpected answer.
But the word helped them. I believe he got a very lenient sentence on that occasion. But the Lord gave him boldness and he had a sense of the Lord's help through that situation.
Really, the point in this verse, isn't it that we would have a courageous spirit. We're not characterized by the spirit of fear as the man of the world is in the days that we live in. They're looking for fear with fear upon those things that are coming on the world. Now we know that that's Speaking of the tribulation period, the beginning of sorrows and the great tribulation. They're going to wonder all those things that are coming down on the world in judgment. But you and I can walk through this scene not only with contentment, as her brother Jim has been commenting on contentment.
But we can be courageous and we can have a sense of the Lord's presence with us and that he is helping us. We might just say, doctrinally speaking, we're indwelled with the Spirit of God. We're sealed with the Spirit, we're anointed with the Spirit, and we have the earnest of the Spirit. And so we know that we're indwelled with the Spirit of God, but we do have the presence of the Lord with us. We're not indwelled by two divine persons. We're actually indwelled with the Spirit of God, but we can have a sense of the Lord's presence. He says, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age.
And so we are indwelled with the Spirit of God, and the Lord Jesus is omnipresent. He's with us as well. One writer has made a comment about these two scriptures that God is a substitute for everything.
But nothing is a substitute for God, and so no matter what we may be going through, we can always find comfort, encouragement, strength in the Word of God to help us through every situation. We're not going to find it outside of God in the world. We can only find it in what He has provided for us, but it's there. Sometimes we have to dig and search it out, but it's in His word, first and first. Second Timothy, one in regard to what?
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Has been said Second Timothy chapter one and verse 7.
For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Now it's very interesting, the context of this. It's written to Timothy not in the first epistle when things were going on well, but it's written at a day when there was the breakdown of everything, the breakdown in government, the breakdown in the home, the breakdown amongst the people of God, and so on. And Timothy might have, I believe Timothy had a little bit of a.
He was a little reserved and he was perhaps a more quiet person and he needed to be stirred up to be courageous in the day in which he lived. Not only that, but Paul was a prisoner at this point and to be associated with Paul the prisoner was really to put yourself on the line too You. You were going to be vulnerable. And Paul is encouraging Timothy to take up the torch of the truth and to continue on for the blessing of the Church of God and the propagation.
Of the of the gospel and the truth and he said reminds Timothy, you don't have the spirit of fear. The slothful man says there's a lion in the street you get that in Proverbs, I believe. And so we can say that well the enemy is so busy the lioness picture of the enemy, our adversary, the devil is a roaring lion walks about seeking whom he may devour and we might say well there's a lion in the street we can't go there we can't do this we can't go out with the gospel. We can't we've got to be careful but.
Here we're in Timothy's encouraged to that he has not the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of sound mind. And remember has been said, we have all the power and resources we need to stand even in days when the enemy is roaring like he's never roared before. Even in these difficult days, these perilous times, these last days that are described to us, we can boldly say the Lord is our helper. Earlier in Hebrews we're told to come boldly to the throne of grace.
That we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Do we really believe that if we come boldly to the throne of grace?
And seek that grace that's needed for the situation. And then realize that the Lord is our helper and He's living to make intercession for us at the right hand of God. He's walking beside us every moment of every day. He's given us all the power and resources we need. Then we can say the Lord is our helper. I will not fear what man will do unto me. The fear of man, it says, bring us a snare. And I like to recount the little conversation between two sisters.
One sister said to another one day, Oh, I found a wonderful verse that's really been a help and a comfort to me in adversity.
All the sisters said, what is it? She said it's the verse that what time I am afraid I will trust in thee. Oh, the other sister said, I've got a far better verse than that. She said, what better verse can there be that than what time I'm afraid I will trust in Thee? She said, my verse is, I'll trust and not be afraid. And brethren, we don't need to be afraid. He hasn't given us the spirit of fear. And over and over and over again in Scripture, especially at times in the Old and New Testament.
When there were difficulties and a low moral and spiritual condition of things, when they were overrun and under the suppression of the enemy, time and time again they're told, fear not, fear not. I have redeemed thee. Thou art mine. When thou passes through the waters, I will be with thee. Can anything change that? Brethren, are you afraid today? Remember, if we can boldly say the Lord is our helper, I will not fear what man will do unto me.
Brother, you referred earlier to that portion of Max 8 I believe.
Saints and Jerusalem were scattered, it says. Great persecution.
And they were all scattered abroad throughout the region of Judea and Samaria and then further down it says in verse four. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. It's just so striking to me that the enemy does the thing and we think, well, that's the end of the matter, but it's not God is overall.
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And his intention, no doubt, to assess the work would be spread. And so, yes, they were scattered, but there was a purpose in that scattering and it was a benefit to others abroad. It's like going on a dandelion. Each seed goes off with such grace and finds its place. And in the next season, it's a flower again and more seeds associated.
It's good to notice that He speaks to us as individuals here too, isn't it? It says the Lord is my helper.
Yes, He may be the helper of my other brethren and my other brothers and sisters in Christ, but He's my helper. And if we walk in communion with the Lord, there's going to be a sense that he is helping us in our pathway. It's nice to notice, I think in John's Gospel chapter 14, just a little word of confidence that we can have that the Spirit of God gives us. The Lord Jesus spoke this in verse chapter 14 of John, verse 21.
He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father, and I will love him.
And will manifest myself to him, so we'll have a sense of the presence of the Lord.
And He will give us little thoughts of His love and grace, His kindness to us as we go through the scene.
So we can have confidence, but it does require the responsibility on our part is to walk in communion and obedience. Those two things go together, happiness and obedience. You cannot have happiness in your Christian life without obedience to the Word of God. Both are necessary.
It's important to know the Word of God too.
This structure here is interesting, it says, he has said.
Then the response so that we may boldly say.
And both the statement of God and the response are the sure word of God. They're quoted from God himself for God's Word, and so faith rests on God in his word.
We're not going to have that confidence unless we know his word and then we take him up according to it.
You might just reiterate what we've been talking about the last meeting and just the beginning of this one, and that is in chapter 13, verse one. It speaks of having brotherly love and having the affections stirred for one another. And it also speaks of hospitality, not being forgetful of to entertain strangers and then to remember them in bonds. So to be sympathetic in connection with those that are in bonds and are prisoners.
And those that are being afflicted for their faith. And then we have the moral purity that's spoken of in verse four, that what's to be characterized, what Christianity to be characterized by in a world of filth, moral filth in the Western Christian worlds, no longer holding a standard of morality in the world. But what is to be characteristic of a Christian and a Christian home is moral purity. And then we have this contentment in verse five. And then we have.
Courage. Now he begins to speak of those things that are necessary for us. He gives instruction as to how we can strengthen the testimony, the Christian testimony and the day that we live in. And the very first thing is to remember, and it's not really a good rendering in verse seven and I'll I'll read it in the new translation. It says, remember your leaders who have spoken to you the word of God and considering the issue of their conversation, imitate their faith. And so he speaks of those that had gone on.
That umm, perhaps referring to James who had been martyred, perhaps referring to Stephen who had been martyred, Those that had gone on before and had taken the lead in the early church, which speaks of Judas. And it speaks of Silas, who were chief men among the brethren. Those that took a lead and were an example of faith and they desired to sacrifice their lives for.
For the Lord and for the Lord's people. And so we are told here that to work to imitate their faith, imitate them. And I might just say here too that the way this is worded in the King James, we know that they had ecclesiastical organizations, you might say church systems, and they recognized pastors and ordained ministers and so on. Clergy. And so they wanted to support that kind of system of things. And so that's why it says remember them that have the rule over you.
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But those that are raised up of God in oversight among the people of God do not exercise an authority or a rule over God's people in a in a way that is inconsistent with the character of Christ. I might just point out in Acts chapter 20 that.
The Lord speaks there where Paul speaks by divine inspiration of those that are raised up of God to exercise oversight among the people of God. And so he says in verse 28.
Acts 20 and verse 28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over the witch, or wherein the Holy Ghost have made you overseers to feed the Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. And so the Spirit of God raises up those that desire to take up the work of a shepherd among the people of God, and they do it on behalf of the Lord, and they do it with a desire for the good of the Saints of God.
And it's oftentimes, dear brethren, a very thankless job. And so the Spirit of God gives us this exhortation here. And he says, remember them, remember them. And he says imitate them as well. There are several different things that are spoken of in this chapter, and we'll go over them as we go over it.
One other clarification that some of the older folks might be aware of that perhaps you might help under patrol. So important conversation. Uh, nowadays we think of a test of somebody's speech, but actually it means the behavior is a manner of life that takes them way more than speech. And, uh, holders choose to learn like realized that maybe it's not going to the young conversation, but it's a total matter of life.
In connection with the elders, I'd like to also read a verse in First Timothy with those that God has raised up, and in First Timothy it's in a local setting.
But I think it's important to get this point. It goes along with what has been said. First Timothy 5, verse 17. Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially though they who labor in Word and doctrine. And just to reiterate what's been said, God has leadership amongst His people. Any of us who've been in business know that when you hire someone, you don't start them on the bottom, you start them on the bottom rung. Usually you don't start them at the top.
And there are different levels of administration in a business and a corporation, and each level has a responsibility to carry out their authority under the direction of the owner of the company or the CEO or whoever it is. And those who are under them are responsible in that way. And I've sometimes said, would God run something more careless than humans? Does God run his assembly? Does God run his house more careless than we? If we're that careful in business, how careful God is?
And I believe there's been a great deal of difficulty, brethren, because we haven't always recognized those that God has raised up in a place of leadership and influence. It doesn't mean they're always right. It doesn't mean that they always exercise their authority in the proper spirit of the proper way. But they are raised up of God and we are to recognize it and to to bow to it. So I just say they are to be counted worthy of double honor.
And especially those who labor in Word and, and doctrine. And it's interesting in this portion that in the 12Th chapter, we have a list of those who've gone before, those that were Old Testament Saints, and they're given to us as encouragement. Now, our brethren, whether it's those that in Scripture that are, are whose lives are given to us or those that we've known in our life, they're never given to us as the object for faith. There's only one object for faith, and that's Christ.
And so in the 11Th chapter, we have this list of those that went before and they're called a cloud of witnesses and they're to encourage us. But then we're to look up and see where Christ is as the only one who began and completed the path of faith and perfection. And he's the object. But then in in the portion we're taking up, there are others who've been given to us for encouragement. And it doesn't say to follow them whose faith follows.
And not their failures, but their faith, and not the person, but their faith, that which they have taught us and exhibited in their life as to the person of Christ and the spirit of following the Lord Jesus here in this world. That is what we are to take a key to an example from. And I am so thankful in my own life for those that I can remember growing up, who I look back, and I'm thankful for that which they taught us by word and deed.
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As to following the Lord, and I am also thankful for those that God has preserved to us, brothers and sisters alike, whose faith has been such a blessing and encouragement, and who and whose faith has helped to strengthen my own faith in following the Lord.
Would you say First Corinthians Chapter 11 is a little example of that? The first verse, the apostle Paul something like 10 times suggests that he is one that should be imitated. And he says there first Corinthians 11 verse one be followers of me. He qualifies it even as I also am of Christ. So he just says don't go up to Jerusalem if God doesn't tell you to go to Jerusalem, but he says you can follow me. If I'm imitating Christ, follow me.
And so the assembly is organized, it's not disorganized. God has organized the assembly. And while we don't have appointed elders and, and it would be improper because there are not those that are apostles that I can appoint elders and we don't self appoint pastors or elders or anything like that. The assembly is organized by the Spirit of God. And it's because Christ loves the church and he by his grace organizes. And if I could put it this way, he raises up those because he loves his own.
And so he's giving this instruction in verse seven. There are some in the past who he raised up and this world treated them in such a way that they were martyred. And there were others perhaps that went on and in natural life went to be with the Lord. He says, imitate their faith. And in a sense he might say, you know, there's a Christian heritage that you have. And he says, remember those that taught the truth in your generation or in the generation before.
Go on in the same thing, don't take up with new doctrines and new things. He goes into new doctrines a little bit later on, but verse eight was quoted earlier in Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not with meats which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. And so Christ hasn't changed. And that's one of his titles. It could be capitalized.
This title, Jesus Christ, the same, it's mentioned in the Old Testament a couple of times. His title in the wonderful to have one who never changes in this world morally, this world changes from one day to another and all of the things that we see around us that it's all changing. It's a shifting thing. But beloved brethren, when we come into the presence of the Lord, we come into the presence of one who has never changed and will never change. We can be assured of the solidity of that.
So again in Hebrews 12 and Hebrews 12 at the end of the list of worthies from the Old Testament.
We find one and the only one who began and completed the path of faith in perfection and as such he seated at the right hand of God as the object for faith for us. That's really the thrust of that verse here we find when those that we've perhaps known in our day and maybe have passed on, we are to follow their whose faith follow. He immediately then brings in the one who is the same. So he began and completed the path of faith and perfection and as to his person.
He he never changes and how often we find with people. I can remember sad to say, those that were tremendous help and encouragement to me, but they changed and sometimes some of them missed the path at the end. It says considering the end of their conversation or their life. Some of them missed the path at the end. If I had followed them, if you had followed them, where would you be now? You would might be in a very sad situation and and circumstance and perhaps not gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so there's only one who's the same. There's only one who's never changed. And again I say, that's why our brethren are never given to us as the object for faith. Because as the psalmist said, I've seen an end of all perfection. And brethren, if we're looking for perfection in people, we're going to be disappointed. You say, well, that brother let me down, or that sister disappointed me. But oh, I'm sure that brother, that sister will never disappoint me. They'll never let me down. Be careful. You're going to see an end of all perfection, but you won't see it in the one.
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Whose very name is a very title is the same. He doesn't change. Was he the same yesterday? And we look back and see him as the same yesterday.
Is he going to be the same forever? Yes. Then can we count on him for today?
Other friends, other brethren may change, but the Lord Jesus will never change. He is the same whether it's in the past, whether it's the present, or whether it's the future.
At the end of verse chapter 12, the apostle is bringing before them the Let's just read the last part of verse 28. Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably.
With reverence and godly fear. So how do we serve God acceptably? Well, it's according to the truth of Christian revelation, what God has revealed to us in Paul's doctrine and two, and what Peter has given us, no doubt, and the other apostles, John, in connection with our communion being maintained in communion. But it's the revelation of Christian doctrine. To serve Christ acceptably is not to serve him in a religious system that's mixed with Judaism and Christianity and takes elements of both.
It's Christianity. Christianity is a person. It's Christ. And what happened with the Lord Jesus as he was taken out of the city of Jerusalem, very unceremoniously marched from one place to another, and in shame and mockery displayed before this world and rejected by the political world, rejected by the religious world. And he was crucified outside the city gates of Jerusalem. And so he's a place of reproach. And there were those that came among the Saints.
And they, particularly the Gentile Saints, but it was a temptation among the Jews to mix Judaism and Christianity. And let's just look at Acts chapter 15. I know it's a familiar passage to many of us, but I just like to read a couple of verses in Acts chapter 15 because it paints the picture of what was taking place during the time of the early church. This is one of the things that was taking place.
These men, it says in chapter 15 verse 1, certain men which came down from Judea, taught the brethren and said except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved, was a lie. What they said in essence was that the work of Christ was not sufficient to save you. You needed to do your part. You needed to have your part you needed. You could be saved, but then you could be lost again, all kinds of things that were said.
And so he says here, be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines, for it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace. And so you and I are brought into blessing on the principle of grace, the grace and the sovereignty of God. The only reason that you are here this afternoon is because of the sovereign grace and goodness of God. Yes, you and I are responsible to go and to be found under the sound of the Word of God, and so on. But if we look back.
At the root of it all.
We should lift up our voices in Thanksgiving to the Lord. None of us would be here apart from the grace of God and we are taken up with the grace of God in connection with the truth that we have been delivered from the power of darkness and brought into the light of Christianity and to set aside those religious things that were the Jews were taken up with. And so this is really what he's giving them instructions with in verse nine is don't mix Judaism and Christianity.
That's Christ alone, and you don't need those religious good works. You need Christ and Christ alone. His work is sufficient.
This was the whole burden of the inspired writer, wasn't it? Because, and I think it's good to reiterate that the ones that he was writing to here had been steeped in the teachings of Judaism at a time when, having been given by God, it was right and proper in its place. And it was very difficult for them to give up those things, even though they had been saved by the grace of God. It was very difficult for them to give up that which had been ordained of God and was for them. It was for the Jew and had been right and proper, as I say, in its place.
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And so he writes these long chapters to go over all these things, not to rebuke them sharply like the Gentile Galatians who'd never been under the law to begin with, but to patiently take up these things and show that these things hadn't profited them in the Old Testament under the Mosaic law in bringing them closer to God. That it was religion for man after the flesh, and it hadn't better demand before God or brought him any closer.
To God, and so he tells them not to be carried away with these things. But again, I believe too that just before he tells them that he connects them with the person of the Lord Jesus who is the same. It's interesting how this expression is couched. It's between the Lord Jesus, the unchangeable one, the same, and the exhortation to that the heart would be established in grace and not go back to that which they had had.
Under the law, because, and I want to make this practical and apply it to us now, we've given the context, but I'm going to make a practical application because, brethren, we live in a day when there's every wind of doctrine afoot. And the work of the enemy today is to undermine or subvert the souls of the Saints and bring in false teaching to seek to shake, if he can, our very faith and what is going to preserve us in the day in which we live?
I believe it's these two things to have the person that walk in the company of the person of Christ.
The one who never changes and to have our hearts established in grace. I say that because I'll give a little example. I know the story has been told before, but I think it helps to.
Illustrate this point, first of all, of being in The Walking, in the conscious sense of the Lord's presence.
And if that which preserves us when false teaching is brought before us. And so the story is told of a brother's meeting many years ago where there was a real difficulty and a decision that was going to eventually need to be made in that assembly. And after the brothers meeting, a young brother said to an older brother and brother, what decision will you be making? What step will you be taking in this matter? And the older brother very wisely looked at the younger brother and said.
I hope when the time comes to take the step to make the decision.
That I am walking close enough with the Lord that I know what step to take.
I thought that was very good advice. Now the Word of God gives us infallible guidelines for our pathway. I realize that. So I word as a lamp under my feet and a light under my path. But I do believe this, brethren, that there are steps taken in our Christian lives and times. We are preserved from that which is false only by closeness to the Lord Jesus. Only by walking with the one who will never leave us nor forsake us, and the one that is the same and only.
As our heart is established in grace and notice it's the heart here because it is a matter of the heart. How are we going to be preserved, brethren, when false teaching is propagated? How are we going to be preserved? By simply knowing the doctrines of the Word of God? That's good. We need that. But we can be clear as ice and just as cold. We can be straight as a razor and just as sharp. What is it that's going to preserve us? It's to have the heart established in grace.
So that we don't get carried away with those things that are false and and so on. Again, I know it was in connection with something very specific here, but I think it's helpful to make this applicable to the day in which we live. There is so much being propagated that is false and even getting trying to get us to go back in some aspect under the law. How are we going to be preserved? Walk close with the Lord and have a real sense of grace in your heart.
Well, he goes on and says in verse 10 that we have an altar whereof they have no right to eat, which serve the Tabernacle, for those of the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin are burned without the camp. And so we have an altar. An altar always speaks in Scripture of a means of approach, a means of approach to God. And so we have a means of approach in Christianity, and it's really outlined as to the privilege of it.
Even in this chapter He says by him, therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise God continually, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
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We have an approach to God. In the Jewish system. There was one tribe, Aaron and his lineage, the Levites. They were permitted the privilege of coming into the presence of God and exercising their priesthood in some measure. In fact, Aaron could come into the presence of God once every year and not without blood. And when he came, he was afraid. But you and I can come into the very presence of the Lord without any fear.
And so here, he says, we have an altar, we have a means of approach.
To God himself we can come into his presence without any fear. And beloved brethren, we have the privilege of knowing the truth of God and what it is to be gathered by the Spirit of God under the precious name of the Lord Jesus, and to know what it is to come and to give our offerings, to give our offerings of Thanksgiving and praise to God continuing in his presence. But he goes on to say that it is without the camp. And so those.
The Lord Jesus really referring to the offering for sin that was burned and it was without the camp. The Lord was crucified and he was brought outside the camp of Israel and he was deemed as one who was not worthy and so he suffered outside the camp.
Quite often his first can be related to the remembrance of the Lord and the Lord's Day morning. Quite often we read his verse by him. Therefore let us off of the sacrifice of God. Phase two God continually the fruit of our lives. That is when we gather together to remember the Lord that we have this fruit, the fruit of our lives. That's what we've meditated on what we've.
Thought about that, we have this fruit on our lips, that He can come before him in his presence, if you remember him.
He's really presenting a contrast here, isn't he? There were bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary. There was a physical offering that the Jew brought. He brought an animal, and when he brought a meat offering, it was fine flour mingled with oil and so on. But it was a physical offering. But in Christianity we have a means of approach. Every one of us is a priest.
And we have a means of approach to God. And it says in John's Gospel chapter 4 verse 24. Maybe we could read verse.
23 John 4/23 This is Christianity. The hour cometh, and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. And so the offerings that we bring, our spiritual offerings and we worship in spirit and truth, we don't bring an animal. We don't have those physical sacrifices. And so that's why.
When we come into the presence of the Lord, we come. If we have been walking in communion with the Lord, we have something of a spiritual offering to offer. And so this is really a contrast that He's teaching, how much better we have it that a whole Kingdom of priests unto our God. He's made us a Kingdom of priests. It wasn't good enough, as it were in Judaism, just to have the tribe of Levi coming.
And offering sacrifices which could never take away sins. No, the Lord desired that you and I would be found in His presence.
Without any fear, bringing an offering of sacrifice and praise to Him, and to remember the price that was paid to redeem us, to set us free from the power of sin and Satan, and to set our tongues and our hearts free to live for His glory in this scene, and to be able to render unto Him that sacrifice that He so desired.
Some years ago, our brother Christopher Willis was coming to our area and he spoke.
Not only on this verse, but he said in connection with sacrifice, there's one verse that we should read before this, and he referred to the 12Th chapter of Romans and he spoke about 3 sacrifices. He spoke about the sacrifice of person, the sacrifice of praise, and the sacrifice of possession. And so if we read the first verse of Romans 1.
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As I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable or intelligent service. And then we have of course, what we have in the 15 first the sacrifice of praise, and that will flow from what we have in Romans 12, and then likewise the sacrifice of possession.
Sacrifice of possessions is verse 16.
What is the camp?
There's a very good definition of the camp in Hebrews Chapter 9.
He says in Chapter 9, verse one, that verily the first covenant had also ordinances, divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. And then he speaks of a little later on that in verse three that there was a second veil of Tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all.
So there was a special building, a special veil that veiled off and preserved.
Prevented people from entering into the presence of God but in Christianity that veil is gone and then he says in verse six that there were priests there was ordained priests that went always into the first Tabernacle accomplishing the service of God. Then he speaks of the offering that was given in verse seven and only once a year and for that he speaks of the priesthood not being perfected that they.
Had to go in every year and for the heirs, for himself and for the heirs of the people. And then he gives in verse 8, the Holy Ghost, this signifying that the way of the whole into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest. And he speaks of all these things. He speaks of how the conscience was never purged in verse 9. But there's one thing that he doesn't talk about in that definition is the reproach of Christ.
There is something that is unique to Christianity. There are several things mentioned in this chapter that are unique to Christianity. One is His blood in verse 12, and then we find His reproach in verse 13, and then in verse 15 His name. Those three things are unique to Christianity. His blood in verse 12, His reproach verse 13.
And then his name. And So what we have in Judaism, the camp is organized religion that has all of those things that are characterized by what is given to us in Hebrews Chapter 9. But that's why it says here let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp outside organized religion and bearing his reproach camp here in a context as to who he was writing his Judaism. They were told to separate from that which they found difficult to separate from.
But as you say, there must be something to apply to us because it says let us. And so there's got to be something for us. And I believe what you say is right, that it's that which has taken on the characteristics of Judaism. And we see in Christian circles today much of what has taken, they have taken from the Old Testament as to forms and ceremonies and buildings and and so on. That really is part of the old order of things.
And the Lord said you don't sew new cloth on an old garment. You don't put new wine in old bottles. Christianity is not a remake of Judaism. It's not patching up the old. But if you'll bear with me, I'd like to go back to the Old Testament because sometimes this thought of the camp has been very misconstrued and misapplied. And there are two incidences in the Old Testament that I believe we need to consider if we're going to understand, first of all, what the camp is and what our responsibility and reaction.
Ought to be. So let's go back to the first mention in the 33rd chapter of Exodus.
Now just to get the context here, sin had come in very early to the camp. The golden calf had been set up while Moses was on the mount. They had worshipped it and God had to deal with His people in His governmental ways as a result. But I want to notice from verse seven of chapter 33 what takes place. And Moses took the Tabernacle. Now I realize this was not the Tabernacle that we often think it hadn't been built yet, but nevertheless, the principle is here.
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And Moses took the Tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass that everyone which sought the Lord went out under the Tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp. And it came to pass, when Moses went out under the Tabernacle, that all the people rose up and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses until he was gone into the Tabernacle. And it came to pass as Moses entered into the Tabernacle.
The cloudy pillar descended and stood at the door of the Tabernacle. And the Lord talked with Moses, and all the people saw the cloudy killer stand at the Tabernacle door. And all the people rose up and worshipped every man in his tent door. And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp. But his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the Tabernacle. Here we have it in connection with worship. Just to go back for a moment to the Day of Atonement that we is alluded to in our chapter.
When the bodies of those beasts, when the question of sin was taken up on the Day of Atonement, the bodies of those beasts were to be taken outside the camp and burned. Because what God was teaching his people was that sin was a thing that was not suitable for his presence or the presence of the people of God. And God has always taught that from the beginning of time. But we find here that Moses then takes the Tabernacle, the this tent that denoted the presence of God, and he pitches it.
A far off from the camp and there was a special blessing then for those who went outside the camp. They separated from their brethren. There was probably a reproach connected with it too. I have no doubt they were very families divided over this matter. But if they wanted a special sense and enjoyment of the Lord's presence, they had to go where He was, outside the camp. But what I want to point out is that those who remained in the camp, it didn't mean they weren't the people of God.
And I'm thankful for all my brethren, many Christians who are entangled in systems that have taken on the trappings and characteristics of Judaism. They are still the people of God. And you notice too, that every man stood up and worshipped in his tent door. There was worship because wherever there are believers and they're enjoying the person and work of Christ, there's going to be individual worship. Worship is intensely individual. And so every man stood up and worshiped in his tent door.
But Moses though, he went back into the camp because he's a picture, I believe of the Spirit of God here or a picture of the Lord. And the God doesn't forsake his people in the camp. And there's blessing, whether in truth or pretense, Christ is preached and I therein do rejoice, Shay and will rejoice. The apostle Paul said to the Philippians, thank God for any worship or whatever is going on in the camp that encourages the people of God. Moses didn't forsake the people of God in the camp. The Lord doesn't forsake his people. When the Spirit of God has given liberty, he works amongst his people.
Some of us as we travel in other countries, we see tremendous work by the through the through these ones. Perhaps they don't understand and appreciate or have the privileges that we do. But the Spirit of God, the Lord is working. So they were still the people of God. They worshipped everyone in his tent door. But what about Joshua? Oh, he remained outside the camp. He remained in that place where the Lord was and enjoyed that special privilege. But now go on to the 11Th of Hebrews.
I'm sorry, the 11Th of numbers, Numbers Chapter 11 and we have another reference to the camp here.
Verse 24 And Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and gathered the 70 men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the Tabernacle.
And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the 70 elders.
And it came to pass that when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied and did not cease. And there remained two of the men in the camp. The name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other, me Dad. And the Spirit rested upon them, and they were of them that were written, but went not out under the Tabernacle. And they prophesied in the camp. And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Me Dad, do prophecy in the camp. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men answered, and said, My Lord Moses.
Forbid them. And Moses said unto him, Envious, Thou for my sake would God, that all the Lord's people were prophets.
And that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them, and Moses got him into the camp.
He and the elders of Israel. Well, here we have a situation where Moses complained to the Lord.
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And he said, Lord, you've given me too much to do. And I appreciated what Gordon Hayhoe said about this portion years ago. He said when the Lord took part of the Spirit off Moses and put it on the 70 elders, there was more machinery, but there was no more power because God had fitted Moses for the work that he had given him to do. But he took some of the Spirit off Moses and he gave it to the 70 elders. And all of a sudden there are these two men that prophecy in the camp. And Joshua says, oh, Moses forbid them. They shouldn't be doing that.
Oh, Moses says no, I would that all the Lord's servants were prophets. In other words, again, brethren, we can be thankful.
Wherever the word of God goes forth, and it's going forth in those systems that we refer to as the camp, those systems that have taken on the characteristics of Judaism.
But the Spirit of God is still working as he's given liberty and souls are being saved. You know, if the 21 tons of literature that we ship to the Caribbean and South America every year, I would say 95% of that or 98% of it is taken by these ones. And it's used good, solid literature to both propagate the gospel and to encourage believers. We get orders for Bruce Anstey's pamphlets because they want to use them as study guides in their youth group.
Aren't we thankful for that? The Spirit of God is working and Moses says don't forbid them. I would that all the Lord's servants were prophets and that he would put his Spirit upon them. And so again, he doesn't encourage Joshua to go and join them. No, he, Moses again, a picture of the Lord of the Spirit. He gets into the camp, but he doesn't encourage Joshua to go. And so we can pray and thank God for any measure of faithfulness and worship and propagating of the gospel and the truth in the camp. The Spirit of God works amongst his people wherever they are. And let me give you another Old Testament example.
You know two of the greatest prophets, Elijah and Elijah, they were great prophets. You never read of them going up to God's center in Israel.
Never do you read it in Jerusalem. Never do you read of them going to Jerusalem. But God raised them up and used them amongst the 10 tribes and they were mightily used and the Spirit of God moved and worked upon them and through them. And aren't we thankful for their lives and the blessing they were to the people of God? They never went up to God's center. But brethren, you and I have a responsibility. You and I have a responsibility. We've brought into, have been brought into a position.
Where we have been brought outside the camp, we have been brought to where there's a special sense of the Lord's presence as being in the midst, not just with us, but in the midst collectively, which is very different. And you and I, while we can pray for the blessing in the camp and pray for our brothers and sisters who are there going on in their measure and in their life faithfully, yet you and I, we are called to go forth without the camp, like Joshua. Let us go forth, therefore, without the camp. Will it be popular? Are we looking to be popular as gathered to the Lord's name?
From those systems, if we are, we're going to be disappointed because it doesn't say, and we might bear as reproach, it says bearing his reproach. There is going to be a reproach to separate from that which has been set up by manning Christendom and to be simply gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus where he is in the midst, and to take no other name but His name. That's the difference, isn't it, between one of the differences between Christianity and Judaism is that.
Under Judaism, they had a physical, uh, center that they went to that with Jerusalem, they had to go up there and that's where they, the temple was. And uh, but when we read Matthew 18 to 20 for the church, it's wherever two or three together onto my name, we're gathered through the name of, of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're not gathered to a, a physical center, that physical center, Jerusalem, they had a temple there where the people went to worship. Our bodies as Christians are the temple of the Holy Ghost.
We're at Christianity is spiritual. Judaism was more physical and outward. Christianity is spiritual and inward. And each member here is a member of the body of Christ or the temple of the Holy Ghost where God dwells. It's not a physical temple that you can see like it was in Jerusalem. Also, they, they had an appointed priesthood. That is they, they, they had a priesthood that was appointed.
And they had a high priest and that high priest, he could take the sins of the people into the holiest of holiest once a year. We don't have a system like that. The Lord Jesus Christ has died on the cross. He took our sins away and he, the temple bell was rent got away with. Every believer now is able to enter in the very presence of God at any time. And every believer here is a priest.
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You're a priest because God has made you a priest. He's made me a priest through salvation. Every everyone here that's a believer is a priest and you have access 24/7 into the presence of God all the time. Where we're able to come and we have a Peter that we have spiritual priests. Part of our priesthood is spiritual and then we have a royal priesthood. One is going in, the other would be going out the royal priesthood side of it.
But things in Christianity have a spiritual overtone to them, where things in Judaism were more outward and physical. And that is the difference between Christianity and Judaism. When the Lord died in the cross, he broke down the middle wall, a petition that was between Jew and Gentile and made both wise and so Jew, Gentile, whoever you are in this world when you're brought in to.
Salvation through Christ, you're part of that one body which prices are hid. But it's a spiritual we're brought into a spiritual realm of things.
I would say this is a collective aspect of things, isn't it? Because this has let us, this is together to go into the presence of the Lord earlier. He says I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. That's individual. But wherever you have in Scripture the individual aspect of things, there's always a comparable truth connected with the collective side of things. And I would just say this too, because there's been a lot of.
There's been a lot of confusion and misapplication of scripture.
Not discerning the individual and the collective side of things, and I'll just give you a little hint as to what we're saying.
Individually, the Lord is with us.
Low, I am with you always. And even the two on the way to Emmaus, it's often been pointed out that they were going in the wrong direction in discouragement. But Jesus himself drew near and went with them, and he went in to tarry with them, and he sat at meet with them. And even when Christians meet, wherever they meet, the Lord is with them because he's with every believer individually. But that is very different than the Lord being in the midst.
Collectively with us is individual. So tomorrow morning there will be Christians meet in various pockets and fellowships of Christendom right here in this area. The Lord is with everyone, every Christian individually. But we can only claim Matthew 18 and 20 as we follow the word of God, guided by the Spirit of God. And so it's where two or three are gathered together in my name. There am I, not with them, but in the midst.
And the mids have to do with the focal point. It's like the hub of the old fashioned wagon wheel.
It's what brings everything together and it's the focal point and it's Christ in the midst. And it's interesting. You can look it up in that 24th chapter of Luke where you have the two on the way to Emmaus. When they return to Jerusalem and they come back to where the 12 are gathered together, the language changes. The Lord was with them on the Emmaus Rd. He was with them in their home, but now He came and stood in the midst. And for the rest of that chapter when He appears to them in the upper room.
Where they were gathered together, then he's in the midst, but only when they were gathered together in obedience to the word of the Lord. And I know it's not the assembly there, but the principle is there that where they were gathered together in obedience to the word of the Lord, only then could it say that he was in the midst. So don't confuse the two things. He was with his people in the camp, as we noticed, but there was a special blessing to go out to the Tabernacle which denoted.
The presence of God in the midst of his people, collectively.
See, our time is up, but there's a lovely thought in connection with David being anointed. It says in our in James translation, we will not sit down until he come hit her. But there's a marginal rendering that says we will not sit round until he come hit her. That brings us the thought that David would be in the center and of course David the type of the Lord Jesus as we have in Matthew chapter 18.
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312.
Lead on Almighty.
With the Lord.
Since Christ and reign.
Of all I have to do?
Recommend ourselves.
Our loving God and our Father, we thank thee for our Lord Jesus Christ, we thank Thee for the perfection of that holy work upon the cross of Calvary. Lord Jesus, now that it's fully satisfied the heart of God in connection with sin, and that we know that the blessing has flowed forth in our sins, the fruit of the evil nature that we have within us has been dealt with, and now we have a new life, one that is able to please the one that desires to live for Thy glory.
And so we thank thee for thy word that would instruct us, and give us that to to have courage in a day that we live in, to live for Thy glory against the current of this world morally and in every other way, and to look unto Him. And so we just ask thee for thy blessing on our time, that thy word might have free course be glorified, that we might set roast that which we took in hunting, and not be slothful.
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But to meditate upon these things and make them our own, we ask thee for thy blessing our God and our Father. We thank Thee for Thy love and kindness allowing us to be together like this.
We give thanks in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
The Scriptural Ground of Gathering
Eight Points
Gospel—Jim Hyland
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I'd like to start the meeting this evening with hymn #4 on the gospel hymn sheet. Christ is the Savior of sinners. Christ is the Savior for me. Long I was chained in sin's darkness. Now, by His grace, I am free. Hymn #4. If someone could please start it.
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Let's ask God's help and blessing our blessed God and Father. We're so very thankful this evening for thy beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We're thankful for everyone in this room who can sing Savior of sinners like me, everyone who has come to know the Lord Jesus as their own personal Savior. But our hearts are burdened as we think of some in this room who may be still lost and on the broad Rd. that leads to destruction.
Our God, we pray that Thou to rest them in their course tonight, turn them around, bring them from darkness to light. We pray that there might be a work of repentance and faith, and that souls might be turned to the Savior. We only have no might of ourselves, but we thank thee for the privilege of preaching the gospel from the pages of this living book. We pray that it might have its effect in the power of the Spirit, and that souls might be saved for thy glory and for their eternal blessing.
So we ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and for his glory. Amen.
Turn with me, please, first of all to the book of Proverbs.
Proverbs, Chapter 8.
Proverbs chapter 8 and verse 23.
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I was set up from everlasting from the beginning, wherever the earth was, and then notice verse 30.
Then I was by him as one brought up with him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him. And then I want to turn to John's Gospel, chapter One.
John's Gospel chapter one and verse one in the beginning was the Word.
And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It's the same within the beginning with God. I have it on my heart this evening in these few moments that we have to present the glad tidings of the gospel, to very quickly turn to one and another Scripture and bring out eight essential elements or truths concerning the person and work of Christ. Because it is a person that we are going to present by the grace of God tonight.
We're not going to present theology tonight. We're not going to present philosophy. We're not going to present some ideas of of men. We want to go to the word of God, and we want to present the Savior of sinners that we were singing about because salvation and Christianity has to do with a person. And I'm thankful that we don't have to present theories tonight concerning the person and work of Christ.
But we can go to the word of God and on the authority of this living book that presents in one way or another to us, the Lord Jesus Christ. We can see these things from the living Word. And I want to just encourage you to open your ears tonight to God's word, because it's not my ability to present the gospel tonight that's going to save us all. Thank God it isn't, because that's a burden I wouldn't be able to carry up here at the podium or sit down with when these moments are over.
But it does depend on the living Word in all its power. We're born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible by the Word of God that liveth and abideth forever. It is the pages of this living book that God uses in the power of the Spirit to impart divine life to souls. And so that's why several times in Scripture we're told here, and your soul shall live. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Open your ears to the word of God tonight.
God is speaking and God is presenting His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and all. My prayer is that you would get one glimpse of that lovely man in the glory by faith, and that the Spirit of God would open your eyes to see beauty in him, to make you realize your condition. But God's great provision through his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus. And so we only have a few moments, but the first thing I want to present in reading these scriptures.
Is the eternity of his person we are presenting a person who existed, if I can use that expression, who was from a past eternity and the person that was sent by the Father. The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. He did not just become the Son when he came into this world. He was God's eternal Son from a past eternity. He was God, manifest in the flesh, as we're going to notice in a moment.
I say that because it's very significant in the word of God that you never read of the Lord Jesus as the Son being born, as the Son he's always sent or given. I don't have any sons, and I could never send a son to help you because I don't have any sons. But God had a Son from a past eternity, and it says the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son. He had a son. He sent him, He gave him. And why did he give him? Why did He send him? Oh, he sent him to be the Savior. He sent him to go to Calvary's cross and to give his life to die there so that the gospel could go forth. The blood has been shed, as we're going to speak of in a few moments, and salvation is now offered. But again, I want to stress the eternity of his person, and that's why I read back in the book of Proverbs.
Because here it brings before us the eternity of the person of the Lord Jesus. If we were to go back and to read the context there, we would find that when the foundations of this world were laid, when everything was brought into order, the sun was there. And it says as we read, I was daily His delight. You know, sometimes when we read that verse we think of the Lord Jesus in His pathway here, and certainly He was the delight of the Father.
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As he walked here in this world and heaven, delighted to open up, and a voice declare, This is my beloved Son.
In whom I am well pleased, there was an object in this world when the Lord Jesus was here that commended the place.
And heaven opened up to behold, and be occupied with the one that God would always occupy us with.
But I believe in the verse we read in Proverbs. It's more than that. When it says I was daily His delight, it was in a past eternity. The Lord Jesus as the Son was daily the delight of His Father, not just when He walked here on planet earth, not just when He glorified God here in this world, but He was daily the delight of His Father from a past eternity. And this is the one that God sent in the fullness of time.
The one who had never done one thing to displease his Father. The one who was the joy and delight of God the Father.
Is the very one that was sent into this world. Oh, I trust this grips our souls tonight, that we get ahold of this, that the father sends the son his well beloved, his only begotten son, as the parable of the husbandman says. I have one son I will send him. Perhaps they will reverence him. Well, we know the story so very well. Well in first, in the first chapter of John's Gospel here, I want to then read another verse. We've quoted part of it, but I want to read it because.
I want to stress the second point. Now again, we've stressed the Unseen from Scripture, the eternity of his person.
But notice verse 14 and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
And we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father.
Full of grace and truth, I want to stress his incarnation, because the Lord Jesus took on him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man. The Lord Jesus came here. He took on himself the form of a servant. He was made in the likeness of man. He took into his to himself humanity. Sinless humanity is true, but humanity nevertheless.
You know, it's very interesting to look up some of these words in a secular dictionary and see what they have to say.
And one time I wondered what the secular dictionary would say as to the meaning of the word incarnation. And so I looked it up in Webster's dictionary, and at first it rather startled me. This is what Webster's dictionary says. And basically any other secular dictionary in more or less these words, incarnation, Christ, come in human form. As I say, it startled me at first, and then I thought, what else could it be?
There is no other person that ever was born into this world that it can be said they came in incarnation. There's only one who came in incarnation, and how careful the Spirit of God is to guard this precious truth. The eternity of His person and His incarnation or His manhood are are brought together in a verse we often quote in the book of Isaiah in connection with the coming of the Lord Jesus.
Prophesied and the names that he would take.
It says There unto us a child is born, unto us the son is given.
Now again you notice when it's the Son it's given that's the eternity of his person. That's the eternal sonship of the Lord Jesus stressed by the prophet. But it says unto us, a child is born, thus is incarnation. And how careful the Spirit of God is to guard those two precious truths. Yes, the Lord Jesus was born into this world. It says of that holy thing that is begotten of thee is.
Born of Thee is begotten of the Holy Ghost.
Not really conceived. In your King James Bible, the margin in Matthew's Gospel has a note that it's not conceived, it's begotten because the woman conceives, the man begets, and the Spirit of God is careful to guard this precious truth. The eternity of his person on one hand, and he's begotten of the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary was the instrument that was used to bring the Lord Jesus into this world. He came. A man, a real man, walked up and down the dusty streets of Palestine.
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He dispensed good and blessing on every hand, spoke the words that his Father gave him to speak, and went to Calvary's cross, and gave his life there. And so we have the eternity of His person, the eternal Son, and his manhood. He came in incarnation. But now for the Third Point, let's go to first Peter.
First Peter, Chapter 2.
First Peter, chapter 2 and I want to read an expression just about the middle of verse 21.
Christ also suffered for us, verse 22, who did no sin. Neither was guile found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that Judgeth righteously, Who his own self. There are sins in his own body on the tree.
So that we, being dead to sin, should live under righteousness, by whose stripes ye were healed. I want to stress now for a few moments the sufferings of Christ, because at the end of his perfect pathway the Lord Jesus first of all was taken by wicked hands and brought before Pilate, and there he was scourged, and for hours he was taken from pilots judgment hall back and forth to the high priest. And he was ridiculed, He was mocked, he was whipped.
Spit upon they plucked the hairs of his cheek, the scourgers made deep furrows in his back, and so on. But then more than that, the moment came when they took the Lord Jesus, and they let him out to Calvary, to Golgotha. They let him out to Calvary's hill, and there they nailed him to a Croman cross. And there is a spectacle for men and angels. He hung as they mocked him, and reviled him, and passed by.
Some sat down and watched him in his suffering.
But there came a moment. There came a moment in the history of this world where God said that's enough.
And God darkened the scene at noon, and no one saw what took place for the next three hours.
You know some years ago when the Passion movie was so popular, someone was telling me that they had gone to see the Passion moving it movie. And they were telling me how impressed they were with how the how they portrayed the sufferings of Christ. And I listened to this for a while and then I said, but you didn't see the most important part. And they looked at me and I said no one saw the most important part. The most important part was when he bore my sins in his own body on the tree.
God shrouded this world in darkness while he punished the Lord Jesus for my sins.
And I am thankful that I can stand before you this evening and confess him once again.
The Lord Jesus Christ is my Savior. I stand with Peter and I say He bore my sins in his own body on the tree.
I trust that everyone in this room can say that. Is it personal with you?
Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior? No. I've told this story before, but I will remember many years ago.
When we were having gospel tent meetings in the town of Truro, NS.
And there were two little girls that came to the Gospel meetings. One of them had come to the children's Bible hour many times.
And I knew that she though she was only five or six years of age, she understood what it was to know the Lord Jesus as their savior.
And one morning she brought a little friend along with her, and those girls listened well to the.
Gospel as it was presented simply to the boys and girls that morning. And after the meeting was over, this little girl who had come for the first time, she wanted to know the Lord Jesus as her savior. And so these two little girls, they stayed behind. And I believe that that little girl came to know Christ that day. But what touched my heart and what I never forgot, was that as those two little girls, five or six years of age, turned to go out of the gospel tent door, I heard the one who had brought her friends say to her friend.
Now you can say that Jesus died for you in that remarkable.
2 little girls I think about him. A little child of seven or even 3 or 4 can enter into heaven.
Through Christ the open door, for when the heart believeth on Christ the Son of God.
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Tis then the sole receiveth salvation through his blood. And so it's simple. But can you say that Christ suffered for you, that he bore your sins? Oh, I am so thankful that he bore my sins in his own body on the tree. And I am not afraid this evening of one charge of sin being brought up against me, because if God were to bring a charge of sin against me now as to my entrance into heaven, he would be unrighteous, and he would have to refuse his own dear Son.
Who accomplished that work in his sufferings on the cross on the tree? And that is impossible. That is the security in which I stand tonight. And that is the security that you can have right now to know the Lord Jesus, to know that your sins are gone, and that as far as the east is from the West, so far as he removed our transgressions from us, the sufferings of Christ. But let me just say this before we pass on.
Well, it is good for our souls to recount and to read the physical Sufferings of Christ.
And tomorrow morning, when we gather to remember the Lord Jesus and the breaking of bread here in this room, I trust that we will go over in our souls the suffering, the physical sufferings of Christ. We sing about them. We read portions of the Word of God that bring them out. We speak of them in worship and praise and Thanksgiving, but remember that all the physical sufferings of Christ never atoned for one sin.
It's good to go over them in our souls, but they never atone for one sin. It was those atoning sufferings that Peter speaks about here that taught toned for sin. And I am thankful that the Lord Jesus did not just suffer at the hand of wicked man, but that he suffered at the hand of God. The cup which my Father hath given me. Shall I not drink it? Those are the sufferings he had from his from from his Father from above? Has he sent fire into my bones, and it hath prevailed against me.
That was the judgment of God against sin placed on the Lord Jesus.
In those three hours of darkness. But there was more than this. Let's go on for the 4th .2 Romans, chapter 6.
Romans chapter 6 and verse 23 for the wages of sin is death.
But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. I'd like to speak for a few moments, not just of the sufferings of Christ, but the death of Christ. Again I quote from Philippians. He took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Because as this verse tells us, the wages of sin is death.
And perhaps for a moment, we'll just stress the fact too, that everyone of us born into this world.
Are born in sin. Not only are we sinners by practice.
And any of us who've had children realize how quickly it becomes evident that we are sinners by practice. But why are we sinners by practice? Because we are sinners by nature. We are born with a fallen nature. When Adam sinned in the garden, when in disobedience, he took of the forbidden fruit and ate, it tells us by one man's disobedience, sin entered, and death by sin. So death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.
Solomon said, there's not a man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. There is no difference, for all have sinned, and so the wages of sin is death. But I am thankful that I will never have to die for my sin, because the Lord Jesus died for me in the Old Testament. There had to be a sacrifice, there had to be the death of an innocent victim. If there was going to be atonement, if there was going to be blessing and the Lord, those sacrifices were just pale reflections.
Feeble foreshadows of what was really in the heart of God, when his Son would go to the altar and lay down his life for me again. I am thankful that I can make it so very personal. I can stand with the Apostle Paul tonight, and I can echo those glorious words and I love them. The Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me and I delight to put my name in that verse. The Son of God who loved Jim and gave his life for Jim, if I were to invite you up here this evening.
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And ask you to stand shoulder to shoulder with me. Could you say that verse with me?
Could you put your name in that verse? Is he your savior? I heard about a young couple who had just gotten married.
And they set up home. And not long after they were married, a man came in to transact some business with them. And while they were in the while he was in the home, they were out of the room. And he was sitting there in the living room, just reading that text on the wall over and over again to himself, the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. And when they came back in the room, he said, no wonder you're happy. If you really believe that, and we really do believe it tonight, we rejoice to say the Son of God.
Who loved me and gave himself for me. And so again, how personal it is. And the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. Our Lord God now is offering a gift based on the death of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And a gift is something you don't have to earn. You don't have to work for, you don't pay for we earn wages.
And the wages of sin is death. But in contrast to that, God is giving us a gift. Again, I'll repeat a little incident that drove this home to my own soul. I remember years ago we were having some children's gospel meetings in the state of Maine, and one evening there was a brother giving the gospel and he was trying to make this statement. The gift of God is eternal life, very simple to the boys and girls and young people that were present.
And stress on them what a gift really is. And so he used this illustration. He said, suppose I bring a bicycle up to the front of the room, a brand new bicycle, the best bicycle that money can buy. And I say to you boys and girls, now whoever comes up to get this bicycle is offered as a free gift. Anybody can come forward and this gift is for you. And so he said, suppose one of the boys comes forward and as he's coming forward, he thinks, wow.
This is a pretty nice gift. This is a pretty nice bicycle and it must have cost this man quite a bit. I'd like to really help him out. And so the boy reaches in his pocket and he finds he has one penny, one cent. And so as he approaches he says to the to the man. Listen, I appreciate this very much, but this is a very expensive bicycle and I'd like to help out the payment of it. I only have one penny, but here it's I I want to help out.
The preacher said if I took the penny, the bicycle would no longer be a gift. It would be a bargain, but it wouldn't be a gift. And so that is the way it is with the gift of God. It's not a bargain, it's a gift. It's not cheap, but it's free. You know, the gospel is free, but it's not cheap. It cost God the giving of his son. It costs the Lord Jesus his life. And so the gift of God is eternal life.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. But now for the fifth point, let's go to 1St John, Chapter one.
First John chapter one and justice, the last part of verse 7. Very familiar verse that I learned in the days of my youth.
In Sunday school class. You know, when I was growing up, A text with something you learned for your Sunday school teacher.
Not something you sent your friend across the room on your gadget, and I trust there's no one here.
Who's doing that tonight? I trust you listening to the text that we're reading from the word of God. This is, again, as I said earlier, the living word. And so he says here in the end of verse seven, First John 17, the blood of Jesus Christ, his son cleanseth us from all sin. Again, I'll repeat something I said and add to it. In the Old Testament, God taught that blessing was based on the death of an innocent victim.
And then the shedding of blood of that victim. And so we want to stress when we preach the gospel, the necessity of the application of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because as we read here, it is the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son that cleanses from all sin. There is no substitute for the blood of Christ when it comes to the cleansing of sin. You know, sometimes in our home we have a favorite detergent that my wife uses.
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For doing the laundry or the dishes. But you know, sometimes she goes to the store and thankfully my wife is frugal and is careful with money. And sometimes she may see a brand that is a little cheaper or on sale and you buy that brand and you bring it home and maybe you're not quite as satisfied with it, but it does basically the same job. There's often substitutes for cleaners and detergents and so on, but there is no substitute.
For the blood of the Lord Jesus little boy went off to Sunday school one time And his mother had always told him, son, remember this. God sees everything. But he came home one day from Sunday school so very excited. And he said, mother, they told me in Sunday school today there's something God cannot see. Oh, his mother was very perturbed. She wondered if she really should have let her son go to that Sunday school.
She said. Now, son, remember, the eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good. Yes, mother, that's true. But there is one thing that God cannot see.
Remember, Son, God even sees in our hearts. The Lord looks on, The man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. Yes, Mother. But there is one thing that God cannot see, Son. What did they tell you at Sunday school? God cannot see. Oh, Mother, it's my sins. When they're washed in the blood of Christ, these blotted them out, they're gone. They're gone forever. As far as the East is from the West, so far as He removed our transgressions from us. I'm glad it doesn't say as far as the north is from the South.
You know you can measure the distance between the North Pole and the South Pole, but you can't measure the distance between East and West.
That is absolutely impossible. And again my sins are gone. And as far as the East is from the West, they are blotted out as a thick cloud. The blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin. I grew up under the preaching of a man named Ernie Wakefield. Some of his grandchildren and great grandchildren are here today, and he always used to tell us when preaching the gospel, preach Christ and make much of the blood, because again, it is the only remedy for sin.
But now I'd like to go to 1St Corinthians chapter 15.
First Corinthians chapter 15.
And verse 3.
For I delivered unto you, first of all that which also I received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures.
And that he was buried and that he rose again the 3rd day according to the scriptures. I want to stress the resurrection of the Lord Jesus because it is vital. Without it there is no blessing for mankind. If Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain and you are still in your sins. But thank God we can say he was raised again for our justification. And these are facts. Remember what we said at the beginning of the meeting? These are not theories or opinions.
These are facts. The Lord Jesus not only died on the cross, but a moment came when the stone God rolled the stone away from the tomb.
And the Lord Jesus came out. The stone was rolled away, not for the Lord Jesus to come out, but so there could be testimony given that he is not here. He is risen. Come see the place where the Lord lay. And the Lord Jesus remained on earth long enough after his resurrection to give ample and complete testimony to his own that he had bodily risen from the dead. He didn't just rise in spirit, as some have taught down through the ages.
No, he said. Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bone, as ye see me have. He even appeared to about 500 brethren. At one time. Some years ago, there were two missionaries working in one of the busy cities of India, propagating the gospel, and one day they were on one of those busy streets in that city, and they were startled by a large procession coming down the street.
And they made requests as to what was going on, because there were many who seemed to be rejoicing as this procession moved along. And they were told that supposedly a bone of Buddha had been found and it was being carried in a box down the street. And the followers of Buddha were rejoicing that this bone of Buddha had been found. Well, the missionaries watched this, and when they retired to their quarters and talked over the matter.
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They were struck with that, and as they said, the contrast in Christianity, because they concluded that if a bone of the Lord Jesus were ever found, it would not cause great rejoicing amongst the Christians. It would cause great sorrow, because it would be the proof that the Lord Jesus hadn't risen from the dead. But thank God, a bone of the Lord Jesus will never be found on planet earth, because as we've just quoted, handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bone.
As you see me have and the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
Is a truth that we need to tenaciously hold onto. Again, I say it is a vital part of Christianity. In fact, it is that which sets Christianity apart from, shall I say, all the other so-called religions that are propagated in the world. We can go to the tomb of Muhammad. Confucius is in the grave. Buddha is dead. All the other religious leaders that have risen up in this world, they're dead. The Lord Jesus died too.
He has a tomb, but the difference with him is it's an empty tomb. We present a living savior. There is a savior on high in the glory, and in that regard, I want to go to our seventh point, and to do that we'll go back to Luke 24.
Luke, chapter 24 and verse 50. And he led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them.
And it came to pass, while he blessed them, that he was parted from them and carried up into heaven.
This is the ascension of Christ. You know, this evening we're presenting Christ. Yes, we're looking back to the cross, the foundation of everything, Because if the Lord had not died, suffered, died and bled on Calvary's cross, there'd be no gospel, no blessing. But also, we're stressing, first of all, His resurrection but his ascension, because it's Christ in glory. It's a risen, ascended Savior that we present.
And so again, the hymn writer put it, and it's one of my favorite hymns. There is a savior on high in the glory, not here on planet Earth, not walking here in loneliness and grace the way he was when he was here as a man. But there is a savior on high in the glory, a savior who suffered on Calvary's tree, a savior as willing to save. Now as ever, his arm is almighty, his love great and free.
Oh, come now to Jesus.
That dear loving Savior, receive him this moment, and peace shall be thine.
You know, at the end of a gospel meeting, one time there was a lady leaving and someone asked her what she thought of the gospel. It was their first time at a gospel meeting.
She said, Well, the creature is passionate about what he believes, and we are passionate tonight. These are real things. Because if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior, you are on your way to a lost eternity. You are on your way to what scripture very plainly calls hell, the lake of fire, the lake that that burns with fire and brimstone, a place where a great gulf is fixed and there is, it's eternal. There is no getting out.
Of that condition, there is no leaving that place. Once you leave this world, it's all over. And so we're going to complete the Gospel meeting by turning to one more scripture and stressing our eight point. Again, it's vital in connection with the Gospel Revelation, chapter 22.
Revelation chapter 22 and I just want to read the first expression of verse 7.
Behold, I come quickly. This is the first of three times. You have this in the last on the last page of God's Word. And I want to stress for the moments that are left, the fact that there is an event going to take place very, very soon, and it's called the coming, Second coming of Christ. Sometimes those of us who know the Lord Jesus as our Savior referred to it as the rapture, and it is an event that is going to change things forever.
Because when the Lord Jesus comes.
And he's coming soon. I can't tell you when it is, but I do know we're just on the threshold. We're almost there. We've got to be. Behold, I come quickly in, James. It tells us the coming of the Lord draws nigh. And when the Lord comes, everyone who has died in faith, in the grave is going to be raised. And everyone that is alive, As Paul said, we which are alive and remain, are going to be caught up together with them in the cloud.
00:40:10
To meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. And I know there are just hundreds in this room that thrill as we speak.
Of the second coming of Christ. But I want to make this very solemn and serious at the end of this meeting.
When that event takes place, it is going to close what we call the door or opportunity of grace, when once the master of the house has risen up and shut to the door, it will never be opened again. There were 10 virgins who came, the Lord told the story, and five were wise and they went in to the wedding. Five were foolish, they didn't. They weren't prepared, and when they came too late, the door was closed.
And the words from the other side of that door were echoed in their ears. Depart from me. I never knew you How Solomon, how serious. You know, it's very interesting too, with the ark in Noah's day, that the door was open and the creatures went in because they obeyed God's command better than the humans, not interesting. And God brought them to Noah, and they went in two by two and seven by 7.
Eight souls went in and the door was shut. God shut the door. And you know, it's very significant that you never read of that door being opened again. They did not come out by the door. Scripture tells us that when they came out, they removed the covering of the ark to come out on dry ground. Why is the spirit of God careful not to mention that door ever being open again? Because I believe he wants to stress on our souls tonight.
That when the door of God's mercy and invitation to come to the Savior is closed, it will never be opened again. How serious it is to be lost in your sins when either you draw your last breath or the Lord Jesus comes, This meeting is over. You know we're going to get off these seats in a few moments in the normal course of things. But while I pray, suppose the Lord Jesus came right at the end of this gospel meeting.
And I was praying. And you opened your eyes and looked around. What would you see?
Every other seat empty, just a smattering of folks here and there that weren't saved and ready. Oh, how solemn. And let me say at the end of this meeting to those who have heard the gospel many times to boys and girls and young people, and maybe some of you who are not so young, if you are lost and in your sins and you're not saved when the Lord comes, you will initially know what happened. You know, when Elijah was caught away to heaven.
In a whirlwind, a chariot of fire. It wasn't the general populace in Israel that missed him. It was the sons of the prophets. And I believe when the Lord comes, it will be the sons and daughters of those who had Christian parents and grandparents and were brought to meetings like this, who will look around and realize what has happened. The sad thing is, very quickly Satan will send a strong delusion that you'll believe a lie, but all how solemn to be left behind.
And so I trust us. We have very quickly and feebly presented the person and work of Christ that there is no one who will rise up out of these seats. Don't wait till you go home or to your hotel, or to the young people's activity. Tonight I plead with you, Don't wait another moment. I'm going to pray. It's this simple. Just talk to God. Talk to the Lord Jesus. In your heart, He hears. If you don't say one word aloud, come as a repentance center. Put your faith in the Lord Jesus.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Let's pray our God and Father.
Were solemnized at the end of this meeting to realize that maybe there's someone here who's still lost. Our God and Father, work by thy spirit and their conscience and their heart. Draw them to the Savior. We pray there might be a real work before we leave this building. We ask for blessing. May Christ be real and precious to our souls. Every one of us. We ask by blessing on my word, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
How to Know the Will of God in Your Life
Lust of the Flesh, Eyes & Pride of Life
Children—Brad Hayhoe
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Welcome to Sunday School.
Well, we're going to sing a few songs here, and if there are kids in the back row, they might be better served in the front row. I do have some object lessons here, so if they during when we're singing, if they want to come to the front, that's probably best. But why don't we kick ourselves off with a couple of hymns? Who's got one?
#40 #40 yes, on the on the back of the pamphlet there's kids songs.
Jesus loved me.
I won't help me again strong.
Yes, baby. 5:00 take it. Yeah, I'm getting the clock with me.
Umm, uh, today.
Oh my God. So now I'll be in trouble.
Yeah, I understand why. It's a lot of great.
God, why don't you know what you need to get so?
We may. Yeah. Let's do something.
As well as I'm finished so.
It may be about the flood remaining, may be well today, close to time.
And I trust and chill on the night and it will rain peeping on the line, honey in.
Yeah.
It's a very special song because it reminds us that even though we're bad.
Even though we have sin enough, God, the one who made this earth, the one who who puts all our breath in our chest, he still loves us. It's amazing to think that God so high up there thinks about us little specks down here. So it's good for us to remember. That's why I think it's so the kids love that song so much. Who's got another one?
00:05:11
#41.
Around the throne of life.
Is inside me around 5 to 5 seconds of life being climbed around the city and I'm afraid.
Well, they can't help her Life seems like an extraordinary September and taking the Lord.
And Allah.
Let me bring them to the doctoral note on that handsome Friday and fair. We're all in his teeth and joy and love thus came into celebrating their heads in the glory, glory, glory, glory to God.
He promised her to say never shall I do blood with the word shallow again in the 1St place ******* but I'll find a chance out of the question of life being all over my meditation in painting the Lord.
Of God.
#5 going off the song sheet, are you?
#5.
Maybe someone could start that for me?
That fix my shoulders.
Well, they can't hire me.
There is a lot of problems. Have a great day, have a great day and what I can do for the blood clot I can't help away.
Can you hear me? Now? Let's see how I can talk to them.
But I could come back.
I'm honored to be on.
Uh, that's my one to give my hand by staying by his name.
We need to know about.
Umm, it is bad, you know, uh, it's bad somewhere in June 5:00.
By ten 12:00.
It is probably a hard time due to watch him praying.
00:10:02
Thank you. Rejoin together.
I'll see you guys.
I'll see you back, all right, See if you got the blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Well, let's tie that song ties in very nicely to what we're gonna talk about today because when we're saved, it's a happy day. It's a happy day because we're given a life that wants to serve the Lord Jesus that makes us want to be happy to do the things that the Lord Jesus wants us to do. It makes us happy to be close beside him where before we be running away from him. And so the Lord Jesus loves you very much children. And and what's important to know is that when you come.
To him and tell him that you're a Sinner and that you want to be part of his family, that it's a happy day for you and everything changes. Maybe we'll do one more. Maybe we'll go down here.
And the pink there.
#46.
#486.
Gladi.
A.
And because.
One year I are at one and everyone's always.
OK, so I don't know if any of you guys memorized the verses on the on the children's, umm, Sunday school paper, but if you wanna get up and say it, I do actually have a little treat for you. If it's, I don't know, I'm not guaranteeing that nuts free, but.
I do have a treat. Go ahead.
So I know there's other people that can want to say it, but what we'll do is we even come up afterwards and get a treat, all right.
So there's plenty here for everyone.
But good job.
What's really important about that verse is that Mister Hyland talked last night. At the end he said, wouldn't it be sad if the Lord Jesus came and there was one or two or five kids here that had heard the word of God and had sat in gospel meetings and they were still sitting here in the room. That's the room was empty. Wouldn't that be sad? And that's why it says behold now.
Not tomorrow, but now. Don't put it off. Satan wants you to put it off, says he got oh, I got a long life to live. Lots of time to choose.
That sort of thing. But it says now.
I want you to remember that. So if you haven't done that, you should just say it to yourself. Tell tell the Lord Jesus you're sorry for your sins.
OK, well, why don't we just pray and ask the Lord for help in the little talk to come. Our blessed God and loving Father, we thank you for this opportunity to talk to children. We know that thou has a special love for children. Suffer the little children to come unto me. And uh, we just pray that the little ones here would be touched in their heart and their conscience.
To accept thee as their savior while they're still young before.
They grow up and.
And things enter into their life and they can't make that decision any longer. And maybe even the Lord Jesus will come, which we hope maybe today. But for the children's sake, Lord, we just pray that that would get them to work in their hearts to accept thee now. And so we just, uh, pray for the little talk to come. And we just pray that that would use it for thy honor and glory and the worthy and precious name of Lord Jesus, Amen.
OK, well today what I want to talk a little bit about and I have a little object lesson here.
But today I wanna talk about.
When we got born, we got born with Sininas.
And then we have Satan, who works on us with the help of the world to show that sin come out in our lives. And so I want to talk a little bit about that today, and I brought a few props.
00:15:09
I brought Josh's stuffed animal here so hopefully he won't. He'll forgive me, but I have here a chipmunk.
What do chipmunks like to do?
What do they like to eat?
They like nuts, yeah.
Like to climb trees? Yeah.
What? Run. Run around. That's right. They go through the paths, right? They run through the forest. Go ahead.
Yes, very good. So all those things that chipmunk now, does anybody have to teach the chipmunk to like seeds and nuts to run away from people?
MMM. Did anybody need to teach them that? No, no, I need to teach them when they were born, if their parents had died right away, they would still do those things. They would still like seed. They would still like nuts.
And they would still, you know, have all the same traits that their parents had.
And you know what? As kids when we were born.
When we are born, we are born with the same nature as our dad. And you know what our dad was?
Our dad had sin in US, you know. Why has his dad had sin in him all the way back to Adam?
And so there's a verse that talks about that. It says wherefore by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin. So death came upon all men, for all have sinned. That's a good verse to remember because it reminds us that when we were born, we were born with a nature that does not love the Lord Jesus or God.
Says, Wherefore in my in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.
That's kind of bad. Now this, this little squirrel here, same sort of idea. When he was born, he was born with all the attributes that he has when he grows up, right?
So if a little boy or a little girl.
If this chipmunk didn't have any, any.
You know, any adversaries, if it didn't have anybody that would eat them or a man that might get them in trouble, he'd probably live, OK, right. But because of because of his habits and who he is, he runs into trouble. And that's the same with us. You know, we might not if we, if there was no world out there, if there was no Satan out there, maybe we would wouldn't see too much sin. But because Satan's out there and because the world's out there tempting us, that's what makes the sin come out.
So I want to.
Read a verse.
And this is where the object lesson comes in a little bit.
And.
First John. First John 2.
First John 216.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father, but of the world. So those three things are what acts on our, on our nature to show that there's sin in our lives, right?
This chipmunk.
This chipmunk, you know, he, he just like, he likes seeds and nuts, but he gets trapped, doesn't he? He can get trapped. So I got a few things here. So illustrate the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the and the pride of life.
So how do you think this could get a chipmunk into trouble?
Can let's get a chipmunk into trouble?
Down here, you guys think you know?
How can this get a chipmunk into trouble?
Can you show me how that might work?
How would what would happen?
What would you run it if it was just like this? Would you run into it?
You think you think he would jump jump in there for no good reason?
Oh, there's food in there maybe. Yeah. So that's good.
So I have it on good authority from someone in our meeting that this is a great way to trap chipmunks.
And what you do is you put seeds around here, you put some seeds in the bucket, and you know what? That chipmunk climbs up that pole and jumps into the bucket.
00:20:08
Now that to me is the lust of the flesh. Because you know what? That chipmunk, there's plenty of seeds there. He is probably full by the time he had all the seeds around it.
And yet he saw, looked over the edge right here, he saw all those seeds down there.
And he jumped into the bucket.
For no good reason.
You know what? That's like the lust of the flesh. That's like the lust of the flesh. And it changes as we get a little older, but maybe as if we're a kid. It's things like maybe your parents told you to have one cookie, but it was so good you had another one. Or maybe you're going to have Bible reading the one morning and felt so good to stay in bed that you you just skipped it that morning. And you know what?
That's how Satan's trapped. This squirrel jumped into the bucket.
But that's how we trap thus too. That's how. And then we have a sin that we can see.
But all it is is that nature, that nature of the squirrel. He wants as many seeds as he can get, and he wants it for the winter.
Right, and that's the same thing as our nature, right? He just wants to sin and stay away and be independent from God. OK, now I got another one.
Who knows what this is?
Paul.
A mouse trap, Well, it's a little tough to trap a chipmunk with because they're a little big, but.
A bigger one could do it.
And I've seen this, I've seen this in upfront up close. So how do you think that would work, Paul, what would you do?
You can't tell. Does anybody else know?
Does the guy put his tail in?
That's it.
Huh. Everybody see that how that works? Now? Is the mouse going to stick his head in there for no good reason?
Huh. Why would he stick his head in there?
Yeah, again, it's food that gets them, doesn't it? So what works best for those guys is the chipmunk is the peanut butter.
Peanut butter. Love peanut butter. And so that to me is the lust of the eyes.
You know what that squirrel, he knows he's he looks around and he looks and he says, well, there might be trouble there.
There might be trouble there, but what he does that peanut butter smells so good and looks so good that he can't resist that peanut butter and.
And there goes the squirrel or the chipmunk. And so with us, we have the lust of the of the eyes as well, right? Maybe it's maybe it's something that someone else has. Maybe it's a new pair of shoes. Maybe it's could be any number of things. But, and maybe we don't even take it. Maybe we just say, oh, that'd be great to have.
That would be great to have, but it's someone else's. But the Lord tells us that even if we don't take it, that that's a sin.
So once again, our old nature, our sinful nature comes out.
And we can see that we have a sinful nature.
Now, lastly, the pride of life.
I have here a little wire.
This doesn't work so well on chipmunks, but for illustration purposes.
Who do you? How does this little wire work?
Claire.
Josh.
Yes.
OK.
OK, so yes, this is called a snare. This is called a snare. And this works not so well on chipmunks because chipmunks don't go along the same path all the time, but it really works on Bunny trails.
Right. And so a Bunny and a chipmunks to some, umm, respect, they go along the same trail all the time. And so if a hunter wants a a Bunny, I guess a chipmunks, he puts us along the trail kind of hanging down. And when the Bunny goes through it, it goes around his head and and because he struggles and tries to push through it, it gets tighter and tighter and tighter and then.
00:25:03
No more Bunny.
But that's like the pride of life, right? When we go down the same trail and we don't do it with a, with a asking the Lord Jesus for help. That's why it says that even the plowing of the wicked is sin, because they didn't do anything in regards to the Lord Jesus or God.
They didn't ask God for help or what they should do, They did it just for themselves.
And that gets us into trouble. You know, David, David, King David, he had a, he, he fought against the Philistines two times in a row. And one time God told him to go up against in the in the Mulberry bushes.
And he went up and he won. And the next time he did the same thing, but he, thankfully, he asked God what he should do and he and God told him to go up a different way. But both times he got the victory, but only because he asked God, not because he leaned on himself. And so that's maybe the pride of life. And we get that when we're a kid too. Maybe we do a test without asking the Lord for help or, and we don't do very well, or maybe we do lots of different things.
But all those things, all they did was show out what our nature really was. They show out what our nature really was.
And our nature is bad and far away from God, wasn't, isn't it? That's how we that's how we were born.
So, but the thing I want to get across today, so now that we know what to look for, we can see sin come out in our lives, can't we? We can see those sins come out and you know what it says the wages of sin is. Anybody know?
That but the gift of God, the eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
And so and it says the other thing it says in First Corinthians is that.
First Corinthians, uh, says that Christ not, uh, came not into the world to condemn the world, but to bring him into himself. And so you know what the Lord Jesus, even though we were, so we were born with a, a nature that hates God and wants to do our own thing. God still loves us. We sing, sang that song. Jesus loves me. This I know for the Bible tells me so. And that is right. Even though we're sinners and all we want to do is sin and get away.
God, God still loves us and He wants us to go to heaven with Him. And you know what? He can't have one sin in heaven.
Kenny So if we've got a, an umm, uh, a nature inside us that this wants to sin and we do, all we do is sin, can we go to heaven?
No, we can't go to heaven because God says he can't even look. There's two pure eyes and to even behold iniquity, so he can't even look on one sin.
But you know what? God loved us so much that he sent his Son to die, so that we.
Says we could live through him. And so the Lord Jesus loves you. I want you to remember that the Lord Jesus loves you. He doesn't love your sins. He can't have one sin in his presence, but he loves you and he gave up everything.
He gave up everything, everything that he loved in this, everything that he loved, he gave up, and he sent the Lord Jesus to die on the cross.
Isn't that amazing? Even though we didn't love him, we've stayed far away from him. We did our own thing. He still loved us enough to send his Son. And he's asking you, does all you have to do is say you're sorry? Say you know what? I know I was born in sin. I know that I am full of sins, but the Lord Jesus loves me.
And I want to be part of his family.
That's all He wants you to say. Be sorry for your sins and ask Him to wash you in his blood.
That's all he wants.
And then you know what?
Then we have Oh Happy Day, that fixed my choice. Because then not only are we part of God's family.
Do you think God can change that nature that we had, that one that just wants us in? Can he, Can he change that?
I have a few people saying yes, but it's not true. It's unfixable. That's a word.
It's not fixable.
It says that we're crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. And do you know why it says that?
00:30:04
Because that old when we get saved, the Lord Jesus has to give us a new nature, one that loves him, one that doesn't. That chipmunk will never change, right? It's always going to like seeds. It's always going to. It's always going to go through the little paths in the woods in the same way.
And our nature will never change that old nature. And that's why it tells us that we need a new one. We need a the very life of Christ. That's what it says.
And that life of Christ, that one is where the Holy Spirit can live, forgive us the power to live like a Christian and the desire to want to be like a Christian. And so that's what makes it a happy day because we know that we're a Sinner. We've asked the Lord Jesus, we've been brought into his family, and then he gives us a new life so that we like being a Bible conference. We like being with other Christians.
We like reading the Bible, we like praying, all those old habits.
While they still are, they still contempt us, but we have the power to overcome them. So I guess what I wanted to make sure we understand today is that we're a Sinner. And we are because our our dad was sinners and our dad before him was a Sinner.
But the Lord Jesus, he loves sinners.
All we have to do is tell him that we're a center and that we're sorry for it. And we're sorry that those nails nailed that son of God to that cross. And we're sorry that the Lord Jesus had to take our punishment on that cross. And we're sorry that the Lord Jesus blood had to be shed so that it could wash us clean as wool. That's what it says.
And then we're happy to live for him.
We still have those temptations. Our old nature doesn't go away, unfortunately, but we have a new life that's stronger than it. So maybe we can just sing one more if you would like, and then we can end the meeting.
#40 We already sang that one.
Do you have another one?
You wanna do 43 #43?
One door and only one.
So this morning you have a choice. What side of the door are you gonna be on?
The Lord Jesus is calling you this morning to say that you know that you're a Sinner.
But you accept his way of salvation.
What's are you gonna decide is your decision. At the end of the day, it's your decision.
I hope, and the Lord is pleading with your heart this morning to accept His way of salvation.
Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.
OK, let's pray. Our blessed God and loving Father, we just thank thee for this little time where we could umm, talk about by things that we could remind the children how far they, they, and all of us were away from Thee.
How our nature only hated Thee, how our nature only wants us in and get away. But thou Lord Jesus did come into this world to save sinners, because that is love us without a cause. And surely this morning we thank thee for that work on the cross. We thank Thee for that blood that was shed. We just pray that if there's any children here that do not know Thee is Savior, that they would come to Thee this morning.
And accept thee as their own personal Savior. And so we just pray that that would work in their hearts this morning.
We thank Thee for this time, for children to come unto Thee, to tell children to come unto Thee. We just give Thee thanks and praise Thee and the worthy and precious name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.
Continuing in Prayer
Open—Enos McCavour
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.
#197.
Oh God, what court love?
Honors are you hands? Oh yeah.
I'm sorry. Congratulations there and it's great. And when you come back.
Uh-huh.
First Theater chapter 4.
First Peter chapter 4 and verse 11. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God-given, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom he praised, and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Great.
Father, we're here with a group of Christians, here around thyself, around the person of the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior, with the desire on our hearts, and that is to hear Thy word presented before us. Pray that he would not be nice words. These would not be good words, but that these would be Thy word which should be presented before us. That each one who would take part, take that responsibility, would speak as the oracles of God, but not present their own thoughts. That would present Thy thoughts, that each one of us who would be sitting as an audience.
Would have our ears open that we might listen to what thou would say to us and apply it to our own lives and be exercised by it. We pray for this. We ask that the Spirit not be quenched. And we, we look to thee, our eyes are upon Thee to see what that would have for us. So we looked at before that we asked for blessing upon this meeting and upon this time, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Amen.
I'd like to share a few thoughts this afternoon on prayer. I know my heart for some time. And then at lunchtime today we had a little discussion about prayer so I could look at a few verses in Scripture to give some guidance to us about the valuess of prayer, Matthew Luke 18.
00:05:14
It's a parable that.
That the Lord gave here it's parallel, is two thoughts. Sometimes they're side by side. One thought, perhaps as a natural application in the other side of the parable, have a spiritual application to it. You take a parable on to them in this end. That men ought always to pray, not to faint.
He speaks here about an unjust judge that didn't fear God.
Or he didn't fear a man.
And so this woman came to him often, wanting revenge.
Over something that had happened. And it's typical in the world, a way that people sometimes an authority act. They they're self-serving, they want to promote themselves and and so they'll take the the easiest way they can to get out of the situation. And we see that all around us today in the world.
That people will cry on to the leaders because they want something.
And the leaders sometimes will just give in. After a while, they just get weary of it and they give to the people what they want. But God doesn't work in that way. God is a righteous judge. And God weighs in the situation of every prayer carefully, and he makes a decision based on his own righteousness and.
God doesn't want any man to fear things.
We're living in a day in which there's much fear.
It's the darkness closes in around us. In North America, we see it more and more all the time. Men's hearts are fearful of what's going to happen.
Are are we going to be safe in a year from now? The Lord leaves us here. Are we going to be able to have conferences and come together like we do now?
Are are we fearful of those things?
What we shouldn't be, we have the access to the throne of grace. God has made provision for us for prayer. God values our prayers.
We're here today mainly, I believe, because of the prayers that have gone up in this land over a number of years, for a long, long time.
To God for.
Governments that they would rule in the fear of God and they would make good.
Good decisions and decisions that would give them the give us the rights that we enjoy that we can carry on for the Lord and that his word and so on would have liberty and all those things. And so do we appreciate what we have. Are we really I speak to my own self. Are we really in prayer before God?
For the rulers. So let's look at Timothy.
Book of Timothy, his first second Timothy.
Perhaps this person?
Yes, First Timothy and his chapter 2.
It says there that I exhort, therefore, that first of all supplications, sincere prayer, prayers and intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men.
For Republicans.
All that are in authority that what it says.
No, for kings, for all that is 40 doesn't say they're for Democrats, for Republicans. I'm from Canada.
Up there we have two party system pretty well. There's a third party, but there's a Liberal Party and what we call a conservative party. The Liberal Party would be what we would refer to as a Democratic Party in the US and a conservative party would what we would call Republican Party here. And so we have different people that God has placed an authority over us.
00:10:01
And he put them there to rule.
And he would hope that they would rule in fear of God, that they would do right, and and so on. And we hope that too, as believers, we would pray to that end, that they might rule wisely in the fear of God, and that we should be able to continue on until the Lord should come with privileges that we enjoy as Christians. But often times we have to admit.
It is politics with us too, isn't it? We have our favorites.
We like the Republicans, some of us. Some of us like the Democrats. Does that get in the way of our process of prayer? It shouldn't.
We shouldn't be that way. As believers, we should be looking at the authority, that authoritative system that God has put into place.
As just authority that He has put there, We shouldn't be taking sides with it, even though we do. We're to pray for all it says here, all that are in authority. That means every single person that's in a place of authority need our prayers. And why? Because the enemy is busy attacking those people that God has placed in authority if he can bring them down.
And so that they rule in a self-serving way, so that they rule unrighteously.
So that they give in to immorality and lawlessness and all the other things that go with it. Then that whole system of God's government is destroyed. Well, God is keeping a government. God is working. And whether we pray or not, God has his counsels and God is going to bring about his purposes. But God answers prayer.
And we are here today mainly because.
Faithful Christians have been praying that we would have.
These liberties that we will be able to enjoy, these times that we have together.
And so it says that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
That is what the outcome of it should be.
Now we know that we have liberty to take the gospel and go with it.
We have liberty and much thanks God has given to us and it's not popular in this world.
But yet God is able to who establish and who keep those doors open.
Through the efforts of his own people.
By prayer, God hears our prayers.
It says this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. God delights that we should pray for all that are in authority.
We should value what we have as darkness rolls in and we get mixed up in politics and we try to improve things ourselves and we criticize and condemn government. What's going to be the outcome of all that? We we stop praying.
Why? The darkness is going to creep even faster than it is, and so we need to be in prayer.
It says in Ephesians just like. Let's look there for a moment.
Ephesians chapter 6.
Verse 12 Says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
As Satan's Rome, that's where he works spiritual wickedness in high places.
Satan is out to hinder the counsels of God wherever he can. He can't stop them. They like to hinder them, and so he works in those that God has placed in authority.
So they need our prayers.
They need us to bear them up before God. They may be unjust, they may not fear God, they may not fear man, they may not be doing it themselves. But it's our responsibility as believers to bear these ones up, that we might continue to enjoy our lives, quiet, peaceful lives to go on for the Lord and all godliness and honesty.
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Before him.
I was thinking of a few.
Times in scripture where as mentioned about.
Case with Daniel, who prayed for his own people, he and in the morning really for for 21 days, 3 weeks, he didn't need any food or drink or anything. He was so concerned about his own people that he prayed to the Lord.
And.
Finally, an Angel came and told Daniel that yes.
For the very first day, Daniel, that thou pray, God heard your prayer, but.
I was hindered.
I was hindered in coming to tell you the message from God.
King of Persia withstood the Angel and the Angel had to get help from Michael, another Angel Archangel, to deliver the message and so they work through work through the King of Persia. Satan works through those that God has placed in authority wherever he can to hinder the councils and the work of God.
Well, perhaps there are things that.
In your own life, my life that we prayed about and.
Maybe haven't got an answer as yet. Doesn't mean to say we should stop praying. We should continue to pray until we receive an answer. God will answer our prayers. It may be a while.
There was something that.
My wife and I had a great concern about our children and we prayed for years for our children and.
I finally got we both got an answer from the Lord, a favorable answer from the Lord.
That is a promise, and we haven't seen a result of that promise yet.
But I know the Lord will fulfill it. And so we wait.
It may be after, if I'm left here long enough, it may be after I'm with the Lord and glory that the Lord answers a prayer I don't know. All I know. I take God at His word and He's made the promise and we wait for His time to fulfill it. And there's perhaps others here that have been praying for certain things and you've gotten discouraged and given up. Don't give up.
Don't give up, God hears your prayer.
I think sometimes we pray for things.
And the Lord wants us to own our failure in what we are praying for.
And I believe that that's what it was in my own case. I failed many times as a parent, and the Lord had me over time to own all that out, lay it all empty for him, my failures. That's what He wants to hear. He wants to hear about about us, about why.
Why do things turn out the way they did and we have to own our own failure? Nehemiah.
When he prayed, he prayed before the Lord, he laid everything out before the Lord about his own people, Israel. But Nehemiah took, he took responsibility in it. He took blame for it before God. And Nehemiah's prayer was four months before actually it was answered. But it was, it was answered in a most marvellous way. They were let go from Babylon and they had everything they needed to go back to Israel and rebuild the the city.
The temple and so on. And so don't give up on prayer.
Let's look at the verse in Peter.
Book of Peter.
First Peter, chapter 5.
This is really what we need to do in verse six is humble yourselves. Therefore under the mighty hand of God, He may exalt you in due time, and it mentions casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Casting all.
Your care upon him, Why does it say casting all your cares upon him?
Now the Lord knows, he says, casting all your care. He knows that we're going to have more than one care.
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Sometimes during the day, I might have a half a dozen cares that I'm concerned about things that might take the car in, have a check as a care. I want to, I want to make sure that they do a good job and the car comes back to me safe. That's a care. You may be in school. Maybe there's there's someone that's a bully, that's security at school. Maybe you're in college and you're writing papers and that's a care to you.
And maybe you're a senior citizen like I am. You've got a doctor's appointment.
Well, that's another cure. And so we were faced with cares all the time, no matter what age that we're in. We have cares and but it doesn't say cares other this is care. That's because the Lord knows we're going to have cares, but he doesn't allow us to have more than one at a time casting all your care singular upon him. He doesn't want us to go around with a whole burden of cares.
And sometimes that's what we do, don't we? We let them pile up.
We let them pile up and then it's it's a weight that we're carrying around all these different things. And so if we would, just as they come up to cast that care upon the Lord and casting it means to get rid of it. Once we cast it to the Lord, we don't have to worry about it again. I'm guilty of that. I've cast the cares of the Lord before and.
And then fretted about it, and then tried to maybe use their own intelligence and wisdom to try to.
Fix things up myself, but.
Really and truly the way this verse is, is just to leave it with the Lord. If we can learn to do that, we have a peace. Then about it we can just say, well, the Lord. Lord will look after. He knows just what to do and He does. And so it mentions another place. And I think it's reason for this is to be instant in prayer. That is, we should be ready to be instantaneous when a care comes up just to lay it out before the Lord.
And another verse is pray without ceasing.
The attitude of prayer, just to be always in that attitude of prayer when something comes up and just committed to the Lord and say, Lord, I don't know how to go about dealing with this problem, but I know that you can look after it and you'll show me exactly what your mind is. And so we can as believers, we're able to to do these things.
It says.
We should do this because it says your adversary, the devil is a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour, whom resist steadfast in the faith, and so on. So the enemy of our souls is looking, he's walking through this earth, and he's looking for little openings where he can come in and seek to upset us, to get us off the pathway, to trip us up.
And to hinder our our walk.
And that way there he can dishonor the Lord, and that's what he likes to do. And so these few thoughts I would just like to leave with you on prayer. They've certainly been a help to me, and I hope that they'll be a help to each one here.
Individual, Family & Assembly Prayer
Open—Jim Hyland
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Turn with me to Matthew's Gospel Chapter 6 to follow up what our brother has brought before us in connection with prayer.
Matthew's Gospel, chapter 6 and verse 6.
But now, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy father which is in secret, and thy father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
It was impressed upon me as our brother was speaking in connection with prayer, how the prayer applies to every sphere and aspect of our Christian life. And I'd like to look at some scriptures for a few moments that bring before us prayer, first of all in our personal or private life, because it always starts with the individual, then how it applies to our family life, and then collectively in the assembly as gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because this has often been said, and rightly so. Prayer is the powerhouse of the Christian life. It's the powerhouse of our lives individually, again, as families, and collectively as gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if we were to read this 6th chapter of Matthew, we would find that the Lord here, in speaking to those in his day, was making a contrast, because Scripture often teaches us by contrast. And he was contrasting here.
The long prayers and speeches that the religious leaders of his day like to make publicly in the marketplace.
So that they could be heard and commended for how well they could express things and how eloquent they could put things in prayer and so on. And he contrasts it with his own, who he says when you pray, you get alone with me, go into your closet and shut your door, because that's what he wants, brethren. He wants us to have that spirit of dependence and confidence in our lives. And that's really what prayer, in any aspect that we take it up is.
Prayer is the expression of those two things. Dependence. Because when I pray, I'm really telling the Lord I don't have any might for this situation.
I'm not able for this situation, but I'm also expressing confidence that he's able for whatever the situation is. And so when that you pray, get along with the Lord. And I'll just say this in passing, I believe it's helpful to have a stated time for prayer, but also a stated place for prayer. Somewhere where you can slip away from the hustle and bustle of life, Somewhere where you can slip away from other family members.
And shut the door. It may not literally be a closet, like the Lord said here as we think of a closet, but somewhere where you can get along with the Lord and justice, pour out your heart before Him. Remember, too, when we come in prayer, that we need to come with Thanksgiving. Because I believe sometimes the difficulty is that when we come with requests, we forget to thank the Lord for past answers to prayer. And so when you come, come with Thanksgiving, thank Him for all that he's done for you.
All that he is doing for you, thank him for what's ahead in that day of glory. We're going on to a scene where we won't need prayer in the same way that we have it now, a scene where we'll be beyond the burdens and the trials and the exercises of the path of faith and service. And so I suppose we'll take it up again in our reading. But that verse that we had before us yesterday, it says by him. Therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.
He wants that continual spirit of Thanksgiving and praise, and he wants to hear our praise and Thanksgiving express again, first of all, when we come to Him in private prayer, and then to bring before him those needs and requests to intercede on behalf of our own difficulties in our own family. But also for those of our brethren. There are two very there are many, but there are at least two outstanding examples of prayer, at least to my own soul, that come before me in connection with this.
One, of course this has already been alluded to, is Daniel, and it was the secret of Daniel's whole life. Daniel was a man of prayer. The boys and girls often sing that little chorus. Daniel was a man of prayer daily. He prayed three times. And it's very interesting when you go to the 6th chapter of the Book of Daniel, define Daniel as an old man still characterized by prayer. And Daniel had a stated time and a stated place for prayer.
He prayed in his room three times a day, and it's very interesting scriptures, tremendously accurate. It doesn't say that when he went into his room to pray after the writing had been signed, that no one was to pray to the king, to anyone other than the king for a certain length of time. It doesn't say that Daniel went into his room and opened his windows toward Jerusalem. Now they were to pray toward Jerusalem, God's center and God's house, if they were ever in difficulty. That was the provision that was made for them. You remember at Solomon's prayer, at the dedication of the temple.
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That provision was made, but it doesn't say that Daniel opened his windows toward Jerusalem. It says his windows being open toward Jerusalem. It was the habit of Daniel's life to pray three times a day and to keep his windows open toward Jerusalem, because on that occasion, if he had opened them, he'd be courting persecution. If he closed them, he'd be a coward. But it never changed Daniel's routine when that very difficult circumstance came.
It never changed his prayer routine. He went right on because it says, and he prayed as he did a four time. In other words, even when things were going well in Daniel's life, he kept his windows open towards Jerusalem and prayed three times a day. You know, I have to hang my head and say when some special trial or burden comes into my life, it often changes my prayer life for a little time. Sometimes I pray more earnestly. I spend more time in prayer.
But is our prayer life so rude, part of our daily Christian routine and exercise that no matter whether things are going smoothly in our lives or whether there's a special burden or care, we carry on the same way we always had. That I say, was the secret of Daniel's life. Because I stress again that there's no other way to have prayer or to have power in our Christian life apart from the fact that we are men and women of prayer.
You know, when I was younger, and I still do it, but when I was younger, I used to read missionary stories about men and women of past generations who had tremendous power in their pathway, who went to foreign countries and against all kinds of odds and difficulties, triumphed and propagated the gospel and the truth for the glory of God and the blessing of souls. And there are still men and women who do that today, and their stories are fascinating. But you, as I used to read those stories when I was younger, I would say, wow.
How could they have such power against those difficulties? But then you read their stories more carefully.
And you find they were men and women of prayer and men and women of faith. Martin Luther said, I have so much work to do for the Lord. I dare not spend less than three hours a day in prayer. No wonder he was a man raised up of God during the Reformation and so mightily used in the work of God as things were being recovered in those days. And so if we're going to have power in our lives, young people, you want power in your Christian life, you've got to cultivate the habit.
Of prayer in your life. And the habits we cultivate when we're younger are the habits that are going to stand us in good stead when we when we get older. And I want to encourage you not only to cultivate the habit of reading God's word that's listening to Him speak to us, but then the habit of speaking to the Lord. That's what prayer in its simplest form really is. It's speaking to the Lord. And so thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father, which is in secret.
But there's another outstanding example of a man of prayer in the New Testament, and his name is Epiphras, and we find just three brief mentions of Epiphras. Not a lot told us about about him, but he was a man of prayer and he's commended for it. Epifras, who is one of you, laboreth in prayer for you. Do we know what it is to labor in prayer? I'm not asking our souls do we know what it is to say a little prayer at the breakfast table or to rattle off a few names and.
Those that we know have needs at prayer time. But do we know what it is to really labour in prayer? And when Epifras laboured in prayer, he was not only praying for his own needs, but the brethren at Colossi. And he also said, and for those of Laodicea and Heropolis, he had the Saints of God on his heart. You know, a few months ago, when my wife was so sick, we learned something. We learned two things. I'll share this for a moment. We learned two things.
In reality, we knew them in theory because that we have them in the word of God. But two things we felt the power of one was the unfeigned love of our brethren, and the other was the power of intercessory prayer. We felt it like never before to know that our brethren around the world were interceding for us in prayer. You know, we know what it is to intercede for our brethren. Yes, it's wonderful to bring our own needs before the Lord, but sometimes I'm very selfish in my prayers.
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Epifras knew what it was to labor in prayer on behalf of his brethren.
And can I just say this too, brother? Sometimes we begin to pray for someone.
When we know they have a real need or difficulty. But it's very interesting when you go through Paul's epistles to find that at the times when he interceded in prayer on behalf of his brethren, it was usually at a time when they were going on. Well, now I'm sure Paul prayed for his brethren when there were difficult circumstances, sickness, special trials, special attacks of the enemy, and so on, but I would suggest that we use if we used prayer as a preventative measure.
If we would pray for the preservation of one another in the path of faith and service, it might spare us for many from many things. Why is it sometimes we begin to pray for a person after they've quit coming to the meetings? Or they're going on a path that we know is going to lead to at some detriment to them in their Christian life and following the Lord. Or some sin has come into their life and we've had to deal with it in the assembly for the Lord's glory and the clearing of sin from the presence of the Lord and His people.
If perhaps we would pray for one another, name by name and need by need, before that happened, it would spare us for many things. Why did Paul pray for the Saints when they were going on? Well, because he knew they were going to be a special attack of the enemy. He knew that the freshness of in Thessalonica, of those recent converts by the enemy, was going to be right there to spoil that. He knew when the gospel testimony was going out from Philippi that the enemy was going to be right there to spoil that.
He knew that when the Ephesians were going on in such a state that they could take in the precious truth of their heavenly calling, the enemy was going to be right there to seek to spoil that in some way. And so we need to intercede on behalf of of one another. Prayer takes on various characters. Sometimes we don't have because we ask not. It says you have not because you ask not. And sometimes there's already been alluded to. We we don't get the answers to prayer that we should because we give up to easy.
Now I'll just say in that regard too, that brethren, we never want to beg the Lord for something that isn't according to His will.
I realize on the one hand, the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
And it's like the man the Lord told about who came to his friend at midnight, and his friend finally rose and gave him that which was for his sustenance and the sustenance of those who had come under his roof, not because he was his friend, but because of his opportunity, his constant knocking, because he wouldn't give up. But brethren, be careful now. There are things we should never give up praying for. My wife prayed for years for the salvation of her father and the Lord after many years before he took him home. He saved my my father-in-law. But you have scripture for that. It's God's will that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
Maybe there's a parent or a grandparent here and you're praying for the restoration of a child, or a grandchild or some other loved one. Don't give up. The grace of God desires to restore those ones, and he does restore souls, but I'm talking in the everyday situations of life. Be careful not to beg the Lord for something that isn't according to his will, because he may grant the request, but it says of the children of Israel He granted their request but sent leanness into their souls. The children of Israel on another occasion.
Moses to send in spies to spy out the land, and in his permissive will God finally said to Moses, appoint 12 men and send them in. It was because of a low moral state and unbelief amongst the people of God. But what was the result? Why they had to wander 40 years in the wilderness and come under the governmental hand of God time and time and time again. And God didn't allow that generation to enter the land. And so we want to be careful. But on the other hand, we want to pray sincerely and not give up easily.
Especially, as I say, when we have a scripture for it. Another aspect too that I might mention is that when we pray about something, God always answers our prayers. God always answers our prayers, but it may not be in the way that we anticipated. Sometimes, if it's according to His will, He will answer our prayers. If it's according to His will, scripture says we have the request that we ask. If it's not according to His will, he'll say no, but sometimes it's not His time.
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To me, that's the hardest one of all. When he says wait a while, sometimes I get ahead of the Lord.
And I want things instantaneously. But God has a perfect timetable. Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him, and he will bring it to pass. But it may not be to pass as quickly as I expected. And I think of the Apostle Paul in this regard so often, because Paul prayed three times that the thorn in the flesh that the Lord had allowed in his life would be removed. And the Lord said, no, Paul, I'm not going to remove that thorn in the flesh.
And Paul didn't pray about it anymore. He prayed three times and the Lord said, my grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is made perfect in weakness. Paul, I'm not going to answer the prayer the way you'd really like, but I'm going to give you all the grace that's needed, the strength that's needed so you can serve me and my people for my glory, even without the removal of that thorn in the flesh. We have the perfect example of the Lord Jesus. He prayed three times in the garden and said if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. But he only prayed the three times.
And he said, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. He said, the cup which my father hath given me, shall I not drink it? And so I say, this is personal prayer, and it begins with the individual. And I just challenge my own soul. And brethren, don't think I'm standing here to say I've arrived. I'm giving you the principles of Scripture. But I have far from arrived at these, at these principles. But I believe this is what gives us a fruitful, happy, powerful Christian life. You want fruit and testimony in your Christian pathway.
You've got to spend time in prayer. Well, let's go on now to the Book of Peter. First Peter, chapter 3.
First Peter chapter 3 and verse 7. Likewise ye husbands dwell with them according to knowledge.
Giving honor unto the wife, as under the weaker vessel and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. We have spoken a prayer in our personal lives, but now I want to speak of it in the family circle. The first institution that God set up for the blessing of man on the earth was the family. And if the family is characterized by prayer, there's going to be power and blessing. And I want to encourage you. I know there are those who are anticipating setting up a home.
The Christian home is really the only bulwark that's left against the world, the assembly to some degree. But it says, David said I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. Just being with the people of God doesn't preserve us, but the Christian home is to be that bulwark, that wall, that shelter, that refuge for our families and for those who come under our roofs. And there are two things that it needs to be characterized by the word of God and prayer.
I'm thankful that I look back to a home where I had a father who was exercised to bring those two things.
Before us every day to read the word of God and to spend a little time in prayer with his family. And I didn't always appreciate it. I'll just say to the children here and the young people who are still under their parents roof, if you have a father or mother who brings the word of God before you and sets aside a prayer time every day, oh, I pray that you'll learn to value that while you're young. I didn't always appreciate it when I was young. I didn't always value it when I was young. But I'm thankful for a father and a mother who were consistent.
In those things, and I'm not a great one for catchy cliches and phraseology, but I have seen that little expression. The family that prays together stays together. You know, this is a day when the enemy is busy to smash everything that God has set up and established for the blessing of man on the earth. Let me just again rephrase it. There were two institutions that God set up for the blessing of man on the earth. The first was the family, The second was the assembly.
And Satan has been busy to tear down and smash those two things if he can. And we see the breakdown of the family in the world on every hand. We see couples splitting, children, brothers and sisters split. And what a sad thing it is to see the breakdown of the family, perhaps like never before. But I want to encourage you as Christian families to take that time to spend in prayer, because here he's talking about the husband and wife relationship.
It's very interesting too. If we were to go to Acts chapter 10, we find that there was a man of prayer. His name was Cornelius.
But it's interesting. If you notice, I think it's the second verse of that chapter and the 30th verse. I believe you can check it out.
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You'll find, I believe, that there's a little hint that not only was Cornelius a man of prayer.
But he brought his whole household under the exercise of prayer. And what a blessing there was for that household. Why, That was the very place where the gospel went out to the Gentiles and they are brought into the Church of God. What a blessing, because there was a man who was characterized by prayer individually and I suggest, brought his whole family under the exercise of prayer. So I say again, prayer is not just the powerhouse of our lives individually, but it is the powerhouse of our lives.
As family. Now let's go to a familiar verse in Acts chapter 2.
Acts chapter 2 and verse 42.
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread.
And in prayers. I believe what we have here are what we might call the assembly meetings. The Church had just been formed and the Brethren went on together in these different things. The order is very important. I'll just mention it in passing. They continued steadfastly. Or if you notice Mr. Darby's translation, they persevered. Because it does take perseverance to go on together. It takes perseverance to be at the assembly meetings. And notice the first thing is the apostles doctrine, because doctrine is vital.
It's important. It's the IT was the basis for everything else. Now I realize here it wasn't Paul's doctrine. It wasn't the doctrines that have been recorded to us subsequent to this by the New Testament writers. It was what they got orally from the apostles at that time. And so that was the foundation of everything else. It was the foundation for fellowship, for breaking of bread and prayers. And don't let anybody come along and tell you that doctrine doesn't matter.
Paul, When he wrote to Timothy, he wrote of appalling days of breakdown, breakdown in government, breakdown in the world, in the home, even amongst the people of God. And he said, Thou has fully known, and he lists a number of things. And what does it start with? Thou has fully known my doctrine and manner of life. Sometimes we tend to put the manner of life 1St. And I'm thankful for anyone who exhibits moral piety and godliness in their life, But it must be based on doctrine. You know in Timothy we have the need for sound doctrine, in Titus we have sound behavior, and sound behavior is based on sound doctrine. Thou is fully known my doctrine and manner of life.
And if we're going to claim to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus? If we're going to claim Matthew 18 and 20?
We it must be based on the teaching of the Word of God. It must be based on sound doctrine and principles.
Paul was a wise master builder that laid the foundation. And there were others, because in Ephesians it says that the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, the New Testament writers who laid down those those doctrines and principles, those teachings for us. So they persevered in the apostles doctrine and fellowship breaking of bread.
The God of All Comfort
Open—Ted Allan
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Before I start, I guess I'd just say that I feel my own weakness up here before you, but I felt like the Lord wanted me just to share something briefly with you before we conclude the meeting. And I just wanted to read 2 verses from the opening hymn that we sang.
And 197.
Just gonna re read versus 2:00 and 3:00.
The guilt of twice 10,000 sins when moment takes away.
And when the fight of faith begins, our strength is as our day.
Comfort through all this veil of tears and blessed profusion flows, and glory of a number of years. Eternity bestowed.
Just read a couple verses from Genesis chapter 50.
And verse 15.
And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us.
And will certainly requite us of all the evil which we did unto him. And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, So shall you say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now the trespass of thy brethren and their sin, For they did unto the evil.
And now we pray that you forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. And his brethren also went, and fell down before his face. And they said, Behold, we be thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not.
For am I in the place of God? But As for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good to bring to pass as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Now therefore fear ye not, I will nourish you and your little ones. And he comforted them, and speak kindly unto them.
And then two more verses in umm, the 2nd Corinthians.
Chapter One.
Verse 3.
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.
Who comfort us, us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble.
By the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
Just if we could turn back to Genesis 50, I just wanted to touch on Joseph again. They are just.
Had this short passage before me. This is something we've enjoyed in our own home recently in our family Bible devotion time.
And really struck a chord with me, certainly in my own life.
And I just felt like the Lord had it on my heart today to share with you.
I thought it really coincided well with the opening hymn.
You know, Joseph's brothers felt very much deeply what they had done to Joseph, and they felt terrible about it.
When his father died.
They were tremendously fearful as to how Joseph would react to them.
You know, if you could turn back to Genesis 44 and you could read the words that Judah spoke.
Right before Joseph revealed himself to them, they felt very keenly what they had done.
They spoke of the fact that they acknowledged that they had done wrong.
They said, you know, how can we clear ourselves in this matter and we know the account well. Joseph had saw that their repentance was genuine.
And he couldn't hold himself back any longer. And he revealed himself to his brethren.
And here we see that he weeps again.
Because I truly think that Joseph realized that they didn't understand his heart.
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That he loved his brethren.
That he had forgiven them.
You know they fell on their faces before him.
Reminds me of the prodigal son and they just said simply, we are your servants.
You know, I have no doubt that there's some in this room today who are struggling and going through a very difficult time.
And perhaps you still do not realize that the God who we serve is a God who desires to bless.
And forgive and comfort.
You know, Joseph just said simply. You know, am I in the place of God?
You know there was a price to pay, certainly for their sin.
But Joseph was not there to bring down a hammer, as it were upon their head.
He said, you know, you meant perhaps thought evil against me, but God meant it for good.
To save much people alive. And quite frankly, I don't think Egypt would exist today had it not been for Joseph.
And God working through Joseph.
It just struck me, you know, when we were reading this in our family Bible reading, I just simply told the children that God is able to use the brokenness of our lives for Him for good.
But his brethren had to come to a point where they acknowledged their failure.
God can take those things in our lives.
That perhaps we've done wrong.
And if we acknowledge them before God for what they are, He can transform our lives into something good.
Verse 21 is really especially what struck me, he said. I will nourish you and your little ones, and he comforted them and spake kindly to them.
I will nourish you in your little ones.
For the fathers here, for the mothers here. Take comfort in this verse. I know that I do.
God desires to nourish and help the families who are here today.
You know, the past couple of years for me have not been easy and I was driving to work one morning.
And a song came onto the CD I was listening to. It was sung by Linda Randall.
I'm just going to read the words of really what was impressed on my heart that morning.
The song goes like this, just one verse and a chorus. We talk of faith way up on the mountain.
But talk comes easy when life is at its best. Now, down in the Valley. Trials and temptations, that's where your faith is really put to the test.
For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley.
When things go wrong.
He'll make them right.
And the God of the good times is still God, and the bad times the God of the day.
There's still God in the night. I was telling Julie after I listened to that song that day. You know, you ever hear a song, you've heard it many, many times in your life, and then you feel like one day you're listening to something and it's as if you heard it for the very first time.
And that song that morning, it was just, I knew the Lord was speaking to me through that song.
And I recount this back to Joseph.
You know, there was a time when Joseph's light where he life, where he was on the mountain, right? We know he was beloved of his father.
You know, until 17 years of age and then things you know didn't go so well.
And it wasn't a few years after that he found himself basically in prison and his life was turned upside down.
Far from his family, far from his father. And really, there's no doubt that his faith was put to the test.
When Potiphar's wife would, you know, approached Joseph, his faith was put to the test again, you know, repeatedly.
And you know, I'm a young brother here today, and you know, I've been married 15 years.
And you know, I realize.
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You know, the life definitely has its ups and downs. There is mountains and there is valleys, but I would just impress upon each one here today that the God who we serve is still the God in the valleys as well as in the mountains. And I know that there's some here today who are in the valley and there's some who are on the mountain.
Jonathan Bullard said yesterday. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever.
He is a God who's the same, who never changes and desires to bless.
In Ephesians chapter one, our second Corinthians, I'm sorry, there we read the verse how he's referred to as the God of all comfort.
There are some of us here who have known what it is to be comforted by God.
And that other verse I read in that chapter says that we when we experience that comfort, we ought to comfort others as well.
There's a sister in this room who comforted my wife and she did nothing other than to just hold her hand.
If you've known what it is to be comforted by God.
Then learn to comfort.
Others. Because there's others in this room, quite frankly, today who need it. It could be the person sitting in front of you, or behind you, or beside you.
But the Christian pathway is difficult.
And we make mistakes along the way.
We were studying the life of Jacob, or I was thinking about it recently and I was struck at the end of Jacob's life and he said to Pharaoh, the years of my life have been few and evil.
I think Jacob finally, at the end of his life, realized the man that he really was.
The many mistakes he had made along the way.
I know our time is gone.
But I just want to impress upon you again the fact that God does desire to bless.
And to comfort you.
That one verse in that hymn says that in a moment he can take away the guilt of 10,000 sins.
There's some in this room who have.
Perhaps feel that?
Now.
Roman says very clearly to the one who would give their heart to Jesus Christ that there is no condemnation.
But if we make mistakes.
After we make a decision to follow Christ, we need to acknowledge it and perhaps come to the place where Joseph's brethren did, where they did nothing except fall down on their faces prostate before Joseph and said simply, we are your servants.
But know that God wants to take that.
Perhaps things that you've done wrong and turn it into something good.
Young person.
Near today, God desires to bless you.
We serve a faithful God, the one who desires to comfort us.
And his message to you, I think is just doesn't. Joseph's message was to his brethren.
To save much people alive. And we in this company here today are part of that company who's been saved alive in a sense because of that one man.
Who gave everything?
So that we might live and have that abundant life.
And our hearts should be, ought to be full of thankfulness and gratitude for what he has done.
Same 44. Is that 44?
Hebrews 13:13-25
Reading
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Shall we sing #6?
How much sun is?
It.
In November.
3000.
Umm.
We pray Lord Jesus we thank thee so much what I love love is so great proved at such a cost and Lord Jesus as we think of it, how can we help it love thee we love thee because out its first love us and Lord Jesus this afternoon.
As we are here together, we just pray that that would help us in the meeting before us. We pray that that would show us more of thyself.
I love and if I waste and help us to continue in that love.
We pray that Thy Spirit would be free in this meeting before us too, to bring whatsoever He will before each one of our hearts. We commit this time to Thee. In Thy name we pray. Amen.
Hebrews, chapter 13, verse 13.
During the third meeting and verse 13.
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Let us go therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach, for here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come by Him. Therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But to do good and to communicate forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls as they that must give account.
That they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you.
Pray for us, for we trust we have a good conscience in all things willing to live honestly, but I beseech you the rather to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner. Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect, and every good work to do His will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Christ, through Jesus Christ.
To whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation.
I've written a letter unto you in few words. Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty With whom, if he comes shortly, I will see you. Salute all them that have the rule over you and all the Saints they have Italy salute you. Grace be with you all. Amen.
Yesterday we mentioned at some length some thoughts concerning the camp and what it is. And it might be good to just reiterate very briefly that the camp for those that he was writing to here was, was Judaism. But it there's an exhortation for us, let us go forth. Well, we don't have to separate from Judaism. I don't, I think probably most, if not all of us born in the in this room were not born Jews. We were born gentiles.
And so there's an exhortation for us, and we might well ask ourselves then, what is the camp in connection with us today? Well, I know we mentioned it, but we'll just repeat it. So we understand clearly the camp is Judaism and anything in Christendom that takes on the characteristics or the trappings of Judaism. It is a system of things that men have set up under the banner of Christianity.
Where they have borrowed those physical things from the Old Testament, those things that were connected with the natural senses, the built in the Old Testament there was a fine building. There was that which appealed to the smell, that the incense, that which appealed to the eye, the music, that which appealed to the ear, and all those things. And I don't think we have to think very far, brethren, to realize that there is a vast system of things.
Called Christendom and Christian fellowships that would represent or bring before us that which we are to separate.
And would in application for us today, be the camp Be careful when you read a writer, especially a writer.
Who is connected with us with some of those fellowships? I'll just give you one example. Harry Ironside in his book on Hebrews, which was one of his later commentaries, he says on his comment on this very verse, he says it is presumptuous to consider that the camp is anything beyond Judaism. Why did he say that? Because by the time he wrote the book of the commentary on the book of Hebrews, he was the pastor.
Of the Moody Bible Church and he had to say it to justify.
His position but as I say, I and and I think it's important to understand there's an application for us. It can't be Judaism for us. That's not what we are exhorted to separated. That's not the need, but we are to separate from that which has taken on the characteristic of Judaism in Christendom and notice what it says in this verse. Let us go forth therefore unto him. Separation in Scripture is always to a person.
Or to something that God has set up and established and ordained, and it says, let us go forth unto him. It's not just to separate from that which is not according to the word of God, but it's to the person of Christ. And brethren has gathered to the Lord's name. If we lose sight of this, we're not going to be preserved at the Lord's table because it's a person to whom we are gathered when it says where two or three are gathered together in my name or under my name.
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It's the person. You can't divorce the name from the person. If I say the name of Queen Elizabeth or Donald Trump or Justin Trudeau or any other famous dignitary today, you immediately have come to mind everything you know and have seen of that person. The name is the person. And so it's a person to whom we are gathered. You know, I'm going to speak very frankly for a moment.
I have seen individuals come and be exercised to be gathered under the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of God, and they have seen by faith the Lord in the midst and they said we want to be where the Lord is. But sad to say, sometimes time has gone on, things have come in and I have never yet when someone leaves the Lord's table, heard them say I'm leaving the Lord.
Never.
They'll say I'm leaving the meeting, or I'm leaving that group of Christians, or I'm leaving those people that meet up at such and such an address, but they never say I'm leaving the Lord. Why? Because what's happened is they have lost sight of the one who is in the midst. And brethren, if we lose sight of Him, we're not going to be preserved because problems are going to come in, difficulties are going to come in. We're going to start looking at dear brethren and thank God they are dear brethren and we're thankful for them.
But if we're just looking at dear brethren, we're going to get discouraged. We're going to see an end of all perfection. As we mentioned yesterday, things are going to come up, personality conflicts are going to come in and and so on. And so it's let us go forth, but not just go forth, not just to separate, but unto him. That's why when we noticed in Exodus 33 yesterday, this the incident of the camp, it says everyone that.
Thought the Lord went out from the camp. It wasn't everyone that sought Moses, everyone, anyone that sought Joshua. It wasn't anyone that sought to be with their family or other brethren that they they loved and were close to. That's not what it says. What caused people to separate from the camp and what had taken place in the camp. It was everyone that sought the Lord and so it's him.
Brethren, we need to have Him before our souls. Maybe you'll bear with me. I'll give you one more little example that really touched my heart.
In a country far from here, there was a sister, and I knew this sister very well.
And she was discouraged. She got her eyes on brethren and circumstances. And she told another, an older brother who related the story to me. Later she told an older brother, I am never coming back to meeting. And this older brother quoted her one verse, said, sister, remember he hath done nothing amiss.
The older brother told me Lord's Day morning came and 5:00 to 11:00 came and it was just about time for the breaking of bread. And he thought she's not going to come a minute to 11, she's not going to come 11:00 And the door opened, not sister walked in and took her seat where she'd always sat. And that sister was there till the day the Lord took her. And I had the privilege of going down and taking her funeral, but what was it that drew her back and preserved her there till the Lord took her home?
Not brother, not, not anything else but him, he hath done nothing amiss.
And brethren, he hath done nothing amiss. Maybe you say I'm discouraged because somebody said this, or somebody did that, or they don't do this, or they do that. In the little meeting where I come from. Look to the Lord Jesus and remember we are gathered by the Spirit of God unto Him.
Might be good to look in the Old Testament just to get a little sense of this little word that you've used in the midst.
Exodus chapter 25 that someone said to me years ago, they said you use this term in the midst and you use it so frequently and it's only used in one passage of Scripture. And you, you use this as your mantra. And I thought to myself, well, I wonder where it's used in the Old Testament and it's used many times. Here's one time in Exodus chapter 25 and verse eight. And the Lord desired to dwell in the midst of his people. He says, let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell.
00:15:18
Among them, in the French translation, the word is translated that I may dwell in the midst of them.
Oh, it's precious. You know the Lord desired to be in the midst of his people, and we find it in the New Testament too, as soon as resurrection.
Took place and the Lord was there in the upper room. Let's read it in John's Gospel chapter 20, he says in verse 19, the same day at evening being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews came Jesus and stood in the midst and said to them, peace be unto you. While many other times we could read it, but I just wanted to say as a word of encouragement, you know the Lord desires to be in the midst of his people.
Collectively, and He's the one that gathers us by His Spirit to where He is in the midst. He desires to bring us there. And so He says, here, let us go forth therefore unto Him. Where is He in the camp? No, He's actually in a place that is a clean place. It's a fellowship that He has raised up, and it's a privilege in the day that we live in to be called out to follow Him, not only to be saved.
By His grace but to be gathered to his precious name. And so it says unto him. Now when it says, let us go forth therefore unto him, it really is a call to spiritual energy, to rise up in spiritual energy into gold in faith. And so I tell you this afternoon that I'm saved by the grace of God as a young boy, 7 years old, maybe 7 1/2 years old.
I took Christ as my Savior one day, but I say by faith that I'm gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus. Now, I didn't gather myself. Let's never say this. You know, I say this, I don't want to say it critically, but in many circles Christians say we gather to the name of the Lord. It's not true. We're not smart enough to gather ourselves. We're not smart enough to save ourselves. And so here the language of Scriptures says.
Let us go forth therefore unto him, without the camp, bearing his reproach. And so it's wonderful to take the name of Christ, to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus, by the power of the Spirit of God, to find ourselves there, not only saved in the Saints of God, but by grace gathered unto him. So here in Hebrews we have the exhortation for, for spiritual energy and exercise. That's our responsibility.
But in Matthew 18 and other scriptures, we learn that if by the grace of God we find ourselves at the Lord's table where the Lord is in the midst and brethren, it's only by the grace of God. But if we find ourselves there, we find that in the end it was nothing of ourselves. Because the Scripture teaches us in Christianity that the onus in the end is never on me. The Old Testament, the responsibility and onus was placed on the people of God and they utterly failed. It showed that man couldn't without a work of God.
And so where two or three are gathered, and I've sometimes used this simple illustration, birds gather together. And those of us who live in the north, we find that as they get ready to migrate in the fall, they gather together. But eggs are gathered. If you see a dozen eggs in a basket, you know those eggs had no energy to gather themselves. Someone had to go. There was an energy, a person outside themselves.
That had to go and gather those eggs together in the basket. And so we have the exhortation here. Yes, there needs to be prayerful exercise and energy of faith, as Robert has said. But in the final analysis, when it's all said and done, if I find myself at the Lord's table and if I am preserved there, when I get to heaven and I look into the face of the Lord Jesus, I'm going to realize that it was all his grace.
So that brought me there and all His grace that preserved me there as well.
It's like that a little something to that gym. I've heard the the illustration with the eggs being gathered and appreciated it. I have had some conversations with some who have felt that that.
00:20:10
That construction put on the word gathered is not warranted, ever.
I'd like to turn to a verse in Second Thessalonians in chapter 2.
2nd Thessalonians 2 and verse one.
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto Him, are you going to go up in your own power? You're not. It's His power that's going to gather you to Christ in that day. It is a legitimate construction on that word gathered to see it as a power outside of ourselves. I reject that argument that says it cannot be.
So just just so that I can understand, are we are, are, are we saying that we are predestined to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus or is this a separate thing?
Let me put it this way, it is normal Christianity for a believer to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus.
At the Lord's table and in the early days of the church, you didn't go to Corinth or Troas or any other city where there were believers and say, where are those gathered to the Lord's name, or where such and such a Christian or where does such and such a Christians meet because they were all together? If I went to Troas in the days when Paul visited there, I would simply say, where do the believers meet to remember the Lord Jesus on Lord's Day night?
And they would tell me.
Today the enemy has done a masterful job of fragmenting the people of God outwardly doesn't change the fact there's one body. But today you find Christians in various pockets and fellowships of Christendom. And if you were to come to Smith Falls where I live, you'd see one of those famous church signs that say the churches of Smith Falls welcome you. When, when did that start? Well, it started long ago, way back in the days of the of the Corinthian brethren.
But originally they were all together, they had all things common. They were gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus where the wherever there were whatever community there were believers in. And so it's normal Christianity for a believer to be at the Lord's table. And yet we are down at the end. Now we're sad to say how many are really there. And so it's a work of the Spirit of God. And if a believer is willing to bow to the word of God.
And to follow the word of God in the power of the Spirit of God. God wants them to be there. You know, sometimes I hear people say, I hope I'm where the Lord wants me to be. That is not a good statement. It's better to say I want to be where the Lord is. Because as soon as I say where the Lord is, I recognize that there is a place on earth already established.
Where the Lord Jesus is in the midst of His own and my saying where the Lord is gives recognition. And as soon as I say that if I have vowed to the Word of God and allow the Spirit of God to direct me, then He's going to bring me to the place that we're just where He wants me to be. He does want me to be there, but He is going to bring me to the plate already established where the Lord is. Isn't the desire the same as we have in Luke?
Where wilt thou?
Yeah, that we should prepare the Passover. And I just wanted to say too, that this is always God's plan, even in the Old Testament. I believe, Jim, this is what he had, that they should have that desire as to where he would gather them together. And I just want to give one verse for that First Chronicles, chapter 16.
And this is David Tom here.
And speaking to the people First Chronicles 16 verse 35, he says, and say, ye save us, O God of our salvation. That was his work, not theirs. And they were to pray that and gather us together.
And deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise.
In fact, always the position of the believer in any age isn't it to think that God would do his work, whether it's originally in the salvation, that's what they were to acknowledge there, or that He would gather them together with a different thing, no doubt. But it was still His work in Israel and it's His work today. And it's our place to have that desire to know where He would have us to to be.
00:25:28
And to seek that guidance from himself is to that place.
You were mentioning that, Ironside said. It was presumptuous.
That.
We're preferred to only Judaism. I was talking to one brother who has been a fellowship with us for quite a long time and held on view, and I found that rather trouble.
Yeah. Now if we're going to go outside the camp, be associated with the person of Christ where he is in the midst collectively, it's never going to be a popular truth. Don't ever think that being gathered to the Lord's name is popular. Don't ever think that separating from other believers because of an ecclesiastical connection is going to be popular. Again, I know we mentioned this briefly, but yesterday, but.
It's not that we might have reproach, but it is bearing his reproach.
I enjoyed the way an old sister, she's along with the Lord in my hometown of Smith Falls. Years ago, she met a Christian on the street, another who was in another fellowship. And this Christian said, you know, you go up to that little hall on George St. every every week. And they said, you know, you don't even take a name up there. Oh, she said, we do take a name. And she said, what better name can we have than to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Well, it brought reproach. This person was not satisfied with that. Yes, but I go to a place where we have, we take such and such a name. And to really take any other name is to deny the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Philadelphian brethren. And I trust there's no thought even in corners of our heart to being Philadelphia, but we do see it. Philadelphia what met with the Lord's approval. And isn't that what we really want, brethren, the Lord's approval?
And what met with the Lord's approval was that they kept His word and not denied His name.
And I say to take any other names on the name to be gathered under the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Is to deny that name. And do we want to deny that blessed name, that name that was our salvation, none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. That name that was placed upon us in baptism, that name that is going to be displayed to this world when he comes back as King of kings and Lord of Lords and Word of God and so on. Do we, do we want to deny that name now?
Brethren, do we want to take any other name? Now? It is a privilege, an unspeakable privilege by the grace of God, to be gathered to the that name alone and take no other name. But brethren, if you go home to your little assembly where you came from, and you expect to be popular in your town or city or neighborhood because you tell people you're gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, then you have missed the whole point.
The Lord Jesus was not popular here, He said. The servant is not greater than his Lord.
If they hated me, they will hate you also. And brethren, it is normal Christianity not only for a Christian to be at the Lord's table gathered under his name, but to bear his reproach as well.
Let's remember that reproach, a definition of reproach, it's a word that we don't use very often, is shame. Does everyone understand what shame is? Shame is a very clear definition in our minds. And so the name of the Lord Jesus was shamed by this world. That name, that blessed name is used in a shameful way even today. And for you and I to take no other name and to acknowledge.
The goodness of God, our responsibility to be gathered to the Lord's name, to be where he is in the midst, but in the sovereignty of God to recognize that He has done all the work.
And we can be thankful and by faith give him the glory and be in a place where we can offer the Thanksgiving and praise and worship of our lips as we come a little bit further on into this chapter. But we ought to remember that this world preached that name with shame. I want to give you a little illustration. You may not think that people of the world are watching you. You may not think that they're watching you as you leave the home in the morning.
00:30:21
With your Bible and you get into your car and so on. But I had this experience personally. You will forgive me for giving this personal story, but we had a neighbor across the road in Massillon. OH, and we lived in Massillon and he invited me over to his home. The family was up in Hammer Major in the summer and I was working there. He invited me over to this home, served me a nice meal, knew I liked fish, so we had a nice slab of salmon.
And we spent time in the Word and he said, listen, the reason I invited you over for a meal tonight is we're looking for a church. And so we went over some scriptural principles and we said, you know, there's one thing in the passages, there's more than one thing, but there's one thing in the word of God that we never have liberty to do. And that is to choose a place for ourselves that says, take heed unto thyself, that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou see us, but in the place which Lord thy God shall choose.
Deuteronomy chapter 12. Well, he says, well, where do you go? And I said, well, there's no name on the building where Christians gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, well, where is it? I said, well, it's in Cago Falls. He said, where In Cuyahoga Falls. I said, he said, how do you get there? I said, well, I'll go up Route 8 and then I get off at port. He said Portage Trail. I said, yeah. And then I go up and I turn at the fire station. Oh yeah. And then you jog over and you go to Bailey Rd. I said, yeah, I go to Bailey Rd. And then I, I go across to Myrtle.
And I said, he said, oh, he says, and justice before you turn at the bottom of the street and, and there's a park there. There's a brown building.
Brown brick building, he says, and it doesn't have a name on it.
Said you're right, it doesn't have a name on it.
I said, yes, we're Christians gathered only to the name of the Lord Jesus. There's no invitation to the breaking of bread, the remembrance of the Lord. There's a gospel meeting that we have an open invitation to, and all those sorts of things. So I just say, dear brethren, to be faithful to the Lord and to be thankful to the Lord that we're gathered to the Lord's name and to leave our homes and to go in our little way of testimony to the assembly meetings. The world is watching. And this man lived 28.2 miles away from that meeting room and he knew.
Where that building was.
So you're being watched, and the world watches to see whether you're thankful to be bearing that reproach.
That really helped me going back to another question which I asked someone, an older brother, one-on-one, almost word for word that same question, I said.
Are are we going to claim that?
We were pretty devastated together to make a board in the same way that we are predestinated for salvation and and he summed it up very nicely. He told me in scripture there is no difference between.
Salvation is being gathered.
Well, here he goes on in verse 14 and he says we have no continuing city, but we have one, we seek one to come. So he was referring to Jerusalem. The Jews had a city and it was a physical city. They could go to that city and that had been, it had the divine center during those times of the when the temple was there. But you know, that place was going to be destroyed and God was going to deal with Judaism and he was going to judge it.
And it was going to be destroyed. And so now we seek one to come. Our place is heavenly. We have an heavenly Jerusalem. We have a heavenly city. And a city is a place where there is a community of those that are joined together for a common bond of fellowship and to enjoy one another's company. And in an earthly city is for protection and those sorts of things as well, commerce and so on.
But that city is a city that Abraham was waiting for. He longed for that city whose maker and builder is gone.
A heavenly city not characterized by sin and not founded on the principles of the cities of this world. He was looking for that city, that residents, that was eternal. And so we have that one that we seek to come. It's not an earthly thing.
00:35:13
Patient for us then, that we as we seek to be where the Lord Jesus is in the midst to be gathered to the Lord's name. We are to have the character of strangers and pilgrims. We're not to settle down here. When we remembered the Lord Jesus in the breaking of bread this morning at his table. It was with the realization that that made this may have been the last Lord's Day that we would have this privilege because we need to realize that perhaps before another Lord's Day.
We'll be home in the Father's house where we won't need a loaf and a cup on the table as a reminder, a remembrance of what the Lord Jesus suffered for us. And it's very significant that when the Lord Jesus sent the disciples to prepare the Passover, and I knew, I know it's the Passover, that was in view, but the Lord knew that was the very spot where he was going to set aside the Passover supper and institute the new order of things, the Feast of Remembrance with the loaf in the cup.
And it's interesting when you go to John's ministry, the Upper Room ministry, that which was given in the Upper Room, it was in view of, first of all, the fact that he was going to depart out of the world under the Father, and then that he was going to come again and receive his disciples. So you have in the 13th chapter, he was going to depart out of the world under the Father. In the 14th chapter he's going to come again and receive them unto himself. What is it really saying?
This is a temporary thing. This is just for now. This is not the end of the story. This is not home. I'm going to give you this ministry. I'm going to institute the Feast of Remembrance. I realize we don't have its institution as such in John, but we know it was on that occasion. And it was all in view of the fact that they were going to be left in this world, but only temporarily. And if I can just say a little word about the expression, strangers and pilgrims, it appears twice in Scripture.
One in Peter's ministry, and if we were to back up in Hebrews, we would find that there were those who didn't receive the promises, but they saw them afar off and noticed this. They confessed that they were not pilgrims and strangers, strangers and pilgrims. And that's the way Peter puts it to when he says abstain from fleshly lusts, because we're as strangers and pilgrims. Sometimes we quote that as pilgrims and strangers.
But as we have already said in these meetings, the order of something is very important in Scripture. Why is it strangers first? Because, brethren, we need to realize that we do not belong to this world. We are strangers here. The Lord Jesus was a stranger here, and a stranger is one who recognizes they don't belong. And a Pilgrim is one who's just passing through. But as soon as we lose sight of the fact that we're strangers, we're no longer going to be pilgrims.
And we're going to settle down and look for a city in this world. We're going to look for something more permanent in this world. Poor lot, he lost that character and he.
Eventually lived and saw them, had a house, but he saw it all burned up. Well, it's a little bit of side, but again, as gathered to the Lord's name as we enjoy the privileges we do from week to week, let's remember brethren, we have no continuing city here.
This is not the end of the story. We're going on to something permanent, yes, but it's not physical and it's not here in this world.
One mediator says between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. So it says by him, by him. Let us therefore offer the sacrifice of praise that God continually, that is the fruit of her lips, giving thanks to his name.
It it takes us back really to verse 10. We have an altar.
Whereby they have no right to eat which serve the Tabernacle.
And altar, you know, in the Old Testament is something that the sacrifice was placed upon and it went up to God as an offering, either a sweet savour offering or a sin offering, whatever the occasion might be. The priest that offered it up had a part in that offering them enough, and they're part of it. But it frees out the thought here, I believe that the altar that we have now is Price himself.
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Uh, our praises of Thanksgiving ascend up to God in Christ.
What the God in Christ, so he is our altar of sometimes you go to.
View inside of the one of the systems and there's up front of the worship, there's an altar place there, physical altar where people are encouraged to go out and confess their sins and so on. It's a dishonor to God to have that thing there.
It's a physical thing that was done away with by Christ and the cross. We haven't altered. It's a person. He lives in the glory. He has come down here, He has died, He has gone back to glory and now we're to offer praise and the Thanksgiving continually with their lips upon that Albert, which is Christ. I might point out that in the Old Testament when a priest was partaker of of what was sacrificed to God on the altar.
That's been carried over into criticism. Where?
Those things that take place in the system.
The person that perhaps is, whatever he may be partaking of there, it's whatever is offered or sacrificed up, he's a partaker of it. So it puts him into a, an ecclesiastical situation perhaps if he's partaker of those things.
He's a partaker of everything that goes on in that system. If he's breaking bread there, he's a, he's a partaker of what goes up upon that altar. And so we're to be separate from all of that. A whole system of things that have been has been carried over from Judaism into Christianity. Very simple here, isn't it? We have an altar, which is Christ. Our sacrifices ascend up to God.
On him and him and all the things that involved with Christianity.
All have been done away, and so we're to separate from it all. We have Christ, we promise to be in our midst, wherever two or three together, together under my name, not to a building or to a place, but to a person. He promises to be there in our midst, and He God has given to us.
Christ to carry our sacrifices of a sweet, lovely Savior up to Him.
It's interesting to notice here that the Spirit of God uses this little term. Let us.
In verse 13 let us go forth therefore, and then in connection with worship in verse 15 by Him therefore, let us offer sacrifice and praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. Then it speaks of another offering. But to do good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices God as well, please. So there are two offerings 2.
Sacrifices, you might say.
One is our holy priesthood, our ability to give thanks and to offer the sacrifice of praise to his name. And so we have the liberty and the presence of the Lord, Those that are brothers audibly to give thanks and praise and worship to the Lord. It's our holy priesthood. We have the ability to exercise that holy priesthood. God always gets his part first. So isn't it wonderful to have the privilege of giving the Lord?
The first place and on the Lord's Day, oftentimes we don't come to the breaking of bread. We don't call it a worship meeting. But there is worship that does flow forth from our hearts. If we're in communion with the Lord and those passages of Scripture that are brought before us that present Christ and the loveliness of Christ and the perfection of his work and the completeness of that work, our hearts rise up and our lips pour forth that worship them praise and Thanksgiving to our God. But then there is the royal priesthood in our ability of those that are kings and priests.
To give of our personal riches, as it were, to give a physical offering, communicate, forget not, which is with such sacrifices. God as well, please. And so there are those things that we have a collection basket on the table. And without getting into debate as to whether it should be under the table or on top of the table, I heard once the brother, Clarence Lundeen just suggest that it's nice to have it on the top of the table because it is an offering.
It's an offering for God. It's a sacrifice. And so the Saints have brought and have given a sacrifice and it's there on the table. But we have those two sacrifices. God gets his part first, and then man gets his part second. You might say the physical offering of funds. And so both are necessary, and it's a part of Christianity. God's not going to force us. He says let us.
00:45:29
And if you would pardon another little comment, when he's desiring the sacrifice of our lips and our hearts worship, it's something that is going to be spontaneous on a Lord's Day morning or perhaps another time. It says continually so it's not only the breaking of bread.
But it says let us, and it's going to be something that is a part of our lives. We are reading the scriptures during the day, during our weekday, and we're praying privately. We are in the presence of the Lord and then praise bursts out in our hearts and even in the home. But I suggest that this is really referring to collectively here. But we should be always in that prayerful state.
State.
And available as it were to be found as worshippers might be helpful just to make a little differentiation between 3 notes that we give the Lord Jesus. We worship the Lord Jesus, we worship deity for who they are. We praise for what the Lord for what he has done.
Particularly to the glory of God, and we thank Him for the blessings that we have as a result. So worship is the highest note we can give praise.
And then Thanksgiving, and it's all part of it. But I just want to say this about praise. Praise in Scripture is always audible. Always not. Worship isn't always audible. It's sometimes. But marry and worship poured out her appointment at the feet of the Lord, and she never said a word.
You'll never read in John 12 of Mary saying one word, but the whole house was filled with the odor of the ointment and that's an encouragement for the sisters. The sisters don't take the same part on Lord's Day morning, but a sister who comes with a heart full of worship, an appreciation of the person of Christ. Why she fills the whole house with the odor of the ointment like Mary again, you not only need your presence is not only vital at the prayer meeting, but at the worship, at the at the remembrance.
Because there's worship at the remembrance, and a sister who comes with a heart full of worship.
Has a tremendous effect on all those that are there. But just to get back to praise for a moment, let me give you a couple of examples.
He says I create the fruit of the lips. He has put a new song in my mouth. He that offers praise, not silence, but he that offers praise glorifieth me. Now praise should come from our hearts, because this generation draws nigh unto me with their mouth and praises me with their lips, and their heart is far from me. He doesn't just want lit service, but He does want us to open our mouth in praise.
And Braden, sometimes on Lord's Day morning, when I have sat for 10 or 15 minutes in the breaking of bread with complete silence, sometimes I think the chairs are going to cry out. Brethren, we don't come on Lord's Day morning to get. We come to give. We come to give the sacrifice of praise. I know we don't. The other extreme is what you had in Corinth. Everyone had a Psalm, everyone had a doctrine, and they were tripping over one another.
That is not what I'm talking about. And there needs to be a few moments of meditation after we sung hymn, perhaps to read a scripture or a brother has offered a little word of worship and praise and Thanksgiving. But brethren, long silences on Lords Day morning, don't we have to confess, are usually the result of weakness, not piety. And why? Because we haven't come with hearts full of Christ.
I'm going to give you a little illustration from Scripture, and I know it's only an application. I want to stress that what I'm going to say is just an application, but I think it's very suitable. At the marriage of Canaan of Galilee, there were six water pots. Now I know there's a prophetic character to what we have there in the millennial joy for Israel in the coming day and so on, but there were six water pots, and vessels in Scripture often speak of the human form.
00:50:00
Which treasure we have in earthen vessels and so on. And when they wanted wine, which so often speaks of joy and praise and scripture.
What did the Lord tell them to do? He told them to fill the water pots and you know they went beyond his instruction.
He did not tell them to fill them to the brim, but they had the faith to fill the water pots to the brim. And if you fill something to the brim, there's no room for anything else. And filling the water pot to the brim may not. In the in. My application is to fill our lives with Christ 6 days of the week. How do we fill our lives with Christ? It's the word of God. It's the water of the word that we need. And so we fill our lives with the water of the word, which brings before us Christ.
And when they did that, then the Lord had something that He could turn to joy, that which speaks of joy and praise, so that they could come and pour out to the governor of the feast. And brethren, if we don't fill our water pots with Christ 6 days of the week, we're not going to have something for the true governor of the feast to be able to turn to praise and joy on Lord Steve morning. And it is too late, as Robert said, to sit down at 10:50 and expect to generate.
Our response of praise in our hearts if we haven't been occupied with the person and work of Christ during the week.
And so these things are very practical. But then notice it is continually. He doesn't want our praise just for one hour on Lord's Day. He wants us to cultivate the habit of praise and Thanksgiving in our life. And it's fruit. You want to bear fruit for God's glory. You know, when I'm in a home and I hear the sister out in the kitchen or working around the house, and I hear a little note of praise on her lips, that's true for the Lord's glory.
Are brothers working around the yard or his shop? And there's a little note of praise on his lips that's being recorded in God's book of remembrance as fruit for the Lord's glory. So much does he value every note of audible praise from your heart and mind on our lips that he says it's a sacrifice, not tremendous. He implants it there and then he says it's a sacrifice. And he says it's fruit for my glory and I'm not going to forget it in the future.
I'd like to just pick up for a minute here. I'm still a little burdened about the subject of pre estimation that came up.
As to break your breath.
I find it a bit awkward, but I think it should be addressed.
Maybe some have wiser words, and I might, but I would say this. That just takes the word predestination. It has to go through destiny.
And where you go on horses. Good morning to talk to her yesterday.
Glory in Christ, and glory is a heaven at sheer destiny.
And.
I think that we need to take a little bit of care.
In in some of these spots.
Because there is such thing as hatred.
There is such a thing as.
Way on the other part for the scale which development and there's a lot of things in sleep.
And so it's hard to give a catch all but.
These were written to Hebrew believers and so when you do have verse 13.
Let us.
So more unto him.
Without the camp, it's very specifically addressed to the Jewish system.
I do realize, I do know, and I feel very keenly that Christianity has taken on Judaism.
Don't get me wrong.
But if there was this very specific instruction.
To these people in the book of Hebrews, it's called Hebrews because they're Jewish. And that the Tabernacle or even the synagogue in the various cities throughout the world with that high point still are, and that was not an appropriate place.
To manifest our attraction to Christ.
It was a religious.
Capsule and he would go there to maintain traditions.
00:55:05
And that is not what the Lord wants it for those who were Hebrews. And he doesn't want to throw up Hebrews.
But.
None of I said very clearly, none of them thankful.
Has anything to do with our destiny.
It does not have anything to do with our eternal.
Joy, physicians, and respect from God.
In the time to come, I'll tell you why.
Because we are seeing in Christ.
And his sacrifice, that is what gives us our weight and position. And to add something that unfortunately slips into the subject, and that is, are there going to different levels of Christians in eternity, some bearing this level, with that level and that level, Believe me, that's a judicial clock.
We are going to be eternally blessed.
Because of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ and that only.
In God's eternal glory, and even people that had schools, they went to synagogue and maybe did a lot of mistaken things, but in God's eternal glory there will be no radiation of believers because there's no radiation in the work of Jesus Christ.
He was once for all, perfect and eternal, and accepted in the presence of God.
I think if we get those kinds of concepts very clearly in our minds, it will.
Really goes back to what subject.
He gathered the Lord, saying We'll be so impressed.
So impressed by the work of fighting that even if we still end up going to a church, at least in our souls our thoughts will be raised the level that Christ is like a body raised, and that is to Him and Him only.
Go back to what we said earlier. I know Bruce will agree with me that it is simply the fact that it is normal Christianity for a believer to be at the Lord's table.
And it is the desire of the Lord to have every believer gathered together in practical unity. It's not reality, I realize, but it is the desire of the Lord to have every believer gathered together in practical unity at His table. That's not what we see, sad to say today, but that is normal Christianity and what He desires. And if there is a desire on our part, then He is willing and able to lead us in the power of the Spirit directed by the Word of God to the place where He is.
Is that right, Bruce?
Yeah.
I guess I feel it was answered.
Then somebody else said something. I wasn't sure whether it was answered, but there's a verse in Philippians 24213. I think it's helpful. It's helpful to me.
Uh, it is gone. Which worketh in you both the will and to do.
So we're not chosen in Christ to practice some aspect of normal Christianity, but He's given us the power to do it, and it is His power. So I think that if I'm understanding it right, and I'm a young brother, but the way I understand it is that we are given the power to do this, and it is God that does it in gathering us.
But it so it is a wrong thought for us to think. I gathered myself as was said. However, to go to the other extreme, to say I was predestined to be gathered and you weren't, that also would be an extreme fallacy. So if someone was to say that they would be wrong, I would suggest, and there are teachers here who know far more than I. Please correct me if I am wrong.
It's a dip.
Chapter 4, verse 10, it says the four and 20 elders fall down before him that sat on the throne and worshipped him, that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. And so we'll recognize in that day that all that took place.
01:00:19
In our lives, as was, obedience to the Word of God was.
That he could reward it was in his sovereignty and His goodness.
I believe too, just looking at Romans 8 for a moment.
Verse 30.
Predestination, as far as I understand it, doesn't. It doesn't apply at all to our salvation.
It's what comes afterwards. Predestination has more to do with our privilege in place as believers. It says there in Romans 8 chapter 30 or verse 30. Moreover, whom he did predestinate.
29 I think is better for whom he did foreknow. He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of the sun. He might be the first born among many brethren. All believers are come under this. We're all predestinated to be conformed to the image of the sun. There's no exceptions there. Every believer is meant to.
Have this privilege.
In Ephesians, it's more to do with our place.
Ephesians chapter one and verse 5 predestinate us onto the adoption of children.
By Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. Every believer is a child in Christ Jesus. We all have been brought into that same privilege. And so to be at the Lord's table is a privilege that's available for all believers, with no exception there.
To say that I've predestinated to be at the Lord's table, I think would be exaggerating scripture. I I don't believe that's true.
I believe that the Lord has placed me where I am.
Which is a privilege he's given me to see the truth that is. That's true also. But every believer has that opportunity to search out Scripture and to find out where the Lord would have him to be. It's the responsibility, I believe.
Not a predestination.
See if you had a comment.
Come, just let me know. We tend to use the word predestination to cover every aspect of the sovereignty of God and the life and it's a misuse of the word predestination is to a relationship election is God's sovereign choice. Very distinct terms. We are going to see many things in our life, as Brother Rob was saying that were the sovereignty of God, The sovereignty of God extends to many aspects of our life.
Beyond election.
And we're going to look back and see that it was his sovereign grace.
That gathered us to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as much as it was that saved our souls.
We'll look back and see it was his sovereign grace.
Good evening. I know I've mentioned this on other conferences before, but by the grace of God.
I was drawn to the place where he, Lord Jesus, his place is saying six weeks after I was there, six weeks and I didn't know much of it. When I sat back and watched the ambulance being passed around and the breaking of bread, I knew I was in the right place. Praise God.
245.
145.
So maybe you can see.
All right.
Can be community, the way I get the rest of the breaking all the time and what I'm going to do.
We need to see you tomorrow.
When you come on your heart and the Lord of our history, you're in the heart and the Lord, and the Lord can hear me through the world of being in fear of the nation.
01:10:17
Close. God and our Father, thank you for the proportion that we've had for our souls.
And the enjoyment that we can have, and things of Christ he our altar.
By Him we can offer worship and sacrifice and praise.
And we do give thee thanks for the blessed truth of.
Being gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus our Savior, and yet we know that when we are finally with Him.
We will give thanks and say with Jacob, the God that shepherded me all my life long till this day, but we give these thanks for the time that we've had together during these these meetings.
Thanks in the name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Luke 22 & 24
Address—Robert Boulard
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You know, whatever, that's what I need to speak to our souls.
Blood of the Lord.
So he does, grateful Lord, and he fell asleep in his prayer.
Hey, congratulations.
Of the Lord and all the water from the day.
There's no.
Amazing. Uh-huh.
Let's go to sleep and then I'll come through.
I don't know. I don't know how to do anything through.
And.
I think they make this place and then play uh.
And.
Now we rest. Now I have one of their dreams and they're in the president's eyes. And my balls we shall be in.
And.
I'd like to read one verse of scripture, don't need to turn to it, but just before we pray in Joshua 23 and verse 14.
It says they're part way through the verse. Not one thing.
Have failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you, all are come to pass unto you.
And not one thing hath sailed thereof. Let's.
Ask the Lord's blessing. Our loving God and our Father, we thank Thee for the truth of this little hymn.
That our Shepherd is the Lord, and we thank thee that thou hast being faithful even unto death, Blessed Savior.
And now it has dealt with our sins according to the righteous demands of the law. And we know that those of us that are here and that we're Gentiles at one time, now are made members of the body of Christ, those that are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. We thank the Lord Jesus for thy love, even unto death. And now we thank Thee for thy love to provide for us all the way home until we see.
To face in all of my glory, we thank Thee that when we see the blessed Savior.
We'll acknowledge that not one thing hath failed of all those things that thou hast told us of in thy word.
And how those delighted to bless us. So we ask Thee for thankful hearts to thank Thee, and to bless Thee, to praise Thee for all that Thou hast done. And so we ask Thee to bless Thy word as we open it up. Bless our brethren, our beloved brethren, as they travel homeward, some of them, and so give them a happy time as they travel safety. And that there would be fruit for Thee as a result of our having been together here this weekend. So we ask Thee for this. We.
00:05:03
Amend ourselves to the and the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
I'd like to read a passage of scripture, a couple of passages of scripture.
In the New Testament.
Primarily in Luke's Gospel. I'd like to read a little passage in Luke's Gospel in chapter 22 That is well known.
And Justice make some very brief comments as we know the.
Luke is really written and has a moral order of things that is not seen in some of the other gospels.
And the Lord Jesus here.
Is presented perhaps as a shepherd. I'd like to just.
Think of how the Lord introduced his disciples to the large upper room.
You know, they were going to be as we had in the book of the Hebrews, they were going to be removed.
From Jerusalem, eventually they were going, Judaism was going to be judged, but God always provides something better. And it was the Lord Jesus himself who loved his disciples that entered that introduced them to that large upper room. And so by the Spirit he made provision. And so let's just read this and draw some little lessons, some types and pictures, but some lessons.
And perhaps to exercise our consciences. Verse 7. Luke 22. Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the Passover must be killed. And he sent Peter and John saying, Go and prepare us the Passover, that we may eat. And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house, where he entereth in and.
He shall say unto the good men of the House, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the gas chamber?
Where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples, and he shall show you a large upper room furnished.
There make ready. And they went, and found as he had said unto them, And they made ready the Passover. And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the 12 apostles with him. And he said unto them, with desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you, before I suffer before I say unto you, I will not anymore eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves, for I.
I will not eat drink of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and break it, and gave unto them.
Saying this is my body which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Maine.
Likewise also the cup after supper saying this cup is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for you. Well, we'll read a couple of other passages as time permits, but I just wanted to go over this very comforting little passage of Scripture. I find it one of the most encouraging passages of Scripture in the New Testament to read of how the Lord Jesus himself was desiring to bring the.
Disciples into the large upper room and we have a little picture of the Spirit of God.
He's there presented as a man. A man shall meet you in verse 10 bearing a picture of water.
And it's really a picture, that unnamed man, a picture of the Spirit of God working.
And so he was working to provide a place where the Lord could meet with his disciples. And here we have some little expressions used, and I'd like to just go over some of those, perhaps maybe 7 little expressions that we could gain some instruction from.
And should produce a thankful spirit in our hearts. I want to say this.
For myself primarily, we know that we all live in a day and age that is not characterized by thankfulness, but whole. How we should be so thankful to the Lord for His grace in saving us. And we should be very thankful to the Lord for the privilege of being able to remember Him in the circumstances of his death, remember him in his death, in the day that we live in, and we should thank him for that privilege.
I trust that we will not only enjoy the privilege.
Until the Lord comes, I think we have that in the word of God, he says. In Paul's doctrine. It's really a revelation from Paul himself.
He says this due in remembrance of Maine and he says that umm.
I'm not going to quote it right, so I've forgotten that in my mind here, but First Corinthians chapter 21.
00:10:02
Chapter 11 Verse.
26 It says, Ye do show, For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show or announce.
The Lord's death till he comes. So I believe we're going to have this privilege of being able to remember the Lord Jesus and his death until he comes.
Do we thank Him for it? Do we come into His presence and thank Him?
Well, it says here in verse nine, and it says they said unto him, where?
Wilt thou that we prepare? And I think that this is this little expression is helpful because, you know, it says that the Lord has the competency and the authority to choose for us. And there are many things that we could allow Him to choose. We sometimes think that we have the competency to choose. Particularly, I must confess, when I was younger, I thought I was very competent to choose for myself in many different areas of life.
But really, if we really were honest with one another, God has made us dependent creatures.
And our brethren this afternoon brought before us the necessity of prayer and dependence upon God in every facet of life, and never more so than in connection with ecclesiastical things, And are coming into the presence of the Lord. They said, Where wilt thou that we prepare? Now have you ever thought, Why did they ask such a question? Well, in the Old Testament they were told.
Specifically, not to choose a place of worship.
They were told specifically, we're not going to refer to it, we're not going to turn to it, but in Deuteronomy chapter 12, a couple of other passages of Scripture as well.
They were not permitted to choose for themselves. I just asked this question. Maybe someone here that isn't at the Lord's table? Perhaps a young person? Perhaps someone older?
Are you willing to let the Lord choose for you in connection with?
The place where you would He would desire you to remember Him in His death. He'll always lead to where Christ is in the midst. The Spirit of God will always lead that way.
And there has to be the desire to let him have his way and to let him choose.
So he says unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him.
Into the house. Well, Luke's gospel brings the forest responsibility, and here we have responsibility and obedience. You know, there's dependence that's required if we're going to find ourselves at the Lord's table, dependence. But there's also obedience and obedience to the Word of God. And so the Lord gave them a little bit of instruction. He said follow him.
And sometimes we're not willing to follow. Sometimes we just want we have our own.
Preconceived notions about things and we get off into the wrong path.
You know, when we lived in Ohio, we had umm, Janet had a couple of little dogs and we'd rented a little apartment in Cuyahoga Falls on Cooper Street, or, and.
So Jonathan was living there and Annette was living there when they went to university.
And every now and then I went and I dropped by and the two little dogs were living there and I would drop in and immediately they wanted to go for a walk. They insisted they need to go water the grass somewhere. And so I would clip the.
Leashes onto them and open the door and boom, out the door they'd go, two of them on a leash. And they'd run down the driveway as fast as they couldn't. And they turn left. They go down the sidewalk and then they'd come to the first intersection. They'd stand at the intersection. They didn't know which way to go. And they just kind of want to look at one another and look at me and.
You know, I use that as a little bit of illustration. Sometimes we get running off into a direction that we don't ask the Lord, where wilt thou? And we're not following the directions of the word of God, and we just head out in the direction and then we get to an intersection where we don't know exactly where to turn. And so it's necessary for us to do as these disciples did.
It says.
That they went in verse 13. They obeyed. There was obedience.
Follow him.
Now I just use this little expression in verse 11 I'd like to comment on. It says where is the gas chamber?
The only was mentioned, I think perhaps Brother Jim, maybe someone else in connection with the assembly is just a temporary place on this earth. We're not here permanently.
00:15:04
And the apostle Paul was used of God, his work. You remember what he did. What did the apostle Paul do with his hands? Do you remember? He was a tent maker. And it's a little picture of him being used of God to raise up little temporary dwelling places for the people of God to dwell in while they waited for the Lord to come. And so Paul was a tent maker. And the gas chamber here, there's a little book that.
GC Willis has.
Put out years ago, it's called hidden treasures. Some of us have read that little a little book hid treasures. And he makes a comment this guest chamber. It's the same word that is used when it's translated the end. And so the end you only go to the end temporary for a temporary stay. We've only we're being in the in in the Comfort Inn or maybe the quality Inn for a couple of nights and and then we're moving on.
And so this is a little picture of the assembly. We're only here temporarily. The assembly is a heavenly Organism.
The body of Christ is a heavenly organ, a living Organism, and belongs in heaven doesn't belong here.
But the Lord Jesus has made a provision for us to live and dwell in his presence while we're here.
And so this is a gas chamber, I think in the French translation. My recollection is it's his lodging place.
In the and Mr. Darby's translation, his lodging place and you know, there's another little expression that Brother Willis uses and he says.
As he follows the traces the line of truth in connection with this guest chamber in Mark's Gospel chapter 14, he says and it's translated this way in the king in the new translation Mark 14 and verse 14.
And says here, where is my guest chamber?
Now in the King James it says where is the guest chamber?
But you know, it's the only place in the New Testament that the Lord Jesus called a place his own.
Where is my guest chamber? And so we come into the presence of the Lord as His assembly. It's not ours. It's not the assembly of the brethren that own the assembly, so to speak. It's his testimony. And we need to be very careful how we conduct ourselves within that that testimony. Well, he says here that he's going to show us in verse 12. He shall show you a large upper room furnished.
I just want to make this comment.
That the Lord Jesus, by the Spirit and the Word of God the Scriptures, is seeking to show us many things. He delights to show us little hid treasures. He delights to communicate with us. If we'll read the Scriptures with a willing heart and allow Him to lead us by His Spirit, he will show us different things. Why?
Is it for our intelligence? Is it so that we would know? Yes. There's that element of truth.
He wants us to know and to be brought into the knowledge of all those things that are ours.
He's given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. He wants us to know what those things are.
But it's too to enjoy His presence and to enjoy the what He has provided for us. And beloved brethren, you know, we sometimes get thinking of difficulties in the assembly and perhaps difficulties and conflict with one another or whatever it might be. But the fact of the matter is that the Lord has provided the assembly in His grace.
In his kindness, in his love for you and I as the Good Shepherd that lay down his life for his sheep.
He introduced those disciples to that large upper room. He wanted them to be provided for in his absence.
And he's been providing for us in his absence. He's just about to return for us.
But he delights to show us by his Spirit those things that have to do with himself.
Are you willing to be shown the things of God? Are you willing?
To look into the Word of God and to receive instruction to be shown by His Spirit.
What the truth is.
Sometimes, you know, I mentioned in the story of this man that.
Asked me, invited me to his house in Massillon. OH, his name is Jeff. Jeff Sprout and.
I went through and some passages of scripture with him and he knew where the building was 28.2 miles away from Massillon. OH and he said after we went through all this, through the scriptures and discussed things during the evening, he walked me down the end of the side, the end of the driveway.
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And I walked across my house, he the last words that he spoke to me on that evening, he said, well, brother, I was kind of looking. I had a in mind something a little bit more convenient.
Like something that was a little bit closer, perhaps, and he had a preconceived notion. But it's nice to be able to.
Be shown by the Lord and then it says they went and wonderful to think of how it says and he found.
And found as he had said unto them, and they made ready the Passover. Now I know that it's Speaking of the Passover, but we use this.
That, you know, they prepared for the Passover. It was the last Passover, the last one that the Lord would recognize. And then they were going to remember the Lord. He was going to show them how.
It was to be done. You know. The Lord teaches us in different ways, doesn't He?
He teaches us by His word. We can read the Word of God and understand. We can learn by mistakes that others have done.
Have made and learned by those mistakes and not repeat them there are.
Sometimes you know, the way that the Lord teaches oftentimes is by example.
And this is how he taught them how to remember him in his death. He taught them by example. He took a loaf and he broke it, and he gave thanks. And then he took the cup, and he gave thanks, and he passed it to them. He taught them by example.
You and I learn. Apparently the studies show that you and I learn most of what we learn 85% by observation, not by being told something. We learn by observation. And so no man liveth unto himself, and no man dies unto himself. You are being watched, and you as a young person are being watched. You and I as those that are older are being watched.
And the truth of God is being ministered in the actual fact if you're walking with the Lord and communion with the Lord and walking in obedience to the word of God and if you're walking as a worldly minded Christian, you're also speaking others are learning by your example and perhaps not getting the example that they should get. Well, it says they went they found.
Exactly as he had said.
And you're going to find in the instructions in the word of God, you're going to find that things are going to be just like the Lord said, just like He gave instruction. And if you read the epistles and walk in the truth of what the apostle Paul spoke in the epistles and Peter, James and the other writers of the New Testament, I think there's only 8 writers that I remember of the New Testament. In the Old Testament they had more writers, but there are eight that are used of God.
Eight dear brothers, apostles, some of them who wrote the word were used by divine inspiration to give the word. And if you read those epistles and you obey the word.
And walk in communion with the Lord. You'll find it'll be just as He said, and there'll be joy in your soul as you enjoy fellowship with the Lord. Well, it says the 12 apostles. It says when the hour was come in verse 14, he sat down and the 12 apostles with him. You know, I think of this, I used to think that the 12 apostles sat down and then the Lord came and joined them wherever they were, but that's not how it was.
I have enjoyed this. The Lord came and he sat down.
And then those 12 apostles joined him at that table.
Could I just say this, brethren? When? Umm.
I'll preclude my comments by and Jim perhaps will understand.
My statement But I was brought up in a railway family. My dad ran, worked for the railway and brother Sam worked for the railway. And to run a railroad on time was one of the things that was absolutely highly necessary. It was absolutely critical. They didn't have satellites and so on in the day that 55 years ago or whatever that my father was running.
Working on the railway and they needed to be on time or else there was going to be consequences.
And so my father drilled it into me years ago that to be late.
For an event was unacceptable and so we were to be on time and better than that 5 minutes or 10 minutes early. And so, you know he taught us that in connection with going to the assembly meetings. And I have thought of it in this way that the Lord Jesus is found there sitting.
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Now he's not sitting there. In actual fact, he's there spiritually. He is there in our midst. The Spirit of God records that in the Word of God, and we can trust His word. It's soul. I'm told by Mr. Hammer, you know, that he was down in the islands and there was a brother there and he was so taken 1 morning on the Lord's Day morning. He was so taken with the spirit of the assembly meeting and he.
Just felt that the Lord was in the midst and he took a chair.
And he went, and he put it right by the table so that the Lord could sit on that chair, so to speak. They're not nice that that brother had the sense of the Lord's presence. Well, it's the Lord that comes, and may we be there on time.
Well, it says in verse 15 that with desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you. The Lord has a desire, I know it, Speaking of this Passover. But the Lord instituted that feast of remembrance. He had a desire for you to be there.
He has a desire for you to be there, remembering him in his death.
No, I don't like to, uh, you'll express, excuse me for just, uh, making a personal, uh, reference, but umm, and I have said it at different times. I wasn't brought up at the Lord's table. I was brought up in a division among the Lord's people and they had the brother that went out in division he established.
Assemblies in the division that he established, and they had a nice table.
With a white cloth and a loaf on the table and a cup on the table, a little basket for the collection, and so on. And that's what I grew up in.
As a young boy until I was 13 years old. And so it was an imitation of the truth of God. It wasn't the real thing. The man went out in division and he established.
Another system of things.
And so you know.
I just think of how the Lord desired to eat this Passover. He desired to eat.
He desired to be with his disciples. He desires you to remember Him in his death. He says this do in remembrance of Maine.
In verse nineteen of our chapter here. Well, I just say this.
That there are a lot of imitations out in Christendom, and we have spoken quite plainly in Hebrews chapter 13. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. And there are a lot of imitation. So let's be careful and be exercised about being in the presence of the Lord, and giving him the desire of his heart. So he says in verse 19 This do in remembrance of me do we have that desire to do.
What he has asked us to do.
You know the Lord is not going to force us, and so he says.
Let us offer the sacrifice of praise and Thanksgiving to God continually. He says. Let us therefore go unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach. And so the Lord is just desiring that expression of obedience and to give him his heart's desire. Now let's turn to chapter 24. I just want to make a few comments and we may just read little.
Bits of scripture.
Here we get a little picture of what it is, what causes.
Different ones to leave the divine center, to leave Jerusalem. You know, Jerusalem was still the divine center. The church hadn't been formed yet. When we're reading in Luke's gospel right here. It wasn't formed until we get Acts chapter 2.
But, you know, there are some little principles that we can gain from the Scriptures, and this little passage of Scripture in chapter 24 of Luke tells us some of the things that might cause us to go away.
And what the shepherd does in response to bring us back. And so this little passage of Scripture sweet in connection with how the Lord works with us. So Luke chapter 24, verse 13, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem, about 3 score furlongs, and they talked together of all.
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These things which had happened, it came to pass that while they communed together in reason, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were holding that they should not know Him. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these, that you have one to another as you walk, and are sad? And one of them, whose name was Cleophus answering, said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem has not known?
The things which are come to pass there in these days.
And he said unto them, what things they said unto him concerning Jesus of Nazareth.
Which was a prophet mighty indeed in Word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered them up to be condemned to death, and have crucified Him. But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel.
And decide all this, today is the third day since all these things were done. Yeah. And certain women also of our company made us astonish, which were early at the sepulchre.
And when they found not his body, they came saying that they had seen, also seen a vision of angels which had said he was alive.
And certain of them which were went with us, with us went to the sepulchre, and found it Even so, as the women had said. But him they saw not.
Well, there's a little bit of a downward spiral here, you might say, but you know, the Lord Jesus is a shepherd.
And you and I may take a wrong turn.
It never, never changes the love and the faithfulness of our Savior.
How thankful we can be that His heart never changes. You and I know that our love ebbs and flows for our Savior. If we were honest we would say sometimes we come to the meetings and we just don't seem to get what we should have got. Or we get irritated with a brother or whatever it might be.
But you know, the Lord Jesus is faithful. And so it says here in verse 13. I'm going to point out several different things. The first one is it says, behold, two of them went.
That same day to a village called Emmaus, you know, this little expression is that there was two of them. You know, you have very rarely ever find one person going the wrong way and leaving the Lord's table. Seems to be that often times there's more than one. And here it speaks of perhaps I believe it is a husband and a wife.
And I see husbands and wives here, and I see those that are soon going to be husband and wives.
And I'm so thankful to see husbands and wives that want to be in the presence of the Lord.
You know I just say this that it says can two walk together except they be agreed.
And oftentimes we walk in company with those that agree with our viewpoint. Ecclesiastically, they agree with our viewpoint. Perhaps in practical things they agree with us. And so we walk with them. But, you know, if we get disheartened, discouraged, we can influence one another in the wrong way. And so here there was two of them. They walked two of them.
And they perhaps had been discussing this and just didn't seem to make sense.
And they walked to Emmaus. Perhaps they had a home there. And, umm.
I think the town, the city means sincere. They were pretty sincere about how things about their opinion and things. But you know, as we read these few verses of Scripture, we don't have any evidence that they were reading the word of God.
They didn't have a compass, and God has made us so that we absolutely need the compass of the word of God.
In our opinions and our reasonings are not going to cut it. There's not the ability in our minds to sort out what God is doing in our lives. Not in my own life. I can't sort it out, and you can't sort it out your own life. But you can gain confidence by reading the Word of God, being comforted by the Word of God and what He says in different passages of Scriptures. What time am I afraid I will trust in the Lord?
I will trust in the Lord and not be afraid. We can read little passages of Scripture.
And gain comfort. Well, there's two of them. They went away. God measured everything in Judaism.
From Jerusalem in Christianity, if I could put it this way, everything is measured from the assembly.
From the divine center. And God has an ideal, and He presents it to us as that large upper room. And He's made provision that everyone of us could be there. He would like. And it's normal Christianity is being said that all Christians should be there, gathered to the Lord's name. And the Lord will work if he's given liberty, so that all will be there. You know, the man that caused the division was an evangelist with the one that I was brought up in.
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And when he died, he went to be with the Lord in 1962.
And the Spirit of God began to work again. He was the one that was holding the whole thing together. And the bands started to come off by the grace and the mercy of God.
And seven years later.
In Gordon Anstey's home.
There was a couple that came to visit and that home.
One afternoon on a Saturday and in that afternoon they were visiting.
Gordonstein and his wife and little family.
And brother Jim, Uncle Jim Pleasance and his wife.
And they began to discuss this division that had taken place 27 years earlier. And they said, you know, Brother Gordon, he told me this story. He said, you know, I feel a little uneasy about the division that took place. This brother was put under discipline, and he refused to discipline. He went out and he formed a division.
And Gorge says, you know, I'm a little uncomfortable. I, I, I would like to go and talk to somebody in the other on the other side and see what they say. And I've met a fellow at the train station. His name is Gordon Hale, and I met him a couple of times at the train station and so on. I'd like to go and visit with him. And so he said, Jim Pleasant said, you know, I feel the same way.
And they said, well, why don't we pray this afternoon? Just get down on our knees right now and pray and ask the Lord.
To open up the door, give us the money to go and speak to this man and that he'll teach us the truth and speak the truth of what took place during and the principles out layout the principles that took place in that division. And so they got down on their knees and they began to pray that the Lord would open up Gordon's heart to talk to them and that they would have the resources to go and visit him. He said he lived in Ottawa. And while they were praying, there was a knock on the door.
And one of the sisters rose up and went and answered the door.
And it was brother Gordon and he said.
And brother, he says, I just had it heavy on my heart. I was visiting the little assembly in Richmond. He says. I had it heavy on my heart to come and visit you. Would it be all right if I came in the home and Justice read the scriptures for a little bit and visited in the home?
They invited him in and they were. He was there for two hours and went over the principles of what had taken place there.
And how they're being rebellion against the authority of the Lord. And they understood the principles. Well, you know, they went, the next day was Lord's Day and they went and they sat down in the back row.
Brother Gord Anstey and his little family and uncle Jim Pleasants and his wife. And Gord Anstey told me he saw the whole time that he was there. He says I sobbed and I sobbed in the back row. He says 27 years. I thought I was at the Lord's Table and I wasn't.
And then he got out into the parking lot and he said to Jim, he said, you know.
It was the Spirit of God that brought us here to this place this morning.
And he said we shouldn't be calling all the other McDowell brethren and telling them.
What we did and where we went, we'll just come here. And so they did. Next Lord's Day they came and they sat down in the back row again.
And about three or four weeks went by and there was approximately 37 that were in fellowship.
On divine ground, at the Lord's table, sitting.
And there were 36 or 37 sitting in the back rows, and not one of them had called one another. I tell you that there is a work of the Spirit of God. He can gather and He can restore. And if He's allowed the liberty, He will gather Christians to his precious name. And you and I just need to stay out of the way, as it were, and let him have His way. Well, it says that they talk together.
Here of these things and oftentimes we get.
Taken up with circumstances and they get taken up with talking about these things instead of talking about the Lord.
And they reason another thing that they did. They reasoned about things none of us will ever be able to figure out.
What God is doing?
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If I could use the little term.
His ways are unfigure, outable, their past finding out, and you and I will never be able to figure out what goes on in the heart of man and who so trusteth in his own heart is a fool. And so God has made things and ordained things, events in life that may puzzle us, but he's working out things for his own glory and for our good and we just need.
Trust them well, they reason, and there wasn't a 'cause there was a.
Really a consequence in verse 16 their eyes were holding that they should not know him. You know there was a governmental blindness. If you and I are traveling in the wrong direction, not reading the word of God and we got discouraged and disheartened and we turn and go in the wrong direction. The Lord we're not walking in communion with him. He may allow a governmental blindness. Their eyes were holding our time is just about gone so we're not going to have.
Time to turn to different passages of Scripture. The other thing that occurred here in verse 17 is that they were sad.
Going away from the divine center, going away from Jerusalem, they had been told to stay there.
To wait for him.
They were going away. They left the large upper room and the disciples in that large upper room.
And it was the work of the enemy really, to divide the Saints and to scatter them.
Scatter them and so two of them are walking away from the assembly. You and I need one another. We need the.
Brethren, none of us is an island. We need one another. We need the fellowship of our brethren. And so here were two.
Being separated away from the fellowship of their brethren, and then.
It says here that, umm, in verse, uh, eighteen, it says that, uh, art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem is not known the things which are come to pass there in these days. No, brethren, there's some events that take place among the gathered Saints, and we sometimes think that the Lord doesn't know about it.
They said to the Lord Jesus, the Son of God the Creator.
The one who had chosen Jerusalem as his center, They said to him. They said, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem?
Have you ever knelt in prayer when there's a situation in the assembly?
Perhaps in your home, but I just applied this to the assembly. Have you ever known with your wife, or if you're a young person, not alone, maybe with one of your friends, and just told the Lord about what's going on and just told them about it and asked him to bring blessing among his. The brethren bring blessing into the situation. They said they really thought that he didn't know.
He was the one who had died for them.
He knew what was going on. He knew more about what went on than they did.
But he drew their hearts out and he said in verse 19, what things?
There he just poked. They just pointed his finger. He just touched. The real issue was that they were occupied with things and the events that had taken place. They weren't occupied with himself. And then in verse 21 it says we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel.
You know, their confidence broke down.
They didn't have any confidence in the Lord. It just seems they were walking the wrong direction. Two of them.
They were talking about these things, they reason, their eyes were holding. They couldn't see things correctly and straight hadn't had the scriptures. They were sad. They didn't think the Lord knew about this, what had taken place in Jerusalem, and they'd lost their confidence in them.
Oh dear brethren, may we just take this as lesson here as we read this, the Lord had introduced them to that large upper room.
And they left that large upper room. They were going down to Emmaus.
And they had all this, these circumstances before them. May we not have the circumstances before us?
You know, I don't have time to go through the the work of the shepherd here in the last part of this chapter, but he brought the word of God before them.
The prophetic scriptures, he says in Peter's language, he says.
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What is it? The sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.
Who? He went through all the scriptures. And so I say if there's sadness, if there's disappointment.
Some of the things in the assembly taking place that you don't understand get into the word of God.
And trust the Lord for the circumstances that are taking place, and cry to Him for blessing.
He delights to bless his people. Let's commend ourselves.
Hebrews 13:1-6