Category: document

I would like to take you home to the Faroe Islands today. We call the Faroe Islands the “Sheep Islands” and I think that is appropriate. In England in 1919, Peter was the eldest son of a farmer who embraced the truth in England, and later brought the gospel to Denmark.

Two years later a young woman, Susannah, left her home in the Sheep Islands and moved to England. She met the truth there and embraced it. Susannah talked to the worker, Peter, and asked him to come to the Sheep Islands and bring the gospel to her family and friends.

It cost Peter when he went to Denmark, and it cost him again when he came to the Sheep islands in 1926, but within a year there was a fair-sized church close to where Susannah lived on the Island. Her particular village didn’t receive the truth, and she lived 7-8 miles from where the meeting was on the other side of a mountain with only a mountain path between them.

You would know how the Sunday morning meetings are so dear to us, this is the way it was for Susannah. Every Sunday morning, she left her village early in the morning and prepared to walk the two hours to get to the meeting across the mountain. I hope our Sunday morning meeting means as much to us. My companion and I walked that mountain path once just to see and experience what Susannah walked every Sunday, and it was like a picture of life’s way, of God’s way to me.

Susannah heard the same message Abraham heard, “Get thee out of thy county, 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.”

Those villages on the Sheep Islands were close together, there are no trees, grass is everywhere so there are no hiding places, and perhaps it would be easy to be afraid to be different because they know each other so well.

Susannah prepared early, she started on Saturday to prepare for her trip across the mountain the next morning. She made a little food to take and some water and, early Sunday morning, she would walk through her village, walk along the bay, and start up the mountain.

Some of the villagers would be awake, while most would still be asleep, but Susannah had an aim. Some saw her as “strange, different.” Perhaps she would meet a few people walking down to the church in the village going the opposite way, and they might ask her, “Why don’t you come with us?”

It wouldn’t be easy, but that was her start every Sunday morning, and it’s the same way we all start. We are different because we have a different calling and goal in life. We have a way that is true, a way that is safe, and has more value than any other way. Susannah would leave the village behind her, and then cross a river. When we start, there is something to be buried in the river. When the children of Israel left Egypt, they left behind the old life, the old villages. They couldn’t see the goal clearly, but they started anyway.

Hebrews 11:8, “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.” We don’t know what’s ahead, but there is grace for each step. To Susannah, the mountain looked impossible, but there was a crack in the steep mountain, and, as she drew nearer, she would be guided by a heap of stones every so often. We call those stones “a cairn.” She knew it was possible then, even though it looked impossible, because someone else had already paved the way. Someone had gone before and left way-markers. Susannah could go forward in faith even when she couldn’t see a way across the mountain. She would come a little ways, then stop to catch her breath. Then the thoughts would come, “Does this pay? Is it worth it?” Then once she was rested she would go a little farther before she had to stop again.

As she walked along the way, the old way, the old village would get smaller and smaller. Finally near the top of the mountain, she might run into a hailstorm. And perhaps she would think, “I shouldn’t have left home.” But she would wait a while until she could see the way-markers again, and start on. Each meeting is like a way-marker, it assures us that we are in the right way.

The way goes on and on, and it’s easy to get careless and take it for granted. Finally, she would come to the last way-marker and think, “I’m almost there. I can relax.” We can’t relax. We can’t take any shortcuts, they prove dangerous. Then there is another river to cross. This is a picture of life’s end. Susannah was glad that someone had already bridged that river.

We can be thankful that Jesus has bridged the last step of death for us.

Finally she would be assured again, the price wasn’t too great. So much is given in return. Every effort will pay and pay wholeheartedly. Those who put their best into their service, will get the most in return. God rewards so much more than we can ever realize.

The way-markers are made because of frequent storms in the mountains. The most dangerous thing to do in a blizzard is sit down and rest. We must keep moving. I knew a man who got caught in a blizzard beside a way-marker. He couldn’t see forward, he couldn’t see behind, so he stayed right there and took apart the way-marker and put it back together several times until help finally came.

Jeremiah 31:21, “Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps… turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again…” Charity and love are the foundation stones of God’s way-markers, combined with obedience, humility, and meekness. The way-markers may repeat themselves, but this assures us that the way has not changed. At Buttonwillow, I was so happy to be assured that God’s way hasn’t changed. The same virtues are visible, and this is a confirmation that this is the way of God.

Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

What this tells us is that the word of God is alive, powerful and sharp, and the word of God discerns things for us in our hearts. As I prayed for this meeting, I wasn’t feeling that the Word of God was very powerful and alive and sharp, and it was shocking to me! Maybe some others have had this experience. All of a sudden, the inspiration you should have, you don’t have! It’s not a good feeling to have! I felt, “I’m not the only one that has had these experiences, so let’s talk about it!”

Do you want it this way? No. Does God want it this way? No. Is it God’s problem? No. So what are you going to do about it?

Luke 8:5, “’A sower went out to sow his seed and as He sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold.’ And when He had said these things, He cried, ‘He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.’”

Luke 8:11, “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”

So, do you know one thing I found right off? When I went to this Scripture, I realized I’d read it dozens of times. I’ve heard it a lot! If your heart is like the wayside soil, and becomes hardened, the Word of God lands on it, and Satan comes and takes it away. It sounds so simple and insignificant but just that little hardness right there – the Word of God won’t go in, and Satan is right there to take it away. There are some places in the Scriptures I really don’t want to go. I think, “Some people would be hurt by that or misunderstand.” So I harden myself to that. Some places in the Scriptures I feel convicted about, and I don’t want to go there. So, I harden myself to that. Then I wonder why the Scripture doesn’t inspire me! A hard heart is always an advantage to Satan! We harden our hearts because we are afraid and don’t know what it’s going to mean to us. Satan is right there to take it away. I’ve hardened my heart, so that when people talk about forgiveness in meeting, I’ve felt offended thinking, “If you really knew what happened to me you wouldn’t be saying that!” We don’t deal with what is hardening us – so Satan takes away the Word of God.

The next soil is the rocky soil. The Word of God comes, and people are excited but it doesn’t go very deep. The sun comes out and scorches it. The seed is not alive. The seed is kept on the surface. Consistency is hard for me. I get desperate before a meeting, and search the Word of God and search my heart. But what about Monday and Tuesday? Am I a shallow feeder – keeping it that way? Then I wonder why I’m not inspired! I’ve been feeding really, really shallowly this week! That’s why! God wants us feeding every day of our life. That’s how the Word of God becomes alive and meaningful! It needs to be nurtured all that time.

The next soil is the thorny soil – all kinds of other things sprung up. The Word of God couldn’t express itself; there were too many other things expressing themselves! We have all these things keeping us busy, and other peoples’ expectations. All the time we’re being crowded. If what God is trying to give us is getting crowded out, it’s no wonder we aren’t inspired! We have choices to make. The thorns do their work. The thorns can be the most deceitful thing. We still have the Word of God – it hasn’t died. But it just doesn’t produce what God said it would! You can totally tell by what’s going on in the soil, with what happens to the seed. But God will continue to sow.

The last soil is the good soil. If there’s one way I want to deal with the hardness, stones and weeds in my heart – instead of focusing on all this stuff – focus on what I do want, and start making room for what is good! Then the other stuff will take care of itself. It’s very clear God loves us. Make room for it, meditate on it, thank God for it. Then the stones in our heart are not so important anymore – gone. We understand Jesus already died and took the punishment for our sins, so we can be called sons of God. God will take our soul, and put it in a body that will never decay. When we think about it, the rocks and weeds are not so important anymore because this is too real! I don’t know how to explain life but, you know, I totally believe in it because I see it, and see the results of it. I believe in what God has done because I see people get spiritual life. I see it, and it’s exciting! When I open my heart to it, it softens me, and I begin to want it all.

I was aware there was a part of God’s Word I avoided. It was a time when Jesus healed a man of his blindness. Jesus said, “What do you see?” He answered, “I see men like trees walking.” The miracle wasn’t complete. So Jesus healed him again, and he saw perfectly. Why did Jesus do a miracle that wasn’t complete? I didn’t understand. Later, I understood that Scripture was what I needed. The very time I hardened my heart to it was when I needed it the most! When God first gave me vision, it wasn’t complete.

I realize now that God gives us a little bit at a time, and then says, “Darryl, what do you see?” Then He does more and asks me what I see. “Now I believe and understand it.”

I realize that all the hardness in my life is giving Satan an advantage. Let’s make room for what it is telling us here. Then all He’s planned for us is going to be accomplished.

Revelations 2-3, we see here how God thinks about things. It is like a midterm report card regarding the condition of the churches.

Have you ever wondered how God REALLY Thinks and feels about our service?

There are four things, which are important!

1) Who is giving the grade: God is the one. The one who is going to pass or fail us, this is important, not what our friends think.

2) The words we speak. God comes for just about all of them!

3) Whose report card is it? Mine, no one else’s.

4) We are individuals before God. Someday we will stand alone before Him. Those who influenced us will not stand with us. We will be judged on what happens with our body and in our body. I Corinthians 5:10, effort counts! Best is the only thing, which is acceptable! My dad wasn’t so concerned about my grades, but he looked to see what my mark for effort was.

God judges our effort! The best that you have in your place and situation in life is what He wants.

Subjects found on this report card are:

a. Love of God,

b. Enduring persecution,

c. True doctrine,

d. Godly morals,

e. The middle miles,

f. Going deeper, and

g. A firm stand  

1) God knew they had left their first love, because He was there when they made their first choices. And God wasn’t getting those feelings anymore. He was no longer in first place.

It is terrible when love goes sour, and falls apart. Do you remember how fresh love was?

A person wants to fix it, but what to do? If you don’t make some changes now there will be disaster. The key to fixing love is to put God first!  

Songs of Solomon 1:6. So much we can get involved in and neglect our own “vineyard”.

Our first responsibility must be to our own vineyard, our relationship with God.  

Business is not godliness nor a relationship with God. Business is business. When there is no time with God, then priorities are wrong. The enemy looks for our weakness. Daniel was a praying man not just in a crisis, but he was a praying man on an ordinary day. In the test he went right to his strength, his prayer life – to what his first love was. Earnest Nelson made a passing comment in conversation, “One day, when I was reading for enjoyment…………”

How many times do we read our Bible just for that reason? We read it in preparing for meetings, yes! Daniel refused to partake of the King’s meat even if it was the best this world had to offer. He cared for his first love.   

2) Standing against persecution is never easy, but it does a great work in us. And it is necessary. We cannot be swayed from our convictions of truth. Our Bibles can be taken away from us, but God’s word can’t be taken out of our hearts. Are you ready to die for your Jesus? This was the question asked of friends in Cuba when authorities came and took their Bibles. Some left God’s way at this time, because they were not willing for the persecution. Others were true and were a persuasive testimony to the authorities. Hebrews 11:34-37, faith is the thing that matters, concentrate on that and not on the persecution. The world will test our “NO” and God will test our “YES.”  

3) The true doctrine of Christ, we will be judged by it. It is our personal responsibility to understand it and follow it! The churches in Revelation had two false doctrines. Did a servant of God introduce the false doctrine? Or did a saint bring it amongst them? God hates it no matter who teaches us. If it goes against Jesus doctrine it is a wrong doctrine There is not a verse of the teachings of Jesus that we need to run from Jesus’ doctrine is both safe and necessary. Compare what you are hearing and what you read, does it match up? It doesn’t matter who it is that shares it with you, if it is different than the scripture it is false. I Corinthians 7:6, 10-12, 25,40 this is God’s doctrine. We follow the doctrinal teachings of Jesus only. His people are responsible, to follow right doctrine. This is doctrine: “You must,” “except this happens,” “I say unto you,” “except a man bare the cross,” “if you don’t forgive,” “except you become as a little child,” etc.  

It is false doctrine not to have humility, or to be teachable. It is important we wholly follow all the teaching of Jesus. What to do if false doctrine comes your way? Watch your own spirit!

A wrong spirit may be a worse problem if it makes for self-righteousness.

Pray to God as to what to do and how to do it, how to stand true where we are at.

False doctrine will never touch well-established saints who have the right relationship with God. The root of false doctrine wants to cloak their sin in a religious coat. We can’t use standards of man’s righteousness to justify sin.

Today over 500 friends gathered in the tent in this mountain region called Coyunde….and there was not one wheel, bicycle, car, or truck on the grounds. Two horses were tied to a tree at the entry, the rest of these people had all walked from their homes. Those from “far away” places stay with nearby friends, others walk two to three hours home after the afternoon meeting to take care of their chores.

At 10,000 feet, we are above the altitude where coffee, corn, or bananas will grow…but potatoes flourish. Different varieties are blooming with white, lavender and deep purple blossoms, and one new variety called “Revolution” matures in 3 months while the others take up to 6 or 7 months. McDonald’s could start a new revolution too if they ever served French Fries with potatoes from Coyunde…they are “hors du monde.”

Monday morning we left Olmos for a 2 hour hike up the trails to Acuchinga that led past these potato patches to Praxede’s home for breakfast. The effort to climb in the thin air (1,550 ft) made a guinea pig and popcorn breakfast taste mighty good. And then back down other trails to the west to Coyunde. Each day we have hiked out for dinners in homes up and down these ridges. No camera could capture the depth of beauty of the scenery we are seeing everyday…from the grandeur of mountain peaks 50 miles to the West or down to the most miniscule, vibrantly-hewed wild flowers. And at every other step along the trail, you seem to find a new one prettier than the last.

Part of the trail between Olmos and Coyunde runs on the continental divide…I tried to imagine the water flowing from those springs starting, it’s several thousand mile-long journey to the Amazon and the Atlantic Ocean to the East! And the stones of this trail mark part of the “highway” that ran between Quito, Ecuador, and Cajamarca, capital of the Inca Empire in Peru. Inca armies traveled this route and just behind one of the friends homes is the never-excavated remains of a station over a 1000 years old where they would stop over on their maneuvers.

The Inca never developed a written language or the use of the wheel. But “chasqui” long distance runners ran this same trail throughout extensions of the Empire with memorized messages and “quibos”: rods of wood to which were tied cords at different intervals and of different lengths, knotted in specific points, relaying a message in secret code that has never been deciphered until this day…lost with the arrival of the conquering Spanish. Today over 500 people of this mixed ancestry sat together in solid unity, hearing, and understanding the same language spoken in Haiti and obviously moved by the message…that would still be “quibu” to those whose ears haven’t been opened by the Spirit’s voice. It’s true that we’ve heard of the cattle thieves who turned to the Lord in these parts. Looking over the crowd I couldn’t see …one. Their testimonies have been clear and with special depth. Wednesday morning 9:00 a.m., twenty seven (Don Reynolds is in South Africa for convs. and Lillia Latorre is recuperating from surgery in Lima) workers and the five visiting workers met in an adobe dirt-floored room of Carlos Zarate’s home that serves as the dining room for convention for a workers’ meeting. High on this mountain side (10,000ft), it reminded me of the cream of Peru in the quietness of the morning rising to the top (though I’ve not seen any of them considering themselves cream) for a few of special fellowship and now ready to enrich the lives of the Lord’s people here and mix daily with a lost, dying world. Many are sons and daughters of those we heard of as “cattle thieves.” But I don’t think I ‘ll ever forget the clarity of their purpose expressed one by one that day. Over 1000 friends live within an 8 km radius. The Coyunde country school has over 100 professing children out of 250 in class. Opposition to this work has not died (they threw a big rock through the tent during the night meeting at Olmos last week) and the children bear it bravely. But Carlos helped the situation with the school director when he and several other men quietly replaced the Director’s leaking roof over his office over the weekend, when the others in the community refused to do anything about it.

Several years ago, a man came to buy potatoes and left his 12 year old son with Carlos to gather up more potatoes to be ready when he came back with the horse in a few days. The boy attended the fellowship meetings while waiting for his dad’s return and then begged to stay with Carlos’ family to be in the meetings. He’s grown now and has a couple years of working in Lima behind him…and will likely be starting in the Work when Don returns. Carlos shared the story of the community men getting beaten with egg-sized hail stones while waiting for the workers to pass through a thick timber on the trail to Olmos, pledged to kill them with their shotguns. That day those brothers, Derick Clark and Robert Wood, were planing the planks of the floor that I am sitting on right now. One of those men, later called on Carlos to ask the workers to have his little daughter’s funeral and later professed and confessed that he was there. Carlos told me he left the workers working on the planing and went and prayed three times that day…feeling so heavy that something was wrong but they wouldn’t hear not going for their evening Gospel meeting.

The storm that finally came, came with such a fury that had never been seen before or since and was so strong it stripped the trees bare of leaves and left the men bruised and beaten and in the open. The priest down in Chota was so jealous of the Work that he gave orders to men up here to stop it. We were in Olinda Diaz’ home (began in the Work in 1994 ). One night in this home, men gathered to plot their strategy and drank for courage and then left in the dark to kill the brothers. On the way they began to argue amongst themselves whether to kill Carlos or the brothers….the dispute turned sour and one man shot another, so one ended up in the hospital and the other in jail…and the brothers slept through the night in peace.

When every other attempt failed, the priest plotted with two brothers from Chota to persuade their lawyer brother in Cajamarca to go to the Immigration Offices in Lima and have the workers put out of the country. This brother agreed and they left Cayamarca at 9:00p.m. One hour later, they crashed into the back of a semi-trailer truck [that was] left broken down on the highway and all three died on the spot. As Trevor said, “How can we fear the future…”

Tomorrow morning we begin the 3 hour hike, 3,000 ft descent to Lajas and then some of us to Chota. Tues. morning we divided again into three groups, mine going to Ramoscucho. They have been preparing me for what is ahead….cold (heavy frost every morning) and over 12,000 ft. altitude. Last evening, Trevor said he was giving me his sleeping bag and some glucose tablets for the long hikes ….just in case. This field with about 100 friends now, was pioneered by sisters, and one of them, Lillia Perez, will be returning for her first time since leaving there.

They walked ten hours to get there in the beginning…now a road will take us within three hours. This area was the “stomping grounds” of a famous cattle thief from Coyunde. After he professed, he felt he owed it to these people to be able to hear the Gospel, too. He sold his land here and bought land in that high country where it’s difficult for anything to grow and moved there in a desperate effort to persuade the workers to go. I’m looking forward to meeting him.

The speaking list for Sunday at Ramoscucho is Sunday November 25, 9:30 a.m. Dan Henry, Lynette Lee, Almansor Diaz, Angelita Guevara—-1:00p.m. Johan Marais, Elsa Zarate, Lillia Perez, Hector Diaz. Plus Gospel Meetings every night in different parts.

Next Monday we travel again, this time towards our final convention in Peru…..Lima. Tomorrow I hope to check mail in Chota. Lyle is sitting across from me. He’s kept well, but fighting a sore throat and cold tonight. He is enjoying all of this as much as I. He’s been very helpful in all the meetings….as we would expect.

Supper is called….french fries….can you believe it!!

Your grateful brother….Dan

4) Godly morals (moral living) sexuality in business and toward another. Holiness is the highest standard of excellence of moral and spiritual living. The churches in Revelations were about 30 years old. Fornication, adultery, and idol worship had crept in amongst them. Revelations 2:20-23 has to do with improper sexual conduct before and after marriage. We are judged according to Jesus’ standard even if “everybody” is doing it. What is right is seldom popular. There is lots of pressure in the world to do differently. God’s standard is to be virgins before marriage and to stay true after marrying. The world will say differently, yet God judges us. Should we fall, there is hope. We need to repent. There is hope if we use the key of repentance. Workers can’t forgive a mosquito. Forgiveness belongs to God.

Divorce is a moral issue. God’s standard is one man, one woman for life. There is no way out!

Mark 10:11-12, adultery is that clear. This is doctrine, true doctrine. Step of repentance is separation in the case of adultery. It’s not an easy choice. We are not talking about what if the man and woman love one another or if there are children involved. We are talking about what Jesus said, how to make it right. Ezra 10 is a pain filled chapter. The problem here started in the ministry. From verse 18 on, there were steps taken in a costly way to put things right. These men put away wives and children to be right before God again. They had made a wrong choice, years before. We have to go back to the original wrong choice and start there to make it right.

We can live with the wrong choice and more and more fruit will come from it. And, it will still be a wrong choice. Peace and joy come by putting it right before God. Revelations 2:22-23 is fornication and adultery serious? We will all be judged by the same standard of Jesus. It is the same no matter where we would go to get a different answer. We will be judged by Jesus’ words on the matter. Repentance is a gift from God! It is God’s choice for us, not ours. Esau sought the place with tears and never found the place of repentance.

Young people keep yourself pure. Married folks keep yourselves true.

Homosexuality, is it right? Is there a third gender? Before God, it is evil. Sodom is about homosexuality, don’t be confused. God destroyed it, Romans 1:26. Abortion is it right or wrong? Psalms 139:14-16, “my members were all written in Your book…” This means, before God, you could tell if it’s a boy or a girl. He knows our thoughts before we know them!  

We are not living in a little world, rather a big world and it is a hard one!

5) The middle miles, most of the race is here. Most of our lives we will spend in these miles. Hold on to what you have. Discouragement in one of the things the middle miles have to deal with. It is the place of no publicity, often no news, little or no support from others, often we have to go it alone But, it is not possible to get an ending, if we don’t get through the middle miles. Revelations 3:3, don’t look back. If we give up in the middle miles, we go back to what we were before we professed, what we were of worse. Remember why we professed in the beginning.   

6) Going deeper, this church was encouraged to go. They were doing well, but needed to hold fast and protect what they had. The best place to protect our crown is close to Jesus. They were resented as an open door. Should we ever feel there is no more to do, it is because we have not seen the open door(s). Sunday fellowship meetings should never become a form. All meetings are to help us go on!

A time came in my experience when I wrote down my own testimony from every meeting in a notebook and one thing from the meeting, which I could do. I decided to drink water from my cup. When I started to look for something to do from what I heard, I started to love people in my meeting. Find a way around the dislike for people in your fellowship. Get more involved with the Christ in people.

7) A firm stand needs to be made. This means a definite stand, no sitting on the fence. The church here in Revelation was neither hot nor cold. Say “NO” and mean it. And learn to say “YES” and mean it. God will test our “YES” and the world will test our “NO” which the world doesn’t understand. Hate iniquity and love righteousness. If the “saliva” is running down our chin while saying “NO,” there is still a problem! It is very confusing to others if we say we are serving God and in our home there is still an altar to another God. This is a double standard.  

Is there a problem with your “NO?”

Jesus and the apostle Paul had some things in common. When Jesus was in the garden praying, He sweat great drops of blood, as it were. Three times He prayed, “Not My will, but Thine be done.” Jesus had the victory of the two-letter word, “No.” He said no to His flesh and He meant it. Paul received revelations that no one else received. Then the Lord gave him a thorn in his flesh to keep him humble. Three times he asked the Lord to remove the thorn. God knew the tendency in every human heart to get puffed up and He gave Paul that thorn to keep him humble.

Why do we get lifted up in ourselves? We really don’t have anything to be proud of. We are made of “dust” and we tend to cling to dust. Dust in its best form is mud! We are no better than mud!! God could have made us out of platinum, silver, or gold. He chose dust to keep us humble. One man was preparing the soil to plant some grass seed. The dirt was so hard that he had to bring in some topsoil and then he planted the grass and it came in really well. This is the way it is with us. Something has to be removed first and then something better is brought in to help us grow like Jesus. God doesn’t remove the thorn, He just gives us more grace to bear it. We need grace each day so that we can get the victory.

In order for us to have victory, we need to have a desire for victory. We need to have a desire to say, “Not my will but Thine be done.” That is the spirit that gives us hope. There might be a tendency in us to justify our position or justify our sin. When we try to justify ourselves, that is really strong evidence our lives are not on the altar. We will never become “just” before God by justifying ourselves or

justifying our actions when we are wrong. There were some who became offended at Jesus. The reason for their offence is because what Jesus spoke revealed their condition. Jesus said, “That which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination before God.” They were trying to justify themselves. All progress stops cold when we try to justify ourselves.

What we need to do is to step into the light and let God show us our need and then be humble enough to accept the remedy. The remedy is denying ourselves and taking up our cross and following Jesus. That is salvation! There is a favorite saying among the children of men, “I don’t care if I go to hell, that is where all my friends are.” Of course, that is not true. We read Luke 16 about the rich man and Lazarus. When the rich man died, he was buried. All our friends can do for us is give us a good burial. But Lazarus was carried into Abraham’s bosom. The rich man from afar off saw Lazarus enjoying the fellowship in Abraham’s bosom. The rich man was alone by himself. He wasn’t with his buddies. He was in that place of regret still trying to justify himself.

We were in Canada a few years ago for special meetings. We were at a certain home for one of these afternoon teas! We were all enjoying the fellowship when suddenly the door opened and a black Labrador dog came rushing in and ran around the room, under the table and on the couch, and then back out the door. The owners were right there, but they didn’t seem embarrassed and they didn’t try to stop the dog. A few minutes later, the door opened again and this rambunctious dog came running in, and, again, he went through the same routine. The owners didn’t try to discipline the dog or anything like that.

The very next day, we were in a different house having tea, and suddenly the door opened, and in came a twin to the other dog. But this was a different situation. This dog was in a harness and he was leading a blind man. The blind man sat down with his dog. The dog laid down and was very quiet. The room was full of people and the dog could smell the food, but he just laid there at the owner’s feet. This dog was under control. He was disciplined. This dog had all the energy as the first dog, but this dog was trained and submitted and useful.

This is the lesson God wants to give us these days. We need to be under the control of our Lord and Master, then our lives can be a blessing. The theme of the world is, “You owe it to yourself.” This is the language of Satan. He would encourage us to take our lives off the altar. You owe it to yourself! It is not easy to say, “No” when everyone else in the world is saying, “Yes.” They are feeding the wrong appetites and those appetites are taking them down a different road than what we are traveling. We need to think ahead and to think long-term.

Daniel and the three Hebrew children were in Babylon. The adversary was whispering in their ears, “You owe it to yourself.” The enemy would whisper that it is okay to please ourselves just for a few days. Everyone else in Babylon was saying, “Yes!” But these four men were outstanding. They said, “No,” firmly and they meant it. They couldn’t be tempted or enticed. They paid with their lives and God reciprocated their faith and raised them up in the kingdom.

When Jesus was going to Jerusalem to be crucified, Peter rebuked Jesus. He told Jesus not to go to Jerusalem because he knew what might befall Him there. Jesus turned around and looked at the disciples and then spoke to Peter, “Get thee behind me Satan, for thou savourest not..” Jesus was looking at things long-term. He understood the subtle language here of, “Save yourself.” He knew this spirit could affect the rest of the disciples.

Luke 2:1-7, “And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. This census first took place while Cyrenius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

And in John’s gospel, chapter 19:28 – 28, “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, ‘I thirst!’ Now a vessel full of vinegar was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with vinegar, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the vinegar, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up the ghost.” The beginning and the end of Jesus’ life on this earth. Thirty-three and a half years, thirty-three and half short years and His life was finished. Began so simply and ended as it did.

I wanted you to take note of the words of that hymn we just sang. The very first verse, line of that hymn, picture the Saviour in compassion, come to earth to bleed and die (Hymn 73). Compassion, you know what compassion is? Compassion is not pity. I can look on you and pity you in your condition, whatever it is and do nothing. But compassion won’t allow me just to stand there and watch. When I feel compassion, I feel in a measure of what you feel, in my heart; it moves me to do something. And compassion moved Jesus to leave heaven, and come to this earth to bleed and die. Think of His great love in leaving Heaven’s home on high. Down to win earth weary sinners, wandering far, how can it be.. Oh, what love, tis passing knowledge, can it be, can it be? Can it be that people are going on through life untouched by this life, Jesus’ life. Unmoved by His life that was moved with compassion. One that was moved with compassion to come and was willing to bleed and to die. To give his life, in His compassion, left Heaven’s glory.

There is something called ‘culture shock.’ On April 18th of this year, when I returned to the US, I was hit after 5 years away, with culture shock. The reverse of what I felt five years before when I returned to the Philippines from here. Just the reverse. Yes, it’s culture shock, after five years away, to come back here and see how people live. I knew, I already knew, of course. But to come back and see how people live, it’s a shock. It’s such a contrast to people, most people who live in the Philippines. Now, in February, I hope to return to the Philippines, and I get hit again with a culture shock after being here for about ten months. Go back to the Philippines, and be with those living under those conditions. So people, when they go, workers even, when they go to a country, there has been a few that just can’t handle the culture shock, just can’t. Can’t seem to adjust to it. For some it is a big shock, a big shock. I suppose the biggest rate of change from what we have here, what I’ve seen in another place, is in the mountains of New Guinea. I see there, people living in their simplicity; some use the term – stone age. Living like they did in the stone age. What a shock! What a difference. Nothing, that’s nothing compared with Jesus leaving the glories of heaven. Do you know what He left? I don’t! We hope to someday know.

We had a sister worker in the Philippines (a native), was given the privilege of coming here for Convention a few years ago. Just a few weeks ago, she died at the age of, just short of 82 years old. She came here and her heart was gripped. And she told us about that when she returned to the Philippines, and she said, “I didn’t know before how much the workers who came here before to our islands were willing to leave behind. To come here and to live like us. To live on our level because of love in their hearts, because they wanted to share the gospel with others. To come down to our level..” And it melted her heart. I know she never forgot it. I know it had a profound effect on her. To think that if they had stayed here, what they could be enjoying, what they could have.

But that is nothing, that’s nothing compared to what Jesus left in Heaven. Heaven was perfect. Can you tell me, can you tell me, can you name, one thing, even one of all the things that are available here on earth, one thing that’s perfect? One? Even one? And Heaven was perfection! All in Heaven is perfection. And Jesus left that to come to earth, where there is not one perfect thing. Culture shock!!! Difference. What a vast difference! And He left all that. And listen, here is how He came. He didn’t come to a palace, did He? We know that. He was born in a stable and laid in a manger. Is there a mother here? Is there a mother even in the poorest part of this earth, who would willingly choose to place her newborn child in a manger? A feed trough! They call it a feed trough. That’s what it is. It’s a place where the animals feed. Is there a mother, living under even the poorest conditions, that would choose to lay her newborn child there? Jesus came from the glories of Heaven and was placed in a manger as a newborn babe. That’s just what we read in Luke’s gospel. What a change! What a vast difference, from what He enjoyed in Heaven, from eternity, eternity. He’s never known anything different. Never! Except perfection in Heaven; and He left all that and He came here.

If our sister worker could be deeply touched, and deeply moved by the difference there is between American and the Philippines, what should it do to our heart to think of what Jesus left to come here to help us? Maybe that helps us to understand a little better what is meant by compassion. That’s compassion. Seeing us in our condition and willing to come and do something about it. That’s compassion! That’s not pity. That’s compassion. And He was willing to do that, to come to bleed and to die. To give His life to pour out His life, to be here, a homeless stranger. And treated like He was treated and God looking on, God watching it all, knowing what was going on and being willing for it.

When we, like we said the other day, when we choose to give our lives in the ministry, we are willing for the condition. The conditions are to leave all and to be homeless strangers. Not for ‘X’ number of years, but for as long as we are able, as long as we are able. Sacrifice? I don’t want to use that word. Privilege! That’s it. What a privilege. Perhaps when we are first in this, it seems more like sacrifice, but after a while, we grow ashamed, ashamed of ourselves that we ever considered it a sacrifice when it is such a privilege. Such a wonderful privilege. And so this is a choice that we make, to go out, and to leave behind for the rest of our lives, if that’s possible, to be homeless strangers, unknown. And then, if we want to use the word sacrifice, we have to say that this is for those that want to make this offer and give their lives, because whether they’re in God’s family or not, each of these has parents. And they are involved in the choice, too! Deeply involved in this choice, that their child would make, or children would make, deeply involved. And it’s a big step for them, too, to be willing, to say, “Yes, I’ll let my child go, my children go and give their lives in this work.” It is not a small thing. And we don’t ever want to treat this lightly, ever. And that’s a big responsibility for them. And I know that in most cases, they do all that they can to encourage that child or children, those children, to keep their lives on the altar of service. And they feel it keenly if it’s not possible. But there’s a responsibility that goes along with it, too, and that’s this: to let them go. And allow them to really cut the ties with home. And to really be in this work, and be in it with all of their heart. Cut the ties and let them go and give them liberty to give their lives as God had intended them to give their lives.

My family is not professing. My dad is gone now and my mother is still alive and I hope to see her in just over a week. She doesn’t understand much about this and how I’m giving my life. It seems strange to her. But I’m really indebted to her for being as understanding as she is. And not continuing to make claims on me and insisting that I come, come often. I know she’d feel a lot better about it if I could be closer, if I could come more often. But she has put no pressure on me and I appreciate that. That’s something for someone who really doesn’t understand. And then I think of God in Heaven. You see, it was His choice, too. It was His choice to send His son, to let Him go. And if there are any parents that find it a struggle to let his child go to enter this ministry, and find it difficult to cut the ties, let them go, and really set them free, think of God in Heaven, who had never been separated from His son. They were together from eternal ages. And the day came, and we can read about that in Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,” – God said, “Go.” He sent Him. He didn’t hold back. He sent Him. So Jesus left His home, so that you and I could have an eternal home.

But the thing that is going to allow us to have an eternal home is if we give Him a home in our heart. If we welcome Him into our life, our heart, and give Him a home while we have life here, and don’t lay any claims to our own life. Oh, dear, I shouldn’t have said that. If any have said that or felt, “It is my life, I can do what I want with it,” – don’t feel that way. Please don’t feel that way. It is not true. Whether it is your own making, our own idea, or Satan sowed that in your mind, it’s a lie. It’s not true. It was never true. It was never ever true. This life was loaned to us, given to us for a little while, so that we would use it to prepare for eternity. It belongs to God, and He wants to work in it and use it. It’s not ours. Somehow we get the vague idea it’s ours, “It’s mine and I can do what I want with it.” It’s not ours. But He would like us to use it as a home for His Son. Welcome Him into our heart.

It tells us in the first chapter of the Gospel of John, that Jesus came to this earth and no one knew Him here. They didn’t know Him here, they didn’t have anything to do with Him. He came to His own, His own people, the Jewish people, and they didn’t receive Him. But there were those, there were a few that received Him, they welcomed Him into their heart and into their lives. They made a dwelling place for Him in their heart, they welcomed Him in. And then in John 14, he said, “In My Father’s house are many mansions, and I’m going to go and I’m going to prepare a place for you. A room for you there, a place for you there, because you gave Me a place in your heart now.” Can you think of that, can you picture this wee babe being born into the world and no one cared enough to make room for Him that night? It was a lodging place. Oh, of course, it was full. We understand that because everyone was going to where they came from to pay these taxes, to go register and all – so everything, every room was full; things were overflowing, we understand that. That’s understandable, but the point is, here’s a young couple, a mother about to give birth. The innkeeper didn’t say, “Oh, bring her here, we’ll stay outside, we’ll find a place, bring her into this room, she needs a special room, she needs a clean place, she’s about to give birth, this is unusual. This is not normal. Come in.” He didn’t do it. And there would have been others in that inn, don’t know how many others who had the very same opportunity. But they wouldn’t do it. Didn’t have enough compassion, perhaps pity, poor woman, poor woman about to give birth, but didn’t lift a finger. Didn’t make a move. Didn’t make an offer to give them a place. So Jesus had to be laid in that manger, that feed trough. The place where no caring mother would ever place her child if she had a choice. And Mary had no choice. And this is the way God severed the ties and allowed His Son to come and to be born. And now He wants a place in our heart and He’s looking in our heart and that’s why we have meetings like this.

This is why on Saturday evening, we give opportunity to anyone who would want to give Him a place in their heart. Welcome Him in so that He can prepare for us a place in His father’s home. That’s what He’s doing now. Preparing places for those who give Him residence in their hearts now. He gave His life as a homeless stranger in the ministry for three and a half years, no home of His own, no certain dwelling place, no settled place to rest His head, He didn’t know from one day to the next where He would be sleeping that night. He didn’t know the next night, He didn’t know, He chose, of course, just as He set the example for each of those that followed His ministry. But He followed that right until His last breath as He hung on the cross. The last tortured breath that he took on the cross, as He hung there, slowly choking, strangling, whatever you want to call it. Couldn’t breathe. Lungs filling up with water, having to push Himself up trying to take another breath. Having sagged into that position because the pain was too great in His feet, but then the pain was in His hands, but to take another breath, to lift Himself up, somehow finding enough strength to lift Himself another time for another breath. And when He did that one of those last times, He said, “I thirst!” Why did He say that? A good drink of water wouldn’t have done Him any good, really! He was so near the end. It’s been said before and I’ll just repeat it, and I believe it with all my heart, He said it giving anyone, anyone there, one last opportunity to do for Him. He came into the world like that, among uncaring people, and there were few, there was rejoicing over each one that gave Him place, in the course of His life, each one. There weren’t many! But there were some, and there was rejoicing in Heaven each time there was even one. And there will be rejoicing in Heaven tonight if there are any who would make that same choice, to give Him a place. Hanging on the cross, in agony, He didn’t have to say that for Himself. I believe He said for the sake of others, “I thirst. Is there one, is there even one who cares? Would have compassion on Me? And help Me in My need?” There wasn’t one. Doesn’t it Break your heart??? To think there was none, not even one who would be moved enough. Oh, yes, they took a sponge, and they put vinegar on it, not water. That wouldn’t satisfy thirst, that would just make it worse. Make Him more thirsty. That was just an attempt to make it harder for Him. There wasn’t one, but He gave them – one more chance!

Just the other day a man came to me. As far as I knew, I had never met him before. He said, “You were here six years ago.” I said, “Yes, I was.” He said, “You saved my life.” “No, I didn’t.” “Yes, you did.” “No, I didn’t, I don’t even know you.” “Yes, you did.” “No!” “Yes, something you said in the meeting, that last meeting of the convention, settled it for me.” “Well, maybe it wasn’t me that said it.” What I meant was, maybe God said it to him because I didn’t know him. And I didn’t know his condition. How could I have known, how would I, how could I say what would help him? I wouldn’t know what to say. But it was said and it gave him a hope and he made his choice. And he opened his heart, and he’s here now. And Jesus is preparing a place for him, even as he is preparing a place for us. And we want to go and to claim that place in His father’s home.

But it depends on us giving Him a place now, and so we’re going to give that invitation, tonight. If there would be any, and we hope with all our hearts that you would never in any way feel pressured, if this isn’t in your heart… If you haven’t already settled it before the meeting began, or resettled it even now, we don’t want you to stand. But if it is settled, and you don’t want to go another day without giving Him a welcome place in your heart, Him who was so willing to leave so much, to come here where there’s so little, and give us hope, we’d like you to do that. And so we’re going to sing a hymn, and anytime during the last two verses, if you’d like to make that choice known, stand to your feet and we can rejoice with you, to encourage in that choice. So stand and make that choice known. And that Hymn is 161, “Lord, I desire to come now to Thee.” And again, could we sing this hymn softly.

The widow’s mites – I wonder, did she hesitate a little before taking them to the treasury and casting them in? It would have cost her a lot to do it in front of the rich who had given so much. They might despise her and her offering, but Jesus saw the BIG sacrifice that was so little in front of others. She gave her all.

Isaiah 41:1, “Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.” This verse is a picture of convention. I’m glad it is in the order it is in and doesn’t start with the last words! If we first heard the word judgment, maybe it wouldn’t appeal to us! The human heart always has so much to say, but we need to keep silence before Him, so He can speak. Let the people renew their strength. He wants to renew our love and the joy of salvation and give us new strength, greater strength to go further and to do things that we haven’t done in the past. “Then let them speak.” If we had spoken first we would have spoken other words, but now we say words like “I’m sorry, forgive me.. etc.” We don’t get poorer when we do something in His will. He wants to enrich us. Mary didn’t say one word and yet she encouraged Jesus so much. Sometimes it doesn’t take so much to encourage our hearts. God can encourage when no one else is there to do it.

One of the first brothers to labour in France spoke once about his experience. There was war and they had it very difficult. There were no local friends to support them and because of the war, it was not possible for friends back home to send them help and they had to get work in the mines in order to keep going. It was hard labour and there was little to encourage them in their gospel efforts either. One day this brother had some free time and was lying on the hillside in the dry, parched grass, discouraged and entertaining thoughts of giving up and going home. Was it really worth it? As he lay there he took a handful of that dry grass in his fist and squeezed it. Then for the first time he noticed that there were some tiny wildflowers blooming amongst the grass and as he crushed them their sweet odour came forth and clung to his hand.

Then God spoke to him through those flowers. There they grew on that hot, dry, windswept hillside, hidden by the grass and blooming even though unseen, unnoticed by any, glorifying God by fulfilling His purpose for them. The brother took heart again and continued.

The churches mentioned in Revelations 2 and 3 were all very different to one another. In the beginning, there would not have been so much difference, when they first heard and received the gospel. But these letters were written to them some years later and we can see that they had developed in different directions.

One church, the church in Sardis, was nearly dead. Why then did they have the name that they lived? No doubt they had knowledge and were able to say the right words and go through the right motions, giving the right appearance. But they were dead. It was just a form. Something was lacking. However, there were some among them that kept true and had not defiled their garments. They could have felt, “I have an excuse to not be true. There is no life in the church. There is no fresh bread in the meetings. etc.”

The church at Philadelphia was so different. They had just a little strength and yet had not denied His name and had kept His word. A little strength was enough. They felt their need and were seeking God more and His help was sufficient. We feel we would like to be stronger, but it is good for us to be weak in ourselves. Paul was given a thorn in the flesh and when he pleaded with God to remove it the answer was, “My grace is sufficient for you, My strength is made perfect in weakness.” But sometimes we would like to have more than His grace to rely on!

John 12:1-7, here we find that what Mary did had an effect on the whole house. That would make an interesting study: things which affected the whole house. The words, the attitude, the spirit of one person in the house can affect the whole house. A soft answer when there is wrath or strife, or on the other hand, the wrong words, harsh words, etc.

There are things that affect the atmosphere of the house. Many things that are done affect the house. It is necessary to teach the children the importance of the things of God, of denying oneself, of keeping first things first, etc. But does the savour of the home back up the teachings of the home? Children are very quick to detect this, even if they can’t define it. It’s the savour that affects people and that remains with us.

There was one who criticized Mary here. She didn’t open her mouth, but One did. We’re glad she kept quiet and gave Jesus an opportunity to speak. We’re glad for what He said here, speaking about his death and burial, etc. Mary understood more than the disciples at that time. She did this to encourage Him to die. She understood that He would have to die in order for all the promises to be fulfilled. We owe a great debt to people like Mary.

We can do the same thing today by the savour from our life and sacrifice. We can encourage others to make the most of Christ’s sacrifice and to sacrifice their own will. We could also discourage people in this. Hopefully our life speaks volumes to encourage others to deny themselves. We expect the old to give that message but it’s good when young people also do it through their manner of life, their behaviour, their dress, etc.

Jesus came to spend and be spent and to minister to others – He didn’t come to be blessed. This was a rare day for Him when He received a blessing from another person. He came to bless us. Judas criticized. We tend to criticize when our own conscience is pricked. It is good to be inspired when others do the right thing rather than to criticize because our conscience is pricked. Everyone would have left that gathering that day with the odour of the ointment clinging to their clothes. But two were especially affected. Jesus would have carried the odour a long time because it was poured on Him, and it was very potent and concentrated. But, Mary also. Her hands and her hair would have been impregnated with the ointment. When we sacrifice, we bear signs of the sacrifice to the honour of God’s kingdom. She wiped his feet with her hair.

We read in I Corinthians 11 that long hair is a woman’s glory. She took her glory to the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with it. There are certain things we glory in, abilities or attributes, etc. Look for ways to use them to glorify Jesus Christ. She herself went out blessed, also.

Hymn 291, “The Heart of My Saviour Is Tender.” Have we ever thought, in the experiences that come our way, that Jesus wouldn’t understand? We could feel our experience is unique and no one would understand. I hope we don’t feel that way, because there’s no one that has such an understanding heart as Jesus.

Luke 2:42, when He was twelve years old, His parents went to Jerusalem and on the way back, He wasn’t with them. Verse 46, after three days they found Him, in the temple, asking and answering questions. Verses 48-49, He was beginning to think about the reason He’d been sent to the earth. It was about the same age that I began to feel I’m not here by chance; God wants me to love and serve Him and do His will. Verse 51, after that, He went down, and was subject to His parents.

I wonder if there’d be young people in this meeting, living in homes where parents are seeking to teach you the fear of the Lord, and you feel it’s not easy to be subject to your parents. Think of Jesus – one day coming to be Lord of lords and King of kings, but there He was, in that little home in Nazareth, subject to Joseph and Mary. Did He lose anything by it? Verse 52 says, “He increased in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and man.” None of us will lose anything by being subject to godly parents. To increase in wisdom – that’s what godly parents are endeavouring to help their children to do.

Mark 6, Jesus fed the multitudes, then He asked the disciples to go in a boat to the other side. He went alone to pray in the mountain. He saw them toiling in rowing. They were doing what Jesus asked them to do, and yet, the going was difficult. As we travel on the sea of life, we can’t tell when the sea will be calm and when it will be rough. Verse 48, they were toiling in rowing, but Jesus had them in His heart. He looked and saw the condition of things, and He came, walking on the sea, to them. There’s no difficult experience you’ll go through but the Lord will know. Jesus will care. They were afraid at first, because they didn’t know it was Him.

Verse 50, “Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.” When He came into the ship, the wind was still.

Then, in the 7th of John, (verses 3-5), Jesus knew what it was to grow up in a home where there were some who didn’t believe He was the Son of God. I know there are some here in homes like that, but remember, Jesus knows and He cares. His brethren were telling Him that day what they thought He ought to do. He answered them quietly and wisely. He didn’t let it discourage Him. Remember, Jesus has a tender heart, and He sees all.

John 19, Jesus hanging on the cross – suffering in agony. He looked and saw His mother and His heart must have ached for her. She was seeing her son, dying in such agony. The heart of Jesus was touched. He said, “Woman, behold thy Son.” He just showed that tender heart. He knew He must go through with the Father’s will – be willing for the sacrifice that was going to bring redemption to Mary and the disciples and all who believed.

He was seeking to establish a relat­ionship between Mary and John that would be a comfort to them both. There’s loss and loneliness and pain, but remember this, the heart of the Saviour is tender. He knows just how we feel and He’ll give us the comfort that no other can give.

This is a walking religion. Churchianity is a talking religion.

It doesn’t take brains to walk. It doesn’t take money to walk. It doesn’t take education to walk. It just takes willingness.

“This way of God was never planned for lazy people.”

This is a living church only because there is a dying ministry. The church will never go any farther than the Lord’s servants go.

We are not saved because we are walking in this way but we are walking in this way because we are saved.

If we believe, then there is no other way to walk in. Jesus didn’t say I am a way, but He said, “I am the way.”

We don’t need more than the Bible, we need more of the Bible.

May God help us to stand upright in this house that God has sat us in.

I am so thankful that after God redeems us He gives us the Holy Spirit to teach us.

…seek His guidance. Not of a couple of workers telling us where to go and where we can’t go, what we can do and what we can’t do, but the gentle Holy Spirit leading us into all truth and into all righteousness.

There is no place for the coward in this truth of God. Fear will immobilize anyone.

Only when we are broken, our wills broken, and there is submission, can the light of this wonderful ministry and church shine through so that others can see it.

I hope that we all really believe that the sacrifice of God is a broken spirit.

We want the world to see that there is no uncertainty about what we believe or where we go.

Ye are a chosen generation a royal people, a royal priesthood. Royalty has privileges that commoners never had. But commoners can go where royalty would never think of going. Royalty brings wonderful privilege but awesome responsibility. The reason we have had so many drop outs in these last days is because some people have come to the fellowship, but they didn’t come to Jesus.

In the first chapter of the book of Joshua we read these words, “Moses, My servant is dead.” All the servants I knew in my earliest youth, some 60 years ago, are gone. But there have been replacements. Coming back to Colorado, after 21 wonderful years here when Ed Cornock was here, how thankful I am that God has raised up elders, saints, and servants, and He has worked gloriously.

I thought of what that 16th verse says, “And they answered Joshua, saying, ‘All that thou commandest us, we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go. According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the Lord thy God be with thee, as He was with Moses.’” But it was conditional, “only the Lord thy God be with thee.” Wonderful thing when we see Godly men being replaced and as He was with those elders who were dead, how thankful we are to see the same qualities, strong in the strength of gentleness, they continue to guide the church in this our day.

Something else has touched my heart. In chapter 5:13-14, “And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and the Captain of the Lord of hosts said unto Joshua, ‘Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy,’ and Joshua did so.” I am so thankful for leaders among us….I know who they are by their feet, by where they go, and where they don’t go. People will respect us and believe in us, only when they see steps taken. Our feet will tell others far more than our lips can or will…..I hope we all recognize who the leader is among us, our leader who paid our debt ….His name is Jesus. The only thing that you and I can be is faithful, humble followers and only by that can we become safe leaders. There is an awesome power in “GENTLENESS.” “Strong in the strength of gentleness, of meekness, faith, and love, I take Thy hand in weakness and press on t’ward things above.”

In the 6th chapter it tells us about the walls of Jericho coming down. Our God took that city, and He did it miraculously. He didn’t do it with cannons or battering rams of any kind. He just asked His people to walk around the city once every day for seven days. I hope that we clearly understand THIS IS A WALKING RELIGION. CHURCHIANITY IS A TALKING RELIGION. Many in the world today can quote scripture but that isn’t the answer….it wasn’t what they said but what they did that brought victory that day.

Every day they were to walk around the city once, and on the seventh day they were to walk around the city seven times. I like what Andrew Abernethy told us years ago, “This way of God was never planned for lazy people.” They had to get up early in the morning to make that walk around the city, seven times that day. You can imagine what the inhabitants of the city were saying, “What are those crazy people doing now?” Are we really willing to follow the Lamb? That is the only way there can be victory. There were seven priests that went before them with the Ark, and with seven trumpets of ram’s horns. These were rams that had died, they had been sacrificed. This is a living church only because there is a dying ministry. The church will never go any farther than the Lord’s servants go. The people understood the language of the trumpet that day, and hopefully we understand the language of the trumpet today. There were seven trumpets….seven is a symbol of completion.

There are only seven colors in the rainbow and the arc is the blending together of those colors. There are seven days in the week and our life is made up of those seven days. Seven is a symbol of completion. In the beginning, God created the world in six days and on the seventh He rested. His creation was complete. I am so thankful that Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished.” He was referring to salvation. I never will be able to reach my full ideal, but it helps me to realize that salvation is a gift. We are not saved by any of our doing, but only by what He has done. By grace are ye saved, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. If we have earned it, it is not a gift. It is believing that brings salvation. We are not saved because we are walking in this way but we are walking in this way because we are saved. If we believe, then there is no other way to walk in. Jesus didn’t say, “I am a way,” but He said, “I am the way.”

In Exodus, when the death angel passed through the land, what saved those people? It was the blood. The blood on the outside door posts of the house. Had they not walked in their home, had they not been in the house, the blood would have meant nothing to them. It says, “If we believe… then there is action…. then it determines where we will go and where we will not go.” The children of Israel walked out of Egypt. It doesn’t take brains to walk. It doesn’t take money to walk. It doesn’t take education to walk. It just takes willingness. When there is willingness, we will follow the Lamb. People looking on will take notice. There is a couple who walked past their neighbors every Sunday morning to go to the little meeting. Finally this neighbor asked them where they were walking every Sunday….it was his salvation. He mentioned it wasn’t so much what those people said, although they did give their testimony, but it was their walking that triggered his questions and that man and his wife are in the faith today. Follow the Lamb and victory will be the results.

I am so thankful for the sound of the trumpet in our day. I am so thankful it is a complete message. We don’t need more than the Bible, we need more of the Bible. We don’t need any tracts, we don’t need any literature, all we need is the Bible for our guide…but I am so thankful we are complete in Him. Seven trumpets, the symbol of completeness. I am so thankful for this ministry, it is a walking ministry, a walking brethren, and the sound of their feet on the road of life is the sweetest sound to me today. I would like to mention that verse in Numbers 10:2, “The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ‘ Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.’” I am so glad that it mentions two trumpets. God has said that the truth is to be established at the mouth of at least two witnesses. Fortunate is the child who is born to parents who are both serving the Lord. There is something tragic about one parent believing one thing and the other parent believing something else. It only works confusion in the minds and hearts of the little ones. I am so thankful these trumpets were to be made of silver. Silver in the Bible is the symbol of redemption. I am also glad that when those trumpets were sounded in my youth, (the two servants of God) there was no question about them being redeemed. The boards in the Tabernacle all stood upright (Exodus 26:15) and under every board were sockets of silver. The silver sockets kept them from decay and helped them to stay upright. May God help us to stand upright in this house that God has sat us in. I am so thankful that after God redeems us He gives us the Holy Spirit to teach us.

We were in an elder’s home visiting with a young man and he asked us, “Do you mind if I smoke?” I said to him, “I don’t mind, because smoke doesn’t bother me, but this is not my home so you had better ask the man of the house.” There was a little sign in the home that said, “No smoking here,” and that young man, even though he was not born again, he sensed there was something in that home, the Holy Spirit was there and he didn’t smoke. I hope that as we leave this convention we will seek His guidance. Not of a couple of workers telling us where to go and where we can’t go, what we can do, and what we can’t do, but the gentle Holy Spirit leading us into all truth and into all righteousness.

The trumpets were used for the calling of God’s people. I am so thankful that I ever heard the call of the trumpets, but even beyond that, that my mother’s dad heard the call of two trumpets long, long, before I was ever born. I went to see my little sister bury her only son. I was in the home that morning, everything that could be done was done for him. I remember standing by his bed and I sensed something came into that room and then realized he was gone. My sister and her husband came as though they had wings on their shoes. I can see her now as she knelt by his bed and took her son’s hand in hers, and through her tears and through her sorrow, I heard her tell him how thankful she was for those two servants of God who crossed the ocean, who crossed the continent, to come to our town, making it possible for her nineteen-year-old son to step onto the shores of a saved eternity. How thankful you and I should be for the silver trumpets that were sounded and hopefully they echo in your heart continually day after day, and year after year. Not alone for your sakes, but for the sake of your children who someday are going to be called from time into eternity.

In Judges 6, we read about a young man named Gideon who was threshing out a little wheat by the winepress. He was hiding by the winepress. The angel of the Lord appeared unto him and said, “The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.” What was mighty about that? Do you know who the mightiest people are in the world today? They are those who quietly and secretly thresh out a little wheat for bread for Sunday morning and Wednesday evening. In one sense, they don’t bring a loaf, they don’t bring a lot of dough, they just bring a little wheat. Just a thought, just an expression of appreciation, just a word of purpose, something that comes from the heart of God.

Judges 7:2, “The people that are with thee are too many.” If these people all go to battle and win they will take the credit. He began to sort them out and said, “All the fearful and afraid, let him return.” There is no place for the coward in this truth of God. Fear will immobilize anyone. The roar of the lion strikes fear into the hearts of its prey. There is no danger in the roar. In that moment the prey is immobilized and that lion goes in for the kill. We think of our young people out in the world. It may not be a loud roar, it may be a very gentle appeal urging you to go places, urging you to do things, but may we have the courage to stand for truth. Twenty-two thousand returned because of fear. Ten thousand were left and the Lord said, “There are still too many. Bring them down to the water and I will test them there.” There were those that day drinking water to their fill, they bowed down upon their knees to drink water. Nothing wrong in that, but there were three hundred men who lapped water like a dog. It was those three hundred men that God said He would use to bring victory to His people. Friends there is nothing wrong with our young men and women marrying, that’s a wholesome thing. But thank God for the little handful that deny the cry of their own nature, the cry of their own thirst, and they don’t seek to satisfy themselves. God said, “I will use these three hundred men to bring victory to all the thousands of My people.”

You remember the story of the these three hundred men scattered around the camp, in their left hand they had a pitcher, and in the pitcher they had a lamp. In their right hand they had a trumpet. Gideon told them, “You watch me and what I do you do.” Isn’t it wonderful that we have someone whom we can watch. That One who sacrificed so much for us. Gideon first of all broke the pitcher. I hope that we all really believe that the sacrifice of God is a broken spirit. I hope that I am just as willing to listen to my younger brothers as I am to my older brothers on this side of the platform. Young servants walk with God, they have communion with God. It pays to listen. A Baptist preacher’s wife said to me some years ago, “I marvel at your ministry. My husband went to a seminary for six years, and he is a very good preacher.” But she said, “You men, every year you have a new, private instructor. It is no wonder you have the ministry you do.” When I realize how little I know, I want to seek more of His help and more of His guidance. Only when the pitcher was broken did the light shine through. Only when we are broken, our wills broken and there is submission, can the light of this wonderful ministry and church shine through so that others can see it. They lifted the trumpets to their lips and they had a glorious message of victory for all in the camp that day. How thankful I am for the trumpets today. I like that verse in I Corinthians 14:8, “For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound who shall prepare himself to the battle.” Friends, I hope there is a certainty, a definitiveness about what we believe, what we do, where we go. I was touched by the little girl’s testimony this morning that she failed to hold the line, failed to uphold the standard, and her little heart was smitten. It touched my heart that her little heart was smitten. It is wonderful to be that sensitive to God and His will. We want the world to see that there is no uncertainty about what we believe or where we go.

In Ezekiel 33:7, “I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore thou shalt hear the word at My mouth, and warn them from Me.” If the watchman doesn’t blow the trumpet and sound the alarm, the Lord said in verse 8, “His blood will I require at thine hand.” It took a lot of courage for our brother to say what he did last night, to just tell it like it is, the warning of immorality that was sounded from the platform last night. The world is full of it, everybody is doing it, what is wrong with that. God will judge the world, not by what everybody is doing, but by that Man whom He hath ordained. I hope you as parents are faithful in sounding the warning. Your children will know what is right. My parents were very ordinary, but they were my parents. There were places that I couldn’t go, but sometimes I did and I wasn’t very happy after I went. But mother and dad didn’t go. The warning was very clear; I knew what they believed and I knew where they stood. Friends, I hope there is a clear sound going out from your life and mine, an unmistakable sound, there is no question as to what we really believe. Judges 7:21, “And they stood every man in his place.” I hope that we have found our place and that we have the grace to fill our place; you parents and we as workers just quietly standing in our place. We don’t want to get out of our place because of the danger of taking someone else’s place. Because they all stood in their place when the trumpet was sounded, victory was the result. How thankful I am today for the trumpet that has been sounded.

I love that verse in Revelation 1:10 where John said, “I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.” You know the results. John said, “I turned.” We are so thankful for this same turning in our lives when we first heard, and that there is a continual turning as we journey on toward the future. The two trumpets were for the calling of the whole assembly. One trumpet sounding is for the royalty. “Ye are a chosen generation a royal people, a royal priesthood.” Royalty has privileges that commoners never had. But commoners can go where royalty would never think of going. Royalty brings wonderful privilege but awesome responsibility.

Many of you are too young to remember but a man gave up his throne in our day because he wanted to marry the wrong girl. He wanted to marry a commoner. I hope you all understand that the call of one trumpet wasn’t just for anyone. The call of the one trumpet was for those that were really born again. The blood-bought royal children of God. Do you know why you are part of the family you are, because you have your father’s blood, your mother’s blood. And you know why you are part of the family of God, it is blood that makes us the children of God. The sons and daughters of the King. The precious blood of His Son.

Revelation 4:1, “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in Heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me.” The trumpet is still being sounded. What I enjoyed about these verses is the thought of the “rainbow round about the throne.” I am so glad that when one day I stand at the tribunal of God, I am not going to stand there clothed with my self-made rags, I will stand hidden in the color of the rainbow. We remember the promise of God after the flood, He would never again destroy the world in the waters of the flood and He sealed that promise with the rainbow in the heavens. I am so thankful that when I stand before the tribunal of God, I will stand there clothed in the glorious colors of the bow, the promise of Salvation.

Last of all, I would like to mention those verses in I Corinthians 15:51-52, “Behold, I shew 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.” It says that “all will be changed.” The change comes very, very gradually. Our human nature has to be changed. A glorious day for me when this change comes in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. The trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. Do you know why we understand each other? Because we are all humans. Do you know why God’s children understand each other? Because we have been born again; we have been changed; however, the old man is still with us, the struggle and battle go on every day of our lives. I struggle with the old nature, with selfishness, with pride, and all the rest of it. Friends, just imagine this day when it comes. It won’t be all the people to rise to meet the Lord, but only those born again, the royalty. There is only one trump that will sound when He comes again and when the trump is sounded, the dead in Christ shall rise first. This corruptible must put on incorruptible and this mortal must put on immortality. It shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is they sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” The sting of death is sin. We all understand that the sting of death is sin. We are afraid of the bee or wasp because of the stinger. But take the stinger out of the wasp or out of the bee and there is nothing to fear. What is it about death that we fear? The sting of death is sin. But we are so thankful that God has made provision for sin. “In my hand no price I bring, only to Thy cross, I cling, Thou must save and Thou alone.” Friends, I say again, Jesus is the only one that can save, thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The reason we have had so many drop-outs in these last days is because some people have come to the fellowship, but they didn’t come to Jesus. If you and I have come to Christ, hell doesn’t have enough devils to separate us from Him. God has given us the victory today in His Son.

I am very grateful to be here at Sharon convention this year. I want to tell you children a little story. When you get home you can find in your world atlas, below California, a part of Mexico called Baja, California. It is about 1050 miles long, and it’s desert, and everything that grows in the desert has thorns, and they say, “Come on out and we will stick you.” The desert is a harsh land. But, a few people live there in the mountains of Baja.

There was a journalist from National Geographic Magazine and he went up into those dry, harsh mountains and he found some people that were raising goats and they were making cheese; that was their livelihood. This man had never been around such country and such primitive people. He was from New York where there was electricity, running water, refrigerators, air conditioning. Everything we have seen, these people had never seen.

Coming upon a little grandma watching her goats, he asked her, “How is life in the desert, grandma?” Grandma said with a smile, “Life is good. There is water in the well.” The wonderful thing about this well of salvation that God’s people have is that it is not a dry hole. There is always water in the well. If anyone here has spent thousands of dollars drilling a well and has come up with a dry well, you know what I am talking about. You don’t have a very good feeling when you spend a lot of money on a well and it comes up a dry hole.

John 4, the woman at the well asked Jesus for a drink and she received a well. That was a pretty good deal. That was a bargain. That is what happens to God’s people; in their thirst, they ask for a drink and He gives them a well. “The woman saith unto Him, ‘Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not.’” Jesus told her, “The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

John 7:37, it doesn’t speak of it as a well but as the source of living water. “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, ‘If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.’” The great day of the feast, could we not call it convention? These days of convention we can drink of those rivers of living water. This is not a dry hole.

The children probably know about a wishing well. Usually it has a little water and you can toss in a penny or a nickel, and if you are lucky, maybe a quarter. Then you are supposed to make a wish, and it is supposed to come true. Of course the only way it might come true is if you had all the money that people have tossed into the well. This well of salvation is not a wishing well. You just don’t wish for salvation or hope for salvation, but it comes from revelation. The revelation of Jesus Christ the living water and the promise that we will never thirst again. The water supply here at convention I hear comes from a living spring of water. The living water we have found in Christ will never go dry. It’s a living spring of water.

Isaiah 12:3 tells us about something that is in this well, in this water, and it’s joy. We draw with joy from the wells of salvation and this whole chapter is a chapter of praise. In our thirst and in our need we turn to God, we ask and He gives us a well. The 3rd verse, “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.”

This is a little story for the children. This is a story about two buckets that were talking to one another. Did you ever meet a talking bucket?? One bucket said, “I am getting a little tired of coming to the well empty.” The other bucket said, “That is no problem to me because I always leave the well full.” What kind of a bucket are we? What kind of a bucket do we want to be? Do we sometimes feel I am kind of tired of convention? Your parents and grandparents when they come to convention feel I really need a good convention. Workers need convention, too. They don’t just prepare for you. Workers love to get ready for convention. We come to convention empty, but we go away full. We are so thankful that at this convention we have been filled.

The problem sometimes is not the water in the well. The trouble for most of us is getting to the well. When I was a little boy, I would go visit my grandparents and they lived in a place called Boring, California. It was a wonderful place to spend the summer because it was always green and everything grows there. I remember grandpa putting a bottle of root beer in his hip pocket for later, and in those days, it was called Hires root beer. He would tell me, “Ok, Harry let’s go clear some brush.” We would clear brush to the spring so that the cattle could get down to drink and cleared the trail. So the trouble is not bad water, the trouble is no water. The trouble for me is getting to that water. Lots of brush sometimes to clear, but we need that water. We want that water. Keep the trail clean.

Back to that woman in John 4. In this water, there is life. Here at this convention, we draw with joy from the well. Isaiah 12, draw with joy … “praise the Lord, call upon His name, Sing unto the Lord for He hath done excellent things; Great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.” For many of you, this is your home convention, and year after year, you come here and year after year, you leave with joy.

I grew up in a family and part of me is serious and part of me is not so serious. The not so serious comes from my mother’s side. Her maiden name was Jinks, so that makes me half a Jinks, doesn’t it? I had been in the work a while, eight or nine years, and I was at Gilroy convention and I saw my grandma Jinks sitting at the table with a couple of her friends. I thought, “Well, I should go find out how grandma is feeling.” I slipped over beside her and asked, “Well, Gram, what kind of a convention are you having?” She answered, “Well, Harry, I am having a good convention, of course.” I said to her, “Gram, when did you start coming to convention?” She said, “Well about 1921 or 1922.” I told her, “Gram, that’s over 50 years and I have been thinking now that you are getting up in years, why don’t you just come every other year? It takes an effort for you to get ready to come and another week or two just to get feeling better again. Have you ever thought about just coming every other year? Just take it easy?” She said, “No. I have never thought of that, and I don’t like the idea either. Now isn’t there something you can do besides picking on your old grandma?” Over 50 years and she still wants to come to convention. It’s rich and it’s life giving. We are thankful grandma brought her family to convention year after year. The time came when my grandma couldn’t come to convention. Grandma passed away while we were at convention. She died on a Friday morning of convention. I am glad that grandma brought us to convention.

There is another time that we come to draw from the well and that’s for comfort and strength. Sometimes we drink deeply of that comfort and strength. Early in my ministry, when I was just a young worker, a little family began coming to our meetings. Grandma had moved from Indonesia to Los Angeles, so grandma’s daughter and family were coming to our meetings. There were eight children in this family and one child named Rosie that professed.

About 3 years ago, I was back in Orange County near Anaheim; the children would know that’s where Mickey Mouse lives…and I stopped by to visit Rosie. I asked her, “Rosie, how was it that you were the only one out of all your siblings to profess when the gospel came?” She was about 15 years old then. She said, “Harold, it was because I shared my room with my grandma and I saw her read her Bible and pray.”

Last year, Rosie and her husband started the adoption process on three little girls. They already had two of their own. On the Wednesday of our Buttonwillow I convention, I received word that Rosie’s husband had passed away, just a very young man from what was supposed to be minor surgery. The Monday after convention was the funeral. On Wednesday, we were getting ready for Buttonwillow II convention. I called over to Santee convention to talk to one of the brothers and he said, “Harold, you are not going to believe who I see walking over toward the meeting tent.” Rosie and her five children. She was coming to that well for her comfort and strength. She told me later, “God will keep me. God will help me through this experience.” In our deepest need and when the struggle is the greatest, that is when the water is the sweetest.

In the 24th chapter of Genesis, we read about another well. Abraham spoke to his servant and said, “I need a bride for my son.” He told his servant not to take a bride from the daughters of the Canaanites. But what I want to speak to you about is the well that was found in this chapter. It speaks to me of the spirit of service. What we can drink from this well is the spirit of service. When the servant met Rebekah at the well, not only did she offer him a drink but she offered to water his camels. I am sure you have heard some calculations of how many gallons that would have taken to water 10 thirsty camels. How many trips to the well would it have taken, go down and come up, go down and come up?

We are here at this convention and the water we are drinking has come from the spirit of service. We are glad for our little ones who are here at convention and glad when they come to us and ask for a job. Can I have a job? We would never want to take service out of convention. Jesus was the greatest of all servants. He took upon Himself the form of a servant. Jesus didn’t feel He was losing anything by serving. I appreciated what our own Dennis (Faub) mentioned, “I just want to be His servant as long as I can.” We will never lose when we serve.

Then in Genesis 29, we read about Jacob and his journey and another well. “And he looked, and beheld a well in the field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it.” Here at convention, there is another well that we draw from, the well of His love and all the love we have in this family of God. It was here that Jacob saw Rachel. “And Jacob loved Rachel.” I am not a matchmaker and the workers here are not matchmakers, and I’m just an old bachelor; but boys look at girls, and girls look at boys during convention, and no harm to that and I’ll tell why I know it happens. When my old dad was dying, twice we drove up the Napa Valley to the convention grounds, and dad said, “Pull over here.” Dad pointed out an old barn and said, “That’s where I used to sleep as a young boy when we came to convention. See that open field down there? That’s the first place I saw your mother running across the grounds with her long braids.” Well, “How old were you, Dad, when you first saw mom?” He just grinned…huh…hum; hum.

I want to tell you something else mom and dad did. I don’t know maybe the word for it, but I thought it was pretty “gutsy” of them. You know what they did? When they started dating and writing one another, they both agreed, “We are going to have an open home.” Dad said, “I want an open home for the workers and God’s people, and if you don’t want an open home, then let’s just forget it right now.” Mom said, “I want an open home too, a place for God’s servants and people.” I thought that’s pretty “gutsy” of mom and dad to feel as they did, “If we are not going to be in this all the way as a couple, then let’s just forget it.” Beyond the human family, we come to convention because we need love. We need the love of Jesus in our hearts. We need the love of God. That’s why we are here at convention.

I will tell the children just one more story. On the 17th of January 1994 at 4:31 AM, we were all knocked out of bed by an earthquake, the Northridge earthquake. On Friday night for supper, we had a celebration with the little family we were staying with. The family had bought a “fixer-upper,” that is an older home that needs a lot of work. That little couple, one board at a time, one brick at a time, one rug at a time, one room at a time, remodelled their little house. So that evening, we had a little barbecue and after that, the dad had to go to work, he worked nights. The next morning at 4:31 a.m., everything started coming down, the earthquake hit. The mom threw her arms and body over her little baby and yelled to her young daughter, and a friend that was staying with her, “Get under the bed, get under the bed.” After a few minutes, the shaking stopped and the mother yelled, “Get outside! Get outside!” We all stood around outside for a while and then went back in the house.

An hour later, the aftershock hit. The aftershock is more damaging to people psychologically than the first shock. It seems much stronger than the first shock and you begin to wonder is this ever going to end, is it ever going to stop?? The mom yelled again, “Get under the bed!” and then we were able to get outside. Now there are fires all around, emergency vehicles screaming, the dogs going berserk, the horses and animals running back and forth.

Now, here is mom, with her children all around her, noise everywhere, the house in shambles and she is trying to hold it all together, not knowing about her husband, all the phones are down, and the younger daughter says, “Mom, can I say something?” Mom says, “Sure, you can.” She says, “Mom, now remember, we have to remember that life is good…there is still water in the well.”

In our deepest sorrow and in our deepest joy, just remember our future is water from the well.

I’ve been thinking of some opposites we read of in the Bible. Darkness and light, bondage and liberty. We read of joy and sorrow,narrow way and wide way, few and many, life and death, and I suppose the list could go on but when I think of these, it helps me to understand that I need to make a choice every day. By nature, I don’t like to make choices. If someone gives me a choice, I can find it hard to choose…I can, actually. Really I want both, but when it comes to spiritual things, often we have to make a choice. I am thankful for this gospel message that presents the two different sides to individuals and brings them to where there is a choice to be made. We were singing, “Teach me how to choose. Talk with me these choices o’er. Then let me choose as I would choose.”

There’s a young man in Sweden in this work today but a few years ago, he was just listening. One evening, he came to our bach and told us that he knew he had to make a choice but said, “I can’t choose. I want both the world and way of God. I just can’t make the choice,” and he went away with sorrow that evening. As time went by, he came to make a choice and today, he is very happy that he chose the way of God. Very happy that he chose to walk in light rather than darkness and is having the privlege of helping others to make the same choice. We can choose to walk in darkness but it’s not safe. We can’t see where we are going. It’s much easier to walk if there is a light, if we are following a light.

One of our friends some years ago, she and her husband were visiting and were guests in someone else’s home and during the night, she got up to answer nature’s call, didn’t want to disturb anyone, so didn’t turn on the light and walked in darkness. She opened a door and took a step in darkness and fell down a flight of stairs. Couldn’t see where she was going. It’s not safe to walk in darkness. If she had put on the light, it would have been much safer. We could choose to walk in the darkness of this world but that’s not safe. We could wonder, why would anyone choose to walk in darkness? Read in John 3 – of men that loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil and didn’t want to come to the light. You know it’s worth coming to the light.

Wonderful promises in I John 1:5 and 7 – God is light and no darkness in Him – even says we could say we are walking in light but won’t have fellowhsip with Him… walk in light as He is in the light, then we have fellowship and cleansing of our sins.

There are wonderful promises if we are walking in the light. At a funeral once in Sweden (a young man had passed away). He’s been walking in darkness, his mother had chosen to walk in light and that’s why we were at his funeral. We were surpirised to see what a lonely person he must have been. He didn’t have one friend that came to his funeral. Only his mother and family there and us workers and a few friends of his mother. Didn’t have one friend that came. He’s been walking in darkness and I’m sure he lived a lonely life. How different if he had chosen to walk in light – then would have had fellowship – we can have fellowship one with another and know forgiveness of our past – leave behind the old life. Much better to choose to walk in light than the darkness of this world.

We can choose bondage or liberty – we are held in bondage in this world but we can have the privilege of knowing liberty in Christ. This gospel calls people out of darkness to light, out of bondage to liberty and it gives us joy and a peace and satisfaction in our hearts. We can choose to walk the narrow way or else the wide way. There are many that are walking the wide way, only few that find the narrow way.

Some years ago we, my companion and I, in Sweden, were visiting with a man we’d met that hadn’t come to any meetings. He enjoyed reading the scriptures- he was a bus driver. Visiting about Matthew 7 – the wide and narrow way and he listened and then said, “You know, I drive a bus,” and he said, “If I was going to drive my bus to a certain place and there was a narrow difficult way to drive and a wide way that was easy to drive – wouldn’t it be smart to choose the wider way?” And my companion says, “Yes it would be wise if both ways led to the same place!” These two ways didn’t lead to the same place – the narrow way leads to life. The wide way that many are walking leads to destruction – much better to choose the narrow way than the wide way! It goes against our own nature. There are certain things we have to say no to and others that we have to say yes to. But wiser to choose the narrow way. Choices we need to make everyday – choose to walk the way to life. Few that walk in that way – many walk in wide way. Two opposities – few and many.

Since coming home from Sweden, people ask us, “How many are you? How many friends are there?” We think how much better it would be if there were many but it’s not many that make the wise choice. Another year, we were on a Swedish island and on that island, we only had one friend. Today, there are more than one. My companion and I took the bus an hour to their place on Wednesdays, and then on Sunday, make the same trip as Wednesday nights. We met two religious girls on the bus one day who had noticed we travelled it often. They approached us and asked where we were going – told them we were going to meeting. They asked, “Are you many that meet together?” “No, we’re not many but these meetings are very precious to us and we feel like we are one together with others around the world.” They then asked if they could come and we welcomed them. Found we were meeting with only one friend! With tears in their eyes they said, “Are you making this trip every Wednesday to gather with one person? You know, in our faith, we wouldn’t think it was worth it.” Those precious times together mean so much. Where two or three are met together, if found walking in light then we have fellowship one with another.

May God help us to choose wisely. I need to make these choices every day. I made them when I first listened but need to make them every day.

Proverbs 23:23, “Buy the truth, and sell it not.” Life is an investment; we have only one life and we can buy the truth with it, the currency is a yielded life. The devil wants us to invest it poorly but in the gospel, we learn how to invest it wisely and I appreciate this proverb, as it is a warning to me. Satan wants us to put a price on truth for Satan wants to buy us out.

John 2:1, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” We want to speak to you today about the Judge and the Judgment Day – we don’t want to dangle you over hell fire to scare you, but many people have a complete misunderstanding of the Judge. The Judge is to be feared only if we are doing something against God’s will. Judgment is a wonderful picture of our Heavenly Father, for it is a picture of the provision God has made for our salvation, and the provision found in the sacrifice of His own Son. Many people misunderstand that and think that God is the great policeman in the sky who sees all our sins and writes them down and then after we die, we will be judged on what is written. God is not like that at all. We should have a proper idea of the Judge.

In Abraham’s time, God saw that the iniquity of the earth was so bad that He came down to investigate. He wanted to see if the sin of Sodom was bad and if it was really true, so He went to see His friend Abraham, first to tell him what He thought, because Lot was there. Abraham pleaded for the place and said to God, “Will God destroy the righteous with the wicked?” Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? This is the Judge we will come before. In Ezekiel, we are told that God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked – this is the kind of Judge we come before, for God takes pleasure in the salvation of the righteous. Some see God as one that will punish them, One who accuses them on the Judgment Day, but God has no interest in that and does not want to do that. We should be clear that our Judge is not a prosecutor, for a prosecutor cannot make righteous judgment. The case against a person must be brought to the presiding judge in the middle, the prosecutor on one side and the advocate for the defendant on the other, who will speak for him. The judge then hears the arguments from both sides. A judge has an interest in condemning the guilty just as much as in releasing the innocent. If there are false accusations brought to the judge, he will judge that – that is a picture of the last judgment, when the prosecutor brings a charge against us.

Revelation 12:10, “For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” That is a picture of the old devil bringing a charge against us on the Judgment Day but God is concerned about now, when we can change and become righteous, for God wants us to be right. The devil wants us to be condemned, to be wrong, and he wants to prosecute us on the Judgment Day when all is recorded. Why does he do that? Because the devil tempts people now when he himself is being judged, and he has already been condemned – there is no mercy to be shown. We can be in the same place, tempted to sin against God and one day will be in the same condemnation – he has no care for the souls of men who are condemned as he is, for one day it will make him look not so bad in the eyes of God. He will say to God, “Why judge me? Look at all the others!” In a large city where there was much stealing, the police department hired a person to go undercover. He became acquainted with the thieves and bought their stolen goods. Soon he set up a little shop and brought his friends in. They didn’t know it but they were being videotaped. This continued for over a year and now the police had evidence and rounded all the thieves up. When they appeared in court the one who they thought was their friend gave evidence against them. This is the way the devil works – he appears in many forms and uses many guises and comes close to you and tempts you to do something. It will be possible for him one day to give evidence against you, and it will be a surprise.

Judas fell into this trap. The priests and rulers offered him money to betray Jesus, and then what happened? Jesus was sent off to the hall and Judas never thought Jesus would have to submit to this, but it happened and soon Judas realised his position. The whole Sanhedrin met there and they sent Jesus off to Pilate’s Judgment Hall. Judas burst into the room and said in front of them all, “I have sinned, I have betrayed innocent blood!” He thought there was still time to get Jesus back but they just said, “You see to that.” He thought they were the ones who would do something to take away his sin and help him; he thought they were like his religious advisers, but they just said, “What is that to us?” Many people today come before the same and try to get help but they just say, “What is that to us? See thou to it.” The devil tempted Eve and said, “Hath God said, ‘You shall not surely die?’” Eve believed him. We know the devil does not live forever and won’t be around to see Eve wouldn’t die. We need to fear today the accuser and not fear the Judge in eternity.

People worry about Judgment Day and a God that is a punishing fearful God, but it is not the right impression. Our God has made great provision to help us. On the one side is the prosecutor and on the other side is the advocate. There is going to be a day when the books will be opened, a lot of books, and all that is written about everyone who ever lived on this earth. We will be included and will see everything revealed, things we have done, and we won’t be very comfortable. We will be accused on such and such a day because we did something and we will be asked, “Is it true?” No one else on earth may know about it, and we will just have to bow our heads and say, “It is true.” Not one person will be able to say it was their righteousness that gained them entrance into heaven. You and I will be condemned the same as everyone else on earth for we cannot claim we did not sin. Sinners go to a lost eternity and we will be in the same position as everyone else, but then there is another book. It is not such a big book, it is the Lamb’s Book of Life, and in it are names written there. When we stand before the Judge, the Judge will find us guilty; we cannot claim our innocence, for the evidence is there in the books that are open. It is a wonderful thing that our loving Heavenly Father thought of an Advocate, a wonderful God and His Son, who made provision for us in the Advocate. We know what we will say when God asks of us, “Yes, the evidence is that this man is a sinner and yes, I did that; yes, I am worthy of condemnation,” but Jesus our Advocate, will say, “I paid the ransom price for this person while he was on earth. He upheld my name and I would like him to be where I am.” This is our only hope. It is by that ransom and through the blood of Jesus that we have an entrance to heaven. None of us can come before God apart from the right that He gives us. We need to pay attention to the first verse we read for we need grace and works together. “For these things we write that ye sin not.” We must make every effort not to sin but if we do through human weakness, we have an Advocate; yet this Advocate can only help us if we make every effort to show Him love and respect. We are not saved by our works for they are worth nothing when the books are opened, and will not stand before God. We will then depend on our Advocate and whether we have honoured His name here or not. How can He plead for us otherwise? If we have honoured His name here, we will find that the righteous Judge will be gracious to us and allow us to be with His Son in heaven.

A rich man came to Jesus to ask Him what he should do to inherit eternal life and Jesus gave him the answer. It says that Jesus looked on him and loved him and was concerned for his soul. He gave him the answer along with some of the commandments, and then there is one special phrase that doesn’t appear anywhere else in the other gospels, “To love thy neighbour as thyself.” This young man was bold enough to say he had kept these things from his youth up. Jesus then said, “Well go and sell all and follow me.” I don’t believe Jesus meant he should go and preach the gospel but he was trying to show him our position before God. This young man had kept all the law from his youth up but if he really loved his neighbour, he would go up to the first beggar he saw and give away half of his riches because after all, he had a lot, and if he loved him as himself he would give half to him. The next day he would go out again and if he saw another beggar, he would give him half of what was left and only have a quarter left. It would not be long before he would be on the same level as that beggar – if he really loved his neighbour. Jesus was telling him, “You say you keep all the law, you love your neighbour, now let me see you go and do it.” This young man could not do it. Many of His people were Jewish who thought they were righteous because they kept the law. Jesus loved this young man and wanted to help him think seriously about this, that if he was honest it was impossible for him to keep the law. He wanted him to see that if I am to be judged according to the law I will be guilty, for not one person is righteous according to the law; everyone will stand before God and be guilty. Our only judgment will be eternal condemnation. God does not want us to perish with the wicked for it grieves His soul, so He made provision so we will have an Advocate. Jesus died on the cross so the ransom has been paid. We will stand in eternity and be glad to worship that One who has been pleading for us. We cannot do this for ourselves but it has been done, by our loving, Heavenly Father, who has made this provision for us. God is not a stern, harsh God who wants to take away our pleasure, but God is a loving caring Father who has provided our salvation and made a way of escape.

Today, we could talk a little about Revelation. What does that mean? Does it mean, “figured out?”  I have been to some religious services where they have tried to figure it out and they come up with some ridiculous figures. You know what science fiction is, that is what they come up with.  So, a person needs to be careful that he is not on that “figured out” level. You had better be sure that it is revelation. When the Lord’s people come together in a place like this, there may be some questions in the minds of some, but we want to get those things settled.  In the religions of the world, they meet together and agree that they won’t mention anything that will upset any other religion.  Now if we came together that way, how would we ever get anything settled?  We have to be willing for correction and leading all along the way.

There may be some things that are a little hard for me to swallow but if it is right I had better be willing for it. There was some controversy in the New Testament.  On the day of Pentecost, there were 3,000 people baptized.  Do you suppose that they had time to screen all of those people?  In the 21st chapter of Acts it tells us, James was talking to Paul and he said, “You see how many thousands of Jews believe, and they are all very zealous of the law.” They should have turned loose of that a long time ago and they were still hanging on to it. They had problems.  And we have problems today, if we are not careful who we baptize. I had a couple come to me and wanted to be baptized and I told them, “No,” and they wanted to know why.  I told them, “You have a lot of false doctrine in your background, and you shouldn’t be baptized until that is gone.” They went to a couple of other workers and asked, and they were baptized.  You know where they are today? Outside. Sad, isn’t it?

Now I want to talk to you about Revelation, not the whole book.  Just the 17th chapter of Revelation, but before we get to that, there are a couple verses in the 16th chapter that I want to read to you. Starting with the 15th verse, “Behold I come as a thief.” That was Jesus speaking. “Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.  And He gathered them together into a place called Armageddon.  And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air and there was a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done.” And now to the 17 chapter. In the first verses it says, “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, ‘Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth on many waters.’” Now, I don’t use that kind of language very often, but this is talking about something that we need to understand.

Now, there is the true bride of Christ and there is the false bride. The great whore is the false bride. When is the judgment, at the beginning or the end? It is at the end, isn’t it? Let’s go back to the beginning. In the fourth chapter of Matthew, Jesus called four men, and He said, “I will make you fishers of men.”  What does that have to do with preaching the Gospel? This Gospel was to be preached to people who were in the sea of frustration, confusion, and deception and false religion scattered over the face of the earth.  Their business was to pull them out of that sea and save them. They were fishermen and Jesus used their experience to teach them what this was going to be like.  Now we go to the 8th chapter and we find that Jesus was crossing the sea with His disciples, and they came and awakened Him and said, “Carest Thou not that we perish?” They were afraid of the sea and the waves. He said, “Oh ye of little faith.” Jesus did not come to quiet the sea naturally, but He did come to quiet the sea spiritually.  He was teaching them a lesson, they said, “What manner of man is this that can quiet the sea and the waves?” Jesus has control of the sea and the waves spiritually.  The sea and the waves are symbolic of all of these false religions.

In the book of Mark, there was a man they called Legion.  He was filled with many spirits and they were taking him in many directions.  When Jesus came into his presence, He told those spirits to depart and they said, “Don’t send us into the sea, but send us into the herd of swine.” The spirit has a certain effect, like the spirit of God has an effect on people, and what was the direction of these spirits this day? Their natural direction was into the pigs.  Then it tells us that those pigs rushed headlong into the sea.  That was the direction that those spirits took them, into the sea of confusion.  We have to realize that Jesus was teaching a lesson.

Now we come back to this other story: Jesus was walking on the sea and the disciples were amazed and thought they saw a spirit.  When He came near, Peter said, “Bid me to come unto Thee,” and He told him to come. Jesus worked a miracle but it wasn’t for the sake of just working a miracle, Jesus was teaching a lesson.  Peter had asked, “Bid me to come onto Thee,” and he got out of the ship and started walking on the water. But when he saw the wind and the waves, they had their effect, he got scared and down he went. He cried to the Lord and the Lord raised him up again.

If we go to Ephesians 4, there are some nice verses there that tell us God gave some apostles, some evangelists, some prophets, and so on, for the perfecting of the ministry and then you go down to the 14th verse, and he says, “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” Now this is something we need to remember: God never intended that we should be carried about by every wind of doctrine. There is supposed to be a stability in our lives that is the result of having the Spirit of Christ in our lives.

Now let us go to the book of Revelation. We’re talking about the fact that the seas of this world are symbolic of the sea of confusion and frustration and deception of false religion that is prevalent in all the world. This is the sea that this woman sits upon, she is the false bride. She rules over this sea of confusion, frustration and deception. That is where the Lord found each one of us.

I am thankful that when I was a little boy, 7 years old, that my folks heard the Gospel. I will never forget the great joy my father expressed upon finding the Truth because he knew that this was the plan of God. That was back in the year 1920. Now you know how old I am.

In Revelations 15:2, this is a wonderful verse about all of the people that have the Spirit of God in them, controlling and guiding them. It says, “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire and them that had gotten the victory over the beast and over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” Now glass is a hard thing, it is firm and stable and they could stand on it, and that is what the Lord wants us to do, to be able to stand on top of that sea and not be carried down into it.

Revelations 17:15 says, “The waters that thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are the peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” This is over the face of all the earth, frustration, confusion and deception, and there she sits on top of all that. It is a terrible picture, isn’t it?           

Now let’s turn to another picture in Revelations 21:1, “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.” That is not talking about the Atlantic ocean or the Pacific ocean but that sea of  frustration, confusion, and deception, that sea that carries people away to a lost eternity. There will come a time when there is no more sea. Now, remember we are talking about the judgment of this woman and this is the way that things have been for many, many years and generations down to this, our time, but now things have changed, it is not the same as it has been. We are now living nearer to the time of the coming of the Lord. We are given two pictures here, first, we have the picture of this woman sitting upon this sea of confusion and having control over it.

Then we have another picture in this chapter 17. Have you ever seen a man trying to ride a bucking horse? Have you noticed how hard it is for him to try to stay on that  horse? The horse is bucking and bucking and trying to get that fellow off there. The next picture in this chapter is a woman riding on a beast. It is good if we can understand these thing because we are living in these days. Verse 3, “I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.” Do you know the meaning of the word “blasphemy?” Some people think it means cursing and swearing but, that is not it at all. In Revelations 2:9 it says, “I know thy works and tribulations, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan.”  Remember back in Matthew 3:7, when John the Baptist saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth fruits meet for repentance: and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: For I say unto you, God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” What was the problem? They were not ready for baptism, their problem was that they were holding to the name of Abraham, the blood of Abraham but not the faith of Abraham. I wonder if this same thing wasn’t true in this verse. They were saying they were Jews and they were not. Again in Revelations 3:9, “Behold I will make them of the synagogue of Satan which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie.” Lie, so God is saying that blasphemy is a lie. Look out into the world today and see how many lies there are. Church after church, denomination after denomination, taking Bible names. That is blasphemy. Now back to Revelations 17:4, “And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornications.” This is all false doctrine. Verse 4, “And upon her forehead was a name written, ‘MYSTERY,  BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.’” Now, what’s all this? She is not only false but she is creating more false, she is having daughters. She is trying to ride this beast and it is trying to buck her off.

Let’s turn back and look at a little history, what has happened and what is happening. I can remember 80 years ago. I can remember when my dad went into the military in 1916. I remember going down to the train and seeing him off. There has been a terrific change in America and in the world since those days. The devil today is working in a different way than he has in some centuries past. In former days, he gave the whole world false religion and deceived the world. For the last 60 to 80 years, he has been working on the people inside those religions to break down the standards. They talk about the days when a man could give you his word and you could believe him, but no more. Honesty, honesty has gone down the drain and it went a long time ago.

I preached here in Oregon 60 years ago, in Coos Bay and Coquille then up on the Columbia River and had several different companions. Then Hugh Mathews came down and said that a volunteer was needed to go to the Philippines. I said, “I’ll go.” January of 1940 found me on a ship on the high seas on the way to the Philippines. In those days over there, the Oriental way is different than in America. It didn’t seem to be offensive to tell a lie if it made the other person feel good, so they told lies. I tried to tell them about the honesty in America, well that is gone, you can no longer point to that. It has gone down the drain. There are some other things that have gone down the drain and maybe we should just mention some of these. One of those things is modesty. When I was a little boy, the women wore high laced shoes and long dresses and they were very careful and taught their little girls to be careful how they crossed their legs and to keep covered. Whew, there’s been a lot of water under the bridge. Then there is morality. It too, has gone down the drain, it is not like it used to be. Where is the devil working? He’s working right inside of the churches.

My companion came back here a few years ago and he said he got an invitation to a Bible study and they are meeting in the park, and I said, “Well, do you know what it is going to be like?” I said, “We’ll go down there and the women will be dressed in shorts and what they call halters.” I used to think a halter was something you put on a mule. If you go to a Wednesday Night Bible study in any of these churches that is what you’ll find, shorts, halters, and T-shirts. The devil is now working on the people inside these false religions. He’s working on human nature now, not only standards. For centuries and centuries, the religions of the world have held standards and they have held tight to those standards. In the last hundred years, those standards have gone and so has morality. They now talk about the New Morality. Well, it isn’t new at all, it is immorality. We can’t go long with that. And there are other things that have been creeping in. Church ministers that are divorced and remarried and still preaching. That’s the way the devil is working today. This thing of divorce and remarriage is rampant in the churches of the world today. The children hardly know who their father is. They are all mixed up, all confused. One of the last things that has come up, and I would like to talk a little about this, discipline. It seems that the government itself is against discipline. The devil has been working inside these denominations and broken down the standards so there are no more standards. Then there is this matter of discipline. I used to hear of nations where there was no discipline and I said, “I hope that never comes to America, because that would be a terrible, terrible thing.” Then wouldn’t you know it, there came along a Dr. Spock. And you know what happened then, self expression. That is what a horse is before he’s broken, just self expression.

I remember being at a ranch down in California back in about 1935 and they rounded up some horses that never had been broken. One of those horses had never been in a harness before and he was absolutely no good to anyone. He was harnessed up with about 5 other horses and hitched to a 6 bottom plow. They said, “Just let him run,” and he galloped all the way down the field but he didn’t make much headway. When he got down there he was all lathered up and the farmer said, “He’ll learn, he’ll learn.” Sure enough, in a week’s time, he was just plodding along with the rest of the horses and just as content. He was now broken to the harness and he knew his master’s voice and the master’s feed box and all of the rest of it.

I was in a home one time and there was a little baby crawling across the floor. The father of that baby and I just happened to be talking about raising children. The father said the first thing that you have to teach a child is, “No, no.” He said that can save their life and keep them from getting into trouble. The baby was crawling across the floor toward a bookcase and we were not paying attention to it.  The father said, “You have to follow through on, ‘No, no;’ he has to understand what you mean when you say, ‘No, no.’ The child will then learn to respect you and to love you.” That baby crawled over to the book case then turned around and looked at his father and said two words, “No, no?” And the father said, “No, no.” And the little child turned right around and came back. There had been a line of communication established between that father and the child. You see some young people in the world today and that line of communication has never been established and you can not get them to do what they should be doing.

Over in the Philippines at the convention grounds, they had a young dog. In the Philippines, generally they don’t teach their dogs anything. They just feed them and play with them and that’s it. I took that pup and thought I would teach him some things. First I would knock his legs out from under him and down he would go, and I would say, “Good dog, lay down, lay down.” I did that a number of times and pretty quickly he would lay down when I told him. Then I thought I would teach him to shake hands. I grabbed his front leg and shook it and said, “Shake hands, shake hands,” and after a while when I would say shake hands, he would lift up his paw and put it in my hand. A line of communication had been established between me and that dog. The result was that that dog would follow me all around, he became my dog. He liked me because he understood me. That is exactly the way children are, if the parents start out early and learn to communicate they will love their parents. In some oriental countries, they think a child can’t learn anything until they are 6 years old.  That’s too late.

There was a linguist that I got acquainted with over there and he said that a child is far quicker to learn from the time that he is born until he is ten than at any other time. This is a wonderful thing and we need to understand a little about this thing of discipline. I’m glad that my father knew about discipline. In 1921, my uncle died and his children were at his funeral. One of his girls, who was just my age, threw a conniption fit, stamped her feet and carried on. My dad looked at me and my brother and said, “I don’t ever want to see you kids do that.” I don’t remember ever having done that because my dad started out with discipline before I could even remember. Little children need to learn submission, then the parents have a wonderful control over them. And the children will love their parents for it. My dad never gave us boys a lickin’ in public but if we got into some kind of mischief he would promise a lickin’ when we got home. One time when I was about 6 years old, I was promised a lickin’ before I went to bed.  Well, we went home and had supper and I thought I would get out of it by going to bed right after supper, which I did. Sometime later, I could hear my dad walking around downstairs and he said, “Where’s Leo?”  Then I heard him coming up and I got my lickin’ just like he promised. I knew that my dad said what he meant and meant what he said.

I’ve been places where there wasn’t much discipline. I stayed at one place where everything was helter-skelter, no one to do the cooking, or the dishes or cleanup. I lit into the middle of this thing one day and I thought later, maybe I was pretty rough on those folks, maybe too hard on them. There was a young woman there, about 15 years old, and about 5 years later, I got two letters from there. One was from that young woman and the other from a young man that was there, also. They both thanked me for what I told them that day. What I had said was that if they didn’t learn some discipline, they would be misfits all their days. I said, “It is hard to learn when you are grown up but you can learn self discipline if you put your mind to it.” They both thanked me for the day that I talked to them about discipline. A little later after I got those letters, they both offered for the work and today they are still in the work. I’m glad and thankful for that. Self discipline is a hard thing to learn and a hard thing to teach but it is most easily taught by a parent. A person learns discipline from being disciplined, from being punished for not learning it. Our people have to be different from the world and we are if we discipline ourselves.

Now, going back to this thing of modesty. The modern thing today is to be sexy. What they mean is that you just don’t wear as much as you ought to. That’s the way the world is but what does the Bible say? It speaks against it and calls it lasciviousness. Do you know what that is?  Lasciviousness is acting or talking or dressing in a way that incites lust in another person. That is just the way they are doing in the world today, advertising it, signs on billboards going down the highway. It doesn’t matter if they are advertising fertilizer, they put a picture of a beautiful woman on it. Lasciviousness is a woman’s sin and an evil eye is a man’s sin. By nature, we have with in us what is called pro-creation instincts. We can take care of those instincts just by doing what we should be doing, by being modest and wearing what is modest. In God’s Truth and God’s Way, we can’t go along with this trend of the world. The Devil has made his tracks into every religion in the world, they no longer have any standards and I’ll tell you another thing, the devil these days is trying to work his inroads into the Way of God. He’s trying to destroy our standards, our principles, everything that we stand for.

Now to finish up, for the time is gone. Revelations 17:3, “I saw the beast with seven heads and ten horns.” Verse 9-13, “Nations and kingdoms that will unite under one mind and give their power and strength to the beast for one hour (verse 12).” Verse 14, “These shall make war with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them for He is Lord of lords and King of kings and they that are with Him are called, and chosen and faithful.” Do I know how He will overcome them? No, but you remember what it says back there in the 16th chapter, “Behold I come quickly.”  The Lord will take His people out of the world (18:4) and in “one hour” the whore will be destroyed. 18:10, “for in one hour is thy judgment come,” 18:17, “for in one hour so great riches is come to naught,” 18:19, “for in one hour is she made desolate,” verse 21, “Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.” Those that are left will be saying, “Our preachers lied to us,” but in reality, it is wishful thinking and willingness to believe a lie on their part so, don’t be caught up in that wishful thinking and willingness to believe a lie. In 17:14, it says, “They that are with the Lamb are called, chosen and faithful.” That is what it is going to take to be an overcomer. Don’t be deceived by the niceties of the world.

There is a word we know, that everyone knows, and that is profession, or to profess. If we went out down the street in Pukekohe, and we asked people, “What is profess?” They would give you a blank look. They would ask, “Profess what?” What does professing mean to you and to me personally? This word “profess” is not a word used commonly in everyday language and I looked up a dictionary the other day and to profess means to make an open declaration. An open declaration of what? This term “to profess.”

We will look in a minute, at some people in the Bible who professed. If we hear someone has died, and we hear they were professing, it gives us comfort; and if we hear they were not professing, maybe we have feelings of sadness.

This word “professing” is something that the devil uses, also. Satan is not unhappy for people to use that term if they profess.

Look in Titus, chapter 1. Here are people who are professing that they know God, but in works, they deny him. Satan does not mind people professing, but he does mind if they in works acknowledge God. There are some people Satan cannot attract through the depths of immorality, because they know it is wrong. There are people Satan cannot snare through religion and false teaching, because they see what the wrong teaching is. But he does have a trap.

There is a parable someone mentioned in a testimony yesterday, 21 Matthew. A certain man had two sons and he said to the one, “Son, go and work in my vineyard, etc.” The second son professed, and made an open declaration. He said, “I go, Sir,” and went not. He made the open declaration and did not follow through with what he had said. That is a trap. I could be professing, and in this work, and I think I have a safety net; but that is not the case.

Paul said, “Lest I preach unto others and I myself be a cast away.”

There is a word used in South America; they talk about surrendering there. We talk about “the time I professed.” They talk about “the time I surrendered.”

Some statements we make sometimes: “I professed in 1977.” But if I substitute the word with the South American word they use when they profess, and turn that statement into a question; instead of saying, “I have been professing for 22 years,” saying, “But have I been surrendering for 22 years?” I could not say honestly I have surrendered for 22 years. There are times I was not surrendering. The question to ask myself, the way to test our profession is, I am professing, but am I surrendering? That is when the profession has a value.

That hymn that we sang, “I have spoken the word of surrender.” The open declaration that we want to leave the world behind in a surrender to the will of God.

These two sons we looked at in the parable, it was like the Gospel coming and the Father saying, “I want you to work in my vineyard today.” The first son said, “I will not,” and afterwards he repented and he went. That is an experience. Perhaps there were many like that when we first heard the Gospel?

We said, “I won’t go.” But then we repented. There is a struggle. I will not go. But afterwards he repented and he went. But the second son, he did the first part all right. He could express the words nicely. “I go, sir.” And he went not.

We want to be careful that our profession has substance today and is a full surrender in our hearts. This matter of surrender, how do we understand what it is? There are many different and nice ways it could be explained.

The Lord’s mother said, “Be it unto me according to Thy word.” “All ye that are heavy laden, learn of Me and take My yoke.” The bullock that has the yoke put on its neck, normally has to bow its neck to surrender. It is a struggle, but it goes into the yoke and surrenders and works in a team. Do we surrender? Do we bow our neck and work in the yoke with Jesus? Or is my profession only got the first part, “They confess Me with their lips, but in works, they deny Me.”

In Bangladesh, we went to see some brick works. They have mud and sand and a thing that looks like a big cake mixer. They put the sand and mud in the mixer and two oxen walk around and around and they mix it up until it is the right consistency. They mix it and then they put it on their slabs. The man that was with me went closer to the animals than I did. One of the bullocks had long horns and he put his head down and he was going to strike his horn out and if the man got close enough, he would have ripped his stomach open. He was a danger to others.

Sometimes we get broken in two. How broken are we? Sometimes it is not safe for the children to go near. Because children are little children. How safe are we to be among God’s little people or is there still resentment in certain things? You cannot trust a horse or bullock like that. We trust God, but can God trust us? Are we really broken? There is one difference between us and horses and bullocks. It seems that if a horse is really broken, probably it is broken for life. Our human nature is not like that and we need the help of God every day to be broken.

I remember someone telling us about an old man and they asked him about when he made his choice and he said, “I made it this morning.” They expected to hear him say he had made it 20 or 30 or 50 years ago, but he said he had made the choice this morning. The old man knew he had to die to self – every day.

Some things stay in your memory and others do not. Since I have come back people have said certain things to me and they are things I have forgotten but there are certain things that stick in my memory. I can remember when I was 13 or 14 years old and I was in the company of some other young people growing up in professing homes; and there was another boy there; a few years younger, perhaps, 9 or 10, and we were sitting around talking and I wasn’t professing at that time. He was a self-confident boy, He wasn’t bad, but he said he was self-confident.

I was over 12 and he said, “I should be professing now.” It was like you are old enough now and I was amazed because no awakening had happened within me, but that incident stayed in my mind. That young boy, he grew older and he got to 12 or 13 and professed at that time, but he is not professing now and he is a long way away and those in his family are a long way away now, too.

I wonder if they ever came to understand the full meaning of profession? It is an open declaration of our surrender. Maybe there are young people who have not professed yet. It is good when we rest that matter. It is not a matter of professing, to use that term loosely. It is a declaration. In that hymn, “I have made my choice forever,” some people say, “I am making my choice.” What choice?

This is the choice that will save you, making Him Lord of your all. If we are going to consider making our choice in the Gospel, this is the choice that will save you: MAKING HIM LORD OF YOUR ALL.

We can make another choice in the fellowship, but this is the choice that will save you. Making Him Lord of your all. I would like to take the experience a step further, and I hope that will be the experience of each one of us.

[from Notes on Pat Romanufa’s General Letter]

In his last meeting, Jim Ratcliffe so helpfully spoke of the great need to keep the channels open and clear – how easy it is for the cares of the day and the seasons to close or plug the channels, if we are not very careful.

He spoke of the channel of prayer and how worry and hurry can so easily close this channel.

We should keep the channel of reading open, thus availing ourselves of the help that is there for us. We have this Bible of precious truths of God – the will of God in our hands. How terrible it would be if we neglect to read all that God has made available to us.

Keep the channel of the Fellowship Meeting open and thus the help that our Father provides. It is so needful for us to come in that condition of spirit so we can get help. [The scriptures were 1 Corinthians 11 and 1 Corinthians 14]

Jim emphasized the help we can get when we pray in the spirit, sing in the spirit, and speak in the spirit. We can do all these things in vain, if they are not done in the spirit.

What do we remember when we look upon the Emblems? 1 Corinthians 11:24-25, “And when He had given thanks, He brake 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 you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’”

Do we see all of God’s will through the life and teaching of Jesus? Take that away and what do we have left? Nothing is left. Could I ever look on that piece of bread and not be thankful? The cup represents the blood and sacrifice of Jesus. Here I am standing before God face to face, with all my sins and shortcomings – it is only the fruit of the vine, the shed blood of Calvary that can wipe away my load of sin.

Only one audibly gives thanks for the bread and another for the cup, but we can all give thanks from the heart. Oh, that we would never let our privileges become common or familiar to us.

[Pat wrote that Jim had periodically been suffering from shortness of breath during the special meeting rounds. After this, the last meeting of the rounds, Jim fell and was taken directly to the hospital where he was diagnosed as having Congestive Heart Failure. Jim died December 28, 1999, exactly three months short of his 96th birthday and spending 65 1/2 years in the ministry in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Africa. Jim achieved many goals during his lifetime, including a desire to ‘die in the harness.’]

Proverbs 30 verse 24… “There are four things which are little upon the earth but they are exceedingly wise etc. “I was thinking a little about the ants. The ants have a limited amount of strength but the Lord saw fit to create the ants like that. The Lord gave to different parts of -His creation different amounts of strength as it pleased Him. I am so thankful today that the Lord has given us strength and He knows how much strength we have and what we can do with the strength He has given us.

    In our field there are only three who gather together in a Sunday Morning Meeting and all three are illiterate. One sister gave her testimony and told of the cricket and the ant. The ant knew it was dry season time and so gathered some food – went backwards and forwards to gather the food to store away, but the cricket just enjoying itself – and chirping away. Then the cricket came to the ant.. “Is there anything for me?” “No, there is nothing for you. The time is past!” This was her testimony and she said that she wanted to be like the ant, to gather in when there is time. I just thought of the ant having only a limited amount of strength, but when there is time to gather in it gets busy. It is exceeding wise! Maybe with the understanding that we have; there has to be a lot of wisdom and the Lord planning it so.

Have you ever seen an antheap with one ant? Never! They all work together. There is unity and co-operation. The Lord made it so that they can all co-operate. We see one coming out and one going in. Even in ourselves; our strength is not always the same. There was the time when we were carried; someone had to take care of us and clothe and feed us and the time when we could walk and then got stronger and the fullness of strength, but then the time comes when the strength becomes weaker again and the strength goes. That is the cycle of life. The Lord making it so that in the situation there are those who care, and the cycle goes round. There is harmony and unity and the need of those who care for one another.

The thought of a little strength and a little time, but we can use our strength like the ant. Maybe the ant is feeble, but the ant does not think that way, it just goes on and on, and when it comes to something five or six times it’s size, the ant wants to move that and does something about it which is right and good. It does not seem reasonable to try and move something five time it’s size, but another ant comes and then another one and a number of ants get together and just going on; moving it and getting it to safe keeping. Just the thought, how do we think about our strength? Do we understand that the Lord has given us this strength and what He has planned to accomplish in us and others also trying to help. There is unity and co-operation. When we think of the ants coming back from their gathering, I am sure there is communication one with the other. We sometimes see an army of ants crossing the road and they walk together and moving from one, place to another, and in the middle the smaller ones but all walking together for there are dangers for ants in the road.

    One evening speaking in a Gospel Meeting in our field in Benin, I felt a stinging in my knee and here was a little ant. Maybe it thought I was an enemy and with that limited amount of strength it was using it and what do we do with the little bit of strength; are we defending ourselves? The ant was inconspicuous yet always busy and very much a part of God’s creation. How good if we can realise the measure of our strength and there can be harmony and unity and God’s plan can be accomplished. Nehemiah was one who considered the plan of God and what God wanted to accomplish. His people were in captivity in Babylon and the Lord wanted to turn the captivity and free them. The thought of God knowing how little strength the People had and yet the Lord used different ones in that great plan.

Daniel understood by books that the seventy years would be accomplished and he began to pray in sackcloth and ashes. He understood that the time was nearing that there would be liberty. He did his little part in praying and asking the Lord for deliverance and the Lord heard his prayer.

Haggai also had a little part in God’s plan. He said to Josedech and to all the people of the land … “Be strong, for the Lord is with you!” They received strength and could go forward and accomplish the Will of god. We know the measure of our strength, but how good to help and encourage one another to see what this great plan of God is and that we have a part in it, and we can be strong to do our part.

We see where Nehemiah was found… He was the cup bearer of the king. He heard of the destruction and the gates being burnt and the walls all being broken down and it made him very sad and distressed and he began to pray. One man so very far away and he had his job and his work as the cup bearer of the king… serving another king and yet and yet beginning to pray in that situation. Think of what one man can do through prayer!

The Lord stirring up their spirits and putting things in their hearts so that the Lord can accomplish His plan. The Lord can stir up our spirits too and put things into our hearts so that he will be able to do His work even if there is such a limited amount of strength.

I remember once one of our brothers needed a passport and we went to try and help. There was a man behind the desk but no one was co-operating. We asked the superior … “Is there no one helping?” Then we knew a friend who knew someone high up and he could help in the situation. We are so thankful that we can pray to the God of Heaven and He can help. We can speak to a Higher Power.

Nehemiah wept, mourned, fasted and prayed. He was praying for mercy in the sight of the king. Nehemiah’s countenance was sad and the king asked … “Why is thy countenance sad? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart… For what doth thou make a request? So I prayed to the God of Heaven.” He asked for a letter to be given him to the govenors etc. The letter was given to him and provision made for him to go and review the walls of the city. Wonderful that one with so little strength; yet he could do and accomplish that work. He says.. “I did not tell anyone what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem.” He had something in his heart that he wanted to accomplish. He went by night and saw that others did not know. Then he went to the elders and the rulers and told them what was in his heart and about the Hand of God that was good upon him. They said… “Let us rise up and build.”, so they strengthened their hands for this good work Nehemiah had told them what weas in his heart and they were strengthened to rise up and built.

The enemies said what will these feeble Jews do? They were feeble because of the false report but Nehemiah was able to strengthen them to go ahead and build. The enemies said; “Will they revive the stones out of the heap of rubbish? Something that was a hindrance to their work; ‘twas the rubbish and that had to be taken away and thrown out. How good that the rubbish can be taken out. We think of a bee hive and all work together. There are bees that clean the hive and bringing things out and throwing then away. There is no rubbish in a bee hive.

It speaks about the different ones that built the wall. The priests that built the sheep gate and the different ones that helped. There were the Gold Smiths who maybe did not know much about bricks and mortar, but they also had something to do and were willing to do it. There were those who built over against their own house. How good that the walls are in good condition over against our own house. Maybe we think about the walls of someone else’s house, but, but everyone built over against HIS OWN HOUSE. How thankful we are that no matter where we are that we can build the walls so that it could be in a good condition.  

The enemies tried to hinder them and wanted them to stop the work.

Just the thought that they could have listened to the enemy and so could have weakened their hands, but how good that they listened to the right sound. It was a great work, working together even though not a lot of strength.

The bridges had to be closed. Maybe the enemy has gone in before where there had been an opening. The bridges are a protection and safety in a city. In chapter 5 the enemy conspired to come in and hinder them building but they made their prayer unto their God and set a watch against them. Everyone working together and setting each other free.

Just this little thought; in some homes they have a wood box and someone has to keep the box clean. When younger that was our job, and also to bring in water. We know the wood was used for the burnt offering. If no wood how can there be an offering? But if everyone can bring the wood the offering can go on.

We are so thankful for the plan of the Lord, that even with the little strength all that we can accomplish and be a strength to one another for we need tone another and we can all rejoice together and there can be harmony and unity and we would like to do our part. So that the Work of the Lord can be accomplished in our day.

I have been enjoying thinking about the miracle of convention. What is the miracle of convention—everybody is working and nobody is ruling.

I once asked a little boy who was serving water what his job was. He told me and added, “It’s a good job.” His older brother who was washing dishes also said he had a good job. Then I saw the father who said, “I’m scrubbing pots and pans, but it’s a good job.” That is the spirit of convention—willingly serving. I wonder if during the following week, the wife of that man were to ask him to scrub the dirty pots would he reply, “Yes! Dear, that is a good job?”

Can we take the spirit of convention home with us? How long will it last? There was one couple on their way home from convention, talking about keeping the spirit of God with them. When they reached the front gate one suggested, “You should get the house key out.” The response was, “I don’t have the key, you have the key.” The spirit or miracle of convention lasted as far as the front gate.

There is something very important to take care of before the Sunday morning meeting — what is going on in our hearts. Do our thoughts make a welcome abode for the Holy Spirit? Are our thoughts so controlled that the dovelike spirit can remain?

Isaiah 1:30, “For ye shall be like an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.” In the early 1950s in Morocco, there were several months without rain. Ten days after the rain came, the desert flowers bloomed. Isaiah 58:11, “And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” I like to think of our lives as gardens. Do we keep them well watered? “My life a desert place would be if Christ had never died for me,” hymn 300.

Flowers of the spirit can be in my garden. If Christ can speak to us, He can speak through us. These days have been showers of blessing onto our lives — just what our gardens need.

I like to think about the flowers that grew in Jesus garden.

Humility. In John 13, Peter and John had prepared for the supper but hadn’t arranged for the washing of the feet. This was the job of a servant. Jesus set the example. Peter was ashamed — the actions of Jesus pointed out his lack. Like Peter, we must humble ourselves before Jesus to be cleansed. In 19 consecutive conventions, we heard about Jesus washing the disciples’ feet.

Sacrifice is a red flower. Red poppies in Flanders Field project the image of the sacrifice of soldier’s lives. Jesus gave His all and His best. He sacrificed in leaving heaven. He sacrificed to preach the gospel. He sacrificed His blood on the cross. Nothing can be compared to the sacrifice of Jesus. In John 12, Mary anointed Jesus’ feet. Do you think she begrudged that sacrifice?

In Judas garden, there were weeds of selfishness. You can’t have weeds and flowers growing in the same garden. A weed will always kill out the beautiful flowers. Accept a bank knowing that God will repay. Weeding our garden is an investment in the future.

The three flowers of a good fellowship meeting are submission, confession, and forgiveness.

Submission bloomed in the life of Jesus that night in the garden of Gethsemane when He prayed, “Not My will but Thine be done.”

Confession is hard to grow. James 5:16, “Confess your faults one to another…” I had to hand out a flower of confession to the Lady of a home. I accidentally broke a bracket in her home. I did not intend to break it. The devil said, “Never mind, she will never know who broke it.” God knew who broke it. I had to hand out a flower of confession.

Forgiveness: When Jesus had to correct His disciples, He forgave them every time. [70×7]

Weed of Pride: We need to take another look into what is growing in our hearts. Pride hinders confession and forgiveness.

Mark 7:21-23, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within and defile the man.” These are seeds that are in the heart of man. We always need to be on the alert, watching and prepared to do some weeding.

1 Peter 2:1, “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings…” Laying aside — leaving behind — doing some weeding.

Ephesians 4:31, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.” More weeding to do!

Kindness: Peter and others went fishing, but came back to shore with empty nets. Jesus asked, “Children, have you any meat?” John 21:5. Jesus had prepared bread and fish on the coals and was waiting. Jesus was kind to those that disappointed Him.

Artificial flowers look real. The moisture [spirit] keeps real flowers cool. Why would we use phrases such as “that old witch” behind a person’s back. One of the worst artificial flowers is artificial forgiveness. There is no fragrance given off by artificial flowers.

Oh! To enjoy the fragrance that goes out from beautiful live flowers.

I still have lots to do in my garden. We can never afford to use the expression, “that’s good enough,” when we are talking about the work of God.

If we take care of our garden — do the weeding — before the meeting, we will have a good meeting. If we can honestly say, “I did my best,” then God will take care of the rest.

As we look on life’s experiences it is good when we can say, “I am thankful this chapter is closed, but I am even more thankful that the book is not closed.”

I first came to Theodore Convention 65 years ago. At that convention, I gave my testimony with fear and trembling. Today, I stand before this microphone with fear and trembling. It is difficult to find what to say — difficult to ensure that the message is from God.

Resurrection and the resurrection story is the main purpose of our gathering. There is something for us to do — prepare for the resurrection. If anyone could prove to me that there is no resurrection — then I am finished! I would have wasted my life. If I thought there was no resurrection I would leave this work. I would collect my Old Age Security. At my age, I would have a sizable payment. I would be able to rent a nice apartment, buy a comfortable reclining rocking chair. I could lean back and relax — take life easy! Who knows, I might even find someone who would agree to share my life.

1 Corinthians 15 is the resurrection chapter. Jesus died, was buried, and rose again according to the scriptures. There were 500 eyewitnesses to the resurrection.

Verse 19 reads, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” Without the resurrection, all the suffering of workers would be in vain. Paul knew suffering — 5 times he suffered 39 stripes.

But, “Christ is risen” — He is the first fruits from the dead.

Verse 35, “But some men will say, how are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come!”

How? Through the quickening of the dying seed — a new life! What body? Death and the grave are like a garden. The hoe is digging a grave. The seed is put in the dark cold ground — there is no life without death of the seed. Jesus was the first One up. Raised in a spiritual body! Just as He gave the fish a body to live in the sea, we will be happy with the new body He provides for us. The caterpillar will one day fly! This is not rubbish! Verse 43, “It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory.” Many a beautiful butterfly was once an ugly old caterpillar. We have nothing to be proud about today.

The last part of verse 43, “…it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.” The mighty Redwood tree—over 300 feet tall—comes from a seed the size of a grain of rice.

1 John 3:2, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” If we are fruitful and abide now, we shall be like Him.

Verses 55-56, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory?” The sin of life is the sting of death. We have no more fear of death if our sins have been taken care of.

Verse 58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” Pleasures for evermore in the Lord.

Two scriptures came to my mind as I think of telling you a little bit about our brother Colonel Tarsis Rosakes. Please bear with me. The scriptures are: I Peter 2:22-23, “who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously.” Isaiah 53:7, “He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He is brought to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.”

In January of 1995, Tarsis was imprisoned. He had been in charge of, as an engineer, the renovation of a huge Military hospital. There was lots of corruption regarding supplies of materials and money. Tarsis had nothing to do with handling of finances and when papers were made out for supplies that were not ordered; he refused to sign them. Finally, he was accused of being the one responsible for making a huge sum of money disappear. His superiors and the responsible ones for the corruption, begged him to sign the papers admitting responsibility and then they would get him freed, etc… He continued to be pressured and continued to refuse.

Finally one morning, he told his wife, Carmen, who was also his secretary, that he needed to go home and have a few hours alone to pray, which he did. He went back to his office and told the general the answer was definitely NO. He was told he would be imprisoned and lose his job. He had been 30 years in the army and knew it was not a small thing for all those years of service to go to the drain but he was decided and his wife and sons stood behind him.

Several lawyers were appointed to fight his case but all of them worked against him… finally another who was appointed told him he couldn’t do it without losing his job (if he were to do it honestly) and that he should get a civilian lawyer… not a military one… Tarsis himself began studying law and defended his own case and appointed his wife as his defending counsel. His first 10 weeks in prison he was in a cell with the worst criminals that were there… murderers, etc… He never allowed their rilings or tormenting to affect him.

There were a number of rooms set aside for prisoners receiving their visitors. He would find out which room number was allotted to him for that day and then go and clean it up in readiness for his visitors. When he would have it cleaned, they would often tell him that there was a mistake and it was another room that was assigned to him… it would often be changed several times and after he would have cleaned a number of rooms, they would eventually tell him that his room was the first one he had cleaned. He never objected or complained, which had them all puzzled.

On Sunday a.m., he wouldn’t have visitors but cleaned his assigned room nevertheless and then at exactly 10 a.m. he would sit there with the letters he had received that week set out on the table, and then he would sing a hymn, pray, sing another hymn… then one by one read his letters. After that, he would write a letter expressing the thoughts he had enjoyed during that week. When his wife would come to visit him the next day, he would give her the letter to take out and read at the end of the mid-week study. Because she has the position of defending counsels she had a right to NOT be searched going out. The workers would visit him but he said he felt bad about it and felt unworthy of them giving time to him when it meant other friends were denied a visit.

He said he often thought of the verse about the days being shortened for the elect’s sake and he felt his days there were not long enough for all he wanted to do… pray and read… write and study and work on his papers. Both he and Carmen gained favour with the judge who was religious. For some time, he told them both that Tarsis was a fool to not give some bribes and be freed but they explained they couldn’t do that. The judge was impressed and began calling for Tarsis to come early in the day so he would have time to visit with him several hours before actually working on his trial. The judge also forbade much of the corruption that is common and usually allowed. He told Tarsis he had never performed a trial in that way before.

Finally the day came, 10 months after being imprisoned when he was called to get the results of his trial. He went with the thought in mind, “If I haven’t won my case, am I willing to accept it and be here for another year trying again? ” He decided he could do it again. The verdict was read to him in the judge’s office by the secretary with bailiffs and other officials present. “Your defense has been denied (or however that is said in English)… and you will be tried again for another accusation, as well.” He answered, “I have heard and I have understood.” The judge asked him, “Are you willing to be here another year and go through all this again?” He replied, “I am..” then all present laughed and the judge said, “It is a joke… you are being set free today and declared innocent.”

He was later told that he is the only man in Mexican military history that has been able to defend himself, been declared innocent and set free. He said he never prayed that he would be freed from wrong or from suffering but that he would be freed from wrong IN himself, from having any wrong spirit or attitude. He feels his time in prison brought blessings and was a time of pruning and helping him set his priorities straighter than ever. He feels no grudge or hate against his accusers. He doesn’t know what actually happened to the one who was guilty but thinks he may have renounced his job to avoid a trial. He invited the judge to a Special meeting and he went.

Now for Chapter 2… and I will try to make it brief. Can you imagine how I felt when the phone rang on Tuesday night (here in Tuxtla) and the voice on the other end was Tarsis? He explained to me that he had arrived here in Tuxtla the night before. He has continued in his job but the corruption continues in many ways and he felt the time has come for him to declare plainly that he cannot continue watching such going on (even though he is not participating in it) and so he submitted his application for his retirement even though he is only 52. He recently developed diabetes which justifies his retirement, plus he has served enough years to legally retire. While his papers are being processed, he has been transferred to Tuxtla… perhaps to get him further away where he won’t see what goes on and squeal on them.

It all happened suddenly but he and Carmen felt satisfied that it must be what is to be and he said he had promised he was willing to serve God wherever and however. He came on Thursday night for meeting (Carmen had surgery recently and will come later) and his eyes filled with tears when I told him his coming was an answer to our prayers. For several years, we have prayed and wondered WHO would come to be an elder for this little church. With several listening and our new interest Francisco and his wife, I felt more desperate to have someone here that I felt would take care of it in our absence. Then tonight a young man, Lesly, who has been listening, expressed his decision to walk in the WAY. I feel so humbled to see how the Lord has worked to supply the need and feel unworthy to have such a noble, humble, upright, courageous man as Tarsis come to fill the gap. I am anxious to meet Carmen. Already he has decided that they will stay permanently even after his retirement papers are processed etc… It is a wonderful comfort to us and a joy to the little church here. I hope I haven’t wearied you but just had to share this.

Thanks for your help, too, through your prayers.

Love,

Doris Chambers

It was 90 years, one month and three days ago, that a little group of men and a little group of dogs first stood at the geographic North Pole. It wasn’t because other men had not wanted to go and had not tried to go, that this group was the first.

Robert Perry and his little band reached the goal. Why did he reach the goal? He had special equipment built, and special dog sleds. But first, he built an invincible purpose. In Robert Perry’s own words, he spoke of things that would have turned anyone back if they had not had an invincible purpose. We can be sure that this man did not make it by accident. It was his life.

The last journey to the Pole took a number of months but it was a life-long journey for him. Every day, he was doing things that strengthened his purpose and helped him become prepared.

He tried once for the Pole and didn’t make it. Again, he launched out and didn’t make it. Then again, he launched out and he made it. It is hard for me to understand why anyone would put that much effort, expense, and suffering into reaching a cold piece of ice. Even harder to understand is why we do NOT put everything we have into reaching the goal ahead of us. Jesus has told us He is gone to prepare a place for us. We want to be there in that place He has prepared. There is only one other place prepared – it is for the devil and his angels and we will end up there if we do not have a purpose that takes us in the footsteps of Jesus.

What can we do to have an invincible purpose – a purpose that at any cost and no matter what comes in our way? We will continue. Hebrews 12:1, “Lay aside every weight.” Robert Perry did not take any more than he absolutely had to, with him to the North Pole. The dogs that pulled, when they became weak and sick, were not carried along. They would have been dead weight. It wasn’t easy for those men to cut the dogs in pieces to feed to the other dogs for the journey. There are things we will have to lay aside if we want a strong purpose. Perhaps they are things that are not bad and have helped us in the past. Laying them aside will remove weight and will also feed us.

Look unto Jesus, the One who went ahead. One thing the journey to the North Pole required was a leader. There was only one stretch of the trail that Robert Perry broke and that was the last part. Someone else went ahead and left food behind for those who followed. He could look at those ahead and that helped to strengthen his purpose.

This afternoon, two sisters spoke to us and both have done more than I can say to strengthen my purpose – one when I was a little boy and one when I was a teenager. They took time to see me and to strengthen my purpose. Each because of their health has every reason not to continue in this harvest field. I am sure all of us would feel they would be justified in not continuing, but they have kept their purpose.

We appreciate so much those who have gone ahead and are going with us today to strengthen our purpose. This will not be enough to take us all the way but there is One who will help us go all the way. If we can look at Jesus and what He has done that He did not deserve to have to do and He did not need to do, this will strengthen our purpose. We cannot afford to miss this eternal goal.

Sometimes the path ahead looks bleak and cold. We have to make it to the goal and can only do it if our purpose is invincible, all of us: those who have just begun, those who have walked a while.

I hope we do things to strengthen our purpose and let go of things that we know will only weaken our purpose. There are places in this world that will weaken our purpose – things that we see and people we are with. May we this year value our purpose and be careful to do things that strengthen our purpose so we can go all the way.

**The sisters spoken about are Jeanne Davies and Marilyn Wheeler.

**Not verbatim

In John’s gospel near the end of chapter 6, Jesus had asked His 12 disciples, “Will you also go away?” Peter answered: “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

I don’t really Peter had any thought of going anywhere else, but maybe, in the turmoil of the time, he had been weighing it up. Some disciples walked no more with Him. Had Peter considered, could he go to the mocking Pharisees – no, he couldn’t go there; could he take sides with those who weren’t willing for what Jesus said? No, he wouldn’t do that. I’m sure as he weighed it up, even though some of Jesus’ words were straight, we need them and His words are words of eternal life. There was nowhere else to go. We can’t join in with those who are against Jesus and can’t go along with those who are not willing for what He would say. Perhaps, we sometimes feel like Peter did, that there’s nowhere else to go.

The hymn says: Amidst a world of doubt and strife, there’s nowhere else to go. Then it says: When we see our sinful hearts, there’s nowhere else to go; because in Him alone is provision for our sin. There’s nowhere else we can go to have our sins forgiven and be right in the sight of God, because Jesus has paid the price for our sin. When life has wounded bitterly, there’s nowhere else to go. There’s healing in Thy nail pierced hands and there’s nowhere else to go except to the One who understands, is there? Our friends may understand to some extent, but no one understands, like Jesus; there’s nowhere else to go. It says that many of His disciples had started to walk with Him; had started to learn and then they weren’t willing to go any further. Sad that they missed out on all that could have been theirs. I think it is a lot sadder when some who have never started start and then don’t finish. They turned back; they turned aside.

Some didn’t turn away. In the book of Ruth, one turned back and one said, “There’s nowhere else to go but onward, forward.” Ruth refused to go back. Orpah didn’t take much coaxing to go back. Her mother-in-law said, “There’s nothing to be gained by coming with me – go back;” so she kissed her mother-in-law and went back. But, Ruth clave to Naomi & was steadfastly minded not to go back. She said to her mother-in-law, “This is for life; this is forever; I’m not going back.” It meant separation from Ruth’s peo­ple and her gods; it did the same thing for her as it did for Abraham when he heard the call “to go out to that land that I will show you.” By faith he obeyed and went out to that land he had never been to before. He had faith in the promises of God, the same faith we need to have in God’s promises. Do we have that faith in the promises of God, that He has promised us something so wonderful?

Faith is what enabled Abraham to journey through the Promised Land as a stranger and a pilgrim, because he had faith to see far beyond this world, to the promises of God and something far greater than anything in this world. He looked for that city with foundations. We need that kind of faith. That’s the kind of faith that Ruth had; she saw something in Naomi. Maybe Naomi had told her about God’s people and God’s presence and God’s leading, and she had faith to embrace it, and she wanted it and said to Naomi, “I’m not going back, there’s nowhere else to go; I’m going forward.” I hope we can all be inspired by looking to Ruth.

Jephthah too said, “I can’t go back.” Why? Because he had opened his mouth to the Lord. We heard about anchors, and that was an anchor to Jephthah – he had opened his mouth to the Lord and said, “I can’t go back,” and that’s something that will help us to keep on going: to open our mouth to the Lord. It’s often been said, that it’s better not to vow, than to vow and not pay; but it’s a lot better to vow and pay because opening our mouth to make a promise, is going to help us to keep on going. Like when God appeared to Jacob and he saw that ladder, God made a promise to Jacob. Did Jacob say, “Thank you very much” and leave it at that – no, he made a promise to God. In his heart there was such gratitude to God for all that He was holding out to him and I’m sure that it helped him to keep on going and helped him to realize that there’s nothing else worth living for, but to be in the will of God and do what He asks us to do. So, I hope that we won’t be afraid to open our mouths to the Lord. It’s not about saying things rashly; we should sit down to count the cost and be willing to open our mouth to the Lord. We read that Jephthah’s daughter helped him to fulfill what he had said, because she was willing to be the sacrifice and she encouraged him to do what he said. It’s good when there are those who do that. She could’ve said, “That’s being extreme;” it’s human, isn’t it, to say, “There’s no need to go that far.”

It was said over and over again that Jeroboam made Israel to sin. What did he do? He told Israel there was no need to go so far, “There’s no need to go up to Jerusalem to worship” (1 Kings 12:28). We don’t have to say by our words sometimes; we can tell by our example there’s no need to go that far. But Jephthah’s daughter said, “You be true to your word; you do what you have said you will do.”

When Paul wrote to Timothy (1 Timothy 4:12) to be an example, first in word. I wondered why he said ‘word’ first, but that’s very important. He who controls his tongue is a perfect man; to use it when he should use it and refrain from using it when he shouldn’t, is a perfect man. I wonder if our word is reliable. We live in a world where men’s words don’t mean much; people say what comes the easiest and have no intention of fulfilling them. Before we rush in to say yes or no, we should consider this: are we going to be true to our words? Jephthah was true and he kept on going.

We read what Jesus said about “he who puts his hand to the plough and looks back,” not being fit for the Kingdom. I was thinking about where we look. It is so important what we get our sights on. In Hebrews, it says, “Looking unto Jesus” and then it says about running the race with our eyes on Him.

Jesus said that man was not fit for the Kingdom. I don’t know what He meant by that, but I do know this: we can’t plough a straight furrow if we are looking back; we really must line up with 2 things if we want to plough a straight furrow. If you have something near and something in the distance and line them both up, then you can plough a straight furrow, but there’s no way we can plough a straight furrow if we keep looking back. We need to keep the goal in view; we need to keep Jesus in view. We need to keep a forward view and not look back with a longing to be there. God’s people looked back and desired those things they had left behind in Egypt (the things of the world), and I hope none here look back to want the things the world has – its fashion, pleasures, and treasures. Where are you looking? “Looking unto Jesus.” There’s safety there; it’s going to help us keep on going and not turn­ back. We hear these days of some who have turned back. They have their eyes on something else that they think is cheaper and eas­ier. They’re saying, “We are saved by grace, Jesus has done everything for us, there’s nothing for us to do.” We ARE saved by grace, ‘but’ – grace only moves us to obey. Jesus said that those who hear His words and don’t do them are fools. We won’t be saved without grace, that’s for sure, but we won’t be saved by grace – unless we obey and put our feet in the path the Master trod.

Lot’s wife looked back, when they were told: “Don’t look back; flee as fast as you can.” But, she did what she was told not to do, and that’s like our human nature. Why did she look back to nothing attractive back there, where morals were so low. Maybe she had been feeding on them and became a pillar of salt, a monument to those who looked back.

It says “…. look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.” (Isaiah 51:1). It’s sometimes good to look back to where we’ve come from and where we would be except for God’s mercy – but to desire to be there, will have awful results – looking back. We have so much to go forward to. A hymn says, “one the earnest looking forward.” I wonder if we have this earnest looking forward to His coming. This old world doesn’t have much to hold us, does it? It’s so evil these days and we repeat these words – “Come, Lord Jesus, come.” We’d love to see Him come; we’d welcome His reign, because the world is so evil. It tells us in one place that Jesus’ face was set as if He would go to another place; He had a definite purpose and aim and that’s what we need too. We can read of those who had that aim, that purpose.

Daniel and his friends had that purpose that they wouldn’t defile themselves. It was a definite purpose. They had quite an effect on those they came in contact with, even the king and I’m sure Daniel had a wonderful effect on God’s people being given that opportunity to go back to Jerusalem, to restore the city there. Because of his definite purpose, God could use him in a wonderful way and he could say, “to whom, Lord, shall we go.” Daniel wouldn’t go even a day without being in contact with God. He would sooner face the lions’ den, than go 1 day without being in touch with God. He was a witness to those ungodly men and showed them there’s no God like the God of Daniel. We can be like that too, and not defile ourselves.

People soon learn whether we’ll come down to their level, or not. When younger, several of us were working for a man who would bring drinks around for the older ones, and then he’d say, “a lemonade for the boys.” People soon learn whether we’ll take a stand or not and we don’t have to tell them every day that we don’t drink. But, if you give in to them once, they’ll be at you again/again and you’ll make it harder for yourself. We need to show them that the God of heaven is our God and we’re living for Him, not the approval of this world and the things the world goes in for.

Hebrews 10, near the end of the chapter: “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” God has no pleasure in them who draw back, or keep back. Remember what happened to Ananias and Sapphira; it wasn’t that they were keeping back their money, but they were deceitful. God takes no pleasure in those who draw back or hold back, because all these things will result in us going back and I’d like to have a more forward and upward vision. Many times God said, “Lift up your eyes.” It’s easy to get taken up with things that are around us; but if we look to Jesus, we’ll prove that there’s nowhere else to go. “Thou hast the words of eternal life.” “Thou art the Christ.” I’m sure that as time went on, Peter’s assurance grew, because he had been so definite that he was not going back, even though others did. Maybe we’d see others turn aside & lose their faith, but Jesus is our all and we will find everything in Him.

I hope that we will put our best into this Way and press on.

Malachi 3:16-17, “Then they that feared the Lord spoke often one to another, and the Lord hearkened, and heard it and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name. ‘And they shall be mine,’ saith the Lord of host, ‘In that day when I make up My jewels, and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.’”

God was looking for those that feared Him in Malachi’s day. Those who heeded the message that Malachi spoke would reap eternal benefits. God is still looking for those that fear Him, think upon His Name and speak often to each other about Him. There are few today that fear God but there are a few simple things we can do that causes the God of Heaven to take notice: fearing God, thinking upon His name, and speaking often about God to each other or others. God does take notice of our thoughts. They are not private. And our thoughts, of course, affect our actions. In the process of time, the devil has worked, and there are few who have a wholesome fear of God. Also in the process of time, God is making up His jewels – those who are willing to have sterling qualities worked into their lives. God will one day assemble these jewels and they will comprise a great multitude. This great multitude will consist of all nations, kindreds, tongues and peoples which cannot be numbered by man (Revelations 7:9).

Recently I visited an exhibition in San Diego called “The Nature of Diamonds.” While there, I learned many things about diamonds. They are made from Carbon, which is something very common and worthless. This Carbon is found as graphite lead used in pencils and also as coal. Deep within the earth’s surface, unseen to mankind, there are forces of terrific heat and unrelenting pressure. It is through this process of heat and pressure that gradually can transform something that by nature is worthless into something that is priceless. When God begins to work in a life, there isn’t much there that is of value to God. Through the process of time, God brings a life through experiences that can produce gem-like qualities. Even the diamonds themselves don’t understand the process they are going through. There are many difficult experiences an individual can go through in this life, but many sterling qualities can be produced that are of value to God.

Diamonds are very rare. They occur in the earth as 1 part in 40 million. Or in other words, you have to search through 40 million parts of earth to find just one diamond. Diamond mines are very expensive operations and the process of finding a diamond comes at a great expense and effort. We saw diamonds of different sizes, colors, and shapes, but all were rare and precious jewels. Man can make artificial diamonds, but man cannot make a true diamond. Diamonds cleave to certain things and repel certain things.

God’s jewels shun those things that are base and empty, and are attracted to the eternal, simple qualities of Jesus. Many of the diamonds displayed were viewed using a dark background and illuminated with a strong light. This arrangement greatly enhanced their beauty.

In Revelations 21, we read of the heavenly Jerusalem which will be comprised of many different kinds of gems. In Revelations 21:23, “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it. For the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” In the heavenly Jerusalem, neither the sun nor the moon will be needed; the jewels will be illuminated by Christ, the Lamb of God. These qualities that God has produced in the lives of His people will be enhanced in heaven by the light of the Lamb of God.

Throughout the exhibit, there was no mention of the price of these diamonds, but I knew they were costly. We know something of the price Jesus paid so that we can have a place in the heavenly Jerusalem and are thankful and humbled.

**Not verbatim

A little boy came to one of the South African workers at Magaliesburg convention and said that Uncle Snow White speaks too long – I hope you will not also feel like that this evening! Coming here to South Africa has a special meaning for me, as it is tied up with my testimony. My grandparents had a little shop in Ireland, and this little shop was boycotted for 7 months – that was a long time and brought a struggle in their lives. (This happened as a result of my grandparents making their choice to serve God in 1907.) After that, they decided to leave Ireland and go to New Zealand. They got onto a ship in England and came down the coast towards the Cape of Good Hope. That was in 1914. When they arrived there, war had just been declared. They could have stayed there, and I would have grown up a South African, but they didn’t, they decided to move on to New Zealand. At that time, my mother was 4 years old. There were other brothers and sisters, too.

I’d like to read to you from Colossians 3:1, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” In our field, there had to be a few changes made and although there was a home there that we felt was very worthy of a Sunday morning meeting, because of a circumstance, I was going to have to ask that couple to rather travel to another area where there was a need. It was about 10 kilometres away over a little hill. So I approached the elder of the meeting and asked him if he would mind. I will never forget his reply – he said, “Graham, I have learnt over the years that ‘There is no gain but by a loss’ (In the German language it is like this, ‘Loss alone brings gain’).” I was so touched by his response. Later, this elder told me that a few years back he and his family had been involved in a dispute over an inheritance and he said he had fought desperately for the rights of the family but after some time he’d realised that, “There is no gain but by a loss,” and he said after he was willing to take the loss, he realised that he had never stopped gaining. God wants to teach us how to take a loss so that we may gain or profit spiritually.

”If ye be risen…” We’ve all fallen into the ground and died, but how much of this risen Christ is there in us? In the book of Acts, we read of many messages of the disciples, and you’ll notice they are mostly messages of the resurrection. To preach the risen Christ, is what I always encourage my companions to do. We need to do this over and over, to realise that He was resurrected.

When Jesus was hanging on the cross, with the nails through His hands and through His feet, He cried out to His Father. We read of Him throughout the gospels always speaking to and about His Father. Now, for the first time, He said, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” Jesus just could not bear to realise that His Father’s face was turned away from Him. All to give us salvation. And this is also the first time we read of Jesus saying, “Why?” Before this, He had never questioned His Father’s will, and now in the worst time of His life, He posed that question, “Why hast Thou forsaken Me?” We can have so many questions in our lives – “Why me?” “Why this?” or “Why that?” If we had more faith like Jesus had, we would have less questions.

On this earth, there was never a man who lived like Jesus did – never a man who spoke like Jesus did – never a man who taught like Jesus did – never a man who died like Jesus did – and never a man who rose like Jesus did. All that Jesus said, lived and did on this earth, even His death would all be in vain if there had been no resurrection.

In Proverbs 11 there is a verse (171) that says, “The merciful man doeth good to his own soul.” I’ve appreciated this verse very much, many times. We think we’re doing the other person good by showing mercy, but actually it is to ourselves we’re doing good. David showed mercy to Saul, not only once, but many times. And he would have been very glad for this later on when he himself needed mercy. “Love your neighbour,” here we have the same thing. When we love others, we are the benefactors.

In James 2:13 we read, “For He shall have judgement without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgement.” In the German Bible it says, “Mercy triumphs over judgement.” I like that – mercy wins every time. If mercy and judgement come to blows, mercy always wins. Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them.” No one ever spoke like this man, no one ever lived or died like Him, and if Christ had never risen, we would not have been here.

I’ve been thinking of Jonah. He was sent to that great city Nineveh to preach to all those people. I do not know what he preached; it does not tell us, but I am sure he would have preached about his experiences on the boat, the terrible storm, how he had been thrown into that stormy sea, and as he was sinking down, about that great fish that was there, and swallowed him up. And then after 3 days in the fish, it coughed or vomited him up. I’m sure that is what he would have preached about. The people who were listening to him, would have had every right to disbelieve his words, “How can this be?” “Did anyone see what happened?” “Was there any witness?” “No,” Jonah would have said, “No, there was no witness.” Only through having great faith could they have believed what Jonah was telling them. And that is the same with the resurrection of Jesus, it is only through having great faith that we can believe the story of Jesus’ resurrection, as there were no witnesses. Like Jonah went down, down, down into that stormy water, circumstances can drag us down too. Great is the person who is able to rise above all this. I like to look at a carpet or mat. On the top is a beautiful pattern or picture. But, turn it over, and all you see is just a mixture of different threads, a criss-crossing of lots of different threads. That is how we see things, as we only see from below. But we must rise above and see as God sees from above. This is only possible if we’re risen with Christ.

There was once a farmer who had fields, a home, barns, and animals on his farm. One day, he noticed an aeroplane circling his farm quite a few times and he wondered what it was doing. Three weeks later, he received a large envelope in the post with some photographs in it. On looking at them, he just could not understand what this was all about. He saw a house, he saw barns, fields, and even some animals – and then suddenly, he realised that that was his house, his barns, his fields, and his animals, but this was the first time he was seeing them from above, the first time he was getting a bird’s eye view. And it all looked so different. The same as that carpet or mat, the view is so different when we see things from below or from above. Try and do this; try and always see things from above. This too, is only possible if we’re risen with Christ.

When Saul died, a messenger, an Amalekite ran to David to bring him this news, he thought he was bringing him wonderful news. He said, “I saw…” He saw that Saul could not rise again. Have you ever heard that voice telling you that you cannot rise again? Have you ever felt like that? And have you ever felt, “Don’t even bother trying?” That was so different to the prodigal son. He said to himself, “I will arise and go to my Father.” This son could not have sunk lower in life. The swine were despised animals, low animals, and he had sunk lower than the lowest. But he rose again, he went to his Father. If we can only say that, even if we’ re sunken in sin. If we can get to our knees, our Father will help us to our feet. Have you ever heard that saying, “Everyone makes firewood from a fallen tree.” When you see someone has fallen, don’t break him further, don’t make firewood of him, try and help him up, help him to get to his knees so that the Father can help him further. This is the message of a risen man.

Simeon – when the little child Jesus was brought to him in the temple that day, he said to Mary his mother, “Behold this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel.” Do you notice the order in which this is said? “The fall and rising” – quite different from the way it is in the world. In this world, we see the rise and fall of different empires, like the Roman Empire for instance, the rise and fall (of kingdoms, the rise and fall of the nations first the rise, then the fall). But not with Jesus – Jesus is there for the fall first and then the rise. For the fallen, to help them to their feet again. And that is what Simeon saw that day. One of the South African brother workers once said to his younger companion who was just starting out in the work, “You start at the bottom and keep on going down.” And that is true. Fruit on a tree – the seed falls down, then the tree rises with the fruit on it. A building – they have to dig down very deep for the foundations first, then they can start going up with the building. The day will come when we will rise.

One day, I went for a walk up a little hill, and on top of this little hill there was a fortress. While standing on top of that little hill, I looked around me and noticed on other little hills there were other fortresses. And there on top of that little hill, I could see everything around me. In days of fighting, the enemy would have been able to be seen all around, and while it was still coming, it could have been attacked. Because they were higher than their enemy. It would have been hard work to get up but it was worth it, as then the enemy, being lower, had no chance to attack them. I do not find it easy to get up early in the mornings. Often I am up and dressed, but Graham is still lying in bed. I must get up in the mornings, as this is the worst time of the day for me. If I remain lying there, I find myself getting very low as I begin worrying about all the problems, about different things that are not right, about my own personal trials. And I just get lower and lower, so for me the best thing is to rise on awakening, and get onto my knees and pray, to read and to meditate. That helps me. Life is full of stress and negative things, poverty, unemployment – but those are things we must rise above.

Saul that was called Paul, was happy to be doing wrong, until he met Jesus. I don’t know, but I think in that moment when the light shone, and he heard that voice, the reason why he said, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me do?” was because he suddenly realised, “All that I’ve been doing was completely unacceptable, I’ve made a terrible mistake, I’ve made a complete mess of my whole life.” Everything was wrong. But all that Jesus just said to him was, “Arise.” We have the same message in the Old Testament. Joshua 1:2, Joshua was standing before the Jordan river. He had all the people with him. The river was full, was overflowing its banks. The waters were deep, strong, swirling, swiftly down. He would have wondered how he could ever get across that Jordan that day. He would have thought to maybe rather return when the waters were less, in another season when the river would have been lower, emptier. But no, that is not what God wanted, God said, “Therefore arise, go over this Jordan.” And now. It all seemed so impossible, but God would be with them and that could make the impossible possible. Everyone of us has a Jordan to cross in our lives, and sometimes many more than one!

I want to tell you a story, a true story about a couple I knew in Switzerland. They were both professing before they married, and they both desired to have an open home after their marriage. Especially the little woman, as she had grown up in a divided home. They got married. And soon afterwards the man started reading other things like science, philosophy, etc. etc. – and he lost his faith. As time went on, he got further and further away. And eventually, when I had a meal there one day, he did not even say grace, he forbade it. He just went from bad to worse. In this marriage, there were two small children. Eventually, that woman came to the workers and said that she would not be coming to any of the meetings for a while; this was her husband’s request. A year later, he did not even want her anymore and told her to get out as there was someone else. She had lost all. Salvation and marriage.

Every year, I went to visit her. She was so bitter. She was so hurt. Therefore, she just could not cross her Jordan. And so years and years passed by. One day on my usual annual visit, she said that her children were now asking her about God. And she did not know how to answer them. I asked her a question, and told her to think about it, and let me know in a week’s time. The question was, “If you would like us to come and have little meetings here once a week to tell your children about God, you can let us know.” In exactly one week’s time the reply came, “Yes, come!” We started little meetings there in that home for those two children, and that mother came, as well as the grandmother. We tried to keep them simple, telling the children about God. We continued for a couple of weeks, and eventually that mother took courage to arise again. She could now cross her Jordan. She had got over her hurt, her bitterness – and she could cross her Jordan.

[At this point Graham looked at his watch and said, “Uncle Snow White, you’ve done it again!!” Too long???!]

Joseph – we all know the story about his dream when he was still at home, where his sheaf arose on its own. Now we all know that it is impossible for at sheaf to rise and remain standing on its own. A sheaf always needs another, or others to lean against. Like a pen too, a pen just cannot stand on its own, it needs something or someone to support it, or hold it up. But Joseph’s sheaf STOOD, and it stood alone. There was an invisible Hand holding it from above.

In Genesis 49, we read, “Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall.” We often hear this verse spoken of, of Joseph’s fruit being the result of the well and the walls he had in his life. I’ve in different feeling regarding this. Satan tried to ‘wall’ him in – there were the walls of the pit, the walls of Potiphar’s home, the walls of the prison…the enemy really tried to ‘wall’ him in, BUT the higher the walls were around Joseph, the higher Joseph grew. He rose above all those walls, and his branches went over them.

Have you ever thought of a fruitful tree? A fruitful tree grows in 3 directions. Down, up, and around. Down, towards the foundation in search of water, living water. Up, towards the light, to God. And then around, to be able to reach out to others.

I want to tell you another little story, also a true story of a worker who planted a tree for a widow lady. Someone wrote this to me in a letter. She bought the little tree, and he dug the hole for it. Then he planted it for her, and filled up the hole. When all was done, she asked him whether he had put a bucket of water into the hole before planting the tree. “Yes,” he replied, “I did.” “Well, that was a mistake,” she said, “You should not have done that at all. Now the roots will not make their way downwards and get strong as they have all that water there right by them!”

Colossians 3:3, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Is that so with me? Is my life hid in Christ? Is there nothing of Graham showing when others look at me? Is it only Christ they see? For example, the roots of a plant are hidden in the soil, you can only see the soil.

I like to think of the eagle, it soars the highest of all the birds in the sky. High above the highest peaks. Someone said of the eagles – the little ones must be taught to fly on their own – as they stand on the edge of the nest to take their first flight, they need a push from the bigger one, as the fear of falling comes before the thrill of soaring. May we learn to rise above everything that would seek to drag us down.

Before leaving home, I was in a home and the lady of that home had brought some goods, and she was very disappointed in those goods… She just passed this remark – that the quality just isn’t in those things now days. This immediately turned the searchlight into my heart. I began to think about the generation that I knew so well, that had gone on to their reward. I remember them as very quality people. They were solid, and they were genuine right to the core – the older generation at home, who are almost ready to leave us – they are just quality, through and through. I just wondered, as God looked into my heart, into my life, I wondered if God was just saying, “The quality just isn’t in her today.” Maybe it’s possible, and many times that, maybe I’ve not stopped serving God. We can be serving God and the quality is not there. In the Ephesians’ church… it wasn’t that they were not still loving God, but the quality of their love was lost. In Malachi’s day, it wasn’t that they weren’t sacrificing, but the quality of their sacrifice was gone.

God loves quality. He’s not interested in quantity, God loves quality. He’s longing, that as others in the generation that has gone from us, have preserved that quality, that we would preserve the quality in this kingdom, and of this kingdom of God. Last Sunday night, we had that chapter that spoke about Timothy’s grandmother. It says of her that she was a woman that had unfeigned faith – that’s quality! In the next generation, his mother had the same quality. There was nothing lost in the next generation. It was still the same kind of faith… unfeigned, but the most beautiful thing of all… in the third generation, Paul said, “I am persuaded, it’s in thee also.” There was nothing lost in the quality of that faith, down through the generation. With Timothy, it wasn’t just a mental belief, because his parents believed in this way, but still in his generation. It was a way of life to him… It was part of his very being, the same quality of faith.

Unfeigned just means nothing put on…just genuine. Sincere through and through. Wonderful quality, and that’s what God longs will be preserved, in the kingdom of God – this quality. I don’t think there’s any substitute for sincerity. We can’t maybe be as capable as many… but oh, if we’re sincere… that’s quality. We don’t want to live just to put anything on…. I don’t just like that word “professing.” What we profess to be doesn’t prove anything, but it’s what we’re conforming to that proves really what’s working in us. If we’re conforming to the image of Jesus, then that gives evidence that this thing is working in our lives – it’s not just put on. It’s not just a profession, but that we have the root of the matter in us.

On Wednesday night we heard about that chapter that we read together. It says of Israel, that they called themselves by the name of the Lord. They were Israelites, by name, but they weren’t Israelites at heart. In appearance, they were still Israelites. But what a different testimony Jesus could give of Nathaniel, when he said, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.” Through and through he was an Israelite. There was nothing put on, whereas with those people it was just in name… it was just in appearance… but the quality was gone! If this creeps into the kingdom, that it’s all show and no heart, we can realize that this kingdom is going to suffer loss. May God help us to be sincere, that there would be nothing put on and that there would be no cover up, but just like the generations that have gone before us, that this real genuine quality of sincerity, is preserved in our generation to keep the kingdom strong. If we can preserve that quality, then there’s hope for the generation still to come.

We read about the Kings, that some of them did right in the sight of God, but not as David their father did. It wasn’t that they weren’t doing what was right, but there was just something lacking. There had been a little deterioration in their quality of service… not like David their father. It just takes a little… just a little… to bring the kingdom a little down. It says of David, that he was a man after God’s own heart. That did all His will. He was a man who was committed to God. The quality of his service was wonderful. He was totally committed. One young boy in our meeting, one Sunday morning, said, “I’m realizing there’s a difference between a commitment and a contribution.” He said, “A life that’s committed to God… it’s forever, and it’s everything.” But… he said, “If I give a contribution to something, I can give as much as I want and when I want.” He said, “I feel that that’s what I’m giving to God. Just a contribution.” Many times I feel the same. Maybe we’re still doing that which is right in the sight of God, but not like those who have gone before us- totally committed. That’s what’s going to keep this kingdom strong, preserving the quality, of the kingdom of God.

I want to say, “Thank you.” It’s been very special to be here. I’d just like to share with you a thought that an older brother shared with us a few years ago just before he left us. It wasn’t what he was talking about, but he said, “Before I leave you I want to leave you with this little thought.” The thought was this: “If we don’t love what we believe, when the tests come, we’re going to follow what we love – even in spite of what we believe.

Well, it wasn’t a little thought to me. It was very searching. To think that if we don’t love what we believe, that when the crunch comes, we are going to follow what we love, even in spite of what we believe. It proves to me, and it proves over and over again that love is the strongest power. Love has the strongest pull in our lives, and it’s the thing we love that’s going to conquer. I firmly believe that. I don’t think there is anybody in this tent, but what believes this is the WAY. We heard it so beautifully last night that Jesus is the Way and that the Way is Jesus. We believe it with all our hearts, a strong conviction. I hope nothing will shake our faith in this, that this is the Way, this is the Truth and this is the Life.

It is not enough to believe that this is the right way – we need to LOVE it! This needs to become the love of our life, because there are tests going to come. Only if we love what we believe, that this really is the love of our life, that we’ll defend it. We’ll defend it! I don’t think we’ve any guarantee that nothing will separate us from our faith. We believe. I do believe, however, that nothing will separate us from the love of our life.

We heard about the Titanic when it went down. There were young honeymoon couples on that ship. The women got the first chance to go into the life rafts, but those brides just wrapped themselves in their bridegroom’s arms, and they went down together. It proves to us that love is stronger than death. The thing we love is going to have the strongest pull, and it’s going to win. Jesus said, “Where our treasure is, there will our heart be also.” He didn’t say where our faith is but where our treasure is. Our heart is always with our treasure. It shows to me that our love needs to be more than our faith – this faith, this that we believe in, it needs to become our treasure. It needs to become the LOVE OF OUR LIFE! That’s what it needs to be, so that when the crunch comes, and the tests will come, if it is our treasure our heart will be there. There’s nothing that will separate us. We’ll defend what we believe. Of if we love something else, if there’s something else (as Martha was saying), that’s stealing our love, that becomes the love of our life, then, oh, when the crunch comes, we’re going to follow what we love, in spite of what we believe.

I was reading about Judas, and he didn’t believe in anybody else. He believed Jesus was the Son of God. I believe he loved Him too. However, the day came when his love went out to thirty pieces of silver. He didn’t stop believing Jesus, but he began to love something else. Then, when the crunch came, he followed what he loved, and he denied what he believed! Denied it! Searching to me!

We read of Demas, that Paul could say of him, “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world.” I don’t think Demas believed in any other ministry. He would never believe in any other ministry, I’m sure, but that wasn’t enough to hold him. It says he loved this present world. Then the test came, as it comes to us all. He followed what he loved. It has the strongest pull every time. You know, he denied what he believed.

I was reading about Solomon, and he wrote thousands of proverbs, a thousand or more songs, and these were all inspired by God. Those proverbs were proven truths, and he believed them. He wrote them and I believe he loved them. He didn’t only believe they were the truth, but I believe that for a while, they were his treasure. He would keep them in a treasure chest. They were special to him. As long as they were his treasure, that’s where his heart lay, what he believed, what was inspired by God. Proven truths! However, the day came when his love went out to strange women. When the crunch came, he followed what he loved, and he denied those proverbs. HE DENIED WHAT HE REALLY BELIEVED, what one day had been inspired by God, one day was his treasure! Where our treasure is, our heart will be there. As long as it’s our treasure, we don’t need to fear because nothing will separate us from where our heart really lies. It lies with our treasure, not just with our faith.

Peter was speaking, and he spoke of those who had forsaken the right way and gone astray. They’d gone in the way of Balaam. It says that Balaam loves the wages of unrighteousness. Those people knew it was the right way, they believe it was the right way, and maybe they would never doubt that it was the right way, but they forsook it, because they loved the wages of unrighteousness. Balaam believed God was right. Balaam said, “All that the Lord has spoken to me. I’m going to do it, I must do it. All that the Lord has said, I’m going to speak it.” He believed God, those precious truths. He believed those people were right. He wanted to die like them, yet he loved what was wrong. The crunch came, and he followed what he loved. He denied what he believed!

When I read about Adam and Eve, I feel sorry for them. I can’t believe that Adam didn’t believe God. The first one that God had created and God had so many dealings with. I feel he did believe God; that he believed the truth, but the Devil came along and spoke a lie. Do you know what it was? He loved the lie! He believed the truth, I’m sure, but he loved the lie. The lie was appealing to his ear, his taste, and he loved it. Then the test came. He followed what he loved, and he denied what he believed.

I was thinking about Jesus. We’ve heard a lot about the will of God. I believe Jesus had a strong conviction what the will of God was, and He knew it was going to take Him to the cross. It was quite a will. No wonder He struggled. I feel He needed more than just the strong conviction that, “This is the will of God for Me.” He said in John’s gospel, “The will of God is My meat.” Is My meat! It’s more than a conviction. It’s My meat! It’s My life! Even though He struggled with His own will, it didn’t conquer, because the will of God wasn’t only what He was convicted of. It was His very life. It was the LOVE OF HIS LIFE. Even though it was difficult, it was the thing He loved. It was the thing that was His meat. That is where His heart lay, with the Will of God. Even when He was struggling! His own will could not separate Him from His treasure.

I’d like to tell you a little story, a nice story, an experience in our field one year. A few years ago there was a young girl, and she was serving God. She was a beautiful looking girl, a hearty girl. She was in our field, and she was taking her degree. There was another young man in our field that she was friendly with. He used to come sometimes, and he was a handsome young man. He had a wonderful future, a wonderful profession, and they looked like a beautiful couple. In my heart I felt that this couple is going to make a useful couple. At the end of the mission, we went to our room. There was a knock on our door, and here was this young girl, breaking her heart. She said, “I don’t know if I’m going to be willing for what the Lord has laid on my heart.” She said, “I’ve sat in the mission, God seems to be claiming me for the work.” Well, I just thought of this young man, her love for this young man, and honestly, I just didn’t know how she was going to do it. She loved that young man. That young man loved her. She fought that battle out and thankfully, that young man wasn’t her treasure. She loved him, but her love for the will of God was more, I don’t think she could have gone through with it, even if it was just a strong conviction. She needed more than that. She needed for this thing to be the love of her life, the will of God. I can never sing that hymn but what that couple comes to my mind, “The things above now claim first place, and in Thy name, I’ll seek through joy or pain, Thy Kingdom first.” We saw the pain, but she went through with the will of God because the things above had claimed her love, her first love. They were the love of her life. She worshiped the will of God. Because of that, she was able to stand true to her conviction. She’s filling a wonderful place, and so is HE in the Kingdom of God.

When Jesus spoke to Peter, He didn’t question his faith. Jesus knew this man believes in Me. He had a clear revelation. Yet Jesus said, “Peter, lovest thou Me more than these?” He’d gone back to the fishing. Jesus questioned his love. He knew he was going out to be tested and if he loved these other things more than he loved Jesus, when the crunch came, even in spite of his strong conviction, he was going to follow what he loved. Peter said, “Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee.” Jesus knew then, “I’m more than just what Peter believes in. I’m his treasure. I’m the love of his life.” He knew then that was where his heart would go and nothing would separate him from this.

May God help us to search our hearts and that this wouldn’t just be our faith, that this that we believe would become our treasure, the love of our very life, our first love, that whatever comes, our heart will lie with our treasure and that nothing will separate us from what we believe.

The field is the world and God’s work is seen in every place, human nature is the same so difficulties and problems are the same in every land and also the enemy the Devil is working in every part of the world. Rev 12.12. “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea. For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” He has a lot to do in a little time, which is a common problem, the devil is angry so he works very hard for he knows that when Christ returns it will be a problem for him, but it will be our joy and our rejoicing. You friends will go home to circumstances that are the same and we need to know how to fight the enemy we have. 

1 Corin 10.13. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able.” This is encouraging, that there is no temptation or test that is too great and God will provide a way of escape. The biggest escape, the way out of captivity, a picture that should give us a lot of courage is in Exodus. Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh and said, “Let us go, we pray thee, three days journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.” The enemy is working the same way still today, a leopard does not change his spots, God’s servants asked Pharaoh to let the people go to convention, 3 days of quietness. Pharaoh said no, it is not possible, there is too much work to do so now the work was increased, the burdens were increased. They had to produce the same amount of bricks but now they had to gather the straw and they could not get it so they used stubble. The devil does the same, he increases the work burden so that the things of God are left, just work and work, have to make a living, have to go to business. 

We all have obligations, you might say you lucky workers, you have got it made, you are as free as daisies in the field. We as workers do not speak of sacrifice for it is the greatest privilege but we do have obligations. You might wish that you were Bill Gates but that brings a lot of problems, he is in court, having all that money does not make you happy. What we are seeing clearly is that the devil is increasing the workload of the friends. In England some friends have good jobs, but they get called back while having their tea, we’ve got a problem, we need you to come right away. I have a nephew and we were having tea and the telephone rang, asking him to come back to drive a semi all through the night. We need balance, are we going to give our health and strength to God or just give him the overflow because we are flooded too much with work? What are we going to do about it? We should pray about it. 

I admire a businessman, his business is going well and he was in an expansion phase, built a new factory, he was fitting it out and was very busy. One Saturday afternoon one of the children came to him, Dad can you get your bicycle so we can go to the mill for a run, the father said no, I am too busy. The child said, oh come on, get your bike and let’s go, he said no so the child went away disappointed. Later that day he said to his wife, what sort of a father am I, that I have no time for my children? I am going to use that new building as a warehouse and I will have time for the children. Your children are the most precious possession in your home, have you time for them? They require your time. The devil has a success if he fills the land with all work and this is the way the devil weakens God’s family, through two ways, through false doctrine, and by just making us too busy. 

Daniel had some visions and in one he saw a power arise who would speak great words against the Highest and he would wear out the saints and this is happening now. Friends are too tired to read, to pray, they have to rush, living in a whirlwind, it is the same in all parts of the world. There are the amalgamations of firms, and just work, work etc. Be very careful, remember your children, you will never regret it, God will bless you for it. 

Pharaoh is a symbol of the devil, the people cried unto God because they were whipped and beaten, they could not go to convention. After they were liberated by the power of God they were travelling, journeying and came to Succoth. They walked day and night, “The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, to go by day and night.” They had to get away from Egypt, they were escaping and God was giving them more time to deliver them from their bondage. Pharaoh said, “They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in”. God knew what Pharaoh was saying but he made a big mistake for God was giving a new path for the children of Israel that they would not lose their way in the wilderness. Pharaoh knew and God knew that the people could get lost in the woods so that is why God sent the pillar of fire so they could travel by day and night, so they would not be entangled. Tangles, I hate them, one time I had a cable and it was all tangled, and it got on my nerves so I just left the tangle on the floor. When I came back, I found that some kind person had untangled the cable and it was right there on a drum, so I appreciated that person. Sometimes friends get into tangles so we have got to be careful, we can be entangled without realising it, just lose one end and you have a tangle. In business, in relationships, this comes by itself and so we need to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and not be entangled again. If we stand fast, we will not be entangled, if someone whispers in your ear, doubts about this way, or about this doctrine, and have nothing to do with them and God will deliver us. The children of Israel walked in the light of the pillar of fire and they walked so hard that they went too far and we can get ahead of the Lord. 

Exodus 14. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon, before it shall ye encamp by the sea.” Why ever did the Lord tell them to do that, to turn and go back, they would be tired, they would have sore feet, corns aching and now go back. There was no grumbling and it is good to obey to be delivered. Why all these words and all these places that God instructed Moses? If I was to say to you folks, go out of this meeting tent and stand before the dining shed and the window that could be anywhere. Now add, by the door, you now have a 3-point dimension and you would be within a sq meter of where I want you to be, you would be right there. This was what God was asking his people to do for when God created the earth he prepared a road under the sea and it had been there since creation. Otherwise there would have been rocks there, but no the Lord knew what he was doing; his infinite mind prepared this way under the sea. It was a highway; a freeway under the sea and here was the mouth of the freeway. Pharaoh’s chariots went so fast on this freeway that they were catching up to the children of Israel so God sent an angel who took the split pins from the axles and the wheels came off their chariots. God did not take any risks with his people; they are too precious to him. 

Isaiah 43. 16. “Thus saith the Lord, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters.” This is a wonderful story how God saved his people; it was humanly impossible but God did it. We sometimes find ourselves in problems, business problems, family problems, work problems and we have difficulties that make us worried and we wonder what to do. We can pray to the Lord, who can bring us out of the difficulties, he can provide a way of escape. The way of escape is not an easy way. Mum and Dad had a bungalow and during the war they had an air raid shelter, it was concrete, had a door in the back. A tunnel in the front which was like an escape hatch in case the door was bombed and to get out was not an easy thing to do. Walking day and night was not easy, there was an urgency, they had to do it, had to get down to it. If we pray and are willing it will be possible. 

A brother in South Africa got a very good job, he was happy in his work; the boss put more on his shoulders, work increased and became a burden. He had no time to pray, to meditate, and to get quiet so he asked the Lord for a sign. Going to the meeting he prayed that if a certain sister would choose a hymn, he would leave his work, this sister hardly ever gave out a hymn, so she did and now he became worried. So, he said to the Lord, please have patience with me, and Gideon asked two questions so can I also ask another sign that if the wife of the bishop gives out a hymn also, I will leave my work and she did. So this man went home to his wife and told her what he must do and she was a Godly woman and said that if you have opened your mouth to the Lord then you must do it. So, this man went to the personnel manager and told him what he must do, told him his testimony and he said we don’t want to lose you. We will transfer you in the same building to another position and you can have all the time you need to attend to your meetings. The Lord knows who are his and he makes the way of escape in the difficulty. 

Another man had arranged for his holidays for convention, he worked on the railways and when the time came the manager said that there were drivers sick so he could not grant him his leave. So the man said was there not another way that he could go and the man said there is a way. You must lose your total annual holiday and you can have 4 days in place of your holidays 4 he was willing for that. This brother was helping the washing up at convention when a message came through to him from home. The Railway Company telephoned and said they are sorry for the way they treated you, enjoy your convention and all your holidays are intact and still yours. God honours those who honour him. Sometimes our young people in England go to convention for weekend and save the rest of the days for their holidays but the way of God is a sacrifice. Good to grow spiritually and have treasure in heaven, we have to sacrifice, to let the temporal things go, there is no other way. We need to bear these burdens, friends in business, children at school, all have a heavy work load and all want to do their best, be careful not to get overloaded, this is a dangerous thing. 

There is an example of overloading, on Lake Victoria in Africa they have a ferry, a big one and there they are always overloaded. Eighteen month’s ago the ferry was about two thirds of the way home and the ferry was overloaded and the captain took no notice. The ferry began to list and so the captain asked the passengers over the loud speakers to move to the other side and so nearly all went to the other side and so it went down the other way and nearly 100 drowned. Don’t take on too much, don’t get it any bigger, having enough to eat and drink be content, don’t keep up with the Joneses. Having a car, caravan bigger than others, be willing to keep under and life will be sweeter for you, it is a natural thing to get overloaded, always trying to get a liter into a half liter bottle, you just lose it. Keep safe, care for the children. 

Romans 8.28. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren,” As the years go by we all become more grateful than we have ever been in the past for what the gospel has brought to us. We see with our eyes that we have been drawn from many countries of the world to gather under this canvas, this in itself is a wonderful sight, but far more than that we are in the kingdom of God. We have been drawn by the power of the gospel of Gods dear son and found today in the kingdom of God today enjoying precious privileges. 

When I first listened to the gospel there was a force, a power invisible to the eye but certainly felt in my heart. I was so far from God living in sin and degradation and the Lord had pity on me and showed mercy and sent two servants to our district and by the power of God brought about a change in my heart. This gospel brought a change to the centre of gravity, it used to be in the world and this gravity could have eventually taken us to a Christless grave. We are now inside of this marvellous fellowship of the kingdom of God and our centre of gravity is not in the centre of the world but in heaven and that is why we are drawn to heaven. That is why we are journeying heavenward and as we look into our lives; we will find that in our day to day living our entire life is gravitating to heaven. God draws us and keeps drawing us closer and closer to him. The work of God in every age is in the human heart and that is where Jesus was most concerned as he daily gave his life. 

My father worketh hitherto and I work, the work in the human heart. The disciples were slow to grasp this point and we are often slow to grasp the importance of that. One time the disciples wanted Jesus to take notice of the magnificent buildings of the temple, the beautiful stones and Jesus had quite a time to wean their minds from that temple to think of the body where the heart is, where Jesus longs to work. God has always laboured human lives to win and Christ did the same work and many of us heard this gospel outside of this country in far off places and made one in Christ and that thought alone has often been a source of inspiration to me. This one thought helps me to go out again and again. I see many men and women every day as I used to be and if it had not been for the gospel I would have been where they are today. True Christianity means Christ living in the human heart and this indwelling of Christ is what we are taken up with, most concerned about seriously. Christ dwelling, living, reigning in an individual life. 

At Antioch men and women were first called Christians, likely some people saw Christ followers and they reminded them of Christ, they resembled Christ. The same today when we meet another dear brother and sister in Christ, we see something of Christ in their lives and there are few things that touch a person’s heart so much, to see the likeness of Christ in fellow labourers and in God’s children. Coming away from a sister’s funeral someone remarked, “she was Christlike”, a great tribute to her. We know that all things work together for good, Paul was not guessing, he said, we know, not what might or might not be, a real conviction. 

Another conviction Paul had was that if this earthly tabernacle is dissolved, we know that we have a temple of God, eternal in the heavens, he was certain of this. This conviction comes to all who love God; whose hearts are aflame with love for God as Paul was. In one’s life there are many events great and small, some minute details, everything all work together, harmonize to those who love God. No experience or event is ever isolated or unrelated, but all working together for good and we just need to trust, have the simple belief of a little child and that person is truly blest. We sometimes get concerned about some things that take place around us, we are over anxious and if we could just have a simple trust and belief, we would have peace and this has a very quietening effect upon us. 

I believe Mary had that, Jesus was there and Martha was working so hard, but Mary said nothing and what needed to be said Jesus said it, Mary’s trust and belief in Jesus had a quietening effect upon her. God does not do anything at random, many of life’s activities we may feel are unrelated but God does nothing at random, he is very precise, he has a plan laid out for us and God wants to work that out in our life in life’s short day here. We realise better today the brevity of life and we are soon cut off and then we fly away. I see birds on the ground and I see them fly away and there is nothing left in the place where the bird was perching. I see the waterfowl take off from the water and the water is as ever it was no telling where the bird was. God has plans to work out in our lives so we want to keep our all on the altar till life’s little day is over. 

God did foreknow long ago that we would be conformed to the image of his son and this is the great work that God wants to accomplish and we want to keep in his hands. Jesus said to his disciples, follow me and I will make you to become fishers of men and we are all in the making now, there is some shaping, some molding taking place in our lives. He said that he would make them to become, there is a process and God wants Christ to have the preeminence in our lives, our human nature is so strong, wants to exert itself. Human nature is like a piece of cork and if you don’ t hold it down it will not stay down; the very nature of cork is to come to the surface. We need the help of God to keep it down, as the urge is always there to come to the top. 

Paul said, “I keep my body under”, God’s grace enables us to keep the old nature down so that Christ can rule and reign and have the preeminence in all things we say and do day by day. This is the process that God is working out in our lives and we want to let him do it so someday the work will be complete. How sad that many will come to the end of life, with the work of God incomplete, how sad. We feel that we are not a product of our privileges for some of our brethren are in places where they are underprivileged, but this does not matter for God is working in their lives too. We are a product of the steady, silent molding pressure over many years to make us like his dear son. 

If we are too big Christ will not be seen but spiritually speaking if we are humble enough, small enough then people will see past us and see the image of Christ behind us. There are not so many private potteries in our country now, they are mostly large automated factories where they mass-produce pottery and the factory is spotlessly clean. The private pottery is not so clean, they work with mud in their hands and there the clay is transformed into a vessel of beauty and usefulness, it is not by chance. Some clay is brought from the hills, some from a rice paddy but that is not important, the important thing is that the clay is not in the hills now, it is in the house of the potter. There is a possibility of the clay being worked over, being transformed. I hope that we will continue to keep our lives in the hands of the potter so that he may do his work in making us into a vessel that will be a blessing in this world that is so dark and so sinful.

We know all about Matthew 5, 6 and 7 but there was one verse that has just meant so much to me. It is like a key to open many doors and solve many mysteries. It is also well-known that Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights. Then at the end of those forty days the devil came with those three terrific temptations and trials in His life, and He overcame. But the question is this, what happened in those forty days?

Or shall we say, the first thirty-nine days? What happened there, as Jesus was alone in the wilderness? We read of Moses in the Old Testament, that he went up into the mountaintop and stayed there forty days and forty nights in Gods presence. Moses was there alone all those weeks, alone all those days and nights, forty of them, and he received the law of God.

He received the word of God. He received the greatest law of Old Testament times for the human race, there in the presence of God. He received all that during forty days.

It could be, it may not be, but it could be, that during those first forty days, Jesus received Matthew 5, 6 and 7. I’m not saying it is so, but it just could be. Those days alone, those days in prayer, those days in meditation, those days of seeking Gods face, it could well be He received these basic truths of Gods Kingdom in the world today.

There are all these wonderful things from the blesseds right through to the two ways, the two houses, and so forth. But this morning Ill read just one verse to you from Matthew 6:33. This verse means just so much to me. It says here, But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.

We may feel that that’s a promise for Gods servants; those who had no raiment of clothes of their own, no food of their own, no homes of their own. We could well feel that what it says here that, all these things shall be added unto you, that’s a promise to Gods servants. Its true, but I like to think that that is a promise also for all those who seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and His righteousness.

As I’ve said before, this is for me the key, the answer, the solution to just so much in the way of God. If were doing this, were doing the right thing. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God .

A number of years ago, it might be years back now, something like that, it was during preparations for Conventions over there in Switzerland that it was my task to clean out the barn. It was quite a large barn there to be cleaned out, swept out, have all sorts of rubbish removed so that we could put up some beds for the women folk.

I went into the barn and looked around. I looked at the walls. They were not too bad. I looked at the floor. It was quite dirty with lots of dirt and dust there. I said, Good! Ill start there. Ill sweep out the floor first of all. So I took out the broom, also the shovel and I began to work on the floor. When the floor was all finished I said, Well, now Ill start on the walls. I swept down the walls. Then I noticed that all the dirt fell to the floor and I had to do the floor again. I should have started first of all with the walls, and afterwards the floor.

There are first things to do, even in natural things. If we start at the right place, the end will be right. But that day, I had extra work because I started at the wrong place, with the floor, instead of the walls, in cleaning out that barn.

Its the very, very same thing spiritually speaking. We think of the fields; we think of the seed being sown; we think of the crops growing, of the harvest season coming and we know so well that we need the good seed. We need the best seed, we need fertile seed to be sown in the ground to have a good harvest weeks or months later. We also know that there’s just no point in buying the best seed, in traversing the whole field if, first of all, we don’t plough the field; if we don’t break up the ground and prepare the earth to receive the seed.

There is just one right way to do all things, in all matters, be it natural, be it spiritual, and Jesus says here in these words (and I do believe He received the answer in the wilderness in those lonely days and in those dreary days, in seeking Gods face. He received this key and this answer to every question)Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

A few years back now, a young man phoned. He wished for a visit. This man was just not so young, about forty years of age and I knew his life was in a mess, in a real mess. He grew up in the truth and made his choice to serve God. He had zeal and he loved the things of God. But he made one big mistake. He married outside; took a wife from outside that produced then, a divided home. That wasn’t the worst aspect of the whole thing. What happened a few years later is that she left him for someone else.

He asked me for a visit. Well it was a long train journey down to his home where he lived. I was in the train for hours and the whole way down there was turmoil in my mind, in my heart. What shall I say? What shall I advise? What can there be given as counsel for this young man? His life is in a mess. He wants to talk. He wants to talk things over. He wants to find an answer. He wants to get down to the bottom of things to put his life in order. What can I tell him from the word of God which will be right in Gods sight?

That whole way down there was just turmoil in my mind. I sought for an answer. I thought of this. I thought of that and of something else and it didn’t seem the right thing to say.

Well, we sat down together in his room and he told me the whole sad story. Well, just to put it simply, his life was in a mess, in a terrible, horrible mess. He’d made a mess of things as far as his life was concerned. It was all in a mess. And now, what was the answer?

I sat there just perplexed until this verse flashed into my mind. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. You know, were inclined to stop just halfway through the verse. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. and just stop there. But there’s a wonderful promise in this verse for those who do that, who seek His Kingdom and His righteousness. He will add so much more to our lives. Be we in the work as Servants of God, in the home life, in the business life, wherever we may be, He will do the adding and will add such wonderful blessings if we are prepared to seek first of all, His Kingdom and His righteousness.

I said to that young man, that day, I don’t know what God will add to your life. I have no idea what God can give you and add to your life in future days, but one thing I do know, to put things in order, to have blessings in the future, to have Gods blessing, there’s only one thing to do and you must do it sincerely, and from the depth of your heart, and every day, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and leave the rest to God.

Sad to say, he didn’t do it. Today he’s outside the Kingdom of God . Today he’s wrapped in business life and today his life is in a bigger mess than ever. It seemed to me to be the only answer to his problems: as it says here in these words, Seek ye first the kingdom of God . . and God will add. God will add!

I don’t know you folk. I don’t know your problems or your concerns; your worries or your place in this life but I know one thing, that this verse applies to all of us. If you haven’t got the answer, you cant find the key to the door. You haven’t got the solution to the problem. Well, heres the answer. Just put God first! Seek God with all your heart and He will add what is missing, according to His good pleasure, to His Spirit and His Will for our lives.

Seek ye first . . Noah – that man of the Old Testament, after the flood, the waters receded and the Ark came onto solid ground. Noah stepped out of the Ark and saw all around him, I dare say, destruction, death, decay, all those dead animals, all those dead bodies; death on every side. There must have been, can I say it, a horrible smell as Noah left the Ark to go out onto the dry ground again after so much time.

And what did Noah do? He realised, There’s lots of things to be done here. The whole place has been destroyed. We need a new home, a new house. We need to plough up the fields. We need to sow some new seed. We need to grow things. We have to eat. We have to care for the animals. And so forth. There was just so much to do when stepping out of the Ark , but the first thing he did was to build an altar, and he sacrificed. And the Bible tells us so nicely that when Noah sacrificed when leaving the Ark , that a sweet smelling savour ascended unto God and it touched the heart of God. Can you imagine the scene? Just a stink on every side, death, decaying, decomposing, a horrible smell.

Then amongst all that was just one sweet smelling savour which rose to the nostrils of God, to the heart of God. The word of God says that God smelled it. We think of the world today and there is just so much in this world today, be it here or elsewhere. There is just so much decay, decomposing, death and destruction and what God must feel is much the same as God felt – or rather smelled – so many years ago in Noahs time after the flood.

But it is nice to know that in Durban and elsewhere in this country, elsewhere in this world, there are sweet smelling savours arising to God because His own are putting Him first. They’re sacrificing. First of all they build an altar and they sacrifice unto God and that is rising to the heart of God.

But what appeals to me so much is just this with Noah, or with God. God said that when He smelled that sweet smelling savour, He said, I will no longer destroy mankind. There will be no more flood. There will be no more destruction; no more floodwaters as there have been in recent times. I promise mankind it will never happen again. I will never again destroy life in this manner, because He was just so touched and so moved by the sacrifice of Noah. That sweet smelling savour was just so sweet to the heart of God that He promised in His own heart, and God cannot lie, that, There will never again be floods in the worlds history as there has been in the past, and He gave the rainbow as proof of this.

But something more: Noahs sacrifice helped God not to destroy. But Jesus sacrifice on Calvary ’s cross years later, when He hung there in agony, those nails through His hands and through His feet, that great suffering when He cried out in darkness, My God, My God! Why hast thou forsaken me? For the first time in His life He said perhaps two things. He said, Why? He couldn’t understand why. He understood always Gods will, always Gods plan, always Gods way for His life but now abandoned and forsaken on Calvary ’s cross He cried out, Why hast Thou forsaken me?

He was prepared to face that for our sakes. Instead of saying Father He said My God. He always said Father, when He prayed. This time He said, My God. I’m abandoned. I’m forsaken. But this sacrifice so touched the heart of God that God said more than I will not destroy mankind. He said, I will save mankind.

We have salvation today; we have a hope for the future; we have this most wonderful privilege of a place in the Kingdom of Heaven because the sacrifice of Christ so touched and so moved the heart of God there on Calvary ’s cross that God said, Salvation is complete. Mankind, all mankind, even those of the Old Testament, can be saved – like Moses, Elisha and Elijah and so forth. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness . . There’s a family back there in Europe . I wont say where they are or who they are. It doesn’t matter. When this young couple first met, became engaged and thought about married life, we had a visit together.

I’d known the young man since his childhood days. The young woman told me her story. She said, I grew up and I realised God had a plan for my life. I didn’t wish to choose for myself. She never thought of the work, giving herself as a servant of God. That wasn’t her calling apparently. She realised, Id like to have a home. Id like to have a family. Id like to have an open home, a useful home, a home in Gods Kingdom and be useful amongst Gods people. Id like that, she thought to herself. But she said, I wont chase after the boys. Ill just wait. Ill wait until God chooses for me. What she was looking for, I don’t know; whether some circumstances or some sign, I have no idea.

But she told me in all sincerity, When I met this young man, I knew. It was of God. God had chosen. It is a great thing to let God have a part in all our choices. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and you just cant go wrong.

I look at that family today and see an open home, a love for the truth and children growing up in the fear of God. The prospects are good for future days. We know tests will come, trials will come, hard days will come. That belongs to it in Gods way; but there were two young people who said, We will seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and God did the adding. God added the right person, at the right time and, I do believe, in the right place.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. This is a verse which has just meant so much to me. Another time we were asked to go and visit a family. This family was in trouble. There were grown up children, teenage children, four or five of them, and the parents. We heard this morning from our sister about a young couple over there in her homeland. It just didn’t work out. We sat in on a session, a family session; my companion and myself, where we were.

It was amongst people who were a wee bit hot-blooded; you understand the expression. They give vent to their feelings and let you know what they’re thinking about. They’re not conservative – one would almost say Not Englishmen. It’s not the right word to use, but they give vent to their feelings. We sat in that home that particular evening and just sat and listened, and listened, and listened. And what was said, the voices were raised and accusations were made. It was horrible. It went on for at least two hours. The wife and then the husband, then the wife. It went back and forth, accusations of lies and untruths and dishonesty and . . . what can I say? The whole thing was a real mess. We sat and listened then we tried to sum up. We tried to seek for help. We didn’t know what to say to help this couple in such tragic circumstances, after twenty-five years of married and family life. All we could say was this, Well, look! There’s only one piece of advice we can give you. You both have to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. There’s lots missing in your relationship. There’s lots missing in your family. There’s lots gone wrong in the whole sphere here in this house and lots needs adding to it to make it right. It can only happen if you are both prepared to put God first.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness . . We pleaded with them. We asked them, Try it. Do it. Pray. Take time. Read. Meditate. Go to the meetings. Give God the first place. Its the only hope for your marriage; the only hope for married life for you both in the future. Love had gone. There was coldness there in both hearts and their only hope was to put God first. Sadly, once again, the advice wasn’t heeded.

I’m just trying to make it clear that this is a verse which means just so much to me, putting God first. A few years ago now, it might have been six years, I was asked to leave my second homestead and go to a different land to labour, over there in Europe . It was quite a move at my age. I’m not an old man but it was quite a move, six years ago. Down there, I guess, its something like South Africa . Italy has a great climate, great vegetation. All sorts of fruit and vegetables grow there. Its a beautiful country as far as that goes with vegetation and growth.

The Italians, they love the land. They love the earth. They cultivate it, spending time at it. Its a great sight to see all those vineyards, those olive groves, and just so much vegetation. Amongst all that there are the fig trees. I was surprised to learn that there are different types of figs. I thought figs were figs before going there. Also apples; there are different types of apples, different types of pears and different types of oranges.

It is the same with figs. There are different types of figs. We know the story in the Bible, of Jesus going to that fig tree and He saw the leaves were out. He thought, Well now, there’s bound to be figs on this tree, because He saw the leaves. Well, He came there and there was no fruit there.

I was told when I asked a few questions about those fig trees, that there’s a certain type that the first crop comes before the leaves come. The figs come before the leaves come. Its just a minor crop, a minor harvest. There are just a small number of figs on the tree and then the leaves come. After that the main crop comes. Then there’s a flourishing with the fig tree and there’s fruit everywhere on the tree once the leaves are there, but before the leaves, there’s a crop there.

So I asked this question to a man who knows his business about fig trees. I said to him, If the first crop doesn’t come, can the second crop come? He said, No, it cant come. There has to be the first one. Jesus knew in seeing those leaves, because the first crop never came, the first fruits never came. There was just no hope or no chance for the second lot of fruit on that fig tree. He knew it just so well with that type of fig tree.

Those folk who came to John the Baptist there in New Testament times; they wanted to be baptised, those Pharisees, Sadducees and others. They asked to be baptised of John. Then he said these words. I hope I can quote them correctly in English. He said, Bring ye forth first fruits meet for repentance. He implied, There’s no point in being baptised and going into the water and through this ceremony unless there is first of all fruit of repentance. Bring forth first of all one of these first things. Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven ; seek ye first repentance.

We’ve heard just so much in this Convention about repentance. I asked myself why? I thought, Well it must be that it concerns you; your own life. You need more repentance in your own life. It says here in these words, Bring ye forth first fruits meet for repentance. It was just so clear to me that if there is no repentance; if there is no first fruits; if there’s no first harvest, then there’s no second harvest. We can try and become humble and kind and loving and joyful and have peace and so forth; try and acquire all these fruits of the Spirit. We can try it but its just a waste of time if there’s not first of all repentance in our hearts and lives, true repentance. It starts there. That’s the first fruit.

Seek ye first repentance and the other things will come. Oh I desire more love, more peace, more joy, more humility, more thankfulness. I desire these things but I realise also, first of all comes repentance.

I don’t know how you folks feel, but sometimes I go to pray. I find it hard just to bend; to bow. I don’t mean my knees. I mean my heart, my spirit and my will. Sometimes I find resistance there and unwillingness just to really give myself, to be yielded there, surrendered to the place of prayer. It just takes so much sometimes for me. I go there and I bow. I bow. There’s a hymn that says, Bend me oh bend me [now Mould me oh mould me]. I don’t agree with it.

I think its wrong. No, not wrong in that hymn, but the thought on my mind is, its just not sufficient to bend and to bow. If we take a branch, a branch of a tree, a living branch, a branch which is green, we can bend that branch. We can bend it more and more and what do we feel? We feel resistance in the branch. We feel the strength in the branch and we feel that the branch wants to straighten out. It takes strength to bend the branch until the branch breaks. Then there’s no more resistance.

For me, bending is not repentance. Being broken is. I can bend. I can bow. I can fit in. I can go so far, but to be really broken in my spirit, in my heart as Jesus, as it says in the Old Testament, a broken and a contrite spirit, that is a step further. Its not just so easy to be really broken. Seek ye first this fruit, the fruit of repentance because otherwise there’s just no fruit whatsoever in our lives.

We heard that verse yesterday in Romans 2:4, The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. I’ve been glad of that verse many times because I realise that if goodness and kindness can’t do their work, nothing else can.

I was faced up with an experience a few years back to try and help someone and I realised that this person also needed to repent. There had to be a change in this persons life to become more useful and to become better in the service of God. There had to be a change. I realised full well there’s bitterness there, there’s hardness there, there’s unwillingness there; there’s just so much in this persons heart which has to be changed. Id like to help this person to change and to become more in Gods service.

I also realised full well that first of all, it has to be done through repentance. This person has to repent. I also realised I could speak harsh words. I could lay down the law. I could be severe. I could use the rod, symbolically speaking, with this person and tell him a few home truths. But I realised, No! the goodness of God leads people to repentance. If the goodness of God cant touch this persons heart then nothing can. Forget the severity. Forget the rod. Forget the hardness. Forget the strong words. If you cant touch his heart through goodness and kindness, forget the whole matter. This is one of the first fruits we have to bring forth, the fruit of repentance.

Remember when Jesus gave the sop to Judas, you know, at the last supper before Jesus was crucified. I have heard it said that it belongs to the custom there in the Middle East , that when there is a feast or a meal given and the host invites people to come, there’s a big pot on the table with the food inside it; meat and vegetables and so forth. There were no knives and forks on the table. There weren’t any in those days. You ate with your fingers. It has been said that the host, the person who has done the inviting, in order to show a special kindness or a special gesture to someone at the table, he takes a piece of bread, the sop, between his fingers, between the fingers and thumb, and seeks out the choicest piece in the pot with the bread bent in his fingers, and gives that to this person to show a special privilege. This is a special gesture as far as the host is concerned.

Could it be, that when Jesus gave Judas the sop, He realised, He’s going out to betray. He’s already sold me? He’s become a thief. He’s become a dishonest, twisted person, a person you cannot trust in this life, and the only thing that can help him, if anything can, its kindness; its goodness; its the sop. I could give him a piece of my mind. I could speak hard with him. But I know full well (Jesus knew) that wont help him one bit, at all. If anything at all can touch his heart it is kindness, its goodness. . . the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. Well, I went there to try and help this person; trying to be good, trying to be kind. Its not in my nature, but through the working of God we can be a little bit kind, a little bit good in some ways.

Then a few months later it was Convention time. I was somewhere there in Europe , I don’t just remember where I was now. Sitting in the Convention, something struck me like a thunderbolt in thinking of the need of that particular person, trying to help that person. Something struck me very, very hard and I realised that goodness is not sufficient. Kindness is not enough. I could see that it had to be more than that as I sat in Convention and heard about Jesus.

In Johns Gospel, chapter 13:1, it says in the English, . . he loved them unto the end. It says in French, He put the crowning feature to His love. When He took that basin and that towel and washed the feet of His disciples, He was able to wash their feet, not to show them up, not to say, Look at your feet. Theyre so dirty. Where have you been? He did this to help them. To give them an example in true humility He did all this. He did it not out of goodness, not out of kindness, but because He loved them right unto the very end. After that Convention, I went back to my field, back to the country where I was labouring, with the purpose in my heart, I want to be not only good, not only kind, I want to love this person. Then, through loving, perhaps hell come to the place of repentance. Please don’t think that I am any better than that person. That’s not the point. I am just trying to get the point across, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and these things will be added unto you.

There’s something else. We know the story of David in the Old Testament, when David had to flee because of Absalom, because of his son who had taken his place on the throne in Jerusalem , in the kingdom, and David had to go, and go quickly. He left with his folk from the city of Jerusalem and he came to the last house. He just stood there and watched those who went by. I’m pretty sure that David shed many a tear that day. He may have said, Well you’ve come, thanks. And you’ve come. I’m just so glad. You are here too and you’re going to go with me on this desert way.

I’m sure he was so touched to see those who were loyal, those who were true and those who were prepared to go with him to an unknown future on the desert way as the Bible says. Then along comes this man. What’s his name? Is it Ittai in English? He was a foreigner. He was a stranger. David said to him, You know, he said, You can go back to the kingdom. You can go back to Jerusalem . You don’t have to come. You’re not an Israelite. You’re not a Jew. You’re quite free to do as you wish. You came yesterday. Don’t follow me. I’ve got no future. My futures unknown. You go back into the city.

Ittai said, how does it go in English? Where my Lord the king will be, there will also be thy servant. You possibly know the story. The point is, on that day, this man had a choice between the king or the kingdom. David said, Go back to the kingdom. Go back to Jerusalem . Go back into the country. Enjoy the country. Enjoy the freedom. Don’t follow me. I’m on the desert way. This man had to choose between the king and the kingdom. He chose the king. I know full well for my own life, that I must be prepared to choose the King every time, before the kingdom. The kingdom is great. The kingdom is wonderful but the King must come first in my life, and then the kingdom.

A few years back now there was a union meeting there in Switzerland . The room was filling up and the people were coming in. There may have been perhaps thirty or forty people in that union meeting. Then along comes a young couple at just about meeting time. They’d been married perhaps just a couple of months. They asked me, Graham, are there perhaps two spare seats in the room? I said, Sure there are two seats. There’s one at the front there and another over there at the back. They went in and came back out again looking a wee bit flustered or upset and said to me, But wed like two seats together if that’s possible. They didn’t want to be separated so we did our best to give them two seats together, this young married couple.

Well, the meeting started. As is the custom over there, we sat up front, my companion and myself and looked over the congregation and saw that young couple sitting together. Then over on the left I saw a different picture. There was a family with two teenage boys. There was the father on the left, one teenage boy, another teenage boy and then the mother on the right. There was a lesson. That young couple sat together, just a young married couple. Here was a couple married 14, 15, 16 years and now there were two teenage boys between that couple, between man and wife. Nothing; nothing should come between man and wife. For a husband, the wife should always be number one, before the children; before the family. That’s Gods order. That’s the best order for a happy marriage, humanly speaking. The husband and the wife must have first place and the children afterwards.

I learned a lesson, spiritually speaking. You know, sometimes something comes between the king and ourselves. Sometimes it could even be the kingdom. Were sometimes so busy with the Gospel work and so busy helping people, so busy visiting people and so busy writing letters, doing so much for the kingdom, that were inclined to neglect the King. If we want all these things added to our lives, all the blessings which would come our way, its first of all the King and then the kingdom. Seek ye first . ..

Just one more small thought, then I must close. We have the first of the day. We have the first of the week. We have the first of the year. The first of the day should be the quiet place, the secret place. The first of the week should be Sunday morning meeting and the first of the year should be Convention. Time does not permit just now, to speak of these three things but just one.

The first of the day should be the seeking of bread for our souls. We know the story so well of the manna in the Old Testament. They had to go out before the sun came up to gather the manna. That happened all those forty years in the wilderness; six days a week and sufficient on the sixth day also for the seventh day. But God said, Just enough for each day.

Some must have tried to gather enough for two days, but found out on the second day that the manna of the previous day had begun to stink, decay and go bad. You know, I suppose some neglected to go. Some stayed too long in bed, couldn’t get up in the morning. I guess some thought, Well I’m too busy right now. Ill go later. Some mothers thought, Well the children are crying. I cant go just yet. Ill go later and gather this manna.

The Bible says that when the sun came up the manna disappeared. Those who did not go first thing in the morning before the sun came up, what happened? They found no manna. Not only that, they were hungry the whole day through. They had no breakfast. They had no dinner. They had no supper; no in-betweens, nothing to eat the whole day.

Not too serious perhaps, but just think of the children, the small children, when they realised there was no breakfast, no midday meal, no evening meal. Can you imagine the scene? Those poor mothers, those poor fathers; trying to console, trying to comfort hungry children who were crying, who were hungry, who were making great noise. We are hungry! We want to eat! There’s nothing there because the parents had failed to go out early in the morning to gather in the manna for that day for those people.

The very same thing applies, spiritually speaking. Well, Ill tell you my testimony. I have to rise early in the morning. I have to read the Bible early in the morning. I have to do all that before breakfast and breakfast is early in Switzerland . Then the phone starts ringing. The mail comes in. There’s just so much to be done for the Kingdoms sake, but the King must come first.

If you forget all my thoughts this morning, just try to remember this one, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. , and He will add what, I don’t know, but He will add what’s lacking, what’s missing, what we need, what is necessary for our future lives if we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.

This is a personal letter Paul wrote to Philemon, seems that he lived at Collossee and there was another letter written to the church there but this letter was to an individual. Paul wrote that he was a prisoner of Jesus Christ and twice he writes of being in bonds. You would not know unless he said it, that he wrote from a prison. He wrote of being another type of prisoner, of Jesus Christ and in the bonds of the gospel and this inspires me, that he was not concerned about his conditions, about his diet for he had learned to be content. Paul had a sense of responsibility and being a prisoner of Jesus Christ makes us that way, he was responsible to his master, to his companion, he took this work very seriously. Titus my partner, my fellow helper, Paul recognised that he was in a ministry that was living and giving for others, he was a joyful prisoner, among those who were in the bonds of love and of service. Paul made mention of his companion Timothy and how thankful he was for him who stood by him.

Philemon was a bishop, an elder in the church where he lived, then also to Apphia his wife and he calls her beloved, the elders wife, someone highly respected who was backing up the elder. Then Archippus who was possibly their son and he could have been in the work as he calls him a fellow soldier and then he speaks of the church in their house. We today are familiar with all this language and we can relate to this setting for we feel it is a privilege ourselves to come into sanctified homes where the churches meet. Homes that are open to God’s people where the church that was purchased by the blood of Christ can meet. Paul knew what they were doing for he wrote of some of the qualifications for an elder and a deacon in another place where he gave instructions about ordaining elders and deacons. The deacons back up the elder, they step in to help the elder and this is a very responsible position, this is the right order. We have a great resource among our elders and wives for there are times when our young people have difficulties and they can go to their elders and wives and get help. They can help with marriage difficulties for they have had the experiences themselves. I believe our elders are an under-utilized resource for they have so much to share with those who are younger, there are no better marriage counsellors as happily married ones. 

One qualification to be a good elder is a sense of confidentiality, not talking to others about the problem and I am glad that when I was growing up there were elders and wives like that and Philemon and Apphia were just like that. Verse 4. “I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers”. A wonderful thing that in Paul’s situation, so far away and in bonds that his prayer life was not bound, as he was in the will of God, he could remember people in his prayers. Paul was watching for the souls of others, he was guiding over the church and sending a letter to encourage them. 

Verse 5 “Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints”. Paul had heard and the best news we can hear is of your love and faith for as Paul could say there is great consolation in that. Paul was in a depressing situation but was content in the Lord’s will and now was refreshed and consoled at the thought of this elder taking great care of the church that he was responsible for. It gives us great joy when we know that the hearts of the saints are to do the right thing. Philemon was backing up the ministry; he had the spirit of wisdom and peace and refreshed the Godly desires of those whom he met. Pray for the peace of the city, pray that each dwelling may prosper, it means a tremendous lot to the people we meet with if we can pray for them individually by name before a meeting. If we can truly pray that their spiritual life would prosper, this is encouraging Godly desires in each other and brings God’s blessing to us. 

The Corinthian church asked Paul about spiritual gifts and Paul encouraged them to excel in edifying the church and it does not matter about our situation the greatest gift in any church is to be a builder, to edify is to build up. The opposite to that is to be a wrecker, this is easy, it does not require a lot of effort to smash something up, it takes a lot longer to build something up than to wreck it. Philemon was a man like that, he could refresh the good and Godly desires in those he met with and many works in quite a cold place in the world, no spiritual help but God has provided a place where we can get help. Philemon often had cool water for someone who had been through the desert experience; he was able to pour balm into the wounds. 

Paul wrote to Timothy that those who desire the office of a bishop desire a good thing and good to be able to be trusted in our place, to be depended on, a good desire to have to be a help to each other. David had the right attitude when he heard the news that Saul had been slain, he did not say that I am finally free of him and rejoice no, it is worth reading his reaction. He took hold of his clothes and rent them and his men followed his example, he could have rejoiced over the misfortune of Saul. They mourned and fasted together, David was genuinely sorry when the bad news had come, he referred to the beauty of Israel slain on the high places. When bad news comes to our ears, it is a sign of spiritual maturity to mourn. Often we want to know all the details and then pass it on to others. David said, “Tell it not in Gath”, he did not want the daughters of the Philistines making mockery of the way of God. When people come to us to tell us things that are distressing take courage and seek to edify, to build up the church. 

Last year there were some distressing things being spoken about and we would dread some people’s company as it was always something negative and this does not unite us. It is just like two people seeing a puddle and jumping up and down together and all it does is get muddier, and so it is, get more confused. This is not how David did it, he fasted and put on sackcloth and mourned, that’ s how he felt about it. As soon as you jump in a puddle it is stirred again and if we do this our service is affected and people will dread our company, they will avoid us as they do not want to be disturbed again, they just want the water to settle. 

Then Paul spoke of the reason that he was writing the letter, it seems that a man named Onesimus had been in his employment, don’t know if he was professing or not, however we do know that this man left on bad terms. We don’t know if he was dishonest but he had run away from the employment of Philemon and amazingly like the prodigal he came in touch with Paul in Rome, another country. We know that Paul preached the gospel to him and possibly also Timothy and he put things right and he loved the gospel story of Jesus Christ. 

Paul wrote to Philemon of the spirit of gentleness, how we should handle each other, for sometimes we have to say something to each other and he was really interceding. Paul could have ordered him, he could have been that bold but he pleaded for love’s sake, he beseeched him. I admire the way this aged old servant of God handled the situation, twice he said, “I beseech thee”. Whatever the past may have been, he may have been unprofitable, he knew all about it, I’m sending him back to you and want you to know he has been a great help and encouragement to me. He had likely done the wrong thing but he desperately wanted to put it right, he had Godly sorrow, not the sorrow of the world where someone is caught out, they sorrow about it, but they do not change and this sorrow ends in death. 

This Godly sorrow of Onesimus worked salvation and Paul encouraged Philemon to take him back, not as a slave but as a brother in Christ, he just wanted him to know that whatever he had done he had put it right. If you count me as a partner then receive him as myself, make him that welcome, show him the same refreshing, the same respect that you would show to me if I came, to Paul the aged. “Yea, brother, Let me have joy of thee in the Lord”, he did not appeal with flattery, he had a genuine respect for God’s people and he had confidence in his obedience, knowing that he would do more than he was asked to do. This is the spirit of the kingdom, the spirit of the servant to do more than asked to do and was so refreshing to Paul in Prison. Then Paul finished the letter by saying, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit”. Paul was so far away yet what remained with him was the knowledge of them, he knew their spirit and this brought the greatest comfort to him. That they had his grace and all his virtue, the lovely qualities that were seen in the life of Jesus that we admire in his life, they were in their spirit. We long that the same beautiful marks would be with our spirit.

John 6.38. “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me”. Jesus knew everything that there was to know about the will of God and we wonder what was his own will that he speaks about here, his own will was so well covered, so veiled for he was only concerned about the will of God. The will of God is a mystery to the world, not many understand what the will of God is and multitudes don’t care and there are those who think they know but they don’t. There are those who do understand and they are concerned what the will of God is, that is contained in his word. Many people read his word but don’t hear him because it is only revealed by his spirit, as we listen and read his word and then we know what his will is for us. What is it that God would have us to do and I have thought of the will of God in steps, there are steps in the will of God. There are degrees that we enter in to, steps that take us deeper into God’s will and this brings a greater depth of joy and peace. The greatest contentment and joy a person can experience is to be deeply rooted in God’s will, doing what he wants us to do. A wonderful thing when it is crystal clear, what God’s will be, when it comes to that and we can understand that if we are pleasing God well, we are pleasing everyone who is worth pleasing. 

The first step to enter the will of God is the same for all people, every man and woman, every nationality, every race the same, for God is very fair. God does not set one standard for one race or nationality. There are things that concern what God loves and what God hates and as we listen to the sound of the gospel, we learn this, we learn this side to the will of God and it is the same for all. This is a part of the will of God that God’s servants help us to understand, also they teach things to those who are outside who are seeking and they learn this side of the will of God. Parents also teach their children; this responsibility is theirs of teaching the children this part of the will of God and many children among us understand this part of the will of God. Someone made this remark at convention, a 5-year-old child among God’s people understands more about the will of God than the clergy will ever know. It is because they are listening to the first step into the will of God. 

The second step or degree is when we understand that God has a place and a purpose and a plan for every individual life, for every one of you, something that God has for you to do, a place for you to fill. It is a struggle for us to understand what God wants us to do but there are plenty in the Scriptures who knew God’s plan for them. Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Ruth, Esther and then in the NT we have Peter, John and Paul, they all knew that there was something that God wanted them to do that no one else could do. If we don’t fill this place maybe someone else will fill a similar place but will not fill our place, or do our work and if we don’t do it will be left undone. It is quite a struggle to understand what our place is and I was looking back to my own struggle to understand that and maybe in our midst today there are some who are struggling with that. 

What does God want from my life, it is a noble struggle and we know because we have been there and we have sat in convention meetings like this and we want to know. No one else can say what place God has for us to fill, others may help us to understand, may help us to be willing but knowing what it is between us and God, He has to show it to us. If we really seek God will in kindness reveal it to us and it is not for us to choose but only to be willing and that is our struggle. To do, to come to the place where we are resigned that whatever is the will of God, we are willing for it. God will reveal to us that there is some place in his family for us, to be in a certain place, in a meeting week by week, a God-given place where he wants us to be. Some have a struggle over their occupation, some over where to live and some are placed in some lonely part and they wonder why am I here. Wherever we are placed, it is a God given place, just where he wants us to be. Some are placed in a rest home, a place not so easy to fill but good to remember, this is my God given place, God has a purpose for me being here and God is anxious that we would show a spirit of contentment and trust and joy. 

My own struggle was to know where God wanted me to be and it was not an easy matter, it took over a period of 5 years before I got peace about that. When I was a boy just out of high school and was visiting with my father and asking what a person could do with their life. My father talked about many different careers and he was very understanding and then he would always finish up with these words, of course there is nothing better than the work and I never forgot that. It was not what I wanted to hear but a seed was planted a thought in my mind from a young age and I knew that there were many courses that I could have taken but if I take any other course, I would be missing the best. When my father was on his deathbed, I helped to care for him over a number of months and then on one of the last visits I asked him if he remembered talking to me about these things. He said, yes, I can remember and I always knew it was the best, knew it from the beginning. I knew that I couldn’t do it but I knew that it was the best. 

I remember when I finished school, I was in road construction building highways in the mountains and in winter it was very cold, below zero. I had to haul water, working nights and had to sit for an hour while the truck filled with water, then drive long distances and then I thought of life, it was on my mind continually, thoughts of the work. Not wanting to think too much about it but this struggle going on, not whether I should go into the work or not but this struggle to be willing. I felt that everyone should be willing and then it was up to God to choose. Then thought of so many whom were up in years who had served many years in God’s service and then I was young and then for the first time in my life I tried to be fair and because I did that I saw things in a different light. I finally came to the point where I had it settled, that if I knew for sure that this is what God wanted for my life then I’d be willing to go, then I received peace from God. I then put it out of my mind and never thought any more about it for two years. I was called into the army and there saw many things, lives were wasted and it became clear to me what God wanted me to do, and then I had that settled. Again I put things off and said why not wait another year and I did, but then I offered and was willing to go forth and I was given a place but I had this thought: that even tho I am resigned to God’s will and I am willing to do it I know that I will never be happy again, that was my thought. 

Then when I was in the work I had the greatest surprise of my life for the 2nd day in the work I was sitting in the home of one of our friends, just waiting for lunch and I thought there is something strange. I am happy to be here, I am content, the first days in the work and I’ve enjoyed it, as I did not think that it would be like that. Six months later my parents came to see me and it was very reassuring to me as they had just been to visit my two brothers and sisters and they had spent time with their families, they had a nice time but they all had their little problems, with children, with finance. They then said it is not hard for us to tell who has the best. I just mention these things that it is not for us to choose but just want to help you to be willing and let God choose, to let him reveal to us what he wants. One remark made by an older brother at convention has been a help to me, he and his companion were working in a country place, they were visiting and using an old truck that was dusty, dirty, rough and hot. He turned to his companion and said, “You are looking at the happiest man in the world, for just knowing that where I am is where God wants me to be and doing what God wants me to do.” 

Then there is the third degree or step, this part of being week by week, hour by hour, minute by minute in the place where God wants us to be, this is not so easy. This is when we choose to walk with God and we can accomplish that day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. The Shunammite woman, she was without child and she then had a child and in the process of time the child died. In the 8th chpt of 2nd Kings we read of the time when Elisha told this woman to go and sojourn for 7 years and she did that and now she was returning to her own land. The king was speaking to Gehazi asking him to tell of all the great things that Elisha had done and as he was telling the king. How he had healed the leprosy of that great man Naaman, how he was asked to dip in Jordan 7 times and he did and was cleansed. He then told how he had restored a dead body to life, I was there and I lay my staff on the child and nothing happened but then Elisha came and he raised the child to life again. Now there she is, in the court and then at that moment the woman was right there in the court to claim her land. This was perfect timing, this was no accident and because of what happened the king restored to her the land, he was so impressed, he restored all her inheritance to her. This could only have been the leading and the direction of God, she kept close enough to God that the very hour, the very minute when the story was told she came in. 

The life of Esther also appeals very much to me, Haman had design on God’s people to destroy them and Esther became aware and she put her life at stake and said, If I perish I perish. She asked the king to come to a feast and this was granted, also Haman was asked to come and the King asked her for her petition. She asked for them to come to another feast tomorrow, for in her heart she did not feel that this was the right time. Sometimes we feel like that, something has to be said, but we feel that it is not the right time and it is better not to say it. The king could not sleep and asked for the chronicles to be brought in and he read where Mordecai had exposed a conspiracy against the king, which saved the kings life, and this touched the king deeply. The next day the stage was set, this was the right time, this is it, this wicked Haman was exposed, his purpose to destroy the Jews. This was so close, Esther was sensitive, hour by hour, minute by minute. I long too to know intimately, to have the awareness to understand what God wants me to do, where to go, what to say, dwelling in the centre of God’s will as it brings such joy and peace.

Matthew 6. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” We have had a few days together and so much has been shared and this afternoon I am pouring into a full cup and have this thought that now is the time for doing. When we work on a project we gather all the material and then we are anxious to go out to build. 1Sam 2. “By him actions are weighed”. This is a way of doing, not a way of talking, a way of walking. This chapter 6 of Matthew is a chapter of doing, how and what to do and it is in the doing that treasure is being laid up. This building for God and adding to that and someone has said that if we are only building in our spare time the building will not be complete at the end. 

A couple undertook to build a new house on a new block of land and so they moved into the workshop while they were building and that was 20 years ago. They are still living in the workshop, they are still building in their spare time and we don’t want to be like that, we want to put something into this building for eternity, it is important for us. I don’t want to use flattery but I want to encourage you, as these days I feel that I have been among sincere people and it is beautiful to see sincere people, they may have problems but they find the solutions. In the world there are people who have problems and cannot find any solutions for they are not looking for them for there is a lot of pretense in the world. 

Another thing is an encouragement is to see people who are sincere who are in the right way, people who are in the right way and are sincere in it. We see so many people who are sincere but they don’t have what is right, serving false Gods, following teachings that end at the grave. There is one lady I know she is in her 80.s and I consider her to be a friend, she is kind to me, I have been to her home. Poor soul, morning by morning, day by day, up early in the morning, winter time when it is windy and snowing, she shuffles down 5 flights of stairs and goes across to the old Buddhist temple. She kneels down and prays, she light’s incense candles, all in vain, she gets nothing from it, so sad and she is sincere. How wonderful to be among people who are sincere who have what is true and have what is right and does not end at the grave. The temple we are building for eternity should be our chief concern and, in the days, we have spent together here we have been getting material to put into the building. We have been to God’s storehouse; we have been brought into the door and looking around we see many things. When we came our basket was empty but here, we have collected things suitable for our building, things we can use, to add to what we are building. 

We see in the storehouse some things we are needing; some things have come to our attention and we did not know that we needed it till we saw it; we didn’t know it was available. So, it has been a good experience being here sharing his treasures and we go away with our baskets full. That is the miracle of convention, all come with empty baskets and after a few days listening our baskets are full to the brim, with many treasures we were lacking in. Treasures of faith, love, desire, zeal, wisdom, grace, they were all depleted, been used up and now we are full again. As we go out day by day, we will be building a temple for eternity and by and by there will come a time when our baskets will be empty again. We will need to be replenished; we need to seek the source of God’s storehouse where he shares with us his treasures that are useful for our building. 

In this chapter of Matthew, we notice things that are important and things that are not important, those are things to be aware of. What’s important, this gets clouded at times, things look important but they aren’t, things that are for eternity, they have the greatest importance for the things that only last for a moment are not so great. In this list of things of what is important there is one thing that is most important, that we should do all we can to encourage one another. One thing that is not important is when we do something, who gets the credit for it, that doesn’t matter. Being doers of the word, it is not important that a lot of talk accompanies our actions, words are not important. It is unimportant that our will is mentioned, but is important that God’s will is done. Willingness is important, but ability is not important. Unity and oneness is important but what is not important is our pride and independence. It is important to have the approval of God but the honour of man is vain, not important. 

If we look at the first 4 versus the thought that is outstanding to me is this, doing good deeds, doing good things that there is a right way to do it, for deeds form a part in the building. We have to remember that it is not our deeds that save us, salvation only comes through the blood of our Saviour, through his sacrifice and his life. In this building every deed forms a part, this doing, but it must be done in the right way, for there are right motives and there are wrong motives and if the motive is wrong there is no reward, it will not add anything to our building. The main thought that Jesus was leaving with us that our deeds were not to be seen of men, would not promote the glory of men but done before God and then being content with that and not talking about what we do to others. 

Jesus gave this example himself; he left the glories of heaven and did what no other could have done, came to live as a man and never talked about it. Most people were not aware where he came from nor what he had done for he never talked about it and when our motive is right, we can be a help to some. We prefer when no one knows what we are doing but it is hard to do. You have probably tried to do something good and helpful for others so that others would not know but it takes effort doesn’t it. We have to plan to that end, to do something great or small, to do it according to what Jesus taught, that no one will know, it is going to take careful planning on our part for people are curious, they want to know and they will try to find out. There is an inherent curiosity in the human race, trying to find out what’s going on, it takes a lot of effort to do something quietly. 

One thing that happens when people don’t know what’s going on they kind of make up a story and fill in the parts that they don’t know and it could well be that we will be misunderstood and things could be said that are not kind because such is a natural thing. A quiet service is a beautiful thing but too much talk ruins a lot of things, sacrifice is ruined by too much talking, so nice to see quiet sacrifice. Where we labour there is a communist government and they speak a lot of one person, Le Fung. There is story after story about what he did, all greatly exaggerated, but they are all about a lot of things he did for many people, but no one ever caught him doing it and that is the same ideal we should have, a quiet service. Among the Lord’s people adding to our building in a quiet way and then come the question, suppose I do this, to do good, to be a help in whatever way we can, in the way that Jesus said and so adding to our building. 

Three things come to mind as guidelines if we want to do this, the first is that we must think before we do it, do it quietly, unnoticed and thought out for if we blunder forth others will see it. Second, we must work quietly, quickly, simply as we can, helpfully so that others will not notice. Thirdly after we have done if, when it is finished forget we ever did it, not talk about it for then God will not forget it. This is what is important and if we could do that it would be a comfort to us and be adding to our building and there will be an eternal reward for us. It is not so easy to do but in essence this is what Jesus is talking about, adding to our eternal reward. When Mary anointed Jesus with the oil, she knew what she was going to do, it was settled in her mind, there was no announcement for all to get out of the way, no statement and she quietly did it. No seeking of self-defense, no claims made so this was adding to her building for eternity, her eternal reward. The lad who had the few fishes that blest the multitude, I don’t believe that after all were filled and the baskets taken up, he then went around telling everyone, “they were my fish”. No, it was not necessary, for God sees, God does not forget and when we leave the matter to him this will add to our reward. 

In two verses it says, “Who seeth in secret” and 12 times in the chptr it says, “Our Father in Heaven”, and he sees what no one else sees and this is often in my thoughts. Where we labour we often have to spend time alone, no companion and we have talked about this and what does Jesus mean here and we both agree that the secret times we spend alone means more to God than at other times. We want to make this our aim as it means more to God than we would know to be closer to God. We want people to think that we are closer to God than we really are, but to be closer than anyone would know is far better, for our father will reward us openly for that and it is adding to our reward. Often times our father knows all about us for my father knew things about me that no one else knew and I could go to him when things went wrong, he did not get angry but he would help me and more than that he knew more than I thought he knew. There were times when I wasn’t what I should have been and he would take me to a little room and no one knew what happened there. The things he said to me, and that’s the way it is with our father who sees in secret, no one knows, he draws near to talk to you. In this convention your father has spoken to you, you know what he said, I don’t, the person sitting beside you doesn’t know and this leads to a closer relationship, this time alone with him and it will add to our building and to our eternal reward. 

Then fasting, Jesus taught not to be of a sad countenance, just putting on a show, pretending to be what we are not, this does not add to our reward. To be what we are is far better. Last year I saw a man who was just wanting sympathy, giving me the impression that he had a dreadful disease, face all distorted, he was chewing on his knuckles and I just wondered about that man. I then saw some photos taken a day before this and his countenance was perfectly normal and then I knew he was just pretending, just trying to get sympathy. It is far better to show gladness on our countenance, show joy. I knew a little girl, she was always a happy girl, always laughing, always smiling and we were looking at a book together, and it was a very sad book. A man had an angry appearance so I asked her, let me see you look like that, she laughed, could she do it, no. She tried and got a sad look but held it for two seconds and then she said, I can’t look sad when I am so happy. We have so much to rejoice in that we can’t have a sad countenance, we are not looking for sympathy for we are happy and this adds to our building, to our eternal reward, and where our treasure is there is where our heart is. 

What do we define as our treasure, it is something of value, that we have kept, some things we have not kept but they are not treasure, the things that we keep that is our treasure, we keep joy, contentment, satisfaction, faith, confidence and peace, wonderful treasure that we can keep. These are treasures that thieves cannot steal; they are safe in heaven above where no thief can come. Sometimes I have been among thieves, and in a few minutes, we will be going out in the world and we will be in the presence of thieves, Satan is there and his purpose is to take your treasure away. Some places I have been and thieves were there in abundance, at a bus station buying something in a little shop and found I was in the presence of thieves, they were watching and looking to take what I had. It is the intention of the adversary of our soul to take away our treasure so we need to watch. We need to labour for this treasure that no one can touch. One-time riding on a train, crowded and I had my bag on the rack above, people were getting on and off and often I would look to see that my bag is still there, not that there is great value in the bag, but it is all I’ve got. The thought that came to me that day was this, if my treasure is stored in heaven then more and more our lives would be gravitating to that place, we don’t want to lose our treasure. 

Then Jesus said, no man can serve two masters and a lady I know maybe tried to do that, she had a job in an orphanage and then she was offered another job so she thought for a while she could do both jobs, the work times overlapped a little bit. She would leave one job a little early then go to the second job arriving a little late so neither masters were happy with her, it just doesn’t work. We cannot serve God and mammon, the Lord is first in our service in everything we do, in all our choices the Lord is first and when this is so we will be adding to our building and adding to our treasure for eternity.

Galatians 4.1. “Now I say, that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be Lord of all. But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.” The thought of being in the household of God, being a part of the family, a grand privilege, we can hardly take it in at times. These days God has called us together as His sons and daughters, not all of His family are here, but a good number have come. You are children, you are not a servant, servants in the house are needed but children are in the house because they are loved. We are not children because of some need that God has. No, the love of God has brought us here and this is a security and a comfort for us. Our place in the family does not depend on us filling some need, or being useful. 

God called us because of the love in His heart. Parents do not love their children because they are useful, it is not their ability, their capabilities, they love them because they see their need, a baby so helpless, so needy and it touches their hearts and they do for them gladly all that they can do. It’s His kindness and mercy towards us, not our capabilities, our talents, it is our need of Him, He knows that and it touches His heart and we are accepted as His children. God does not call us together to give us a new list of rules to follow, that is man’s way, any new problem comes up they just make a new law. Where the Spirit is lacking men revert to rules, it is not God’s purpose to gather us like that, but to show His love to us. We are children and we are here because our Father wants to put within our hearts more of His love, the love for God kindled to burn better. We are gathered in the presence of God’s love so that this love can affect us and burn brighter than ever before. We are also called together to be exposed to God’s spirit so that in our hearts there would be a truer, deeper dwelling of God’s spirit. The same love of God kindled in our hearts and know more of the spirit of God. 

There are things about a family that apply to God’s family, a feeling of understanding, a closeness that is hard to explain, a desire to help, to protect one another and if this was not so it would be a grief to the parents. Among His children in the family of God there is a desire to see this same feeling, understanding and being understood, a feeling of care and concern and if it is not their God is grieved. He wants to kindle this in our hearts these days. There are also likenesses in the members of a family, but there are differences too. Not all members are alike in every way. With you folks I don’t feel that I am thousands of miles away from my home country because I see the same family likeness. The world does not understand this but it is so real to us, we are alike in a lot of ways but there are some differences. You that are parents have children and know that they are not all alike but they are all your children, every child different, no matter how many there are no two the same. 

There are differences among friends, differences among God’s servants, not every worker made in the same mould. Some find it easy to be in a crowd, find it easy to speak and some have a quieter nature and like to get alone. Some are capable in one area and not in another but all are called and used by God. The members are all different. I had a brother who was always the life of the party, he would enjoy a crowd and all knew he was there, I would sit in a corner and watch. People would say to our parents, Jim is so different to his brother, is he yours? We need to be aware that we are all different and this will help us to accept our brothers and sisters for what they are, to appreciate them, to know how to accept and to encourage them. Every servant of God is different but the same love has been born in their hearts for God’s children, for God’s kingdom and they all desire to be a help, to be used. This same love is in His children; they love this kingdom and love those who are in the way. In some ways we are all different but we all belong to one Father, all children in one household, that’s the way it is. We are grateful for each one God has called together for a few days so He can speak to us, to expose us to the warmth of His love and to be in the presence of the Holy Spirit. 

These are just a few days and we want to make the best use of the time; of the opportunity we have these days. In a family the members are not together so much, in my own family, I have a brother, we grew up together. He is one year older but after he finished school our paths have gone in different directions and we have spent very little time together since but the closeness, the warmth is always there. There are others that we spend more time with for we have a job, go to school and then we have a little time with the family in the evening perhaps. Then twice a week we meet with the family of God, so our time spent together is not so great, but there is something there, closeness, a warmth, a feeling of being one in the family. We do not feel this kinship with many that we are spending more time with at work and school etc. So, these are special moments, precious times that bring a lot of comfort to us, for there we understand and are understood. How did all this come about, that we are found inside the family of God for we did not force our way in, did not buy our way in, not here through any accomplishment or qualification. 

There was a time when we were strangers from the family of God, we all started that way and God found us and brought us in to the family by adoption. A niece was adopted into the family a number of years ago and I was not in the part where the adoption took place, but later they told me what took place. They had some feelings about this adoption but one thing they told me; they had this baby girl for a year. They received the baby when a few days old but they could not adopt this baby for one year; they had to wait a year before the adoption could be finalised. During this time, they learned to love, to treasure, to care as they waited for one year. Then they had to go to the City, to the Court where the real parents could go and if they wanted to claim the child, they would have to give her up. So, the date was set and they went into the Courtroom, there were several parents there and they waited till other cases were being tried. While they were waiting, they looked around trying to see if anyone resembled the child, could this be one of the parents. They noticed one man and he could be the father so they were anxious until their case was heard lest one of the parents would claim their baby. The Judge then asked, “Is there anyone here to contest this adoption”? They all sat quietly, they watched this one man, he was shuffling his feet, they waited and waited and then the Judge brought down the hammer and said, “This adoption is final”. They left the Court right away and never looked back, they went to the home of their Elder and told the news, our adoption is finalised. What about our adoption, are we getting it finalised, we are included amongst God’s people but wonder if there is anything contesting our adoption? Perhaps unwillingness, selfish desires, pride, self-will, all could be contesting our adoption. These days together, it would be good to get it settled, that our adoption would be finalised, that we are in this forever. In it all the way, in it for life, we belong to God and to no one else and this is something good for us to think about these days. 

In the country where we labour there are many little girls given away to be adopted and a man and wife came and we met them in the City where they were preparing to adopt this baby girl. To me it was a touching sight, they were waiting in the lobby of the hotel and the people from the orphanage came with 6 little girls, they were in rags, hair shaggy, dirty and unkempt. The parents that were adopting them took their baby and went into their room and a little while later they came out, now the baby was dressed in a new dress, hair cleaned, clean, what a change. This is the same for us being accepted into the family of God, it is no different for us, our dress, our food, our language, our whole future was changed now living closer and called to be a child of God, set apart in His family. This couple we met there, they had heard about this little girl for a long time, more than a year getting all in order. They had photos of her, they had studied that photo, she was already in their hearts, a love had been kindled, and they wanted her. They spent a lot of time, overcame a lot of obstacles, things seemed impossible, they had to pay a large price, they had to travel a long distance to come where she was. They came and found her and took her to become theirs, took her to their own land. This is what our Lord has done for us, he left heaven where he was and where we could not go, we could not find him but he came to us, he found us. We could not pay the price so he paid the price; he bought us as his own so we could be members of this family. 

This poor orphan girl in the hotel lobby, she was so scared, so lost, she could not do anything, the only thing she could do is submit which she did and was taken into the family. Several months later she is a happy, loving laughing little girl, so wonderful and all she had to do was to submit and when we submit, we find a depth of love, a joy that we do not understand. Just submit, yield to him, give him control, and give back to him our love and thankfulness for return to all that he did. He came to this dark, sinful world to bind us with cords of love, paid our redemption when there was nothing we could do, no way to repay, our part is just to submit, to be willing, to return our love and thankfulness, that’s all he asks. This family of God, we don’t know how many who are not in this tent, that is not important for God knows, it is not numbers that matters. There are no 10-storey office blocks to find the records, for it is recorded in heaven where it belongs. Being one in the family we have many experiences in common, many things we can understand for we have the same father, we have similar experiences, we have had the same training. It is different in a household, the training is not the same, there is a behaviour that is proper, we learn to be proper children. You folks have been trained to what is proper in your homes; my training was not the same. We do not use the fork the way you use it but that is not important, but this matter of being trained to be proper sons and daughters. 

In our home one day I brought a boy home from school, and sometimes he would use language that was not allowed in our home so I began to feel ashamed that I had brought him in, he did not behave. This is vital; we like to learn well to be a proper child in the household of God. To be obedient, to behave as an honour to him, we are the children of our father and when we are obedient our father will recognise us, this marks us as his children. Doing things together, to be together it means so much, to be with our father, with those dear to us, those who encourage us, for we bear the name of our father, this is a serious trust, a solemn trust, we bear His name. Jesus spoke of those who hear and do, they will have 100 fathers and mothers, those that leave their homes will have 100-fold, brothers and sisters and we have proved it’ s true. We go out and there are those who are fathers and mothers to us, those who are brothers and sisters to us. 

My old mother came to see us and she wanted to get to know all the staff, she said they are all my children, now she wants to know where they are, what are they doing. I noticed the last time she came to see us the rest of the staff were calling her mum so we see the reality of these things, it is real and true and beautiful to see. Respect, children have respect for their parents, respect for one another for all have feelings and desires, good when there could be mutual respect. We all have feelings, God has feelings, we don’t want to forget that, we could think that we are the only ones who have feelings, but everyone has feelings. Good to learn to have a healthy respect for each one, a respect for the struggle of one another. There is a standard in the household, uprightness, cleanliness, purity, these are very important to God. There are certain things that need to be done and our hands have to be clean, our feet have to be clean. 

Before I went into the work we were building roads and we would come home all dusty and dirty and mum would say don’t come in. There was Dad my two brothers and I and Mum would meet us at the door with a broom and we would all be swept off. Then we would use water and wash put on clean clothes and then go inside and there were good things to eat. We did not mind being swept off and the Lord wants to do this for us, that the attitude of the world would be swept off, to get our hands clean, put on the robe of righteousness for the Lord has so much to share with us. First there is the standard and then we appreciate God in his kindness who called us to be his children to have a part in this family and we want to be a child that God can take pleasure in.

One time we were having some visits and reads with a couple each week and they were very warm to us and we were studying about forgiveness one visit. The lady told us that they could never forgive their neighbours as they had done something to them in the past and for years they had not been speaking and they did not want to change that. We told them that we would have to stop coming to see them, as this is a full stop we have come to. We explained that we had been sawing some wood over a long period of time and were getting along well, but now we had come to a nail in the wood and could go no further till the nail was removed. So we did not see them for a little while and then one day the lady phoned and just said, “we have removed the nail”, so we were so happy to see them again. They told us that they went to their neighbours and they also wanted to put things right and now both couples put their arms around each other and were friends. We cannot expect the forgiveness of God unless we are willing to forgive all those who have trespassed against us, no other way.

This is Sunday morning and we are thinking of the emblems, thinking of all that our Lord Jesus Christ has suffered for us, nailed to the wooden cross. These days there are a lot of sceptics who don’t believe and they say that a loving father would not allow his son to be tortured and so, what do you answer them? Leviticus 17:11, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” Before Jesus was crucified he instituted the bread and the wine and said, “For this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” It is only blood that can redeem the soul and this is our answer to those who would want to argue about these things, we cannot argue with God. His ways are higher than our ways, his thoughts are higher than our thoughts and God has planned from the beginning that there would be one price to be paid for the redemption of the soul and it is blood. 

Hebrews 10:4. “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin.” There would have been no hope of salvation for Abraham, Moses and others if Christ had not died, because the blood of bulls and goats was only a figure to take away sin. Jesus on that night said, “this is my blood of the New Testament given for the remission of the sins of the whole world. In eternity we see a picture of Christ being the centerpiece, on the one side we see the faithful of the Old Testament and on the other side, the faithful of the New Testament. All saying to Jesus, we are so glad that you did not go back, that you gave your all and often we don’t think enough about that. 

The bread and the wine are two natural things, two things that were on the table when they had a meal together and sat around the table. These two things we are so familiar with and Jesus knew that we would forget, so he gave us two things that would remind us of the great debt that we owe to Christ. As we partake in sincerity, we remember the body of Christ lived for us, all his deeds, his doctrine, and his true witness. Then the climax of it all, being nailed to the cross, his blood dripping to the ground. The emblems are this tangible thing to remind us of this great sacrifice, the blood which is for the redemption of our souls. My companion and I had some gospel meetings in a church room and there was a big wooden cross hanging up so I unhooked it and took it down and then some men came in and asked who took the cross down? So they told everyone in the village that we did not believe in the cross and so a lady who was coming asked us why we don’t believe in the cross. We told her we do believe in the cross but have you ever thought of the cross, what it is; it is a diabolic instrument of cruelty. Jesus did not once mention the cross on which he was nailed. My mum was a nervous lady and she had a brother murdered by a gun and this left a mark on mother and she could not face a gun, could not walk past a person who held a rifle or gun. This was a diabolic instrument that had killed her brother and it is with the cross, it was this diabolic instrument that people hang around their necks, hang in the best rooms. God allowed his son to be tortured for you and for me. 

Hebrews 11:35, “Women received their dead raised to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance.” Others were tortured including the Lord Jesus, who did not accept deliverance so that he might obtain a better resurrection; this is a picture of Christ, in torture and agony, accepting no deliverance. Some said to him, come down from the cross and we will believe in you, Jesus could have delivered himself, but how thankful he was on the resurrection morning when all the suffering was over. He had fulfilled all God’s will, all that God prophesied of him and he would come out of the grave full of gratitude to God for the grace given unto him. In Africa, there was a robbery at the convention ground, all personal things were stolen and the friend’s children found some clues which led to the people who had committed the robbery. When the police caught the men, they would not speak so they said they would torture them to make them speak, then they heard the screaming. They returned and said that they would speak and told where they had buried the treasure. Jesus was tortured for you and for me, nails in his hands and his feet, did all that was written in the book of him. 

Then he rose on the resurrection morning, having overcome and paid the price for every soul. Jesus was weak after the trial and so they compelled Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross, he could carry it a certain distance but at the end Jesus had to carry it himself to the place of the crucifixion. There were four soldiers but one could have crucified Jesus because he did not move, he just placed his hand to receive the nail. Normally others would fight and resist so they needed four soldiers to crucify a person. 

Jesus spoke of another cross, that, one of the conditions for discipleship is to take up our cross. Luke 14:26, “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.” Some people say how can a loving God teach you to hate people and it is good to look into it so that we have the right answers, as there will be more critics in the future. It just means to love less than Jesus those whom he has mentioned. 

Deuteronomy 21:15, “If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated, and if the firstborn son be her’s that was hated, then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn.” We have worked in places where the man has 6 wives for the law permits it, but this picture explains what Jesus meant about the loved and the hated one. If the man come to the point where he hates his wife he can send her home with 2 cows and 3 sheep, sending home with a dowry for he cannot keep a wife that is hated. It means here that this man has two wives, one is loved more than the other and perhaps the loved one is the younger one and the older one is relegated to the back to just care for him. 

Jesus was thinking of these verses when he spoke of these things and Jack Forbes always said that if you have a problem to understand a part of the bible there will be another part of the bible that will explain your problem. This problem of loving some more than others and if we are honest, we will admit that we all do this, some fit in with us more than others and we do not hate the others but we just love them less. A mother told us that she loved all the workers but she loves some more who tell her what they need, if some have a stomach ache and cannot eat certain food, she likes them to tell her and she loves them more for that. Yes unless a man or woman loves Jesus more than their father, mother, brother or sister they cannot be his disciple, Jesus requires our first love completely. It is a hard question to ask ourselves, do I love Jesus more than my husband, my wife, my children, that’s what it means, the hearts first affection must be for our Lord and Saviour who was tortured for us so that our soul could dwell forevermore and this is so reasonable. This is something that we should examine ourselves with, do we love the Lord with all our heart, mind, strength, soul, and this is a vital question. It is so easy to have our minds so full of other things, the cares of life etc as we live in a busy age and we need to be careful. 

We come to convention and we hear some testimonies and they are sad, they say they have had a terrible hard year, they have had to suffer and it is true, some of you do and workers also do but Philippians 1:29 is a treasure to me. “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.” This matter of living for God is far more than having faith in Christ, it is being willing to suffer for his sake, this is the cross we must carry, loving Jesus more than our nearest and dearest and if this is not so there is something wrong. 

There are other crosses; the rich young man who came to Jesus to know what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus loved him and gave him an opportunity to enter the work, he had to give what he had to the poor but the young man went away very sad. He was not willing to take up the cross, and Jesus said that if a person is not willing to take up this cross, he cannot be his disciple. That is for those who leave home for the gospel’s sake, it is a cross we glory in, we do not lament about it. You cannot be my disciple in the work if you are attending to the things of home, you have to let it go, then be my disciple. 

Then there is another cross, the time that Peter reproached Jesus, he had just received a wonderful revelation on the mountaintop that Jesus was the Son of God. Now Jesus asked the question, whom do men say that I am and Peter answered, thou art the Christ, Jesus said that flesh and blood had not revealed this to Jesus. Immediately Jesus spoke of going back to where he was badly treated and Peter said, no Lord, don’t do that and Jesus said to Peter, get behind me Satan, it was because the same spirit that is in Satan was in Peter. For whosoever will not take up his cross, that is facing the suffering, the tribulation with Jesus cannot be his disciples; this is a part of the cross. 

They compelled Simon to carry this cross of Jesus but no one will compel you and I to carry this other cross. There are two things that we will take upon our shoulders, one is his yoke and the second is his cross. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for my yoke is easy, this is something we must take, we must put it on us. The cross he will not put on us but taking his yoke will help us to take up the cross. It is our joy and privilege to suffer for his sake, not only to believe but also to suffer, being willing for all that the suffering means.

The epistle, the general epistle it is called, the first general epistle that John wrote, the last two epistles that he wrote were more written to individuals that were specified in the opening verses of those of the second and third epistles, but this is a general one, this would be one that would be talking directly to the needs of all of God’s people, in that time and for our time, too.

This creates a beginning. For it is that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled, of the Word of Life, for the life was manifested and we have seen it and bare witness and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us, that which we have seen, and heard, declare we unto you that you may have fellowship with us for truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his son Jesus Christ and these things write we unto you that your joy might be full.

He just settled different reasons in this epistle for writing it, like that, the primary purpose for writing it was to just give them a fresh understanding of the source of their hope, the foundation for their belief. That Psalm has come back to my mind again recently, the eleventh Psalm, where the Psalmist said, that his trust was in the Lord, and then the question was asked, it was like a voice coming from another source, “Why say ye to my soul, flee like a bird to your mountain?” In the margin, his holy temple, it says, that the voice also said that the foundation of the righteous, if the foundation were destroyed, what would the righteous do? And then it mentions the Lord is in His holy temple, and it says in the end of that Psalm, last words, end of this Psalm of David and that epistle, Psalm, for the Lord, the

righteous Lord loveth righteousness, his countenance shall behold the upright. Now the rendering for that , it says the righteous shall see His face, it doesn’t make any difference what the voice says, “Why say ye to my soul, flee like a bird to your mountain?”

People might try to suggest that what you are believing is just another mountain. There are other mountains other people are believing in, but we are glad that the Psalmist said, “Now look to the mountain from which comes my help,” a question mark. My help cometh from the Lord who made the heaven and earth.

Our help is not in a man made order, an earthly mountain. Its origin, the roots of our faith, our belief, are very clearly seen and understood these days both by what we have heard, what we have seen, what we have felt, that they are in Jesus. This writing of John, his epistles, and of course the book of Revelation, that was a revelation that God gave to His son Jesus Christ, it wasn’t a matter of new revelation you might say, some people are trusting in a Latter day revelation. The book of John is a revelation that God gave to His son Jesus Christ. The foundation of that revelation is Christ. And He came, sent it, and shared it by an angel, sent it by an angel to John, but it was not John’s revelation. It was the revelation of Jesus Christ, and we are glad today when we think about our hope, and we think about our confidence and our trust, that it is in Jesus. It appears that what is written over the center column reference of my bible, that this epistle may have been written after 90 AD and a little latter that likely the book of Revelation. Now the latest by far, is we can understand that all the writings in our bible is the

inspired word of God that has come to mean so much to us, and by the time John would have been writing, there would be a greater promise to experience and glorify him too, be several generations that had believed the gospel since the event of Jesus coming and resurrection. The gospel going into the four corners of the earth, directed by the Holy Ghost, there would have been seven generations that would have begun to believe and, and receive a revelation of it. There were fathers, there were young men, there were other men , there were children and who had seem to have a love for His commandments, and we are encouraged seeing generations of believing, young generation, being moved of God and called of God to go into the work, what really has inspired me lately, while reading the New Testament writing, I fully believed that with the latest writing, I do not believe at that time that those that had believed in Christ and were following him had any New Testament as their reference. We were hearing from the second epistle of Peter last evening and what Peter said in that first chapter of that second epistle when he was telling that about the vision they had and that the voice they heard when the were up in the mount and saw Jesus Christ transfigured and where He was telling about, they saw Him as He would come again in His kingdom, in His power and His glory and they heard that voice from the most High God saying, “This is My Son in whom I am well pleased.” Peter just said, “We were eyewitnesses of that and before I die, I want to bring you in remembrance of that,” they didn’t have any written accounts of that, they did not have access to that. They had no access to any New Testament writing, other than what was being written as a letter or an epistle to them that later became what we know as part of the inspired Word of God of the New Testament, but Peter at that time said, generally referred to the prophet and what they had saw, and said, “We have a more sure word of prophecy,” or a translation I believe would be correct says, “What we saw when we were up on the mountain make what we are reading about more sure.” Prophets, what the prophets wrote about what we have access to as the writing that were it more sure. It wasn’t that they were not sure about it until then, I don’t think, hopefully not too many of us came that unsure about what we believe and what we believe in. But I do hope that when we go away, we go away more sure, we go away with being more assured of the thing that we have already been assured of. More confident of the thing that we have already, have already had confidence in. We are glad in the meeting we have been reminded of the foundation of our hope and that it is founded upon His life. That hymn that we were singing, speaking about the new city, The Heavenly City, the bride of Christ as we were hearing about last evening, founded in Truth upon Jesus, She shall forever endure.

There is not, time can never shock, erase, upset, destroy what God started back in eternity. These people that were believing in Jesus in that day, we read how Peter took the _____ , you have the word of prophecy for sure and he said, “You take well that you look unto it like a shining light in a dark place until the day dawn and day star arise in your hearts,” we were hearing about the day dawning, that day star rising, appeals to me that particular verse that Jesus said, Peter is referring to, to be of that they saw when they were with Him when they were with Him upon the most Holy Mount is coming again, His returning, the day star rising, His coming again, His returning. He says, “You do well to take heed unto what the prophets wrote about that they spoke a lot about that.” Prophet Isaiah, other prophets spoke a lot about the Messiah coming, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and people that didn’t have, were not feeling after Truth didn’t want to know

God working the Truth in their lives, even among His own people. That was what they were looking for. They were looking for one and they are looking for one to come as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but never would it be that they would first need to be in subjection to him themselves, and those prophets that were inspired of God it says it wasn’t of any private interpretation. It wasn’t something that they just got in their mind, that this would be maybe some future events for mankind. They were not, it wasn’t a private interpretation, what they wrote, it was Holy men of God moved by the Holy Spirit that wrote those things, and we are thankful that we have the confidence that we have today in the Word of God. That is was Holy men of God moved by the Holy Spirit that wrote these things and we do well, we will do well to take heed unto it as a shining light in a dark place until the Lord comes. We don’t know that time, we are told to look forward to it. We are told to hasten its coming sought by looking forward to it, looking forward to it hasten unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I have to keep reminding myself, and I don’t as much as, much as I should, that today the Lord could come. Times when you are faced with difficulties and trials and it looks impossible, as we were hearing, it is so easy just to let the obstacle hinder you from seeing what faith would like to help you see. That’s beyond us and that beyond that is the coming of the Lord and that could come to day so we help when we are faced with something that is not by rights easy, don’t let the thought take hold of you, I don’t know how I am going to get through the rest of my life like that. Might live to be a million, project your worries like that and troubles. Wonderful thing when we can learn and I have talked with myself pretty straight at times about it, but it is a wonderful thing when we can learn to take one day at a time when it comes to facing things that are not pleasant or easy. The obstacles that life might present even of a non-spiritual nature, difficulties, trials, test, family disappointments, common disappointments, it’s a wonderful thing when we just listen to the simple words that Jesus said, when He said, “Take no thought for tomorrow.” It wasn’t just for those that were going out to preach the gospel, I don’t believe, He said take no thought for tomorrow, tomorrow will take care of the things of its self, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Heavy enough today, don’t have to take ten days or one hundred days at a time. Heavy enough today. I think Jesus, we have this assurance, we have this complete confidence that everything Jesus taught, He did that first. And I think that there were many moments in life when He just recognized what I have to contend with today, just better get that help from God today for that, and tomorrow I’ll get some other help, as needed, but they said, “Take one day at a time.” And in the simple prayer He gave His children to pray as a manner, or after that manner, He says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Someone has said and it’s very true, that filling ourselves up with tomorrow’s worries empties us of our peace today. If you want to get rid of your peace,

just start worrying about a lot of things. But God doesn’t want us to fret, He wants us to trust, doesn’t want us to listen to that voice, just flee to like a bird to your mountain, not just something without a foundation. I’ve thought about this epistle is so wonderful and the other epistles that he wrote. In just confirming and assuring the beginning of what we believe. You can imagine people in that day, in John’s day, and at this period of time, maybe about sixty years or so after the death of Jesus, people seeing those miracles meetings from Christ, questioning it, some were falling away from it. Some were going out, we read about that, said they went out from us, that it might be manifested that they are not of us, they cease to exercise strength in Christ, and a belief that the willingness to habitate flesh in their lives, then to question it, wonder about its beginning, I suppose, where it started, how it started, I suppose, began to think, “Well ya know, what you are believing with that man, ah, and he is going to get killed and about another thirty years he lived it and then he died but he is still gone, he is not alive.”

And then what you’re believing is about 100 (one hundred) years old. But what we’re believing in, especially those from the Jews and other people, who are believing in something a lot older than that. I tell you what we believe in goes back further than that.

Well, the people who have got a revelation of the Truth that is in Jesus, NEVER TRIED TO FIND COMFORT OR HAVE NO REASON TO TRY TO FIND COMFORT IN TRYING TO TRACE ITS BEGINNING IN THE EARTH. Because it’s not where it it began. But we’re rather fortunate, we’ve lived a few years and we’ve known some that lived quite a few years before they passed from time into eternity, they had a part in preaching the gospel. They could tell us a lot of that experience, sometimes we call ’em the earlier days of their experience. God put it into their hearts to feel after Him, and to seek after Him, and to find and began to believe in a WAY like Jesus taught. But I NEVER HEARD ONE of them say, “That was when it began.” It was just during that period of time, and wonderfully so, God has probably done that in a lot of different days and ages. But we’re fortunate to live in one of those when He has been able to raise up people to feel after Him and to find Him, and to find faith to believe in the Son. And the revelation that God gave them didn’t go back to just their day, or the day of someone else, it just went back to one that was with the Father–the eternal Father from the beginning. And if we have the unction that these people had in that day, when John said, “You have an unction, you have an anointing,” and if you just read about where that understanding of Revelation comes, about the FOUNDATION of our belief, and that it had its foundation in the earth or, it had its first beginning with the Father, I think it’s there, in heaven, back before the

world began, then back before man ever came into the earth. It began before man ever sinned, began before the Devil made a decision not to abide in him, became a liar. AND THAT IS THE BEGINNING OF IT!!

I think because of the soul that is not in the truth because there is no truth in him, what we’re believing , what we are trusting in and the WAY that we have come to love and adore has its beginning with the Father back before all of that was, Back in eternity, before time began, that part of eternity. Perhaps we could read those verses that we are going to mention here in John’s epistle. And if anybody tries to put doubt in your mind, but if you have this unction and you hold on to it, you will keep understanding and then you’ll understand, my faith, my confidence and what I’m trusting in doesn’t have its origins with man.

I’ll just tell you a little bit about my mother’s experience. Mother and Father, the gospel came to them the year they were married. Both total strangers. My father’s people were quiet religious, not a lot was said about the church, a lot, especially my grandfather, my father’s side, and some evangelist had come, made a big showing there in that city, and then my grandfather got talking with one of the school trustees was also a deacon in the Baptist church, about how good it would be if they could have some evangelist come to their church, and my grandfather was Scottish, he said, “Ya know, couldn’t pay ’em very much, wouldn’t be able

to get a fellow like was here, this Richie fellow from outta Texas, couldn’t afford anyone like that.” Well, this man was a trustee in this little school house as well as a deacon of the Baptist church.

He said to my grandfather, “Ya know, there is two men, they preaching the gospel, out there in that little school.” He said, “I gave them permission to use that. I don’t know much about them, it’s just that I’m sure, quite sure that you could get them pretty reasonable.” Well now, that opened the way for them to come and my father, grandfather was a businessman and they came down to his place of business and talked with him and he tried to settle up the business with them, but helped him understand they were on more important business, and if they could just provide the building and the heat and so-forth, then they would be glad to provide their services free. That was it. My mother didn’t go, she had just before that had gone to listen to this other evangelist, and it was what she saw of the sham and hypocrisy, the plea for money, and everything she looked at, there was just a hope in her heart, “I’ll find the Lord here.” Now she had been very religious, come from Holland Dutch Reform, and went to church three times on Sunday, and tried to give it all she had, from her youth up even, but recognizing something was missing, not knowing, missing in her and missing where she was. She didn’t know what it was, and when she had an opportunity to go, my father’s mother invited her, finally . Each night, they were having meetings almost every night of the week except Sunday, I believe it was, or Saturday, maybe it was except Saturday. But my mother wouldn’t go because her confidence had so been shaken and she said that she had left that other ceremony, that other service with that big evangelist, “I’ll never listen to anybody until I know first who they are.” That’s why she wouldn’t go to listen, but after a week did and that very

first meeting she had this confidence in her heart, these men are sent from God. She had this feeling, the first time in her life, the Kingdom of heaven is now being brought nigh to me. She made her choice after a while. My father got in a hard spot, he wasn’t troubled yet in a way, his parents were getting very opposed, put the workers out eventually, fortunately in the meantime, they had come to stay with my parents, just a new married couple in a little flat, at their bidding, even though my grandparents became very opposed afterwards, they hugged her after my grandmother talked with my mother about it, came. They had been staying some time with them, they had a bigger place, my grandparents, but my parents had just a small place, but the workers came there, gave them a lot of chance to talk with them and observe them. But when my mother made her choice, she said, “I did not know but they were the only two people in the earth that were following Jesus,” but she said, “That made no difference, because I loved him myself, and I know God used them to help me get to know Him,” BUT again, her faith wasn’t in some movement that was growing for years after years or forever, was just her faith for Him, a message that God had sent and brought her in touch with the God of the messengers. And it’s that anointing, it’s that unction that is going to keep people in the day of testing and when the Devil himself in various ways may try to question whether you have the right or you have the truth. Well, I like what Paul, what John said in those verses, 1st John 18th verse, second chapter, “Little children, it is the last time,” people wonder if we are living in the last days, nearly two thousand years ago, but then, and as you have heard that the anti-Christ shall come, even now there are many anti-Christ, whereby we shall know that it is the last times. They went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. But you have an unction from the Holy Bible and you know all things, it wasn’t that they just understood everything and knew everything, but they knew that one that knew all things. I like what, what he wrote further on in that second chapter, verse 26, “These things.” Another reason he said he was writing it, first verse, “I had fellowship with the Father, with His son, but then that their joy could be full” and in verse 26, there he said, “These things have I written to you concerning them that seduce you, for the enlightened,” seducing is a strong word, use it in the world today when people commit crimes that are lurid kind of crimes, lustful crimes against people, to draw them away and get them in trouble, but this, he said, “I’ve written this regarding them that are trying to draw you away from this Truth, as it is in Jesus.” And he just said, “But the anointing which you have received of Him, that unction, abideth in you and you need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teaches you all things and this Truth that is NO LIE, no counterfeit other translation says, and even as I have taught you, you shall abide in Him.” It’s wonderful that the promise, like we were hearing, that was given of the Holy Spirit, Spirit of Truth as it is called in some places. Called the Holy Ghost, called the Comforter. Several times Jesus spoke to it. He spoke about it as the Spirit of Truth. He said it would lead and guide us into all truth. We’ve had the

privilege, not just with ourselves personally, but observing in our brothers and sisters, in different lands, as well as this country, and that–God—is—living in the person of His son amongst His people, and that they are being led and guided into all truth, they don’t need some other source for teaching, they don’t need any other thing to turn to, they don’t need some books. They don’t need any kind of literature, but the Holy Spirit is teaching them and leading them and guiding them into all Truth. Now that doesn’t mean that everyone that is professing and believing and in this ministry, that everyone must understand every verse alike. It didn’t

mean that, but it does mean this, that the Doctrine we are believing in and the teaching that we are upholding and what we are living, would confirm that Christ has come in our flesh. Maybe difference of understanding about some things, but neither understanding would take the position that we are going to follow the course that our flesh would like to take, and make that kind of a decision about whatever the problem may be or the matter may be. There will be, and there is, that’s a Wonderful thing, and we can say that without any question, that of all the ones I’ve come to know, and others have come to know, in this world, where ever in this country of our home or through the world, that wherever there are those that are professing this, their spirit is the blessing that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.

Ye are of God, His little children. John, when he was writing this epistle, he spoke of those that would be born of God and he used the expression that who-so-ever be that would not sin, well he’s also said in this epistle, that if we say we have not sin, we lie, and if we say, we make him a liar, and if we say, I’ll just read those verses in the first chapter, if we say, verse eight, if we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves. The Truth is not in us, and then in verse ten, if we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, his words that is. And then in other, in the third chapter, it goes on to speak about, and the fourth, the fifth chapter, I would say, it goes on to speak about the person that should be born of God wouldn’t have sin, sinneth not. And we could look at that a little more closely ’cause,

another reason he wrote these things is to tell us at the beginning of the second chapter, is that we wouldn’t sin. Said, “These things have I written thee my little children, these things that I write unto you that you sin not. But that if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous, who is a propitiation, excuse me, who is the propitiation for our sin, not our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world. So, the provision of the blood of Christ is for the person that is unregenerate person who living in a dead Christ, as we were before we believed the Gospel, but the provision of the blood of Christ is also for the

believer, and for all of us, our only hope is in Calvary, but that does not mean that for provision for us to just go ahead and sin, because the blood of Christ is there to take care of us. If we can just make this statement without getting the wrong thought across, this is the plan of Jesus, this WAY that Christ came and taught, this Way that we are reading about here in these verses, never made provision for people to sin, just go ahead and sin, that will be taken care of, never, as we were reading there in Romans the other day, and that is what Paul said, some say that, that is what we say, said some slanderously say this and affirm that this is what we teach because he had said, “If our sin helps to show how righteous God is because if God be true and every man a liar, and if our lies serve to help to see people how honest and true God is, well, they said, ‘Then let’s just sin all the more and that’ll just make God appear to be all the more right, be all the more wrong, and we’ll show how much right , like, more right He is.’ He said, ‘God forbid that.’ He said, “People might say, well, my rights, my error of my ways, if my wrongness is to serve to show how right God, right God is, why do I get judged a sinner?’” God forbid that, so this WAY that we are given, and it isn’t just to

keep a provision open for us if we sin. But Christ wonderful provision to offer forgiveness to one that has sinned, without that we would have no hope, without that, we would be without hope today. Our only hope is Calvary, and no one can just say, “We’re without sin.” But we are glad that in this way of God, we have found Calvary, to deal with things we have been overcome with in the past. And a person is not just going to go on wantonly sinning, that’s not of God. You can’t do that because the seed that in him of the spirit of God wouldn’t condone that, wouldn’t permit that and it would keep us, might want to struggle with feelings, between one another and be jealous, things like that we all struggle with, but that would never have to become the boss, you wouldn’t have to listen to it, we wouldn’t have to feel it, we wouldn’t have to give it permission to rule and reign in our life. We’d have to completely subdue it and keep it from taking root, taking over, and we’d never become like Cain, we’d never become like that wicked one, we’d never sin like that, we’d be kept from that type of sin, where he went out and slew his brother. John, when he was writing this, put, just seemed, to make it so plain that if we say we love him, then we should walk as he walked. We should be, if we’re gonna say we are in fellowship with him, then we should be found keeping His commandments, because if we don’t, we are lying, we are not doing the job. John spoke so much, I forget, I counted it up here, how many times he spoke about the Truth, in this epistle, spoke a lot about the Truth, sometimes I fear when people ask us, when people refer to one another, say, “I’m in the Truth,” and there is something very right about that expression, but I think we need to be a little careful that we just kinda use it, almost like a name tag. Be a little careful about the name, but the truth, that’s a wonderful way to describe it and in the bible use it to describe what we believe, but it’s not just kind of a singular name tag we put on it, but the truth is Jesus, Jesus is the truth. Remember when Pilate asked Him, “Why, why don’t you fight for your kingdom? Every king that has ever had a kingdom in Israel, he has always fought to hold on to it,

either he dies on the throne or somebody’s going to take it away from him. You’re ready, why don’t you fight for it?” Well , Jesus said, “If My kingdom, were it

of this world, I’d fight for it , just like any other king would hold on to His kingdom. But My kingdom,” He said, “is not of this world, it’s from another source. My kingdom is now, it’s not from that other source, My kingdom is a heavenly kingdom, they couldn’t understand that,” and He just told Pilate, “This is the cause I came. I didn’t come to set up a kingdom here now, I didn’t come up and set up something to try to make a big show here now. I am trying to bear witness of the truth.” And He said, “Everyone that is of the truth, hears My voice.” That blind man, he was that day, unwilling, not loving truth himself. His last question that day to Jesus was, “What – is – truth?” So, we’re, we are so thankful that we have come to know the truth as it is in Jesus, and He will just prevent us from allowing things to grow and develop in our lives that would develop a hatred toward one another or toward our brother. Whosoever is born of God will not sin, in that respect, if trust, if we don’t love our brother that we can see, how can we love God whom we haven’t seen? Well, that was serious, Jesus spoke a lot about that in His ministry. We don’t forgive one another and that neither God can forgive us. That’s nothing to go around with the attitude that we have to, have to forgive

my brother, if I have to do it, I’ll do it. Like we were mentioning to some recently, what, what if God was like that toward us? What about the hymn that says, “Thou doesn’t delight to put our wrongs aside, as from our hearts we purpose to abide.” That’s what John is speaking about in this chapter, the Lord delights to put our wrongs aside, as from our hearts we purpose to abide. As there is a right repentance, a confession, we confess our sin, like it says, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Well, a soul that’s experiencing that relationship with God, and that’s keeping true, and that keeping right with God, by that means, He is anxious to extend that to another. Being forgiving and I do believe, so subtly, that the other way there, we need help to subdue that from God. That I think, is in the long run, as we keep true to God, keep loving God, keep loving His provision for forgiveness for us, we learn to love the privilege to forgive others, not something we are going to have to do, it’s not going to be a commandment that’s grievous to us. It’s something we have to do, that’s a grievous commandment, love, forgive one another, if that’s what you have to do, that’s grievous, and John said that was one of the evidences, that of the signs that we were right and that we are a child of God, is that we find that His commandments are not grievous. When he mentioned in that fifth chapter, by this we know that we love the children of God and keep His commandments for this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments and His commandments are not grievous. That would be a burdensome thing, we were hearing about the way, how they were fighting greater battles. That’s so true, more stern will grow the conflict as nears our Lord’s return, those alone kept faithful, and from them God ask nothing, but to unlatch the door, living in His truth, that they can conquer

ever more. But this is the other beauty, dying to our own will, denying yourself, taking up your cross, standing out, fighting reproach from others, that’s what that means, I think, the way I understand it, there always will be struggles and test yourself, this would just help to put self into subjection each day, that His will could be done in your life, well, then when we walk out into the world where people are just living for their own will and their own self, doing their own thing as they say, you are going to get some reproach because they are going to look down on you and despise you, just like they despised the Lord when He lived that way. Selfless people are going to be looked down upon by selfish people. And bearing our cross, we don’t mind that, we can follow Him. I just love this expression, I think this is what it means, maybe it will help us to understand. In the third chapter, my little children, in verse eighteen, speaks about us understanding the love of

God, this isn’t the way we really perceive it, this is the way we’ve got to know it, understand it, is that Christ lay down His life for us, verse sixteen, so then we ought to lay down our lives for our brethren. That’s the way that would work, well, we can see the love of God. In that earlier chapter, that second chapter , John spoke of that , just the way Jesus said about it. A new commandment, a new commandment I give unto you, said the old commandments you’ve had from the beginning, thou shalt love, we were taught that as children, to love, bringing up, to love one another, and we struggled with that at times, and to love our parents, and to love others, we’ve been taught that, that’s wonderful, wonderful what’s within the range the human family, to do limited well by a perfect stranger, anger, in anger, or we can’t perform any work that will make us right eternally, but even in the natural family, God has given a potential there to glorify the one that made

us, there is a love in the human family, when we used, utilize it, when used and practiced, is greater, it’s greater, it’s far above what you could ever see in any other creation. When it is utilized, but we have been exposed to a far greater love. Not just the love that mother had for us, and father had for us, which we become more and more thankful for as time goes on, we just become so thankful and so grateful for having had the little bit of love, normal, maybe bringing up. We’ve seen children go out sometimes into unpleasant situations, parents didn’t love them and parents didn’t love each other, left each other and left ’em with other people, lots of incidents like that. Sometimes happens because the flesh is weak and it just makes us thankful, and it makes us thankful for our parents loved us and we weren’t exposed to that kind of love as children, but however, in the first commandment and the law was, when it was given to people, was given to unregenerate people was a spiritual law given to carnal men and when they are asked to love one another, that family from the beginning was to the extent to which God put in them humanly to do. But He said, “We have a need for that.” He said, “This thing, it’s true in Him,” verse eight, “New commandment I write unto you, which then is true in Christ,” in other words, the truth of this commandment is seen in Him. And in you because the darkness is past and the true light now shines, well, we’ve listened here in the meetings, heard again about the sacrifice of Christ and His leaving heavens glory to come to earth to live for us, the Sinless One dying for us as sinners, the just dying for the unjust, the one that was godly for the ungodly. We have been shown a love, exposed to a love that is far greater that human love. The full expression of the divine love of God in Jesus. God so loved the world, that He gave His Son. And with the giving of His Son, and

the living of His Son amongst us, and His dying on Calvary, everything showed us that God loved man, and showed us the love of God, and even showed us that

kind of love and we feel moved by that kind of love, so now we can love one another even as Christ loved us, that knows no boundary. We read in first Corinthians thirteen, that speaks about love that endures all things, but when you keep a record of wrong, keep a record of evil, things like that are able to conquer everything.

Nothing can withstand it, so glad that we’ve come to know about that, and like it says, for us, many of us that are walking in this way, we’re just gonna feel unworthy, hope we never feel that way. We’re always gonna feel unworthy, and that doesn’t just give us an excuse to slouch off, if I can use that expression, but even when we are giving him a our best, giving it our all, we are going to feel like in our own hearts, we’re not doing enough. Well, I love the expression where it says, “Love neither in deed, not in words, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth,” verse eighteen of the third chapter, and hereby none are of the truth, this is the way we’ll know we are in the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him or it says how we will set our hearts at rest, that when our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and no thought brings, we love, if our hearts condemn us enough, not then we have confidence towards God, regardless of our unworthiness, that doesn’t disqualify us as children of God. It qualifies us, but don’t let that feeling of unworthiness be the last feeling you have. Let us understand this, that God is greater than our hearts, He knows all things, there is a way that our hearts can be put at rest, you don’t have to be restless with a feeling of unworthiness, but we can see that God counts us worthy through the blood of His Son as we continue to love Him and follow Him even though we fall short of the perfection that is in Him, as we continue to abide in Him, let that Holy Spirit abide in us, His Holy Spirit, then we’ll have peace with God.

In Exodus 12, we read the account of the first passover. God had spoken to the children of Israel many times before this but this was a message of hope, that their bondage would be over and they would know of the freedom of serving God. God’s message to us here is one of hope, that we would go out into the future with the hope of doing better than we have done before, of having the power of God on our side as we continue to submit to Him and to obey Him.

The children of Israel were told to take a lamb, to keep it in the home for four days and then to slay that lamb, and put its blood on the lintel and the doorposts of the house where they were going to eat it. During those four days, they would see the nature of that lamb and there would be impressions made on their hearts. Then they were to slay the lamb, and this would enable the children of Israel to be blood-covered, and God could accept them because of their obedience, and that would not come upon them, that sorrow and loss that was to come upon Egypt.

God said that they were not to partake of it raw or sodden with water. He didn’t want them to partake of it just as they wanted. They were to eat it, the head with the legs, and with herbs, and because of their obedience it brought new life. As they partook of that lamb, they would be strengthened to journey as God wanted them to journey, and they would appreciate the deliverance God brought to them, that they would be no more in bondage.

Surely there have been things in our lives that have brought us into bondage, but the message has come to us as we feed upon this Lamb, that we can be strengthened to continue on because that bondage has been broken. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, left the glories of Heaven, came to this earth, set us an example of how to please God. He shed His blood and as we are willing to humble ourselves and repent, we can be cleansed, our sins forgiven, and we can be sheltering under the blood as were the children of Israel.

As we continue to follow Jesus, God in His mercy forgives us and accepts us, because of the shed blood of Jesus. Christ intercedes for us. Think of the love that we should have for Christ because of Him being willing to die that we might live. I would like to have a greater love for Christ because, “While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” Love begets love. As God’s love is extended to us, there should be a love begotten in us for Christ. Our service to God should be one because of love.

The blood was on the side posts of the door. Someone once said that it was to show that there was nothing between that family and the family next door. Both had forgiveness through the blood. There was a oneness and a unity. Jesus said that unless we are willing to forgive one another, God will not forgive us. Paul to the Ephesians spoke of forgiving, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven us. As Christ dwells in our hearts, surely, for His sake, we can forgive one another.

Jesus said, “I do always those things that please the Father.” As that Lamb is within us and we retain Him there, it gives us the desire to do always the things that please the Father, and be a right example in this world.

In Isaiah we read that God provides quiet resting places. That is like Convention, Special Meetings, and our fellowship meetings. Having this Lamb within our hearts will help us to make the most of the quiet resting places God gives us as we journey on, that we might finish our course with joy.

I have enjoyed some songs in the Bible. Ephesians 5:19, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Paul wrote a similar thought to the Colossians. It is good to sing and encourage one another. We sing in meeting and other times, too. It is nice when the songs of God are springing forth from our hearts. Live life like a song—full of joy. Our song can be silent, seen not heard. Why do we sing in meeting? It’s not just a filler! We sing and blend our voices and hearts. That is the first reason. Our hymns express the feelings of all our hearts. A second reason is it is an opportunity to adjust the feelings of our hearts. We may come into the meeting not too settled. Perhaps we feel rushed. Hymns help to get our hearts in tune with Heaven. Choose them carefully. Make your hymn a suitable choice. Somebody prayed, “Let us sing the songs of victory but also learn the lessons of defeat.” We can use our failures to become wiser and more careful next time. Revelation 15:3 tells of the song of Moses and of the Lamb. This is the same song.

The first song in the Bible is Exodus 15. The last song is this in Revelation, the Song of the Lamb. There are many in between. There are many similarities. There are similarities in the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb and all the others. They are all written to the same theme: redemption. Let us look at some of these songs, not the songs so much, but the experience that produced them.

Exodus 15, the background: the children of Israel were slaves in Egypt. There was no song then. There was crying and groaning that God could hear and He remembered His covenant with Abraham. It was time to lead them out. He raised up Moses and Aaron. He sent ten plagues. Each produced a greater separation from Egypt. There was a work going on in their hearts making them different. They had different thoughts, feelings, ambitions, pleasures to the world around them. The Egyptians hated sheep. The Israelites kept lambs in their homes, then killed them. They put blood on their doors and feasted on lamb. They were delivered and there was a song.

Hannah’s song. 1 Samuel 2, Things were in a very sad condition. There was spiritual darkness. It was hard for a person like Hannah. She came to convention. She prayed faithfully. This was not just for her own benefit. She prayed for a child and she would return him to the Lord. She was prepared to put the best of teaching into his life, and then to give him back. It cost a lot of tears. There had been much sadness but it turned to joy and a song came. Sometimes birds lose their song. Hens lay eggs and cackle. But then comes molting season; there are no feathers, no eggs and no cackling! Their song came with fruitfulness. It was similar in Hannah’s life. She felt discouraged and unfruitful, but a change came. She sang about the Lord raising up the beggar and setting him among princes, sons of a king. I am enjoying such spiritual privileges, sitting among princes and princesses.

A song of David. Psalm 40:2, “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.” He was in such an awkward situation, a pit with slippery clay. He had no power to remove himself. He cried to God for help. God set his feet on a rock. Through the Gospel we are picked up and set on the rock of Christ. Asaph had a song, Psalm 73. This is similar. He said his feet had nearly slipped. He was looking at foolishness in the world and he grew envious of the prosperity of the wicked. That became his goal, but the sanctuary experience lifted him out of the pit. In Psalm 40, David had a new song, a song many would see. He would show his song. He had a son, Solomon. Solomon wrote a song, the Song of Solomon, about the bride seeking for her bridegroom. It gives a picture of the joy in being united with our Bridegroom.

2 Chronicles 29, here we have Hezekiah’s song. Verse 27, “And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also…” There was a time when there was no song because there was no sacrifice. Hezekiah became king at 25 years of age. His father was a very wicked king, and there was much wickedness and disorder. The doors of the temple were closed. There was no light, no incense, no daily burnt offering. What if the door of our hearts should close? The incense represented prayer, so no prayer life, no sacrifice. It would be a sad picture if our hearts’ doors would be shut. There would be no light, no prayer, no life, no sacrifice. The first thing Hezekiah did was to open the door and carry out all the filthiness. I don’t know what all that was, but I do know it is very easy for the world and self to get into our hearts. Then they could begin the daily sacrifice. He was king for 29 years. How soon did he start to set things in order? Verses 3, 7.

The first year. Which month? The first month! Which day? The first day! There are things here He wants to set in order. When will we start? Start today. This is the first day of the first month of the first year. Verse 34. There were many sacrifices made that day and there was need for many priests. There were too few. The Levites came to help. They were accepting extra responsibilities. Then other priests saw the need and sanctified themselves.

Psalm 37 is a song about the Babylonian captivity. How could they sing His song in a strange land? They hung up their harps; they weren’t even trying to sing. However, Daniel and his friends in very difficult circumstances were able to sing the Lord’s song.

There was a song at Jesus’ birth. Luke 1 and 2 gives 4 songs: Mary, Zechariah, the angels and Simeon. They all had the same wonderful theme of deliverance.

Matthew 26. Jesus went to Gethsemane. They sang a hymn first. They had the Book of Psalms. I wonder what they sang in that last meeting.

Revelation 5, the song of the Lamb: There were 4 beasts and 24 elders all singing praise to Jesus, the Lamb. All the angels of Heaven joined in, 10,000 times 10,000 voices blending in. Then every creature joined in. I want to learn it better, praise for deliverance, thanks for the Redeemer.

Luke 22:28, “Ye are they which have continued with Me in My temptations. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my father has appointed unto Me, that ye may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom.”

I Corinthians 11:27, “Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the LORD unworthily, shall he guilty of the body and blood of the LORD but let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of THAT bread and drink of THAT cup. For he that and drinketh unworthily, eat drinketh damnation to himself not discerning the LORD’s body.

Having cancer concentrates one’s thoughts, makes one look at life more seriously. Recently, when I found out I have cancer of the lungs, I said to the oncologist, “Please you can be straight with me, I have been a missionary for fifty years and death has no terror for me.” Something that’s true for all of us, whatever our situation we’re in might be, the very best is yet in store for us, as long as we entrusted our life to His hands.

The words I just read were spoken by Jesus in his last meeting with His disciples–you have continued with Me in My temptations. Some of the temptations Jesus had to go through the disciples knew nothing about, like those He had to face in His forty days out in the wilderness, but some they went through with Jesus; they were learning some lessons that would fit them to sit at His table in His kingdom.

The place of the servant. When there was strife amongst them as to who would be accounted the greatest, Jesus said “I am among you as he that serveth.” He took a basin and washed their feet–he gave an example of what to do to one another. The true depth of that action they would only understand later and not then. Later, they would understand that Jesus knew already that they would run away; He still washed; He knew that Judas would betray Him; He still washed. If in our life here we want to be number one, have a big place–can we sit down with one who would choose the lowly place of a servant?

Deceitful popularity. When Jesus fed the multitudes, it resulted in a wave of popularity. People wanted to elevate Him and worship Him–and Jesus chose to flee on board ship, for Him popularity was a dangerous atmosphere, a situation to be avoided. If in our life we seek praise and popularity, we cannot sit at His table.

Willing to be broken. When the five thousand were fed, at the end they picked up what was left, so nothing was lost and twelve baskets were filled. What they found were not whole loaves and whole fish but only fragments. Only fragments that had been willing for the breaking, that can be used. We must be willing for the breaking up of our own ideas, friendships–He taught them what to do when they would receive human popularity

Removing the dross. In Luke 9:54, the most gentle and loving disciple John asks Jesus, after the Samaritans refused to receive them, “Lord wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” This would be the same if workers, after having no response to gospel meeting, contemplate using machine guns to mow them down. Jesus replies, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.” John learnt something. Something had to be refined out of him. At the British Museum I inquired about the way gold was refined 2000 years ago. It had to go through great heat and the dross had to be brought to the surface to be taken out. Sometimes circumstances come that bring up the worst of human nature, evil things. Just be honest about it, and let the LORD refine it out, let the LORD deal with it.

Lowering the standard. In Mark 10:17 we read about a young man wanting to know what to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus reminds him of the commandments and is told that he observed them from youth. Jesus, beholding him loved him. But when this rich young man is asked to give up his riches and follow him, the young man was sad at that saying and went away. Jesus did not go and say, “In your special case, we change the conditions.” The conditions never change. If they would change, we would never be allowed to sup at the table.

Start of the Gospel Doctrine: Often we are asked who started our fellowship, our doctrine, ministry? We are not interested in tracing personalities. Some say this way started with Jesus, but it began earlier. It began with God. He gave Jesus the Gospel, the Doctrine. ‘As thou hast sent me, so have I sent them’–the same way–God started it all–it’s the foundation on which we stand.

Accepting suffering. When Jesus started to show His disciples how He would suffer many things from the chief priests and scribes and be killed, Peter rebuked Him and said, “Be it far from thee LORD, this shall not be unto Thee” (in the Greek it is translated as “Jesus, pity Thyself.”) Self-pity would not allow us to sit down with Him. Whatever our LORD was willing to go though, we must be willing for. In Jesus, we have the right teaching, the teaching that will be the same, right through till eternity; that prepares us to sit at the table.

Purge out wrong leaven. At the last meeting Jesus had with His disciples, He gave out the bread and wine, and they partook of the emblems. As they did eat, He said that, “One of you shall betray Me,” and they asked “LORD is it I?” Let every man examine himself when he partakes of the emblems. This is our own responsibility, to examine this personal relationship we have with GOD. If we partake of it unworthily, we eat and drink damnation unto ourselves. Every time I partake of the emblems, I feel that I am unworthy, as the greatest sinner of all does. That I would eat and drink damnation unto myself? This could happen if I would not discern the LORD’s body. If we are conscious we are partaking of the LORD’s body, then despite our shortcomings, we may partake worthily. At that time they most likely broke unleavened bread. Jesus’ life was like unleavened bread, with no wrong leaven of this world in it. Purge out old leaven. Examine yourself if you are leavened with wrong leaven.

Leaven of Hypocrisy. In Madagascar, 20 years ago nobody professed, and now there are 180 attending convention, 12 were baptized and 10 Malagasy are in the work–things are going well. There, they have a name for hypocrisy; the rush mat off the wall. They keep a mat on the wall that is always kept clean. When visitors come, they quickly take off this mat and place it on the floor, on top of all the dirt, to make the room look nice. When the visitors are gone, the rush mat goes back up onto the wall. On Sunday mornings, examine yourself for the leaven of hypocrisy.

Leaven of our own doctrine. The Pharisees had their own doctrine, their leaven. There is only one right doctrine, one right standard, and that is the standard of Jesus. If someone tells you of different levels of truth, it’s a lie; don’t listen.

Forgiveness. When the angel of death came to Egypt, the Israelites were found having their door frames marked with the blood of the unblemished lamb. The blood marking the upper post sheltered them from above. But if we want true forgiveness, then we also have to forgive our neighbours; the blood also has to cover our sideposts.

Doctrine without blemish. The lamb whose blood was to be used to mark the posts had to be carefully chosen and examined. It had to be without blemish, only then was it to be slain. We have the teachings of Jesus, acknowledge them untainted. The teachings, like the lamb, must be without blemish. The doctrine that Jesus brought is the only doctrine that will give us the right to claim shelter. If you have examined the lamb, found it without blemish, then go inside and feed upon it, “Ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning.”

Show TRUE Standard. There is only one truth, one standard, the standard we have in Jesus. In Psalm 48 we read of the city of the great King. GOD is known in her palaces. What makes a residence a palace? The sovereign is living there. At Buckingham Palace people always ask, “Is the Queen inside?” There is one sure sign she is in–when the royal standard, the royal flag, is flown on top of the roof. If she leaves the palace, then the flag goes on to her car. There should be evidence of a royal standard on us because the King reigns within. When the Queen visits the Duke of York, the moment the front wheel of her car touches the moat, his standard is lowered and hers is raised.

Keep standard high, no matter what. It should be like this with the gospel, when it takes root in our heart a new standard is displayed. When a British ship of war had to fight 53 ships of the Spanish armada, it did not look well, and the captain gave order to nail the standard to the top of the mast so nobody can take it down. It should be like this with us too. One day an old lady came to me and said, “I know that you people have no wireless and no papers, I just come to say, ‘The king is dead.’” That day the royal standard was lowered, it was flown at half mast. The king is dead.

Show Different Standard. If the king is reigning, then the royal standard must be found at the top of the mast. We must show a different standard, a right standard to the world. We must have a different standard in business, no tax evasion, not with a child of GOD. We must have a different standard in our home, in bringing up our children, the standard of the right doctrine that we have in Jesus. Sometimes we don’t attain to it, but that does not give us the right to alter the standard. We must just try harder. When the soldiers practice target shooting and miss, they adjust their sights on the guns; they don’t change the target.

Struggle to attain standards. “I have found David, My servant, in whom My hand shall be established.” When GOD chose David, he was still a young shepherd. What qualities did he have to make the LORD choose him? He had learnt how to play the harp, the harp he later played to King Saul when the evil spirits were upon him–and they departed. He also learnt how to use the sling. He had plenty of target practice so when he was chosen to fight Goliath, it was not the first time he used the sling. Keep trying. The Lord knows our frame and remembers that we are but dust, so don’t struggle to lower standard, but struggle to attain it.

Beware of the leaven of Herod. Herod was a prince of this world, this social set. It is so easy for worldly things to creep into our lives, into our homes, if we are not careful. In Madagascar, there was a rich lady that professed and her home was about the only one suitable for fellowship meetings. The problem was she also had a television set. When we asked her about the meeting and told her about the TV, she just said “What’s stopping you from taking down the aerial?” and sold her TV too. Something else that takes away our time is computers. All kinds of programs are available and some young people get hooked on them, same way as being hooked on TV. Be careful about the way young people use computers.

Appearance. Another sign of Herod’s leaven is Fashion. Fashions change and hardly ever last longer than some years. There is no change of standard in God’s kingdom; modesty and moderation. Obviously, one would dress differently on the beach but one can always stay modest. In Madagascar, the first lady who ever professed was my language teacher. When Lucie professed her dresses were okay, but not what we like. One day I got a picture from her to send to friends. It was an old picture, and I got a felt tip pen, lowered the dress and asked a photographer if it’s okay to take a new photo of the picture. I showed Lucie, and within two weeks all her dresses were long.

Hair. Sometimes we see hair cut shoulder length, sometimes cut short. The Bible teaches us that sisters serving the LORD should have long hair, as a sign of submission. Jesus was begotten of the Father, everything else was created. There was an order, the angels were put into position of power and man below the angels. Unisex fashion is contrary to GOD’S order. Some angels also rebelled against the order of GOD and broke away. When women grow their hair long, they show they are willing to fit into GOD’s order of creation. When they start cutting it, they show they are not willing to fit in. I visited a home once with four daughters, teenagers. Two of them set a good example, no trousers, hair okay. We asked the two if they get much reproach at school and they said, “Yes; but what hurts is the reproach we get from the other professing girls.” Some might think uncle Ken is a bit of a Fuddy-Duddy. People should not be careless in dressing. On a very hot day in Madagascar, I wore just open sandals, pants and an open necked bush shirt. At the post office, I met an American lady who could not speak the language, and I helped her. She asked me what I was doing and when I told her I was a missionary, she said, “Well, you are the swingiest missionary that I have ever seen.”

Example to Children. As parents, always direct your children’s interest towards the kingdom. In England, we had tent missions–the outlook your children will get will always depend upon the way your tent is pitched. Take care yours is pitched right, way towards the kingdom. Tell them how much it means to you, tell them about the time when workers came. When Moses grew up, he was surrounded by the riches of Egypt, but his mother managed to hold on to something for him that after forty years, he came out of it all right. We must be careful to put out of our heart the leaven of hypocrisy and worldliness.

Borders. In Australia, I visited in an area where there were thousands of sheep. I was thinking about all the work that had to go into repairing the fences. One day we were driving and came across four lonely sheep, on the middle of the road. They were in a very dangerous place, dangerous to themselves and dangerous to cars. If the sheep would have kept near the shepherd, they would not have needed fences. If you see people looking for loopholes in the fences, they are not close to the shepherd where it is safe.

Malice. Look into your heart and see if there is something you are not prepared to forgive. When we die, there is only one thing that we can give to GOD and that is our spirit. Some of the most serious words mentioned in the Bible are in chapter 18, verse 23 of Matthew. A servant who owed ten thousand talents to his master, after pleading was forgiven the debt. That servant found a fellow servant owed him hundred peace, but would not forgive him his debt and cast him into prison. When his master was told about it, he was wroth and delivered him to his tormentors till his debt was fully paid. Through Christ, GOD has forgiven us every sin, from youth up. But if I am not willing to forgive others, all my sins will come back again. Be careful to root out the leaven of malice.

Despite our own unworthiness we can partake of the emblems if we have no leaven in us. In the book of Revelation, we read in chapter 5 how John is told of one of the elders, “Weep not, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book.” We think of greatness, power, fearlessness. But when John turned around, in the midst of the throne stood a Lamb as it had been slain. Sometime in the world’s history, we hear of great victory parades, but none is greater than the parade when Jesus walked from the judgment hall to the Mount of Calvary. We should follow him down this narrow lane. When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality . . . then death is swallowed up in victory. Not the victory we obtained, but because of Christ’s death on Calvary. In Colossians 1:2, we read of the greatest miracle ever mentioned in the Bible. Greater than creation, the miracles performed in Egypt. In the body of his flesh through death our LORD Jesus can present us unblameable, unreproveable and undefiled; can take our mere mortal body and present it without flaw. If I would not believe this I would not be standing here.

Sometimes our vision is so limited. Sometimes we need to lift up our eyes to see the KING in all his beauty, what He is leading us on to–the day when He comes again. Lazarus was not dead, he was just asleep, asleep in Christ. When Christ will wake us up, He will wake us to no more tears, no more pain. A holy city coming down out of Heaven, prepared as a bride for her husband… “and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.” Live for nothing else and keep the royal standard flying at the top of the mast.

II Corinthians 3: “Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation from you? Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men.” Do we have a letter to give to others about ourselves? What kind of letter would we send; written out of the sports page? Or the finance page? Or the society page? It is just a thought, but it is good to have a clean page, something clear, something that people can read and do not have to guess, do not have to ask.

Hymn 396 “A Little While” was sung.

Today is the first day of December and this week I have my 50th anniversary in the Work. People, factories, companies, friends and so on, have their 50th anniversaries and I have wondered where I would be on my 50th. I am glad that I am here. It is not of my choosing. Let God choose your course and your friends, and you will not be disappointed.

Sometimes in the beginning the choice is made and the course is set and you wonder. The major decisions I don’t regret though I have made mistakes. I had an Art scholarship. The teacher and others wanted me to go through with it with no course costs. But when you come to the end of life, what is it going to do for you? My dad was building houses and apartments and wanted us to build more houses, have thousands of them, but in the end that would mean nothing. When you come to the end of the line, what will it mean to you?

I came to Gospel meetings, made my choice, and fifty years ago I left home. Dad said, “You will be back in five years.” I got on a bus and about a mile or so down the road there was a rest stop and everybody got off. That day there was clear talking from Satan saying, “Get off this bus. You can still go back. The door will still be open.” I sat there alone. Some of those things you don’t understand and you wonder what has kept you, but maybe, like Paul, you can say, “Having received help from God, I continue unto this day.” Something there was helping Paul.

I was heading to somewhere I didn’t know because I had never been there. I was meeting a companion I had never heard of, but it was not very long before I realized that I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Going out from this Convention, lift your eyes to new horizons, new possibilities, greater depths. God wants us to prove Him, that He can be all to us. It is only as we give of our best that we can taste of His best. As we give our all, we find that it is not enough. A coyote runs with one leg in the air and only uses it when there is a lack. It is only as we give our all we lack and find that it’s not enough, and there we find Christ coming into it and His work is revealed that would not be there otherwise.

I wrote to Charles Preston, “Why is there not someone in Taiwan? There are fifty countries where there are no Servants, no sowers. How about the people?” He wrote back, “I have been waiting for someone to go with me.” I wrote back, “Let’s go.” It was not all that easy, but anyway that was forty years ago. I didn’t know the language. There were no churches, no Conventions, nothing. It was a poor country but there were people waiting for the Gospel, and that is what we want to be concerned about.

We are not doing these things in human strength. Human strength comes by determination but spiritual strength comes through submission. Human strength has its limitations and it does not last all that long, but if you have that divine strength to just be submitting daily, it will take you to the end. Submission is the right source, and then the right One, God, can undertake for us.

I have been getting letters saying things like, “This is our fiftieth anniversary.” They make an album of the photos of their children, grandchildren and so on. I can’t say I can get all mine together, but I do have an album of 2nd, 3rd and 4th generations. We have left all, and what do we have? Homes a hundred fold and eternal life. We have homes. The best I could have done would be to have one home, but I have many homes now. Some homes we visited were on the verge of splitting up till the Gospel came but they are now lovely homes with a meeting in the home.

It is not our plan. It is costly to say “Yes”, but sometimes more costly to say, “No.” God has something in mind if we are just willing to launch out.

Soon we will all separate and go back to schools, jobs, cows, sheep and so forth. Will you be going back to the same ruts? They are waiting for you. How long can we keep out of them before we slide back into the same old rut? There is lots of teaching here regarding making your paths straight that the lame may not be turned outside, but it is for your walking, being willing to deal with some of these things.

We can read in Luke 5 of what Jesus had told Peter. Then in verse 4 it says, “When he had left speaking…” That is what has been going on here. Jesus said to Peter, “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.” Why have we not done it before? Fears and doubts hinder us. Many people are comfortable on the shore, or in ankle deep water, sometimes too busy to launch out. It may be an experience we have not done before. It is in obedience to the words of Jesus that brings us to where things await us in the deep.

If soldiers are always on the defensive they get discouraged. Even if you are on the defensive you have got to get new ground. It requires some action. Don’t slip back. There are mountains to climb, more experiences waiting for us in the deep, in obedience to Jesus. You are not going to launch out into the deep if you depend on your reasoning. When Jesus put the clay on that man’s eyes, or when He filled the pots with water, who would have thought of it? If it is in obedience it is a miracle. What Jesus did in feeding the 5000 with five loaves and two fishes was like saying, “Sit down and we will fill you up.” These experiences are waiting in the deep.

II John 8: “Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.” Deceivers have entered in. One thing that can hinder us from receiving a full reward is when Satan uses men and women, mothers and fathers, and deceives us. This relationship we have with God we want to preserve. Is God dealing with you?

A young Taiwanese boy wanted to go into the Work. His sister was a Worker and she said, “No” to him. She discouraged him. He came to me and said, “Why did she say ‘No?’” He said to me, “I know it’s got to be an experience from God hasn’t it?” He went into the Work.

Money deceives people. They may think, “If I had more I could help more.” What a deception that is. To have a full reward we must be willing to pay the full price. Satan would say, “You don’t have to pay the full price. Get something cheaper,” spiritually speaking that is. God orders experiences to come to see if we are willing to pay the full price.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. A man finds it with joy, sells all he has and buys the field. He willingly pays the full price to buy the field. Lots of people buy the field with no treasure. They are spending a lot of time and effort but there is no treasure. There is a price to pay for the field with treasure. We may try to buy the field on the installment plan, and because of that we don’t have the treasure.

A man went looking for gold. He found the gold and filed a claim. Someone wanted to buy the claim for $25 but he wouldn’t sell it and he lived to see eight million dollars worth of gold taken out of that claim. We had better not sell the treasure but be willing to labour there. It would be terrible to spend only fifteen minutes in a gold mine.

A Worker had her two legs injured in an accident and a little boy wanted to give her all that was in his bank. He emptied it out into my hands. There were fifty dollar bills and ten dollar bills. I said, “Not all of it.” He said, “I want to give my all.” I said, “I will write and tell her.” Our all is not measured in dollars, but it is measured by our all. Give your all, or it is not your all. That widow gave two cents. It was not very much, but it was costly because it was her all. To give our all is to give our best.

I went to have a meal with a man who had three sons and a daughter in the Work. He takes this big wok off the flame and gives me some sweet potatoes. I wrote home and said I was enjoying the best. A few years later I went home and went to stay with some folks. They said, “Take the car and visit.” I said I would take the older car, but they insisted I take the Mercedes Benz. When I arrived at my visit they said, “Oh it’s you.” I said, “We are enjoying the best.” There was no difference between the sweet potatoes and the Mercedes Benz. We sometimes have to pay the price to fit in.

Do you give your best? You had better be learning how to give your best. We want to learn how to serve with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. That is the only way we will know how to give our best. II Corinthians 6:17-18: “‘Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters,’ saith the Lord Almighty.” That will help us to get a full reward.

A young couple professed and it was twenty years later that they began to come out from among their relatives and friends. They said to us, “Just now we are beginning to understand the Gospel.” It was just because before this they could not pay the price to come out.

If a person is murmuring and complaining, they are not paying the price. It is wonderful to go to a home where the children are not complaining about the food. Some whine about this or that, and it may be because they hear their parents whine. They don’t know what the cost is, or how to pay the price. A sister Worker told us, “I don’t want anyone to know the price I pay.” She had a tumour on the brain and was often suffering severe headaches. Pay the full price to fit in with companions, with husband and wife. To say, “The better way is my way,” is not fitting in.

A person may be able to play beautiful music on their own but in the orchestra they may not be so beautiful because in the orchestra they must fit in. It is important to live before God. Our weapons are not carnal but are before God. Living before men weakens us, but living before God strengthens us.

Hebrews 6:1: “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith towards God.” Sometimes at every Convention we mess around with these foundation stones. For the next Convention, let us go on and build on that sure foundation. We will need fireproof material and that will be costly.

I went to see our older brother Irvine Pearson. We talked about the future. We often hear young people talking about the future. It is wonderful we have a future.

I was reading in those chapters we have about Jesus back in Eternity with that wonderful glorified body. There is a difference between the resurrection of Lazarus and the resurrection of Jesus. John 11:15, Jesus said He was glad He was not there so that they would believe. He raised Lazarus from the dead, yes, but they had seen others raised….not just to believe Jesus could raise the dead but so that they would believe in the resurrection. The other disciple went into the sepulchre and he really believed. I have read this verse hundreds of times in different languages. He went in and saw and believed. In Verse 44, Jesus said, “Loose him and let him go.” They used to wrap dead people round and around. Jesus was buried the same way as the Jews. Jesus could come out through closed doors and windows. They saw the clothes exactly as they had been around the body, but lying flat because there was no body there. Anyone would know no one could put those clothes back like that. The body came right through those clothes. I have seen those bodies on the shelves in Madagascar, and it could not be done, for those clothes to look like they were (after Jesus rose). John 20:17, Jesus said, “I go to My Father and your Father.” Before His death and after, this spiritual family is not broken by death; “The whole family in heaven and earth.” (Ephesians 3:15)

Jesus could come right in when the doors were closed. “My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth.” To have a peace that goes on into Eternity isn’t that wonderful? “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil.” We can face the last enemy, “death,” with peace. Not as the world giveth…this peace goes right on into Eternity.

You know how God sent Jesus into the world, and He sent His disciples that way. This is the only ministry that is recognized in Heaven. “As My Father hath sent Me, so send I you.” It was not just Jesus who planned it that way. We are so grateful today that we have this ministry. We are so deeply concerned about it. When we think of the need and other countries that are calling out for workers and we haven’t any to send, we pray, and we hope you are praying. We hope God can lay a claim on some young lives. We hope to have three tent missions out this year but when I went out in the work, we had nine tent missions out every year. We plead that some young souls can be touched.

I’m glad those wounds in the hands and feet of Jesus are still there in Eternity. The precious blood that was shed on Calvary is still just as precious as it ever was. Every sin we ever committed can be wiped away. If we counted them all up, none of us could lift our heads. He gives us a completely clean future with not a blot on it; its wonderful, but even more wonderful is that we can have a clean past as well as a clean future.

Chapter 21:5-6, Peter was a fisherman and here a carpenter is telling him how to fish!! But he felt Jesus said it and it must be so. Unquestioning obedience will take us on into Eternity. Just how the Lord did it. He said this after they had been fishing all night and had caught nothing, but He waited until they had got the very best and then He laid His claim on their lives. They just walked away and followed Him. Verse 9-12, they saw a fire and fish and He said, “Come and dine.” Such a humble service Lord of lords and King of kings. The spirit of a little child is Eternal.

Peter was a wonderful man. He denied the Lord three times. I wonder how he felt. Jesus just looked at him and it broke his heart and he went out and wept. He swore and cursed three times and He asked Peter if he loved Him. Verse 17, “You know all things, you know all about me, what I said and how I cursed, but you also know that I love you.” There are times in our lives when that is all that we can say or do – we just bow and say, “I am sorry.” But you know more than that, I cursed and etc. “You know that I love you.” This was what the Lord was looking for. God does not look for our perfection. He looks for our affection. I know that I am not any great member of this family but I love the Lord. It is in as much as we love one another that we prove our love to the Lord.

I am sorry that I cannot be at any of the Special Meetings but my health does not permit it. I am sure that you will have a very helpful day together and find much to help you go onwards together in His will.

First of all, you may wonder how I am doing myself, so I had better tell you. I am very glad to be out of Hospital and with my sister, Joyce, in her home. We have all the care we need, both medical and otherwise. I am still able to move around on the level, with a walking aid, and can manage the stairs a couple of times a day. However my energy level continues to go down little by little. Actually I only weigh 6 stone 10 (94 lbs, our scales in Canada) now so not a lot left! I am surely very grateful not to have any pain at all. I do not know how long the next stretch of road may be, but the Lord makes no error in the timing of our affairs as we keep in His will, and it will be perfect. The future is bright ahead for us all and I have rest and peace of heart. This old world gets worse and worse and we all look forward to that wonderful day when He will return to claim His own.

As you know, the responsibility for guiding things here in England now comes on to Dennis and Ben. This was not some decision made just recently, but was decided after much prayer and concern, along with consultation with older brothers in other places. We are glad that our older brother Harold is still there with his many years of experience to help. Dennis and Ben work together in full cooperation and have my confidence. We have talked over things for the future, right through to preps, conventions and even next years’ Workers List. Obviously, its not possible to be definite about some things yet, but things will continue to move forward quietly as we have been doing – no sudden changes or innovations. We are all in His fold and the Good Shepherd of the sheep is still there and He will continue to guard and keep His own. So I encourage you to move forward together, hand in hand and heart to heart, keeping united and giving all your help to those who will be your guides.

Now, maybe I can give a little thought that I have enjoyed lately. I was reading of Pilate saying of Jesus, “I find no fault in Him at all.” He brought Him out and said, “Behold the Man.” He could see Jesus like that and we are glad we can, too. In all He did and said and taught, we see absolute perfection. But then I thought of what John the Baptist said when he looked at Jesus – he said, “Behold the Lamb.” Pilate never saw that, but how grateful we can be today that we not only see in Jesus the perfect Man but we see beyond that; we see the Lamb, we see the love of God who gave His only begotten Son, and we see the Lamb who went to Calvary and shed His own precious blood to cover all our sins, Who intercedes for us every second of every hour of every night and day, who has raised us up from the dunghill to sit among princes, and we see more than that, too; we see the Great Shepherd of the sheep. We are in His fold and the Good Shepherd who gave His life for His own lambs and sheep is still there and will lead us safely onward, even through the last valley where we shall fear no evil. We are in His fold and the future before us is bright and full of hope for all our old people, our stronger ones, our parents, our youth and all our dear little children. And so we go on together, united in Him and with those who are our guides. We look back full of gratitude and we look forward full of hope, for the future is bright for us all. We may not understand it all, but we believe in everything He has promised and look forward to the day when the Great Shepherd of the sheep will return to gather His own to Him for ever. And where could we ever find a Shepherd more compassionate, more caring, loving and understanding than the One who was first of all a Lamb Himself! We do not know the next stretch of road – for me it may not be long – but it is bright for us all and we look forward to that day when the marriage of the Lamb will come. So let us watch and be ready on that day. This old world becomes more evil day by day. Jesus said, “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be.” We do not need to fear the future as we seek to possess a little of that Lamb nature of Jesus. “Fear not little flock, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” I am so grateful that I have rest and peace of heart and soul today and I pray that you may have it also. I Thessalonians 4:17 is a wonderful verse. We look forward to a wonderful future. “Wherefore comfort ye one to another with these words.”

My love in Christ to you all,

Ken

Hebrews 13:13 one simple little verse that you are all familiar with.  “Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.” This book of Hebrews is a wonderful book, and it has some wonderful truths and wonderful teachings still for us today. We are a long way removed from that day but what was written to them still applies to us. Some of the simple little messages that seemed to come to me from this book are these: don’t doubt, don’t drift, don’t draw back, don’t drop out, don’t disobey, don’t disregard so great a salvation.  These people were Jews. Unto them had been given the law and the prophets and the covenants and the promises, and it was to them originally that Christ came. They had a tremendous advantage. There were those who did not take advantage of their advantage, but these people had received Christ. They embraced this wonderful salvation; they had left behind the shadows of the Old Testament, which had only pointed to Christ. But the passing of time and the reproach of their unsaved fellow Jews who were still worshiping in the temple had caused them to have second thoughts about the choice they had made and their profession. The temple in Jerusalem was still standing at this time, and you can picture its glory and its splendor. Jesus had prophesied that the time would come when no stone would not be left upon another. That time did come, but when the writer wrote the wonderful truths in this letter the temple was still standing, the high priest was still going about his duties with his glorious garments, and the lamb was still being offered every morning and evening. It was all so glorious and splendid, and there was a lot of reproach to God’s true people who had embraced Christ. Where was their high priest? Where was their temple? And what did they really have? It all seemed so insignificant and obscure to the practicing Jews of that day. So the writer was writing to help them understand what a wonderful heritage they had and what they had really found in Christ. It was the most wonderful and most valuable thing in the world. Don’t drift, don’t disobey, don’t draw back, don’t doubt, and don’t let go of these things.  Really there were just two possibilities; on to perfection, or back to perdition. He was so concerned because some of them were going back; they were drawing back, they were losing their faith, they were doubting. That could even be our portion because we are surrounded by so many people who are reproaching us for the way we worship and what we believe.

Chapter 1 opens with an affirmation of the fact that God has spoken in His son. We don’t need to be in doubt about this. Later on, in chapter 8, the words are found, “see that you make all things according to the pattern.” Perhaps this is one of the keys to this book of Hebrews.  Everything according to the pattern. God is a pattern-minded God. There is a pattern ministry, there is a pattern way of worship, there is a  pattern for righteous living. See that we do everything according to the pattern. As the writer opens, we are reminded that in times past God spoke in bits and pieces and fragments, little by little, and now, everything God wants to say He has said in Jesus. We don’t need to have any doubt about that; don’t doubt. What we have in Jesus is God’s great and final revelation. All that He could possibly have to say and want to say He said to us in Jesus. It’s not temporary; it’s permanent, and we’re thankful we have that settled. We’re grateful we have the Bible, and we’re grateful for Jesus who is our guide.

It fell my portion one time while we were in Athens to visit Mars Hill and the adjoining area called the Acropolis. Although many of the buildings, like the Parthenon, were in ruins, the glory and the history of ancient Greece were still very much in evidence. There were two of us standing in line. We were going to purchase a guidebook so we would know what to visit and we would know about the history of the glorious past that was once ancient Greece. As we stood there in line, I kept hearing the salesman who was selling the guidebooks, which were available in every language under heaven say, “English Finnish. English Finnish.” I didn’t understand why he was advertising the fact that there were both English and Finnish guidebooks available. It didn’t dawn on me what he meant. I heard him say that over and over again. Finally, when it came my turn, I took out some Greek money and confidently said, “English.”  With distress and disgust he said, “English finished!” And then I understood. In his limited English he was trying to tell me that English had all sold out, and there was no more. English was finished. And so we didn’t have a guidebook. Can you imagine trying to see and read about the glory of ancient Greece there and the Acropolis without a guidebook?  We felt lost, but we did have another option; we could hire a guide. But we considered the cost too great. And so we wandered around the roads of that ancient city without a guidebook and without a guide. And friends, looking back, we missed so much. In fact, we just about missed everything. We’re grateful we have the guidebook and we’re grateful we have the guide. We are going to miss it all unless we pay attention to what the guidebook says and unless we follow the guide.

I’m reminded of a husband who sent his wife to Europe to buy some art treasures. She found what she thought they wanted, and wrote back that it cost $80,000, and what she should do.  “Should I buy this?” she asked in the telegram. He said, “No. Price too great.” And when she came home with the art he said, “Why did you buy it? I sent you a telegram!” She said, “The telegram reached me, and it said, ‘No price too great!’” And so she bought that art treasure and brought it home. Now the point is friends, for you and for me, there is no price too great to possess what we have in the guidebook and in the guide. No price is too great. And if we don’t pay the price, we are going to miss everything!

In Chapter 2, it says, “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.” These people were in danger of drifting away from those wonderful, unchanging truths that they’d received in Christ. We can’t afford to drift. Drifting is part of a process in which one is almost unconscious. You’re just out there in the water and, without realizing it, you may be drifting towards the rocks. We can’t afford to drift. We must give the more earnest heed to the things, which we have heard. We cannot afford to drift away from them.

Chapter 3:1 says: “Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.” We need to consider Jesus. We need to think about Him, we need to look upon him. Looking unto Jesus. Considering him doesn’t mean a casual glance. It means spending time with him, getting into his presence. And when life becomes difficult, if we really look unto him and upon him, it will help us to remain steady and firm and steadfast in our profession. And it will keep us from drifting. I wish we could learn better how to appreciate him. There are a lot of things we don’t appreciate. Someone once went to an art gallery, which displayed a few of the famous master painters. As they walked along, they said to someone, “So these are the great paintings of the masters. I don’t see anything in them.” And the answer was, “These paintings aren’t on trial. You are the one that’s on trial.” You don’t see anything great in them, well, it’s too bad you don’t appreciate them, but these are the masterpieces of all time.

Maybe we don’t appreciate fine music. There was a college student once who learned he could go into the School of Music auditorium and listen to the symphony orchestra rehearsing. He didn’t appreciate classical music, but he went because there was a quiet place in an upper balcony where he could study unmolested. Little by little he realized that this music is marvelous, it’s wonderful. And he lost his appetite for any other kind of music because this music was so wonderful. If we could just spend time with the Lord, in His presence, and see the beauty of His life and His spirit and the fruit of the spirit in His life. If we can just consider Him, we won’t want anything else or anyone else. This is all we’ll want; it will be so wonderful. And we’ll give our whole life to him. Jesus said, “Learn of me”. Not just learn about me but He’s the teacher, the master teacher, and we learn from him. He’s our apostle, the official messenger from heaven. He’s our high priest. In Latin the word priest means a bridge builder. He built the bridge between earth and heaven for you and for me.

We don’t want to drift, we don’t want to doubt, and we don’t want to go back to perdition; we want to go on to perfection. There was a problem with these Hebrew Christians because their fellow Jews would say, “Where is your high priest?”  Well, they didn’t have a visible high priest. They saw the Jewish high priest officiating at the Temple with all of his duties. The high priest offered sacrifices to God on behalf of man. The practicing Jews had that, and they had the altar. “Where is your high priest, where is your altar?”  They saw the lamb, their sacrifice for sin, being offered twice a day on the altar stones. “Where is your high priest, and where is your altar?”  Their sacrifice for sin was offered over and over again, but our sacrifice and theirs had been offered once and for all at Calvary. It never had to be done again. That was the altar. That’s where the sacrifice was made. Our high priest doesn’t have to keep on making sacrifices like the Jewish high priest day by day and year by year. The reason you don’t see him is because he has passed on to the heavens and He’s sitting at the right hand of God. And they could say to those who questioned them, “We do have a high priest, and we do have an altar, and everything we have is far, far better than we ever had under the law.”  The law, it tells us here, was just a shadow of good things to come. Just a shadow. The shadow of a bed doesn’t bring us rest. The shadow of a plate full of wonderful food doesn’t feed our bodies. The shadow of a bridge doesn’t take us from here to there. The shadow of Calvary doesn’t forgive our sins. Just a shadow. You can pile shadow upon shadow, and what do you have? There’s still no substance.  The writer was distressed because these people were under the reproach of living for Christ and believing in Jesus because they were surrounded by relatives and neighbors who still believed in the temple worship.  They were in danger of going back to what they had left behind. The writer was so concerned about these people and wanted to help them realize that we have everything in Christ and if we go back we have nothing; we lose it all.

ABC’s over and over again, the Old Testament truths that are the foundation of what we believe, the shadows; we have the real thing in Christ. Don’t go back to the shadow, we have the real thing, and we’re going to go on with God’s blessing to something far better.

Chapter 6:19 speaks about the anchor. Don’t drift. They were in danger of drifting. Don’t drift from these truths. We have the anchor in Christ and it’s within the veil. One time in a troubled storm, the captain threw over the anchor, and the vessel kept on drifting. Do you know why? It’s because the anchor was two feet too short. It didn’t reach down to bedrock. Well, what we have is not too short. The world is drifting, they’re drifting in every way, and they are drifting doctrinally from the pattern. This is really one of the key verses in this epistle, “See that you make all things according to the pattern.”  The world has drifted away from the pattern, from the foundation truths that we have in Christ, but we have an anchor that is sure and steadfast, something we can put our confidence and our faith in.

We are making all things according to the pattern. We’re reminded of those words, which Paul wrote to Timothy, “A workman which needeth not to be ashamed.”  The pattern. If we drift away from the pattern, if we lay it aside, we will have cause on that day to be ashamed. I went to school in Eugene, and I remember a woodshop class. We were assigned the task of building a little wooden chest. Nothing very big, I don’t remember the dimensions, but we had a blueprint and we knew how we were to make it. Finally the time came to affix the lid to the rest of the chest, which was done with little brass hinges, and I watched another lad on my bench.. He was not a very careful boy, and his workmanship was not something you could be proud of. He didn’t seem to care, and he didn’t seem to think it mattered. I watched him take those little brass screws and position them on his little box that would attach the lid to the box chest, and he screwed one in, and then I saw him take the other and move it a little to the left and then to the right. Presently, using his eye, he was satisfied that it looked good enough and he screwed it in, and then something happened. He saw the shop instructor was coming through the shop class to each bench to grade the work, and he had a little rule with him. One of the things he did was to just put that rule on those brass hinges. My partner at the shop bench; all his work was in vain. It didn’t pass. He just put his rule on. It looked almost good enough; I couldn’t tell the difference; that boy couldn’t tell the difference. He thought it looked perfect with his eye, but the ruler showed that it wasn’t according to the pattern. And all his work was in vain.

We don’t want to be a workman that is ashamed of our work, and we want to build according to the pattern. There was another shop class where the assignment was to build a wooden trestle according to the pattern and dimensions given. But there was a catch to it. You were given just one block of wood. There was just enough wood, if you cut it properly, to build the wooden trestle to scale according to the pattern. It wasn’t long before some of the boys made a wrong cut. They spoiled their block of wood. What were they going to do now?  They didn’t have enough wood to complete the project and they couldn’t have any more. Just that one block. Have you ever felt that way? You come to convention like this, and you hear about the wonderful standard of righteousness and right living that we have in Christ, and you feel you’ve made such a muddle of things. We almost feel like it’s hopeless; have you ever felt that way?  I feel that way almost all the time. But I’ll tell you something. The boys in that shop class – I think in those days there weren’t any girls in woodshop class – the boys were told they couldn’t have any more wood.  But they could scale down the dimensions of the trestle using the wood they had left, and if they did they’d still get a passing grade. Some spoiled their wood over and over again, and they had to keep starting over with the little wood that was left. But if they did the right calculations and came up with the right scale, and built a wooden trestle according to the pattern even though it was a much smaller scale, they learned when the time came that they didn’t only get a passing grade, they got a good grade. Just use what you have left. Your life may be mostly over and you may have made a lot of mistakes, but we still have the pattern. You still have what’s left of your life. Just use what is left and build according to the pattern. Don’t go back, go on to perfection. And the Lord can help us in that. We have the pattern.  He’s a pattern-minded God, and we want to work from here on so we won’t be ashamed.

Chapter 11 is that wonderful chapter which gives us the record of so many noble men and women who lived by faith. They went on, they didn’t go back. There were difficulties and circumstances in their life that weren’t so easy for them in their service to God, but they went on.  Chapter 12 says, “Wherefore seeing we also are canvassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”  Now this cloud of witnesses is referring, I believe, to those in chapter 11, those faithful noble men and women. The word witness here doesn’t mean spectator. It means someone who testifies by their words and their life, by the record they’ve left behind, of what really can be accomplished through faith. We’ve had a wonderful convention here and I don’t see how you could improve upon it. Would it be better if those who are mentioned in Hebrews 11 came up on this platform? Suppose that Abel could come up on this platform in person, suppose that Enoch would come up next, suppose that Noah would come up, and they would be witnesses and testify to what they experienced in their life and the faith that moved them to obey. Faith really isn’t faith, it isn’t saving faith, it’s a very shallow faith, unless it moves us to obey. It moved these people to obey. It moved Noah for approximately 120 years. He just believed, and even though he didn’t see any evidence of what was going to happen, he kept on building. And if the men and women in this chapter came up here, they would just tell us:  keep on living by faith, keep on obeying, keep on doing the Lord’s will.  Don’t draw back, don’t drift, don’t doubt, don’t be discouraged, and don’t go back to perdition; just go on to perfection.

Chapter 12 says, in view of all these people and their testimony as witnesses to the truth, “lay aside every weight, and the sin, which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”  This just suggests keep on running, don’t drop out, keep on running and lay aside the things that hinder. There is a difference between weights and sin. Some things really aren’t sin, but they are weights, and they weigh us down. They retard our progress. Often the question is asked, “Well, what’s wrong with it?”  What’s wrong with this and what’s wrong with that?  And the answer would have to be:  there’s nothing wrong with it, unless you want to finish in the race. If you want to finish in the race then you need to lay it aside. It’s a weight.  We could get involved in so much in this world and some of it wouldn’t be wrong in some respects, but it will weigh us down. You could get all taken up with sports. Just a weight that could keep you from finishing in the race. You could get all involved in computers; a lot of people have. They have a place but if you abuse it and make it fill your life, you misuse it. What is your life?  Paul said, “For me to live is Christ.”  Some would have to say, for me to live is sports. For me to live is music, for me to live is computers, for me to live is shopping at the mall. It could be a whole list of things. But what is our life? If our life is Christ, then it will help us to lay aside every weight and every sin that besets us and go on and run the race with patience, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. There is so much in the world that would take our vision off the goal and off the finish of the race. There is so much that we could get taken up with that we’d miss finishing the race all together.

Many years ago, a morning dawned bright and crisp in the Great Lakes area. It was the day of the annual dog sled Derby. A child’s race; you could have your sled and as many sled dogs as you wanted. They started off when the whistle blew across the frozen lake. There was one little boy; he almost looked pathetic. Just one skinny little boy and a little sled and one dog, and he was soon far in the rear. Some of the others were bigger boys with several dogs. But presently the two lead sleds had a little collision, and the dogs began fighting and the children began fighting too. As each succeeding sled and team of dogs came, they couldn’t seem to avoid this tremendous upheaval and controversy. And they all got involved, and there was barking and shouting and fighting and upset sleds. But this little boy was far enough behind that he got the picture. He just began steering his one little dog far around all that was taking place, and he avoided it altogether. He got completely around and back on course, and before the others got untangled he’d finished and won the race. That’s beautiful, isn’t it? We don’t have to have any great ability or any great skill or any great strength, but we do have to have some discernment and some vision and a purpose. And we do have to lay aside weights, the things that would hinder, and our sin. We have to lay those things aside. It may not be easy, but remember: no price is too great. No price is too great to serve the Lord and have his approval and fit into His purpose and into His plan.

Keep on running, and fight the battle. I learned when I was over in Greece about the Battle of Marathon. The Persians – we were hearing about the Persians the other day – they wanted to sweep clear across Europe but there was this battle there in the plains of Marathon. It’s 26 miles from Athens. Everyone in Athens, the statesmen, the government officials, everyone was concerned about the outcome of the battle. The Greeks defeated the Persians, and the messenger started running. He had a message to share. Victory. According to tradition, his name was Pheidippides. He couldn’t wait to tell the good news that the Persians had been defeated. Greece was the victor. He ran for all he was worth. He entered Athens, he gained entrance to the place where the officials were, he gave the word that victory was theirs. And then he fell down dead at their feet. That’s where our Marathon race comes from. A little over 26 miles. That’s the history of it. Grueling. And so intense that it might end in death. But you know, it’s the death to self every day that enables us to keep on running the race so we can be victorious at the end. That’s our objective, that’s our purpose, isn’t it. That’s what we’re aiming for.

These people had everything to gain by going on, and they had everything to lose by going back. It was not easy for them because they were outside the camp.

The verse we read says, “Let us go forth therefore unto him outside the camp, bearing his reproach.” It was a tremendous reproach they were bearing when fellow Jews looked upon them with scorn and asked, “Where is your high priest? Where is your temple? Where is your altar?” But they were following the pattern. They were outside of all the organized religion at that time, and today you and I are outside of it all. It’s our privilege to be outside of it all, and to go forth unto him without the camp. We’re outside the camp of organized religion because we’re following the pattern. The pattern for the ministry, the pattern for true worship in the church, the pattern for right living. The pattern we have in Christ.  He gave himself an atonement for our sin that we might be a redeemed people, a purchased people, a people living for him and him alone. And we’re keeping our eye on the goal. We’re laying aside the weights and the sin, and we’re prepared for the reproach and we’re going forth unto him without the camp. And that’s where we are going to stay because we love this. We love it. We love the truth, and it is the truth.

One time a grandfather moved to a new home and his little grandson was not very old, but finally the time came when he visited his grandfather in his new home. The grandfather took him throughout the home, every part of the house, every floor, every room. And finally the little boy just said, “Grandpa, I love you, and I love your house.”  Well, this epistle speaks about us being the house; “whose house are we.”  We are the household of faith, the household of God. And the more we see of the people of God and the truth of God and the Son of God in all his glory and perfection, the more we love him, and the more we love his house.  And friends, to me the message of this letter is so simple and so clear:  God has spoken in his Son. We don’t question that. Don’t doubt, don’t drift, don’t draw back, don’t drop out, don’t be discouraged, don’t despair; go on to perfection.

Many years ago, in the days of the steamboats that went up and down the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, there was this little boy. He was standing on a little homemade dock that jutted out just a little bit into the river, and he was waving a little flag, a white flag. There was a man there that couldn’t figure out what he was doing, so he came over to him and said, “Son, what are you doing anyway?”  And the little boy says, “Can’t you see? I’m waving down that ferry.”  And the man says, “Son, that ferry’s not going to stop for you on this poor little homemade dock.”  And he said, “She’ll stop, mister, she’ll stop.”  The man said, “Sonny, you’re a big fool if you think that ferry boat out in the middle of the river is going to pull in here and stop for you at this little dock. You’re a big fool if you think that.” And just then the whistle blew, and the ferry changed its course, and it came right into that little handmade dock. The gangplank was cast overboard onto the dock, and the little boy scampered up on it. And when he got up on top deck, he turned around to face his detractor and putting his hands on his hips, he said, “I ain’t neither no big fool, mister, because the captain of this here steamboat is my daddy.”  And we’ll leave you with that story because the world might look upon you and upon me and the way we worship and the way we serve and the way we live and the standard we uphold. They might look upon us as fools, big fools. But friends, we’re not fools. Our Father is the captain, and he’ll lead us through life on a safe journey unto a saved eternity.

I have been looking at some of the references where we read, “Blessed is the man …” We are here to get the blessing of God. There are two kinds of blessed people: of the world and of Heaven. So many strive for the blessing of this world, but we are here for the blessing of Heaven. Proverbs 10:22, “The blessing of the LORD maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” So often the blessing of this world does not make people rich and it adds sorrow with it. It often adds a lot of sorrow to their lives. One man said that he got religious and the next year his income doubled, and he felt the Lord had blessed him. That made me think of Jesus on Calvary’s cross. He died homeless and penniless. With that man’s kind of reasoning, the Lord had not blessed Him at all.

The blessing of the Lord, death cannot take it from us; time cannot touch it; it makes us rich and it never adds sorrow. God’s purpose has always been to make His people the happiest people in the world. These psalms describe the path of blessing.

Deuteronomy 28:2, “All these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD.” You can pray long and hard, and not receive the blessing of the Lord if conditions are not right, but if they are right, the blessing of the Lord will overtake us. We will be a blessing to one another and at the end of our days the Lord will be able to say, “Come ye blessed of My Father.”

In Psalm 1:1, the condition for blessing is that we don’t do certain things. The Lord blesses people who can say, “No,” and mean it. One thing that brings the blessing of the Lord is not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly, people who have no connection with God, or their connection with God is not a connection at all. The counsel of the ungodly will never help us to be godly or to walk in the way of God. We live in a day when we are bombarded with all sorts of counsel and advice: marriage counsellors, psychiatrists and so on. There is so much counsel of the ungodly, and it tends to make us comfortable with our sin, but the way of God makes us uncomfortable with our sin. When we are comfortable with our sin, it leads us in the broad way to destruction. In Matthew 16:23, Jesus said, “Get thee behind Me, Satan…” “You don’t need to suffer,” Peter said. That is ungodly counsel and that is why Jesus spoke to Peter as He did. God doesn’t want us to spare ourselves. “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.”

In II Samuel 15:31, David prayed that God would turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. So often, the counsel of the ungodly is just foolishness. The books of the scholars and psychiatrists ten years from now will all be different because theirs is only the wisdom of the times. That is why it is no help to us to walk in the path of God. Isaiah 9:6, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given and the government shall be upon His shoulder…” In Him, we have all the eternal wisdom that has come to this world. We want to turn to Him whose name is “Wonderful,” “Counsellor” for this is eternal wisdom.

One source of ungodly counsel is our hearts: they lie and try to deceive us, and blessed is the man who can say, “No,” to the counsel of his own heart. If we cannot be counseled, we cannot be helped, and that is why God wants to counsel His people with godly counsel, to help us. Naaman could not be helped until one of his servants came to him, wiser than he, and Naaman listened to Godly counsel and was helped.

“Blessed is the man who standeth not in the way of sinners.” God’s blessing does not reach to the way of sinners. God’s people stand outside the way of sinners and the way of life people live or talk, that’s where God’s blessing reaches, the godly way of life.“… nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” The scornful seat is a lofty seat, looking down on people. One day, the scorner’s seat will be empty. If you scorn God’s servants and those in the testimony, who will feed our souls? The blessing of the Lord does not reach to the scornful. “But his delight is in the law of the LORD and in His law doth he meditate day and night.” What we delight in is what we are going to think about first thing in the morning and last thing at night. There is a difference between reading the law of the Lord and feeding on it. Meditating on God’s word will always bring the blessing of God. It is wonderful to get a little verse in the morning, to delight in it and to feed on it. The blessing of God will always reach that kind of person.

Psalm 32:1-2, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit, there is no guile.” The blessing of the Lord will reach even to the sinner who knows the forgiveness of God. Happy is the person who is distressed about his sin, when the sky is not clear between him and God, when something has come between. Happy is the man who is distressed when Heaven is closed to him, and happy is the man who does something about it. It is not so much the sin we do, but what we do about it that enables God to bless us.

This Psalm 32 is about forgiveness and covering. Sin is not imputed. The forgiveness of sin has never been a cheap thing. In the Old Testament, there was a costly offering for their sin and in the New Testament, it is at times a costly offering to have the blessing of God. It needs a broken spirit and a contrite heart to have the forgiveness of sin. “Blessed is the man in whose spirit there is no guile.” Guile is trying to cover up something, or to put something over on another person, and we can have that guile in our spirit and try to cover up something or pretend. God cannot bless that kind of a person. The further we go, the more we realize we need to be open and honest and frank before God, and that kind of spirit enables the blessing of God to reach to our lives.

Psalm 34:8, “O taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.” The Lord is calling on you and me to taste and see. It is hard to describe what the taste of a banana or an apple is. The only way is to taste it. The Lord wants us to have trust in Him that what He offers is good. The world says, “You prove it and I’ll believe it.” God says, “You believe it and I’ll prove it.” A step in faith is required of God’s people.

In 1 Samuel 21, David fled from Saul and went to the Philistines. His courage failed. Some said, “Is not this David, the king of the land?” David realized he was not safe, so he pretended he was mad and so he was sent back to where he came from. He realized his courage and trust in God had failed and in this Psalm he calls on us to trust in the Lord. “O taste and see that the LORD is good.” There is an acronym for T-R-U-S-T:

T – His teaching is always right.

R – His ruling. The Gospel story. Turn our lives over to the Lord.

U – His understanding. Proverbs 3:5-6, God understands what we don’t understand.

S – His strength. There are no obstacles or anything that is too hard for Him.

T – His timing is always right.

Psalm 37:1, “Fret not thyself because of evildoers.” There is a line of a hymn that says, “Thou, while I trust in Thee, wilt keep me clean.” David was so tempted to fret. He could have taken things into his own hands and brought the situation to a head, but he knew, “I had better trust in the Lord and do the right thing myself.” It kept him clean from taking matters into his own hands. In Daniel 3, those three Hebrew boys would have been thrown into the fiery furnace but that trust in God kept those boys from compromising, from false worship, from giving in. They kept their purpose true, kept themselves clean. It is one thing to trust when God delivers us, but another thing to trust when He chooses not to deliver us. Job said in Job13:15, “Though He slay me, I will trust Him.” His wife said, “Curse God and die,” but Job kept his integrity, his spiritual soundness, and because he trusted God, he didn’t become unsound or corrupt. It kept him clean. The blessing of God reaches to people who will trust him.

Psalm 65:4, “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest.” Isaiah 40:15, “The nations are as a drop of a bucket… “ Why did the Lord ever choose me? The Lord could see in you and me a little spark of something. He chose to speak and then we chose to respond, and that makes you and me His people, His chosen people. Sometimes we don’t respond and we have to be caused to respond, to approach God. I believe Heaven will be filled with interesting stories as to what caused us to approach God.

Jonah got the message to go and cry against that city. He turned and ran and his course then was down and down, and all he could do was pray. I think Jonah will be forever grateful for that storm that caused him to approach God. The prodigal son was sent to feed swine and then he remembered there was bread and enough and to spare in his father’s house. In his hunger, he came to the end of himself. I think he will be forever grateful for that famine that caused him to approach his father.

A lady, at one time in God’s family, left, married and had a child. She was sad as she looked at that child, thinking, “I have nothing in this world to give this child.” This caused her to turn and approach God. She will be forever grateful for that child. God sends blessings in disguise to cause us to approach Him. We want undisguised blessings, and sometimes flee from the things that will be a real blessing to us. The blessing of the Lord comes to people who are near to God, and so the blessing of the Lord comes to His own.

Psalm 84:5, “Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.” The blessing of God reaches to those whose strength is in Him. Emptiness is the vessel into which God pours strength, but it is possible for us to want to find our strength in money and in substance. I Timothy 6:17, “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high minded, nor trust in uncertain riches.” There is nothing wrong with having money, being rich, but to find our strength in it is another thing, causing us to be independent, strong in ourselves and high minded. It is possible to find our strength in ourselves. Peter said, “Though all men forsake Thee, yet will not I.” He had to come to the end where strength in himself had gone. A hymn says, “Strong in ourselves we only fail…” Paul said, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” God wants us to yield our weakness to Him because it is the empty vessel into which He pours strength. We will only make it to the promised land if our strength is in nothing else.

Ps84:6, “Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well.” Baca is a dry area. If your strength is in the Lord, you can go through from one experience to the next and the blessing of God can enrich the person whose strength is in the Lord.

Psalm 94:12, “Blessed is the man whom the LORD chasteneth.” We have often heard that chastening is not punishment but it is correction. Punish a person for the past but chasten them for the future. Chastening is like medicine. Some have to take a little every day to keep them healthy. The blessing of the Lord reaches to people He can correct and direct. There are three ways we can take chastening. Hebrews 12:5-6, “Ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, my son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him; for whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.” Firstly we can despise chastening. The second thing is, we could faint and the third thing is that we could endure it.

“Despise not chastening.” To despise something is to look lightly upon it and to think it does not matter, but it does. If it were not important, God would not correct us. Fainting means giving up when you are corrected. The acid test of humility is whether we can take correction. I wanted to learn the violin as a boy. My parents didn’t have the money so I earned some money to learn and I studied under the best teacher in town. Then the money ran out and I told her I had to quit. She offered me free lessons as her last pupil at night and I did that for several years. She started to correct me and I thought, “She doesn’t like me. She hates me because she corrects me and I am going to quit.” Later on I felt how foolish I had been. “If ye endure chastening God deals with you as with sons.” Chastening is a sign God loves His children.

One young man was fighting with another boy. His father came out, grabbed his son and spanked him. He said, “Why didn’t you spank that boy, too?” The father said, “You are my boy and he is not.” God does not chasten the world. The blessing of the Lord reaches to people God can chasten and correct. One man who studied business was a good manager and could develop people. Instead of firing a man, he could train and develop and work with him. God does that. He doesn’t just tell His people, “I’m done with you, you have gotten off course.”

Psalm 112:1, “Blessed is the man that feared the LORD, that delighted greatly in His commandments.” The blessing of the Lord reaches to men and women like that. The fear and love of God go hand in hand. In Deuteronomy 4, they were to teach their children the fear of God. If parents could just put some of the fear of the Lord into children, that is one of the best foundations a child could have in this world for the Gospel. In Malachi, God asks, “Where is my fear?” I am sure He looks down and says the same today.

There is a difference between being afraid of God and fearing God. When we are afraid of God, we think God is going to hurt us, but when we fear God, we fear we are going to hurt God. To fear God is to have a healthy, loving respect for God. Hebrews 11:7, “By faith Noah … moved with fear…” The fear of God stimulates. It seemed so impossible that there would be a flood, but the fear of God stimulated Noah to do a wise thing.

In Genesis 42:24, Joseph put one of his brothers into prison and later brought him out. He could not take revenge nor treat them unkindly because he said, “I fear God.” II Samuel 23:3, “He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.” That is what gave David his house forever. He first ruled over himself. I need to rule over myself in the fear of God. The fear of God and the love of God go hand in hand. The fear of God is a great restraining and constraining power and the love of God is a great restraining and constraining power.

God wants to bless His people. We are gathered to receive the blessing of God. These psalms tell what will make the blessing of God possible, and for us to be a blessing to one another.

Luke 23:43, “Today thou shalt be with Me in paradise.” These were the last words Jesus spoke on the cross and they are such gracious words. At the beginning of His Ministry, there were those “blesseds” but at the end, on the cross, there were seven last utterances from His human body. Jesus proved the will of God could be done in a human body. So often, when a criminal dies, they end their life with a curse, but our Saviour ended just summing up what He had lived and taught while here on earth, on the cross; some spoken in light, some in darkness.

A lot happened before Calvary. It was in the garden of Gethsemane where God strengthened Him for Calvary, where He took His disciples and then took Peter, James, and John a little further and prayed. That is in Mark 14:36. There was a cup to be drunk and His flesh was shrinking from it, and a decision needed to be made. His flesh was trying to find a way around it. In our lives sometimes, we could come to our own Gethsemane where our flesh shrinks from death.

He looked on the cup and His Father’s will and He knew it meant death to the flesh. We shudder to think where we would be if He had not drunk that cup. There would have been no hope for us. The Master of the universe, the Wisdom of the ages, the One to whom angels bowed, stood trembling with that cup and wondered if there could be any other way to save people saying, “Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from Me. Nevertheless, not My will but Thine be done.” Jesus knew the safest place for Him was on the cross, and it was the happiest place too, because that was the Father’s will. The only safe place for us is within the will of the Father. Sometimes we have tried out another way, have taken our own way, and it has led to such unhappiness.

Human help failed Him. The disciples were sleeping when they could have entered into that hour with Him, but the Father sent an angel to strengthen Him. The chief priests and others came and took Him to the palace of the high priest. It was a night trial and He did not have one article of justice. They had vain fellows as witnesses but they could not agree together. “In His humiliation, His judgment is taken away.” In the palace of Caiaphas, He answered nothing. It says they spat on Him and smote Him. Jesus would have answered Caiaphas and Herod if they had been there to learn but they were not there to learn anything of Him.

Early next morning when the courthouse opened, they brought Him to the Roman governor, Pilate, because they needed Pilate’s sanction to put Jesus to death. Pilate said, “I find no fault in this Man.” There was no fault in His teaching, His life, or the way of Jesus, His Ministry. Pilate heard Herod was in town and so he sent Jesus to Herod. Then Herod sent Him back to Pilate. Pilate remembered that at that time of the year, it was a custom for the Roman government to release a prisoner to the Jews in order to appease them. It would be Jesus or Barabbas, a thief and a murderer, and he could hardly comprehend that when they had the choice, they chose Barabbas, a taker of life, rather than the One who is the giver of life.

Pilate tried to wash his hands to show his innocence, but he could not wash the stain of guilt off his hands by something applied to the outside. The only thing to do that is if the water had been applied to his heart. The people cried, “His blood be on us and on our children,” a terrible prayer. The blood of Jesus can be on us to condemn us or to justify and cleanse us if there is submission and repentance.

Pilate said Jesus was to be scourged. The Roman scourge is made up of nine strips of leather with short pieces of bone attached to the end of each strip. A prisoner would be beaten until his flesh would hang in ribbons. Soldiers dressed Jesus in a beautiful robe, put a reed in His hand to show how weak He was, put on Him a crown of thorns to show how much they hated His thoughts, and bowed their knee, but it was in mockery because they were not subject to Him. So it is with us, if we are not subject to the King, I would say it is just mockery.

They led Jesus to Calvary and some followed lamenting. Jesus turned and said, “Weep not for Me, but for yourselves and your children.” Jesus knew what was coming to this world because they chose a taker of life and one who disturbs peace. On the cross, they drove those heavy nails through His hands and His feet, then set it up between two thieves, signifying He was the worst criminal of them all. They wrote that he was the King of the Jews. It was written in Greek, the language of the social and cultural world, in Hebrew, the language of the religious world and in Latin, the language of the political world. Jesus was not King in any of those worlds, and there at Calvary’s cross, the whole world stood condemned as Jesus stood alone.

From the cross, Jesus spoke. His message was on forgiveness, in Luke 23:34. When one is crucified, the body hangs from the nails through the hands. You try to push up with your feet because the lungs are expanded. You can breathe air into the body but you can’t breathe it out. You push up with your feet to get a few gasps of air. Because of the pain, the body sags again and you try to push up again. As His body filled with air, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” There is not a sin so great but He’ll forgive it. You could hardly believe how Jesus could forgive Pilate, Annas, Caiaphas, and the crowd that mocked him.

Sometimes we grieve over something we have done, or past mistakes, before we began to serve God. The enemy of our soul tells us we have done something that God cannot forgive, but Jesus says, “Father, forgive them….” Sometimes we have feelings against another person, things have been said and done, and then it is good to remember Calvary and hang our heads in shame, because we are so slow to grant others the forgiveness they need, when Jesus was so forgiving to those who put Him on the cross. That was the greatest crime ever committed, such an ignominious death.

In Matthew 5:45, it speaks of loving our enemies and we find it so hard to love our enemies, to bless them that curse us and to do good to them that hate us, but at least we can pray for them that despitefully use us and persecute us. It will always soften our own heart if we have an enemy and pray for him. “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Jesus knew that if He had a wrong attitude in His heart, it would put Him in wrong standing with the Father. On the Judgement Day, we won’t be very much concerned with how others treated us, but how we treated others. Jesus found real forgiveness in His heart there on the cross. When God raised Him from the dead, He could have taken the worst kind of vengeance on Pilate, Annas, and those who put Him there, but He had real forgiveness in His heart and it remained.

In Luke 23:42-43, we read about the thieves. Previous to that, both thieves railed on Him. The crowd was crying, “Come down and we will believe on You,” and also, “He saved others but He cannot save Himself.” That was true, but if He had saved Himself, the whole world would have been lost. One thief got a little glimmer of hope from “Father, forgive them…” He must have thought, “If He can forgive all of those who put Him on the cross, He can forgive me, too.” He got a little vision of Jesus as the friend of sinners and said, “Lord, remember me …” He saw some wonderful things, nothing very uplifting to the human eye on the cross, or in the truth, but his inner eye of faith saw Jesus, that He was not leaving a kingdom but He was going to a Kingdom. On the cross, a work was done in this man’s heart. Salvation is a heart work. That is the only work that is lasting and that will endure.

That thief had a change of heart. God does not banish people just because they make mistakes. That won’t send them to a lost eternity, but it is because they won’t change. That thief had a change of heart and Jesus said to him, “Today, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.” The crucifixion let the man know that he was dying, that he had just a little time left. A thief takes what does not belong to him and he keeps it. People take a life that belongs to God and they keep it. That thief’s death on the cross may have made it right with society, but only Jesus’ death on the cross sets things right for us in God’s eyes.

The thief would be thinking, “In just a little while, I’ll be gone and Jesus will be, too,” so he took advantage of his opportunity and said, “Lord, remember me when Thou comes into Thy kingdom.” Jesus said, “Today, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.” That changed life’s darkest day into its brightest day for that man.

One lady said, “What happens after death?” She feared sleeping in the grave until the resurrection, until the Lord returns. We have a better hope than that. When a child of God passes into eternity, they open their eyes to be with the Saviour. To be absent from the bloody is to be present with the Lord. Paul spoke of this in Philippians 1:23. He knew that when the end came for him to depart he would go to be with Christ, which is far better.

In John 19:26, Jesus spoke to His mother and to the disciple whom He loved. Even on the cross, in His anguish and agony, Jesus was thinking of others: His mother. He did not forget about human ties, and the disciple He loved. It is easy when in pain, to think about ourselves and our own problems. His mother did not try to interfere. The angel had said, “He shall be great … the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father, David.” Now she must have seen that His greatness was coming in a different way than what she had thought. To the world, it looked like weakness and failure, but it was the greatest victory and strength the world has ever seen. Mary would know, “One day He was my child, but now on the cross, He is my Saviour.” A sword pierced through her soul, but this is God’s work. To the disciple He loved, He said, “Behold thy mother.” She was not his mother but He told him to take her to his own and then, “She will be a mother to you.” Jesus was just confirming the family fellowship.

In this family of God, we have those who are fathers and mothers to us. This is not a sect or denomination or group held together by rules and regulations, but it is a family brought together by a bond that is hard to be explained. It is life’s greatest privilege to be part of this family and to know the greatest care and provision of any people on the earth. And so, there on the cross, Jesus was just confirming what He had taught by His life, of the family of God and family fellowship. Jesus there provided a home for His mother and also opened a home in Heaven for us as part of God’s family.

In Matthew 27:46, we read,” My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” Darkness came over the earth at about noon and remained there for about three hours. It was a miracle God performed to show to the earth that the world was trying to put out the Light of the world. “My God …” It was the only time Jesus addressed His Father without calling Him, “My Father.” It was the only time Jesus questioned the will of God and the only time He was forsaken by God. It was the only time Jesus didn’t have the light of Heaven upon Him. He would have remembered the promise, “I will never leave Thee or forsake Thee…” and think, “Now I am forsaken.”

On the Mount of Transfiguration God had said, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” because He was pleased with everything Jesus did. Then God added, “Hear ye Him.” God was well pleased with everything Jesus had lived and taught in His message until this time and now Jesus was questioning, “Why has He forsaken Me?” Jesus could endure anything: the temptation in the wilderness, Gethsemane, the scourging, Pilate, but He could not endure being forsaken by His Father. There were times when Jesus had been alone in His thoughts, when He prayed alone when His disciples were no more with Him, when they had forsaken Him and fled. He knew what it was to be alone but He had always had the presence of His Father with Him. But now He could not endure being forsaken by His Father, and the light and smile of Heaven being taken from Him.

II Corinthians 5:21, “He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” Jesus was not made a sinner but He was made sin to bear our sin. We knew no righteousness and He knew no sin, but He was made sin so that we could be made righteous. God could not behold iniquity or look on evil, so God turned His back on His Son that day because His Son was bearing the sin of the world. Jesus cried in His anguish, because that is what a lost eternity is like. No influence of Heaven can reach into the darkness of a lost eternity on the wrong side of that gulf that is fixed, where there is no warmth, no love, no peace from Heaven. Nothing can reach it, and Jesus endured those hours of darkness in extreme, so that we would not have to endure through the ages of a lost eternity, the darkness and aloneness of sin. “He died, the just for the unjust…” God turned His back on His Son that day so that He could turn His face to us. In His anguish, Jesus knew the awfulness of people who perish, so that we could know salvation.

In John 19:28, Jesus said, “I thirst.” In the beginning of Calvary, they had wanted to give Him wine mingled with myrrh that would deaden His faculties and prevent the fullness of His agony, but He refused it. He refused to have His senses impaired. He wanted to go to the uttermost for us. He knew that if He did not suffer to the uttermost, He would not be able to save to the uttermost. He said, “I thirst,” Jesus, the Water of Life. He wanted to give those who stood by a chance to do something for Him, to lay up treasure in Heaven. He knew there was a reward for giving a cup of cold water. They filled a sponge with vinegar and put it in His mouth. A sponge is the lowest form of animal life, given to help the One who was the highest form of life. It shows us the lowest in the Kingdom can do something that will enable them to lay up a little treasure in Heaven. In John 19:30, Jesus said, “It is finished,” and He bowed His head and gave up the ghost. They did not take His life, He gave it up. He laid it down in every sense of the word. The Romans never took His life. They were surprised when they came, to find that He was already dead.

At twelve years of age, as they returned from the feast, Jesus’ mother found Him and said, “Why hast Thou dealt thus with us?” Jesus replied, “Wist ye not that I must be about My Father’s business?” Sometimes at the end of a business meeting, they will ask if there is any unfinished business. When you are on a business trip, everything else takes lesser importance, but for Jesus, there was no unfinished business. He could say, “It is finished,” and then He gave up the ghost. He sometimes said, “Mine hour is not yet come,” because He had His eye on the clock of eternity. His work was to be accomplished in His time. Old Testament prophecy came to an end. He gave to the world His Father’s voice, true in every detail so that no one could add to it or need to complete it. All God had planned, all His time and work, they came out even and He could say, “Now I am ready.” With that one cry, He bowed His head and gave up the ghost.

In Luke 23:46, the last utterance on the cross was, “Father, into Thy hands, I commend My Spirit,” and He gave up the ghost. He commended His spirit into His Father’s hands. He never kept His Spirit in His own hands. Some people wonder, “How will my spirit be disposed of when it leaves this body?” Our spirit will go back to God who gave it and God will either accept it or reject it. In Acts 7:59, Stephen said, “Lord Jesus receive my spirit.” If we had a nasty, hard, selfish spirit could we say that? In the end, we won’t go back as a Worker, saint, or child, but as a spirit, and that is why it is so important that a work of perfecting our spirits be done while here on this earth. Hebrews 12:23 speaks of, “… the spirits of just men made perfect.” They are men in whose spirits the Lord has been able to work and to perfect them.

Elijah asked his companion if there was anything he could do for him. Elisha gave him one of the greatest compliments when he wanted a double portion of his spirit. Jesus commended His spirit back into the hands of God.

I Peter 4:19, “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.” Jesus did that. We remember Calvary: the message, the forgiveness, the hope, the family that Jesus confirmed on Calvary’s cross, and the spirit of Calvary, and on this day, the first day of the week, we don’t want to forget all that it stood for. “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.” I want to give my life and my soul and my all in gratitude for that.

Hymn 6

I Corinthians 13:4, charity suffereth long and is kind; beareth all things, believeth, hopeth, endureth all things. I don’t suppose there is ever a time when we think so much of the love of God as on a Sunday morning. We know we can hardly comprehend the love of God to empty heaven for 33 ½ years of His well beloved Son for you and for me! It is hard to comprehend the love of Christ that moved Him to come to this dark world to trace out a path of righteousness that leads back to God’s right hand and caused Him to suffer, knowing He had to shed His life’s blood on Calvary’s cross. I appreciated the last line of that hymn that we sang: Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

I appreciated thinking of the words of Paul in II Corinthians 5:14 when he said, “The love of Christ constraineth us.” That was the same love that worked and was operating in the life of Jesus when He came to this earth. It moved Him to do what He did, He gave himself, that is the sacrifice that He gave. I was thinking of I Corinthians 13 in thinking of the love of God, the love of Christ. It is not the first time I have read this chapter and thought about it; I have appreciated what we have already heard in Convention about charity. Sometimes people ask us how this Way of God works. They see it does work without office buildings, seminaries, printing presses, committees and the most simple explanation of it is, it is the love of God that constraineth us, the love of Christ constraineth us and makes it work so wonderfully well.

I Corinthians 13 is about charity and that is divine love, love divine. Human love is subject to failure but divine love is not subject to failure. A few years ago, a lady came to one of the Conventions and gave her testimony. She told us, fifteen years previously she had gotten her eyes on human love and it took her out of God’s way and human love failed. It brought so many heartaches and disappointments into her life. Now, fifteen years later, she was back because she had gotten her eyes on love divine and it brought her back into the fellowship and to joy and peace and hope again, so I have appreciated thinking about this love divine, the love of God, the love of Christ and that has brought about all that we know and enjoy and gives us the hope that we have.

The first few verses of this chapter tell about the ultimate triumph of charity and I was thinking about those first few where Paul talked about the necessity of charity, or love divine. He picked out five great things that are so esteemed in this world that you and I might be tempted to measure ourselves by. When he said, “Though I,” – he was just reminding you and me that the real measurement is how much charity, how much of this love of God, the Love if Christ do we have working and operating in our lives? The first thing that he mentioned was great speaking, “though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal,” for the world esteems great speaking. In the false church when they want to hire a preacher, they have him come and preach a few trial sermons and if they like his speaking, they will hire him, if not, they won’t because the world esteems great speaking. They esteem the silver tongued orator who speaks effectively and moves crowds but Paul said it is not great speaking but how much of this love divine do I have working in my heart. I am thankful when Jesus was here, He never taught His disciples how to speak but He did teach them how to love. I can remember my first year in the Gospel, speaking was difficult. My companion told me one evening: if you can’t bring much to the meeting, if you can just bring a heart full of love that will mean more to people, and that is the greatest message you could bring, is a heart full of love, love divine. I am thankful that is still the measurement today.

Paul talked about music, sounding brass and tinkling cymbal; music can stir the heart. I have sometimes been stirred by music, but it can’t feed the heart, divine love is still what feeds our hearts. The second thing mentioned is great knowledge. Though I have the gift of prophesy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, and have not charity, I am nothing. The world esteems great heads of knowledge, who has facts and figures, that is why in the false church ministers will have a doctor’s degree in front of their name or after it; he has a head full of knowledge but it is still love that is the real measurement. One day, some missionaries came to a home of some friends and began asking questions. They said, “You don’t know anything!” She didn’t have a lot of facts and figures but that woman has a heart that is full of love, filled with divine love, to the world the important thing is to have a head full of facts and figures.

In the Garden of Eden was the tree of knowledge that humanly enticed Adam and Eve but it is the tree of life that we need and the life of this thing is the love of Christ, the love of God moving and operating in you and in me. Knowledge will never help us deny ourselves, it will never change our sinful tendencies, knowledge will never make us more like Christ. We may be worse off for having a lot of knowledge but we will never be worse off for having a heart full of charity, full of divine love. Then Paul talked about another great thing: Though I have all faith to remove mountains. There are people in the world who have taken courageous steps, with faith there is courage, in pioneering places, they have gone into darkest Africa, you can do that just through ambition in your life, in your heart, but be far from God and you can still be courageous.

Paul just emphasizes it is the heart filled with love that God wants, and the next great thing mentioned, “Though I have all my goods to feed the poor” – the world will be impressed by the sacrifice and there are sacrificial people in the world who will donate to the poor, build orphanages, hostels because the world is impressed with sacrifice. Saul of the Old Testament wanted to keep back the animals of the Amalekites that he should have slain, for sacrifice, he knew it would impress people but David obeyed, because it is better to obey. Divine love will move you and me to obey. There are people in this world who will open their hands to feed the poor but they won’t open their heart to God and a heart full of divine love will always move you and me to open our heart. Finally he said, “Though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.”

That is a great thing in the world – in every age, there have been martyrs who died for a cause, people taking great stands but it is quite another thing to live for truth. It is sometimes harder to live for Truth than it is to die for a cause, so the Apostle Paul took five things so highly esteemed and would make for brilliant lives, but it is nothing if it isn’t the love God constraining you and me, the same love that moved Jesus to leave Heaven’s glory to come to the earth, the same love that moved the heart of God that gave Him, a ransom for you and me: the real measurement of our lives is not this brilliant things but the measurement is how much of this divine love do I have working and operating in my love that was the life of our Saviour?

The middle verses of this chapter tell about the ingredients that make up charity because charity isn’t just one thing. It is made up of many things, just as bread is not made of just flour but many things, water, shortening, yeast, well I don’t know how many things go into making bread but the middle verses of this chapter tell us of fourteen ingredients that make up charity. I am glad it enumerates them because, that was, the field isn’t wide open: your idea of the love of God may be different to my idea of the love of God, the reality of the love of God that we could have in us is spoilt because of one ingredient lacking. I was thinking of the first one, suffering long, that is patience, just going on and on and on without giving up; patience is to continue on and on, patience ends when we get angry so that we quit.

In this Corinthian church, there were some who weren’t being very patient with one another but there are a number of aspects to patience – there is perseverance, forbearance, that we just put up with other people and their ideas and ways that maybe are different from ours; that is forbearance, that is part of patience, because we love them, because the love of God is working, persevering, going on in spite of obstacles, continuing because we love the way of God. Then there is long suffering, that is when we are patient when people misuse us or hurt us, when we are ill-treated we are patient because of this love of God, this love of Christ, we just keep going on. I was thinking of that little verse that says: Let patience have her perfect work. Sometimes my work has been very imperfect because I have been so impatient, my struggle hasn’t been with wickedness, I find my real struggle has been with impatience and the love of God is always going to produce this quality of patience in our lives.

The second quality ingredient is kindness. I remember one of our Sisters telling us she wrote about a certain problem to an older Sister where we were, what was the wisest course to take in this problem and the older Sister wrote back and told the younger one, “It is always wisest to be kind.” That is just part of the love of God, kindness, treating people better than they deserve. We think of the kindness of God. We read in Luke 6 God is kind to the unthankful and the evil, just felt I’d like my ministry always to speak of kindness because God has been so kind to me and treated me better than I deserve, I have no right to be anything but kind to others. I felt if I can’t accomplish what needs to be accomplished by kindness, I really won’t accomplish it any other way either, so charity is kind.

Then the next ingredient, charity envieth not, well, that is contentment; charity is content, not in competition with anybody else. Envy is a kind of hatred over what somebody else has, jealousy is a little different, envy is over what somebody else has, what somebody else can do more than you, someone else is praised and you can’t stand it, you hate them because they are praised, they are doing more than you do and I have thought there have been some very good lives, good men and women, that have been ruined because of this thing called envy; we read of Miriam, she envied Moses, Saul envied David, we read of the presidents in Daniel’s day, they envied Daniel, they had a decree drawn up. We read Pilate know it was for envy the Jews delivered Him to be tried. Envy is just when somebody else is praised and you can’t stand it, somebody else has a mind to do things before someone else gets the privilege and you can’t stand it because of envy but charity is content. It is not in competition with anyone because of charity, the love of God, we are happy to see someone else praised because we love them, we are happy to see someone else do well because we love them, somebody is always going to do more, far more than we can do, we are happy for them because the love of Christ, the love of God is working and operating in our hearts.

Then we read about charity vaunteth not itself, the next quality is humility; charity vaunteth not itself, doesn’t sing its own praises, doesn’t parade his virtues. If we say or do anything that is kind, we are not going to parade that, or let anybody know. It is not puffed up, doesn’t swell with pride. It helps me to remember in this matter of charity, that charity is humble and it helps me to remember that divinity can only be expresses through humility. Pride is kind of worshipping ourselves and humility is honouring God instead of honouring self, the only way we express God, His divinity, is through humility. I was thinking of that verse where Paul said, “Let every man esteem another better than himself,” in Philippians 2; humility give me a low esteem of myself, give me a high estimation of my brother, my sister. I was thinking of a verse in Galatians 6, “If a man think himself to be something when he is nothing.” Sometimes we think ourselves to be something when we really are nothing.

We have already heard about that today. I was thinking of a little story I heard about a lady who went to a priest to confess, I would like to confess the sin of pride. She had sat for hours looking at herself in the mirror. He said, “That is not the sin of pride, that is the sin of imagination;” sometimes our pride is just imagination and the love of God, the love of Christ is going to just make us appalled sometimes at our foolishness; wisdom is strength, always keep a low estimation of ourselves it will move you and me to esteem others better than ourselves, to love them just as Christ loves His people. I was thinking of the next ingredient that goes into charity, it says, “Charity doth not behave itself unseemly,” that is wisdom, charity is wise. We read in Paul’s letter to Timothy about that which becometh women professing godliness, also talks about that which becometh men professing godliness because wherever we go, we are His house, as we heard yesterday, we are concerned about God’s reputation, so we behave ourselves with wisdom. David behaved himself wisely in all his ways, Samuel 18, and then more wisely than all the servants of Saul. I can remember when I was a little boy, father used to sometimes tell us children, “Don’t you go out and misbehave or do anything wrong in the community. The neighbours aren’t going to say Harold did that but that Bennett boy did that.” That is why, because we love God, we love His Truth, we behave ourselves wisely in this world because we are concerned about God’s name and His reputation and we are not just trying to see how much we can get by with indulging ourselves, but we are concerned about this Truth that we love so much.

Then we read Charity seeketh not her own, that selflessness is the next ingredient. Sometimes it just apalls me how often I find I am going around thinking of myself and how plans that are make concern me, what advantage there will be to me. Charity is selfless, seeketh not her own, the love of God will move you and me to give up our rights, our plans, to think about others and their rights and how things affect others. Someone said about a little girl whose grandmother asked her, “Who do you love most?” and the grandmother probably expected her to say, “I love you most, grandmother,” but the little girl answered, “I love myself!” From the lips of babes, that was probably a true answer. So we have sometimes heard that self is the easiest thing to worship but the hardest thing to sacrifice but we think of the love of our Saviour, who loved others more than Himself and because He loved you and me more than He loved Himself we have hope today, and the divine love, the love of God, the love of Christ will always move you and me to think of others and their need and how what I am doing and saying is going to affect others and it will move me to give up my rights always for the welfare of others.

I was thinking of the next ingredient of the love of God. It says charity is not easily provoked; the next ingredient, it is mild, soft. The enemies of Jesus did a lot of things to provoke Him to anger but because Jesus was mild, soft in Spirit, they couldn’t provoke him to anger. We talk sometimes about the sins of the flesh and of the spirit and sometimes our spirit, we have a hard time with our anger, our temper. That is one of the things the Bible condemns again and again, is a person who is soon angry. Not easily provoked is charity. I was thinking of anger, sometimes we provoke God’s people, we find because of the new spirit, the new control over their lives, because of the love of God, sometimes human nature would provoke; that could work two ways, either go up to boiling point or it could go down to freezing point, they just won’t talk, just brood; one is just as bad as the other but the love of God puts a new control over our lives so that we are not soon angry or not easily provoked.

Sometimes people ask what about Jesus in Mark 3. It says, “He was angry.” I have appreciated the thought that Jesus was angry because of the violation of principles not, however, in a passion; sometimes we get angry because of our passion, Jesus was made angry by the violation of some of the principles of God. Sometimes we have to reach the point of anger before we do something about some of the principles of God that are violated. He was never angry of His passion, because of what people said or did to him, He never got His feelings hurt, He was led as a Lamb to the slaughter, dumb as a sheep before the shearers, so the love of God just puts a new control over our spirits because of its working within our lives.

I was thinking of the next ingredient, thinketh no evil; that just means it is pure. There is purity in charity. I believe one of the easiest ways to become defiled is to be defiled in our thinking, we can have thousands of thoughts in just a very short time and we remember everything that begins with a thought. Someone told about the maker of a bridge. At the dedication of the bridge, it was pointed out that that bridge they were dedicating, that it began with a thought and I just thought of the necessity of being pure in our thoughts because we will never be any more noble, or spiritual, or godly than our thoughts. I know a woman who just seems to have a list in her mind of wrongs that others have done to here and the grudges and complaints, she seems to go around just going over and over the list. Well, that is impoverishing her, going over and over in her mind, making her poor in the way of God.

Charity thinketh no evil; in another language it is translated, “Charity is not suspicious.” It just means one isn’t going around suspecting others of evil and wrong because of the love of God working in our hearts. In Titus 1:15 it says, “Unto the pure all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure.” I used to wonder what that verse meant, to the pure all things are pure, to the defiled nothing is pure, it means that we tend to suspect in other people wrong that we see in ourselves. If we are dishonest, we tend to suspect that in others; when we are self-righteous, we suspect others of being self-righteous; when we are proud, we suspect others are proud; when we are pure in our thoughts, then we tend to see purity in other people also because it says charity thinketh no evil. I just felt I would like to work on that element of charity, I am not standing up here telling you I have always done these things but I want to do them because I know that is part of the love of God.

Well, then it says, “Rejoiceth not in iniquity.” This means charity is holy. Iniquity is something that is an abomination to God, like taking our own way and going wrong. The love of God in our hearts never causes us to rejoice in somebody else stumbling or going wrong, or anything that is an abomination to God.

In Proverbs 24 we read, “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth.” We read in another place, “He that is glad of another’s calamity shall not prosper.” The love of God makes us grieve when we hear of somebody going wrong, going down in the conflict.

The next element of charity is rejoiceth in the Truth. The love of God is truthful. The only thing the love of God can rejoice in is the Truth. There is no hope in a lie, no future in a lie but with the love of God working in our hearts, then we are moved to humble ourselves and seek for Truth; seek and seek and seek it until it is found, Truth, because we can never rejoice or find anything to make us glad, nothing else but the Truth. I have appreciated a statement that was made: it is not who is right, but what is right. The love of God is always going to move us to seek not who is right but what is right. Sometimes we get taken up with who is right, who is wrong, but the love of God will move you and me to get taken up with what is right, not what is wrong.

Then we read charity beareth all things (verse 7). It just means charity knows how to be silent, bear all things. It just means charity will make you and me slow to expose wrong, we are not going to go about publishing another person’s faults, blazing it about and talking about it because charity knows how to be silent.

In I Peter 4, charity covereth a multitude of sins. I was thinking of the account we have in Genesis 9 where Ham, the son of Noah, came and found his father drunken and told it about; his two sons Shem and Japheth took a mantle, walked backwards and covered the nakedness of their father, that is just taking the mantle of love to cover someone else’s fault because we love them and because the love of Christ is operating in our lives. Sometimes, I fear I have too much of an appetite for bad things, scandal, but the love of God makes it so we are slow to expose the wrong in the Kingdom and in others and you won’t talk about it. There are times when some things have to be addressed and dealt with, we are slow but do it because of the love of Christ operating in our lives.

Psalm 20.1-2, I have enjoyed thinking of the Songs of Degrees. I have read them before. The songs Degrees are a set of psalms, beginning Psalm 120 to Psalm 134 and we understand that these, Psalms are the songs that the Lord’s people sang as they went up to Jerusalem to their annual Feasts. A degree is a step, like a step on the stairs. That is so in several things. These songs of degrees are just steps upwards and onwards that the Lord’s people were taking as they went to their feasts.

This truth is something we enter into by degrees. We learn to love it by degrees. Faith increases by degrees. We wonder today, to what degree have I entered into the Truth and to what degree do I love it, to what degree do I have faith in it, because we enjoy it and enter into it by degrees and always by taking steps upwards and onward.

Proverbs 4.18, God’s way gets better and better and the light gets brighter and clearer. We love and appreciate it more. As the unjust walk, the path of the unjust becomes more unclear as a person goes on. We are thankful we enter, into it by degrees and it gets better and better as we take steps forward and upward. God’s people have always been a singing people, because they have something to sing about. The Songs of Degrees tell us what the Lord’s people had to sing about. They were singing about the same things God’s people sing about today. The subject of each of these 15 psalms:

Psalm 120 is about distress. We live in a world of stress and it seems there is more stress all the time from jobs, family and society. The cure for stress might be to take a holiday or get a good night’s sleep, but the cure for distress is different, it is to cry unto the Lord. I know a young man who told us there was something he wanted to do and he knew it was wrong and he wouldn’t pray about that. He got to the point where he couldn’t pray about anything and finally, in his distress he cried unto the Lord. Distress isn’t the worst thing that can happen to a person. It could be wonderful if we came here feeling a little distressed today, because it puts us in a position where the Lord can help us. We don’t worry about people who are feeling a little distressed. We do worry about people who get wrong and go wrong and never do anything about it, but when we say and do wrong and feel distressed about it, we are in a position where the Lord can help us.

Verse 2, when we have to live among people who are untrue and deceitful, that causes distress. One man, before he met the Truth, he went to his preacher and found that verse (Matthew 10.8) “freely ye have received, freely give.” The preacher told him, “Oh! Just leave that up to me.” He went home in such terrible distress and it led to him crying to the Lord.

Verse 5, Mesech was the slave market (Ezekiel 27:13). The psalmist was in distress because he felt, “I am just a slave to possessions, people and things, and I don’t want to be a slave to possessions, people and things getting the control over him that the Lord should have.” In his distress he cried unto the Lord. Kedar … was a wandering enemy in the wilderness and the Psalmist felt, “I don’t want to be wandering, just drifting through life, getting no closer to God and home,” and in distress he cried to the Lord.

Verse 6, our hearts go out to people who have to live in divided homes, with someone who hates peace, and people in care centers and an atmosphere they have no control over. If we have come here today and feel a bitter distress, it puts us in a wonderful position, where the Lord can draw near and help His people.

Psalm 121 is about where our help comes from. Verse 1-2, the first verse is a question. The psalmist knew his help didn’t come from the hills. It was on the highest hills that the heathen built their groves and worshipped their idols. He knew his help didn’t come from these places. He knew his help came from above those hills, from the heaven, the Lord that made the heavens.

We are gathered today, because we need help. God has made us in such a way that we need help. Good humanity is man looking to man for help and there is a lot of that in the world, but Christianity is man looking to God for help. If man looks to man for help, you get what men can do: the scientists, the physiologists, the philosophers. Ten years from now, all their books, advice, and counsel will be different. When man looks to God for help, we get that eternal Wisdom and strength that comes only from God and we get what God can do to help us. He doesn’t slumber or sleep (Verse 3-4), He sees every need and emergency and can come to the help of His people. We are thankful we have the privilege of looking up to God.

I know a professional photographer and he told me that the human countenance is at its most beautiful when the eyes are lifted and the chin is lifted. When taking a portrait, he often asks the subject to lift up their eyes and chin. God’s people are at their best when they are lifting their eyes for the help from the One Who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 122 is about fellowship. (Verse 1-3) I hope you were glad when they said, “Let’s go to convention”, glad at even the thought of coming to convention. It wasn’t the psalmist’s worldly friends that said, “Let us go into the house of the Lord,” it was his Godly friends who encouraged him. Fortunate is the person who has Godly friends who can encourage them in the right direction. Some children playing meeting and one of them said, “I want to be one of those “glad to be here people!” He was glad that he was glad to be there. If that gladness ever dies away, we will have lost our purpose. That gladness began in your heart and mine when we heard the gospel and gladly received the Word. There might have been some people in that mission not so glad to hear the gospel and it made them mad instead of glad. Gladness began when we got a vision of eternity and the worth whileness of living for and spending life for eternity.

Psalm 4:7, no farmer is happier than at the time of the increase in harvest. God puts gladness in His people above and beyond that. Verse 2, a man who’d been in a mental hospital said he, at first, hated those walls and gates, but as time went on, he appreciated the walls and gates, because he realized they were his safety. There is a difference between the walls of a prison and the walls of a home. The walls of a prison are meant to keep evil in. but the walls and gates of a home keep evil out.

Psalm 73:2, the psalmist had been in slippery places and there, his lips would no longer be singing. Then, he was in an even place, where his lips would be singing. Verse 3, there is a closeness about this fellowship. It is not only compact, but it is compacted together, that is the closeness we feel in the way of God. God’s people have no registered name, no colleges, or office buildings, yet all around the world; God’s people are built as a city compacted together, a togetherness we love. I have had the experience of riding with workers in areas I wasn’t familiar with and glad when they say, “That is the farm where some of our friends live.”

Verse 4, the reason why we have come up to the annual feast is to give thanks to the Lord. No matter what happened through the past year, no matter the circumstances and trials, we can always give thanks to God, because God has always done far more for us than we have. He keeps us hopelessly in debt. We are always thankful when we realise, “I have received far more than I deserved.” Even when the storm hits, we can give thanks because it shows where the weak limbs are. We have come to give thanks.

Verse 5, the people hadn’t only come to meet with God, but with those that the Lord had set as guides to His people, because there are thrones of judgment that are set. God has always had those that are set as guides to His people. Judgment isn’t punishment, the thrones of judgment aren’t set to cut and slash His people, but to show us what is right, to give us God’s opinion on the matter and to see things as God sees them. When a judge takes a case, he gives his opinion, based on the law, as to how the law, an interpretation of it, applies to the individual case. As we are gathered here, the Lord will give His opinion through those thrones of judgment, as to how the Word of God fits your case and mine.

Psalm 123 is about the servant. (Verse 2) A man who had a good servant had a valuable thing and would take care of a good servant. This psalm tells us how God appreciates servants, but the world doesn’t always appreciate those who serve God. In many lands where servants are a part of the household, the master doesn’t speak to the servant, but he will give a little sign with his hand, that is why the servant looks to the hand of his master. The maid looks to the hand of her mistress for some small indication of something to do. God doesn’t want us running ahead and taking our own initiative in this matter of serving, but He appreciates His servant who keeps his eyes on Him, waiting for some little indication of what he should be doing. He appreciates a servant who gives a ready response. We have come, not just to hear some new things, but looking for some little indication of some way in which we can serve, something we can do and that is why we keep our eyes on the Master and He appreciates a ready response.

Verse 4, those that are “at ease” – sometimes, people slack off and have lost their enthusiasm in their service to God, One lady said, “You don’t need to go to all those gospel meetings or drive all those miles, they are for the outside.” That person was one of the scorners at ease. When we slack off from the Lord in our ease, then God slacks off from His people and then our joy slackens off also. God takes very good care of His servants who serve Him well and He also takes care of the scorner.

Psalm 124, “If it had not been the Lord…” This is the song all the Lord’s people will be singing in heaven. “If it had not been the Lord Who was on our side…” Abraham Lincoln, in the height of the Civil War days – a General said, “We need to pray that the Lord will be on our side”. Abraham Lincoln said, “No, we need to pray that we are on the Lord’s side.” When we are on the Lord’s side, then He is on the side of His people. That is the song God’s people will be singing in heaven. A man who had success in business said he couldn’t boast about that business, because in the beginning someone invested money in it and he had a lot of good advice along the way so he couldn’t boast about it. So it will be in our case, it was the “Lord who was on our side.”

Verse 4, “the waters;” Verse 5, “the proud waters.” Out in this world there are lots of proud waters. You watch their airs, you can get carried away by the stream of this world and its pride and undertow. That force in the water that pulls people under. If we get caught in that stream, it was “the Lord on our side” and he helped us.

Verse 7, “The snare is broken and we are escaped.” Going with an Indian to watch them setting a snare, hoping some animal would put his paw or head into something he didn’t see. The animal put his foot into the trap. The Indian waited till the animal came back the second and third time and the animal gained a little confidence. Then he tightened things. There is a lot in this world we could have put our heads or our feet into, but when that happened, “the Lord was on our side and broke the snare.”

When we stand on the shores of eternity, we will not be talking about “my power,” it will be “the Lord who was on our side.” Sometimes, we have been caught in the snare, but the Lord has come to the help of His people and that is the reason for their victory.

Psalm 125 is about the bulwark of Truth. (Verse 1-2) Sometimes, people worry about the future of the Truth. They worry that the day may come when God’s Truth will die on the earth. This psalm tells us that God isn’t going to allow anything to come in from the outside to destroy His Truth, because just as there were mountains around Jerusalem that constituted a natural fortification, so that you would have to remove these mountains, so you would have to remove the Lord, who is around about His people, anything that would destroy His Truth.

Verse 5, if there is anything on the inside, or anyone who persists in taking his own way and who is a problem-maker, the Lord will just lead him to the outside, because peace is very important to the Lord and His efforts are directed towards the peace of His people. So, there is not anything to come in from the outside or anything from the inside. We don’t worry about the future of the Kingdom, but what we worry about is our future in the Kingdom. “They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion.” The enemy wants to destroy faith and trust. As long as nothing destroys this trust and faith in the Word of God, His servants, and people, we don’t need to be concerned about our future in this Kingdom that can never he removed.

Psalm 126 is about the precious seed. (Verse 6) That precious seed is the seed of Truth. God’s people had been brought into captivity, a dry and barren place and the Lord was restoring them after the captivity. There were some that had kept the word of truth alive. Now they would have something to sow that would bring forth Truth. Prodigals go out, take their own way, waste years of life, and want to come back. We are thankful there are those who have kept that precious seed of Truth alive in themselves so there is something to come back to and there can be a sowing and reaping.

Psalm 127 warns us against being too anxious and worried in this work. (Verse 2) Jesus knew a wonderful freedom in His work and we don’t need to be too over-anxious or burdened in the work of God. We have our part to do and God has His part to do. If God can’t do His part, then nothing is done. (Verse 1) There is a lot of work goes into preaching the gospel, but if in all of that, the Lord cannot work, then nothing is done. (Verse 1) A lot of work goes into shepherding God’s people and keeping the city, but in all of our efforts, if the Lord can’t work and keep the city, then it is not kept. God’s servants are some of the busiest people around. God-directed busyness is what really counts. Sometimes, we feel if we are not going somewhere, we are not doing anything. If, in all our activities, we are not God-directed in our busyness, there is nothing done. God has His part to do and we have our part. What keeps God from doing His part is if there is a wrong condition in our hearts – hardness, unwillingness, unforgiveness – then the Lord cannot work. If there is a wrong condition of heart, then in all that goes on at Convention, nothing can be done. It is not so much “service,” but it is “relationship.” It is in that relationship of the heart that the Lord can work. We don’t need to be over-anxious, but do our part in co-operation with the Lord.

Psalm 128 is about the fear of the Lord. (Verse 1-4). This is about family life. There is a difference between being afraid of the Lord and fearing the Lord. To be afraid of the Lord means we are frightened He is going to hurt us and we are being selfish in thinking about ourselves. We fear the Lord is going to grieve us in our selfishness, but to fear the Lord means we are concerned about hurting God and grieving Him, thinking about reverencing Him, so that we do the things that please the Lord. The fear of the Lord should be in all of our attitudes, conduct, and relationships.

Verse 3, “Thy wife… thy children.” A vine needs support and the man is to support his wife. That is where the fear of the Lord comes in. A man won’t be ridiculing her or scorning her, but will be treating her with the same kind of reverence and respect as he has for the Lord. Olive plants are easily broken off. Children are easily broken off from the Truth. A man who fears the Lord isn’t going to make many mistakes because he will be thinking of them and their welfare. Whatever investment he has made into his family, it is in turn, going to enrich him because the fear of the Lord has affected his attitude, actions. and relationship that, not only is directed towards God, but towards those he lives with. (Verse 2)

Psalm 129 is about afflictions. (Verse 2, 3, 5) There are those who hate this fellowship and do everything they can to destroy it. We have it in our country and you have it. But God’s people don’t need to take matters into their own hands. Verse 3, the reason they did that was because they were trying to reap a harvest. The reason they did that “ploughed upon his back” was because the psalmist was on his face praying to God. All he could do was plough upon his back. It’s like the grass on the tops of the houses, just a thin layer of earth and then grass grows, but no reaping, nothing to fill their hands. Remember that wrong isn’t going to come out on top and those that hate Zion won’t reap a harvest as long as we are on our face and calling upon Him for our help.

Psalm 130 is about forgiveness. (Verse 3) I can tell you who would stand “if God should mark iniquity.” Nobody! (Verse 4 ) Verse 7, it is our unspeakable joy to have this psalm in the scriptures, that reassures us again and again that God loves to forgive His people and show mercy towards His people, but we remember that there is forgiveness with the Lord, “that Thou mayest be feared.” Before a person professes, the enemy likes to tell people that “you are all right.” Then when the person makes their choice, the enemy comes along and plagues people with the thought that “you are all wrong.” We have this reassurance that “there is forgiveness with the Lord.”

The difference between a pig and a sheep – clean it up, spray perfume on it, and put a ribbon around its neck. The pig would go right back to the mire, start wallowing in it again. There is something in the pig that he loves to be in the mire and the dirt and he will go right back to work again. The sheep hates the dirt and won’t run back there right away. The sheep may fall and get caught in something, but he hates it. So it is with the Lord’s people, there is forgiveness with Him, to keep clean and pure. We don’t go running back to the mire again to wallow in it.

Psalm 131 is about a weaned child. Verse 1, that is the spirit of a child. Sometimes, we meet people and they want you to explain Ezekiel, Daniel, Revelation, and the Second Coming and prophecies and want to know about things that are a matter of speculation more than revelation. I don’t exercise myself in matters too high for me. There were a lot of other things he could exercise himself in. There are things we can exercise ourselves in that aren’t too high for us. One of them is to know the Lord and the other is to know our duty. Those are two things that are not matters that are too high for us.

Verse 2, I can remember when we were on the farm and the time came what you had to wean the calves from their mother and they bawled and bawled when you weaned them, because they were so dependent on their mother. You had to wean them because if you didn’t wean them, they wouldn’t grow and develop properly. They bawled and bawled and finally they became content and quiet because they were weaned. Sometimes, we feel we just have to have certain things and we resist the weaning, things that are only hindering our growth and development in the Truth and flesh bawls and bawls and cries and cries and finally you are weaned.

I can remember when my little brother was weaned of his bottle and he bawled and bawled and nobody got any peace in the house. He just thought he had to have that bottle and now my brother is in his mid-thirties. If you were to give him his bottle back, he would be so embarrassed. Sometimes, we look back in life at things we thought we just had to have, we would be so embarrassed it we had them because we are weaned. Things of this flesh, only of the dust, we can be so content, because our desire has changed now. When you wean someone, he is less a baby now and more like a little child. The Lord wants us to be less like a baby and more like a little child. His desire was changed.

Psalm 133 is about unity. Unity is a wonderful thing. We can hardly comprehend the unity there is in the Kingdom of God all over the earth. The political world is divided so many ways. I suppose you could say the English hate the French, the French hate the Germans, the Germans hate the Russians, the Russians hate the Japanese , the Japanese hate the Chinese and go all around the world that way, because the world is all divided, but more than that, what of the political, ethnic worlds? The religious world is even more divided, but God’s people know a wonderful unity. Two factors come into the picture that makes for unity, without which there is no unity among the people of God: (1) the Spirit of God (spirit of unity) and (2) the doctrine of God.

Verse 2, (Exodus 29) when Aaron was anointed with that holy anointing oil, which is like the spirit of God – they brought him to the door of the tabernacle and washed him to take away all that was offensive from his human heart. God washes us with the water of His Word to take away all that is offensive in our mind. Then they anointed him with the sweetest of oils, like the Holy Spirit of God. When God’s people are washed and anointed with His Spirit, it makes the sweetest possible fragrance; it makes it so you like to be around them. Sometimes, God isn’t able to give us His Spirit that makes it pleasing to be around, because we have not been willing for the washing, so He can anoint us. You like to be around someone anointed with that sweetest possible fragrance.

The pure doctrine, “there the Lord commanded the blessing even life forevermore.” Deuteronomy 32:2, his “doctrine shall drop as the rain, speech shall distil as the dew.” The dew is like the true doctrine of God. Only God can make dew. It is always in a perfect sphere. The doctrine of God is always perfect. When something is faulty in the teaching and doctrine, there is no unity. These two factors, the Holy Spirit and the teaching that comes from God make for unity among His people and “there the Lord has commanded blessing, even life forevermore.”

These songs God’s people were singing as they were taking forward and upward steps, entering by degrees more and more into His Word.

Hymn #6

1 Corinthians 13:4, “Charity suffereth long and is kind; beareth all things, believeth, hopeth, endureth all things.” I don’t suppose there is ever a time when we think so much of the love of God as on a Sunday morning. We know we can hardly comprehend the love of God to empty heaven for 33 ½ years of His well beloved Son for you and for me! It is hard to comprehend the love of Christ that moved Him to come to this dark world to trace out a path of righteousness that leads back to God’s right hand and caused Him to suffer, knowing He had to shed His life’s blood on Calvary’s cross. I appreciated the last line of that hymn that we sang, “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”

I appreciated thinking of the words of Paul in II Corinthians 5:14 when he said, “The love of Christ constraineth us.” That was the same love that worked and was operating in the life of Jesus when He came to this earth; it moved Him to do what He did. He gave himself; that is the sacrifice that He gave and I was thinking of I Corinthians 13 in thinking of the love of God, the love of Christ. It is not the first time I have read this chapter and thought about it. I have appreciated what we have already heard in Convention about charity. Sometimes people ask us how this Way of God works; they see it does work without office buildings, seminaries, printing presses, committees, and the most simple explanation of it is, it is the love of God that constraineth us; the love of Christ constraineth us and makes it work so wonderfully well.

I Corinthians 13 is about charity and that is divine love, love divine. Human love is subject to failure but divine love is not subject to failure. A few years ago a lady came to one of the Conventions and gave her testimony. She told us, fifteen years previously she had gotten her eyes on human love and it took her out of God’s way. Human love failed and it brought so many heartaches and disappointments into her life. Now, fifteen years later, she was back because she had gotten her eyes on love divine and it brought her back into the fellowship and to joy and peace and hope again. So I have appreciated thinking about this love divine, the love of God, the love of Christ, and that has brought about all that we know and enjoy and gives us the hope that we have.

The first few verses of this chapter tell about the ultimate triumph of charity and I was thinking about those first few where Paul talked about the necessity of charity, or love divine. He picked out five great things that are so esteemed in this world that you and I might be tempted to measure ourselves by. When he said, “Though I,” he was just reminding you and me that the real measurement is how much charity, how much of this love of God, the Love if Christ do we have working and operating in our lives. The first thing that he mentioned was great speaking, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal,” for the world esteems great speaking. In the false church when they want to hire a preacher, they have him come and preach a few trial sermons and if they like his speaking, they will hire him; if not, they won’t because the world esteems great speaking. They esteem the silver tongued orator who speaks effectively and moves crowds, but Paul said, “It is not great speaking but how much of this love divine do I have working in my heart.” I am thankful when Jesus was here, He never taught His disciples how to speak but He did teach them how to love. I can remember my first year in the Gospel, speaking was difficult. My companion told me one evening, “If you can’t bring much to the meeting, if you can just bring a heart full of love that will mean more to people;” that is the greatest message you could bring – a heart full of love, love divine. I am thankful that is still the measurement today. Paul talked about music, sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. Music can stir the heart. I have sometimes been stirred by music, but it can’t feed the heart; divine love is still what feeds our hearts.

The second thing mentioned is great knowledge, “Though I have the gift of prophesy and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, and have not charity, I am nothing.” The world esteems great heads of knowledge who have facts and figures. That is why in the false church ministers will have a doctor’s degree in front of their name or after it; he has a head full of knowledge but it is still love that is the real measurement. One day, some missionaries came to a home of some friends and began asking questions. They said, “You don’t know anything!” She didn’t have a lot of facts and figures but that woman has a heart that is full of love, filled with divine love. To the world, the important thing is to have a head full of facts and figures.

In the Garden of Eden was the tree of knowledge that humanly enticed Adam and Eve but it is the tree of life that we need and the life of this thing is the love of Christ, the love of God moving and operating in you and in me. Knowledge will never help us deny ourselves; it will never change our sinful tendencies. Knowledge will never make us more like Christ. We may be worse off for having a lot of knowledge but we will never be worse off for having a heart full of charity, full of divine love.

Then Paul talked about another great thing, “Though I have all faith to remove mountains.” There are people in the world who have taken courageous steps—with faith there is courage—in pioneering places, they have gone into darkest Africa. You can do that just through ambition in your life, in your heart, but be far from God and you can still be courageous. Paul just emphasizes it is the heart filled with love that God wants.

The next great thing mentioned, “Though I have all my goods to feed the poor” – the world will be impressed by the sacrifice. There are sacrificial people in the world who will donate to the poor, build orphanages, and hostels, because the world is impressed with sacrifice. Saul of the Old Testament wanted to keep back the animals of the Amalekites that he should have slain, for sacrifice. He knew it would impress people, but David obeyed, because it is better to obey. Divine love will move you and me to obey. There are people in this world who will open their hands to feed the poor but they won’t open their heart to God. A heart full of divine love will always move you and me to open our heart.

Finally he said, “Though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity it profiteth me nothing.” That is a great thing in the world. In every age there have been martyrs who died for a cause, people taking great stands, but it is quite another thing to live for Truth. It is sometimes harder to live for Truth than it is to die for a cause, so the Apostle Paul took five things so highly esteemed and would make for brilliant lives, but it is nothing if it isn’t the love of God constraining you and me, the same love that moved Jesus to leave Heaven’s glory to come to the earth, the same love that moved the heart of God that gave Him, a ransom for you and me. The real measurement of our love is not this brilliant thing, but the measurement is how much of this divine love do I have working and operating in my life that was in the life of our Saviour?

The middle verses of this chapter tell about the ingredients that make up charity because charity isn’t just one thing; it is made up of many things, just as bread is not made of just flour but many things—water, shortening, yeast. Well I don’t know how many things go into making bread, but the middle verses of this chapter tell us of fourteen ingredients that make up charity, and I am glad it enumerates them because, that was, the field isn’t wide open. Your idea of the love of God may be different to my idea of the love of God. The reality of the love of God that we could have in us is spoilt because of one ingredient lacking.

I was thinking of the first one, suffering long — that is patience, just going on and on and on without giving up. Patience is to continue on and on. Patience ends when we get angry so that we quit.

In this Corinthian church, there were some who weren’t being very patient with one another, but there are a number of aspects to patience. There is perseverance and forbearance, that we just put up with other people and their ideas and ways that maybe are different from ours; that is forbearance; that is part of patience, because we love them, because the love of God is working, persevering, going on in spite of obstacles, continuing because we love the way of God.

Then there is long suffering and that is when we are patient when people misuse us or hurt us. When we are ill-treated, we are patient because of this love of God, this love of Christ; we just keep going on. I was thinking of that little verse that says, “Let patience have her perfect work.” Sometimes my work has been very imperfect because I have been so impatient. My struggle hasn’t been with wickedness: I find my real struggle has been with impatience, and the love of God is always going to produce this quality of patience in our lives.

The second quality ingredient is kindness. I remember one of our Sisters telling us she wrote about a certain problem to an older Sister where we were, what was the wisest course to take in this problem, and the older Sister wrote back and told the younger one, “It is always wisest to be kind,” and that is just part of the love of God — kindness: treating people better than they deserve. We think of the kindness of God. We read in Luke 6 God is kind to the unthankful and the evil, and I just felt I’d like my ministry always to speak of kindness. Because God has been so kind to me and treated me better than I deserve, I have no right to be anything but kind to others. I felt if I can’t accomplish what needs to be accomplished by kindness, I really won’t accomplish it any other way either, so charity is kind.

Then the next ingredient, charity envieth not — well, that is contentment; charity is content, not in competition with anybody else. Envy is a kind of hatred over what somebody else has. Jealousy is a little different. Envy is over what somebody else has, what somebody else can do more than you, someone else is praised and you can’t stand it, you hate them because they are praised, they are doing more than you do, and I have thought there have been some very good lives, good men and women, that have been ruined because of this thing called envy. We read of Miriam— she envied Moses; Saul envied David; we read of the presidents in Daniel’s day—they envied Daniel, they had a decree drawn up. We read Pilate knew it was for envy the Jews delivered Jesus to be tried. Envy is just when somebody else is praised and you can’t stand it, somebody else has a mind to do things before someone else gets the privilege and you can’t stand it because of envy, but charity is content. It is not in competition with anyone, and because of charity, the love of God, we are happy to see someone else praised because we love them; we are happy to see someone else do well because we love them. Somebody is always going to do more, far more than we can do, and we are happy for them because the love of Christ, the love of God is working and operating in our hearts.

Then we read that charity vaunteth not itself. The next quality is humility; charity vaunteth not itself, doesn’t sing its own praises and doesn’t parade his virtues. If we say or do anything that is kind, we are not going to parade that, or let anybody know. It is not puffed up, doesn’t swell with pride. It helps me to remember in this matter of charity, that charity is humble and it helps me to remember that divinity can only be expressed through humility. Pride is kind of worshipping ourselves, and humility is honoring God instead of honoring self. The only way we express God, His divinity, is through humility. I was thinking of that verse where Paul said, “Let every man esteem another better than himself,” in Philippians 2. Humility: give me a low estimation of myself, give me a high estimation of my brother, my sister. I was thinking of a verse in Galatians 6, “If a man think himself to be something when he is nothing.” Sometimes we think ourselves to be something when we really are nothing. We have already heard about that today.

I was thinking of a little story I heard about a lady who went to a priest to confess she would like to confess the sin of pride. She had sat for hours looking at her self in the mirror. He said, “That is not the sin of pride; that is the sin of imagination.” Sometimes our pride is just imagination and the love of God, the love of Christ is going to just make us appalled sometimes at our foolishness. Wisdom is strength. Always keep a low estimation of ourselves; it will move you and me to esteem others better than ourselves, to love them just as Christ loves His people.

I was thinking of the next ingredient that goes into charity. It says, “Charity doth not behave itself unseemly; that is wisdom.” Charity is wise. We read in Paul’s letter to Timothy about that which becometh women professing godliness. He also talks about that which becometh men professing godliness, because wherever we go, we are His house, as we heard yesterday. We are concerned about God’s reputation, so we behave ourselves with wisdom. David behaved himself wisely in all his ways, Samuel 18, and then more wisely than all the servants of Saul. I can remember, when I was a little boy, father used to sometimes tell us children, “Don’t you go out and misbehave or do anything wrong in the community; the neighbors aren’t going to say Harold did that but that Bennett boy did that.” That is why, because we love God and we love His Truth, we behave ourselves wisely in this world—because we are concerned about God’s name and His reputation and we are not just trying to see how much we can get by with indulging ourselves, but we are concerned about this Truth that we love so much.

Then we read Charity seeketh not her own, that selflessness is the next ingredient. Sometimes it just appalls me how often I find I am going around thinking of myself and how plans that are made concern me, what advantage there will be to me. Charity is selfless, seeketh not her own. The love of God will move you and me to give up our rights, our plans, to think about others and their rights and how things affect others. Someone said about a little girl whose grandmother asked her, “Who do you love most?” and the grandmother probably expected her to say, “I love you most, grandmother” but the little girl answered, “I love myself!” From the lips of babes, that was probably a true answer. So we have sometimes heard that self is the easiest thing to worship but the hardest thing to sacrifice; but we think of the love of our Saviour, who loved others more than Himself, and because He loved you and me more than He loved Himself, we have hope today. The divine love, the love of God, the love of Christ will always move you and me to think of others and their need and what I am doing and saying is going to affect others and it will move me to give up my rights always for the welfare of others.

I was thinking of the next ingredient of the love of God. It says charity is not easily provoked; the next ingredient is mild, soft. The enemies of Jesus did a lot of things to provoke Him to anger but because Jesus was mild and soft in Spirit, they couldn’t provoke Him to anger. We talk sometimes about the sins of the flesh and of the spirit. Sometimes we have a hard time with our anger, our temper, and that is one of the things the Bible condemns again and again, a person who is soon angry. Not easily provoked is charity. I was thinking of anger. Sometimes we provoke God’s people; we find because of the new spirit, the new control over their lives, because of the love of God, sometimes human nature would provoke. That could work two ways, either go up to boiling point or it could go down to freezing point; they just won’t talk, just brood. One is just as bad as the other but the love of God puts a new control over our lives so that we are not soon angry or not easily provoked.

Sometimes people ask what about Jesus in Mark 3; it says He was angry, and I have appreciated the thought that Jesus was angry because of the violation of principles not, however, in a passion. Sometimes we get angry because of our passion; Jesus was made angry by the violation of some of the principles of God. Sometimes we have to reach the point of anger before we do something about some of the principles of God that are violated. He was never angry of His passion, because of what people said or did to Him; He never got His feelings hurt; He was led as a Lamb to the slaughter, dumb as a sheep before the shearers, so the love of God just puts a new control over our spirits because of its working within our lives.

I was thinking of the next ingredient — thinketh no evil; that just means it is pure. There is purity in charity. I believe one of the easiest ways to become defiled is to be defiled in our thinking. We can have thousands of thoughts in just a very short time and we remember everything that begins with a thought. Someone told about the maker of a bridge. At the dedication of the bridge, it was pointed out that that bridge they were dedicating began with a thought, and I just thought of the necessity of being pure in our thoughts because we will never be any more noble, or spiritual, or godly than our thoughts. I know a woman who just seems to have a list in her mind of wrongs that others have done to her and the grudges and complaints; she seems to go around just going over and over the list. Well, that is impoverishing her, going over and over in her mind, making her poor in the way of God.

“Charity thinketh no evil.” In another language, it is translated, “Charity is not suspicious;” it just means one isn’t going around suspecting others of evil and wrong because of the love of God working in our hearts. In Titus 1:15, it says, “Unto the pure all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving, is nothing pure.” I used to wonder what that verse meant — to the pure all things are pure, to the defiled nothing is pure. It means that we tend to suspect in other people wrong that we see in ourselves. If we are dishonest, we tend to suspect that in others; when we are self-righteous, we suspect others of being self-righteous; when we are proud, we suspect others are proud; when we are pure in our thoughts then we tend to see purity in other people also because it says, “Charity thinketh no evil.” I just felt I would like to work on that element of charity. I am not standing up here telling you I have always done these things but I want to do them because I know that is part of the love of God.

Well, then it says, “Rejoiceth not in iniquity;” this means charity is holy. Iniquity is something that is an abomination to God—like taking our own way and going wrong. The love of God in our hearts never causes us to rejoice in somebody else stumbling or going wrong, or anything that is an abomination to God. In Proverbs 24, we read, “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth.” We read in another place, “He that is glad of another’s calamity shall not prosper.” The love of God makes us grieve when we hear of somebody going wrong, going down in the conflict.

The next element of charity is, “Rejoiceth in the Truth.” The love of God is truthful. The only thing the love of God can rejoice in is the Truth. There is no hope in a lie, no future in a lie, but with the love of God working in our hearts, then we are moved to humble ourselves and seek for Truth; seek and seek and seek it until it is found because we can never rejoice or find anything to make us glad, nothing else but the Truth. I have appreciated a statement that was made, “It is not who is right, but what is right, and the love of God is always going to move us to seek not who is right but what is right.” Sometimes we get taken up with who is right or who is wrong, but the love of God will move you and me to get taken up with what is right, not with what is wrong.

Then we read, “Charity beareth all things,” verse 7; it just means charity knows how to be silent and bear all things. It just means charity will make you and I slow to expose wrong; we are not going to go about publishing another person’s faults, blazing it about and talking about it, because charity knows how to be silent. In I Peter 4, “Charity covereth a multitude of sins.” I was thinking of the account we have in Genesis 9 where Ham, the son of Noah, came and found his father drunken and told it about. His two sons, Shem and Japheth, took a mantle, walked backwards and covered the nakedness of their father; that is just taking the mantle of love to cover someone else’s fault because we love them and because the love of Christ is operating in our lives. Sometimes I fear I have too much of an appetite for bad things, for scandal, but the love of God makes it so we are slow to expose the wrong in the Kingdom and in others and you won’t talk about it. There are times when some things have to be addressed and dealt with. We are slow but do it because of the love of Christ operating in our lives.

Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” This word grace we use a lot, it is linked to many things, grace truth, grace and peace, grace and glory and is connected with God, the God of all grace, Jesus is full of grace and truth, the wonderful grace and what it brings into our lives. Grace in the dictionary is “the unmerited of favour of God” but I find this grace is more than that. Grace comes from heaven, it is not part of the earth, God has a monopoly on it and we have to go to God for it. The Electric Company, the Telephone Company are a monopoly, you cannot get their services anywhere else. God has grace and is the only one who has it, we don’t have it, we cannot get saved without it and we cannot continue far without it. There are 3 aspects of grace. Grace of God towards us, the grace of God in us and the grace of God through us. Towards us concerns getting saved, in us concerns keeping us saved and then through us to help others to get saved. First is the loving kindness of God towards us, second is God giving us power and strength and third the beauty of spirit that is the result of His inward working.

We will speak of the grace of God toward us first. Imagine if there were someone terminally ill and there was a medicine available to help them but the medicine was totally out of their price range, but then some kind man purchased the cup of medicine and offered it to them, this is like the grace of God and through faith which is my part I reach out and take it. There are two parts to salvation, Gods part and our part, God supplies and we apply, we apply the grace of God, we have no means whereby we can obtain it but it is just our part to accept it, not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works.

Ephesians 1:6, “To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved.” One of my companions was Vietnamese, at 12 years of age he left Saigon on the last airlift before the fall of Saigon. He was an orphan, living on the streets of Saigon, no parents, they were killed or lost, so he was weeping, dirty and nowhere to go, many were like him in the city. A rich man saw this boy and said, “Come and I will give you a good home with food and you will become my child.” He came sad, feeling lost and now years later you see the difference in him, he had been given a good home, education etc and this is what God has done for us by His grace, it is His good pleasure to give this to us, all to the glory and praise of His grace, we could never obtain this for ourselves and we never cease to thank God for His favour which has brought to us so much. Then we can speak of the grace of God in us and this concerns strength which sustains us. II Timothy 1:9, “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace.” God had a purpose in the beginning for our lives and grace is the power that enables us to do what God had in mind which will accomplish the will of God and purpose of God.

Romans 5:2, “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” This grace enables us to stand right now, when I professed, I made a stand and found that there were many things against and was not long before I felt, we need to be upright, firm as there is much against the truth of God. When my grandfather came in 1919 to U.S.A., he built up a farm, built a house and a barn and recently I went back to look at the old barn and it is still standing, it was built of good material, and it had good bracing that has been the strength of the building. This grace is like the bracing, it enables us to stand in spite of the powers against us.

II Corinthians 9:8, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you.” This abundant supply of abounding grace, God has this abundant supply more than we will ever need. The prodigal came home to broad and to spare, more than he needed. Jesus told Peter that He could call on the Father and He would send 12 legions of angels, He only needed one, there are angels to help and to spare. My companion was diving before he went into the work and he would put on his diving suit then his oxygen tank and go down into the water to do what he had to do and then he would got out as soon as possible, he realised that this oxygen could run out and I am in a place where fish live and not men. We have to go out into a hostile world and we need oxygen and grace from heaven to keep us alive and to sustain us but we do not need to worry that the supply will run out till we are called to Heaven, a spiritual atmosphere, here on earth it is a hostile atmosphere.

II Corinthains 12, this tells us of sufficient grace as Paul had a messenger of Satan to buffet him, a thorn in the flesh so Paul prayed to God to remove this, he prayed once to remove this thing that he was battling against and God said, “No,” so he prayed again to ask God to remove this handicap, this hindrance and God said, “No,” so he prayed a third time asking God to remove it so he would not have to battle against it anymore and God said, “No, I’ll give you grace.” This drove him to God, made him feel humble, and made him feel his need. The Hebrews left Egypt and looked back and saw them dead on the shore, they did not have to battle with them again and there are some things we do not have to battle any more but other things all our life time we will have to fight against. On the judgment day, we will be more grateful for the handicaps, the hindering things that drove us to God rather than being grateful for the smooth sailing for these things make us feel our need.

II Corinthians 8:9, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.” These riches did not come to us automatically, it is hard for us to comprehend the riches of heaven that Jesus brought to us, and it took grace on Jesus part to do this for us. He came to be a carpenter and then became poorer than that, He humbled Himself to become a servant of the gospel, and this took grace. The servants of God today could have homes just as good as yours, have jobs just as good as yours. This did not come automatically to Jesus, it took grace for Him to do it.

Hebrews 2 tells us that by grace Jesus tasted death for even man, this was not automatic, Jesus drank the cup which held all the dregs of all the sins of the world, we think of all this black poison, His flesh shrank from it, His flesh did not want to die but for us to live. He needed to die and it was God’s grace that was sufficient for Him and this same grace is at our disposal. Where sin abounds, grace did much more abound, the world is deteriorating, we see all the problems, the heartaches we see sin abounding and we are so thankful that grace does so much more abound. The older workers tell us of the time when there were no gospel meetings in places, not have workers in every field but today in a world where sin is abounding God gives His people more help, more workers in the world, more gospel meetings, the need is greater so God gives the needed grace.

There is also a negative side to this grace, we could misuse this grace by disgrace. I Corinthians 15:10, “By the grace of God I am what I am and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain but I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” If we do not take advantage of this grace, it is disgrace, if grace does not change us, soften us, humble us, it is bestowed in vain. It was not bestowed in vain for Paul, he was a persecutor but by grace he became a preacher, a blasphemer became a saint, a Pharisee to become an apostle and he realised was not what he did but what the grace of God did, he made use of the grace of God. One time, a family made a start and after 6 month there was no change in their lives, the same as always and today they are no longer with us, grace was bestowed in vain.

Hebrews 10:29, “Hath done despite to the Spirit of grace.” When the Hebrews put the blood on the doorposts, they were not to put on the threshold, we are not to trample on the blood of Jesus, trample on blood bought things which are beyond any price our hope, our fellowship that we enjoy is blood bought.

Jude 4, “Turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness.” This just means that I can go out and do anything I want to do, any sin because it will be all forgiven, there is mercy to cover but this is doing despite to the Spirit of grace, we need to handle the precious bloodbought things reverently and with Godly fear, we have no license to sin, there is provision for sin if we are aiming in the right way, provision for our weakness but we have no license to sin.

Hebrews 12:15, “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled.” It is possible for us to fail in not obtaining the grace we need, a rock of bitterness is always wrong in a child of God, for the work of grace works sweetness. James tells us of the fountain, can it produce both sweet and bitter water, the work of God works sweetness. Someone may do or say something that makes you angry and we keep it under the surface, others do not see it, the root is there and one day, it will grow and many will be offended someday the weed will grow up and destroy all else in the garden, we blame others, they did something and they should not have done it, but the blame is on me, because I failed to obtain the grace of God, for this grace takes care of the offence the bitterness. Stephen showed a sweet spirit when the stones were falling on him, he had the grace of God. Many were hurling insults at Jesus and He could ask His Father to forgive them, this was the grace of God Jesus had. Hebrews 12:2, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and Godly fear.” Receiving this grace will enable us to serve God acceptably.

Then there is the third aspect of grace, grace through us. I Timothy 2:1, “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Being graceful has smoothness, a motion, an action that is not broken by abrupt lines, like a graceful skier and there is a beauty in the lives of Gods people, they have the rough edges taken off, no longer touchy or sensitive. In the world, people are polished, polish is on the outside, but grace works on the inside out. Jesus was full of grace, His life manifested a beauty that we appealing.

Luke 4:22, Jesus was in His home town in the temple service and the people wondered at the gracious words the proceeded out of His mouth, there was no mistaking the grace coming from His life for grace was working in His life. Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt.” If you tell people the truth, it is hard to swallow and accept to add a little salt makes it more palatable, if you put salt on an egg or on oatmeal it is easier to accept. We need truth but we also need grace in being able to make it acceptable to others.

Titus 2:11, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly.” Grace teaches you how to live in this world, in one part an old priest lived in an old mansion up on a hill and then there was need for a young priest to come and he had an apartment in the valley and someone asked the young man why he did not live with the old priest and he answered that no one could live with him. The grace of God teaches us how to live so we can have peace. By nature I like efficiency, punctuality, and accuracy and so often I sacrifice grace so that I could be efficient and I realise I need to be strong in the grace of God which adds beauty, we don’t want to sacrifice grace for efficiency. Grace enables us to hay something about us that produces beauty.

Jeremiah 38 we read that Jeremiah was put in the dungeon, in the mire, the king, had put him there, so a black man came and asked if he might take him up from the dungeon so he then took 30 men with him and took some old rags and made some clouts and let them down to Jeremiah and asked him to put them under his armholes they would not hurt him when they drew him up. We may want to help people and that it does not matter how we do it, we may hurt them but grace helps us to do it with feeling.

James 4, “He giveth more grace.” I need more grace, more so as get older and how do we get it? Hebrews 4:16, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” God gives unlimited provision which is found in the highest heaven as we come to the throne of God craving for it, having a keen desire for grace, obtain mercy for the past and grace for the future. James: 4:6, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble, God does not resist humility but resists pride and if we have trouble or difficulties just take the humble place and God will give grace. The last words written in the bible, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.”

Matthew 25:3, Psalms 14:1, Luke 12:20, 1 Corinthians 4:10. These verses speak about four kinds of fools. A fool isn’t someone who lacks intelligence. He just lacks good sense and the ability to reason. In reality there are just two kinds of fools: there are fools in the eyes of God and fools in the eyes of men. Sometimes the fear of becoming a fool in the eyes of men drives people to become a fool in the eyes of God.

Matthew 25 is about the first kind of fool, that is the person who is religious, but not right. Psalma 14.1 is about the next kind, that is the irreligious fool, who doesn’t believe in a God. Then Luke 12, we read about another kind of fool that is the person who goes and leaves his treasure behind him. Then we read about the fourth kind of fool in 1 Corinthians 4:10, the person who is a fool for Christ’s sake. We will either be a fool in the eyes of men or in the eyes of God, whether we like it or not. If we are going to be one, we want to be the right kind of a fool.

Matthew 25:1, this is speaking of the future. The Bible tells us in many places that God’s people are the Bride of Christ and Christ is the Bridegroom of their souls and that is what makes the gospel story such a beautiful story of love. Revelations 19:7, you and I are on the earth today to make ourselves ready. One lady told us that the happiest day of her life was when Gordon asked her to be his bride, but then a little later an in life a happier day yet came, when she was invited by the Son of God to be His bride.

I understand it was the custom in those lands for the marriage to be arranged and the bride and bridegroom were kept separate until the night of the wedding. The bridegroom on that night would go to the house of the bride to take her and her maidens through the streets with lamps in their hands to his father’s house where the marriage was celebrated. All ten were wedding-going people. The wedding to crown all other weddings is when the Bridegroom takes His Bride to Himself. The wedding for which this universe was created will be celebrated when Jesus returns to take His Bride unto Himself to love her and cherish her for all eternity.

At the midnight hour, the cry came. Midnight is the division of days, the end of one day and the beginning of another day. Midnight is the end of the day of preparation and the beginning of the day of realization. Midnight is the end of life’s opportunities and it is the beginning of eternity, eternity’s realities. Midnight hour came. It was like an awakening. Some speak of death being like a sleep, but that would be more like an awakening and people will see what they have and don’t have and the moment of truth will have come.

The five foolish took their lamps and no oil and their lamps went out. They said, “Give us of your oil for our lamps are gone out.” (Verse 8-9) Why wouldn’t the wise give some oil to the foolish in their desperate time? There are some things you cannot give to another person. You can share a light. The five wise had shared a light but you can’t give oil.

There are two things you cannot give to another person: you cannot give the breath of life and you cannot give the spirit of Christ. Some young sisters saw a man swept out to sea, saw him brought in and they pounded on his chest and they did everything they could to give him the breath of life but it was gone out. We cannot give to another the character and virtues of Christ, we have to go and get those for ourselves.

I wondered what the oil was. I think the oil is submission. They were to go and buy for themselves. The wise went in and the door was shut. The foolish went to buy oil. They came back and they had it, and in eternity, everyone will have paid the price of submission. Everybody will have it. It is a price that is hard to pay in our lifetime. We have the price of submission, obedience, and willingness. Some submit too late. All those ten virgins had lamps, something that would give them light, they had a Bridegroom. I can just imagine them, they were watching for the coming of the Bridegroom, but they should have been watching for oil. There are a lot of people on the lookout for the coming of Jesus, giving dates and times, but they should be giving thought toward their submission, because we are not ready until we have submission. They didn’t have enough submission, their lamps were gone out. On Sunday morning when we are gathered together before the emblems, Paul told them (1 Corinthians 11) to examine themselves. When you eat this bread and drink this wine, examine yourself to see if you are partaking worthily. That is the time when we pray that prayer, “If there is anything I don’t see, show me and I will be willing to change, if there is anything I am doing I shouldn’t be doing, show me and I won’t do it any more,” so submitted and so obedient.

But now, the midnight hour had come and they found they were religious and not right, because there wasn’t enough submission in their lives to make them ready. “They that were ready went in … and the door was shut.” Some of our sisters were at the airport a while back and a certain plane was just pulling away, they had locked the door. A man in a business suit came running along the corridor calling out, “I need to be on that airplane! I need to be on that airplane!” but the door was shut and so it will be for many when that midnight hour comes. It will be too late and “they that were ready went in.” (Verse 11) The wise paid the price of submission to get ready, but those that stayed out, they paid and paid and paid, they submitted, but it was too late. I hope we won’t be the kind of fool that is religious and not right, religious, but not ready enough. All readiness depends on the depth of submission we have in our vessel.

Psalms 14:1, the irreligious fool. This kind of person has gone beyond even the devils. This is because in James it says, “The devils believe and tremble.” We have often heard that nothing cannot become something without a creator and that something cannot become something living without a God and something living cannot become moral without a creator. It doesn’t matter how many centuries a person goes back, nothing can become something without a creator. Something cannot become something living without a God. No matter how hard scientists have tried, they cannot create life, only God can make something living and something living cannot become something moral without the Creator. One horse might have plenty of food and the horse beside him might have nothing and be starving and has no feeling of compassion that way. God has put something in you and me that is moral.

I was thinking about what we heard one time. Someone had asked these kind of persons how the universe came about. There was a Big Bang Theory, a cosmic explosion and out came the universe. I was thinking if I were to put a stick of dynamite in my suitcase, after everything settled down, I wouldn’t expect everything to be in a neat order in my suitcase.

Someone else told about talking to a doctor, a brain surgeon and asked him if he believed in a God and he was one of those kinds of fools. He didn’t believe in anything he couldn’t detect with any of his 5 senses. They asked him if he’d ever seen a brain, showed him a brain. He said, “yes,” he believed in that. They asked him if he had ever seen a mind. They hardly know what a mind is, but everybody believes in a mind. This kind of person would believe in laws, but no lawgiver, all kinds of laws, laws of chemistry, physics, music, mathematics. Where there are laws, there is a lawgiver. They would say there is no such thing as cause and effect. They would believe that there is design, but no designer. They look out into space and say there is motion, but no motivator, planets moving in harmony, wonderful motion and no motivator.

As General MacArthur, in World War 11 days, said, “In the fox holes … there are no atheists,” but there might be this kind or fool, who says, “There is no God,” when everything is going well, but in moments of extreme dangers, on the battlefield when the bullets are flying, there are no atheists, but praying men, who call upon God, who never called upon Him before, because there is something about our soul when we don’t know where to fly, like a bird to its nest, the soul turns to God.

There is a reason why there is this kind of fool, because if there is no Creator, we are not responsible to anyone and we can be our own god and if this universe happened by chance, there is no purpose, they are not responsible to anyone, so they can be their own god, but in a lost eternity there isn’t this kind of fool either. In a lost eternity everyone is a believer and everyone sees it so clearly, sees their Maker and the purpose that He had for their lives, that he missed.

Luke 12:18-19, the words of Jesus when He spoke about that rich farmer. He was sitting, calculating. His opinion about himself would have been, “I am wise, look at the shrewd business-manager I am! What a good farmer I am, I am wise and I am rich,” and the neighbours down the road would have thought, “Look at what a good farmer he is and a prosperous businessman and how wellspoken and how well he keeps up his farm” and they would have thought, “He is wise and he is rich.” That would have been the neighbours opinion of him, but there are three opinions concerning all of us: our opinion of ourselves, others’ opinion of us, and God’s opinion. God said, “He is a fool and he is a pauper.” My opinion of myself might be far out of line and the neighbours opinion of me might be very much out of line with reality, but God’s opinion is never out of line.

I can just see that farmer. He is sitting there in his home calculating and he is thinking he has been a great planner, knows the laws of the harvest, a great builder and he thought within himself, he was a great thinker. Even though he was a great builder, a great farmer and a great thinker, he made some mistakes. He mistook his belly for his soul. He thought (Verse 19), but you can’t feed your soul on what you feed your belly. Then he made another mistake. He mistook earthly treasure for heavenly treasure. Earthly treasure is going to be left behind, but heavenly treasure is ours forever. Then he mistook time for eternity. Time isn’t many years, eternity is many years. Time is just a few short years. He might have even brought in a master builder, calculating, figuring the barns, the many years, all his goods, but in all his plans and calculations for many years, he forgot to calculate and plan for eternity, and while he was saying, “Many years,” the Lord was saying, “This night thy soul shall be required of thee.”

If you had asked this rich farmer about the atheist down the road, he would have said, “That man is a fool,” but this rich man believed in God, but lived as though there were no God. He would say, “That atheist who doesn’t believe in the Word of God is a fool,” but the rich farmer lived as though not a word of the Bible were true. Of course, we have a soul, but that rich farmer lived as though his soul would never be required of him, but God said, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.” That man wouldn’t have neglected his crops or his farm, the buildings were painted the fences kept up. Nor would he have neglected his flocks and herds, because he knew if he neglected his animals, they would turn into a worthless investment. But he neglected his soul. It is the easiest thing in the world to go to a lost eternity: just neglect your soul. So the Lord said, “This night thy soul shall be required of thee.” In that night, no man has power to retain his spirit. He was counting on many years, had plans for many years.

A while ago, I read about the number of fatalities in the United States and, in that year, there were 15,000 fatal automobile accidents. People would get in their automobiles that day and have plans for what they would do that day, the day all mapped out before them and wouldn’t know that their plans would be interrupted before that day was over and their soul would be required. That man had to go off and leave his treasure behind him. That is why the Lord said, “Thou fool.” To work and toil and put in the hours for treasure and then you have to go off and leave it behind: “Thou fool.” That is why people find it so hard to leave their treasure behind, but God’s people are going on to their treasure and that way they can be among the wise.

I Corinthians 4:10, in the eyes of the world, Paul was a fool. He turned his back on all his prospects, to preach the gospel as a homeless preacher, to labour for the souls of men. He had no certain dwelling place, he became poor for the Master’s sake, leading a wandering life. In the eyes of the world, not only the thing he preached was foolish, but the manner in which he did it was foolish. The older brother used to tell about when he heard she gospel in Scotland. His parents didn’t believe it. His mother and father pleaded with him not to go, but it was all to no avail. Finally, the dad told the mother, “Let the fool go.” “We are fools for Christ’s sake.”

When Paul was in Athens, they said, “What will this babbler say?” (Acts 26) Festus said, “Much learning doth make thee mad.” I am a “fool for Christ’s sake.” I Corinthians 1:23, “The Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ … unto the Greeks foolishness.” It seemed just foolishness to the Greeks that One could save, Who couldn’t save Himself from the cross. It seemed just foolishness that One, Who was condemned on Calvary’s cross could justify them and it seemed foolishness that One, Who seemed so weak, was on Calvary’s cross, the strongest and what seemed the greatest defeat was preached as the greatest victory.

Paul said, “We are fools for Christ’s sake.” If you are going to be a fool, be the right kind of a fool. Don’t be a fool in the eyes of God. Be a fool in the eyes of men. I thought of Noah, when the Lord told him to build an ark in a world where it had never rained. He was a preacher of righteousness who told people, “If you don’t get in this ark, there is no hope.” He worked many years on the ark and people would pass by and say, “You’re a fool.”

Moses (Hebrews 11), “Chose rather to suffer affliction … than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” He could’ve been a millionaire in Pharoah’s palace and had the culture and riches of the courts of Pharoah, but he looked at God’s people, who were at their best then and thought, “I want a place among those people.” They would’ve thought, “He’s a fool,” for doing that.

Joshua, when he entered the promised land and the city of Jericho was walled up to heaven and the Lord told those people to march around it 6 days and on the 7th they did it 7 times, following the ark, the priests bearing it and on the 7th day the walls will fall down. Those people looking over the walls of Jericho would’ve thought, “What a ridiculous bunch of people.” They just kept on walking, bearing a testimony, looking ridiculous, but it came to pass, just as the Lord said. So we are going to be a fool whether we want to or not! Don’t be the religious fool that is religious and not right. Don’t be the kind to take your own way and say, “There is no God.” Don’t be the kind that goes off and leaves his treasure behind him, believes in a God and lives as though it’s not true, but this year, if someone considers you a fool because you read, you pray, you serve God, you don’t need to hang your head in shame, because there are those of this world, who will be a fool for the ages of eternity and will weep and wail because they were afraid to be a fool for Christ’s sake and the wisest person amongst us will be a person like Paul, who as happy to be “a fool for Christ’s sake.”

Matthew 25:3, Psalms 14:1, Luke 12:20, 1 Corinthians 4:10. These verses speak about four kinds of fools. A fool isn’t someone who lacks intelligence. He just lacks good sense and the ability to reason. In reality there are just two kinds of fools: there are fools in the eyes of God and fools in the eyes of men. Sometimes the fear of becoming a fool in the eyes of men drives people to become a fool in the eyes of God.

Matthew 25 is about the first kind of fool, that is the person who is religious, but not right. Psalma 14.1 is about the next kind, that is the irreligious fool, who doesn’t believe in a God. Then Luke 12, we read about another kind of fool that is the person who goes and leaves his treasure behind him. Then we read about the fourth kind of fool in 1 Corinthians 4:10, the person who is a fool for Christ’s sake. We will either be a fool in the eyes of men or in the eyes of God, whether we like it or not. If we are going to be one, we want to be the right kind of a fool.

Matthew 25:1, this is speaking of the future. The Bible tells us in many places that God’s people are the Bride of Christ and Christ is the Bridegroom of their souls and that is what makes the gospel story such a beautiful story of love. Revelations 19:7, you and I are on the earth today to make ourselves ready. One lady told us that the happiest day of her life was when Gordon asked her to be his bride, but then a little later an in life a happier day yet came, when she was invited by the Son of God to be His bride.

I understand it was the custom in those lands for the marriage to be arranged and the bride and bridegroom were kept separate until the night of the wedding. The bridegroom on that night would go to the house of the bride to take her and her maidens through the streets with lamps in their hands to his father’s house where the marriage was celebrated. All ten were wedding-going people. The wedding to crown all other weddings is when the Bridegroom takes His Bride to Himself. The wedding for which this universe was created will be celebrated when Jesus returns to take His Bride unto Himself to love her and cherish her for all eternity.

At the midnight hour, the cry came. Midnight is the division of days, the end of one day and the beginning of another day. Midnight is the end of the day of preparation and the beginning of the day of realization. Midnight is the end of life’s opportunities and it is the beginning of eternity, eternity’s realities. Midnight hour came. It was like an awakening. Some speak of death being like a sleep, but that would be more like an awakening and people will see what they have and don’t have and the moment of truth will have come.

The five foolish took their lamps and no oil and their lamps went out. They said, “Give us of your oil for our lamps are gone out.” (Verse 8-9) Why wouldn’t the wise give some oil to the foolish in their desperate time? There are some things you cannot give to another person. You can share a light. The five wise had shared a light but you can’t give oil.

There are two things you cannot give to another person: you cannot give the breath of life and you cannot give the spirit of Christ. Some young sisters saw a man swept out to sea, saw him brought in and they pounded on his chest and they did everything they could to give him the breath of life but it was gone out. We cannot give to another the character and virtues of Christ, we have to go and get those for ourselves.

I wondered what the oil was. I think the oil is submission. They were to go and buy for themselves. The wise went in and the door was shut. The foolish went to buy oil. They came back and they had it, and in eternity, everyone will have paid the price of submission. Everybody will have it. It is a price that is hard to pay in our lifetime. We have the price of submission, obedience, and willingness. Some submit too late. All those ten virgins had lamps, something that would give them light, they had a Bridegroom. I can just imagine them, they were watching for the coming of the Bridegroom, but they should have been watching for oil. There are a lot of people on the lookout for the coming of Jesus, giving dates and times, but they should be giving thought toward their submission, because we are not ready until we have submission. They didn’t have enough submission, their lamps were gone out. On Sunday morning when we are gathered together before the emblems, Paul told them (1 Corinthians 11) to examine themselves. When you eat this bread and drink this wine, examine yourself to see if you are partaking worthily. That is the time when we pray that prayer, “If there is anything I don’t see, show me and I will be willing to change, if there is anything I am doing I shouldn’t be doing, show me and I won’t do it any more,” so submitted and so obedient.

But now, the midnight hour had come and they found they were religious and not right, because there wasn’t enough submission in their lives to make them ready. “They that were ready went in … and the door was shut.” Some of our sisters were at the airport a while back and a certain plane was just pulling away, they had locked the door. A man in a business suit came running along the corridor calling out, “I need to be on that airplane! I need to be on that airplane!” but the door was shut and so it will be for many when that midnight hour comes. It will be too late and “they that were ready went in.” (Verse 11) The wise paid the price of submission to get ready, but those that stayed out, they paid and paid and paid, they submitted, but it was too late. I hope we won’t be the kind of fool that is religious and not right, religious, but not ready enough. All readiness depends on the depth of submission we have in our vessel.

Psalms 14:1, the irreligious fool. This kind of person has gone beyond even the devils. This is because in James it says, “The devils believe and tremble.” We have often heard that nothing cannot become something without a creator and that something cannot become something living without a God and something living cannot become moral without a creator. It doesn’t matter how many centuries a person goes back, nothing can become something without a creator. Something cannot become something living without a God. No matter how hard scientists have tried, they cannot create life, only God can make something living and something living cannot become something moral without the Creator. One horse might have plenty of food and the horse beside him might have nothing and be starving and has no feeling of compassion that way. God has put something in you and me that is moral.

I was thinking about what we heard one time. Someone had asked these kind of persons how the universe came about. There was a Big Bang Theory, a cosmic explosion and out came the universe. I was thinking if I were to put a stick of dynamite in my suitcase, after everything settled down, I wouldn’t expect everything to be in a neat order in my suitcase.

Someone else told about talking to a doctor, a brain surgeon and asked him if he believed in a God and he was one of those kinds of fools. He didn’t believe in anything he couldn’t detect with any of his 5 senses. They asked him if he’d ever seen a brain, showed him a brain. He said, “yes,” he believed in that. They asked him if he had ever seen a mind. They hardly know what a mind is, but everybody believes in a mind. This kind of person would believe in laws, but no lawgiver, all kinds of laws, laws of chemistry, physics, music, mathematics. Where there are laws, there is a lawgiver. They would say there is no such thing as cause and effect. They would believe that there is design, but no designer. They look out into space and say there is motion, but no motivator, planets moving in harmony, wonderful motion and no motivator.

As General MacArthur, in World War 11 days, said, “In the fox holes … there are no atheists,” but there might be this kind or fool, who says, “There is no God,” when everything is going well, but in moments of extreme dangers, on the battlefield when the bullets are flying, there are no atheists, but praying men, who call upon God, who never called upon Him before, because there is something about our soul when we don’t know where to fly, like a bird to its nest, the soul turns to God.

There is a reason why there is this kind of fool, because if there is no Creator, we are not responsible to anyone and we can be our own god and if this universe happened by chance, there is no purpose, they are not responsible to anyone, so they can be their own god, but in a lost eternity there isn’t this kind of fool either. In a lost eternity everyone is a believer and everyone sees it so clearly, sees their Maker and the purpose that He had for their lives, that he missed.

Luke 12:18-19, the words of Jesus when He spoke about that rich farmer. He was sitting, calculating. His opinion about himself would have been, “I am wise, look at the shrewd business-manager I am! What a good farmer I am, I am wise and I am rich,” and the neighbours down the road would have thought, “Look at what a good farmer he is and a prosperous businessman and how wellspoken and how well he keeps up his farm” and they would have thought, “He is wise and he is rich.” That would have been the neighbours opinion of him, but there are three opinions concerning all of us: our opinion of ourselves, others’ opinion of us, and God’s opinion. God said, “He is a fool and he is a pauper.” My opinion of myself might be far out of line and the neighbours opinion of me might be very much out of line with reality, but God’s opinion is never out of line.

I can just see that farmer. He is sitting there in his home calculating and he is thinking he has been a great planner, knows the laws of the harvest, a great builder and he thought within himself, he was a great thinker. Even though he was a great builder, a great farmer and a great thinker, he made some mistakes. He mistook his belly for his soul. He thought (Verse 19), but you can’t feed your soul on what you feed your belly. Then he made another mistake. He mistook earthly treasure for heavenly treasure. Earthly treasure is going to be left behind, but heavenly treasure is ours forever. Then he mistook time for eternity. Time isn’t many years, eternity is many years. Time is just a few short years. He might have even brought in a master builder, calculating, figuring the barns, the many years, all his goods, but in all his plans and calculations for many years, he forgot to calculate and plan for eternity, and while he was saying, “Many years,” the Lord was saying, “This night thy soul shall be required of thee.”

If you had asked this rich farmer about the atheist down the road, he would have said, “That man is a fool,” but this rich man believed in God, but lived as though there were no God. He would say, “That atheist who doesn’t believe in the Word of God is a fool,” but the rich farmer lived as though not a word of the Bible were true. Of course, we have a soul, but that rich farmer lived as though his soul would never be required of him, but God said, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.” That man wouldn’t have neglected his crops or his farm, the buildings were painted the fences kept up. Nor would he have neglected his flocks and herds, because he knew if he neglected his animals, they would turn into a worthless investment. But he neglected his soul. It is the easiest thing in the world to go to a lost eternity: just neglect your soul. So the Lord said, “This night thy soul shall be required of thee.” In that night, no man has power to retain his spirit. He was counting on many years, had plans for many years.

A while ago, I read about the number of fatalities in the United States and, in that year, there were 15,000 fatal automobile accidents. People would get in their automobiles that day and have plans for what they would do that day, the day all mapped out before them and wouldn’t know that their plans would be interrupted before that day was over and their soul would be required. That man had to go off and leave his treasure behind him. That is why the Lord said, “Thou fool.” To work and toil and put in the hours for treasure and then you have to go off and leave it behind: “Thou fool.” That is why people find it so hard to leave their treasure behind, but God’s people are going on to their treasure and that way they can be among the wise.

I Corinthians 4:10, in the eyes of the world, Paul was a fool. He turned his back on all his prospects, to preach the gospel as a homeless preacher, to labour for the souls of men. He had no certain dwelling place, he became poor for the Master’s sake, leading a wandering life. In the eyes of the world, not only the thing he preached was foolish, but the manner in which he did it was foolish. The older brother used to tell about when he heard she gospel in Scotland. His parents didn’t believe it. His mother and father pleaded with him not to go, but it was all to no avail. Finally, the dad told the mother, “Let the fool go.” “We are fools for Christ’s sake.”

When Paul was in Athens, they said, “What will this babbler say?” (Acts 26) Festus said, “Much learning doth make thee mad.” I am a “fool for Christ’s sake.” I Corinthians 1:23, “The Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ … unto the Greeks foolishness.” It seemed just foolishness to the Greeks that One could save, Who couldn’t save Himself from the cross. It seemed just foolishness that One, Who was condemned on Calvary’s cross could justify them and it seemed foolishness that One, Who seemed so weak, was on Calvary’s cross, the strongest and what seemed the greatest defeat was preached as the greatest victory.

Paul said, “We are fools for Christ’s sake.” If you are going to be a fool, be the right kind of a fool. Don’t be a fool in the eyes of God. Be a fool in the eyes of men. I thought of Noah, when the Lord told him to build an ark in a world where it had never rained. He was a preacher of righteousness who told people, “If you don’t get in this ark, there is no hope.” He worked many years on the ark and people would pass by and say, “You’re a fool.”

Moses (Hebrews 11), “Chose rather to suffer affliction … than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” He could’ve been a millionaire in Pharoah’s palace and had the culture and riches of the courts of Pharoah, but he looked at God’s people, who were at their best then and thought, “I want a place among those people.” They would’ve thought, “He’s a fool,” for doing that.

Joshua, when he entered the promised land and the city of Jericho was walled up to heaven and the Lord told those people to march around it 6 days and on the 7th they did it 7 times, following the ark, the priests bearing it and on the 7th day the walls will fall down. Those people looking over the walls of Jericho would’ve thought, “What a ridiculous bunch of people.” They just kept on walking, bearing a testimony, looking ridiculous, but it came to pass, just as the Lord said. So we are going to be a fool whether we want to or not! Don’t be the religious fool that is religious and not right. Don’t be the kind to take your own way and say, “There is no God.” Don’t be the kind that goes off and leaves his treasure behind him, believes in a God and lives as though it’s not true, but this year, if someone considers you a fool because you read, you pray, you serve God, you don’t need to hang your head in shame, because there are those of this world, who will be a fool for the ages of eternity and will weep and wail because they were afraid to be a fool for Christ’s sake and the wisest person amongst us will be a person like Paul, who as happy to be “a fool for Christ’s sake.”

God has been calling at this Convention and I don’t suppose there is one of us who has not heard in some way or another. We are so thankful for God’s patience with us and kindness in dealing with us, in giving so much. In Luke 7:19, John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus to ask Him, “Art Thou He that should come? Or do we look for another?” Jesus said in Lu7:22, “Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard…” After they went back to John, Jesus said to the people concerning John, “What went ye out into the wilderness to see?” In verses Lu7:27-28 is the testimony Jesus gave of John.

John was in prison at this time, because he spoke to Herod of the standard of righteousness. Herod liked to listen to John about eternal things, but when it came to this, he put him into prison. Herodias hated John because of this and she arranged for John to be beheaded. John wanted his disciples to follow Jesus, the Lamb of God. Jesus went on to say of John that there was no greater prophet than He.

Some of those who went to see John were expecting to see some great thing to happen, but those who went to see him as a prophet received a message from God to repent, and many did and were baptized by John. They came to the place of repentance and brought forth fruits meet for repentance. They were justified by saying, “God is right.” The message coming from our hearts these days is that God is righteous. God is a righteous God, there is nothing unrighteous in Him.

Jesus went on in verses Lu7:31-32, “Whereunto shall I liken the men of this generation? And to what are they like?” What is this generation like? Where do we fit in? Calling one to another are the two sides of the Gospel story. There is the right choice we have been hearing about and the cost of it, and then the cost of rejecting the Gospel. We were in the workplace one day and we saw a woman playing a tune on an instrument of just one or two strings and it was very lovely, captivating the fellows as they went by. She was expecting something, a little sacrifice from them. Another day saw the same woman sitting there, a little child with her. She was playing a very solemn tune. Some of those people were captivated by that melody seeing that woman with that little child and they were moved to sacrifice.

We have been hearing the story of the Gospel, the peace and satisfaction of knowing we are loving and pleasing our Creator. Perhaps some other messages are what would happen if we reject Him. Where would we be found? What is this generation like? What are we doing now with the messages we have heard? We are soon going out and every one of us is going to have to do something with what we have heard. Are we going to say, “God is right,” and accept it and prove God is right, or, going out, are we going to be rejecting the message of hope for ourselves and continue in our own pathway?

My elder brother was walking in God’s pathway but was lured away by the attractions of the world. There are pleasures in this world but they are very shallow, empty, and short-lived. He wanted the pleasures of this world. Dad tried to talk to him to consider what he was doing but he did not listen and went out. Years went by and he returned to some meetings and wanted to make a new start but went out and was lured away again. Time and time again he wanted to return but could not seem to make the right-about turn. “For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” If we sow wild oats, that’s what we will reap. There is a price to pay even when we go back again. A mark has been left and the person regrets that they ever went out.

I used to worry about my elder brother. He never found a place of repentance and was killed in a car accident. He was never willing to humble himself. What are we going to do with the messages we have heard in these meetings? Jesus was with His disciples at the feast of the Passover. They went out from the Passover. Peter went out to deny Jesus though he didn’t intend to. Maybe some of us, in our weakness, might deny Christ. Peter didn’t stay there. He went out and wept bitterly and found a place of repentance and returned.

Nurses in their studies are told how to treat patients and how to give medications. They are told, “If you make a mistake, be sure you always know the remedy for it, and immediately apply it.” We are thankful we have been here these days, hearing about the wonderful plan of God, and are going out in confidence that this is God’s way and we are going to follow it. Maybe in our weak moment, we may deny Christ, but we know the remedy and God is anxious to lift us up.

Another man went out from the Passover and he went out into darkness. That was Judas. He went out to betray Christ. If we go out without Christ in our life into a cruel, dark world, it will only want to destroy us. Satan wants to do that. Judas went out into the darkness and before he realized what he had done, the door had closed for him. “Strive to enter in at the strait gate, for many shall seek to enter in and shall not be able … I know you not whence ye are.”

Not one of us who are of the years of understanding can say we don’t know what God’s will is for us. When the door is shut, this closes the promises of God. Matthew 7:7, “… knock and it shall be opened unto you.” The door was closed now and would not be opened again. It would be sad if we were satisfied with what we are now. The children in the marketplace were looking for a response from their fellows and that is what God is looking for as we go out.

The Workers are also going out from this place. I have heard many things that are a help to me, but I must respond to them. The Workers are going out to sow the seed, because we have faith in the seed that it will produce, as Jesus taught us, if it falls into good soil, that it will produce what God has promised, and in our life, too. Before the meeting, I read hymn 405 about the call to labour. Later, you might hear this call once more to labour. I hope God will continue His call to labour to the young ones in this meeting.

I thought of the Friends leaving this Convention. Matthew 25 speaks of the ten virgins. They went out to meet the bridegroom. It says that they all slumbered and slept. There has to be a time of rest, but we want to make sure we always have in our being the love of God that will awaken and quicken us even in the midnight hour when the call comes, that we will always be able to rise and trim our lamps and meet Him. We don’t know when the Bridegroom is coming, and if we are ready, we won’t need to worry. We don’t want to be like the foolish who wanted to borrow and were told, “But we have not enough, just enough for ourselves.” They went to the source but came back too late and the door was closed.

In Mark 2:3-12, they brought to Jesus a man sick of the palsy. When he was healed, he went forth and glorified God. He praised God in thankfulness. There may be some with us who have not made their choice to serve God, going out from this meeting also. What are you going to do? In Luke 7:12-15, a young man was carried away by others because he had died. He was the only son of his mother and she was a widow. Can you imagine the sorrow? If you go out in that dead condition you will be carried away. Our prayer is that you will feel God wants to touch your life. You don’t have to go out in that condition, but in the power of God and with the help of God.

I am glad I was raised in a home with parents who loved God. When I was young and going to school, there were about five churches in our little town. I thought perhaps that they were right also but I went home and opened my Bible to Matthew 10 of Jesus and the way God planned.

In the country where I work, they have hired and paid preachers, not in the way of God, but in man’s way and that can only produce man’s ideas and results. In Sweden, there is a state church. When a priest is needed, they advertise and different ones can apply. They have to give a trial sermon and then they are voted on by the congregation. What Jesus established is still the same on this earth today and we are thankful for those who continue to follow.

I hope there will be a positive response to what God has been able to speak to us. I hope we are not so hardened that God has not been able to speak. May we go out to do the will of God and be a light in this dark world, and know salvation. This is what brings so much joy to us.

We are glad to see so many young people here. In a mission this year, we did a count and found half our congregation were over sixty years of age. Wilmington Convention had nearly as many young people as here. We are very glad to see they are here and to hear their testimonies. We know a little of the struggles; we are not unmindful for them. It is not easy to swim against the tide, but that will bring blessing. There are many temptations at every turn.

God is looking down from Heaven to those who will be standing true; looking to young people to stand true to the convictions of their own hearts and to the truth that is in the Bible. We can be a wonderful example in many ways and it is always encouraging to hear of those who have witnessed a good testimony. We are thankful to hear of some being brought to the meetings, bringing other young ones who have looked on and who have known the darkness and depths of despair out in this world, and have seen a little light showing.

I enjoyed the testimony of a young Sister who has gone out into the Work. When she approached her boss to give notice, he asked why. She told him and then she had to spend two hours in the office telling them what she stood for and what she was going to do. They asked her if there were any other young person of her faith who could carry on the work she was doing. She had been working there less than a year but that was true testimony she had. She was able to recommend someone else who had a good testimony where she was then working but they were not valuing her as they should have, so she got the job.

I have been looking again at some in the Scriptures who, in their young years, obtained a good testimony and their names are written in the Book of Life. Some names are not mentioned. We don’t know who they are but because their deeds are recorded in the Scriptures, their names are recorded in Heaven. Some were not wise and made wrong decisions and choices that led them right away from God. They are recorded also, but their names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. They are written of that we might take heed and learn. They are directions we should not be directed in. Probably most have seen some who have taken the wrong direction and some have found it very heavy going. Some found just no way back.

I thought of Cain and Abel. I don’t think they were very old when Abel brought an offering God could accept. He came trusting in the blood of the lamb. I believe he had heard the story many times of what had happened in the Garden of Eden, and as Abel had listened, a conviction was laid on his heart, and he brought an offering God could accept. Cain could not be spoken to. God gave him a second chance, but he would not take advice from God or anybody, and he went out from the presence of God.

Isaac was a young man when his father took him to offer him up as a sacrifice. Isaac could have resisted. He was strong enough to carry the wood, strong enough to resist, but he went along with his father, prepared to give himself as a sacrifice that pleased the heart of God. Young people balk at the sacrifice side of things. They turn their backs on that which their parents have believed in. We are glad for those who have laid their lives on the altar of sacrifice. Isaac was willing for that and later on, had to advise Jacob to go to his mother’s people to seek a bride. He could speak with authority because he had been through a similar experience and was satisfied with his father’s arrangement for his own bride, Rebekah. His brother Ishmael went out to a lost eternity. Esau made choices that were a grief of mind to his parents. When he saw the choices he made did not please his parents, and that Jacob was obedient, he went out and took a daughter of Ishmael to be his wife. He was wanting to come a bit nearer, but the daughters of Ishmael were Abraham’s children according to the flesh but not according to the spirit. There may be some near to the Kingdom whose parents are professing, but that is only going part way and is not going to bring the full blessing. Jacob obtained the full blessing, was prepared to pay the price, obedient to his father and submitted to the will of God. Joseph at seventeen years of age had a clear vision of what was ahead, and set himself along that pathway and didn’t swerve from it. His brothers were no help but he had his eyes on the goal ahead in Heaven, and he walked that pathway.

We read of Miriam, the sister of Moses. When Moses was born, the order had been given that those children were to be cast into the river. Miriam watched where Moses’s mother placed that little ark. An older person may not have been able to do that, but she could watch and speak a word in season to save the situation to enable Moses to have the right upbringing. The parents of Moses made right choices; he was a man of Levi married to a daughter of Levi in accordance with the plan of God. They were willing to work together and the plan of God was able to go forward.

Samuel was another young man who had a great testimony. In I Samuel 3, he ministered to the Lord in the temple. He was only a young lad and maybe he was attending to the sons of Eli but he was not taken up with what was around him. Hannah had been very concerned with the trend of things those days and desired and prayed for this son. If she could just have this son she would give him back to the Lord. He was obedient to her, obedient in the temple, and a wonderful example.

David as a young man was well reported of. He behaved himself wisely in the house of Saul and his name was much set by, and because of that he behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul. He had a good testimony. I don’t think it was so easy for David even then, but he had learned to know God and the guidance of God’s spirit and the power available to help him even before he went there, and he continued to do the things that brought the favour and help of God.

At about that time, we read of a little lad who went out with Jonathan when things were quite bad. David’s life was in great danger because Saul had turned against him. This lad was used as a messenger; he was to go and collect the arrows shot by Jonathan. He didn’t know anything but he was doing what he was told, filling a place in the kingdom, and David’s life was saved. Later, when Absalom rose up against David, David sent to find out what Absalom was doing. A young woman went and told them so she, too, was being used. There was a lad there, too, who carried the message back to Absalom, but he was going the wrong way. The young girl carried the message to the anointed one of God.

There is a young maid in II Kings 5. The words she spoke were, “Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria ….. would recover him of his leprosy.” No name of her is mentioned. We think of the circumstances that took her there, but here she was, serving in the enemy’s house, but in touch with the God of Heaven. She knew where the prophet was. She must have been serving her master faithfully or those words would not have been worth recording. She could speak the words of truth.

There was that young man, Elisha. Elijah was sent to anoint him to be a prophet in his stead. He was a good young man. His father had sent him with the servants to plow the field to get it ready for the harvest. It was necessary to get a harvest because there had been a famine for a long time. When the touch of God came upon him, he left all that there. Another harvest was more important. He told his father, “I am going with Elijah,” and I suppose the father was quite happy about that.

Daniel purposed in his heart to partake of the things that would enrich his relationship with God. It was the same with the three men who were cast into the fiery furnace. They purposed in their hearts that, no matter what, they were not going to bow down. They knew it was far more important to bow to the God of Heaven than to listen to the earthly king’s orders, and they were protected in the fire. It had no effect on them.

In the New Testament, there is the young lad with the loaves and fishes. He gave what he had, and his name is not recorded either, but what he did, in his eyes and the eyes of the disciples, looked so little, but in the hands of Jesus, it was able to meet the needs of the multitude. It may appear to you younger people, that you have so little to give, but in the hands of God, if we are prepared to give and do what we can, it could meet the multitude’s needs.

Another young man was Paul’s sister’s son. Paul was in prison and there was a conspiracy to get him to another prison and some were going to kill him on the way. It became known to this young man so he went to the prison and saw the chief captain and as a result of this young man doing his part, Paul was saved. That young lad could probably get in where a man could not have gone and was carrying a very important message.

Timothy as a young man had an unfeigned faith and he was well reported of before Paul took him into the Ministry. That is another thing that is within the reach of us all, to be well reported of in the church. There were others: the little child Jesus took and set in the midst of the disciples, just to show the way of true greatness was to become a little child. Maybe a child does not fall into the same category, but I believe it would have a place, because it was used by Jesus.

God wants to use all of us in the extension of His Kingdom. Jesus is the perfect example in every aspect. He remained in Jerusalem about His Father’s business at the age of twelve because that was the most important thing in His life. He probably understood that His parents wondered where He was but thought, “They will understand that I am about My Father’s business.” He would not have been a rebellious boy and after this, He returned to Nazareth and was subject to His parents until the time He went into the Ministry to preach. He went down to John to be baptized. He was working there in the carpenter’s shop most of the time and doing the things His father asked Him to do.

I think of you young people because we need each other. We need you and you need us, and we are glad there are those who are standing true, and their behaviour is such as it should be. We are glad to look around the quiet behaviour here and to see the way you are dressed, though some are following a little bit close to the world. Go along with it to a point but don’t be a leader in fashion. We follow the fashion a long way back. We remember that we are the sons and daughters of the King; princes and princesses, to be those who will glorify the Kingdom.

In thinking of the Kingdom, I think of the royal family in England where the queen has been a great lady and a wonderful example in most ways, but her children have left so much to be desired. They tarnish the image of the kingdom, so much so that we see, in this country, a strong movement to get away from the rule of the royal family. It would be a terrible thing if the children amongst us were no help to the Kingdom of Heaven.

God has called us to be kings and priests, and as He looks on us as His children, He expects us to behave in a manner that will bring honour to the King in every aspect of our lives. We have heard so much that would help us in these meetings, and if we could follow along these lines, the Kingdom of God on earth will be strong and no cause for anyone to want to get away or break the rule of the King. May this King rule in our hearts and lives in the way He wants to, and may we be those who would be subject to Him, to be approved.

(Ray Hoffman was Overseer of the Work in Florida as of 2002)

In Vanderbilt, Michigan 1995 after the evening meeting on Saturday, we were getting ready in the men’s dorm to bunk down for the night, when Ben Tenniswood came in with Ray Hoffman to visit us. I suppose it was Ben’s prompting that causes Ray to climb up onto the top of the bunk and sit here and tell us his testimony. Normally this place is all a hustle and bustle at this time as people are making preparation for bed. It took about a minute and you could have heard a pin drop in that large building as Ray in his normal voice told us about his experiences before he met the Truth. What I relate to you I recall only from memory as we sat, lay and stood around and listened and visualized in our minds the working of the Holy Spirit dealing with a young man’s life. I’ll try to share this with you as if Ray was telling it.

Some of you young lads may feel that school can be a bore and the teachers overly strict. Well now I would like to tell you a little story of my school days and what it was like to be raised up in a Catholic home and having to go to a R.C. school. Strict is a mild word of describing it, to say the least, and I do not think that it hurt us at all! One day stands out in my mind. We had sisters for our teachers and I remember this one lady, Sister Rheta Maria. At any given time you could hear a pin drop in her classroom.

There was complete silence all the time! At this particular time I was walking up the stairs when the batwing doors in her class room flew open and this heavy set lad crashed against the wall on the other side. Out she came and gave him a boot and he went flying down the stairs. When she caught up to him I could hear him yelling, “I won’t do it again.” I do not know to this day what it was all about, but let me tell you, nobody crossed that lady. Does that sound like any of your teachers today? I don’t think so!

As I grew other things occasionally happened that caused me to stop and ponder my destiny in life. I had a relative die and some folks were not all that rich and due to a backlog of masses, it was three years before we could get our relative out of purgatory. For those of you who are not familiar with this, when a friend passes away in the R.C. faith their souls go to purgatory, this is sort of like a waiting room, so to speak.

After a number of masses are said – and you have to buy the Mass cards on behalf of the poor soul – then they are let out of purgatory and allowed into Paradise. Just the thought of this put fear in my heart, because I could not visualize anyone spending money for the benefit of my poor soul.

Through enquiries I was told that if a pest dies, his soul automatically bypasses purgatory. It goes straight to Heaven. I figured this was for me. It is a sure way out of purgatory. So I joined a Seminary to study to be a priest. While attending this seminary I began to ask questions but soon found that the response to my enquiries were very vague.

After several years of studying for the priesthood, there was an occasion that came up where our group was confronted with the question of God’s present relationship with earth and man. To my surprise our class of sixty was split down the middle in our theory to this question. Group 1, believed that God created earth and man, but left man to create his own destiny and existence. Group 2, believed that God has a direct and positive influence on the lives of men. I joined the ranks of the latter group and soon found out that we were regarded as the odd ones. Here we were young future priests and half of my fellow students were thinking like this. I was astonished and rather dismayed. After this I soon began to realize that I was becoming more and more disenchanted with the R.C. faith. Now this was back in the “hippy” era, so I became a hippie. You wanna believe it? Sloppy cloths, long hair, beard, the whole lot. You gotta fit in, man! I moved over to Chicago and stayed with my parents.

Around this time I realized that I had to do something with my life so I decided to become a Chiropractor. I enrolled in a reputable Chiropractor school and I immersed myself in my studies. I found that my capabilities for learning this profession were being taxed to their limits. I recall once our class had thirty cadavers to examine in detail and the next day we were going to be tested on our findings. I was in a panic because I knew that I would most likely fail one and I needed help badly. There was a lad in my class who I would describe as being a loner. Greg did not fit in at all, he was a nice guy, but when lewd jokes or stories were told, you would see Greg leave. I also saw that he was gaining very good marks on tests and this indicated to me that he would be a good fellow to have as a friend in my times of need. Prior to this test on the 30 cadavers I got friendly with Greg and I found out that even though he did not fit in or go out with the rest of us he was very obliging and helpful to me. One time to make conversation while talking to Greg I asked him, “What he was doing that night?”

To my surprise he said he was going to a Gospel Meeting. Then again one Friday we were told that on the following Monday we would have a big test to study for it. I went to my buddy Greg and suggested that we spend Sunday studying together. Greg promptly told me that he would be doing his studying on Saturday because his Sunday would be tied up with Meetings. A fellowship meeting in the a.m. and a gospel meeting in the late afternoon. Oooo, this boy was different!

I don’t know if any of you folk would remember anything about this, but back in the late seventies there was a movie out called, “The Exorcist.” It had a high rating and I wanted to go and see what everyone was talking about. This proved to be my undoing! The theme of the picture was that of a little girl possessed of the devil and 2 priests, who attempted to cast the devil out of her life, lost their lives in the process. Like I say, I do not know if any of you saw the picture but let me tell you this, if you have seen it you will never forget it as long as you live. As for me, I was literally shaking. Scared right out of my wits was a better way of putting it. At that time I had a part time job cleaning rooms in a R.C. school in the evenings.

There was another lad working with me, and I never wanted to be alone or have the lights off where I was. I was terrified! I went to the priest and drew a blank. I talked to others and they could not help me. Finally I broke down and asked for God’s help. I prayed like I never prayed before. I asked God to show me Truth because the answers I was getting to my questions showed me that organized religions did not have any answers that appealed to me. So I prayed!

I felt at first that I did not need to see any workers. But I had heard enough of the good things from Greg to so arouse my curiosity that I wanted more! I met Greg one day and asked him if their workers were still having Gospel Meetings? He said, “Yes, they are, why?” “I want to go and see what it is all about.” Then Greg says to me, “Well how about if I pick you up next week and you go with me?” “Nope! I will go myself.” To shorten the story here we finally agreed that I would wait outside the hall and when Greg arrived we would enter together. Now, let us stop here and I want you to visualize what I looked like at this time. Remember I was a hippy. Long hair and scruffy cloths, very untidy, to say the least! And I wanted to go to a gospel meeting!?

No wonder poor Greg had second thoughts! I went home and took stock of myself. My old running shoes would have to go. Now, when my brother was discharged from the Navy he got to keep his old boots. I got them out and tried to clean them up, but when I spied a can of blue paint, I decided to paint them blue. They sure looked good! Next, I went down to the Salvation Army thrift store and checked out the suits. If I was going to go, I had best go in style! I found a nice suit, shirt and tie combination of $7. When I brought them up to the cashier, she took one look at me and said, “How about $5.” There was only one problem with this, the suit was brown, and the shoes were blue. So!! What difference does that make?

The evening finally came for me to go to the gospel meeting. I got the address of the hall from Greg, after I promised that I would wait outside until he came and we would walk in together. I got all dressed up in my new “outside” and headed out. I found a park bench not very far from the hall, and while sitting there waiting for Greg, I was able to observe people walking into the hall. I could see and sense that there was something different about them. This evening two brother workers were going to be in the meeting, along with two sister workers. The brothers were leaving the mission for the sisters in a couple of days, as they were going up north somewhere to start their own mission. Now, I am going to tell you what went through the mind of the older brother worker when I came in through the door, because he told me this several years after. First try to visualize what I looked like. Long hair, long beard and wearing a BROWN suit, that was obviously the wrong size for me. And to top it off BLUE boots. You know what went through the mind of the older worker when he saw me? “Who let the likes of that in here?” My being there bothered him throughout the meeting, but a voice was speaking to him throughout the meeting saying, “I died for him too.” Well, I stayed, they did not chase me out, and I like the things that I heard. I kept going to those meetings that the sisters were having and began to realize that this was what I have been looking for. This was the Truth and God had answered my prayers after all. As for Greg, he just stepped back and left me for those two sisters to try and help me understand and see the Way of God. I told them that I wanted to profess right away, but they advised me to wait and be sure. The opportunity finally came. I told my parents and my brother and their response was that they felt this was just another sect. Here today and gone tomorrow!

After I had indicated my choice, the workers asked me if I would like to come to the Sunday morning fellowship meeting, which I did. I could not bring myself to join them in prayer. I remember the older worker saying before the testimonies, “That only those that have a desire in their hearts for change, need participate.” You know I could not speak in that first meeting. But what she said really bothered me. “Only those who desire change in their lives.” That was me! What am I waiting for? Next Sunday I was there and when it came for time to pray, I thanked God for showing me the Truth. And it was all – that many words. I also had about one sentence when the meeting was open for testimonies. I was truly thankful for what had been revealed to me.

Then the sister workers asked me if I would like to go to the Wednesday night Bible study? Hold it! First the gospel meetings then the Sunday morning meetings and now you want me to go to another meeting Wednesday evening? I felt that I was going to be “meetinged” to death! What have I gotten myself into? Eventually I began to see things differently, because the Holy Spirit was working in my heart. In time, the long hair went. Then the long beard went along with the brown suit and the blue shoes. I knew what I had was right and I wanted to tell others about it, so I decided to go into the work. I offered, and in time the Overseer saw that I was ready. I left home and entered the Harvest Field, and I have not regretted that I have done so.

In Vanderbilt, Michigan 1995 after the evening meeting on Saturday, we were getting ready in the men’s dorm to bunk down for the night, when Ben Tenniswood came in with Ray Hoffman to visit us. I suppose it was Ben’s prompting that cause Ray to climb up onto the top of the bunk and sit here and tell us his testimony. Normally this place is all a hustle and bustle at this time as people are making preparation for bed. It took about a minute and you could have heard a pin drop in that large building as Ray in his normal voice told us about his experiences before he met the Truth. What I relate to you I recall only from memory as we sat, laid and stood around and listened and visualised in our minds the working of the Holy Spirit dealing with a young man’s life. I’ll try to share this with you as if Ray was telling it.

Some of you young lads may feel that school can be a bore and the teachers overly strict. Well now, I would like to tell you a little story of my school days and what it was like to be raised up in a Catholic home and having to go to a Roman Catholic school. Strict is a mild word of describing it, to say the least, and I do not think that it hurt us at all! One day stands out in my mind. We had sisters for our teachers and I remember this one lady, Sister Rheta Maria. At any given time, you could hear a pin drop in her class room. There was complete silence all the time! At this particular time, I was walking up the stairs when the batwing doors in her class room flew open and this heavy set lad crashed against the wall on the other side. Out she came and gave him a boot and he went flying down the stairs. When she caught up to him, I could hear him yelling, “I won’t do it again.” I do not know to this day what it was all about, but let me tell you, nobody crossed that lady. Does that sound like any of your teachers today? I don’t think so!

As I grew older, things occasionally happened that caused me stop and ponder my destiny in life. I had a relative die and us folks were not all that rich and due to a backlog of masses, it was three years before we could get our relative out of purgatory. For those of you who are not familiar with this, when a friend passes away in the Roman Catholic faith their souls go to purgatory, this is sort of like a waiting room, so to speak. After a number of masses are said – and you have to buy the mass cards on behalf of the poor soul – then they are let out of purgatory and allowed into Paradise. Just the thought of this put fear in my heart, because I could not visualise anyone spending money for the benefit of my poor soul. Through enquiries I was told that if a priest dies, his soul automatically bypasses purgatory. It goes straight to Heaven. I figured this was for me. It is a sure way out of purgatory. So I joined a Seminary to study to be a priest. While attending this seminary, I began to ask questions but soon found that the response to my enquiries were very vague.

After several years of studying for the priesthood, there was an occasion that came up where our group was confronted with the question of God’s present relationship with earth and man. To my surprise, our class of sixty was split down the middle in our theory to this question.

Group 1 believed that God created earth and man, but left man to create his own destiny and existence. Group 2 believed that God has a direct and positive influence on the lives of men.

I joined the ranks of the latter group and soon found out that we were regarded as the odd ones. Here we were young future priests and half of my fellow students were thinking like this. I was astonished and rather dismayed. After this I soon began to realise that I was becoming more and more disenchanted with the Roman Catholic faith. Now this was back in the “hippy” era, so I became a hippie. You wanna believe it? Sloppy cloths, long hair, beard, the whole lot. Your gotta fit in, man! I moved over to Chicago and stayed with my parents.

Around this time, I realised that I had to do something with my life so I decided to become a Chiropractor. I enrolled in a reputable Chiropractor school and I immerged myself in my studies. I found that my capabilities for learning this profession were being taxed to their limits. I recall once our class had thirty cadavers to examine in detail and the next day, we were going to be tested on our findings. I was in a panic because I knew that I would most likely fail one and I needed help badly. There was a lad in my class who I would describe as being a loner. Greg did not fit in at all, he was a nice guy, but when lewd jokes or stories were told, you would see Greg leave. I also saw that he was gaining very good marks on tests and this indicated to me that he would be a good fellow to have as a friend in my times of need. Prior to this test on the 30 cadavers, I got friendly with Greg and I found out that even though he did not fit in or go out with the rest of us, he was very obliging and helpful to me. One time to make conversation while talking to Greg, I asked him what he was doing that night. To my surprise, he said he was going to a Gospel Meeting. Then again one Friday, we were told that on the following Monday we would have a big test to study for it. I went to my buddy Greg and suggested that we spend Sunday studying together. Greg promptly told me that he would be doing his studying on Saturday because his Sunday would be tied up with Meetings. A fellowship meeting in the a.m. and a gospel meeting in the late afternoon. Oooo, this boy was different.!

I don’t know if any of you folk would remember anything about this, but back in the late seventies, there was a movie out called, “The Exorcist.” It had a high rating and I wanted to go and see what everyone was talking about. This proved to be my undoing! The theme of the picture was that of a little girl possessed of the devil and two priests, who attempted to cast the devil out of her life, lost their lives in the process. Like I say, I do not know if any of you saw the picture but let me tell you this, if you have seen it you will never forget it as long as you live. As for me, I was literally shaking. Scared right out of my wits was a better way of putting it. At that time, I had a part time job cleaning rooms in a Roman Catholic school in the evenings. There was another lad working with me, and I never wanted to be alone or have the lights off where I was. I was terrified! I went to the priest and drew a blank. I talked to others and they could not help me. Finally, I broke down and asked for God’s help. I prayed like I never prayed before. I asked God to show me Truth because the answers I was getting to my questions showed me that organised religions did not have any answers that appealed to me. So I prayed!

I felt at first that I did not need to see any workers. But I had heard enough of the good things from Greg to so arouse my curiosity that I wanted more! I met Greg one day and asked him if there workers were still having Gospel Meetings? He said, “Yes, they are, why?” “I want to go and see what it is all about.” Then Greg says to me, “Well, how about if I pick you up next week and you go with me?” “Nope! I will go myself.” To shorten the story here, we finally agreed that I would wait outside the hall and when Greg, arrived we would enter together. Now, let us stop here and I want you to visualise what I looked like at this time. Remember I was a hippy. Long hair and scruffy cloths, very untidy, to say the least! And I wanted to go to a gospel meeting?

No wonder poor Greg had second thoughts! I went home and took stock of myself. My old running shoes would have to go. Now, when my brother was discharged from the Navy, he got to keep his old boots. I got them out and tried to clean them up, but when I spied a can of blue paint, I decided to paint them blue. They sure looked good! Next, I went down to the Salvation Army thrift store and checked out the suits. If I was going to go, I had best go in style! I found a nice suit, shirt and tie combination of $7. When I brought them up to the cashier, she took one look at me and said “How about $5?” There was only one problem with this, the suit was brown, the shoes were blue. So…what difference does that make?

The evening finally came for me to go to the gospel meeting. I got the address of the hall from Greg, after I promised that I would wait outside until he came and we would walk in together. I got all dressed up in my new “outside” and headed out. I found a park bench not very far from the hall, and while sitting there waiting for Greg, I was able to observe people walking into the hall. I could see and sense that there was something different about them. This evening, two brother workers were going to be in the meeting, along with two sister workers. The brothers were leaving the mission for the sisters in a couple of days, as they were going up north somewhere to start their own mission. Now, I am going to tell you what went through the mind of the older brother worker when I came in through the door, because he told me this several years after. First try to visualize what I looked like. Long hair, long beard, and wearing a BROWN suit, that was obviously the wrong size for me. And to top it off, BLUE boots. You know what went through the mind of the older worker when he saw me? “Who let the likes of that in here?” My being there bothered him throughout the meeting, but a voice was speaking to him throughout the meeting saying, “I died for him, too.” Well, I stayed and they did not chase me out and I like the things that I heard. I kept going to those meetings that the sisters were having and began to realise that this was what I have been looking for. This was the Truth and God had answered my prayers after all. As for Greg, he just stepped back and left me for those two sisters to try and help me understand and see the Way of God. I told them that I wanted to profess right away, but they advised me to wait and be sure. The opportunity finally came. I told my parents and my brother and their response that they felt this was just another sect. Here today and gone tomorrow!

After I had indicated my choice, the workers asked me if I would like to come to the Sunday morning fellowship meeting which I did, I could not bring myself to join them in prayer. I remember the older worker saying before the testimonies, “Only those that have a desire in their hearts for change, need participate.” You know, I could not speak in that first meeting. But what she said really bothered me. “Only those who desire change in their lives.” That was me, what am I waiting for?

Next Sunday, I was there and when it came for time to pray, I thanked God for showing me the Truth. And it was all – that many words. I also had about one sentence when the meeting was open for testimonies. I was truly thankful for what had been revealed to me, then the sister workers asked me if I would like to go to the Wednesday night Bible study. Hold it! First, the gospel meetings then the Sunday morning meetings and now, you want me to go to another meeting Wednesday evening? I felt that I was going to be “meetinged” to death! What have I got myself into? Eventually, I began to see things differently, because the Holy Spirit was working in my heart. In time, the long hair went. Then the long beard went along with the brown suit and the blue shoes. I knew what I had was right and I wanted to tell others about it, so I decided to go into the work. I offered, and in time the Overseer saw that I was ready. I left home and entered the Harvest Field, and I have not regretted that I have done so.

Exodus 32:6, “And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” This was at the time when Moses was in the mount receiving instruction from God to guide the people safely. People became impatient and said to Aaron, “We don’t know what has happened to Moses. Make us gods.” Aaron asked for their gold and a molten calf was made, and they began to worship it. They built an altar to go alongside this calf. Aaron said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.” The people had nothing against this. They rose up early and killed their sacrifices, but they sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. This feast did not have much effect on them, if any. The altar of God was set up beside the wrong thing. They sat down, went through a form but rose up to play. It made me pray that God would save us from this.

It came to into my mind of some who played with God and lost out as a result: Esau lost his birthright. It didn’t mean much to him at the time, and his desire to satisfy himself at the moment was more than the value of what was given to him. He saw it as just a mess of pottage. There seemed to be no feeling connected to it at this time. It was only what he wanted at the moment, and later on he wept bitter tears, but it had gone. He played with it and never got it back.

Solomon played with the wisdom God gave him, his riches and understanding, his fame throughout all the world. Read the first chapters of Ecclesiastes. Solomon was well aware of the power that had come from God, but he began to give his heart to seek out all kinds of things under the sun. He built gardens and said, “I did,” “I did,” but he said, “My heart was still guiding me by wisdom.” He just continued on with the wisdom God had given him. It had been given him not for things under the sun but for eternal things. He went on with what he was building and searching out and could say, “Also, my wisdom remained with me.” He felt secure with what he had received.

In I Kings 11, gradually he was losing what God had entrusted him with. He played the fool for too long. His heart was turned away to things God had forbidden him. Those women turned his heart away, and he began to worship their gods. He turned back from following the Lord and the Lord was angry. Solomon played with what had been given him and he lost out.

Samson had more strength than anyone else and he was well aware of this. When the enemy tried to find out the secret of his strength, he seemed to enjoy getting the best of the enemy. He was the stronger. Delilah pressed him until he opened his heart to her. Right away she let the enemy in and they cut off his hair. He thought, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself. He wist not that the LORD had departed from him.” They put out his eyes. He lost out but I am glad this was not the last chapter of his life. His strength returned and things were different at the end.

It is serious to play with these things. If God has spoken to us, don’t go on in the same old way and not take care of it, because there is danger ahead. People just went on. In I Samuel 15, Saul didn’t completely obey the voice of God. The Lord had made it clear what he was to do, to destroy the Amalekites. He destroyed the vile but kept the very best. He thought sacrifice would make up for his lack of obedience, but that does not work. Samuel had to speak to him, “The Lord hath rejected thee.” Saul said, “I have sinned…” but he was more interested in going on, and on the impression he was making on others, than in getting right himself. It was serious and he didn’t realize it.

Hannah, when she went to the feast every year, no change took place in her. She had suffered a lot at the hands of Peninnah and did not have any joy at the feast. This went on for years, but this time she rose up, not to play, but to pray. She poured out her heart in bitterness of soul and frustration. To pour out, we tip it down and empty it. Hannah humbled herself, poured out her soul, emptied her heart. We should humble ourselves prayerfully. When the Lord filled her there was no more evidence of bitterness or hardness, a sign of gratitude to God. She emptied her heart and did this at the feast. Maybe God has spoken, so don’t leave it till we go away. Rise up to pray and give ourselves to God.

In Genesis 35:1, God said to Jacob, “Arise and go up to Bethel … make an altar.” Jacob said, “We cannot go like we are.” He asked them all to put away their false gods, to be clean and change their garments, so that it would have a right effect and there would be a blessing as a result, and they did it. Not far on the journey, two of those in the company died, Deborah and Rachel. Rachel had had the gods of her father, but would be thankful that now and for all eternity, that they were all put away.

None of us knows what a far reaching effect it will have if we rise up and put away the things God has revealed to us. None of us knows how long we will be here. David didn’t take lightly what God made clear to him. In II Samuel 6:8, David was sore displeased. Something was wrong and it wasn’t just the death of Uzzah who had grasped the ark when it swayed in the cart made for it. David knew the Lord was very displeased because the ark was not being carried as He had laid down to Moses, and he would go no step further until there was blessing. David did not take this lightly and was not going to take one step further while there was anything between him and God, and so caused God displeasure, because it would bring more distress in the company.

We cannot take it seriously enough when God puts His finger on things in our life. There could be blessing, not only for us but for those near to us, not only now, but throughout eternity.

Proverbs 22:28, “Remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set.” Remove not is becoming more meaningful to me. In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve removed an ancient landmark, a boundary God has set. God gave them every access to the very best but there was one line drawn, one boundary made and the enemy worked to remove that. This happened in a natural way in my home state. There was a terrible flood, the Mississippi river overflowed its banks and all because of man’s fault, they had changed the boundaries of the river to gain more land, they had built high banks and thought that would take care of the problem. They went on changing the boundary to gain more for their personal advantage which led to terrible losses, it had an effect which no one ever imagined.

The same thing happened last year in Germany and the authorities have to admit that we are at fault. They too changed the boundaries of the Rhine river years ago. Thinking to profit from it, they took the bends out of the river so now with the added pressure of the snow the water just rushed down the river with no bends to slow the water down, so many lives and animals and property taken to destruction. I cannot grasp the seriousness of this in the spiritual sense. The old law that Moses received from God laid out the boundaries for the children of Israel.

Jesus made the boundaries much clearer in Matthew 5. Thou halt heard in the Old Testament but I say unto you, the old law dealt with the action, setting the boundary that would preserve people from doing wrong but there was no power to keep that law. Jesus spoke of various aspects of our lives. The old law forbade killing but Jesus warned against the anger that leads to the killing. The old law said not to commit adultery but Jesus spoke of no looking that would lead to the wrong action. I realise that if I do not control my thoughts then I cannot control my actions Jesus set clear borders. In the world, there are falling standards, lower morals, boundaries are blurred because of a lack of ­the fear of God. Jesus left clear boundaries how to live a life that leaves no question marks in anyone’s mind what we are living for and who we are serving.

Nehemiah 4, the Jews were dwelling close to the enemy who had a discouraging effect or them. They felt the enemy was too strong, no point in going on. We will never get there and this is what happens when we live too close to the border, we will be influenced. The closer we live to God, the clearer we see the boundary and borders. In Europe, we see a difference at the border between Holland and Germany. The language there is more like it is on the other side, the architecture, everything merges and seems to be the same and we cannot hinder this from happening when we dwell too close to the border. Our own human nature can also set up borders that we think are important.

Peter asked Jesus how often he should forgive his brother. 7 times, he thought that would be a good borderline but Jesus showed him there was to be no boundary, 70 times 7. We also set borders to our love. Jesus loved to the end in spite of all that the disciples were. We could set limits to our willingness in our service to God, think that we have gone far enough, we also limit the power of God in our lives, we need to allow God to set the borders in our lives.

Jeremiah 5:22, “Which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree.” The high waves may roar but they cannot pass over the bounds that are set. Do we have this confidence in God? God sets a boundary and will not allow us to suffer more than we are able to bear, He will make a way of escape. God sets the bounds for Jobs life, “Go ahead but don’t touch his life.” There is a boundary that we must set. God told Moses to set bounds about the mount and sanctify it, also no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount, neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.

The most precious thing we have today is our relationship with God and we are going to protect what is precious, thieves and robbers prevail in the world and are only after what is valuable. The enemy of our soul is out to rob us of the most precious thing, our link, and our relationship with God. We need to be serious about this set of bounds to that mount, to not let anything hinder us from fellowship with ­God. Abraham took his servants a certain distance but could not take them all the way. He saw the mount and left the servants behind, no one to hinder him from having fellowship with God. Those dearest to us can be the greatest hindrance let no man be seen throughout the mount.

Jacob wrestled with the angel, it was the greatest battle of his life. He went it alone he set a bound, he let no one hinder him. Daniel, the King had set a decree, not to pray to any God for 30 days but Daniel continued to pray 3 times per day. That was his bounds that were set, he let nothing hinder even though it meant the lion’s den. If we set bounds, have clear borders with regard to our fellowship with God, we will have a deep reverence and respect for the boundaries that Jesus set and we would not want to alter them in any way. Jesus gave his life and blood for these borderlines. Psalms 147:12, “For He hath strengthened the bars of thy gates, He hath blessed thy children within thee, He maketh peace in thy borders.”

Acts 17:24,”God that-made the world and all things therein, seeing He is Lord of Heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Neither is worshipped with man’s hands, as though He needed anything, seeing He giveth to all life, breath and things.” It is about God the giver that I want to talk about this morning. The world is full of Getters, but God is a Giver. There are so many things that He has given to humanity. He gives us life and He gives us a healthy body and Eternal Life. The World can only give us life measured by years. Peter said, “We are not born of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” This is the Word which by the Gospel was preached unto you. I am so thankful of this everlasting seed that was planted in our hearts and it has brought forth life. The seed never changes, but the soil is the old carnal nature, and many of those things in me, I know and despise: anger, selfishness and deceit; it is all in the human heart, but as the soil lends itself to the seed, something is produced that was not there before. This that God plants in my life and heart and mind, someday this physical body in which this Eternal Seed has been planted will be discarded, but the Eternal Life will be transplanted, and we will get a resurrected body. This is the gift of God. This life we have is only a physical thing measured by years, but we have been born again by the Word of God which is the incorruptible seed.

When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts to man. The first gift God ever gave us in this physical life is the gift of the Ministry. The gift of two men or two women who came to your district and into your home. When I see these young men and women and the old men and old women so gladly give their lives to the cause of the Gospel, I am so thankful. Everyone was captive to their own desires and to all they could have had, but He won their hearts and He has given them to you and me. We would not be in this Meeting today except for this Ministry, “Impelled by love they go again to seek the lost and dying men etc.” If that flame ever goes out, they won’t remain in this Ministry. I am so thankful for the One who led us captive to give this Ministry to a dying and needy world.

The next gift is the gift of Faith. We don’t get it in college or in seminary, but from “looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2) Jesus is the Author and He is also the Finisher. Faith is intangible. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Nothing I possess that is quite so precious as this faith. I am glad the author is Jesus. Two men came to my parents at the turn of the century, but they were not the authors. They were the carriers of this faith. It tells us of some – “unto them was the Gospel preached but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” Two men I knew all my life; one of them no longer in fellowship, but his children is in the Faith. They heard the same message, but the one did not have faith. I hope we all understand that there is only one faith. There are many beliefs – the Methodist, Presbyterians, and Baptists and so on, but there is only one Faith. I cannot tell you what it has meant to me to come to South Africa and find the same faith exactly as it is at home. By, faith we are saved. “Receiving the end of your faith even the salvation.”

The next gift is Peace. It does not come through education or money. Jesus said, “My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth it, give I it to you!” How do we get this peace? Something wonderful about peace. In the midst of a storm, we can have peace. There was a little girl on a ship, and the ship was caught in a fierce and violent storm, but she was not afraid. She said, “My Daddy, is the captain of this ship.” Let all hell break loose, we have a Captain of our souls. We read of the fruits of the spirit. If we have the spirit, we all have peace. The spirit is the symbol of a dove, which is easily frightened. Peace will come into our hearts even in the midst of a storm and peril.

The next one is the gift of Grace. There is something wonderful about gracious people. God resists the proud but giveth grace to the humble. There is something wonderful about ability, but ability without humility is about as obnoxious as anything. You are attracted to gracious and humble people. Grace is tangible! Barnabas was a gracious man for it says of him that when he had seen the grace of God, he glad. He did not see it on a canvas or read it in a book, but saw it in the lives of those people. It is wonderful if when people would look at your life and mine and they can see the grace of God. It will accomplish what nothing else will do. We read that the law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. There were two old Workers and one said, “We have certain unwritten laws.” The other one said, “Forget it; if you are going to have unwritten laws, you can change them at your disposal.” It is wonderful that in this Ministry, there are no laws written or unwritten. Let us stand fast in the liberty wherein Christ has made us free! Many things I am saved from because I am walking in this Way. Saved people will never walk in any other way. We are walking in this Way because we are saved. I am trying to refrain from using the word unsaved. This grace brought salvation and it is the gift of God. If we are a saved people, we will be a working people and our works will help us to grow in grace. Works are a result of salvation. We read, “Let your speech be always with grace.” Some peoples’ speech is a bit peppery and full of sarcasm. Humility is strength. How easy it is to take correction from gracious lips and a gracious heart. Hebrews 4, “Let us come boldly to the Throne of Grace, etc.” There is a boldness which is brazen and repulsive. But the boldness of God is going to help us and we will not let anybody, brother or family or friends, keep us from the Meetings. Grace is there to help us for the future, and we also have grace for the past.

The next gift is Mercy. No one needs mercy more than I do. Victory with pride is defeat, but defeat with humility is victory. We have to come boldly to the Throne of Grace to find mercy in time of need. Who does not need mercy even for the future? Sailors are never made in the calm seas, but in the storms. It is in the storm that we prove the Captain and He also proves us.

The next gift is the gift of Wisdom. A brother said years ago that any of us can obtain wisdom for it is given by God. When I am in touch with Christ-like men and women, I want to listen. One time, a young brother was discouraged because he thought he was often bypassed. A Sister told him the reason why and said, “We have watched you over the years; you would surround yourself with your own peers and be the centre of the gathering. If you really want to learn, sit in the company of older Brothers and Sisters and hear what they have to say.” Another young Brother said, “I have had 20 years’ experience!” He boasted about it, but he did not know he only had one year of experience in the 20 years! Knowledge swells the head, but wisdom teaches us how to use the knowledge aright. There is an awful danger of having knowledge without wisdom. I grew up in the home where God was served. Once I asked dad to go to a play we were having and he said, “I will not make a fool of myself and go and see my son making a fool of himself.” He did not keep me out of it, but he did not go. Don’t make your children live a Christian life before they are Christians! Don’t teach your children to resent the Workers, but don’t bring things in to appease, all you do is to feed their resentment. I hope all of us will be found repeatedly asking God for wisdom. Christ is of God, made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption! (I Corinthians 1-30) I hope we come often to the seat of wisdom, which is Jesus.

The next gift is the gift of Help. None of us can do it alone. I am so glad that the Lord sent us two and two. I cannot face the Work alone, but if I am not willing for that discipline, there is something wrong. We all need the help that comes from Brothers and Sisters. If we are so conceited that we don’t need the help of one another, then we are wrong and the experiences we have in life will not help us. That is why we go two and two. If we think we are so smart that we don’t need to pray and don’t need help, well, God cannot help us. I hope we all understand that if we cry for help, it will come. If Jesus sees us trying, He will not pass us by but if we feel we don’t need help, He will pass us by.

The next is the gift of Blessing. God said to Abraham. “In blessing, I will bless you!” Blessing comes as a result of obedience. Some people go out seeking blessing, but we don’t need to if we obey the voice of God; blessing will overtake us. We love God because He first loved us. I was never taught to love my parents, but I was a recipient of their love. God is love and His love was wrapped in the person of a young man, Jesus. I have not seen Him, but God wants to re-wrap that gift of love in us; not because of what we hear, but because of what we saw. Preaching has never done it, but love has; we see the evidence of love in others. A Sister said of her companion, “I don’t know what she is saying but I know I want to be like her!” Hate is a strong word; we are found negatively or positively as the case may be. “Riding along as you walked by and seeing you, then I wondered why I so longed to walk with you.” The love of God was seen in boots and not in books; not because of what was heard, but by what was seen! Health can be used as an excuse. I cannot do this and cannot do that. Health can be used as an excuse for doing what we don’t want to do!

Then we have the gift of Salvation. “By grace, ye are saved, etc.” Jesus said, “I will build My Church on this rock.” He did not say My churches, but My Church! There is only one Way in which we can walk and only on Church that Jesus referred to. Don’t confuse believing with understanding! There is an awful lot I don’t understand, but I do believe that His Blood shall take care of my faults. I believe in this Book and I believe in this Way. When I came to Christ believing, He made me His Son. Your children will still be your son or daughter 21 years later.

Revelation 1-3, here we read the messages to the seven churches. In these messages, I do believe that we have the most perfect mirror that this world has ever seen. If we look into this mirror we may not like the image we see of ourselves. It is not a mirror where you have to stand up on a chair to see into it; with this one you have to go down onto your knees.

The first message: was to the church at Ephesus. They had lost their first love. It is amazing to read what they were able to do, in spite of having lost their first love. It just meant that God had lost the first place in their hearts. A little more than twenty-seven years ago when I left my home country South Africa, to go to Korea, an elderly sister Worker said to me, “Well Ernest, I suppose you think you are making quite a sacrifice to leave your country, your parents and everyone you love, to go to a country where you don’t know what to expect? But I want to tell you today that it doesn’t matter where you are, the greatest sacrifice you will ever make is the price you will have to pay every day to give God first place in your heart.”

In those years, I have found that those words were so true. The greatest sacrifice you will make will always be the price you will have to pay every day to give God first place in your heart. I suppose none of you would dare to think you are serving an idol. But do you know what an idol is? It is just the thing that is occupying the place in your heart that God should have.

The thing that occupies first place in your heart is the thing that your thoughts run to when they have a moment to wander. Ask yourself, “Where do my thoughts tend to hang around?” You will find out what it is that has first place in your heart. When God loses the first place in your heart you lose your way to the tree of life. You don’t feel the warmth of God’s presence. You know that you are missing it and deep down you feel uneasy.

Ezekiel 44:1, “Then He brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. Then the Lord said unto me, ‘This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the Lord, the God of Israel. hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.’”

This speaks of a spiritual temple which was never a building. It is your body and you read of a door which must be kept closed and never opened because the Lord God of Israel has gone in there. To me, that is an exact picture of the door to the first place in our hearts. Before we made our choice, we were opening and closing that door all the time. But when we made our choice there was an awful battle and that is what the battle is, to put out whatever was in there and open the door so that the Lord could come in and take first place. Then the door must be shut.

Sometimes we are very careless and without realising it, we have opened the door and something else has slipped in there. God is not going to share that place with anyone or anything else, so He just quietly withdraws. If you make that choice again, and it is not going to be any easier, you will find your way to the tree of life.

The second message: was to the church at Smyrna. They did well, but were going to suffer tribulation. Sometimes we go through real suffering, more of heart than of body, and we wonder what we have done that God needs to punish us like that. It is a very foolish thought. One thing that will help us, is to remember that the purpose of life is not in itself. The one real purpose for our lives is that it is an opportunity for us to prepare for our only real future. To further that, God wants to do something in us.

If we are not having any sufferings, it is very peaceful but at the same time you feel very uneasy because not much has been done to the forming of your spirit. I Peter 1:6, “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”

Don’t be surprised at it. These things are absolutely essential for something to be done in our hearts, preparing us for our only real future. II Corinthians 4:17, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

In Rome in the olden days, they used to have severe punishments. There was a man who was convicted for a crime which he never did though from the evidence, it looked as though he had. He was put into prison and a big, heavy iron weight was chained to his leg. It really got him down and many a day he looked at it and thought, “If only it were a little lighter.” Afterwards this man was found innocent and the judge felt that it was too bad, just to let him go so he said, “Take that weight and weigh it; then give him the equivalent weight in gold for all his suffering.” Do you know what the man said then? “If only it had been heavier!” We can understand that. You think it is all to heavy now, but one day you will say it was a light affliction. God knows what we can take.

[Transcriber’s Note: The above story, as far as I can recall from schoolboy ancient history, involved Herod Agrippa who was at one time in bonds and when released was given the weight of his bonds in gold by the Roman Emperor Caligula. That does not detract at all from the appropriateness of Ernest’s analogy.]

The third message: was to the church at Pergamos. They seemed to have had a problem with the flesh. It is common to all men and quite serious, and I just want to mention a few things about that. When we make our choice, it is a choice to deny ourselves. When we make that choice, there is another choice that we are going to have to make at the same time. That is to avoid the things that stimulate those wrong desires.

You know what they are. Don’t be like the man who decided for the sake of his health not to eat meat, but liked to hang around the barbecue to get the nice smell. There are quite a number of young people here, and our passions are very strong. A lot of you feel that you cannot cope. It doesn’t matter how strong they are, these passions pass away, but we sit with the results of deeds done in those passions. We need to remember that.

Do you know anything more wretched and miserable than to sit with the results of deeds done in passion when those passions are no longer felt? The world has become frighteningly permissive, but as God’s people, we should remember it doesn’t matter if everybody does it, wrong is still wrong; and it doesn’t matter if nobody does it, right is still right.

In talking about the weakness of the flesh, I will tell you something about the lion country in South Africa. When those lions run after the deer, they are actually not able to run fast enough to catch them so they have to use their brains. The lion and lioness hunt together and when they see a herd of deer, they are very clever. The lion goes upwind and the lioness goes in the opposite direction and hides in the grass. When the deer catch the lion’s scent, they run the other way, right past the lioness. And like a cat, she jumps out and gets one. Remember that the lion that is roaring over there is not as dangerous as the one that is lying quietly in the grass. When there is a lot of difficulty, many of us valiantly stand against it, but are often caught by the flesh. Samson was more than a match for the Philistines but was no match for his own flesh. You may know the poem of the soldier:

“He was not listed with the troops abroad; He carried neither bayonet nor gun. There was no crowd waiting to applaud the devastating battle he had won.

He fought his pride, his selfishness; the battle was deep in his heart, But no throng waited to applaud, No chant of triumph sounded in the mart.

The Lord God who looks down into the soul has kept a place for him among the blest, Because he conquered self, the only foe, that could have dealt to him a mortal blow.”

The fourth message: was to the church at Thyatira. Their last works were better than the first. That is quite a surprising thing. We all mean to do well, but come back here and are disappointed in ourselves. The Korean people have a saying, “Dragon’s head and snake’s tail.” It means we can be full of valour when we start off, but when we come back we find it has petered out and it is nothing more than a snake’s tail. I wonder if I could tell you one thing, so that it might not be like that next year?

As you sit in these meetings, decide what it is that is your biggest problem. We could all settle on that, then just decide, “I am definitely going to take care of that next year.” If you do that, I do believe you will come back next Convention feeling a lot better and you will have a song in your heart.

In regard to this church, it speaks about Jezebel and it is not unnecessary to speak about that in these meetings. There have been some who have risen up amongst us and caused, you couldn’t believe, how much trouble. The devil is far more dangerous when he appears as an angel of light than when he appears as a serpent. Those who have caused trouble have tongues as smooth as oil and as sweet as honey. But that tongue is dangerous.

The serpent has been a symbol of false teaching from the book of Genesis to Revelation, and Jesus being lifted up as our example is the only thing that will save us from that desperately dangerous poison of false doctrine, especially if it rises up from among ourselves. If you try to argue with these people, they know this and that verse. You can’t do it that way. Keep your eyes on Jesus. It is not possible to be deceived if we are looking at Jesus.

The fifth message: was to the church at Sardis. They had a name that they were living but they were dead. They were just hypocrites. That is one thing I am very much afraid of. When I went to school we had a motto, “It is better to be than to seem to be.” Our brother Trevor Loechel told us the testimony of a sister in South America. She just said, “I am like a bottle, very easy to clean on the outside, very hard to clean on the inside and quite transparent.” That is why it is so easy to become a hypocrite, because it is easy to clean the outside and difficult to clean the inside.

A sister said, “I would like to be more to God than others know.” As she said that, I thought it was exactly the opposite to what was in my mind. One brother gave this description of what some people think humility is. He said it is going around saying bad things about yourself and expecting to be contradicted. That is hypocrisy and it is in the marrow of all of us.

At my first Convention when I was in the Work, I happened to be near the sisters’ room and saw a whole pile of their shoes near the door. I thought, “I will do my good deed for the day.” I gathered them up and started polishing them. It took me quite a while and I was thinking, “Wouldn’t it be fortunate if one of them came out for something and saw me doing that unnoticed and unknown?” But then I caught myself, “You hypocrite!” God loves sincerity and we catch ourselves up.

A sister Worker said something about hypocrisy being like the devil trying to get us to choose between two wrongs. A young man had come to her and said, “I am not being what I should be. I am only being a hypocrite and it would be better for me to quit.” She told him, “You are trying to choose between two wrongs and it is impossible to get anything but disaster. Being a hypocrite is wrong and quitting is wrong. The only thing for you is to stop being a hypocrite.”

The sixth church: is the church at Philadelphia, and their message was to “hold fast to what you have.” Jesus said to His disciples, “You are the ones who have continued with me.” They had held fast. There is only one way to hold fast to what you have. When I was first at school, I was the youngest and smallest in the class. Little boys have no manners and no scruples, and any time I brought anything nice in my lunch box I never got a chance to eat it because the bigger boys took it.

However, I became good friends with the biggest and strongest boy and then I never opened my lunch box unless I was with him. Some of us think we have some serious problems, but we only have one problem, to live so that God can be with us. Settle that problem and other problems will take care of themselves. Psalm 18:29, “… by my God have I leaped over a wall.” Don’t worry about the wall; worry about having God with you. Tom Beattie visited us in Korea long ago and said, “If we can come out of this even just with our own salvation it will be no small achievement.”

I was writing a letter one time and a tiny little ant crawled over the page. I blew it and it just stuck there, so I blew a little harder. I was amazed how far that ant went on clinging on. Every time I blew, it didn’t try to walk, it just clung. I learned something from that, that there are times when it is not a matter of making progress, it is a matter of clinging on.

The seventh message: was to the church at Laodicea. They were in a terrible condition, but didn’t realise it, going on mechanically, just the form without any life in it. We can choose whether we want to serve God or not, but we cannot choose how. I think we would be helped by a vision of what we are missing by being unfaithful. Something that is a sure characteristic of people like the church at Laodicea is, “Do we have to do that much? Is that much necessary?” People who serve Him in spirit and in truth feel that they are not doing enough.

In closing I will tell you about a lady in Namibia. In the early days, the Friends there were very poor. One man had a lorry and he was a very kind man. He would drive over the most terrible roads, long distances around the farms, picking up people to go to Convention. On the way to Convention, they would always pass a place called “Lion Fountain.” The water from that fountain is about the best in the world, and they would never pass there without having a drink.

While they drank, a man had to be watching for lions. One lady on the back of the lorry was quite heavy and she had a bad leg. It wasn’t easy to get her onto the lorry, with someone pulling and someone pushing. When they arrived at the “Lion Fountain,” someone offered to bring her some water. But no, she wanted to drink from the fountain direct.

So they had quite a job to get her there, and while they were drinking the watchman called “Lion!” In a moment everyone was back on the lorry and then they remembered Sunny. Where was she? She was already up on the lorry with no moaning, no pulling or pushing, and she was ashamed of herself. Just one word was all that she needed. “Eternity” is the word for us. If we knew the meaning of that word, we would be desperate.

Hebrews 9:1-9

The tabernacle was a figure, a symbol, a shadow. I would like to speak about the different essential steps that we have so that we can draw near to God. We find them in this picture of the tabernacle. I hope you don’t think I am going to tell you about the silver, the brass, the gold of the tabernacle, and what they all mean. I can’t, because I don’t know what they mean, so I hope you will realise that I want to tell you how it appeals to me. It is a picture of how we come before God, into His Holy presence.

The tabernacle was actually just a tent divided into two. The first room you went into was called the Holy Place. There were two things in that room; light and bread, and right in front of the curtain was an altar on which they burned incense. The second room had only one thing in it and that was a box, the ark. It was a very special box. This tent stood in a yard, a fence around it.

So now you have a picture of a tent standing in a yard, and in front of the tent, there were two things. One was a wash basin and the other was the altar of burnt offering. You had to get past these two things before you could get into the tent. Any person that approached this tabernacle from outside would first come up against this fence. Ezekiel 42:20 says, “… it had a wall round about, five hundred reeds long, and five hundred broad, to make a separation between the sanctuary and the profane place.” It was a separation between the clean and the unclean.

That is the first thing you come up against when you meet the Truth. God’s people are a separate people. “Come ye out from among them and be ye separate…”, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.” “Whoever would be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” To understand this a little better think of this tent in two sections; one where we have fellowship with God’s people and the second where we go into the presence of God Himself.

There are many people who have never entered into this fellowship for the simple reason that they have never been able to get past the wash basin. They have separated themselves from the world but there are still things, habits, in their lives that are not clean or honest. The least they could do was to wash their bodies before they went in there and the wash basin was provided. There are some things that we have to take care of ourselves. Some people roam around in that courtyard miserably for years, not enjoying the things of the world and not enjoying the things of this fellowship, either.

There was an altar, and no one enters into this fellowship unless their life is on the altar of sacrifice. Do you know how high the altar was? It was three cubits high, just about up to my armpits. It would have been a very difficult table to work at, a very awkward height, and the High Priests would always have felt that they were too small for this altar as they worked there. They were not allowed to make any steps to it.

This maybe applies especially to the Workers. I cannot tell you how many times I have been at a Gospel meeting and have felt so miserable, gone home, and pleaded with God, “I cannot do it. I am too small for this.” But it seems that God planned that and it was only a shadow of what we have today. His servants will always feel that they are too small for this altar. The worldly ministers are built up with a lot of knowledge and they feel very able, very tall for this altar that they serve at. But the way of God is so different.

Another thing about this altar was that it had horns. Psalm 118:27, “God is the Lord, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.” In the Old Testament they killed the animals before they burned them. This was symbolic, and we know we need these cords for the simple reason that we are offering a living sacrifice, and a living sacrifice doesn’t just stop on that altar when the fire starts burning.

We heard about Abraham offering Isaac. That boy was strong enough to carry sufficient wood to burn a whole body. That is an awful lot of wood. He was not a little boy and Abraham was an old man. He could not have put that boy on the altar if the boy had not co-operated. No matter how willing Isaac may have been, lying there and seeing that knife come down straight for the throat, a reflex action would take over. You can make up your mind as much as you like, but you wouldn’t be able to help yourself in such a situation. That is why Isaac was bound.

The spiritual application of that is a perfect example in Peter. He was firmly purposed that he would keep his life on the altar. He meant every word. But Peter didn’t bind the sacrifice. In the garden of Gethsemane, three times Jesus had to remind the disciples to watch and pray, but they were sleeping and so when the fire started getting too hot, and when that maid came to Peter and said, “You were also among them,” and death stared him in the face, a reflex action took over. He felt so terrible after that. In spite of ourselves we will draw back if we do not bind our sacrifice to the altar. It doesn’t matter what kind of purpose we have here, if we are not going to be faithful in the place of prayer, we are not going to have the cords and when the fire gets too hot, we will shrink back.

An old brother in South Africa told us, “If you see people who have been professing quite a while but they still have no clear vision, you can be quite sure there is something in their lives they are not willing for.” They still haven’t got their lives on the altar and they still don’t see the light. It has been very nice to hear so many testimonies telling of their appreciation of their church, and it is obvious that you are finding bread there. When you get into the tabernacle there is bread to feed our hungry hearts. And at Convention, we get a special portion.

In front of the veil there was the altar of incense. It is through prayer that we enter the Holiest of all, into the presence of God. In Jeremiah 18:15 there are some words that worry me, “Because My people hath forgotten Me, they have burned incense to vanity …” Have you ever done that? How many times have I been on my knees and my thoughts have gone to vanity in spite of being quiet before God?

That altar didn’t have its own coals. They had to be taken off the altar of burnt offering and the incense was burned with them. I realise only too well that if my life is not on the altar, I am not denying myself and dying daily and I don’t have the coals to make sweet incense to God. I would like to live in such a way that God would be able to believe in me when I say that I am thankful.

There is a connection between the altar of burnt offering and the altar of incense. If I don’t have my life on the altar of burnt offering, I don’t have the coals to burn incense. Andrew Abernethy once stressed those words where the commandment was given to Moses that nothing else was to be offered on this altar, only that incense. He said, “Sometimes in the morning we get up too late and have to rush off and not really spend time in prayer. But during the day we try to make up for it by maybe writing a letter or sharing some thoughts from a meeting.” You can try to offer it but God doesn’t accept it. You can make up for it with nothing else.

The priest was allowed into the Holiest of All once a year but not without blood. It is just as well for us to remember every time we bend our knees before God; it is not without blood. There are some people who, when they pray, actually have a secret feeling that this is some religious thing that we do for God. I hope you will put that thought out of your mind forever. I don’t know if you have ever considered what a privilege prayer is.

Quite a long time ago in the USA, there was a very infamous murder case. The man was condemned to death and while he was in a cell awaiting execution, the President of America came to that place for some reason. He had been following this murder case and he wanted to question that man, so he asked the warder to prepare that man for a visitor, but not to tell him who was coming. When the president came to the man’s cell, the prisoner didn’t lift his head once. He absolutely ignored the president. So the president left and as he went out he said to the warder, “You can go and tell him now who it was that visited him.”

When the warder told the prisoner that it was none other than the president of the USA who had wanted to talk to him, he was speechless. And he became like an insane man. He said, “To think that there is only one man on the whole of the earth who had the authority to save my life, and I didn’t know it was he!” Now do you understand? When you bow the knee you are having the privilege to come right before the One who holds your eternal future in the palm of His hand, right in the place where He will listen. Jesus paid a high price that we could have that privilege. It is a tremendous opportunity.

The High Priest went in there alone, and we do that, alone with God. Howard Mooney told us about an old lady who was dying when he went to visit her. She said, “Very soon you will be speaking at my funeral. Please tell those people that this way of God I have been walking all these years is a wonderful, sweet way. But the most wonderful times were the times I walked alone with God.” We are thankful for what the Workers brought to us with the Gospel, but it is when we enter the Holiest of all that God Himself engraves it on our hearts with His own finger.

In the first tabernacle was the bread that was prepared by the priests, and we appreciate so much the little fellowship meetings. But it won’t keep you going all the way to the Promised land. We have to get that manna. God Himself prepares it and gives it, and it is very sweet. We absolutely need it and we have to learn to enter the Holiest of all to get that manna. That is what gets our hearts burning within us. The manna had enough strength in it to keep the Children of Israel healthy all the way until they got to the Promised land.

The ten commandments that were written with the finger of God were contained in that box. There was another thing in that box and it was Aaron’s rod that budded. In Numbers 17:10, the Children of Israel murmured about the true ministry. God told them to put down their rods and the one that budded was the one that had God’s anointing, and it was Aaron’s rod. There are still some people, and when I was in Tasmania I was quite surprised to hear it said, who have some doubts about the true ministry. We can tell you that we cannot resolve those doubts for you but if you get into the secret place you will see Aaron’s rod that budded and you will have no doubts in your mind.

There was a very different light in the Holiest of All. I might just mention a little about the lid of that box. It was called the Mercy Seat. In the Korean and Dutch Bibles it is called the `Seat of Redemption.’ I think that is maybe a little clearer. That was made of solid gold and was the very centre of everything, the Seat of Redemption. Doesn’t that make you think of the Lord Jesus, solid gold and the centre of everything? The light of God Himself comes down in that place about the Mercy Seat.

But what I want to say is, it is only when we enter the Holiest of all that we see the light of the Mercy Seat. As we listen to the Gospel, the Workers, and sometimes the Friends help us to get a clear revelation of the Truth, but only God can give us a clear revelation of the character and nature of the Lord Jesus and it is an essential part of our salvation. That light that shone off the Mercy Seat was seen in the Holiest of All.

There were cherubims on the Mercy Seat. I am not going to try to pretend that I know what they mean, but I will tell you a few things that appeal to me. It makes me think of the two servants of God labouring together. We read that they had to be made of one piece. In John Jesus prayed, “That they all may be one, as Thou, Father art in Me and I in Thee; that they also may be one in Us.”

It also says that they were to face the mercy seat. This is the only hope of God’s Servants being able to continue, as they keep their eyes on Jesus. And those cherubims faced one another. That is so vital. A good number of years ago, among the first people to profess in Mexico, was a man named Manuel. He had been a Presbyterian minister. He had invited the two brother Workers to his home and cooked lunch for them every day for a week before he professed.

Later he told them, “I wasn’t interested in feeding you at all. I was interested in something else. In all my religious experience, I have never come across a minister and his assistant who have been able to get along together. I wanted to see that in you, so I got you here for a week because I knew that if there was any strain in you I would pick it up.” After a week, he was satisfied. It says that God spoke from between the cherubims. Sometimes it doesn’t impress us which Worker said something because God speaks from between them, direct to your heart.

I will tell you about one other thing. Don’t misunderstand me, but we do read that those cherubims had wings and there is a sense that the servants of God have wings. I cannot possibly live this life if not for the help of God. We are living a very unnatural life. Peter did something that was impossible for any human being to do. He knew he would sink when he stepped out onto that water, but he had the faith to know that Jesus would give him the power to do that. When God’s finger points the way, His hand will make the way possible.

So Peter walked on the water but began to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus. This way is completely against human nature. It is really beyond what we can do in our human strength, but as long as we are able to rise above those things that would drag us down. If we get our eyes off Him we lose our wings and begin to sink.

If you look at this tabernacle from the outside, it looked a very drab affair. It was covered in skins, but the more you uncovered it, the more you found it became beautiful. First there were badger skins, then ram skins, then goat’s hair, then fine linen and then boards completely covered with gold. And there was the mercy seat of pure gold. Can you imagine that most beautiful light shining on that shimmering gold? The more you went into it, the more it became precious.

It is exactly the opposite to the worldly religions. First they have the beautiful buildings and the stained windows and the organ music; all very impressive. It is wonderful, but the more you uncover it, the more disappointed you will be. You will find that the whole thing is based on money. There was a very rich lady in Korea who came to meetings dressed up like a Christmas tree the first time she came. As she walked in, she saw our friends and felt so sorry for them. They looked so drab. But she soon looked at them with a different view; how noble, how beautiful, how clean and pure, and she herself had all those things dangling from her. But she found out that she was the one who was so unbearably drab. The deeper we go the more beautiful these things become until we enter the Holiest of all and see the pure light reflected from the mercy Seat of God.

There have been models made of this tabernacle by different people, mostly Workers. In Holland, there is one made by religious people. They are all different. That is easy to understand, because when you read it, you could look at it differently. Moses never had that problem. He had exactly the same instructions that we read, but he had no problem in making it right, simply because of God’s revelation to him. “See that you make it according to the instructions that were given you in this mount.” That is how God does it. The reason that the world is full of religions all reading the same Bible is because they have no revelation. God gives us the model of His own Son and that is why we see this miracle that the people of God are the same in every part of the world.

In my second year in the Work, I was preparing for a Gospel meeting. I was cleaning the benches and got a splinter in my hand. The thought came to my mind, “This would never have happened in the tabernacle because every bit of wood was covered with gold.” How often have others got splinters from me because of my human nature?

I hope that we will remember the price whereby the veil was rent in twain that has opened the way for us to have these things that we have in Christ. Think of the time when the Lord Jesus was hanging on the cross. Yesterday Ray (Jamieson) showed me something that a medicinal man had written of what Christ suffered on the cross. It was gruesome. I think the Lord Jesus suffered even more than that agony of the cross, and it was the thing that made Him cry, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” He paid the price so that no one else would ever cry that cry of desolation. That was the price He paid so that we need never be cut off from the Holiest of All.

Genesis 24 is where the servant of Abraham was sent to find a bride for Isaac. This is the Gospel in a nutshell. It is the story of a father sending his servant to find a bride for his son. Heaven is going to be the perfect fulfillment of the purest form of love. The happiest marriage is only a little hint of something very wonderful that God is preparing and the most beautiful human relationship that ever was is nothing compared to the depth of joy that God is preparing for those who are going to become the true Bride and taste of eternal life.

Abraham’s servant didn’t seem to worry too much about how he was going to contact that person. He understood that it would be a certain person that God Himself had chosen. To go to a far country and look for a person amongst all those people would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, but he simply prayed to God to guide him to that person.

When we talk to people in the world and they find out how we contact people, they often say, “I have never heard of anything so negative.” Actually there is nothing so positive. If Philip had plastered posters all over Jerusalem about what he believed and preached, all day and night, he would have missed the very one that God wanted him to meet. It was the most difficult one, riding along in a chariot in the desert. But it was no problem. God saw him there and was able to bring him into contact with His servant. It is dead accurate and God does it in a way that the world knows absolutely nothing about it. It is always a miracle.

In Korea one time, my companion and I were sent to a certain place. We landed in this little village and I felt so depressed. It was terribly backward. There were soldiers everywhere because it was a big military base. It looked like the most unlikely place to go. Anyway, we had to spend a night or two in a little inn and we prayed that God would help us to find some place – it didn’t matter if it wasn’t too comfortable – where we could be brought into contact with honest souls.

I can only say that God heard our prayers when I say that it wasn’t too comfortable! However, the postman brought our mail every day and we invited him in to chat. Today there is a Sunday morning meeting in his home and their children are professing. On one side of us there lived a high school girl and now she has been in the Work for a number of years; one of the gems.

A young soldier came to us and asked us to teach him English. I said, “I will teach you as long as you don’t mind if I use the Bible.” Well, that man never made it but his younger sister has been in the Work for quite a while. Just a little prayer, and God can take us to the exact spot. One thing that I learned from that is that we don’t go by our feelings as we go into a new place with the Gospel, we just go by faith.

One thing that Abraham’s servant did worry about was if the woman would not be willing to follow; days and days on that journey on the camel’s back, leaving her home with a stranger. Abraham said, “That is not your problem. You just go and bring the message and God will send His angel to do that.” If there is one thing that I am thankful for it is that convincing and persuading people is not our problem. We only bring the Gospel in simplicity. To persuade people is reserved for God. If we, with our personality or speech, could persuade people in, then you can be sure that the devil would be able to persuade them out again.

When I left my office to start in the Work, my boss said, “You are the biggest fool I have ever come across. You will never appeal to anybody. You have a good job. Stay where you are.” It doesn’t matter how we can or cannot speak; it is not our problem. There is no other power on the face of the earth like the power of the drawing of the Spirit of God.

That is why we are not afraid to tell people what they are in for; denying themselves and taking up their cross. Jesus said, “No man cometh unto me except the Father draws him.” If God is drawing them, we cannot stop them.

Faith comes by hearing. A young man started to come to meetings just to learn English and when he understood what the Worker was speaking about for they are not brought up in a Christian atmosphere, came to us and said, “This thing that you are talking about, living forever and being happy forever; if that were true, you would have to be insane not to go for it. I cannot believe that.” Well, we couldn’t persuade him but the Spirit of God persuaded him and now he is telling others about that.

Abraham’s servant said, “Supposing she won’t come, can I take your son to her?” The answer was, “Absolutely not! The bride has to come here.” He will never come down to please the Bride. Sometimes there are an awful lot of empty seats in the Gospel meetings and we would do anything to fill those seats except to lower the standard. This servant had all the goods of the master in his hand. This world is full of preachers who can speak wonderfully but cannot show a thing of the Master. If you cannot see forgiveness, loving one another, if we don’t have them in our hands, it would be like trying to play on a string without the violin. That is what puts the Stradivarius behind the violin string.

When the servant came the first thing they wanted to do was to give him something to eat. He said, “I will not eat until I have told my errand.” Isn’t that exactly the opposite to the religions of the world? They won’t tell their errand until they have eaten. Some time ago I read in a newspaper of a woman who was fed up. The minister never visited her and it was suggested that she invite him for a meal. So she went to a lot of trouble and the minister and his wife came, had their meal and didn’t stay very long. Would you believe that at the end of the month the minister sent the woman an account for professional advice? She was disgusted.

The late Willy Jamieson told us once of the curse that was put upon the serpent. The serpent is the symbol of the false prophet. Genesis 3:14, “Upon thy belly thou shalt go.” Willy said, “Where will you ever find a false prophet that would preach you a sermon before he first has a guarantee that his belly will be filled?” Jesus said, “Don’t worry about what you will wear or eat, seek first the Kingdom of God.”

An older Worker told us that when he started out the most difficult thing for him was to get up and speak to people, to get that courage. As time went by, he got a little more used to it and then the problem was what to say. He said, “But now I am an old man and I am not so worried about getting up to speak, or what to say. The thing that really worries me is the preacher, the person who is preaching; to have it in my hands and not only on my lips.”

When you read this story do you find any reference at all to the reward that this servant got? He had explained everything to Rebekah and her family said, “Wilt thou go with this man?” She said, “I will go.” This is something that I suppose none of you except those who are in the Work would understand of what went on in his heart.

I will never forget my first year in the Work. I had a very small part in it but a couple kept coming with their two little girls. One night it was snowing and we didn’t think they would come, but they came and there was just something in the spirit of the meeting that night that moved my companion to test the meeting, and they stood up. After the meeting I went into the room and I couldn’t even kneel by my bed. I couldn’t pray, I couldn’t even laugh or cry.

All I can say is that there is nothing to describe that joy in the heart of the servant when you see clear evidence that the Spirit of God has been working and they stand up and say, “I will go.” A sister Worker put it like this, “I am so thankful that God has given me the privilege of standing by and looking on where He has been working.”

One day, a young man came to visit us in that same place. We invited him inside and it was tiny in there, not very comfortable. He said, “You two men live in this room, wash your own clothes, cook your own food and even go to market for yourselves, And you don’t even have a wife! I couldn’t do that for all the money in the world!” So I said to him, “I wouldn’t either!” That is true, but what he didn’t know was that it is not money that is the reward of the servant.

We don’t know who it is going to be, or when, or where, but we have the hope in our hearts that the Spirit of God will work in people’s hearts and we will have the joy of seeing someone stand and say, “I will go.” It is a miracle every time. Sometimes we speak about our hearts as being like a musical instrument – something tugs at the heartstrings. There are some heartstrings that are very deep and it is only the person that you love the most in this world who can tug at them. But there is another one and only God can touch that one.

Rebekah’s family said, “She can go, but not now. Give her at least ten days.” I don’t know if there is anybody who is feeling troubled tonight. There is a voice telling you that you must do it, but not now. It is not a matter of whether you will or not, but will you go now? An old servant of God in South Africa often told about his little sister. They listened to the Gospel together when she was twenty-one. When the meeting was tested he stood up but she didn’t and as they walked home she kept saying to him, “I feel so terrible, I know I should have stood up in that meeting but I am only twenty-one and I do want to taste a little of the world first.” With tears in his eyes he used to tell us, “She never reached her twenty-second birthday.” If only she had known it, the question was very serious, “Will you go now?”

A young man came to Gospel meetings in Korea quite a while ago. He had a younger sister who was twenty-two and she was unusually good looking, but it didn’t do her any good either. One night he managed to get her to come to the meeting and she sat right at the back. I don’t know if I ever saw anybody looking so bored in a meeting. It doesn’t make it any easier for us to speak.

She didn’t come back again but later she got sick and something went terribly wrong. Unfortunately the doctor made a serious mistake and the medicine he gave her was actually a poison for her condition. She went very quickly and her brother asked us if we would have a word at her funeral. The thought came to me, “Not so long ago she heard my voice but if she had only known that this same voice was going to be speaking next by her coffin, she surely would have listened with a very different attitude.” If you just knew what was around the corner, you would listen with a different attitude.

On our way to Korea over twenty-seven years ago, we met some of the Workers in Greece. Afterwards one of the Sisters wrote to me and one day I got a letter that surprised me greatly. In those days they couldn’t have Gospel meetings in Greece, and a young man had visited with them. One day he came to them and said, “I have made my choice that I am not going to listen to this Gospel any more.” They asked, “Why? What has happened?” He said, “I have just heard enough to know that this Gospel is going to spoil my plans. I am not prepared to change them but I am not such a fool to think I can face eternity without God. I will come back when I am thirty-five and listen to the Gospel again.” They couldn’t persuade him otherwise but felt so sad.

However, not many weeks later he turned up again and said, “You know, I have gone out and tried to do all the things I wanted to do and already this Gospel has ruined it. So I am not going to wait until I am thirty-five. I am going to do it now.” In that letter the sister Worker said, “We have just come back from that man’s funeral and he was thirty-four. He never made thirty-five.” Will you go now?

II Corinthians 1, Paul was very much involved in the joy and peace and homes of these people. The first thing he wrote about is something that we all know, the comfort of the God of Heaven. Paul had been at Athens and the reason he came to Corinth was because Aquila and Priscilla were there. In the beginning, he preached in the synagogue but then the Jews opposed him to a magistrate named Gallio.

Gallio wasn’t interested in Jewish problems and chased them away. Because he wasn’t interested in it, the Gentiles took the chief ruler of the synagogue and beat him. I can understand how bitter some of those people were when the Gospel came because I still remember, even though I was only four years old, when the Gospel came into our community, how bitter people were.

One woman saw the two servants of God on the road one day and before she came close to them, she turned around and walked backwards so that she wouldn’t have to speak to them. Then, as soon as she was past them, she turned around again and walked on. But don’t give up hope, because ten years later she came to our home and wanted to know where the preachers were. They were too far away, but we were going to Special Meetings the next day and invited her to come along with us. We were to meet her at a certain place and time, and she was there a whole hour early because she didn’t want to miss out. She decided that day and was a faithful woman to the end of her days.

Some of these people were very bitter towards Paul and he wrote, “We had the sentence of death in ourselves.” God allows things that seem so difficult for us to accept but there was a wonderful spirit in Paul that he would accept anything if it was the Lord’s will. I remember a young woman who developed a very bad sickness and became a wheelchair patient. We used to go and see her, thinking we would encourage her, but she always encouraged us. She didn’t think about her situation though some days she would take up to twenty-five aspirin to keep the pain away. She always talked about what she had found in the Scriptures and she loved the Truth of God. You can’t be living on the problems; you have to recognise that this is something that is meant to be and I have to accept it because it is the Lord’s will.

Sometimes we wonder how to preach to people. Paul described it this way, “In simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God.” It means just being open to people in their deep need. When I was a young man in this Work, my companion was also young and we hardly knew what to preach about because we didn’t know what the people were like. But it seemed that every might there was something that people could accept. Some who decided then have been faithful ever since, because of the Godly sincerity that was in our hearts.

We can find out more about people in ten minutes in a Gospel meeting than what the neighbours can find out in twenty years. There is something about this Word of God that is powerful, like a two-edged sword that reveals things what other people will never find out. People are very cute when it comes to hiding things, but with God nothing is hidden because He created man.

II Corinthians 1:17, “When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay? But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay. For the Son God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.”

There seemed to be a feeling there that somebody was complaining about the way he was always travelling. That is possible, but you must remember that he was always guided by the Spirit of God and didn’t go to any places without understanding that it was God’s will. And today God’s Servants go where they have a place to fill. They didn’t preach anything to make people doubt. Jesus talked about this matter of letting your communication be “Yea, yea: Nay, nay.” James asked people to do the same thing lest they fall into condemnation. We are not to make any judgement until we are certain about it being “Yea” or “Nay.”

So Paul’s travels were not just as he wanted. He left it up to God to make the decision. That makes for a very healthy Ministry and a healthy people. These people had become healthy. In the first letter you get the feeling that it almost seemed hopeless. They were arguing about who they had professed through and who was the best preacher, very carnal things. Don’t ever think that because you may like one of God’s Ministers more than another, that there is a difference. Every one of them sacrificed the same things to be in this Ministry.

None of us should have favourites. You know what happens? Things develop and there become cliques and the whole spirit of the thing is spoiled. As soon as we begin to have that feeling it ruins what God has tried to do in our hearts. So many things Paul had to write to them about and it seemed like the whole thing just ironed itself out in this letter. They put things right and I sometimes wish this would be the case in some places where I have been. Sometimes when I go there, a problem has been there for maybe fifty years and they want us to straighten it out!

There has to be a real sorrowing to get rid of it. Generation after generation rises up in the world and they fight with each other and don’t know what they are fighting about. It has nothing to do with today. There is a stubbornness in people that is so amazing to me, and I have to continually tell myself, “I am not on my own.” Stubbornness is just like rebellion, and it will harm the testimony of God.

II Corinthians 4:1, “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not ….. for God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” The light of the Ministry; we are glad that this Ministry has a light to it. Paul put himself in the right place and let them understand that he had been given the privilege of preaching this Gospel. When you go to Gospel meetings it is just like taking a look in the mirror. You see the glory of the Lord. You see what Jesus was able to do and reveal in His time and then you see where you stand in His sight.

When I was a child, my mother was always using a washcloth on my face. There was one mirror in our home. It stood where my father could see himself in it, but I had to climb up on to a chair to see what I looked like. So my mother was always after me with a washcloth and I always objected to it. I was so close to the old earth all the time that it affected me. That is the reason why some of us have so many problems, because we are living so close to the old earth and God has to wash us so often. The Gospel is a good place to see what you look like, but if you go away and forget it there is no blessing.

II Corinthians 4:13, “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe and therefore speak.” It would be absolutely worthless to preach to people about something you didn’t believe in yourself. A lot of people won’t believe anything unless they can see it. We do believe a lot of things that we don’t see. You know perfectly well that there is such a thing as gravity and you can’t get very high up from this earth without some help because of it. You will never see gravity but it is there and it holds you. When I left Sweden to come here, I was told things like, “You will be standing on your head.” But I said, “I have never done that and I believe they are all standing on their feet in Australia.” II Corinthians 5:11, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.” It seemed as though some thought, “If it looks good, it has to be right.” But we don’t want that. It has to be from the heart. There has to be a heart searching and after that a heart service.

When I was growing up there was a man and his wife who did a lot of singing at funerals. They adopted a girl who was thirteen years old, and she didn’t like the union meetings. She had to sit too long. There were about sixty people who came and it was about three hours long. After a few meetings they didn’t show up because they couldn’t leave the girl at home and she wouldn’t come. That was one of these problems with “Yea” and “Nay,” you see. About six months later, they came and the lady of the home invited them to stay for dinner and that girl just sat and pouted the whole time. That was the last union meeting they were at. They disappeared because a little child didn’t want to go to meetings. They liked a little “show” but had nothing in their hearts.

II Corinthians 6:1, “We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.” This is a chapter about the Ministry. I don’t think that I can explain all that it means, but we are always very careful that there would be no offence in anything. It is not only the servants of God that could do this, but you could do things that the Ministry would be blamed for.

The words “in,” “by,” and “as” occur several times in this chapter. There you have a recipe for a successful Ministry and a successful Church. The word “in” is used ten times. “In much patience, in affliction, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings.” That was where Paul found himself. He had experienced all these things he was involved in.

The word “by” is found eleven times.”By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report.” It is not all so easy but if we are true to God there is no blame on the Ministry.

The word “as” is used seven times. “As deceivers and yet true, as unknown, as dying, as chastened, as sorrowful, as poor, as having nothing and yet possessing all things.” I am thankful that God is able to reveal this to us and that we can be in these situations and have these experiences and they are good for us. It wasn’t all sunshine as far as life was concerned. Even at the Equator where it seems to be always the same kind of weather they have a winter period, and that makes it what it should be so that man can live. God created the earth for man.

In the last part of this chapter there are some very serious words. Verses 14-17, “‘Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God…. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate,’ saith the Lord, ‘and touch not the unclean thing.’”

What would be the unclean thing? It could be something that would make the Ministry blamed. Just be careful about how we think, what we do, where we go, and then this will not happen and we will be free from the unclean thing.

There seemed to be a feeling there that somebody was complaining about the way he was always travelling. That is possible, but you must remember that he was always guided by the Spirit of God and didn’t go to any places without understanding that it was God’s will. And today God’s Servants go where they have a place to fill. They didn’t preach anything to make people doubt. Jesus talked about this matter of letting your communication be “Yea, yea: Nay, nay.” James asked people to do the same thing lest they fall into condemnation. We are not to make any judgement until we are certain about it being “Yea” or “Nay.”

So Paul’s travels were not just as he wanted. He left it up to God to make the decision. That makes for a very healthy Ministry and a healthy people. These people had become healthy. In the first letter, you get the feeling that it almost seemed hopeless. They were arguing about who they had professed through and who was the best preacher, very carnal things. Don’t ever think that because you may like one of God’s Ministers more than another, that there is a difference. Every one of them sacrificed the same things to be in this Ministry.

None of us should have favourites. You know what happens? Things develop and there become cliques and the whole spirit of the thing is spoiled. As soon as we begin to have that feeling it ruins what God has tried to do in our hearts. So many things Paul had to write to them about and it seemed like the whole thing just ironed itself out in this letter. They put things right and I sometimes wish this would be the case in some places where I have been. Sometimes when I go there, a problem has been there for maybe fifty years and they want us to straighten it out!

There has to be a real sorrowing to get rid of it. Generation after generation rises up in the world and they fight with each other and don’t know what they are fighting about. It has nothing to do with today. There is a stubbornness in people that is so amazing to me, and I have to continually tell myself, “I am not on my own.” Stubbornness is just like rebellion, and it will harm the testimony of God.

In this matter of salvation, there were three parts I was thinking about. The first was when Noah and his family were saved from the water. The second was in Moses’s day when God delivered His people from Egypt and third was in the New Testament day when Jesus came to this earth to save His people from their sins. For Noah, it was so vital that he obeyed God. God didn’t leave it up to any man to decide what to do for salvation. He made all the plans for Noah and Moses and He made the plans for Jesus to save the people from their sins.

Possibly, we could begin with Jesus in the beginning of the New Testament. It would seem almost impossible to bring about the salvation that God promised in the Old Testament, because as far as kings and religious people were concerned in that time, there weren’t any that He could really depend on. It is true that it was possibly the quietest time in the known world. There were no wars to speak of when Jesus was here. But that wouldn’t make it possible for God to bring about salvation. He just took common, ordinary people and used them to bring about the New Testament, this salvation that we have from our sins, in Jesus.

In Luke 1, Zacharias and Elisabeth were older and when the angel of God spoke to Zacharias, it was in a way that Zacharias couldn’t believe and then he couldn’t say anything. God has always done that. If we don’t believe His word our mouths are closed as far as speaking about the truth and life that He has for us. But when Zacharias could speak again, he talked about God’s plan of salvation for all people.

Then God chose Mary and Joseph to be the ones that would be responsible for Jesus, the Son of God. They were just ordinary people in this world. When Jesus was about forty days old His mother could make an offering. That took place in Jerusalem and Simeon and Anna were there. Simeon saw a little baby but he said, “Lord, now lettest Thy servant depart in peace; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.” It seemed very simple and small but to Simeon it was God’s salvation. Matthew’s Gospel tells of the wise men coming later, and it could have been up to two years later because Herod had destroyed all the little boys up to two years of age.

Herod had said he wanted to worship Him but God was in the picture and those men didn’t go back to him. When it came to this matter of salvation, Joseph was awake and alive to it. I sometimes wonder why people in our day are so slow to realize what salvation can mean to them. Mary and Joseph went to Egypt and Jesus was back in Jerusalem when He was twelve years old, though they lived in Nazareth. That was the beginning of God’s plan for salvation for humanity.

Sometimes people have asked me, “Did you have any trouble going into the Work?” I knew I had to do something with my life and I began to think about Heaven, and decided that if I was going to make something out of my life, I would have to put God first. I went and asked the older Worker in our state if it would be possible for me to be in the Work. He said, “How old are you?” I said, “I am nineteen.” So he said, “You will have to talk it over with your parents first.” My father said, “You are nineteen and you have to make your own choices.” My mother said, “There are other young men that should go first.” But I said, “Mother, if I have to wait for those five young men that you mentioned to go, I may never get to go.” None of them went into the Work, but they are very faithful in their place. We cannot be waiting for other people to go. If God has put it into our hearts that it is our responsibility to go, then it is up to us.

Moses was prepared to go. He was raised in Egypt and was considered Pharaoh’s daughter’s son for forty years and then he decided that he wasn’t going to be Pharaoh’s daughter’s son anymore because he thought about his own people. He had learned how to do things in Egypt; he killed the Egyptian because that was what he had learned to do. But he soon got to understand that this was not the way that things were to be done.

For forty years after that he was not an Egyptian, he was a shepherd. And it took forty years for God to get out of him what Egypt had put into him. Now he was an old man of eighty and God asked him to go and deliver those people from Egypt. They were in bondage so severe that they cried to God all those years. They were already in bondage at the time Moses was born and they had to wait eighty more years until God could have His servant come and help them.

Moses didn’t feel he could do it, even objected to going. He had a willingness to see things that were right in the eyes of God. Many times he pleaded for those people, tried to help them understand their situation. But it took so little for them to be out of sorts with everything. I used to wonder, “Why weren’t they different?” They were just human beings, just a nation of people.

There wasn’t any change in their hearts. When Moses was gone from them for those forty days, they thought they had to make gods of gold to follow. That was a disappointment to God and to Moses, but He still delivered them. It was marvelous. Here were over 600,000 men who could go to war. Then you include all their families, so there would have been about three million people. This massive group of people didn’t have time when they came out of Egypt to bring much with them, so they had nothing to eat and God gave them quails. But that was just death in itself and God gave them manna.

I was in New Mexico for Convention once. In the daytime it was over a hundred degrees F and at night it would freeze. That is the extremes of the desert and I don’t think the desert of Sinai is any different. That is why God gave them cloud by day for a cover and fire by night for warmth. And they had the manna every day. That tells us about the things that God has prepared for us in our generation. He has provided protection and food.

Then it tells us that they wore the same clothes that they wore in the beginning. Forty years they wore the same clothes, and that was the way God planned it. He wanted those people to have the testimony that we have. What was protection in the beginning is going to be our protection all through life. Their clothes and shoes didn’t wear out; what a wonderful testimony that God could do something that was impossible as far as man was concerned. I hope we will never get the feeling that this garment of righteousness is wearing out. God wanted to teach them about this matter of being content. Godliness with contentment is great gain. It is a real virtue to be content in whatever state we are. Discontent will destroy our fellowship as fast as anything.

Maybe now we could go on to Noah’s day. Wickedness was in the world and they had some giants in that time. I don’t know if they were giant men or just giants by way of being popular. That was the picture and God was very disappointed. So He was going to destroy the earth by water and He told Noah to build the ark of gopher wood. Gopher wood doesn’t swell when it gets wet and it doesn’t shrink when it gets dry. That is what the Gospel is like. It doesn’t make any difference what the circumstances are the Gospel is always the same. The ark was to be made three hundred cubits long. The ancient cubit was 25.19 inches long and the Roman cubit was 18 inches.

The ark was no small thing. It would have been some 450 feet long if it was a Roman cubit they used, but if it was the ancient cubit, it would have been over 600 feet long and 100 feet wide and 60 feet high. It was a huge project. It had to have three floors, one door and one window at the top. I don’t understand all that but I saw that this is just what the Gospel teaches people. There is only one salvation in this world, in believing in Jesus. If we believe God, we will be following Jesus. I don’t follow Jesus just because someone else is but because I chose to do it myself.

Noah never turned around to someone else and said, “Do you think that is all right?” There was no one else but his own family and possibly his own father who died five years before the flood and his grandfather Methuselah, who died the year of the flood. Noah’s father seemed to understand the wisdom of Noah doing what God asked him to do. When Noah was born he said, “This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.” Lamech was testifying that this would be possible for a change. So there was a change.

Noah was not a young man when the flood came. He was six hundred years old and it doesn’t make any difference when it comes to serving God. I am glad that I appreciated those older fathers in our fellowship when I was young. Sunday after Sunday they would meet together and always have a thankfulness in their hearts for God being so merciful to them in opening the Scriptures. That is how I looked at it when I was young and now I feel the way they did; so very thankful that in all these years of life I have had a chance to see that God is faithful to His people, and He expects us to be faithful too.

Noah had a great responsibility of getting the animals and birds into the ark, and to get what they needed to eat for over a year. How could he do that? It was only by the help of God. Noah had three married boys and he had to take care of all the natural side of things, but he found time to fulfill all that God had asked him to do, as big as the project was.

You might wonder how he got all those animals into the ark? They came to him because they weren’t afraid of him. Some of those animals are very timid now, but at that time they weren’t. There was no fear of man in them. Genesis 6:19, “… two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female…” Everything that was supposed to be in the ark came to Noah.

That reveals something about us in regard to the Lord’s coming. When the Lord comes back, He won’t have to go looking over everybody to see if they are serving Him or not. There is something in us because we have believed Jesus that when He comes back again, we will awaken and be with Him. Those that are dead in Christ shall rise first and we that are alive shall be caught up to meet Him. So when that trumpet sounds and the voice of the Lord is made known, His own would arise. That was the truth of the matter for those animals. The day they were supposed to be there, they were there. Then God shut the door.

I am always glad that it is up to God to pass judgement. He has the last word. He set the date and He shut the door. In the human side of living, there are many weaknesses, but with God there were no weaknesses. So they were in the ark, with no motor or rudder and it was all left in the hands of God. For seven months, they were on top of that water and the ark came down on Mount Ararat. Noah didn’t go out until God asked him to.

We heard about the raven and the dove yesterday and I am so thankful that we have the nature of the dove. We don’t want to be out in this world until there is life. The first evidence that the dove got of life was the leaf, and the next week when Noah sent her out she never came back because there was life. We are not living amongst the dead, we are living amongst the living. We try to live to the things that are right and true.

There were four things that changed after the flood. There was rain, when there had been no rain before. A mist would come up from the earth to water it, so you can understand why those people found it impossible to believe Noah when he said it would rain. Then there was the rainbow, God’s covenant. There was no fear of man in the animals before the flood but now God had put the fear of man into them. And the curse that God had cursed the earth with when Adam and Eve disobeyed was taken away. When Noah took the clean animals and birds and made sacrifice, God said He would never again curse the earth and there would always be winter and summer, seed time, and harvest.

This evening I want to talk a little about Solomon and what he wrote in “The Preacher,” as we call it in Sweden, but here you say “Ecclesiastes.” Solomon had an opportunity in life that no one else will ever have. Besides being king of Israel, he was granted of God wisdom that no man before that time or after that time has ever had. In that wisdom he wrote the Proverbs and this book of Ecclesiastes.

I have enjoyed some of the things he wrote about and what this wisdom did for him. When some people read this they say he must have been very disillusioned with life, but when we understand what life is really all about, it doesn’t look so awful. Everything he tried was vexation of spirit and vanity. He felt that there was nothing in it and that this is the truth of it. This book gives me a little understanding of the spirit that is in people that we have to fight against when we bring the Gospel to them.

The first two chapters tell us what he experienced when he became king and had the privilege of the wisdom of God to help him. 2:22, “For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?” Verse 24, “There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour… for who can hasten to it more than I?”

The thing that seemed to bother him was that he could have all this wisdom and get all these things together and enjoy them but then he would have to leave them to somebody. 2:18-19, “… because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? Yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun.”

There was a man who passed away and he knew a little about Truth. Before he died, he asked the undertaker to make a hole on each side of the casket and to put his hands out each side because he wanted to show his friends and relatives that he took nothing with him. We can take nothing with us except what we have put into heaven before we go there.

Maybe we could talk a little about Solomon’s kingdom. I Kings 4:22 is a description of what he needed for his household for one day. “And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and three score measures of meal, ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, besides harts, and roebucks, and fallow deer and fowl.” A measure was 86 gallons. That was what he required for his household every day. Think of what he was responsible for and yet, when he thought about it, it all seemed to be a disappointment.

He had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots and twelve thousand horsemen; that was a very busy household. You could have said that Solomon would have forgotten God entirely but he was the man who wrote the Proverbs, which tell us so much about living. He had the mind, the will, the strength, and the heart to learn all about this. 2:9, “So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.” 2:15, “Then I said in my heart, ‘As it happeneth to a fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise?’” He had all those things that people today would love to get their hands on but he said, “This also is vanity.”

There are some very nice things that will help us to make choices with our lives. He tells us in 2:24, “There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour.” God doesn’t want lazy people. Plenty of people in the world want the Government to feed them. We are in this world to be an active people, to put our very best into life and to take care of ourselves. Solomon wanted these people to get busy and do something. Paul had this problem with some people he wrote to. Some didn’t want to work and went around being tattle-tales, not being useful people in this world.

2:25, “For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto more than I?” He wasn’t the only one to eat at his household; there must have been thousands to eat there. “For God giveth to a man that is good in His sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy.” That is just the opposite to the way of the world. They take from good people and give to people that are lazy. When it comes to spiritual things God isn’t going to give anything that is of any worth to people that won’t take good care of it.

I remember well when I was a little boy (You children will think I was a bit of a girl), somehow I was given two dolls. When I was twenty-four years of age and was in the Work, my mother asked me, “What do you want to do with those dolls?” I had forgotten them, but they were in a trunk and they had both lost their china heads. When I saw them I remembered them and there wasn’t a scratch on their faces, so I said, “There are two girls up at the neighbours. Maybe they would like them.” So my mother fixed their heads on again and dressed them in new clothes and gave them away. But within a week, they were both broken. Those girls didn’t understand how to handle those china dolls and all that was left was the torn dresses.

3:14, “I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: Nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before Him.” That is a good lesson from God. Whether we are serving God or not, with Him nothing is going to change. It is perfect and we would not want to try and change anything because if you take from His word, you take your name out of the Book of Life, and if you add anything to it there are the plagues in this book that will be added to you. The world wants to take an easier way and, in the USA, there is a new religion just about every week. People don’t want to submit to others. They stand on their own thoughts, and that is why you have so many different religions.

3:15, “That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.” If you don’t have it you cannot count it, but God still requires it just the same. Really, that is just what we have been hearing at this Convention about the five foolish virgins. They didn’t have the oil and they didn’t have good judgement but still it was required. They just came in too late. That tells a lot about how we should live.

3:22, “Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?” You might say that you would become proud if you rejoiced in your own works. But if you don’t rejoice in your own works and have some joy from it you are not going to rejoice when someone else has something to be glad about; you would then get envious. It is good to remember that you can enjoy what you are doing when you have laboured honestly for it.

4:9, “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.” I am so thankful that God planned His way of sending His servants two and two. Think what it would be like to be alone all the time, facing all those people in this world. I am so glad that I have a companion to rejoice together, to talk things over together, to sorrow together. We pull together and face each other.

I came across a family once, the man and his wife and two sons, and the man and his wife had not spoken to each other for twelve years. They lived in the same house and talked to their sons who relayed the messages. When the man died, I was in that area, and at his funeral, the wife sat there and laughed all the time. It is terrible when people will not face each other. If there is any problem that is serious, remember that you had better face right up to it because if you just “talk to the sons,” it is never going to get better.

4:13, “Better is a poor and wise child than and old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.” When I read about the kings in the books of Kings, Samuel and Chronicles, I see that some of those men in their youth were excellent to the extreme. There was so much peace and happiness in their kingdoms, but when they got older some of them did some foolish things and destroyed their testimonies. God had to take some severe steps to help them to see what their condition was.

In 2 Chronicles 26:16, Uzziah got so big in himself and wanted to take the priest’s place. Eighty-one men told him he couldn’t do that, but he was stubborn and leprosy came up in his forehead. He went to a house where people were just like him, leprous. He couldn’t be with his own family because of his manner of living and thinking. There were many kings in the books of Kings that would help us to be very careful.

Chapter five talks about our fellowship with God. Verse 1, “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.” When they presented themselves to God, they weren’t to do the talking, but to let God do the talking. God has done a lot of speaking to us here, if we have ears to hear.

5:4, “When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it.” If you make a promise to God, keep it. I remember telling the other children at school that when I got big enough my dad would buy me a bicycle. I was so sure of my father’s promise because when he promised something, I got it. So when I got old enough and big enough my dad got me a bicycle, but I had worn out all the catalogues in that time, which showed bicycles in them. Couldn’t we get a little lesson from that? Why not wear out the Bible a little bit because we are waiting too, for the Lord, and that is far more important than anything else we are waiting for?

7:1, “A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning….” I was surprised to see in the country where I labour, that when it comes to funerals, you have to be invited or you don’t go. People don’t have many friends to speak of and it looks so pathetic. But when our friends pass away, the funeral director doesn’t know what to do about it, because there will be so many there.

7:8, “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” We find it so hard to be patient when waiting for something. Not so long ago we had to get something for the Convention place and went to a different place to ask for this part, but they had to send down to Germany for it and it would take maybe four months. We felt impatient but we would just have to wait because things don’t work unless you have the right parts. As for the proud in spirit – six feet of clay will make us all the same size.

We should go to the last chapter, the chapter about remembering our creator in the days of our youth. This chapter is also about old age, “when the keepers of the house shall tremble.” Some of us in our eighties do some trembling and our balance goes from us. “The strong men shall bow themselves.” We knew a man who used to carry 100 lbs (40 kg) of flour on his back for fifteen miles (25 k) as well as a bag of groceries in each hand because it was the only way to get to town. In his old age, he was all bowed over and said it was all the flour sacks he had carried.

Verses 3-5, “.. when the grinders shall cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened… and when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail…” Things are altogether different when you get old.

Verse 13, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments for this is the whole duty of man.” Always remember that God knows everything about us whether good or bad and we are going to give account for what we have done with our lives. This should help us to be a little more wise and to pray to God for wisdom to make right choices and not to go to the end of our days disappointed; but to have enjoyed what God did give us. If we work at the natural things, we can also work at the spiritual things. But if you have no ambition for natural things, it is very unlikely that you will have a desire for spiritual things also.

I am thankful that we can understand a little about Solomon, even though he was a king, and I hope these things might help us to make good choices.

Hymn 40, “God’s time is now Do not wait a more convenient time.” We have no convenient

time; none of us have much time; every day is very precious; there will never be a more

convenient time. We read in Hebrews, “Today if ye will hear His Voice harden not your hearts.”

We all want to hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit, but we must be willing today for if we put it off, it

will be the same as hardening our hearts. Respond today! A man not professing said he was

planning to make his choice. I never heard that before! I thought, “Why not now?” But later, he

did make his choice and is doing well. If the Lord speaks, we have to do it here and now – today;

not wait for a more convenient time!

There is a little girl of 11 years over where we are. She said, “I just want to come into the

Kingdom Heaven while the Door is still open!” To think a child of 11 could see the urgency of

making her choice.

Joshua said, “Choose ye today whom ye will serve, whether the gods whom your fathers

served. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” He wanted them to choose today;

there is no more convenient time than today. When we begin to walk with God, there are many

choices we have to make; let us not put them off for a more convenient day. His Holy Spirit may

depart if we don’t choose today.

The Psalmist says, “I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all His People!” In

Ecclesiastes, it says, “When thou vowest a vow unto the Lord, defer not to pay it.” The young

people sit in Convention and wait for the older ones to take part, but we love to hear their

testimonies and prayers of the young People. All of us have been young once and we know the

struggle of the human heart, and nobody understands the struggle more than the Noble Youth

of Galilee! There will never be a more convenient time than today. We may even want to put off

the step of baptism, but if we feel there is nothing to hinder, let us be like the Ethiopian Eunuch

who said to Philip, “See here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized?” He felt it was a very

precious opportunity and may not be another chance. He wanted to make the most of his

opportunity.

I don’t know if I am frightened today, but when I was young, I was very frightened to be buried

before I was dead. It is like baptism today; not to take the step until the old man is dead – the old

Esau. There should not be anything to hinder us; we being dead to all that. We sing in a Hymn

about the Spirit given to a little child; it is the same every day, when old may say, “I am too tired

and too old to pray.” I hope we will not be like that. Samuel was an innocent little boy when the

Lord spoke and he said, “Speak, for Thy servant heareth.” He did not wait for a more convenient

time.

Jesus called His Disciples, Peter and Andrew, when they were fishing and busy working and the

same with the sons of Zebedee. They were mending their nets and they could have said, “We

are so busy and cannot leave our father now and the fishing. It is not a convenient time for us to

leave today; perhaps another time!” I am so glad they did not say that, but they went, and they

had only three and a half years – very short years – to serve their Master and walk with Him and

learn of Him.

When I was on the Pharaoh Islands, I had some good quality wool, but got it wet. Even when

wet, it can be worked, and I got it in a frightful mess and we sat up all night trying to get it right.

We felt we would not have courage if we put it down. Fishermen feel exactly the same. You

know when you are busy with an intricate bit of work, you don’t want to put it off. It is wonderful if

the Spirit speaks to you about the Work and you would be willing even if you have great

responsibility towards your family. Don’t put it off for a more convenient season. Today is the

most convenient time.

The Spirit also comes to old people and asks something of them. When the Lord spoke to

Zacharias and Elizabeth about being parents, they were very old and stricken in years. Lots of

old people love to be grandparents and I suppose there are lots amongst us today, but what if

the Lord expected you to be a parent, that is another story, and would that be convenient? You

might be entrusted with a new born babe in your Church, and perhaps not so convenient and

you feel you are out of practice with young converts. There are some out of fellowship and you

can give them the warmth and love they need. Don’t say “another time.” Just accept this

wonderful privilege, even in old age. It is a wonderful thing!

There was a time when a lot of people were flocking around Jesus and the Disciples said, “Send

them away.” Jesus said, “Give ye them to eat!” There were hungry people and it was a very

inconvenient time to feed these 5,000 people, but Jesus gave us a wonderful example in this

and He did not want to send them away. That time with the woman of Samaria at the well –

Jesus was not too tired to help the poor soul in need. I hope none of us will be too tired to help

others in need. In Denmark, they have set times for meals and it is very inconvenient not to

disturb people, but Jesus taught us to be willing to be disturbed even at a very inconvenient

time.

It must have been very inconvenient for that Good Samaritan to help that poor man. He was

traveling and had packed his things and got his animals all fixed up and it was very inconvenient

for him to stop, but there is a wonderful message in this for us. He did not put it off for another

day. The need is here and now to see to! When we were on the Seychelles Islands and

travelling on a boat, we saw a flash on the horizon and immediately the Skipper turned, knew

there was danger. Then the engine cocked out, but this skipper was willing to go to all the

inconvenience, not only for himself, but for the passengers. That taught me to be more willing to

do things when inconvenient for that is where we get the greatest blessing – doing things

completely inconvenient to us.

This is a poor translation into English from Juan’s Spanish but feel it is a good letter by a concerned Worker.

Appreciated Friends,

I feel the necessity to go to all the parents, and mainly to those of you who have adolescent children, for expressing a thing that for a long time has worried me. To you, we love and we love your children and we only want the best thing for them, that is, in the spiritual things. We live in a world full of dangers and I am sure that all of you are more than conscious of this, and more so when having children of such a vulnerable age. We want to be like the parents of Moses, and to weave an ark well, so that between the rushes nothing can enter that it cannot destroy the boy.

There are two things that are so common now between the young people, the computer and, on the other hand the MP3, iPod or consoles, and whereas they can be used for good, so easily they become a trap, of which, sometimes single, we realize when already the damage is done. I must confess that it hurt me to my soul, to have the knowledge and experience already by means of three different people, who as much in the camp of men like in the camp of women, during the annual conventions there were young people (of Spain), listening to music with its MP3 until between the meetings ……. and in the camp of the women, they were listened to jokes of a similar apparatus the night before the meetings. I believe that all we are conscious that the annual conventions, in spite of having meetings in a common house during the year, in the time of the annual conventions it is to be in a place and the intention of them is to separate us completely from the world, (out of our own houses and the preoccupations of them), to dedicate this time to God and the one who gave to us the Kingdom, during these special days. How can it be that we bring to the annual conventions worldly things as music equipment? And more, how can we have desires to be wanting to hear music, that is not nothing sacred, in a sacred place? Nor in the world, it would make resemblance thing within a church.

So I request you like Parents, to be the careful that in the future these apparatuses does not arrive at the place of the annual conventions. Apart from this, the MP3 now is cause of preoccupation between those of the world, since it serves to isolate the young people of the real life. They follow in this, the world of the fantasy of music that by all means does not make anything to help to have and appetite for the true things of God. Sometimes it is good to ask ourselves the question, the music that I listen to, is it compatible with the faith that I express? Of the dangers of the MP3, “is enough to read the article generation MP3”, way of the isolation. If somebody wants to read It, I can facilitate a copy to them.

We have felt sad sometimes when being in certain houses, (and that has happened many times already) that almost we did not have a visit with the young people, because they arrive behind schedule at the table, (they come of course from the computer) and before even finishing the food, they go away from us again to the computer. We have verified in most of the cases, that it is not for doing tasks or something of value, but to play with the games or to watch until films are downloaded off the Internet. The television served to destroy the bonds of family in the homes of the world, but it seems to me that the computer, without the suitable control of the parents, is obtaining exactly the same thing between us today.

Imagine the following thing for a moment, You contract to a professor to come as an individual teacher for your children…. That this person comes to the house to teach them, after the first day of we suppose 4 hours of class….you ask your son…what have you learned today?, and he responds, “I learned to handle a pistol, to kill more than 100 people with bullets, listened to jokes full of potholes and I saw a film about married people how they fight.” What position would you take as soon as to that professor? I believe that you would not let him neither step on one more a single time to your house…. For certain? Plus this it is what we do when we leave the children with violent games in the computer (by the way, nothing comparable with the lessons of Christ), and we let them calmly continue using them. I believe that you understand me more than well. It worries me for the future about all the young people, and I know that what feeds myself now is going to give fruit in the future, for good or for bad.

Please excuse me if in some way I am entering territory that is yours, in speaking of these subjects, but I do it, with the spirit not to criticize to anybody, but by a precaution that it might heal and purify, for this is what I feel for the future towards our young people and of them.

A copy of this letter goes to all the parents who have children until the age of adolescence, and those that they are for being parents, and also a copy for the bishop of each Church. I know that your concerns are our concerns, and we hope that with the guidance of God and the will to work together for the good of all, we will take this forward to a good aim.

Your brother,

Juan

Uncle Jim gave out the hymn 106, “While the pages of life are turning and silently pass from our view.” Before we sing this hymn, I want to say a few words about it. As I have grown older and especially over the last few months, I have been more conscious than ever that the pages of life are turning and that they are passing from our view. Each day is like a page; we know how many have passed but we have no idea how many are left. What is written on the pages of life cannot be erased.

I have thought of the chapters that those pages make up. First there is the chapter of our childhood, there’s not much that we do to influence what is written in that chapter. Then comes the chapter after we got to know about God’s way, or got to understand what God expects of us and we don’t do anything about it. There’s a chapter in my life that I wish was not there, and I cannot erase those pages. My only hope is that God will write “Forgiven” across them. We will not be forgiven unless we do the will of God.

Once we make our choice to serve God, that’s the start of another chapter. Each day, we start with a clean white page. At the end of the day, something will be written on it and we cannot erase it. Jesus paid the price for us, to make provision so that God can write “forgiven” on the pages, when we have displeased Him and only once we have repented.

Now let’s sing that hymn.

After a few short prayers, uncle Jim spoke to us again.

I don’t have a subject for tonight. You may have heard of the two women who were talking about their Husbands’ good points. One said, “My husband is so well read that he can talk on any subject for an hour without any problem.” The other one said, “My husband can talk for an hour without any subject.” I don’t know if I am going to be able to talk for an hour without a subject tonight.

ONE OF THE THINGS I HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT RECENTLY IS THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO WALK WITH THE PEOPLE OF GOD AND NOT WALK WITH GOD. I fear that. The only ones who can walk with God are those who are led by His Spirit every day and every hour You remember the parable Jesus told His Disciples. He told them about the ten virgins, five were foolish because they were walking with the other five and not with God. They did not have the Spirit of God. When Jesus was about to depart, He told His disciples, “I will not leave you comfortless;” John 14:16-18. The French bible says, “I will not leave you orphans.” His Spirit will guide you. Jesus prayed that the Spirit of God would go with His disciples.

God wants us to be a Sacrifice. Jesus was a sacrifice. Paul said, “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.” Romans 12:1 If we only do our duty, it is not enough. God wants our affection rather than perfection. You may have heard about the shepherdess in South America… The man she worked for said she could have the twin lamb which the mother had rejected. She reared it and it became a sheep. It went everywhere with her. She went to Convention and there she offered the sheep for a sacrifice to feed the people. Later when she gave her testimony, she mentioned that she had given her sheep as a sacrifice and now she wanted to be a sacrifice herself. She is in the work today. Jesus said, “If anyone compels you to go a mile, go with him two.”

One must understand the setting. The law was that a Roman soldier could compel a Jew to carry his load for one mile. That would be their duty, Jesus said, “Go two.” To go just one mile would be no different from anyone else, the Roman soldiers would hardly have been able to understand it if anyone had offered to carry their burden further than they had to. It is only when we go further than what is our duty that we get a reward. There is a little story about a little girl and a little boy. Mother said to the little girl, “Come and set the table.” The little girl said, “Yes, Mamma.” When she had finished, she said, “Mamma, is there anything I can do?” She was going the second mile. The little boy was asked to come and sweep the floor. He said, “Ah no, I swept it yesterday.” He eventually did it unwillingly and left the broom and dustpan where it shouldn’t be.

I was thinking, “Where in the world is the Truth of God preserved?” We have the word of God but it doesn’t save us. God sent messengers with His truth. We see it in the home life in His people.

Timothy’s Grandmother was faithful and his Mother was faithful and Timothy was faithful in preserving the Truth of God in their generations. Some Grandmothers help the children and others spoil the grandchildren. The worst thing is to give a child it’s own way. A General was asked what one should teach a son to make him a good soldier, he said, “Teach him to deny himself.” That will lead to obedience.

We were in a home once where there were children. Before we arrived, the father in the home spoke to the children and told them that the workers were coming for a visit and he said, “I don’t want any noise. You can come and sit on the carpet and listen if you wish; we want to have a visit.” The father never had to raise his voice, the children knew that he meant what he said. There was another home where there was a small child, smaller than a toddler, a crawler. The child crawled towards a table with a bowl of flowers on it, the father said, “Don’t touch.” The child stopped and hesitated then crawled further. It was told again, “Don’t touch.” Eventually, the child reached the table and looked around at the father… it got the victory … it didn’t touch. It had learned obedience very early. Some parents say, “When the child gets a little older, old enough to understand, we’ll teach it.” It’s too late then.

When they start to serve the Lord, some say, “It’s good enough. At least, they are trying.” Don’t say it. They must understand that they must give their best. Acts 20:35, Jesus said, “It is better (more blessed) to give than to receive.” God gave the best that He had. Jesus went from village to village. Luke 8:1, “He went through every city and village preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God and the twelve were with Him.” Jesus sent His disciples in the same way. Luke 9:52 They were to go forth to sow the seed. We have a friend in West Africa who planted some seed. They were bean seeds and he had a good crop that year. We arrived there and we saw a bean vine hanging up all dried out full of bean pods. We asked him about it and he had it hanging there just to be able to look at and enjoy it. We said, “When you are finished with it, can we have it?” One day, he came over to our room and brought the vine in a packet. When he left, my companion and I crushed it all up to separate the beans from the chaff and once we had done that, we started to count the beans. My companion counted two hundred and I counted two hundred and my companion counted two hundred and I counted 199. I said, “Maybe we have dropped one.” So we looked on the floor and we found one more. 800 beans from one seed. God is a giver even in the sense of nature. If we have our roots in the world, it leads to selfishness. A little boy was handed an apple and he held out his hand, another apple was handed to him and he held out his other hand. He was handed a third one to see what he would do and he opened his mouth. That is human nature, just keep on taking what we are given.

General Eisenhower was once asked what quality would make a man a good officer, he answered, “Selflessness.” A good officer has to forget about himself and think about others and his country. ‘Tis loving and giving that makes life worth living, ‘Tis loving and giving that makes life a song.

I thought recently a little about the sayings of Jesus. It would make quite a good study for anyone to look up all the sayings of Jesus. The one I thought about was the one, “Men ought always to pray and not faint.” There was a young worker once staying in a home where a man was dying slowly. He and his companion stayed there to help the wife all they could. The man died and the young worker had started to grow attached… he had grown careless in his prayer life. He gave up the work and later married that woman, and later stopped coming to meetings. Years went by and later he came back to the meetings, he was asked what it was that caused him to do that. He just said, “I failed to pray.”

One person once said, “I am ashamed at how little time I spend on my knees.” Another said, “I am ashamed at how much time I waste on my knees.” I sometimes say we have two little dogs, “Hurry” and “Worry.” When we get on our knees, Hurry is always around. If Hurry is not around, then Worry is around. They prevent us from giving the time we should. Jesus said, “I have given you an example.” When Jesus went to be alone to pray, Peter and John lost their opportunity. God doesn’t want our ability, He wants our willingness. My ability has often hindered me because I haven’t felt a need. Ability in God’s way can hinder us.

I am very grateful for the privilege that is mine today to be here to pay my last respects to our brother Albert. I was at Paris, Tennessee convention grounds and knew that Albert was supposed to be coming there and counting the days and was so looking forward to seeing him again. But the Lord thought otherwise.

I like to think about Albert; we have known each other for 47 years; we went into the work about the same time. Albert then came to France to labor 45 years ago and we have labored together for those years. Being together as companions drew us closer to each other. Sometimes we were together in lonely places; sometimes no one would come to our meetings. Friends often would distribute invitations to gospel meetings, sometimes going from village to village, town to town to try to get people interested in their salvation.

I like to think of the verse in Proverbs 18, last verse, “A man that hath friends must show himself friendly. There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” When someone gave me the news of Albert’s death, this verse came into my mind. Albert showed himself a friend all through his life and because of this, he had many friends. Our staff and friends in France and Belgium would be with us today if possible. A friend sticketh closer than a brother. Albert was a friend to us. We can confide in and talk with a friend. This is how it was with him all those years; he was a great friend. I appreciate all his help to me those 45 years as a brother and companion. He really meant much to me, and I am going to miss him. We appreciate so much his counsel, help, his guidance, and friendly spirit.

Then I thought during the night when I wasn’t sleeping of what Jesus said to His disciples, “Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly at heart”. This yoke is like God’s spirit. Two animals can plow together, work together, more closely attached by the yoke. God’s spirit has been with us and has helped to attach us closer and closer together. I thought of the conditions of Albert’s death; he passed away at the convention ground; what better place to be able to minister to the people of God. How much he tried to be a help to many people. Sometimes we had the privilege of meeting one or two people here and there who received the gospel, and these became very precious. That helped to bind us even closer together. Now he has gone into eternity with a wonderful testimony; I fear for myself; I hope to have a testimony as he had – one whom we looked up to and respected so.

We are very, very thankful to be sharing in these privileges with you all, although we feel unworthy of it all. We are grateful and appreciate the love and kindness we have received. It just proves to us we are just one big family on this earth.

I have been thinking of the word ‘valiant’ and thinking of Gideon in the 6th chapter of Judges and the condition of God’s people at that time was very bad. The enemy had prevailed because of disobedience and they were robbing all the produce of the land.

The Israelites were hiding in strongholds, dens, and caves. One man was fighting the battle and there he was, threshing the wheat by the winepress. Somehow he had fought against discouragement, somehow he had sowed and watched that wheat until he could reap it. Now he was threshing it in a place where nobody would expect to find a man threshing wheat, near the winepress.

No wonder the angel could draw near to him and said to him, “The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.” He hadn’t fought an open battle to be seen by others, as far as we know he had no weapon in his hand, but I love to think of those words: the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God… and this man possessed those weapons that helped him fight a very real battle within his own heart against discouragement. Where others were hiding for fear, there he was, trying to do what he could do.

“Thou mighty man of valour…” Sometimes we don’t realize just being in our place, doing what we can do in adverse circumstances, the enemy whispering to us: is it worth trying? Give up! But there was no question of giving up in Gideon’s heart and I am sure he was surprised, he wouldn’t realize God was noticing all he was doing. God appreciated the valour in his heart that helped him just to keep doing what he could do and that was what made him that he could be used by God.

Maybe, sometimes we feel we can’t do it but if we do what we can do, in spite of circumstances that will make us that God could use us. God was able to use Gideon.

I love to think of this mighty man of valour that was valiant. We surely need valiance to fight the secret battles, some of the most real battles that face one nobody else knows. In our own heart we are fighting against self and sin, willfulness, unwillingness.

Others don’t know, we need to be valiant fighting human nature and all the things that belong to it, things that could discourage and tell us: just give up, it isn’t worth it. These am the battles we need to have valiance in facing them, in fighting them.

I was thinking one time in Jeremiah’s day, bewailing the sins of God’s people; this is one of the things he said, “They were not valiant for the Truth.” What a sad thing for God’s people, if we are not valiant for the Truth. I remember when we were children at school, how often we were chided and mocked, reproached for the way we dressed, for the way our hair was done but I am thank­ful for a mother who never pitied us in this. Sometimes we would go home and tell her the children at school today said this and that, she would just say, “Learn to suffer with Jesus now.” I am thankful for a mother like that, trying to put valiance in us as children, valiant for the Truth of God, for all that is right even though a thousand others round us are wrong.

I like some words I read, “Right is right even if only one person is doing it and wrong is wrong even if a thousand people are doing it.” Always we need to be valiant to stand by what is true and right. We pray for the children amongst us, they won’t be afraid to stand true. They would be valiant for this Truth of God, stand up to the jibes and all that comes from this world.

I thought of those a little older, as we are facing decisions in life, how good if we could just be valiant, to stand by what is right and true, not just choosing what pleases human nature but being valiant in choosing that which God would choose for us. We are thankful for those older too, who have been valiant in standing by the Truth, defending the Truth.

I have often thought of the time when I found myself standing on a nest of ants, I was unaware of it until those little creatures came out and seemed to sting in forty places at once, until I ran from that place. I often like to think of those ants in connection with being valiant. If they had measured the size of the enemy, they would have run for fear but they came up in numbers and the enemy was soon running from them.

We can do this too, if we are valiant for the Truth. Don’t let us measure the size of the enemy but measure everything by the strength of our all-powerful God.

I like to think of those words also in Hebrews. We are told in the 11th chapter so much that was achieved by faith and there’s one little expression there means so much to me, that is, out of weakness were made strong.

We feel weak, don’t we, so often but it is good when it is put into the hands of God in full faith. When we are weak, submit ourselves to God, it gives Him the opportunity to show His strength. The weaker we are the more God’s strength is manifested and by faith, out of weakness we can be made strong.

I often fear lest I make weakness an excuse not to do things. It just means we are lacking in faith because, by faith, out of weakness we can be made strong and there it says, “By faith, waxed valiant in fight.” Of ourselves, we couldn’t do that but as we believe in the mighty power of God, we can do what is valiant in fight, battle self and sin, worldliness, all that would drag us down and lead us far away from God.

I like to think as God spoke to Gideon in this chapter Gideon couldn’t understand why is this? Why are we in this condition if God is with us? He said, “But now the Lord hath forsaken us.” I wondered how others would face an experience like that when we feel God doesn’t mind any more, He is not thinking about us more but, in spite of this, this valiant man was fighting on still doing what he could do and others saw that. In verse 15, he said, “Wherewith shall I save Israel… I can’t do it. Isn’t that how we all feel?”

I remember so well when the Lord began to lay upon my heart the need for the harvest field, I told the Lord, “I can’t do it and if I did offer my­self, I won’t be accepted.” I felt my family is the least amongst God’s people, I felt if I offer myself for the Work I would be told, “Who do you think you are? You’ll never be able to preach the Gospel.”

I am grateful for the day when the thought of that little boy with the loaves and fishes just broke down my pride and I thought, “However weak I am, I yield my life into the hand of God.” Out of weakness were made strong, and then the time came God began to trouble my heart about foreign fields; that was a worse struggle. I told myself, “Imagine it, just as if the Lord would ask you to go to a foreign field, you can’t learn another language, you won’t be able to stand up to it, your health would stand up to this, and this and that.” For three months I fought the battle, the struggle, I had no peace at all and I knew I wasn’t easy to live with during that time and the time came when those words were very, very real to me, “Abraham believed and it was imputed to him for righteousness.”

I asked myself that day, “What did Abraham believe?” He believed the impossible, that he could have a child when they were both past age. If Abraham could believe that and it was imputed to him for righteousness, why then could I not believe God is calling me, God is asking me to go to another land, and again I bowed my proud heart. In faith I believed what I couldn’t do God could do and I am very, very thankful for the experiences that have helped me understand that my weakness is no excuse for saying I won’t do anything at all, because, out of weakness I can be made strong. We all can be made strong to fight this battle and I am sure when we honestly fight the battle against self and all in our human nature, the other battles will be fought also. The Lord will help us.

I love that hymn we have just sung and those last words just say, “Oh soldier brave, fight on.” How good if we go out in this coming year encouraging one another, not to lose faith, not to make weakness an excuse but just to say to each other, “Oh soldier brave, fight on!”

That we bear it and for eternity it is working something in our lives, something of weight and value, a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen… That is how we can face the affliction and just to keep our eyes on things that are above, not our circumstances or situation but just to remember that this is only for a season, for a moment and to remember that God knows how to do His work, what He brings into our experience is for our good so that He can perfect His work in us. For His sake.

(recorded by the Funeral Home)

I am very grateful for the privilege of being here this morning. Not that I have anything to offer, it is not that at all, but it’s because of what God does for me on occasions like this. And as our brother, Walter Pollock, has already quoted to us that verse that “it’s better for us to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting,” then this is one of the better days of life. We are glad for the better days in life that bring us close to our Maker and that we see things in a different light than we often see it. We recognize that God has been very merciful to us, and we would like to in turn to be merciful to him. He won’t make his entrance into your life nor mine until we invite him. We would be the ones that would make that advance and come to Him and wish that He would be our God.

I feel grateful for this privilege of speaking at Nelson’s service. He was with me this first year in the Work and I will always remember that year that we had together. But I am sure of this, that if Nelson was here today, he’d be saying something more like this, “Don’t speak about anything good that I have been doing or otherwise, but just bring them a message from God to their…to our own hearts.” And that’s what I would like to do, is just to bring you a message from the heart of God to your heart and mine. In Hebrews we have recorded a little, I’ll just like to read a little bit of the first verse, the first chapter. Beginning the first verse, it says, “God who in sundry times and divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the world; Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesties on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as He hath by an inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For which of the angels said He at any time, ‘Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee. And again I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son.’”

God appreciated His Son; He trusted Him with the kingdom of God and He was never disappointed. He opened heaven on at least two occasions and He spoke these words, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” And the last time He said that, He added these words, “Hear ye Him.” That’s what we have gathered here for, is to hear ye Him. We want to hear Christ; we want to hear Him. And if we hear Christ, it’s going to be the best day of our life here, if we respond to His dealings with us. I like how it says that “God who at sundry times (that word sundry means various times), and it says divers (that means different manners, different occasions).” Why, he spoke in times past to the fathers, by the prophets. Back in the Old Testament, as well as before the Old Testament, God had His prophets. They were from the beginning, as the Scriptures tells us. And He sent those prophets from Himself with a message to give to His people. A prophet is one that brings a message from God to His people. A priest is one that takes a message from the people to God. And there were those in the Bible that were both a prophet and a priest. Jesus was a prophet and a priest. He brought a message to us from God and He’s taken a message back to God from us. And He is interceding at God’s right hand for us and I hope that we’ll be conscious of this great effort that He is putting forth. All the efforts of God Himself, from the beginning of time to this our time today, has been spent for you and for me. Sometimes we think that God isn’t…He’s just up there waiting ’til He can pounce on us sometime. No, that isn’t the case. No, He is working continually, yes, not just every day, but every day and night his efforts are for you and for me. He would like for us on occasions like this to be able to draw near to Him so He can really speak unto us. And we can take a message from this place that will be eternal; that will profit us every day in the future of our life and fit us to dwell eternally with God. He’s wanting to have that privilege of changing the picture for us.

Jesus, whenever He came, He came not to do His will. He had a will. But, no, He put His own will to death. Just the same as you and I; we have a will, when we come to this world with our own will. But we have the privilege of putting this will that we have of our own to death in order that God and His Son can work a work of redemption in our lives that will fit us to dwell eternally with Him.

And so this is the message, this is the reason that we are here. It’s that we will allow God who at sundry times and diverse manners spoke in times past, by the prophets, to the people, we will allow that God to speak a message to you and to me. I am grateful for the few times in life that God has been able to reach my heart; change my course in life and set my feet on a sure foundation and that foundation is Christ. And He came as He said, “The words that I speak, they are not My words, but they are the words of Him that sent Me.” There was a restraining power in His life that restrained Him from speaking anything of self. And then there was the constraining power that constrained Him to speak only the words that His Father had given Him. So you and I can be sure whenever we read of those words that Jesus spoke that, “This is a message from God…this is a message from God.” I think of those words that He spoke in John’s gospel the last night of His life. He says, “If a man will love Me, he’ll keep My words, My commandments, and My Father will love him and We will come and take up our abode with him.” Whenever we hear the words of Christ, we are very conscious this is God speaking. This is a message from Him. And, if we will keep those truths that Jesus brought us, we have the promise of Christ and God coming and dwelling within us, and enable us to do what we cannot do; enable us to be reconciled to God so that He can do this work of redemption in our lives the rest of our life. No, the work of redemption doesn’t begin when we first hear the voice of God to our hearts. It does begin, I should put it that way. But that’s not the end of it. That’s just the beginning of it. Every day He is seeking to continue this work of redemption in our lives and it comes in that very simple way of us hearing the words of Jesus and keeping them in our lives and then that power of God being within us to enable us to finish with honor this work that he has begun. It’s not a work that we have begun, it’s a work that we have allowed God to work in us. And then the work will be completed in a way that it needs to be completed.

He said here of Jesus, “Who was the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins He sat down at the right hand of the majesty of God.” He was the express image of God. Sometimes we hear this expression. There might be a little girl in the home, and she looks like her Mother and we think of her being the express image of her Mother. We think of a boy, and he looks like his father and we think of him being the express image of his father. But we wouldn’t make the mistake to think that little girl was her Mother. No we wouldn’t make the mistake of thinking that little boy was his father. No…two separate individuals. But Christ was the express image of God. He was the express image of God. He wasn’t God. He didn’t claim to be Him.

He was in this sense the same as what you and I are. The Scripture tells us, “Ye are gods.” There are some things about us that are that way. The fact that we live forever, whether it is in a saved eternity or a lost eternity, it’ll go on forever. But nevertheless, we recognize that God is the one that is the Father. He’s our Father. Jesus taught us to pray and He says you pray, “Our Father which art in heaven, our Father which is in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy will be done on earth just like it’s done in heaven.” Jesus when He came here, He knew how God’s will was done in heaven and all His time was spent in showing to you and me how we can live God’s way for us here upon this earth like it’s done in heaven. God has a mighty work to do and He’s willing to do it and He’s willing to complete it so that we can come to the end of the journey and He can speak, “Thy will be done…Thy will be done,” and we can speak, “God’s will be done in our lives.” We’ll just want a place to serve, not a place for others to serve us, but just a place to serve. Jesus in His lifetime, He just sought a place to serve. He gave and gave until He had given all on the cross of Calvary. He didn’t shun in this way of giving. He couldn’t have given more and He never gave less. But God is wanting to work a work in your life and mine so that we might become His sons and daughters. And we just have a lot of work to do, that is, we’ve got to let the Lord work within us. We cannot do it ourselves, there is no way…no way we can do this ourselves. But, what the Bible tells us is, “Work out your own salvation in fear and trembling, for it’s God that worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasures.” All that we have to do is just let God work, don’t make any resistance within our own lives to His advances to us. No, our life is His and whatever He chooses, that’s the way of obedience. Like Job, you remember when all was taken away from him, he says, “The Lord has given; the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” No, he wasn’t disappointed in his calling. He wasn’t disappointed. No, he was glad for what God was seeking to do. And his life turned out to be a blessing. So I hope that as a result of our little time here, that our time here won’t be in vain. But God will be able to speak a message to us, that will enable Him to continue this work of redemption in our lives, which is so necessary and then we won’t have anything to regret at the end of time.

The first sister spoke of those whom God said, “I never knew you,” and also of the five foolish virgins. There is much we can share in God’s Way but much we must buy for ourselves. They shared fellowship but they were not buying “oil” for themselves. We enjoy the fellowship of others and all that is good in God’s family, but we must “buy,” pay the price for oil (Spirit) to keep our lamps burning. Are we paying the price for our salvation? We must be buying and adding, or we could be “selling” and losing instead of buying and adding to our treasure. In natural living, people like a bargain but there is no bargain price for salvation. Jesus paid the full price and He didn’t hesitate to pay even to the very last on the cross. It would be sad if we were in fellowship with God’s family and trying to get by, not paying the price, the full price for our own soul. Time will reveal this. Genesis 23, Abraham wanted a burial place and he paid the price. He could have had it free, but Abraham bowed himself and paid the full price. Abraham humbled himself before the people of the land, even to the children of Heth, and gave the money for the field. He paid the price, weighed the price then gave it and it was made sure for Abraham; it was his possession forever.

Peter said, “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.” Am I really giving God His due, am I making my calling and election sure? There is a time to buy. This is the time to buy. If we are compromising, we are really surrendering, on the installment system, to the enemy. Buy the spotless raiment white that we would not be satisfied to just get by. Search me and see if there is any wicked way in me. We are truly buying if we invite God to search us and reveal our future needs. We are glad when we realize that God is putting His finger on something in our life that needs to be dealt with. That is real buying for salvation.

David paid the price, “a broken and a contrite heart” was the price and David knew it and he offered it. Lambs and bullocks were not the price. David said, “I cannot offer unto the Lord what costs me nothing.” Psalm 116:13, “I will take the cup of salvation. And call upon the name of the LORD.” Just be willing for whatever God’s plans are for us and pay the price of not our will but His will. When we are willing to let His choice be our choice, we are buying, REALLY BUYING. If we follow our choice instead of His, we are “selling.”

I had a choice to make regarding a work situation. My father knew which choice would be best for me but he said, “Wouldn’t it be good to pray about it?” He made it clear the choice was mine. We are grateful for those who are really buying. One man wouldn’t sell his vineyard, “his heritage,” the inheritance of his father’s, because it belonged to those who handled it faithfully. We share the inheritance of what others walked in and we want to guard it, too, like others did who gave it to us. We must not “sell,” and in so doing, it is like buying more and more. As nears the time of His return, what we have in Christ we receive more and more – an investment that’s increasing in value every day of our life. What would it profit us if we lost our soul and gained the whole world? The daily price will always be across the will of nature leads on the path of God. It was sad to see some in the Bible days that didn’t buy the truth—Revelation 3; God saw them in spiritual poverty and He counseled them to buy of Him. The treasure was in the field, the field being the Will and Way of God. We cannot have it unless we buy it. We won’t be enriched. We share much now, but there is a day coming that will reveal just what we have “bought,” what we have possessed for ourselves, and how much we’ve been willing to pay the daily price of doing and walking in His Will and Way.

This is the testimony of Stephen Nefdt told to one of our young workers in Cape Town. He was asked, “Do you have any professing family?” “No – I am an orphan.” So he was asked how he met the Truth.

It was raining heavily many years ago and an old colored lady was making her way through the rain.

She passed a telephone booth and spotted something inside, so she opened the door. There lay a little baby, six months old, wrapped in a shawl. Next to him was a tin of condensed milk for whoever found him. So the lady had pity on the child and took him home as her own. That was Stephen. She was very poor – so poor they could hardly afford any food at all. As soon as he was old enough to talk and walk, Stephen would go from door to door begging for food – people often chased him away saying, “You’re the type that break into people’s homes…always want – want.” Sometimes, people would give him a piece of moldy bread and watch him eat it. He was only too glad to have the bread. They couldn’t afford to send him to school, and he never owned a pair of shoes. Just one set of clothes – a pair of short pants and a shirt. Every morning early – at 5 o’clock, he would have to go down to the butcher shop to buy a bag of bones for 10 cents. He had to go early. Many people wanted bones. She would make soup for the day from these bones. She also cared for her own two children who were already quite old.

One day the butcher man said to him, “I see you are so diligent to come early always for the bones. I want to employ you to do odd jobs for me.” Well, you can imagine what a thrill that was – but of course, he would take every cent back to the old lady (whom he called, “Granny”). One of his duties every Wednesday afternoon was to cross the road to the Butcher’s home and prepare a room for meeting. He never knew what that meeting was – but it seemed special. All the furniture had to be taken out of the whole room – the whole carpet brushed, the skirting polished. All the chairs polished – as though the president was also expected. Soon one day, his curiosity became too much and he asked the Butcher what the meeting was. Well, that Wednesday evening, the Butcher took him along to the meeting, too. His Granny had always taken him to the Anglican church – there somebody would read a passage of scripture. Now these people read the Bible, but they also explained it…and there was no collection.

Anyway, the next day, the butcher told him to climb into the car and he took him to Rex Truford (a men’s outfitting shop) and bought him clothes and clothed him from head to his feet. Never before had anybody ever done that for him – he was completely overwhelmed. For the first time in my life, I put my feet into a pair of shoes. Jimmy Johnston was holding Gospel meetings that year so Stephen at the age of 10 went to the Gospel meetings, too. The end of the year came, and the Butcher asked Stephen to come with him to convention. So Stephen went home and told his Granny – she said to him, “If you go to that convention, then you must leave this home now with all you have,” (which was very little). He said he knew until that time, if Granny ever died, he would have nobody in all the world to turn to and now she was telling him to go….but yet he really longed to go to the convention desperately. So he packed his things that afternoon, and left Granny’s home and went to the convention.

From that time on he stayed at the Butcher’s home and he sent Stephen to school and gave him everything as his own son and Stephen professed, but every week, he would go over and take his week’s earnings to Granny, until she died. He was still young when she died, but that afternoon she called him to her bedside and said, “You were a good boy, my child and I did my best for you, but I have to tell you what happened when I found you. Your parents had thrown you away and they are still alive today.” She told him their names.

Later, Stephen owned a butcher shop of his own, and he went to find his parents. His Mother said it was his Father’s fault and his Father said it was his Mother’s fault. He has never seen them again. They didn’t love him and he has no desire to be in touch with them. He said he has many sisters, too – all wealthy people, he says – but then suddenly, Stephen’s eyes began to swim with tears. I listened as he tried to get the next words out, “Now, I have a family that is more wonderful – I was the child that they threw away – but I was the one that found God. I would never have had this privilege if I didn’t go through that experience. I am so grateful for the kindness of God.”

He now has a wife and 3 children – lovely children. His butchery went insolvent 2 years ago – his partner cheated him, and he lost everything again. So, now he works in another butcher shop. He smiled again and said, “I was glad for that experience, too – taught me a lot.”

“We ourselves a watch are keeping.” Our Master encouraged us to watch. Habakkuk. Chp 2 v1. Stand upon the watch. Set me upon the tower. When I’m reproved. We must have a watchtower in our own lives. When we are reproved, human reaction is the first one. Correction is not rejection nor punishment. God corrects us to save us from punishment.

Isaiah 5. Vineyard. Tower there, but when danger came, what happened was in the vineyard, not an outside force. It was reverting to its old nature. Wild grapes.

We need to be in the watchtower, watching our human nature, our desires etc so that we do not spoil the fruit or rob the work of God.

If we are praying we will be shown what to watch for.

If we are watching we will be shown what to pray for.’

Ready for His return.

Floods were coming up. Watchmen were watching the floods rising so as to warn others of the dangers. Floods of ungodliness. We must know how to watch and pray and keep ourselves safe from the dangers that would spoil the fruit in our lives.

I would just like to say how much we have appreciated being invited to this land, to be among you all. As I was thinking of having a part in this meeting, I found a little coming into my mind that is recorded in Ezekiel. No doubt you have heard it spoken of before, it just seemed fresh to me again, when the people of the land came before the Lord, He said, “They that enter by the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate… not return by the gate you came in.” That just seemed to be so comforting to me, again and again, thinking of God’s people coming here and of ourselves, of the way we came in. The Lord has said we shouldn’t go out by the same way that we came in.

Maybe we have come in burdened, maybe we have faced battles and struggles in the past, maybe we’ve come in very weary. It’s good to know we can go out in a different way, we can go out with fresh courage, fresh strength, fresh purpose and deeper desires. We can go out so different from how we have come in, that just seemed to encourage me afresh as I thought of coming to this place.

We are conscious as we move among God’s people and talk to them, visit among them, that in every life there’s a battle that rages on, a battle continuing. There’s the battle against the enemy, against oneself and many things but it is good to know the battle still is raging. The people of God are still fighting for what is right, for what is true in the sight of God.

Before I came from England, my companion and I were reading the book of Isaiah. We very much enjoyed reading it together. In that book, in one of the early chapters, chapter 7, we read about a king called Ahaz, an unworthy king but it tells about him. God asked him to ask a sign of Him, ask it either in the depth, or in the height above… The marginal reading is: make thy petition deep.

That appealed to me so much, this thought of making our petition deep, but that king that day when the Lord gave the invitation to make a deep petition, he said, “I will not ask.” He wouldn’t ask. God was disappointed with that king that day. He gave that king the opportunity to make his petition deep, to ask a sign from God. God said even though he didn’t ask, He Himself would give a sign. God gave to that king that day the great­est sign any person could ever be given.

He began to talk to him about Jesus, about that virgin who will bring forth a child, about this Jesus that would be born into the earth. It didn’t make any difference to Ahaz, it didn’t change his life at all, he wasn’t willing to make his petition deep.

Today, as I was thinking of these things, and as we think of it, we feel we would like to under­stand how to make our petitions deeper, how to have a deeper purpose in our praying, deeper desires to know how to make our prayers deeper for the Kingdom. If that king was concerned about the kingdom at that time, he would have been more concerned about making his petition deeper before the Lord. He wasn’t prepared to do that and I enjoyed thinking of some making deeper petitions because of the Kingdom’s interest.

I thought of Hannah who came before the Lord. She made her petition deeper than any she had ever made before when she prayed for Samuel. Do you know what caused her to make that deep petition before the Lord? It meant coming to an end of herself, she was willing to offer to the Lord that life which would mean so much to her; those of you who are parents understand what it must have cost Hannah to offer that young life to God, to give Samuel back to the Lord after she had asked him of the Lord at such a cost. She was willing, at cost to herself, for the Kingdom’s sake.

I sometimes wonder how much cost I will be willing for in my life, when I know what I am praying before the Lord is going to cost something if the Lord is going to answer that petition. We need to know how to be willing to face up to the cost.

I thought of Nehemiah and the time when he prayed before the Lord. It was a deep petition and he knew when he had finished praying, the Lord was going to ask for him to answer his own prayer. It meant going in to face an earthly king, it means asking something he was very afraid to ask but because the Lord laid it upon his heart to make that petition, Nehemiah was willing to go forth and stand before the king and make a petition that day that was going to cost him something, to leave the comfort of the position he had in the king’s household to seek the good of Jerusalem. He made his petition deep.

I thought of many others. I enjoyed thinking of Daniel, some deep petitions were made to the Lord. I thought of the time when the messenger came to Daniel and spoke to him, “Daniel, thou art a man greatly beloved.” The margin tells us ‘a man of desires,’ there were desires in the heart of Daniel toward the Kingdom. Daniel knew what it was to face affliction, afflicting himself before the Lord, pray­ing for the Kingdom, for the future of God’s people and that message came that said, “Thou art a man greatly beloved.” Daniel was willing to die to himself, to afflict himself, to face up to his own nature, to all that governed humanly because he was seeking the good of the Kingdom.

I remember once hearing a Worker speaking about this, about Daniel being a man of desires. Daniel had been a man of desires, greater and deeper desires for the Kingdom’s interests, greater and deeper, perhaps, he had ever attained to, but good to have desires like that so we are reaching after them.

Striving after something may be greater and deeper than we can attain, but if we could always be reaching out to that, it will keep us in the safe place, in the place of prayer, in the place of need. Good if we can have desires and purposes like that.

We know the deepest desires, the deepest petitions of all made by the Son of God and I turned and read again the prayers in the garden, in agony there, Jesus prayed, “Let this cup pass from Me,” but every time He prayed that prayer, He came to the place where He was willing to say, “Not My will, Lord but Thine.”

Three times, it tells us, He prayed that prayer, He went again and prayed again three times, with such depth of prayer because it tells us His sweat was as drops of blood…, in agony that day as He prayed. His petitions were very deep. It tells us also when He had prayed that prayer, there came an angel from Heaven strengthening Him.

I often enjoy the thought God didn’t remove the cup from Jesus but as He was willing to say, “Not My will,” there was help from Heaven, an angel came, strengthening Him. When we are willing to make our petitions deeper, we are willing to face up to the cost of what it is going to mean for us, then there will be help from Heaven, help to do what may be difficult for us to face, some step that is difficult for us to take, but help is there, help from Heaven.

I enjoyed a verse in the Psalms, “The deep places in the earth are in Thy hand.” If we are passing through deep experiences we can be sure we are in His hand because the deep places in the earth are in the hand of God. One would like to know how to be willing to face the depth with God. May we, as we face the coming days, have a deeper purpose, deeper praying, deeper knowledge of His work in our hearts and lives as a result of God’s dealings here. It tells us in the parable of the sower that the seed sown on rocky ground, there was no depth of earth, the roots couldn’t go down, the seed couldn’t prosper.

If we are not willing for the deepening of God’s work in our lives, no root rooting taking place, the roots are going to cease to produce. We know what prevents roots from going down, hardness under the surface. I am grateful to be reminded today what it tells us of God’s work, it is not only like gentle rain from Heaven, God said, “It is like a hammer that breaketh the rock!” We have to be willing to take some knocks. We have been hearing about affliction and bruising, we have to be willing for that. If it breaks the hardness that prevents the roots going down, shouldn’t we be willing for it? As the roots go deeper, more fruitfulness can come forth in our lives, more fruit in our service.

Like others, I am very thankful to be counted in with this gathering and feel so thankful to be numbered with you all. We are in a wonderful Family, and we are glad to be part of it. When I saw my name on the list for Sunday Morning, I began to wonder what would be beneficial to speak about in this Meeting. There are certain subjects I like to speak about on a Sunday Morning and the one I have chosen today is the subject of the little Fellowship Meetings. There are three channels through which the Lord seeks to help us. One is the channel of prayer, and we need to keep that channel open. There are many many things that can block that channel. Many of you know a lot of them but no time to speak of them. Then there is the channel of God’s Word. Reading and meditating on the Word of God. We need to keep that channel open also, for there are many things that can hinder that channel from being open and the biggest one is neglecting to read and meditate and that can block that channel badly. There are other things too but today I would like to speak about the channel of the fellowship of God’s People and the Fellowship in the Meeting place. I Corinthians 14, I call the Meeting chapter. The 15th chapter I call the resurrection chapter, and the 13th chapter I call the love chapter. The 12th chapter speaks of the body of God’s People as He tries to keep them together.

When I made my choice, the Brother Workers who brought us the Gospel asked me to go to a home on Sunday mornings for the Meeting and when I went, it was different to any place of worship that I had been to before. They gave out a Hymn and we sang the Hymn. Then the meeting was open for prayer and anyone could pray; many took part in prayer, then another Hymn was sung and then the Meeting was open for testimonies. It was different from anything I had seen before, but I had the fullest confidence in those two men who brought the Gospel. I was confident they were sent of God and their teaching was the will of God, and I accepted it as this is what God wishes, but it was sometime later- a year or more later when I read this 14th chapter of Corinthian, and I found in that chapter practically all things we were asked to do. In the 3rd verse we read, “He that prophesieth, speaketh unto men to edification and exhortation and comfort.” Now at one time, I thought that this word prophesy only meant to foretell but it also means to tell forth. I did not understand when I first read it, but it means to tell forth because he speaks to men to edification, exhortation and comfort. These are three things when we take part in the Meeting that can be helpful.

Maybe I should mention that I was asked to go to a home, and it was so strange and different to what I was used to, but when I read my Bible, I found that was how Jesus and the Disciples gathered on the first day of the week to break Bread. As I said it was all so different, but that was exactly what the Workers had told us to do, to gather in a home on the first day of the week to break Bread. I had not been to a home to worship before but to a building. I like this thought that God has arranged for us to meet in a home. We are a family and not an organisation. They have rules in an organisation but this is an organism; a body which is self contained and the Lord’s People are as an organism; We have no rules and regulations and we gather together like a family. Another thing I like is that we gather on the first day of the week. It comes to my mind that when I promised God, when I made my choice, that I would give Him my first and my best; I would give Him first place in my life.

We gather on the first day; we start the week with God. He is worthy of the first and best, like Abel gave the first and the best. Now we go to the Meeting, what do we do the rest of the day? Go to the beach! I certainly hope not! I like to think of this first day that it is not only for the morning Meeting and this day is God’s day and we do something after the Meeting that will help this Kingdom of God in some way or another.. I like to think of some of our Friends they go and visit some of the sick on a Sunday afternoon. Some of them go to visit the lonely ones, and they find means of doing something that will extend the Kingdom of God. They try to be a help. Some sit down and write letters. I have received letters from some who sat down on a Sunday afternoon to write letters; trying to be a help. There are ways we can spend the first day of the week. Going back to our little Meeting. I would like to call your attention to verse 23 and you only need to read the first line…”If therefore the whole church be come together in one place…” This assures us that he is talking about the time that they gather together and it is for the whole church. You notice it is not the church, but the WHOLE CHURCH. The Lord likes to see everyone in their place on Sunday Morning or when the Meeting is held. One of our Brothers said, “There should be nothing less than a broken leg that should keep people from the Meeting.” I was touched when I was up in Zimbabwe and for the Union Meeting some people had walked 10 kilometres to the Meeting; men, women and children. They did not even let all the kilometres hinder them from being in that Meeting. Even in West Africa, we had flood waters at one time, and it came in a certain section of the city and a number of Friends were living there, and the waters were all over. The Saturday evening, I saw the man in whose home the church was held in that area, and I said, “I hope to come to your home for the Meeting in the morning.” He said, “Oh no, don’t come, there is too much water.” I said, “You go out every day, and why can’t I come?” He said, “It is alright for us but not for you.” I went and I walked and there was at least a kilometre of water, in some places over my knees; some places were only ankle deep, but I reached that home and there were the church gathered. They all came through water. They were not letting water hinder them from coming to the Meeting! I must tell you something more extensive than that. At one of the homes the water came into the home. I told them we could have the meeting in another home. They said, “No, just leave it; we have to walk to get there. Don’t change it, for in a few weeks it will be gone.” The man of the home put a brick in front of the feet where people were sitting, so that they could sit with their feet above the water. Then the water came over the brick so he put out another brick! The last time I was in that Meeting the water was up to my knees. We sang and prayed; don’t misunderstand me; we did not kneel to pray but sat and prayed; but the very effort and sacrifice of those people made it a good meeting.

Let us take a look now at Verses 15 and 16. We read about them praying in the Meeting. That is what the Workers taught us when I first went to a Meeting and here I find it just like they told us. Paul talking to these People about Praying and singing and the way they should pray and sing. Praying in the spirit with understanding and singing in the spirit with understanding also! They were not to pray in an unknown tongue or language because nobody would understand that prayer and it is unprofitable. I want to tell you something else. I have been in Meetings where maybe one or sometimes two in the Meeting talk so low when they pray, and I could not hear. Well, I am a little hard of hearing, but I asked the elder one time when I was in that Meeting. This person prayed and took part and I did not hear anything: It was so faint. I said to the elder after the Meeting…”Did you hear what that sister said and prayed?” He said, “No, I did not hear a thing.” I thought it was my hearing but it was not. When you pray and nobody hears, it is just as bad as if you are speaking in a language nobody understands. Prayers should be for people to hear. Paul says. “How shall you say Amen at the end if you did not understand?” (Verse 16) You cannot say Amen to that prayer. So he was teaching them to pray in the spirit, as that Hymn says, “That our prayers would rise as one with zeal.” Then it is speaking of the singing. They will sing with understanding. Maybe before I would go on to the singing, I would like to say a little more about praying. Sometimes we notice it gets into a habit and then some praying long in the Meeting. That should not be! Long prayers are for the secret place and short prayers in the Meeting. I wonder if you children ever play Meeting as over there in Canada, the children often play Meetings and they sing and pray and talk. Anyway, this little girl and boy in the home. The little girl said to the boy, “Let us play meeting.” He said, “Alright, but let us not pray.” Why did he say that? It was a very small church: I don’t know whether 4 or possibly sometimes 5 were present and they prayed so long – each one prayed long, and I can understand the little boy kneeling down and listening and having to listen to long prayers and he was so discouraged. Don’t discourage your children that way. No, we want to have short prayers in the Meeting. We can get into a form of even praying. Sometimes I have been in some Meetings and I almost know what some people are going to pray; so often it is just the same thing! We need to avoid that when we go to Meetings.

If there is some special thing for which we feel thankful for in the week, just say this to God in the Meeting, and if there is some special thing we need help for, just make our petitions to God to help us. These simple sincere Prayers can be as short as they can be and they are very helpful. Sometimes the only thing that I remember of the prayers is that it was a long prayer.

Then the singing in the Meetings; to sing in the spirit and with understanding. I have found it difficult to sing a whole hymn through and every phrase. To sing it from the heart. So many things that come; little distractions. I have been in the home for the first time, and while singing I see a picture on the wall and I wonder what age could he have been when they took that picture, and I am off and not singing in the spirit. I have been in Meetings and while singing I look at the furniture and think about it. We should sing in the spirit and with understanding. I spoke of this one time at a Convention and a lady came to me and said, “I have got the victory there, in the spirit! Try it and you will be surprised!”

Another thing I was thinking about and that is when Jesus had that supper with His Disciples, when the Bread was first broken in the Meeting. When the hour had come, He sat down with His Disciples. The time was set and He sat down with them. We have a time set for Meetings.. Even here I have noticed people coming in at the very last minute into the Meeting. That should not be! If we appreciate the Meetings we should be in the Meeting at least five minutes before it starts. We should not be coming in late! In a certain district we were in, we had the morning Meeting, and one family, man, wife and two children, always five minutes late. The next Sunday, the same thing happened, five minutes late. Just a habit and they disturb the Meeting. We were having Gospel Meeting the third Sunday, in the afternoon and so we arranged that the Sunday Morning Meeting would be half an hour earlier. They came, the half hour but five minutes late! There is an old lady with two daughters in the Field I was in last year, and they used to come just one minute before Meeting time. You cannot do that without missing something. You are trying to sing a hymn and you hear the door open and you wonder what kept them late this morning? It took me off my singing in the spirit. They come in and try and find a place to sit down and look over to see what Hymn is being sung. That should not be! Be in time for the Meeting! Let me tell you of one of our African Friends with 6 or 7 children. I had reason to go that Sunday Morning Meeting earlier because I wanted to speak to the elder about something. I got there 20 minutes before the Meeting time, and there was the elder and his wife and the professing children sitting quietly with their Hymn books and Bibles, and the children not professing sitting quietly too with their Hymn books. I had reason to thank God for them. They were sitting waiting when the others would come in. Some of these things do not mean very much to us but it means a lot to God. We appreciate our privilege to be on time. Can I take you over now to the 26th verse where it tells us that everyone that came had a part. Maybe a Psalm. or a Hymn or some little revelation. That is what we find that everyone should have a part.

Sometimes we notice that people come to Meetings and don’t always take part; only sometimes. Even here in Pretoria, an elder was telling me that some in his church only take part sometimes. The Lord wants us all to speak. In a family, you like to hear all the voices. The little children, the older children and mother and father and everybody having a part and speaking. When a baby is born you are waiting for the time when you hear the first words of that little boy or girl. We should have a song after we have made our choice: we should have something to nay! You notice it says, “Let all things be done unto edifying.” The words edifying or edification are used seven different times in this chapter, and that is what the Meeting is for. Paul also used the expression, “I would rather speak five words with my understanding that by any voice I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.” So we get teaching in the Meeting, like we also read in the 3rd verse, “edification, exhortation and comfort.” This is what it is all about! Each one taking part and it is helpful for the whole church. Sometimes I tell about children playing Meeting and the oldest boy amongst them is supposed to be leading the Meeting, and he said to one. “Today you will be Mrs. So and So, and to the other. “You will be Mr. So and So,” to another boy, “You will be Percy today.” “Oh no, I don’t want to be Percy. He does not take part in the Meetings.” The little fellow did not want to sit there and not take part. The Lord wants us all to have a part so as to be helpful.

Then we go a little further and we find verse 34, “Let your women keep silent in the church, etc. If they would learn anything let them ask their husbands at home.” These woman evidently were asking their husbands questions in the Meeting. In West Africa, the very thing happened. Some women were illiterate and this lady did not understand and we had to interpret for her and in one of the first Meetings, she was whispering to her husband and asking questions. The very thing Paul is talking about here! You may not have that trouble here but if Paul was here he would say. “Let your children be quiet in the Meeting.” I am sure your Workers all try to tell you that the Meetings should be a quiet place. The Spirit of God cannot come where there is tumult and noise. I was disappointed not so many weeks ago, I was in a home where the church was held. The elder said, “I am sorry but we have a couple with two children and they disturb most every Meeting,” That is a disgrace! Let me tell you over in West Africa. Well, all West Africans are not little angels. This father had twin boys and after he made his choice we had a little Meeting and these two boys, not very old, sat one on each side of him and no toys to play with. He taught them to sit quietly and he taught them reverence for the Meeting. Sometimes people bring toys and it makes a noise. One time, there was a little girl and the couple brought a basket full of toys, and she wanted one thing after another and sorting it out and making a noise. The twin boys and all the other boys in the family are professing now and one going into the Work this year. I was in a Meeting one time at a Convention and right here in the front row sat father, mother and the baby in mother’s arms. Beside the father, a little boy about 2 years of age and the little girl possibly 4 and the others at School. There they all sat and nothing to play with: all quiet. Dad sometimes puts the little boy on his knee and he looks at Dad with a smile on his face as much as to say, “Am I doing alright?” Yes, he was doing alright! I felt I owed it to that couple to show my appreciation for the way they brought up their children in the Meeting, and I said to them, “We appreciate the way you have trained your children to be quiet. I know they don’t come that way!” They said, “They surely don’t, they have to be taught.” These are some of the necessary things so that the Meetings may be helpful.

Then one or two more things. Merlin told us so nicely about what spirit we bring to the Meeting. The most helpful thing to bring to the Meeting is to bring the right spirit. Bring as much as you can of the Spirit of God that will help the Meeting. We heard already mentioned about the Emblems and the home in which the Meetings are, and I thought maybe there was a need along this line because it came from three different brothers. The Sunday Morning Meeting should be profitable and helpful in the way the Lord would like it to be. It tells us in the last verse, “Let all things be done decently and in order.” That is what we like to see. I was thinking about an elder and it is a very important thing that the elder be an example to the flock. It would do every elder good to read once in a while what Paul wrote to Timothy in the 3rd chapter and also what Peter wrote in Chapter 5 of his first epistle. Now if you like to read Acts 20:28, “Take heed to yourselves.” That is the first thing and then, “To the flock over which the Lord has made you overseers.” It is not the calling of man. We know the Workers have to make the choice of the overseers but we are very very careful when we make such choices that we should be prompted by the Spirit of God. We know the Lord can make them overseers if they are faithful, it says, “To feed the Church of God which He has purchased with His own Blood.” Remember that everyone was purchased through the Blood of Jesus and would it not help you to love them, to think that Jesus has died for everyone of them and His Blood shed for them. It should help us to appreciate our Brethren for they are Blood bought ones. We had an elder in a Field I laboured in before I went to West Africa, he became very ill and had cancer and knew he did not have very long to live. He called the church and asked them one by one into his room and had a little message for each one of them. The last one to come was the brother that took the Meetings when the elder was not present, and he just said to this Brother, “John, feed the flock.” That was his last message to that Brother and he never forgot it. We thank God for elders and their wives. At one convention when on a home visit, they asked me to speak first and when the time of prayer came, the four first to pray, were the four elders, and the first women to pray were three of the elders wives.. They were examples to the flock. May the Lord help us to appreciate whatever place He has given us. Whether elders or their wives; they are the ones responsible for the flock.

Life is made up of experiences, many of which we wouldn’t have chosen. God has not planned one negative experience for us. It is our attitude that changes a positive experience into a negative one. Reap from them the blessing, the fruit. God wants His work to prosper. It is not so important to know the experiences of others; what is important is that you are here.

In a little village where we were having meetings in Scotland, a small fishing fleet was out for three days and three nights because of a storm at sea. There was damage but no one cared because they all came back. The whole village came out to welcome them back; including ourselves. These fishermen were not intimidated. They went back out again in a couple of days. Through the storms we come to know the Captain of our salvation better. Our confidence is in the Captain; not in ourselves. Some things the disciples learned only in the storm with Jesus. Experiences of others teach us much. It is what we are in an experience that makes it possible for God to enrich our lives.

Isaiah 65:8, new wine in a cluster of grapes. We like to flee from experiences but we are actually fleeing from the blessing.  

Genesis 16, Hagar had success in the home of her mistress but it affected her wrongly. She despised her mistress. Little victories can affect us wrongly. Victory comes from the grace of God. When we flee from the will of God, we all know where we came from; but no one knows where they are heading. Jonah wouldn’t have known he was headed for the belly of a whale. The prodigal son fled from the house of abundance, but didn’t know he was going to a place of famine. The place of submission is a safe and secure place for a child of God.

Joseph is my friend with whom I sit down and talk when things are going hard. He was concerned about how to be fruitful. Many parents are concerned how to fit their children for this world but it is far better to fit them in a godly way. It wasn’t easy for Joseph to live in his home, though he had godly parents. We can have the right attitude toward others in spite of what theirs is toward us. There was envy because of his coat — we could lose what others have given us. Joseph had a coat he had woven that no one could take from him. Joseph had the fruit of the spirit in his life. Don’t just accept the will of God; but love it.

Psalms 105:17, Eli’s sons had a place of responsibility without any sense of responsibility. Virtue is not human. It is doing the right thing at the right time in the right spirit. It is good to have the faith to leave with God that which is not ours to do. Venom of self-pity destroys our spirit and soul. Forget about ourselves. Patience is the quality we need when we run out of it. Joseph wasn’t trying to push things along; making arrangements for himself — he waited for God to open the way for him. He didn’t destroy one bit of blessing from the experience. “Is this thy son’s coat?” They hadn’t treated their brother as a brother, so they couldn’t speak to their father of their brother. If the relationship with our brother isn’t right, it will affect our relationship with our Father. Joseph treated his brothers as God would have treated them. Do unto others what God has done unto us (I love as He has loved, etc.).

Temperance: self-dominion in Spanish. Joseph had a lot of power in Egypt; which is easy to abuse and that’s where self-dominion comes in. Joseph only used power when it was in the interests of others. “I am Joseph, your brother.” Brotherly love. He didn’t say, “I am Joseph, the governor of Egypt.” That love was able to leave the past in the past, and promoted unity and peace in the family. Love that can overlook and forgive.

Genesis 42, Jacob felt it was all against him but Joseph said, “If it must be, let it be.” If there is no self-denial in our lives, we cannot be His disciple. “It is not in me; God will give an answer of peace.” We must get the “I” and “we” out of the will of God. The garment Joseph wove, death couldn’t take from him.

Genesis 46:34, Egypt hated shepherds because they hated being shepherded. That is the spirit of the world. A lamb loves to be led as does a child. It is not the experiences of life that destroy us, but our own pride, disobedience, etc.