YP Sing Address—J. Bilisoly
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.
#168 that's where I 168, OK.
105.
You know, on Friday night when we arrived here in Des Moines for the prayer meeting, for these meetings.
After meeting my wife and I, my wife Carmen and I were standing in an aisle visiting and we were making our way over to speak to someone and we were stopped by brother Ron Siegler and Ron had a stack of cards, index cards in his hand and he started. First of all he said to me, he said we would like you to have a meeting. And my heart kind of skipped a beat or two.
And he started going through his cards.
And I saw a gospel address gospel address. And then he came to this card and he handed me handed me this card and it said, Lord, stay young people sing 830 PM 15 minute talk. And I, I have to admit, I somewhat side with relief and yet not totally because dear young people, it's it's a challenge to.
Stand up here in front of you and think, now what can I say in 15 minutes that I can leave with you?
And as I thought about that and I, I'm going to watch my time, as I thought about that, I thought, you know.
There probably isn't that much that I can do in 15 minutes that's going to leave make a lasting impression with these young people. And as I thought about that more, I thought, you know, it's really not what I say that's going to make a difference. It's probably what I don't say. And what I mean by that is what we have in the book of Romans. And it says there in the 15th chapter that none of us liveth to himself.
And no man dieth to himself.
Now, dear young people, you and I have an influence on one another. We have an influence on others. And it's by our everyday life, just by our walk, just by our going on day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. That makes more of an impression than anything else, perhaps than anything that you will say. Maybe some of you won't have an opportunity to stand here. Some of you will.
No doubt, but your life can make an impression and can speak louder than something that you might say and so.
00:35:09
I thought, what a what a challenge for my own heart. I have 15 minutes tonight. That's not very much. But what's more important is how I conduct myself because you're watching me. And, you know, it's an encouragement to me, too. It's been 2 years since we've been to this, this conference to Des Moines here. And I see some familiar faces here. And it's encouraging to me. I see young people that are going on.
They're here again.
You're two years older.
You've grown physically, and I trust that you've grown spiritually.
And that's encouraging to me. That speaks to me maybe more than what you might say to me. I haven't talked to probably most of you and probably won't get the opportunity to during these meetings, but what your life speaks to others and it speaks to me.
Before we came to this conference, the Lord impressed me a little bit with a verse, and that verse has been mentioned. It was mentioned by our brother Dave.
Imbo in his prayer. And then Brother Doug Nicollet mentioned it again, and it's that verse in Acts chapter 2. And that that really is what I had before me.
That's primarily the only verse I want to look at.
And I just want to capture a couple of words primarily out of this verse in Acts chapter 2.
To leave with us.
I may refer to a couple of other verses and I may look at them.
But let's turn to Acts 2 and let's just read part of that verse that was referred to verse 42.
And they continued.
I want to stop right there.
You know, that's quite a thought, isn't it? Who's it referring to here? Well, if we were to read the verse before, we would find that there were 3000, about 3000 souls that were added to the the church, the assembly. And so it's referring to those early believers during the times of the apostles and during that time when the Spirit of God was working mightily and many souls were added to the church daily. And here there were 3000 that were added.
And it says that they continued.
Now I wonder, if someone were writing about this company here tonight, would they be able to save us to you and I, they continued.
That's quite an exercise, isn't it?
To continue on.
It's not easy. We've heard some ministry during these meetings about the difficulties of the way.
And the enemy that we have that wants to discourage us, that wants to get us to not continue. You heard about that enemy last night, and I happened to be here.
And we were told about a man that purposed in his heart.
That took purpose of heart for Daniel, didn't it? It's going to take purpose of heart for you and I to continue. But they didn't just continue. What else does it say? It says they continued steadfastly.
And I think that's very, very important. You know, we just had a storm in in Denver.
A very wet snow after all the trees had leaved out and the snow was very wet and heavy. And we were talking to one person and they said they woke up in the middle of the night and they heard this cracking going on all around them. They listened, didn't know what was going on. Well, what it was, was this heavy snow was breaking tree limbs off of the trees. And we had a tree in our front yard and and in the morning there was two large limbs of that tree laying down in the front yard.
They had broken off during the night. And that poor tree, it was hit once before about four or five years ago in a not a storm, but one of the branches had broken away from the tree, a large branch. And so now we have this tree. I'm not sure what to do with it. It looks kind of spindly. It's looking more and more like a pole. It's losing all its branches. But you know, I hate to, to cut it down. That tree is there. It's been steadfast.
It's still standing and it's it's leafed out as much as it can. It can be with what few branches it has left.
00:40:01
And it looks a little unsightly, but it's weathered the storms and it's still standing. It's not leaning at all. It's just as straight as it was before.
I wonder you want to be like that tree.
Do you and I want to be like a tree that's planted by the waters? Do we want to be steadfast, dear young people?
They continued steadfastly.
In the Apostles, doctrine and fellowship.
And in breaking of bread and in prayers.
These are all important things, aren't they? The apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers. I've enjoyed this little thought. Someone has expressed that.
The the apostles doctrine is what makes the fellowship. It was told us that these two go together. You can't separate them. The apostles doctrine and fellowship. So it's the apostles doctrine that makes the fellowship.
And it's the breaking of bread that expresses it. That's how we give expression to it, and prayer maintains it. So if you can remember that, it helps, doesn't it? The apostles doctrine is what makes the fellowship.
The breaking of bread expresses it in prayer is what maintains it, and someone else has said that we have perhaps illustrated here.
The meetings that you and I attend, I trust we attend them.
Where do we hear the Apostles doctrine?
Here in the reading meeting, don't we?
Lord's Day morning we go and break bread as we did this morning.
And then there's the prayers. There's the prayer meeting.
Do you make it to those meetings?
I won't ask you to raise your hands.
But I'll just ask you to answer that in your heart before the Lord do I make it.
If not, I would ask you what's the hindrance?
Is there something that hinders you from being there?
Maybe there's something that is a hindrance to you. You need to be there. That's how you're going to be able to continue steadfastly.
Could we say this is the divine formula for going on with the Lord? This is the formula that God has given us in His precious word.
And I can think of three there's many a multitude, we might say a host of many cloud of witnesses in the word of God of those that continue steadfastly, but one that stands out in my mind is Joshua here was a man that.
Was given the responsibility of leading the people of God through the wilderness.
And into the land.
And that was a big responsibility, and there must have been many things to discourage that dear man.
And yet he says.
If it be evil to you to serve, the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve. And then he goes on to say, But As for me and my house, I will serve the Lord. Would you say that he was steadfast? Would you say that he continued steadfastly? I would say so. There are many things that could have discouraged him, but he continued steadfastly.
And I'm sure.
I'm sure he won't be sorry in a coming day for having continued on. He could have given up. He could have said this is a rebellious people.
It's too much, but it continued on.
As for me and my house?
We will serve the Lord, It's almost like he was saying.
You make your choice, I've made mine.
How about you tonight, dear young people, people, have you made a choice? And then another one that stands out in my mind is Anna.
You know, it says that she was there in the temple.
Serving the Lord with fastings and prayers day and night. Now that's what the scripture says.
And I thought to myself, when did this dear woman sleep? When did she do the all the ordinary things of life that we we feel are so important? It says that she served the Lord with fastings and prayers day and night. Now I don't doubt that she slept. I'm not saying she didn't sleep. But this dear woman's heart was so in tune with the thoughts of God. She was so in the attitude of prayer.
00:45:24
And fasting that it speaks of her doing it almost continually day and night. I think that's wonderful. There's a a dear woman that continued on steadfastly. She wasn't shaken by the apostasy all around her to giving up. No, she was waiting for that one that was promised to them, the Messiah. And she, you know, she, she got to see the Lord Jesus. What a wonderful thing for her.
To behold the fruition, you might say, of her prayers and fastings.
She continued steadfastly. And then it's hard to leave out the Apostle Paul. Brethren, I count my not myself to have apprehended but this one thing I do.
For getting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. There's a man that continued, and he didn't just continue, but he continued steadfastly.
You know, there were many things that could have.
As it were, 'cause the apostle Paul to leave that path of faith, he labored.
He labored in a way that perhaps we won't be called on to, and yet he did it for the Lord, and he did it steadfastly. He did it. He continued steadfastly without wavering. The Lord helped him. You can't do it in your own strength, but the Lord can help you to continue on. That's all I had was just that thought, to leave those two words with you.
If you forget everything else, just remember those two words out of that verse continued steadfastly.