Gen 49:1-2 Jacob called unto his sons and said, gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.
God has gathered us here because we are his children. God gathers us together because he wants to do us good. Jacob was at the end of his days. He told his sons, Gather together that I may tell you what will befall you in the last days. Gather yourself together. It is a wonderful thing for us to feel that God wants and cares for us and urges us to pull together. It is because we are his children and that is why Jacob wanted to gather his sons. Coming from so many different paths, he wanted them to be gathered together because he had things he wanted to tell them. God has gathered us together because he has things to tell us and we want to take heed. We do not want to miss what God has for us. It will not be all wonderful for our human nature, and it may not be what we are expecting to hear and it is a message from God and a message from the Father. Our Father knows what is best for each one of us. Unlike our natural father, God sees from the beginning to the end, and God sees a future ahead of us and wants to prepare us for the days ahead. We do not understand what the days ahead will be for any one of us, but we know we can trust God is there before us, and God wants to prepare us now for what lies before us in the future days.
The first one he spoke to was the firstborn he said “Reuben thou art my firstborn.” We need to feel grateful Reuben thou art my firstborn born and then he continues. “My might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellently of dignity and the excellently of power” Then there is a pause “Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy Father’s bed, then defildest thou it; he went up to my couch.” The firstborn nature would love to hear those things that Jacob spoke, thou art my firstborn my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellently of dignity and the excellency of power and doesn’t human nature love to hear that? It wasn’t until I started thinking about it in the first book of the Bible, that God made it so clear about the firstborn nature. The firstborn Adam and Eve fell from the grace of God. They had to seek again the favour of the Father. They had to come to him and realise “We have fallen”. We are unclean, we are unclothed and we are naked and right from then God has been wanting us to understand that the firstborn nature is not the nature he wants to see within us.
We go to the next generation of Cain and Abel. Cain had strong words spoken to him, there was great hope given to Cain and he did not desire it, and he did not want to take the opportunity, the firstborn does not want to take the opportunity. Thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellently of dignity and the excellency of power. It does not satisfy the Father it is as unstable as water and Jacob and Esau had to learn the same. Jacob came right down and bowed himself and they gathered his feet onto the bed and gave up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people. Who was his people? His people were the people of God. Our only hope is we want to be gathered unto the Father. And here Jacob was saying gather yourself together.
The firstborn nature needs putting down. In the world this firstborn nature is so mighty, and so powerful and has done great things, it will all come to an end. It will all come crashing down. The second-born nature that God wants to put within us is the only nature that will find favour in the eyes of the Father. The firstborn nature wants to be in everything. The new Christ nature realises that the firstborn nature is as unstable as water.
The difference between conforming and transforming. To conform means we go down to the lowest level, and to transform means we are brought up to the highest level, and God wants to transform us into the image of his Son. I wondered what those other men were thinking when they started to listen. When we begin to listen, there is nothing in us. What will my Father say about me? We long to listen, we long to get what the Father has to say to us.
Then it says of Simeon and Levi they were “instruments of cruelty in their habitation. O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour be not thou are united.” Don’t get into something that will destroy us, don’t get taken up with things that we think are good on the surface and have no substance of Christ. Has no substance from the Father. It might have been instruments of jealousy, and jealousy is as cruel as the grave, we need it dealt with and it is just another part of the horrid human nature and it must be dealt with.
I was reading of the blessing when Moses gathered the people together and Moses blessed the children of Israel before his death. Deut 33:2-3 “And he said the Lord came from Sinai and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from Mount Paran and he came with ten thousand of saints; from his right hand went a fiery lawful for them. Yea, he loved the people, all his saints are in thy hand, and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words.” That is the blessing Moses wanted to tell the people who cried. They had become families. They had become tribes. God wanted to tell them. These are the blessings. And it says a fiery law went from God’s right hand for them.
When we read through the blessings, we read Simeon had not stood the fire, he did not withstand the fire. Levi went on and became a different man and he took the fire to himself and dealt with the things that were in his human nature. Simeon was not mentioned in the blessings and maybe he felt when Moses wound it all up and gave them all the blessing and he may have felt that is all for me, we want to be careful what we cling to, we want to cling to the things that have come to us and help us to understand this is for me. It says that he loved all his people and all his saints united and they had sat down at thy feet. Everyone shall receive thy word; it is a beautiful thing. I was thinking of it yesterday everyone shall receive of thy word, how gracious is our Father and he loved every one of us will receive a message.
And then Judah comes into the picture V 8, 9 10 “Judah thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise; thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son thou art gone up; for he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” Judah the lion of the tribe of Judah, giving a foretaste of our Saviour. Judah thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise, if we want that Christ nature within us. It’s not that we want praise of the brethren. A little like Naphtali in Deut 33:23 And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the Lord; process thou the west and the south. Isn’t that what we want? Satisfied with the favour of God? Satisfied that the blessing of the Lord falls upon us?
Judah is a lion whelp from the prey. The lion whelp is just like the little lions, satisfied with whatever comes to them, the mother and the father bring the prey to them and they feed upon it and are satisfied. The Father has great things to bring to us these days from the will of God, from the heart of God and it is wonderful if we are like the lion’s whelp and we will be satisfied with what comes to us and we will take it, we will feed upon and we will mature. Becoming an old lion who shall rouse us up. It is a beautiful thing to me about our elderly people. I have been privileged to see a number of them here and to see the elderly ones gathered in to convention and who shall rouse them up. There is a beauty in just being settled, a beauty in just being satisfied. There will be a whole thing out in the jungle that would rouse up the old lion, they would see something and go after that, they will see something else and go after that and I will go fast and I will get that.
And old lion and who shall rouse him up. Such a blessing to see the old people settled. To see this is just another storm that is passing, and that is another wave that will wash over us. Someone was telling us about talking with an elderly couple. They were sharing from 25 years back about a huge storm that had come. That is what storms do: blow different doctrines, blow up different circumstances, thundering and lightning and showing up other things. And concerning this storm 25 years ago we made it through. Storms pass and they put goodness into the earth, storms take away the dead things, storms do a lot of good and we made it through. I often heard it when I was young you cannot put an old head on young shoulders. God can give wisdom to the youth, he can help them to be settled, to see this is something that will pass. We don’t need to be troubled; we don’t need to be stirred and we have had one who has fed us all our life-long days.
Thinking about another convention. It is like a convention to me. At the end of Matthew 4, a great multitude followed Jesus. And then in the beginning of chapter 5: seeing the multitude he went up into the mountain, and when he was set, his disciples came unto him, and he opened his mouth and taught them. Jesus opened his mouth and taught them. They did not have to say anything. They were settled. When Jesus was settled, they were all settled. We have heard so much about just being settled. And last night about coming in and being quiet and sitting down, and only God can do that. And only God could bring a company of over 300 people quietly, and sit together for 10 to 15 minutes and not say anything. And they might not have seen each other for a long time, and they just come in and sit quietly and that is the power of God. And you go to any other place there is a lot of noise, and it won’t stop until whatever it is gets started. Not God’s people they are waiting. And when Jesus sat, his disciples came unto him, and he talked to them.
One thing I want to share is in chapter 6 of Matthew v 13 and the last part of it. “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen”. For thine is the kingdom. He was not talking about himself. It was the Constitution of the kingdom. He is addressing the Father and Son. Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. We do not want to forget that. Why are we here? Why has God gathered us? He has gathered us because we are his children. Children of the kingdom. Children of the highest. In Luke’s account, Jesus said “Love thine enemies, and do good and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the highest.” We are children of the highest. Children of the highest kingdom. We have dealt with all the animal kingdom that is in us. That is what Jacob was trying to tell his sons. Deal with the things of human nature. We are children of the highest kingdom, of the highest one of God himself.
Last night we heard about the kingdom of priests and that was beautiful. We have been given access to the holiest of all. God knows we will make sacrifices, and we will handle sacrifices, the sacrifice of ourselves, and the sacrifice of others and he knows that is what he has given us, for thine is the kingdom. And how will we manage all this? And Mary said How will all this be? She could not cope with it. I will bear the Son of God. How will it be? The angel answered and said unto her the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow you. How will we manage, the power of the highest will be given to us. The kindness of God wants to give us the power of the highest to bear the name of his Son. To have him in our lives, and to nurture him. All glory be to God, no glory to self. And all glory to God we have come here, all glory to God that we have come this far, all glory to God that he has enabled us and kept us and shown us and humbled us and proved us that we might be the children of the highest.
There was another convention and I think it was held in heaven. And it’s in the early chapters of the book of Revelation. And John was in the spirit on the Lord’s Day. Up in heaven God was considering his people and he gathered them all together the 7 churches of Asia. And he had them in his heart, and he was holding them close to his heart, close in his hand. Some have not been able to get a convention this year, but they will get the message, they will get notes, they will get a letter and maybe they have heard, but convention comes to them in the end. Some elderly we saw the other day were content that they could not get to Convention. Convention came to them one by one. He gave each Church the same message and they received something different, but they all got the same message and the message was he that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit says unto the churches and he that overcometh. If we get no other message God help us get that message, listen and get the message that God speaks to your heart. Hear what the Spirit says. Maybe not in words. Maybe not in something you write down. It has nothing to do with what the person is saying. It is the feeling that has overcome you at the time. That is the Spirit speaking. He who has an ear let him hear what the spirit will speak to us these days. May God help us to go out and be overcomers. And all that is shown might be the life of our Saviour. All glory be to him. For Jesus’ sake.
Truth Archive 