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There is a second watch in every Christian-life, in preacher-life, and family-life: a long, lonely period at the dead of night. The first watch is in the evening. It has a glow of sunset, the mystery of twilight. The evening star appears. A hush gathers. Sunset memories linger. One would like to always keep the glow and gladness of the beginning, the zeal and zest of the first days, the push and press of the first love. Nothing too hard, raring to go and take the heavy end of the load, the long end of the road, willing to face any enemy, fight any devil, rough, but ready with a sense of immediacy. The Kingdom of God is at hand! The flush of first victories, the tastes of first fruits give impetus to be faithful in the first watch. The third watch, “cock crowing,” Mark 13:35, the morning star appears; hope stirs; dawn is nearing; shadows are fleeing. The long night will soon pass in which one has earned their spurs.

The second watch is the in between, and the most difficult. Night closes in. These are the darkest hours, the midnight hours, the lonely hours and the times of terrible testing! It happens to little churches and also to the ministry. Threatening hours come. Doubts arise. Is this really our calling? Have we made the right choice? Meetings seem dull. Messages misdirected, interest nil, people listless. A thousand voices whisper, “Quit!” You never thought it could be this way! This is the second watch. Stay with it! There will be a break! This weary watch will pass. The morning star will rise. Stand fast! Keep at your post in this critical stretch. In the first watch, perhaps even Judas made a good showing. In the beginning, in the first watch, he made it without a purse or pack, without extra robes, or reservation. It was the second watch that brought him down, the dark hours when it looked hopeless. “Every man for himself,” he figured, backing out when he could. Demus, too, began well. He looked like a sure winner, with great possibilities, as great as Timothy and Titus. He is mentioned with Luke and Mark, both gospel writers. Then somehow, separation came. It was the second watch. He began to think selfishly, “I am not getting my due place. I am not getting recognition and say in the matter!” He looked out on the world. Others were getting on well in business. They had money, homes, and families. His heart followed his eyes. He denied his high calling. He quit: a drop-out and perishing souls were forgotten.

May God save us in this second watch! If you run away from the call of God, there is trouble ahead for you as was for Jonah. Place and possessions can never soothe a remorseful conscience. It will write discontent over the best job and finest home. You cannot expect someone else to “go” for you when God laid His call on your heart. It is possible to become a chamber of sorrows, a haunted soul. The most beautiful home can become a chamber of horrors. It is as though you walked away from a drowning child, or failed to help at the scene of an accident. You will live with a coward. God help the person that marries you. Remember, it wasn’t until the fourth watch that Jesus came, walking on troubled waters, unto His dismayed, but still toiling disciples.

There is a second watch in our spiritual experience. Hours that try our souls! Tests prove what we are made of. It is possible to stop fighting in such moments, to let up, to take it easy, allowing little things to hinder. We may not always be in meetings, and when present, not always a word in season. We look upon former days as the best; the weakness of others hinder and are used as excuses, just the form, and no joy in His service. The second watch has overtaken you. Darkness is closing in. Don’t curse it! Light a candle. Drowsiness is settling over. Don’t slumber! Be vigilant! Weariness is bearing down. Don’t lose your grip. Stir afresh! Get a new lease on life. Renew your faith. Do your first works. Hope in His promises, “I’ll never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Draw near to the Lord. His hands are outstretched even toward the disobedient and gainsaying, beckoning thee back to watch and wait the coming day.

There is a second watch in marriage, too. Romance is past. Things have changed. Fresh problems arise. In the first watch, you struggled together, shared your hopes and enthused together, consulted one another. But a drift set in. She let cooking and housekeeping and children fill all her time. Lack of quietness. No time to reason together. Put off ‘until later. Habits are formed and fixed. Marriage has lost its warmth and welcome of the first watch: became a dismal, weary sentry duty. Coolness develops, resentment appears, even indifference and you don’t care any longer. It is the second watch, and a danger of marital tragedy. Hold on! Don’t take things for granted. Face facts! Keep alive. Nothing can take the place of true love and affections. Cling to mutual interests. Together fight the darkness and drabness of this weary watch. Look at Abraham and Sarah. After years of experiences, Sarah, in her heart, called Abraham, “My Lord.” It is possible to call one another “honey” with the lips, but “beeswax” in the heart! Criticizing your partner is only finding fault with your own judgment.

There is a second watch in raising a family. It is not always fun or frills. Often there are bumps and bruises, stress and strain in human ties. Little children are little problems; big children, big problems. The boy seems bent on bringing shame to your name. The girl sets herself against your wishes, against prayer and protest. The second watch will prove how much you can take, how much sacrifice you can make. You’ll be glad you rode out the storms, steering a straight course – by Bible-backed discipline and direction.

I liked history when in school, and teachers’ college. Now it serves well to have some knowledge of history. I see things in the Bible confirmed by history! Events now happening in the Middle East point to the fulfillment of Scriptures. Zechariah 14 tells of all nations gathered against Jerusalem. That condition exists right now. It’s a powder-keg just waiting for the match to set off the explosion of the entire Middle East.

Yet we know what Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3. He mentions 8 verses to describe marks that will be seen during the perilous times. I am led to believe that the Beast that had the deadly wound which was later healed is Muslin fundamentalism. As they fit into the Bible picture. They were very strong back in the 10th and 11th centuries. They nearly conquered all Europe at that time. They came across North Africa, killing off the entire Roman civilization. If people didn’t become Mohammedans, they’d cut their throats. A ‘pincer movement.’

One army went up through Spain and the other army crossed Turkey killing off all the Christians. Remember the 7 churches of Asia minor were in what is now called Turkey. They continued in Bulgaria and were beaten back at the walls of Vienna. All Europe stirred and arose as one man to save their lives and their Christian faith. It was a life and death struggle. No quarters were asked and no prisoners were taken! The Europeans fought these “invaders” to a stand still! These Mohammedans fought on to the very end. They were badly beaten. They received a stunning defeat! They were routed, a terrible debacle. So wounded that many thought it was a fatal wound, that they would never rise again! It took them years to recover. They remained in a dormant condition for almost 1,000 years.

Now the deadly wound is healed. They are awakened and want their former power and prestige back. They once ruled from Spain to India and all North Africa. They tried to take over Black Africa, but they couldn’t conquer “malaria of the rain-forest” of Africa. Their goal now is to destroy Israel and then the USA. The bombing of New York Trade Center is just one sentence out of their book to regain their former greatness and from there “go on to dominate the entire world.” We believe God is just working out His Eternal Plan and no man can stay His Hand. He is fulfilling the Scriptures. The “healing of the deadly wound” of the beast, that is, they’ll return to their former power and prestige, and also to the Koran, as some of the Arabic nations have deviated from the Koran.

They once ruled such a vast domain, much of the known world back there, 500 years before Columbus. Now chafing and frustrated by their defeat and stagnation of past centuries. They have lost their grip both civil and spiritual over countries where once they ruled. Muslims are on the move everywhere to “recapture and return to their former glory” and above all to the Koran, for they are all wanting to die for their God. The first thing on their agenda is the destruction of Israel! As that little country of 2.5 million Israelites surrounded by vast areas and at least a 100 Arabs for every Jew.

Little Israel is like a tiny spot on the map. Every Arab nation has sworn to drive the Jews into the sea. All points to the fulfillment. A great time of suffering. Only those whose names are written in the Book will be saved and their residue will not be cut off. But when these nations are gathering to destroy Israel, the Lord’s feet shall touch down on the Mount of Olives and He will go forth to fight for them as in the day of battle. Romans 11:25-26, when the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, then all Israel will be saved. I don’t understand how all this will happen, but I believe the Bible, and all shall come to pass as it is written. Jesus in Luke 21:36, “Watch and pray that ye might be accounted worthy to escape all these things when it shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man.” Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away but My Word shall never pass away.” His promises are surer than His natural laws!

There are certain things that money can’t buy. Money can buy a house but cannot buy a home! Money can buy food but cannot buy an appetite! Money can buy medicine, but not health! Money can buy religion but cannot buy salvation! Money can buy sermons but cannot buy the Gospel! Money can buy the Bible but cannot buy the blessings and the promises given in the Bible! Money can buy knowledge but cannot buy wisdom! Money can buy talk but it cannot buy time. People waste time, serve time, kill time! Kill time! It’s not murder, it’s suicide! Yet salvation is found within the brackets of time!

Revelation 10 speaks of a mighty angel standing with one foot on the earth and the other foot on the sea, proclaiming with a powerful voice that time is no more. It doesn’t mean the end of the world nor of an age. It means time and opportunity are past. It means it’s too late to repent and believe the Gospel. Time for repentance is no more. Like clay in the Potter’s Hands, can be modeled, fashioned and shaped, but once in the furnace it can never be changed. That’s what Revelations 22:11 means, “He that is righteous let him be righteous still, he that is defiled, let him be defiled still.” It means: They must remain forever as they are! When we die our spirits return to God and whatever kind of a spirit we might have then, it will be the same for all eternity!

No wonder Ecclesiastes 9:10, “Whatsoever your hand findeth to do, do it with all your might, for there is no work, nor device nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest.” Even this verse needs to be tempered with the verse that follows. “The race is not to the swift.” (It’s an obstacle race) “the battle is not to the strong.” (Think of young David, killing the mighty giant.) “Neither yet bread to the wise.” It’s revelation, not information. It’s divine direction, not human skill.

The disciples fished all night and caught nothing! Jesus said, “Cast your net on the right side of the ship!” And they got a great haul of fish, that even the nets began to break. They had to signal to others to come and help, they filled both boats till they began to sink! “Nor riches to men of understanding.” Proverbs 13:7, “There is he that maketh himself rich and had nothing! There is he that maketh himself poor and had great riches.” Many hands make light work. I am writing letters; More than 64 years in the work, so don’t expect much of me! I asked Troy Craig, our elder brother, for a job. His answer, “We want you to answer the dinner bell, write letters, and prepare for meetings.”

So, I’m getting to spend more time than usual studying the Bible. This is getting long, so must close. Trust that these lines find you well and encouraged. I will close with every Good Wish in Christ,

Your letters are appreciated!!

“Watch your Thoughts; they become Words”

A marvelous chapter! It deals with the “gray-area” not explicitly covered. We find here at least 7 “guide-lines” to help us make this personal decision. We are not under law but grace! Liberty is not License! No hard and fast rules can be made for eat and drink, wear, and work and how to spend the Lord’s Day, or proper recreation! Some are strong and some are weak. Yet everyone must reach a position of settled conviction: verse 5, “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind!” This chapter helps us to come to this place, “Fully persuaded.”

1) STAY OFF THE JUDGMENT SEAT: Don’t condemn anyone because he does not see things exactly as you do! “One believeth that he may eat all things, another who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him that eateth not judge him that eateth.” It is not our place to judge! “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant?” I’m responsible to God for the way I live. Before God, I stand or fall! A young mother lost her husband in the war, and left her 6 year old child, who was going blind, in an orphanage. She said, “I’ll be back!” 12 years later, now remarried and with means, she tried to find her child that had been adopted. A detective located her and after a long search found her in a fairly well-to-do home! Now a blind young lady, she was singing in operas, as she had a beautiful voice. First, she didn’t want to have anything to do with her real mother. “She knew I was going blind and she abandoned me!” Finally a meeting was arranged. The detective led the blind young lady to her mother’s arms. She placed her hands on both sides of her daughter’s face! “Dear, how you have grown, how beautiful!” The blind girl felt the warm hands gently caress her neck, her arms, her shoulders, her breast – until it dawned upon her! Why, Mother, are you blind also? And she fell into her mother’s arms to weep! What a difference the Truth made, now all was so clear.

2) ACT IN THE LIGHT OF THE FINAL JUDGMENT OF CHRIST: “Why dost thou set at naught thy brother?” We shall all stand before the Judgment seat of Christ, and give an account of ourselves to God. This is His prerogative. We are not qualified! We do not have access to all the evidence. I Corinthians 4:5, “Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who ‘both’ will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall every man have praise of God.”

3) WRONG WHEN YOUR CONSCIENCE TELLS YOU IT’S WRONG: True, (Romans 9:1) only when our conscience is bearing us witness to the Holy Ghost. 14:14,”There is nothing unclean of itself, but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.” Another person’s conscience cannot be our guide! Verse 20, “All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.” He goes against his own convictions. Verse 22, “Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.” Each one knows what he can allow for himself. One man’s meat is another man’s poison.

4) DO NOTHING THAT WOULD BE A STUMBLING-BLOCK TO ANOTHER: Verse 13, Love should be stronger than conscience. Verse 15, “But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.” Am I my brother’s keeper? Your brother’s spiritual welfare comes before your personal pleasure. My business is to help rather than hinder! Will this be an example, or will it mar my testimony? Our conscience must be exercised to remain sensitive. Thus His Word and His Spirit are monitors of the soul! Then, we’ll know what is pure and what is doubtful.

5) DON’T BRING SECONDARY THINGS INTO THE CENTER: Don’t major in minors! Verse 17, “The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Goodness is not righteousness. Keep things in their proper perspective. Keep Christ front and center! Placing emphasis where God has not placed it makes for divisions and clicks. “For meat destroy not the work of God.” Adjectives should modify, not determine!

6) BE SURE THAT OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD SO-CALLED DOUBTFUL THINGS MAKE FOR PEACE AND EDIFY: Verse 19, The goal is harmony! Be a “peace-maker” and not a “peace-breaker!” Encourage all by sowing “good-will” and “good-works.” The joy of the Lord is our strength! You can’t have a river with only one bank. We need objectivity: both faith and works.

7) MAKE ATTITUDES AND ACTIONS CONSISTENT WITH OUR FAITH: Any weakening in our resolve to match our profession with a live performance will only impair a good conscience and dim our Vision! Verse 23, “He that doubteth is damned”… because “whatsoever is not of faith is sin!” These Guidelines give Jesus the benefit of any doubt. Whenever I consider my personal pleasure or pursuits a “higher goal” than I do the “Master’s Service,” (meetings, etc.) my actions are at odds with my faith and my life is powerless to convict and to convert. Jesus can never be second best. If He can’t have “first place,” He’ll not have any place! We are responsible for our influence. We are either carriers of health or of disease! We are under obligation to our Master to live so that the Holy Ghost, through us, may set forth Jesus to the Best Advantage!

One of my companions in Morocco spoke of seeing some bird-shells and a nest under a tree. He felt sad thinking some bird of prey had destroyed the nest; then looking up he saw 6 little birds sitting in a row on a branch of that same tree. A feeling of delight came over him. The nest had been destroyed: these little birds had come out of the shells; like bodies in the grave and spirits of the just will be given a new body; like the resurrection morn, when the spirits of the just will be given a new body like unto His glorious body.

The resurrection: at home in our garden; we would take a pointed stick and make holes in the soil to plant seeds, like little graves. Later, little plants came forth like a resurrection. We also saw little caterpillars spinning cocoons; like making their own coffins. They were all winter long closed in tiny caskets; but in springtime, beautiful, winged-creatures. Butterflies came out of those cocoons. What a marvel, like a resurrection.

Without a resurrection, there would have been no New Testament Church. Many had seen the risen Lord. It was a conviction based on actual experience. Nothing added, the disciples saw and believed. It was not a legend that was skillfully added afterwards; no mental hallucination, seeing visions as actual manifestations of the resurrection. They forsook Jesus and fled, only two followed him to the trial in Pilate’s judgment hall. Peter denied Him, using an oath to off-set his Galilean dialect, to prove that he never knew Him. As He suffered on the cross, only John and a few women were nearby. Calvary was a lost world to them. Their heaven had fallen, in their darkness and doubt, they sulked away. Yet these are the very men, who a few days later, are found facing the authorities, suffering imprisonment in the same city, explain that? It was the resurrection that had changed these disciples; mark their bearing, their zeal. There is no doubt that everything is clear before them now. A work to do! A world to conquer for the Lord of life. Explain this about-face! No hallucinations. Not a feverish expectancy after His crucifixion.

We read, the first day of the week women set out to go to the sepulcher to embalm the body of Jesus, not to meet a risen Christ. As Jesus first appeared, they doubted. They had heard from Mary and the others that Jesus was alive. They believed it not. Luke writes: the message of the women seemed to the disciples as idle Tales. It wasn’t imagination. Jesus first appeared to Mary in the garden, not because she believed He was alive, she mistook Him for the Gardner. “If you have taken the body away, I’ll go and fetch it.” Only when she turned the second time and Jesus called her by name, did she recognize His voice. He refused the desires and impulse of her mind, as she fell to worship Him. He who offered His hands and His side to Thomas commands her, “Touch not!” They were not creatures of enthusiasm. Jesus brought discipline to bear upon their newborn zeal, imposing patience, telling them to wait, “for the promise of My Father and be endued with power from on high, power of the Holy Ghost.”

After excitement and visions cease, comes a listlessness and apathy, the inevitable reaction. If any one thinks that was the case here, they have not read the book of Acts. Jesus didn’t talk about the resurrection, He showed Himself alive. After His passion by many infallible proofs, but life, being seen of them 40 days and nights. All this speaks of reality. They were (chewing at the bit) to go and preach the message of the resurrected Christ, but He told them to wait, to stay right there in Jerusalem, where He was so shamefully treated and crucified. He told them to wait and start right there. Little did they know that the Lord was gathering some 5,000 souls in that city, from every known nation of that time; honest souls that would receive the Glorious Gospel, converted by the work and wonder of the Word of life. A resurrected Savior, with the power of the Holy Ghost, God would use them as instruments, the first fruits of the harvest of His life and offering.

Just think what Judas missed, by selling out, instead of abiding faithfully to the end. We see a new and transformed Peter. In those waiting days, Peter felt it, suffered from the fact. They were only 11 Apostles now, as Judas was no longer among them. He found scriptures to answer the thorny question: what had happened to Judas? He was also a disciple, chosen by Jesus to be an apostle, his bishopric was given to another. Jesus didn’t choose another to fill his place, He left that to the disciples. Peter rose to the occasion, fulfilled the scriptures, chosen with God’s approval. One to stand in the vacancy that Judas left, who was numbered with them.

There are many powers and influences in this world which are not the power of the Holy Ghost. With the apostles, it was more than enthusiasm or human impulses, rather compelled by love.

The chief priests and elders of the Jews thought they had finished with Jesus and condemned Him to death and saw Him die on that cruel cross, but they did not reckon with a resurrection: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because if was not possible that He should beholden of it. Only a few weeks later, the apostles were called before these same priests and elders of the Jews who had condemned Jesus to death on the cross. Why? Because of the resurrected Christ. They were asked, “By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?” Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, answered, “Be it known to ye all and that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole.” (Acts 4:10)

Not only the 12, but also Paul and the others preached the resurrection of the just and unjust. All must give an account of how they lived, and will be held responsible for their acts and deeds of this life. Death is not the end; just behind death’s door are two places: one (Paradise) where the righteous are resting from their works, waiting for the resurrection. Lazarus is there, carried by the angels! The rich man is in the other place; so separated, that there is no possibility to cross from one place to the other. That is settled in this life, by what you do with Jesus. Don’t miss it. Live that we might be worthy of it.

Revelation 10:7 – “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he sounds the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servant the prophets.” John is definite: He reports, “In the days,” not in the day. The “finish” covers a space of time. God’s ultimate purpose is called a “mystery.” Our relationship to it is also a mystery! God’s Way is a mystery to the world; it is at “cross purposes” with a world system. There will be a culmination. John deals with judgments. The seven trumpets include the seven vials. “Total judgment!” God rejects the world’s system! No room for compromise. It is smashed – followed by the Wrath of the Lamb! Christ moves against the Usurper! The Prince of this world is evicted! Prepares the way for Christ to rule 1000 years! What part does the “saved” have in these events?

1 Corinthians 15: 51-52 – “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” For the saved – there is a last trumpet! There is also a last trumpet for the world system! And a last trumpet for those who have lived in the world but have not been a part of it! The last trumpet must sound for the saints before the last trumpet can sound for this God-resisting world system! The saved shall be changed! The greatest in history shall take place: A Blessed Moment! Not a sad note! The “elect shall be caught up to meet Him in the Air!” Some things that have been going on for generations shall be concluded! Suddenly it will be gone! The Christian graves will be empty! The dead shall be raised incorruptible in a second, in a twinkling of an eye: We shall be changed! Not the end of the church! Rather the end of an age! There is a finish as well as a beginning!

On the cross, Jesus said: “It is finished.” He did not mean the mystery of God! Or the mystery of iniquity! Not even His work, as He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, making intercession. His sacrifice and example: the offering for sin was done; nothing to be added! Reconciled to God by the death of His Son and saved by His life in us. We become accustomed to meetings, conventions, Bible studies. “Behold, I show you a mystery:” All comes to an end; in a twinkling of an eye, it will all be over! It doesn’t mean God doesn’t have any more to say! He’ll not use the church; it will be away celebrating the Marriage of the Lamb! God will make His Will and Way clear! Pharaoh finally understood, so will a heedless world, but too late!

Colossians 2:2 – “That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and all riches of full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of the Christ!” In Him are hid all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge! There are two sides of God’s dealings: the Blessed side and the Judgment side. Jesus is our Message, Ministry of Reconciliation, the Blessed side of God’s approach. Make the Gospel real, living! “God so loved the world that He gave His son that they perish not, but have eternal life.”

Luke 4 – as Jesus stood up in the Spirit to find and read from Isaiah 61, He read until verse 19, “to preach the acceptable year of the Lord,” and He closed the Book. Why didn’t He read further? Where He stopped, it reads, “And the Day of Vengeance of our God.” He didn’t come for judgment the first time; He’ll return for that. Not our business either, except when it’s a question of discernment; we all need that kind of judgment. True Christians don’t look forward to Judgment, rather to the coming of our Lord! His coming fills our soul with rapture! A love affair between my soul and the Lord! How to be ready for His coming?

Hebrews 11 – Keep faith! Without faith it is impossible to please God! Enoch had this testimony that he pleased God; do we? The devil will try to deceive the very elect! Fight a good fight of faith! Enoch knew judgment was due centuries before it came! When age 65, he had a son and called him Methuselah, meaning, “After him, it shall come!” He lived 869 years and then the storm broke! His Mercy lasted for centuries! People propagated the status quo; made adjustments to the times; abandoned the idea of judgment, got along with sin, too much good and beauty to think of leaving it! So they built, bought and sold, married and gave in marriage! They lost their sense of time! They knew not until the Day came and swept them all away! Not interested in mysteries! Too busy with profit and pleasure! Noah was different; “he walked with God,” sought revelation and found it! “He was warned of God of things not seen as yet!” Judgment! They chose to follow the Plan and Purpose of God! There is a storm ahead: Judgment! There is the Blessed Side: caught up to be with Christ!

Romans 8:22-23 – “not only they, but ourselves which have also the fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” Also Philippians 3:20 – “for our conversation is in heaven; from hence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, etc.” That’s the great experience of this Blessed Side. How?

1 Corinthians 15:53 – “When this corruptible (which is in the graves) will put on incorruptible (shall be risen) and the mortal (man that liveth) shall put on immortality: The Blessed Side, the Redemption of the Saints. No one should feel there is plenty of time! For it doesn’t say: When these things shall come to pass; but when these things begin to come to pass, then look for His return.

Revelation 7 – Sealed Book: Jesus purchased this earth; has a legal mandate to eject the Usurper forcibly and take control of the purchased possession! The Occupant must be forcibly removed! Satan and his world system kicked out! Redemption of the purchased possession: Price has been paid in full on Calvary, only the full realization of the Purpose remains! We are heading rapidly in that direction: Our Redemption draweth nigh!

Romans 2:5 – Day of Wrath and Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God!

1 Thessalonians 6:9 – A glorious something is in prospect: God had not appointed us unto wrath. Quite different for those not redeemed, not caught up.

Revelation 9:6 – “Seek death and shall not find it.” No man can sin with impunity. Note the exception when it came to Sodom and also the Flood! (1) Enoch! (2) Noah and family! God-given illustrations indicate a pattern God has set: Enoch was caught up; he was not, for God took him! It happened in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye! Nothing said about Mrs. Enoch or members of the family! God suddenly removed this man of faith: This preceded the flood, God’s judgment!

Genesis 19:22 – Angel to Lot: I cannot do anything till thou art come hither!

Jude 14, 15 – The Gospel Truth! What happened to Noah and family is different; they went through the flood and were preserved in it. One witness (Israel) is sealed and preserved to form the nucleus of the new nation! Both Israel and the True Church – An antagonistic world system is bent on destroying them! It will take God’s intervention to preserve them both.

This chapter deals with Perfection, directing our vision towards God’s standard. We need this perfect standard to go by; this perfect model to follow, a perfect way, marked out for us; a perfect will, and a perfect work to do. Here Jesus gave the perfect standard for the human family: the PERFECT UNION: “they twain shall be one flesh.” The PERFECT SELF-DENIAL: “for the Kingdom of heaven’s sake.” The PERFECT MODEL: “as a little child.” The PERFECT MINISTRY: “sell all, give to the poor; come and follow Me.”

They, tempting Jesus, tried to catch Him in His words to accuse Him before the people. But He always used such occasions to teach “great truths.” He never fell into their trap, never stooped to argue. Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? Jesus took them back to the “beginning.” There will never be some revelation that will change what was given in the beginning. This “perfect union” is so important because it is a type of the relationship between Christ and the Church. For this reason, He doesn’t want this union divided or separated. Jesus came to seek a Bride [Church] and the “one” accepted is willing to “obey,” to say yes forever! Any change would break the true type, the true word and this oneness. “Joined to one another” would be living in sin. We can’t expect the unsaved to keep this standard, but it is required of His own.

Why then did Moses command to give a writing of divorcement? “Because of the hardness of your hearts.” The evil was already present, the wrong existed; this note of dismissal was only acknowledging their sin. It was admitting their error, not justifying it. God’s word is very definite: In the beginning it was not so. What God had joined together let no man put asunder. No one can disobey Christ or separate from Christ and be accepted; and much less be married to another – to their tradition or doctrine. God has placed the Human Family to speak of Christ and the Church, and whosoever breaks this union is not without sin. The disciples well understood the words of Jesus. He meant no separation, except in case of unfaithfulness , and then “no marrying another.” They said to Jesus, “If the case of the man be so .. it is not good to marry.”

This gave Jesus an opportunity to reveal more of God’s Standard: “the perfect self-denial.” Jesus made it clear that this is not for all men; only those for whom God has appointed it. Those, who for the Kingdom of Heaven’s sake are willing “to go all the way.” For the Lord’s sake they refuse what is legal and legitimate and deprive themselves of what they might lawfully have. Jesus spoke of three classes of eunuchs. 1st, some who are incapable of marriage because they were born so, due to some corporal defect. They have no credit coming. There is no credit coming. There is no merit to their celibacy, because it is not voluntary. 2nd, some were incapable of marriage because they were made so by men; by cruelty this condition was forced upon them. Thus there is no merit or benefit. 3rd, those who renounce marriage for the sake of the Kingdom. Jesus was definite that this was “only for those whom it is given.” Those who for the Gospel sake keep themselves free, voluntary celibacy, in view of something that is even higher than marriage faithfulness.

The “perfect ministry:” The rich young ruler came running to Jesus – a very good mark. He fell at Jesus’ feet – a very good attitude. “What must I do to inherit Eternal Life?” – a very good question! Everything seemed so favourable. Why did he miss the blessing? What went wrong? We get to the root of the matter studying the words of Jesus, directed to the person in question. He never spoke amiss. He never missed the mark. He always touched the spot, revealed the need and met the need. Jesus said, “If thou wilt enter into life.” That’s what was missing! He had the form but not the force! He had kept the precepts from his youth; the letter of the law was in order. He lacked life, the germ, the kernel. He himself realized something was wrong. “What lack I yet?” he asked.

Now Jesus added, “If thou wilt be perfect…” Two distinct ways are defined here: the way of precepts and the Way of perfection; the way of the law and the Way of love. The commandments are good. The law is a schoolmaster to lead to Christ. All this is just preparation, a shadow of perfection. In Christ we have the perfect Way, the perfect example, the perfect Redemption, the perfect will, even perfect peace for those whose minds are stayed on Him. There is a price tag on this perfection. This young man wanted to preach too, with the twelve. But he didn’t want to fulfill the conditions. He wasn’t sincere; he didn’t mean all he said. “What must I do?” He was bowed in body, but his will was not bowed. He was moved outwardly, but inwardly he didn’t budge a bit. The first thing Jesus asked him to do, “Sell all, give to the poor: come and follow Me!” He was not willing. He turned away sorrowful, not wanting to part with his wealth. Peter remembered the conditions he and the other 11 had fulfilled to become apostles, “Master, we have left all and followed Thee, what shall we receive?” Jesus spoke not only for the 12, all who would follow Him in the regeneration would one day sit with Him in glory reigning. Everyone that hath forsaken houses or brethren, etc., for My Name’s sake, shall receive 100 fold and shall inherit Everlasting Life.

The Father divided unto ‘them’ their portions! We hear about the ‘lost son.’ Which one? Both were in need of salvation. Just as the first verses of this chapter show us; the publicans and sinners drew near to hear Him and the scribes and Pharisees murmured. These two classes are clearly seen in the two sons. One had a great need of being saved from ‘sin’ and the other just as great a need of being saved from ‘self.’ One was in a far country, while the other thought he was far better, yet he was in a far corner.

This is the ‘pearl’ of parables: Shows the father’s mercy in spite of misery and meanness of sinful man; his paternal patience, keeping the home fires burning. He faithfully waited with an open heart and home, bearing the storm and fury of years of wrong from disobedient children. The plot of the parable proves that each one must choose. For the far-country or the far-corner, or for the Father’s fellowship and feasting. These decisions determine much of the heart-break and tragedy or joy and gladness that will eventually befall oneself and others!

‘The elder son was angry and would not go in, therefore came the father out and entreated him.’ This son had a negative attitude, a chronic complainer of everything, fault-finding in the face of a pleading father. In compassion, the father went out of his way to seek him, wanting him to partake in all he had. The Son’s anger shows he too was a ‘great way off’ from the spirit of the father’s household. As there is joy in heaven even when one sinner repents.

The father finds it fitting to be glad. The servants too have their part in preparing the feast. All were happy because of the lost one’s return, except the elder son.

‘The elder son heard music and rejoicing.’ He called one of his servants and asked, “What meaneth this?” It was more than a pretty tune. It was redemptive music with an ‘air’ of victory. He was offended. Music has the power to move us to express our feeling of joy or sorrow.

It is a media to help carry the message of salvation. There is something about the Gospel songs that associate themselves closely with our salvation; Such as ‘Be in Time’ & ‘Have You Counted the Cost.’ They helped us over the ‘line of decision’ for Christ. They still stir up our memories.

“Lo these many years have I served thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandments.’ He put stress on his record, ‘many good works;’ on his length of service, ‘Many years;’ and on his righteousness, ‘Neither transgressed I at any time.’ Very self- righteous, justifying himself. Yet in reality, resisting and opposing his father’s pleadings! One of the worst sins is the ‘feeling of no sin.’ One of the worst conditions is the ‘feeling that one has need of nothing.’

‘Thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my friends’… He belonged to the entertaining crowd that find their fun in playing and picnics. ‘My friends’ indicate a private cooperation, a select group, perhaps shunning others. It is possible to substitute culture for conversion, special for spiritual, fleshly interest for godly, in their professed efforts to help others, even young people under this cloak that hides the real truth.

‘But as soon as this thy son was come, who had devoured thy living with harlots’ … He could not accept the prodigal as a brother. The servants said, “Thy brother has come!” The father said, “Thy brother who was lost, is found.” But the elder son, no! He was unforgiving, still clinging to the past; As far as he was concerned, his brother was still lost, still in the far country. He mourned the loss of ‘goods,’ but not the loss of a brother.

The prodigal had regretted and repented of the way he wasted the father’s fortune, wasted his time and wasted his life. These bitter experiences brought him to himself. Famine came into his soul, causing him to ‘arise’ and go to his father. This was the ‘very thing’ so lacking in the elder son. His profession of having always rightly used his father’s goods, was only self-deception. He never regretted the miserly way he had kept all for himself and his friends. The father would have gladly suffered the loss of ‘his goods’ many times over, if such would have produced repentance in his ‘elder son.’

‘Thou has killed for him the fatted calf’ … He was angry about the loving sacrifice bestowed on others; that too much attention was paid to his younger brother who was so unworthy and vile. It’s possible to have sacrifice without love, but impossible to have love without sacrifice! God loved and gave His Son. Jesus loved and gave His all! The disciples loved, spent and gave, too.

The father’s answer to all his complaints was, “All that I have is thine.” What have we appropriated from God’s provision? What have we made our own, of His grace? What have we affirmed from His Word? How much have we proved His power? How much of his image do we bear? The means are at our disposal; have we participated? Have we drawn on it? Jacob drew a contract and became the Israel of God. Elijah drew fire and broke a national apostasy. Jonah drew repentance and turned an entire city around. Mary drew compassion and out came seven devils. Peter drew a miracle and Dorcas returned to life. The prodigal son drew reconciliation and received a royal welcome, cleansed and clothed in royal raiment, favored and fed a royal repast.

The possibilities are limitless. “All God has is ours, at our disposal.” It is a sin to ‘not come in,’ to deny ourselves these heavenly riches and just live on the scraps of time! It is a mistake to allow the ‘past sins’ of others to hinder us! We all have sinned and come short. Sin is sin, whether it be the gross, vulgar, fleshly sin of the prodigal or ‘self sophisticated’ refined religious sin of the elder brother. When Jesus spoke of ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth,’ He never applied it to the prodigal type of sinner, rather the older brother type. Once we are washed, the stains of sin, whether dark or dim, big or small, will be no more.

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but empties today of its strength. A defeat that makes us humble is better than a victory that makes us proud.

This book is a “gold mine” of TRUTH, a close up of the dealings of God and His ways with men on the earth.

THEME: Misfortunes and sufferings of the righteous. We, like children, don’t understand suffering. Why should one go through the ordeal of having a tooth pulled? Children think the dentist is cruel, their parents don’t love them. I doubt if any of us understand this problem any better than Job. Few came out of it as enriched and successful as he. Thus Job must be reckoned as one of the Great Men who lived on the earth, and this Book as one of the Great Writings of all time.

The Bible often quotes, “Each one will be rewarded according to his own works.” It agrees with our own idea of justice. However, viewing the sufferings of the just, the misfortunes of the righteous, while evil prospers and error seems to succeed, one is led to believe that there are many exceptions to this rule. Faith is the answer. We need to see beyond the present veil. Romans 8:28, “All things (not one or two) work together for good to those that love God and are called according to His purpose.” Had Job known what was going on in Heaven, it might have been easier to endure. He walked by faith, not by sight. Right and wrong make claims on the highest level. Satan accused Job. God is tolerant or He’d not allow an accusing voice to be heard. God never argues. He allows time and events to prove His points. I Peter 1:15, “By well doing put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.” God has nothing to fear from gainsayers. If God will listen to Satan, He will listen to us.

God allowed the devil to test and tempt Job. So we’ll not escape. Have we faith to rise above the afflictions, to come forth from the refining fire as gold? Job did.

There are three periods to testing: (Before) Preparation; (During) Formation; (Afterwards) Results. Testing depends upon the degree of preparation. In the potter’s house, a vessel is done on the wheel before it goes into the furnace. These “before” periods in Job’s life helped him through the trials. He feared God and eschewed evil. The Lord had first place.

1st Test: The loss of all his possessions was a hard blow! However, Job had the proper preparation, he was comforted knowing he had used these temporal things rightly, for the need of others. Though he was rich, wealth did not go to his head. He had acted as a wise steward of the things committed to his trust. They’ll not rise in judgment against him. “I delivered the poor that cried, the fatherless and him that has none to help. I was eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, I was a father to the poor.” Job 1:21, “ The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”

2nd Test: Was perhaps a greater blow, the loss of all his family, except his wife who only brought more trouble. “Dost thou still retain thine integrity. Curse God and die.” Job’s answer, “What shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil?” Thoughts of the preparation period no doubt helped him to weather the storm and sin not. He was concerned about the family. He knew that true religion must start at home. He wanted his children saved. He had been a good example, had a good testimony, lived righteously before God. He hadn’t looked upon his children as angels, “It may be my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Though no such signs were visible, yet Job rose early to offer up sacrifices for each one of them. He had no pets nor favorites. “Thus did Job continually.” It was not a yearly event, rather a daily one.

3rd Test perhaps was the hardest to bear, misunderstanding, especially by those who should have been a help. Solomon said, “A friend loveth at all times and a brother is born for adversity.” Do we come up to this standard? Or would we let our brother down? Job’s would-be comforters only increased his miseries: as friends – turned out to be accusers, character analysts. Thoughts of his “before” period must have strengthened him, the satisfaction of having lived for others. Eliphaz was honest with the record. “Thou hast instructed many.” Job had time for others. He did not want TRUTH to perish nor right to go out. He felt a debtor to his fellowmen. He had convictions and shared them, wanted others to know this GREAT GOD who meant so much to him. 4:3-5, “Thou hast strengthened weak hands.” Job was mindful of others. It was not just talk. He practiced what he preached. He matched his council with consolation, his words with actions. He helped the weak and weary. All knew his stand, his fairness in his dealings. Such examples are prime targets of Satan – envious persons become pawns in his paw to pick to pieces. “Now it is come upon thee and thou faintest; it touchest thee and thou art troubled.” Eliphaz hardly concealed his pleasure. Now it is your turn, your due reward for some wrong instead of acting as Job did when others were needy. God upheld Job before Satan, who used every possible means short of death to bring Job down. Job stood firm in adversity as he had in prosperity. Will we stand? God knows those that are His, and allows them to be put through the fire, which reveals what they’re made of – if the right is there, it produces a finer vessel. What kind of a testimony can God give of us? Would it be one like Job’s?

“Satan came also among them.” He’s there to investigate our profession, to see if it is true – if not, to expose it. He’s there to test, to examine, to see how real is our faith. How long we can hold out and under what conditions. It is like the acid test of impurities. As even the hypocrite can serve God when the sun shines, when things are going his way. That is only selfishness, lip service or just pure politeness. That’s why God allows the devil to work on us, to save us from such. Satan’s purpose is to separate us from God, get us taken up with the difficulties, complaining about our lot, the sifting, that is only sifting us. We have the same weapons at our disposal that Jesus used to defeat him – “The Word.” “It is written.” Obedience to it brings the Spirit and Power of God to play in our lives.

God said, “Job is different. There is none like him on earth, perfect and upright.” This was in Job’s heart. Not confessing God with his lips and denying Him with his life; something wrought there by the Spirit of God, a Divine nature born from above. We see its beauty when put to the test, not dulled nor dimmed by fiery trials – only shone forth brighter. Job’s words shatter the powers of evil. This is love, now law, acts not feelings. Nothing more fickle than human feelings. Emotions are as changeable as the wind and just as dangerous. They have their place – they make good firemen, but poor engineers on the train of life. What matters most, in the destiny of our souls is: Have faith in God and the facts of the Scripture! Emotions change!

HIS WORD REMAINS! Only God’s Word shall stand, all else is sinking sand. With Job, it was not “think so” or even “hope so.” I know my Redeemer liveth and He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth, whom I shall see for myself. Again he said, “He knoweth the way that I take, when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has he in His steps, His Way have I kept. I have esteemed the WORDS of His mouth more than my necessary food.” This Way was a path of proofing and problems, a way of tears and trials , hills and valleys. This Way of faith was God’s sword of faith, to learn to trust Him, rather than just the enjoyment of this life. The fire was there not to destroy but to refine, to bring forth the pure gold. Job’s friends, in spite of good intentions, did not understand this Way. They thought Job had taken a wrong way, the way of transgressors, that events had proven him a sinner, one in God’s disfavour. How good to have this confidence and conviction to see us through dark days – long, lonely days of testing. Thus, we’ll not be complaining during this time of processing and preparation while His work is in the making. As it is yet unfinished, the refining is not yet completed. Will there be any gold, something that is Divine, after all that is selfish, worldly and unholy, has been removed from our lives?

Job was sorely tried. “Show me wherefore Thou contendest with me.” No doubt, it was to develop his spiritual gifts. It is in the midst of tests that we go through that we discover the depth of our faith and get to know the riches of His grace. Faith is like a star, it is more visible in the darkness than in the brightness of light. Job asked, “Where is God, my Maker who giveth me songs in the night?” In order for God to prove this fact that He consoles, He must first provide the setting – that is, make the night.. then He can proceed to give the songs in the night as promised. There can be no rainbow without clouds. Rough seas make sailors. The strength of the ship and the greatness of the Captain are best proven in the midst of storms. So the power of faith is best manifested in the midst of trials. Great characters, like great planes, take off against the wind. Some of the best prophets, the best books, and the best visions of Christ of the Old Testament were produced in the midst of tragedy and trouble – a nation broken in agony, crushed by an oppressor, and led into exile.

What sort of world would it be if all life was reduced to a commercial transaction? Everytime we did a good turn, we’d be paid for it right away with a corresponding happiness. Everytime we did wrong, we’d be punished by a corresponding pain. So much sin meant so much sorrow, so much good equaled so much gain! In such a world, there would be no great love, no faith, no self-sacrifice, no heroism. No Ester risking her life, “If I perish, I perish.” No Paul praying for the thorn to be removed. The finest gains cannot be measured by any rule or rod, weighed by any scales of this world. The noblest standing is for Christ in spite of scorn or consequences.

The first page of the New Testament opens with the massacre of the innocent. The Gospel centers in a Cross on which charity and perfection died for sin, as sin. A love for TRUTH against all odds. Choosing right in the midst of wrong. This stand will surely bring something of the experiences of Job into our lives. Yet we can pit our feeble efforts with such, knowing it has God’s backing. Let us take up “our cross” and make it a “badge of honour” to His Name and Glory!

Job was a good man. God said, ”There is none like him on the earth.” God was proud of him, Job knew his limitations. 9:20, “If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me. If I say I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.” 30:1, Job knew he could not cleanse himself, nor did he lay the blame on others. Yet he was troubled in his test. “God destroyeth the perfect and the wicked… the earth is given into the hand of the wicked.” Job felt he had to ask, “Show me wherefore Thou contendest with me?” Job didn’t know the answers. He didn’t know what was going on in heaven. Satan had said to God, “Job can afford to be pious, it has paid him well. If God were to remove the favors and rewards (hinting that Job was being bribed), he would curse God to His face.” That challenge had to be accepted. Would Job be as faithful in suffering as in success? These questions are not new. They have plagued every generation.

How can an all powerful God allow suffering and sickness? Why are there wars? Why accidents? Why a tragedy filled world? It looks like Satan wins all the battles. Why should “evil” be more powerful than God? Such reasoning really turns a lot of people off. It appears that the answers would be easier if God were a monster and people only “playthings” subject to His whims and fancies. Many primitive people take that view, that if people could “do away” with God, then evil would not need to be explained. One could work to prevent wars, accidents, cure cancer, relieve suffering, without blaming it on Him. If an accident occurs, we’d ask, “Why did God do that to me?” If we got cancer, we would demand, “Why did God pick on me?” People could work to end wars without asking, “Why all this bloodshed, destruction and waste?” We have all those arguments because there is a God. And considering the Presence of a Great and Good God, we ask, “How can this be? Why so much evil, riot and rebellion, Why do ‘good people’ suffer as well as ‘the wicked’?”

Job in the long, long ago faced many of these perplexing problems. Yet not as present day pupils, professors, and even some preachers, who argue loud and long heard from press and pulpit bewailing the woes of mankind. Yet they are not personally afflicted, not actually experiencing these ordeals, as Job was. On the contrary, many are well-off, well-placed, and most even well-to-do; whereas Job was speaking from the depths of personal tragedy. His losses and sufferings were immense; his possessions, his family, his home, and even his health. Yet we read, “Job sinned not with his mouth nor charged God foolishly.” That’s so different from most of our modern protestors who spew out vile and venom. The Psalmist depicted them perfectly, “Their throat is an open sepulcher.” Their refrain, “Why doesn’t God do something? Why doesn’t He eliminate illness and accidents? Stop wars? Slay the devil? Fill up the bottomless pit? Or is God dead?” Etc. Etc. Etc.

They forget that God has living principles: For every “effect” there is a “cause.” That every action brings about a reaction! They need reminding of God’s perpetual precept: We reap what we sow! They want a world where it is impossible to “wrong.” They want water that won’t drown. Fire that will not burn anyone; gas that won’t explode; falls that will not hurt. Then a person can jump off a cliff and not break a limb, play with fire without getting burned, head-on collision without getting hurt. What kind of a world would that be? What would be the intelligent caliber of its tenants? This world was not designed as an asylum for amiable stupidity; rather a training ground of the watchful and prayerful; a battleground for the brave and the obedient. Tests and trials are conditional to our perfecting. Dangers develop awareness and carefulness. Through difficulties to the stars! Battles won spell victory. The magnitude of the struggles, the puzzling of the problems drive us to God; we realize we can’t conquer alone.

Job’s friends offered the easy answers. Their arguments occupy the most of the Book. They explored every avenue, better than most modern-day critics. They felt that Job’s losses were due to some secret sins, some hidden faults. They saw pain as punishment for wrong committed, favor as pay for good deeds. They believed Job’s tragedy was proof of his guilt. So much pleasure for so much goodness. So much pain for so much sin. Life thus would be reduced to a commercial transaction. In such a world, there would be no heroism, no courage, na faith, no sacrifice, no great love, no Ester saying, “If I perish, I perish.” No Paul praying for the thorn to be removed and learning, “MY grace is sufficient. My strength is perfected in weakness.” Yes, the “injustice” of the world is a “hard nut” to crack, but there is meat in it. Life begins with a painful birth and ends with a dreadful death. The fabric in between has many dark threads, yet if willing and obedient the final pattern will be pretty. Job refused to blame God or curse the devil. His wife’s hopeless attitude seemed to reveal the best in Job, “The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Such a stand stirred up the devil even more, but it also stirred up heaven on Job’s behalf as the end shows. His “would-be” judges were proven more wrong than Job. We are “not qualified” to be going around assigning blame and blessing. We shall do much better to learn the “lesson” there might be in any given situation, for us. God maketh it to rain on the just and unjust, causeth the sun to shine on the good and the bad. Therefore, we have hope.

Life has its ups and downs, high and low tides. Not always sunshine and light, but also dark days and storms. Variety is the spice of life! We can’t always be on the mountain top, nor do we always stay in the dark valley. When the “going is rough,” when things are at a low ebb, we are apt to believe that God has forsaken us. Chapter 29, Job looked back on good days, when all was well, “Oh, that I were as in the months past, as in the days when God preserved me. When His candle shined upon my head and when by His light, I walked through darkness as I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle; when the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me. When I washed my steps with butter and the rock poured me out rivers of oil.” It is quite evident that he now felt God was not with him; and that in his suffering and loneliness God had forsaken him. Job thought back on days of prosperity and felt that former days were better than these. This, however, was only feelings which can be fickle and false. Those testing times were not punishment for some past sins, rather refining fires that really enriched his life, though he could not believe it at the time.

This chapter is a wonderful record of Job’s past doing and dealings. He willingly gave to the needy; he helped and comforted others; eyes to the blind, father to the poor, strength to the weak. He was so respected by all; such marvellos marks found in this noble man. How good when we likewise seek to help others, comfort the downhearted, strengthen feeble hands – not weary in well-doing. But how will we respond when the “tide changes”; when we find ourselves on the “other end?” We need comfort, help and strengthening – how do we behave then? Maybe God is testing someone else, to see if they’ll be faithful steward when we are down and discouraged.

Job felt far better when he was on the “giving end,” when he could hand out help, dispense comfort, share with the needy, and bless others. There is a “time of sowing and a time of reaping.” Jesus said, “The fields are white ready to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. One soweth and another reapeth. As the sower casts away his seed, he can rightly feel poorer. Nevertheless, with patience at the harvest, he will be richer, because of his sacrifice.” Job found himself in a difficult setting, undergoing terrible times. He who hath been rich, now had practically nothing. He who had been so well and healthy, now was sick and suffering. He who had been respected and appreciated, now was disdained and derided. So often time brings changes: tables are turned. Man isn’t always on the mountain top. Paul said, “I have learned (have we?) in whatsoever state I am, to be content; I know both how to be abased and how to abound – in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.” Paul was not discouraged when the going was rough and he kept humble in prosperity and success. We must likewise learn that God is not only with us in sunshine and light but also in the storm and in the night.

There are two sides to every argument. The defense has a right to be heard as well as the complainers; when man ceases to question God, and the Lord questions man! Job now got to hear the other side. 40:7, “Gird up your loins like a man; I will demand of these and declare thou to Me, ‘Wilt thou dismiss My judgment? Wilt thou condemn Me that thou mayest be righteous?’” 38:4, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? When the morning stars sang together…Who shut up the seas with doors? Hitherto shalt thou come, no further. Here, thy proud waves be stayed. Hast thou commanded the morning and caused the dawn to know its place? Can thou bind the chains of Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion?”

Who can maintain rigidity under such cross-examination? We all agree that there is more to the creation than magic and mystery. There’s enough of both to carry us away. Each sunrise takes our breath, but there’s more; Majesty and Might provide perspective. The demand that we be objective in our observation and reporting – that we won’t slant the story. In this riddle of “undeserved suffering,” it is easy to forget the “enigma of undeserved happiness.” We can be looking at the problem from only one end – ours! The great wonder is NOT that God permits suffering, but that he has made it possible for us to experience so much delight, so much that is enjoyable, so much that sustains and supports us, so much that is beautiful and bountiful.

The “goodness of God” is the Rock upon which all unbelief must fall and flounder. The Almighty need NOT have stooped down to reply to the creatures complaints. Only Love does that. Love patiently reasons. Love has feelings and thirst for response. Arbitrary power need not have condescended to answer weakness by drawing back the veil a bit to reveal, not only the glory of Creation, but its awesome responsibility, its awful weight. God is not answerable to the creature, yet He never holds man in contempt. We may ask questions. We may ask reasons. Job’s complaints were afforded the dignity of a reply. There is still another side: God made everything beautiful and good; it was man that messed it up. The world is a “workshop for panners.” God longs for cooperation and loyalty. He became like us so that we might become like Him. That’s the answer! So let us quit arguing and start trusting! Quit complaining and straying. Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.

** Donald Karnes was 88 years old.

Acts 12:2-4 “And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter, also.” This chapter begins with a life consumed upon the Altar of God! And, it closes with a life laid fresh on the Altar of God! It also begins with an angel of God freeing Peter from the prison! And, it ends with an angel of God smiting Herod! Man proposes, but God disposes! God can square up accounts in a hurry!

This king was the grandson of Herod the Great that sought to kill Jesus, the son of Herod Antipas who had John the Baptist beheaded. Knowing how this brought judgment on these kings for their acts, he was more responsible, and thus, judged even more severely. He got this title as King from Caesar and wasn’t at all beloved of the Jews; thus, he sought to buy their favor at the expense of the Church! Often in the course of history, rulers sought to procure favor from the crowd by blaming the Christians. I am stunned at what a supposedly enlightened world will permit: “Because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter, also.”

Crime and injustice should never please the public; cheating and economical robbery should never get the votes of the taxpayers! What is it that reaches toward the inherent meanness and anti-God that riot in people “intending after Easter to bring him forth to Herod the people?” Herod didn’t want to make sport of the holiday: he wanted to butcher Peter and throw him as a bonus sacrifice towards the Jewish altars “because he saw it pleased the Jews.” Herod was mean and evil but smart, and he knew how to get votes! He pretended that he was the “defender of the Pharisee’s faith.” The Church survives because there are men and women like these in this chapter. Satan can never match them! There was no competition for Daniel: adversaries, yes, but no competition! The gates of Hell shall not prevail. True witnesses are not popular: the Herod’s of today want to please the people and thus, the faithful are marked. It would afford them pleasure to see the disciples humbled or hurt; but don’t forget – God knows the combination of every prison! He can make foolish those who plan the destruction of His Will.

Long, long ago, in an international court, one was heard to utter this word to the King: “The Church is an anvil which has worn out many a hammer” when fresh persecutions were intended. History is our proof of God’s passion for long odds: David against the giant Goliath – the sling versus the sword; Gideon’s three hundred men against the host of Midian; Elijah facing over eight hundred false prophets; and now sixteen soldiers and sentinels to keep an eye on one homeless preacher! In Herod’s estimation, Peter was as good as dead. He felt he had Peter and his God outnumbered! Many have made that same mistake. “But prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.” Herod didn’t count on that! It’s quite a contrast to the world’s system that depends on muscle. God’s people believe in miracles! The world fights for their evil ends with politics. His own battle on their knees with prayers! When they are taken with the barricades, they take to their knees! They didn’t bother Herod with their petitions, but with their prayers – this invisible Source! If they cut this connection, they would, like Samson, be just reduced to human strength. Herod might be a match for us and outnumber us, but he is no match for God! Men’s power cannot divide the Red Sea or shut the lions’ mouths! “When Herod would have brought Peter forth, he could not.” How foolish and ridiculous he had become. Proud Herod was left with an empty prison cell and beautifully dressed guards! God sets the bounds and beyond these, none can go!

Deliverance was so fast that Peter thought it was a vision! “A light shined into the prison…and his chains fell off from his hands.” It was Heaven’s visitation! How quickly light shone in darkness! God can send light into the darkest circumstances! Yet, the angel did not do a thing for Peter that he could not do for himself. The angel awoke him, but Peter had to obey. Arise! He couldn’t remove the chains; they fell as he stood! “Gird thyself and bind on thy sandals, cast thy garment about thee and follow me.” These were some of the first words Peter ever heard from Jesus – “Follow Me!” Here he is hearing it again: the message was simple and he only had to obey. God did the impossible! Peter never could have found his way out of that prison even had all the bands been loosed. He could never have opened the Iron Gate, but the angel led him. He didn’t question, but he didn’t understand fully either! He didn’t ask for an explanation. It all became very clear: trust and obey, there is no other way! One day, He will send an angel to deliver His own, and in spite of the odds or in the face of defeat, hoping against hope, a Light will shine and the chains will fall and our nakedness will be clothed. Jesus reaches all the way!

We may question why certain things happen: why it was James and not another? Was prayer made unto God for James; and if not, why? God doesn’t play favorites! Why was James expendable? When we voluntarily enlist in His service, we must be willing to serve anywhere and in any way. Matthew 16:24 are the conditions. James’ exit was so quick, but it wasn’t the last of him! Had it not happened, Herod could never have foolishly proceeded further. Little did he think his days were numbered as Belshazzar’s were! He was provoked to multiply his crimes. “And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him because he gave not God the glory, and he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost.” That is not much of an epitaph for a man who, moments before, heard the uproar of applause from the crowd. “It is the voice of a god and not of a man.” Sacrifice is an investment that produces dividends in His kingdom! We have the words of Jesus regarding these two sons of Zebedee being fulfilled here! The mother came with her two sons and fell before Him and He asked what she desired. Her desire was that one son was to sit on His right and the other on His left in His kingdom! Jesus didn’t rebuff her, but pointed at the conditions: “Are you able to drink the cup that I shall drink of and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They say unto Him, “We are able.” Jesus told them that day they would indeed “drink of the cup and be baptized with the baptism, etc., but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of My Father.” Those that reign with Him must suffer with Him.

God has a big stake in the Home. It is there that individuals are shaped. God is looking for homes where He can move and make history. Thus, so much depends upon parents. Blessed are those who feel the weight of responsibility for the household they have brought into being, of making it a godly home. Parents, who neglect this most important side, will have to answer for it at the Judgment Bar of God. The family takes precedence. It makes society possible. A true home is the sanctuary of the family. The church depends so much on the home; even the State needs such for its existence. Religion, government, and morality all begin at the family level. Destroy the home and you destroy the family, the church, and even society. Anarchy and chaos result. The enemy is aiming to defile this sanctuary.

The home is much more than four walls and a roof overhead. It is not a question of furniture or finery, car or location; rather a place of family love and family spirit. I like the simple way a four-year-old child put it. Her parents were seeking lodgings. Someone asked the child, “So your parents are looking for a home?” “No!” was her reply. “We already have a home; we are looking for a house to put it in.” A home is the beginning of love and warmth, of understanding and knowledge, of up-bringing and mutual respect. Home is our first protection and provision, first shelter and security, first experiences in life of obedience and happiness.

Children must be taught. This vital training is first and foremost accomplished in the home. It is the best place for the formation of character. Church and school can never be a substitute for the home. No child can easily erase the memory of godly parents, nor forget respect and authority taught and maintained in the home.

The Gospel says little about our Saviour, with regard to the home where He was reared. Yet there is no question as to the character and kind of parents who founded this most important home in History. Joseph, her husband, being a just man while he thought on these things, beheld the angel of the Lord appeared saying, “Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee, Mary thy wife.” In all Jewish history, no one inspired them as did David, the faithful shepherd boy who rose to the king and prophet, etc. It must have been a great encouragement to Joseph, amidst his troubled thoughts, when God spoke of him as David’s son. We don’t read in the Bible one word that Joseph ever spoke, but we do read of four times that God spoke to him. And what’s more important? Each time the Lord spoke to him there was unquestioning obedience. Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had bidden. Earlier, Mary manifested the same unswerving obedience, “Behold the handmaiden of the Lord; be it unto me according to Thy word.” What a wonderful background to this couple who made the greatest of all homes, worthy of God’s own son.

Joseph and Mary made the long journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem to keep the decree of Caesar, that all the world should be taxed (enrolled). It was an order from imperial Rome, requiring them to make this long, hard journey, by foot or by donkey: a 100 miles, at such a critical time, just as the child was about to be born. They did not seek any excuse to evade the command of a pagan emperor, but plodded on carrying it out in every detail though at the time they did not know that God was using him as an instrument to fulfill Scriptures. After such faithfulness, they could have expected a better end to a long, trying trip. What a reception! She brought forth her first-born son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room in the inn. They could have had some doubt about the rightness of such a place or the wisdom of such a sacrifice and obedience: Born in a stable! Laid in a manger!

However, when the Shepherds came and told their story, how an angel, backed by heavenly Host revealed, “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour and this shall be a sign unto you. Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” What blessed assurance! After all the stable, the manger was the right place. The shepherds’ visit must have repaid them a 100 fold for any humiliation and hardship they needs must have experienced.

Everything that follows in this chapter helps us to understand better the kind of parents God chose as guardians of His Beloved Son. Nothing passed unobserved, nothing was taken lightly: Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Even the circumcision and naming of the child: in God’s time and as the angel had said. How long did they stay in Bethlehem? Their desire to accomplish all things as written reveals the precise time in these verses: when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord, for a male child that took 40 days (Leviticus 12:2-4). No time was lost in presenting him to the Lord, that he be called holy. Right from the beginning, they wanted God’s help and blessing upon the Holy Child entrusted to their keeping.

The long trip to Bethlehem, the sojourn there and also the going up to Jerusalem had consumed their meagre resources. How unworthy they must have felt when they could not afford the usual required sacrifice of a lamb, and so must resort to the provision God had made for the poorest of the poor – two pigeons or a pair of turtledoves. It also indicates that the Wise men, with their wealth of gold and gifts, had not yet visited them. What divine timing seen in all!

They met the true prophet of God, Simeon, who came into the Temple at the time when the parents brought in the Child Jesus. He revealed somewhat of the rough and rugged road before them. The prophetess, Anna, came in also in that instant and gave thanks. Again they tarried not, no time lost. When they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. Home again, after an eventful assignment.

“As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

How do we look upon Adam? Have we forgotten him except as the villain in the play whose consequences reach down even unto us? Do we think of him as something that speaks of the worst in humanity, that streak of selfishness and meanness in mankind, called Adamic nature? What place do we give Adam? His record is not long, but it is important. There must be an Adam in the story! There is no narrative without him. “God took the man and put him in the garden. God commanded the man, ‘Thou mayest freely eat of every tree of the garden but…’”

God gave Adam lots of liberty. He could do as he liked except ‘one thing,’ which was the ‘test:’ Eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil = death. Eat of the Tree of life = Live forever! Immortality depended on something outside of himself. Adam was free to choose, a free-will agent. “Adam was not deceived.” What he did, he did deliberately. He only followed suit. He didn’t want to lose Eve. He lost a lot more. He lost the peace and presence of God. He lost his free and guiltless conscience. He lost Paradise.

Adam introduced death: “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.” Through disobedience the dreadful work was done. The pall of Sin and Death fell upon the world that God had made so “very good.” This death passed unto all generations.

Do we see another part Adam played? His experience is basic to divine revelation. It is the experience of experiences. After his sin and defeat, he blazed the path back to peace with God. He knew both ecstasy and agony. He lived in one life-time, on both sides of the Gate. He lost his place. How could he survive such memories?

Sin did not overtake him in some dark alley in intelligence. Adam was smart. He named all the animals, fowls, and fishes. Yet he didn’t know something about himself! See Jeremiah 18:9. Strong in body, he lived 950 years. Yet he was no match for the devil. God revealed the sorrow and shame of the human heart in those words: “Adam and his wife hid themselves from the Presence of the Lord.”

Job reflected upon it, “If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom.” Man was born with the choice to walk with the Eternal, to live openly before Him. But now shadows and shame, nakedness appeared. They began to sew fig-leaves together. How little the world has changed! Today man covers himself with degrees and diplomas, titles and learning, exploits and industry. His bags are full of aprons. But he cannot silence conscience. “Who told thee that thou wast naked?”

Let the atheist answer that. It is the second question in the Bible and one of the most important. Mankind still repeats it today, “I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.” Before sin entered, man lived in the pure innocency as children and radiant ethereal light as Jesus was when transfigured.

Now, afraid of what? Ashamed? Why? You tell me! More than one man, when his sin is out, his errors are known, can’t face up the shame and disgrace – ends it all! Man can never cloth his inner nakedness, nor cover the shame of disobedience to God, nor wash away his guilty conscience. Adam knew both sides, the sweet and bitter. He knew it was better to live among thorns and thistles, in sweat and toil with the Presence of God, than to live in a Paradise, separated from that Presence. A godless life is an empty life. A Paradise without God becomes a terror of shadows and a jungle of fears.

We talk about Heaven. We seek things above not because we long for the music of harps. Heaven is our goal not because we linger in dreams or want escapism. Heaven is our goal for the same reason that compelled Adam. We seek Him whom our soul loveth. We have to find God again! Psalm 16, “In His Presence is fullness of joy, at His right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

Thirst mocks man. Hunger torments him until he finds this fellowship with His Maker. God alone can fill that void in the human heart, satisfy that inward longing, and erase that loneliness. Salvation is a “foretaste” of this goal, “Heaven.”

Adam found there was no atonement he could make. Many have tried, like Cain, his first born, who brought the fruit of the ground. He offered his efforts and industry. Behind the Bigness and Beauty of his gifts was the un-regenerated heart. Nothing he produced could cover this need. Adam knew God only could cover him. “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord make coats of skins and clothed them.” There had to be a sacrifice first. Another had to give his life for them.

“Jesus, Himself who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” Jesus paid a penalty that He did not need for Himself. Who was it for? The serpent in every man’s life will yield only to the Lamb. It is the only antidote in this universe for pride.

Isaiah 66:2, how perfectly all was prefigured in Adam’s experience. Jesus got the victory in a garden. It became a battlefield that led Him to the cross. Centuries have passed. Man’s experiences with God remain the same: He must hear the Voice of God and come forth from hiding to face the Word. He must learn that man’s only real paradise here possesses the Peace and Presence of God, being clothed with His Righteousness. Adam left a testimony. His faith is one record: “Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.”

“On my handmaidens (as well as, “my servants”) I will pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy!” There were a number of women among the 120 gathered in the “upper room!”

The O.T. relates several incidents (events) where women had the leading rolls, II Kings 22:11 to 20: The King commanded the Priest, the Scribe and others, “Go ye, inquire of the Lord for me and for the people, concerning the words of the book that is found–Book of the law, etc.) And they went unto Huldah the prophetess… and they communed with her. And she said unto them, “Thus saith the: Lord God of Israel…” We, too, need to hear such godly women!

Micah 6:4: “For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron and Miriam.” She is mentioned with the 2 servants of God, sent to deliver Israel.

Judges 4:4: “And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.” With God’s authority in her soul, and approval of her position, she broke thru’ her nations shame, sin, defeat and slavery, brought deliverance, and a better day!

Another book that bears her name: Esther: One can find no account of greater bravery, anywhere! She changed history! She faced opposition, some ugly men: rose in God’s kingdom, to usefulness and heights. It was said to her: “God had brought her to that place, for such a time as this!” There are others too! But I want to mention a few in the N.T.

Gal 3: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither bond nor free, there is neither male or female for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” It might be good to remember, that God is no respecter of persons!

Mark 16:9: “Now when Jesus was risen early on the first Day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast 7 devils.”

John 20:17 tells us also, more details of His appearing unto Mary M. and among the many things he said unto her, we find these words: “Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, etc.” Jesus not only appeared “first” to a woman, but Jesus Himself commanded her to carry the first Message of a risen Christ, to the disciples; that He spoke of, as my brethren! If there was no other verse in all the Bible, but this one, it’s enough to convince most people that women have the privilege to tell the Story, the Most wonderful News in all the world: The Resurrection Message!

In Matt.28, we read that the angels told the women who came to the sepulcher, and showed them the place where the Lord lay: “Go quickly and tell his disciples that He is risen from the dead, and behold He goeth before you into Galilee.” And we read 2 verses further on; Jesus met them, saying, “All hail!”…..Then said Jesus unto them, “Be not afraid, Go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee and there shall they see Me!”

It is so clear, the greatest of all Messages, these women were called and commissioned by angels and then by Jesus Himself, to go and proclaim it to their brethren: Who am I, to say or even entertain the thought, that women can’t carry the same Message today?

There are so many examples, but will mention one, where Jesus used a woman, John 4:39. It’s a long story. Jesus talked to this Samaritan woman: Not of her past sinful life but first of the Gift of God, and what she was missing! This well of water of life that could be springing up in her unto eternal life. She asked for this water! Jesus said, “Go, call thy husband.” She said she had none–and all that followed, about true worshippers! She went, and was a vessel, to carry this message to others! Verse 39. “Many of the Samaritans of that city believed on Him for the saying of the women, which testified, “He told me all that ever I did.”

In Acts 21.9, Philip the Evangelist had 4 daughters, virgins, who did prophesy: These references all favorable to women.

Now, let’s quote Paul. Philemon 4:3: “And I entreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women who labor with me in the Gospel, with Clement…whose names are in the Book of life.”

Romans 16:1, “I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you, for she hath been a succourer of many and of myself”. Paul was not ashamed to mention, She helped him!

I Corinthians 14:1, “Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but that ye may prophesy…he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, exhortation, and comfort.” Verse 31. For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be comforted”. Certainly that word “all” embraces both women as well as men! Verse 34. “Let your women keep silence in the churches for it is not permitted unto them to speak but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law; and if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is a shame for a woman to speak in the church:”

Paul was not contradicting himself here, on what he had previously said, in favor of women; much less contradicting Jesus, who must have the last word! If some women had to depend on their husbands for knowledge and understanding, they’d die in ignorance! What about women without husbands? Widows? and Virgins? Paul wasn’t talking about prophecy, as he tells us in this same chapter, Verses 23 and 24, “all speak with tongues makes confusion: But if all prophesy and there came in one that believeth not or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all, and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest…” Verse 26. “How is it then, brethren? When ye come together, every one of you, hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation.” Here again “every one” must include both men and women!

What Paul deplored was just “speaking,” arguments, janglings, family affairs, ask their husbands at home, a shame to bring up such in the church! I Timothy 2:12. “I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man, (husband in the original,) but to be in silence.” That doesn’t mean a woman can’t speak to her husband, but be in subjection! The same goes for the women in the church! In this light, both the Old and New Testament blend perfectly together!

D/D/K.

Hymn 323 – All who are under 25, please stand while we sing this hymn.

Seeing all you young folk singing just about undid me. I counted 8 young workers among you who are under 25, what a privilege, as some among them are not 20 yet and that is a great tribute to our God who has called souls to labour. As I have sat in convention, I look to the right and the left of the platform and see workers, many of the staff I do not know, but I see great potential for different occupations in life. They would have no trouble finding a mate and I see the sacrifice. This kingdom is built on sacrifice, is based on sacrifice. If the sacrifice were to go out, it would not be acceptable any longer. We are thankful to the God of heaven who has called them and is able to keep them. Workers are an endangered species in the world today, this ministry.

Back in Manitoba, we have 4 less fields that we had in 1983. We do not know all that has happened. Now there is more responsibility on young lives, for there are not enough hours in the day to meet the need, so we do the little we can do and our Father sees the need. I want to talk to the young folk for we were all young once. Now I am beyond middle age, 42 years old, but there was a day when I sat in gospel meetings, sitting on the front row, sitting listening like my future depended on it and it did. When our young ones are kept in this present evil world, it is a tribute to our God. I would like to speak to you in this meeting about traps and snares and we as workers are not immune to it, we are as susceptible as you. I do not want to scare anyone, but there are traps for us as workers as well as for you folk, for the workers are an endangered species, we are no exception.

Today I would like to take you down the trap line, Satan has a trap line. A trap is just a mechanical device that is holding an animal, and a snare is a device like a noose but the result is the same. We want to go quickly and look at Satan’s trap line. He caught Adam and Eve in his trap line. They doubted the word of God, they questioned it and the end result is that they were caught. Daniel had a trap line set for him but he was too wise to get caught in that. With the help of God, he was able to jump the trap. Some boys at home have a trap line for animals. They set it for squirrels but sometimes the squirrels spring the trap and they are not caught in it. With the help of God we can spring the trap, no reason to get caught in it. When we trust our own skill and judgment we get caught. Satan is a kingdom above us and he knows the business, he will catch us. Achan thought that he could hide what he had taken. He could not use them, he could not display them, he was embarrassed about them, but this meant death, he was caught in the trap line. Satan did not get Adam and Eve because they repented, but he got Achan. Haman built a trap for Mordecai. He used his own material to build the gallows and he was caught and hanged on it himself. Whenever we build a trap for someone else, anytime we plan to build a trap to catch our brother or sister, we are the ones who end up getting caught in it. My friends, do not build a trap for our brethren.

I was a licensed trapper and learned some different things about traps. Timber wolves, large and small, are so easy to catch. First thing is to get some bait and let it sit for a few days. Other animals will come and frequent it but they will not touch it. Sometimes it takes two weeks and the wolves get interested, they have seen that the other animals have not touched it. They see the eagles fly down and feed, and they see the timber wolves getting nearer the bait. Then they set the snare about 200 yards back from the bait and the reason is that all have their guard up close to the bait. This man caught all in one clutch, the father and mother, all the children. He felt guilty catching the whole family of timber wolves. This enemy we have that puts up a trap line for us has no heart, none whatsoever, does not matter whether we are middle aged or older. He does not care for our soul, and he is working against God.

During preps, I set a trap line to catch some skunks. I caught 7 or 8. One morning, I went to see the trap and saw a mother and baby skunk caught. I thought that a baby skunk would be too young to be attracted to the bait, but it went with its mother. There was another skunk that was under the sisters’ cabin. We wanted to kill that one, we had no sympathy. We became ruthless as we knew the stink that this skunk would create under the cabin so we caught it. It was a great victory. What about our enemy? He is also ruthless and has no sympathy. We could have let the skunk go but the enemy will never let us go. You mothers and fathers need to be so careful because of the little ones, you may not get trapped but what about the little ones? They are very dear and important in our hearts, for we see the work God can do in homes that have the environment for Him to work.

The enemy uses various snares, he uses the best tool for the situation. Sometimes the snare is hidden, set so you do not see it. Sometimes timber wolves are smart. They’ll go along and smell and go around the trail, get off the trail and pull back and forth. A trapper will remove every human scent from a snare so that the animals will not smell the trap. Our enemy does not put a “Be Careful” sign up. A little girl was playing dress up at a neighbour’s place. One said to her, “Try it on.” She said, “I had better not, in case I like it.” This was a little trap. It is better to shun the bait than to struggle in the snare. One time a girl gave us a warning. She thought the best thing was to go out to try her own wings and fly on her own, no longer be concerned with the guidelines of her parents. So she went her merry way. She was cursed with good looks and had the ability to be a model. She went to the place where she could fulfill her dreams and became a model in the far away country of Virginia. She married a rich man, her picture was on the packets of cigarettes, she had reached the top. A few years later she was a long way down from the top. She came to her parents a mess. She spent the last years of her life warning others not to go down that route. “It was a snare,” she said. She saw the bait, it looked fine but it was not so nice. I wonder if all of you young folks could understand what I have to say to you. My heart aches for some of you, as we do not want you to fall into the snares of this world.

I could tell you of a lady in our field who saw the snare come down on her. Her name is Mary. She was going to school and wanted to go to the school prom. She thought it would be wonderful and she asked us if we thought it would be all right but she did not do so well with us. She did not get to the source of help. She was serving God 18 inches too high. She knew the standard in the home but she loved the world. We stood on the porch of the house trying to listen to her. Her hair was cut and in bangs. She asked if she went to the prom would her parents have the Sunday morning meeting taken out of her home. We said, “No.” We asked her, “Why do you want to go?” She replied that she wanted to see what it was like. I do not know whether she saw the bait or not, or just wanted to see what the real world was like. Then she said, “I have one desire: not do anything immoral.” We said that you will have some appetites that will be a detriment to you keeping that desire. So she went off to prom. We saw that snare come down tight; she had less life now so later she wanted a visit. She told us that she did not want to take part in the meeting any longer. She felt she was a hypocrite, she realized you can not live a double life; she could not walk the talk any longer. There were tears, and it is one of the toughest things for workers to see, to see people leave this wonderful fellowship. We did not see her for a long time. We felt comforted by the fact she said she did not want to do anything immoral and so we had to leave her in the hands of God. We knew that there would be rocks at the bottom and [it was] sad there was not enough fear in her to stop her going down that road. Then we heard Mary met someone and it ended up that her goal was not achieved as she ended up having a baby. The boy was the town criminal, who was often in jail, he was a no good fellow. At Special Meeting time we were going through that town and we saw her exchange wedding vows with the town criminal. The baby was born and the father was such a bad fellow that Mary had to have a court order to have him stay away. If any of you young people have thought of taking your own course, you may think of your family. 2 Timothy 2:26, “and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”

I do not know where you are at, if you have seen the snare of the world, or whether the snare has compassed around you and is tightening itself upon you or not, but you can recover yourself, there is help to be delivered from it. We may feel that the enemy is telling us it is hopeless but while we have breath it is not hopeless. God can grant us repentance, there is a future for us. There is a another verse, Luke 21:34, “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares, for as a snare shall it come to all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.” We need to watch to escape all these things for we know that snares will come upon all, but there is a remedy we do not need to be caught but can be delivered from it. What are we going to do about it?

One time, a monkey put his hand into the peanut jar. He had his hand full of peanuts but now he could not get his hand out of the jar. The solution was simple. He just had to let go of the peanuts but he could not do it. The solution is simple for us. We just need to let go. There is a remedy, we cannot do it ourselves, the enemy is of a higher kingdom and we are no match for him, so we need the help of God. Sometimes an animal is caught by the foot. There is a struggle, but, if it wants to free itself, it has to lose a foot. Then the animal realizes it is better to live without a foot than to die in the trap. We do not want to dwell so much on the negative side, for there is a positive side for us. In Romans it tells us that where sin does abound, grace does much more abound. We can have lots of opposition but also we have more help on our side. We can stay free from the traps. The world, flesh, and devil – all of them too much for us. Each one singularly is too much, but with the help of God we can prevail and get the victory.

There are 2 vital points of doctrine that Jesus taught: the New Testament Church, that the world doesn’t believe: the church in the home. Jesus taught that and every time, I believe, you read about a church meeting, it was in the home of God’s dear children. The church in the home was one of the vital doctrines that Jesus taught and the world has never received it. They believe the church should be in a building where you go out of your home into the house of God that they have built, and worship and serve God there. The Lord taught: in your homes — not only on Sunday morning, Wednesday evening but every day in your homes; worship and serve the living God. What a marvelous benefit. No expenses like the world with their buildings, but gathering quietly day by day to worship God.

But that wasn’t what I wanted to stress this morning. The other doctrine is the ministry without a home. Now the world doesn’t believe in that, either. They believe the first thing we need to do is have a parsonage for the parson, that he and his family will dwell in a home; and that’s the way to honour God: to make a home for His servant. But God’s philosophy is heavenly and so different.

My text this morning is six tens. You will say “Whatever is six tens?” I have found some interesting things in regards to this ministry that Jesus established in the first 6 books of the New Testament and in the 10th chapter of each book. That’s 6 x 10’s isn’t it? There’s not a boy or girl, man or woman in this tent today that doesn’t know very well that Jesus sent His servants two by two; and He sent them into all the world. Now everyone here knows that God’s servants dwell not in their own homes. So when someone asks you, what do you say? “I know that it’s in the Bible,” but that’s as far as your can go; and we hardly know how to answer someone sensibly. Then you say, “Well, that’s how our preachers go and we know it’s the right way.” And they say, “Where do you get that in scripture?” Sometimes we are speechless. The 6 chapters that speak about the ministry helped me to answer this question and I would like to take you through these 6 x 10’s, and maybe it will give you a clearer idea how this ministry Jesus established got its order.

I like that verse about Jesus, the little child, being born: a child was born; a Son was given and He came into the world as a child to order and establish the kingdom of heaven which would last forever. Now from the cradle to the ascending we read about Jesus establishing this kingdom, ordering its service and work. He knew full well when He left His disciples in the world that if the faith that He brought from His father was to be in the world, it would have to be sent forth into all the earth. That’s why He called the apostles and said, “As the Father sent Me, so send I you.” And now He’s sending forth His apostles and it’s upon this foundation of apostles and prophets that Jesus would build His church. He knew in those three and a half years of His ministry He could only give them a pattern and example; and if it continued it would rest on their shoulders. We appreciate their lives, their sacrifice; and we love our workers, don’t we? I have appreciated some of you I have already met; and very happy to be here this week with you.

Let’s look at Matthew 10 where Jesus sent forth the 12 apostles, and here are their names: Simon, who is called Peter and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee and John his brother; Phillip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus and Lebbaeus; Simon and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And I noticed they were all paired up. Someone said that this must have been the first Workers’ list. Then verse 5 “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them saying, ‘Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” These are elementary things but I will mention a few things that appeal to me. Early in my ministry we were in a place and a nice number of people decided because of the help of the Lord and the good preaching of my companion. But there was a minister in that area that lost a number of his flock because they saw the truth and began to follow Jesus. Well, he became very angry and called us some bad names; one of the bad names was ‘those old go preachers.’ I didn’t feel too bad about that, because Jesus said, “Go and preach.” The preacher said, “I will stay with my flock but they will go off and leave them.” And of course he had quite a point there, but Jesus said, “You go.” And God’s servants are continually going: going into all the world. It was His last commission He gave them — “To every nation, and lo, I am with you always.” We know He told them what to do — “Preach the gospel; teach them all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” Jesus said to his servants, “You go and preach the gospel.” That’s what I got out of that 10th chapter: the traveling ministry that Jesus ordered and established in the world.

You know all my young life I was looking and searching, “Where are men who preach like Jesus?” — From the age of 12. I don’t know where this came from, but something came to me and said, “Some day you are going to be a preacher like Jesus.” Well, I know later that the devil said a lot of things to me, but he didn’t say that to me. My brother was younger than I and we slept together, fought together, and he said to me one day in his wrath, “All you have ever done in your life is look for God. I am not going to waste my time looking for God.” And he filled an early grave and I don’t think he wasted any time looking for God. He went out into eternity not knowing one thing about the God of Heaven. But it was the patience of my heart, “If I could find preachers like we read about.” I looked world-wide and one day I was brought to a Convention like this and met God’s servants. I was astounded; didn’t know they were in the world. An Aunty brought me, and said, “You need to come and hear our preachers.” Now she was 25 miles away and I was across the city in Denver. And I said, “No, I don’t.” “Yes, you do.” “No, I don’t.” Finally she said, “Yes you do and I’m coming over right now” and then I heard a click as she hung up the phone. My Dad asked me, “What was all that about?” So after I’d told him, he said, “You don’t want to hear those preachers.” He knew all about them and I didn’t know that he knew. But this Aunt and Uncle were their very best friends when they got married and after they professed there was a great gulf between our family and Uncle Frank’s.

So I went and was so astounded in that meeting and I was just sitting there it was Thursday afternoon; the congregation all got up and went out. I was so stunned I just sat there and sat there. I don’t know how long, but finally I woke up and noticed that everyone was gone but me and the tent was empty; and I thought, “Where did everybody go?” I was astounded; and here for the first time in my life were God’s true servants. I went out into the sunlight and saw them all, and walking up to them, I asked, “What is this?” Finally, a young boy came and said, “Your Aunt is looking everywhere for you.” My Aunt introduced me to a worker who said, “You need to stay for supper,” and they took me down and sat me at the worker’s table. So I had heard God’s true servants and just felt that these men were the servants of the most High God. Then Saturday night I made my choice and Sunday morning I offered my life for the work but they didn’t need anyone just then.

Now turn to Mark chapter 10 where we read of this man who was a rich, young ruler. They had the rulers of the synagogues then: the preachers and the readers. We would have called them ministers. But he was working in the Pharisees’ or Sadducees’ religion; and he came running, kneeled down and asked, “What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” So the Lord told him all about the law but what was it he said in verses 20 and 21? “Master, all these have I observed from my youth.” Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, “One thing thou lackest; go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross and follow Me.” Well, what did this young ruler do? He should have said, “Thanks Lord, I’m ready to do that.” But because of his riches, he turned sadly away; and I am glad I didn’t turn sadly away when I heard the preachers.

Well, that’s quite a thing for a young man. I was 24 years old, had accumulated a bit, had been in the army and had a brand new car; and you can do a lot of things. I was pretty proud of that car but felt I would have to sell it so I went home to Dad and said, “Dad, I’m going out to preach the gospel.” He replied, “Aren’t you going to travel a bit?” And I think he’d turn over in the grave if he knew I was here in Australia. I replied, “Yes, I will be traveling.” He said, “Don’t sell your car.” But I said, “Dad I’m going out like Jesus.” And he said, “Son, where are you going to get your donkey from?” That was his problem! Sell all that you have and give it away to the poor. You’ll be surprised to know that young couples have come to us in the ministry and said, “We’d like to serve the Lord because we’ve read about this young man; but the Lord told to sell all he had; and we have our little children and don’t see how we can sell all and go out like that.” Well,” I said, “The Lord wasn’t talking to you in the home with your children, but to us who have no home.” It was only written for the ministry. It was so elementary but people didn’t know the Bible was written to 3 classes of people: – to the sinner on how to become a child of God; to the saint on how to live godly in this world; and also to the preacher. What was written for the preacher didn’t apply to everybody else.

There was this true lady who had lost her husband early in life and they had a farm in the poor part of the country where it didn’t rain; and it got very, very dry. In those days there was a terrible drought and she was trying to raise her 3 children. In the mornings she would read to them from the Bible, and she came across that verse, “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body. What ye shall put on.” And she said to her children, “I just can’t do that as everyday I wonder how I’m going to feed you and put clothes on you. I don’t know what to do. We will have to go to a lost eternity because I don’t have that kind of faith.” Well not long after 2 servants came and she listened to their meetings; she invited them home and then asked the elder brother about that verse; and he said, “That’s not written to you, lady, it’s to us who go forth to preach the gospel. We sell all and take no thought about tomorrow: the servants of God never give it a thought because it’s all provided.” The greatest life in all the world! We are so glad we can spend our lives in this wonderful ministry, so we take no thought for tomorrow.

There’s another thought: I used to hear every Sunday morning in the church we attended; when the preacher came to a particular part of the sermon, he changed his voice and said more ceremoniously, “Now we are going to raise the offering so will the ushers come forth.” I’d put my nickel in when the place came around and then he would say, “You have received freely, now give.” When Jesus spoke those words, friends, He was sending forth His apostles, and He said, “As freely you have received, now you go out and freely give it.” When Paul and the others went out, they went out freely: it was written to the preacher not to the congregation. I thought of my Dad; what he had, he didn’t get it free.

The third one is in Luke chapter 10:1 where Jesus sent the other 70, and He sent them forth to preach. We have in the scripture a number of places where Paul and Barnabus were called; and James and Jude the Lord’s brethren were called as apostles. We were in the home of a nice young fellow in his twenties; after coming to a meeting, he invited us to his house. I think I’d quoted that verse, “Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession Christ Jesus.” And our young friend said, “That’s not in the Bible.” And I replied, “It is.” Well he had been in a big congregation with its big buildings, had a big name, and they were teaching their people there were only 12 apostles; and you don’t have to go like Christ taught — they just went any way. So I asked, “Where is your Bible?” And I read in Hebrews chapter 3, “Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.” I love that singular word — the Apostle. Jesus was the Apostle; He was the example, He was the first Apostle and the true Apostle but He wasn’t the only one as all God called after that were the apostles. Then the young man said, “Why, they never did tell us that!” Well I guessed not but there were a lot of other things we could have told him. He believed there were only 12 apostles but Jesus sent forth His servants and He called them apostles.

In John we have some interesting discourse here. Verse 11, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth because he is an hireling and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd and know My sheep and am known of Mine. As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down My life for the sheep.” Now Jesus compared the true shepherd of which He was, with those who were only hired. And you people in this country would know the difference between a shepherd and a sheep herder. You might hire somebody to watch those sheep, but it’s not the same as the shepherd whose sheep they are: who loves those sheep because he is the shepherd and he gives his life. Jesus said to His servants, “You don’t go forth as a hireling,” and that’s the comparison between the true and the false. The hireling is concerned about their watch. I heard someone say, “I just got a call to go down the road to the other church.” But his call was to a bigger house, a larger congregation and a better car. And sorry to say the call had a $ sign on it. But the Lord’s servants will go to the poorest places and lay down their lives. We are talking about God’s ministry that Jesus taught and established. Was I ever happy to find, after a long search, that those servants were still in the world preaching the gospel.

Acts 10 is one of my favourite gospel subjects: I love to tell about Cornelius; that great Roman army in Caesarea, in the headquarters when they were occupying the holy land. The last job I had in this world, I was an army officer. I know what it is to be an army officer; to be stationed in army land after the treaty was signed: I know what it is to be in a foreign land. But this man Cornelius feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him and saying unto him, “Cornelius.”

One time we had an interesting audience where 5 couples came together and wanted to hear. They had been to 2 weeks of meetings then asked us to come over to their house on the Saturday as they had some questions. My companion who had been raised in the truth, and a powerful worker today, asked, “What are you going to tell these religious nuts? Why, they think they are all saved: what do you think you are going to tell them?” I nearly felt like going back but said, “I have seen sicker cats than these get well.” Do you know they all professed and all have meetings in their homes — and many others have come because of them?

Another visit we had: my young companion came down in a submarine and went back in an aeroplane. I hadn’t told him what I was going to speak about, but he said, “You should have seen them; the scales fell off their eyes and I could hear them clanking on the floor.” The scales! They didn’t know but when they got to the meetings they quickly caught on and became dear saints and dear friends. We asked them after we read about Cornelius, about what sort of a man he was? Was he a Jew or a Gentile? A big man who was the ring leader said, “Why, he was a Jew.” And I said, “Very good, Ron,” and he puffed up. Then I asked them, “Was he saved or unsaved?” And he said, “Saved.” And I said, “Wrong!” And we read where the angel said to Cornelius to send whereby you and your house shall be saved. And I said, “Was he saved? No, he wasn’t saved.” Oh my, he wasn’t saved; and that’s just where they were. You know before that visit was over, that man said, “I am not saved, if what you are saying is true, and I believe every word of it; and what’s more I never have been saved.” That’s when the scales were clanking on the floor. Then Mike spoke up — he was a good Church of Christ and Ron was trying to be a Baptist; and Mike spoke up and said, “Well, I am not either.” Well, the girls and his wife were making the supper. Earlier the girls said, “Why don’t we ask them to stay for supper?” And Ron said, “They won’t stay as they don’t think we’re saved.” Darlene was raised in Chicago, the rough part of town and was going to the university, and she stuck her head out of the kitchen and said, “Me too.” They were all saying they were not saved. Well, the Lord can open the eyes of the blind and He sent forth His servants. Why didn’t the angel preach the gospel? Because God sends His servants.

In Romans we read, “Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” In a place we were, a man’s wife wanted to hear the preachers. She asked, “Do you like apple pie?” And I said, “Yes.” And so she prepared for us. Well she asked us about our work but after a while she said, “We don’t have to hear yooouuuuu to get saved — she was heavy on the `you.’ We said, “Did we say that, Mrs. Creamer?” “My Bible says whosoever comes and whosoever will.” But she said, “You don’t have to hear preachers to get saved.” So then I asked, “Do you know the next verse, Mrs. Creamer?” She said “No,” as she got out her Bible and wiped the flour off her hands on her apron. So I read out, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” She then said, “Yes, Yes…” Then I read, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written. How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.” And I could see her going under the table, just about disappearing out of sight. It did say, “Whosoever believes shall come,” but how are they going to hear that preacher? Jesus knew and He sent forth His servants just as His Father sent Him. We are glad, though the world doesn’t believe there’s a church in the home; and the minister going forth without a home. We do and are very glad.

My thoughts have been guided to the gifts that God wants to give to us and the need there is for us to be ready to receive them. I might read a little from II Kings 4. It has the story of a woman who was a widow. Her husband had been amongst the prophets but she was left a widow with two sons. A creditor was going to take them to be bond men because of her debt. She came to speak to Elijah and he said to her, in verse 2, “What do you have in your house?” She said, “Nothing but a pot of oil.” Then he said, “Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou hast come in shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass when the vessels were full that she said unto her son, ‘Bring me yet a vessel.’ And he said unto her, ‘There is not a vessel more.’ And the oil stayed.”

I might read in Ephesians also, about Paul’s prayer for God’s people, 3:17, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height. And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world with out end. Amen.”

I was remembering a man in my first year in the work in the area we were in. Jim Curtis was his name, telling us his story. He began serving God as a young man and before his teens he had known nothing of God’s truth. He heard the Gospel and his heart was won. He was telling us how that he delighted to read the word of God and he said, “I used to be thrilled because every now and again I would find there some nice little thing.” He said, “I often wondered; almost feared what would happen if these nice little things ran out.” By the time he was telling us this, he was an old man, and he said, “I’m still finding nice little things in the Word of God.” Not deep things; not complicated things; just nice little things, and they fed his soul and gave him joy in God. It caused him to give thanks to God who kindly gave him those nice little things, and he had lived all his life from his teens to his old age, and God was still giving him these nice little things from the word of God. The thought seemed to appeal to me that with God there will always be more; there will always be more.

I wondered if there is in me the right kind of heart that will allow God to continually give the gifts, because with God there is always more, but perhaps we are inclined to limit the scope that is given to God to do His work and increase His gifts within us. In the 4th chapter of Ephesians, Paul writes there, going on and he spoke about the measure of the gifts that Christ has given to every man – the measure of the gift of Christ. We know that what is in Jesus is without measure and it is not possible to find out any limit, because there is no limit, but there is a measure in what we limit. No measure of what is of God, but a measure is imposed by ourselves, or imposed by ourselves upon God and what He desires to do and what He desires to give. We could be missing a little perhaps of the fullness of His gifts, and I couldn’t help but feel how possible it would be that something so wonderful as Christ Himself, given by God without measure; without any limit into the human vessel, yet perhaps God finds that we imposed a limit on what we allow Him to do.

We have been hearing a little from Psalm 81 already, and down a little further in another verse it says, “… who brought you from Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.” I’ve been familiar with that verse for quite some time, but I must say this. The emphasis seemed to be on the words, “Open your mouth wide.” Not just open your mouth but open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. God is desiring to fill it and God is not wanting to hold back His hand, but I wonder are our mouths – to use the expression; is our mouth as widely open as He would like it to be? Like a hungry little bird, and about all you can see is a wide open beak. Just yearning for the food that is coming to them – open your mouth wide.

We’ve heard already from Malachi, didn’t we? In that same book God speaks to His people trying to encourage them to give Him His place and His honour, and to find the joy that He means them to have in doing that. He said, “You have been robbing Me; you have been robbing Me by withholding what is Mine.” He said, “You bring the gifts and the offerings and you prove Me with that, whether I will not open the windows of Heaven and pour you out a blessing that you will not have room enough to receive it.” We are glad, aren’t we? That we can have confidence in God, That He is a God who pours out a blessing through the open windows of Heaven; no stinting; no holding back in His pouring out; no measure; no shortfall. He knows that the measure will be; the limit will be, whether there is room; room given for this wonderful gift. He desires to pour out His blessing, but there must be room to receive it. He says, “I’m willing to give without holding back, and I can give more than you will allow Me to give.”

This story we read about Elijah and the widow woman. He said, “Go and borrow vessels; you make room for this thing that is going to be poured out,” and he added those words, “Gather not a few.” Don’t scant; don’t feel that there is going to be any limit to what is going to be poured out. It’s a wonderful thing, isn’t it? That our God is such a God and the abundance of what He provides, that we can set our heart; our desires; our purposes without limit; our expectations without limit, and He will never fail us. What He supplies will never be less than our expectations, and it will never be less than our need. For with God there is always more and He is wanting to increase this gift upon us. Not only once or sometimes but continually; there will be a continual increase. Our God and what He provides will never fall short of any expectation that we have, no matter how high it would be. Gather not a few, so she began to pour out; pour out. Another vessel until finally she said, “Hand me another one,” but there is no more.

As much as this story is wonderful; as much as this story is a miracle, there is a little sadness there. If only there was another vessel, it would have been filled, if only there had been another five; another twenty vessels, they would have been filled. Did you notice that when there were no more vessels to fill, then and only then, the flow of oil ceased; the oil stayed. There wasn’t anything on God’s part that stopped the flow of the oil; she wasn’t left holding an empty vessel with some kind of despair that somehow the flow of oil had ceased before the filling was complete. “Give me another vessel,” there was not another vessel, and the oil stayed. I felt it was encouraging me to give God room; give God my heart without limitation, and give Him my life without limitation, because the limitation will only ever come from our own selves; and when there is not another vessel the oil will stay. That’s the manner of the giving of our God; there is no measure.

There is another story in the Book of Kings about a widow again. Perhaps the widow is chosen to convey the message to God’s people, that she would speak to us of need. She speaks of a soul who is desolate and needing someone to help her from the kindness of their heart. The servant of God was sent to the widow of Sareptah and she had been commanded by God to sustain him. Remember how he found her, out gathering a couple of sticks, and she said, “I’m just going to make a little fire and make a little cake for me and my son, then we’ll eat it and die.” He said, “You go and first make for me a little cake,” but before this he said, “Thus saith God, ‘That little barrel of meal that you have; the little meal in the barrel it won’t run out and the little oil that you have in your vessel won’t run out until the day that God sends rain on the earth.’” So she went and did according to the word of the man of God and she proved the miracle of the promises of God never failed her. I very much like the promise that the prophet was able to make because of the bountifulness of God’s provision. He said, “That little measure of meal that you have and the little oil in the cruse.” He didn’t say, did he? “Well, God will double or maybe multiply it fivefold; ten times or whatever.” He didn’t know how long it was needed, but the promise was, “God will provide for you all the days of your need,” be it a week; a month; a year; two; three years; all the days of your need, He will provide for your need until the day that rain comes on the earth. No limit set; no date; no quantity set. He said, “You are going to find in God a miracle provision for your need; as long as you have need and faith.” That is the measure of the giving of our God.

In John 3:34, it tells us about God giving His Spirit not by measure and perhaps in this Bible, we are accustomed to using it may seem to give the impression that it applies just to Jesus, but in fact the original writing doesn’t limit it to that application. You will find in this Bible the words, “God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him”, and those words “unto Him” are in italics, supposedly for clarity, but in fact, authorities tell us that in the original language there is no such limitation intended. In other words, it simply means to say, “God gives not the Spirit by measure.” He doesn’t give it by measure; not limited; not restricted in scope what He is able to work within us of the gift. It’s not restricted in what He is able to teach us; it’s not limited in the way He is able to empower us and quicken us; it’s not limited. God gives not the Spirit by measure.

In those verses in Ephesians that we read, he said, “I want you to be proving the length and the breadth, the depth and the height of God,” not suggesting that somewhere we would find a limit or a further extent of those directions, but rather encouraging them to explore; explore further; to go deeper; go further so that God will go further and increase within you His gifts and continue them. Continue finding new depths in your hearts for the things of God.

In the first chapter of James, he encourages any who lack wisdom to ask God. “God,” he said, “gives liberally and upbraideth not. He said it will be given,” but he said, “Ask in faith, not wavering, for anyone who wavers is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed,” then he added these words, “Let not that man think that he shall receive anything from God.” Wouldn’t it be a tragedy if we have known God; and knowing the liberality of God; how great His storehouse and how open His hand; how ready to give and to pour out? Even as we would ask, the greatest tragedy would be that we would make ourselves those who would receive nothing from God. It seems to speak to me so forcibly, that man will not receive anything from God. The God who is able to give; God who desires to give; God whose heart is liberal and He gives to those who lack and He doesn’t upbraid; He doesn’t rebuke us for our lack or feeling of need but rather it gives Him pleasure when we think of our need and He delights in those who trust in His mercies. It brings pleasure to God the great giver when His people; His little children; His needy children come to Him; they come to God and He will kindly give to them.

He is ready to give, but it says, “Let not that man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord,” not anything to a wavering man. We were hearing, weren’t we? About those who were addicted to Godly things and we would desire to be single mindedly seeking something; being driven to seek something; stopping at nothing to obtain it and that’s what we know are signs of addiction, aren’t they? Being driven and to stop at nothing to obtain it, and I wonder how single minded are we; how undivided we are in our seeking of the increase of Christ within us, or are we seeking to compete? Are our minds driven by the wind and tossed in every way, and perhaps sometimes seeking and desiring things of God; yet perhaps at other times being driven in some other direction; wavering; desiring with a wavering heart; a wavering purpose, we need to have that single minded undivided heart when seeking the things of God, because if we do not have it, Satan will discourage us from that purpose; not wavering, it would be possible to waver, wouldn’t it? If we begin to understand the way that God would answer our prayer, and the means by which He would choose to increase the gift within us, and even the kind of faith that works patience; an increase within us of that faith and trust in God, it would be possible perhaps to waver a little, we understand that there is a cost and everything that is in us, is worked and accomplished by the Spirit, it is a victory; it’s a victory for God, and it is a victory that has been won at the expense of everything else; it’s been won at the expense of everything else that would compete. It is a victory that has been won because other things have been put down.

Victory, and God is wanting to increase His gift within us; continually increase that gift within us, so that the increase is a victory; the result of a battle and the defeat of something else; of the things that compete, we don’t want to waver, do we? Imagine what would happen in the field of battle if there were a wavering purpose; a shrinking from the battle or the battle cry; if purpose; a shrinking from the battle or the battle cry; if there were a divided loyalty, or if there were a question about the direction of battle, imagine what would happen on the field of battle. The victory of God within our lives is when there is no dividing of our loyalty; no question of God’s purpose; no doubt in the one who is leading us; no hesitation in responding to the battle cry that leads us to the place where God can triumph within us; no wavering.

“Let not that man think that he shall receive anything from God.” I felt God was causing me to ask myself, “God is so ready to give it, how ready am I to receive? HOW open is my heart to Him? How freely do I leave my life in His hands? How willing am I in the steps that I would take according to His leading?” because if there is ever going to be a limit, the limit will be in me.

I was noticing too in Matthew 19, that there are some things that Jesus spoke there about marriage but I’m not going to say anything about that today, but I was thinking about what the disciples said when Jesus discussed this teaching with them, and it was very obvious that they recognized that the teaching of Jesus was of a very high standard and that perhaps some would not be willing to accept it. Jesus spoke about those who withhold themselves for the kingdom of Heaven’s sake. Then He went on to say, but before that. He said, “Not all men can receive this saying which I have given.” Afterwards He said, “He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.” All men cannot receive this saying, and I was thinking a little bit about what would prevent a person from receiving a saying, or at least it seems to indicate that Jesus said that some couldn’t receive it. In fact some would be not willing to receive it, but we know don’t we? That some are not willing to receive the teaching of Jesus and accept the standard His teaching teaches and gives to us, is not because of any partiality on the part of God, for God is not partial, and it’s not about anything being unequal with God or the dealings of God, for God is not unequal in His dealings. When Jesus said, “Not everyone is able to receive it,” it doesn’t mean to say that here it will only apply to some and not to others. No one can say that here is a teaching that some cannot accept or cannot obey because wih God there is no partiality; no inequity, what God does. He does for all; it would be for all, and what God asks. He asks of all; what God teaches. He teaches to all.

Jesus said, “He that is able to receive it, let him receive it,” He was saying, wasn’t He? That in the heart of some there will be something that will rebel against the teaching of God; that shuts their heart against the teaching of God, and they render themselves unable to be led; they render themselves unable to be taught; they render themselves unable to obey. Nothing impartial about God; nothing unequal about anything that God does, but there is a difference what is in the heart of one man to another man; one person to another person, there is a difference in how far we are willing to receive the things that God gives. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

Another time that Jesus was speaking. He was speaking about John the Baptist and again I don’t intend to speak about that particular theme, but He said, “If ye will receive it, this is Elias who was for to come.” If you will receive it, I am telling you, and I speak what is true and I’m telling what is right and, if you will receive it, you will understand. If you will receive it, you win put no limit on whatever God desires to do or to give. The lack will always lie with ourselves and the question is, “If you will receive it.” God gives liberally and desires to pour out through the open windows of Heaven, blessing that has no measure; that has no end. May God help us to be willing to, give Him all the room; give Him all our heart; all our life; holding back nothing; close our heart at no time; hesitate at no time, but be open to Him that He may continually increase within us the gift. In those verses in Ephesians that we read, “That ye might be filled with the fullness of God.” It goes beyond our comprehension, doesn’t it? To understand all that God is wanting to do, even in our own lives. The fullness of God; filled with the fullness of God. He will fill; He will fill with Himself; with His Spirit, with His life divine, and Jesus Himself has paid. May we leave ourselves fully open and single mindedly; single heartedly seek that increase within us. So that we may ever be proving greater and greater depths within the heart of God. Amen.

Haggai 1, “Thus saith the Lord, ‘Consider your ways.’” I was thinking of this, that we need to get our priorities right, consider what we do in the morning – make it worthwhile. There are many things we could work for; many things we could do, but are we letting the best things slip? Consider the things we desire, and we are told, “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled.” Don’t put so much time into the things that will just perish and pass away.

God said through Haggai, “Go up into the mountain and bring wood and build the house.” There was the answer, their first and best effort, “Bring the wood.” Wood is no use if it is still green; it has to be dead. Die to ourselves so that God can pick us up and use us. Here they were putting more time and effort into their own houses; their own things. God said, “Consider your ways.” It was as if they were earning wages and then putting that into a bag with holes. If we sow to the flesh, we are told that we will only reap corruption; something that won’t last.

If we don’t feel satisfaction, consider our ways and get our priorities right. I’m glad God shows us what we are, and the answer is to go up to the mountain. May we never lose sight of God’s eternal purpose.

We know that we really need the mind of Christ to be able to gain the highest prize, which is God’s Son. There were many temptations that fell upon Jesus but He prayed that His disciples wouldn’t fall into temptation. He said to them there in Luke’s Gospel; in the 22nd chapter. [Lk22:31] The Lord said, “Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have thee that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren.” Jesus knew what was going to befall them; He knew they were going to be tempted; He knew their faith was going to be tested and He was praying for them; no doubt praying very earnestly for them that they wouldn’t fall in the temptation and that their faith wouldn’t fail. He went a little further with them and told them that they should pray that they might not enter into temptation.

Jesus was praying but there was something that they needed to do also. Jesus’ prayer alone wasn’t going to save them; they needed to pray; pray for their own need; pray that God would help them. Jesus was interceding for them that they might be delivered from the power of the temptation. There was one thing that Jesus also mentioned in that example prayer when He was telling them how to pray and the different things that they were going to need to pray for. Praying to the Father; praying that He would lead them; that He would help them, and then, “Lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil.” It was something they needed to pray for and it is something that we need to be praying for that God would not lead us into temptation, we can’t take it for granted that we are not going to fall into temptation because that is what the enemy of our soul just wants to do. He wants to lead us into a trap; he wants to lead us into that which would snare our soul.

Jesus has asked us to pray that we wouldn’t be led into that temptation. Jesus told Peter that because of the temptation Satan wanted to sift him as wheat. The sifting causes that which is coarse to be separated from that which is finer, and God allows that which is a sifting so that which is only as dross can be separated from our lives, we need to be looking to God and praying for His help to have the mind of Christ; to have the strength that He wants to give us to face what lies ahead. Jesus said to Peter, “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” Peter had said, “I am ready to go with Thee both to prison and to death.” There was a purpose in Peter’s heart and he was ready to go to prison and to death, but he still fell into temptation even with that purpose, we could have a purpose and even though we have that kind of purpose we still need to pray; we still need to be praying earnestly that God will not allow us to fall into temptation, because it’s right there. I noticed that Jesus didn’t tell Peter what that temptation was going to be; He didn’t tell him that he was going to use the sword to defend Jesus; He didn’t show him what the trap was, but He asked him to pray.

God’s not wanting to get our focus on the traps; to go and look for all the traps and to say, “I won’t do this or that because it might be a trap,” but He is just wanting us to have the leading of His Spirit; to be praying that He would keep us and that He wouldn’t lead us into temptations. We can be praying for the leading of His Spirit so that we wouldn’t find ourselves in a trap. We don’t have to be thinking about traps, but we can get through them if we just pray that God will direct us in the words that we say and the path that we take, and that we would completely give ourselves to God without any reservations, then we will be able to keep away from the traps; we’ll not become attracted and be there; not walking in a path that would be a trap for ourselves or anyone else.

Jesus prayed again after He had asked the disciples to pray. He prayed very earnestly and it says that there came an Angel from Heaven strengthening Him and being in agony He prayed more earnestly and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground. We may feel that when we find ourselves in a situation where there is nothing we can do; nothing we can say to help it; find ourselves in a desperate situation; feeling exhausted in praying, but there was Jesus in agony just praying even more earnestly. He knew what they were going to face; He knew the power of the enemy and what He was going to face Himself But He proved and showed to us the power of Heaven, when He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping He said, “Why sleep ye, rise and pray that ye enter not into temptation.” The temptation was just upon them but they hadn’t seen it, and we read of what happened.

There was Judas coming who had betrayed Jesus and when they who were around Jesus saw what would follow they said, “Shall we smite with the sword?” and one of them took a sword and cut off the servant of the High Priest’s ear. Jesus said, “Suffer ye thus far,” and He touched his ear and healed him. Jesus had already told them about taking the sword; about taking their scrip; about taking their purse and He said “For I say unto you, that this which is written must yet be accomplished in Me – And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning Me have an end.” Jesus told them about those things, but when He told them to take the sword, it was that He was to be numbered among the transgressors. Jesus wasn’t changing the conditions for His disciples to go forth and preach the Gospel, but that which was written of Him was accomplished – that He was numbered among the transgressors and it was all because they had a sword, which they shouldn’t have had, and Peter had used it. Jesus was showing them clearly that He didn’t want that and Jesus healed that man’s ear.

We read of Peter a little later, that he denied Jesus even though he had said that he wouldn’t, we read that Jesus just turned and looked at him after he had been denying Him, and Peter went out and wept bitterly. There are many experiences that cause us to be found weeping but God is wanting to lift us up again. There is the need for us to be found praying again; praying earnestly like before so that we can have the mind of Christ; that we could have words directly from Him; that our way could be directed; the path that we would take would be directed by the God of Heaven, we would be praying so that we wouldn’t find ourselves in a trap and that we wouldn’t be doing anything that would be a trap to others, but because of praying, and praying earnestly we could know a safe path; we could prove His strength so we can walk faithfully, for Jesus’ sake.

I have been thinking recently of singing.  It must make our Father’s heart glad when He sees His children have joy, and that they have a song in their heart. I was thinking about singing and it is one of the things that will continue when we are in Heaven, when by the grace of God, we get there. One of the reasons why I chose that hymn was because we will be singing a song around the Throne.

I was thinking about John on the lonely isle of Patmos, that he had been given a special revelation and he shared with us the things that he saw in Heaven, but he also told us about the things that he heard in Heaven. He heard the song that the redeemed were singing – ten thousand times ten thousand and thousand of thousands it tells us, singing; singing about the Lamb; singing about the Lamb of God.

I stopped singing while you were singing that hymn and listened in while you were singing that hymn. I was thinking about how special it will be on that eternal morning to become part of that heavenly orchestra, when all of the redeemed will be thankful for God’s power. All that had been redeemed from the earth will be there, to sing about the lamb. I was thinking of John being on the earth, yet being in the Spirit heard what was being sung in Heaven, and I’d like to think that today that even while we were singing; even while we are gathered here, that up in Heaven, our singing is coming straight from our hearts; it is registered in Heaven. It will be a thrill and a comfort, I believe, to our Father as He sees it coming from our hearts.

I was thinking, too, of the records we have in the Scriptures about special songs; how singing had a special part in the Old Testament worship of the people. When David came into the kingdom, and the Ark of the Tabernacle came into the Temple, the people responded from their hearts, and the Lord is wanting us now to respond with a new song as we come to His Throne. I’ve been making a study about the psalms; I’ve been trying to read them through and I’ve got up to Psalm 81. Many of those psalms are addressed to the chief musician, and we heard at our convention last year about God being the Chief Musician because no-one can produce the harmony that our Father can.

I was thinking of Jesus, His Son, who was in perfect harmony with His Father and His Father’s will; His Father’s mind. He is the chief Musician who has come from God to us, and He wants us to know salvation because He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I was  thinking about the Chief Musician; about Him being our music teacher. I was thinking about Jesus coming into the world; living in this world, and He’s planned for us the joy of Heaven; the melody of Heaven coming into this life; something that we can understand. Something that we can enjoy; something that we can learn. We can learn now; we can practice now the song that will be sung around the Throne.

I looked into Psalm 81 and was thinking about something for our Meeting today, and it says, “Sing aloud unto God our King, make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. Take a psalm, and bring hither the Timbrel, the pleasant Harp with the Psaltery. Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.” That’s today, a solemn feast day, and thinking of coming before Him with joy, I was noticing about the instruments that are mentioned, and really, I don’t know a lot about music but nevertheless I have enjoyed the study. I was thinking about these instruments and I noticed that in one place where it tells of the order of the Levites, it speaks about the musical instruments of God. I just wondered today if we could be like that; like musical instruments of God.

I feel that everyone who has been praying about these Meetings are in Spirit and in harmony. I enjoyed what was spoken in prayer about being in harmony. I’m sure we have all been praying that our instruments will be in tune so that we can get the best from the Meeting today; being in harmony with Heaven and in tune with one another. I don’t know about them all, but the Psaltery and the Harp are stringed instruments, and we know that they often need to be brought into tune. They have strings and sometimes the string might be a little too tight and it has to be released a little; adjusted, and some might be too slack and need tightening a little. I’m sure that that is what God is wanting to do for us today.

Jesus always struck the correct note and was always in tune with His Father; bowing to the will of Heaven; the will of God, and He is wanting to do something for us that we might be in tune, so there would be no wrong note struck. That’s the Harp and the Psaltery, but then it speaks about the Timbrel. I don’t know a lot about that instrument, but I did hear something about the Cymbals. Very nice what I heard about the Cymbal which is a message for us all. I checked up in the dictionary and the encyclopedia and it said, “When they are played skillfully, they give a ringing note.” A ringing note; not just clashed together, but with a little sliding movement they produce this ringing note, and I was thinking about that. The Lord wants there to be a ring of Truth; a ring of Joy; a ring of Sincerity, ringing out from our lives as His instruments. I thought about the two that they could represent the Ministry; not clashing but producing that ring that will harmonize. Not only the Ministry but in the home between husbands and wives, and also in the Fellowship, ringing out from our lives harmony and that which speaks of God; that which can speak to others. Today we would like to be all in tune again, wouldn’t we? With Heaven; with Jesus and we want our great music teacher to help us; all this company to be blended as one.

We read about the Trumpet too, that it gives a clear note. I heard a very special little story up in Mildura. Somebody’s living testimony, and we heard about one of our young friends; a young man, because of his work, had to associate with some of the other young folk in the town. They felt that he was at a disadvantage by not going to the night-life; the nightclubs. They tried and tried to draw him in; they did their very best to draw him in. On one occasion, he took one of them to the door of a nightclub and said, “I’m going home now.” I’m just not sure if I’ve got it quite right, but here they were at the door and this girl said, “Why can’t you come in? Why don’t you come in? Give me one good reason why you can’t come in.”  He said (he sounded the Trumpet) and he said, “If I went in that door, I would leave God outside the door and Satan would be lying there,” and he went home. He wasn’t ashamed to speak out; declare and to speak about his faith and why he wasn’t caught up with what these others were caught up with. A little later, this girl there in that nightclub, she looked around and she saw that it was true and thought, “Satan is lying here.” A little later, the story goes, she listened to the Gospel and today she is rejoicing in salvation because someone gave a clear note; someone sounded a clear note.

Perhaps that could help us today to keep our little instrument in God’s hands; in harmony with Heaven. Keep in touch with Heaven and look to Jesus and He’ll be able to keep us in tune so that we will be able to sound out that note which will bring honor to Him and glory to Him. The Lord would like us to have a song of thankfulness in our hearts; a new song that He would like us to keep in His hands, we’ll keep on practicing, won’t we? So one day on that blessed shore, we’ll be singing redemption’s song, and it will all blend in; no discordant note but all in harmony; all in tune. Giving praise to the one who made it all possible.

Just one last thought. Thinking of Jesus, and the night when He had that last Meeting with His disciples before they stepped out into the dark, and He knew what was ahead; before His arrest; before He went on to Calvary. They sang a hymn; Jesus and the eleven – one was missing. I thought about that little Special Meeting, and we don’t know the hymn that was sung, but perhaps one day in eternity we will know, and it would have been a comfort to the Saviour as He went on to face what was in the Father’s will for Him. I was thinking of the Hymn in the upper room; it centered around that little company singing the song of the Lamb. In the background of it all was Calvary. There was Jesus in the upper room, but in Heaven around the Throne is a greater picture, and Calvary in the background. I’m sure the Lord would never forget; and we will never forget through all eternity the reason why we are able to stand; because He walked the path to Calvary, unflinchingly. I hope this will touch our hearts and bring us in to tune with Him. Amen.

How are you? A very simple statement but it could mean something different to everyone, depending on who says it; whether they know you or not, whether they know you; whether they know your background, whether they know what is in your heart. It is an incredible thing; still an incredible thing to think that God knows me and He doesn’t have to spell things out for me; He doesn’t have to get down to the nitty-gritty and say, “This is what I want you to be doing.” He speaks to me through His word and I get the message because He knows me; I get the feeling that He knows me better than sometimes I know myself.

Sometimes, God knows things about us that we haven’t admitted to ourselves yet, and that’s where this Special Meeting is going to lead, that God has shown me something about myself that I should have known but I just haven’t admitted to myself. Well, looking up some things for this Meeting, I thought of some words, and I don’t know where I got the phrase from. but it must have been at a Convention but the words that have remained in my mind were, that we could know Him, who to know is life eternal. “To know whom to know is life eternal,” and I couldn’t find the words in the Bible but I found something very close in 1st John 5:18, “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but He that is begotten of God keepeth Himself, and that wicked one toucheth Him not.”

We know too of the two natures that are striving within us. One we have been born with naturally and one that has been born in us because of the word of God and His Spirit being born into our heart, “we know that we are of God and the whole world lieth in wickedness.” There are those who are doing God’s will and there are those who are not doing God’s will, and we know that. “We know that the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him, that is true, and we are in Him, that is true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” Looking at those words that I’ve read, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” I don’t like to think of myself as someone who would cling to an idol.

I was reading in Acts, about the people at Athens who had an Altar there to an unknown God, and Paul said that they were altogether too superstitious, but they were worshipping a God who they didn’t know, and Paul spoke about the idols that they had there. I didn’t think I could compare myself with those people; I don’t think I’d be that silly to worship a thing that was graven of men’s hands. It tells us in Colossians in the 1st chapter and the 5th verse, “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth – fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Covetousness, and it was mentioned in passing this morning about the things that look a bit greener on the other side of the fence, and we could find ourselves desiring and longing for them. They are not ours; they are not meant to be ours. That’s idolatry.

“Covetousness which is idolatry.” When I was a few years professing, I went to a ten-year reunion for our grade twelve group and there was a girl there who I used to like at school. I knew that she had got married and she knew that, and so I just asked her, “Where’s your husband tonight?” She said to me, “Oh, we have an understanding.” An understanding, and it was like she was telling me it was alright with him and it was alright with her. There is no temptation that has taken us, but such as is common to man, and I knew; I knew that what she was telling me wasn’t right with God, but I still had to make a choice what I was going to do. Sometimes we have just got to be careful of covetousness, don’t we? Because sometimes the things that you long for are sometimes put right there in front of you and then it’s your choice; it’s your call.

It speaks in 2nd Peter about false prophets and it speaks of those who come to you with feigned words to make merchandise of you; make merchandise of you. It says in the 2nd chapter of 2nd Peter “And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgement now of a long time lingereth not.” Through covetousness, and I’ve been thinking that is a little message for me, and of the covetousness of those who would be giving me the wrong message, but it was my covetousness that was going to contribute to my downfall. It is what is in my heart as to whether I am going to be deceived; whether I am going to fall. People would like to make excuses for not following what Jesus said, and maybe they would like to draw us into their little understanding. Perhaps that is something that we have faced, even among those who we call our friends, perhaps it is. We don’t want to be made merchandise of; we don’t want to be sold, do we? We know that all face the experience where we have had to make choices; and because we have known Jesus; and because we have come to an understanding with Him. that we know we can’t trust our mind unless there be a sacrifice of something very, very precious to us. We know because of our understanding of Jesus, and we know the choices that we need to make so that we may keep that which is precious forever.

We could sing Dulcie’s hymn now, and she would like us to sing number 390, “I Need the Mind of Christ.”

My thoughts have been on “Addiction” and it might seem a strange thing to speak about, but we read of those who had “Addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints.” In the world, people are addicted to many bad things. Addiction is more than a desire, it is an urge, a compulsion, a passion, and it can take over a whole life. It starts in a small way but gradually grows, often it starts in secret but as it grows it becomes more and more evident, and when it gets a hold on a person’s life, they can’t do without it.

There is a right kind of addiction and those people in the scripture had addicted themselves to the ministry; helping others; thinking of others. Right from young, at the age of twelve, Jesus said, “I must be about My Father’s business,” and it filled His whole life. The right addiction also starts in secret and it’s between God and us and at first nobody else knows, but later, as it takes over in our lives, it will become evident to all.

I once knew a man whose father had died when he was very young and the family had a struggle, but his mother insisted that he should make a mark on this world, so he chose a profession and worked hard at it to get a name for himself. The one who made the biggest mark on the world was Jesus; none has affected the world so much; even today, as the life of Jesus, yet He didn’t set out to be big but rather the opposite. He left His mark on this world because serving God was His life. It was His life’s work and He could say, “I am the light of the world,” yet there was no-one more humble.

We are not out to make a mark on our district or anything like that, but when we are addicted in our service to God, it will become evident by our lives. It is the compulsion of that addiction that draws us to Him, and continues to draw us. Satan said to me last night, “You’ll never make it; you won’t get through tomorrow,” but I had a good night’s sleep and I’m here today, so I said to Satan, “You are a liar.”

When people are addicted to something, they just can’t leave it off because it has grown too much in their lives; it has become part of their lives, and it speaks in that verse that those people had addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. That is something that I’ve been very conscious of during the last few weeks. I have enjoyed ministering to the saints; not that I want to boost myself up, but I thought of one lady in particular who the nurses said couldn’t respond to them. That was true enough, but when we spoke to her of the things of God – that which she always loved, there would be a squeeze of the hand or a smile. I thought of the different saints in the nursing-homes, that even though they may appear not to be able to respond, don’t leave them unvisited. Talk to them of Jesus and they will respond, so I would like to be a help to them while I can.

He wants to adjust our walking, our running, our building, our praying, and our speaking. It’s not just how we are walking; we may be walking aright but it is how we are acting. I was thinking of what the Lord has put within our hearts, and there is a verse in Isaiah in the 2nd chapter and it says, “Oh, house of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord.” I thought of those times when, after they had known of being off course far away, but God was pleading with them, “Come ye let us walk in the light of the Lord.” We could be found walking way off course; a distance from God; with God not being able to touch us, but here He is now pleading, “Come ye,” calling us; drawing us to Him.

We know that when we are walking in the light, it’s different to walking in the darkness because we can see where we are going, and that’s what the Lord wants of us, that we would be found walking in the light where we can see Him. We will be seeing very differently to what we could in the dark. In the dark, we don’t see much at all and the little that we do see is very dim; it’s not clear, if we are walking in the path that Jesus has trodden, we are going to see more clearly everywhere and we’ll be glad to walk in that path; we’ll want to walk there because there is safety.

Then I thought we could be running, but how are we running? I like thinking of that man Ahimaaz, and of what the watchman could say of that man when he was running to bring a message to the king. The watchman saw him and called to the porter, “Behold I see a man running,” and he knew the way that man ran. He knew it was the running of Ahimaaz. The king had respect to that man and he said, “He is a good man; he will bring good tidings,” so I thought we could be running, but how are we running? That man wanted to bring news to the king; tidings to the king, and I thought also of what it says in Hebrews, in the 12th chapter, and it just tells us there we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

Let us run with patience, and I thought about running; just enduring with patience as we have our eyes set on Jesus, the One who is lifted up before us. We could be running in a different direction, and we could be making our own path by carrying burdens and this would be making the way seem hard, so it would be good if we can just be found laying aside the sins that are a burden to us; the things that keep us bound and keep us in captivity and that make it difficult to run freely.

Then I thought of our building, and again I thought, “How are we building?” I thought of those in Nehemiah’s day who were building upon that wall. Recently we were hearing about that wall that those who were building on that wall, built in unity, because they needed unity so that wall could be built aright. I noticed too that, when they started building that wall, they began at the sheep gate and they finished at the sheep gate, and that would simply speak of sacrifice. We know that this Way of God; this Kingdom is built on sacrifice. It started with sacrifice and it will finish with sacrifice, and those who were building that wall were in unity and although there would be sacrifice with it. Sacrificing things that they would have liked to do, but the Kingdom came first. I liked that thought and thinking of unity that it will build us up, but we know division will down.

Then there is praying, but how do we pray? My thoughts went also to those two men who went up to the temple to pray, and know what was in the heart of one man. It says that he prayed with himself and he thanked God that he wasn’t like other men were. It would be a sad condition if we should become like that and criticize others, even those who we have contact with and are close to us, and say discouraging words. God didn’t hear that man’s prayer, and He also condemned that man that was with him in the temple praying. He thanked God that he was not like him, but that other man, it tells us, that he didn’t so much as lift up his eyes towards Heaven but smote upon his breast and said, “God be merciful to me, a sinner.” That was the condition that man prayed in; he was a needy man. He wasn’t justifying himself but was humble in the place of prayer to receive help, and because of that we know he would be a help to others.

We are grateful that Jesus has left that parable on record so that it can be a help to us today. Just not building ourselves up. Then I thought of speaking, and we ask of God so much in our life every day, but how do we speak? This is something that has spoken to me and I want to learn how to speak, when we are speaking to others we know our spirit is manifested, and we read of our words needing to be seasoned with grace, and this is what the Lord is looking for. I felt as I thought of this Meeting that these are the things that the Lord is wanting to correct in our lives.

Genesis 24:1-6, 10 – This is one of the nicest pictures we have in all the Bible of the gospel story. It is a story that has several characters and each plays a very vital part. The first character is the father and that is a type of God in heaven. The second character is his son and that is a type of Jesus. The third character is the servant and that is a type of the New Testament ministry and the fourth character is the bride and that is a type of God’s people, who will one day be united forever with Jesus, the Bridegroom of their soul.

Some other characters play a very important part and I would like to focus on them tonight: the 10 camels. How do they fit into the story? What is the part they play? What is their importance? You children, maybe, know quite a bit about camels. Camels are pretty miserable characters. They bite and they kick and they spit and those who have been close to them say they stink. The camel is known as “the ship of the desert,” because it walks differently than other 4-legged animals. A cow or dog walks by basically, moving diagonally opposite legs. When a camel walks, it throws its whole body over and moves both legs on the one side at the same time and it has this rocking action as it walks along swaying. Some people, when they ride on camels, get seasick!

How do the camels fit into the story? Camels are a type of the repulsive side of the gospel of Christ, a type of the repulsive side of the teachings of Jesus. In the verses we read, when the story begins, we read about the servant taking 10 camels of the camels of his master, just a small portion of the number his master possessed, just enough to get the job done. A number of camels stayed behind with the father. Maybe, the first thing we can consider in connection with the repulsive side of the gospel is the repulsive side from heaven’s standpoint. I was reading through some samples of the teachings of Jesus in Matthew 5, 6, and 7 and there are some awfully repulsive things to this flesh of mine that has to do with the gospel of Christ in these teachings of Jesus. The second thought was, what about the repulsive side of this to the God of heaven? The thing the father said to the servant, he underlined it crystal clear: “bring not my son down again.”

We have heard it already at this convention. We have had it very clearly portrayed, the cost to heaven to give Jesus to us. But there was something about the very method by which God would give salvation to men and women that to the God of heaven, it was not easy. It would have gone against all that was in the nature and heart and love of that hallowed being in heaven. To think of taking His Son from home. He had had fellowship in all eternity in the courts of heaven and heaven would be emptied of that blessed presence for an extended period of time and God would be alone in the courts of heaven without the fellowship of His dear Son. That must have been repulsive to the heart of God, like the camels yet in the presence of the Father. The repulsion in the heart of God, coming to terms with this plan. “It has got to be my Son, no one else can pay the price, He’s got to go.” Not only that separation, but God watching those years and how that Son was treated and mistreated, rejected by most, God watching from heaven, that innocent boy of His was nailed with cruel intent, to the cross of Calvary. What a repulsive thing to the heart of God – a lot more repulsion as far as what God had to deal with than ever we would be asked to face. If, in connection with the gospel of Jesus, you feel repulsion, your flesh rejects Jesus, we absolutely must think of what it must have been to the Father in heaven. “Don’t bring down my Son again -once is enough, I couldn’t handle it again.”

So the servant took the 10 camels and began to make a journey of step after step after step, many kilometres out across that barren stretch to where the bride would be waiting. The first thing to remember in connection with the repulsive side of the teachings of Jesus and the gospel, of course, is that first of all the ministry has to develop a close relationship with that repulsive teaching. That is why the harvest is great and the labourers few, because human flesh shuns that repulsive teaching. There are a lot of preachers not going like Jesus sent, not backed by heaven, 2 and 2 and in faith, without guaranteed support. Just having confidence in God and His leading is repulsive to the flesh. It must be that the ministry has a close association with the repulsive side of the gospel of Christ. Step after step, that servant crossed that desert, took steps day after day after day, a close relationship with those camels, stinking, kicking, swaying brutes, but first of all the ministry must be connected with that side.

Verse II: Miles have been traveled. The ground has been covered and now he is in the presence of the potential bride. He made his camels kneel down by the well outside the city, the time that women go out to draw water and then he prayed. What his prayer basically was: “I am going to ask one of the women that come here to give me a drink and if that woman I ask gives me a drink and then says: ‘Let me water the camels also,’ then I will know that this is the one heaven has chosen.” The woman came to the well. The servant asked for a drink and she gave him one and then, without any prompting on his part, an answer to his prayer, because of what was in her, she said: “I will water your camels also.” Thirsty camels can drink a lot of water 20 gallons or say, 80 litres, a lot of water for one camel. These camels had just journeyed a long, long way across the desert and this woman said: “I will water your camels” and there seemed to be no hesitation in her action. She has watered one, then another. To water 10 thirsty camels, a bucketful at a time, she raced back and forth to water those camels. There are times of the year when a camel doesn’t drink any water, it lives off the water in the vegetation itself, maybe in more lush times of the year.

One characteristic of a camel is it only drinks as much water as it needs. We might think: what a big job to ask of this woman, to water the camels, but in connection with the side of the teaching of Jesus that might be repulsive to our flesh, that teaching doesn’t ask of us one bit more than is absolutely necessary to get the job done. If it’s thirsty, the camel drinks it, but if not, it doesn’t. These teachings of Jesus that go against my grain are only asking as much as is necessary to get the job done. This woman, without any hesitation watered those 10 thirsty camels.

We read about the brother of the woman chosen. (Verse 29-30) Thank God that in the world today, there is still a ministry that is “standing by the camels.” Of all the corruption that is taking place today, especially the corruption of God’s Word. Ignoring it, there is a ministry in the world today that still stands by the camels, being closely associated with something that is so repulsive to so many there is still in the world today, a ministry that stands firmly by the teaching of Jesus. Verse 31: In this ministry, we are such debtors. We can scarcely put into words what debtors we are. Since coming to these grounds, I personally, individually, have been waited on hand and foot by brother workers, sister workers and you folk. If we need a cup of tea, a drink of water, every bit of it has been supplied. We are debtors. We, in this ministry, so much appreciate your kindness and your care and hospitality and you know what matters more than that? It is whether or not you are making room for the camels. It is one thing to give us a place. It’s another thing yet to give room to the camels. They take more space than we do and are more important than we are, the precious teachings of Jesus, willing for the conditions – it means more to us and to the heart of God in heaven than your care expressed to us in this ministry.

Verse 32: There was some provision given. There was straw and provender. The straw had to do with comfort, some being for the camels and the provender for the camels to feed on. The teachings of Jesus are looking for room and for something to feed on and they get that only from the hearts of men and women.

John 4: The disciples went to get food and Jesus had a special visit with this woman. Jesus said “I have meat to eat that ye know not of.” What was it that was feeding the heart of Jesus? It was that wonderful response to His teaching, to His Spirit, even the repulsive side of it. It was the wonderful response in that woman that fed Him. That is what is provender for the camels.

Verse 32: “ungirded”.. They were carrying a burden, a load. Speaking in the last meeting of convention isn’t something anyone would choose, because you can’t get rid of your load until the last meeting. Could you consider the load in the teaching Jesus brought, something pure, straight, and true, from heaven. When it was delivered, the burden was removed. When Jesus got the job finished and bowed His head, gave up the ghost, what a cost to bring the load, but the load was removed, because it had been delivered to the ones who would receive it.

Verse 61: Rebekah had made her choice. She said 3 words: “I will go.” Rebekah arose, Rebekah and her damsels got up on these camels. Those camels were going to take her into the presence of her bridegroom, one repulsive step at a time. A woman – those kinds of beasts, maybe she was seasick, across the desert, but the servant was there. He had already made that journey alone and now he was making the return journey. Every step she was taking she submitted, every step we take in surrender to the repulsive side of the gospel of Jesus is a step closer to the bridegroom.

The end of the story. Isaac went out (Verse 63), that wasn’t the rust time the bridegroom was out there looking, I can just picture that man, evening after evening looking off where the beasts would be coming. He would be saying: “I wonder if there is one who would be willing to be associated with the repulsive side of the gospel of Jesus?” This evening he could see way off in the distance, the swaying camels. Finally, they would draw closer and you can picture the wonderful joy: “Yes, there is one!” Jesus is waiting for the return of what to many is so repulsive. Is there one? Are there some who are going to be willing for these conditions, a boy or girl, a man or woman.

The very last part of the story (Verse 64). That is the last we read of the camels. There is coming a day when those who have been associated closely with the repulsive side of the gospel of Jesus, will be forever in the presence of the bridegroom and on that day, the camels will be set aside forever. The thing that makes Jesus’ teaching cost us, this gospel repulsive to me and to you is selfish human flesh. There is coming a day, if we have submitted ourselves to that teaching, when selfish flesh will be put aside there forever. We want to be there.

Hymn 58, Have Thine Own Way, Lord

When I was a little boy, I did not behave myself wisely.  A sister worker came and spoke in a meeting and it touched my heart as she said in the meeting what I had done.  I thought that my father could have told them what I had done, so after the sister workers had gone I said to my father, “Did you tell them what I have done?” “No, son, I didn’t; your Heavenly Father who loves your soul told them and God used them to help you.” God loves me and God uses human vessels to give His message to us and in His love He wants to correct us so we can have a place in heaven when we are like Jesus.

Jeremiah 18 tells us of the potter and the clay.  The clay cannot come by itself to the potter’s house; it cannot separate itself from the earth to come to the potter’s house, so what happens?  The potter sends some men to go and bring the clay, to separate it from the earth, and in the same way God uses His servants to bring us, and we are thankful for those who brought the gospel to us.  It is love in the hearts of His servants to give their lives to separate us from the earth to bring us to God’s hands.  Also, the clay cannot become a vessel by itself, and also we cannot become like Jesus by ourselves.  Jesus, who is so pure, could forgive others who were so cruel to Him.  How can I become like Him?

Paul preached the gospel and he emptied himself; that is how he could become like Jesus.  A voice came to me that earth cannot become a vessel but the potter can make a vessel from the clay.  The potter is very smart, very clever to make the clay into a vessel and if our hearts are soft, God can do a lot of things for us.  We need to be humble as God cannot work with a stubborn heart and He cannot work with proud human nature.  God sent His servants out to bring us to God’s hands. God is working in the world and if we are in His hands there is a lot of hope for us.

I have seen a potter at work in Pakistan.  The first thing he showed us was the lump of clay in his hand. This clay was not any clay, but a special clay.  It is wonderful to see that in the same way, God wants to save everyone.  The Samaritan woman was a special woman; she wanted to have the living water.  She came and was in a special place.  She admitted to Jesus that the man she was living with was not her husband.  Jesus showed her how she could become like Jesus, where she could have a place in God’s showroom in heaven.  He was not her husband; she was living in the wrong place.  We are the bride of Christ; we made our choice and become part of the bride of Christ, now living for Him, being true to Him, and hanging on to Him.  People hang on to their bride when they are young and beautiful, but human beauty does not last that long.  But if we look at the inward beauty, it does not get old; it gets better and better.  This woman was always thirsty in the world but now she realized that God loved her and she was now made a vessel, for God paid the price so we can be a vessel.  The potter put some water on the clay to soften it and now he could shape it, he could shape it according to his own wish and it became like a vessel.

Being separated from the earth was painful for the soil; it is negative, and we do not want to have clay in our homes, we want to get it out.  But when we become a vessel then we come into his home, not the clay, for it is useless, but the vessel can come in.  When I was a young boy, my finger became gangrenous so my father took me to the Doctor.  He did not have anything to make it clean so the Doctor grabbed me and chopped my finger off.  The gangrene was very painful.  I was angry with my father and felt he had no love for me and the Doctor had no heart.  I thought he was a butcher, not a Doctor, but afterward, I was very thankful.  I knew that my father loved me in that he took me to the Doctor and it was his love for my soul that the Doctor cut off the piece of my finger.  I was stubborn and proud, looking for the beauty of the finger, for others used to tease me about my finger, but I realize that life is better than beauty.  The life of Jesus Christ is far better.  We need to cut off human nature, pride, which is an abomination in God’s sight, cut them off and stick to the Lord, to lose our life also, cut off all that is not of God, for God has a reason.  To cut off the selfishness, the love of the world, the love of the flesh is not a good thing, take out dishonesty and bring in honesty, take pride out, and bring humility and meekness.

Then we saw the clay on the potter’s wheel; one hand was on the inside and the other was on the outside, as this was changed also.  It is so with our heart; the inside is changed but also the outside; our walk is changed, then our friendships change also.  We need to let God work on the clay or we will not have a place in His home.  The potter, in Jeremiah, made a vessel but it was a mess, it was marred, so he sat again and made the vessel again, and so there is hope for you and me. Gather up the clay on the ground and begin to work again. Things in our lives spoil our lives; we listen to others who go the wrong way and we feel that nothing can be done now, but there is help if we are in the potter’s house, for the potter can make us like Christ, make it again another vessel.

Then the potter took the vessel to the furnace and after the furnace, there was a crack in the vessel and he put it on the scrap heap, and he told us, “You cannot make any changes after the furnace.” This is wonderful to me, we do not need to get discouraged, or disheartened, for God can do many things if He has us before the furnace; while we are in this body there is a lot of hope.  After death, we cannot show the life of Christ to others in the world, but in this pilgrimage, we can show the light of God to others in the world.  The only way He can do it is through a vessel.  The clay never said a word, never said, “I want to be a big vessel,” but it was all in the potter’s mind according to His wish and will and then we can be a light in this world.

Hebrews 7:24-26, “But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.” V25 — “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” V26 —”For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.” Wonderful hope in these verses. I don’t know what thoughts come into your mind as you gather every Sunday morning before the emblems, before the meeting and after the meeting. We should examine ourselves before God. I don’t know what thoughts and failings come into your mind when you remember Calvary. Hymn 8 — Was it for me, for me alone?” Do you really believe that? Yes, it was for me. I don’t know what you are struggling with in this meeting and you don’t know what I struggle with. Before we render our lives as hopeless, we will look again to Calvary. Hymn 105 v 2 — ‘When dark clouds your path o’ershadow, Look again to Calvary; God’s own Son so gladly suffered. Bled and died for you and me.”

Everytime we look to Calvary, remember He wept and prayed for us to be here to have this hope in our hearts. Yes, it was for me, yes all for me, Hymn 8 Chorus —” It was for me, yes, all for me; Oh, love of God, so great, so free! Oh, wondrous love! Oh boundless grace! He died for me, He took my place.” However hopeless you feel, it was for me. Isn’t it a wonderful verse? I was talking to Barry about this verse. They are saved to the uttermost. Isn’t it a comforting thought, before the meeting, when you were on your knees, before the meeting, Jesus was interceding before the Father on our behalf. This morning I would like to share with you some reflections on the Cross of Calvary as we turn our thoughts to Calvary. ‘When dark clouds your path o’ershadow, look again to Calvary ” I would like to share an earthly story that I love. When the Korean War was on and when it was finished in Washington DC in the United States, they made a memorial. There are large statues, larger than live people and there is a wall longer than 50m. Along this wall they have some touching moments of the war. In Irani[?] of this wall there is a pool and it is called the reflecting pool. It is perfectly still. It is a pool that was built in memory of men and women that fought in the Korean War. It meant that they could remember their sons and daughters who gave their lives and fought in the Korean War. At a certain time of the day, people can go there and things written on the wall are reflected on the water. One of the inscriptions is written, “built in honour of the sons and daughters of men and women that heard the call and they went to a country that they didn’t know and to fight for a people that they never knew and never met — that inscription is on the wall and it is reflected in the water.

This morning, as we remember Jesus — He came from heaven to earth to a place where He had never been and to us, responding to a call from God Himself to come to a people that He had never met and to give His Life. This morning I would like to reflect some of the pictures in the reflecting pool of Calvary. He came to a people that He had never met. We can go back to the reflecting pool of Calvary, one that heard the call and suffered for a people that He had never met that we can be here this morning. I have been reading all the gospels. Luke’s gospel, l would like to share one moment in the reflecting pool of Calvary. Luke 22:61, “And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said unto Him, before the cock crows, thou shalt deny me three times.” That is the “l” picture in the reflecting pool of Calvary. The glance. When he glanced at Jesus, it was in the home of the High Priest. All these soldiers were gathered and Peter was afar off and Jesus was there as Master. He said, Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have you, to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you. Here is Peter in the home of the High Priest. From afar off, Jesus looks at Peter and that chilling moment for Peter when he realises that he had denied his Master 3 times. This moment of truth and reflection and the thoughts that must have been reflected in his mind. He remembered: Peter, I had prayed for you. We know we all had fathers that had given us the look or parents and they gave us this look. Jesus gave him this look of understanding. “I know what you are going through.” The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Jesus was saying you are ready and willing and feel as if you are able to, but you have committed yourself well above what you are able for. Peter didn’t know what he was willing for. Jesus said, Peter, I understand you. Isn’t that a wonderful thing? We hardly know our hearts. I fear sometimes, how am I going to react? I think “I am strong” and “I can” until situations and when you are in the company of other people and you are standing at a distance and you are being tested and tried and then Jesus said to Peter, I understand.

It is when we are in the quiet moments of our homes and our fields and when it is just God and I, that God gives us this glance in the moment of your test and says you won’t fall. The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. Peter, at a distance, he bridged the gap. Aren’t we so thankful when we come into the presence of God and we have these human desires to do what is right and coming short and Jesus says, I understand you! That was one of the powerful messages that came from Calvary. When you start to doubt and when the devil says you will never make it, we look again to Calvary. That is what gives us strength and gave Jesus strength. God sent an angel from heaven and that is our hope today. We must trust in that. So we leave this scene in the reflecting pool of Calvary — Peter went out to Bethany and he was weeping. We go to Pilate. I can hardly read some of this here. When they had blindfolded Him and struck Him in the face and these brutal men, men of war, blindfolded Him and struck Him in the face, can you imagine the pain and anguish that terrible night? He must have prayed to keep his thoughts right. “When dark clouds your path o’ershadow, look again to Calvary.” Was it for me? One day when I was 10, I saw a lamb being slaughtered. I went to the pen and there was this lamb. He was alone and you don’t know how innocent this lamb was. The farmer wasn’t there, I was alone. Completely innocent lambs just twitch their legs and bodies, the second thing you notice they are defenceless.- Just standing there. The third thing I noticed, it was so tender. That is how the Old Testament said it had to be; tender and without spot. Finally, the farmer came and there was a knife, and then the lamb ran over to every corner and the farmer went closer again and the little Iamb went into the other corner and finally he knew his time had come and he bent his body and folded his legs and knelt down. There was no struggle and he took him to be slain. I could hardly watch that. I was only 10 years old. It was a vivid picture of the Lamb of God. He came out against these brutal men of war and He was the Lamb of God. He was innocent and defenceless.

I love what was shared about the tender plant. I thought of the garden. That is one of the reflecting pictures in the garden. When we think of Jesus, our Saviour and these brutal men of war, Jesus showed a tenderness. Our relationship to one another, we don’t understand what it means before God. Jesus showed a tenderness to these men. “Help me to show the tenderness of Christ on Calvary.” Often, when we take offence and hold on to things for too long, think of His tenderness towards those brutal men. On the reflecting pool, that is one of the pictures of those men of war against Jesus, our Saviour. Whenever we render our hearts beyond the love of Calvary, someone has prayed and interceded for us. We put our confidence in the Lamb of God. We must believe that and find our rest and peace in this sacrifice. You may reach a point in your life where you feel that you have sinned badly, but look again to Calvary. Yes it was for me, yes all for me. We are trusting in this wonderful sacrifice of Jesus. Verse 34 of Chapter 23: “Then said Jesus, Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” In the reflecting pool we have Jesus forgiving them. When Jesus was brought before Pilate, He knew that it was for envy that they had delivered Him. Envy is something you want and you can’t get it. Envy is the moment in our lives that we seek to get equal with people and it also seeks for the moment where we can even take someone’s life. When they brought Jesus to Pilate it was for envy. That is how dangerous envy is. This moment on the cross, innocent lamb of God. He looks down and says “Father, forgive them”. We should bring back this moment of reflection on the pool of Calvary. He didn’t want to see the people that put Him on the cross. He knew that it would be better for them to be forgiven there on the middle cross of Cavary, one on either side. On the cross, that sinner says to Jesus, will you please remember me? and this is said in desperation and no one knew better than the Father on the cross that Jesus was paying the price when He suffered on Calvary.

Two years ago, when there was that Tsunami in Japan, we were trying to find out where our sisters were and we found an article in the newspaper. After the Tsunami and earthquake had come and gone, there was just destruction everywhere. They called in the Japanese army and they had to pull out of the death and destruction, 4 dead bodies and their morale was at an all-time low and they were pulling those out of the rubble and then one of the soldiers heard this tiny cry and they thought no one could’ve survived this terrible power of this wave. These men gathered around this place where they heard the sound and out of the thick black oozing mud they lifted a little baby girl of 4 months old. These army men held this little baby of 4 months old, they gathered around this little girl, they called her a little miracle. It was that little cry that made the difference and they found the father, he was holding her when the angry wave came. When they saw this little miracle, it gave them hope to continue that search again. Their spirits lifted to start and find souls that were dying. Maybe there are times in the Work. There are souls in the world and they have a little cry. “Lord remember me.” A little cry can change your day. When we take the emblems, this do in remembrance of Me : When you take the bread and wine you remember what God has given you, the priviledge of being in a Sunday morning meeting and when people come to your home, just remember that your home is sanctified by the blood of the lamb. When you come into that room remember Jesus and His sacrifice for the people. Every Sunday morning we are looking at the slain witness of His Son. “I want you to remember my sacrifice.” It was for me, yes all for me.” We must believe it. If you would like a lovely subject to read — read about the hands of Jesus. I tried to picture Jesus on the middle Cross of Calvary; I thought of the blood from His hands. I thought of Peter who walked on the water and his faith failed him and Jesus’ hands helped him. Peter looked at those hands and said those are the hands that helped me. When He washed his feet, Jesus said, if I don’t wash you, you have no part of Me. Maybe Peter thought those are the hands that washed my feet and now they are shedding blood for me. Jesus showed them His Hands and He said thrust forth your hand in my side. “When dark clouds your path overshadow, look again to Calvary.” With my first home visit I came home to an auntie who was dying of cancer. I came home just before she passed from life into eternity. We gathered round her bed and she could hardly then whisper and in the dying moments of her life, she said the devil was saying, you will never make it. She couldn’t cry, she could only whisper, she said sing that hymn, “Gentle Hands” (Quoted words of hymn not verbatim), “When bruised and sorely wounded in the battle And Satan’s might seems very strong, Gentle hands will help me to conquer. Gentle hands will bear me to the city And soothe me and lift me over life’s waters Gentle hands will guide me all the way.” By the morning gentle hands had lifted her from this life into eternity. These hands have lifted us up when we were down. These hands have washed our hands, these hands that shed the blood for remission of our sins. In the resurrection, He showed His hands. “There’s a hand held out to you, There’s a hand held out to me.” This is when we look again to Calvary. Sang Hymn Eng. 391

(Labours in Russia)

Mercer’s Funeral Home, Holton, Kansas – February 11, 2004, Wednesday 7 p.m.

21 Workers present: Brothers – Joe Hobbs, Chris Postma, Ron Thomke, Charles Middleswarth, Doyle Copeland, Dwight Craig, Errald McDonald, Stan Morrison, Leslie Pountney, Leslie Olsen, and Don Smith.

Sister Workers: – Marilyn Kleffman, Roanne Kooy, Bernita Niewenhuis, Sharon Carroll, Amy Ngo, Dorothy Kleeb, Christy Lester, Sherry Conley, Katie Keim, and Pearl Kots.

(The latter is a resident at the Seven Oaks Adult Care where Donald resided.)

Officiating: Ron Thomke and Joe Hobbs

Organist: Dorothy Kleeb

Congregational Singing Service began with an Obituary read by Marilyn Kleffman.

Chris Postma prayed.

Hymn 282 – Ron Thomke: explained how the hymns chosen, and that we would be singing this evening, had actually been chosen by Donald for his funeral service. (He has chosen four hymns, two to be sung in Kansas, the other two would be sung in South Dakota at the service there on Friday.) 282, 81, 245, 246.

Ron Thomke: It was quite a few years ago I first met Donald. However, I had heard of him many times before. Our paths crossed several times then, through the years, and every time I saw him, I felt he had such a keen mind, such a wealth of experience and wisdom. He held such an atmosphere of dignity. He was a giant among us. Now the finish has come for Donald, and in thinking of this occasion this evening those words of that hymn came to mind.. “when death would return our souls to thee, grant us the faith that understands our only hope is Calvary.”

We don’t deserve a place in heaven. This was forcibly impressed on my mind a few years ago by another older brother among us who taught us that our only hope is Calvary. It is not by any great deeds we have done that we merit a place in heaven. It is by and through Calvary. We can never obligate the Lord to receive us into heaven by our goodness.

John wrote in the Hebrews 9:14, “(Jesus) – He is the mediator of the new testament that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” It also says in this chapter that Jesus Once … ONLY ONCE, appeared to put away the sins of men. He was offered only once. He will appear again a second time, but not to make a sacrifice or offer himself again. Now once he appears in the end of the world… from then till now this is where we are … the end of the world. We are in the final countdown. That’s where we are now! The thought of “Jesus offering Himself!”

It is easy to give material goods, give money, or something we possess, but to give ourselves is something else. To give what we are is much harder than to give what we have. Jesus gave a sacrifice of Himself. He gave all He had, all His life. He didn’t just give part of what He was, but all He was. When Jesus was arrested and delivered up for judgment by men to be crucified, the enemy thought they had overcome Him and taken Him. But no..He just gave Himself to them. He was not overpowered at all. He simply gave Himself to them.

When Jesus died, He shared in an experience we all will share in someday, unless Jesus returns before we should die. The thought of death and dying are not so pleasant. Jesus knew the torture, the pain, the physical suffering of dying. He also understood He was bearing the sins of all men in doing so. He was ONCE offered to bear the sins of many. Our only hope is Calvary. The hymn we sang that Donald had chosen says, “My one desire to worthy be, to fill the place prepared for me.”

I do not know which words of this hymn were special to Donald, but by the manner he lived, and by what we knew of his life, I feel these may have been the very words that he loved in that hymn. If we too could have such a goal in our living. I think this was Donald’s goal because that is the way he lived. We cannot just live good lives and expect or obligate God to accept us into a saved eternity, but we live to be worthy of such. Being worthy is our goal. Live each day with this in mind that God has prepared a place for us, and we long to be worthy of it. If we live to fill the place given us on earth as we should, we will be worthy of the place prepared for us in eternity. If we can live like this our lives will be richer and better. Live with the thought in mind “and death would return our souls to thee”… and “worthy be, to fill the place prepared for me.”

Hymn 8 – Donald’s favorite and one he chose frequently in the meetings.

Joe Hobbs: The message of Paul and his feeling about his calling, things concerning his attitude when he felt the call of God, and the conviction he felt about God’s work in his life were real to me as I think of Donald’s life and what I knew of his conviction and commitment to the Gospel of Christ all his life long. He was committed to the Work of God even as a very young man in his late teens. He loved to tell the Gospel Story. It thrilled him to see the work of the Gospel in the lives of others. He valued the favor this brought into his life from God.

Philemon 1:20, “According to my earnest expectations and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed… Christ shall be magnified in my body whether it be by life or by death Commending to the conscience, bearing in the body the marks of Christ.” John 3:30, “John the baptist said, ‘He must increase, but I must decrease.’” Donald, in the last month, years and moments of his life realized he was no longer able to go as he once had with the Gospel that he loved to tell the story of. He loved to tell when the scales fell from his own eyes. He told many times of the time in his experience and it was always a new and fresh story, though repeated over and over, because it was real to him. He loved to tell this story in many lands he was in, and was privileged to labor in laying down his life there for the Gospel’s sake.

Phillipians, “Christ be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.” This is the true desire of every true servant of God. “That Christ be magnified”…. the interest in the message of God much more than in the messenger! In the beginning when starting in the Gospel work, every servant of God feels the insufficiency of not being able for such a noble work, it is such a great work, but can glory in the fact it is God’s work, not theirs. All they need to do is put their lives in God’s hands, and make the effort to go forth to tell others of Jesus, that is all that really matters. This is the true ministry.

Donald often said that before he heard the Gospel (1927), that he often wondered as he walked out in the night time, seeing the stars above and their wonderful order, and wondered, “Where is the God who has such an order?” Meanwhile, there being such a lack of order in the chaos of the world around him. Such a lack of order and direction in his life as well. He wondered, “Where was the God who overruled in the affairs of men?”

Thus he rejoiced in the story of the Gospel as he began to understand the Gospel Story. He was committed to the Truths of the Scripture, to the power of the Holy Spirit of God as it began to deal with him and to reveal to him this precious story of Jesus. That Christ be magnified in my body, my manifestation of what the Truth is! This is a power we have in our hands as we represent the Truth of Jesus by the way we live our lives. “That the life of Christ be magnified in me” in my flesh, in my living. We begin to understand a bit more about what John said, “I must decrease.. He (Jesus) must increase.”

Donald spoke often of the greatness of the nail prints in Jesus’ feet. “Blessed Foot Prints Of My Savior.” Those prints were in Jesus’ hands, in His feet. Those precious footprints of Jesus. Donald felt he would follow them wherever they would lead him, all his life long. This was Donald’s commitment to the Gospel Story. In Proverbs 23:23, we read “buy the Truth and sell it not.” Donald understood that verse as he lived his life. He knew what that meant. He understood those blessed footprints of Jesus marked the path for him, for all of us, for all our lives long. Every step of the way. In the highest respect to Donald, we see Jesus through Donald’s life more than we see Donald. This is the greatest compliment we could ever pay to Donald. This will also influence us in the direction we should take, and may we follow those Blessed Footprints of Jesus with the same spirit and understanding that Donald possessed all his days.

Leslie Pountney closed the service in prayer.

Passing by the casket one last time were 21 workers and about 200 friends. One of his caretakers at the home, and his doctor and wife. (The doctor had said of Donald, “I don’t know anyone more ready to meet their Maker.”)

Joe Hobbs and Chris Postma took the body via a Van on Thursday a.m. at 6:30 a.m. to Sioux Fall, SD for a viewing there at 3 PM and the funeral in South Dakota to be Friday 10 am. Burial to be in Madison SD next to Donald’s first companion, Dave MacRae.

DONALD D. KARNES- Netawaka, KS; Died: Sunday, February 8, 2004, Netawaka, KS; Age: 95 years, 2 months, 23 days

EVENING SERVICE- 7:00 PM Wednesday, February 11, 2004, Mercer Funeral Home, Holton, KS; Ron Thomke and Joe Hobbs, Officiating, Dorothy Kleeb, Organist

VISITATION- 3:00 PM – 9:00 PM Thursday, February 12, 2004, George Boom Funeral Home, Sioux Falls, SD

FUNERAL SERVICE- 10:00 AM Friday, February 13, 2004, George Boom Funeral Home, Sioux Falls, SD; Joe Hobbs, Lyle Schober, Gilbert Ricter and Richard Harbur, Officiating, Susan Eicher, Organist

INTERMENT- Graceland Cemetery, Madison, SD

Donald D. Karnes, son of Charles and Nellie (Metz) Karnes, was born November 15, 1908 at Laurel, NE. He grew up in that area and was educated there. He attended college for one year, and taught school from 1928 1929. This was a year of enlightenment for Donald.

In 1927 he heard the Gospel through Charlie Mitchell and Galen McCain in Rapid City, SD. He made his choice to follow Jesus in 1927, and entered the ministry in 1929 with Dave MacRae. They ministered together in South Dakota for a year, and then he went to Kansas where he ministered for the next five years. In 1935, his ministry took him to France until the war broke out so he returned in 1939. He was in Missouri from 1940 1945.

In 1945, ministry took him to Africa where he served in French Morocco, Dahomey, Togo, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and Catanou. In 1964, he spent some time in Haiti, and in 1965 1967 he went to the United States, France, Corsica, and Italy.

In 1967, he went to Jerusalem where he remained for three years. In 1970, he returned to France where he stayed for several years. In 1982, he returned to Corsica, and on to Germany and Luxemburg. In 1992, he returned to the United States where he had surgery and recuperation. Donald had opportunity to return twice for visits to Europe. In 2001, Donald became a resident of Seven Oaks Adult Care.

Grateful for having shared his life are his several nieces and nephews, Marjorie Harrison, Gregory, SD, Violet Ring, Gregory, SD, Charlotte Nicholess, Naper, NE, Dorothy Nieman, Joyce Crawford, Wilder, ID, Eve Turnipseed, Boise, ID, Lyle Karnes, Spencer, NE, Robert Karnes, Weiser, ID and J.D. Karnes, Weiser, ID; several great nieces and great nephews; and a host of church family and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents; three brothers, Patrick “Pat”, Jerry “Pete”, and Marvin “Jack”; three sisters, Bonnie, Ethel, and Florence.

Relatives and friends are invited to gather with the family for lunch and fellowship at George Boom Funeral Home following the funeral service.

Source: https://www.georgeboom.com/obituary/5798351

This week’s study was Psalm 75 and 76 and the subject was “Pillars.”

Revelations 3:12, “He who overcometh will I make him a pillar.” I don’t suppose there is anything that confronts us daily so much as just to be an overcomer. There is so much in life that we meet. Why does it come? To overcome. I never forget standing in an airport waiting for someone and watching a sort of a TV sort of thing there, and I saw something there and I thought, “Who is controlling this? If I had a rock I’d throw it through it.” The thought came to me, “That’s for you to overcome.” There are things that pollute your mind in just a moment and you hate it. A fly falls into your glass of milk; you take it out, but do you drink the milk? NO! Polluted! There is so much in the world that pollutes our thoughts, pollutes our hearts, pollutes our minds and we wonder why. Well, it’s to overcome. It says, “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God and he will go out no more: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, and new Jerusalem which comes down from Heaven.” Put “my God,” write a new name.

Sometimes we find our young people 18, 19, 20, 21 years of age and they are doing things that we wonder why; and we say they are trying to find themselves. Trying to find themselves! The only way we’re ever going to find ourselves, in the temple, in the place where God wants us, with His name identifying us, is to be an overcomer. If we’re not an overcomer, we have no place in this thing that God has planned for all eternity. We can’t bear His name. We have to be an overcomer to bear any responsibility at all.

An overcomer. It tells us here in this chapter, it says, Revelations 3:21, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame.” We’ve already heard that sometimes people think that Jesus did it all, but we have to overcome. “To Him that overcomes, I will grant to sit with Me on My throne as I also overcame.” It tells us in the second chapter of this, it says, Revelations 2:7, “Let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches; to him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life.” Where is the tree of life? It’s in the midst of the paradise of God. What does paradise mean to you or to me? Paradise just means a greater peace and joy and satisfaction, contentment … it’s paradise. There is joy there, and how do we find that place in a place like this? In the world or Zimbabwe or somewhere? Be an overcomer! It’s there, the paradise is there, to those that overcome. There’s a lot of things that might perplex you in this country or in the world. But why? It’s for you to overcome! If you overcome, there IS the tree of life.

It tells us in the 22nd chapter of Revelation about the tree of life; it has twelve manner of fruit on it. Something that lasts all year long is in paradise and it’s there for the overcomer. Be an overcomer! We are more like Christ when we are overcomers; we’re more like Jesus when we’re overcomers. Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness. That’s where you are, in the wilderness. What is the wilderness? The place where there’s nothing for your soul. Nothing! It’s only there for the wild animals. Not for God’s people. That’s why John the Baptist said, “I’m just a voice in the wilderness.” It’s there, he was baptising in the wilderness. Jesus fed the multitude in the wilderness. He was in a wilderness. Don’t forget it! But we can be overcomers.

It tells us here, it says in the 11th verse, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.” There’s peace in that, there’s hope in that, there’s the fear of God in that. Who is it that won’t be hurt? He that overcomes! It’s good for us to bear in mind: my purpose is to be an overcomer. We’ve already heard about Faith in works … faith in Him that overcomes the world … overcomes … that’s the works. Be an overcomer. It tells us here, it says, “To him that overcometh, I will give some of the hidden manna to eat.” The hidden manna. Jesus said, “I have food to eat that you don’t know anything about.” He told his disciples. What was it? Only those who are overcomers know anything about it. There is a manna that would not keep over to the next day; they had to gather day by day. But there was also the manna within the veil that was never destroyed – inside – in the Presence. It’s a case of overcoming to find that place. Then He speaks about, “I will give him a white stone and on the stone a NEW name is written.” Then what did it say? It said, “A new name was written, no man knows except him who receives it.” There is something that an overcomer has that no one else has, or no one else can understand or enter into … it’s his and his alone. There are things that we can experience in overcoming that we cannot share with others. You can tell the story, but can they get the essence of it? No, they don’t! Because they have never had the same spirit, they’ve never had the same suffering, they never had the same loneliness. Never. They can’t have it. But he that overcomes – there’s something that enriches their soul, their lives, that they wouldn’t trade anything for. As they look upon those experiences, they find a thankfulness. But at the time, oh, it was so hard, so difficult and in times like that there’s something. There’s a verse that says, “Underneath are the everlasting arms,” something still holding, and you’re thankful for that. It’s something, that in the struggle your soul has been enriched; something you can’t share with others. But it’s yours.

Then He says, “He that overcomes and keeps My works unto the end, to him I will give power over the nations.” (Revelations 2:26) He shall rule them with a rod of iron and they shall be broken in pieces like the potter’s vessel. It’s really a marvelous thing, that, how the power that a person has in overcoming, and how weak they become when they can’t overcome. So wishy washy – no backbone, or as the Chinese say, “No bones.” They have no bones, but he that overcomes, He will give them power over the nations. There’s lots of power out there that grips people’s lives … they’re gripped, they’re in it but they have no power like those, who in Christ are overcomers.

Then there’s a place that speaks about, “He’ll give them white raiment.” The 5th verse of the 3rd chapter says, “He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in a white garment; and I will not blot out his name from the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels” – all for those who overcome. These things all have a spiritual meaning and it is something that has to do with overcoming. That’s the thing we need – to be an overcomer, and not to forget that that’s what it is all about. Paul says, “I write, I write, so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the church.” I write! Why did Paul write to Timothy, why are these writings there? Oh, that’s to Timothy. No, it’s to us, because we represent the church of the living God. You’re a little church here or there. These things have been written to you. Paul felt the need to write to Timothy; there wasn’t enough written before. He felt that he needed to write to Timothy, that he might know how to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God; the pillar and the ground of the church. If your church isn’t standing its ground, the pillar and foundation of the pillar, and the foundation of the Truth – Truth, the thing that pleases God, and if we’re not pleased with that, we cannot please God.

I try there in Taiwan, to get our people focused on the Church – focused on the church, which is the body of Christ – that which makes up Colossians, Philippians, and so forth – that church, those people. The thing that produced them was the gospel, was the words of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus. What feeds them is Jesus. Jesus said, “Eat My flesh and drink My blood.” That’s humanly impossible, to eat His flesh and take His blood. The soul feeds on His flesh, the soul takes His blood. The soul – it’s the spiritual things, it’s a spiritual growth.

It’s so good to realize that this is what God is interested in, the bride of Christ – the bride making herself ready. Where’s the betrayal for this? It’s right here in Jesus, it’s right here in what Paul said. That was his purpose in writing these things; that we might have something for others to be brought into. It’s very difficult to try to have some wishy-washy thing and try to bring others into that thing. It’s almost impossible. But if you can have just one person that’s like a pillar. We had one lady in a village, up high in the mountains. She said, “What am I going to do? I’m all alone. I’m all alone here!” But I said, “This is your responsibility, you’re the life of this village. You’ve got to stick with it, you’ve got to be true, you’ve got to be solid. You’ve got to!” She had meeting with her three little children. The oldest was nine. After some time, her husband professed; after some time, another couple professed. After some time, two or three more professed, and now the church is in her home. It was a good thing to find that one person, that one.

When we went out with the gospel, I told my new companion, I said, “We’re looking for that one person, that one, that one lost sheep; that one, just that one.” If in a village you can find just that one that will stand alone, that will be true, that will be solid, then you have something that you can bring others into. But if you have something that is neither this nor that, how can you bring anything, how can you have anything? You don’t! How are they going to be an overcomer? How are they going to be a pillar in the church, how can they be alive? They can’t; they can’t be a pillar ……to let all these things that come across their way overcome them.

The pollution that’s in the world that comes in – you can’t overcome it. I like to think that a person that is overcoming is obeying, and he is serving. A person that is an overcomer is content. He’s not murmuring and finding fault and grumbling – that’s not an overcomer. An overcomer is one that is content. An overcomer is one that has peace, has peace in his heart. He’s got it. He’s paid the price for it – it’s God given. Jesus said, “The peace I give you, you don’t get it in the world.” You don’t get it there. A person who is an overcomer, you’ve got bread. Even if there are only two or three of you and you’ve got bread to share, … you’ve been an overcomer, and that’s a thing to strive for, for it to edify the church. What does it say there? Even so you who are zealous of spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel. (I Corinthians 14:12) If you’re zealous, the result of edifying the church is spiritual gifts. Sometimes people think – give a testimony, that’s all; just give a testimony. Here’s a good verse … read it. I was in a meeting one time where a man got up and read a whole chapter in Joshua. He said, “I don’t understand it but maybe someone does,” and sat down. It’s a responsibility, it’s something that costs, it’s something that takes time. An old brother worker said, “The older I get, the more difficult it is to find bread, and maybe it’s because I am beginning to know what bread is.”

Well, anyway, it says, “Even for you since you are zealous with spiritual gifts,” and that’s nice – to be zealous of spiritual gifts. All right, where do they come from? Seek to edify the church. That’s where your responsibility is. That’s where the whole centre of your life should be – in the church, the Sunday morning meeting with those who break bread together, the communion, blood bought people, the body of Christ. That’s what it is – the thing that God is interested in. We had better be interested in it, too. But it takes overcoming. I think a person that is clean, is clean from overcoming … and at any time, you never get very far from water. Continue washing your hands … you don’t get very far from it. Well we had better not get far from the cleansing that comes from Christ. Like Peter spoke of the sprinkling of His blood – continual sprinkling that we need all the time. It’s there, and to be conscious of it helps us to keep clean.

Paul, writing, spoke about being renewed daily (II Corinthians 4:16) – renewing the inner man. That’s victory, that’s overcoming – to be renewed. Keeping ourselves alive takes renewal. The thing is to be able to forgive others, freeing them and making it possible for them and yourselves. That’s victory, that’s overcoming. I enjoyed thinking about these things that had to do with overcoming. Yet sometimes we get burdened down with some of these things that come across our lives, and we get cross and we get grumpy, and we get mad and we scold and so on – we have to overcome it, and have the right spirit. A right spirit comes with overcoming. We’re all human and we don’t want to excuse ourselves too many times just because we’re human. That’s awfully easy to do …… I’m human. We need to realise, “I want to be an overcomer.” He that overcomes is a pillar. They find their place, they’re bearing the name, and they will not be removed, and they have a part in the new Jerusalem.

Matthew 19, there are certain chapters that I consider that the theme that they cover is just complete. One of the reasons that I enjoy this chapter – it is a hard chapter – is that it includes marriage and it includes the ministry. For myself I call it the M and M chapter, Marriage and the Ministry. M and Ms are designed to be sweet, and that is the way God planned and designed from the beginning. Marriage and the Ministry were to be sweet. But both of these subjects in this chapter start out sort of bumpy. They came to Jesus and they asked Him about a man putting away his wife. In verse 4 Jesus answered and said, “Have ye not read how it was in the beginning?” Then He told about a man leaving his family, and the woman, and they became one, it was not to be divided. They weren’t satisfied with that answer and they said, “Yes, but. Yes, but Moses, why did Moses let them divorce?” And Jesus said, “Moses, because of the hardness of your heart allowed this.” Jesus in both times said that in the beginning it wasn’t like that. Both times He went back to the beginning. He gave them an answer, and they said, “Yes, but.” Over in Australia and New Zealand there are lots of sheep, millions of sheep, and those people know what sheep are. We heard in convention that you can tell a goat, because a goat butts. Yes, but! If we have that nature, if we have the nature of a lamb, as we have already heard, we’re submissive, and we follow the Shepherd. But if we have that other nature, “Yes, I know it’s that way, but;” there’s too much fighting. It wasn’t that way from the beginning.  

We’ve heard so much from the first two days of convention about our hearts being soft. Jesus said that was the problem, hard hearts. Perhaps we can say that that is the reason so often things don’t work the way they are supposed to, because of hard hearts. We read about them wandering in the wilderness, it was because of their hard hearts. If we have a soft heart, it is easier for us to accept what God wants for us, and to do what He wants for us. When I was reading about these people this time, and they were going back and forth to Jesus, this verse came to my mind in Ecclesiastes 7:29, “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.” When Jesus explained in more details regarding the responsibility of marriage, even the disciples said, “If it’s that hard, we shouldn’t get married.” And Jesus said, “There are those that don’t get married.” There are those that don’t get married because they give their life for the ministry, for the Kingdom. We’ll just leave that there for now what they were saying, and this about the marriage. For some it was difficult, it was almost impossible. And yet we know it works. I’ve always been grateful for good examples, because they take away excuses. So many times people have an excuse. But they know of a person that’s doing it, so they don’t have an excuse. That was marriage.  

Now we go to the ministry. This starts in verse 16. A man came to Jesus and he called Him a good Master, and he wanted to know what he had to do to inherit eternal life, and Jesus told him about the commandments. The man said, “Well, I’ve done all that.” And Jesus said to him, “Well, if you want to do the most, give what you have to the poor, sell it and come follow Me.” It says that he went away sad because he had great possessions. In other words, he had a good testimony and he was free. He was free for the ministry, and Jesus opened another door for him. But it was too difficult for him. He thought it was pretty hard. I like what Peter said in verse 27. “Then answered Peter and said unto Him, ‘Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee. What shall we have therefore?’” So for one man it was difficult and it was possible, but here was Peter. And he says, “Behold, we have done it.” Then he went on and asked Jesus about the recompense, and we’ll get to that later. About those who left all, left a home, left parents, and they got a hundred fold more. Regarding both of these themes, marriage and the ministry, it’s very, very workable.  

In the very middle of this chapter, and that’s why I think it’s one of the most beautiful chapters we have. In the middle of the chapter, there is a little child. In verse 13, “Then were there brought to Him little children that He should put His hands on them and pray, and His disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, ‘Suffer little children and forbid them not to come unto Me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’” I just like this, that in the middle of the conversation, there was the marriage part, and some thought it was pretty hard, but it would work. There was the ministry, and it was pretty hard, but that is the way it should be. And yet in the middle of both of these, a little child. And for me the secret for making, whether it be the marriage or the ministry or whatever vocation we have, it is the spirit of a little child. Going back to the marriage, I know this is going to sound hard. Different people have told about problems. We heard yesterday about the couple who had been together for how many years? They faithfully trusted each other all those years. Fifty some years. But whether it is in the ministry or the marriage, there are five words that I like, and I believe apply, and they are a little bit hard. NO OPTION. MAKE IT WORK. No option. Make it work. Actually Lorne did it in three words this morning, “STICK TO IT.” I would like to share a little bit with you about that. Really there are options. We all have options. There is a little subject if you would like to do this sometime, a study of 110 verses. In 1 Corinthians 6:12, Paul said, “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” He was saying that there is no law, certain things that I can do if I want. There is no law about it, but I don’t want these things to have power over me. Then there is another verse, 110 verses away, in chapter 10:23, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth.” Those two verses are almost the same. Paul was saying that there is no law about this or about that, but some things that are expedient that can edify me, and have power over me. Between those two verses there are options. We have options. Let’s go back to chapter 7. There is the option of whether we marry or we don’t. In that chapter there is one verse that to me, I feel condenses it all. 1 Corinthians 7:17, “But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk.” So we have options. Young people have options regarding who they marry. We workers have the option of marrying or not marrying. Then there are people, very useful people that are not in the ministry, nor are they married. Yet they are very, very useful. I would like to share with you about a young woman, she is not young anymore, a girl or woman in Guatemala. She has never been on any workers’ list. Her heart is in the work, but she wouldn’t have health to be there continually. But often, and this happens once in a while in our staff, because we are so few, and sicknesses often, when a sister worker is alone, then they think about Dorita. And Dorita has always had some kind of a job that she can leave that job for a few weeks and then go back to it. She has always had that kind of a job. And over the years, that’s her option in life. She is very useful, but you will never see her name on a workers’ list. Sometimes we ourselves don’t even know. We get a letter and we hear that Dorita has been with Doris, or with someone else. We didn’t even know it. But she lives there. What we want to do is that once we have decided where we are in life, what we’re supposed to be, then we want to make it work.  

When we were studying Spanish, it was a three months course before I went into the work, there was a young man that came and gave us a pep talk. He had been through it all, and he gave us a pep talk. One thing he said is that when you are learning a language like that, you are going to come up to a point when you think you will not learn one more word, like you have come up to a wall. You study and you study and nothing opens. But he said if you stick with it, stay with it, the wall will fall down. And I got to that very point. I’m glad that I heard that. Sometimes another wall pops up afterward, but just stick to it and you’ll get through. There are so many times in life when we don’t feel like that. We do have options. In Nicaragua there is a certain route that we go on just about weekly. There is a lawyer and he has a big sign up about his business, Marriages and Divorces. He’ll take money for either one. Marriages and Divorces. So people have their options, right? They say we have that option. But the way God planned it, we have to make it work. We stick to it. Of any people on earth we have more help than anyone else. Just stick to it and make it work. A little by-word that I like is KEEP IT TOGETHER. It’s worthwhile. Keep it together, it’s worthwhile. There is a marriage vow that has been used over the years, it says, “For better or for worse.” But really it is for good. It works. We can have that thought in our mind, It works. And it is the same for the ministry, and it is the same for anything that we stand for as God’s children.

Regarding this little child in the middle of this chapter, I’d like to try to simplify things as much as possible, and give you some practical recipes about how to make it work. I’d like to go to the ABCs. The first ABC is Always Be Christ-like. Always Be Christ-like. That covers a lot. I’m not going to go into too much detail with this because almost everything else that we share is all under that, of being like Christ, and we heard that yesterday, we want to be like Him. When I think about being Christ-like, I just think of having so much of something that we hear of. I don’t think there is a meeting that has gone by where we haven’t heard the word kind or kindness. Being Christ-like is being kind one to another. Ray (Hoffman) was giving us his testimony after breakfast the other morning. The first person he met that was professing, even though the looks were so different, the first thing that impressed him was that he was a kind man. Kindness. If we just be kind to one another. Another word that I like regarding being Christ-like is the word noble. So many times we are not very noble toward each other. We’re base. We heard about being base. But if we are Christians, if we’re Christ-like we are going to be noble. There is going to be respect. So, always be Christ-like.

Once in Belize there was a man who had meetings in his home. Twice he asked, “What do you think about the orthodox Christians?” “Well,” I told him, “The way you put the question it is very easy to answer. Christians love, and Christians forgive, and Christians understand, and Christians cooperate. There is really no question, if we’re Christians.” So that is why the first ABC is Always be Christ-like. If we have that spirit of Christ it will help in any situation. This does not only apply to marriage or only to the ministry. The older ones that are here or in rest homes, and there are children at school, and people who work, no matter where we are, always be Christ-like.

The next one is Always be Child-like. Always be childlike. Not childish, but childlike. Some of the qualities that I really appreciate in children is that they are innocent, they are not malicious. They may get in trouble when they play amongst themselves, but they are not malicious. Another thing I like about children is that they are willing to learn. So often we have in our mind, that person doesn’t give in. We’re bopping heads. But wouldn’t it be nice if we could learn from each other. Instead of criticizing someone because they are different, maybe there are some qualities that would help us. There is a place in Honduras where there are lots of children and they like to be in the Gospel meeting, and there are adults, and there are a number of the adults that can’t read. A lot of the children can’t read either, but they are going to school. And we come to the part of the meeting when we are handing out our little Gospel hymn books, and we’ll hand one to an adult that can’t read and they will say, “No, can’t read.” But you if you hold it out to a little child, and they can’t read either, but they will eagerly take one of those thin little Gospel hymn books. I like that spirit. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could always learn? There was one little girl, I asked if she could read. Hymn books were limited so I held one out to her and on the front of it, it says, “Hymns.” I said to her, “If you can tell me what that says, I’ll give it to you.” She looks and she looks, and finally she says, “Little book.” “Librito.” We gave it to her. She made a try. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had that spirit always through life.

As a little child, we want to learn. Little children, like we were saying, they might get into little spats and everything, but they usually get over it pretty fast, because they are not malicious. They are sincere. And if we can have that spirit. We should go back to being Christ-like, always be Christ-like. Christ is a Rock. If we are on the Rock, it’s a good foundation. If we’re not on the Rock, things go to the rocks. Too often we hear about certain relations, they’re on the rocks. It’s perhaps because the heart was a little bit hard. They didn’t have a Christ-like spirit.

Always Be Caring. Caring of each other. Perhaps along with being caring we could say, Always Be Careful. Be careful. Every one of us has a spirit, every one of us has a will, everyone of us has a bad part, a human. Be careful of one another, be cautious, the way we deal with each other. These stories that I am telling you are true. I like to tell stories that have been lessons to me. This happened to me a few years ago when I was going to a market. There the ladies carry things on their heads, all their burdens on their heads. There was this lady and she had a deep clay vessel. I would say there were 6 or 7 gallons of hot corn meal in it. It was up in the highlands, a few thousand feet up, and they like hot drinks. It was used to make hot drinks, and it was rapped up with a piece of cloth to keep it hot. As I was going by she asked, “Sir, could you help me take this off my head?” So I stopped, and between the 2 of us we gently took it off her head and put it down so she could get a better grip on it. Just before we got it to the ground, we dropped it just a little bit too hard. It was clay. She looked at me, and I looked at her, then we began to notice a little wet spot coming out of the cloth. The wet spot got bigger and bigger. We had broken the clay pot. I felt sorry for her. She was just a maid. She was taking it to the owner inside, and she wouldn’t be paid more than 50 cents a day. I felt sorry for her and I went in and we made a deal. I paid for the clay pot, and 6 or 7 gallons of hot corn meal. When we came out there was a huge yellow spot on the sidewalk that was legally mine. I had paid for it, but I let someone else keep that and do whatever they wanted to with that. But ever since, that has been a lesson to me. That pot was clay, and we weren’t careful enough with it and it broke. Aren’t we made of clay? We’re all made of clay.

When we were little children, we would get into little spats and things, and sometimes when we couldn’t really hit each other, or throw stones, we had our little saying, we all know it, right? Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me. But that’s not true. Words do hurt. And those are the things that break the clay pot. That’s when we have to be careful with one another. The Lord made our tongue with three stops: we can bite it, hold your lips with it inside, or put your hand over it. Three stops and yet it still gets out. Little children sometimes have another help. This happened in Australia after we had given that homework about Mary had a little lamb, we were sitting around in the evening with a mother and some children and we were talking about the poem. One of the boys said, “I heard one in school. Mary had a little lamb,” and right there was Mum’s hand. I think she knew what was coming next. So he had help when he needed help. But when you get older you don’t have the help of Mother’s hand. So wouldn’t it be nice if we were considerate, and care about, and cautious.

Caring. Always be caring. Always be cautious. Always be careful. All ABC’s. Another is Ask Before Criticizing. So when we are so good at criticizing others, because they’re not like ourselves, because we’re seeing something from our tiny point of view, and there we are. Criticizing someone else. If we could just ask, and try to understand. As we have said before, the word understand is just standing under. Understanding is standing under another person’s situation, so if we ask, and get a little picture of what their problem is, then we would not be so quick in criticizing. Often we are so exacting, so exacting with others, and yet we are so loose with ourselves. We want everyone else to tow the line. I’d like to share with you this story of a man who sold cheese in the countryside in Guatemala. He sold cheese in little pound packets, and he came to this lady’s house and she buys a pound of cheese, and he sees that the lady has some fresh beans there. He asked to buy a pound of beans. So she goes back into the kitchen and she brings out the pound of beans. So the man thinks, ” I’m going to check and see if she gave me the right amount.” So he puts them on the scale and checks it. It was a little less than a pound. So next time he is out there selling his cheese, he goes by that house, and he says, “Lady, that pound of beans that you sold me wasn’t complete.” She says, “That’s strange. Back in my kitchen I have a balance. On one side I put the pound of cheese that you sold me, and on the other side I put the beans.” We are so exacting of others. We want everyone else to be right there. But we ourselves are a little bit slack. That’s our human nature. Ask before criticizing. Always be courteous. That’s being kind one with another, preferring one another. That’s what Paul said.

Always Be Correctable. If we could just be willing for correction in our lives. And that is being like a little child. Once again we’re back to that ABC, Always be childlike. Children, I know it hurts them for the moment, but they are correctable. If we are just willing to see our mistakes, see ourselves as others see us, as God sees us, and be corrected. Regarding criticizing and seeing faults in others, there is a recipe that I like. Make big things small, and small things big. Sometimes we make big mistakes. I make big mistakes sometimes. And those who have dealt with me have been so patient, and so compassionate, and so kind that it wasn’t such a big thing. So if we see somebody who has made a big mistake, one of the rules I try to follow is, if we find someone who is doing something wrong, don’t just rush in and criticize them, and try to help them, or try to tell them. Wait a while. Wait until it is a little in the past. If we just had that consideration. There are little things. Little things that people do for us. We can show our appreciation, and make little things big, and the big sized things little. Always be compassionate. ABC. This comes with understanding a person, perhaps they have reasons for their struggle or whatever battle they have, be compassionate.

I had a companion that came from a very rough background. Drugs and alcohol, but he was in the work. I was with him for two years. I’ll never forget when Ed was there and met him and he was off the wall. I had never heard that expression, but it fit. I just stood with him, and that’s the way he would be, sometimes the things he would say. I’m not criticizing him because I realized where he came from. He would often do things and say things that were not correct. And yet, sometimes in the room, I guess it was from flashbacks from the drugs and all, he had such horrible, horrible headaches. I’ve seen him just writhing in the bed, just trying to get away from the headaches. When I would see him like that, the only way I could feel was compassion. So then it wasn’t so hard to take some of these other things, because you saw how much he was criticized. He gave a lot. He’s not in the work now, but he gave his best. If we could just see the struggle of other people, it would help us to be more compassionate. Always be compassionate.

And then sometimes there are some things that come up, little spats, little arguments, and we get a little bit cold with each other, and then we have to sit down at the negotiating table, and we have to talk things over. And when he sits down and he knows he has to win her, it’s good to bring something to the table like flowers, and Always Bring Carnations. And there is another thing, Always Bring Chocolates. So he brings carnations, he brings chocolates. Then there’s her part, she should bring something to the table, too. Always Bring Coffee. Her ABC is always bring coffee. Still better, always bring cappuccino. So there they are, there’s the two of them, they’re sharing the chocolates, they’re admiring the carnations, they’re drinking the coffee. How is that saying? A little explained, a little understood. The problem disappears and all is looking good. And it all adds up to another ABC, All Becomes Calm.

There is another ABC, and I know it’s important. Always Be Communicative. Communicate. We are surprised sometimes when tension comes up, when something is bothering, you don’t really need to talk about the problem, just talk. It seems that when you talk, things disappear, if we communicate with one another. Talk things over.

The other day someone was wondering about the vitamins that some were taking, and there were the ABC’s. There are vitamins ABC. One is called Vitamin B2, Bending and Blending. When we take that vitamin we have to take it daily. When we take that vitamin daily, bending and blending, we’ll not be stuck with “my point of view,” or “the way I do things,” it helps. It helps things work. So the things we’ve been sharing here, it belongs to the marriage, it belongs to the ministry. It belongs to the workplace

. It belongs at school. It belongs to any one who is out there. They are simple little things, if we could just put them in order.

Now regarding these two things in this chapter, two institutions, the ministry and marriage, I just like the way the two of them work together. Often we receive letters, we receive letters from different people. I receive a letter and I look at it and I realize that it is from one of the friends. But in looking through the letter I read the details, and she writes something about “our Gospel meetings.” I look back and yes, it is one of the friends, but it says “our” Gospel meetings. I like that. It’s not the workers’ Gospel meeting. Not the servants’ Gospel meeting. It’s OUR Gospel meeting. It all works together.

Regarding the ministry and how it all works, we were telling you the other day about our staff in Central America, and someone asked me the other day, “Are you recruiting?” I said, “No. I’m not recruiting.” At one time we were 26, and now we’re down to 16. That’s sort of recruiting, isn’t it? Over the years I have seen that if people were recruited, they’re not with us now. People are sort of pressured a little bit, “we need you,” “if you could just come.” My mother had a recipe. We heard yesterday about a recipe for making bread. My mother had a recipe about the ministry. It really wasn’t her recipe, it was Jesus’ recipe. I struggled with the decision about going into the work for years. I had my plans and had things sort of lined up, and I struggled with it and struggled with it, but then there finally came the time that I could see the need, when I was in those countries where there were no friends, no workers working there. Finally I offered for the work. I wrote a letter to my mother, and I told her and my dad, and she wrote back and she says, “We’ve been praying for that for years.” But she never told me. The recipe that she was following was the recipe that Jesus gave us, in Matthew 9, towards the end of the chapter. He talked about the harvest being great and the laborers few. “Therefore, pray ye to the Lord of the harvest, that He would send laborers into the harvest.” So that’s the recipe. We’re not out there recruiting. But we can pray to God. God sees hearts, and God sees needs, and He’s the one who is going to move hearts. If I was in the work because of my mother, she died in 1987. I can truly say that I feel that I am in the work because of God, and God is there. He’s always there. Therefore, in the work or somewhere else, it won’t work if it’s not of God. But if it is God calling, if it is a condition that is from God, it’s going to work. When Jesus answered Peter, Peter says, “We have left all.” What will we have? And Jesus said, “Those that have forsaken house or brethren, sisters, father, mother, they’ll have a hundred fold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”

This last time when I was in Australia, the first home I was in Adelaide, the couple had a daughter that was in Mongolia. She is in Mongolia. And that night she called. She wanted to talk to her parents and they let me greet her, and the thought came to my mind that my first home in Australia is the home that she left. She left and she’ll be having a hundred fold more. I left one, and her home was one of my hundred fold. About another month later I was in another home, and the boy had just left the week before. To me it was so special to be in that home, I could just feel, I knew what his parents were feeling. They had all these little stories about his last days at home, how he had to go out and buy his new clothes, and how he was resisting this and resisting that. All these little stories about leaving home. And his home that he left was my home. It’s just beautiful how it all works together. So could we just remember, there’s no options. Make it work.

Perhaps I should finish with this. What happens when people take other options? I have a sister that did that, and her life is a bit mixed up. She asked me – I knew she was going to ask me when I was in her home the other day – she said, “What about us? What about our situation?” I had been thinking about it, and I had five words, and these are very important, they are important for every one of us, “Keep yourself within miracle reach.” Keep yourself within miracle reach. If we’re close, God can work a miracle. Whether it be in a situation outside, but the miracle that He would really like to work is in here, in our heart. That we be willing for anything. So even that is an ABC. Always Be Close. These are just a few things that I feel are practical and they’ll help us. If we could just put some of these things to work in our lives, we wouldn’t have to worry about other options. We could just enjoy to the fullest what we have chosen for our life.

These three are so intertwined that it is not possible to tell where one leaves off and the other begins, but all three are definite fruits of the spirit. They are just the opposite of the works of the flesh, which is selfishness in every form.

Satan is trying his best to thwart the fruits of the spirit and plant selfish motives in everything we do and say. He wants us to care for no one but self and our own interests. He is trying his best to get into the home life of every child of God, into the church and God’s messengers. Folks within the church live so closely and influence one another to the extent that examples within the church can spread so the whole church is influenced – just as the seven churches in Revelation.

Satan even wants this to become nothing but a “social gospel,” while God is trying to work a deep work within the lives of each one to love the SOULS of all we meet. If we love the souls of all, we will not assess them by what they are by nature, but by what they can become with the divine nature. Our “caring” will not be only for the present, but also for the eternal future. We will not only encourage them with interest in their present-day situations, but in their eternal future…many times just a thoughtful, loving communication. We can encourage others not only by being in meetings ourselves, but by helping others get to meetings.

And, as there are always legitimate circumstances where folks have to miss meetings, there is a privilege in “sharing” thoughts from the meeting. At the same time it is possible to “bear” some of the burdens that hinder others from getting to the meetings. In this busy life, this often has to be at the expense of neglecting some of our own duties; however, “he who winneth souls is wise,” and, realizing the worth of a soul, this should not seem important.. If we can just have victory in the secret place, God can help us realize the worth of a soul and the fleeting value of things we work so hard to possess in this life. Satan wants us to go after so many things that just take up our time and attention while God is trying to give us a better, grander view – a crown in heaven awaiting the chosen, faithful few. He wants to show us how to use the unrighteous mammon to gain this crown. It is only the love of souls that causes men and women to forsake all to labor in the harvest field. This is not in vain and we all need to be “workers together” in caring, sharing, and bearing — realizing the worth of a single soul.

Life is fleeting fast and nothing really matters but salvation – not only our own but every single soul we meet for whom Christ died. Satan is bargaining for our soul — he wants to lure us into selfishly accumulating “stuff” that will take our time to maintain and will be a witness against our soul in eternity, while God is trying to get us to focus our lives on simplicity in this life and having our “treasure” in Heaven. This is the miracle of being delivered from the world and translated into the Kingdom of His Dear Son. However, the rewards in being translated begin in this life. Jesus wept and had sorrow, but He was anointed above all others with joy and gladness. Saints and servants alike share in this joy to understand.

Jesus taught that the Kingdom of Heaven is within you. What a treasure! No foes can reach that secret place where hides my soul safe in His care. His presence like a wall of fire is round about me everywhere. It has been said that God’s children have seven powers on their side: God, His Son, the Holy Spirit, the Angels, His Word, His servants, and the Friends or fellow Christians. But I like to add another — our hymns!

Have you ever been at a meeting when someone did not mention a thought from some of our hymns? I tell you, I would find life quite intolerable without our wonderful hymns. So many times we just cannot find words to express how we feel, our deep need, our gratitude, our purpose – and there we find it expressed so clearly in one of our hymns! These wonderful thoughts come to us and possess our hearts and minds when we are in situations where it is just not possible to feed on God’s word — driving, etc., maybe at our work. God’s Word was written and forever settled in Heaven, not to be added to or taken away from, but our hymns were written by people who had a deep spiritual experience that burst out in song for the benefit of men, women and children for all ages to come. They are not only one of the most important parts of our meetings, conventions and Gospel meetings, but also our daily lives! They were inspired by God Himself, for the purpose of inspiring His people! A true blessing, the worth of which could never be calculated! Satan would like to overcome these hymns with his type of noise that can’t even be considered music and which has no place in God’s Kingdom. May we never develop any desire for this in our lives. It is our hymns and praise of the Lamb that will be loved and sung throughout the countless ages of eternity.

“More stern will grow the conflict as nears the King’s return,” yes, the way things are going in the world a wider gap between the world and God’s people is needed all the time. Paul wrote to some of the Christians that he was persuaded better things of them — things that accompany salvation. A statement by someone from another country after visiting America was “The Americans seem to have lots of everything, except time.” It is more profitable for the Kingdom to visit and encourage those who are in care centers and deprived of privileges than it is to go on shopping sprees. John encouraged people to not love the world or the things that are in the world. We don’t need to tell what our first love is — it is very evident!

If you’ll excuse me for using words that rhyme for illustrations, I would like to mention some others — they are: KNOWING, GROWING, SHOWING AND GLOWING. If we do what we know, we’ll grow, we’ll show what we know without saying a word, but a satisfaction will glow from our lives. May this be our portion — these are tools against the power of the devil and a demonstration of the grace of God.

I thought that I would like to speak a little this afternoon about Israel and the nation of Israel.

I believe all God’s plan for the future, as in the past, is centered around Israel, the chosen nation.

The Scripture tells us about the past and the present and even opens up the veil a little on the future and the promises of God to Israel.

I wonder if you remember Jesus’ voice the very last words of Jesus to the Children of Israel, we could read in Luke 21:24 where He says, “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled”.

That was His voice to the Jewish world and it has been fulfilled in every point.

The enemy came to the city of Jerusalem to destroy the Jews and the Temple, and not one stone was left upon another and His people would be scattered into every nation under Heaven until the time of the Gentiles will be fulfilled.

We could ask the question, did Israel fall? ..and were they scattered into every nation of the world? Yes they were. You could not go to a nation in the world where a Jew is not found.

Remember the words of Jesus to the apostles in Acts 1:6 “When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel”?

Jesus and His apostles were on the mount of Ascension.

V7“And He said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power.

V8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth”.

He was talking to His apostles. Do you gather from that, there will be a future day for Israel?

What did they say when Jesus was crucified, “Let His blood be upon us and upon our children”. God heard that and He said ‘if that’s how you want it that’s how it will be’.

Let us take a look at the time plan. How long was it until that was fulfilled, that His blood should be upon their heads and the heads of their children?

History tells us that in the year 70 A.D. the Jewish nation fell to the Romans – the Romans came and the city was taken with great slaughter of the Jews. Those not slaughtered were taken away captive and were scattered to all parts of the earth. Forty years after the death of Christ these events took place. The Word of God is sure and what He has said, will come to pass.

I am sure that we are all interested and looking forward to that time and it is going to happen. No-one knows the hour of His coming but He will return. That great day when the Lord will return with the sound of a trumpet and gather His people unto Himself, meeting them in the air, and for a short time He will return to earth to rule. This is the plan of God but there is no time given. The timeline is obvious.

How long was He with them before He spoke these words to them? He was with them for 40 days on the earth after He rose from the dead, and here they were with Him and the new covenant was given on the Mount and then He was taken up.

They asked Him when the kingdom would be restored, but we don’t know when that will happen.

How long was it until Pentecost? It was 50 days after He rose from the dead. So it was 10 days later, when the Holy Spirit came upon them and they were given power and sent to preach to all the world.

Has this come to pass? It is coming to pass. There has been an explosion of the Gospel going forth.

In those first years the Gospel went forth into all the known world. And then after 400 years, things quietened down and not a lot was heard about it until the 20th century.

In the 20th century there has been another burst of activity and it has spread into all the world. It began in the 1900s coming from Europe, the Gospel has spread into almost all the world.

Jesus said that the Gospel would spread into all the world and then the end would come.

We could say that from Britain and its colonies the Gospel has almost gone into every nation of the world unto this day as far as I know, there may be some little corners it hasn’t reached yet.

There are five signs of the times.

Back in Matthew 16:2 Jesus said, “When it is evening ye say, It will be fair weather for the sky is red. And in the morning, it will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times”?

There are a lot of weather prophets here in this room and you can look at the sky and see what is going to happen but you need to know the signs of the times. You can look at the sky and discern what will happen – but the signs of the times, people are ignorant of that.

God has a plan and He will bring His Eternal plan to pass.

There are five things that have happened in very recent years.

The first sign: Israel has been reborn in our day – for 1900 years there was no Israel, they were not a nation but just a people scattered throughout the whole world, just as Jesus said they would be.

In the year 1948, the British government deeded Israel back to the Jews and Israel became a nation.

Many young people, and they are rich young people, have flocked back to Israel from all over the world.

What is it that has caused rich young people to leave the shores of other lands to be drawn to flock back to Israel?

God said so many times, “I am going to gather my people Israel and bring them back again”. Millions of Jews have returned to Israel, just as God said they would.

Tell me… How did God preserve His people separate in the world for 2000 years?

Other nationalities have melted into the nations around them but not the Jews. God has kept His people separate because He had a future plan for the Jews.

From 1948 we go to 1967, in the six-day war – the Jews, with a small little Army drove out all the other nations and claimed the Holy Land – they took their own land back again and a buffer zone around it.

Since that time the whole world has been picking away and picking away, but Israel is still holding on – and they are going to remain there and live there until the Lord is going to return and redeem Israel.

The second sign: Now 2000 years has passed. Do you know how long the old covenant lasted? 2000 years – God gave it to Abraham, and He made promises to Abraham and his seed. Abraham is the father of the Jewish nation. 2000 years before Christ came, God made a covenant with Abraham, and God made a promise to Abraham.

Gen 22:18 “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice”.

And that seed was Jesus, because in Jesus there would be blessing unto all nations of the world.  God said that would be the case.

2000 years before Abraham was Adam. From Adam to Abraham was 2000 years, and from Abraham to Christ was 2000 years.

There was no covenant until Abraham‘s death, then the covenant given to Abraham was for 2000 years.

When did the new covenant begin? Was it at the birth of Jesus? No. It was Jesus’ death on the cross that brought the new covenant into power. He tells us (in Hebrews) that it is the death of the testator that brings in a new covenant. Jesus lived His whole life under the old covenant. And when Jesus died, the veil in the temple was rent from top to bottom. If man had done it, it would have been rent from the bottom to the top, but it was God who did it and it was rent from top to bottom, and that was the day when God left His place on the Mercy Seat of the temple and the temple worship ended.

Jesus said, “Ye have made My house a den of thieves”. And more than that, He said, “your house is left unto you desolate”. Why? What does it mean? There was nobody at home, God had left it. This was the end of temple worship and the old covenant.

Some people say, Why do we not keep the Sabbath day like they did in the Old Testament? Why isn’t there a temple anymore? Because the Old Testament offering was an animal sacrifice and now in the New Testament, what is the sacrifice? Rom 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service”. What is the New Testament sacrifice? Our bodies. No more animal sacrifice, no more Passover, no more temple. Where does God dwell? He dwells with those with a humble and contrite spirit. The covenant of temple worship ended, and the new covenant began.

The world is all confused.

There was no promise of physical healing in the New Testament. We do not read of healing of any, but for a Jew by a Jew. It was a sign to the Jews under the old covenant, and it was done as an example of the power of God. Jesus cleansed the leper, healed the sick and lame, and raised the dead. All that was natural in the Old Testament, it all became spiritual in the New Testament. There was no promise of physical healing in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, if you have sinned, you will be sick, but in the New Testament, it is spiritual sickness. The New Testament teaches us that if we have sinned, we can be forgiven, and the lame and blind can be healed, and the dead made alive, spiritually.

All these things have happened according to God‘s timeline, 2000 years the old covenant lasted. How long has the new covenant lasted? Since Jesus was born, it has been 2000 years. Is that a sign of the times? It says that it will be, until the time of the Gentiles will be fulfilled.

Jesus was born 2000 years ago and 33 years later Jesus died in 2030 years. The calendar is out 4 years, 26 years to go. None of that really matters, it is not here, nor there. The day of the Gentiles will end one day.

The third sign: People speak of a one-world government, all the leaders of the world are talking of it, and it has been foretold and it must come to pass and is already heading that way, with everything getting bigger and bigger and bigger. Many have tried it, Hitler tried it and Stalin tried it. How did Hitler go after destroying 6 million Jews? And Stalin with 10 million Jews? They didn’t last very long did they? You don’t kill or persecute a Jew and get away with it. The one-world government has to come into being before the world ends and Christ returns.

The Jews were all sent back to Jerusalem before Jesus was born. It looked impossible but the captivity ended and the Jews returned. It was against all odds but it had to be and it is necessary that all the Jews must be in Jerusalem when Jesus returns. That is a sign of the times.

The fourth sign: Israel has been reborn. The old covenant lasted 2000 years and the new one is almost 2000 years. The new world government is forming and everything is getting bigger and bigger.

The fourth sign Jesus said, ‘When I return, it will be like it was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah’, and that is so. Its immorality is of the worst kind. The morals in my country have been going down for years, but in the last 10 years the morals have gone down, down, down, very low. I don’t know what they are here in this land, but they are probably much the same. In the last decade there has been moral degeneration, as there has never been before, and we wonder how much worse it can get?

The fifth sign: The Gospel of the Kingdom must be preached in every nation under Heaven and then the end will come. This, I believe, is what is happening now. There has been an explosion of the Gospel in every nation of the world. It may not be in every part yet, perhaps there are some little corners where it has not reached yet – but the Gospel is preached in Columbia, in the country, and in that country 75 people have professed and many others are listening and wanting to profess. Others have been telling of the Gospel going down into the jungle and God has raised up a church in the jungle, something unheard of a few years ago. It will go forth into every nation of the world.

Turn to Romans 11 and we will take a little look at the present status of the Jewish world. The whole 11th chapter tells us of the present status of the Jews. I enjoyed thinking about them and what God planned for the Jews. It is exactly as it was in the days of Paul. See what Paul said, because he understood it perfectly.

V7 “What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded”.

We are talking of the present status of the Jews. It was prophesied that the King of Israel would come sitting on an ass. We can picture Jesus coming down, riding on that donkey and all the multitude of the faithful saints following Him and praising Him and singing His praise.

This was the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9. “Behold thy King cometh unto thee, He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass”. Thy King cometh.  And how did He come? Jesus came to the city of Jerusalem, a week before He was crucified, riding on an ass.

Picture those High Priests and Pharisees, saying – Tell those people to shut up. They were blinded and they didn’t believe at all and they still don’t.

Jesus became King of Israel to those who believed and the rest were blinded.

What was Jesus doing as He approached the city? He was weeping as He approached the city. Why was He weeping?  “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered you together as a hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and ye would not”?

And now he was saying, “You have missed it all”. And what was the result? Now great destruction was coming and He told them that not one stone would be left upon the other, and there was no nation of Israel anymore. There would be no nation of Israel until the last days.

Now we read a little more in Romans 11:11-15 “I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid, but rather through their fall, salvation is come to the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them is the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office. If by any means I may provoke an emulation in them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead”?

I think that this is made very plain, they were cast away because of unbelief but they will be gathered again at the latter end.

v16. “For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy, and if the root be holy, so are the branches”.

Who is the root? Jesus, He is the root and offspring of David, the seed of Abraham. All nations are blended together in Him.

Now when Jesus died on the cross, His sacrifice was for the whole world. That was the prophecy.

The old covenant ended and the new covenant came in and has lasted for nearly 2000 years.

Then he talks about how the Gentiles got into the family of God. It goes on to say in v17 “But if some of the branches be broken off, and thou being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root, thee…”

The branches were broken off, that we might be saved by our belief and grafted in.

This was exactly what happened. This is the new covenant after Jesus sent His disciples forth, but the root and the tree are still the same. Jesus and His Kingdom are still the same. The root is still Jesus.

The Gentiles are the wild olive branch – some of us were very wild branches, but we have been broken off the wild olive tree and grafted into the true Living tree.

Even though the branches were broken off through unbelief, the root was still Holy and has become a great tree with many branches.

It is a good thing not to boast against Israel. We can be cut off if we don’t value our place, because God has said that those who bless Israel, He will bless, and those who curse Israel, He will curse. Most of the world is turning against Israel.

These are my thoughts but why do you think that the Arabs bombed the twin towers? Because they hated America? No, but because America likes the Jews and the Arabs hate them with a passion.

“If God spared not the natural branches, take heed that He spare not thee”.

Then that other verse, v25. “I would not brethren that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles come in”.

Sure they are blinded in part, but I want you to know this much anyway. Are all the Jews blind? No! There are some Jews who are certainly serving God, some very elect. There are sister workers working among the Jews.  Paul was a Jew himself. The Gospel has gone into Israel and there are Jews who have accepted it. God has promised that He will save the Jews.

‘Blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles come in’. That speaks to us of Israel being saved.

Then in v26 it says “And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written; There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away the ungodliness of Jacob”. This speaks of Jesus’ second Coming – He is coming again to save Israel.

In Romans 11 – it speaks of the present status of the Jews.

Maybe for a few minutes we will look at Zechariah and see that there are some unfulfilled prophecies about the Jews, but they will be fulfilled.

What has God moved the Jews to do? To go back to Israel in the last days.

These are unfulfilled prophecies about the Jews because the Word of God is sure and it will come to pass.

So Romans 11 is the present status of the Jews.

Zechariah chapter 11:2-3 we read here their future status.

Zech. 12:2 “Behold I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people around about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. v3 And in that day, will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people, all that burden themselves with it shall be cut to pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it”.

Not just some people, no, but all people.

“All that burden themselves with it, shall be cut to pieces”.

We see here that he is trying to say, if we befriend the Jews and support the Jews, there is going to be a cost.

Does that mean to say, all except Australia? Everybody will be in the siege, surrounded by all nations of the world, the enemy army. It has not come to pass yet.

Think of little Israel surrounded by all the nations of the world, because all nations of the world will get mad and attack her.

In Zechariah 12:8 it says “In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David, and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them”.

Who is watching these things? God is, and He will defend them and He will give them superhuman strength.

v9. “It shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.”

v10. “And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications, and they shall look upon Me whom they pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn”.

There is a day coming when Israel is going to turn to the Lord Jesus.

This isn’t the past that we are talking about, but it is when the Lord is going to come.

And in that day, the day of His coming again v10. “I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications, and they shall look on Me whom they pierced”.

This happened so long ago when they pierced Jesus. But when they are surrounded they are going to be in such dire straits, they couldn’t look to Egypt or to Syria for help, there was nowhere else that they could look for help in the siege, they will only be able to look one way and that is upward and look to Jesus whom they had pierced, and there will be a period of beseeching God and of great mourning among the Jews and acceptance of this One that they had pierced, and a small remnant will return unto the Lord.

They are going to look up and look upon Jesus and then they will return to the Lord.

Chapter 13:1 it tells us, “In that day there shall a fountain be opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness”.

In that day the spirit of grace and supplication shall come upon them as they accept the One that they have pierced, and the fountain will open up for cleansing and those people who have been the bitter enemies of God; they will turn their eyes to Heaven and cry unto God and whom they have pierced, and shall receive cleansing.

V9. “And I will bring the third part through the fire and I will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried, they shall call on My name, and I will hear them. I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, the Lord is my God”.

They turned, looking to the One who they had pierced and saying, The Lord is my God, and a fountain opened for their sins and their iniquities will be remembered no more.

Then concluding the whole matter, Zechariah 14 is interesting. v1-4 “Behold the day of the Lord cometh”.

And when He comes He will find all nations gathered against Jerusalem. “And thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished, and half the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives”.

The Lord will come down from Heaven on a great white horse and fight for and deliver Israel, and set up His own government.

V4. “And His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives…”

What did the angel say when Jesus was caught up into Heaven as they met on the Mount of Olives? “Know ye not that this same Jesus will come again in like manner”. He will come to the same place, the Mount of Olives.

V8 “And it shall be in that day shall living waters go out from Jerusalem, half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea. In summer and winter shall it be”.

There are two seas bordering Israel, the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. The Eastern sea and the Western sea.

When the Lord comes there will be a great earthquake and the earth will be divided.

v9 “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth, in that day there shall be one Lord and His name one”.

It will be just like that. Are you looking forward to that day? People think that he is King of kings and Lord of lords today but he is King of Israel and of His faithful, but in that day, He will be reigning as King over all the earth – one Lord and one kingdom, when He comes to set up His Government and with Him shall come His Bride to reign over the earth for 1000 years. The Lord shall be King over all the earth in that Day and shall rule and reign for 1000 years.

Do you want to know a little of that last great battle that will be fought when all are gathered against little Israel, we can read of this great battle in Revelations 19:11. It speaks of God coming on a white horse and His faithful with Him, and with a sword in His mouth. And what is His weapon? His sword going out of His mouth – that is what He will smite the enemies of Israel with. He will only have to say, ‘you’re dead’ and they will be dead.

Every man will be against every man and Judah shall also fight at Jerusalem.

Let’s read it in Zechariah 12. “And this is the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem. Their flesh shall consume away while they stand on their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord will be amongst them, and they shall lay hold every man on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand rise up against his neighbor”.

That is the Arabs for you, that is the way the Lord said it would be and that is how they began and how they have been all along.

“And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem… and it shall come to pass, that everyone that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, The Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles…”

In the last three lines in Zechariah, it says, “And in that day, there will be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts”.

The Canaanite, that’s the seed of Ishmael and the seed of Esau… they shall be no more.

I don’t know if you enjoy hearing about these things. Some of this is history, some of it is now and some of it is in the future, but God will be with His people and He has given us this picture that we might keep our eyes open and seek to be true, that we might have a part with Him.

I was thinking about the parable of the seed and soil this week. Seed is remarkable; it does not depend on the capability of the sower, it can be planted up-side-down or right-side-up and it does not matter; it is ageless when well preserved, people don‘t talk about old seed or new seed; it is changeless when sown; it does not harm the soil but adds as much at is takes away; it does not depend on the colour or texture of the soil but has its own genetics; you could not tell a sample of the same seed taken from one plot or from a plot a thousand miles away; the seed can wait to germinate for years if well preserved; some seeds need moisture to germinate; some need fire to set them free; all need soil in which to die; divide it or try to change it and it dies; when dirty, the easiest way to clean it is to sow it, the dying process takes care of the fouled sample. And the exact opposition is true in the soil. Poor ground can become good ground with care and work. But it still needs the seed to produce a crop. If we have only produced clean lives, we have not accomplished anything!

This is just something from our corner. We are well … we appreciate our friends. Life is busy and complicated so they do well to keep things in order.

Sometimes we have our Bible study and we read it over and we have nothing. What can I say about that chapter? So we read it over again and I still do not see anything I could say in the chapter. Maybe you don’t have that chapter? Sometimes you read it over again and a little thought begins to break through and something begins to dawn.

1 Corinthians Chapter 1: I had this trouble in that chapter. I read it over several times and I thought there was nothing in that chapter I could speak about. Verses 27/28: “27But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are.”

Let us take a look at these four categories. Things that God has chosen, talking to His children. He hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. Men have many wise things, but God hath chosen to show his glory in some things the world thinks are foolish and He has many mighty men, but he has chosen the weak things of the world to show forth His power to the world. He is choosing the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty and the base things of the world and things that are despised. Those base and despised things God hath chosen.

The last category is and base things of the world and things which are despised hath God chosen to bring to naught things that are. What is all that about? What has God chosen? I got to thinking about these categories and I thought I could make a list of the categories and I put down on a piece of paper four headings and then under them I started noting some things that would fit each category and I got thinking of some interesting things. That is what I would like to share with you this morning. I would like to share with you what God has chosen. Isn’t that what you would like to do? I would like to do that.

God hath chosen the foolish things of the world. 24 verses in the chapter. Very foolish things – not the ideas of men in this first chapter we will take a look at. The things that were just on my list – but the world by its wisdom knew not God. It isn’t the wisdom of man that helps us to know God. Very foolish things – not the idea of man in this first chapter. We’ll take a look at that: “21For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” That is a wonderful thing. God has chosen the foolishness of preaching. I read that when I was waiting to go into the work. I thought that was a misprint. I didn’t think preaching the gospel was foolish and God chose it for His own Son. I thought that should not be in the Bible. He calls preaching foolishness! Preaching the Gospel is foolishness in the eyes of the world, but it is not foolishness. Preaching the Gospel is power unto salvation unto everyone that believeth. It is how God speaks to men. Through the Gospel and through the foolishness of preaching. God brings the Gospel to our eyes and to our minds.

I will tell you what opened my eyes about that, friends. I was away from home, out in the work, and it was my first year, the second year after I professed and heard the Gospel and made my choice. There was this big family reunion at home and everyone was at home except me and I could imagine who was the topic of discussion. I had gone out on this new venture. One Auntie rose and said, “We thought Dale would make something and he turned out to be the biggest sap in the whole family.” I think the rest agreed. It wasn’t a very high rating for me. Foolishness. Putting my life away and going out like this to preach the Gospel. It seemed so foolish to my family.

I came to my Dad (he was a car dealer at this time) and told him, “I want to sell my car. I am going to go out in the Gospel and go like Jesus.” He said, “Son, aren’t you going to be doing some traveling? You need your car. It is foolish – sell your car!” I was proud of myself with my shiny new car. I had come home from the war and he had been able to get it for me. I was proud of my car and I was going out to serve God to be a preacher. I said, “I have to go forth like Jesus and sell all I have.” Dad said, “That is foolish. You will need your car.” I said, “No, I do not know if I will be traveling or not.” I thought he would turn in the grave if he knew I was down here in New Zealand. How could I have got here without that car? It looked so foolish to Dad. He said, “Where are you going to get your donkey?” He thought if I was going to go like Jesus, I would have to ride a donkey! It looked foolish to the family, to go and preach the Gospel. Paul said, it looks foolish to the world. Not the ministry in the world – they look like honourable men and so on, but the true servants look foolish to the world. After a few of those experiences, I realized God had chosen the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. It is the Gospel message that brings salvation and it is the most important work in the world. I believed it when I started, and I believe it more today. This is the greatest work in the world – preaching the Gospel – and yet it is so foolish in the eyes of man.

The foolishness of the cross is another thing. Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow Me.” They said, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” He could have pulled those nail prints away and come down off the cross and the legion of angels come to His rescue. He could have called the angels of Heaven to come, but He said, “They do not know what they are saying. Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” The preaching of the cross. To take up your cross and follow Jesus looks so foolish to the world. I remember some of my people, classmates, peers, “These things you are doing – why are you doing it? Are you just going to wander around? What are you doing in the world?” And they thought I would amount to something too! But to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Jesus – foolish it looks to them. That is the power of God. God has chosen the way of the cross; it is the hallmark of this service. In the ideas of men, no, but in the idea of God, it is the wise thing to take up our cross daily and follow Him. This will bring His blessing and richest rewards.

And I found more foolish things. I wrote down self-denial as foolish. People will say, “You don’t have to give that up, do you? You do not have to deny yourselves that, do you?” Self denial is one of the prices we pay to honour God because God has chosen that we deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him. Yes, we need to deny ourselves of some things that are very legitimate things, to honour and serve God, to glorify His name, to show the world what it is He lived and taught. Foolishness in the sight of the world, to deny yourselves. Eat, drink and be merry! You only live once! Live it up! That is what most of the world says. I am going to get what I can get for myself and miss the whole purpose of life. God said, “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me.”

I was thinking of another thing. Separation. God loves a separate people. We have had to separate ourselves to come to this convention, and here we are a separate people in a separate place. Called, separate from the world, and we are here together because God has called His people to come. Separation from the world is often God’s service. He loves those who will separate themselves from all that is of this earth to live unto Him. I was thinking about that, and I would like to be separate unto God. I would like that my life would be His and His alone. He has created us for His pleasure and He wants to dwell richly in us and all the blessing will fill our lives if we are just willing to separate ourselves unto His service. It is foolish in the eyes of the world. But it is power to the Lord.

We can make more things that are foolish, but the things that are foolish in the eyes of the people of this world are powerful things in the eyes of God.

Then we go on to the weak things. I thought about his expression of sending His servants forth as lambs among wolves. I tell you, I was out in West Australia and saw those little lambs born and little tiny legs, weak and wobbly and I thought what chance would a little lamb, wobbling around looking for his Momma, have against a band of wolves? But the Lord says, “I am going to send you forth as lambs among wolves!” Sometimes we feel very helpless as God’s servants, but I never forget it’s God’s work and He has called us and it gives me strength. He sent forth His servants and it is weak things. Weak things are the little child he called and set in His midst.

I don’t think I’m paternal, but these mothers bring these little tiny babies to me and they say, “Do you want to hold my baby?” I am nervous and I get a hold of that baby and oh my – it feels as if the legs want to fall off and the head wobbles like something else. It just feels like a ball of cotton, as soft as nice as it can be. I like them about two or three years old and then I can put them on a lorry and I like little kids. Jesus brought a little child and He said, “You need to be like a little child.” A childlike nature is what God loves. When the Apostles wanted to know who was going to be in charge here, and that is the human nature, but the divine nature says, “Humble yourself as a little child.” God had chosen the weak things of this world. The little child is the hallmark of the Kingdom of God.

I thought of the donkey colt. My Dad thought that was so foolish – I would have to get myself a donkey just the same as Jesus who came riding into Jerusalem. The King of Israel. Behold, our King. The disciples saw it and they were rejoicing as Jesus rode the donkey right into Jerusalem. I do not know how many knew it was in the scripture when Jesus got on the donkey. It says the King is coming on a white horse with armies and with great power. Jesus is coming one day with a great white horse. He is coming with the angels of Heaven and He is coming to Earth to reign in that 1,000 years we were talking about. He will come. They do not know the difference between him coming with a mount of sorts on a donkey colt and Him coming again. But now He comes on a little colt, the foal of an ass.

I was thinking about the death on the cross. That looked weak to the world, didn’t it? Death on the cross – He couldn’t come down! How can He be the Son of God, hanging there amongst the thieves? Reckoned with the transgressors in His death. They said, “That cannot be.” They said, “Come down from the cross.” But Jesus fulfilled the sweet will of His Father. He gave Himself and He gave His life and the blood that flowed out was the price of your redemption and mine. Precious blood of the Lamb.

I will tell you about an old man and someone in our meeting knows him very well. There was an old man and his name was Lewis Murray. He had preached the Gospel in Mexico and he chose that hymn we sung, 319 on several occasions. I think when he was 95, he was in his mid-90’s and he was an old man, but still cooking, and he was on in the afternoon, and he was going to have a part in the convention. If you pardon me, you will have to see a picture so you can see what he looked like. He was at a 90 degree angle and here is how he looked – (Dale bent in half with his face only a metre from the floor of the stage). Every church in the whole would have pensioned him off long ago. Here he is on the platform in Edgewood, New Mexico and it took two brothers to get him on the platform and the mike was way above his head and they had to put it on the floor so he could speak into the mike. Weakness. Trembling with emotion. 95 had passed and after the convention I had the privilege of visiting around in the area close by where the friends had been attending the convention. Each one of them said, “Did you hear what Lewis said?” It makes me weep. “Did you hear what Lewis said?” He had the word for that whole convention. That weak, trembling old man. “Did you hear what Lewis said?” And God has chosen the weak things to confound the wise.

About that same time where I was, the list came out and I blinked. I saw, and I looked again and down to the bottom of the list the two young sisters were together. Two young girls just starting out. Beautiful young girls, and they were listed for West Texas, out there amongst those rough cowboys. In West Texas? And I thought that was the weakest thing I ever saw. I believed our overseer had made a terrible mistake. That is what I thought. I didn’t tell anyone else. But I thought, that is the weakest thing, those two young sisters going out there to that rough tough West Texas. Come convention at the time of the year, those sisters brought more lambs to the convention than all the brothers put together. Weakness. God has chosen the weak things to confound the mighty. It looked ever so weak to me. Those two young girls, they had the Gospel message and they brought more lambs than all the brothers put together. In our weakness is God’s mighty strength.

Paul said, “When I am weak, then am I made strong.” We do not have to fight these battles by the arm of flesh in human strength because our weakness appeals to God. That is all I am going to say about weak things, but God has allowed the weak things to confound the world.

I am going to speak about base things. Verse 28 “And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are.” I have been thinking of Nazareth. Where did God cause Jesus to spend the first 30 years of His life? He settled in Nazareth, and he will be called a Nazarene. Could anything good come out of Nazareth? Could anything good come of Jesus in Nazareth? It was a despised little village. I could imagine it being dirt streets and a little town and nothing great in Nazareth, and yet that is where God caused His Son to grow up from childhood to adulthood. It is from the carpenter’s bench in Nazareth that Jesus launched forth at the age of 30 years. God chose Nazareth and He said, “He shall be called a Nazarene.” Despised little place. Base place. God chooses sometimes the base things.

I had a good reputation when I was a boy. I tried to keep my name clean. I tried to do what was right. One thing I could not do, was bring reproach on my father’s name. I got in trouble one night a policeman came to our house and he said to my Dad, “Where is your car?” “It’s in the garage and you had better go see.” “Where is your son?” He said, “He is upstairs,” or so he thought. Someone else had told the police that we were out in Dad’s car, and we were letting down Charlie’s tyres and we were in trouble. I was out with a carload of boys and we were doing a mischievous thing and we were letting some air out of the tyres of a neighbour. He was at a lady’s place. He used it to get after us, even if we walked by his house. We did that, and the policeman said to my Dad, “You had better look in the bed!” The policeman told my Dad, “He is out riding around in your car.” I felt very bad about that because it brought reproach on my Dad’s name. We had a filling station and Charlie used to be a good customer and he said, “I think you had better check those tyres (chuckle, chuckle, chuckle).” I checked his tyres more than anyone else in town. Chuckle chuckle chuckle. I felt terrible. That is how we feel when we disappoint the Lord, don’t we? A reputation can easily be destroyed when we do those light things. We have no reputation when we go in the work, but we do amongst God’s people anyway.

What about blood? Do you like blood? God chose that precious blood. I don’t like blood, especially my own. But God has chosen despised things. He has chosen blood. Blood as His prized salvation.

He said, “Suffer with me, and you will reign with me.” No one likes to suffer. We don’t like to suffer, but sometimes we are in a place where we suffer for His name’s sake. But suffering leads to reigning. God has chosen suffering to bring glory to His name.

I thought of two other things I might mention : modesty and humility. Modesty and humility. God knoweth the humble, but the proud he knoweth afar off. He loves [the] humble and humility is a great thing in spite of the world. The world sometimes despises a humble man. Jesus was a humble man, and they didn’t like humility. Some people don’t like modesty and there is nothing more beautiful than modest clothes, modest hairdo. The world despises it, but God loves modesty and He loves humility. He has chosen modesty and humility in His kingdom. We do not want to despise the things God has chosen. That is through all the categories.

The fourth one God has chosen. Make a list of all these things. You can add to the list. I have just added something that appealed to me to make my point. What God’s chosen is what I want and what you want.

That fourth category: God had chosen the things that are not to bring to naught the things that are. He is choosing the things that are not. What things that are not has God chosen? I have you a little story. It was the only time after I went in the work that I got in trouble with the law after letting Charlie’s tyres down. Charlie never let me forget the air went out of his tyres.

I want to tell you about the one time I was arrested in the work. I want to tell you a little about Sheriff Rolando. My companion went to get a shirt. I looked up the road and saw him coming up the street. He was in the middle of the road and he had the shirt. He was running and he was in a sweat. I said, “You had better sit down and rest a while.” He said, “Sheriff has been looking for us for three days.” Sheriff Rolando was a real man. He was all man. He was 6’ 5”, a big man in Colorado and he had a gun and he had a big Western hat and light coloured suit, and he had the biggest silver Sheriff’s star on the front of his shirt. He had on this white stripe, rubber cowboy boots two inches high and the heels are more and higher and he was looking for us! My companion said, “Don’t go down there!” I said, “We had better go to the Sheriff’s place and see what the problem is.” We went down.

The girl at the desk said, “You are the two men we have been looking for for two days.” She said, “Sit right there.” We sat down and I wondered if she had a gun under her desk. I didn’t know. She called him on the radio and he was there shortly. He said, “I’ll be there in three minutes.” In came Sheriff Rolando. Oh my!

“Are you preachers?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Come into my office.” We went into the office.

“Sit there and sit there.”

Ok, so we did. So he gets out his clipboard and he sits down in the corner to write his report sheet on his clipboard.

“You been preachers.” He said, “I have been asked to arrest you because you are suspicious-looking characters. Down in the last place, we had seen a beautiful church raised up and it was doing great and down there. My companion and I were writing letters and mailing them in the little store where we were having the meetings. The Mail Carrier would come by and pick up our letters and look through them and see where they went. The letters were addressed to Miss so and so and Miss so and so and so on.” We were writing to the sister workers and perhaps we were foolish to do this. He spread the story. These two men belong to the Lonely Hearts Club and they have a girlfriend in every town. Maybe we had been too careless. He said, “These men write lots of letters. They are car thieves and cattle thieves.” It was the preacher down there, he started all that.

Now we were up in a little town and we had an opening, but we had to go and see the seven men on the Board of the town hall. They didn’t meet again for months, and we needed the hall now. The mayor who made the Town Hall bookings said, “All the men are working. This is a sugar beet town and all the men are all working on the sugar beet.” He said, “We will have the next meeting on 1 January.” I said, “We are talking about having some meetings this month.” He said, “It is alright if you go around and talk to the men on the Board.” We would knock at the house. “My husband is asleep, or on shift.” It took a whole week to find seven men and every day we went in a different car and on Saturday we went on the school bus. It was a Ford one day and a Chevie the next. We had a different car every day because we were living with our friends and they would say, “Use our car.” We got the opening. The mayor said, “It is okay, if it is okay with the Board.” The men said, “It is okay with me, if it is okay with the Mayor.” They said, “It is okay.” We started our meetings and we went around and knocked on doors and we were suspicious-looking characters. Whose cars were all these cars?

We imagined in our mind the kinds of questions the Sheriff was going to ask. “Whose cars were those that we were driving around in – a different one every day?” He is going to ask us questions, and it helps me to understand that verse, the things that are not …..

“Who,” he said, “are you?”

“Preachers.”

“What is the name of your church?” And you will recognize some of these questions!

“Sir, we don’t have a name, we are just preaching the Gospel.”

“And you don’t have a name?”

“We just preach the Gospel.”

“Well, where are the headquarters of your church?”

“We do not have any headquarters to our church. We are out on our own. We have fellowship with some, but we don’t have any earthly headquarters.”

He said, “Where is your church building?”

I said, “Sheriff, We do not have a church building. We preach in the Town Hall. All summer we were in the Harmony Hall, just two blocks up the street.”

He said, “I knew something was going on there, and wondered what it was.”

I said, “We have no church. We meet in homes.”

He said, “Where is your seminary to get training? Where do you go to school?”

“We don’t have any seminary. We have been learning in the school of experience.”

Question 4, “Who pays your salary?”

I said, “This is a faith work. We don’t have a salary.”

“You don’t have a salary? Where do you boys live?”

We are not doing too good. “We don’t have a home. We live with our friends here now. We are with Sam Jones, he is in the police force here. Do you know him?”

“Where is your car right now?”

We had come in the car with one of our friends, and he was waiting for us outside.

We said, “Sheriff, we have no car.” .. and then he went on about us being in these different cars. I noticed the back of his neck was getting red and I said, “I do not think we are getting anywhere.” I said, “If you give me five minutes of your time, I would like to tell you about our work so you can see what we are doing.” So he turns in the swivel chair and faces us. I said, “We both had cars, and we sold them. We both had homes and we sold our homes. We have gone out to preach the Gospel. I have this young man with me and he is learning in the school of experience how to preach the Gospel. We have gone forth just like Jesus taught, just as the preachers in the Bible.” I said, “We have no building because our meetings are in homes and we worship in the homes of God’s people. As servants of God, we live in the homes where we are invited. We just walk unless somebody gives us a ride.” I guess that is all I told him. All of a sudden he came out of that swivel chair and he held it and shook my hand with a great big hand and grasped my feeble hand. He said, “Boys, there has been an awful mistake.” He said, “I want to apologize to you men.” He said, “This is terrible what I have done.” He said, “I just wish we had a whole lot more just men up here.” He went on to say, “You boys are doing the work of the Lord and I have been impressed with you and I am ashamed. Will you please accept my apologies? If you have any trouble, you can come straight to Sheriff Rolando. Will you do that?” “Yes,” we said.

Every question that he could think of to ask that we ought to have answers to, we didn’t have. And you know, I think that helps to answer the question. God hath chosen the things that are not to bring to naught the things that are. Sure, they have their hired preacher and their homes and manse and seminaries and church buildings and on and on and choirs, and we have nothing.

The Lord hath chosen the things that are not. We do not need to be ashamed when we have to tell people that we do not have those things. Maybe if you wanted to prove your point, you could show them that verse. I was glad of the experience and went away rejoicing. We went on preaching the Gospel in the place and no one else bothered us. Did the Sheriff come to meetings? No he didn’t, but we appreciated our friend Rolando. I wish you could have seen him. He was a real man.

Matthew 19:3, “The Pharisees also came unto Him, tempting Him, and saying unto Him, ‘Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?’ And He answered and said unto them, ‘Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, “For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife and they twain shall be one flesh?” Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.’”

These verses mean more to me today than ever before because this is the golden year of Jubilee for my mother and father. Fifty years ago, they married. I have to think long and hard to find a couple that were more opposite. Dad was 6-feet, 4-inches, while Mom, I don’t think, reached 5 feet. Dad was raised in the mountains of Colorado, a rancher, hunter, trapper, living in the wilderness and feeling right at home there, while Mom was raised in the big cities of Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco She loved the Art World, visiting the museums, and galleries. And she loved the Music World with its operas, ensembles, and symphonies.

Have you ever heard of the mathematics of marriage? It is the addition of responsibility, the subtraction of independence, the division of opinions, and the multiplication of expenses. Now, I am not very good at math, but I thought, with math like that, who would ever want to get married?

But there is one thing that makes the equation more than feasible – love. Like it says of Charity in I Corinthians 13, “Love beareth all things, endureth all things, and hopeth all things.” If you put love into the marriage, it changes the whole equation. It becomes: the addition of friendship, the subtraction of loneliness, the division of selfishness, and the multiplication of joy. That is when love is in it.

Jesus told those Pharisees that day, “For this cause shall two become one.” That is what has happened with my mother and father. Just for a little example, when my little niece was three years old, my brother asked her, “Lisa, what is Daddy’s Daddy’s name?” She thought a bit and said, “Honey.” Then my brother said, “What is Daddy’s Mommy’s name?” She thought some more and then said, “Honey!” Two became one in her mind because every time she heard my dad call to my mother, it was, “Honey.” And every time she heard my mom call my father, it was, “Honey.” It is wonderful when there is a blending of sweet affection over the years to the point that two shall be one.

Have you ever heard this little poem?

Love is a fire that burns in the heart

But love is a fire that two must start.

Love is a fire that burns to the end,

But love is a fire that two must tend.

I have started lots of fires – campfires, that is! One thing you notice is that you don’t just put a match up to a log and expect it to ignite. It takes kindling. When I look out on a gathering like this, I see lots of kindling. It is there, it is easy to burn. All it needs is the right ‘spark’ to come along. The kindling of youth – you young men are those who respect authority, are decent, not into drugs, dress mannerly, and attend meetings who love the way of God. You young ladies see that and appreciate that. And you young men look at the young ladies here and see wholesomeness, cheerfulness, and beauty that is deeper than skin deep. It is all like kindling, and all it takes is the right spark to kindle the flame.

But kindling doesn’t last forever. It is only supposed to last a little while. Just long enough to ignite the bigger “logs” of commitment to each other, fidelity for one another, and trust in each other. Two logs together bum far better than one log alone. Sometimes we see them begin to smolder, and we need to add a little more kindling. Add the kindling of repentance and forgiveness. Nothing can equal it!

There is a memory that I will cherish for all my life that I have seen many times at home. I come out of my room and look into the living room. The morning sunlight is bathing the couch in a warm glow and I see my mother and father on their knees together praying. It is true that the family that prays together, stays together. Those who pray within the atmosphere of vows before God and before each other create a flame that is rare in this world. It radiates warmth that all in this cold world can feel.

Some have said that the very best gift a father can ever give to his children is to love their mother. Do you believe that? And the very best gift a mother can ever give to her children is to love their father. Do you do that? It is almost true, but not quite true. The very best gift any parent could ever give their children is to love God first. God’s love in a marriage doesn’t depreciate in any way the human love. In fact it only deepens it and sanctifies it.

Why does God require your love for Him to be above all others? The reasons are many. First of all, God is love. Without Him, we couldn’t love. Secondly, God had a living, loving relationship with man (Adam) before Eve ever came along. That just shows to us that our Creator’s love should come between even a husband and a wife. That is the only love that should ever come between a husband and wife – God’s love. The only love!

Thirdly, Jesus who came from heaven and explained to us the glories of heaven told us that in heaven, there is only one marriage and it isn’t between a man and a woman. It is between a heavenly bridegroom and a heavenly bride. Fourthly, we find in Luke 14:25, “And there went great multitudes with Him and He turned, and said unto them, ‘If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.’” To “hate” just means to love a little less. A wife, just to love her a little less than you would love Jesus. That is a requirement. That doesn’t in any way depreciate your love for your wife or husband. It only adds to it. Your love for each other as a spouse doesn’t necessarily mean you are going to be closer to God, but your love for God will make you love your spouse all the more. It surely does. And it will make you a better parent to your children, your love for God. If it wasn’t so, not one of us would be here today.

If you can go back into your mind’s eye and remember the message to Mary by the angel Gabriel, after he explained God’s plan for her life, Mary, who was engaged to Joseph, simply said, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to Thy word.” She could have thought this could obstruct her marriage to Joseph, but she had the faith to believe that God would take care of the matter. And He did! He sent the angel to Joseph. He said, “Fear not, Joseph to take Mary, thy betrothed.”

We are so thankful for those that put their love for God first and for God sending with them in that relationship. For myself, I don’t want to undo in any way what God has ordained from the beginning. I want to uphold the cause that God has planned – the cause of love. May this be so for each of us.

Matthew 5:5-8, He opened His mouth and He taught them. 6th verse then 8th verse.

Ephesians 4, “Keep the unity of the spirit…” The same unity is there – it’s still there.

Proverbs 6, the Lord hates a lying tongue. Don’t focus on any angles…just focus on Jesus.

I would like to speak about “6 two’s” of God’s work. Genesis 1:1, the Bible begins: “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.” God’s first or former work is creation, and His second or present work is re-creation. Genesis 1:31, “And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” Chapter 2:1, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.” Our God is so orderly. He didn’t create the animals before He created the grass. He didn’t create the grass before the earth. He created everything in order. I have appreciated the order I have seen here with you all in your place, so quiet and respectful. The quietness will enable Him to speak to our hearts in a still, small voice. We are talking about the six works of God and you will probably get the most out of what I am trying to say if you open your Bibles and follow along.

1. Two creations: Creation and re-creation. Adam and Eve sinned when they disobeyed God knowingly and were so ashamed they couldn’t face God. They tried to cover up and hide their sin and God saw their plight. Genesis 3:21, “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” Wasn’t that the thing that made them free to come into His presence again, unashamed? What it really talks about is a type and shadow of God’s re-creation. The animal had to be slain and the skin clothed them, bringing them unashamed before God. It is a little type and shadow of God’s present-day work. He has sent His Son who has become this Lamb of God that was slain. Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world, and that simply means that the blood of Jesus on Calvary’s middle cross was applied even from the very beginning. Men and women have been cleansed by the blood and clothed by the garments of salvation through Jesus, our Lord. It all came through Him. The work of God was to redeem and clothe men and give them access to His holy presence, so they could come boldly to His throne of grace and obtain mercy and grace to help in time of need. We have that access because of the sacrifice of the Lamb.

2. Two covenants: The first and second – the Old Testament and the New Testament There really is a great deal of confusion in the world about the two covenants of God. The worldly religions take part of the new and part of the old and mix them all up. Some keep the Sabbath Day, some like the priesthood, some like temple worship. They mix the old with the new. I would like to distinguish between the Old Testament and the New Testament, and God’s attitude towards these two covenants and to whom they were made. Before the first covenant was given, God was redeeming and working with men like Enoch and Noah, who in their day walked with God. They did the will of God before the first covenant was given. The Old Testament tells us that it was to Abraham that the first covenant was made. Genesis 11:1, the world begins to build a city. “Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto Heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” That is what the world started to do, and in that very same place God found a man and his name was Abraham (Abram). He became the father of the Jews and was given the first covenant.

Do you remember what the covenant was? Genesis 12:1, “Now the Lord had said unto Abram, ‘Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee; and I will make of thee a great nation and I will bless thee and make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.’” That is the covenant God made with Abraham. He brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees to a land he didn’t know about and that was the Holy Land, the land of promise to Jerusalem and he met a man named Melchizedek. Genesis 14:18, “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the most high God.” Some people think Melchizedek was some kind of creature, but he was king of Salem and the priest of the most high God. He lived in the days of Abraham, and Abraham recognized him as a man of God.

When Abraham left Ur, he looked for a city which had foundations, whose builder and maker was God. Those people building that city wanted a fellowship, but if the world could only know the fellowship we know if they could see the fellowship I have seen in traveling these weeks through Australia among God’s children in this land! It thrills my heart. They said, “Let us build us a city and a tower.” They wanted to make their own way to Heaven but the higher they went, the harder they would fall because it didn’t take them anywhere. “Let us make us a name.” What is the first question people will ask you if they have an inkling you are in any way religious? “What church do you go to?” And they don’t believe you when you say we don’t have a name. They have just about run out of names for their churches and one has added “Reorganized” after its name. So, here we have the beginning of religious confusion.

They couldn’t work together because they didn’t speak the same language. Abraham found a city whose builder and maker was God, and he became the mediator of the first covenant. The one thing I want to bring out is simply this, you don’t mix the old covenant with the new. They are not the same. The old covenant was in force from the time it was given to Abraham. It was 2000 years from Adam to Abraham, and God was dealing with men like Noah and Enoch then, but the first covenant was made with Abraham 2000 years after Adam.

What was the day the first covenant ended and the new covenant began? Do you know the exact moment? Hebrews 9. Do you know the exact verse? Verse 14, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause, He is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” This is the new covenant. Jesus came and offered Himself to purge us from our sins and help us to see the works of the new covenant and the works of the living God. Hebrews 9:16, “For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. Otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.”

Now, what would you say is the end of the old covenant and the beginning of the new? Was it the birth of Jesus? Was it the day He ascended to Heaven or the day He arose from the grave? It was the day He died on Calvary’s middle tree? The moment Jesus gave up the ghost, giving His life a sacrifice, in the death of the testator the new covenant was in full force. Jesus lived approximately 33 and a half years under the law. The first covenant was still in effect until He died on the cross. What happened in the temple the moment Jesus died? The veil was rent from top to bottom. If we had done it, it would have been torn from the bottom to the top, but God rent it from top to bottom. Matthew 21:13, Jesus said, “My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.” As long as He lived, it was a house for God. Matthew 23:38, “but He also said to the Jews, ‘Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.’” The first covenant was altogether for the Jews, but it was now ended and the new covenant began which was altogether for all the nations of the world.

When did Jesus say, “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature?” (Mark 16:15) It was after His resurrection. Matthew 28:19, “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” A man asked me, “What name do you baptize in?” I told him we baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. He started to say, “But..” I said, “There are no buts to that.” People say, “There was a priesthood in the Bible.” Yes, but that was under the old covenant. What did the priests in the Old Testament have to offer? They offered animal sacrifices but we don’t do that any more. What do the priests of the New Testament – that is all God’s children – have to offer? Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

Some say we need a temple. Jesus, in the new covenant, taught His children to worship in the homes of God’s people. His servants were not to be priests but were to sell all they had, give it to the poor and go out and preach as He did. After His resurrection He said, “As the Father hath sent Me, so send I you.” How can you make it any plainer than that? Some like to pay tithes. What were the tithes for? The tithes were 10% of wages, given to support the Levites who had no means of support. The Levites were the priesthood, the musicians, the singers, and they were of the old covenant. If you are going to pay tithes according to the Bible, you will have to find a Levite and you will have to give him 10% gross, not net. And the Levite had to tithe of the tithes. What does that mean? He had to give 10% back to maintain the temple, or earlier the tabernacle. So, that was all part of the old covenant and when the priesthood ended, the tithes ended. I sometimes put it this way to people: God isn’t asking 10%. He is asking 100%. They shrivel up then! God’s people don’t give 10%, they give all they have and that is the new covenant.

We are talking about the new covenant beginning, about all that Jesus lived and taught. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come.” (Matthew 24:14) The end cannot come until this Gospel has been preached in every nation. I have been so pleased to see the explosion of the work of the Gospel into all the world. Some countries are sending their young people out to unheard of places. They have laid down their lives, and one day every nation will have heard and then the Lord will come. Don’t confuse the old covenant that was for the Jews.

What about healing? The disciples healed and Jesus healed, but I don’t read of one instance of physical healing in the Bible where it wasn’t by a Jew or for a Jew. The promise of health and wealth was for the Jew under the old covenant, never to the Gentile under the new covenant. The old covenant was for natural blessing and what does it say about the new? Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” The old covenant ended the moment Jesus died and the new is in force until the end of the new covenant. Do you know when the new covenant will end? 1 Thessalonians 4:16, “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” At the sound of the last trump, the dead in Christ shall rise, then the living, and the new covenant will end at the coming of the Lord to meet the church in the air. It is not His Second coming, don’t misunderstand me. One day His feet will touch the top of the Mount of Olives, that is His second coming. How long was the old covenant in effect? 2000 years from Adam to Abraham, then 2000 years from Abraham to Christ and the old covenant ended. The Jews had 2000 years of privilege. The time of the Gentiles has been 2000 years so the new covenant is now verging on 2000 years.

3. Two births: Natural and Spiritual.

We know what it is to be born into this world and it is wonderful to see young people here, the hope of the future, young, strong, concerned about God and seeking to learn. Wonderful! We understand the human birth somewhat. Of the other birth, Jesus said, “Ye must be born again.” We will not have a part in the resurrection unless we have the spirit of God. When there is a total commitment to God – Here is my life – then we participate at the table and know communion as we follow Jesus.

4. Two resurrections: The righteous and the unrighteous.

John 5:28, “Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” Are you thinking what I thought for many years? That there was one resurrection, and that the righteous and the unrighteous would be raised up at the same time. I thought it was the time God separated the sheep and the goats, and the final judgment. But that is not it. He is speaking about the resurrection of the righteous and the resurrection of the unrighteous: Two resurrections. The resurrection of the righteous will be at the sound of the last trump when we are caught up to meet the Lord in the air. How much time lapses between the two? Revelation 20:5, “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.”

How long between the first and second resurrection? The resurrection of the just is before the millennium. The saints rise to meet the Lord in the air, and we read about the espoused Bride being brought up to Heaven to the Bridegroom. The marriage supper of the Lord takes place at the end of the first resurrection. 100 years later after the millennium is over, the rest of the dead are raised up and the Lord sits on the great white throne. Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess Him. Many people say, “I am not going to bow.” You don’t have to, but the die is cast and the scripture says where you are going, and you will have a part in the second resurrection. What happened to the thief on the cross who made peace with God? Where did he go? He went to paradise. Where did the rich man go, in the story of the rich man and Lazarus? He was in torment in Hell, crying for a drop of cold water. There is a great gulf fixed between Paradise and Hell and there is no crossing over. How soon do we know where we will go when our soul departs from the body? The moment the spirit departs what happens? That spirit returns to God, either to Paradise or to Hell. Let me explain: they are only temporary places. Paradise will be emptied the day of the last trump when the saints rise to meet the Lord in the air. The saints will be given their new, glorious resurrection bodies.

5. Two judgments: The sheep and the goats

This is the day the Lord returns and calls the sheep to Himself. 1000 years later, they are brought to the great white throne of judgment.

6 Two deaths. The First and second death.

The second death is covered in Revelation 20:11, “And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God: and the books were opened: and another book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Now Paradise is emptied at the first resurrection and this is the rest of the dead. Hell is emptied and death and hell are cast into the lake of fire. It is appointed unto man once to die and after that, the judgment. We may not all be dead at His coming. Those that are dead are raised up first, ahead of the living at that time. Think about the rest of the dead who said, “I will not bow down.” Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess when Jesus comes as Lord in the glory of God. One day they will confess, but you and I are trying to confess now. It is needful if we are going to have a part in this eternal future. We respect Him as our Lord and Master and follow Him in the only true way, and we worship Him as the only true worship.

So, to outline these “six twos”:

Two works of God: Creation and re-creation.

Two covenants: The first to Abram and the Jews; the second through Christ Jesus to the whole world.

Two births: Natural and spiritual. We must be born again.

Two resurrections: The righteous and the unrighteous, the righteous at the sound of the last trump, caught up to meet the Lord. Paradise is emptied, Hell is emptied and then the last final judgment.

Two judgments: The righteous and the unrighteous, 1000 years apart.

Two deaths: The second death is eternal.

Read Revelation 21, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the church, the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.’ And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” Jesus said that no man has seen God at any time, but one day He is going to turn the church over to His Father. I Corinthians 15:24, “Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.” One day, the church will be with God, and God Himself shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

So many uplifting and inspiring thoughts were shared in the convention meetings in S. A. that I hardly know which ones to share!! It touched all our hearts to hear one of the older brothers speaking about the day Jesus returned to His Father in Heaven; His disciples were watching Him as He rose up in the air and disappeared from their sight behind the cloud. They would have realized by this time that He was leaving and would have been thinking, “He is going…He is going…He is gone.” On the other side there was a multitude also watching and they were saying, “He is coming! He is coming! He is here!” What a welcome! We know that because of Christ’s life and His death on Calvary that every child of God will receive the same good-bye from His children here on Earth and the same welcome in Heaven. Wonderful to hear those words some day, “He/she is here!” when we arrive at “Home” to stay forevermore.

‘Twas very special to hear in another meeting about the lit coal mentioned in Isaiah 6:6. It touched Isaiah’s lips and cleansed him. We heard much about the difference between a lit coal and a dead coal. The first responds when blown upon and grows brighter, the other remains the same. The lit coal can quicken another, but the dead coal cannot help. One leaves an impression (a burn, a scar) when it touches others, the other only leaves a dark smudge that can be easily washed away. The lit coal looks white in the sunshine and shines in the darkness, the dead one looks black in the sunshine and fades into the darkness becoming a part of it. One can give warmth to its surroundings, the other does not help in any way. A lit coal makes it possible for incense, a sweet fragrance, to rise up to God, the dead one doesn’t. One can help produce/bake bread that will feed others, the other cannot.

We were glad to be reminded that the Lord would like each of His children to be like a lit coal that can bring hope, light, warmth and blessing to others in every situation in life. *In Numbers 13, verse 23, it tells about the spies coming back from the promised land. It says they cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes and bare it between two upon a staff. It would have only taken one person to bring back a report but it took two to bring back the fruit. This is a beautiful picture of the ministry and how we need to work together to display the fruit. There was a staff between them upon which the fruit was carried and this staff united the two bearers together. It is something like the Spirit of God uniting the two servants of God in this work. If one was going a little faster than the other, there would be a tug on the staff and the other would be aware that he needed to increase his pace a bit to walk in harmony together. Only in extreme cases would they need to tell one another to slow down or speed up if each was sensitive to the tug they felt on the staff. This is how we work together in this ministry.

*Duane Hopkins pointed out something that most of us had never noticed before. It is found in 2 Kings 2:1, “And it came to pass when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.” Elijah went with Elisha, not Elisha with Elijah. Elisha was the younger companion. Now Elijah was old and not so able any more and Elisha was taking the lead. When a pair of workers both have the interest of the Kingdom at heart, it won’t make any difference who has the responsibility. If we are concerned about our own interests, then this becomes an issue. There is an order in God’s Kingdom, but it is not governed by seniority. When our name appears below another on the workers’ list, it means that those in authority have, for some reason, given our companion the responsibility. Possibly it is because the other person needs an opportunity to develop, possibly it is because there are some things we need to learn about submitting, possibly it is because we need a chance to be free from extra tension for health reasons. We don’t need to know all the reasons why, but should consider it a privilege we are worthy of to be on the list at all. Wherever we are, there is much to learn about dying to self and working in harmony with our companion in the interest of the Kingdom of God.

ln the Song of Solomon 2:3, “As the apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.” In Psalms, we read about the Children of Israel that they hung their harps in the willow trees. The enemy was telling them to sing the Lord’s song, but they couldn’t sing the Lord’s song in a strange land. The psalmist said 137:5, “If I forget thee, 0 Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning, if I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.”

I wonder today what is your chief joy? I have to question my own heart, “What is my chief joy?” It’s very easy to make earthly things our chief joy; living for the things of time; the lust of the flesh and eyes. Maybe even your family could become your chief joy, and these days I believe God will search our hearts so that we might know where our chief joy lies. The psalmist was very anxious that he would make Jerusalem his chief joy above everything else that might cause him to lose his joy. Jerusalem was the place where God dwelt; the place where everything to do with their worship was centered and that was his chief joy. Is that your chief joy today? Sitting under His shadow with great delight? Is that how we feel when we draw near to God? That is the greatest delight we have; just drawing near to God. It should be! It should be our greatest delight. The greatest joy that we have is drawing near to God and meeting together with God’s people; the greatest joy that we have above everything else. We should be rejoicing in that. We rejoice in the mercy of God; we rejoice in God’s goodness, and if we don’t, there is something wrong if we are not rejoicing in that.

The most important thing in our lives; the greatest joy; the greatest delight, every day; every morning when we begin the day, is it our delight to draw near to God? We read of the fruits of the Spirit, and love is one of the first fruits or qualities that we read of, and joy follows it. I believe that if we really love God, we are going to have joy in drawing near to Him; great joy in his presence, if we really love Him. If we aren’t finding joy, then we need to question our love, and we would need to have our love increased, when we think about the love of God; we think about Jesus and His coming and His loving heart that He gave Himself so willingly and freely. If we think on that, it is going to help us love Him more. “Love Thee more; more and more. Oh enlarge this heart of mine, I would love Thee more.” I hope we are not just content to love a little, but we want to love Him more and more. That will find us in the presence of God just loving to be there, because it is our greatest joy to be in the presence of God; seeking His help and seeking His face. I was noticing too about David and some of the psalmists, and David found great joy in the presence of God, and he said once, “In Thy presence is fullness of joy,” and another Psalm, it speaks about “exceeding joy.” If we could just feel like that then I feel our service would be so much more acceptable, if we felt like that and God was our exceeding joy. Everything to do with our service to God would be a joy; a joy to serve God; a joy to follow Jesus.

Very often we think about serving God in the sense of denying ourselves, and we don’t think about it in the sense of the joy that there should be in laying down our lives for Jesus’ sake; we should be finding joy in that; joy in suffering reproach for Jesus name. Do we find a joy in it? We read about some of the disciples when they were in prison. They were beaten but they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer; they found joy in that. I just feel that I’d like to learn how to have a deeper love for my Lord; that my joy might be like that. The joy even in suffering. I was thinking of some of the blessings that come as a result of having such delight and joy in the presence of God. Psalm 112, it tells us about David’s delight in God’s commandments and of the blessings that come as a result. It speaks about fruitfulness; being enriched and also having something in his heart; compassion and a heart going out to others, and it seems that it all came from the fact that he delighted in the commandments of God. If we do that, delighting in the word of God like he said “God’s word” was able to speak to him, and if that is what God’s word is to us and we are availing ourselves of the wonderful privilege of drawing near to God, it is going to do something for our inmost soul; it is going to do something for our attitude to others; giving us something that we can pour out to others. Greater joy; His mercy; His compassion. It speaks in this chapter about not fearing, and there will be no fear of the enemy, because our delight is in the Lord; delighting in the word of God and the Law of God. Making it the rejoicing of our heart, as David said “Thy word is the joy and rejoicing of my heart.”

I was thinking about Jesus and His delight was to do the will of His Father; that was His delight, we read in Proverbs which gives us a little picture of Jesus, and it speaks about Him being the delight of His Father, and it says, “He was daily His delight.” Daily His delight, and how does that come about? Because He delighted to do His Father’s will. we would like to be a delight to God, wouldn’t we? All of us would like to be a delight to God. If we delight in Jesus and we do His will; delighting to obey Him, then He is going to delight in us; we’ll be His delight daily. It’s a daily thing, and if we make Him our delight daily; drawing near to Him daily, then we can also be His delight. The Ephesian church, they had left their first love, and I believe that joy would have gone out, too. We just want to take care of our hearts; our hearts’ affections, and let’s not lose our love because then joy will go too; we’ll lose our joy. Those captives had lost their joy, they had nothing to sing about any more, so they hung their harps in the willow trees; they had no joy; nothing to sing about because the Lord hadn’t been given the rightful place in their lives; they hadn’t made Him, their chief joy. I hope we will do that, making the Lord our chief joy as we go out from here to live in such a way that we’d be manifesting this joy from our lives. Not something superficial but something that is deep down in our heart; manifesting it.

It speaks about shouting for joy. We don’t want to do that verbally, but let our lives do it; let our lives do the shouting that we are really following Jesus, and that we have such joy; joy in serving Him. We are not going to follow after other things because we have joy in serving Him, and our lives speak this without words because we have joy and I hope we can do this in the days ahead; appreciating the joy we can have in the presence of God; being found there because we love Him and He is our greatest delight.

There are four individuals in the scriptures who had a Godly purpose, but to that purpose God said, “No.” Adam and Eve were in a paradise, not a straight jacket. God’s people live in a paradise because of being found in the presence of God. They were given opportunity to choose, but ONE thing they were not to do. They did it and condemnation came.

When the little maid came with the message for Naaman, it displeased him. He was led to the prophet of Israel but because of lack of humility, he stormed out, didn’t humble himself, didn’t submit and almost missed it all. A nice little definition for submission is willing obedience.

The Lord touched Jonah’s life, “You go and preach the gospel.” He paid the price; had a miserable trip, and was made to turn back. He missed the joy of obeying the message of God.

There is so much blessing for people who don’t deserve it.

Moses was one who had a Godly purpose, but to that purpose God said, “No.” Deuteronomy 1:37, “The Lord was angry with me for your sakes, saying, ‘Thou also shalt not go in thither, but Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.’” Moses, with all his heart, wanted to go into the Promised Land. He had been with the children of Israel from the beginning; he crossed the Red Sea with them; he saw the manna fall; for forty years he had known the provision of God, saw God faithfully caring for His people. Moses struck the rock and he saw the water flowing out; he saw the pillar and cloud, a type of God’s spirit. There was always a presence of God with His people. But, at the end of his journey, the Lord told Moses he wouldn’t go into the Promised Land. Deuteronomy 3:25–28, “I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon. But the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me and the Lord said unto me, ‘Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter. Get thee up into the top of Pisgah and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes, for thou shalt not go over this Jordan.’”

Then Moses wrote a song; he didn’t “sing the blues,” he sang a song to encourage Joshua.

Deuteronomy 31:22-23, “Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel, and he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, ‘Be strong and of good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them, and I will be with thee.’” In other words, “Be strong and of good courage; the best is yet ahead as we are willing and submissive.”

David also had a Godly purpose but to that purpose God said, “No.” I Chronicles 22:7-10, “And David said to Solomon, ‘My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the lord my God, but the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars. Thou shalt not build an house unto My Name because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight. Behold a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about, for his name shall be Solomon and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days. He shall build an house for my name.”’”

David saw the Ark of the Covenant housed in a tent and he desired to build a temple for the presence of the Lord. God said, “No.” David didn’t go around pouting and sulking; he prepared. I Chronicles 29:2-5, “I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God…..” David prepared abundantly before his death, and prepared with all his heart. “And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building,” I Kings 6:7.

I’m thankful for those who are elders amongst us. Lots of folks are not elders, but they play a significant part in visiting in nursing homes, taking time to read and pray and meditate, having bread and water to share with their brethren in the meeting. These are noble acts and noble souls that prepare with all their heart.

Another individual I was thinking about was Paul. II Corinthians 12:7, “…and lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Most gladly therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

I don’t know what Paul’s thorn was. Our thorn could be something in our nature, or something physical, a disability, or it could be in our thoughts, and it can’t be taken away because God’s grace is sufficient. Anyway, the thorn in his flesh bothered Paul so much that he prayed three times the Lord would take it, but God said, “No, keep the thorn because My grace is sufficient for thee.” Suffering is part of the portion. Just feel our need to ask God for His grace and help.

Verse 10, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake, for when I am weak, then am I strong.” All of us have some thorn or disability, but for Christ’s sake, look on our thorn and look at it as a little gift from God that we, through His grace, get help and prove for ourselves His love and His power being sufficient for us.

Lastly, we think of Jesus. Luke 22:42, “Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine, be done.” What is in the cup, the cup of Calvary? Maybe, it was the thought of being parted from God, or being placed upon the cross. Or maybe, it was the thought of leaving His disciples and that little band of people. The apostles had only been in the work 2 ½ years; one had sold Him, another had doubted, one betrayed Him. He could have thought if God would give Him two or three more years, he would be able to teach and lead those 12 to better prepare them when He would leave. “Father, if it be possible, give Me a few more years.” But God said, “No.” Jesus said, “Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done,” and there appeared an angel unto Him from Heaven, strengthening Him. Jesus was willingly obedient.

Ten years ago in Brazil, I knew the time would come when I would have to step aside from this work. Before going to Rochester for my back surgery, I made a little trip to Saskatchewan and had a visit with Uncle Dale and Merlin telling them of my decision. I decided that after Calgary Special Meetings would be the time to step aside. It wasn’t an easy decision. I want to stay in this Work; I want to finish my days in the harvest field, but God is saying, “No.” These old legs won’t take me where my heart is.

I am thankful that in the last four years since leaving Brazil that 13 more young men and women have risen up to carry forth the Gospel. Even since being in Alberta, young ones have risen up, and perhaps others also will go forth. I’ll never lose the heart of a servant, the heart of a worker.

May we have grace sufficient from the presence of God to help us be faithful.

* Last message Bernard spoke from the platform

II Timothy 2:20-21, “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 honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purges himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour sanctified, and meet for the Master’s use and prepared unto every good work.” Perhaps we all know what it means to be a vessel of dishonour but be assured that the Lord would like to make each and every one a vessel prepared for the Master’s use.

One time I visited and took a tour through a brewery. I just remember the little bottles on the conveyor belt, all empty, but they have on them labels, all following one another. They knew where they were heading for; they were going to be filled. I don’t suppose it would surprise you that some of these bottles would end up at wild parties, taverns, pubs, etc., and then in the end many of them would be empty, broken, and discarded. It is not a very pretty picture. It is a little bit like life. You can see what they are heading for and what they are filled with and what they are filling themselves with. You know where it is going to end up – NOT A PRETTY PICTURE! Broken hearts, shattered, not a pretty picture! But with these bottles, there is a process in our country and I believe in your country, too. These bottles are saved from destruction, and it is simply what they call recycling. Each one of these bottles has a certain value. People can find them and take them and they enter into a process where they are crushed and molded. In that process, their identity is changed and they come out different than they were before and they can become useful vessels. Something that had no power to change. it had no hope of becoming different but now it can become something different. That is the story of the gospel – beautiful.

I would like to explain this evening how it works that lives that have no future and hope, that are empty, often broken, discarded, alone, unhappy, miserable lives, there is a process whereby they can be saved. They don’t have to keep on living like that; there is a process. Their identity is changed; they take on a different form. There is something added that was never there before. The spirit of Christ makes it altogether different. I have a friend; actually he is one of the workers in our part and he is an interesting fellow. He was raised in the depression, in difficult times. Well, anyway, when we walk, he walks different. We walk but he walks in the ditch, in the gutter. He looks for bottles; he enjoys that. He finds these bottles, a beer bottle, perhaps. He knows about recycling. That is just like us.

I was thinking of another man. He knew the value of recycling. He walked differently than other men do; he knew the value of those lost souls. He walked in the gutters, in the byways. He was seeking those lost souls. He knew the value of each and every one. He knew them and brought them out. Others said, “Why do you touch me like that?” He realized what would happen in a life that was changed. He brought these souls to Him and He knew the value of each and every one. Each and every soul is precious to the Lord. Broken, shattered. The Lord, because of His plan and His provision, can make something of us and change us from what we were before. These bottles in our parts, and I believe it is true here also, have big bold print on them. This is what it represents, advertising, and that is what they want everyone to see. But on that same bottle (you have to look for it) but on each and every one there is a little sentence that says, “Recycle me.” Here, I believe, it just says, “Recycle.” I believe that every life that is miserable and sick and tired and has no future, maybe we just see in this bold print, but behind this hardness, there is this desire to be changed. Recycle!

One time at Convention preps, everyone had left the grounds. I had to be the guard. It was about one o’clock in the morning and I woke up and I heard a noise like an ox wagon coming up the road. And then, as it got near the grounds there, I heard the motor cut off and I heard the sound of the vehicle entering the grounds. We had a little alarm system, a bell to alert us when someone entered the grounds. I heard the ding, ding, ding. Somebody was on the grounds. By that time, I was up and clothed; I got my flashlight and walked down. It wasn’t an ox wagon; it was a Harley Davidson-type bike. Walking across the grounds was one of the bikers. They usually belong to a Gang; they are people to be left alone. There was the temptation to turn around, but I walked up to him. He looked like a giant, his hair pulled back, a huge man walking towards me. He said, “Are you one of the workers?” I said, “Yes, I am.” He said, “My name is Sheldon Burton. I used to come to Convention here.” I remembered him. Things hadn’t gone well and he had left. He told me a little of his story. He said, “I came by here as these were the best years of my life.” He said, “I have a photo that I want to show you.” He sat there across from me and showed me the photo and he showed me different ones that cared for him, and he had tears in his eyes. There was something in him that was saying, “Recycle Me.” I talked to him and encouraged him to come to Convention. He said, “I can’t come.” I begged for him to come. We walked down by the bike and there I saw something behind the bike. A little 9-year-old boy came out from behind the bike. It was his son. He had been divorced. He was bringing the boy to this place, this Convention. This was the only thing he had to show this boy that once meant so much to him. He came to the grounds but left before the meeting. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” I was anxious that the Lord would begin to work. He felt that his sins, and what he had done, were greater than the power of God. He believed that. As I tried to tell him differently, his faith was too weak to embrace that, and he went away. I received a letter just recently from my father in which he said he saw in the obituary column Sheldon’s name. There wasn’t a second chance now. That disbelief had ruined everything. Today in eternity, I firmly believe that his greatest regret is not the terrible things that he committed. His greatest regret is turning his back on the provision that God made for his sins, that in the love of God, He forgave, and the mercy of God is so great that it would rid him of the terrible guilt that he lived with. Well, tonight we look around us. Look at each and every one of us. We think of the power of forgiveness and the mercy of God. We were all at one time a dishonorable vessel, doing things that we shouldn’t be doing. Because we had enough faith and accepted that provision, there was a change that came into each and every life that was responding, and when we began, we entered into a process whereby a change came, and we felt we were sitting among princes and princesses, the jewels of the earth. It wasn’t always that way. It was the gospel that made a change. I think of my own experience. I don’t think Sheldon ever intended to drift away as horribly as he did.

I was remembering a time in my own life when I drifted. It was Convention time. I drifted so far that, well, I came to the Thursday of Convention and I was planning on going only Thursday and Friday because Saturday and Sunday I would be elsewhere. I had made other plans, other things. I came onto the grounds and my heart was hard. At the first meeting, we sang a hymn; I was sitting at the back; it was just like I was in another room. I realized I was not even part of this. I never wanted to turn my back on this. I drifted to the place where I was completely outside, and a fear took hold of me because of the things I was partaking of. I had a terrible feeling of hopelessness. I began to weep. I wept through the whole song, and it was like all these people were in another room and I was separated. I could not get hold of myself, but when we sang a hymn again, it was the same. By the time the meeting finished, I was weeping and sobbing and I went out to my car. I had no hope, and now I felt I was outside the Kingdom of God. This hopeless feeling of not knowing what to do.I remember just opening my Bible. I didn’t know where to read. I read Psalm 136, “Oh give thanks unto the Lord for He is good, for His mercy endureth forever.” I found it interesting that I had opened to a verse that spoke of the mercy of the Lord, and that it endures forever. I read the 2nd verse, “O give thanks unto God for His mercy endureth forever and ever.” Every verse in that Psalm ends with that same thought. “For His mercy endureth forever!”

There was a hope that came into my heart that the hand of God was reached out for me in mercy. I took that hand. I went back into the meeting changed, recycled in a sense; everything was changed. I still had these plans for Saturday and Sunday. I knew I could not go home and be a part of that. It would be like taking a vessel that was cleaned out and pouring something in that was unclean. I knew that this was forgiveness that I found that was extended to me. I just stayed there right to the end on the grounds. I made arrangements. As long as I kept my heart pure and filled with the right things, the Lord was faithful in keeping me. “His mercy endureth forever” and that is the reason that we are here tonight. It is not because we are worthy but because His mercy endureth forever. It is not because we are anything in ourselves. It is not that we are better than other people, but His mercy has been extended to us again and again, and we have found even if we have fallen, He has helped us to get up again. We have a new life in Christ; it is because He has helped us and kept us. We are just an example for others – if God can do this for me, He can do it for anyone. If God can help me, there is not one person in this audience that He can’t help. This mercy and power that has worked in so many godly lives can work in an ungodly life and change it for the better and for eternity. He can take a vessel of dishonour throughout the process and change it to be a useful vessel, an honourable vessel, sanctified and prepared for every good work. He does have a future for us. It doesn’t have to be what it was like in the past if we will just allow the love of God to work in us. He wants to give us a different form and life through His spirit. May the Lord help us in these things to have faith to believe that if we submit, we can be changed.

Well, for the benefit of those who were not here last week, I’ll just mention briefly about my testimony. My parents heard the gospel before I was born. There were ten of us in the family. I am number 6. I was the first that was born after both were serving God. My mother passed on when some of us were still quite young, the youngest was 8 months old, but we had our father for 40 more years, and there was strict discipline in our home. Some of the things I did not appreciate at that time, but then later I realized how good it all was, that strict discipline.

The time came then when I began to feel my need of God. I realized that my father’s salvation was not my salvation, my older brothers’ and sisters’ experiences were not my own, but I needed to have an experience with God myself, and the time came when I prayed for that. The Lord answered my prayer. It was a matter of two months and the gospel came very close to us. I attended those meetings and, in three weeks, I responded. Two others of my brothers, the one younger and the one older than I, decided at the same time, and I have been very thankful many times since for the home in which I was born, and for the restrictions that were placed upon us as children.

I want to tell you of two other things that happened in that mission. There was a young man or boy the same age as my brother, who was two years my senior. He was a close friend of that brother and he often came to our home. His grandmother was serving God, but not his parents – they were members of the church of England but not devout members, but he was singing in the church choir. When we started to go to those meetings, he said to us, “You should not go to those meetings, as those meetings are only for older people.” Well, my brother (his friend) was attending the meetings, and the meetings were six nights a week, every night except Saturday. So my brother did not have much time for him then, so he decided to go to the meetings also. He attended the meetings for about three weeks, and then one evening he said to my brother, “I am not going to any more of those meetings.” My brother asked him the reason and, in my hearing, he said, “The Lord is showing me that I should begin to serve Him, but I am too young. I want to enjoy the world first, and then I’ll serve God.” He was true to his word, he didn’t go to any more of those meetings.

One Sunday morning when we were in the meeting, he was cycling down a hill and he fell. There was a weakness in that family, he didn’t know that it was in him, but that fall brought it out. He was taken to hospital and he was there for some time, and we used to go and see him, but then he was discharged. He did not know, but it had been told to his parents that they could do nothing for him, so for some time he was there at the home, sick, very sick. Then one Sunday morning while my brother and I were returning from the meeting, we decided to go and see him. We saw him there on the bed, almost a skeleton, and just in a whisper, he could say to my brother, “You have done the right thing, and when I get better, I am going to serve God also.” Of course I could see that there was no possibility of him ever getting up from that bed, but those were his words. “You have done the right thing, and when I get better I am going to serve God also.” It wasn’t very long after that when his body was laid into the grave. He had said, “I’m too young, I want to enjoy the world first.” He didn’t say, “I’ll never serve God, but some other time.” He didn’t get another chance. He didn’t realize that was his time.

Something else happened in that same mission. There were two brothers, one was about my age, and one was about the age of my senior brother, and the one my age was singing in the choir of the same church of England, but those two brothers (strangers to the truth). The tent was quite near to their home. They attended that mission and both of them made their choice to serve God. I was thinking of them recently: one of them is living in Canada and he’s the elder in the church there, the other is the elder in my brother’s home, my eldest brother who passed on twelve years ago. I thought of the contrast. Those boys attending that mission, one who knew of the truth but saying, “I’m too young, I want to enjoy the world first,” the others, with no connection to the truth, but when they listened to the gospel they embraced their opportunity. That is over 50 years ago now, and they are still enjoying the salvation of God.

Going back to my testimony. Sometime after I began to serve God, I began to have thoughts about the Work, and when I was fully convinced that it was God’s will for me, I decided to make it known. I’m not going to tell all the details about that, but I wrote the letter and I got the reply. I was a bit disappointed with the reply, but I didn’t change my mind. In the reply, it was mentioned that it was a very good thing to have those thoughts in mind, but the most important thing was to be a good example, which is true also. The time passed, and for four years I heard nothing more about it, but I had it settled in my mind, “Well this is God’s will for me and I’ll wait.” Well now, if I give you all the details, you will know how long I’ve been in the Work. Anyhow, this certain year, this older brother, as far as I can remember, came to this country. I don’t know if it was for special meetings or conventions and he was having a home visit after that. I received a letter from him mentioning that if he were returning to the West Indies, I would have an opportunity that year because there would be an odd brother, but now he had been asked to go to Australia, so it wasn’t likely that I would have the opportunity that year. I was disappointed, but it didn’t change my purpose.

Then, towards the end of that same year, it was in the month of October, there was a mission not far from our home, and of course we were attending every night. One night after the meeting, the older of the 2 brothers said to me, “I want to see you.” He would be leaving shortly to attend some of the other conventions and he said to me (this was the last thing I expected to hear that night) he said, “You need to get ready to go into the Work after the conventions.” Well, that was a sleepless night for me! But, as I said, I wasn’t expecting it at that time because of the previous letter I had received, so it was a shock to me, but when I thought over it for a few days, well, I could accept it.

I started in the Work in the island of Tobago. It is a small island. Trinidad is the larger island, Tobago is the smaller island, they are called “the Twin Island State.” According to what usually happens, the workers will be leaving Trinidad this morning for the small convention there this weekend. That is where I started. My first companion was an Irishman and he was very gifted, they say, because he didn’t have to learn the tune of any hymn. He sang all to the same tune! So, from my very first night I had to lead the singing, something I had never done, because we had good singers in our meeting. I had to do it, there was no alternative!

I want to tell you of a family we met that first year, not that I had much to do with it. Anyway, we were having six meetings a week, I really don’t know what I used to tell them, honestly. Six nights we had meetings, my first mission! We went into a little village and went around giving out invitations, and a good number came. After we were there for about three weeks we saw a certain woman come into the meeting, and that woman listened with her eyes, with her ears, with everything. When the meetings were tested sometime after that she, among others, stood to their feet. We went to visit her and she said she had been a member of the Church of England, and she became disappointed because of the behaviour of the clergymen, so she decided to stay at home. She said when any group came into the village to have meetings, she would not go to listen to them as she said, “They are all the same!” But somehow she felt that God would not allow her to die until she had heard the truth. She said when we came there, she said the same thing, “They’re all the same, I’m not going.” But that evening that I referred to, she said, “Something said to me, ‘You must go to that meeting tonight,” and she came, and she said that from the very first meeting she sat in, she saw it was the truth. She professed, her husband professed, and to make a long story short, after some years the little convention was begun at their home, and it is still there today. She has passed on, her husband has passed on. Her husband passed on 2 years ago, and she passed away last year, but their two daughters are making it possible for the meetings to continue there. But she said, “The very first meeting, I saw it was the truth.” And so today, I was thinking of that home and thinking of them gathering there this weekend.

I’ll tell you one other thing before I stop. I was with that companion for two years and then I went with a brother. I don’t know if you know where the Isle of Mann is, he was from the Isle of Mann. Do you know where that is? He was a very good singer, and he told me a story. He told me that once there was a family. They had a cuckoo and they also had a pet sparrow. So, they placed the sparrow with the cuckoo, and the cuckoo was supposed to teach the sparrow to sing, but at the end of the period, the cuckoo was chirping like the sparrow! I got the message!

So, anyhow, I’m glad for the privilege of being here. As I was saying, my father lived for forty years after our mother died and I was waiting to go into the work for five years and he didn’t know. The only person who actually knew, apart from workers, was my eldest sister because she happened to open the letter that the brother had written to me. After that, we passed a law that no person was to open another person’s letter before they’ve seen it, but she kept it close! So when I was told that I had to get ready, I mentioned it to my father for the first time, and he just said, “I’m glad. I expected it.” Anyhow, he lived for twenty-two years after I was in the work. So, I’m thankful for all that has been my privilege and maybe we can now sing a hymn and close.

The last few years I’ve had the privilege of labouring in West and Central Africa; it covers actually 8 different countries where there are workers labouring in two different languages. There are the French speaking workers and then the English speaking ones. It starts on the West side with Liberia, then there’s the Ivory Coast and Ghana, Togo and Benin, and then Nigeria and Cameroon and the country of Chad, and each of those countries have workers. They are labouring there now!

They say that that part of the world is one of the poorest parts of the world, and I can believe it’s true. But not everyone is poor. In fact, there are some very wealthy people there, too. They just don’t share!

In Ghana, that used to be called the Gold Coast, there was an incident there where, just a few years ago, one of the old kings died. They have a government with a president and a prime minister, but they also have their old kings. These are tribal kings, of course, and they have responsibility and control over the goldfields, and so they are very, very wealthy; wealthy tribes, too. Now this particular king, when he died, was so wealthy and so revered, that they say that they actually sprayed him in gold – kind of gold-plated him, you might say, when he lay in state. After he had died, a new king had to be chosen. Well, there were two in the royal line, and they both wanted to be king, but of course only one of the two would be chosen. The competition between the two, or the in-fighting actually, or the rivalry between the two became so serious, and so distasteful that is was finally decided that neither one was worthy to be chosen king, and then another one would be chosen.

Well, it happens that one of our young friends is in the line of two royal families, and it was decided that he would be chosen to be king. When they went to get him, or find him, he had disappeared! They just couldn’t find him – no one knew where he was; the friends didn’t know where he was, the workers didn’t know where he was, no one knew where he was – he had just disappeared. Finally, they had to choose someone else. So, they had to choose between one of those two who were fighting so much to be king in the first place. After the one was chosen, our friend came back to work, he reappeared again, he came back. He’s a teacher, so he was back at school, and began work again like before. And you know what he knew, or what he understood was that he couldn’t be a Ghanaian king and be a child of God. Those kings are the guardians of the old ways, and the old traditions. This boy understood and he was willing to sacrifice a natural crown to hold onto a spiritual crown; he wasn’t going to let anything take that away from him.

Those old ways are actually the main religion up in our part. The old traditions, ancestor worship you might call it, those superstitions, the superstitious ways that they serve their idols, and all that sort of thing, is all very, very common – even the nominal Christian religions blend in. too – and it would seem that our folks are among the very, very few who are able to separate themselves from those old ways.

We have a friend, who lives quite a long distance; this is in Benin – she lives quite a long distance from most of the friends. She and another lady are living up in a little village – we used to meet with them often. She told me her testimony. She was very, very much a part of the old ways, and actually she was raised in a convent. The lady folks there didn’t have the privilege of going to school but little children in that part, just attended this convent, and that is where they learned about the old tribal ways, customs, culture, the medicines that they use, and that sort of thing. All the little children are marked; they have three scars on each side of their face and that is where she had her upbringing – but that type of belief and everything, it has such a, well, it is a fearful thing, and this poor lady, at the time when she met the gospel, was just overwhelmed by this feeling that someone was trying to put a spell on her, and someone was trying to destroy her with this – and so she couldn’t sleep at night; she had no rest, she was just a nervous wreck, and even despairing of life.

On this particular day she was on her way to – we say in English – a witch doctor, someone who could give her some kind of remedy which could help her to ward off this terrible spirit which was troubling her. She had her little goat with her – she was going to take this and offer it to the man – and then he would give her something that would help her. And she’s on her way now, and in going, she passed by the home of one of our friends, actually this friend saw her; he lives in the city about 2 hours away, but this is his home town, his home village, and oftentimes he returned there when he had a vacation or time off, and this particular time he was there. Now he comes from the very same background as she did. He went to the same convent and when he saw Vigio coming along this particular day, he called to her to come. She came, and he asked her how it was going and she told him it wasn’t going good at all. She just laid it all out, and told him all, and he gave her his testimony and then afterwards, that dear soul turned around and took her goat, and she went back home, and she told me later that, “That night, for the first time in my life I prayed to one God.” She said, “I went to bed that night and I had a good night’s sleep,” and she also said, “When I woke up in the morning, I knew I had hold of something.”

When she was asked whether she’d like to attend meetings, gospel meetings, oh yes, she would be very interested, and she and another made their choice, and like I said, they are a long way from any fellowship but it has been almost 20 years now, and those two have been meeting together faithfully every Sunday morning and Wednesday evenings. Neither of them read or write so they cannot sing the hymns; in fact they don’t even speak French – it’s just their native language – and as for the Bible study, they would not have any idea what a Bible study is, but they come together for fellowship, and they’ve hung on to this that they have found. It’s precious – they’ve been faithful all these years; and it is precious going to meet with them.

I was in that field some years ago and we made the trip over to be with them on Sunday morning. I’m just thinking of a particular Sunday morning, when one of our friends had come up from Cotoneau to spend the weekend with us. He is the only one of our friends that has a car! He came up by car and of course we were happy to have him spend that time with us, and on Sunday morning, he’s going to take us to meeting, he’s going to take us over to Covey for the meeting! Well, that’s pretty nice to have a ride in a private car, and that means that you get a seat all to yourself! Usually, we take the bush-taxi and that is not so comfortable or pleasant, but anyway, that is the only way we have to get to a meeting; but now this particular day, our friend would take us in his car over to Covey for the meeting, so off we go. When we get to the village there, instead of getting down and walking in to the home like we usually do, we could just drive in! We could drive and go down right to the house there where the meeting is held. Of course the road isn’t much – it’s kind of one of ‘those’ kind, but anyway we were going now – and there were lots of people on the road, coming and going, but now on our way almost at the meeting place, who should we see but Vigio, our friend, on her way to the meeting and so we pulled up aside her there and stopped. Of course first of all she was surprised to see a car on that road, and then she saw the brothers! And then of course we opened up the door and she got in and on to meeting we went.

Well – when it came time for testimony, Vigio’s eyes were just flashing, and she was so anxious to have a word, she said, “This morning I had a revelation. Sometimes I’ve worried when thinking about the Lord’s return that He would miss us – how would He find us here up in Covey, so far, far away from all the other friends?” She said, “This morning when the brothers came, they passed by all the others and they came and picked up me!” Then she said, “And I think that is just the way it is going to be when the Lord returns – He is not going to miss any one of us!” Oh, that just touched my heart and it is so true! Because we were coming from behind so we saw her, she didn’t see us. And it’s true, there were hundreds of others coming and going and we wouldn’t have even thought of stopping and picking up any one of them, but when we came to Vigio though, it would have been unthinkable to just keep on driving. So those dear souls, they are very precious to us, and in spite of their situations which are not so very pleasant by this world’s thought – they’re very, very precious to the Lord, and they do well spiritually, and it’s just so encouraging to think that there’s more out there like them that are feeling distressed, that are feeling their need, and maybe have never heard of this truth of God which we enjoy so much. So indeed, it is a privilege to give our lives in those places in search of those who are in search of God.

I’m afraid I’ve been afraid a few times. We’re not afraid that the authorities are going to throw us in prison or anything like that, but who hasn’t been afraid? Are you afraid of coming to the end of life and being sorry for the choices you’ve made, or wishing you’d lived something different or being afraid of all those waves that we heard about? God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power, and love, and a sound mind. We have nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to fear.

I’ve been thinking about the resurrection, and it’s been kind of there in the back of my mind of how the resurrection connects to this verse. But really the resurrection defines what power is. Just like that hymn that we sing, “When I survey the wondrous cross.” Well that defines what love really is, and what values really are and what matters at the end of life. The resurrection defines what power really is, and defines what love is, and what a sound mind really is. That’s the definition. There’s so many powerful things in this world, there have been powerful people, and there have been powerful machines, and powerful countries, and powerful weapons. But when you think about the resurrection and how just like the hard earth doesn’t have a chance against a little seed that dies, even concrete or asphalt doesn’t really have a chance, it’s the same thing. It’s like that stone that closed the grave, it didn’t stand a chance against the power of the resurrection.

Because Jesus was willing to die, and because He lived a victorious and perfect life, there wasn’t any chance that He wouldn’t rise again. That’s the power of the resurrection. I know in whom I have believed, and I know that my redeemer lives and because of that I die, that I might live. That defines power. No matter what Stalin could do to all those people and try to rule by fear, the power of the resurrection defines what strength really is. So God has given us not the spirit of fear, but the spirit of power. There’s a field in northern Kazakhstan where the electricity was off except for about four hours a day – an hour and a half or two in the morning and two hours in the evening. There are lots of people that had refrigerators, but a refrigerator doesn’t do you much good when there is no electricity or power. So refrigerators became shelves and cupboards, but that’s not really what they are made for. They are made to have this power surging through them, and we can go through life without this power that God intended for us to have but it’s not what we’re made for. We can access this great power. He has given us not the spirit of fear but the spirit of power, and love and a sound mind.

Sometimes we get confused and we think that dying equals loneliness. There is something about it that death to ourselves is loneliness, but it’s the seed that refuses to die that has to remain alone. The power of the resurrection defines what power really is. God has not given us the spirit of fear but the spirit of power. We die that we might live, and dying is like plugging into the power. He’s given us not the spirit of fear but the spirit of love, and I was thinking, well, does the resurrection define what love is, and maybe that is stretching it a bit, but I was thinking about that and of the apostles and the faithful ones before the resurrection, and their very best friend had died and so they would think that the very highest love is still able to be parted by death. We’ve heard about human love and how it can be a very beautiful thing. People can love each other and serve each other for their whole life and when they make a vow that “I’ll love you till death do us part,” that’s a beautiful thing, but the resurrection defined what real love is. It is a love that will never be parted, won’t ever be sundered by death. That’s the greater love. Human love isn’t necessarily something that’s bad or something that we have to deny ourselves, or is another test for us, it can help us understand what divine love is. What it’s really like to love another person more than yourself. But the resurrection defines what love really is. It’s not parted, not ended by the grave. He’s given us not the spirit of fear but the spirit of love.

I was thinking of Paul… he’s the one who really wrote these words. When he went to the Corinthians he said, “I didn’t come with enticing words of man’s wisdom so that your faith would be in the wisdom of men, but with the demonstration of the spirit and of power.” The power that could turn him right around in his tracks and send him out to preach the gospel of the one he was trying to persecute. The power that could give him faith to believe that God could forgive him for the persecution that he had done in the past. So it was a demonstration of the spirit and of power, and he didn’t really need a whole lot of enticing words of man’s wisdom. He went to demonstrate love. Sometimes we think that Paul’s writings are kind of hard and he corrected a lot of people but just think about how much he loved them. He said, “You’re our joy” and “Beloved I’d give my soul for you.”

If we didn’t have Paul’s writings, we wouldn’t have I Corinthians 13 about what charity really is, and we wouldn’t have that list of the fruits of the spirit, and so when he was sent, he was sent not with the spirit of fear but with the spirit of love, and the resurrection defines what love really is. It’s the eternal power, the eternal bond that even death can’t break. It just makes it stronger. We heard at the last convention that God wants to trust people and that the owner of the spiritual vineyard sent His Son and He knew that some people were going to kill Him, reject Him, but He also trusted Mary and Joseph to take care of Him, take care of that little baby Christ. Simeon and Anna would recognize Him, and that there would be some disciples and some apostles that would follow Him. He trusted them and He trusts us. Just thinking of God looking down, the owner of the vineyard looking down at the handful of spiritual fruit that was there at the cross, and He’d say, “It was worth it. I trusted them and they didn’t fail Me.”

Like Jesus said, “You are the ones who have continued with Me in My temptations.” Even though they weren’t perfect, they were trustworthy, and He could trust them with the gospel to go on from there. The resurrection just defines what love really is, we’ve been given not the spirit of fear but the spirit of a sound mind. The resurrection defines what a sound mind really is. We heard at the very first convention I was at since coming home, that there’s been some baby workers starting out, and we say, “It’s so wonderful,” and it is, but there are other young people at convention, and young men and young women finding each other and we say, “Oh, that’s just normal and it’s good,” and it is. But from the standpoint of eternity, from the resurrection, isn’t it normal to spend your life in the work? Sometimes we can get to thinking we are the abnormal ones, or that we’re abnormal for not following along with the morals of the world, and or that we’re abnormal for not seeking ourselves first, that we’re the ones who are odd. But the resurrection defines what a sound mind really is, and sin is a thing that will make your heart sick, and deviating from what Jesus really taught, is what’s abnormal. The resurrection defines what a sound mind is because that’s how everybody is going to think some day. I mean, we might be the ones who are unusual now, but someday everyone will understand from the standpoint of the resurrection just what a sound mind really means.

We’ve been given not the spirit of fear but the spirit of a sound mind. Paul had a sound mind. He learned to be content in whatever state he was in, and he learned not to be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. He learned he could love with love like charity, and that’s what a sound mind really is, and we’ve been given not the spirit of fear but the spirit of a sound mind. And so I’m thankful that until the resurrection, they would have wondered what does Jesus’ death mean now? What does the death of someone 2000 years ago have to do with me? Then He rose again and they begin to understand that He was their Redeemer. He saved me from death. There’s life after death, and there’s eternal life through death. He’s the Redeemer and He lives.

I love the story that one of my companions told about some little children that planted beans. Their mother had them do this, and they would go out and check the garden every day to see if the beans were up. Then one day, they came running into the house and they said, “Mom the beans are up! The beans are up!” So she went out to see and there was just one, one little bean that broke through the soil. They said it in plural, because the fact that one had found new life, one came up, gave them all confidence that the others would, too. That’s how it is. Christ rose and we can have complete confidence that we can die so that we can live, too. We can know the very power of the resurrection and the spirit of power and of love, and of a sound mind, and may that be so.

“The Law doesn’t make someone good. The Law is like a mirror, it reveals our sin.” Fifty-seven years ago I stood for the first time on this platform. I understand this is a different platform now because many years have passed and a new platform was built. The going hasn’t been smooth, there have been some rough spots and I imagine I will have a few more rough spots along the way. But I am thankful for God’s keeping power, and I hope you believe that God can also keep you. 

There are just two possibilities for our lives. Either our lives can end as a “warning” or our lives can end as an “example.”

How do we start? We start with a choice. We can’t finish right unless we start right. Joshua 24:14, “Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. And if it seems evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” The verses we read say, “Serve him in sincerity.” It is not enough to serve the Lord in sincerity. We must have truth.

Let’s say we were out here driving the freeway to Vancouver but we headed toward Seattle. We went the wrong direction but we sincerely believed that we were heading toward Vancouver. We were sincerely wrong. That is the way it works with the gospel. If we don’t have truth, we will never arrive at the right destination. “As for me.” This suggests it is an individual matter. No one can choose for us.

The next part of the verse says “my house” and that speaks of influence. Our choices can influence other lives in our house for good. My parents heard the gospel in 1918 and I was part of that house. Our lives changed, our house changed and our family changed. We need to make a definite choice. Some of you would remember Harold Stewart. He would often speak about the crossroads but he would use the term-the “Y” in the road. Two different choices: either we go to the left or the right and there are consequences from our choices.

There were two sisters whom we knew and they had a special dog. The time came when these sisters plan to go their separate ways. What were they going to do with the dog? Which sister would get the dog? They decided they would go out to the “Y” in the road, and one sister would go to the left and the other sister would go to the right. Whomever the dog followed – that is who would get the dog. And, sure enough, the dog followed the one sister and she took the dog.

We know we can’t serve two masters. We can’t live for the world and serve God at the same time. There needs to be a choice. I was thinking about Pilate’s choice. When I was in Rome I took the same stairway that Jesus took when He was led to the judgment hall when Governor Pilate presided. Pilate visited with Jesus and he inquired of Jesus, “What is Truth?” He listened to Jesus and he admitted He was innocent, but he turned to the multitude that day and inquired of them, “What shall I do with Jesus?” We all will have to answer that question sooner or later. Even Pilate’s wife interceded and told him that she had a dream and she told Pilate, “Have nothing to do with this just man.” Pilate took some soap and washed his hands but he couldn’t wash away the guilt of rejection, Matthew 27:24. Even if you took all the oceans in the world, you still couldn’t wash away the guilt of the rejected Christ.

Pilate made a choice that day. He ordered that Jesus should receive 39 stripes save one. That whip was the kind of a whip that would take the flesh right off. The crowd cried, “Crucify him, Crucify him.” Pilate made a choice and chose to take a pathway that brought condemnation. He was in a bind because of his political position, and his pride wouldn’t bow. He was more taken up with opinion and he missed it.

We know a certain mother who was dying of cancer where we have been laboring. Her husband wasn’t a believer just then. They had two children and she begged her husband to take their children to meetings after she was gone. She tucked her children in bed one night, and then she stepped outside for some fresh air. She heard one of her children singing to himself, “I’ve a friend who meets my every need.” Since then her husband committed his life to God, and at our recent conventions we saw that little boy make his choice also.

Many years ago we knew a young teenage girl who came to our meetings. Her parents didn’t come to those meetings. That teenage girl was really moved by those meetings. One night there was a ‘dance’ the same evening as our gospel meetings. Her parents told her she had to go to that dance. She left her home that evening and she didn’t know what to do, because she wanted to go to our meetings. There was a “Y” in the road. But she didn’t want to disobey her parents either, so she went to the dance. It was warm in the building where the dance was held, and she got overheated and she went outside in the cool air and she came down with pneumonia. Those unsaved anxious parents called us with the news of their daughter. They told us she was dying. She was heard crying, “I’m dying and I’m not saved.” Parents, we would like to remind you that you are responsible for your children.

We knew a young man by the name of Russell. He was seventeen years of age. He came to our gospel meetings and he was close to the door of the kingdom. We visited with him about making his choice, and he informed us that he wanted to wait for at least another year because he wanted to have some more fun. Not long after that visit we read in the newspaper where he was killed in a car accident. He was gone by the time the ambulance got him to the hospital. It was very sad. We don’t know how much time we have left, and we need to make the right choices. I just came from a field where a young girl, age 17, lost her life while tubing down a river. But we are so thankful that she knew the peace of God.

Life is like a thin thread. It was a wake up call for all of us. One time I was driving along about 70 mph and suddenly a truck that was coming down the highway was coming right at me. The driver of the truck fell asleep. In a split second, I was able to turn my car and avoid a collision, and the driver awoke in time to avoid going into the ditch. It was like the man of God said, “There is but one step between life and death.” We better start making the best out of the life that we have left. We don’t know how many more years we have left.

We think of Moses making his choice. At 40 years of age he chose to leave Egypt. He spent 40 years in Egypt and then it took another 30 years to get Egypt out of Moses, and then he spent another 40 years leading the children of Israel out of Egypt. Moses chose five things:

1.. He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter

2.. By faith he chose to forsake Egypt

3.. By faith he chose the riches of Christ over the treasures of Egypt

4.. By faith he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible and

5.. He finished faithfully

In Matthew 17, Moses appeared with Jesus in the promised land. This is the kind of faith we need to choose Christ and finish well. (Third Party Story # 4:) I know the Jewish twin sisters who are in the work. In fact, I was in their home in Zimbabwe. They made a definite choice. The maid who cared for the girls took them to meetings and convention and God put a love in their hearts for His servants and His people. Their father was a very wealthy man and he died unexpectedly. He left his wealth to his two daughters, but the stipulation in the will said they had to renounce their faith first. The Lawyer taking care of the estate begged them to renounce their faith and the judge pleaded with them to renounce their faith for just a few minutes until papers were signed. Those two sisters refused and they were denied their inheritance. God became their inheritance. Is that the kind of choice you would make? They made wise choices because they had the root of the matter in their hearts.

In the book of Ruth we read about her and her sister, Orpha. They both came to the crossroads. It was either Moab or Bethlehem. Ruth chose to go on and Orpha chose to turn back. Orpha chose to leave her future behind and Ruth chose to leave her past behind. These are the two choices before us tonight. Which one will it be? Will we leave our future and go back to the old life, or will we leave our past behind and let God choose our future? The first chapter we read about Ruth as the disciple. In the second chapter we read about Ruth, the servant. In chapter three we read about Ruth as the friend, and in chapter four we read about Ruth as the bride. She chose redemption through her bridegroom, Boaz, and her choice brought blessing. There are seven steps in this story.

1.) Entreat me not to leave thee. She was humbly pleading with Naomi. She had sincerity and she had truth.

2.) Or return from following thee. She refused to turn back to Moab or the world.

3.) Whither thou goest, I will go. A beautiful attitude. You know God isn’t interested in our I.Q. but he is interested in our “I will.”

4) Where thou lodgest, I will lodge. In other words, she had the matter settled.

5) Thy people shall be my people. One man we knew always made the statement, “I want to be with these people.”

6) Thy God shall be my God. She was under conviction.

7) Where thou diest, I will die. That is total resignation.

When Jack Carroll was with us, he encouraged those standing to make their choice to say two things when they surrendered their hearts. Christ for me and Christ for me forever. It was like adding a little salt to their sacrifice. Can we say that tonight?

I had a struggle when I professed. I was only 12 but I knew that this was a double choice. I knew that it meant the harvest field, too. I thought there needed to be more homes for the workers but that reasoning didn’t work. I waited until the last minute and I rose to my feet and uttered those words. I meant those words and it was a choice that I made forever. After the meeting a lady came up to me and told me, “You will never be sorry.” I appreciated that and I’ve always remembered it and you won’t be sorry either.

Hymn #159

II Kings 4:2, “…And Elisha said unto her, ‘What shall I do for thee? Tell me, what hast thou in the house?’ And she said, ‘Thine handmaid hath not anything in the house, save a pot of oil…’”

There are many homes that are represented here today, many homes, and just for a little while this morning we thought it might be helpful and profitable to speak on the ‘home life.’ The world talks about ‘foreign missions.’ Well, we like to talk about the ‘home mission’ – the mission that is worked in the home. We were just singing that hymn, “In the home life His approval makes poor cot a palace fair; brings each day the heavenly sunlight, this because my Lord is there.” It is wonderful to have God’s approval upon the home life and the home life is just the very basis of this fellowship that we enjoy together. We are quite familiar with this story and it has been mentioned twice in this convention, but this just seemed to help open up a new line of thought here. Elisha said, “Tell me, what hast thou in the house?” It was a very searching question and there was nothing in her home she was ashamed of. She didn’t make apologies for anything that shouldn’t have been there. I believe she had a clean home, but there was something she did have in her house – her home – and that was a little oil! It was something that God could bless, and I have enjoyed this little thought so much that do you have something in your home that God could bless – no matter what it may be. Can God bless that and if you were to search your home and just with the thought in mind, “Is everything in my home something that God can bless?” If this is so, then your home will be blessed indeed! This day she had in her home that which could be blessed; it was blessed as a result of her pouring it out – pouring it out – or could we put it another way – it was the spirit of God in that home that made the blessing. It is wonderful to be in a home and feel the ‘spirit of giving’ – not the ‘spirit of getting’ – not complaining and stirring up strife. That destroys the home life. That is selfishness. But you go to a home where there is the spirit of giving and there is that spirit of pouring out and all that is in that home, that is blessed indeed – that is a blessed home. We frequent homes like that as the servants of God and it brings us most joy when we feel the ‘spirit of giving’ in the home.

I don’t say we always had that spirit in our home because I know there were times when we didn’t and I don’t recommend putting up a lot of mottos in the home. I remember going to a home that had a motto, “Christ is the head of this house.” There was nothing in that home – it was just an empty box! It was just a big sign up on the wall. That is not a home at all. I remember Mother had a sign in our home – she wanted us to look at it when there was a little friction sometimes. It said, “It’s love and giving that makes life worth living.” I must admit there were a few times that I looked on that. The spirit of giving is a very important part of the home life and I was thinking, too, of that home in John 12 in Bethany. It was the ‘spirit of giving’ that filled that house with a sweet savor. You will notice that everything in that house was just giving. Jesus was just giving in that home. Jesus was giving fellowship to Lazarus and Lazarus was giving fellowship to Jesus. Martha who at one time had complained about serving, she didn’t complain that day! She was just giving, oh! so willingly and freely like she saw others doing around her. Mary had that precious ointment and she poured it out. It was the spirit of giving and that home was just filled with a sweet savor and that is the picture we have of a home that is really blessed.

There is a home we could mention in Genesis 35 – we are not going to dwell on the negative side of this too much. This was an ordained family, but there were things in this home that God couldn’t bless. Jacob was not having that really close fellowship with God, and he was so desperate and it seemed as the father of that home that Jacob began to have struggles, and it was because he was not true enough in his own life. If a father isn’t true in his own life, it is hard for him to keep a true home. Jacob kept true in his private life. He took the courage one day to do a little housecleaning in his own home. He told them to take out some idols and other images and change their garments. Do you know why Jacob did that? He wanted a clean home, because he knew that was the kind of home that God could bless and God did bless that home. That family was blessed very richly after that.

I think of a family. Maybe we could just mention this. There was a man and his wife that came to gospel meetings a few years ago. They both made their choice. They had never known the truth before. They just came to a few meetings and they made their choice, and there was a great joy to see that and oh! the joy they have now! One day this babe – the mother of this home said to me, “Jack, is there anything that we don’t see that you feel we should take out of our lives or out of our home?!” What a beautiful spirit and that touched me deeply because of the many changes that had taken place. They had a TV in their home and we didn’t have to ask them to take that out of their home because the Holy Spirit did that! Some people have asked us, “How do you know whether God’s people should have a TV or not?” We have seen the Holy Spirit and we just knew that when the spirit began to control their lives, the Holy Spirit would tell them, “You better clean that out!” I don’t need any other proof! I don’t need any more proof than that. Little babes!! We can learn, whether it is from the oldest or the youngest of God’s family.

There was a man that was burdened many years because he smoked a pipe. Did we have to tell him to throw his pipe away? No!! He knew that did not bring blessing and he was willing to take that away. I admired that babe having such a beautiful spirit and asking if there was anything she should do. I said to that precious soul, “I thank God that the Holy Spirit has guided you, and I feel if I would say anything now I would just be detracting from that spirit. We just pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to work and guide in your home.” It is continuing to happen and it is a blessed home! There is nothing there but what God could bless and that now they even have a little meeting in that home and oh! they value that meeting so much!!

There is maybe one other little thought in Proverbs 15:27, “He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live.” I would just like to tell you a little experience of this year. We received a letter from a mother in this home. No one in that home except her knows that I received that letter. At convention I had the opportunity to say something to her. She said in that letter, “My husband, I love him and I love my family and my home, but there is something seriously wrong with our home. My husband has two jobs and he is working day and night – practically seven days a week. One job he has to go work a lot of Sundays. We hardly know him any more! We want him at home. The children need him.” That poor soul poured her heart out. We know the home and what can I do about it? I hardly know what to do, but when we have a little opportunity we will approach it there. That home is impoverished because of a man that is greedy for the filthy lucre of this world, we are sorry to say. He comes to meetings and gets something quick on the way to meeting, but he is not taking time. How can we take time with God? How can he offer the morning and evening sacrifice under those conditions? In a few years that man will come to himself and will look back and weep bitterly in some quiet place because he neglected the home mission. We would rather see a family live in a tar paper shack and have the spirit of God in that home and for the father to take time with that family and to take time with God that blesses that home so that it can be a ‘blessed’ home. I have been in tar paper shacks and I have been in pretty expensive homes, and I can say that I have seen the conditions where truly God has His blessing upon those homes, but don’t be concerned about gathering material things when you should be giving your time to your children. We say that today, but we say that because those children are precious to God, there is an eternity before them and now is your chance to work the home mission.

There are a few references we could mention to you – a few things that can be found in the home. Luke 19, salvation coming to a home and that work is vital. A home without salvation would be very empty. You know why salvation came to that home? That man was seeking and he made an effort and invited Jesus to come to his home. Maybe we could mention this incident. An older man and his wife had made their choice. They had a very true little granddaughter. She went to school and the teacher was asking the children a little about their homes. She was asking them what things they had in their homes. The teacher finally came around to this little girl. She had her hair done very neatly and the teacher asked her, “Why do you wear your hair that way?!” She said, “I wear it that way because that is the way my mommy likes it.” The teacher asked her another question and then this little girl, said, “You know, teacher, we have something very special in our home.” The teacher said, “What is that?” She said, “We have Jesus in our home.” That was a pretty good little testimony. Salvation was in that home. That is pretty important and that little girl knew it too! She was not ashamed to tell it and the teacher took it very nicely. She respected that little girl. She knew that she was true!

Another home we could mention was a home where there was fellowship. That was found in Acts 16:15, “And when she was baptized, and her household she besought us, saying, ‘If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there.’ And she constrained us.” That is Lydia’s home. You know that fellowship is a blending of spirits, isn’t it?! Lydia had received that same spirit and those servants of God had fellowship now and there was an open home. Verse 40, “And Paul chose Silas and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God.” That was an open home. That meant a lot to those servants of God. We can’t tell you how much that meant to them. Once my companion and I were in a town where there were no friends for some distance and we were staying in a room in an old hotel where we could prepare for the meetings. We looked out the window and wondered which home would open first for fellowship. We saw a home high on a hill and after we had Gospel meetings we started some fellowship meetings in that very home and that home is very, very precious to me!! Homes to God’s servants are very precious because of experiences of places like that – we just know if a home will open up, then there is a place where we can gather and have fellowship with His people. We had some wonderful times together – memories!

I Timothy 5:14, “But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that, is good and acceptable before God.” “Learn to shew piety at home.” This means ‘kindness.’ You know, there was a little thought maybe we could express that was kind of real to me this last year about this matter of kindness. The lawyer asked, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus told him how to be a neighbor. Often that is my attitude. “Who will be a neighbor to me?!!” Jesus didn’t come at it from that angle, but how you can be a neighbor! It came to me very real one time when I was reading that my closest neighbor is my companion. It is not a matter of being concerned who is my neighbor, but how I can be a neighbor. I got a few things straightened out. In the home life, we could apply it the same way. In the home life, you could feel these people that are closest to me, they owe me something and I am just going to get all I can of them, but we know that doesn’t work. I’ve heard a saying once – we could be a street angel and a house devil! That is a pretty rough saying, but there is a lot of thought in it. We could be lovely to everybody else, we could be fine at work. I know a man that is a prince at work, but you couldn’t describe him at home! He’s just marvelous at work! He comes home and takes it all out on the family. Is that fair? It begins at home! It should begin at home – this piety. This has helped me a lot this past year and this is for myself. In every person, there is a fault side and a virtue side! Show me the person that hasn’t got both of them and they are a pretty exceptional person. Normally people have these two sides. It is my tendency to look at my virtue side and at your fault side! Doesn’t that make wonderful fellowship?! You should reverse that and look at your fault side! I don’t mean that you should look at your faults until you are discouraged, but a little glance once in a while helps you look at the virtue side and always helps others. We will say, “My, that person has changed a lot!!” We don’t want to go all through life being an old grouch. Eternity is too long for that. Maybe that is enough about that.

There is another thought in Matthew 18, where we read of ‘obedience’ the home. It was just that thought where He brought that little child in the midst of His disciples – “This little child.” Could it be suggested that this little boy came from a home where he had learned obedience? Jesus called that little boy and set him down in the midst of His disciples. He did not show off or anything. He didn’t call Jesus and ask him who he thought he was! This little child didn’t do that. This little child came when Jesus called and sat down there in just a humble manner and oh, what a beautiful example to those disciples – they would never forget that. It is wonderful to think that in that day there was a home like that where children could be raised. We know there are many homes like that today! We could say, “That little child has learned obedience.” Obedience in a home really brings blessings!

Now if we could just slip over to Deuteronomy. Someone has said that Deuteronomy is the Sunday school we believe in! Deuteronomy 11:19, “And shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” In connection with that life, it uses that expression of “as the days of heaven upon the earth.” That is concerning the home life now. Do you have a home like that where there is an atmosphere in that home that is a little bit of heaven? It is nice, isn’t it? You notice they were going to have the Lord with them and that would be their soul and might, and then they were to have this in their heart that God had given them and then they were to teach it diligently. They were really to put something into this, but first of all there was to be the example. I think of a home we frequent once in a while. If I was really discouraged and down, I think that is the first home I would head for! Every time I go to that home it just gives me a tremendous lift. You know, it is a home where God is first and you are not in that home five minutes and the man of that home is telling you something fresh out of the scriptures. I have come away from that home and my own soul was fed. Just the condition in that home promotes fellowship and many times that has given thoughts for Gospel meetings and I have left that home just loaded! I was in that home not long ago, but it is pretty hard to stay away; and the oldest daughter of that home was in the city some miles away. It was less than two minutes when that father and the daughter were on the phone and they were exchanging some very fresh thoughts that they had enjoyed! They are not unbalanced! In his youth he was an unsaved man – a religious man. He is very balanced, but he loves the way of God. He loves it and he teaches it to his children. The oldest daughter just started out in the harvest field! When I think back of the home life I grew up in, the earliest memories I have is just like right back into the dim past history – it is that my mother and father were true to God and that they really meant it! They were sincere. I knew they were true to God. I knew they were serving God, and that is a very precious memory in my heart today and I know it had a lot to do with where I am today!! They were not only teaching it, but they were an example. You can’t fool those little ones. They know, and I know my mother and father were true to God and oh! I thank God for that!

In Genesis 18 (we have heard of this already), but here is Abraham. God’s servants were coming and the presence of God was with them. We see Abraham sitting at the tent door. I have enjoyed this thought lately and I am sure we have all seen it. Abraham just loved to be around home. He didn’t say to Sarah, “I have a few hours off and maybe I can go and see the neighbours.” Abraham, he loved to be around home and that is a credit to Sarah! There was a man and his wife and they had a little boy and that man was a truck driver. That woman was so true that that man began to love his home more and more until finally he made a real sacrifice. One day, he shut the truck down. He came and took a job with a company near home, so he could enjoy that home and remodel his house and he just wanted to be around home all the time! We love to go to that home and now he has gone to meetings and professed and what a beautiful home today! I can’t tell you the joy that it gave me. We give the credit to God, but that woman had a lot to do with that. She made it so that it was impossible to stay away! Today they have a home blessed of God, and it is a clean home and it is a home where there is love.

Proverbs 17:1, “Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.” Even if you just had a dry morsel and there was quietness – there was unity in that home and God was blessing that home. It would be better than a whole lot of sacrifices and strife.

I would just like to tell you about a little family very dear to us. There are six children in that family – five are professing. Not long ago we went to visit that home. We don’t get a chance to go very often. It is not in our field, exactly, but this day we sneaked over. I saw something in that home that has left an impression on me. I was sitting in the front room and the mother was getting the supper and the girls were there, up into their teens and those girls were all around in the kitchen. Sometimes we see things that others don’t know – people figure we are reading the paper or something!! I saw something very beautiful. That mother was working with those girls and it was a sight to behold. The harmony – the unity – the love that was amongst them was beautiful.

There was one girl and she got to be 15 in that home and I am sure she had the same chance as the rest of them. Sometimes we see partiality, but there was none of that. She had not professed yet and she was really struggling and not willing, and you might say she was that way. Maybe she just had a little more difficult nature there. She had the same home life, the same chance. But the spirit of that home began to win and she began to come to some of the gospel meetings and one night she sat right up in the front row and when the meeting was tested she stood to her feet sobbing – she made her choice, and she made it very definite. She proved it, too! You know what touched me the most was when that family went out of the meeting. The father was in tears – the mother was in tears. Every one of those children were in tears. The other girls were in tears. The little boy was coming out and he was filled with tears, too. We knew he will make it, too! They didn’t have that much – they are not well off. They have a very humble home but that is a rich home. It is a home blessed of God.

I trust that these few little thoughts might be a help to you and it will make your home a rich home and that you will just be faithful and diligent, and that God can bless – really bless, and even those little ones will grow up to call you “BLESSED” and be a joy to you for His name’s sake.

I believe we are sitting in one of the richest places in Thailand. As we look around this room, it might not look like the richest place in Thailand, but it is, and we are sitting amongst the richest people, because we are sitting at the feet of Jesus. That is why it is one of the richest places in the world. We ate sitting with men and women to whom God has given His spirit to. It is the Holy Spirit that makes men and women rich in this world. Earlier this year, I was in Britain to visit my parents, and one evening, I picked up the newspaper and the title of one page got my attention. It said, “The 100 richest people in the world.” I read down this list of names, and this is the way in which the world counts riches. God counts riches in a different way. On top of the list was Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft. These have palaces, and lands and islands, and big businesses, and gold and silver. I remember that evening reading in my Bible, when Jesus was talking to men and women, and He spoke about the true riches. Who is going to give you true riches? I began to try to think of the true riches, and that is why I saw we are sitting amongst rich people this evening. I didn’t see any of your names in the list of 100 richest people. If God made a list of the 100 richest people in Thailand, maybe your names would be on that list. You are the true gold of this country. I don’t know when workers first came to Thailand, but if they had worked for 50 years here and only one soul had been won for the Lord, it would have been worth it. If they had worked for 100 years, and just found one lost sheep, it would have been worth it.

Where I am working at the moment, it is a poor country (Armenia). Most people have to live on 40 to 50 US$ per month. Most people are poor. These people love gold. Many of their traits and characteristics are like the Jewish people, and they are very shrewd in business. Gold and jewelry are passed on down from the grandmother to the mother and daughter and so on. They have a little gold market in the capital city, and I have sometimes walked around this gold market. In that country, we just have one friend, and there have been many Sunday mornings when I have stood on the balcony and watched her coming up the hill to the Sunday morning meeting. Many times the thought has come into my mind, “This is the true gold of this country.” It is not the gold in the gold market, but it is this one soul that is God’s child. You are the gold of this country of Thailand.

I wanted to speak about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit makes us precious to God. It is not easy to speak about the Holy Spirit. I don’t know very much, or enough about it. Jesus said some very clear and simple things about the Holy Spirit. It is so important what Paul said, “If any man have not the Spirit of God, he is not of Christ.” There is a chapter in Corinthians that speaks about the ministering of the spirit. The Holy Spirit is sent to minister or help or aid people. The spirit is helping God’s people. We want to speak of how it helps God’s people.

The Spirit of God, Jesus said, convicts us and helps us to understand what sin is. There was a man that we worked with a little bit in the work in Switzerland, when he was a little boy, his mother took him to various churches to worship. This lady, (his mother), was seeking for God’s way. She decided her little boy should go to Sunday school and learn about God, so the Sunday school teacher was teaching about 10 children about God, or she thought she was. After about two weeks, she said, “Everybody that understands what I am saying and is ready to be baptized, put your hand up.” Everybody put their hand up except this one little boy. We don’t believe in baptizing children, so the teacher looked at this little boy and said, “What is wrong?” He said, “I don’t feel any different inside, although you have been teaching me.” He was kind of crying, so she said, “Don’t cry. What you need is two more weeks of tuition. You come to my home at night, and I will give you more tuition.” Two or three more weeks went by and she taught him, and then she asked him if he was ready to be baptized. He started to cry again and said, “I don’t feel any different.” It was soon after that his mother took him to another church one morning and as they were leaving the service, one of God’s servants was there and he had been watching this woman and her two boys in the church service, and he decided to follow this woman. He and his co-worker were having gospel meetings in that town, and he invited her to come to those meetings. She went along and listened, and the Holy Spirit very quickly showed this woman that this is God’s true way. She had been searching in many places and finally she came to the place where she met God’s servants, and the Holy Spirit was with those men, and it convicted this woman of right and wrong. She has been a very true woman and she is still alive in Switzerland, and that young boy is in God’s work now, all because the Holy Spirit convicted them of right and wrong and true and false. I don’t think anything else in this world can show me true and false and right and wrong, except the Holy Spirit.

I like the way Jesus taught about the Holy Spirit. Just in very simple words, it says a man came to Jesus by night to talk to Him and Jesus said, “Except a man is born of water and the Spirit, he shall never see the kingdom of Heaven.” This is something that the Holy Spirit does. A man has to be born of water and the Spirit together. What does that mean? Water is like God’s word, and this word of God is used all over the world and all kinds of men and women and religious denominations in the so-called Christian world use this word of God. It is only when the Holy Spirit comes to this word and quickens it, and it affects us. This word is good and it is just like water, and it remains like water until the Spirit quickens it. That is why the water was turned into wine, because the wine is quickened. That is how Jesus talked about the Spirit. It is not how long we can speak in meetings, it is whether the Spirit quickens the water or the word.

Jesus said also about the Holy Ghost, another simple story. The Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven that a woman takes and mixes it in the flour and water. Why does she put the leaven in the dough? So it is going to leaven not just one little piece but all the dough. That is what God wants the Spirit to do in your life and mine. This Spirit has to affect more and more of my life. If the leaven is working through more and more of my life, I will be a true Christian. It says the woman mixes it in three measures of meal. Three things that the Spirit has to leaven in my life – three very personal things. My thoughts, my words and my actions. This Holy Spirit has to leaven my thoughts, and as we go on in God’s way, we realise there are things we should not be thinking about. Maybe I have a disagreement with someone and I can’t think any thoughts of vengeance, because that man is my brother. We are all different and have different characters and different personalities, and maybe we approach problems from different angles, and we agree on doctrine. We might think another man’s way of doing things is total stupidity. That is the way I am inclined to think sometimes, but the Holy Spirit tries to leaven our thoughts. It is to encourage softness and understanding between brothers and sisters in Christ.

The Spirit of God wants to leaven our words. As I try to continue, I recognise more and more the danger of words. James talks about the tongue. He says that the tongue, nobody can control it. I used to think that he was exaggerating, and I couldn’t understand why he was speaking so strongly about the tongue, but we know the tongue can do a lot of damage. I have said things in just a few seconds that it has taken years to build the bridge again. So the Spirit of God wants to leaven our words. I remember a man in England that worked in one of the factories that make submarines, and one day, his workmates were laughing at him and saying, “This faith, how does it affect your life?” I can still hear him saying in the Sunday morning meeting, “I thought for a few moments, and then said, ‘My faith affects every aspect of my life.’” He said, “It is not just what I do on Sundays, but what I do every day of my life.” This Holy Spirit was leavening more and more of his life. That is true Christianity.

I like to think of King David and the Spirit of God was many times teaching David. Some of his last words he talked about how the Spirit of God had anointed him. I just wonder sometimes when he was a young man looking after the sheep, there would be lots of work as he looked after the sheep. There would be times when the sheep would be resting quietly and maybe David was sitting on the hill watching them, and sometimes he had a harp. Maybe that was where he learnt to play the harp. Maybe on those hills of Judea, his thoughts would turn to God and to eternity. In his heart, he was speaking to God. I believe on those hills of Judea, the Holy Spirit was able to come near to David. He couldn’t see it, but he would feel that presence coming near to him. Maybe that is when words started to come to his mind that the Lord is my shepherd and I shall never want, and the Holy Spirit was sweetening his words. Out of that union came those beautiful songs, We couldn’t write Psalms like David has done. In our own little ways, the Holy Spirit has drawn near to us, and it has sweetened our days and sweetened our cares. That is like the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

There are many things that the Holy Spirit wants to do for you and I, but I will mention one more. One of the works of the Holy Ghost is to sanctify or separate us. It separates us from the men and women of this world and we might not always like that. Some of you that are working, you will understand that the Holy Spirit will separate you from others that you are working with. It is like the Holy Spirit saying, “This life is mine.” Maybe you live in a little town, and this Holy Spirit separated you from people you were brought up with. It doesn’t mean to say that you don’t have anything to say to them, but it separates you from their ways. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, and it tells us about the day that all the world will stand before God’s throne, and it says that God is going to separate the sheep from the goats. The difference that will be between the sheep and the goats is those that have God’s spirit and those that don’t. It will be just so simple and so easy for God to separate the sheep from the goats.

We had a telephone call from our overseer in Russia and he said, “Do you think you can go to a city in southern Russia as there are some people there that might want to listen to what you have to tell them from the Bible?” We are busy where we are working, and our overseer said, “They were busy also, but could we go, please?” We work in the little country of Armenia, and our overseer said, “There is an Armenian lady in this city in Russia, that is why we are asking you to go.” So a week or two later, we got a little old plane and flew to the city near where these people lived. We arrived at the airport and it is not far from Chechnya where the Russians are fighting, so security is very high in those areas, and a lot of the terrorist group is training in this area. So we were coming through the Russian immigration and our documents were in order. I was being questioned by one of the immigration officials and he was looking at my Russian visa. Finally he said, “You go and speak to that officer over there.” So I went and this man said, “I am from the KGB and I want to speak to you about your visa. Why are you coming here to this area?” I said, “We are going to visit friends.” I should have said that the lady that is meeting us is one of our friends, but we had never met them before or heard of them before, so he said, “You are meeting Russian friends?” “Yes,” I said. He said, “How long will you stay with these people?” I said, “Five days.” He said, “Are those people going to meet you at the airport here?” and I said, “Yes.” We try to be careful how we answer them sometimes. I said, “Yes, they will be here.” He was standing in front of the door, and he just reached behind and opened the door. Very politely he said, “Show me those people.” We had never seen each other before in our lives, and there may have been 100 people watching us waiting for the plane. Just quickly looked at those people and in the front row there was a woman and her husband. I said to this officer, “It is those two over there.” This Russian lady started to wave. The officer thanked me and said, “Go ahead.” It was so easy to recognise those people. Even I could see, these are God’s people. It is very difficult to explain that, but it helps me to understand that it will be so easy for God to separate the sheep from the goats on that day. This Spirit of God had changed those children so much and this is the ministry of the Spirit, the help of the Spirit. I have to learn to submit more to the discipline of the Spirit.

Hymn 138, “When the King comes in.” This is a Kingdom here in Thailand. What can we bring before the king? Appearance, cleanliness, and our Spirit. Willingness and obedience.

This is the perpetuation of the Old Testament Passover feast. It is a beautiful picture when Jesus ate the last Passover feast with His disciples that last night of His life. “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” They ate the lamb, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “Take, eat this is my body, which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of Me.”

After the same manner also He took the cup, when He had supped, saying “This cup is the New Testament in My blood; this do ye as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me.” I Corinthians 11:23-25. He was the Lamb. The old covenant was fulfilled when Jesus, the Lamb, died on the cross. We like the breaking of bread in a home that is clean and orderly, a prepared home for the breaking of bread. There was one home my companion and I were ashamed to go to for meeting. On the front porch was an old broken-down davenport, with the cushions torn open by the dog, weeds around the house partly hid old cans which were scattered around the front and back yards. The inside of the home wasn’t much better. My companion and I helped to repair the porch, paint the house and clean both the front and back yards, hauled away all the old junk. We helped them clean up the inside of the house also.

Some of their neighbors wished we would paint their houses also! After we had the place clean, we taught them a little about the order of the home for the breaking bread, that it must be clean and orderly, even if it has a dirt floor. When the Children of Israel journeyed through the wilderness their camp had to be clean. The priest must be clean to enter the sanctuary or they would die, no one unclean could go into the court of the tabernacle. It was difficult for these people to keep their home clean, so we moved the meeting and learned later the workers had never appointed that home for a meeting place.

When preparing the emblems, have a nice sized piece of bread, perhaps a slice with the edges removed on a plate or saucer and plenty of grape juice. We’d like the emblems to be placed in the center of the room if possible, but that is not always possible. We like to have them where they can be seen. One time we were in a home where there was a little room, so they set the emblems back in another room. My suggestion was to take my chair out, and I would sit in the back room. The emblems are the most important thing in the little Sunday Morning Meeting, as the bread reminds us of the broken body of Jesus, the Word of God made flesh. “I am the Bread of Life.” The wine reminds us of His blood which was given for our redemption. When we give thanks for the bread and for the fruit of the vine, we should be as specific as we are at the table when we give thanks for our food. When we break off a piece of bread (not just a crumb), we are telling all in the meeting that we are willing for all the Word of God in our life. This reminds me of the perfect surrender Jesus made of His life to His Father’s will. When we take the emblem of Jesus’ shed blood, the fruit of the vine, we are telling all in the meeting we are purchased by the blood of Jesus and we are not our own, to do what we desire, but rather to do His will for us. Because we believe in Jesus and are willing to walk in the light, as He is in the light, and have fellowship (forgiveness) one with another, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. Sometimes we do not feel like breaking bread because of past defeats. God has made marvelous provision for us. In our meetings we sing, pray, and speak.

There is a message for us in every hymn in our book, as well as in the prayers and testimonies of others. The opportunity has come to examine ourselves, apply the Word of God to ourselves. Are we willing to put things right? If we acknowledge our wrong to God and repent (feel badly enough about it to forsake the wrong), are willing to forgive others whether they apologize to us or not, the blood of Jesus cleanses us instantly. Then we have the privilege of breaking bread and it will be a blessing to us. It may be necessary after the meeting to go to others and make an apology. However, if we are not willing to put away wrong things, then the breaking of bread can be a damnation to us, which is worse than if we had never broken bread.

The last night Jesus saith with His disciples, they were all purposed in heart to be true to Him except Judas, who had gone to the chief priests and bargained to betray Jesus. They all went out of the meeting and forsook Him; they did not realize how weak they were. Jesus had compassion on them because they didn’t intend to do it. It was different with Judas. Before the meeting, he had made a bargain with the chief priests to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Judas broke bread with Jesus and His disciples, had a chance to repent, but he rose up and went out and it was night, night in two ways. The night was dark, but after he betrayed Jesus, he entered into the darkest experience of his life, and hanged himself. If we partake of these emblems and are not willing to put away the wrong and forgive in our hearts, it is eating and drinking damnation to ourselves, not discerning the Lord’s body. It is good for us to have these truths impressed upon our minds and hearts. Some in the church in Corinth were weak and sickly and some had died spiritually, because they did not break bread in the right way.

We workers have appreciated the questions you had in your minds. We may not be able to answer them to your satisfaction, but it will give us an avenue of communication. When you have a question don’t be afraid to come to us; we shall try to answer it or get an answer for you.

WHAT IS THE PROPER COVERING FOR THE EMBLEMS, NAPKIN OR SARAN WRAP? We prefer a clean white napkin. Because the napkin is used in the eastern states, Europe and other countries, we think it better to be uniform.

WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO UNCOVER THE EMBLEMS? Someone suggested uncovering the emblems before we sing a hymn before taking the emblems. Sometimes we don’t sing a hymn due to the time element. It would be respectful to turn back the napkin before giving thanks for the bread. However, this may not be possible because of no screens on the windows or doors to keep out the flies.

WHAT IS THE FEELING ABOUT WOMEN GIVING THANKS FOR THE EMBLEMS? We like to see the men taking most of the responsibility for this. If there is hesitation and one of the ladies would like to give thanks for the emblems, that is good.

WHAT IS THE PROPER DISPOSAL OF THE EMBLEMS? The meeting in the home perpetuates the Passover feast mentioned in Exodus 12. Any part of the lamb which was left over was to be burned with fire. The bread represents the body of Jesus and we feel it should be burned. Exodus 12:10. The blood of the animals was to be poured out on the ground and covered with dust [Leviticus 17:12, Deuteronomy 12:16]. We feel it would be best to pour the wine out on the ground.

SHOULD THERE BE TWO CUPS AND TWO PIECES OF BREAD IN A LARGER MEETING?

We prefer to use one cup because it signifies fellowship as we pass it from one to another. Some feel it takes too long to pass the bread and the wine when there is only one cup, but this is the most consecrated part of the meeting and we don’t object to waiting for all to drink of the one cup.

SHOULD THE BREAD BE TAKEN OFF THE PLATE WHEN PASSED? In some places they do take the bread off the plate and pass it. The reason we pass the bread on a plate or saucer is because of the unsaved people in our meetings. When we pass it on a plate, they just take hold of the plate and pass it along to the person next to them. Sometimes strangers hesitate to touch the bread and I can understand and appreciate their feelings.

SHOULD SOMEONE WHO NEVER TAKES PART IN THE MEETING TAKE THE EMBLEMS? We feel the breaking of bread is for those who participate in the meeting. Romans 10:9, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” According to this scripture, to have salvation, we must confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus, and the meeting is a good place to do so. If we are not grateful for what the Lord has done for us, it would be best to not partake of the emblems.

WHERE SHOULD THE EMBLEMS BE PLACED IN THE ROOM? There is no better place for the emblems than in the center of the room. This is difficult due to the seating arrangement in some homes, but it should be in the room where the meeting is held.

IS A CIRCULAR SEATING ARRANGEMENT BEST WHEN POSSIBLE? The circular seating is excellent, but it is seldom possible.

SHOULD CHILDREN PASS THE EMBLEMS TO THE NEXT PERSON? This depends on the age of the children. If they are old enough and careful, it is nice for them to pass the emblems to the next person, but not when too young.

SHOULD THE ELDER PASS THE WINE INDIVIDUALLY? No. The bread and the wine should always be passed from one person to the other when possible, as this speaks of fellowship. Sometimes the elder must help pass it because of the seating arrangement as the one person cannot reach the person who is to receive it next.

SHOULD THE ELDER DRINK ALL THE WINE THAT IS LEFT? “Drink ye all of it.” Matthew 26:27. When Willie Phyn was here from New Zealand, I asked him about this scripture, as he worked in Greece. Willie said the Greek New Testament reads, “All of you drink it.” Jesus desired all His disciples to drink of the cup. What is left over, pour it on the ground.

SHOULD THE EMBLEMS BE PASSED TO ALL (EXCEPT SMALL CHILDREN) EVEN IF THEY DON’T PARTAKE? Yes. If strangers are in the meeting, you can explain before breaking bread what is taught in 1 Corinthians 11:23-29 This will help them to understand it is an individual choice and the responsibility is upon the person who partakes of the emblems of Jesus’ broken body and shed blood.

SHOULD THE EMBLEMS BE REMOVED IMMEDIATELY? Yes. We would like the leader to take the emblems out of the room when the meeting is over.

WOULD IT BE ALL RIGHT TO ASK ALL TO REMAIN SEATED AFTER THE MEETING UNTIL THE EMBLEMS COULD BE REMOVED FROM THE CENTER OF THE ROOM TO AVOID THE POSSIBILITY OF THEM BEING TIPPED OVER AND IN THE SPIRIT OF REVERENCE FOR THEM? It would be a mark of reverence if we all sat while the elder removed the emblems from the room.

WOULD IT BE BETTER TO HAVE NOTHING ON THE TABLE WITH THE EMBLEMS, SUCH AS FLOWERS? It is best to just have the emblems on the table, no flowers. Nothing is more beautiful than the emblems that remind us of the sacrifice of Jesus that was given for our redemption.

WHEN YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE HOME HAVE MADE THEIR CHOICE, IS IT ALL RIGHT THEN FOR THEM TO PREPARE THE EMBLEMS IF THEY WANT TO HAVE A PART IN THIS? Yes, as long as it is done under the supervision of the parents and done right, we have no objection.

WHAT KIND OF A CONTAINER IS BEST FOR THE WINE FOR CONVENIENCE IN PASSING? SIZE, ETC.? SHOULD THE SAME CONTAINER ALWAYS BE USED? Before I visited the Orient, I felt the container should be a cup. In the Orient, the cup they use has no handle on it. It is similar to the glass we drink from. The cup means a vessel we drink from, whether it be a cup or what we call a glass. It is not necessary to always use the same container; however, if you would like to do this, we have no objection. The vessel must be clean.

WHAT SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT STRANGERS WHO ATTEND REGULARLY AND PARTAKE OF THE EMBLEMS? Someone who knows the party and is in the spirit should remind them what they are doing and explain to them what Jesus taught in l Corinthians 11:23-29.

WHO DECIDES WHO IS WORTHY TO PARTAKE OF THE EMBLEMS? Each person is to examine himself and decide whether he partakes of the emblems or not. I Corinthians 11:28.

IS IT SCRIPTURAL TO PARTAKE OF THE EMBLEMS IN A PLACE SUCH AS A MOUNTAIN CABIN WHEN A FEW GATHER THERE? The only place where the bread should be broken is in a home that is consecrated for the meeting. If you go to the mountains for recreation or a vacation, try to go to a home that has been chosen by the workers for the Sunday Morning Meeting and the Breaking of Bread.

IS IT MORE BECOMING FOR THE ELDER TO TAKE AWAY THE EMBLEMS AT THE CLOSE OF THE MEETING THAN FOR HIS WIFE TO DO SO? Yes, it is the responsibility of the elder. If the elder comes to the meeting to lead the meeting, it is the elder’s responsibility to take away the emblems at the close of the meeting. If someone else leads the meeting in the absence of the elder, arrange with him ahead of time to take care of the emblems.

AFTER PROFESSING, BEFORE BAPTISM, SHOULD PEOPLE PARTAKE OF THE EMBLEMS? This question was answered for me at a Church of Christ meeting that I attended about 25 years ago. Two ladies who were coming to our meetings invited me to go with them to their service. The minister was speaking about Hebrews 3. He used the scripture about God leading the children of Israel out of Egypt and they were baptized in the cloud and in the sea, and he added, “This day was Israel saved,” giving the impression that the Children of Israel were not saved until they were baptized. He challenged anyone in the meeting to prove a person could be saved before baptism. When he asked for questions, I said, “Do you people believe that the Passover feast was a true type of Christ?” He said, “Yes, we do.” Then I replied, “You people believe that the Children of Israel partook of Christ, the Passover Lamb, before they were saved. How could they partake of Christ before they were saved?” When a person surrenders to Christ and receives of His Holy spirit and has come to the age of accountability and then they wish to break bread and are willing for all the will of God, no matter what it might mean or cost, they can break bread. Sometimes children who haven’t come to the age of accountability do not fully understand the responsibility of being a Christian and it is best for them to wait until after they are old enough to take that step and I inquired of Jack Carroll. He told me this: “The father and mother should bear most of this responsibility, as they know if the children pray and are having fellowship with the Lord. Get the girls and their parents together and ask the parents if their children understand what it means to be baptized.” The father said one of the girls was ready but the other one was not ready, as she didn’t feel her need to pray and to be separated from the world. the older girl said, “I will wait for my sister.” This is why we feel the children should wait until after they are baptized before breaking bread. We are not baptized to make us Christ’s, but because we are Christians.

IS BAPTISM A NECESSARY PART OF SALVATION? Yes, Jesus said in Mark 16:16, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.”

SHOULD THE ELDER STAND OR SIT WHEN HE TAKES THE EMBLEMS? Perhaps this is what is meant by this question – when the elder who is passing the bread and wine is quite a ways from his chair, should he go back to his chair and sit down for the partaking of the emblems, or should he take the emblems from where he is standing? Either would be all right with us.

SHOULD A SONG BE SUNG JUST PRIOR TO PASSING THE EMBLEMS? An appropriate hymn or a verse of a hymn is nice before we break bread; however, if the meeting has been long, we can omit singing and break bread. An hour and a half is plenty long for a meeting.

SHOULD SOMEONE BE POINTEDLY ASKED TO GIVE THANKS FOR THE EMBLEMS? It is in order to ask someone to give thanks for the bread or for the wine. Sometimes I pointedly give my companion a poke.

SHOULD GRAPE JUICE OR WINE BE USED? We can use either. It must be the fruit of the vine. Grape juice is what we customarily use in California. We like it best because there may be someone in the meeting fighting the alcoholic habit which was acquired before professing, and it is very difficult to take wine without arousing the old appetite which craves for it. In some parts of the world, it is difficult to get grape juice, so they use fermented wine.

IF THE PRESCRIBED JUICE IS NOT AVAILABLE (ONLY IN EMERGENCIES) WHAT COULD BE USED? Nothing, it must be the fruit of the vine. If grape juice or wine is not available, omit breaking of bread.

WHY DON’T WE USE UNLEAVENED BREAD FOR THE EMBLEMS? Unleavened bread was used for the Passover because all leaven was put out of the house, Exodus 12:15. Jesus ate the last Passover with His disciples. In Leviticus 23:15-17, which was on the first day of the week, the Feast of Pentecost, Acts 2, they were to have leaven in the loaves they baked.

OLD TESTAMENT / NEW TESTAMENT

PASSOVER FEAST / BREAKING OF BREAD

Preparation: Exodus 12:19 / 1 Corinthians 5:6-8

Place (Home): Exodus 12:3 / Luke 22:7-13

Number: Exodus 12:3 / Matthew 18:20

Time: Exodus 12:18 / Acts 20:7

Purpose: Exodus 12:14 / Luke 22:19-20

Manner: Exodus 12:5-10 / 1 Corinthians 11:23-31

Partakers: Exodus 12:43 / Acts 2:42; 20:7

(This is not verbatim or direct quoting)

Around 3 pm, the many, many friends there were invited to file by the casket. Then at 4:15 they began seating everyone and that took about 30 minutes for all the friends, family, and workers to file in. During these times, Karen Bone, Bill Walker, and Jana Printz played the piano. As Jana played “Alone with God,” all of the brothers gathered around the casket and carefully closed it, placing the wreath on top.

The congregation sang #228 “Rich are the Moments of Blessing.” Steve Peirson read a summary of Eldon’s years in the work, family in the work, and surviving family. Then he prayed beginning with “Father, we are almost speechless.”

Ed Alexander spoke, also echoing those same words. I’m almost speechless to have a part in this service. Besides my parents, no one has had more effect on my life than Eldon. I feel like I am having a part in my own parent’s funeral. It’s hard to settle on one scripture to express the feeling we have today. Thinking of Paul’s last message to the church at Ephesus, in Acts 20:17-38. There are 4 specific points from this.

1) Acts 20:18-19: “Ye know, from that first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews.” We don’t have words to express the appreciation we have for the humility, the kindness, and above all the godly firmness that Eldon has given to all. In my first year in the work, in the Sacramento area, we were leaving from a gospel meeting, riding in the car and Eldon said to me, “That was very nice what you shared with us tonight, Ed, it was a good thought and I enjoyed it. But do you have scripture to back it up? We have NO other foundation than the scripture so we want to never say something that we can’t back up, even if we believe it to be true.”

2) Acts 20:26-27: “Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” There was never a time when Eldon didn’t declare to us the counsel of God. Whether we appreciated it or wanted to hear it or not. That is not easy – it’s easier for a servant of God not to tell the whole truth. I’m so grateful for a man who was willing to tell me the truth.

3) Acts 20:24: “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” I have never been around a more selfless man, have never labored with one so completely unmoved by discomfort, opposition, rejection, or misunderstanding when it had to do with sharing the gospel. He had a great depth of love for the hearts of all but nothing moved him to change. I labored with him 30 years after the first time and he hadn’t changed.

4) Acts 20:28-29: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.” In every visit I’ve had with Eldon in the last few years, his concern for the future has become more and more evident. Just because of the nature of a flock of sheep, we know that the wolves will gather. I hope we can be faithful and true, delivering the firm commitment that Eldon had, in our own generation.

Harold Hilton – “Behave and be true.” In my late teen years, Eldon came to live with us for two months while recovering from surgery. I didn’t know why until after entering the ministry, why he would choose to go to a home with children. Now, if I were to need a place to go and their nerves could stand it, I would prefer to go to a home where there are children. While he was there, he connected with this rebel and I’m glad. After entering the ministry, when he was going to be leaving for a time, he would always say, “Boys, behave yourselves.” And when he would return, he would ask, “Did you behave yourself?” I Sam 18:14, “David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him.” More than any other companion, he asked me, “Did you behave yourself?” And I’m glad – because I have found the Lord is with me as I “behave myself.”

With Greg (Olson)’s permission, I’m going to tell you a story. Two years ago this morning, during Mountain Ranch 2, I saw Greg here in the dining area and I asked him if he would like to say hello to Uncle Eldon. I told him Eldon probably wouldn’t know him, but that he had known Greg’s grandparents well. We went up to the house and up the stairs to the second floor. We knocked on his door and he said, “Come in.”

We found him lying back on his bed with his legs up on pillows as they often were. I went over and shook his hand and then told him, “Greg wanted to say ‘Hi,’ he’s Burt and Frieda’s grandson.” Greg went over to the bed and shook his hand. We backed up into chairs there in the room. I told him that Greg would like to tell him something. Greg said, “Uncle Eldon, I’ve offered for the ministry.” He sat up and slid his legs off the bed and straightened himself up as we’ve seen him do so many times. He walked over to Greg and said, “If you’ve offered your life for this ministry, I want to shake your hand again.” He backed up and sat on his bed. We offered to help him back in, but he preferred to sit on the edge and he said to Greg, “Greg, I’m finished. I’ve had a wonderful life in this ministry, but I’m done. We need helpers.” He looked in his eyes and said to him “Be true to your companion, be true to the Lord.”

We give thanks today for the godly man from Michigan who was true to his family, to his companions, to the church, and to his Lord. He once told me that if you’re true to your companion and to your family, it seemed to him the chances were pretty good that you’d have a successful ministry. We want to behave and be true for Jesus’ sake.

#387, Bravely Tread the Path – sung by John Parish, Scott Wainwright, Bill Walker, Linda Passage, Heather Hansen, Lois Austin, Jill Christianson, Trisa Chavez (Jana Printz played piano I think)

Paul Sharp – It’s a privilege to be included – I didn’t expect it. The first time I met Eldon was at Post Falls convention about 50 years ago. He read Isaiah 52:1, “Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion, put on thy beautiful garments.” He was awakening us to our condition before God, to the needs around us, and to opportunities before us. In the years since, when I’ve heard him speak, he’s been doing the same things. Isaiah 53:2, “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.”

I don’t know Eldon’s family well, but I know the human ties were close. The severing of human ties at a funeral is costly. Those are meant to teach us about heavenly, eternal ties. If human ties were easily broken and without pain, they would be a poor reflection of our ties to Christ and our eternal family. Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, ‘Thy God reigneth.’”

A brother once spoke of the man who fell among thieves, who was left half dead along the way. They say that the hearing is likely the last sense to go as death approaches. This man likely would’ve heard footsteps approaching and hope may have arisen in his heart but the footsteps belonged to the priest and they receded in the distance, as did the next set of footsteps belonging to the Levite. When the third set of footsteps was heard, it may’ve been hard to muster any hope, but those feet stopped where the need was. Those were beautiful feet. I hope we understand the cost it took for Eldon to tread the path he trod in the ministry these years. I have no question that he wasn’t like others – he, too, would’ve been drawn to other paths that might have led to closer human ties (he may have had sons, daughters, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren here today). But how beautiful are the feet of those who go where the need is.

He’s asleep today, sleeping in Jesus, but I wonder if in death he can give us a wake up call. It’s not an easy path that leads into the ministry, nor is it an easy path that leads to continuance. It says the feet are beautiful “upon the mountains” – it’s a costly climb. But, we wonder if young folks today can be awakened to the need. Eldon saw a future for this kingdom – he faced the ups and downs, and the disappointments, but he continued to believe that God is on the throne and that there’s a future to this kingdom.

Isaiah 52:10, “The Lord made bare his holy arm.” In our speak, this means he rolled up his sleeves and got into action. He provided a redeemer. At a home in Michigan, almost 100 years ago, there was joy on earth as a baby boy was born. Long before that babe, there was born a redeemer who came to earth. A day came when that redeemer became his (Eldon’s) redeemer and we know that on that day there was joy in heaven. This tells us 1) the value of one soul and 2) how the “great multitude that no man could number” was formed – one by one, sinners repenting and making Christ their soul’s redeemer. Isaiah 53:11, “He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied, by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities.” In [Isaiah 53], we read about many things Eldon couldn’t do because only Christ could do them, but at the close of the chapter, verse [Is53:12], we read about something Christ did that we also have the privilege of doing. To the best of my knowledge, Eldon did it very successfully, as he “poured out his soul unto death.”

Speaking in terms of his service, with all his heart he died to himself for Christ’s sake. It’s our privilege as it was his. I believe that Eldon demanded more of himself than of others, but he did try to believe the best of others and this set him up for some disappointments. I know that I have disappointed him but I’m thankful that he forgave me and continued to be a true friend to me. Eldon didn’t deviate from what he believed and knew to be right. He wasn’t frightened by any price that this might require of him. In Revelations 6:9, those under the altar whose souls were slain for the word of God – they suffered until death for the testimony they held. John was talking about the testimony of Jesus, that they (and Eldon) suffered for. One might say that Eldon drew the line and held to it, but he didn’t – God drew the line and Eldon held to it.

In a recent meeting someone chose #234, “I live in triumph Lord, for Thou hast made Thy triumphs mine.” This came as such a revelation to me. I’ve lived in defeat more than I should have or than I needed to. We’re not recommending defeat. Also thinking of hymn #317 which says, “Sweet is the rest when after weary toil, I do not glory in the battle’s spoil. The victor’s crown, all honours, let them be to Thee alone who gives the victory.” It’s not our triumph. Today is a day of triumph, but it’s because of our Master’s triumph. Another hymn, #294, “and wouldst thou know the secret of constant victory? Let in the Overcomer and he will conquer thee: Thy broken spirit, taken in sweet captivity, shall glory in His triumph and share his victory.” Even in our defeats, we can live in triumph because the Lord has made His triumphs ours. But, this is so only if we share in the battle, in the struggle. We’ll continue to share Christ’s triumphs and victories in eternity.

This casket will be placed in the ground and the shell inside it also. But there’s a resurrection day coming and Eldon will share in that. Victory over sin and Satan. The beautiful garments that were given to Eldon when he made his choice, there have been times when they became spotted. But he went back to the source of help and hope and continued to wash them in the blood of the lamb. White robes are given to everyone, and can be given because of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. The robes remain spotless throughout eternity. If the world or the flesh had marked Christ, he and we would’ve all been lost. But, He lived in triumph and we share in His victory. We thank God today.

Dick Middleton- After Eldon had been in the work about 16 years, he got lockjaw and was given sulfa (a new drug out) without enough water. This caused him to have poor health and he was inactive for a while. This was about the end of 1944. He, his father, and his sister (who labored 40 years in Brazil and was on a home visit) were invited to San Diego. They came and were introduced to the desert, jumping cacti and all – I was responsible for picking him up and bringing him out to the desert and I ran out of gas! He then went to special meetings in AZ and was invited to labor in CA. He was with Chester Sweetland in 1945-46 and the latter part of that year, I started with them in the work. I was with him all of the next year, and then again a year later. He had to teach me the same lessons every time! Once he told me about something a former companion used to do as a warning for me and then he found me guilty of it the very next day.

Joshua 1:2, “Moses my servant is dead, now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.” He AND all the people were to go on. Eldon has given us wonderful examples and counsels. Moses had pointed the way and they needed to continue on in it – in reality, Moses had just followed the cloud. He was a leader. “Follow me as I have followed Christ” (1 Cor 11:1) To be able to lead we must be following Christ. Acts 20:29-31 – Sober warning, remembering what Jesus said, that the love of many shall wax cold because iniquity would abound. In Revelations, it said that they (the Ephesians) had left their first love. Paul diligently tried to protect God’s people. Eldon was so conscious of this danger, and he had the courage to warn us. God has promised strength for the day. Eldon found that each day and we understand how he found it. We want to be careful of the example we give to those who may be influenced by it.

All of the workers stood, faced the congregation, and sang #408, No Reputation.

Pallbearers: Richard Wulf, Rob Newman, John VanDenBerg, Joe Alexander, Scott Boswell, Gary Myers

Ephesians 6-19, “Praying always with prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in bonds..” Paul was in Rome in bonds and he was sending a servant of God to tell them about his affairs, and to tell him about them. When we were in Sarawak, we heard the people telling about their situation. For a time, several workers had to leave and they couldn’t come back, but the friends, they prayed about that and the door has opened for two to return now. They feel the power of those prayers has helped them, and they understand that it is like that we are unified.

Here Paul was trying to help them to look beyond their coasts to other lands, and to pray for all saints and to pray for him. For a long time, I have felt this is one of the greatest things we can do. We can think about Ephesus. It was the last place Paul stayed for a while and preached. It was in Asia and later we read of seven churches in Asia. John mentioned it first because it was the first one there. I didn’t think about it until I went to Korea earlier this year. When I was there in the army, the workers had been there for about 15 years. It was one of the last areas in the world at that time where the gospel had gone. Just before I went there this year, I had visited a man named Don Garland, and he passed away about ten days later. Everyone seemed to realise then, now 50 years have gone by. I was there several years ago, and there was a lot of help that came from the US and Australia, because that was a new area. Now they are feeling very responsible and the friends from there have visited in Russia and Mongolia now. We have seen the same thing here. Since we have come here, we have heard of Bangladesh and Nepal, and it is a wonderful thing when we hear about people feeling their responsibility to other areas. That is what helps to unify the work everywhere. Just praying and visiting in a place is not all there is to do. We have to know how to promote unity to help promote it elsewhere. We have to be an example before we can help others.

Paul spoke to these people a lot about unity. The church at Ephesus lost their first love. I don’t think we could be much of an example if we lose our first love, because there are certain things we must love if we want to promote unity. I was noticing what Paul was telling them to love and what to aim at. I don’t think they lost their first love entirely, but they must have lost part of it. One thing we must love is sound doctrine, or the mind of Christ. The first little illustration he gave them was of a building. He said this building was upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone. One evening several years ago, several of us were gathered together and there was a blackboard, and my companion drew a picture on the blackboard. It was a sketch of a building and he had a cornerstone in one corner and there were the foundation stones stretching out from the corner stone, and the stones were placed on those, and there were two walls. He said one wall was like the Old Testament. Ever since the time of Moses, those prophets lined up with Jesus. Ever since the time of the early apostles, they lined up with Jesus, and that wall is the New Testament. Wherever a stone was in that building, it was one with the other stones. That is a picture of all who believe in the foundation truth that Jesus taught. That is from the beginning of time till the end of time.

Another companion and I in another place were having gospel meetings. One time, a young man walked to our camp with me and he said, “This weekend our churches are going to have an ecumenical council in this town. There were 5 major religions that were to be there.” He said, “All of us are going to give up one thought to achieve unity.” So he asked me what I thought about that. I said, “Well, we think a little differently. We feel we need to throw away every thought that is different to Christ’s. Then we have unity with all of God’s people for all time.” I don’t think these Ephesian people erred too much in this way. They hated deeds that were wrong, even when John wrote to them. “One with Him who went before.” One of my companions wrote to me, and I think I appreciate it more today. One of our overseers used to tell us something often. He said, “We need to have unity and essentials, and tolerance, and leave the non-essentials. What we would need is wisdom.” I hope that we all truly love what is right and what is sound.

In the fourth chapter, he gave them another picture when he spoke about the body, and the members of the body. So we are all like these members, and yet we are all so different. At first, these people did well in that way – the Jews and Gentiles, the walls were broken down between them. Those workers that laboured – there first were from different countries. It seemed like they gave a good example. I have often thought of myself and some of my companions. One time, I had a companion that was able to preach the gospel very well, but wasn’t able to move around very much. I realised it was my job to find people and bring them to him to help. That would be a bit like the hand and the arm. The hand has all the ability and the skill, but the arm can move it into place where it can be used, but they need each other. What happens if you have a sore wrist? Which one does the work then? Only one? They both have to rest and let the other arm do it. I realise that is how it is with companions, too. It speaks about the bond of peace, and it takes long-suffering and forbearance and meekness. Then if we love peace, it is possible to have a healthy joint. I think the illustration is quite clear to us, but it is another thing to do it. That is the only way to give an example. Whatever member it is, it is always guided by the head. A love for the mind of Christ will help us.

In the 5th chapter, he gave another picture. For many years, I missed that one. It speaks of Christ and the church, and the church is like the bride, and that is another relationship that needs unity. The only way there can be unity is if there is love. I think about a couple that has worked with us, and they are very devoted to each other, in their early sixties. I remember being in their home and some issue would come up, and this happened time after time. Almost every time, they had the opposite idea! They both had quite strong opinions about it, too. Sometimes he would get out a piece of paper and write out the pros and cons. You would wonder what was going to happen next. Then we would see them the next day and they were just exactly together, doing well. I don’t know whose idea they followed, but I know there had to be submission. There is one difference in this picture here, Jesus is the bridegroom, so He is always right. It helps me to understand what kind of love we need. We have to love His will, and then there will be unity.

One more picture in the last chapter. It is not really obvious but it has been a help to me. He talks about them wearing the armour, and he is waiting for all churches, and to me it is a picture of the army. That is a nice picture of unity. One of the first things soldiers learn to do is to march. It is hours and hours of practice before they can keep in step. After they become good at it, they have a parade drill. Then they are marching together and people are watching them. Any little mistake shows up. That is a good picture of God’s people because people do watch us, and they see every mistake. I like what we read about Zebulun, 1:12-33, “Of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all instruments of war, fifty thousand, which could keep rank; they were not double of heart.” I remember very well this parade drill, and that is why this verse means something to me. The soldiers would be standing together in formation and then there would be a command, and that was to put your arm out to the side, so that you could just touch the soldier next to you, and the same with the man in front, and then that was your position. You were supposed to maintain that position at all times. That is also a nice picture of God’s people. Paul mentioned to think of the older men as fathers and the younger men as brothers, and the older women as mothers and the younger women as sisters with all purity. If we can keep that impartiality with everyone, that is a wonderful picture.

As we would march, often they would stop us. We had an examination where we were, just like convention, and we were always too close or too far from someone. There was one thing that was important if we wanted to keep rank, we had to keep our mind on our business. I think that was why Zebulun was so outstanding, because they were not of double heart. I find that my own thoughts and my own affairs get in the way. If I want to promote unity, I will have to be of one mind. I have seen it done right and it is very impressive. That is what we can aim at. We have been in countries that are very backward and they have to teach the people about public order. In one place, it only took three years, and in another place, it has been 10 years now, and they haven’t made any progress yet. I am glad that my awareness of this has been increased. I realise the need to start right in my own place. I can’t think of anything greater than to promote unity in God’s kingdom. I sincerely hope God will help us all.

Hebrews 3-14, “For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.” I John 2-28, “And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” We know that the time of the Lord’s coming is at hand. As we come to this convention, I wondered what is our level of confidence. I think we would like the Lord to increase our confidence while we are here, but it is not that simple, because it is something that we must develop ourselves. It would be very good for us to examine ourselves. I would like to take the things that John said in this epistle. It seems that he dwelt on this thought of confidence. In the 3rd and 5th chapters, he also spoke of it. He spoke on how we can have this confidence before God. We can see that he proved it in his own life. There is someone else that also gave us an example in this – three people. Mary and Martha and Lazarus. I would like to share with you some thoughts that have come to me.

We read about the beginning of our confidence, but that is not all there is to it. This beginning of our confidence will always be important. John began his letter by speaking about that. He spoke about the things that we have heard and seen and handled. Those were things that he remembered when he heard the gospel from John the Baptist, and then he went to Jesus after that, and that was the beginning of his confidence. We read the same of Mary and Martha. Mary sat at Jesus’ feet. I am glad that all of us here can look back to that day. My mother and father were in this way before I was born, and I look back to that time when I was about 11 years old. I remember the mission that the two sister workers had, and I can say from my experience that faith comes by hearing. It was genuine confidence. Later, some of my best friends fell away from the truth.

In the second chapter, John mentions that falling away but I was glad that I could still listen to the gospel. I was able to regain that confidence that I almost lost. I think of an old man that I met this past year. He remembers when I was about 3 years old, because we went to that home where he was the elder of that meeting. He knew me when I began in this work and through the years, he has written to me ever since. There was never a man who loved the gospel more than he. At the beginning of the year, we were in that same city and he was in his late 80’s and he was listening to the gospel as though he had never heard it before. He passed away three months ago. I believe he kept that confidence to the very end.

I remember one course I took in school. It was a chemistry course, and we sat in class a lot, but we had to go to the lab, and we learnt to test a lot of substances to be sure what it was. I will never forget the final examination. This one thing we call bi carb soda, we take for stomach trouble sometimes, it is a white powder. The final examination was, we got this white powder and the question was, is this bi carb soda or not? If it is right, you will get an A, but if it is wrong, you will get a F. So none of us felt like guessing, and we were afraid to taste it. It might have been poison, so we just had to apply the things we knew from the classroom. Fortunately, I got the right answer. That is the way it is with the truth. We are glad that those that come to us offered proof of this gospel. We are just confirming the things that are written in the Bible.

That is what Mary did as she sat at Jesus’ feet. That was the beginning of their confidence, but that wasn’t all there was to it. Later, we read that John stood by the cross, and he observed some things the others may not have seen. He saw the soldier pierce Jesus’ side after His death, and he saw that water and blood flowed from it. In this same letter, he referred to that. He mentions three things that bear record in Heaven, but he also said there are three things that bear witness on earth. They are the spirit, the water, and the blood.

My first companion was a very religious man when he was young. He was stationed in Japan as a soldier and he was involved with religious activities there. In our country, we have a famous evangelist, Billy Graham, who asked this soldier to tell about the religious activities he had been involved with in Japan. This soldier then decided he wanted to be a preacher and he applied at a seminary on the west coast of the US, and he was going to stop and visit his uncle and aunt on the way there. It happened to be at convention time and his uncle and aunt talked to him and invited him to the convention. He listened to the meetings that day, and after the last meeting, he saw the elder worker, and he wanted to have a visit with him. He told the elder worker that the spirit was moving him to become a preacher. This elder worker asked him a couple of questions. He said, “Would you believe or accept that the ‘water’ here is speaking of God’s word?” The young man said, “Yes.” Then the worker asked, “Would you accept that the blood is speaking of Jesus’ life?” “Yes.” “Where do you read in God’s word about God’s servants going to a seminary? Where do you see that Jesus did that? Is that the Spirit leading you where Jesus did not go?” He understood then that it wasn’t the spirit that was leading him to the seminary. He learnt something that day that helped him all his life, because these three are always in agreement – the spirit, the water, and the blood. If we have a question in life, we can think about that. The spirit of God will always lead us according to His word. We can always find something in Jesus’ life to back that up. That is still the beginning of our confidence. We are glad that we can see the Spirit’s guidance in all things.

John mentioned many things that can cause us to sin. When we come to a place like this, we think about our sin, and we lose our confidence before Him. It is not because of the way or the leading of the Spirit, but it is our spirit that has caused it. He spoke about the fact that if we sin, He is the advocate that we can go to. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us. We can have confidence in that. I like to think of something that John showed us by his example. He and Peter were chosen to go and prepare a place for the Passover feast, and the other 10 apostles and Jesus came later, then Jesus girded Himself with a towel, and washed their feet. I am sure that Peter and John must have felt condemned about that, because they should have been the ones to do that. When Jesus came to Peter, Peter withdrew from Him. That is what we often do when we are condemned. Then Jesus said, “If you do that Peter, you will have no part with Me.” So Peter allowed Jesus to wash his feet. We don’t read that John withdrew from Jesus, but we read that he was leaning on Jesus’ breast. That is the correct reaction to correction – just to draw closer to Jesus. I would like to learn that better.

Regarding Martha, I can say the same thing. She was rebuked a little, but we read of her in chapter 11, and it says that Lazarus was sick and he died, then Jesus came to them. Martha and Mary were both sitting in the house when they heard that Jesus had come, but as soon as Martha heard this news, she ran to Him. That shows that she had a child-like attitude, because that is how children react to correction. They just try to draw closer.

When we were studying Chinese, we had to do some homework, and we had to write these characters out many times to memorize them. Our teacher would give us a big page of characters to memorize. She would write an example in the first column. She wanted us to not just write it, but to write it correctly like she did. She had very nice handwriting. I would write one by one, and the further I went, the worse they looked. So finally I had to start at the end and work backwards, because that forced me to look at the example each time, otherwise I would just look at the last one I had written and do one like it. That is the advantage if we can draw near to Jesus after correction, and we don’t get into the habit of repeating our own actions and thoughts. This makes it easier for Him to forgive us and give us another chance. All of this just belongs to the beginning of our confidence. If we want to go on to perfection, there is a lot more than this. I fear that we can finish the convention and we would be just satisfied to be forgiven, because our purpose for the future is to do better. There is a verse that can help us to see that that could be. I John 3 ­14. “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.”

Then he went on to explain this, verse 18, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.” Verse 21, “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.” I love to see Martha’s example in this. Jesus referred to Lazarus as “our friend.” That is a term that we use for those that are in our fellowship. It shows that he might have been on equal standing with Mary and Martha, but then it says that Lazarus was sick. In those days, sickness had a connotation of sin, and then Lazarus died. In James, we read that the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him again. That is the wonderful possibility of those who have fallen away, that someone would have enough love for them to pray for them. We couldn’t imagine that Mary and Martha would be critical of their brother, but they would pray for him. Both Mary and Martha had time alone with Jesus. They both said to Jesus, “If You had been here, my brother would not have died.” If Jesus is with us, we will not sin.

Now Lazarus had been dead for 4 days, but Martha added, “But I know, that even now, whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee.” John also mentioned that we have this confidence that if we ask something, according to His will He will give it to us. Here Martha’s faith was tested. They came to the stone that was in front of the tomb, Jesus reminded her, “If you have the faith, I can do this.” Martha must have had the faith, because her brother was raised from the dead. A nice picture we read in Ephesians, “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus…”

At the beginning of the next chapter, we see Jesus and Mary and Martha and Lazarus sitting together. That is a picture of our fellowship in heavenly places. Lazarus was there because someone prayed for him. I think that would open up possibilities for us, too. That is how we can prove that we do love the brethren. Once my companion and I saw someone begin in God’s way, and she did well for two years, but then she fell away. We were at preps and we made a special trip to go and see her. I remembered Luke 15 and carefully spoke about where it mentions about a woman losing a coin, and then there was joy when she found it. Then it mentions a shepherd finding a lost sheep, and there was joy again, but it is obvious that it was a greater joy, because that was a higher relationship, the shepherd and the sheep. Then it mentions a father finding a lost son that is a much higher relationship again. He said, “My son was dead,” and he said to the older brother, “Your brother was dead and now he has been found again.” We were glad to tell this lady that that is how God values her soul. That is why God would like us to have that love for those who have lost out.

It says that Martha served, and we can see her love in this way, too. We would have to be very diligent in this to have confidence in Him, that is, there is a greater need than this. That is what Mary did. She took the alabaster box and broke it and poured that precious ointment on Jesus’ feet. She could have saved that ointment for herself. Some suggested that she could have sold it, but she gave it to Jesus for His burial. I am sure part of it was because of what Jesus had done for her brother. I like this picture of her wiping His feet with her hair. We read of the feet of Jesus being members of His body, but John was telling us 20 years ago that in this land the head is the glory and the feet are despised. That is also true in Mongolia. We have to be very careful that we don’t point our shoe towards anyone when we sit down in a house. Sometimes the ministry is likened to Jesus’ feet, and sometimes we think of those in the Kingdom might be like that. That is how Paul thought of himself, a part of the Kingdom. Mary wiped His feet with her hair. That hair was her glory. It is a wonderful thing to pray for a brother, but we should think of others better than ourselves. If we can do that, we can have confidence before Him. That is what I need to learn to do. Pour contempt on all our pride, and then we can be more like Him. That is the love that Jesus had for all mankind. We want to keep the beginning of our confidence to the very end, but we need the Lord to help us to love our brethren as we should. This is the kind of confidence we like to have.

Gospel Meeting: Hymn 93- Only One Life

You can spend your life only once. When someone was asked how it felt to be 93 years of age, they answered, “Oh, just another set of tests again.” Can we say, “Lord, I give my all.” If there is a time we cease to give our all, we are going to lose. What is life? Going on a fishing trip? Is it determined by how much you can enjoy? Life is what is happening while you make plans to do something else. Today is a day that you want to live because it’s all we’ve got.

Today if you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Wasting time is wasting life. Our friend recorded how much she did and was shocked at what she had wasted time on. Proverbs tells us a time for this or that, but it does not say a time to serve God. Satan’s best friend, busy, is to rob us of these things. Our friend said, “If I had not spent so much time sweeping, dusting the house…” You can seek and find. What are you seeking for? Is it something that has value to it? Is it just what everyone else is looking for? What are you seeking in Jesus’ words? You better be sure what you are seeking. What is your goal, purpose? Jesus gave us the cross and taught us to hang ourselves on it. If something dies, how long do we keep it? God is not interested in our lives or bodies, He wants to give us life.

“I am the resurrection and the Life.” Knowledge is to become acquainted with Christ. To know the Father and the Son is Life eternal. I can go on about Abram but he doesn’t know me and I don’t know him. In the Old Testament, they were looking for the light of life. In the Old Testament, there were types and shadows. Our most vital thing in life is to know Jesus. Jesus weeping over Jerusalem did not save Jerusalem. People say we have gone to church and they talk about peace but we don’t have peace. DO we have peace, we need to be honest with ourselves? One husband said to his professing wife, “You believe you go to heaven and I to hell.” His little boy looked at him and said, “Daddy, can I go, too?” This changed the fathers attitude. Console your children.

I will never forget the day that God’s servant came to our home. Why? Because there was peace. Peace is rewarding. Let peace rule in your heart. Peace will still take the place of many thousands of laws and rules. A disciple is one who is learning from Jesus. A student has no desire to become like his teacher, but a disciple does. We can have belief but not faith. What people taught was faith turned out to be a belief, and then they are lost. In Luke 13, we read of knocking and asking. A lot of people wish they had never asked for things they wished for, once was a treasure is now a burden to us now. Would we find our treasure in heaven? Your treasure is where your heart is.

A villager in Taiwan goes to see some wild boar teeth necklaces. Oh, if only I had the money to buy it? Where is your treasure? Where will it be when you come to that day? The only way you will get to heaven…. Your heart has to be there first. Few be saved because the way is narrow. It is awfully narrow, but it would be wrong if it wasn’t. Strive to enter. Many went away. Why? Because they did not strive. I know you not… can you think of the desperation on the brink of eternity? There will be a lot of surprises. We ate in your presence, you workers of iniquity. You know what you should do, but you don’t do. We better wake up before that day. We have 365 chances every year.

Friday afternoon

Dellas Linaman (Oh teach me how to love)

2 Peter 2:1

When I thought of this meeting, this convention, I just thought, “What are we here for? What are we waiting for or what is going to happen?” It just came to me that it is hearing the voice. We can believe in God and not hear the voice. We can go to meetings and not hear the voice. We can read our Bibles and not hear the voice. We can pray and not hear the voice. To continually hear the voice, we need to respond to it and that’s what brings the change, that’s what is going to keep us from conforming to the world, that is what is going to help us to have the marks that will identify us with God, with His family, His country, His kingdom. We often sing, “O’er and o’er a voice is borne to me from the homeland of eternity.” Where did that voice come from? Eternity. It’s to prepare us for eternity and if we don’t hear it and respond to it, we will lose out. We want to hear that voice, “Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the kingdom prepared for you.” That’s what we want to hear – there are voices that are here now and it is good if we hear it and respond to it.

I heard once that the parents and teachers were very concerned about this certain boy’s hearing, something wrong with his hearing. They took him to the doctor and found out that there was something wrong with his LISTENING. I realise that so often I just fail to comprehend. Comprehension is very important. When we are trying to learn a language, we have these tests. We hear a story and listen to it and then afterwards there are these questions. Did you comprehend it? No, I didn’t. Do we comprehend what we are listening to, what we are reading? Sometimes we have a problem with our listening.

God spoke in the Old Testament. Those of you who like to read the Old Testament, you have read about the cherubims, beaten from one piece of gold – two of them, the same height. I like to think of that as the two and two ministry, both of them the same height standing on the mercy seat and facing one another. Then God said, “From BETWEEN them I will speak to My people.” From between them. It’s a wonderful thing when they are the same height. I had a new companion and we just had 5 months together and oh, I looked to him, I could learn from him. Good to be at the same height, same level. He had the spirit of a baby, he had it. Two workers were together in California and someone said to them, “Who is the older one?” Their reply was, “I don’t know, we hadn’t thought of it yet.” The same height. Sometimes it’s culture, ways of thinking, tribal differences, age differences and they sometimes don’t meet at the same height. I just wonder sometimes if when it is not the same height that the Lord is hindered from speaking from between them. I like to learn to be at the same height, the sameness.

In the New Testament, it is Jesus that is speaking. He said, “I must go and I’ll send the Comforter, the Spirit, and the Spirit will call to remembrance the things that I have said.” Now it is the voice of the Spirit – the Spirit speaking. We read that it says, “Grieve not the Holy Spirit.” Grieve it not. Then there is the other one that says, “Quench not the Spirit.” Quench not. In other words don’t eradicate the promptings of the Holy Spirit. That could be my rule for the day, the promptings of the Spirit of God. If we quench the Spirit, we can no longer fight the good fight of faith. We can no longer have fellowship with Our Father. We’ve quenched it. If we quench the promptings of the Holy Spirit, then we have lost the conformity of being conformed to His image. Oh, it is so easy to quench it – easy to quench the Spirit. How do you quench the promptings of the Holy Spirit? How do you quench it? “Oh, that’s not necessary!” Quenched it. “Well, others aren’t doing it and they have been professing for 25 years and they’re not doing it, so why should I do it?” Quenched! “Tomorrow, not now, it’s not convenient today.” Quenched! What actually are you quenching? You’re quenching your contact with eternity. You’re quenching the prompting that has come from eternity. It’s for the good of your soul. Your soul’s at stake. Don’t quench it! If we quench it, we become a drifter. Do you know where that leads to?

Anyway, Jesus said to His Disciples, “Blessed are your ears for they hear and your eyes for they see.” Your ears for they hear. “Many righteous men and Prophets have desired to hear and see the things you see and hear but they didn’t.” Remember there in Matthew 13, He speaks about the children of Israel that their hearts were waxed gross. I don’t know what that means but in the Chinese it says their hearts are “oily.” You try to pour water on something that is oily. Jesus speaks about His living words as water. He that thirsts, let him come unto Me. Water. Here, people have their hearts all oiled up with something and NOTHING goes in there. Their ears were so that they were not hearing, dull of hearing. Sad to miss that great provision that God has made.

In John 10, I noticed afresh in the 3rd verse it says, “To him the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear His voice. He calls His own sheep by name and He leads them out. He goes before them and the sheep follow Him for they know His voice.” Then it says, “They do not know the voice of strangers.” Then it says in the 15th verse, “Other sheep I have that are not of this fold, them also I must bring and they will hear My voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd.” Then it says, “My sheep hear My voice and they know Me and they follow Me.” There’s the response. “And I give them eternal life.” That’s the result. “They shall never perish neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” That’s what we are hearing Him for. If you listen to the voice of a stranger, he will lead you into strange places and you will hear strange voices. There are many voices out in the world – many voices. We need to be able to identify the voices. Some people listen to the voices of their relatives. That’s not the voice of God. Jesus at 12 years old was in tune with another voice, the voice of His heavenly Father.

There was a time when Peter, as a very close one, said, “Save yourself.” Oh no, He was hearing another voice – “Give yourself.” You can see all through that Jesus kept in tune with His Father’s voice and it led Him, and it guided Him and it kept Him. So then, it says that they hear His voice and He leads them out and they shall find pasture. Following His voice, His leading He has to lead us out so as to lead us – into something. Sometimes just that leading out, “Oh, I can’t….my friends…my dogs…I can’t do that.” It says that He leads them into pastures. It’s His leading that takes us to pastures, that enables us to know His pastures. What is it that makes the sheep content? Green pastures. Contented sheep in green pastures. Green pastures and quiet waters. Contented sheep. Something that’s contented is something that’s durable. Contented people, contented children. Sometimes you go into a home and those children are always whining and complaining. Why this and what is that? Contentment is wonderful and it comes as a result of feeding in His pasture. It comes as a result of being led. It comes as a result of following. It is something that is only provided by Him. You can’t be content in the world. Paul said that he had learned to be content, “I have learned in whatsoever state I am to be content. I know how to be abased,” and so on and in the midst of it all…content. The other way is discontent. Good if we could just remember that God wants a contented people and God’s true people are contented. Whether I am content or not content can just be a gauge to me of how much of God or how much of what is of Christ, the fullness of God, how much of this do I have in my life?

Then again, I was in a lovely home, a young couple with three little kids running around there. Nice home and the man said, “Aren’t we privileged to have all of this!” This was in Canada. I said, “That’s not the question. Are you content?” Paul said to Timothy to be content with food and raiment. If you can’t be content with those two things, how in the world are you going to be content with three things, or four or five things or ten things? You can’t. Paul says, “I have LEARNED.” Being discontent leads to temptation. Being discontent is being a covetous person. Covetous. You know where covetousness will take you? Just being covetous – I WANT. It was covetousness that took the prodigal son out of the home. “I want,” and away he went. It’s such a lethal thing. Being content isn’t popular. Being discontent and being covetous is popular. When people get together what are they talking about? Things that they want. The devil wants you to see what you don’t have and God wants you to see what you do have.

Sometimes we used to find it and I don’t know if it is any more now but in Taiwan, I haven’t seen it but in the States I have – a store with a sign “Closed for inventory” – finding out what they have. There was a man one time, very discontent, unhappy with his lot. What am I going to do? Get going? So he called in an assessor to find out what he had. They went from one thing to the other and recorded how much it was worth. Then at the end, he said, “Oh, I never knew I had so much.” Take an inventory. If ever one is discontent, maybe it would be a good thing to take an inventory and count your spiritual blessings. Find out what you’ve got. Do anything that will create contentment.

I heard this a long time ago that the way to have true satisfaction is to get rid of the desire and then you’ll have true satisfaction. If a person is content, they are not missing anything and a person that is not content doesn’t know what he is missing. In Hebrews 13:5, it says something about not being covetous and it says to be content with such things as you have for the Lord has said, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” There is the source, there is the key, there is the whole substance of the thing we need – the presence of God. I read one time that there is no greater crime than not being satisfied. There is no disaster greater than being discontent and there is no misfortune greater than being covetous. When we are content, we will always have enough. Avarice always accumulates things but contentment creates wealth. That’s what comes as a result of hearing the voice and being led – being led to green pastures and quiet waters. What more would a sheep desire? Nothing more. Jesus said, “Pray in My name for whatever you want and you’ll get it.” Well, if you’re a sheep, what are you going to pray for? You’ll get it if you hear His voice.

Discontent might not be fatal but it is sure going to lead you somewhere where you won’t want to be. I like to think of Jesus saying, “Blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear.” Then we read that verse that says that Jesus is the same today, yesterday, and forever. So what Jesus said then is just what He is going to say now. What He said then, the Spirit is going to echo into your life today. The more that we read about the words of Jesus, the better we are going to be able to recognise the voice of Jesus, the voice of the Lord, or the voice of the Spirit. Then too the easier it is going to be to just follow Him. Jesus said, “I have told you these things that you might have joy.” That’s where the contentment comes from.

This certain thing that Jesus said makes us very happy. “Neither do I condemn you.” Your sins are forgiven! Then He says, “Come ye apart and rest awhile.” “Oh, I don’t have time for that!” That’s His voice that calls us. He says that. He tells us. Get out of your comfort zone. That is something you may be hearing in the convention. “Do you love me more than these?” Am I willing for that? We had a boy that was thinking about the work. He was working for a doctor for 10 years. His brother-in-law was building a new clinic and he wanted him to work under his license. I don’t know how legal that is and it doesn’t sound legal to me. So, he called him in where he was building this clinic and said, “Now where do you want your table and where do you want this or where do you want that?” So, he told him where he wanted it. I don’t know if it was the next week or two weeks after but it was very close and we had a convention. At the last hymn, we asked that if anyone wants to make their choice they can stand up and so forth. Then, too, on the last verse, “If there is anyone thinking about the work, will you stand up?” This boy grabbed his seat to hold himself down. Unfortunately, it was one of these seats that fold up, and up he went! Weeping. So much so, that being the last hymn, his dad was there and he couldn’t understand what was going on. He rushed over and thought he had committed some terrible sin and said, “God will forgive you.” He was trying to comfort him. The man that he was working for was there too and he said, “Don’t let them brainwash you.” I would like to think that that young man heard the voice, “Do you love Me more than these?” What’s wrong with being a doctor? Nothing. There’s a future there, something stable there BUT Jesus didn’t just say, “Do you love Me?” No He didn’t ask that question. He said, “Do you love Me MORE THAN THESE?” Maybe right here in this gathering these four days, there might be some young men or women that that voice will ring in their ears. “Do you love Me more than these?” And it is up to them to decide. The responsibility is theirs.

The voice that we will all hear many times will say, “Follow Me.” What should I do? “Follow Me.” How do I deal with this problem? “Follow Me.” There’s the example. One can just go on and on.

Then I thought of Peter. Remember the time when Jesus told Peter what was going to happen and Peter said, “Oh, no.” Then Jesus said, “You’re savouring the things of man – of the world. Get behind Me.” I have thought of this as Peter dwelling on the border of the kingdom. This Kingdom of God has borders and those borders are to be respected. This continent has many countries and there are borders. God’s Kingdom has borders, too. Where do you dwell? Are you on the border? Are you on this side of the border or on that side of the border? Or do you leave no question in the mind of anyone that you’re well inside the Kingdom? It’s dangerous to dwell on the border. That’s where a lot of trouble is. Look at India and Pakistan – fighting for years. Why? Trouble on the border. Are you living on the borders of this world – sometimes in the Kingdom and sometimes out? Temptations are on the border. The language isn’t pure on the borders. You have an accent if you’re on the border it is easily seen if you’re not well inside the kingdom of God. Get inside. If we’re following the voice, it leads us IN. Satan says, “You’re far enough, go out.” You can buy things at the border that you can’t buy inside.

Every time I get to a border, I get nervous. Do you know why? Because there is someone there that says, “You can’t go in.” It happened once I needed a seal in my passport. My companion went on but I couldn’t go. I had a seat. I had a place on the train but I couldn’t go. “No, you can’t go in.” Oh, make SURE that everything is all right BEFORE you get to that final border.

Sometimes people try to smuggle things into the country. Are we guilty of trying to smuggle things into the Kingdom, into our homes? We have the TV covered up. We have it in the closet. The workers don’t know anything about it. God knows! A young man in Taiwan had professed not very long. He was going to control this TV thing. He said, “I want peace. I want quiet. I don’t want all this stuff.” You can’t have both, friend. He goes and gets his brother and he says, “You come with me.” Why? He picks up this new TV and he gives his brother the video thing and they go way down the river. He says to his brother, “You take a rock and bust it up.” “No,” he said, “It’s yours, you bust it up.” They busted it up. Something came into their home that wasn’t there before, something that adorned the Gospel.

We read about those in Titus – it said they adorned the doctrine in all things. Adorned. Adorn. People that adorn the Gospel help us to preach the gospel. We need you. We need that adornment. Not leaving questions in people’s minds, “Are you inside the border, on the border, outside the border or where do you stand?” We like to see a clear sign that you are well inside. I don’t like this thing of wondering, “Are they professing or are they not?” I don’t like that. I like to see things clearly.

I am glad for my mother’s convictions. She had convictions. Where do convictions come from? From hearing the voice. Hearing the voice of the Lord brings convictions. She professed. She had been seeking. She used to read the Bible and all the pamphlets and stuff that comes in. She tried to share things with us around the table – us kids and my dad. She was a troubled woman. The Gospel came. Great. Wonderful. Couldn’t be better. I never saw my dad and mother fight. Never. There were great differences in their natures but one of the first things my mother did. I can remember because I was 16. You know what she did? She took off her engagement ring and she said, “That is a jewel, an adornment that’s not necessary.” Oh, my dad had paid money for that. It meant something to him but it didn’t mean anything to my mother. She took it off. Many, many years later, she died and we were sorting out her stuff and we found that engagement ring. She hadn’t worn it for 20 years or more. There it was in a little box. Are we willing to pay the price? Is it in Peter where it says, “Do not let your adornment be merely outward, arranging of the hair, wearing of gold and putting on fine apparel.”

The fear of God helps us to respond to the voice. There are many different words in the Chinese language for the different kinds of fear. The English language doesn’t seem to have it. The fear of God is a highly respectful type of fear. Not afraid but a fear. A fear of God helps us to find our place before God and a love for God helps us to fill that place. Having this fear would help us to respond to that still small voice.

I remember being in Pakistan one time. Here I have to remind myself that I am not in Oregon or somewhere but there you don’t have to remind yourself that you’re in Pakistan. I never did like these Muslims, the way they look at you, these Arabs, it’s scary. Well, David said, “I have got some Pakistani clothes here – men’s, not women’s. Would you like to put them on and we’ll go up town?” I said, “Yes.” So we put them on and oh, how comfortable, how nice. No one paid any attention to you, you go in and about amongst those Muslims and the camels and what have you and they never even saw you! Comfortable. I wouldn’t feel comfortable in those things here. I wonder sometimes if that isn’t the way our clothes identify us? On which side of the border we are living. They do, you know. You get out in the world and wearing the worldly things and you’re comfortable there. Such hairdos, you’re comfortable there – those kinds of shoes and pants that make you comfortable there. We want to be comfortable the way we are in the Sunday Morning Meeting. That is the way we want to be comfortable on Monday, on Tuesday, and on Wednesday. That adorns the Gospel. That gives us a place amongst His own in His Kingdom.

Another thing is that parents have a great responsibility in establishing borders for their children. A professing boy one time said “When I am all by myself, I know where the border is.” He was 18 at the time. Why? Because when he was growing up his mother and his father had a “YES” and a “NO,” no “Maybe.” It’s good to be fixed, have the borders fixed.

I like this story. A father and his son were harvesting their grain and they just had a small patch left and black clouds were coming in from the west. It was a Wednesday night and Bible study was due. This son, he says to his dad, “Dad, what are you going to do? There’s meeting tonight and we’re not going to be able to finish this.” He replied, “Son, your mother and I made this decision a LONG time ago.” They went to the meeting and they lost that bit of their crop. They established the border line so that that son could use it for the rest of his journey in life. The border line that keeps the voice of God speaking to him so that that son could use it for the rest of his journey in life. The border line that keeps the voice of God speaking to your heart and keeps you walking and keeps contentment and joy in your heart.

In 1993, the leader of Haiti was exiled under a rain of bullets. He made his way to Miami then to New York. We were away for conventions and we were not able to go back to Haiti. It would have caused our friends’ lives to be endangered because of the strong anti-American sentiment that reigned in the country. So we labored in other fields, then workers in Europe, brothers, sent asking if I could come to Europe for special meetings. And also for a special little mission because there is a country in Europe that resembles Haiti in the sense that it is the poorest country in the European block. It is called Albania. There was thought of workers going into that country. So they asked if I could come just for a visit the first time with the possibility that I might stay. This was a privilege, a wonderful privilege. So another brother and I went for ten days. He had been there on a short visit before. So we landed at the capitol city, Tirane, one evening. My companion said, “Tonight we will visit the doctor.” She had been trained in Paris. She is one of the few who ever had the privilege of leaving Albania. Albania had been under a dictator for seven years, who had his own special form of communism. And he isolated Albania from the entire world. No one could go in and no one could go out. This young doctor had the privilege of studying in Paris and had learned French. That was the reason for visiting, we could all speak French. My companion said, “Now before we go, there will be another woman in the apartment, her younger sister. She will just sit there and not say anything.” But at a certain point after we started visiting, this young lady, who had sat there silent and reserved, and who I had assumed could not even speak French, something was mentioned about eternity and that blond, blue-eyed Albanian woman said, “Eternity, eternity, it would be so beautiful to believe in eternity.” And I said to her, “It would be so sad not to believe in eternity.” She said in French, “It’s sad, it’s sad, it’s sad.” She said, “I have been taught all of my life to not believe in God, not to ever talk about God and now I am a lecturer of law at the University and every day I sow the same big seed, you don’t talk about God and you don’t think about God. It is so sad.” It was like she was holding out her hand for help. It is true that eternity is everything. If we have this thought as we leave here that we are going out into reality, then we just have to start convention all over. It is not reality, what we have tasted of is the closest thing to reality because eternity is reality. One of these days we will awaken from this little dream of life and eternity begins and that is reality. We are so thankful for what we have tasted. We have grown a little closer, a little higher, a little more alive to eternity. If we have tasted just a little of eternity in these meetings these days, it will change our whole year.

I would like to speak this afternoon from a few little thoughts in Revelations. Before I begin, I want to make this clear: I am glad that Suzie (a prior speaker) had the courage to speak on some of the things in the same chapter. There is no need to explain some things. I firmly believe that Revelation does not explain things in our walk in Christ or in the gospel. It is the gospel that sheds light on the Revelation because that is what Jesus gave us. There are some images and some pictures that are so helpful in this book. When I began in the work, my first days, it was my 19th birthday. My companion was 50 years in the work and after breakfast we went to our room and sat down. Frank Tyson, my companion, said to me, “I think it would be a good idea for us to study together,” and I agreed. He then asked me, “What would you like to study?” I thought, “Well, if I am going to spend the rest of my life preaching the gospel that I should start in Revelations.” Frank looked at me and said, “I was thinking about Proverbs.” Maybe I should speak about Proverbs this afternoon? But there are some things here that can be very helpful if we will just remember that day of Revelations. John was on an island all alone. Why was he alone? He wasn’t there on vacation. It was not of his choosing. He was exiled. There was a difficult, impoverished, persecution. For that reason he was alone. He was writing to saints, saints that were sometimes fleeing, fugitives, for their lives and their children’s lives because of persecution. Their language would reflect this language today. I will give you an example. My cousin, Loran, was one of the first workers in Romania. There are some things that I know that are not mine to talk about because of conditions in that country today and I would be presumptuous. When Loran left for Romania, I was a junior in high school. My whole family and all of the friends gathered at the airport. In those days of the dictatorship and communism, we saw Loran walk down that concourse to the plane and he never turned around. He knew that we were all standing there waiting to give him a last goodbye but that cost was so much, that was no play, that was life and he did not turn around. He walked, and he walked, and he walked through. Before he went, he and his mother spent sleepless nights making a language between them to find little signals, little secrets, and they knew language. It is not mine to know. There was one little word in the language that we knew before Loran went, not knowing how long he would be alone. There was a worker there, his name was Richard. Richard had been in that country alone for years. Richard came from our home state. Loran had professed in Richard’s meetings when he was an 11-year-old boy. It had been on his heart to go but, because of conditions, he was desperately alone. The Communist authorities had been after him to take a roommate into his room. Richard said, “I am old, I can’t take any one into my room, and I cannot change. If you put somebody into my room they will be playing loud music and smoking, coming in late.” He said, “I just couldn’t live that way.” So the authorities backed off. After Loran came, they put a spy in his room with him. They watched him closely days on end and they were convinced that he was just a harmless farm boy. They brought Richard down to his quarters and told him, “There is a boy from your country and he does not drink and he does not smoke, he does not play loud music and he never comes in late, this is what you wanted.” Richard said, “No, I am old and I am happy the way I am.” So they said, “how would it be if you met him?” Back home we were getting letters. When a letter would come, Loran always started it with “I.” We knew that part of the language and when the day comes that a letter starts with anything but “I,” we would know that they were together. When they asked Richard if he would meet him, he said, “I suppose I can’t object to meeting him.” They brought them both to headquarters and introduced them, “This is Richard and this is Loran, how is your father, how is your mother, where do you come from?” Richard looked at Lauren and said, “Well, I will give it a try.” So, back home there came a letter one day and it started with something other than “I.” There were no dry eyes in that meeting. We knew that they were together.

This is something like Revelations; it is a language that is full of images and those people of that day would have well known what those images meant. They were just reminders of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The servant of God exiled on an island was writing to the churches in this known new gospel language. This was the gospel of images. One thing that I would like to speak about is in chapter 12. You read about this persecution in verse 4, “And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, to devour her child as soon as it was born.” Then in verse 13 it says, “And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.” Then in verse 15, “And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.” The devil is the dragon and he was ready to devour the child when it was born. Persecution is like a stone that is thrown into a pond and the waves go out and out and out, till they reach the furthest shore. They may not reach the furthest shore at the same time, but they do get there, they arrive. That is like this, this flood that came out of his mouth, this persecution as soon as he was born. These people that John was writing to knew that, as soon as Jesus was born, Herod was out to kill him. He said that all little boys two years and younger in that whole area of Bethlehem would be put to death, but the angel warned Joseph and Mary even before that wave hit and in addition, as it says in this chapter, “The earth opened her mouth and helped her.” They went into Egypt and stayed there until Herod died then God spoke again to Joseph and Mary to return to their hometown, Nazareth, so that scripture would be fulfilled that He was called a Nazarene. He was born in Bethlehem but grew up in Nazareth. That was like the first little wave but that was not the end of it. The persecution continued.

You know how the Pharisees persecuted Jesus. In Acts chapter 8, it tells us of the Pharisees’ persecution against the first Christians, our brothers and sisters. Everyone in Jerusalem fled for the mountains and again the earth helped in that the distance of remote areas where the Christians hid, they had safety. But the waves reached them again, the flood continued out of his mouth. Later in chapter 9 you read about Saul. He had letters from the authorities in Jerusalem to pursue, which is the root word of persecution, to pursue these Christians even to Damascus, which was the capital of a foreign country. In other words it would be like having letters from Portland to pursue even to Tokyo. The waves were reaching now even into foreign countries. It says even to bring these Christians bound, entering into their homes, beating sisters and brothers and little children and bringing them back to Jerusalem to put them to death, like Stephen. And it went on even in Rome, where perhaps the persecution was a little different. There maybe it was more against the Jews. Priscilla and Aquilla had to leave Rome because they were Jews, not because they were Christians. The persecution continued and you know that in the Roman Empire, in the early days before the year 300, they persecuted our sisters and brothers. They put them to death in the arena; they put the lions in and gladiators. These humble brothers and sisters faced death while the crowds cheered. It did not stop there, the waves went on. When the Roman Catholic church decided that anyone who thought different than their doctrine, the Roman Inquisition was started and you can read true stories of what they did, entering into homes, we went to a museum of the Catholic Inquisition in Lima, and what we saw, if you just thought differently, they interrogated you and if your thoughts were different than theirs, you were worthy of death. The waves were going further. Wouldn’t you be unhappy in our day if someone came into your home and asked you about your thoughts? But we lived in another day, a day of total indifference. In financial security, what do we see? You people have more financial security than more than half of the rest of the world, maybe three-fourths. Wouldn’t you be happy if someone [would] just say, what are you thinking about? It doesn’t matter; you can think anything you want to think. This is a free country.

This is in Haiti, my brother and I were a way off in the mountains where a young man named Poufy, professed last year. He never had a Bible in his hands before. He came home from the fields with his hoe and machete. He parked his donkey, got cleaned up and came in. He laid his Bible on the table and said, to my brother, “Tell me your thoughts.” My brother did pretty well. It warms our hearts when someone asks us what we have been thinking about. I can remember going home from convention then going to school and the teacher talking about all that stuff on the blackboard, but my thoughts were back at convention. If there could only be that glow and that response and a ready answer of something good. But nowadays there is only indifference in this world. We can’t be persecuted for that, so where is the flood? Does that mean that the wave has died and the flood, the persecution, is gone? To the contrary. You take the persecution to a higher degree, more subtle and more deadly than ever. Again, it is not revelation, it is gospel and Jesus said this. Most of this In Matthew 24, you have the flood and you have the river. Jesus said that in the last days that iniquity shall abound and the love of many shall wax cold. That is the river, iniquity abounding. All that feeds People’s thoughts, movies, TV, DVDs, continually just a flood. Where does it stop? You cannot go to a place remote enough where it is not. Even in Haiti, the radio with its decadent music, jazz and all that. So where are you going to hide? You can’t even get away from it in the mountains. Do you know where? God has given us the wisdom again and again. We sing in that hymn, “My poor cot, and a palace fair.” Close the door, that does not come in here. It stays out. Our homes can be homes of Zion. I see it everywhere, in the slums, where you walk through fetid water to arrive at a little room where young men are studying their Bibles. Rooms with a thatched roof and behind the door there is a hymnbook and a Bible and in no time the conversation is about the scripture and it takes you to a higher level, pure fellowship.

We were up on the central plateau in Haiti one afternoon and had our gospel meeting. A young man, Abuh, was there and when he got home he found his whole community in distress. A little boy named Croytee had been left in a home, a little hut, his mother had gone out to do something and she had left him in the care of a neighbor, then the neighbor left him in the care of two little girls. The two little girls left him and went to play and little Croytee, two and one-half years old, toddled out of the hut and found his way to the river. There was no one to watch and no one to help. He had watched his mother wash clothes there and he loved the water. Other boys were looking and looking and that night found his little body caught in the roots of a tree and brought it home. Everyone wept and cried all night long. Abuh came and told us. That boy’s father had been in one meeting. The funeral was to be at 3 in the afternoon and we had a gospel meeting at 5. At noon when we were sitting at the table, the boy’s father came to the door. I greeted him and told him that he had our sympathy. He said nothing. We told him that we wanted to stand by him that afternoon. He said nothing. Then he said, “You men are going to have the funeral,” and we said, “Yes, we will do that.” This beautiful little boy in his homemade box, gone. What bothered us most was to think of that little boy going down the river with no one to help, no one to save, no arm extended. Just to think of him closing his eyes and swallowing the water and drowning all alone. How many people in this cold world are just like that? Not one person to help, just drowning and drowning alone in the waters of this world. You have seen and heard it at this convention, there is a hand held out, there is One who can save us from the waters of this world. What will you do for your children? What will you do for your soul, in such a river of iniquity that is abounding and the love of many waxing cold? Warm that love with all your might.

There is another story back in Exodus chapter 2. There was the mother and father of Moses. When he was born the persecution was extended, the river was running deep. The command from the king was that all little boys had to be thrown into the river. Moses’ mother made a little arc with bullrushes, a little basket, a woven basket. It was nothing fancy, not extravagant, but it was strong. She pitched it within and without with tar. It was not pretty. Her concern was that it be waterproof. This is just like the truth today. We are not concerned with buildings and extravagance. Our concern is that it is strong and it is waterproof, that is what we have in the truth. What we see around us and in religion is the waters of this world. It has leaked in and it is all inside, pride, vanity, and iniquity, it is all inside. But in the truth of God, this wonderful family, it is the most simple thing, it is truth. What makes it strong? It is bands of love. It is true care. It is strong because it is all woven together and it is waterproof. It is just so full of love that the things of this world can’t get in. I remember running home from school, just running, opening the door and running in and finding a piece of pie. I could pound on the piano and mom didn’t care. I loved my mom and dad and brothers, our home was so full of love. I didn’t want to go anywhere else. The strength of the kingdom is to fill the home so full of love that it is waterproof. Nothing of this world can enter in, we don’t need it, we don’t want it. There is something better that fills our lives.

To think that this is going and going and going. It is Satan’s last stand. The flood is still coming and the earth is still helping, that is what this 12th chapter is telling us. In chapter 6, we read something else that is interesting 6:1, “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, ‘Come and see.’ And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. And when He had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, ‘Come and see.’ And there went out another horse that was red; and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. And when He had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, ‘Come and see.’ And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, ‘A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.’ And when He had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, ‘Come and see.’ And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”

Again now this is Matthew 24 where we can read about these beasts, these horses. I have heard some people say, “This is Russia, this is Israel, this is Palestine, this is Iraq and this is the United States of America.” Well, if you see it in that line, that is just not what I see. You know, if you try to say, “This is Russia and that is Iraq in this over here is Palestine,” it is like someone taking a painting of the beautiful Caribbean Sea and all of its waves one after another and say that you went down by the Sea and sat on a rock and you held up your painting and you looked at it, and looked at it, then you said, “That’s it.” No, it is not, it just moved. It changes, it is never the same.

Let’s go back to Matthew 24 the foundation, in the words of the master. Verse 7, “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” Verse 6, “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: nation shall rise against nation and nations shall rise and fall.” This is a mighty nation but nations rise to fall. Waves rise to crash. When it speaks about these four different horses it is not speaking about four different countries or four different people or four different generations or periods. The beasts are marching, marching, and marching, one ahead and one behind. It is time marching on. It is four different times. And as Jesus said, there will be wars and rumors of wars, there will be famines, there will be pestilences, which means epidemics, death. There will be these things. One is red, one is white and one is black. Of the white one, it says that he that sat on him went out to conquer and to conquer. You read about the first one, the white one, in Revelation 19, that is the gospel. As time marches on and all of these things are happening, the gospel goes on. It goes out to conquer and to conquer. Revelation 19 says, “And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’ And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called ‘The Word of God.’” There is one that will win, that is what is important. Yes, there is persecution, yes there is trouble. But don’t forget that through all of this the gospel will prevail. There is a coming kingdom, there is a Lord of lords that will win, will absolutely win. Again in Matthew 24, Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away but My Word shall not pass away.” All of this shall pass away, this is not reality. My word shall not pass away, that is the avenue to eternity, it is forever, it is the final word. For that reason John was just encouraging these people to see that. Yes, there will be wars and rumors of wars and all of these things but Jesus has said, “Don’t be terrified, don’t be afraid.” So, when we hear that there is another war in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and in Africa, the word is, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be troubled, and don’t be terrified.” When you go back to work tomorrow and hear these things, be the salt of the earth, the wine of the kingdom, don’t be afraid, don’t be terrified. Others will be able to see that you are not troubled. People are losing their jobs, wages are going down, but you are not troubled. You have listened to Jesus and you have obeyed. You are not afraid.

This has affected everybody, 9/11 has affected everybody, the entire world, even Haiti. Immediately, it even affected you. My brother was a friend to the pilot of 511, the first plane to go into the Towers. That man had sat in his office just one week before, just to chat. What do you do? Be not afraid. Jesus said that it is not the end of the world. The end is not in the hands of man, it is not an atomic bomb nor nuclear warfare. God created the world, He ordered it step-by-step, stage-by-stage for six days, and then He rested. When it comes to the end of time, it will not be in the hands of man. We see that in Revelations three times, seven vials, seven seals, seven trumpets, this is the shutdown sequence and that is in God’s hands. He has a plan, a program, and when the time comes, He will close it down, there is a sequence. We do not understand it all, we don’t need to. Neither do we understand the creation. We know that there was a plan and it was ordered. In that day God will order it in His time.

This whole universe is like a body. We have a sister worker, Guyana, and she sat down one time and told me about her father’s death. She loved him to the last breath and when that breath was taken, she looked at him, and she told me, “I closed dad’s eyes.” God will close the eyes of this universe. It is His creation, His body; He created it, as the living gospel (nature) to preach every day in every language, in every nation, that He is the creator. The gospel does not need to preach that He is the creator; it teaches that He loves us through Jesus Christ. For that reason, that day is in His hands. We just need to be quiet and we can have faith that as we face the future that it is not in the hands of man and God is in control. You heard about the year 2000, preachers preached that all over the world. Isn’t it sad? Our calendar was calculated by a Roman monk and it is three years off, so, the year 2000 came three years before that. Jesus said, “No man knows the hour or the day.” He said that He did not know Himself. We do not need to know, it is in God’s hands.

It says here that the red horse is like wars and rumors of wars. In Matthew 24, Jesus said that there would be wars and rumors of wars and nation would fight against nation. I feel moved to say something and I don’t want to say it, but I feel that it should be said and I hope no one will hold it against me. Maybe it doesn’t need to be said but maybe it does need to be said. Maybe it takes someone younger to say it. Do you know what is happening? It concerns us, it concerns me. Wars and rumors of wars, where is the last superpower? It happens to fall on us, the United States; there is no other superpower. To put the picture in perspective, when I came home from Haiti, for the first time since I went into the work, I went to a high school graduation in the same school where I attended. Something happened. We all stood and faced the flag, crossed our heart with our hand and sang the star spangled banner. After visiting the cruelty and violence of Third World countries these years, when that happened I was so moved that I shook and I tried not to show it. I held myself and held myself. A few weeks later I was at a convention. Before it started we had an evening meal and on the table all of the glasses were red white, and blue and the plates had the image of the American flag on them. There was an American flag hanging in the dining hall, the napkins were American flags. We were asked to stand and face the flag and sing the star spangled banner. My blood ran cold. Why? Because it is not the place, excuse me if I say it. This kingdom of God is a higher standard, we are not of a nation, we are not of a race, we are not of a tongue, we are a people seeking a better country. When the day that nationalism enters into this, it will only divide, it will only hinder. Do you understand? Again I say, “I love my country.” In Haiti at the convention grounds, someone put the sticker of an American flag on the refrigerator. No one else could do it, but I took it off, wadded it up, and put it in the wastebasket. This will not enter into it. We have heard about that, presumptuousness. We should savor of unity. The pure savor of brethren who love each other with no superiority of race or nation or tongue, we are brothers in Christ the world over.

It speaks about the black horse, which again is hard times. Revelations 6:5, “And when He had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, ‘Come and see.’ And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, ‘A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.’” What he is saying is that times are so hard that you work for a whole day for just enough pay to eat for one day. We don’t have that here in this country yet, but if it came, what would you do? Would you despair? Would you be troubled? Jesus is telling us, “Do not be afraid.” Someday there will be no more flights to Haiti. It all closes down. The economy is shattered. Do you know what we will be doing? It is already settled. We will be walking the trails and preaching the gospel, till we starve to death. These things are all walking together, marching, marching, marching. The pale horse, death, Jesus said, in Matthew 24, there would be pestilences. In the past, there have been plagues. During the bubonic plague, one-third of Europe died, whole cities died. It can happen again. There is the White horse, which is the gospel, and people are being brought into the fellowship. Again, the black horse, hard times, you know it could be a blessing. I’m not saying that I would wish this, but that might be the best thing that ever happened. I’ll give you an example. When we arrive in Miami, we fly over the city and look down and see homes with three or four cars out front and out back a dock: on the canal with two or three boats. Inside the home you know that there is everything imaginable. I know that everyone doesn’t have that affluence. Inside there is a message on the recorder, “I will be home from the club at 2, or I’m at the game.” Children, mother, father, just a recorded message, just a call to check. Where is the family? Where is happiness? Where is joy? What a contrast in Haiti. After a gospel meeting in a little hut with people gathered in under the light of a Coleman lantern. We walk home and children walk with us, all walking together down the trail, dividing, going to their different homes. With the family, we enter the door and are given a little hard bread and homemade hot chocolate off of the tree in the backyard. There is one lamp, one kerosene lamp. They love to sing hymns, so we gather around the one lamp and sing hymns then we move back and the children move in and the notebooks come out from the oldest to the youngest. They all help each other. In God there is no poverty. Many God bless our year.

Not verbatim

Well, here it is Friday morning of the second Convention. This is a morning that we usually talk together as a family of God — workers and friends alike — all of us, not just one talking to others. There’s nothing that helps our meeting so much, after the help of God’s presence, than the absolute cooperation of God’s people and His Spirit that draws us together, for it is with the help of our Lord and Master. There may be a few things we can talk over this morning, but perhaps as a starting place we can mention those words in Matthew 16:13. These were words that Peter used when the Master asked him a certain question, “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, ‘Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?’ And they said, ‘Some say that Thou art John the Baptist: some Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.’ He saith unto them, ‘But whom say ye that I am?’ And Simon Peter answered and said, ‘Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven.’” I read over this portion of scripture again this morning lest I should misquote it for these are very important words, which meant much when they were spoken. If we are able to be in that same condition of heart and mind this morning and that revelation comes to us, we would be well able to answer the Master if He asks us that same question. Peter clearly confirmed to the Master Himself with those beautiful words, “For flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven.” That is the proper starting place for this wonderful ministry of guidelines, and what a comfort it was to the Master when Peter answered that way.

Peter was a man that Jesus was able to trust, as were the other disciples. This was a special place for Peter, “Thou art the Christ.” Yes, he had heard about John the Baptist and the others and that wonderful, continuing miracle that was happening which continues to happen right down to our own day — this spirit of God working upon dark, far away human hearts and bringing light and life to them from heaven. It’s no different today than it ever was, and this is why I commenced with this verse. We receive the same message as clearly this morning and perhaps clearer than ever before, and will one day be able to stand and give the same answer to every kind of unbelief in this world. I’m sad to say that unbelief is on the increase but not amongst God’s people, for Truth has been revealed from our Father in heaven so we know real revelation. It’s God’s plan that revelation comes before we come to the time of speaking about baptism. Jesus Himself didn’t explain it in so many words but He did tell us how it happens, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” We feel today the effect of the Spirit, even though we can’t see it. Isn’t it wonderful when we hear the word of God according to the proper manner? First, God deals with our hearts and we hardly know how, with sweet whispers coming to our soul in the darkness of the night, bringing light and with the light, life and an understanding of God’s great plan. This brings us to what may seem like a diversion but it’s not. Isn’t it comforting that ordinary you and I can get to know God’s plan and Truth in Jesus, and how it comes from God Himself, through the influence of His Spirit? This occurred back in the days of the early scriptures, right to Abel, and continues until now. Abel lived in his first home when sin entered that house. Both he and Cain had grown up knowing that, because their parents had told them. It was by the all-enlightening Spirit of God that Abel saw the plan of salvation, but his brother Cain didn’t want to see or wasn’t willing for it. Abel received that all-powerful effect of God’s Holy Spirit — he got it very clearly. Some time later, Abel brought the firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof as a sacrifice. How marvelous God revealed it to him as He did to Peter and everyone since, this one Way that he embraced, this revelation of the one plan for God’s Salvation that was given through His Son from the foundation of the world.

Some have been inclined to wonder about God’s continuity of His plan on earth. Let us get this clear, for there is no question of His continuity or plan in heaven, none at all, and neither do we speak about it from the platform. That continuity is left to only poor and feeble human beings. The continuity of God’s plan is from the foundation of the world and dwells in the heart of God. It was there in Abel’s day and in Moses’ day — that rock which has followed us was with Christ right through the New Testament to our day. Let’s get that clear. Some of us might be inclined to believe there is a human link, but let us say, our father shook hands with our grandfather; and our grandfather shook hands with our great-grandfather, and then our great-grandfather shook hands with someone else, right back to the day of Peter the apostle. Now doesn’t that sound weak to think our God would leave His continuity in the hands of poor, sinful men? Yes it is! It has been left in God’s heart Himself — in the Father, His Son, and in the Holy Spirit. When God saw fit that the conditions were right, like in the last century, He brought about the other part of His plan so that ordinary souls like you and me could hear of His wonderful plan that came from heaven — the place where it has been preserved. It was brought down from heaven — not out of any storage. God uses human vessels and we know that His continuity has been kept safe in heaven.

The Roman Catholic Church has a type of continuity that extends back as far as Peter, but look at the mess they are in today! What resemblance is there to the homeless stranger and preacher that sit in the Vatican or its organization today? It shows us a little what human weakness really is. God saw far past that in the proper order. Yes, He saw human vessels and that old enemy Satan, for he was there from the beginning, since the time of Cain and Abel. He succeeded in his victory over Cain, but not with Abel, and he is here today, bringing false statements that trigger unbelief, though he doesn’t bring unbelief itself. In the garden it became abundantly clear, that as soon as the Holy Spirit left off speaking, the enemy came and said, “Yea, hath God said.” That old serpent arrived on the scene immediately to cast doubts on the glorious plan of salvation, and yet God had mercy on all humanity. From the foundation of the world He planned that a redeemed people would be in heaven, at no lesser cost than the giving of His own precious Son so we might have hope. He revealed this to Abel who received a clear revelation of the Lamb. He could have been like his brother but no, “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling.” The devil’s attempt is to stop you and me but don’t be tripped up, when His plan is all so clear. The Truth of God’s plan is preserved with absolute continuity as God sees fit, and when conditions in our hearts are right, He brings His revelation to needy souls. We can thank God for this, thank Him for the opportunity to listen to His message.

Peter spoke with such authority and conviction when he said, “Thou art the Christ.” The Master looked at him and it must have brought such pleasure when He saw Peter had the right revelation, from the right source. Jesus could then trust him to take this gospel into the world. It was like the beautiful stream that flowed from the river of God, which passed to the vessel that Jesus had chosen. It was no different with Saul of Tarsus when he was on the Damascus road, and said, “I know in whom I have believed.” He was able to write those words to Timothy at the close of his life when the old enemy, that deceiver was there, and many other voices, because Saul said, “I thought within myself I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth” — but that light from heaven had shone into his heart. Perhaps some of you young people know personally of being on the road to Damascus and seeing the light and receiving a very definite conviction. In keeping God’s plan, Paul was subjected to preaching and teaching like the homeless stranger to the end of his days, and it is evident he rejoiced in the victory given him by our Lord, which silenced every other voice of the deceiver and settled it forever in his heart. He learned such wisdom at the feet of Gamaliel, when he said, “What things were gain to me those I count but dross, that I might win Christ and be found in Him.” In other days Paul had lived after the straightest sect and was proud of it, but it wasn’t salvation. Salvation only came when he accepted God’s word entirely, and then he was given the fellowship of the Lamb of God, “I know in whom I have believed.” Now Paul could say to Timothy at the end of his life, “I wasn’t fooled or led to follow some will-of-the-wisp way, neither was I led to follow all that’s going on around me.” He had listened and he saw the light from heaven that changed his course. May God help every one of us have that same conviction that sweeps away those doubts the enemy of our soul suggests, and we would dispense of unbelief. Young people face unbelief out in the world all the time but know that the entirety of the Truth has been preserved from the very beginning. In God’s good time, He alone is able to reveal it. There may have been times when this Work hasn’t been as active, but in God’s good time He raises up men and women to take the gospel into the entire world. It was not something that began in this century but was always in God’s heart, His plan of, “Will you go forth?” There is no need to ever be concerned about human continuity, or whatever expression you want to call it, for we have this continuity of heaven, with heaven revealing its plan as it’s always done.

Let us think for a moment or two, just a little while, of the order of His coming that brings ordinary you and me in touch with the glorious gospel, and the possibility of us making our choice to serve Jesus or not. Yes, God is in heaven and we are on the earth, but He has provided this wonderful plan of salvation, this continuing plan of heaven, to be within our reach here on earth. He has formed a wonderful plan, decided in heaven, we know not when, for it is not for our finite minds to know. He formed a perfect plan, this message of salvation, when He came. He was the greatest messenger, Prophet, Priest, and King, and this plan was from the foundation of the world — from the heart of God. It was His fulfillment of everything. Jesus lived to show us how to live and died to answer those questions of sin. He rose to show us the power and the hope of the resurrection life and how we, one day, will return to be with Him in eternity. How was this introduced? After He had those good men, the Apostles, wasn’t it quoted here that He turned to His Heavenly Father and thanked Him, that these things were hidden from the wise and prudent and revealed unto babes? His plan was working but poor Judas was a failure. After the fulfillment on that glorious morning of the resurrection, we read that He arose again. He was with the apostles and gave them that commission to forth into the entire world to preach the gospel to every creature, teaching them to observe all things as He commanded them. This going into the entire world was not some notion that the apostles had but it was what they saw in Jesus and heard from Him. That commission has never been withdrawn and I hope some of you younger people will take it forth after a while. I hope you will never doubt what has been given by the Master Himself. Just before Jesus left this earth, He gave the apostles this commission to call men and women, willing to disinherit themselves from this earth, to become homeless strangers and go forth to preach. This commission has never been withdrawn from this world. We hear some people trying to do this or that outside the border of God’s kingdom, and all I can say is “I feel sorry for them,” because there is no other Way. I hope this conviction is deepening, especially with our young people.

One man on his death bed set out with a real desire to tell people about the Truth but he didn’t have the right principles. But we will leave that for now as I want to tell you what he said, “All I have succeeded in doing is creating another sect.” We must do our best wherever God has put us. Another question that is sometimes asked is, “Do you believe there is only one Way?” and I can only answer, “Yes, with all my heart for God has revealed it to us by the gospel.” It’s not through any brilliance of our own but it’s the Way that has been given to us through Jesus. We don’t qualify for this Way for it has been brought to us in all our sinfulness and we have utterly depended on Him. This Way has been revealed by wonderful inspiration of God’s Spirit in the Word — the same Word that’s been brought by His servants. The Gospel message is the same message that was taken into the entire world and we can be very thankful for it. It was brought to this land by men and women who disinherited everything of the earth.

Now I will speak to you about some conditions. When John the Baptist, the preacher and forerunner to Christ spoke, there was a call for repentance that went out. When we listen to the gospel that is brought in the right manner, it causes us to make a decision. Every servant of God does their best to bring people to that place of decision, the decision being, what are we going to do with God? God’s dear Son makes it so clear in that parable of the 10 virgins and those 5 who foolishly departed. It wasn’t that the 5 didn’t know truth, but He said, “I never knew you.” I remember, as a young fellow sitting in the meetings, we heard so often about “true salvation being the knowledge of a person.” If we never knew that conviction then we didn’t have it, but if our conviction was true, we must leave our old dead ways behind, that old clergy way, and step into the glorious light of the Kingdom of God. We want to make this very clear to you young people today. You don’t need to be meddling around with the religious world or whatever, because the enemy of our soul is a spirit, a spurious spirit with power, and if we meddle with that power of darkness and doctrine, that spurious spirit will get hold of you. Leave it alone for only then is there repentance. Never touch it again and don’t meddle with it!

Remember on the Gaza road that wonderful mission that took place? We don’t know how many hours or minutes that mission took, and we don’t know how Philip got that Ethiopian eunuch to believe because sometimes it takes a long time, but when they reached that place we reach, that eunuch said, “See, here is water; what doth hinder me from being baptized?” There is a proper message in the beginning and a fulfillment of the necessary conditions right from the Master and we value those who repent, saying, “My way is wrong, God’s way is right, God’s way is seen in Jesus.” Without adding to or taking from the Scripture, Philip preached there on the road to Gaza, not a new doctrine or the doctrine of the Sadducees or any other man, to that eunuch. When the preaching was done, then what? Jesus was born from the light above. “See, here is water; what doth hinder me?” What did Philip say? “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.” Not just a mere acceptance of certain facts but my heart is changed and the One that I didn’t know before I now know through the ministry and operation of God’s Spirit on this earth. “If thou believest…” or “I believe.” It’s a beautiful thing when we can believe Christ and be renewed with fresh vigor and urging from God’s Spirit and can whisper, “I believe.” There is no more questioning. Not everyone rode in chariots and I suppose this was the only ride Philip ever had in a chariot. “…Philip said, ‘If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.’ And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’ And he commanded the chariot to stand still, and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.” They both went down into the water together and he was baptized according to the scriptures, and not by sprinkling or any other device. That eunuch willingly gave Philip assurance, “I have come to the end.” This was the beginning of a new and living way for him. Later Philip was taken away to some other place.

Some have listened to this gospel during the past year and have been brought to a conviction — young people, older people, and occasionally elderly people. How was it done? By conviction. Baptism denotes that we are finished with our old, dead ways forever. When Jesus introduced the rite of baptism at first, it was done through John the Baptist, but when He came to be baptized He showed His absolute belief as necessary so that all righteousness could be fulfilled. If you have known this first experience, it is proper that you fulfill all righteousness when going down into the waters — this burying of the old way of life and its beliefs that were once held, before walking in the new and living way and being led by our Lord and Master with His people, to God and home. If everyone is spared until tomorrow morning, and if you feel you have fulfilled those conditions, come up to the platform after the meeting and we can talk it over.

Now there are some who have been worried about things they’ve heard on the Internet. I am no authority on the workings of it — its mechanical or electrical workings — we leave that to the young people, but we do know that there’s no question that the Internet is an instrument for proper knowledge with regard to the affairs of this life, whether it’s engineering, medical, etc. We realize that, and are not saying anything against that, but when it comes to these things of God, the deceiver is a mastermind. I remember when I was young and the radio came and how this same thing happened. It was a wonderful thing for the safety of ships, but the old deceiver had been on the scene before and had entered people’s homes. Suitable steps were taken to protect God’s people from those things that were brought into the home, but with respect to the Internet, I can understand why some of you want to find out about certain facts about God’s way, but it’s the worst place you can go, especially if someone has a chip on their shoulder concerning the Truth. The mastermind, who is behind it all, is the one we have been talking about this morning. There are some things on the Internet that are not going to be a help to us, and often it has to do with one of these individuals. You won’t hear on the Internet of those hundreds of workers who once left the British Isles. How much is on the Internet about them? But if there is a tendency for failure, you will hear about it. The world is expert, clergy are expert, but we must not listen to them but rather the still small voice of God. We have no need to turn to anything outside.

When that man pulled up his chariot on the road to Gaza, he said, “What doth hinder me to be baptised?” This was the finish for He had found the altogether lovely One. You may have missed steps in the Way, but it does not alter this Way because it is a perfect Way. Are we thinking right as a family about the Internet, for if there is some tendency to find a hole in the fence, you will find it. Farmers know that there are some sheep that are expert at finding holes in the fence, and you will see a dead sheep or a dead lamb sometimes. A foolish sheep can take a lamb through the fence, so don’t go to the Internet looking for holes in the fence, because you will find them — it’s human thinking, not the Truth. When you have had time to think things over, you will have made a decision to be baptized already. We thank God for the way you have listened today, a little more than usual, but these things are a concern to all of us. We don’t want the master distracter to get at us, and we thank God for those amongst us who are keeping him where he belongs. I want to be one like them until the journey ends. We have managed to come to this place and we will go out through the gate together in a few days’ time. Are we going to hold our position? I trust we will.

MATT 13:44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hidden in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Jesus was telling something about the Kingdom of his Father, Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven. Telling of this thing that was eternal and He was giving them a little picture, sometimes we say a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly or spiritual meaning. Giving them a little picture of what the Kingdom of Heaven was like. How to become part of this Kingdom. Again it tells us in another verse, it tells us what the Kingdom of Heaven is like … it’s like treasure. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

If we think of treasure, what do we think? We think of possessions, something that has got special value to us or special value to somebody. It may be a treasure chest with gold and silver in it or we may think of a nice bank balance. We may think of possessions and investment, whatever the case is; If something is like treasure this human in us desires it and Jesus never likened the Kingdom of heaven to poverty, sadness, sorrow. It was something to be desired and something to want in our lives to be part of this. He thought of this treasure.

One of our sister workers asked a number of young boys, “What is the most precious thing in your life? The one little boy said, “my dog and my bicycle,” the other boy said, “my parents,” and the third boy said, “I don’t know.” Isn’t it like that in the world today? Possessions are the most valuable thing in their lives and for many the love of dear ones is valuable but many people in the world today really don’t know what is valuable and what is precious to them. King Solomon was a wealthy king; a wise king and a wealthy king. We read in Ecclesiastes, he got everything his heart desired. He made it and built it and acquired it and then he looked upon it and he said it was a vanity and vexation of spirit. I’ve been reminded more than ever in my life that the temporal things really haven’t got anything to them. The purpose of life is just the eternal things. Solomon also said, “he that loveth silver will not be satisfied with silver and he that loveth abundant silver will not be satisfied with anything.” (Ecc 5:10) We know that you people have to work and labour and earn a living and that’s quite in order but this thing that is precious to us. Treasure. What is this thing then? Jesus answered that in Matt 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Say there are a hundred in this tent tonight, there is something 100 times more precious than all the treasures and riches of this world. If we don’t think of that we may think of the bank as the thing that has the most treasure but here tonight there are souls that are precious in God’s sight.

The devil took Jesus up onto a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of this world in a MOMENT of time, in a MOMENT of time and he said, “I’ll give them all to you if you will worship me” but we know that Jesus knew of this treasure, this Kingdom. We sang in that hymn “God in heaven hath a treasure.” That’s Christ himself. and on Earth He has a treasure, “Christ revealed in Saints below.” He knew of that treasure so He couldn’t be tempted with temporal things, earthly things. That little Parable helps us to understand how to have a part of this treasure, how to have a part of this that is eternal. Paul wrote in one of his letters, he said, “The light of the gospel hath shined in our hearts” and it’s given us the light of knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord. It says that this is the treasure that we have in our hearts and we have this treasure in earthen vessels but the light of the gospel shining in our hearts gives us this treasure, this that is so precious. Paul also wrote in one of his letters, he said, “unto me is given to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ.” Wonderful, he couldn’t even fathom them and he had a wonderful insight, a wonderful vision of this treasure but to him it was still unsearchable, unfathomable. We can get it, we can find it as we sing in that hymn, “we have found Him” but we never fathom the extent of this treasure. It says he came upon the treasure hidden in a field, maybe he walked past that field many a day, many a person had walked over that field where that treasure was. This treasure is close to people, it’s not that we have to go over land and sea, it’s close to us but it’s hidden. Someone quoted that verse today in the meetings where Jesus said, “I thank thee Father, Lord of Heaven and earth that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent and revealed them unto babes.” People who are wise in their own sight and wise in their own knowledge and human wisdom, well it is hidden from them. This wisdom is not something that we get with human intellect. The only door to this treasure is FAITH, faith in God’s word; faith in God. It says, “but thou has revealed it unto babes.” You think of a babe, a babe is dependent on a higher power, for food and warmth and all it needs. It can’t fend for itself, it can’t get those needs itself and when we are dependent on a higher power, the Lord can show us where this treasure is. A babe is someone who is humble, humble and childlike; those are the qualities needed to get a picture of this treasure and to find the treasure. This man found the treasure. Jesus said, “seek and ye shall find,” seek and ye shall find! Marius quoted from Jeremiah but there is also a verse in Jeremiah there, I looked at it there, it says, “JER 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with ALL your heart.” If we search with all our hearts we will find this treasure. This man, the first thing he did after he found the treasure, he got a glimpse of this treasure, he didn’t perhaps understand it fully but he got a glimpse of it and he wanted it. And the Lord in these meetings, through the gospel, is going to give us a glimpse of this treasure. It says he hid the treasure. You know sometimes people see the Truth, they get a glimpse of the Truth and then they say, what will my wife or what will my husband say? If I serve God like this, what will my parents say? And what about my future sporting career and this and that and the next thing? And, some people, they allow things to rob them of this treasure. But this man, nothing was going to rob him of this treasure, he hid it. The next thing it says he went and for the joy thereof, goeth and selleth all.

We heard a little about joy today. What comes to mind is the testimony of a man who’s passed away in Cape Town. He and his wife had a relative who invited them to meetings and he came. But I’ll just tell you this first, he said, his testimony was like the book of Ezra, like the first two chapters of the book of Ezra. I’ll tell you why, he said he realised that he would have to sacrifice things in his life and he was willing for it. He listened to the gospel and he was willing to sacrifice but he still didn’t have the joy and it says in Ezra, the first thing that they did when they came back from captivity, they built and altar, which speaks of sacrifice and the second thing they did was they built the foundation of the temple and then when they built the foundation of the temple the people shouted and wept for joy (Ezra 3: 12) and it was WONDERFUL joy the people had. And he said that when the foundation of this Truth was laid in my life then I had wonderful joy. He’s passed away but there was joy in his life … This man had joy and he went and sold everything. What did he have to sell, did he have to sell his house and his possessions? No, it says he went and he sold all, he sold all his own ideas and his own plans and his own thoughts. You know, Naaman and Paul, they both said, “I thought.” Paul said when he gave his testimony, “I thought to do many things contrary to this way” (Acts 26: 9) Naaman said, “I thought the prophet will come out and cleanse me” (2 Kings 5:11) but we have to sell all the “I thoughts.” He sold his ways and his ideas and his thoughts about this … he sold it all. He had to sell it all and then he could buy the field where the treasure was, he had to sell it all and that is the price. You know Paul wrote to the Philippians in the 3rd Chapter vs: 7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss. He said: Yea I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. Paul was willing to sell all of that Pharisee life of his, he was willing to sell it all for this treasure. The price of that field, it was his all. All his thoughts, all his ways and so on. We think of the price we need to pay, the price is our all.

One of our friends, the grandfather was drilling on a farm and he had to get water and the people told him there is water there and he got the money out the bank, eventually he sold a car, he drilled deeper and deeper and deeper and every possession he could get he sold it and drilled deeper and he still didn’t have water and he was desperate. Then he had a very precious gold watch, it had been handed down in the family, well he had to go and sell that watch. He sold that watch and they drilled a bit deeper and they got water. We have to sell our ALL. It says that’s the price of the field. You know the price of things in this country (Zimbabwe) is very different to the price of things in our country (South Africa) but the price of this field, this treasure, is the same in every country. There is no inflation that changes that price. It’s the same price in every country.

What is the price of joy as we have heard?

The price of joy is sacrifice and

The price of help is asking!

The price of faith is hearing.

The price of blessing is obedience.

Those are the prices we pay in getting this field, getting this something wonderful in our lives. Then he went and bought that field. What is that field? It’s the will of God. The treasure is only found in the will of God. That will cost our all and if we are willing for our all and get that field, we will be willing for the will of God. That is where we find this joy and where we find this salvation. In the will of God. This means everything to us.

A doctor once said to a patient, the patient was very low, “desire something and we can try and arrange to get it for you.” The patient said “I would like the mind of Christ. If I have that then I won’t need anything else.”

In thinking of this meeting, a hymn has been on my mind. It is hymn 300, “My Heart’s Deep Need Can Ne’er Be Met” but the last words in some verses say, “Until my Lord draws near.” Then in the last verse it says, “My life a desert place would be, A wilderness so drear, Except my Lord, He whom I love, Doth every hour draw near.” It just led me to a feeling of God’s presence. I also felt we can come to meetings and enjoy the fellowship and it could just be a formality unless I am conscious of God’s presence. Not only in a meeting but as the hymn says, “Unless every hour Thou dost draw near. Unless I am conscious of God’s presence, my life would just be a wilderness. Others could look upon my life and be impressed but without Him, it would just be a wilderness.

There is a sense in which we collectively have the presence of God and my thoughts went to Exodus 33 where Moses, in the 15th verse, said to God, “If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.” It also says, “Wherein shall it be known that I and Thy people have found grace in Thy sight, is it not that Thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and Thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.” Moses felt that he couldn’t go a step further without the presence of God.

Caleb, in Joshua 14 said, “If the Lord goes with me, I will be able to drive the Anakims out.” Caleb realised that, for victory, he needed God’s presence and perhaps victory is a sign of God’s presence with us and defeat is perhaps a sign that God’s presence is not with us.

A week or two ago, we visited a young man who professed in our field in recent years. He was a very religious young man and he’d moved from church to church and he had all the terms of theology you could ask for and often he found he was not satisfied in that church and then he came to Gospel meetings. He said to us, “I didn’t know what the doctrine was but I could find nothing wrong.” We are conscious that he just found the presence of God. He said, “I found the presence of God and I stopped there. I didn’t go any further.” It is wonderful when God is with His people but then individually too, we need to have the presence of God.

There was a time when David said, “Whither shall I flee from the presence of God?” He felt that God is with him and sees him, is aware of him, but then in another Psalm he says, “Cast me not away from Thy presence and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.” We would like to have the presence of God, too.

I just thought of some of the things that would bring the presence of God to us. We read in Psalm 15 verse 24 about clean hands and a pure heart. In another psalm, David said that the Lord draws near to them that are of a broken heart but I feel that the thing that brings the presence of God the most is just submitting to the will of God.

We heard about our conscience. We may not understand the whole will of God for our lives but just for today, to submit to God and what God reveals to us is right. That brings the presence of God. David was also very conscious of being in the presence of God when he said, “In Thy presence is fullness of joy and at Thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.”

We know, as we were hearing, of those two going to Emmaus, their hearts burned within them when they had Jesus with them. They were distressed before they were aware of Jesus’ presence. Before Jesus came to them they were distressed about what had happened but their hearts burned within them when they had Jesus’ presence with them. These days, in our conversations, we often find the conversation distressing when we speak of the crime in the world and the situation around us.

My thoughts often go to Psalm 73 where a man was very distressed about the ungodly around him and only when he went into the presence of God, there he found calm and peace. He said, “Whom have I in heaven but Thee and there is nothing else on earth that I desire.” That hymn that was quoted this morning was also on my mind, “If just Thy presence Lord be mine, then undisturbed I’ll be.” I would like to be disturbed and agitated about NOT having the presence of God and not to be disturbed and agitated about anything else.

These were just thoughts I found helpful and may God help us to Prioritize. Deon in this past week has often used the word Prioritize. I hope we put that as our priority to have the presence of God and long for that. Ernest Robinson once said that, “If I have the presence of God then everything else falls into place.” May that be our portion in the coming days.

Ecclesiastes 1:1, the words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. “Vanity of vanities,” saith the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be, and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, ‘See, this is new?’ It hath been already of old time, which was before us. There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after. (verse 13) And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”

In 1983, my companion and I hiked four hours until we were wet with sweat, over the backside of the mountains in Haiti to the place where Orin Taylor and Charles Lachner had gone when they first brought the gospel to Haiti in 1971. Orin was on the back of a mule and he had heart trouble. Sometimes he would fall and sometimes he would pass out in meeting. We made that trip to that same spot and there a voodoo priest had come to the end of his rope realizing that he had no power and nothing to offer when his own sixteen-year-old daughter died. He listened to the gospel and professed. Over the years, because of the conditions in Haiti, circumstances, and workers in scattered fields, that poor man was left alone for far too long. It was not the fault of anyone. In 1983, we returned. As we entered the yard with the little hut under the mango trees, I heard the noise of a corn grinder, an old antique corn grinder. There was a young boy turning the grinder. Then again because of circumstances and workers being scattered, and military coups, it was years before we got back there again in 1996. My companion and I climbed that same mountain and walked back into that same area and into that same yard. Even before we arrived at the hut we heard the sound of the corn grinder. It was the same antique corn grinder but it was a new boy. A new generation was turning the grinder. Ground corn was coming out of it. This is what Solomon was seeing. He called himself a preacher. He was seeing the rivers go round and round. The rivers go down and in the process of evaporation the water comes back and the rivers go down again. Probably few in his day realized it, but he could see things going round and round. Everything was going round and round. The thought came into his mind, “What are we getting out of this?” He said, “Life is vexation of spirit and all is vanity. Vexation of spirit is the pursuit of wind, just chasing the wind.” Trying to get something out of this life materially is just vanity and vexation of spirit. Trying to get something that is going to be yours forever is just vexation. That is what Solomon was seeing in all of this. What are you looking for? What are you trying to get out of life as it ticks by hour by hour and day by day? And what is God trying to get out of your life? What is He looking for? God is waiting and He is hoping.

On the mountainside, the rotation of the mill gave ground corn. God is holding His hand at the mouth of the little mill of your life. Jesus is interceding day and night. This is so earnest. This is so important. God is hoping that your soul can be saved and that is not vanity. Do you realize that that is the only thing about life that is not vanity and pursuit of wind? For that reason God’s servants are giving their lives, the light has shown, and it has dawned on them that souls can be saved and they can go again, and again. All that is in this world will all pass away, it is all vanity, but your soul can be saved for eternity and be forever alive. You can be happy and joyful, bowing before the God of heaven. For that reason, I love what Solomon was saying in the book of Ecclesiastes. I don’t know for sure but I think that Solomon was writing the book of Ecclesiastes in his last days. Apparently, in these chapters, he was looking back over his life. It is like a man who is walking down the corridors of his days and he is thinking and he is questioning. There are 31 profound questions that Solomon asks in this book. He is looking back over time and asking these questions. If you feel that Solomon is forever lost, maybe it is true but maybe it is not true. The Bible doesn’t actually say. But this is one thing that I could actually hope for and it gives us hope this afternoon, to see what he learned and we could learn with him too. If I say something about Solomon in this meeting or any other, I just hate to point out fault. I don’t like to talk about people’s mistakes, I can honestly say that. But you know, I have learned from life to learn from other people’s mistakes. If this is true, education is expensive. Children in our field, many of them never get to go to school. Maybe they go for a year and then stay home for a year until Dad and Mom get more money. Some of them are over 23 and 24 years old and still freshmen in high school, still trying. They get up in the morning at five o’clock and study, memorizing, memorizing, memorizing. When it is all done, what do you do with it? Education, they cherish it and it is expensive. In that sense, we are learning from another man’s mistakes, he paid the price of my education, and I am a debtor to that person. I know that for myself, everything that is right and perfect is there, but I don’t learn it. When I see the fault, when I see the failure, when I see the cost, when I see the tears, it wakes me. For that reason and only for that reason, could we ever speak about the fault and failure of another man?

Look at this in chapter two, as we go into what Solomon was thinking and saying. 2:3, “I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life. I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me: I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.” Then this next verse, 17, goes with that and it will always go with that, “Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.” “Therefore, I hated life.” The recipe for depression, and for hating life is to live for yourself. The recipe for true joy, we see in Jesus. From cradle to grave is to forget yourself and live for others, to live for God, to live for eternity. Live for yourself, I got me, I builded me, I acquired for me, live for yourself and this is what you get, I hated life. It doesn’t have to be that way. As I stand before you today, I can say with all my heart, “I love life.”

It is a privilege to come to the West for the first time. I thought while I was in Washington, that I could see someone that I have tried to keep up with, because we have had things in common. That is Bill Gates. Bill Gates and I are the same age. Another thing in common is that he is the richest man in the world and I am the poorest. But what makes for joy in life? You see what happened to Solomon, and it could happen to us. It is how we live and what we are living for. What didn’t Solomon do, while he was building gardens? He was a champion in horticulture, that is something that I could love. He was building temples and altars, he was a champion of architecture, and that is something that I could love. He wrote 1005 Proverbs. He was a master at education. He was a master of music, he wrote 3000 songs. He was a master like no other. He had an army. He was the commander in chief in Israel. He had a standing army that he had inherited from his father, David, of 1,300,000 swordsmen. The United States has an armed force of 1,444,000. That little nation of Israel back then had almost as large an army, and Solomon was commander-in-chief. You could see that Solomon was busy, but there was something else. He married someone who could never help him. He married the Princess, the most beautiful girl in Egypt, but she had nothing to help his soul. He wrote about this himself later. He just went from one to the next until eventually, he had 1000 wives. I think you could say that he did not love one of them. And I think you could safely say that there was not one of them that loved him. That kind of thing is impossible because God has a plan and in God’s plan a man will leave his mother and father and the two become one. There are two kinds of human love, the kind of love that a mother has for her children, she might have 12 children, and she might love [all of them] equally. That is the way that it should be. I would not want my mother to love me more than any of my brothers or my sister. The other kind of love is only for one, if it is for more than one it is unfaithful, it is untrue. For that reason, God has chosen one faithful bride. One church. Men don’t like to hear that, they contradict that, but it can’t be any other way. We are thankful to see young people in our field who before they heard the Gospel loved the world, they were free, they went, and they danced. They loved the world because they did not know Jesus, but now that they know Jesus that is in the past. They are not double-hearted, they are not double-minded. It is one love, and we did not have to say anything, it is just there, pulling with us, laboring with us, just one love.

Now back to this, what Solomon was doing. He was building, he was planning. It is all interesting, and it is all right, and it is good. But what happened? Most likely what happens to all of us. He did not have time to pray. That is the beginning of hollowness. He was mightier than anyone before him. He said that himself. This was not brought on by financial loss. His kingdom did not collapse. He told in one place about how many people sat at his table. The temple did not fall. It was strong and solid on the mountainside. It was all there, but the inside of him was a complete collapse. He could not face another day. Why? Because of something that we all have done. I remember riding with my father one Sunday morning, we were going out to feed cattle. I will never forget the spot, just before we turned the corner. I said to my dad, “I have decided that I am going to be a brain surgeon.” Dad did not say anything for a minute then he said, “Son, I know that they are telling you to hitch your wagon to a star. But remember that the things that you do in life can take up so much time that you will not have time to read and to pray, and to be in meeting and you could lose your soul.” I didn’t say another thing about it. Dad had the cash, I could have done it. Now, let me make this clear, there are good brain surgeons, and I believe that a man could profess and be a good brain surgeon, I believe that. But with me, there is no halfway, it has to be all. That is just what I have done. I could have lost my soul, and I may have saved it in the balance. This is for eternity, it is no play. I thank my dad to this very day for the thought that he sewed in my mind, as we went to feed the cattle. There is nothing more important in life to me than to save my soul.

So there was Solomon, a total success. He is the richest, he is the best, the most intelligent, and like he said, and yet my wisdom stayed with me. He was not losing his mind. It was not for that that he hated life. It was just that it was so empty. It was just vanity. Who would he leave it to? Would I leave it to a wise man or a fool? The insecurity of the future, and this man was walking down the hall of time and questioning what would it be. He hated life. Look how this could be so different. We are so fortunate, we have Jesus’ teachings. We have exactly what Jesus said. If we follow Jesus’ teachings this will never happen to us in life. You will never have to come to that point. It is simple, it is there, and it is not complicated. Go back to Matthew five, six, and seven and the parables. In our fields, we teach these things again and again in our meetings on the mountainside and in the little homes. And we tell them to learn to pray, not only learn to pray, but to pray. We have learned through the years that if people learn to pray, they will go all the way. If you don’t learn to pray, you will fall by the way. Learn to pray and it will be roots. When the sun shines there will be roots and when there is drought there will be roots and when there is persecution there will be roots. Jesus said to learn to pray and pray. Jesus said that if a man learns these things and does them, he will be like a wise man. He will be like a man who dug deep and built his house up on a rock that when the storms came and the rains came down the house stood. If you hear these things and don’t do them, you are like a fool, who built his house upon the sand when the storms came and the wind blew the house fell, and great was the fall of it. The man that built upon the sand heard the sayings but he didn’t do them. Solomon was there, he heard, but he didn’t do it. He was not praying. What we’re going to dig down to are the basics, the two and two ministry, the meeting in the home. Those are the most fundamental things. That is beautiful, almost 2000 years after Jesus lived and His disciples walked beside Him, leaving all and becoming poor and going out to preach the gospel, freely giving their lives. That is the New Testament church in its purest form. But that, fundamental as it is, is not what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. He had not even chosen His apostles nor sent them out at that time. There had not been a Sunday morning meeting in the home with the emblems. The foundation, the rock, is the teaching of how to give, how to pray, how to fast, how to love, how to forgive. This is the rock, and we need to get down on it. Come what may, the rains, the storms, and persecutions, our Faith will stand. People who serve God in secret will stand. Sometimes when there is a problem in the home, a fight breaks out, what do you do? You call the workers, and they are happy to come. But it would be different if you had been standing on the rock. If there was a harsh spirit, if there was un-faithfulness, there should be forgiveness. Jesus taught that no matter the cost, there should be forgiveness. Just turn the other cheek, cost me what it costs me. Regardless of being badly treated and persecuted, there should be forgiveness and the words of grace. If we build on the rock the house will not fall, there will not be a collapse and the marriage will stand and the children will be protected.

I saw Hurricane Hugo hit the island of Guadalupe. It was exactly like an atomic bomb had hit the island. In the center of that was a little wooden batch and inside of that batch were two lovely sister workers, native to our islands. My companion and I took the first plane that went to Guadalupe after the catastrophe. We arrived at the airport and walked in water above our ankles. We rented a car and made a circle of the friends’ homes. We sat in the living room of one man’s home. The roof was gone. The batch was the last place we went, and the batch was destroyed. The sisters were staying in a neighbor’s little outhouse kitchen. The next morning we helped them. They stood in the midst of the ruin, and I thought, “What is this?” I had known these young ladies and they were so in command, so capable, but it was like they were dazed. They were shocked, and they were not thinking right. I realized that this storm and the effect of this storm can affect you spiritually. It can leave you in shock, and that is why we need to stand on the rock. You do not have to be without a sound mind. If we pray, if we do as Jesus did, go into a room and close the door and God who is in secret will reward you openly. You will not collapse, you will be strong in Jesus Christ.

Solomon could see that and that’s just what he was facing, he was dealing with that. In chapter four Solomon said, “So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter, and on the side of their oppressors there was power, but they had no comforter.” Solomon was turning, and I like to think of him turning. He turned and turning is repenting. I have no solid evidence that Solomon repented but these verses indicate something. He was turning, he was no longer looking at the beautiful things that his hands created. He was looking at the oppressed, at the downhearted, he was looking at the weary, he was looking at the bruised that had no comforter. Do you know, this was the beginning of better days. When our hearts are turned from materialism toward the plight of our neighbor, our brother, it is the beginning of better days. It is the beginning of joy. The more we love as Jesus loved, the more our lives become fruitful and joyful. The more we live for others, the more we live and truly live. Solomon was turning for the first time. He was looking at the downcast and the oppressed. In our country, I have heard sayings since I came home, and economically I might agree. We don’t live according to the intelligence of this world, we are living toward the intelligence of another world, where souls are saved. You know, years ago there was a gift from France, and it stands in the harbor of New York City. It is the statue of a lady who has her hands outstretched with a light of hope and on the foot of that it says, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.” Do we feel that? Are we closing doors with a feeling of national superiority, saying this country is mine? Is it ours? Is there any place in this world that is ours? Are you living for this country? I love my country, but aren’t we living for another country? Abraham declared plainly that he was seeking a better country. Could it be that some poor, homeless person that God moved in next door to my house, would you have it in your heart, would you have oil and wine to pour in? Something that would be the foundation for that poor person’s soul? If that could be eternal gain, if we as a people could become more compassionate, pure-hearted, a more sharing people, our convention would be a total success. If our hearts would burn towards those that have no comforter, are weary, tired, beaten, and it is not their fault. I hope that my heart would be so. I love people. I love the people in the land where I work, though they are despised and at the bottom of the social rung. I love them to the end of time. There is something that brings the deepest, deepest joy in living for others. Solomon was on the right track.

There was an older brother who told me that he and his companion were going down a road and they were lost. He saw a young lady standing beside the road and they stopped, thinking maybe she could help them. He said to her, “Can you tell us how to get there?” She said, “I can tell you how to get there but you are headed the wrong way, so I can’t tell you that way but if you go down there and turn around and come back headed in the right direction, I can tell you.” That’s exactly what Solomon did, he said, “I returned.” He had been headed down the wrong road, the road of materialism. He had had every kind of success, but at the end of that road he found deception and vanity, and now he was turning. May God help us that it may not be too late for us also and that we could live for what is worth living for all eternity. Solomon suffered because his wives turned his heart to worship strange gods and that angered the Lord. Do you know why it would anger God? It is the most aggravating thing. How could you worship a piece of wood or gold that isn’t living? Every living thing speaks of God’s existence. A single flower speaks of His design and it is hand-painted. All of the abundance of God’s handiwork, from the smallest, and tiniest thing to the vastness of the universe is all of God’s handiwork, there is no question. Like David said, “Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath He set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of His chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and His circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.” In every language, it speaks the Gospel of creation and its creator, and it speaks day and night, it never stops. There is no reason not to believe in the creator. And for that reason, God was angry with Solomon because he stooped to worship a false God, false religion. Do you know where that led Solomon? This materialistic point of view led him to hate life. It led him to a place where he didn’t know straight up from straight down. In chapter 3:21 it says, “Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?” He was totally confused, he was totally in darkness. That’s where that leads, if there ever comes the day that we leave the simplicity of the truth of Christ. If we think that there are other books that we need to read or anything on the Internet that you need to read or anything in these libraries that you need to read, it will only leave you in that topsy-turvy upside-down condition where you will not know up from down. You wouldn’t know if the soul goes up or the soul goes down.

Fortunately, God did not leave Solomon there, chapter 12:7, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” It was clear to Solomon that the spirit goes back to God who gave it. Some would say, “How could Solomon have any hope if he went that far?” Jesus said that there was only one unpardonable sin and that is blasphemy. I don’t see where Solomon blasphemed. It could be that it would seem almost impossible because there are these verses that are sometimes pointed out in Hebrews six. “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.” These verses say that it is impossible for someone who has tasted the powers of the world to come, tasted of that life, to reject Him; it is impossible to renew him again. But then it goes on to speak about something else. It says that he is nigh to be cursed, he is near to it, and it is dangerous. He has turned his back on Jesus, he has denied Him. We heard about Peter denying Christ. It is dangerous. Again. It says to be burned, that is speaking about the soil. It is like bad ground and its end is to be burned. This verse does not say that it is impossible with God. It is impossible with man. What more could He do? His hands are open. All things are possible with God. This is a season and we go through the seasons. Solomon had gone through a long dry season, and his life had produced many things that were admired by man, but it was thorns and thistles that choked out the spirit. That’s what Jesus said, the cares of life, the deceitfulness of riches, the thorns and thistles that will choke out that new life of being born again. For that reason, what can you do? There are new seasons, God gives new seasons. Again, rivers go down and water goes up, the sun goes down, and the sun comes up. It is revolving, time and again, that is what Solomon said, time and chance happen to them all. The race is not to the swift. You know, it happens time and again. We heard in another convention, don’t take chances with your second chance. This is another chance. This is another convention. God is seeking to deal with us. It is another season. We saw this in Haiti, up on the mountainside. Where there are so many microbes and nematodes in the soil, the only way in that rich good soil to have a crop is to burn it, otherwise there are too many weeds and too many bugs. The corn will come up and be looking strong then it weakens. But if you burn it, it will then produce a crop. That is what these verses are speaking about; it is nigh unto being burned. These things could just be taken away; they could just die, the cares of life, the deceitfulness of riches. So that that little life could grow and prosper within us. What Solomon was looking at now was not his work. I love that. You can see that in more than one verse. In chapter 7:13, “Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which He hath made crooked?”

And again in chapter 8:17, “Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea farther; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.” And again in Chapter 11:5, “As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.” Now we can see that Solomon’s thoughts were turning from himself and he is thinking about the work of God. He says that you can’t find it out; it is so marvelous, so perfect. It is like the wind that blows. What does that sound like to you? That sounds like Jesus speaking about someone being born again, and the work of the Holy Spirit. You can see the effect of it; you know that there is a work going on. Was Solomon wanting to be born again? I don’t know. But this much we do know, that he was thinking again about the work of God.

There was a man who was one of my best friends; he came to see us in Haiti, more than once. He was from Canada. He was a builder, the number one builder in Canada. He came on his own plane with his pilot. I happen to know the prime minister’s nephew who is a pilot. He is not professing, but we took him to the National Hotel and the palace with us. Then we went out into the boondocks, into the secluded areas, into the little homes, where we sat with our feet dangling over the edge of the bed. There were dirt floors. We visited late into the night. The candle was put out. And I saw that my friend loves the work that God has given us to do more than all that he has accomplished at home. Do you realize that that is what Solomon was looking at, the work of God? We went to the airport when it was time to go home, and the pilot was bragging about where all he had been. Warren did not pay any attention, but as the time came for him to get in, he just balled, he cried and sobbed and said, “Boys, I’ll be back to see you.” His professional pilot was looking at his boss. Trying to figure this out. There was something between us, and this work, in this family that he could not understand. The work of eternity, the work of Christ, the Gospel, like Solomon said. You can’t tell the beginning from the end. A few years ago Warren thought he had a cold, he was not feeling good, and he could not get over it by going to the doctor. He found that he had aggressive leukemia, and in just a couple of days, he was gone. His last words were, he took off his ring and gave it to his wife, and he said, “Until eternity.” Do you realize that there is something that we live for that gives us peace? When we were sitting out in one of those little huts in Haiti, he told me about his children and that there was a time in his life when he just got too busy and stopped professing. He said, “It was the worst time in my life, but God helped me. Now I talk to my children and sometimes they will say, ‘Dad you are preaching?’ I talk to them anyway.” I saw those boys this time on my home visit, and they were telling me what their dad used to say. My friends, if you have children don’t be afraid to say, like my dad, with grace and wisdom, say it. That is what a preacher is, he had something to say and he said it.

Solomon was the wisest man that ever lived, and now he was coming to the end of his life and he was saying, “Don’t take this trail, there is another way.” God help us that we also could be wise in this. Grasp the opportunities to serve wherever we can serve. Pour in a little oil and wine with all your heart that it might be treasure laid in heaven where moth and rust will never corrupt and it will be treasure for all eternity. May God help us that this would be our portion.

In Luke 11, when Jesus finished praying, one of His disciples asked, “Teach us to pray.” Even His example in prayer accomplished something. It moved those disciples to want to learn more. I know the prayers of my parents did much for me. The same is true with my companions. One time it was going to be a busy day and therefore I did not spend much time in prayer, but rather left the bedroom and got busy with the day, but 15 minutes later I returned to the bedroom, and found my companion still on his knees! It was a rebuke to me!

One lady, in giving her testimony, said, “I find in the morning that if I pray first, there is always time to work afterwards, but if I work first, there is seldom time to pray!” Jesus began with, “Our Father which art in heaven.” We can hardly take it in that our Father is the Creator of heaven and earth! He is the greatest power and the highest in the universe, and one who is so magnificent and beautiful! The one we have come to know as our Father, who is kind and loving and understanding! He has the power, and can use this power to meet the needs of His people, and defend them against their cruel enemy.

In John 14, Jesus encouraged His disciples to ask in His name. If Jesus had not come, we would not be able to approach God. So we want to be faithful in finishing our prayer in His name. There was once an explosion in a coal mine in England, and many miners were killed, affecting many families. One widow was left with several young children. There was no help from the mine, so she found it difficult to provide food for her children. The oldest boy was 12 years old. He began to wonder what he could do to help their family. He thought that if only he could talk to the Queen, she could help him! So he walked down to the Palace one day, and the guard asked him, “What are you doing here?” He answered, “I need to see Queen Victoria!” “You can’t do this — no one can enter the Palace without an invitation,” the guard said. Broken hearted, he went away crying. Down the street he met a well dressed boy who asked him what had made him so sad, and he told him his story. The well dressed boy said, “Come with me,” and they went back to the gate of the Palace, and the guards opened the door, and they walked in. Then they came to the door of the Palace itself, and it also was opened! Then the well dressed boy took the other one down a long hallway and came to a door and knocked, “Mother, are you in?” he asked, and Queen Victoria spoke from inside that room and said, “Come in,” and he had the opportunity to pour out his heart unto the Queen. She put her arm around him to comfort him, and said, “You go home and tell your mother that help is on the way!” The only way he could have done this was through the son, and the only way we can ever come into the presence of the God of heaven is by His Son!

There are some keys that we can take with us into the place of prayer. Keys, open doors–doors that open right into God’s presence. When the Pharisee and the publican went to pray in Luke 18, there were no doors that opened for the Pharisee, because of the way he prayed. But the publican had a key ring with three keys on it, and he used all three, which opened wonderful doors to him!

(1). He had the key of humility. Without this key we will never enter the King’s presence. The Pharisee had the key of pride, which will never open the door into God’s presence. (2). The key of honesty. The publican was honest about his sin and his need. He went away justified because he came with the consciousness of sin. When he went away, his heart was right with God.

(3). The key of repentance. We can never be freed from our sin without this key.

Some keys that Jesus used:

He took the key of complete submission to His Father’s will into the place of prayer in Gethsemane. He had used this key all His life. When only twelve years old, He had used this key. Jesus went into that prayer with a struggle in His heart, but when He used this key, He could leave with complete peace. Whenever we are having a struggle, it is good to check our key ring, to see if we have this key of complete willingness to the will of God.

Afterwards, an angel came to strengthen Him — that key opened the door of strength coming to Him.

Jesus prayed on the cross, “Father, forgive them,” He had been treated so cruelly, but He took the key of forgiveness into that prayer. In His sample prayer in Luke 11, he mentioned the need for forgiveness. If we refuse to forgive others, this will close the door to God forgiving us. It will open doors to our own forgiveness if we take this key into the place of prayer.

The leper who came to Jesus with a request in Luke five. It was like a prayer. “If you will, you can make me clean.” He had two keys on his key ring. One was the key of faith. He had no question but that the Lord could help him, but he was not so sure that He would do it! It is because he felt so unworthy.

He also brought the key of unworthiness into his request, and Jesus responded to these two keys. It also touches us when we come to the Lord in all our unworthiness, and God is touched to help us!

“So Strange it Seems and Wondrous,” etc., and Matthew 21:42, “This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes.” All God does is wondrous and we still live in days of miracles. A miracle is a change, like in Genesis 1, in the creation, complete changes, darkness to light, and what was not useful, to usefulness. In John 2, we read of a miracle, water turned to wine, to something very special, to living a life that enjoys the very best. Those present saw the miracle but did not understand why. All this is so marvelous. There was order in the creation, no longer disorder. It is the power of God that does miracles. Job 6:6-7 tell of changes in food, by adding salt. “Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt or is there any taste in the white of an egg? The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat.” What Job did not know, now was his life.

In Isaiah 11, everything was in peace, only possible through God working. There were changes of appetites, and the lion ate grass with the ox.

A lady in Chile, very Catholic, began to listen. Little by little, God working, she changed, seeing the fake and the true. God did the miracle of guiding her feet into the way of peace, into the path of life. It is what God has done. Abraham received faith, and said, “Here am I.” Faith is not blind. It is the eye of the soul, and sees beyond all human reasoning. Abraham took the fire of love in his hands, and the knife of decision. The mount of sacrifice is “alone.” No one can sacrifice for me, nor make the decision for me. Isaac was bound with cords, cords of obedience. Abraham saw the ram in the thicket and offered it on the altar. It died in Isaac’s place. The Lord has done this. Sometimes we may think that what God asks is unreasonable, like “take my yoke upon you,” instead of laying it down. Only in the yoke do we find true rest for our soul. This is not weakness, to be in the yoke. It is strength for a life of service. In humility there is strength. Christ humbled Himself. Naaman, in 2 Kings 5, almost lost his privilege to be saved, to be made clean because of pride. He had to humble himself to experience this miracle in his life. Meekness, faith, and love make possible the work of God in our lives. Faith gives strength. So does love.

Isaiah 41:17-20, “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.” A living testimony here on earth, a change wrought to honor God. There, now a cedar tree, good for wood that lasts. There was the myrtle, a tree that gives a pleasing fragrance, when made contrite, like the rose when it is crushed, sends forth a sweet savor. Our usefulness is a part of our testimony, a work of God.

John 11:1, the home of Martha and Mary, meant a lot to Jesus, dedicated lives, a dedicated home. The homes of the Israelites, in Egypt, were marked with the blood of the lamb. They ate the lamb, and feeding on the lamb will change us, and change our homes. John the Baptist was a burning and a shining light. He gave himself. A candle burns itself away to give light. It is necessary to die daily to manifest the Christ-life. All that John said of Jesus was true. 1 Corinthians 16:13, “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” As true men, conquering the human, our “Yes,” always “Yes,” and our “No,” always “No,” and no compromising with the world, nor with the flesh. God wants to see this clearness in us, being pillars in the truth. Pillars make no noise. They keep their place. They are upright on the foundation, in line with the cornerstone. It is necessary to submit to the hammer of God’s Word, to keep in line.

Hebrews 11 is a picture of our need to lean on the staff of faith. Jacob used his staff to cross the Jordan, and continued to use it to the end. It costs us to have a good testimony. Ecclesiastes 10:1, be careful. “Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.” Just a little folly can spoil it. We must forgive as God forgives, and keep a good relationship with our brother. What God’s children are and do affects our Father in Heaven. May God continue to work wondrously in us.

John 6:16, “When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take Him by force, to make Him a king, He departed again into a mountain himself alone. And when even was now come, His disciples went down unto the sea, and entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.” Verse 66, “From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, ‘Will ye also go away?’ Then Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.’”

We have been walking and walking this year, and now we have walked spiritually to convention. The Lord has been walking with us. There is something that I enjoy about walking. In our fields, we have plenty of walking to the mountains, to the meetings, to visits. Naturally, you get to know each other and we have great times. That is when things grow – when you walk together and talk together. When we walk with Jesus, we get to know Him as we walk together. In Kiam, a few years ago in French Guyana, we were having Gospel meetings. We would walk across town from the meeting to our batch. Those little children from the meeting, professing children from professing homes, would walk with us all the way to the batch. The little ones would hold our hand and they would be talking to us. They would pour out their hearts to us about their problems. When we would get to the batch, they would say, “Give us a drink of water,” and then they would say, “Walk with us back to the corner.” So we would walk back to the corner. Then they would say, “Walk with us to the next corner.” So then we would get to the next corner, and we would say, “Kids, go home now,” and they would walk back to the batch with us. We would have to say, “Children, go home now before you get us in trouble with your parents.” They love walking together, and there will be bonds until the last day because we’ve walked together. That is a most beautiful thing in God’s family. God’s servants walk together. I couldn’t tell you what it means to me to sit on this platform this morning with Harold. Twenty years ago he came to our help, at a time when I needed help, and he gave it. Across the years we have walked together, even though I was far away. There are very few of you folks that I know, but those that I do know have walked in spirit together along the way. I am thankful for these things.

There is something else that we need to learn to do and that is what Jesus did in this chapter. You read that Jesus walked upon the waters, and that is totally impossible, and yet, it is totally possible. It depends on what is within you. Humanly, this is impossible, but spiritually it is possible. It depends on what is within us. It is a power of eternity. It is another life. It is another realm. It is another being. If Jesus is within us today, we can walk on the waters of this world. That is what Jesus said before this chapter is over, “What and if you see Me ascend up into heaven again, flesh and blood profit nothing but the word that I speak unto you is life, it is spirit.” That Spirit is the Spirit that rises and the life is the life that quickens, and we need it so much to walk on the waters of this world…more than ever, everywhere you are in this world, not just in America with all that it has to offer, but every nation. We live in a generation where the waves are against us and the waves are high and they are boisterous. We learn to walk with Jesus.

We were working on Martinique, a little island in the Caribbean Sea. We lived in a fishing village and worked with the fishermen, fishing nets, fishing traps. I saw those men, lifetime fishermen, go down to the sea in the morning and look out at the sea. They looked and they watched, then they turned around and went home. They are not going out that day; the waves are too big. We have played in the waves, and they can just roll you and turn you topsy-turvy. They turn you upside down and you are lost, and you could drown. That’s the way it is: the waves of this world can turn you upside down so fast. You are lost and you don’t know if you are up or down. If we have power, wisdom, and the Spirit, we can set our feet on the waters of this world…temptation, corruption and materialism that is so powerful, minds that are stronger than your mind…and they can take you so fast that you are down and drowning. Only God can help us, if we just go hand in hand and walk with Jesus.

Every wave has a crest, the top point; then there is the trough, the bottom point. We have watched waves that are several meters high. We stood on a cliff, my companion and I, on the island of Guadeloupe, and watched the waves crash below. The spray was 60 feet high, at least. Crash! There was a booming power that shook the cliff. What in this world is that powerful? How do you walk on it? How do you rise above it? What is in you to conquer that? It only can be Jesus.; that is what we can learn from this chapter here. Jesus walked on the water; He walked on the waves.

The very first wave that we see Him walk on was the first thing that we read. It was this tremendous wave of popularity. The first verse that we read was the crest of it. They were ready to take Him and make Him king. They wanted a king that could give them bread and solve all their social problems. That is what the world is looking for, that kind of government. They were riding the crest of that wave and were ready to make Him king and then, by the end of the chapter, they had all gone back on Him; they had all left. It wasn’t the gospel that He preached; it was the bread He gave that was His life. When He said “Drink it and you will live forever,” they did not want to hear that. They turned their backs on Him; they all left, right to the bottom. Did it affect Jesus? It did not affect Him. He even turned to His disciples and said, “Will you also go away?” That did not change anything. We are thankful for an unchanging gospel. It does not change to please the swells of popularity. We have a gospel that is unchanging and eternal. Peter answered, “To whom Lord shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” That is the only thing that can help us – these words of eternal life. Peter saw that. Do you realize what Jesus did? He walked on that. How many men have failed and drowned on that same wave of popularity? Politicians are brought into power on a wave of popularity and then, in just a moment of time, they become bashed and bruised and their reputations are ruined. What about us? We face that wherever we are – at work and school. I don’t forget what it was like to walk to school – those young fellows, a lot of my friends, their school jackets and all of the medals jingling while walking down the halls. Popularity seemed so important; it seemed important to me, this my one chance at life to be popular, just to be accepted, to be appreciated, to be laughed with and to be esteemed; it seemed so important. When you are in that experience, that is your sea. Do you realize, my friends, one day that sea of popularity will be no more? How did Jesus conquer that? You read that before He walked on the water, Jesus spent the night in prayer. What they wanted was to make Him king; He went up on the mountain and prayed. Compared to the mountain of prayer, popularity seems a very small thing. Compared to that, whatever this world has to offer seems like a very small thing.

Remember that some seas dry up and don’t exist anymore. I’ll give you an example. If there is some young person in the meeting that struggles with popularity, listen to what happened. I graduated from school and went into the work. After I was in the work, my thoughts continued to go back to my old friends in school. We went 13 years together, from kindergarten straight through to grade 12. We were like brothers and sisters, in a way; we knew each other so well. I liked them and we were friends. When I was on a home visit, I thought I will go look up as many of them as I can. I found 13 of them. One night after a gospel meeting, I went and looked up the captain of the cheerleading squad. My companion was with me. I stood on the doorstep of this beautiful home, and when she came to the door, I said, “Hi, Becky.” She said, “Hi,” and I said, “You don’t know me?” And she said, “No, I don’t.” I said, “I am Dan.” She hugged me and invited us in. She said, “I didn’t realize it was you; I thought it was a vacuum cleaner salesman.” That is what will happen. What seemed so important today, just down the road in a little time and it will not be important at all. Just remember that, and it will help you on the journey. When you look at the Annual, the Yearbook, you think that this will be engraved forever and what it says after my name will mean something forever. No, it doesn’t. There is something that is forever and forever. There is a family on this earth and it is not classmates; it is a family in Christ with a heavenly home. That was the wave of popularity, and there are others that you can think of.

There is the wave of doubt. Have you ever had a wave of doubt? In the same experience, perhaps at another time, there was Jesus walking on the water. The disciples were there in the boat and they saw Him coming but they were not sure; but who else could walk on water? They thought it was a phantom or a ghost. They knew they saw something, but it wasn’t clear. Peter said, “If it be Thou, bid me come to Thee.” Jesus said, “Come.” Peter walked; he actually walked upon the water, and then he saw that the winds were boisterous and he began to sink. Jesus held out His hand and Peter said, “Lord, save me.” Jesus held out His hand and saved him, but said, “Oh thou of little faith.” But he did have a little faith.

Do you know what is impressing me…what we sometimes say is doubt, is it really doubt? Are we being honest? Is it doubt or is it more than doubt? I’ll give you an example. When I was a child, I had two older brothers, John and Fred. John was the oldest and he pretty much told us what to do. John, Fred, and I were playing behind the school in our little town of Magnolia, Iowa; behind the school we had the greatest time; that was just another world. We were playing cowboys and Indians; we were having a great time. Dad had this whistle that could be heard all over town. We heard that whistle but John said to us, “You know, we did not hear that whistle.” So we went back to playing. It was just too good to leave. Then we heard that whistle again and John said again “You know, we did not hear that whistle,” and we went back to playing. Then we heard that whistle the third time and we knew that Dad meant business, so we high-tailed it for home! I was the littlest guy so I trailed behind. There was Dad standing in the door with a stick in his hand and I was scared and I said, “Dad, we didn’t hear it the first two times.” That may seem funny, but do you realize that since I have come home from Haiti, I have seen people who once walked with us that have now gone back and they are saying that they have doubts. I have been with them enough that I realize that they have no doubt; they just want to play; they are choosing the world. It is obvious that we can say that we have doubts, but the call is clear and it is coming to me. This is Jesus; this is truth; this is a way, and you cannot doubt it. I hope that each day God will help us to see that there is more joy in walking with Him than all the pleasure in this world. You can have; you can go; you can do all these things, but there is more pleasure and there is more joy in one meeting than there is in all that money could buy. There is joy in walking with Jesus. You hear the call and you walk with Jesus on the boisterous waves of this world.

Jesus said that Peter had a little faith. If we have just a little faith, we can take a step. Do you remember learning to walk…of course you don’t. We took just little steps. That’s the way it is with Christ; just take a little step and He will help you take the next step along the way. He will help you through the storms and the waves. I like to see faith, even just a little faith. Let me give you an example. When Paul spoke about the fruit of the Spirit, he said the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy and peace. Those are three of the deepest, dearest human sentiments…to know love, to know joy and to know peace. The fruit of the Spirit is more; he said also that it is gentleness, meekness, temperance, goodness, faith. These are not feelings; they are all definite qualities, characteristics; these are the fruit of the Spirit.

Leaving those for a moment; of course, you cannot compare the fruit of the Spirit to an apple, because the Spirit is not an apple; it is the work of the Spirit, the moving of the Spirit and the effect of the Spirit; it is what comes in a life. Think of it in that sense. You know that on every apple there is a stem. Now look at the stem; does the stem belong to the apple, or does the stem belong to the tree? Sometimes it is on the apple and sometimes it is on the tree. You might ask, why is faith a part of the fruit of the Spirit? How would you ever have any fruit or any life without faith? The fruit all came by faith. We believed, and because we believed, we had joy and because we believed, we know love and because of faith, we have peace and because of faith, God has taught us temperance and gentleness and meekness and goodness. They all came through faith. Faith is like the stem; there is nothing in an apple that did not come through the stem. So, is it a part of the apple, or is it a part of the tree? Likewise with faith or belief. The stem is so small and insignificant; at times you just take the stem and throw it away. Some of the worst diseases attack the stem…just a little blight, and the fruit falls; it is all lost. That just speaks so much to me, and I pray to God that He would help me live my life, my testimony, that my actions would never be a blight on the stem of faith. Those little children…if their conscience would be weakened by what they see in me, I would rather die. Do you understand? It all comes through faith. Just a little faith and the heart can be full. It is through faith that we believe. Through faith we are a part of this branch or this vine. May God help us that our faith might be cared for, kept and protected, so that the fruit will not fall.

Then there is the wave of fear. Have you ever had a wave of fear, just overcome with fear? When Hurricane Hugo hit Guadeloupe with such high winds, we went and tried to help immediately afterwards. It was like an atomic bomb had just blasted away everything. The roofs and the trees on Guadeloupe were flattened. Eight people died. They had been warned; others were in protected shelters. One of those that died was a little boy, eight years old. He was in the arms of his mother and father, sheltered with love. That little boy’s heart just stopped when he heard the sound of the wind. He was trembling, shaking and screaming at the hurricane and his little heart just stopped. Waves of fear seem like they can just make your heart stop.

There are two types of fear. One is destructive and paralyzing. When you were in school, you sat down to the final exam; you knew it all; you have studied it, but then all goes blank. That is what happens to us as we stand up here sometimes. That is a paralyzing fear that is a bad fear. There is a good fear, and that is wisdom. One of our test pilots, Chuck Yeager, well known and famous, did so well. They asked him why he did so well. He simply said, “Because I was too scared to die.” That is destructive fear. If we have a deeper fear of God, a fear of losing our soul, that is wisdom from childhood to the grave, and that is good. There are other kinds of fear and they can just be a wave, and you can sink into it, and you can drown and actually lose your soul. We need to walk on, to rise above it.

Then there is the fear of men, the fear of what others think. That can be our enemy. We have a good example of that in the Bible. We have these two men, Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night, in John 3, and also Joseph of Arimathaea, who, it says in John 19, when they had just crucified Jesus and railed upon Him; they mocked Him; they despised Him, the whole crowd just really mocked Him, and in front of that crowd was Joseph of Arimathaea. It says that for fear of the Jews that he went and begged for the body of Jesus. He took the body down and Nicodemus came and helped him and they wrapped that body so tenderly. They brought their own spices and buried Jesus in Joseph’s own grave. That was in front of everyone. That helped Joseph of Arimathaea to rise above, to walk on the wave. That was a boisterous raging wave at that time. It was just like he was declaring plainly, “If you want to crucify me with Jesus, do it.” He was saying, “This man is my friend; this man is my Saviour; He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” It says in another place that Joseph was like Nicodemus; he had a part in that prestigious council. This was the pinnacle of his career to sit on that council. It was a prestigious place in that country. There was no place higher. He knew from that day that he would never sit on that council again, “They will put me out; I will be excommunicated.” There at the foot of the cross, it was like those two men were born again; they were professing, “Jesus my Friend, my Saviour, and my Lord.” They had sat on the council together, but now they were soul brothers with the same conviction, the same vision and the same revelation, in front of them all. It didn’t matter now. How did they do it? That day, they saw perfect love. Like it says in I John 4, “There is no fear in love; perfect love casts out fear.” Looking up into the eyes of Jesus dying in their place, suffering and praying for their forgiveness, they saw perfect love. Then perfect love was begotten in their hearts and they became new men; they were no longer afraid of men; they were no longer disciples in secret, but openly manifesting their love for Jesus. It is the same thing that will help us, just to have a clear vision of Calvary, to see Jesus in perfect love. That will help us to walk the waves of fear.

The waves of loneliness: have you ever had a wave of loneliness when you feel so lonely? Maybe that is one thing that I can talk about, because I do know what that is. I can tell you what my most lonely day was. I was 24 years old; we were in French Guyana, South America, in a little town on the coast. My companion from Canada had just arrived and we were at the post office. I received a letter in my Dad’s handwriting. Dad never wrote; Mom always wrote. Then there was another letter and it, too, was in Dad’s writing. There were three letters, all in Dad’s writing. I opened a letter and it was not the first; it was the third. He is sitting in room 252 with Mom. I opened up the other letters and Mom had cancer; she was in the hospital and they had already done surgery and were starting radiation and chemotherapy. I went down to the sea and I sat on a rock and I looked over the ocean and I could point just like an arrow to this little town in the Midwest, to home. I knew what it was to have a wave of loneliness. Jesus said, “You will never be alone; you will have One walking with you.” Jesus will walk with you and He will hold your hand and you can walk on the waves.

I love the story that one of our fellow workers, who was in the Caribbean, told. She was from Haiti. She told us the story of her mother. Her mother was a young Puerto Rican and was going to New York City. She met her best friend there and they returned together to the island of Puerto Rico. They married young Puerto Rican men. They were worldly. They loved to dance. Those two girls each had a child. A Canadian teacher moved in right next door. They began having English studies with her and the children. Through her, they met the workers. They heard and loved the message. To begin with, their husbands were thrilled. For the first time in their married lives they saw their beautiful little married wives were happy and content. There was no longer the music and dancing, but they were happy. Then, as time progressed, the husbands saw that this means more than what they had thought, and there were feelings of jealousy. They felt threatened. They both gave an ultimatum: it is either meeting or me, but not both. The first girl wanted to save her marriage, but Sue’s mother said, “Wait a minute.” She thought and she prayed, and she asked God for words to help see her through. She waited for the right moment and when the right moment came, she just spoke to her husband and said to him, “Harold, you know that I love you, and you know that you are my only life and I am happy that you are the father of my children; but Harold, the day is coming when I must die, because everyone must die. If, on that day, you are sitting by my bed and you are holding my hand, at that moment you cannot go any further and I am afraid to go alone. I must have my Saviour with me; I cannot face that moment alone and for that reason, Harold, I choose my Saviour.” He said, “If it is that way, I won’t interfere any more.” Those children grew up in the Truth and Susan is now in the work, and her sister is a pillar on the island of Puerto Rico. There comes a moment when you cannot afford to be alone. We must have our Saviour with us.

We have a sister on the island of Guadeloupe. When she and her husband professed, they said they loved this truth, but she progressed so fast, we wondered if God had something special in mind for her. Sure enough, just two years after that, she was diagnosed with cancer and she was slipping away. Her husband was at her bedside along with the sister worker. This was two o’clock in the morning, and she wanted them to sing hymns and she sang with them. They chose a hymn and sang the first two verses and then her soul slipped away. They sang the other two verses, at her side. Then they sang two more. But you know, the angels in heaven sang the last two verses with her. You will never be alone. We heard about Lazarus. It says that when he died, the angels came and took him to the bosom of Abraham. You will never be alone. The veil of the temple had cherubims woven into the cloth. When something is woven into the cloth, it can be seen from both sides. There is a being; there is a power; there is a help for the present and it can be seen from both sides. The angels of heaven are on this side of the veil and on the other side is eternity. On the other side is an everlasting home, and if we are with Him, just remember, you will never be alone. The angels came and bore her away, singing the last two verses with her.

There is another wave and that could be like passion. Have you ever known a wave of passion? If you haven’t, then you are not alive. In this our day, never before have men and women been given so much to that. For that reason, there is so much sorrow and sadness in this whole world and how will you rise above that? How will you walk? It is when there is something stronger burning within. Passion is just like a match; it flames up and it dies. It is so sad when people confuse passion with love. There is something that burns strong and it burns long, and that is true love. It can burn for a lifetime; it becomes deeper and warmer. When I am home on the home visit with my parents who are 70 and 75, I sit with them and we don’t have to say a thing. I see them facing the setting sun, and I see what is between them. It comes from years of walking with Jesus. It is so beautiful. There is a love that is so true, so deep, so warm, and so beautiful. Do you realize that this is because a threefold cord is not easily broken…a man and wife, and Jesus is walking with them through life. It is like those two who were walking to Emmaus in Luke 24. Jesus came and walked with them. If you are free and not married yet, choose wisely the one you will spend your life with so that there will be conversations like that one in Luke 24. In the concerns of life, ask Jesus to walk with you. When you walk together like that, your heart burns within you; that is what they said. Then your vision becomes clear. They took Jesus back with them. It is like Garrett Hughes once said, “Jesus will be in everything if you take Him there.”

Sometimes people see us, as workers, and they say, “What do you know about love?” Well, that’s probably true; we don’t know anything. Down in Haiti, when we go to gospel meetings, they see us coming together, two men. Of course, we have opposition from those that are against us, and they say, “These men do not believe in marriage.” Sometimes, in our first meetings, we have to clarify that. We speak about Isaac and Rebecca’s marriage and how beautiful marriage is. I mention my grandparents who have been married for 70 years, and they still like each other. One girl said loud enough so that others could hear, “If marriage is so beautiful, why aren’t you married?” Sometimes they ask us that, and well, we can tell them we are too ugly or somebody else asked before I did, and all of those things. You know why, and it’s like we tell them also: it is because there is something more important than my satisfaction in my life. It is more important that your soul be saved, and, for that reason, there are men and women that are waiting to give their life away. They are willing to lose their life so that we can find life. They are willing to forget themselves so that you could be remembered on eternity’s morning. They are willing to give away their one life so that you can find life in Jesus. For that reason, God gives power to do what man says is impossible, and that is to rise above it.

There is a little poem, and I can’t quote poems, but this one has meant something to me over the years. It says:

It takes great love to move the human heart

To live beyond the others, and depart.

Love that is not shallow, it is not small,

It is not for one or two, but for them all.

Love that can wound love, though the heart may bleed,

Love that can leave love for a higher need.

Love that can lose love, family and friend,

Yet steadfastly living, loving to the end.

Jesus said that no greater love hath any man than this that a man lay down his life for his friend. There is a love that is more powerful than the strongest wave. Walk with Jesus and He will walk with you. For everything that this world can offer, there is something better, and that is eternal life.

There are other waves that you could think of, but I just hope that God will help us that we could grasp His hand and that we could walk the waves whenever they come and however they come.

There is something worse, and that is a double wave. There was a prisoner on an island, Devil’s Island they call it. He was a prisoner for life. He sat on a bench and was watching the waves. Several times he had tried to escape. Once, his friend was crushed. They were on a little raft and the waves threw them back against the rocks. He noticed something…that every seventh wave was stronger and more powerful in its rebound. Do you know what could happen? Two waves can hit you at the same time…a wave of popularity and a wave of pride. Poor Saul was put under by a wave of popularity and a wave of pride. What can you do? You can hate your pride. There is nothing that has humiliated me more than my own pride. Just hate it, and when you see the pure humility in Jesus and the ugliness of pride, rise above it; just walk on it, conquer it. God will help us to the journey’s end as we walk hand in hand together with Jesus our Lord.

John 14:31, “But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.” We heard today that these chapters in John 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17, were a meeting, a special meeting. You will notice that in this verse Jesus said, “Arise, let us go hence.” We have come to that part of the meeting where we have to arise and go hence. You might question why didn’t that meeting go on? That meeting did go on for three more chapters. I really don’t know why Jesus interjected that there. Maybe John in writing became confused. Sometimes when we stand up here speaking, we may say the right thing in the wrong place. But anyway, it says, “Let us arise and go hence.” I know that you folks are anxious to go home so I hope that I wind down and don’t go for three more chapters. This chapter is so beautiful, look what Jesus was saying, “But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do.” That is Jesus speaking, He is saying that the world, not the friends or the disciples, may know that I love God, that I love the Father. I keep His commandments. Whatever He says to Me, I do them. “Arise, let us go hence.” As we arise to go hence, we have something that the world may know that we love God. We have something to do.

Did you ever have somebody say to you that you have something to prove? Well, we do have something to prove. We have to prove that we love the Father. Jesus was not so conceited that He just left it, believe it or not, like it or not, that I am a child of God. He said “that the world may know” and He arose to prove it. He arose to do the commandment of God.

I know that you folks are faced with a wind of doctrine that is blowing across the entire face of the earth. This wind is subtle and well taught. It teaches you that all you have to do is believe, just believe and you are saved. Just believe and you are a child of God. There is a truth in that statement, but through mental gymnastics you are led to believe that there is nothing more. And you are led to believe with a very elevated, proud line of thought that, like it or not, I am a child of God.

I want to give you a verse that you can underline that as that wind blows in your direction this year, just remember this one verse. John 10: 37, and this again is the words of Jesus, “If I do not the works of my Father, believe Me not.” Simply just one sentence, “If I don’t do the works of God, don’t believe Me.” There are works and if we don’t do them, He said of Himself, the Son of God, don’t believe Me.

Now, we are arising and we have something to prove, by our life, by our words, by our spirit, every day. And not just to those in the meeting, who they believe without a doubt that, yes, you are a child of God. Our responsibility now lies to the darkness of this world as a light, just shining, that we might prove that yes, I am a child of God, every day.

The next verse in John 10 continues with that, “But if I do, though ye believe not Me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” Back in John 14: 27, Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” I love that. We have already heard that we can go out in peace, but just don’t be afraid.

I know what it was like to leave convention both as a saint and as a worker. I know what that is like and you can be afraid. It is so wonderful to be together. I can remember very well leaving convention and on Monday morning back in the halls of school. The same music, the same conversation, the same immodesty, the same perfumes, the same everything. I remember being in class, and the teacher was talking but my mind was back in convention. My friends, there was a purity, there was a cleanness, there was a vision, and I longed for that.

What had charmed me before I went to convention, what had bound me, the charm was broken. I remember leaving convention and I was afraid, afraid I would fall back into the same thing, the same weaknesses. Just remember, my friends, and that hymn that we sang, “He waits for thee.” Tomorrow in school, in the halls, and in the classroom Jesus is waiting for you. He will sit beside you, as He sat and waited for the woman at the well in Samaria. That was not by chance. Jesus knew that she would be coming. He was waiting for noon and when she came, He talked to her, and tomorrow He will talk to you in your heart, because He talked to me. He brought back things that I heard in the convention.

The professor was talking about physics and all of that and I was remembering things that were said in convention – it warmed my heart. Jesus was there waiting for me. I can remember thinking that if only I were more like my classmates, I would be nearer to them and I could be more of a help to them. Remember that in these last four years of high school, they go by like a dream. Freshman year is a little slow because you are the little guy. Sophomore year is a little better. Junior year you are starting to spread your wings. Your senior year just goes by like a dream, it is gone, it is gone for good. Remember that you only have one chance to be a light for ever to those children that you are with. They will soon forget the nice clothes, your writing style, all of that will be forgotten. The things you had to say, the little things with double meanings, and all of that, they will not remember. But they will remember if you are different. You only have one chance to be different, to stand out. Just hold to it. Whenever and whatever; modesty, honesty, spirituality, and stability, you are given one chance to display in a lifetime.

When I leave these grounds I return to Iowa. Some of my classmates, we were 55 together, for 15 years, so we were like brothers and sisters. I have never been back for a class reunion. They have heard that I am home and they are phoning and they are planning that we will all be together. This will be the first time and I don’t know what I will say, but I know what I want to be. It is what we want to be like now. If only our life could touch a life. Once in a lifetime chance to be different. And I love that when we see God’s children leaving convention with a good spirit. Just like Moses when he was on the mountain with God, because he was alone with Him, His presence was so sweet, and he was far above everything. That is like the Convention mountain top, apart from the world, hearing His tender voice and seeing things that we can only see on the mountaintop.

I have seen God’s children leaving convention shining. God’s children have a shine because it is the shine of resistance. Resisting the world, temptation, the call of the flesh, resisting, shining, and being different. That puts you as a mark. Like Job said, “You become the target for a marksman with a bow and arrow.” He did not understand why but God understood why. It was because he served God with all of his heart and he esteemed God’s word more than his necessary food. That made him the bull’s-eye, and you are too because of what we are doing, our purpose will be noticed and will be remarked, because God’s children are remarkable.

I think of a story that my sister-in-law told me. She had an auntie and that auntie was a beautiful young girl, she was in the university studying and, in the same university where she was studying, there was a young man. His eyes fell on her. He happened to be the sole heir and unique inheritor of the Fuller Brush Company. This boy was a multi-multi-millionaire. The only son, and his eyes fell on her. She was a professing girl who loved the truth. He talked to her and those little visits became warm. There was just a common goal and mutual feeling and that became love. The day came when he proposed to her and she accepted. After they were married for a while, she realized the wealth of this man. He had everything at his fingertips. There was just nothing that could not be his and she lost her sense of security.

On Sunday mornings, she decided that she did not want to leave him. So she stayed home. Wednesday nights, she did not want to leave him so she stayed home. And she began to worry that maybe his eyes would fall on another. So she began to make herself attractive so that his eyes would be on her. She left everything that she ever knew in Christ. But as life went along, the emptiness of it, the hopelessness of it, the reality of it, began to sink in, and her poor heart was just melting away. She was afraid, she did not want to lose him, but she wanted for her soul, Christ. She wanted salvation and she wanted her family in Christ. She prayed and she prayed and she was so afraid, she did not want to lose him, but she wanted for her soul, Christ. She wanted salvation. She prayed that she could return to the fold. She thought and she prayed and she asked God for wisdom and the words.

One evening when it seemed just right, she made his favorite meal, she set candles on the table, then afterwards in the quietness of the room, she said to him, “Honey, I have something to say to you tonight.” She did not know if the hammer would fall, if this would just be the end, but she had to say it. She said to him, “I must go back to meeting, I must seek my God. I can’t live like this anymore. I want to profess again, I want to serve God, I want to walk with Jesus to save my soul.” He just said to her, “You could not tell me anything that would make me feel more pleased. When we were in the university, you were the only one. That is why I saw you, I loved your purity, I loved your simplicity, I admired your modesty. I was drawn to it, I loved it. But you have lost all of it. If you could find it again you would make me the happiest man in the world.”

Do you understand what we have? Sometimes we don’t realize that we, as professing people, have something that you will not find anywhere else in this world. You will find religion on every corner and every creed and every manner. What we have is unique, because the Spirit of God is never divided, it is One and only One. For that reason it might just encourage us as we face this world that Jesus said, “Just don’t be afraid.” Every good and perfect gift is just waiting for those that love Christ and who are called according to His purpose.

We are moving backwards through this chapter. Let’s go back to verse one that says, “Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, you will be also.” Jesus is saying, “I go to prepare a place for you,” and He said, “If it weren’t so, I would have told you.” I am so glad that it is that way in Christ. “If it weren’t so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place and if it weren’t so I would have told you.”

There are so many things in this world that simply are not so. They are not true, it is not that way. They will let you walk, they will let you run, they will let you work, they will let you dream, they will let you hope every day, and it is not that. You are running after it and never grasp it. It is not yours. It is not so, but in Jesus, it is not that way. He said, “I am going to prepare a place for you and if it were not so, I would have told you.” It is up front, every promise in Christ.

I can think of my friends down in Haiti, if I could just charter a 747 and just go down and get them all and bring them home. But if I told them that it is not so, it can’t be. Mom and dad have a nice home, but there is not room for everybody. Jesus said He was going to prepare a place and He would come back for us and it is true. He is waiting for us. In this 14th chapter of John, He says that every child needs a home. In chapter 10 it tells us what every sheep needs. A sheep needs a fold and a child needs a home. He is just assuring us, “You walk with me and we will go home.” We believe that: we are on the way home.

Where is home? It is not something that He is going to build out of concrete and beams. No, it is 100% spiritual, it is all spiritual. It is beyond what we can understand. He is going to prepare a place in the heart of God. I might give you this example. When my two older brothers, John and Fred, were still at home, and when they came to a certain age they were at convention they met these two lovely young maidens. They would come home and tell us about Linda and JoAnne. At the table at breakfast, we heard about Linda and JoAnne. At dinner, we heard about Linda and JoAnne. At supper, we heard about Linda and JoAnne. The day came when those girls entered into our home and, when they entered, there was love waiting. There was a place waiting, the boys had prepared a place, and what they had been telling about their virtue, about their goodness, had preceded them.

That is what Jesus is doing. He has gone ahead and He is interceding, He is pleading, He is preparing a place in the heart of God for you and for me. I liked Linda so much, I was only 16, that when it came time for marriage, I just told her that when the judge says, “Do you take this man as your lawful wedded husband?”, I am going to stand up and say, “We do.” I can’t tell you the way she looked at me that day, but anyway.

Jesus has gone ahead of us. In Hebrews it tells us He is the forerunner and has entered into the presence of God for us. I have seen this in Haiti. We are climbing up in the mountains, we are coming, we are sweating, we are tired, we are resting, we are going, we are arriving, but oftentimes on the trail we meet the little children. They have a bucket on their head and they are going down to the spring for water. They meet us and they are so happy to see us. They are timid little children and they love us. When we ask them how they are, they have this little greeting for us, “Wee paki maui,” which means, “I am fine.” They are so tender and they forget that they are going to the spring, they just turn and run home.

By the time that we get there, there are coconuts off of the tree and a refreshing coconut drink. There is water in the basin to wash our hands, to wash our face. They run ahead and say, “The workers are coming, the workers are coming.” Jesus has gone ahead, He is the forerunner, and He is saying to His Father, “They are coming home, they are coming home.” They are preparing a place and I think that that is so beautiful, what we have in Jesus. Later in these verses He is teaching and He says, “My Father and I will come and make Our abode with you.” Why did Jesus say, “My Father and I will come and make Our abode with you” when He had already said, “I am going home to make room for you at home?” So why is it changed now saying, “We will come and make our abode with you?”

Have you ever seen two little boys and they are best friends, one is a very rich boy and he lives in a palace with gardens and fountains, he has everything. He is best friends with a little poor boy who lives in a mud hut with a thatched roof. So what do they say, “Today we will stay at your house, and tomorrow we will go to my house.” So today Jesus and His Father will stay with us in this body, the mud hut with dirt floor and a thatched roof. He loves the fellowship with our spirit and He has promised, “My Father and I will come and make Our abode with you and will dwell with you.” Then, one day, we will go to His house.

When I was a child, we loved the workers. My parents had moved to a large home on a hill and they had left their honeymoon cottage. No one any longer lived in that cottage. My father was a busy man so the honeymoon cottage had fallen into disrepair, then it became our house when we were little boys. So, we played in our house. It had mice in the house. One day we decided that we were going to invite the sisters to our house. We filled a little drum with water and we rolled it down the hill and pushed it up into the house. We pulled the stopper out of the drum and the water flowed over the floor. That was our cleaning. When ma wasn’t watching we snitched some cookies and my brother made some lemonade. Then we invited the workers. And I suppose the sisters were watching all of this, you know, they have eyes where we don’t have eyes. So they came down there, they left my parents’ comfortable home. They came to our little home.

There is a lesson in that. They saw the effort. It is not like God and His Son just go to dwell in any home. There must be an effort. We are proving something. We have opportunity, time, and chance happens to all. It happens again and again. We have opportunity to talk to God, we love Him. And one way that we can prove to God that we love Him is to clean house in our hearts, making an effort in this world full of iniquity so that our eyes are not fed on those things. I don’t understand how anyone serving God can make an idol out of a sports star, or a movie star. I cannot understand it when Christ is all in all. I don’t know how you could put their image on your wall.

This temple must be sanctified. The world worships as it worships. May God help us that our love is a consuming love for the Son of God and that our house will be clean. This is for Him alone and that there would be food there. The food would be like bread, good, healthy thoughts, a right desire in our hearts. May God help us that it might be so. He is our guest. Jesus said, “We will come and make your heart Our abode.” That just means, “We will live with you.” That does not mean, “Come and go,” but “We will stay until that day that We walk together to the other side.”

In chapter 10, we see about the home for the sheep. He said, “Other sheep I have that are not of this fold, them I must seek.” There will be one shepherd and one fold. This year we must seek those sheep. That is one way that we can prove that we love God, by seeking the sheep. Keeping that in mind, He said, “My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me.” That is clear, He knows who we are. We do not have to bat our wings and say so, because He knows who we are. “My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me.” It is not too difficult for a shepherd to look over his shoulder and he sees the sheep following him. If we follow Jesus that means that we are not following the world. May God help us to keep our eyes on Him as we rise to follow.

It was my privilege to be in Albania for a few days with another brother worker, on a mission. We traveled across Albania in the wintertime. There was snow on the ground but there were little patches of green grass. There in those little patches of green grass were little groups of sheep, 10, 12, 15, 17 in each little group. And with each little group was a shepherd. The shepherd was standing there. All day long we passed by these little groups. Can you imagine a shepherd standing with a little group of sheep all day long? Where did he sleep? I don’t know. Did he sleep with the sheep? I don’t know. Can you imagine a shepherd giving his life for 10 sheep? Do you realize that there are shepherds giving their lives for 10 sheep? Can you imagine the joy and pleasure of those little sheep every time they would raise their eyes and realize, he is with us? He is not abandoning us. He is not paid, who would pay a shepherd for 10 sheep? It is so beautiful.

When I saw that, I asked God to always help me to be a shepherd over a little flock and stay with them through thick and thin. A shepherd is not much more than a sheep but he can see a little further and he can lead to green pastures. Like God’s servants, they have the heart of a sheep. I love a little story that I heard. There was a terrible storm and the sheep would have perished, but the shepherd called them and they gathered around him and he lay down in their midst through the night with the wind howling and blowing. The sheep stayed close because he kept calling them and in the morning the sheep were saved, because of the faithful calm call of the shepherd and the shepherd was saved because of the warmth of the sheep. That is the way that it is. I love to think about sheep and there are so many things that you can think about sheep.

I am going to tell you just one more little story about sheep. This is a story that maybe I am the only one who can tell it because it is about my little niece. She was John and Linda’s first child. She is the first grandchild in our family. She was named after her mother, Linda Jean. Her name was Sarah Jean. A little redheaded girl. She grew up on the farm with her parents and her grandparents, my parents, nearby, and my brothers. Anyway, Sarah grew and she loved to play the piano. She loved to run and play. She had a little friend who was born in the city, her name was Susie. Susie had fire engine red hair. Those two little girls, best friends, were the same age. After every gospel meeting they would run to find each other to talk. Susie, the little city girl, would touch Sarah, the little farm girl and say, “Pretty baby.”

When they were about 10 years old, there were sister workers working in their field, and they would talk to them. Then they talked together and said, “One day we will go in the work and we will be companions.” They nurtured that dream every time they were together. They saw that the workers were learning sign language because there was a deaf lady attending the meetings.

They got books, and they were learning sign language, so that they could be sister workers one day. Then one morning Linda noticed that Sarah’s little left hand was not coordinating when she was playing the piano. When she ran with her brothers, Jack, Pat, and Mike, (we came from Ireland 400 years ago), her left foot was just turning and twisting. She was worried. She complained about headaches. They took her to their family doctor and he said, “Tomorrow we need to go to see a specialist.” The specialist said, “Tomorrow we need to put her in the Children’s Hospital in Omaha.”

That day all of the family gathered around her. They had her on a little rolling bed. Before they took her away for a CAT scan, with the doctor and nurses standing by, she asked, “Can you sing number seven for me?” As they sang number seven, she screamed and held her head. The doctor and nurses were saying, “Explain to us, explain to us,” as they took her away. What they did not know was that she had a tumor on her brain stem and at that very moment the tumor hemorrhaged. They kept her through the night on ice to keep her life. The doctors told John and Linda that it would be better if she died because she would only be a vegetable if she lived.

They tried to call me in Haiti; I found the message a day later. As the time went on, she lived, one day, two days, three days. She hung between life and death. Eventually she was able to come back to her room with all of these apparatus attached to her body. No one thought that she knew anything. My sister, who is in the work, came home and she had been trained to never underestimate. She sat at her side and talked to her about Sadie this and Sadie that. One day the nurse noticed something and said, “That little girl is signing.” With her left hand which had a nervous twinge, she was spelling words. Her intelligence was entirely intact, but she was paralyzed. John and Linda said, “At noon, we will go down and get a book.” Sarah signed to the nurse, “Tell them, go right now.” So they went and they learned that.

They brought it back and she understood everything perfectly and she would answer with her fingers spelling. She had told her mother that she wanted to profess at Malcolm, but she was in the hospital that day. The workers came by her room and she professed in her hospital room. She was able to come home and she had a little wheelchair with a motor on it and she chased her brothers. She eventually got so she could walk on crutches and she caught up with her class in school. Her face was badly distorted, paralyzed on one side. In the morning she would say, “Mom, I have been thinking of a verse, find it for me, I have been thinking of this hymn,” and that is the way she lived. The day came when little Jack, who was born prematurely, had a speech impediment so bad that sometimes his parents could not understand him. The only person who understood him sometimes was Sarah. She was his best friend and his interpreter in everything. He also was red-headed.

The day came when they noticed something changing. They went back to the hospital and the doctors gave a report, “Yes, the tumor is growing again and there is just no hope.” Sarah went home and she wanted to tell Jack. She sat on my father’s lap with Jack and she told Jack what was going to happen. She rubbed his head and he was crying and she said to him, “Jack it is okay, God loves us so much that He knows every hair in your head.” She told her mother, “I am not afraid to die, but I know you are going to miss me.”

She told her parents what she had heard in meeting at one time. There are two important days in life, the first day is when we are like a little canoe crossing a river and Jesus gets into the canoe with us, and the second important day is when we arrive at the other side and we step out of the canoe together, leaving it behind and go on together. The day came when my sister at home was holding her hand as she sat on my brother’s lap, her mother holding her other hand, her mouth opened and her eyes looked upward, she smiled, and she died. This was six months after she had hemorrhaged.

Before she died, when she was in meeting and had her part, she would write her testimony on little yellow stickums. She would have John read her testimony. When she passed away, Linda gave me some of her things. One of them was one of her little testimonies written in her shaky hand. It said, “I love the shepherd and I love the sheep and I want to be a good sheep, this is my testimony.” It is the best thing we can do once we leave convention to have this written on our hearts.

The story doesn’t end there, little Sarah was laid away but from heaven her life and her testimony have been like a beacon. That little meeting has grown and little Susie is in the work. She has had several years in the work now, a lovely Sister worker. Her brother, Jack, is finishing his fourth year in the work now and her little brother, Mike, is finishing his first year in the work. Her cousin, Dirk, is finishing his first year in the work. There are other young people that have been influenced, some married and well-married and kingdom-minded, others following on. In Christ there is no loss, it is all gain. God has a perfect, perfect plan. Whatever the year holds for you, remember He is waiting there for you and it will only be a blessing as long as we keep that in our hearts, I shall prove, no matter what it costs, that I am a child of God.

I was thinking of this convention coming to an end. I might say something that I spoke in the last place, people said they appreciated it and I know some of you will hear some of it again. Convention comes to an end sooner than we expect. The Philistines come up and robbed the threshing floor. It is sad to think when the seed was sown and the very time it might be brought into bread, the Philistines came. We realise that the enemy is going to try and rob the threshing floor, with all the effort that has been put into the meetings here we want to be aware that the threshing floor could be robbed. The convention is not over at the end of convention.

We have to live up to our own testimony and that is why it is very essential to have a testimony and strive to live up to it and it would be good when we come here next year, if we could say we have fulfilled our own testimony. We would be progressing in God’s way if that could be accomplished.

It says in the days of Gideon that the Amalekites came up after the Israelites had sown. The Israelites had sown, but they were not able to reap. Convention has been sown, so to speak, but the enemy wants to keep us from reaping. The Philistines speak of wandering and the Amorites of self. These are the foes that would stop the harvest.

Gideon went forth and overcame the enemy and remembers those people came and it said they chided with them because they hadn’t taken them to the fight or the war, or the battle and they chided with him. It was alright for them to want to reap the fruit of the victory, but they would have wanted to go to fight. We know how the army was cut down to a small amount, to men just able to show forth God’s power and greatness and they had been able to overcome the enemy. When they chided with them, remember what did he say? “What have I done in comparison to you?” He disarmed them with the right spirit. That power is within us, too. We can aggravate the wrong spirit in others, but we can also disarm the wrong spirit in others. That is the power that lies with us too. That power of disarmament.

I thought, too, of the wells Abraham dug. They were filled in with rubble. The Philistines came and filled them in with rubble. They stopped the flow of water that had sustained life and filled them with rubble and Isaac had to dig them again. I thought, too, of the disciples in the days of Jesus meant everything to Him, but we owe a lot to the first disciples who stepped out of Judaism to follow Jesus in a new and living way. Because of them, we can sit together today in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

My mind went to Willie Hulme who went from Ireland to England to the Catholic Convention that lasted for a week and he went there seeking for truth and reality and he heard a lot of preaching but he didn’t have anything for his spirit, his heart. He went out into the field and lay prostrate on the field and all that would come to him was the story of Elisha and Elijah. He said to himself, “Do I have to sell my farm?” The answer was, “Yes,” he would have to sell his farm. Then he went back to Ireland. I do not know how long that took, but he went back and eventually sold his farm. He was what we called in those times, a gentleman farmer. He had ridden horses. He rode with the hounds. I am not trying to say that the farmers in New Zealand are not gentleman farmers, but he was what we called a gentleman farmer and church worker was there, too. He worked in Dublin and he went up north and he preached in the church, probably the Methodist Church, a young man and everyone was congratulating him, but he said to himself, “This is not it.”

I know somehow or another, he heard of Willie Gill going to sell his farm and he went to see him. These men were searching for truth and did not give up until it was revealed to them. I remember Willie Gill sitting on a platform between two old workers. I think their ages would have added up to 250 years or more and Alex Gilken was there at that time after preaching many years in Canada. He sat on the platform and they put a chair in front of him. He had to hold on to the chair as he spoke. We think of their labour of love. He was quite outspoken. One time, he was preaching about the first days and first convention and Willie Gill suggested he meet the people, whoever came to convention and he said someone should be appointed and they said, “Don’t appoint Alex Gilken; he wasn’t a man to meet people.”

Willie went to England to preach and he spent time in England and he was beaten and someone picked him up and took him home and that man eventually decided. Wilson Reid told me of some of those at the early conventions. Afterwards, the meetings were open for questions. Some questions were not so sensible, but there were two other questions asked and answered. Sometime in the convention, it was tested for workers to go to certain countries and then it was tested for anyone who would go anywhere. Wilson Reid stood up and said he was willing to go anywhere and he eventually went to South Africa. They were the first to go there. They went from this convention. They started open air meetings. I do not think they were wonderful singers, but this man came and stood by them and helped them to sing. Each day going home from work, he seemed to be there at most of those meetings. He was a Dutch man and was married to a colored lady. He told his wife, “These men have something that you desire.” He wanted to bring them home, but she didn’t want to see them because they were English speaking and you know the story that Britain had won the Boer War so those people didn’t have a very good attitude. Eventually, he brought them home for a meal and that lady decided, the first lady to decide in South Africa. Her husband didn’t decide until 12 years after that. He even said to the workers, “Why don’t you take this message to Holland?” The message went to South Africa before it went to Holland. Eventually they got workers to go from South Africa to Holland with the gospel.

I want to tell you about John Stone. John was home on a visit and we were asked to accompany him to Scotland and John was a stern looking man, a nicer man you couldn’t be with and we had wonderful fellowship and he told us about a time when he left Ireland. There was a convention in a city and one night at the end of the convention, 35 of them walked all the way to the docks. It was about three miles perhaps, they sang hymns all the way and they went over to England then they left for other countries. John went to Canada and the States and he spent the rest of his life in Eastern Canada. They were so willing to go and so young to give their lives. We are glad for that spirit.

There was a man in Ireland and two sister workers went to him. I think they were looking for an opening. They met his wife and she said to them, “You will have to talk to my husband. He is only in the field.” They went to the field and do you know what he did? He greeted them before anything else was said. He said, “I am just waiting for you to come.” The outcome of their coming there was that three of his children went into the work and three died in the work. There seemed to be a great feeling of need and a great desire for reality and a great desire for truth and such people have left you and me a great legacy. No greater legacy could we receive than the legacy of truth.

At special meetings last year, a religious man who had been coming to meetings came. I thought he had been brought by some of the friends. He is associated with the friends and he came to afternoon and gospel meetings and he seems to be satisfied with what he has. He gave a testimony and it wasn’t out of place. He looked at the row of workers at the front of the hall and he said, “You people are richer than Bill Gates.” You see, we have received a great legacy. Sometimes, we do not fully value what we have amongst ourselves.

Willie Gill said, “People can learn things very quickly today.” It took us a lifetime to understand things, but today, you can understand things much more quickly. It meant a great deal for them to come out of gross darkness and we appreciated that struggle and we wouldn’t want to forget the struggle and we want to appreciate the legacy that has been left to us.

I was thinking again of Abraham remembering again what God said to him. Now the Lord had said unto Abram, “Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father’s house unto a land that I will shew thee. And I will make of thee a great nation and I will bless thee and make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee and in thee, shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

That is how it started in faith. Abraham had come from Ur of the Chaldees, which was an advanced city of that day. He looked for something better and he found it by faith. He was willing to lose in order to gain. I have been told he was 400 years in Egypt. God said, “I will judge that land and they shall give forth substance.” That is what took place and He brought the Children of Israel out of it. He is going to judge this world again and He is going to bring forth His children with great substance.

There are certain things happening in the world that we do not like to see happening, but perhaps we should not condemn it too much because the Lord reigneth. It would be wonderful if we would have confidence that the Lord reigneth, that He is working out His plan and purpose and as we have heard in this meeting already, Christ is coming again and we want to keep that before us and we do not want to get over pressured with what is going to happen in this old world.

Moses went to gather the Children of Israel. He seemed to have a premonition that he would deliver the Children of Israel when he slew the Egyptian. He didn’t want to go by himself and Aaron went with him. They went with the message of deliverance, “Let my people go, that they may serve Me.” Pharaoh didn’t want to let them go, even after the plagues. I used to wonder why God had to send the plagues. Perhaps, He wanted to show forth His greatness and fear. Eventually Pharaoh realized those people were going to worship. They wanted to go through this journey and he realised there could be no worship without segregation. Pharaoh didn’t want to let them go. He wanted them to divide up and let the men folk go and let the others remain. He wanted to divide their factions. Remember when Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters.” We do not want our affections to be divided. We set our affections on things above. We know that brought about the feast of the Passover.

Life is a pathway between two eternities. Our standard of living is very much influenced by all that has preceded, but many people do not realise it. People in the world do not realise that life is meant to have an influence in eternity. It influences all that follows, therefore we want to be fully influenced by the one who has preceded us, the Lord Jesus Christ. We want to keep under the influence realising that this is going to have an important influence on eternity.

The lamb was killed on the tenth and eaten on the fourteenth. They were to partake of the head, the legs, and the pertinence thereof, and to sprinkle the blood on the doorposts. They were people who believed in the sacrifice of Jesus and they appreciated the sacrifice of Jesus, but they didn’t appreciate His life. They appreciated the thought of the shedding blood and fragrance. But that blood is only made effective if we put it in the house and partake of the whole lamb and that is our responsibility. That is what these people were told to do. You can think of the perfect fellowship they would have had. The Death Angel wasn’t to harm them and they would look at the lamb and there would be perfect harmony and fellowship as they thought of that death angel coming. They were to partake of the head, legs, and pertinence thereof. The head speaks of the mind. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. It is not a matter of taking the mind of the servants. He came to serve in humility and that is our responsibility, to serve one another. To serve in humility and to serve one another, it would speak of being a right example, to follow His lead. Thy bleeding feet, Lord Jesus, I will follow! To think of His willingness to sacrifice and we have that perfect example to follow.

The inwards would speak of the spirit that went forth that was manifested. He said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” That was His attitude. Instead of challenging them, Jesus went through it all. He said, “Father, forgive them.” It is wonderful to have the spirit of forgiveness.

I have told this story, too, about one of the visiting sisters last year at our convention. She spoke about her and her cousin visiting her grandparents. One day, they had done something naughty and they had to sit on the bench and not get off until they said they were sorry and ask for forgiveness. She was very stubborn. She and her grandfather were good friends, probably bosom pals. Probably, her grandfather adored her. Her cousin got off the bench very quickly. She said to herself, “My grandfather, he will get me off.” He passed by and gave her a glance and quickly she got up and said, “I am sorry.” She wasn’t going to be separated from her grandfather so she quickly said she was sorry and asked for forgiveness. We do not want to be separated from our Father. Jesus came to bring us back to the Father. It is imperative that we have that spirit of forgiveness because we do not want to be separated from the Father. This is what we get from the lamb.

Exodus, the lamb was offered morning and evening. That is a good thing when we consider the lamb. If we consider the lamb in the morning, it is going to influence our thoughts, our words, our minds the whole day because things are going to happen through the day, even in the workplace that are not very nice and pleasant. It is nice when we are influenced by the lamb. “Behold the Lamb of God, It taketh away the sins of the world.” It is nice when we get that first thing in the morning. Just beholding the lamb and it will help us to get through the day. It is nice if we can behold the lamb in the evening. If things have not gone as we wanted them to go, we can ask God to put things right. Things we have said, we should not have done, things said on the spur of the moment and we can make our peace.

It says in the Psalms, there are set thrones of judgement. The lamb can bring judgement to us. It is not condemnation. Judgement will show us where we have gone wrong and what we need to do. Sometimes, when you are driving in a car and the windscreen is very clean and everything is in order, but if you are driving towards the sun, the windshield is not as clean as it seemed it was. It was only revealed because you turned towards the sun. As we come to convention and turn towards the sun, it will reveal things that were not noticeable before. Judgement will show us things that are hidden.

Psalm 119, they can face judgement. The judgement of God is the kindness of God through His judgements. This wonderful God is not out to condemn any man. That leaves us with the same spirit, that we should have the same spirit. We do not want to condemn anyone.

It also caused me to go again to Jacob. The Lord has redeemed and reinstated Jacob from the thing within him that is stronger than he. We feel that, don’t we? We have a part to contend with that is stronger than we. He redeemed Jacob from the power that was stronger than he.

The covering Adam and Eve provided for their sin wasn’t perfect–it couldn’t cover their shame of consciousness of sin. Fig leaves look like a good covering but there was no comfort in them.

Psalms 92. We need to give thanks to God every morning. Verse 12-“the righteous shall flourish like a palm tree.” (It grows upright and is always green) and a cedar tree (very fragrant).

On the Mt. Of Transfiguration: Moses represents all God’s people who died in Christ; Elijah represents all God’s people who will be living when Christ returns (Elijah never died–he was caught up). Moses represents the old law; Elijah represents the prophets–they disappeared and the disciples saw Jesus only. The New Testament ministry teaches Jesus only.

A city in northern Europe wanted to show their people what the tropics were like. They researched, planned and planted a tropical garden. They had the heat and the water. They had a man at the door to make sure that the door to the outside was closed. They brought in the plants, but soon they were dying. After some research they realized that every time the door opened, there was a blast of cold air that came in and it affected the conditions in the garden. So, they built a corridor with another door at the end and another man who would guard that door to make sure it was kept closed. The garden thrived and soon they were able to allow visitors to see it. We are in this cold, evil, dark world, but are expected to display fruit that belongs to another climate–heavenly. We can do it if we take care of three essential things: 1) keep a constant supply of fresh water, 2) Have a warm heart and 3) keep separated, that is, keep the outside, outside and the inside, inside. If the outside gets in, we won’t have fruit to display. Some in the Bible lived in worse circumstances, but produced fruit. Joseph in Egypt, Daniel in Babylon, Jesus in Nazareth–they leave us all without excuse.

David had three important connections in his life: connection with heaven and nothing hindered him form praying, connection with the word of God that gave him understanding and enlightenment, and he kept separated from what was around him.

God is still performing miracles. Just because we don’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t happening. Are we too busy or too hopeless or our heart too hard to see them in others or in ourselves?

In families there are misunderstandings, mistakes, faults and failures. Don’t let these little things destroy fellowship.

Jesus spoke about the first being last and the last first. Matthew 19 the rich young ruler–he was a Jewish minister and was told, to be right, he had to give away all that he had. Peter asked about those that had left all. People looking at the disciples would have thought that they would have great reward because of all they left. Jesus corrected human thinking and attitude. No one in God’s kingdom is at a disadvantage. Those who leave the poorest circumstances have opportunity to be first. God bases reward on faithfulness. Matthew 20 The parable of the vineyard–All were called into the vineyard to labor. Human reasoning is that the longer one labors the more they should receive. Our reward will have nothing to do with the length of time we serve Him. Those with the least time have equal opportunity. Luke 21 the widow cast in more than they all. God doesn’t look at what is given, but what it cost. The poorest soul in the land has equal opportunity with the richest. People with money have an advantage in this world, but not before God. Luke 2:29-30 Jesus a light to the Gentiles and the Jews. Nationality has no advantage with God. Our reward will depend upon our fruitfulness not how much we leave behind, not how long we’ve served, and not how much we give or what nationality we are.

There is close connection between praise and performing our vows. Praise needs to be more than words. One of the highest forms of praise that satisfies God’s longing, is to be true to the vows we have made. Why do we praise God? Psalms 65:2 we have a God who hears prayers. Verse 3 Wonderful provision that God has made that our sins and iniquities can be purged away. It isn’t possible for the blood of bulls and goats to give remission of sins, only the precious blood of Jesus. Verse 4 We have been chosen. Paul never ceased to marvel that God would call someone with a past like his.

God’s way is a way of rest; our way is a way of struggle, resistance and complaining.

Revelations 21 John was a prisoner and every door was closed until he looked up and a door was open into heaven. We can be in a place where we feel very restricted everywhere we look, but look up into heaven. See how things look from where God stands.

Repentance: We don’t have to worry about our past catching up to us.

Repentance closes the door to failure and opens the door to hope.

If you find God’s people and look to their leader you will find Christ. You’ll find a people who love one another, a ministry that cares, a way that works and a peace that satisfies.

Our fears. A lot of a child’s fears are imagination. Doubts create fears. Some of Adam’s first words were, “‘I was afraid.” He didn’t know God’s provision for sin. Genesis 32 Isaac feared Esau–we fear our human nature. It caused him to pray. God didn’t make him stronger, but weaker. He went out to face Esau with a spirit of love, humility and meekness. Proverbs 29:2 Fear of man brings a snare–we get ourselves into bondage. 1 Samuel 21 David feared Saul and Achish king of Gath. He wrote Psalms 34 in which he speaks a lot about fear. To fear God is a safe course. “He delivered me from all fear.” Mark 10:32 Disciples were afraid of the future and the unknown. Jesus understood and drew them near and told them things that calmed their fears. Jesus’ last night of his life (sorrow unto death), but he wasn’t afraid because He was doing the will of His Father–though it meant suffering and death. May we have a deeper trust in God that will calm our fears.

What am I thinking? Bitterness comes from wrong thoughts, i.e. self-pity. Thoughts of foolishness is sin. Take care of our thoughts before they ever get to our hearts. Every thought that opposes, i.e. unrighteousness, self-righteousness, etc., is sin. Jesus struggled with his thoughts but He never let them get into His heart. Thoughts sneak in but they don’t sneak out. How much damage they do depends on how long they stay.

A sign read, “Beware this is an accident prone area.” Every time we are on the street there is an occasion for an accident, but there was something special about this area. Jesus gave warning signs: Beware, Take Heed. There are some areas in the journey where we need to be extra careful. 1) Mark 4:24 “Take heed what you hear.” The first accident in the Bible was with Adam and Eve because they didn’t take heed to what she heard. The Devil contradicted what God said, and it appealed to her. As we listen, God will try to put precious thoughts into our hearts and a voice will be trying to tell us, “It isn’t important for today.” 2) Luke 8:18 Take heed how you hear. We need to be careful what seeds we allow to be sown and the condition of our heart. Some will leave convention a different person–changed and altered because a miracle was worked. How we hear–our attitude toward the word of God. 3) Luke 17:3 “Take heed to yourself when men trespass against you.” Jesus didn’t say beware of he who is trespassing, but beware of yourself. In a zoo a sign above a door said, “Open the door to see the cruelest animal.” There was a mirror inside. No one can make me loose everything spiritual, but my reaction can. We need to react in the right way. Mark 13:9 refers to persecution that will come from the outside world when we are standing for what is right. Rejoice, because it could add to our reward in heaven. Daniel’s three friends got their promotion from standing upright and not bowing before the image. We will get our promotion from pleasing God, not man. God stood by them. 4) Luke 11:35 “Take heed that the light that is in you is not darkness.” So often we think that what we think/feel must be right. We can’t trust our feelings or thoughts. In Jesus was life and that life was the light of the world–The standard we should use to determine if something is right or wrong. There is no limit to wrong or false answers. The world is full of wrong teachers and doctrines. There are three possibilities when we come up with two different answers. You might be right and I wrong, you wrong and I’m right, or we are both wrong–it’s impossible for both to be right. 5) Luke 12:1 “Beware of the leaven of hypocrisy.” Hypocrisy is like leaven. A little yogurt in a pan of milk seems like a very small amount. Set it aside and it starts to work, and then it changes the whole thing. It doesn’t look or taste like milk anymore–it isn’t milk. Three things about little things–doesn’t seem very important, easy to hide and they don’t stay little, they grow. What didn’t matter last year or could be hidden are evident this year. Be careful of thoughts, tendencies and desires. Hypocrisy is pretending. 6) Luke 12:15 Take heed and beware of covetousness. When I see something I like, a voice inside me says, “I want that.” Good to covet earnestly the best gifts. 7) Mark 15:33 Take heed, watch and pray for ye know not when the Son of Man cometh. It is safe to have one person drive, but dangerous when two people want to take control of the wheel. “One in heart and mind and purpose, give him absolute control” is the way to get through life without an accident.

Jesus learned through obedience, but we often learn from disobedience.

Some people are so happy serving God and others are struggling–the difference is their willingness.

Three conditions for discipleship: 1) deny ourselves and follow Jesus. 2) except a man hate (love less) father, mother etc he cannot be my disciple. 3) forsake all he has. Law of fellowship: Jesus–owner, possessor, Lord.

God allows and arranges situations to bring about changes. Joseph in the pit didn’t lose his testimony, in the dungeon he didn’t lose his faith; in Pharaoh’s house he didn’t lose his head. God allows these experiences so he could be the savior of a nation.

Joseph was a type of Jesus the savior. Moses was a type of Jesus as a mediator. Elihu was a type of the ministry who was close to God and spoke and then God was able to speak. Jonah was a type of the resurrected Christ.

Worship. Hebrew definition: “Bow oneself down.” Greek definition: to “kiss the feet of.” True worshipping is within the reach of everyone. Abraham and Isaac were two true worshippers. Job bowed to what God allowed.

Ox in the yoke: in accepting the yoke the Ox is willing for the Master’s mind to control its mind and body.

God will lead us beyond our comfort zone. Luke 13:33 danger ahead but Jesus said I must journey today and tomorrow–going on beyond what is comfortable and familiar.

When something is fixed there is no bargaining. David’s heart was fixed. We can be a help and useful in any situation if our heart is fixed on things above.

Calvary or nothing. It was not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. Micah 6:6-7 the answer to all the sacrifice was “not enough.” God accepted the whole burnt offering only as a type. One olive tree produces about 25 gallons of oil. It would take many trees to produce 10,000 rivers of oil, but it wasn’t enough. Giving the firstborn wasn’t enough. God stayed Abraham’s hand because Isaac had sinned and his sacrifice wasn’t enough. Human sacrifice is an abomination to God. Fruit of the body is the whole family, but it wasn’t enough. Calvary for all time. Calvary for all people. Jesus died for sinners. Matthew 29:18 unlimited commission. Acts 1:8 gospel to go to the uttermost parts of the earth. Purpose of Calvary? We do not believe in salvation by works but “salvation that works.” We’ll be judged by our works. We don’t work for salvation, but because of salvation. 1) Redemption–sin separates us from God, but redemption reconciles us. 2) Deliverance from the power of darkness Galatians 1:4. 3) Our cleansing. Three kinds in Psalms 51 wash, cleanse and purge (deep inner cleansing). 4) Unity Ephesians 2:12-16 we are brought into fellowship by the blood of Jesus.

Students practiced to perform a play perfectly. Afterwards they were sorry for all their mistakes, but it didn’t matter because they’d done their best. Matthew 25 All slumbered and slept, even the wise. Though they had slept they had done their best and the door was open to them. The foolish made mistakes too, but they weren’t trying as hard. Just because we make mistake, we aren’t to lower the standard–just look to Jesus.

The voice of God softens our hearts. No other voice can comfort, strengthen or give hope like the voice of God.

Mark 4:30, Matthew 13:23, Luke 8:15 receive it, understand it and keep it. Receive God like a child that is happy. God wants to give us a personal message. Do we gladly receive it or say, “I don’t want it.” Understand it–concentrate on what we do understand, not on what we don’t. Keep it–we don’t want to treat God’s word as though it were small or unimportant. If we are small He is big and important. If we are big he is small and unimportant. When a seed is rooted and grounded, the birds have no more interest in it.

What’s in our heart is going to come out. If we don’t have peace in our heart, peace can’t come out.

We can make good servants when God is in control, but terrible masters if we are in control.

Judas loved money. Matthew 26:14 Maybe there was some resentment working in his heart. Twice he gave entrance to Satan: once when Satan sowed the thought in Judas heart and he went to see about betraying Jesus, and secondly when Satan entered into Judas heart and he went to betray Jesus. It doesn’t say that he knew what was working in his heart. Satan had to work on Job from the outside. Nehemiah 13 Tobiah had permission to live outside the court of the temple. He opposed restoration, grieved when there was someone to seek the welfare of the children of Israel, despised the work, was angry when the wall was finished, and sent false prophets and sent letters of opposition. We can’t afford to entertain or give place to the enemy.

No one willingly lies on the cross to be crucified. It takes strength to crucify our flesh.

Seven stronger nations were living in the Promised Land. Matthew 5:7 Jesus identified seven enemies we need to conquer: envy, jealousy, carnal nature (lusting), dishonesty (lies and deceit), revenge, doing things to be seen of others, and condemning/judging others.

Hymn 320: I Love My Master

“I love my Master.” These words touch my heart and I want to identify with that servant who loved his master.

Exodus 21:2, “If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve, and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.” In the scriptures, this relationship of “I love my master” means so much for Christianity. It is not a religion but a relationship of the bride and bridegroom, and there is love in this relationship as the bride of Christ. The young among us today are the hope of the kingdom and it is a wonderful thing this love of our Master.

One time a gentleman was talking to a servant of God and asked her what she did. After she had told him, he said to her, “I wouldn’t do that for all the money in the world!” Our sister answered, “Neither would I.” We don’t do this for wages but to show our love for our Master.

There was a special law for the servants whereby they would serve six years and on the seventh they could go out free. Some would just serve and look to the day when they would be free. Amongst these Jews, there were some whose service had graduated to a love service – it was not a duty, but their choice to serve their master, and they would not go out free but serve him forever. We read how the law said to serve for six years, but love says to serve forever; the law says to go out free, but love says, “I will not go free;” the law says, “Do it all because of duty,” but love says, “Do it because of devotion and dedication.” Real love for the Master enables us to make our choice the highest praise to our Master, and plainly say, “I love my Master and I will not go out free.” It is very plain and easy to see someone who is serving because of love – there is no mistaking it.

It is plain to see when we come into a home. Within five minutes, we can tell if the relationship between the husband and wife is good, for it is plain to see. To serve forever is not a snap decision. After six years of learning about his master, the servant could do nothing else but serve forever and ever. The word say is made up of three letters that mean: “S” for sacrifice, “A” for attitude and “Y” for yielding, and is how we say we love our Master.

Love is so willing to sacrifice and does not count it so, but a privilege. So often when we serve God, little things in our lives begin to charm us very much. We sing, “All the vain things that charm me most I sacrifice them to His blood.” Maybe there are still some little things that charm us that we hold on to and keep. How good when we come to the place where we sacrifice them to His blood.

When we take a journey to Calvary and see what He did for me, yes all for me. See His blood flowing from His wounded side, His nail pierced feet, was it for me? Then we see the little things that we do not want to give up that are so vain and I sacrifice them to His blood, proving that we truly love our Master.

Then we come to the “A,” our attitude: would it be an attitude of love, willingness, and contentment if we see it a sad thing to serve God? A contented worker means a lot in the work, a contented saint means a lot to the fellowship, and a contented worker and saint means a lot to the world. It is the attitude of obedience that brings contentment and speaks to the world. This attitude of obedience is the last one to yield, for it means submission. It is a matter of giving in, no compromise, no reservation, but fully yielding. It is easy to make a choice between good and bad, for we choose the good, but it is a different matter to choose between best and second best, for we often settle for second best.

The church at Ephesus left their first love but God wants us to give Him our whole love, give Him our best. Then the servant plainly says this in a ceremony that takes place between the master and the servant, and each has a part. The servant would say with his life and lips his part, and then the master have his part and lead the servant to the door post and bore his ear with an awl, and then the servant would serve him forever. He would be here now, not as before, for God’s people are separate and different. God makes the difference and we fit in.

In Exodus, we see that the Lord put a difference between the Egyptians and the children of Israel – the Lord did it. Separation is a wonderful thing for it identifies us as a child of God. The mark in the ear would distinguish this servant and he would not be like the other servants in the house, for he was now a bondservant and bore this mark for the rest of his life. Joseph’s coat of many colours was a distinguishing mark that his father gave him. In Rahab’s house, there was the scarlet cord, a distinguishing mark, and the homes of God’s people are different. This servant would always remember this ceremony that made him a bondservant and the covenant he had made, for he loved his master. He would be so grateful.

But what about the benefits now that his master’s home was his home, this kindly master that shared it with him? If we love our Master with all our heart, He will share His kingdom with us, for the promise was given to those who would overcome: “He will sit down with me on My throne.” We have a wonderful God who makes us shareholders of His throne. Our Master’s fields are our fields, His joy our joy, His sorrow our sorrow, His family our family. Jesus came to make us shareholders in these wonderful things, imagine that? After Jesus was crucified He said to His disciples, “I go to My God and your God, to My Father and your Father”- these are the wonderful benefits and blessings that come to us when we make the loving choice to be a bondservant forever.

Matthew 13:3-9, there are four different kinds of ground spoken of in these verses, but only one brought forth a harvest. The sower in those days would be broadcasting seed, and it would be falling on different kinds of ground. In the world, there are different kinds of people, but we all have a soul and we are all human. Our nature fits in perfectly with the earth. God would like to give us a new nature that would fit in with Heaven. It all begins when we listen to the Gospel message. There are not so many even willing to listen today. Not only here but in other places, also. When the workers came to our district, it was by faith. When Jesus went forth it was by faith. He had nothing to eat in the wilderness; He had nothing to eat for forty days but God made provision for Him, and Jesus sent His disciples the same way. Religious people say there’s no need for that today, but Jesus said it was to the end of the world … it’s God’s way.

Some seed fell by the wayside. These people did not understand, and the devil took away what had been sown. An aunt and uncle of mine attended Gospel meetings before my mother did. They both decided, but it didn’t last long. Troubles came and health problems and my aunt’s suffering broke my uncle and her down. They didn’t feel worthy to go to meetings again, but they did, and this time, they understood. Previously my aunt had been strong in her own beliefs and wasn’t willing to change at first. I’m so glad God knows how to deal with each person as they need it.

Next we read of the stony places. Soil can be very shallow and some peoples’ hearts are shallow, but there’s a hardness underneath. A man came and listened in our meetings and after the second meeting he said, “This is the truth and I’m going for it.” He seemed full of zeal but later something went wrong and he left his wife and finished with the meetings. Something wasn’t right in his heart and experiences brought it to light. His wife professed then and is now getting on in years, but she takes a taxi to the meetings. She has faithfully persevered. It’s when the sun comes up that the stony ground shows what’s in it. It’s when tribulations and experiences come and we don’t hide that fact in missions. If anyone is thinking of giving their life to God, I’d like to tell you that you are entering a battleground not a playground.

God is called “Lord God” in some parts of the Bible and rightly so. If we choose to serve Him we make Him our Lord and Master. Some experiences are not easy, as Paul called to mind in Hebrews 10:32, “After you were illuminated, you endured a great fight of affliction.” They suffered for following Jesus, but they were willing for it. Jesus said that when you suffer, your reward in Heaven will be great. In life, what we pay most for is what we value most. It’s the same with our spiritual life. Those with stony ground were not willing for that. Some people think that once saved you are saved forever, but that’s not true. Those on stony ground received life, but they also lost it. “Every branch that abideth in Me brings forth fruit, but every branch that doesn’t bring forth fruit God takes away.” God is the husbandman and removes all who do not produce fruit, but He does all He can to help them first. When the shepherds listened to the angels, they obeyed and they found the Babe, and then they praised God. First they heard; then they obeyed, then they saw Jesus.

Why would anybody sow corn among thorns? Sometimes it can’t be avoided, but the crop will be lighter. Thorns are the cares of life. At home where the thorns were, the ears were so small and the grain was so dry and thin, it wasn’t suitable even for animal fodder. The devil may not be able to stop us sowing and if he can’t prevent us from starting, he’ll do all he can to take away what God gives us. He is an enemy of God’s people and we can’t defeat him alone.

Mary and Martha prepared a meal. They were doing a good work, but Mary knew when to stop and listen to Jesus. Martha was too concerned with the meal and Jesus had to tell her. There is a balance. To Jesus, Zion was above His chief joy – it meant more to Him than His food. He said that man shall not live by bread alone. One of our old friends used to say, “If there’s something on my mind to do, I do it straight away.” I admired her for that. She was old and weak in body but she still put first things first.

The deceitfulness of riches: something deceitful seems all right on the surface, but it is afterwards that we discover it’s not all it seems to be. Abraham was rich and increased in flocks because he was a very good stockman, but none of that came first. Whatever God showed him, that’s what he did. On the surface, he seemed to be the loser when Lot chose the well-watered plains but God gave Abraham all the eye could see. Some in Paul’s day went after riches and only brought sorrow on themselves. God wants to save us from sorrow. There’s a difference between sorrow beyond our control and that which we bring on ourselves. Abraham had sorrowful times when he was told to cast out Ishmael. Although Abraham valued Ishmael, he valued Isaac, who was given to him by God, more. It was sorrowful but brought joy in the long run. When God speaks, it’s for our good.

Now we come to the good ground. That’s those who heard and understood the word. We have one woman who attends our meetings in Cornwall. When she’s there, there’s great liberty, God is trying to help her but we need more than an ear; we need understanding. “He who has an ear, let him hear.” The sweet words of Jesus bring life. Some turned away from Jesus and He asked His disciples if they would also go. Peter said, “Thou hast the words of eternal life.” Peter had a revelation. Why do some understand while others don’t? It’s because of the condition of a person’s heart. There’s nothing to hinder growth in good ground. Good ground also brings forth good weeds, but when it is cleared, the wheat can smother any small weeds. When we accept the word, that will smother things that would hinder. Thorns are deep-rooted but they too can be smothered.

Paul spoke of the fight of faith. It’s a battle. I can’t say I’ve not made mistakes, but I can say I’m fighting the good fight of faith. If we go to God in different experiences, He will guide us. If His words abide in us, that will lead us. If we do what He shows us, we will answer His prayer. Ask according to the will of God. Jesus said that if we abide in Him, we will be abiding in the Father. If we are willing to let Him be our Master, we will be in the condition that what we ask will not be for ourselves – it won’t be selfish. We’ll just be asking for help and guidance. He’ll give in His own good time. Sometimes God doesn’t seem to answer and we just have to use common sense. If we do take a wrong step, God will soon convict.

If the word of God doesn’t have free course in His servants, He won’t be able to use us. God sees where honest seeking souls are and He opens up the way. It’s not the will of God that everyone goes in the work, but we can be ready to have Him use us or not be used at all. Whatever is the will of God is wonderful if we are willing for it.

March 21, 2002 (from Bernard Manning to his cousin in Tasmania)

Demos Andreou’s Funeral. We had a very small funeral this morning. The service was in the home and a shorter service in the cemetery, which is only 500 meters away. We tried to keep everything quiet and simple. There was a fear that a priest would turn up and cause a lot of trouble, as they do. Fay Manning, Foteini, will be able to explain! The priest did not find out about the funeral. Demos’ life made the funeral easy. He looked lovely in his coffin, with a peaceful smile.

I am so glad that I was able to get here. It was a little miracle,as they changed the ship’s route at the last minute. Gloria has the garden a marvel of beauty with all the spring flowers out.There was a promise of rain however,this morning was fine and pleasant.Cyprus at its best after the wettest winter for years. Green everywhere, as in nearby Israel.

Our turn is coming, coming for all men, and it could be soon.I read of Daniel standing on his lot, his eternal inheritance, at the end of days, in the last verse of his book. I think a lot of his life was lonely, as was a lot of Demos’ life.

George returned to Athens on Friday. Planes were all very full because of Easter. John McQuillan arrived at 10 am at Larnaca on the 30th, possible because of the Emirates’ Airlines wonderful record for punctuality. John will spend about 2 weeks with us in Israel, and also some days on this island on his way back, if he survives the Arab-Israeli conflict. I cannot be too optimistic about the success of any peace plan, for I know how much Ishmael and Isaac hate each other.

Now I have to look up all my Russian contacts here. There are two different groups that make me welcome, also a Sri Lankan group that does the same.

Greetings to you all, from Cyprus,

Your brothers,

George and Bernard

My Testimony (Demos chk. Andreous)

When I was a child in my father’s home, all were calling me Father Pangratios. I was wondering why. When I professed, my father told me the following story. He said that when my mother was expecting me, the 8th child, she was so much tired after having brought up seven other children, so decided to get rid of me by causing an abortion. After many unsuccessful attempts, an old man in white hair spoke to her in a dream. The child, he said to her, must live. It will be a boy and will live in priesthood. The old man even gave my name, Pangratios, which is a name for priests. It means “an overcomer in all” (I wish I were such). The name Demos was the name of my godfather who traditionally gives the name at the child’s baptism. When I was 65 years old, I was in need of a birth certificate for my social insurance pension. I applied to the Greek Orthodox Church in which I was baptized because the church had the births register in those days. An old priest brought the book and we looked in the relative page – August 1914- but there was no name “Demos” there.

At that time I remembered my father and sister’s story so I asked the priest to look for the name Pangratios instead and there it was, just as my sister said. My sister had explained to me that our mother, on the next morning after my baptism in the church, she had returned to the priest in tears and entreated that my name be changed to the one that the man in her dream had ordained. So the name Demos was erased and the name Pangratios was written.

Until age 32, my life was given to the world, sports, women, smoking, playing cards, etc. Then I began having serious thoughts about my soul and the beyond the grave world. I had no doubt that the Greek Orthodox religion was not the true way of God. Some distance from my home, in the Church of England, some evangelist and Presbyterian preachers (in close co-operation?) had some gospel meetings.

Having received an invitation, I went to their meetings. At first, I was impressed by the simplicity, no icons, no gold and silver, no priests with long beards and black dress, but in a little while I also realized that there was no feeling of the Spirit of God there with those preachers or with their saints. I was greatly disappointed. One evening while going to the meeting, I stood in a field. It was lightly raining. In the darkness, I raised my hands to Heaven and prayed, “Lord, somewhere on earth must be thy true church, help me, I pray thee to find it and I promise I will go even to the end of the earth to join it.”

The only language I spoke in those days was the Greek language and the Greek workers were nearest to me although I did not know it. In those days, the truth was persecuted in Greece and the workers were not allowed to come out of the country (e.g., In the relative page of a passport for travel, where it ask what is the person’s religion, every Greek person was expected to declare “Greek Orthodox”, otherwise the applicant could not have a passport). There was none to help me find the true way of God it seemed.

However God knew that there was one. There was a worker in Australia–Fred Quick–who had labored in Greece and spoke Greek fluently. The message came to him–arise, go quickly to Cyprus. (Isaiah 41:17 to 20) He was a river coming from the high places. The water from such a river can go far distances. Fred embarked on a ship. While other workers there were astonished at his decision, obviously not understanding his motivation, he came on to Cyprus after a journey of many thousand of miles. Fred landed in Limassol.

One evening as I was in a gospel meeting of the Presbyterian Church a stranger came in and took a seat near me. That evening the Presbyterian and Anglican preachers were expected to come from Nicosia, the Capitol, which is 54 miles from Limassol where I was. For some reason, that day they did not come, (now I know that God stopped them!) Some time after waiting for the preachers an elder of the church stood on the platform and made apologies for their absence and then proceeded to preach to us. I do not remember having heard a preaching so empty and childish as that. 5 minutes before the end of the meeting, he asked if anyone had anything to say before closing the meeting. The stranger (who was Fred) took his steps to the platform and spoke for just 5 minutes. Oh, what a difference, thanks to my God. What God’s servant spoke that evening. It was to my heart and with power and authority. He told about our need to die and be born again in spirit, something I had never heard before.

After the meeting, I spoke to Fred and invited him to visit me in my home and explain to me his way. Next evening God’s servant came to my home and we had a long, long talk. I understood that the man was the answer to my prayer and his way is the Truth I had prayed for.

Next Sunday morning, Fred and I (the two of us,) had the Sunday morning meeting in a house, which he had rented for Gospel Meetings. It was perhaps the first Sunday morning meeting since the time Paul and Barnabas were in Cypress.

A few days later an Armenian man of the Presbyterian church professed and both of us were baptized by Fred and his companion Rex Truan, who came from Australia.

Events that Followed.

The Greek Orthodox Church, also my relatives and friends, stood against me, accusing me of becoming heretic, having changed my Greek Orthodox religion. After one Sunday morning meeting in my home with the two workers and the Armenian brother, I took my family and the family of my oldest brother, Andreas, and we went to the nearest hills to gather wild flowers. All scattered around looking for flowers, but I sat on a stone enjoying the view of the place. At the same time I was thinking of the things that were said at the meeting, and wondering how I could stand the opposition of the people around me, being the only Greek professing person. After some time I noticed a beautiful flower not too far away. I went near to it. What a beauty I thought, what harmony of colors!. Then I saw that the flower had grown on a dung heap. I was surprised how such a beautiful flower could grow on such dirty ground. Then the thought, God’s message came to me – “just the same with you, Demos, I can also make you grow to be a beautiful flower on this island, an unclean place, only if you keep faithful to me.” This was a very encouraging message for my first steps in the truth.

Andreas, my oldest fleshly brother, was the only brother with whom I had talks of God’s way and truth. He listened to me without prejudice and at some time I thought that he was very near to the truth. “Demos,” he said one day to me, “An old man in white hair spoke to me last night in a dream.” (From the description of the man, it seems he was the same person who spoke to our mother). “Andreas,” the man said, “Listen to your brother Demos. He is in God’s way, follow him and also ask all your brothers and sisters to follow him in his way.” “Andreas,” I said, “The voice that spoke to you is God’s voice, do not despise it.” Later he became skeptical, obviously thinking, “Let me think about it.” However a little while after, he (my brother) died.

We have a Greek saying-“Leave important things for tomorrow.” There is a story that in ancient Greece, Archias was ruling in Thoeba which was the third largest town in population and power in those days. One night, he and his army chiefs were in a wine party. At midnight a messenger came in a great hurry and handed Archias a very important message. Taken up by the wine and in a proud heart, he took the message, and without reading it put it in his pocket. He said,”Important things tomorrow.” Soon after that gunmen rushed in and killed Archias and all in his party. That important message was from a faithful friend warning Archias that he was in danger. Archias, by leaving important things for tomorrow, lost his life. My brother, Andreas, made the same mistake and also lost his life and opportunity for a saved eternity with God. Matthew 11:12 (from the Greek original) the Kingdom of Heaven is in a hurry (under pressure of time) and those who hurry up (press on) seize it.

After the passing away of Fred Quick (my father in the truth), Rex (his companion) returned to Australia. Ardash, my faithful brother in truth, after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, he emigrated with his family to Britain. For a number of years I was left alone in Cyprus, but I kept having the Sunday morning “meeting” alone, at the same time in the same room as before. One Saturday night suffering from intestinal pain, I took an analgesic tablet, which caused me to have a deep sleep. Opening my eyes the next morning I looked at the time and it was 10 am. Time of the meeting. I hastened to go into the room in my pajamas, thinking–I am alone, who is going to see me. After one or two hymns, I fell on my knees for prayer. Something strange happened. There was no response by the Lord as if everything was dead. Having tried and tried without results, a cold sweat covered my body from agony wondering what was wrong with me. Then I understood: the pajamas. I left the room in a hurry, I had a shower, I shaved, shined my shoes, I put on my best costume and tie. I went back and I had a sweet fellowship meeting with the Lord.

One may ask, does the Lord look at the appearance? Certainly not, but the message to my heart was this—-if a friend of yours visited you, would you receive him in your pajamas? Who am I to you? Lack of respect was the story.

Having been left alone on this island, letters began coming to me from friends I had never met or known. Those friends, having heard that I was alone, wrote to me letters of love and understanding, so I knew that, in fact, I was not alone. I feel grateful to those friends for their love and precious help that enabled me to keep on in God’s way. At times, letters came to me having an unusual warmth of love, a shining spirit of faith. Then I could read that the writer friend had just come from conventions, or from a Sunday morning meeting or had workers staying in his home at the time of writing. The rich fellowship of the writer friend was evident in his letter.

I feel I must make a special reference to a friend in the USA – Clinton Haney – who is now in his rest. He was among the friends whose letters were full of love and understanding. Then I heard from other friends that our brother had no hands, and no legs. How was he writing? With a pen in his mouth – every word a living sacrifice on the altar of faith. Indeed, there is no nation in the world as God’s nation!

Written in Limassol, Cyprus — May 1998

Love in Jesus Christ,

Demos-Pangratios

No matter how close we are to God or how far we might have strayed, there is always a right step to take from the place where we are. Unforgiveness is not an option if we want to be right with God.

Our spirit is one thing we can’t falsify -people see it, hear it, and feel it.

Prayer can reach places where human hands can’t touch.

I’m thankful for faith that takes us beyond our experience, love that takes us beyond the cost, and hope that takes us beyond our expectations.

God’s servants hold the light, but God Himself is the One who gives the sight.

Yearly feasting is not a substitute for daily feeding.

It is impossible to serve God without repentance.

If I love what Jesus hates, I’ll not enter heaven’s gate.

A sermon is from mind to mind, but the gospel is from heart to heart.

I would like to be more submitted and more committed this year.

I don’t ever want to negotiate with the Devil because we are no match for him.

One of the friends who was dying told us, during the last week of his life, “When you are going to another country, you need a ticket and a passport. Jesus has provided those. But there is high security at the gate. I have been going through my baggage to see if there is any unforgiveness, vengeance, etc., that would keep me from going through the gate.”

God works in a yielded heart; Satan works in the part we don’t yield.

The Spirit doesn’t come because of years or experience, but the Spirit comes by submission to it.

We don’t have to wait a long time to get submissive; it is something we choose.

Every morning I’d like to take a blank sheet of paper, write at the top, “I am willing for the following: ” then sign my name at the bottom, give it to God, and let Him fill in the rest!

Mark 12:11, “This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvellous in our eyes.” We never want to see the day come when we didn’t feel this. Herod wanted to see a miracle but didn’t want to be a miracle. What is a miracle? It is change – not partial, or proportionate, but complete. The first miracle in the Old Testament was in Genesis 1. What was without form, God gave form, what was barren was made useful, darkness was turned into light. The first miracle in the New Testament was when Jesus turned the water into wine. A complete, clear, definite change. Men say that Genesis is the result of an explosion. The creation of God is beautiful, orderly. Men don’t practice what they preach. If so, when a house was untidy or your desk was untidy, make an explosion and all would be in order. Not so, explosion makes disorder.

Job 6:7, “The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat.” Things in the past that Job had no appetite for, now they were the very things he desired. Isaiah 11:6-7, animals living together because of a change of nature. Where there is a change of nature, there will always be a change of appetite. In the north of Chile in the desert – the driest place in the world, not even a cactus will grow there. Workers were visiting homes and a Catholic lady, who was head of the woman’s guild in the Catholic church, showed interest. It was near convention time and the workers tried to explain that they would be leaving to go to the convention in the South of Chile. She was keen to go also and invited herself. The trip was 30 hours on one bus to San Diego and 12 hours on another bus. She left before the convention was finished and complained about the cold, the beds, the food, the babies that cried in the night. The next year when the list came out, I was to be in that area and I held out little hope for her. We visited her and she defended the Catholic religion and asked questions of us and we felt she was just picking our brains! One verse she asked us to explain one time, we later found out that the Priest had given it to her to study at the Woman’s guild meeting! She asked us once, “What do I need to do to be part of your group?” She continued to come to meetings for several weeks and we noticed her going grey very quickly! Then one day, she said, “Do you remember when I asked you that question, ‘What do I need to do to be part of your group?’ Well, now I know.” She had apparently stopped going to Church for 6 weeks until the Priest got after her. So, she went back to one service and she said, “I saw it as it is – just one big show. How is it I’ve been deceived all this time?” “This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvellous in our eyes.” After a full year, she went again to convention. Her only complaint this time was, “Why can’t convention be longer?!” “This is the Lord’s doing.” The miracle of convention is change. Not superficial, but within the heart. When Hannah went to convention, there was a noticeable change within and a visible change without. If there is only a visible change, it is just very superficial.

I Peter 3:3-4, “Whose adorning let it not be the outward adorning, but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible..” It is only in the heart that anything incorruptible can be accomplished. The beauty the Lord works in the heart, the change there, a frail body can’t take from us. The knowledge and understanding God gives in the mind, a frail mind can’t take from us. David was a man after God’s own heart. God chose David because of the heart that was in him. God refused Eliab because of the heart that was within him. Samuel thought Eliab was the Lord’s anointed but God had chosen David and Samuel almost fell because of the things that impress us. Eliab impressed him. I Corinthians 13 tells us of five things that would impress and we could have them and be nothing and do nothing and have nothing of eternal worth. Psalms 103:11, “For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him.” The distance between human love and divine love is just as far. Song of Solomon 8:7, “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.” Romans 8, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Eloquent oratory is like music – it will stir our emotions, but what is it that feeds us? It is the love of God. We shouldn’t fear lack of understanding but we should be fearing the lack of the love of God. Not all steps ever count for eternity but steps taken by faith and in the love of God. The only sacrifice that means anything to God is sacrifice with love behind it. If we have love in our hearts, then love will obey. It only takes a moment to die as a martyr but it takes the love of God to live a dying life. This is the only life acceptable to God. The fruit of the Spirit is love. This fruit has 15 definite true qualities. True contentment, no envy and no jealousy. If we are filled with the love of God, we will not be discontented. Godliness can only be glorified by humility. Self is an easy thing to adore but the hardest thing to sacrifice. We can’t give to others what we don’t have ourselves. David’s life was in tune with the love of God. Psalms 33:1, “Praise is comely for the upright.” It is possible to express things with our lips that we don’t feel in our hearts. We could have no harmony between words on our lips and our hearts. Ananais and Sapphira – they were sacrificing but deceit in their hearts. Judas’ expression on his lips was opposite to what was in his heart. Exodus 32, Aaron made a golden calf. How could a lump of gold lead them? We could express on our lips that God was guiding but choose for ourselves. I Samuel 17, Jesse’s three sons had gone to battle – fighting for the cause of Israel. Jesse wasn’t sitting feeling sorry for himself, but he was making bread and cheese and sending it with yet another son to the battle. We can think of fathers today strengthening those in the front ranks of the battle. Eliab said, “I know thy pride and the naughtiness of thine heart.” He thought he knew David’s heart but he didn’t know his own. Never let us think we know another’s heart. Our courage is tested most when facing up to ourselves, not facing up to external enemies. David said, “All the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.” Joseph said, “God will give Pharoah an answer of peace.” Jesus said, “My doctrine is not Mine but His that sent Me.” – a selfless heart.

David also took the staff in his hand, not only the stones. Goliath saw it only as a stick but it was the staff of faith that David had. A person with a walking stick is making a declaration, “I’m no longer able to walk alone.” We also need to make this declaration – we are not able – we need to lean on God. Goliath had a man going ahead of him carrying his shield for him. No man can carry our shield for us, it is not something we grab when the enemy comes. We need to carry it every day. It begins with the seed of faith. David was willing to take the blame for something that was not his fault. Blame has no honour. When there is honour, everyone wants to share in it. It is not easy to take the blame when it is our fault, much less when it is not our fault. To be misunderstood, misjudged, falsely accused – how we face up to these situations reveals what is in us. Praise affected David and Saul in two totally different ways. All victory belongs to God. Defeats are ours. I Samuel 24:4, “Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily.” Afterward, David’s heart smote him. David’s heart was sensitive. He didn’t touch Saul’s flesh or put a scratch on him and yet his heart smote him. Have a heart that is sensitive to little things. It is like taking care of the “pence” and the “pounds” will take care of themselves. A good conscience is a conscience towards God of what is right and wrong. David was surrounded by men that day that encouraged him to do the wrong thing. I Samuel 24:4, “And the men of David said unto him, ‘Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee, ‘Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand.”” Sometimes we tend to read between the lines and imagine God is working when He is not, that is very dangerous. God never delivered Saul into the hand of David to slay him. We need to be sensitive to the Spirit’s teaching. David was humble enough to listen to Abigail. It is not enough to listen only but salvation lies in changing. David divided equally the spoils with those that stayed and those that had gone to battle. He had a heart with fairness that respected each one in their place, I Samuel 30:24.

II Samuel 12:5-7, when Nathan spoke to David, David had the right attitude towards sin. We need to have the right attitude towards sin in our lives and not only in the lives of others. It is easy to have the right attitude towards sin when we see it in the lives of others. Everything is tolerated in the world today – no right or wrong. It is not so in the Kingdom of God. We see in Revelation the Church at Thyatira that they were tolerating what God hated. We need to hate sin and love the sinner. Keep our heart with all diligence.

I have appreciated being here and never ever thought I would be here and I have appreciated the oneness and unity amongst God’s children and impressed with how God has progressed His people and ministry and His Truth is in the Earth. It is nice when we can mingle like this and we do not feel there is anything strange, and we feel as if we have known people all our lives and I always have a fear lest I would lose the appreciation of these things.

I have tried to think of life being so brief and eternity sure, and then we think of the responsibility of keeping God’s way pure. Someone said we would like to pass what we have in our hearts to others just as we have received it in its purity, not in any way contaminated or added to it. This is a wonderful privilege to be true and to have this right standard and to keep Jesus before us in His purity. If we waver, it is not pure; it is not true any more. I was thinking of things that would hinder it. We have often heard of the Devil having a wedge and he puts the thin edge of the wedge first, and then he keeps at it until it gets wider and wider and then the door is open.

Songs of Solomon 2:15, “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.” God wants to put true desires in our hearts in this place and we wouldn’t want to let any little thing in to take away our desires. Someone told us a story a few years ago about a young girl in Western Canada.  She went to convention and several things were said.  It was said, “Go to the middle of God’s will and stay there.” She knew there were things that she could leave that would help her to get into the centre of God’s will and she got rid of all the things, books, clothes, and things and she felt they were just little things but they were just hindering her from being pure so that the standard would be lifted up. Her mother was so pleased. It was only a week later that girl passed away. It was a great comfort to her mother and all who knew her to know that she made that commitment at convention and she carried it through. I do not suppose there were any big things, but we have to be careful to get rid of things. Reading books take time. It is the little things. The little foxes – they can be very pretty. Some of the things that can hinder us from getting the very best can be something like that. If they are hindering us from giving God His rightful time, then they are not right.

Ecclesiastes 10:1, “Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.” Folly does not always have to be big; it is just something that is not profitable. Flies are not very big, but they are obnoxious. The ointment of the apothecary – God’s love, and things God would like to put in our lives. A little hardness could hinder us. We could have a little pride and it is very obnoxious. Other people may not know it, but it would take away our desires for better things.

Malachi 3:8, “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, ‘Wherein have we robbed Thee?’ In tithes and offerings.” If we bring an offering to God, He will bless it. When we take advantage of someone else, we have done it to God. As much as ye have done it unto one of these little ones, you have done it unto Me. Faithfulness in little things is a great thing. Kill the spider and get rid of the cobwebs. We all have to work on the doing to keep it in subjection. Our minds keep the thoughts and have an influence over our tongue. As someone said about the tongue, the Bible says it cannot be tamed. Someone says you can tame a wild animal, and you can trust it but you cannot afford to let your tongue go loose. We can use our tongue to bless others and we want others to benefit.

We need to keep away from troubled waters. Whirlpool.

There are mud pools – if you go too close, you can be pulled in and cannot do anything about it.

Judas. Satan was making suggestions to Judas for a good while. What happened to Judas didn’t happen overnight. Judas said when the alabaster box was broken, it was a waste. Satan was putting thoughts there. The Devil was like a back-seat driver and he was making suggestions. Then the time came Satan got into the driver’s seat and Judas was powerless – he couldn’t do anything. A little piece of gravel, a little pebble – if it gets under the carpet, it is hard to open and shut the door. A little hardness against God, a little misunderstanding – when you go into pray, you cannot close the door.

Sometimes, it’s hard for me to love my place

I hear swearing, see fighting, and just want to hide my face!

A place Life has given me, a desert land,

But my reassurance is: My life is in God’s right hand!

His strength is my source; it’ll keep me through the day

While at the same time I can be a light, and shine in this perfect way!

I need to be that example for God’s work to do

I’m the only one professing here, but maybe, there will be 2?!

I need to love the soul, and look beyond the flesh

To give this person a chance to start his life afresh!

How can I shy away, when there are many souls that are lost?

I take a beating daily, but never do I count the cost!

I do it for the name of Christ; I do it out of love.

I am glad for quite a few things that we have heard here today about the passing of generations. This is something that one has come to fear with the passage of time. What happens with the passage of time among God’s people? Things have crept in. A few months ago I was in a home where those people’s relatives began to serve God in the late 1800s. They first met together under a tree and a number who came to those meetings accepted the Truth, but no home was available. Many of those people came from different homes, but there was no open home, so they met this way until others came, too. I am glad today for the gospel that came to my parents at the beginning of the last century, but I have a fear of what will happen in the passage of time, and that we might get too far from the stable. Jesus began His life in a stable and ended it in a borrowed tomb, remaining there for three days and nights. We never want to keep our eyes on that.

When we were at school, we had a copybook. Every page had lines, and on the top line there was copperplate writing and we had to imitate this perfect headline. When we did our first line, the writing was not too bad and the next line was worse, but as we continued down the page the writing looked nothing like the example. The teacher understood what was happening and she gave us some blotting paper to cover up every line we wrote so nothing else was in sight except the headline, and so our writing improved. Our eyes kept on the headline. We like to know the record of God’s people throughout the centuries, and God in His wisdom has shown us the headline and that is our safety.

We are glad for parents and grandparents who have lifted our eyes beyond that to our safety, and that God has preserved the headline in Jesus. We need to keep looking to Him! There is a tendency with the passing of generations of little dangers, a little slackness, and a little less separation. In Abraham’s case, he was looking for a bride for Isaac, and he sent his steward to the land where he came from. That steward said, “…if the woman is not willing to follow me, do I bring Isaac back again?” Abraham told him, “Beware that you do not bring Isaac down there.” God had taken him out of that place and he knew the reason for that. He left it and left it forever. Then we see the next generation and what happened there. Jacob went back there and he was encouraged by his parents to go, but we see little changes. Then we see the next generation of Jacob’s children. Dinah went to see the daughters of that land and there was less separation again. Then came the famine that brought them to Egypt, and they were there for many generations in bondage. This came about as a result of human thinking and a human tendency. My father was very strict and as children, we thought that he was far too strict. Our mother had died when we were children, but we knew that other children could do things that we couldn’t do. When we went to secondary school we wanted to join in with the sports and play rugby, but one day we had to play another school in another area and had to travel to this other town. I went to my father and he said, “You’ll not be going.” That was pretty tough because other children of the friends were going. I wouldn’t say that this would do a lot of harm, but it would go on and on and on. As the team got better and better, they formed a club and this led to a lot of social life. Our father knew the danger, and he nipped it in the bud. Today we are glad for it. We thought then that he was far too strict, but we grew up in a city, and many here know what is like living in the city; it is more difficult in some ways. Our father had his business but he was alert to what we were doing, and he was aware of the dangers of playing in the street, so he invented something for us to do that kept us inside. We thought that was very hard, but he knew how to nip things in the bud. He knew the friendships that could follow and the snares that would lead to danger. Each generation wants to relax things and feel their parents were far too strict, and then the next generation relaxes, and so it goes. There is a danger with the passing of each generation, the passing of time, and we need to keep looking back to the headline Jesus, to the ladder.

God spoke to Jacob, “I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.” This is a nice thing to know, that with all our faults and failures and disappointments, God stuck with them and bore with them until He set up a ladder on the earth and until He sent Jesus. God said that He would not leave Israel, but we see Him setting up the ladder and remaining faithful to that people until He had set it up. Jacob was fleeing for his life that night, and this was the thing that God offered him, such a love that made it possible for him to be in Heaven. This verse was very clear to him, “I wish you to be with me in Heaven, and if so, you’ll have to take steps,” steps, with an “s” on the end, for it is plural. Any ladder has many steps.

The religious world thinks that you just need to join a church and that is one step and there is nothing more to do. But if we are going to be in Heaven, there are steps that need to be taken, and today we can look at some of these steps in Matthew 5, 6, and 7, where Jesus taught some of them. These were things that we need to rise above, things that we need to overcome, and things that are a part of our human nature that we are born with. Jesus quoted the Ten Commandments, but then He said, “I tell you about something higher.” The religious world keeps the Ten Commandments and feels dead sure of their place in Heaven. But keeping the Ten Commandments never gave anyone a place in Heaven, but it’s the application of the Ten Commandments in our daily life. God knew the limitation of the human nature with the Ten Commandments and that it is possible, for we read of those in the Bible who did keep them. This was the limit that anyone could reach with human nature who had received the spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

God is not unjust or unreasonable, and neither are parents who ask their small children to do things that are within their reach to do. It is unreasonable or impossible for children to do things that an adult does, but you just reduce the requirement to the capacity of a child. The Ten Commandments were the limits at the time that Jesus came and before the Holy Spirit was given and people were born again. Now there was a far higher law.

Jesus said of the old law, “Thou shalt not kill, but now I say unto you who is angry with his brother he is guilty.” Whosoever defames or speaks disparagingly of another is counted guilty, and whosoever mentions that person is a fool is found guilty. So you do not have to murder anyone to be guilty, but just be angry without a cause. Cain was angry without a cause. He slew his brother because of envy, or jealousy, or maybe both. If he had risen above those things, he could have overcome and not been found guilty.

Jesus said, “I say unto you”–this is a far higher law on that day when we will be judged by the teachings of Jesus, but there is provision in the ladder to rise above the human level. When we raise our feet on the ladder, our whole weight is on the rung that we are standing on–the whole pressure is on the ladder. If there was no ladder there is no hope of going upward, and no way of rising above things.

There are angels on the ladder, too, and this is more provision for us. Angels are God’s Heavenly messengers bringing a soul-saving message. Jacob could speak of the angel who had redeemed him from all evil, and we are conscious of that help too, for angels are very necessary. In the message to the churches in Revelation, we see John had the privilege of seeing the workings of Heaven and He saw Jesus there. Seven angels were in his hand and in the midst of the seven churches. We read a lot about angels, like His little ones have angels and this suggests that every church has an angel. An angel is a messenger waiting for a message to carry to the church. Jesus dictated the message and John intercepted it. Jesus also dictated to the angels and John heard the dictation. The messages came in book form and John was told to write and to send the messages to the seven churches. John was privileged to see how Heaven works. Jesus received the message from His Father and gave the message to the angels by the aid of a ministering spirit, and John overhead these wonderful messages, those soul-saving messages. These soul-saving messages are not enough to get us to Heaven but it is what we heard in the beginning.

What would happen if the message was received and nothing was done about it? All had heard the gospel when the truth came to Ephesus, they were now forty years in the way of God and they had received the message and acted upon it, and it tells us that their candle would be taken away if they did not respond to the message. I remember a couple, a brother and sister, my first year in the work. She was a schoolteacher and had lost her sight, but her brother would read scripture to her every day. We would have good visits with them but they never got to a meeting. John Hardy came into that area and those people rejoiced in receiving the gospel and would tell how they had heard the truth and had come out of darkness, but they never took any more steps on the ladder. It was a very sad thing. We tried to encourage them to come out to the meetings but they made all kinds of excuses, and then they died just like that. They told of the beginning of days for them but there was no present in their lives. That happens if we cease to take steps.

The message we hear in the beginning is not enough, for in the message God said to the church “I know.” I know what you are doing, I know what you need. When Jesus left His disciples He said to them, “I know” and He appeared and disappeared and reappeared to them, and He did not need to find out where they were last night or what they were doing because he knew, and He knew what they needed. He accompanied them and He will be with us too right till the end of the world. I’m conscious that God knows what is happening.

God knows our situation and what we need. He told all the churches a message. He did not say “You speak well in meetings,” but “I know your works.” There were some great surprises in the messages, and how many deceived themselves. The easiest person to deceive is oneself. One day there will be a lot of surprises. We talk about the ten virgins and the five that were wise and the five that were foolish, and we think it is too much to say that fifty percent are not going to a saved eternity. Jesus is not given to exaggeration; humans are inclined to stretch things, but not Jesus. Jesus said, “Then shall the kingdom of Heaven be like…” This has nothing to do with the world or the religious world. These are ten virgins in the kingdom, and this seems a frightening statement. The five foolish were friends of the friends, and the five wise were friends of the bridegroom. We could come to the place where we are satisfied that we are in the right fellowship and are content with the right friendship, but we need fellowship with the bridegroom. It is easy for this to happen with the passage of time. We can have company with the friends and yet neglect our fellowship with the bridegroom.

No matter how far we have come in the way of God, we are never far from the ditch. No matter how far we have journeyed, whether a thousand miles or more, we need to remember that we are never far from the ditch; it is very easy to be on one side or the other. This was an active church at Ephesus but it was nearly in the ditch and they were not having fellowship with the bridegroom. He was not in the centre of their lives and He was not satisfied with that. They needed to rise above that and put things right to have victory over these things. It is very important when a young couple is keeping company to spend time together. They could be so happy by visiting with the bride’s family, and yet never having a word with each other. This would not suggest a very good marriage, would it? This would not be very satisfactory at all.

Every church had things that they had to overcome. In some, the flesh was overcoming; in some, Satan was overcoming. There was a wrong doctrine and this could happen to us too. Where we have been working there are six churches and one church has a question mark over the elder because he is a little bit different. His wife is faithful, but he got into the doctrine of Abiram. He said the workers take too much upon themselves and that all the Lord’s people are holy. He also believes that after we receive the gospel we don’t need the workers any more, but they need to go to the unsaved world. He talked with another man in the church who was a faithful man and had been a help to a great many people and he resented that, and did not want to hear it. He kept pouring in a little more of his doctrine until it began to take root. This other man began to listen and to think that way too, and today that man and his wife and the first man’s family are all out of this fellowship and meet on their own. They do not need any more of the message they heard at the beginning. We read in the Bible “by a prophet Israel was brought out of Egypt, and by a prophet Israel is preserved.” This is the Lord’s arrangement, and one soul-saving message is not sufficient. It is not only the first message we need to hear but also the Lord has other soul saving messages for us through the years.

One time I was going through a crisis. I had the flu and I could not go to the Sunday morning meeting in our home I was staying at, but my need was so desperate that I went downstairs and listened at the door. Only God knew that I was there. One man in that meeting had a message that was exactly what I needed. He didn’t have a clue as to what I needed, but that man received a message from the ministering spirit that came from the Father in Heaven. But for that soul-saving message, I wouldn’t be here today. The messages to the church were to the overcomers. He wanted them to rise above and receive the promises for the overcomers. There are no promises to those who do not overcome. I have sometimes wondered how many had ears to hear. I am curious about that. I do not want to hear something that appeals to the ear but what the ears hear that the Spirit has to say. This is where the ladder comes in and enables us to rise above what we are by human nature. God puts His finger on the spot and we must give attention to that. There are great things in store for the overcomers, and this is where the angels come in. It is so vital to hear a message from the homeland. A pilot on a plane starts off flying by the controls but he is guided later in the air by the control tower. He is told when and where to land and receives various messages to keep him on course. We need to receive messages on life’s course too, for we are not any better than these seven churches we read of here. Jesus is interested, the angels are interested, and all are working on our behalf giving us the correction that we need to be able to rise above. We are all left without excuse because all the provision is made that we might finish in our eternal home. We do not need to be clever or have a B.A. or some other degree, but we need willingness to leave behind and learn things, and a willingness to be separated from the things of the world so that we might be with Him eternally.

Genesis 28, God gave Jacob an understanding of Jesus. Abraham was given a vision of the Lamb; now his grandson is given a vision of the lamb. 

Redemption is being forgiven for sin. The Saviour saves from sin. Provision is made by God to save us from sin.

A ladder makes possible what is impossible. A ladder is so simple. Over 4,000 years ago they had ladders. Amazing that it is still in use! There’s hardly a house without a ladder. It is so simple. It enables us to overcome the force of gravity. We can get to places that we would not get to without a ladder. A ladder doesn’t do for us what we can do for ourselves.

God made us with a human nature. This human nature humbles us. God does not want pride in Heaven. He has made provision whereby we can be overcomers. God made provision to overcome sin. All is in Christ.

A ladder is such a simple thing. Jacob Saw a ladder set on earth and the top reached to heaven. God so loved the world that He gave His Son. God so loved the world that He extended the ladder from heaven to earth so that none should perish. He has made it possible for us mortals to be with Him.

A ladder is narrow. No provision outside the ladder. No hope outside the Lamb of God. Jacob saw that the ladder led to heaven and angels were ascending and descending. God was at the top. There was no doubt about where it was leading.

Jesus said to the disciples, “The day will come when you will see the angels ascending and descending on the Son of man.” Jacob got the same vision that night. Jesus said in His last meeting, “I am the way,” i.e, “The means.” And “No man cometh to the Father but by Me.” He’s the only One who can take us into the presence of the Father. There will be no humans on the ladder. God was showing His provision. We see the Lamb but none partaking of it.

It is a way of steps. One takes one step at a time on the ladder. It’s amazing how children can climb a ladder. Children can take steps on the way to heaven. It’s so simple! We can’t make progress with one foot on the ground and one foot on the ladder. We need two feet within the limits of the ladder. If one foot is outside the ladder, all progress ceases. We could try and take one step outside and one stop inside but it doesn’t work. Some have done that and later they take the other step outside and are back on the ground level. Two feet on the ladder is the only way to make progress; two feet within the limits of the ladder. A beautiful thing about the ladder is the support. The ladder does not do what we can do for ourselves. We have to take steps. When we lift our feet and take the first step, there is every support. There’s everything behind us to maintain that step; to continue on that level. The earth is there but the person is separated if they’re willing to take steps. Every step is a little more separation. We have to take the step, but once we do, there is every provision to maintain that step and continue on the ladder. We may make the form of taking steps but we will get right back. It’s such a simple, clear picture of God’s provision in Jesus. When we take steps, it becomes impossible to participate in things on the old level.

An old man professed. He had worldly friends. One met him after he professed. The old man was asked to go and have a drink, “No.” His friend said, “There is no one here to see you.” He answered, “God will see it.” That man didn’t persist any further. The old man had become God-conscious. He was climbing the ladder looking upwards. “God will see.” He was conscious that he could not partake of things on the old level. Every step requires a little more separation. It would be wonderful if this year we could take another step on the ladder and then come back next year and see a step we took this past year! See that there’s more separation from the world and we’re closer to God. If we’re willing, there is all the help provided by God.

The ladder does not do for us what we should do for ourselves. Jesus didn’t do for the disciples what they could do for themselves. He left them to do the rowing when in a boat. When sailing, He didn’t adjust the sails. He left them to do it. He knew they could and they thought they could, too. He left it to them. When the situation became impossible, He calmed the wind and the waves. He did that. When He went to raise Lazarus, He did not roll away the stone. He left the people to do it. He said, “Lazarus, come forth.” Jesus always showed that He did the impossible. He expects us to do what we can.

What is beyond our reach, the ladder reaches. John the Baptist said, “He must increase and I must decrease.” When they were in the boat and the storm arose, they found they were not as good sailors as they thought they were. They came to “wit’s-end” corner. They called “Carest Thou not that we perish?” They weren’t as capable as they thought they were. The One asleep in the back of the boat could do exceedingly above what they thought. Jesus calmed the wind and the sea. They decreased, He increased. He did exceedingly above all that they could ask and think. They came back after fishing all night and had caught nothing. The carpenter, Jesus, asked them to cast out the nets. They had been fishing. They were fishermen. They thought they knew! Jesus did not get out in the boat and cast the nets. He asked them to do that. He then brought the fish into the nets. It was impossible for them to do that. Jesus was increasing. He was able to do above all that they could ask or think. That is what life is about…Jesus increasing and we decreasing. We are left without excuse. There is support and backing for every step we are asked to take and provision made for everything we are asked to do. Some give up smoking and then go back to the old habit. They did it in their own strength. On the ladder there is support for every step. That is the provision we have in Jesus. The ladder reaches to heaven.

We learned about ladders in building construction – short and long ladders. I fell once. I learned that short ladders need some provision at the bottom to stop them from slipping. A long ladder is to be secured at the top. If not secured, it is dangerous. Jacob did not see God at the bottom, holding the ladder. He saw God at the top. No less than God Himself! We want Jesus back sometimes. He is in the right place. The security is above. God and Jesus above. God is above His Kingdom and His way and there’s no danger. This way has continued and will continue no matter how many are climbing or how few, the ladder remains.

Sometimes we hear people say, and feel perturbed, that God’s way began in a certain place and time. God’s way began in Galilee. God took care of the eight in the ark. God took steps to preserve them. No doubt it has been like that at times. (Few in number)

I knew a man in Brazil, a faithful man. He and his wife were disappointed with religion. They started to read the Bible. They went to churches and looked for what they thought the plan of God would be. They soon became disappointed. They asked, “Does anyone know about people who are like the apostles?” “No, not in the world. It’s not workable.” They would go away and continue reading the Bible. Then, they would go to another group and they would know, “This is not it.” This went on for some time. The man was reading the last verse of Matthew’s gospel one day, “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” He read it again and called his wife, “Come here. It says here it is in the world. It’s still in the world; it says it right here.” An unsaved man believed it and gained courage to keep on looking. He went to a meeting one night. The preacher said, “There were two false prophets here. I made sure they never opened their mouths. They are in such and such a place.” That man went to that place on his bicycle. He listened and was confident that, “This is it. It is still in the world for sure.” He and his wife professed. When the workers were to go into another place, he sold his property and went there to be a help. Now there is a convention there and his son still loves to help.

There were times when there were a few. We are privileged to live in a day when God has a family on the earth. Let us keep our two feet within the limits.

This is a gospel meeting, and the gospel centers around a special verse found in Romans 1:16. It is a rich verse, and it is the whole gospel story in a small package: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” There are a number of reasons why Paul was not ashamed. The gospel is true and it had a wonderful effect on Paul’s own life by totally changing his life so he was not ashamed. Mark 8:38 says, “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father and the holy angels.” We know that if we are ashamed of Jesus now, He will be ashamed of us then. A mother once was badly burned and her face disfigured, but she raised a son who, when he grew up, was ashamed of his mother. He did not want to be seen in her presence, and so he went on. One day someone enlightened that boy to the cause of her disfigured face, and how she had rescued him from the fire and had received the burns and scars. That boy changed his attitude from then on, and did not mind being identified with his mother — he was proud of her because she had saved his life. We cannot be ashamed of Jesus when we think of how He died for us. 

Years ago, a school teacher was teaching in a school house in Canada, and one day, two brother workers came to have gospel meetings. She attended the meetings when most of the community had turned against the brothers — the religious leaders included. For awhile, she was ashamed to be identified with the brother workers. One night before she retired to bed, she knelt by her bedside and God revealed something to her. He told her, “If you are ashamed of these messengers of Mine, you are ashamed of Me.” This went into her heart and she could not wait for the next meeting, but stood up in that meeting and declared whose side she was on. She turned out to be a faithful woman in the family of God and was never ashamed of God again. “It is the power of God unto salvation.” We connect this verse with Romans 8:2, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” This power of the gospel sets us free. We know people in this world and they want to be free. People always seek freedom, but there is only one law in the universe that can set us free and it is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. This is the power of the gospel. This is Jesus’ call, the new commandment, the more excellent way, the all-abiding gift, the greatest power in the entire world and the universe, and it can change lives and work a miracle when the heart is open to it.

In Colossians 3:11, it says, “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.” Here are four barriers that the law of the Spirit in Christ can break down: the racial barrier, the religious barrier, the cultural barrier and the social barrier. This power of God can break down every barrier between people, including barriers between ourselves and God. Sin is a greatest barrier between us and God, yet the power of the gospel can break it down. In the days of Jesus, there were the Jews and the Gentiles who didn’t get along very well together, and there was a great barrier. One day a little seed fell into the heart of a Jew, and another seed fell into the heart of a Gentile, and this seed started to grow. It wasn’t too long before the two were meeting together. They had the same harmony as we have here today, and this makes it possible for us to have a convention like this, just because a little seed fell into the heart of His people and began to grow. This miracle binds us all together, all over the world. The Roman army was the greatest army in the world at that time, but they could not bind the Jew and Gentile together. Men, trying to bind people together, are a failure for the entire religious world can not bind the Jew and Gentile together — only the little seed of the gospel is so powerful that it is able to work that miracle. In India at one of the conventions, I saw the greatest miracle I have ever seen. Attending this convention was a Brahman lady who gave her testimony. You may know that she belonged to the highest caste in India. In that gathering was a sweeper lady, who was of the lowest caste. These two are as far apart as the North and South Poles, yet they sat together and enjoyed that convention. Miraculous! There is no power on earth that could perform this miracle apart from the seed of the gospel falling into their hearts and placing them both on the same level. When we come to the footstool of God’s throne, we are all on the same level. When we come to the foot of the cross, we are all on the same level. This powerful seed in the heart puts us all on the same level. We never cease to marvel nor do we become familiar with it, for we have seen some great miracles performed in people, and in lives that have heard the gospel and have become believers.

The religious world talks a lot about believers, but what really is a believer? A believer is one who believes in Jesus and is willing to accept and follow Him. Acts 8 speaks of the Ethiopian man. You will recall this man was sitting in his chariot in the desert when Phillip went up to him and preached unto him Jesus. That is the gospel — that is the power of the gospel beginning to work in a man’s life — to the extent that he asked to be baptised. Phillip gave him the condition for baptism, “To believe with all your heart, then you can be baptised.” This belief is a heart belief, not a shallow belief that many have, that Jesus lived and died and rose again; that does not bring salvation. When we open our hearts to Him to get that true inner heart belief and when we believe in Jesus with all our heart, only then are we ready for baptism. One thinks of their own baptism and one feels they have not lived up to it, but we are thankful that there is still a desire to die as a corn of wheat, so fruit can be brought forth in our lives. James tells us that if we believe there is one God we do well, but even the devils believe also and fear and tremble — that is not enough. John 12:42 says, “Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.” They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. We need to see beyond public opinion and not only please those around us but see right through to God and have a part in Him — we must have this heart belief.

One time in 1859, an acrobat walked over the waterfall at the Niagara Falls. He put a rope across the Falls and walked across and did a few stunts. He stood on his head and the people were spellbound, then he took a wheelbarrow across and brought it back again in front of a big crowd. There were even several ex-Presidents there. He asked the crowd then if they believed he could take the wheelbarrow across with a man in the barrow, and one man replied, “Yes, I believe you could.” So the acrobat said to the man, “Then get right in!” This man replied, “No, nothing doing.” He believed in his mind but he didn’t believe in the action. We know that the books of the New Testament begin with the gospels and next comes the Book of the Acts, or actions. These have to come after the gospels, for if there are no actions we will not cross from this shore to the other shore when it comes time to take us to eternity.

There was a girl in college and her professor gave a talk on the future of their lives. He told them how important it is to have a basic belief. He said, “When you go out into the world, you will be putty in the hands of worldly men if you don’t.” Then he pointed to this faithful girl who was in the truth and mentioned her name, and said, “She has a basic belief and I am not afraid for her.” This is so important. This professor knew it to be correct.

I will finish today by giving my testimony briefly. My mother and father immigrated to Canada in the early part of the last century, and had been raised in the Anglican Church. My companion used to say that the church is dead, only it hasn’t lain down yet. I’m so glad that my parents looked for something better that paved the way for us. You young people amongst us are very fortunate to have professing parents who are serving God today, and I appreciate it more today now than I used to. When my parents came to Canada, they joined the First Baptist Church. My father read the Bible a lot and he would say, “No, Truth is not here.” He understood a lot of the truth by reading the scripture and he knew what he was looking for. They then moved to western Canada and joined the Methodist Church for awhile, but still didn’t feel satisfied. In 1918, something wonderful happened. Two sister workers came with the gospel message to our area. My parents went to the meetings in a hall and it was full of people. There were six meetings a week for six weeks, an intensive course, and they did not miss a meeting. After the first meeting, Father said, “We’ve found the Truth.” He checked it out thoroughly, and after the meeting, he would check it out like those in Berea to see if everything fits, then the time came when they both made their choice. This was the beginning for us children as we came along. Our grandparents on father’s side lived next door to us and were very bitter and against what father and mother did. Our grandfather said some bad things, for he was very hot tempered and was capable of expressing himself! We were half scared of him all the time, but our parents never struck back but just took it for 16 years. Then two sister workers came to the same hall and I made my choice. My parents said, “Do not give all the details to grandpa or he will tell you off,” but the sisters said, “No, we will invite everybody.” I watched as they knocked on his door and I was scared for them. Grandpa came to the door and received the invitation, then said, “I’ll come.” We all nearly collapsed! Grandmother came, too. They both came to all the meetings and it was a wonderful meeting when they both stood to their feet. For a number of years, they were hearty in the truth. My grandfather was so much like Saul of Tarsus, for before he was against it but later we learned what made the change. Just before the workers came, he had been working in his corn patch and got to thinking that his life was empty and he had nothing. He was now 70 years old and he laid down his hoe and lay flat on the ground and prayed to God, “Lord, what must I do to be saved?” Then this scripture came to him, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” This was the first time God had given him a revelation — the first time he understood that to believe is to accept and follow and obey Jesus. After granddad professed, there was a feud between grandfather and his neighbour. Some cattle had broken the fence down and grandfather who was a hot-headed Englishman and his neighbour, a hot-headed Irishman, were a bad combination. They got into a fight and the police had to come. One day grandfather went to the sister workers and said to them that he had awakened during the night and had come before God and realized that he loved that neighbour. He said, “I don’t have anything against him, and I would like to go across and make it right with him.” The sister workers told him it would be better for him to take a little time and pray about it — just make sure that the Holy Spirit was guiding him. I remember the day he walked from his place over to the neighbours, and it was a miracle. We have seen many miracles but this was the greatest. We waited until he came back and asked him how it went. “It went good,” he said. He gave that man his testimony, how he went to the gospel meetings and how something had happened in his heart, and then he said, “I don’t hate you, I love you and I want to take all the blame. I want to apologise for all the wrong. Could we be friends?” What could that old neighbour do? They became very good neighbours after that for this spirit had broken every barrier down. The gospel is powerful when there is true believing. The message grandfather received was to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what follows in all of our lives.

About 1923 in a tent meeting in Salisbury (now Harare), a Mr. and Mrs. Sim, and Mrs. Sim’s youngest sister, Bertha de Waal, decided. Bertha’s parents were Dutch Reformed people, and her father was bitterly opposed to the Truth, forbidding Bertha to go to meetings. Yet after each Sunday school class, Bertha would borrow her brother-in-law’s bicycle and rush to the little meeting a few miles away. Bertha’s mother professed two years before she died, when Bertha was 15; she seldom got to meetings because of her husband’s resistance. Bertha then went to work at a hospital, and wished to be a nurse. She was working at the hospital where the twins were born. The doctor saw that their mother was not able to care for the babies, and asked if she would care for them. Their mother never cared much for them and Bertha had sole charge of the babies and took them to meetings when she could. They attended their first convention when they were four months old! Bertha had planned to resume her studies, but when the Perlmutters were to return to Rhodesia, Bertha couldn’t part with the twins so returned as their nurse.      

Their father went to war for six years, so Bertha had complete charge of them, as their mother didn’t care for the girls. Bertha took them to meetings and conventions and they grew up knowing what children of professing parents understand, although they lived in a cold, unwelcome home. When the father returned from war, Bertha had Sunday and Wednesday meetings off, and went to meetings. The twins would ask their father if they could go and play with their friends. One of their friends was Heather Oldknow, where the meeting was held. They got to meetings that way. However Sunday afternoons they had to go with their parents to a club or hotel, which they detested. They were about eight years old when they said to Bertha, “Teach us to pray,” and also asked for a Bible. Bertha said, “You have your pocket money, go and buy one!” Their Bible was their treasured possession. Bertha was responsible for the twins’ learning all that rich Jewish children went in for. Studying French and Hebrew, dancing, horseback riding, etc. She took them each Saturday to the synagogue. Later they saw the great wisdom in all that she had done. The twins first missed convention when they were nine as their parents took them away to celebrate Passover with relatives. The twins wept most of the time during the Passover, so when Sunday night came their father was glad to give them back to Bertha. That Monday they ran happily around, helping to clear up at the convention. While on holiday a few years later, they attended the convention where they felt their need to serve the Lord. They asked Bertha if they could stand when the meeting was tested and she said, “If you know what you are doing.” They knew little of what it meant, but they knew they were outside of God’s fellowship and wanted to belong to God’s family; so they made their choice at the age of twelve. When at home they pretended to be Jewish, but in their hearts they tried to serve God. In their meeting, there were several other young girls professing which made their fellowship special.

Their parents divorced soon after the girls decided and their mother returned to England without even saying goodbye to them. Their father sent them to a boarding school in Cape Town, 2,000 miles away to get them away from the influence of Bertha and her friends. Bertha had to seek other work after caring for the girls for 13 years, having had only two short holidays when she was sick, and a meager salary.

Amid many tears, they left for the boarding school with advice from Bertha to take only their small Bibles, no hymnbooks; to be careful before others, seeing they would be at a predominantly Jewish school, and to “behave themselves.” Their father tried to break their connection with the few Christians they knew in Cape Town and with Bertha as well, but she still wrote to them regularly and prayed for them. In her first letter to them she mentioned, “God’s way is a battlefield, not a playground.” When they went home on holiday they carelessly left a letter in their bedroom from a worker, signed, “Your sister in Christ,” which was found by their father and stepmother. Mr. Perlmutter stormed up to Mr. Oldknow’s home, as he was the elder of the church, and demanded to see Bertha, but Mr. Oldknow kept him outside during the meeting, and tried to answer his questions regarding his religion. After the meeting, Bertha went to see Mr. Perlmutter at his home, where he railed on her for influencing his daughters away from the Jewish faith. After he cooled down a little, Bertha said, “Who made your girls learn Hebrew, French, dancing, horseback riding, etc., and who took them to the synagogue every Sabbath?” He admitted Bertha had done this. Bertha also said, “Did their mother ever pick them up, caress and love them, or feed, clothe and bath them?” He had to admit their mother never wanted her daughters and he, himself, had shown very little love toward them. Then he said, “But your life influenced them.” What a wonderful testimony to have! Mr. Perlmutter forbade Bertha to have any further communication with his daughters. Then he flew to Cape Town to see Averil and Jacqueline at their school and forbade them to have any more communication with their friends in Cape Town. After much pleading he conceded to let them go once in three months. During the next three years at the boarding school, they had only these few meetings, which meant everything to them. When at home during the holidays, they could not go to the Sunday morning meeting, but sometimes the friends would phone their father, and ask the girls over for “tea,” and then they could enjoy a Bible study. The twins tried to have their own little Sunday morning meeting before the other girls arose at 6 a.m. And the Lord kindly taught them many things out of the scripture.

They kept on reading and praying in secret until the last year in school when they began to read and speak freely. Some of the Jewish girls asked questions about the New Testament and began to read it and were astonished when the twins could explain the scripture. As their school days were coming to a close, they knew a stand had to be taken, and their parents must know they chose to be Christians, which may mean their father would disown them. A week passed after arriving home and nothing was said about their decision. Their parents planned an overseas trip and discussed this, saying they would like the girls to dress like other Jewish girls; and this caused them to lose courage. They went to bed feeling ashamed of their cowardice. The next day their father had a severe thrombosis attack and died within minutes. They saw God’s hand in preventing them saying anything about their choice, as all their relatives would have said he died of shock. After the funeral the family met, and the girls were questioned regarding their “faith,” whether they wished to remain Jews or change their religion. They replied, “We have changed our religion.” The mountain they feared, disappeared into the sea. The next Sunday their stepmother offered them her car to go the meeting, which was the first time in 17 years they went freely and honestly. They found work in Salisbury, but after six months their stepmother began to get nasty and went to the Master of the High Court (they were still under 21) with accusations against the girls. This man called Bertha, questioning her in detail for hours about their childhood and upbringing in the Truth. Next, he called Mr. Oldknow and questioned him about this way. The judge then called the girls and told then about their stepmother’s complaint. But after listening to all, he decided that Bertha would be their legal guardian and advised them to hold on to their faith with all their strength. They went to live with Bertha. Later Bertha moved to “Carmel” the convention grounds, and lived there happily from 1961-1979 when she died of cancer. Averil and Jacqueline cared for her during her illness.

Averil began in the work in 1962 and Jacqueline in 1964.

Zimbabwe [formerly Rhodesia] is a somewhat circular country bordering South Africa, about 1,000 miles in diameter, with a population of 13 million. There is one English speaking convention [120-150 people] and two native [Shone] speaking conventions—one in the south [250 people] and another in the north [80 people]. All of the professing Shone people are very poor. Most walk one to two days to get to convention. Often only one parent can attend convention each year and usually one child goes with the parent. Frequently, children get only one convention while growing up.

The first colored man to profess in the country began listening to the gospel through the keyhole in a door. His mistress found out he was listening and invited him into the meeting room. This man’s Great Grandchild, a little 5 or 6 year-old girl named Bungi, as is the custom of the land, happily carried her little baby sibling bound to her back. “HUMBLE, CHILDLIKE CHRISTIANS ARE PREPARED TO DO LITTLE TASKS.”

Dillon, an only child, had been “the only pebble on the beach” for several years before brother Brian was born. However, Dillon was prepared to have the weaker, smaller, inferior Brian get all the attention. He was proud to put little Brian in the limelight and would say, “Look at Brian.” However when Brian would begin to cry he would call, “Mommy, come and help.” Are we a little jealous or put out when someone else gets a little attention or favor? “HUMBLE, CHILDLIKE CHRISTIANS KNOW WHEN TO ASK THE FATHER TO HELP ANOTHER.”

Benji, the grandson of the keyhole listener, was physically deformed — he had a large head and was unable to walk, but shuffled around slowly on the floor. He could not attend school, but he loved to sing the hymns and had a good voice. An offer was made to take Benji away to a boarding school where his voice would be trained so that he would be able to sing professionally, but he would not have ready access to meetings. The answer was no. “HUMBLE, CHILDLIKE CHRISTIANS KNOW WHEN TO SAY, ‘NO.’”

One day as Benji was on the floor, a cobra entered the room and came up to Benji. The grownups could only stand and watch because they knew that, if they became involved, the snake would certainly bite Benji. Benji just sat and watched the cobra until it crawled away leaving him unharmed. When there is wrong talk, evil, and slander it won’t affect us.  “IF WE ARE HUMBLE, CHILDLIKE CHRISTIANS POISON WILL NOT AFFECT US. JESUS NEVER EXPOSED JUDAS.”

Amanda was being disruptive in a convention meeting and her mother was unable to control her. Averil took her out of the meeting, gave her a smack, a sweet, and a hug, then brought her back into meeting where she sat quietly. Later, Averil felt very condemned. “What had Amanda told her mother? Would the mother be angry? Would the unprofessing father find out? Would the father allow workers to visit in the home anymore?” Averil went to the sleeping quarter to apologize. Little Amanda met her at the door with open arms and called her aunty. Better still, the mother came up and thanked Averil saying that she had been too sick to discipline her child. “HUMBLE, CHILDLIKE CHRISTIANS KNOW HOW TO TAKE CORRECTION AND NOT OFFENCE.”

Once when the twins were small, they were roughhousing in their room and accidentally knocked a picture off the wall and it smashed into a thousand pieces. They were afraid of the reprimand that would be coming from Bertha. That night Averil prayed earnestly that God would repair the picture. When she awoke in the morning the picture was still in a thousand pieces, but Bertha thought it had fallen off the wall on its own and there was no reprimand for the girls. ”HUMBLE, CHILDLIKE CHRISTIANS KNOW HOW TO ASK IN FAITH.”

Kola by the age of 5 years because of the varied cultures of his relatives, could speak 5 languages, accepted 5 different types of diets, and fit into 5 different cultures. “HUMBLE, CHILDLIKE CHRISTIANS KNOW HOW TO FIT IN.”

At 7 years of age Heather was daily telling Averil, “I love you so much that I will do anything for you.” After several days of saying there was nothing that needed doing, Averil responded, “Yes, there is something I would like you to do for me. See all the dirty dishes that your mother has piled up. Please wash them for me.” Heather answered, “I don’t love you enough for that.” “HUMBLE, CHILDLIKE CHRISTIANS WILL DO THINGS FOR CHRIST’S SAKE.”

There was a four-panel comic strip that Averil carried for years. In panel one, two little boys were fighting. In panel two, the boys were each separately talking to their fathers. In panel three, the boys were playing together. In panel four, the fathers were fighting. “HUMBLE, CHILDLIKE CHRISTIANS DON’T CARRY GRUDGES—THEY PUT IT RIGHT.”

Humility is better than capability.  May God help us to humble ourselves.