YP Sing Address—R. Thonney, D. So
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.
Him one time.
A the King of England, who was at the time King George came over to Canada. I understand. I hope I got this story straight.
But.
Indian Chieftain was asked to sing for the King of England.
And when he got up to sing, they thought he would sing some native.
American songs and Indian song. And instead of doing that, he sang that hymn. We just got through singing.
I'd rather have Jesus than to be a king of a vast domain. I'd rather have Jesus.
And everybody was a little bit afraid that it might offend the king. But after he got done singing, the king got up and came forward and said, I want to say something too. I'd rather have Jesus as well. He gently was a man of faith. Let's just pray before we start, men.
I'd like to start with a verse in.
Second Peter chapter one. Actually it's several verses.
I'd just like to take an expression we find in.
Two Peter, Chapter one.
Let's read verse.
Two to begin with.
Grace and peace be multiplied.
Unto you.
Through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Notice that expression the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as His divine power, has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.
Notice this next part Through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory.
And virtue.
Verse 8 For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. I just want to speak about that tonight, young people, we're living in a culture.
Where the very basics of our Christian faith are being undermined.
And it's being done in a way that I do not think majority of people have a clue as to what's happening.
It was interesting to me. In October I was over in Europe. Some of the brethren from Bolivia and Argentina have immigrated over there. So I got to visit mainly in Spain, but.
They tell me in Spain that half of the population are now atheist.
50% are atheists. Pretty impressive.
And those that are generally speaking, Roman Catholic are so fed up with that system.
And those that give direction to that system that they are on the very verge of the same.
You know, it really impresses me what the gospel started in Europe. I should say it started in Jerusalem, came to Europe, and from Europe it came to the States. But that same philosophy of life that is in Europe today is coming to the United States. And I say to you tonight, the very basics of our Christian faith are being undermined.
And it shows in the way of life and what impressed me in Europe, you know.
Madrid, Spain is a beautiful city.
And I had chance, I had some free time, and so I'd take the metro, which is the underground trail, a train around the city. I went around quite a bit, but it was interesting to me to watch the people.
And.
The meaningless looks I saw on the faces of so many people? Absolutely.
They're lost.
They've lost the sense of who God is and they're lost. People say I want to know who I am. I want to.
00:05:12
Understand who I am as a person. Let me tell you, you cannot know who you are as a person unless you know first of all, who God is.
That's the basis of all knowledge and what we have here in these verses. Notice that verse two again. He says grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God.
Do you know God?
I think I've mentioned before, but I think it is so important and I want to challenge you with it.
Because the Muslims say, and the Muslims are a fast growing world religion, they say God is unknown and unknowable.
They will never know God. Do you know God?
Dallas, you know God. Yes, you do know God.
Isn't that amazing to be able to say we know God? I think that is most amazing. And I would like to talk tonight about some of the basic attributes of God that I see are slipping even amongst those who profess to be Christians.
I've made a list here and I'm going to ask a little bit further. In our talk, we got 20 minutes more. I've got a list of nine attributes that I jotted down as I was thinking about this subject.
I don't know how far we're going to get with this, but I'd like to ask for participation from you young people too. If you say you know God, tell me what God is like.
And I'm going to qualify it. If you're going to tell me he's like something I want a verse from the Bible to tell to back it up. OK, you'd be thinking about that because I'm going to list my attributes first. That to me just threw my soul. When I think that I know God and this is the God that I know. These are his attributes. First one I put on the list is.
God is eternal.
What's that mean?
It says in Isaiah chapter 57.
God inhabits eternity.
That. That just boggles my mind really. But I find it intriguing to try to understand that.
Sometimes we have a map of the seven dispensations that our brother was talking about tonight.
And we kind of put over on this side eternity and then have the times, the ages of time, and over on this side the future eternity after the world is gone again.
But you know, I prefer to think of time as a little bubble.
In eternity.
Eternity is where God dwells.
God never had a beginning.
It will never have an end. That just boggles my mind because everything I know in life down here has a beginning and has an end.
And to think of this being who never began to be, He always is and has been.
To him there is no present, past or future. It is all an open book. What's going to happen tomorrow? Tomorrow to us is an unknown because we live in the realms of time, but for God who is eternal.
He is not limited by the realms of time. I told you we had to have a verse for it, so I'm going to give you a verse.
Deuteronomy 33 and verse 27.
The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Beautiful. Let me tell you as we were speaking, as we were reading that verse, Grace and peace be multiplied to you through.
00:10:16
The knowledge of God. When I think of God, this is the God that I have learned to know through the divine revelation of the Word of God. It just thrills my soul. Here's a God that's not going to change with time. I change lots and everybody else here changes lots.
But I have a God who is eternal, who will never, never change.
Second one I put down was God is sovereign.
That's a word that maybe is going to be a little bit difficult to define, but I'd like to read a verse in numbers.
Chapter.
23 verse 19.
Balaam the Prophet spoke these words.
And they are true. It's the Spirit of God came on him and he spoke them. He said God is not a man that he should lie, neither the Son of man that he should repent.
Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or have he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Sovereign means that he is over all and that.
No one can tell him what to do.
That's our God. He is sovereign. Perhaps another place that would show his sovereignty, that he is called Lord of Lords. Anybody that exercises authority or lordship, he is Lord of them. He is over all. He is sovereign. That's the God we're talking about. Another one.
God is a spirit. John chapter 4.
Like I say, young people were not talking about what you are tonight. That's not the purpose. My talk tonight. We're talking about who God is because it's only when you get that truth clear will it be clear who you are. You cannot have any meaning to your life until you know God.
John chapter 4 and verse 24. God is a spirit.
And they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Now I don't pretend to understand these things very well, young people, but a spirit is that which is not visible.
And God is called in another place, invisible, and yet he is very real.
Invisible but very real God is a spirit, and here it says they that worship Him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Sometimes young people say, well, why don't we use music in our worship meetings?
Why don't we have a piano in there? Why don't we do like others do and have some?
Guitar music. Nothing wrong with music in itself. It's a sweet, natural thing, like honey was in the Old Testament.
But if we're going to understand what pleases God, it is not.
Instrumental music. I know how to play the piano too, and I love piano music. It's pleasing to me. But when we come into God's presence to worship him, we do not come to please ourselves. We come to please Him. And what pleases him is worship in spirit, because God is a spirit and in truth.
It's too easy for people to think because they hear this very pleasing music that they are worshipping God.
Many times that's not the case.
So we need to understand God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
00:15:07
Another thing that God is he is triune. In other words, God is 3 in one.
And to show this, I want to turn to a verse in Genesis one verse one.
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
In the Hebrew in which the Old Testament was written, God is. Can be the names in Hebrew can be singular, can be dual, there's two, or can be plural. And this word God in the Hebrew is plural Eloise, and it's because God is.
Plural in that sense of the word. The word created is singular. So there you have in the very first verse of the Bible.
That God is 3 in one. That explains why down further in the chapter he said let us make man in our image. He spoke in the plural. This is important to understand because you and I were made in the image and likeness of God and you we need to understand that we are also three in one because we were made in the image and likeness of God.
You are three and one too.
When I speak about a particular person, you're looking at their body, but that person has a personality that we call the soul, and that person also has a God conscious part of their being that is called a spirit.
One person, three parts. So God is triune. God is revealed in the New Testament in Matthew chapter 28 and verse.
19 He says, Go into all the world. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Notice it clearly.
Very exact scripture is, he says in the name, singular. What's the name? The Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
3 distinct persons, one God. These things are being totally undermined in our culture, and that's why even though I know you young people probably know these things well, it's so important to have them firmly in your soul to enjoy them. This is the God that we have been brought to know. Another one God is omnipotent.
Means he is all powerful. Let's read in Revelation chapter 4.
And verse 8.
Here is a scene in heaven, and it says the four beasts had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day and night, saying holy, holy, holy.
Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come. You could say a lot of in that verse about God.
But it says that word almighty. That's the same word as omnipotent. Omni means all, potent means powerful. There is absolutely nothing that God cannot do.
He is omnipotent. You think of the tremendous power into which he used to create the universe. He spake and he spake the whole universe.
Into existence. That's the God that was revealed in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is omnipotent. We're going to have to keep on going here. He's omnipresent.
Go back to Matthew 28 again.
00:20:04
Anipresent means he's present everywhere.
He says here in Matthew 28 verse 20 it's the Lord Jesus speaking because the Lord Jesus is God.
He says verse 20, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever. I've commanded you, and lo, I am with you alway even unto the end of the world. Amen. Lord has promised to be with His people.
Scattered throughout the globe. It doesn't matter where they are, he is with them necessarily. He has to be present in every place at once.
Is omniscient means that He knows everything? Somebody put it in a way that kind of shocked me the first time I heard it, but he said it this way. He said God has never learned anything, nor can he learn because he knows everything. Isn't that important to understand? He knows absolutely everything. You don't disappoint God.
You might have made a mess of your life.
You're not disappointing God, he knows all about it way before it ever happened.
You know what it does to me when I realize the greatness of this God? It's just what it says in that verse we read at the beginning. Grace and peace are multiplied to my heart in the knowledge of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. The more you get to know Him, the more you're going to have peace in your soul.
I didn't give you a verse for that, did I? John? Chapter 21 please.
John chapter 21 and verse 17.
This is what Peter said to the Lord, but I think it shows we could give other verses too, but says towards the end of the verse.
When the Lord asked him if he loved him. Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee.
Is omniscient. He's omniscient, He knows everything. Sin is the same root word that we get our words, science or knowledge from. He is all knowing one more and that I'm going to give and then I'm going to turn it open for some of you to tell me what you've learned about God. And this is in Malachi.
Chapter 3.
We kind of touched on it before, but let's just read it here. Malachi chapter 3 and verse 6.
I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. God is another word we use is immutable. He is unchangeable. Every person you've ever met on this earth is changeable. Everything connected with time is changing.
But God is that being that inhabits eternity, and in eternity nothing changes, everything is fixed. God is unchanging. He cannot change. Tremendous to know God, to let those truths sink into your soul, to enjoy them. Remember, young people, we're living in a culture that is.
Man centered and they're going to try to occupy you with yourself.
Christianity is God centered and that's why we want to turn ourselves around from thinking about who we are, to think about who our God is. OK, I'm going to throw it open. Hopefully some of you have some verses now you want to give me to tell me what God is like.
Hosea, Isaiah 9.
Verse 6.
You want to stand up and read that, Sam, please.
00:25:03
OK. Which characteristic do you want to talk about here?
Mighty God. OK, tell me what that means.
All ready to do it explains about powerful and.
You ever get into difficult situations?
Situations are too hard for you.
Are they too hard for that? Wonderful to know. You get into situations that are too hard for you, they're not too hard for God. Who else has some way back there?
God is love very good. What's the verse?
First, John 48, OK, I'm going to ask you a real hard question.
What is love?
God.
You're right.
You know what I find Love. One of the hardest words in the English language to define.
What do you say about it?
1St Corinthians 13 talks about a lot about love, what it does, but what is it? I I don't know exactly. I don't have exactly a definition. It's seeking the good of somebody else. But to me that's very poor explanation. I think it is one of the hardest words to really understand. But I want to explain it this way too, because that is one of the most wonderful truths that God has loved.
That love that it speaks about in the Greek language that the Bible was written in, the New Testament was written in.
Is a love that is the love of decision. It's not a mere emotion. It is the love of decision. It's the love of sacrifice for God to love the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Tremendous to think about what he did for us. I sometimes go to a youth village in our area.
And I like to ask the kids there, why does God love us?
The most common answer I get is because we're his children. I say, well we're not his children. If we haven't believed in the Lord Jesus, then why does he love us? The next answer is because we're his creatures. Well that's true, we are his creatures. But there's another answer. God loves us because God is love and there is no other reason. It's not because of who I am or am not, it's because of who He is.
And that cannot change. And if you don't accept Jesus as your savior, you're going to end up in the lake of fire forever.
But you will never be able to say in the lake of fire, nobody ever loved me.
Because He did love you with the love of sacrifice, the love of decision. That beautiful.
And are we over? Just a little bit over 2 minutes over. Let's give a chance a little bit more here. Anybody else? You got one?
Living God? Really. God is living. What does that mean to you?
Very good. God is a living God. You know, sometimes we act in life. It almost seems like God is dead, doesn't he? Let me encourage you, God is a living God. He listens when we pray. And even though he might not answer you right away, remember, never forget He is the living God. One more and we'll quit.
OK, keep on going.
But.
OK, I'll have to explain what is comfort brother?
No, I want you to do it.
We'll read the verse and then you'll explain it to us, Wally.
At Two Corinthians, chapter one.
And verse.
Three, blessed be the God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort. What is comfort?
00:30:08
Consolation. When we're hurting, he's there. He understands. Jesus stood at the grave of Lazarus.
And he wept. He cried. Why did he cry if he knew he's going to raise up Lazarus from the dead? What was the reason of those tears?
He feels what you're going through. He's not a God that is insensible and you are hurting. Remember, he understands. He feels that young people, we didn't even get a very good start on this subject, could go on and on and on. I encourage you to make a list because the more you know God, the more grace and peace is going to be multiplied in your life.
It is the basis of Christianity.
Very basic subjects, but it is so tremendously important in the day we're living. Remember, it's not a focus on who you are, it's a focus on who he is. And once you get him properly in focus.
Who you are makes a lot more sense. Let's pray ****.
Well, I said, look around here. This is like another conference. There must be a hundred 150 young people here, young and old. This is great.
It's I hope that we can talk freely and be a bit relaxed on this. I was thinking of telling you a story or rather comment I heard early on in the day. Someone said to me actually trying to tell me about a certain young person and they pointed over and told me his name. And then he said, well, I think he's about the only normal one in that family. Now. Stop, stop looking at your friends right now. I didn't tell you who this person of the family is.
It's kind of interesting comment, isn't it, that I think depending on how we are raised, we tend to look at other people to be different, to say the least, right? If you find that, but you look at other family and they say, yeah, perhaps to be kind, we use the word different. I know you're probably thinking of the word weird, right? And I wonder how often we say that. Well, the reason I thought of that is that lead me into what I really want to talk about a little bit.
In a sense, we're in a different family that you wonder how the world look at us. Have you ever noticed someone may say that you guys are different? Weird. Why is that so? Do you know why you are so different than the world?
It's hard to think about that, isn't it? We are different.
You know, tonight we have young people together. Well, I suppose many here are. Some are here over.
1718 And here, I guess, in the state of California, where young people will go outside and have a good time, they want to get drunk, all right? And I trust that none here would have that desire to do so because you're different.
So how are you different? Well, first of all, I trust that.
All of you, and I trust that all of you are different because you have been redeemed by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And because of the fact that you've been redeemed, you are different.
Now, I don't really want to talk about young people in a sense because I know when I was a young people, I hated them. People always go, well, you young people. Well, I want to talk about us because we're all in this together. How are we different? Even as an assembly? And I'm sure some here would say, well, there's no difference. There are other places that meet like we do. Why can't we go there? Have you ever crossed paths with that kind of questions? You know, and perhaps some here do go from one place to the next, but let's let's well, we have. I was told that I got to keep this before.
By 9:30, so someone have to keep an eye on the watch for me because I think the food is coming in and we can't spoil that, right? So I have about 20 minutes. Let's see if we can find out how we're different. And I, I thought that and I thought, OK, how can we explain this in an easy way?
Well, I was thinking how the early brethren, when they got together, I believe there were three things that they distinguished themselves or three principles that they follow that made them different than the rest of the world. Now I'm just going to tell you quickly of what these three principles that they believe in.
00:35:13
The first principle they believed in is the fact that right here in our hand, the Word of God should have the supreme authority on everything we do.
That's the first reason why we're different. How we walk, how we talk, how we act should be dictated by what the word of God has to say. Do you believe in that? That it is the word of God that we abide by? Now, sometimes we go around, we'll say, yeah, but it doesn't make sense. It should be this way. Now, how many of you?
Ever say that to your parents?
No, wow, you folks are so different because I know at home and I won't point any fingers to anyone. I run across that. But Dad, that's not how it's done. Well, we need to go by what the word of God. So that's the first principle they believed in. This is the authority of what is right and what is wrong.
The second thing I believed they believe in is something that have been forgotten throughout the ages.
That is the coming, the imminent coming of our blessed Savior.
And I believe sometimes we forget that too, even though we know we talk about it.
How many of us, and I don't want to make a show of hand because I don't think that's right, how many of us do truly believe that the Lord's coming is so ever near?
They believe in that because the Word of God tells us so.
That the Lord's return we lived. Do you remember brother made a comment that the Paul's epistle was what was that? It was heavenly teaching. We are heavenly citizens. Do we believe that our home is not here?
We believe that this is our home. This is where we want to fix and correct every problem that are available. You know, California, I love this place. I enjoy the palm trees and I enjoy the sunshine. You know, it seems that it's warmer here. The sun even feels warmer than it is at home. It seems brighter. I know my daughter corrected me on how the earth is tilted in different axes and I got better warmth and all that, but that was high school and I don't remember all that now, but I do like it.
But you know what? This is not my home. I don't come here and try to make things right. I'm a visitor here. I enjoy it and I go to my home. Well, where is your home?
It's your home in this world and that's why you'll find even Christians going around trying to correct what there is because they forget that our home.
It's where the Father's house is. So remember that year one. The Lord's return should be very dear to our hearts. And then I believe the third things that they.
Believed in.
Was the fact that there's one body, there's one church, and they believe that?
The fellowship we can have.
Should be wide enough to embrace every Christian and every believer. And we should believe that. Now let me finish the sentence though. It should be wide enough to embrace every believer, but.
Narrow enough to exclude the world, and that's where we sometimes get into trouble. Now with these three things in mind, then a lot of things we do should we should be governed by these three basic principles. Now let's rehearse that and then I'll go into a little bit more detail. Do you remember where they were? The three things The first was.
And no one can help me. I think I forgot now.
Ah, see, he took notes. That was nice. Not only did he record this, he's taking notes on this. The word of God should be what?
I'm sorry, Supreme authority, the supreme authority of everything that we do, our walk, especially in regard to the church and to our personal lives. The second thing that should set us apart is that we have the blessed hope and waiting for the glorious return of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
00:40:05
And the third was.
That the Christian walk should be wide enough to embrace every believer. See, there is only one body. We know that, right?
And every redeemed 1 belongs to that body of Christ, having the Lord Jesus Christ as the head of in heaven.
But can we have full fellowship with all? No, because that path has to be narrow enough to exclude things of this world. Now I see we've got a couple of minutes I'd like to turn to.
Just couple verses here. I believe the first verse I like to look at is in Second Thessalonians.
Let's see if we can take something to apply these principles here.
2nd Thessalonians is the last chapter, Chapter 3.
Verse 6.
Sets here now, we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.
Now remember, the authority is from the word of God. It's not up to us to decide, says here, brethren, speaking to us all. Now we command you, brethren, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us. So we made a comment that the Christian walk is wide enough to embrace every Christian, and rightly so, because this is not a sect that we're in.
It's wide enough for now. The test comes. So here's this brother from a particular place and we find that he's not walking or they as a whole is not walking properly or walk disorderly.
I'll give you an example.
There was a girl that worked with me at one time. She goes to this big Pentecostal church. In fact, they boast of how many people they have. I believe the hall holds 2000 people and they have so many that they have to have two services in order to house everyone. And they are so proud of that. And I go, wow, all these Christians, 4000 people in this one place. You know, you look at today we have.
What? We have about 6-8 hundred people here. Can you imagine 456 times as many people together? They are so proud of that.
And then she says something to me. She said they have problems there because her daughter married this man there, this young boy there, and he decided to leave her.
Just up and go and I said what did the church do? Oh nothing, because they like the families collections because they're very well off. So they let it go. Now you tell me now I don't know what other doctrine which we haven't gone into that. Can you have fellowship with that? Is that something disorderly young people? Here's the test from the word of God and you can apply it because I don't think you know, I used to say to young people don't go there.
Don't do that. I don't know if your parents ever do that. I do, you know, just don't go, don't ask me why, right? It's always, well, why? Why? Well, there are many times that as parents we just don't have an answer to say why. Because often a lot of these acts by itself, it's really not bad. It's just that what is the next step and where will it take you? So now you have to use the word of God. Well, are you free to be in fellowship with company as such?
Here's this verse tells us that. Now I'd like to turn to another verse is First Corinthians chapter 5. I'm sure many of you know this verse quite well.
Now we're talking about a group of Christians in that verse. Now we are going to change a little bit.
And we're going to talk about now people as a whole, First Corinthians chapter 5, verse 11. 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.
00:45:09
Now here it says, if it says any, if any man that is called a brother, I believe the thought here is that doesn't necessarily mean he's a Christian. If this man or this lady or this young lady said I'm a Christian, he qualified in this. If any man call himself a brother. So these people, whoever they are, call themselves Christians. Now is that Sierra?
Be fornicator.
I believe you know what this word is. You know we don't use this word much in today's language fornications.
Such a sad thing that we don't, because the world you see have accepted these terms and we sort of get used to hearing it that it doesn't sound so bad. We use the phrase today or they're living together.
That's against the word of God, isn't it? That's fornication.
Well, if you know, I don't know about the state of California here or whatever, whichever state you're from, even from where we're from is not an uncommon occurrence to find people that are living together well. And then you see this list goes on. Covetous idolater, railer, drunkard. And you know, I'm sad to hear that sometimes even among our own young people that we hear incidents of that now hear the word of God said if any man call himself a brother.
So here someone said he's a Christian and you know that he's a drunkard. What is the word of God have to say? We can't keep company with them.
We can't even eat with them.
Is what a word of God have to say. That's why we should accept all Christians. But now the test comes. How do we narrow it down into one and there are many more verses that you should sit down perhaps with your parents or someone else in the assembly if you want to search more. These are just two that came to my mind. Now with this couple of minutes left. I want to talk about something slightly different. But back to the second point in the sands because here sounds almost so negative, but we need to know that for our Christian walk because we're told to be holy. He is holy.
And we have to remain holy. In fact, before I talk about the other part, I just thought that is one verse. Let's turn to Hebrews chapter 12.
Because we often hear this.
Don't worry about all the problems, show love.
You don't want to be so strict that you're so legal.
I don't believe that phrase is right. Love. Yes, we should show love, but love and.
Disciplined goes together. Now here's a verse we use often, Hebrews 13, the very first verse. Let brotherly love continue. Isn't it nice? Let brotherly love continue. We should and we need to and we need to do more of that. But here's the balance. How many of you notice? What is the verse before this verse? You know, these chapters and verses were put in so we can use it as reference. So often the chapter before runs into the chapter after.
Now an older brother told me that one time she said David read these two verses together. They go together and we have to read it carefully. So the verse before go like this for our God is a consuming fire. Let brotherly love continue has to change your thought a little bit about what brotherly love is is that we have to keep it in mind of our God who is holy and he's also the God of love.
We have to have that balance. Now let's go back to that point #2 because point #1 about the Word of God. I don't think we have. We can dispute that All authorities is given in this book. The other point, maybe I get my points mixed up. It's about the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, I have to tell you this story because we have about 5 minutes left.
I was in New York City last weekend.
Have to be at a funeral. It's kind of funny that I was a one coaster. Now this week we're back to this coast and it was to a dear brother who used to be in fellowship with us.
He left because he said his father was so strict that he married a Catholic lady just despite his father.
00:50:01
That was 50 years ago.
I like to read another verse. I think it's in the book of.
Second Timothy. A First Timothy.
First Timothy verse.
19.
Holding faith and a good conscience. Oh, I'm sorry. First Timothy, chapter one, verse 19 Holding faith and a good conscience.
Now then there's an exclamation mark there, or a semi colon there. Then it says which sum.
Some that means in a group like this, perhaps some, and I trust that it would be none, but it says here some, having put away concerning faith, have made shipwrecked.
Oh, when you disobey the word of God.
The word of God used this word, shipwrecked. Does that mean he loses his soul? Does it mean he loses his salvation? No, I believe what it means is that he lose sight of what he ought to do and the work he should. He became shipwrecked. This man went home with the Lord. His neighbors and friends praised him for how great of a man he was. There was a Jewish lady that was a neighbor. She came and she just praised him. She started off by saying that.
The reason he was such a good man was that he was brought up in a very religious home.
The sad story was this. It's not a sad story was that.
At the funeral I was grieved. I've never been to a funeral outside those who have been in fellowship with us. To hear this so-called minister gave the speech. I thought it was nothing more than a jumble up hodgepodge of verses that doesn't connect together, but it sure rhyme and sounds great. There was no feeling, there was no comfort, there was no hope for the family.
We have the blessed hope. He knew the blessed hope, and because he was shipwrecked.
Halfway partway through, I saw his little granddaughter, which I've never met before. She was maybe perhaps seven years old.
And I said to her say Grandpa's favorite verse was John 316. In fact, they printed that in little cards and hardly anyone took it. I said.
Do you like that verse?
Now how many 7 year olds here do you think know that verse? John 316?
Well, to my dismay, she said. I don't know what that is. Isn't it sad?
I read it to her, she said. What does it mean?
Sometimes when we turn our back on the Lord, the consequence young people is not just on ourselves. In the last three weeks, I've been reminded of three brothers, two who are much older than I am.
And one is the same age as I am, that the children know, not the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, the reason I thought of that was it was a kind of interesting funeral. It was on a Friday evening and the gravesite time.
Okay, at the graveside, the graveside service was the next day, so we have to drive back to New York City the next day and.
The Lord must have been.
Thinking of him and looking after him, wanted that testimony to go on. She came up to me, this is his wife came up. He said the minister can't come today, it's a Saturday. He said. She said we decided to read a few verses as a family at the gravesite. Would you read some for us? So I looked at her and thanked the Lord. I said, I said, do you mind if I say a few words too? And they said yes, sure.
You have never heard me speak before, so they really don't know much about me. So I was given the opportunity and was able to read verses that we all know so well.
With the verse. And the dead in Christ shall rise 1St, and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up. We know that verse, don't we? You know these, these poor ones, they have no hope. The reason I read that verse was I was able to tell them. Here it is. Here's this man.
Dead in the coffin.
00:55:02
But yet, if you remember the verse John 316, I know this dear one, I know He loved the Lord. He was redeemed by His precious blood. In fact, He was in fellowship with us at one point. So I was able to tell them that He loves this. And I said, if you 2 believe like He did, that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that you too can be saved, and you will see Him in glory.
What an opportunity when we think of that, young people, do you believe that the Lord's return is so ever near? Do you believe, Do you believe that the word of God holds all the authority of everything you do and say, and how you walk? Do you believe that the Lord's return is so soon, so eminent? Rather than being occupied with all the problems around us, we should rejoice because when we see all these problems.
It means his return has to be so ever near.
And do you believe on the Christian walk according to the word of God?
Wide enough to embrace all believers, but narrow enough to exclude the world. Let's commend ourselves.
Bless.