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I’ve been thinking about the 53rd Chapter of Isaiah and some of the beautiful things that we read there about our Saviour, the price that He paid so that we could be cleansed. It tells us in the 2nd verse:

2: For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.

3: He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

4: Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5: But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.

6: All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

7: He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.

And in the 10th and 11th verses it tells that He shall be satisfied.

10: Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief: when Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

11: He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities.

I love this chapter and I love to read about the willingness of our Saviour to suffer and to die for us. I love to be reminded that there was no human glory in this for Him. The world has painted pictures of Him both with paint and words that are very beautiful and very glorious and through faith we see Him as one who is very beautiful. But in His human appearance while He was on the earth, there was nothing to appeal to these human hearts of ours.

Our human nature cries out for fairness, I don’t know about your country but I think human nature is the same everywhere and we are so prone to feel when something happens to us or there are some situations and we say, “It’s not fair; It’s not fair.” I suppose with young people, teenagers, especially in our country, that’s a common feeling – “It’s not fair, It’s not fair.” If that’s true, there’s a lot about life that isn’t fair. But when I’m tempted to feel that something I’m experiencing isn’t fair – it’s good for me to think about my Saviour. It says that we, like sheep, have gone astray and turned everyone to his own ways – it’s we who have done this, we who have sinned and the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all; and can you show me the fairness in that? There isn’t any as far as the human mind is concerned. But this is the mercy and goodness and graciousness of the heavenly Father to send Him this way – that there would be a sacrifice – there would be an offering that would make us just and make us right before Him. I was looking at this verse in Revelations 13:8. It speaks about the book of life of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. That plan, that provision was from the foundation of the world. Before ever man was created, it was planned that He would be the Lamb, slain for our sins. We read several times about the book of life in the book of the Revelation. We know that we all want our names written there but this morning I was thrilled to notice that it says the “book of life of the Lamb.” I don’t think I have ever thought about that before … What is life? The book of life – what life? It’s the life of the Lamb – It’s the life of the Lamb in us that will enable our names to be recorded there. And so the life of the Lamb as well as the blood of the Lamb are very precious to us and very important to us to be acquainted with and to think of.

The lamb was important and the lamb was seen very early in the history of mankind. The first one we read of and it was specifically a lamb was the one that Abel offered – it was an offering to God.

We don’t know what kind of animals the Lord took to make skins to clothe Adam and Eve – maybe that was a lamb.

Sheep are often despised and looked down upon – all we like sheep have gone astray, sheep are famous for that. And by many people, at least in our country, sheep are kind of despised and looked down on because they are stupid. They’re not smart and it’s true they can’t take care of themselves like goats can and can’t take care of themselves like cattle can. They need shepherds, they need help, they need guidance, they need direction. And it’s no accident that God shows the sheep nature to be typical of our nature and our need. He made us like sheep, that we need to have a shepherd – we must have a shepherd. And there’s something about, maybe if sheep aren’t appealing to people, lambs are. I have never seen anyone who wasn’t touched by a little lamb. And when you think of the Children of Israel when they were there in Egypt – the Lord asked them to take a lamb, to keep it there for four days and then to slay it and sprinkle the blood above the door and on the side door posts of their home and then to roast it with fire and to feed on it. This was their salvation that night. The presence of death would pass over the land and the firstborn of every human and the firstborn of every animal would be slain. I’m positive that when the Israelites took that lamb into their home in obedience and when they slew it and when they ate of it, they could not really comprehend what was going to happen that night, they could not comprehend the magnitude of what this death would be throughout the land. But I am glad they obeyed – Hebrews 11 tells us that Moses, by faith, kept the Passover. And you and I cannot, at this point in our experience, we cannot comprehend the need for those without the protection and provision of the blood of the Lamb. We cannot understand how great the anguish, how great the death, how great the consequences of not being protected by this blood – we cannot! But may God give us the faith to believe what He has said and may God give us the faith to keep ourselves under the protection of that precious blood. May God give us the faith to keep partaking of the Lamb, feeding on the Lamb and trusting in the provision of the blood.

It might have been easy for people to think, well, blood on the door-post of our house, blood on the lintel, “what good can that do?” And what difference can that make? It will only make the Egyptians mock us. But it made a great difference to them, didn’t it? The difference between life and death, the difference between anguish and joy, it was the difference between hopelessness and hope. The enemy likes to tell us that some things don’t make any difference, you know, what difference does it make whether or not people can see that our lives are separated and that they’re different. Whether our lives are marked and cleansed by the blood of the Lamb – does it make any difference? “It’s what’s inside that matters” … The enemy likes to tell us that – it’s only what is inside that matters and IT IS! What’s inside does matter, but the Lord asked his people to be marked, and the Lord asked that of us today also, and it makes a difference because, even when the presence of the Lord passed over the land that night, He was looking, wasn’t He, for that blood. The homes that were marked by blood … and God is very pleased and very touched and very honoured by your homes that today bear the mark of the Lamb. The slain lamb. And when you show that you trust in that blood, that touches the heart of God very deeply. That’s something that He’s looking for. And because of what happened that night – well really before that. God had said that Israel was His first born son. He told Pharaoh – He sent a message to Pharaoh – that’s in Exodus 4: 22, The Lord said to Moses to say to Pharaoh, “Thus sayeth the Lord – Israel is my son, even my first born, and I say unto you, let my son go so that he may serve me and if thou refuse to let him go; behold I will slay thy son, even thy first born.” Pharaoh had been warned about what would happen but he didn’t listen.

So the first born of Israel belonged to the Lord from that time forward – the first born of all the animals and the firstborn of all the people belonged to the Lord and needed to be redeemed because they had lived, they had been spared. So God chose the tribe of Levi to be the redemption for the first born of all the rest of the people; and the first born of cattle and the first born of sheep and Goats – they were to die. They were to be a sacrifice to God – not the humans but the animals. And of the unclean animals, they all needed to be slain or be redeemed and it was a lamb that would redeem an ass – a higher life, a more valuable life redeemed a lesser life. And Christ, a higher life, a better life has redeemed our lives that are less worthy. We have been redeemed by that precious, precious blood.

We would think, is there fairness in that? But I love these verses that when he sees the tormentor of His soul, He sees the product of His suffering, He sees the shedding of His blood; it says that He shall be satisfied – He shall be satisfied. And what the Lord looks on at this gathering today, it brings satisfaction to His soul because He sees those who have been willing to be separated by the blood and those who have been willing to feed on the Lamb and those whose lives have been changed by that. And there’s hope because of that and he says, “It was worth it.”

And He looks over the world and sees little gatherings here and there, scattered around the world and even to individuals scattered who have no one to meet with and he sees them keeping true in secret life, he sees them trusting in the life and the blood of the Lamb and He says, “It was worth it.” And their names are written in the book of life of the Lamb.

We read about the Lamb many times in the book of Revelation and I appreciated what one of our brothers in the States told us some years ago. He said, “There are many things in the book of Revelation we don’t understand, don’t be bothered or concerned and don’t be troubled by the things that you don’t understand … The lamb is mentioned, I’m not sure if it’s 26 or 27 times in the book of Revelation and this brother said, ‘Just follow the Lamb through that part (the part you don’t understand).’”

And we read about those who followed the Lamb – whithersoever He goeth. I didn’t mark that place but you can find it for yourselves. One of the things I appreciated in Revelations 12:10 … it speaks about the accuser of the brethren – the enemy of our souls, but in verse 11 it says that they – the redeemed, overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimonies and they loved not their lives unto death … unto the death. Sometimes we feel overwhelmed by the enemy that is against us and the accusations that he makes before God, the accusations he makes to us about ourselves and the accusations he makes to us about one another. He’s cruel and he cheats and he doesn’t fight fair. But we have a weapon to overcome him – we have weapons to overcome him and they’re sure weapons. The first is the blood of the Lamb – our trust and our confidence in that. Someone said, when we stand before the judgment seat of God, we won’t have anything to say about our own accomplishments or our own righteousness or our abilities or our own virtues – all we will be able to say when we stand before Him is that, “Your Son shed His blood for me and I trust in that.” That’s our only hope! And the word of their testimony! You know, our testimony isn’t really what we speak in a meeting but it’s the life that we live. It’s our conduct before others – that’s our real testimony and then, the word that we speak in the meeting and the word that we speak before others can only confirm or deny what we live. The word of our testimony is precious when our testimony and our words match. And it says that another weapon of their overcoming was that they loved not their lives unto the death. Our lives are precious to us and it’s not such an easy thing to give up the witness of our own lives and the declaration of how clever we are and how popular we are, how powerful we are, just how individual we are – isn’t easy to give that up. But those who live eternally are those who love not their lives unto death. Those who are willing to deny themselves count not their lives dear unto themselves. That’s a beautiful thing and a strong thing before the Lord.

In Revelations 7:9, we read about those from every kindred and people and tongue who stood before the throne and before the Lamb clothed in white robes and palms in their hands and singing salvation to our Lord which sitteth on the throne and unto the Lamb. We’re divided now by kindreds and nations and especially by tongues, by languages. We felt that on our visit and yet there is a oneness of spirit that we appreciated. They were clothed in white robes and palms of victory in their hands and they were singing praise to God and to the Lamb. In verse 14 of chapter 7 the angel had asked John, “Who these were that were in white robes and where did they come from?” John said, “Sir, thou knowest.” And he said to me, these came out of great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. They’re before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple. He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them – This is a beautiful picture of victory – of final victory, of peace for ever and ever and ever. And that’s a place where everyone of us can one day stand, with white robes and palms and a song on our lips – an eternal song on our lips because of having washed our robes, washed them in the blood of the lamb and made them white.

We’re here today because of this precious blood and because of Him, we have the privilege of taking the emblems but I hope it will never become commonplace to us, that we’ll never take it lightly or take it for granted. It was feeding on the lamb that night that gave the children of Israel the strength to journey. They left that night, they left the land of Egypt, going out on the promises of God, and they needed, they needed, to eat that for strength and WE need to eat the body of the Lamb for strength and THEN the blood for our cleansing. We need that, don’t we, daily?

We need to cleanse our body and we need to cleanse our clothes daily and we need to cleanse our spirit and our soul and our heart and our thoughts; our motives daily in the blood of the Lamb.

We are such a privileged people and such a rich people. And it all goes back to the Lamb – goes back to the Lamb. I hope we’ll never despise the Lamb and I hope we’ll never be ashamed of Him but declare by our lips and our lives, our speech, everything about us, that we are those whose hope is in the Lamb and that we are cleansed in the blood of the Lamb.

El Rodeo, Guatemala

Octubre 6, 2005

Hello dear family,

Today is day 5 of the tropical storm “Stan” that marched westward from the Gulf of Mexico and has collided with another tropical storm that had swept in eastbound from the Pacific Ocean. These two immense weather systems are presently relentlessly slugging it out above most of Central America and deluging several countries with their torrential rain. Furthermore, we hear that yet another storm is coming our way from Venezuela…

These storms have caught tens of thousands off guard. Where I am, there are 4 rivers that unite on the outskirts of this mountainside town of El Rodeo. They have swelled into one gigantic river 1/2 mile across. I can hear the cascading, muddy torrent river’s roar over 1 mile away above the pounding rain. The roar of the river and rain on the roof is so loud I can barely hear the dog barking just outside my door.

Yesterday we went to look at the river. It rumbles by like 100 freight trains passing side by side carrying trees, cars, and homes. We can hear the grinding and thumping of huge boulders being scraped along with the current. I was amazed to see basketball size stones being hurled into the air by huge waves. The river height reached the level of the two lane bridge then the waves broke away 150 feet of the bridge which we had crossed over 4 days prior. There were at least 100 villagers gathered on a precipice just above the raging river. I admired their valor but deplored their lack of intelligence. Somewhere across the river the rains have caused an entire hill to slide down on a village of 200 homes. We don’t know how many people are buried alive and we can not get to them. Mudslides now block the roads around our town and power poles and power lines are laying on the streets which look more like streams.

We just heard on the radio that where this river joins the sea, the city there (Tapachula) has lost 2,000 homes and the mud level in the streets are now 8 feet deep. In that city a convention was held just last week. We surely think of our poor Friends there, hoping they are safe…? Pat Daniel tells me in all her 36 years laboring in Central America she has never seen anything like this!

The battery operated radio also reports there are over 2,000 storm-caused moralities and thousands more homeless throughout Central America thus far. Also today we felt an earthquake here in El Rodeo that was epi-centered in El Salvador. Wonder how many more homes have been destroyed?

The river here has destroyed the 5 bridges and a mile of road around the town of El Rodeo. These bridges would allow us to join the rest of the Central American Staff of Workers. Those Workers are across the river in Malagatan, where we were to hold a 3 day Convention starting today. Our being able to attend this Convention is now out of the question. Malagatan is also without power, phone lines are down and we are unable to communicate with them. So we wonder how it fares for them as well as they likely wonder how it fares for us?

We have been without electricity, without gas, without tap water and without phone service for 5 days now.

So, we wait and see what is our best plan. We are hoping for a road to open that would allow us passage to Guatemala City. Food in the market is nearly depleted. The only Gas station ran out of gas and is now closed. At least we are situated in a house on a hill and have a roof over our heads. There is a kind professing family (Morales) of 3 generations living here. They have a wood stove to cook on and have collected buckets of rain water to drink and wild bananas to eat! Their nephew Paulo is a lad of 10 years and he is with us too. We have no news of the whereabouts of his parents as their home is on this raging river. The poor lad is very worried and often comes to me and silently gives me a hug seeking reassurance and consolation.

I am sharing this home with 4 Sister Workers: Pat Daniels, Lucia Atienza (Spain), Noemi Utrilla, and Lesvia Gutierrez. There are 17 – 18 Friends that live on this side of the river. Since none of us can cross the river, I have suggested that if the rains let up over the weekend, we should hold our own mini Convention here. I just wish there were some more Brothers Workers to help me.

This morning I invited the 4 Sister Workers to come into my room where we held a 1 hour long Workers Mtg. I wonder if Noah, inside the Ark, had the same feelings we had while hearing the torrential rains just outside my room? I have a deeper appreciation than even before for our beautiful hymn, “All through the storm Lord I see thy face, beaming with love and with saving grace. I’ll go where Thou leadest for Thou art my friend, and I am thine till the journey’s end.”

Remember us in your prayers and with best wishes to each.

Your son, brother, fellow laborer, and friend,

John

Tune: “So Strange It Seems and Wondrous” #359

When God spake unto Noah and told him, “Build the Ark”

The Lord knew well the vessel would cheerless be and dark.

So God said, “Build a window that looks up towards the sky,

That when it’s dark and lonely, you’ll see Me standing by.”

Refrain:

The storms will come, but fear not, O Pilgrim, I am nigh,

Just keep on looking upward; you’ll see Me standing by.

It may be that affliction will rack and rend your frame,

Until your mortal body is seared with fevered flame,

But do not be discouraged; just lift your tear-dimmed eye

And through the upper window, you’ll see Me standing by.

Perhaps you’ll suffer losses, like houses, lands and gold,

And you will feel you’re homeless and penniless and old,

But sweetest peace and comfort will lift your painful sigh

When through the upper window you’ll see Me standing by.

It may be that bereavement will take a loved one dear,

A soul that brought you gladness, real happiness and cheer,

But it will cheer your sad heart when loved ones from you fly,

When through the upper window you’ll see Me standing by.

(Hymn from Ken Johnson)

On Friday, one of my little friends came up to me and said, “Sunday is the hardest day of Convention.” I asked “Why?” He said, “I have to go home and go back to school.” I was remembering the time I had to go home and to go back to school, then later when I had to go back to work. A little later going out on Sunday and into the Harvest Field not knowing who I was going to be with. Lastly, leaving Australia – we really don’t know what day it is up here. If we have the Saviour with us, we don’t need to fear the future.

Ephesians 4:17-18, “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart …” Paul was speaking to these people of the light, he was encouraging them not to forget to walk in the light. I was thinking of that little saying, “Not being past feeling.” Some people choose to be ignorant so they don’t have to do something about it, but God wants us to have a feeling for one another.

A little girl gave her testimony and said, “Help me to be kind. If I am not kind, I am the wrong kind.” We have heard about facing the future and having a child-like spirit. Someone said that’s the ABC of the Kingdom – Always Be Childlike. If we face the future child-like, we have nothing to fear. Face the future in the spirit of a little child, then we have nothing to fear. I like this feeling of kindness one with another. I like this story of the good Samaritan: he wasn’t concerned about who that man was, was he? He didn’t ask, “Why did you go anyway?” Sometimes when we are feeling half dead, people have the answers – he had the spirit of kindness for that man.

Sometimes we can be misunderstood but Jesus understands. That good Samaritan was able to understand that man had pain and was half dead – we are glad of the kindness of God. I was thinking of Abigail and her spirit of kindness – she said, “Let me take the blame.” Her spirit disarmed David and he would be glad he didn’t do something he would be sorry for after. We are thankful for those who have the kindness that they are willing to take the blame so there can be peace and prosperity in the Kingdom. We think of others who have showed us kindness and help because they aren’t past feeling. Sometimes when we want to be kind and true – it’s not always easy, is it? Life is about relationships and dealing with others. When we say something to someone we have to go through three gates, is it kind? Is it true? Is it necessary? Sometimes I think for myself I should not say so much – sometimes it can be true but not kind or necessary.

Hebrews 4:14, “Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the Heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus, the Son of God who has feelings and knows what we are going through. He is not like the priest who will just go away, He will help us. I think most of us don’t think we have a basketful – we know there will be things we don’t understand but as long as we have enough in our basket. If we want to have feeling for someone who is bearing a burden, just help them carry the load, we don’t need to know what is in the basket do we? Sometimes we can see people are bearing a heavy burden, but we don’t need to know what’s in the basket. May the law of loving kindness be with us during the year.

People in Mongolia are very kind. Ghengis Khan who was a conqueror in Mongolia said and it has been passed down, “You be kind to the stranger.” They will take a stranger into their gur (home) and offer them hospitality. We experience this, we can go anywhere over the country and we can stay in their gurs, they show such loving kindness. I asked why they were so kind, and they said if Ghengis Khan went through the country and didn’t find kindness in that gur, he would come back and destroy that gur. I long that we may go out and help the stranger, be kind one to another so God’s Kingdom can prosper.

Dear All,

We feel greatly indebted to the large number of folks around the world who have sent e-mails or phoned since the devastating earthquake in the north of the country last week. Thank you very much for your care for us here.

The quake struck at ten minutes to nine Saturday morning, measuring 7.6 at the epicenter about 100 miles north of Islamabad. A major part of those killed were children who had just gathered for the day of schooling. Schools collapsed on them giving no opportunity to escape.

The quake was felt from Kabul through to Delhi. However, Pakistan bore the brunt of the shake. Your papers will give estimates of 30,000 killed, while local papers here say the number will probably be nearer to 40,000.

None of our friends or workers suffered any loss in the quake. Beverly Walker and Dolly Inayat in Rawalpindi felt the strongest shake. Their ceiling fans were swinging so wildly that they were touching the ceiling. Our one family of friends in Islamabad suffered no damage. Babu Lal and Faheem in Peshawar saw bricks falling from the compound walls and heard dishes rattling in the cupboards. Jhelum, where we have convention, was badly shaken but the family of our sister worker, Baila, suffered no loss.

I am in the south of the country at Karachi, where we felt none of the tremors at all.

International aid and rescue teams are pouring into the country. Most of the devastation has been in the mountains where roads have been destroyed by landslides, making it very difficult for the aid organizations to reach the areas where help is needed the most. We have no friends up in those mountain areas of northern Pakistan and Kashmir.

Today, we move to a new address here in Karachi. Four of the young brothers are here to help, so we look forward to a good day working together.

Thank you once again for your care and concern.

Your brother in Christ,

Keith

In Judges 13 we read that the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord so he delivered into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

Then God decided to raise up Samson to deliver them from the Philistines. His mother was barren. It is interesting to me to notice that many times in the scriptures when a person was born for a special occasion, it was to a barren mother. I don’t know why but maybe because parents like that wouldn’t take for granted the child God gave them. Very often when people get married, they just take for granted that children will come and never think they are a gift from God. But, they are not your own – they are just entrusted to your keeping and it is a very serious thing to be bringing up children. Every child that is born in this world is a soul that will never ever die so that is why it is so serious. Samson’s parents felt very serious about bringing up this child.

God’s angel told Samson’s mother that she would bear a son who “shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines”, and he was to be consecrated to God from his birth. His hair was never to be cut because he was to be “a Nazarite from the womb”. She went to Manoah, her husband, and told him about the angel’s appearance and message. His first reaction was to pray that God would send the messenger again to them to teach them how to raise the child. God heard his prayer and sent the angel back to the woman as she sat alone in the field. She made haste and ran to get her husband. They went back to the angel together. Manoah asked the angel, “Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child and how shall we do unto him?” It is a very wonderful mark in parents when they entreat the Lord to teach them how to raise their children. It is interesting that the angel’s message was not so much how they should raise their child as it was how the parent’s themselves should be. He told them that the mother was not to drink wine or strong drink nor eat any unclean thing – and she was to observe all that was commanded her. She was to be consecrated to the Lord herself if she was to raise this child according to the Lord’s will.

In John 17:19 Jesus was praying to God about His disciples and said, “For their sakes I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” It is wonderful when parents can have this same attitude about those that are trusted to them – teaching their children to honor God and separate themselves unto Him. So, where does this begin? With the parents being separated and consecrated themselves to God. That is where it must begin.

There are very few places in the Old Testament where the Holy Spirit is mentioned but several times it is mentioned in the book of Judges and four in regard to the life of Samson. His life was definitely influenced by the Spirit. At the end of this chapter it says she bare a son and they called his name Samson and he grew and the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol. We don’t want to underestimate the influence of faithful parents but more important is that the Holy Spirit itself begins to influence the child himself. That was the case of Samson as he was sensitive to the dealings of the Spirit. He was to begin to deliver his people from the Philistines.

In the 14th chapter we read about Samson as a young man with his parents going down to Timnath. A lion roared at him and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he slew the lion as if it were a kid, with nothing in his hand, and he didn’t tell his parents what he did. He was able by the Spirit to get victory over the lion in the secret place. We don’t get very old until we realize there are unseen conflicts that we have to face in the secret places of our life. Because the Spirit of the Lord was with him, he got victory in that secret place. Later he returned to that spot and turned aside to see the carcass of the lion and there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass. He ate of the honey himself and then took some in his hands to give to his parents to eat – but he didn’t tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion. As far as we know he never told them about his victory there but from it he had sweetness for himself to enjoy and to share with others. They didn’t know the cost of the struggle behind that honey but they enjoyed it and benefited from it. Wonderful when we can have victory by God’s power in our secret life and then have blessings from it to share with others.

Later he told the riddle “Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness”. I wonder if that lion doesn’t represent our own flesh and carnal nature – it has a voracious appetite. The cry of the flesh is always, “Feed me” – as when Esau said, “Feed me”. Satisfy me and give me what I crave. One way to react to the roar of the lion or our flesh is to throw it something to eat and maybe it will go away, but it will come again and next time it will be bigger and stronger and it will take more to satisfy him than before. It is a no-win situation. The “eater” needs to be dealt with in the secret place like Samson dealt with the lion.

In Sweden we have a bird called a cuckoo. I don’t know if you have it here. It doesn’t make a nest for its eggs but lays them in another bird’s nest and then goes its way. The mother of the nest unwittingly hatches out that foreign egg which becomes a bigger and stronger bird than hers and it gets all the food so it is the one that survives and pushes the others out of the nest. So the poor mother feeds it at the expense of her own. That is how subtle our enemy is – we could be feeding desires and purposes that are foreign to God’s people and kingdom and they will get stronger and stronger. Then what really belongs in our heart and life will get pushed out by what we are feeding on.

It was extremely unusual what Samson found when he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion he had slain. It had been lying there in the sun and heat and what he would expect to find was maggots, flies and a stink. I’m sure he never expected to find the bees and honey there. It is a basic part of Jesus’ doctrine that we are to put to death our carnal members. Every day it is a battle to deny ourselves because it rises up again and returns and has to be slain again – so therefore we have to deal with it every day.

What follows death ordinarily is corruption, but not so with this spiritual death to flesh – there is a sweetness and a blessing contrary to nature.
II Cor. 2:15 and 16, “We are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: to the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life.” It seems hard to understand these verses how we could be one savor to those who are saved and another to those that are lost. But, the world sees us as a savor of death and denial and they sense that savor of death and it repels them. To those that are saved, that same spiritual death and victory in unseen conflicts has a sweet savor and it brings blessing to them. The flesh says, “Feed me”; the world says, “follow me”; and the devil says, “fall down and worship me”. That is our three-fold enemy to overcome. Satan said to Jesus, “If you will just fall down and worship me….” Sometimes the devil is a little more subtle with us and says, “Sit down and let’s just talk this thing over”. That is the way he was with Eve in the garden – it says he was more subtle than all the beasts in the field. A hunter in the woods met a bear who said to him, “Good morning Mr. Hunter, what are you doing this morning?” The hunter replied, “I am hunting for a fur coat.” The bear said, “Well, I am looking for lunch. Let’s just sit down on this log and talk about it.” So they sat down together on the log and the bear got his lunch and the hunter got his fur coat.
In the 15th chapter of Judges we see that Samson had some victories over the Philistines and the Philistines sought to take revenge by attacking Judah. Then 3,000 men of Judah who were afraid of the Philistines came to Samson and asked him why he had riled the Philistines, seeing they were under their rule. Then they said, we are come down to bind thee and deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. So, Samson said, “Swear unto me that ye will not fall upon me yourselves”. Actually they should have been his friend and on his side because he was on theirs, but they weren’t because they were defeated and just didn’t want to fight their enemy. They were submitted to them and had no desire to resist. So, they bound him with new cords and delivered him into their hands. But, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and his bands were loosed from his hands. He found a new jawbone of an ass and with it slew a thousand men. Moses spoke of one man chasing a thousand and two putting ten thousand to flight. It would be amazing enough that one would chase a thousand but that two would chase 10,000! Two would do ten times more than what one could do – that is the strength of togetherness and unity and the blessing of helping one another. However, if we must stand alone, God can be with us and God and one is a majority. What could have been accomplished if those three thousand had helped him face the enemy? But, they were resigned to be slaves and had no heart to fight. Samson had some wonderful victories because of the power of God.
Someone has said that “In every victory are hidden the seeds of defeat and in every defeat are hidden the seeds of victory.”

We read in the 16th chapter of Samson after many victories having a smashing defeat. Maybe the seeds of that defeat were found in his victories. Maybe he got self reliant in his victories. Samson gave away the secret of his great strength to Delilah and she had his hair cut off and he awoke and thought he could do as at other times, but he didn’t know that the Lord had departed from him. Always before, he could deliver himself and nobody could get the best of him because God was with him – so he thought he could do as he had done before. But, he was helpless and no match for the Philistines who put out his eyes and carried him bound into the prison house to grind grain. The Philistines likely gloated over that victory and probably Israel thought he was a goner, gone down in defeat with no hope for him. But, in that defeat were the seeds of victory. No matter how crushing and shameful the defeats, those seeds of victory were growing.

Actually, the greatest victory in his life was after that terrible defeat. He would have given thanks for the wonderful mercy and kindness of God to give him another chance. God didn’t write him off as everyone else did. In his humiliation and bondage he prayed to God to remember him and strengthen him only this once more to avenge him of the Philistines. His hair would have been growing and God wasn’t content to leave him there a goner and lost so He came to his help. The Philistines were having a victory celebration with all the big brass – all the lords of the Philistines were gathering together to rejoice and saying “Our god hath delivered Samson, our enemy into our hand.” So they called for Samson to be brought to make sport of him and they set him between the pillars and he asked the lad who led him to let him feel the pillars whereupon the house stood so that he could lean on them. The house was full of men and women and on the roof of the house were about three thousand men and women. While they were scorning him for their victory and his defeat, he was praying for God’s help and “then let me die with the Philistines.” He leaned with all his might on the pillars that supported the house and it fell on all the people that were in it. So he slew more at his death than he did in life. The secret of this victory was in his words, “Let me die”. In Revelation 12:11, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony and they loved not their lives unto the death”. I think it far more significant than I understand that if we love our life in this world, we are leaving ourselves wide open for the enemy to get an advantage of us. Jesus said that he that loveth his life shall lose it. We are so prone as humans to love and want to save ourselves – self preservation is a very strong trait. “If any man will come after me, let him take up his cross and follow me.” It is so contrary to our nature to lay aside what we are and wish to be, and just follow the Christ. We seek instead to please ourselves and see our own advantage and interest – this is so basic in our nature and the way everyone else is living, except God’s people. But, Jesus made it the requirement for the kingdom that we die to ourselves – deny yourself and take up your cross. It will be a tremendous victory for the world, flesh and devil if we don’t deny ourselves.

One of Samson’s problems was that he didn’t recognize his enemy. The Philistines he surely recognized as his enemy, but the enemy that got the best of him was the one he loved and that lay in his bosom. That was the one for whom he should have been most careful. You would think that he would have awakened after two of three times of her tricking him to try to find out his secret, but he didn’t. She finally said to him, “How can you say you love me when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me three times and have not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.” So she pressed him daily with her words and urged him so that his soul was vexed unto death and then he told her all his heart. Then she knew how to take advantage of him.

Micah 7:5 and 6 says, “Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide; keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom…for a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.” That is a dreadful thing if that is the way you have to live. Samson was to blame for putting himself in that situation to begin with but he was blind to what her motives were.

At the last convention a young woman gave her testimony after someone had spoken about God’s people having a safe harbor and a place of rest. She said she lived in a divided home with a husband that didn’t love what she did and had no time for the things of God. Her home should have been a haven but she said there was nowhere she could get alone and find quietness. I felt sorry for her because she had no refuge and no haven. “A man’s foes shall be they of his own house.” So glad for those who are together in this and have the support and comfort of those they live with who will hold up their hands. How difficult it must be for those who have it otherwise but remember that one person and God is a majority. Even if others are against us, God is for us, so be true to Him and He will be true to you.

We sang in that hymn, “If it had not been the Lord when our ruthless foes assailed, no defense would I have known – if my Lord had not prevailed.” Samson knew wonderful victories but not because he was so strong but because God was with him and he prevailed. Our only hope of strength is in the Lord. If the Lord were not with us in our battles, we would have gone down in defeat. Samson told Delilah, “I am a Nazarite and if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me and I shall become weak and be like any other man.” He knew he was no different except the Lord was with him and he would have no power at all.

Sometimes we see pictures of Samson in children’s Bible story books and they show him as a very brawny, muscular man. But I don’t think that is correct at all for he said he would be like any other man without his hair. Delilah couldn’t see why he was so strong or she would have defeated him before. It wasn’t visible to the human eye why he was so powerful, and those looking on couldn’t understand. Don’t forget that “if it weren’t for the Lord on our side, no defense would I have known.”

Sent: Tuesday, 28 December 2004 9:00:13 p.m.

My dear All, I will give you a line about our part of the land that was struck. AJ Hannah (a NZer who is working in Phuket) was being flown up to Bangkok today with her little Nakita (aged about 3yr). They have lost all. The house is just no more. It was on the beach front so took the full force of the huge wave. Good she was not home when it struck and Mike (her husband) was up in Bangkok.

Just had word from India – the workers and friends are all OK.

Sri Lanka – the workers and friends are all OK but some of the contacts coming to the meetings have lost all, it seems.

No word from Bangladesh as the workers are not there, they are at conventions in India just now.

Now about Penang – this year they were in a new place for the convention and just as well as the old place was flooded with water by the wave. It was wonderful that the friends and workers were not on the beach when it struck the convention place. Just laid the wall flat but did not reach up the hill to the convention place. The workers all saw it happening though, as it was rest time and they heard the roar of the wave coming and saw some drowned. Two fishermen on the rock just wiped off the rocks and saw three or so boats turned over and men drowned. The road, just up the road from them, there was a boat washed onto the main road and other things they are telling us about. Saw it coming, just a dark line on the horizon and, in about 15 minutes, it was there. We are thankful they are all fine, the friends and workers in Malaysia.

Amazing that that AM, Ralph Joll was speaking in the meeting about the sea, and likened it to the world and said it attracts the people and then it draws them in and then vomits them out as corpses. And in an hour or two this had happened as he had spoken. They said it was a very touching meeting.

So now we are all ready for our convention, in Chiangmai.

Just this, please, as time is scarce now.

With love from us all,

Hazel Dixon

Daniel 6:20 “Is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee?”. All will have to face that question sooner or later! It was asked of one of the “greatest secretaries of state”, who ever lived — 2,500 years ago! The greatest empire of that time! Darius – King of Medes & Persians, sovereign of the world-empire, divided into 120 provinces, each with an administrator, responsible to him. The 120 supervised by the council; of three; The first and the Chief of the council was Daniel a Jew! Daniel discharged the duties of the office with consummate wisdom and absolute fidelity and honesty that he won the confidence and love of the king, who resolved to advance him to still higher honors. The politicians envied and hated Daniel. They decided to smear him, if possible? Daniel’s public-life and record were so immaculate, they found nothing to smear. Finally, they attacked his religion! They rigged a 30-day law, bothered the king to whiplash the fraudulent legislation through government bodies and had the king sign it. They made the king the sole object of worship for 30 days. Prayer towards any other would be punished by death. They thought they had Daniel where they wanted him – Death Sentence!

Everything for Daniel focused on one question: to pray or not to pray? Could not such a man as he was, with all the spiritual capital which he had laid up in 60 years of communion with God, live 30 days without prayer? Was he so weak after more than half a century of victorious wrestling with sin and temptation that he could not exist 4 weeks if he did not pray? Daniel did not hesitate, his instant answer was, ‘Continue my praying; morning, noon and night as before’. Why could he not pray silently in a closet? No! Daniel would not compromise his testimony! He stood before all as a believer, he must continue to stand that way! If we deny Him before men, He’ll deny us before His Father. To pray would only be to lose his life! Not to pray would be to lose his soul. He opened the windows towards the Holy City and unburdened his soul. His Father heard him and his enemies too. Darius was called upon to implement the law. Daniel must be executed: we have found a man that regardeth not thee, or the decree which thou hast signed, but prayeth 3 times a day! The king blamed himself for his folly. He refused to sign the death warrant. He drove the politicians from his presence. He felt trapped. He spent the entire day with lawyers, seeking a way to extricate Daniel; the best and wisest on earth! There was no way. The law of the Medes and Persians changeth not! The pit was black; the white-haired servant of God was lowered, the slab was replaced and sealed in the king’s name. The awful deed was perpetuated. Daniel is sealed in like a corpse in a tomb. The floor is strewn with human bones. But now, in that place, eternal light brightens the death chamber like dawn! Lions are like lambs! The night Daniel spent in the death chamber must have been the highlight of his eventful life! The consciousness of having done right; the approval of God, the presence of Heaven, must have made the dreadful den, where so many wretched men had been torn to pieces and devoured, like paradise. He who wrestled with Jacob one night had now come to lock the lions’ mouths; He who had appeared to General Joshua, had come to direct Daniel; He who had walked in the fiery furnace, had come to spend the night with the statesman! What words passed between them? Ask him when you see him! Daniel enjoyed a better night than Darius. The king was tortured with remorse; His silly vanity had brought ruin and death to his closest and most trusted friend and counsellor! Marble and ivory statues and velvet hangings seemed to point and scowl and say, “You are a murderer.”! If there ever was a heaven on earth, it was the night Daniel spent in the pit. And if there was ever a hell on earth, it was the night that Darius spent in the palace. Darius clung to one hope; Daniel’s God! He had no faith in the gods of the kingdom. At break of day, the king determined to discover where the final authority lay. The answer, “My God hath sent His angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me; for as much as before Him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.” If any man felt the resurrection, Daniel felt it that morning. Satan’s den of roaring lions, seeking whom they may devour. Enemies are always on the trail of the believers! Den of doubt; God loves others but doesn’t love me. Another is tempted to lust and passion, another to vanity and ambition, etc.. Oh yes, good men and women are placed in jeopardy: “Is thy God whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee?”. In each case, may we experience, “My God hath sent his angel…”. Den of affliction; contemplate injury, disease for which there is no cure. You see leukemia, arthritis, crouched, ready to spring at you. So many pits, dens of death. No one escapes; awful for the unsaved and unprepared. Who can say at this moment; “For as before Him innocence was found in me?” For the believer, death has no sting! No bite! How can we survive? First, we must serve God continually, never on a part-time basis. The man who dies well, is the man who lives well, the man who loses well, is the man who has spent well. If we want God with us in the den, we must invite Him with us into the palace! If Daniel had been a corrupt politician, no amount of praying would have saved him from the lions!. Second, we must believe in our God. “So Daniel was taken up out of the den and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.”! Faith moved him… Hebrews 11:33, “who through faith stopped the mouth of lions’ At evening time it shall be light. Lord give us such a faith as this and then, whatever may come, we’ll taste the bliss of an eternal home! The test comes. With God’s help we shall win, following Daniel’s example …. Dare to be a Daniel! Dare to stand alone! Dare to have a purpose and dare to make it known.

This exact sermon is also in circulation with an alternate title: “Dale Spencer – Order of Resurrection – Denver, Colorado Convention”.

When the Queen of Sheba came to see Solomon and all there was away in Jerusalem, she was amazed. She said, “The half has never been told.” I was thinking of the first time I came [to Convention] in 1947, Denver, Colorado convention about the same number of people as there are here, and I was overwhelmed. I was so overwhelmed. The person that brought me left early to serve in the kitchen and I was left – everybody in the meeting got out and I did not know they had left. I thought a steam roller had run over me. I was overwhelmed. I said to myself, after looking for 12 years, hunting for God, going, going again, and coming into God’s people for the first time in my life and seeing what I saw. You do not know what your testimonies mean. I said, “These people know God.” They are speaking from their hearts. My friends had theories about God, but these people know God and these are the true Servants of God. They’re going like Jesus. That is what I felt when I came amongst God’s people.

I wonder how the Queen of Sheba felt? It says when the Queen of Sheba had seen all the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her. I can relate to that experience. It is wonderful to come out of the things of the world and come and sit together for a few quiet hours in a place like this where God is present, and we are thankful for this experience.

When I set foot on the grounds here, my first thought was, “There is order in this place.” There is order. I have been speaking about order. We have been hearing a lot about order. I think I will try to finish what I was trying to say the other day, when we were hearing about the home, the order of life, the ministry, the order of His service on Sunday morning, that perfect order of God. We heard about the order of salvation, how you came to know the Lord and we are looking at the scriptures for all these things. I said I would like to speak to you about the order of the resurrection.

15 Chapter 1 Corinthians, we will take a little look at the other order I had in mind. Verse 22, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming.” Only those in Christ. Every man in his own order. Now we are going to talk about God’s perfect order in the resurrection. Maybe a little later in the meeting we will talk about some other things God has planned in His perfect order. As for God, His way is perfect, His perfect order, and that is what we are experiencing when we gather at a place like this in His presence. Every man in His own order, in His presence. Every man in his own order, Christ the first-fruits, afterwards they that are Christ’s at His coming. “24Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. 26The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27For He hath put all things under His feet. But when He saith all things are put under Him, it is manifest that He is excepted, which did put all things under Him.

Christ the first-fruits. We were hearing about the resurrection. Here is what I am thinking about. Christ the first-fruits. How can Christ be the first-fruits from the dead when He raised three people Himself from the dead, and there were others before that? How can He be the first-fruits from the dead? There is no ministry about that. When Jesus raised Lazarus, they had to roll away the stone. The stone was rolled away by the Angel for Jesus’ resurrection. They didn’t have to remove the grave clothes from Jesus. But from Lazarus, He said, “Take away the grave clothes.” When he was raised from the dead the grave clothes were bound about him. With Jesus, they were in the grave. Jesus raised them from natural death to natural life. But when He arose, He arose the first fruits into eternal life. Jesus arose in His resurrection body, didn’t He? The napkin about His face was still lying there. He came out of the clothes and there they were. He was the first-fruits from the dead, and the first one in His resurrection body. The first resurrection.

Who is next? Every man in his own order. Afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming. They that are Christ’s at His coming. There is a meeting (it hasn’t happened yet,) when that last trump shall sound and the dead in Christ shall meet in the air and the living shall be changed and how quickly shall they all be changed! The living will be changed in a moment – as quick as you can blink an eye. This corruptible will become incorruptible, this mortality will be immortal. It is the coming prince. At the sound of the last trump this resurrection will come and the sons of God whose names have been written in the book, those who have been sealed with the Holy Spirit for the day of their redemption when the Lord calls His people to be with Himself. Then the second time there will be a resurrection. The second time, and then it goes on and that is only talking about His children here, because there were a lot of other things in between. “Then cometh the end when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father. 4So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”

There is a day coming when there will be no more death. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. That day is coming and He is talking here about a future day when He will turn over himself and His Kingdom to the father, even unto God. You believe those words in the Bible? I think you do. No man has seen God at any time. Do you believe that? No man has seen God at any time. Jesus said that Himself. “No man hath seen My Father at any time. I came from my Father. The words that I speak unto you are not My own words, they are the words of My Father. I came to declare Him. I gave you all these things, but no man has seen God.”

Why is it in the Book of Isaiah it says a little child will be born, but He shall be called Almighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace? Jesus had those names. God was with Jesus. He had those names. He was called and for us all power was given unto Him. He has come, sent from the Father, and no man has seen the Father at any time but the day will come when Jesus will turn over Himself and His bride to the Father one day and the saints will see God. That is the order of the resurrection. That’s God’s divine plan.

First, there is Jesus rising from the dead 2,000 years ago. Those who are His at His coming at the sound of the last trump, we do not know when, and then He turns over His kingdom to His Father. That is the plan of God.

I would like to read the next two or three verses with you. We’re still in 1 Corinthians 15. “25For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. 26The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27For He hath put all things under His feet. But when He saith all things are put under Him, it is manifest that He is excepted, which did put all things under Him. 28And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.”

I have asked some people on occasions to put away their pronouns, the man and the “is” in these two verses to read Christ’s and God. He was talking with Christ or God. I have asked people to put the proper name in instead of pronoun, but what a muddle they come up with! They just could not read it. It is Paul’s writing and it is a bit difficult to come up with it. I am going to do that for you. If you understand what we are trying to do, you can do it yourself. You might have a little trouble reading those two verses and putting the right name in the right place. I will do it for you.

God hath put all things under Jesus’ feet. “All power is given unto Him in Heaven and Earth,” Jesus said. When God saith all things are put under Him (under Jesus), it is manifest that He is accepted. Who is accepted? Everything in creation is under the feet of Jesus except the Father. Do you see that? He that put all things under His feet is accepted. Not God. Jesus always saith in His prayer, “I do always those things that please the Father.” He always did the things that showed His Father’s will. When all things will be subjected unto Him. When Jesus has put everything under His feet, then shall the Son Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him. Unto God, who gave Him all power and put all things under His feet.

Maybe you think that is a bit tedious, and maybe it is. When He simply said, “One day, I am going to turn the Kingdom over to the Father that God may be all in all.”

What I want to do this morning for a little while is take a little look at a parable in 19 Chapter Luke. I found this parable very interesting in connection with God’s eternal plan and God’s eternal order and maybe we can follow it up for the rest of the time this morning. Luke 19:11, some of the details it gives in God’s eternal plan and the order it shows. It is the parable of the nobleman and we can start with verse 11. Not often when a parable is told before it is told, the Lord tells us why He is telling it. Usually after He gives the parable and gives the meaning and tells us why He has told it. This parable, He tells us why He tells us before He tells it. He told it because they thought the Kingdom of God would immediately appear. The Jews knew there was a good bit said about the Kingdom of God and the return of the Lord, but they didn’t know there were two comings. They didn’t know Jesus was going to be coming back a little later on, and going into Jerusalem on a colt, the King of Israel. People thought there was going to be a great white horse and be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and He is, but that is when He comes again. That is how He is coming then. They had the two comings mixed up. They thought the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ would come at that time if He was the Messiah. They didn’t know His coming was the New Testament Church. He told them the parable of a certain nobleman coming into a far country, etc. They said, “We will not have this man to reign over us.”

There is quite a bit in this parable (more than what meets the eye) to the casual reader. Son of the King that was sent from a far country. He came from Heaven where did he come to? He went to the earth. He said He is going to return. He is going to return to His Father. You know very well the events of His return. How long was he in the world preaching? How long did he live? 33½ years. He lived until He ascended and He arose again on the third day. Three nights in the grave, and then He was seen by His children. How many times? He was seen 11 times during the 40 days. He was seen on all these occasions from time to time for forty days. The last time He was seen by His apostles, the eleven. Jesus has gone now. He was with the eleven, out on the Mount of Olives and the day of ascension came forty days after His resurrection and He was taken up. Can you blame those apostles with their mouths open and looking up into Heaven and wondering where did our Lord go? He was standing here and there He goes. Taken up into Heaven in a cloud. Two angels appeared and said, “Why do you stand there gazing up into Heaven?” He went back to His Father to sit down on the right hand on his throne in Heaven, and He is waiting there until the day of the last trump. He said, “I do not know when that day is, only My Father.” He is waiting for the day, and we are waiting for the day when that trumpet will sound and the dead in Christ will rise first and then those that are living will meet Him in the air. We are filling in a few of the blanks from the parts of the scripture. They didn’t understand there was a second coming, and they were looking for these later things in the first coming. He tells them there when He would return. He returned to the Father.

What I like about this parable, it tells us about the past, about the present, and a little about the future. Everybody would like to know about the future. And it does tell us a few things and we will see how we get along in the little time we have.

He came, and He went back to His Father. The present he gave unto His servants. He gave them all the same thing. One pound. I don’t know, some might fall out with me if I tell you what the One pound is like. Something everyone of God’s children all have. They are a gift. One pound. I do not think this was talking about a preacher service, I think it was talking about His children. He gives them all one pound, and He tells them, “Occupy till I come.”

I was in an occupation army once. I was a soldier in Japan for a year and a half and we were trying to revitalize that country, and I think, in a way, we helped. I was there from the beginning of the occupation. I know what it is to occupy as a stranger in another land. God’s servants are strangers in their own land. We are here and we are strangers here and the world thinks we are awful strange, and they say, “Oh, you people think you are the only ones in the whole world that are right.” They get muddied down, don’t they? You think you are the only ones that are right. You think you are the only one in the world that is right. I don’t think God’s people say that. I ask them, “Did I say that?” They say, “No, but you hinted at it.” We are not talking about MY way. This is not your way at all. It is God’s way. We are not talking about our way. They say, “You think your way is the only way there is. The only right way.” All our people think that Jesus is the way, and the only way, and He is the Truth and He is the only One and we want to be His disciples. We want to be the disciple of this One that we believe is the true way of God. Jesus the Son who came down as this Nobleman to establish a Kingdom and He has called us by name, brought us into His family and we are a part of this Kingdom. Is His Kingdom territorial? Is He seeking land? Cities? Money? No. He is seeking souls. I am come to seek and save all who are lost. His Kingdom is not based on any territorial claims at all, but upon the whole world. It is not who knows you. Think on this day that around the whole world God’s true children are gathering together in their homes to meet together and break bread. We won’t do that this morning, but if we were in a little home meeting, we would be breaking those emblems.

He gives out one pound, and he comes back. Verse 15, “And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. And he said unto him, ‘Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.’ And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.’ And he said likewise to him, ‘Be thou also over five cities.’ And another came, saying, ‘Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.’ And he saith unto him, ‘Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?’ And he said unto them that stood by, ‘Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.’ (And they said unto him, ‘Lord, he hath ten pounds.’) For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. But those Mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before Me.“

Did he come before or after He had received the Kingdom? What did He say? When did He receive the Kingdom, before He came or after He came? He came again after He had received the Kingdom. What does that mean, having received the Kingdom? It is simply the first resurrection is passed and His family, His bride, His Kingdom eternal from the foundation of the world. The Kingdom that He loved and died for, laboured for, brought into existence, He has brought that Kingdom together. Before He returns, He is going to recover that Kingdom unto Himself and that is the first resurrection. That is when he recovers that Kingdom unto Himself and with His Kingdom, then the day comes when He returns with power and great glory with the angels of Heaven and with the saints of God and He returns.

What about the rewards? When does Jesus pass out the rewards? We all like rewards, don’t we? Some people think, “I am going to get a book reward, I am worthy of it!” Now He calls them and here is what He said, “How much have you gained by trading?” “My pound has gained ten pounds.” “Well done, you are going to be ruler over ten cities.” The second came saying, “I have gained five pounds.” “Likewise, you will be ruler over five cities.” He came to the third and said, “What did you do with your pound?” “I hid it in the ground and here it is.” That third one was a man who had received what the others had received. The Lord had dealt kindly with him, but he had done nothing with his pound but buried it in the earth.

How do we trade? Can you think of things you trade for more valuable things? You can trade your time for God’s time. You can trade your substance for treasure in heaven if you know how to lay it up and use it in the Kingdom. There are many things. You can trade your mind for the mind of Christ. This is knowing about scriptural things. I am not going to make a list and you can trade for things you have naturally for your own spiritual benefit and have treasure in Heaven that will be yours for all eternity and He is going to judge us according to our works and what we have done.

Revelation 22/12, last chapter in the Bible tells us when He is going to come and what He is going to give as rewards. And (Jesus speaking), “Behold I come quickly and my reward is with Me. At that time, when I come, it is with Me. I give to every man according as his work shall be.” Does your Bible say “shall be” or just mine? “Your reward shall be with Me.” What does this mean? I thought He got rewarded for the works that had been done? When He is talking about works, works that shall be. He is talking to the servants. They had done trading and He was rewarding them for their trading, and when He came, He said, “You will be over ten cities and five cities and that will be your reward.” Do you think there will be any labour in looking after ten cities? One man said that sounds like hard work – “I don’t want that reward” and he probably won’t get it, either! There is a Kingdom coming. There is a millennium kingdom. Millennium means 1,000 years in Greek. If you are talking about 100 years, you are talking about a century. If you are talking about a decade, you are talking about 10 years.

We are going to turn to Revelation. The Bible says there is going to be a Kingdom after this world that is going to be on earth for 1,000 years and the Lord Himself shall be the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and His Children, His saints shall be the rulers. I do not make that up. Revelation 20, that is who had part in the first resurrection. Those are who He is talking about. “I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.”

Some headless wonders! Oh no, The Lord will give His children a new body. If the head has been taken off, maybe you will get a better one! It says those who were beheaded for the witness of God that didn’t worship the beast, etc… And they lived and reigned with Christ 1,000 years.

People say Christ is the bridegroom of the Church. He is not the bridegroom of the Church, the marriage hasn’t come yet. He is only the espoused bridegroom and the espoused bride. Paul said, “I have espoused you, He is not yet the King of Kings.” But He will be when He comes and conquers. One day He will be the King of Kings and He will rule the whole world. The only King in all the world. The only potentate, and that will be Jesus. His children will have the authority and rule with Him. They loved and reigned with Christ 1,000 years.

Verse 5, the rest of the dead lived not again until the 1,000 years were finished and then He talked about the first resurrection. We are talking about the first resurrection. Then who went to meet Him? Those that the second death have no power over, but they will be priests together and reign with Him 1,000 years. That is what is going to happen to the saints. There will be other people here who were not destroyed, but they will rule and reign for 1,000 years with Christ.

What is the marriage? The marriage was not salvation. The first resurrection they were taken up and there was the waiting spirit and there was the marriage and the bride that was to be forever with Him. Those that were worthy at His coming were caught up to Him in the air. If they had been killed, or their heads taken off or shot or killed or whatever, they are going to have a new body like unto His body at His appearing. Do you like that? A new resurrection body, those who have part. And, friends, is it worthwhile? Those who have part in the first resurrection. If we miss this, we miss it all.

5 “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” They lived again until the 1,000 years was expired. So what of the dead? They lived not again until the thousand years was expired. I will tell you who they are. They were people who had not bowed their knee, they had no part in the first resurrection and they were still in the graves and they stayed in the grave another thousand years because they were the unsaved dead.

What is paradise and what is hell? The thief on the cross was told, “Today thou shall be with Me in paradise.” That is where the departed souls go to paradise, waiting for the first resurrection. Where do the rest of the world go? To hell. The rich man lifted up his eyes in hell being in torment. The rest of the dead must be regarded as every other boy, girl, man, woman that was ever born, who were never born again and they were not in the first resurrection and they were not in the Kingdom. They had missed it. The door was shut, and they missed it. The foolish virgins. The rest of the dead live in the graves. There is no death to the soul. Your soul will go at death. The moment a spirit departs from you, you are alive in your spirit. Your body goes to the dust from whence it came. Your spirit goes to the God who gave it. You either go to paradise or the other place where the rich man went – to hell in torment. You say hell and paradise is the end of it. It is not. Those that were raised up, the rest of the dead, they went to the great white throne of judgment and the Lord looked into the book of Life to see if their name was written there, and if their life was not written there, they are cast into the lake of fire which is the second death and that is the destiny of the unsaved. It says death and hell gave up the dead that were in them. Paradise is omitted at the first resurrection. Believe me, no more paradise. It is for the souls that are waiting under the altar. Hell is the place where the unsaved will be the next 1,000 years, and they will be cast into the lake of fire and that is the second death. They will be there for all eternity.

The sea gave up the dead that was in it, etc. This little parable Jesus is telling and how does it end up? I have to go back to the chapter and we will finish it in a couple of seconds here. He took that from the man that had buried his token in the earth, that is his pound, and then he said, “Those who hath, to him shall be given, and whomsoever hath not, from him shall be taken and even him that seemeth to have.” It means that He did not have what? I think, now pardon me, I do not usually say what I think. I think it is the one thing that Jesus Christ gives to all His Saints. The coin that didn’t increase was the man who didn’t have the Spirit of Christ. The wise virgins had the oil. The foolish didn’t. Whosoever hath shall be given and who hath not to him shall be taken. The one man lost what he had and the others received their rewards and they ruled and reigned with Christ in the millennium reign with Christ.

Verse 27 closes the parable. “But those Mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before Me.” This just a little better outlines what the Lord is going to do in His Kingdom. He came the first time and He came the second time and then there is the eternal Kingdom and then He is going to bring judgment. He said, “The Lord is not going to reign over me.” Who was that in reality? It was the Jews. The Kingdom of Israel. And those people died, and they will not have this man to rule over us – put Him on the cross. Crucify Him. Those who said we will not have this man – the Jews, and not the only ones. And I know people in this world saying the Lord Jesus is not going to reign or rule over me and maybe some in this meeting are saying, “I am not going to let the Lord rule over me.” You can keep your own life to your own destruction. One day we will be raised up before the nobleman and stand before Him. Then he will ask, “Did you ever confess me? Did you ever value me? Ever deny me? One day you will confess, and you will, too.” The saints who had already professed and they had already confessed, they were with the Lord and the second death had no power over them. But the unsaved were cast into the lake of fire. If you cannot rule over us, slay them before my eyes. He cast them into the lake of fire which was the second death.

One more verse, 21 Chapter Revelations, “1And 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. 2And, I, John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; 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.’”

We read about the new Jerusalem coming down unto God in the new Heaven and new Earth wherein dwelleth righteousness and there they are with God Himself. Jesus one day will introduce His children to His Father and thus they will ever be with God and He shall be all in all at this time. I have enjoyed these things.

Hymn 370, “Till Breaking of the Day”

I Corinthians 12:18 and 27, God has placed Him in each body. Each member for its own place for a function.

God does the calling and we do the following. He does the choosing and we do the filling.

Keep our place and know how to fill it. But, accept our place first. If we learn how to love and to accept God’s place He set for us, we’ll know how to give it. We will learn to love it more and keep it. “Calmly fill our place (a song).”

Prayer is our connecting link. Getting into the presence of God.

Genesis 12 (Abraham), “Get thee out of thy country unto a land I will show thee.” Abraham knew that was not God’s desire to stay.

22nd chapter, take thy only son on a mountain and sacrifice him. Abraham chose to be there. Abraham prayed to God and knew…and had that relationship with God.

Philippians 2:3, don’t degrade our self to lift up someone else. But, behold the “marks of Christ” in others and don’t appreciate it and want it for our self. Don’t take a selfish ambition. This is vain and not right.

Accept the place that God wants you to fill. God will be able to bless you even more after you know your place. If God wants us at a place, He will put us there.

Desiring someone else’s place is sometimes finding fault in the other place. Forget thyself!

Luke 24:5, the two women went out and told others that He is alive. “Christ didn’t leave anything for us to hold in our hand, or anything that we can fight about nor an inheritance.. He left an influence that was safe.” Be more like Christ is how we can show others.

God offers us liberty and peace in our lives. The wonderful power of God.

Mark 9:14-29 (especially 23-24). The last chapter of Mark struggles with hardness of heart. The mountain can be dealt with – with believing.

Matthew 14, Jesus deals with people and their unbeliefs…if you, I, we believe. A wrong spirit can cause you to fall, cry out, etc.

Pining away – wasting away and doing nothing profitable for eternity…not for life, but for eternity. Believing and obedience takes care of anger. Dying or fasting to ourself – because we need God’s help and we need to let Him take control.

Deny thyself. Believe. What God is telling me, showing me – He can give us miracles.

Sometimes we find it hard to get ready for a meeting. Sometimes you get to thinking about two different unrelated thoughts, and you wonder which one you should speak on, and which one will win. The subject that I didn’t want to speak about is the only one that I could have peace with, so I guess we’re going to speak about it. I don’t speak about it very often, partly because somehow it is negative. It is about the devil. I’d just like to read a verse about the devil.

Some of the pictures I was looking at in the Bible are five different animals that sort of depict different sides of the devil. So for a little while we’ll speak about the devil. We heard very nicely this morning about the angels, and maybe for the children here, we could just say that angels are good, and devils are of the same kingdom, but they’re bad. So we are going to go to the other side of the spectrum for a little while and we’ll try to talk a little bit about devils and their character.

First a little verse in II Corinthians 2:11, “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” That’s why I have been thinking about these different animals that are pictures of the devil. This verse that we just read, which I keep coming back to, talks about his devices. Your American government has done a lot these last few years and has been pumping millions and millions of dollars into trying to figure out some of the devices of the enemy. We’re talking about Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. They have spent millions trying to figure out where they are going to come from next.

Maybe it’s good for us to just think a little bit about some of his devices that we will come up against, that are against our souls. I suppose like the angels, like we heard this morning, maybe we hardly believe that they’re real. Maybe when you think about the devil, you may wonder in your mind if they are real. He would like for you to think that he is not real. There is a title that is attributed to God, and it is “I AM.” The devil would like you to think that his title is “I AM NOT,” and that he’s not real.

I have been told that 46% of the graduates from seminaries don’t believe that there is a devil, and that’s the way he wants them to believe, too. When we think about these angels, we know that the devil is of the same kingdom as the angels. Angels are just a part of God’s creation. That tells you something right there, that they are just a very small part. You think of the greatness of God’s creation, the angels are the greatest, but they are just a small part of God’s creation. That’s something for us to remember today, too, that the devil, as far as God is concerned, is just a speck, just a very small part.

Maybe you have a question in your mind, Why is there a devil? And where did he come from? Before we look at these animals, we could just look at some verses to help us to know where he came from, and why he is. Some may even wonder why God would allow such a thing. Maybe we could just help you to understand some of those things just a little bit. There is a lot in Revelation 12. I don’t pretend to be an authority about this, but we’ll read some of the verses in Revelation 12 that will help you to understand.

Verse 3, ”And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.”

Verse 7, “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought, and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

Part of verse 12, “for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”

Verse 17, “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

So we see that the devil was an angel, and the devil got out of his place. We read about this conflict, and the conflict started in heaven. Satan was cast out and he came down to earth.

Let’s say that I wanted to get at one of you parents. The best way for me to get at one of you parents is to go after one of your children. That’s kind of where we’re at in this battle, this warfare. Satan has it in for God. So his way to get at God is through you and me. So we are in a conflict that is real, and it is directed partly at us.

We’ll read another little verse in Isaiah 14 that helps us to understand why Satan was cast out of heaven. This pretty well describes it. Verse 12, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.’ Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”

These verses help us to understand the attitude that the devil has, and it helps us to understand that God didn’t make the devil. He made himself. He rose up out of his place. He wanted to exalt himself above heaven, he even wanted to take the Lord’s place.

We can bring this a little bit closer to home. If we get out of our place in God’s family, we could make a devil out of ourselves. Sometimes when little children get out of place they are called little devils. Even as younger workers, we could just get out of our place, and we have just done that to ourselves. This should help us to understand that the devil is self-made and that the conflict is against God, but we’re caught up in the middle of it.

One of the little verses that we read out of Revelation 12, just says that he is very angry and that he knows that his time is short. There are not many conflicts where the conclusion is already known before the battle is over. It’s a foregone conclusion that he has already lost. Maybe at the end of the meeting, we will read a verse that says it is already a foregone conclusion. The end is already predicted. It’s like it has already happened. He knows that his time is short, so to get at the children, he knows he has to work hard and fast.

This chapter that we read mentions the great dragon. I don’t know what you think about when you think about a dragon, but I think about something that is very big, very powerful, and very cruel. There is something that Satan is out there to deceive, real sophisticated things like marriage break-ups, and young teenage lives just getting ruined in this world. He loves that. He loves to see conflict in the church. He loves to see people get discouraged and lose out on the truth. He helps them to get discouraged.

One time, in my first year in the work, I went to visit an old lady that I had met with in the little church that I went to before I went into the work. This lady was lying in the hospital with a broken hip, and she was near the end. Her life was there, but it was just skin and bones and a broken hip.

She said to me that day, “You know, the enemy is telling me, ‘You’re just lying here in pain, and you can’t do anything anymore, and your life is just horrible, you’re of no more help to anybody, why don’t you just give in? Why don’t you just throw in the towel?’” That’s what that lady said to me.

I thought, “How true.” That’s the kind of enemy that we have, that would pick on someone so old, and so feeble, and so in pain, and try to discourage her right at the end of life. And sometimes people who are just stepping into eternity, they’ll get a little moment of torment from this enemy, telling them that they’re not going to make it. You may have heard stories like that. That’s just how sadistic the great dragon is.

Another animal that describes the devil is “the serpent.” I’ll just read a verse about the serpent from II Corinthians 11:3, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

The serpent came to Eve in a very charismatic way, just for a nice little visit with Eve about God’s word. You know how they twist, and they turn, and that is exactly what the serpent does with God’s word. He just puts a little twist on it. He put a little question mark in Eve’s mind about God’s word. And if God really meant what He said.

That is exactly what he would like to do to you. He puts a little twist on God’s word. God doesn’t really mean what He said. He’ll twist it so badly that he’ll make, as we had in our studies not long ago, he’ll make evil look good, and he’ll make good look evil.

Like what is called some of the alternate lifestyles in the world today. Now in the religious world today, they put a little twist to that, which makes something that is so evil, almost look holy. That’s the serpent. He twists and he turns.

There is something about the serpent’s poison, it just hits people, and they can’t get rid of it real easily. Think of wrong spirits, and you think of wrong doctrines. And that gets injected into people, and you think, “Why can’t they just forget about it?” You know it’s just not that easy. It’s like a snake bite. It doesn’t always kill people, but it will make them very, very sick.

There is an account of a serpent in Acts 28. It’s just a little story about a serpent. You remember that people were standing around a fire, and Paul was among them. Verse 3, says, “There came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.” And it says that everyone was looking at Paul and thought that he would fall dead. And we read about Paul and it says that he shook that serpent into the fire, it calls it a viper. It says that Paul shook it into the fire and it caused him no harm. Paul could have thought, “I can probably handle it,” but even Paul didn’t play with the serpent naturally, and he certainly wouldn’t do it spiritually either. If you think about a wrong spirit, that’s the best thing to do, just shake it into the fire.

I remember a man over in Australia. He had a big sheep ranch. We were driving around on his ranch with him, and he saw one of these brown snakes, and they are a whole lot more poisonous than your rattlesnakes. He saw it going across the paddock, so he chased after it. He let it go through the fence, and then he grabbed it by the tail. He swung it around, he kind of windmilled it, and then swung it on the ground and he killed it. But you know he did something very, very dangerous. His wife found out what he had done. She wasn’t happy with him, because he played with a viper, he played with a very poisonous snake. He played with something that could have killed him. He was showing off for the tourists, but it wasn’t wise.

I have seen people that are not doing very well in God’s way. I’ll tell you the reason why. It’s because they have gotten very close to some other people who have the wrong doctrine. Some of that doctrine has gone into them. It hasn’t killed them. They are still coming to meeting, but there is not much joy there anymore. You can tell that the serpent’s poison has gotten into them. They have the wrong spirit. So we never want to think that we are a little bit stronger than anybody else, that we can play with the serpent, and with poison.

Maybe we’ll take a little look at the lion. There is a little verse about the lion in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”

His approach is just a little bit different. It says that the lion is a roaring lion. I understand that the lion roars to paralyze his prey with fear, so they’ll give up without even running. They’ll give up without even fighting because they are just paralyzed with fear.

I wonder if you have heard the roar of the lion. I didn’t get a very early start in this work, and part of the reason is that I listened to the lion’s roar. Part of his roar is, “You can’t do this. You can’t do it, so why would you even try?”

I think that we come across people who haven’t made their choice, or maybe go to meetings but don’t take part, because they listen to the lion. The lion is roaring, and he is telling them, “Don’t even try, you can’t do it.”

I was just thinking a little bit about Peter, just before the crucifixion. He was hanging around, warming himself, and the little maid said to him, “You’re one of them.” It was like the lion that roared, and it paralyzed him with fear. And he just kind of crumbled under that.

There’s an interesting little proverb in Proverbs 22:13. It says, “The slothful man saith, ‘There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.’” A slothful man is just a lazy man and everywhere he looks, he sees a lion, so he’s afraid to move.

I love to think of men like David, who went out and was in God’s will. A lion took a little lamb out of the flock, so he stood up to it, and with God’s power on his side, he just proved that a lion is nothing. The same thing with Daniel when he was in the lion’s den. We heard this morning that an angel came and he just closed the mouth of the lion. With God on our side, the lion is nothing. Samson was another one who encountered a lion, and it was really nothing, because with God’s help a lion is nothing.

We would want to respect a lion. As someone said, we would not want to just get into the cage with him, and at the same time, we wouldn’t want him to just paralyze us with fear. As long as we walk in God’s will, like David and Samson and Daniel, then we’re not going to say that there’s a lion in the streets, and I’m not going to make a move. That’s the only safe place when we are in the center of God’s will.

Then we’ll talk a little bit about the wolf. That’s another animal that’s compared to the devil. There’s a little about the wolf in Matthew 7:15. It just says, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits.”

This is something we don’t see in real life, in natural life, that a wolf is dressed up like a sheep. That would be hard to figure out, wouldn’t it? But that is the way he wants it to be. Someone said one time, “If you’re wondering if it’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing, just give it a poke, and you’ll know by its reaction if it’s a wolf.”

You’ll also notice by its diet, what it’s eating. We know that the wolf is a flesh eater, and I suppose that the more of the flesh that we have showing, the bigger target we make of ourselves, don’t we?

There’s a little verse about the wolf in Acts 20. There is some advice that Paul was giving to a group of elders in verse 28, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.”

So it says that one of the things that the wolf will do is, he will draw away disciples after him. I remember a man telling us not too long ago about their dog. It was a nice dog. They lived away up north near Alaska, where the wolves are. This dog kind of got lured away by the wolves. The wolves kind of just played with the dog, and lured him into the woods. Once they got him out there, they tore the dog into pieces.

This verse is a little bit different because it says that some of these wolves are among us. A lot of times we think maybe the pressure comes from outside of the Kingdom, but this one looks like it is just a little bit different. Some of this we can even expect to come from inside the Kingdom.

The thing about the wolf is that the ones that they will attack are the ones that are on the fringes, they are the weak ones, the ones that are a little bit sickly, and the ones that are hanging back a little bit. The ones that are on the edge. That’s why we need to just ask ourselves, “Where am I? Am I right in the center of the flock? Am I as close to the Shepherd as I can be?” The safest place from the wolf is to be within the radius of the Shepherd’s voice. That’s the safest place to be. We are the most susceptible to the wolf when we’re on the fringe. So it’s good for us just to ask where we are.

A brother worker was telling us a while ago about driving along the highway. They came to a flock of sheep being moved, and what he noticed was that in their moving and confusion and a car going through the flock, a ewe got kind of confused and turned around and she was running exactly in the wrong direction. The flock was moving this way and the ewe was running the other way. It was confused. But right beside it was this little lamb, they were both going the wrong way. He said that they drove over the knoll, and they noticed the wolf hiding, coming to meet them. It would have had that ewe and that little lamb. They didn’t stick around to see how that happened, how that turned out, but I would venture to guess that the ewe would probably have been able to escape, but I think that the little lamb would have gotten it.

Sometimes storms can come through the Kingdom, can’t they? Things can happen that could maybe make a person just a little bit confused, and could make you run the wrong way. I think especially about our parents that are here, and your little lambs that are with you. If you just make a little trip, a little journey in the wrong direction. You might escape, but you might not bring your little lambs back to the Kingdom again. It’s very sad to see parents leave the fellowship and take the little ones with them because we know that maybe someday those parents could get straightened around, but they probably won’t bring their little lambs back because the wolf, the wolves are there for them.

One other animal is the fowl. When Jesus spoke the parable about the sower and the seed, there was one condition of the soil that the fowls enjoyed. I’ll just read it out of Mark 4:4, “And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.” Verse 15, an explanation to this, “And these are they by the wayside, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.”

Today you have had a few hours of meetings. He doesn’t care that you’re here, but he does care if you take something home from this meeting or this day. He doesn’t want you to take anything with you. He wants to take it from you before you get home.

Maybe a little test that you can give yourself. It has happened to me. You’ll sit in meeting, and someone will say, “What did so and so share in the meeting today? What did so and so speak about?” And you’ll say, “Well, yes, that was a really good meeting. We had a very good special meeting today. I really enjoyed the messages. They spoke on.. (your testimony, I think it was). It was really good.” And you feel really bad, don’t you? And you wonder if the fowls didn’t get it. The reason for that is that the soil was hard.

I grew up on a farm, and the last years that I was there, my job in the springtime was planting the seed, and it was quite usual that the fowls, a big flock of them, would just follow the seed. They would watch for an opportunity, they would watch for any time that there was a little trail in the field, and the seed couldn’t penetrate, and they would go to those spots and there wouldn’t be any seed in there. It’s just a little warning to us that if there is just a little hardness in our heart, we’ll probably leave the meeting and not retain very much, because Satan, just like the fowls of the air, has taken it from us.

I was thinking a little bit about Abraham in Genesis 15. It talks about a time when he had a sacrifice all prepared, to offer unto the Lord. In verse 11 it says, “And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away.” It just seems like here he had his offering to the Lord all ready to go, and the fowls were going to take it away, take it off the altar.

Maybe that’s a little picture of our offering, we want to lay it down. We want it to be completely used by the Lord. But then there are just a lot of, maybe we could say birds, like pride, unwillingness, and unforgiveness, almost like different kinds of birds.

I remember when we were in Australia, some of the birds that the farmers were getting rid of. They were just really pretty. Parrots. They were such nice birds. There could be things that would rob our sacrifice, kind of like a nice bird, but the result is that they could affect our sacrifice. They could take it off of the altar.

This isn’t an animal, but another name for the devil. He is a liar. I’ll just read you one verse about the liar. John 8:44, Jesus said, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer (that’s another name for him) from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

Sometimes we hear parts of the Scripture quoted. There is a little sign, you often see on billboards, and it says that the blood of Jesus cleanses you from all sin. That’s true, but it’s only part. I think that maybe that is one of the devil’s cleverest tactics, devices, just to quote all the promises in God’s word, but not the conditions. You know that the first part of that verse starts with But if. “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, then we will have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus will cleanse us.”

Sometimes we sit in one of those places, and the minister wants to drill this point into everyone, that Jesus did it all. There isn’t a thing that you can do. You are even presumptuous to think that there is anything that you can do. This is a doctrine that everyone wants to hear. They don’t want to hear anything about repenting, or believing, or forgiving, or loving. That’s all works. They love to hear that there’s nothing for you to do. Jesus did it all. But that’s a lie. When you only have part of the truth you only have a lie, and that’s one of Satan’s devices.

We heard a little this morning about Matthew 4, and in that chapter, the devil is called the tempter. We have a hymn that says, “The tempter now accusing.” So once the devil has tempted you, then the next thing that he will be doing is accusing you. He is the accuser.

I like the way that chapter starts. It says that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The Spirit led Jesus and then He was tempted. I hope that none of us ever think that we can just lead ourselves into the possibility of temptation and pull out of it. We won’t. Jesus was led by the Spirit. When the Spirit led Jesus through that temptation He had God’s power, of course. That’s why He never yielded to the temptation.

Like we heard this morning, the temptation was, number one, just feed the flesh. He didn’t yield to that. Another temptation was to jump off the pinnacle of the temple and just take a chance. God will look after you. Take a chance, and God will provide. And maybe the third temptation was, just to be short-sighted, just live for today. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Just look for glory today, and don’t worry about tomorrow. And if Jesus had [sinned], like we heard this morning, we wouldn’t be here today.

As soon as we fall into temptation, then we see the other side, that he is going to be the accuser. One of those verses in Revelation that we read first. I guess we didn’t read it, but in that chapter, it talks about the accuser, and overcoming the accuser. It’s just good to remember that the devil is just a very small speck in God’s eyes. It’s true. I guess that is the reason that I hesitate to even speak about it. We have something that is so much more powerful than we are. It’s good to think about the other side.

Sometimes we say that we have a three-fold enemy against us, with our flesh, that is very close to us, the devil, like that verse says, “He is very subtle,” we have the world, and that is very appealing. We won’t just leave you there this afternoon, thinking about all that is against us. We like to think about all that is for us and to remember just how small the truth is in this big creation of God. So we think about God who is for us, we think about Jesus who is interceding for us, and we think about the Holy Spirit that is for us, we think about the angels that we heard about this morning, who are for us, we think about the fellowship, the tremendous support we have that’s tangible, we have a ministry that’s for us. There is seven-fold help that is for us.

In closing, I would just like to read you this one little verse about where the devil will end. Revelations 20:10, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Like I said in the beginning, this is a conflict, and we read about the end of the conflict here. It’s a foregone conclusion. May God help us to just stay in the safe place. May we stay within the radius of the Shepherd’s voice, right in the center of the flock. May the Lord help us to not explore the fringes. May the Lord help us.

Genesis 28:10-13, “and Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the LORD stood above it.” John 1:51, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” Behold the angels of God.  

One day in the Philippines, I was in the city of Manila, and I was riding in a taxi, and the driver started asking me questions about where I come from. Then he said, “Are you a missionary?” And I said, “Well, I’m following Jesus, I’m teaching the Scripture.” Then he said, “Do you believe there are angels?” I said, “Yes.” Then he said, “Why? Have you ever seen one?” And I said, “Yes.” Then he said, “Where?” He was surprised, and he turned around and he said, “Where?” “Well,” I said, “I have seen them in the Bible. I’ve seen them so many times in the Bible. Through the eyes of faith, I’ve seen the heavenly, angelic kingdom that God created.” Well, he laughed at me. He just laughed, and it was time for me to get out of the taxi.  

As I walked away I thought, “Oh, what I should have said to him was, ‘Read your Bible, and talk to Jacob, and ask Jacob. Jacob, do you believe there are angels?’ And Jacob would have said, ‘I saw heaven open and angels ascending and descending.’ He could have told him about wrestling with an angel. He could have told him of the time when Jacob was leaving Laban, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, ‘This is God’s host.’” And maybe I should have said, “Then you go and ask Daniel. ‘Daniel, do you believe there are angels?’ And Daniel would have told him about the time when he was put in the lion’s den, and the angel closed the lion’s mouth. And he could have told him about the vision he had of God on the throne, and thousands and thousands of angels ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. He could have told him a little about Michael coming to help him. I could have told him, ‘You go talk to Moses.’ Ask Moses, ‘Moses, do you believe there are angels?’ And Moses would have said, ‘God asked me to do something that was so impossible for me to do, but He promised me that an angel would go before me. And the angel did, and opened up the way.’ And he could have gone and talked to Elijah. ‘Elijah, do you believe there are angels?’ And Elijah could have said, ‘There was a time when I was so discouraged, I prayed to die. I lay down under a juniper tree, and I thought I couldn’t go any more, and an angel came. God sent an angel, and an angel descended and brought food to me, and encouraged and strengthened me.’ And I could have said, ‘Why don’t you go talk to David? Talk to David and Zechariah. They just have wonderful things to tell you about angels. Wonderful things! And that’s just the Old Testament.’

You go talk to Jesus, and ask Jesus, ‘Are there angels? Did God really create angels? Is there really a kingdom above the human kingdom?’ We can see that angels were very, very involved in the story of Jesus and His birth. They came to Mary, and they brought reassurance to Joseph, and they were very concerned about the protection of that precious little life. It was an angel, that starlight night so long ago, that came to the shepherds, and brought the Gospel message. They were involved when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan. They came afterward and strengthened Him. They were involved in the garden, and they were involved in every step that Jesus took. They were involved in the resurrection. They rolled the stone away. We have a wonderful promise of His coming, His coming back, and His holy angels with Him. I don’t have anything to tell you about angels except to behold them. Behold the angels. There’s just so much in the Scripture about this great kingdom of angels. There is much that we don’t understand, and we can’t say anything new, and I hope that I am not presumptuous to even mention it, but there is this great kingdom of angels, and it somehow just increases my faith to behold them, and to understand how God can meet every need and be everywhere. There is this great kingdom of angels.”

It tells us very clearly in Hebrews, what the angels are, and what they do. They are all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation. That’s what they are, and that’s what they do. There is a verse in the Psalms 103:20 that says, “Bless the LORD, ye His angels, that excel in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His Word.” That’s what angels do. They do His commandments, they hearken unto His voice. I’d like you to behold two beautiful pictures of angels in Revelations 7:11. It says, “And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, saying, ‘Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.’” That’s interesting to me. Amen, Yes, to every command of God. To every word of God. They stood round about, they fell on their faces, and said, “Amen.” A wonderful example for us to have that spirit of the angels, to hearken to all of His commandments. A beautiful picture to behold in heaven.  

In Revelations 5:11, “And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.’” All of these multitudes of angels saying, “Worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb.” Telling us, if we behold them, that is what they’re saying, that’s what they’re singing to us, the Lamb is worthy of your life, worthy of your soul, He’s worthy of your love, worthy of your trust, He’s worthy of every tear, and every struggle and every sacrifice. He’s worthy. And it’s good for us to behold the angels, the angels are basking in wisdom. The angels that come from heaven, that come way down to earth, to help us in our great need, and go back to the Father. I love to behold the angels.  

I’d like to mention just six things that are in the hands of angels that we read about, and it’s not that I can explain anything about this, it’s just wonderful to behold, behold the angels. We read in Revelations 8:3, about the golden vessel that is put upon the golden altar. “And an angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.” The vessel is full of the prayers of the saints. That vessel, that vial, is put on the golden altar, before the throne of God. An angel came with incense, and the prayers of the saints ascended up with the incense to God out of the angel’s hand. It says that out of the angel’s hand it ascended up to God. The incense was mixed with the prayers of the saints, and then those prayers ascended to God, from the hands of the angel. Our deep need, and our deep sorrow, our deep distress. Behold the angels handling our prayers.  

In Revelations 10, we read about an angel. One foot was on the land and one foot was on the sea, and in his hand was a little book. And this book was the Word of God. I don’t think it was the Bible, but it was the Word of God, and John was told to eat it. He was told that it would be so sweet to his mouth, but it would be bitter in his stomach. The Word of God must become part of us. We know that it is so sweet when we hear the story, there is such sweetness in it when we make it a part of us. But when we start denying ourselves, and facing reproach and persecution, taking up our cross, there can be bitterness in that experience. But I like this picture so much of sitting by the angels. If anyone makes fun of the word of God, and belittles the Scripture, I like to just look at this picture of the angel that has in his hand the message that came from God. And the angels that said, “Amen.” The mighty angel.  

In Revelations 14:15, we read about an angel that has a sharp sickle in his hand. It says that the time of harvest had come, and the earth was to be reaped, and the sword, the sickle, is not in the hands of a man. It was not in the hands of any servant of God. Like we read in Matthew 13:49, “So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just.” It’s going to be the angels coming, and at the word of God they are the reapers. Isn’t it wonderful that we can have complete trust in the righteous judgment of our God?

In Revelations 18:21, we have a picture of an angel that has a great millstone in his hands. John was told that it would be like that that Babylon would be brought to naught. It will be brought down. And that angel cast that stone into the sea. Babylon was never brought down by men. It will never be brought down by harsh words of man, but Babylon will be brought down with violence. And everything that is untrue to Jesus, everything that is not of God will be brought down. It will be destroyed. It says there, that there will be no more music heard, there will be no more idols worshipped, there will be no more candles burning, there will be no more beautiful weddings, there will be no more merchandising

, it will all be brought down. We don’t have to fear about evil being dealt with. That which is untrue will be brought down.  

In Revelations 20, we read about an angel that has the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. One angel, and he was told to take hold of Satan and to bind him for one thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit. One angel, taking hold of Satan, and binding him. Just one angel, and there are legions of angels. How wonderful to know that there will be an end. There will be an end to deception. There will be an end to all of his lies. There will be an end, he will be chained, he will be bound. I just want to behold the angels, to behold the power, to behold their obedience to God, to behold their readiness to say, “Amen.” Behold the angels. I love to hear their song, “Worthy is the Lamb.” If we could just take the time to be in the spirit to hear that song. Jesus is worthy. That’s the song that comes from heaven, “He is worthy of our life, our all.”

There is another thing that’s in the hands of angels. In Luke 16, we read about Lazarus dying, and the angels carrying him into the presence of heaven. How beautiful to think of the gentle hands of the angels, carrying the souls and the spirits into the presence of God. When my father died, I was away on an island in the Philippine Islands. This was a very difficult time for me. My father was very, very special to me. There were several who sent me pictures of my father in the casket, and they sent pictures of the flowers. They wanted me to picture the funeral. I was glad to receive them, but I got no comfort from that. But it was so beautiful to try and pray and be in the spirit, and envision the angels carrying the soul of my father, his spirit into the presence of the God he loved. It helped so much. It was so comforting. One of our dear sister workers was killed. She was run over by a truck, and it was horrifying to us to think about her body, but it was wonderful to trust her to the hands of angels that would come and carry her spirit into the presence of God. Behold the angels ascending and descending. This is something God had created. A great angelic kingdom to help us. And their ascending and descending to minister, to minister to our souls. This is just part of the wonderful plan God has that we might be saved. I hope that in our experiences, that we would see beyond the clouds, beyond the struggle, that we would see the path of angels, ascending and descending.

Matthew 13: 44, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field, the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.” We understand a parable is a picture to the eye, a story to the ear, and a message to the heart. There are three things in this chapter: the field, the treasure, and the man.

The field we are pursuing this afternoon is the field of the Will of God. We have learned these days that there is a treasure in this field, and in the new year, we want to be found gleaning in this field. There is also a treasure found in the field of the Word of God and when we leave here, we will leave much richer than when we came.

The man in this parable is like you and me. He did four things: he found a treasure in the field and then he hid the treasure. This man sold everything he had to buy this field. He searched for the field because it isn’t easy to find the field of the Will of God. It’s even more challenging to find the treasure in the Will of God.

God gives us a mixed cup. Psalm 75:8, “For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and He poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.” Treasure comes to us in the form of death or losses or storms. There is treasure found in the fruit of the spirit and it’s not found in the likely place we would look for it. This treasure of love is found in the atmosphere of hate, scorning, and cruel mocking. There is treasure in peace, but it’s found in the battlefield and in unrest. And the price is high.

This man sold all that he had to buy the field. If he hadn’t sold it, he couldn’t buy it. What did he sell and what do we sell? We sell our own way, our own human reasoning, our own opinions, and our old life. Then we are in a position to buy obedience, submission, and willingness. We won’t get to heaven without spending our willingness.

One man we know in our field of labour lost his two children, his mother and father, and his grandmother in a car accident. This was the mixed cup that was poured out to him. At convention time, he gave his testimony and said, “I don’t want to ask why but I want to ask how.” God set the cost and he bought the field; that couple now have found treasure in the field of the Will of God. He and his wife took four children into their home. One is from India, the other is from West Africa, and they both attend a University. Then they took in two former Hutterite girls and taught them about the love of God. They guided them. This year, one of these Hutterite girls has started out in the work; the other girl will start out in the work a little later. They found treasure in the Will of God and it was paid with many tears and much sorrow.

Job faced many tests in his experience, too.

1) He was a very prosperous man who, in one day, had all his riches taken from him. He also faced the test of poverty;

2) His children were also taken from him, and he faced the test of bereavement;

3) Then Job was smitten with boils, and faced the test of ill health;

4) His wife spoke up and said, “Curse God and die.” He faced the test of marriage;

5) His friends called him a fool; he faced the test of being misunderstood; and

6) He felt that God had turned away from him. He faced the test of imagination.

Job proved four things:

1) There is a ’cause’ and a ‘purpose’ for every experience we pass through, even though we might not know it. We might not always understand the ’cause’ but faith can help us find the treasure in the experience;

2) He faced unseen loss. Job did not know that God and Satan had had a conversation about him and that God had given Satan permission to test him;

3) When we keep ourselves in the Will of God, the Hand of God will help us buy the field of the Will of God; and

4) Gold will not perish. You can’t beat gold and make it one piece. When God looked down on Job, He saw four minds, and He turned up the heat. Those four minds became one mind. There will always be treasure in unity.

Then this man sold his possessions and he bought the field. He was willing to set aside his reasoning and his plans in order to purchase the field. What we value and own as our treasure in the kingdom has potential in merging with others of like treasure in the kingdom. The devil wants to disrupt this unity. He wants to disrupt the unity in the home, to disrupt the unity in our family life, to disrupt unity in our church life and he also wants to destroy the unity in the Ministry.

Joseph found the treasure in the field of the Will of God. God had served him a mixed cup but he had faith in God through his many dark experiences. He was thrown into a pit by his brothers and he humbly forgave them. There was no water in the pit, but while his brothers sat by, eating bread idly, Joseph forgave them. His brothers put a price on Joseph and they sold him into Egypt but Joseph humbly forgave them.

Forgiveness doesn’t belong in the proud of heart. Even in Potiphar’s house, Joseph hearkened not unto her day after day. He paid a price of keeping pure. He was thrown into prison and was forgotten for two years but God was with Joseph and showed him His mercy and He prospered him. He had bread when everyone else had famine. He bought the field of the Will of God and found the treasure in the field. There will always be treasure in having bread. He was bread to the Egyptians, bread to his brothers, and bread to his father.

Joseph paid the price for bread. He sold an ill will, he sold anger, he sold unforgiveness, and he sold bitterness. Then he purchased the field of the Will of God. That treasure is hidden and we won’t just find it in a life of ease and pleasure; it is a matter of taking up our cross and dying; it is a matter of drinking from the mixed cup of the Lord.

Isaiah 2:6, Acts 4:27, “By the name of Thy Holy child Jesus, your future lies before you like a field of freshly fallen snow. Be careful how you tread it, for every step will show!”

Sometimes snow looks all grey, slushy, and horrible, but then there is a fresh fall of snow. It is so white, so pure; and in that snow, you can see even the tracks of a mouse or a sparrow. We are facing a future like a field of freshly fallen snow, and in that snow are the tracks of the Holy child Jesus. I could not give you anything better to face the future with than the Spirit of a little child.

At Mellowdale convention last year, a young brother worker came onto the platform and admitted that he had nothing to say…he had laboured all day in agony and tears, and nothing would come. But he said, “It came to me that if I could bring the spirit of a child, what a wonderful contribution to this meeting.” He spoke of holding back from offering for this work because he had a fear of taking part. And he said maybe we feel like this we have a fear of taking part…but just remember we can bring the spirit of a child. In that meeting, was a man that had been attending meetings with his wife for a number of years, but he had never professed because he had a fear of taking part, but Scott’s message this night gave him the courage to make a start when that meeting was tested! We have an unspotted clean future…so may we go forth with the spirit of a little child.

There are lots of advantages for young workers when they go forth with the spirit of a little child. There is great respect for elders when they have the spirit of a little child. There is great happiness in any marriage when there is the spirit of a little child. The key to usefulness and growth is the spirit of a little child. The devil has never been in the place of a little child. He’s too proud. It’s the safe place. The devil can’t reach us there! There is nothing I could encourage you with more than to face your future with the spirit of a little child.

Naaman, there was the little maid. Her name is not even mentioned, but she made one statement in the presence of her mistress, and that one statement of a little child went to the King, and it made the King write. She had credibility, the credibility of a little child. We need to take this with us into the world.

Over in Canada, there was a funeral of one of our dear older Friends and a mother took her three little girls to the funeral. Afterwards, they went to Safeway shopping and they were all dressed up. So the clerk there said, “Where have you been?” They answered, “We have been to Mrs. Dune’s funeral. She’s not dead. Her body’s in the grave, but she’s gone to Heaven.” Their mother didn’t tell them this. They derived this from the service! As we move amongst Egypt, we need the credibility of a little child – implicit faith and trust.

Abigail, she was the victim of an unfortunate marriage. David was coming to Nabal, and Nabal railed on him – flew at him. Have you ever met anyone like that…ready to fly at you! So David and his men weren’t going to leave anybody alive in Nabal’s household. Most of all what we learn, we learn from our relationships with each other. Abigail had something in her spirit that defused and disarmed David – the spirit of a little child. She said, “You could shed innocent blood….Let me take the blame….I’m sorry for this..” And it turned David’s heart. She disarmed him with the spirit of a little child! We would like to use the sword, but Abigail never used the sword – “Blest be your advice. I will not do this.” We need the spirit of a child in our relationships.

I Samuel 3, there was wrong in the Kingdom, no open vision. You could’ve looked at the Kingdom at that time and been so distressed, but God took a little child and set him among all the wrong in that place! Samuel was child enough that God could speak. Samuel dared to show the vision to Eli. Eli was wrong, but Samuel was not self-righteous. His parents taught Samuel how to have the right attitude – the little child spirit – purge it. Our usefulness depends on being the little child in our attitudes to one another and to self. The attitude of a little child because we don’t know what awaits us in the future.

In Canada, there was a young girl of 15 dying of cancer. We walked with her through that experience, and I never forget that experience. Her mother asked her, “Are you afraid to die?” “No I am not afraid to die.” The future looked bleak. We shared her funeral plans. She chose her dress. She chose where her classmates would sit; where the workers would sit. She chose her flowers; who did the singing. Death came as a friend. She kept her faith in the God of Heaven who held her future. She had the confidence of a little child. She trusted Him for the future.

We need the attitude of a little child to walk with Him in faith in the world, in our relationships. May we remember the great privilege to keep the spirit of a little child, and to follow the tracks of the Holy child Jesus.

Matthew 5:13, Jesus said, “Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? ” Recently those words were impressed on me very much. I was away at some conventions, and for 4 months I ate convention stew, but sometimes they didn’t put any salt in the stew, and you can imagine what it tasted like! Some people felt it wasn’t healthy for you. This salt that Jesus was talking about was something that was very healthy, something we should have more of.

In the Old Testament, it speaks about the sacrifice that the children of God offered up, it had to be salted with salt and that was the responsibility of the person that was making the offering. Jesus said that every sacrifice must be salted with salt and then He says, “Ye are the salt of the earth.” Salt is something that must be added to every sacrifice. In the Old Testament days when they were offering up a sacrifice they had to take salt with them. Jesus said, “Ye are the salt,” that must be added to the sacrifice that has been made. Jesus is the sacrifice that has been made for us.

Matthew 5:3, Jesus was speaking about the blesseds – “Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Nobody likes to be poor, and today they educate young people to have plenty of confidence but they never teach them to be poor in spirit. The prodigal son wasted his life with riotous living, and when he had nothing, he came to himself. That was a wonderful experience for that young man. It is good for us to come to ourselves and think about where we are. He thought about himself, and thought about the servants at home, and he said, “I will arise and go to my father, and say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.’” That man was poor in spirit. It is good if we have that feeling that we are nothing in the sight of God.

Sometimes we run into problems amongst the friends and some even leave the way of God. The reason why they become like that is because they have never come to the place that they feel, “I am not worthy.” A girl that was adopted said she thanked her parents that went half way round the world to adopt her, and was more thankful that she had been brought into the family of God, and she said, “But I feel I am not worthy.” She was poor in spirit. It is good when we feel that we are not worthy, and that we have that attitude of heart. It is then that God will give us His kingdom. That girl was the salt of the earth, she was adding something to the sacrifice that Jesus had made for her. We add salt by just keeping the right spirit.

Then Jesus said, “Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.” We meet a lot of people that mourn when there is the loss of a loved one, but I don’t think Jesus was meaning that here. He was talking about those that were mourning the loss of the spirit of God in His people. In the Old Testament, we read of those that wandered far from God and He had to bring experiences into their lives where they mourned the loss of the spirit of God amongst them. “Art thou pained to see His kingdom suffer loss?” It is good when we feel like that, when we are pained to see it. It causes us to pray and ask God to strengthen those that are weaker.

Isaiah speaks about the children of Israel, “‘Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,’ saith your God. ‘Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.’” That is why Jerusalem was mourned, because they had received double for their sins. It is a wonderful thing if God is able to comfort us and we realise that He is able to restore what was lost. Israel was comforted at this time and they became the salt of the earth.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Sometimes to be meek is something that is very difficult. Some people are strong willed and some people have a soft nature. Meekness doesn’t mean weakness. I had an experience before I professed when I was in the police force. I went home to see my father when I had leave. He had bought a new lawn mower, and sometimes it wouldn’t go. So I said, “Let’s take it back to where it came from.” So we took it back, and being a policeman, I thought I would speak first! I started talking to the manager about this lawn mower and he started to defend his product, and we went on and it got a little heated, and I started to tell him what I thought about his product, and he spoke about what he thought of me!! My father, who was professing, he began to talk, and he had a meek and quiet spirit, and he talked to the manager quietly, and at the end of the day, my father had a new lawn mower! “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” That manager was like the earth, because my father had him in his hand because of his meek spirit. We don’t have any rights, but all we have is what we have obtained through Jesus and if we keep a meek and quiet spirit, our light will be able to shine brightly in the district we are living in.

One of our friends in New South Wales, an elderly lady who was professing, whose husband belonged to another church, was always telling his wife how much better his church was than hers, but he was always getting angry. One day she asked him, “Why are you always getting angry?” He said that his anger was righteous indignation!

“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” We can hunger for many different kinds of things, and some things may give us a little temporary satisfaction, but the thing that is going to satisfy our souls is the righteousness of God. We, by nature, are not righteous, so there must be a complete change in our lives if we are going to hunger and thirst after the righteousness of God.

During the Vietnam war, there were two young American friends, medics in the army, and they came to Japan for rest and relaxation (R & R), and they stayed in our bach, and I was cook that week, and they ate half-heartedly, and they talked about how good mother’s cooking was, but time went by and they went back to Vietnam. Later, another two boys came and it was my cook week again, and those boys ate every spoonful we could give them, and they had a real hunger for everything I could give them. Listening to their stories, I found out the difference in those two sets of boys. The first two had never heard a bullet and lived back in the headquarters, but the other two boys had been out with the marines (as medics), and spent a whole year sleeping in the paddock, and their lives were in danger, living on rations all year. The difference was, they were in the battle and fighting the battle, and the others weren’t. That is what makes us hunger and thirst after righteousness – when we are out facing the enemy and seeking to get victory in our lives. If we fight each day, our hunger and thirst for righteousness will increase.

If I read the Bible about the righteousness of God, and I don’t want to do it, it jars on me, and when we are like that, our hunger decreases. “Hearing His voice in every line, making each faithful saying mine.” I was not very long out in the work, and I was discouraged, and thought about quitting the work, and I opened my Bible where Jesus spoke about the sower and the seed. The seed fell on the stony ground, when the sun beat upon it, the shoots withered and died, because there was no roots, and I felt that was like me! When the tests and trials came, I was withering and I was trying to blame the sun for being too hot – the gospel being more than I could take. When I read about the seed in the stony ground, it wasn’t because the sun was too hot, but because of the roots. I realised I needed to put my roots down deeper and deeper. That part of the scripture is mine.

One young man asked me about a problem that he had with another friend, and he felt this other person had something against him, and he felt it was taking his peace away from him. In Matthew, Jesus said, “Take your gift to the altar and if you realise someone has something against you, leave your gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” I said to him, accept the responsibility for everything and say you are sorry, and he did, and that scripture became his, because he did what it said. “Making each faithful saying mine.” When we make these scriptures ours, it is adding salt.

“Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.” Mercy is something that every one of us need, because none of us are worthy. I have been in court listening to the evidence for and against, and the judge listening to it all. Finally when the judge makes a decision, I have heard a criminal just look at the judge and ask him to have mercy on him. Because he had asked for mercy, the judge may be lenient in the sentence he would give. Good if we come to the place where we realise I have nothing in my defence, and I need the mercy of God. It is good if we are merciful.

Willie Jamieson told us about a father and his daughter. The mother had left home and the father had brought this girl up. When she was in her teens, she fled to the other side of the United States. Some time later, she phoned her father and asked her father if she could come home, as she was expecting a baby and the man she had run away with had left her. The father talked to the people in the church about it, and some said, “You should get her back,” and others said, “What a terrible testimony it would be if you take her back,” because he had the meeting in his home. He asked Willie for his advice, and Willie said, “You get your daughter back as soon as you can because, if ever a girl needs her father, it is now.” Willie told us, “The father may not seem right in what he is doing, but because he is merciful, he will never be wrong.” If he had a hard heart and turned the girl away, he could never show her the things of God by not being merciful.

David had two opportunities to kill Saul, but he said, “I cannot lift my hand against the Lord’s anointed.” It would have made life easier for David if he had taken his spear and killed Saul, but he was merciful to Saul. Later on we read about David sinning when he took Uriah’s wife, and we find him calling on the Lord for mercy. Because he had been merciful to Saul, God was able to show him mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” This is the difficult one, because the heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked. “God’s word is so pure and so precious to me.” We are able to have a pure heart by allowing God’s word into our life, making each faithful saying mine. As we let God’s word come into our hearts, our lives will be purified. A young girl professed and she said, “Nothing I want more than a pure heart, because I know that out of a pure heart comes joy.” If we have jealousy in our hearts, or envy, we can’t have a pure heart. If we allow God to have place in our hearts so that those things will go, it is then we will know true joy.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” In the home, sometimes, it needs a peacemaker. It is easy for one to start an argument and someone to disagree and the language gets stronger and then the shouting begins! There was a boy came to meetings and he professed, and he worked in a bank, and he said there was always arguments in the bank, and the staff would be shouting at each other. And he realised there needed to be a peacemaker. The next time there was an argument, he stayed quiet and the arguments were lots less. He decided to be a peacemaker.

One night I woke up at 2 a.m. in Russia, and a man and his wife were arguing and screaming at each other, and this went on for 3 hours. I thought if only one would be quiet and just say sorry, we could get some sleep!! Neither one wanted to be the peacemaker. Being a peacemaker is like adding salt.

“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” My parents professed when I was 9 years of age. They had belonged to the brethren church and they used to go to church every night and three times on Sunday – 9 times in a week, but nobody ever said anything to us while they were going to that church. But when they professed, they only went to three meetings a week, and we used to be called psalm singers and Bible bashers at school. We didn’t know why they objected to us now that we had professed. We will be persecuted for righteousness sake, and that is part of the reproach. We should not feel that there would be no reproach. We should count it joy that God has proved us worthy.

“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.” They say things falsely. Someone went to John Hardy and complained that people were saying things about them. John said, “Is it true what they say about you?” and they answered, “No.” John said, “You only need to start worrying if it is true what they are saying about you.”

Hymn 42 – “There is a Way, a Narrow Way”

Would you like to open your Bibles to the 11th Chapter of Hebrews and we will read verse 21, “By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.” We would like to talk about the staff that supported Jacob in his dying hour. This takes on real meaning to us when we remember that this staff is always used in the Bible as a symbol of faith. Faith is to a child of God what this staff was to a traveling man. No one would think of taking a journey in that country without a staff. They used it to help them over the steep climbs. They used the staff to help them feel the way when momentarily it was too dark to feel the way to take the next step. They used it to ward off the serpents and beast in the way. They used it to beat out grain for their daily bread. They used the staff for support when their own strength was letting them down. Can we understand then why this staff is used in the Bible as a symbol of faith? Faith helps us over the steep climbs; faith helps us to go forward when momentarily we cannot see to take the next step; faith protects us from the dangers along the way and faith helps us to get the daily bread. This faith supports us when everything in life is letting us down. The Bible tells us that these wonderful people in Hebrews 11 all died supported by faith. Before we continue with our subject, I would like to mention (3) staffs that the Lord told His people not to put faith in. The first one is found in the 105th Psalm, verse 16, “Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread.” God had to brake their staff of bread to make them realize they needed something better to support them. This staff of Bread would just speak of a person’s faith in their own ability. It is nice to see people who have the ability to earn their daily bread. It is nice to see people that are honestly getting ahead in life. But God never intended that we should use our own ability for a staff. There comes a time in all our lives when we need something more than our ability to lean on. We were speaking a while ago with a man who made his fortune. When we tried to talk to that man about the things of God, he laughed at us. He said, “I have never asked God for anything and I need Him less today than ever.” He continued, “I have more money in the bank than I will ever be able to spend. I have never found anything yet that money cannot buy.” But a few months later, that same man found there was something that money could not buy. His only daughter, age 19, was stricken with an illness and passed from time into eternity. When I saw that crushed man weeping over that open casket, I thought to myself, “Here is something that money cannot buy.” He still had more money in the bank than he would ever spend, but that money couldn’t buy him one ounce of comfort when his heart was breaking. I say again, “It is nice to see people who have ability get ahead in life, but we would encourage you not to use your own ability as your staff. There comes a time in every life when we need something more than our own ability to lean upon.” The Lord told His people not to lean upon Egypt as their staff. We read in Isaiah 36:6, “Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.” Egypt is always used in the Bible as a type of this world, and the world promises people a great deal. The world makes some golden promises, especially to young people, but the trouble is the world cannot back up its promises. We read in this verse that Egypt is a broken staff and if you lean upon it, it will pierce your hand. In other words, if you put your faith in this world, you will find in a time of need that it won’t support you, and it will be a painful disappointment. 

The Lord told His people not to use Moab as their staff. We read in Jeremiah 48:17, “All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, ‘How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod!’” Moab was the center of false religion at that time. The worst part of false religions in Moab was they were speaking in the name of the true God, but the scriptures tell us they were handling the word of God deceitfully. They had not put to death in their lives the things that were wrong. It tells us they were taking their own way and not submitting themselves to the will of God. These scriptures tell us that this is just like a beautiful staff that breaks when you lean upon it. It might look beautiful and promise you a great deal, but that staff will let you down when you need it the most. These three staffs represent the world, flesh and devil. The staff of bread would speak of putting confidence in the flesh. The staff of Egypt represents the world and the staff of Moab represents false religion which is a product of the devil. Now I want to turn you over to a more pleasant side of this picture. When the Lord sent out his Ministers, he sent them out with a staff. Mark 6:8, “And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse.” This staff was symbolic of their faith in the promise of God, that He would care for their needs. This is one of the proofs to me that He is still working miracles; the fact that His servants can still go forth and freely give the Gospel. In the religious world, money is their chief worry. But God assured His servants that they didn’t need to worry about their needs. They are going forth today without collections, tithes or salaries and that is a proof in itself that God is still working miracles. No servant of God from that time until now, who have put their faith in God, has ever been let down. When the Children of Israel left Egypt, they left with a staff in their hand. 

We read in Exodus 12:11, “And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s Passover.” This staff was a symbol of their faith in those two servants of God. They had faith to believe if they obeyed those servants of God and take the steps that they asked us to take, it will bring us into fellowship with God. Do you remember when the servants of God first came into your community? The first thing that impressed you was, here are people who know God and are having close fellowship with God. Faith was begotten in your heart, you had faith in the right ministry and that ministry brought you into close fellowship with the God of heaven. The children of Israel left Egypt with that staff in their hand. Was that staff justified? Exodus 19:11, “And be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.” Inside of three months, the scriptures tell us that Moses led those people outside the camp to meet with God. I would just like to say the purpose of the Gospel is to bring people to God. Jesus gave Himself, the Just for the unjust that He might bring us to God. The reason that Jesus went out to give His life for man was that He wanted to bring people into this sweet relationship with God. When we see people respond to the Gospel and begin to enjoy this fellowship with God, then we feel that our mission has been accomplished. Paul wrote of some of his converts, “you have become followers of us and of the Lord.” We might add this staff has never let people down. Jacob began his journey with a staff too. 

It tells us in Genesis 32:10, “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.” The staff was symbolic of God’s presence. Just before this, Jacob had seen that ladder. It was a vision of God’s way leading from earth to heaven. He had seen those angels ascending and descending on that ladder, assuring him God will give you all the help that you need. He saw God standing at the top of that ladder ready to receive him at the end of life. God spoke a personal message to that man’s heart from the top of the ladder. He told Jacob, “Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean and change your garments.” And, He told Jacob, “The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to they seed after thee will give the land.” In their words, he told Jacob, “You put your faith in me and I will never let you down.” When Jacob started out that night with his staff in his hand, it was a symbol that God’s presence would go with him. When he returned twenty years later to this place, was Jacob lamenting? Did he feel that this was not what he expected? He said, “I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant.” He started out with his staff and now he had become two bands. God had blessed him twice as much as he expected. It is impossible for a person beginning in the Way to understand how wonderful this Way will become to them. When I started out in this Way, I never dreamed how wonderful this fellowship would become to me. We want to say to you this afternoon, “Put your faith in God and you will find out that it is much much better than even God promised it would be.”  

Forty-eight years later, in Hebrews 11:21, “By faith Jacob, when he was dying blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.” Jacob had been following God for about sixty-nine years. He was an old man and he was dying. Everything else in life had let him down. His family was gone, his home was gone, his physical strength was gone, but God, in who he had placed his faith sixty-nine years before, was still supporting him. He was leaning on that same staff in the last moments of his life. He was worshipping God and to worship God means that Jacob was just giving God thanks. The basic difference between true worship and false worship is found in this verse. The false worshippers come to worship on their day of worship to get something. All week long their lives have been lonely, hungry, desolate and they come together on their day of worship to “get something.” God’s people come together on their day of worship to ‘thank God.’ You had a wonderful week and God has given you daily bread. He has helped you through every experience during the week. He has been to you like the shadow of a great Rock in a weary land, and when you come together on your day of worship, you have come to thank God. David said, “I will magnify the Lord with thanksgiving.” A ‘testimony of thanks’ means more to God on Sunday morning than any sacrifice you could make. Jacob was an old man and he had many reasons to give God thanks as he leaned on the top of his staff. God had taken care of him far better than he anticipated. He had lived long enough to see his two sons brought into sweet fellowship with that same caring God. On this occasion, he blessed the two sons of Joseph. In other words, he lived long enough to see his two grandchildren get saved. Is it any wonder that this old man worshipped God as he leaned on top of his staff?  

The New Testament parallel is found in the story of Timothy. Paul spoke of the unfeigned faith that was in Lois, his grandmother and Eunice, his mother. This same unfeigned faith was now in Timothy. I often think of that old woman, Lois. Don’t you feel that she was also worshipping as she leaned upon the top of her staff? Every step she took was a step of faith and every word she spoke was a word of faith. Her daughter, Eunice, was raised in that same godly atmosphere. She followed in her mother’s footsteps, taking steps of faith and speaking words of faith and now we read of Timothy following in his mother’s footsteps. There home was safe for other children to come and visit in. Could we ask you parents, “Is it safe for your children to be in the same home with you? Is it safe for your children to follow in your steps? Is your conversation in the home safe for your children to listen to?” It is a thrill to the servants of God to witness parents putting their faith in God. It is a thrill for us to be in your homes, where there is a safe environment for your children to learn about God and have that same child-like faith in the promises of God. This was the reason Jacob was thanking God, leaning on the top of his staff worshipping God. He had a faith that never let him down, and it never let his children down and it never let his grandchildren down.

In closing, I would like to tell you about a letter that my mother wrote to me at two o’clock in the morning. I might mention that my mother was the first one to get saved when two servants of God came into our community. We had never heard of this wonderful way before. We never knew that anything like this existed. As my mother listened to the Gospel, faith was begotten in her heart. She made her choice not knowing another soul who believed like she did. My father was just as deeply impressed but he did not have the faith that mother had. He loved the servants of God as much as mother did. Dad was deeply touched that two young lives were gladly going out and giving their lives for a perishing world. He loved their messages and he thought it was wonderful that they could get so much out of the Bible. My father was a businessman and from a business man’s point of view, this could not work. These two servants of God had told them they had no organization or registered name. They had no board of directors or code of rules to follow. Based on this, my dad felt this faith couldn’t possibly work. He felt sorry for those two servants of God because he knew they were earnest men and he just dreaded the day when they would find out that this thing would not work. Fifteen months after my mother made her choice, my father was convinced that this was working because the miracle of God was in it. The next opportunity dad had, he made his choice. Do you think my mother regretted putting her faith in God during those fifteen months? No, now they had something in their home that they had never had before, even though they were religious. There was two of us children in the home at the time and three others were born in the home afterwards. One by one, when we got old enough, my mother had the joy of seeing us make the choice to follow the same God she was following. Do you think she was sorry she had put her faith in God in the beginning even though she was standing alone? Years later, she had the joy of seeing two of her children go out into this wonderful work and tell others about this beautiful fellowship. Down through the years she had the joy of seeing relatives on both sides listening to the gospel and being added to the faith because of her influence and faithfulness through the years. This letter that she wrote to me at two o’clock in the morning, was written because she had the joy of seeing her first two grandchildren get saved. She went to bed that night but she was too excited to sleep. She got up and wrote this wonderful letter to me. In that letter, mom relived her whole experience from the time she first put her faith in God and she mentioned all the wonderful things that God had done for her down through the years that followed, far beyond her expectation, and she ended her letter by saying, “To think God allowed me to live long enough to see two of my grandchildren get saved.” My mother had been walking with God for fifty three years when God took her home to eternity. She died, worshipping God and leaning upon the top of her staff. Everything else in the process of time had let her down, but her faith in God was still supporting her in the dying moment of her need. 

It is wonderful that we can leave this convention with the staff in our hand. God has made some wonderful promises to us at this convention. Those promises can be to us just like a staff, and we can put our faith in God and step forth from this convention with that staff in our hand, and we can assure you that this year will be the most wonderful year of your life. If there is anyone in this meeting that haven’t put your faith in God, we would encourage you to take hold of that staff before you leave this meeting. We can assure you from our own experience, that this faith is something that will never let you down. It will mean everything to you personally and it will mean everything to your family. The farther on you go, the more thankful you will be that you ever reached out and took hold of that staff. When you come to the end of your days, you will have something to lean on that will not let you down. You will be numbered amongst those of whom it was said, “These all died in faith.” May God help us to go forward with this staff in our hand and with our faith in God. We are confident that this coming year will be the best of our lives. I hope it may be so for His sake.

John 15:1-5: “I am the true vine.” If you would like to make an interesting study time, you might like to make a list of the “True Things” that are mentioned in the John Gospel. You will find reference to the true light, true worshippers, true bread, true vine, true witness, etc. The reason why Jesus emphasized these true things is because the world has always been full of false things – false lights, etc.We do not need to worry about the false side of things though we can rejoice that we have a clear and wonderful outline of these things that are true. I understand John wrote this book near the end of his life, and that it was written in response to a request to tell the “Highlights” of the life of Christ. He is the only writer that gives the details of the new birth; the sheepfold true and false shepherds, which was the issue in that day. In conclusion, he mentions there are many other things which Jesus did, if they should be written, everyone, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. For around 60 years, he had walked with the Lord and during that time he had proven that these things were indeed true. The word “True” not only suggests something that is right it also speaks of something that is right, it also speaks of something that is genuine, something that is sound, through and through. Perhaps that is the reason why our own enthusiasm grows with the years – for each year we prove more fully the depth of these true things. I often find myself coveting the ability to make the gospel as simple as Jesus did. Nothing could be simpler than this story of the vine. Jesus said “I am the vine” “My Father is the husbandman” – looking into the faces of the apostles, He said “Ye are the branches” and indirectly He referred to the little groups of the Lord’s people as the cluster of grapes that the vine produces. Nothing could be more easily understood than that.

“My Father is the husbandman.” The husbandman has full control of the vine. It was He who decided the kind of vine that was to be planted. He chose the time to plant it. He took care of the necessary pruning and purging and He decided when the fruit should be picked. One of the things we can greatly rejoice over and rightly so is that our Heavenly Father is the husbandman of this vine. He has never turned the control of it over to anyone else. It was He, who before the foundation of the world, decided the kind of vine He would have on the earth. It was He who decided the right time to plant the vine. It was He who has done the necessary pruning and purging along the way and it is He who decides when the fruit should be harvested. This vine is His sole investment. His future is invested in it, and for that reason He has never left in the hands of someone else. His people are the inheritance – the apple of His eye. Some have expressed their fears that this thing might change. They see so many of the older workers passing away and they fear that with them the Truth might pass away. But the vine has never been in the hands of the Workers – they are the branches – not the husbandman. The reason we have valued the older Workers so much down through the years is because they have been so useful in the hands of God. They may pass away from this scene, but the hands of God will still be there, the everlasting arms will still be there. He will raise up others branches to take their place. When Moses was taken, Joshua was raised up to take his place. Elisha took the mantle of Elijah. Timothy followed Paul. God will never let the vine down, because His future is invested in it. He lays aside the workmen from time to time, but takes up the work again by the hands of others. I understand the word “husband” and “husbandman” come from the same Greek word. There is a close resemblance. The husband cares for the wife, because she is wholly dependent on him. No doubt that is the reason why the wife is referred to as the fruitful vine in the scripture. There is one great difference in this picture, however. The husband is often unable to do for his wife all that he would like to. So often circumstances beyond his control make it impossible for him to provide for his wife as he would like. Not so with the husbandman of this wonderful vine. He is the master of every situation and so nothing can hinder Him from giving to His vine, all that it needs whenever it needs it. Paul said, “My God can supply all your needs.” There is no limitation on His part.

In this connection I have enjoyed Daniel 2:20-21. He changes the times and seasons – God has never had to change His plan to suit the times – if any change is necessary, He can change the times and seasons. It gives us every assurance that He will never change His plan. It is eternal. All that we need to be concerned about is that we invest our future in it. Then Jesus said, “I am the vine.” This vine is the medium that takes the God – given substance out of the soil, makes it living in itself, and then shares that living substance with the branches – the branches share with the grapes. This is a most important part of this fellowship. No wonder Jesus said, “Without Me Ye can do nothing.” We can be very thankful for the time when Jesus came to be the vine. To take the God – given things (which were so far beyond our reach) making them living in Himself, so that He could share them with us. He is the only mediator between God and man. (1 Timothy 2-5)

There are two wonderful things about Jesus, the vine that Paul mentioned in his letter to the Hebrews: [1] He ever liveth (Ch 7:25); [2] He never changeth (Ch 13:8) I have learned to look upon this letter to the Hebrews, as a letter of fear.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Ch 10:31) He mentioned also, that we should fear, lest we would not enter into His rest – lest we should be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin – lest there should be, in any of us, a root of bitterness – lest we should sell our birthright as Esau did, etc. We need to fear all those things. However in these verses we read of two things we need never fear – that this fellowship will die out, because He who is the vine never changeth and He who is the vine ever liveth. He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. This assures us that the Truth could never change – also that our future hope will never change, as long as we abide in him. We, too, will be cared for by our Father, the husbandman.

Then He looked into the faces of his Apostles who were with Him in the upper room that night and said, “Ye are the branches.” You are the only avenue, the only channel through which this life can be extended into the lives of others. There were only eleven apostles with him then, Judas has already gone out into the blackness of darkness forever. These remaining men seemed so pitifully few to carry on that great work – but then the Lord’s servants have always been too few. There never was a time when we should pray more earnestly – as Jesus asked us to do, that the Lord of the harvest would thrust forth more labourers into His harvest – we could use many more. Some of you could be living in isolated places, and not able to do much, but if you would take time to pray every day, that the Lord would send forth more labourers and preserve those who are in the field, you would be doing a wonderful work. These branches are a wonderful picture of the true servants of God. They represent lives that are wholly lived for others. The branch has nothing of itself to offer – it is only a channel through which the life of the vine can flow into the grapes. That is why Paul wrote, “We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus sake.” (2 Corinthians 4:5) The branch also gets nothing out of this for itself – only the joy of service – the joy of knowing that others are receiving life through them. This is the greatest privilege that men and women can enjoy in this life.

Then the grapes are the product of the vine. These clusters represents the little groups of God’s people, to whom the branches have extended the life of the vine. This is the only way in which grapes can be produced. Science has never found any other way to produce grapes, other than through the vine – the source that God planned in the beginning. Religious science, with all their ingenuity, have never developed any other way in which Christians can be produced either, only through “the true vine” that God planned in the beginning. It might be a consolation to you, who are grapes on this vine today to know that this whole thing has been planned for you that you might have life and have it more abundantly. The sacrifice of Jesus – pictured in 2 Corinthians 8:9 – was for “your sakes.” When Paul wrote to the Thessalonians reminding them of the sacrifice that he and his companion had made in bringing the truth to them, he mentioned it was for “your sakes.” (1 Thessalonians 1:5) The combined efforts of the husbandman, the vine, and the branches is that fruit might be produced and that the fruit might remain. All that the grape has to do is to hang on – “to hold fast to your profession.” That sounds easier than it really is. Solomon said, “Our vine has tender grapes.” So many conditions can arise, that would cause that tender grape to let go. Down in the grape growing area where we have been labouring, we noticed three things that cause the grapes to fall off. They become too burdened under the weight of the dust and spray that collect on them – they sometimes are severed from the vine by the velocity of a heavy storm – sometimes the birds pick them and rob them of their vitality, until they become so weak they fall off. These are dangers we are all aware of. Sometimes people become so burdened under the cares of life that they “let go” of the only source of life. If you let go of the vine, you have to let go of the lifeline. Then there are the storms of life. Often in the midst of a storm there is a tendency to become discouraged and “let go.”

Then there are the little birds. When Abraham placed his sacrifice on the altar, he had to drive the “little birds” away – they came only to rob. A bird does not take much in one bite, in fact they take so little, that you hardly miss it at the time, but they give a peck here and a peck there and the tender grape lets go to perish forever. What are the little birds we have to look out for? They are the things that rob us of the time to pray each day, or a little time to read each day – or they hinder us getting to the meeting. This does not sound like much, but it can so easily take from us the life that the vine has given, and, in weakness, we would lose our hold on the only thing in life that is really worthwhile. Then there are the talking birds. Someone came to us with a story and when we asked how they could possibly have heard such a thing, we received the answer a little bird had told me. God never used little birds to tell people anything. If a little bird tells you something it is not of God. God tells from the housetops, never uses a little bird, and the devil uses that tactic. In the parable of the sower, it tells of the birds of the air coming [devil] to take away the seed. The tragedy of that picture is that the devil, through the medium of the little birds, was robbing the soil of what the lord was trying to give. Remember the dangers of these three: [1] Cares of life; [2] storms; [3] little birds.

David said, “My feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped” When discouraged, read John 15 “Abide in me” or just hang on. If you are ever tempted to let go. Notice in this chapter, the promises to those who hang on. In verse 7, Jesus assures us if we abide in him, His words will abide in us. Those words are His promises. You can have that assurance that, even though you are the smallest grape, every promise of God will be fulfilled in you. It is nice to look into the future, not knowing what the future holds and knowing nothing can arise that would hinder these promises from flowing in to your life. In verse 11, He says, “My joy will remaining you and your joy shall be full.” This is the only place where the fullest of joy is found. There are many temporary joys in the world, joys that last for a moment, but none of them are full – they are blended with too many heartaches. Heavenly fullness of joy comes from our living contact with the vine. There is another encouraging thought here – the longer the grape hangs on the vine, the fuller and sweeter it becomes. When the time of harvest draws near, it is not uncommon to see the chemists testing the grapes for their sugar content. If they are not sweet enough, they let them hang on for a few more days – the longer they hang on the sweeter they become. Isn’t it wonderful, that this fellowship with the vine has that effect on us. It is nice to know that every year we hang on, our lives become a little fuller and a little sweeter. That is true right to the end. Then, when the fruit is ripe, the husbandman cuts it loose and takes it home. This is what we speak of as death. Have you ever noticed that death and the harvest of the grapes are associated together? In Revelations 14:13-16, we read here of the sickle being applied and the grapes gathered home and, this death to the children of God, is a blessed experience when you look at it in this light – it means the end of the storms, the end of the struggles and the end of the coldness and gathered home where we can enjoy a closer fellowship with the husbandman, throughout all eternity.

In the last four verses of Revelations 14, it speaks of another harvest – where the grapes are gathered and cast into the winepress of the wrath of God. Sometimes people find it hard to realize that God has one definite way. It is hard for them to realize that any religious vine is not good enough, but when you read of these grapes from these other vines being cast into the winepress, it helps us to realize that, with God, it makes all the difference in the world which vine we are hanging onto. May God give us grace to abide faithfully in the true vine, so that our future can become richer, fuller, and sweeter?

The word slothful comes from the SLOTH, a very inoffensive little animal. It never disturbs anybody with its noise, because it doesn’t make any noise. It doesn’t get in your way, because it spends most of its time hanging in a tree. It never offends anybody with its odour, because it doesn’t have any. No, the sloth isn’t guilty of offending anybody, but it just never gets around to doing anything else, either!

Proverbs 12:27, the slothful [man] roasteth not that which he took in hunting.

It speaks to me of SLOTHFULNESS IN MEDITATION. The man had gone hunting, but just never got around to roasting it. He was hunting for the right thing: meat. Some people only go hunting for trophies! When you’re reading the Bible, are you looking for food or are you looking for trophies (something to impress others that you are such a good Bible student)??

A minister and his wife were converted after 42 years. After professing one year he said, “I have gotten more good out of the Bible this past year than all the 42 years I was in the pulpit. At first I wondered why, but now realize it’s because as a minister, I was just reading it to get something for somebody else.”

MEDITATION to a child of God is like ROASTING the meat.

The religious world in the Bible, strange to say, was referred to as the swine. The reason why was because swine walk like sheep but they don’t have the sheep’s nature, do they? If a creature would walk along during the night and leave its tracks in the sand, when you saw those tracks the next morning, unless you were a real good farmer, you wouldn’t know whether it was a pig or a sheep that walked by. Swine will leave very much the same kind of tracks.

One of the things that has become a curse in the religious world is they train their people to walk like sheep. Oh, they can train them to walk to church instead of to the bar; they can train them to walk to the hospital and visit the sick; they can train them to walk some of the highest standards instead of the lowest in the world, so, one of the curses of false religion is they train their people to walk like sheep yet they cannot give them the sheep’s nature, and that is why they can’t produce a fellowship. You can put two or three of them together and the first thing you know, there is a squeal going on. There is no possibility of having true fellowship under those conditions.

You know, sometimes it is easier for God to take people out of a false church than it is to get the false leaven out of them. Doesn’t it thrill you to see some evidence of the same handiwork of God, doing the same thing today? We have Paul’s in our fellowship today. I have had older companions that I could see in them everything I read about in the life of Paul. We also have Timothy’s and Titus’s in our fellowship today. Yes, and we thank God for them. Yes, and we thank God for the Mary’s and the Phoebe’s too, etc. The farther on I go, the more I thank God for the Ministry of the Sister Workers. When you see the evidence of the types of women on every hand in the world today, to me it is nothing less than a compound miracle that God can take women and make out of them those wonderful characters that represent our Sister Workers. It is a wonderful assurance that the Workman hasn’t changed, and neither has His Workmanship.

One of the things that we have been enthused about in different parts of the country, is the fact that today, God is raising up one of the most wonderful crops of young people we have ever known in our generation. That again is a miracle, when you think of the juvenile delinquency in the world, and you realise that the youth problem is the No. 1 problem of the Nation, and that the average young person today is literally going to the dogs. Isn’t it a marvelous thing to think that right in the midst of this sin and decay, God is able to raise up and establish one of the best crops of young people we have ever known in our day and generation. That is not only true here in New Mexico and Texas but in every place where we have had the privilege of going to Convention this year, we see that same wonderful evidence. Now I wouldn’t want to give you the impression that all our young people are all that they should be. Sometimes our hearts ache when we see some of our young folks having such a glorious privilege and not making use of it. We would like to think that, for some of you young people who have come to this convention and haven’t been too Christ-like or too separated in your life, that the effect of this Convention would send you forth and that you sisters would be looking more like Sister Workers, and you brothers would have more of the spirit of a Brother Worker. That is one of the purposes for which we come to Convention – so God can help us see the worthwhileness of this taking place. I have often mentioned to people that I wish everyone would do what Moses did. When Moses left Egypt and was saved, he went to the very backside of the desert and got just as far away from the world with its fashions and passions and customs as he could possibly get. It was from that remote position that God called that young man into the Work. If we could encourage our Brethren, old and young alike, but especially our young folks, to go to the backside of the desert and get as far away from Egypt and its fashions and passions, as fast as you can, that it might even be as a result of your being back there, God might even call you into the Work. I am not going to say that God is going to give that privilege to you; that is a sacred privilege that only a few people know. If God, in the coming months or years would lay His hand on your young life and make it known to you that He wants you in the Work, don’t feel sorry for yourself; don’t rebel against it. Remember that God is giving you a sacred privilege that He does not give to everyone.

This world that is around us is nothing but a jungle and it is filled with the most vicious forms of death that a person could possibly imagine. We would like to plead with you this morning, to beware of the jungle. You beware of the jungle; it looks inviting on the outside but you haven’t any idea of the heartache and the death on the inside. I would not want to give you the impression that everybody out in the world is a brute beast, not for a single minute, but I do want to impress on your mind that they are at every turn of the road and they come to you in sheep’s clothing so that you haven’t the least idea what their motives are when they begin to approach you and take interest in you. Those people don’t care whether you end up in a mental institution or not. They don’t care whether you go down and hang your head in disgrace or not. They don’t care whether you wreck your health or not. They are natural brute beasts, and the world is full of them. There has never been a time when the jungle has been more teeming with beasts, and we would certainly appeal to our young people to stay as far away from that jungle as you can. They are not concerned about your soul. They don’t care whether you go to hell or not, or whether you spend the rest of your life in shame or not. They are not concerned about anything other than any other brute beast, and that is just satisfying their own natural self.

But, while we have some young folks that live too near to the border, we thank God for the multitude of those today that are dwelling in the backside of the desert. I can take you into the homes all over this Country that I have had the privilege of being in in this last while, just young homes, and young married couples. You know, those folks are just as Godly as any home that you read about in the Bible – the same sanctity, the same zeal, the same Godly sincerity, the same wonderful ‘something’ that has always characterised the homes of God’s people.

Everywhere you go, you find these homes: worthy homes that have been pillars in the Family of God, homes that have been so sacred to God and to His people …. and see that God is not only raising up another generation but He is reproducing in our midst the same genuine sterling workmanship that you read about in the Bible.

The Lord has kept it in His own care, and that is why He has been able to protect the Fellowship inside as He does. Jesus said, “I thank Thee that Thou hast kept these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes.” In other words, ‘I thank Thee because Thou art controlling the situation.’

The Scripture tells us that it is the attitude towards the Truth that a person has that will determine whether or not God lets them into the gates or not. It is your attitude. If you are sitting in this meeting as an unsaved person, that is so very important. If you are willing to believe the Truth and honour it, God will throw the gates of His city open to you. But if you aren’t willing to obey the Truth, and if you have no desire for it and no love for it, God will send you a strong delusion that will take you a million miles away from it. Somebody said once that a little fellowship meeting is just like a potluck dinner. Everybody brings something and they put it on the table and they sit down and eat and they rejoice together. You know one of the things that I marvel at? It is another great evidence of God’s control over His people. When we do come together for a little meeting, everybody doesn’t bring the same thing. Wouldn’t it be a great picnic if everybody had brought pickles, or everybody had brought sandwiches and nothing else? When you come together and you sit down to feed with the Lord’s people in the Courts of His Holiness, have you ever noticed the variety that is put on the table? To me that is just such a wonderful evidence that God is controlling the thoughts and the desires of His people.

December 25th was originally a pagan festival. It was a time in which they celebrated the birth of Sol, or the return of the Sun on its northern journey. Most of the activities associated with Christmas have been carried over from that pagan holiday. It was not until the year 354 that the Catholic Church first associated the birth of Jesus with December 25th. In so doing, they allowed the people to have the same day, and celebrated it in the same manner, only under a different name. The following on Christmas is condensed data, found in the “New Standard Encyclopaedia.” It gives more:

Christmas: The festival commemorating the birth of Christ, observed in most countries on December the 25th. The term Christmas is derived from the Latin ‘Christes masse’ meaning Christ’s mass. History: In the first few centuries of Christianity, there was no uniform celebration of the birth of Christ, because the exact date was unknown. Churches variously celebrated the event on January 2, March 25, April 18, and May 20. The adoption of December 25, as the birthday of Christ, was decreed by Bishop Liberius of Rome, in 354. This date was probably chosen because it coincided with the pagan festival of the winter solstice. The Romans observed Saturnalia, the feast of their god Saturn, at that time. The Germans, Gauls, and Britons celebrated Brumalia on December 25. The Norsemen held their Yule feasts between December 25 and January 6. Many of the customs of these festivals later on became a part of Christmas.

In the Middle Ages, the church opposed the traces of paganism, surviving in the popular Christmas customs, and counteracted by creating special Christmas masses. The church also introduced the nativity plays, manger songs, and Christmas carols. During the restoration period in England, the Puritans of New England, also forbade the celebration of Christmas. Origin of the customs: with the exception of Christmas greeting cards, which were first used in 1846, nearly all the holiday customs can be traced to a non-Christian origin. The Christmas tree, usually an evergreen, is derived from the Roman saturnalia, and the Norse worship trees. It was in Germany, in the sixteenth century, that the tree was first used as a symbol of Christmas. The custom was brought to England and the United States in the 19th Century. The mistletoe was the sacred plant of the druids, priests of ancient Britain Gaul. The Yule log symbolised protection against evil spirits, in the Norse festivals.

The above information is very enlightening. It helps one to understand how misleading the modern story of Christmas really is. It also gives one a glimpse of the great bondage, brought on the world, by the traditions of men. This should help us to appreciate, more fully, the glorious liberty we have in Christ. It should help us to keep from the spirit of hysteria that grips the world at this season. It also gives us a wonderful opportunity to let our light shine. When people can see that our homes and lives are different, from those in the world around us, it assures them that we have something better to live for. You might enjoy reading these notes, and it may answer some questions you may have. We have discussed this subject with a number of our friends and all seem to appreciate the information. In general, we have found that when our brethren learn the facts of such things, they form their own conclusions and make their own separations. This is better than for us to lay down laws for them to abide by.

A few more facts about Christmas:

This holiday will be celebrated as the birth of Christ. Yet……

a. During this season, there will be more domestic violence, more alcohol-related injuries and death, more debt incurred, and more marital infidelity than at any other time of the year!

b. Office parties soon become drinking parties, reveling, etc.

c. And this is how men should remember the birth of Jesus?

Men are far more interested in observing their religious days (Christmas, Easter) than they are in observing the Lord’s Day (Hebrews 10:25).

a. Human memorials of Christ’s birth versus Lord’s memorial of His death (I Corinthians 11:23-26).

b. Christ will only accept honor given Him in God’s way – John 4:23-24.

We should be concerned with Christian’s involvement in the activities of Christmas:

a. Is the religious observance of Christ’s birth authorized by God?

b. What is the history of this religious holiday?

c. What is the Christian to do at this time of year?

d. What are we teaching our children about Christmas?

We want to be “the faithful” who come before God as He commands!

THE BASIS FOR THE RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE OF CHRIST’S BIRTH: MAN OR GOD?

A. The Bible Does Not Reveal The Date Of Christ’s Birth. 1. Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:1 – Days of Herod the Great (37-4 BC) and Caesar Augustus (27 BC-14 AD). 2. Luke 2:8 – Shepherds in fields watching flocks:

a. Summer months.

b. Song of Solomon 2:11 – Winter marked by cold and rain.

c. December is not “the time of Christ’s birth!”

Human speculation over date:

a. Clement of Alexandria – November 18, 3 BC. / May 20.

b. Hippolytus – January 2, March 25 or April 2, finally December 25.

c. Others – January 6; March 28; April 18 or 19; Every month!

d. “No sufficient data, however, exists for the determination of the month or day of the event” – (The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia Of Religious Knowledge, Reprint 1977, III:47).

God would have told us if He had wanted us to know! (Deuteronomy 9:29)

B. There Is No Biblical Authorization For The Celebration Of Christ’s Birth.

1. Historical record does not authorize celebration of the event!

a. Baptism of Jesus; Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension……

b. Silence of the Bible must be respected by men!

c. The Religious Celebration Of Christ’s Birth Is Based Upon Human Authority, Not Divine Authority – Matthew 21:23; II Timothy 3:16-17; Colossians 3:17; II John 9-11; Galatians 1:8-9.

THE ORIGIN OF CELEBRATING THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.

A. Definition Of “Christmas” – “Mass Of Christ.”

1. Catholicism – Celebration of the birth of Christ by a special mass.

2. This festival created to counter pagan festivals:

a. Roman Saturnalia (December 17-24) – Honored Saturnus, a pagan god. A time of gluttony and licentiousness.

b. Roman feast of Mithrand, the Sun god (December 25).

B. Clearly, The Festival Of The Birth Of Christ Began In Post-Apostolic Times.

1. Encyclopedia Of Religion & Ethics, III: 601 – “There is no evidence of the existence of a Feast of the Nativity before the 4th century.”

2. Shaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, III:47 – “There is no historical evidence that our Lord’s birthday was celebrated during the apostolic or early post-apostolic times.”

3. How December 25 was selected for celebrating Christ’s birth:

a. Liberius, Bishop of Rome, declared Dec. 25 to be celebrated as Christ’s birthday in 354 AD.

b. “There can be little doubt that the Church was anxious to distract the attention of Christians from the old heathen feast days by celebrating Christian festivals on the same days (Encyclopedia of Religion & Ethics, III: 607).

c. “The indications are, that the Church in this way grasped the opportunity to turn the people away from a purely pagan observance of the winter solstice to a day of adoration of Christ the Lord” – Collier’s Encyclopedia.

4. The observance of Christ’s birth began in Catholicism and paganism, not Christianity!

5. “Human in its origin, arbitrary and irrelevant in its time, and Pagan in its ceremonies, it clearly has no claims whatsoever upon the true Christian.” (W.K. Pendleton, Millennial Harbinger, 1848, p.22).

WHAT IS THE CHRISTIAN TO DO?

A. He Cannot Participate In The Religious Additions Of Men – II John 9-11. 1. II John 9-11 – Breaks fellowship with God; Fellowships errors of men.

2. Galatians 4:8-11 – Religious days of OT wrong to observe…What of those started by men in the 4th century?!

3. II Corinthians 6:14 – Don’t be forced into adding to God’s will for your life!

B. Use The Opportunities Of The Season To Explain Why You Do Not Celebrate Christmas As The Birthday Of Christ – Matthew 5:13-16 (verses 11-12).

1. Cf. School activities, work events, neighbors.

2. People are surprised, but generally respectful of your convictions. But, you must live by your convictions regardless of how others react…….do not compromise your faith!

C. A Christian Can Observe Portions Of The Christmas Holiday Non-Religiously.

1. Many things which may carry religious meaning can be practiced non-religiously: a. Circumcision – Acts 16:1-3.

b. Washing hands; Eating meat sacrificed to idols, etc.

2. Romans 14:5,23 – Without violating God’s authority or one’s conscience!

a. Festive, joyous season of goodwill, exchanging gifts, visits, helping the needy, many seasonal traditions which have no inherent religious significance.

b. Galatians 6:10 – Of course, these should be everyday attitudes and actions!

3. Christmas can be observed non-religiously, even though some will be observing it religiously!

Conclusion

1. The basis for observing Christmas as the birth of Christ is man’s religious authority (Catholicism and paganism). It started centuries after the time of Christ. It is not commanded in any way in the New Testament.

2. While we fully believe in the virgin birth of Christ and thank God for it, God has not authorized us to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and to do so is a violation of His holy will! (Colossians 3:17; Galatians 1:8-9)

3. Let us truly be faithful to Christ this holiday season, and every day of the year!

[Notes from Edgewood]

Read it through first just for surface meaning. All that is said about the TONGUE, for example, needs no spiritualization. If everyone took just that counsel alone and applied it, we would find ourselves in a far better world. Proverbs 11:13, this has stopped me when I’ve been tempted to pass on some information; the thought comes to me, “If you do that, it means you have an unfaithful spirit.” An old brother no longer able for the work was much appreciated in the friends’ homes. One man said, “He never brings up a discouraging subject, and he never refers to anyone unless he has something good to say about them. We like to have him around our children.” That man had a faithful spirit.

There’s much in Proverbs about snares and pits. A snare is used to catch small animals and birds. Some teenagers asked one of the workers if there was anything wrong with a certain activity. They were so surprised when she pointed out a number of dangers and problems connected with it. “We didn’t know that.” “No,” she answered, “Of course you didn’t know. All you can see is the bait, and there is nothing wrong with the bait.” We’d encourage young people to make a list of places throughout the Bible where God says, “Look out! There’s a snare.” Otherwise, you might never know until you got caught. Pitfalls are made to trap larger animals, hidden in their feeding places. Unsuspecting, they fall in, and the end is destruction, unless some benefactor will come and lift them out. One day David was feeding in a pasture that no child of God should ever be feeding in. All of a sudden, down he fell into the bottom of a horrible pit. David threw himself on the mercy of God, knew he would perish if God did not lift him out. Psalm 40 describes the horrible pit into which he fell. Psalm 51 is the awful cry of anguish that went up to God when he found himself in the pit. Psalm 103 is the new song God put in his mouth after He lifted him out. Keep in mind that pits are found in the forbidden pastures, not in the green pastures where God leads His sheep.

Proverbs is also a book of LIFE (mentioned at least 40 times). It gives a wonderful description of the abundant life Jesus intended for people to have. It is the only life worth living. “She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.” And to the religious world, “Search the Scriptures, for in them ye THINK ye have eternal life.” Really, just a dead existence. Teenager with a hamburger and bottle of Coke was heard to exclaim, “This is living!” We’re grateful to know there’s more to life than that. The Lord’s people in New Guinea, instead of saying “profess,” use the expression, “when the new life came.” Those poor souls who had so little to live for are now enjoying the abundant life. Recently received a letter from a native worker there, “Three more received life in our meeting last night.” We read of 4 things in Proverbs that are a “tree of life.” Chapter 3:18, 11:30, 13:12 and 15:4. Perhaps some people have trouble getting interested in Proverbs because it is not a continued story with a climax – like David killing Goliath, or Ruth becoming the bride of Boaz. But there are some definite themes that run throughout the book. You can trace 3 sets of contrasts: the wise and foolish, the righteous and the wicked, the slothful and the diligent.

The word “slothful” comes from the SLOTH, a very inoffensive little animal. It never disturbs anybody with its noise, because it doesn’t make any noise. It doesn’t get in your way, because it spends most of its time hanging in a tree. It never offends anybody with its odor, because it doesn’t have any. No, the sloth isn’t guilty of offending anybody, but it just never gets around to doing anything else either! Proverbs 12:27 speaks to me of SLOTHFULNESS IN MEDITATION. The man had gone hunting, but just never got around to roasting it. He was hunting for the right thing – meat. Some people only go hunting for trophies! When you’re reading the Bible, are you looking for food or are you looking for trophies (something to impress others that you are such a good Bible student)?? A minister and his wife were converted after 42 years. After professing one year, he said, “I have gotten more good out of the Bible this past year than all the 42 years I was in the pulpit. At first, I wondered why, but now realize it’s because as a minister I was just reading it to get something for somebody else.” Meditation to a child of God is like roasting the meat. Psalm 1, “meditate day and night.” When I was 17 years old, I received a working principle at convention. A young worker was speaking (and I never cease to marvel at the helpful line of thoughts that even the youngest workers share) about a battle he’d had with wrong thoughts, proud thoughts, bitter thoughts, jealous thoughts, etc. I sat up and listened, because I’d been having trouble with the same kind of thoughts. He said, “The secret that has helped me get victory is every night before I go to bed, I get a portion of Scripture in my mind. Then the next morning when I awaken, I turn to it and begin meditating on it again. It puts me in a better condition to pray.” I don’t know of any advice that has been any more help to me than that. I won’t say that I have succeeded in doing it every day, but every time I have done it, it really has paid off. If I wake up in the night, I’ve found that meditating helps put me to sleep. And early in the morning is a wonderful time to roast the meat! A diligent man doesn’t waste time. His substance is precious. Roast it right away, so it won’t spoil.

Proverbs 15:19, SLOTHFUL IN OBEDIENCE. It’s easy to step over a hedge of thorns in the beginning, but later on it becomes very painful. “Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your heart.” The fact that God has spoken to you today, indicates that today is the best time to do it. If you put it off, it is going to be very painful, but you have to get over the hedge of thorns if you are going to make any progress. A 17-year-old boy was asked by his mother to fill the wood box. He kept on reading. She asked again and he still ignored it. The father said, “If you do not bring in the wood, you can leave.” He walked out in anger. A few days later he returned, but he didn’t walk in the front door as if nothing had happened. And he didn’t try to make a joke out of it by saying, “Here I am, you fortunate people!” He came in the back door, with tears streaming down his face, carrying a large armload of wood, “Here’s your wood, Mom.” If only we could learn to obey in the beginning, we would be saved a lot of pain.

Proverbs 26:13, SLOTHFUL IN PRAYER. If he had been diligent in prayer, he wouldn’t have been afraid of the lion. Daniel proved that. “He prayed and gave thanks.” Why would he be so thankful, knowing he was headed straight for the lions’ den? He was praying to the God who was greater than the lions. One reason we are slothful is that we don’t realize the power of prayer or understand the full intent of the statement, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Isaiah 40:15 Even if the whole world is against us, it’s as nothing. A lion in the streets – could speak of inside the city and in the way, or outside. Whether we’re trying to help someone inside the Kingdom or outside, the Devil, the roaring lion, is there.

Proverbs 26:14, SLOTHFUL IN SERVICE. You’ve heard an old barn door creaking upon its hinges; every time it moves, there is a groan. This is like a man who doesn’t know the joy of service. I am kind of partial to Isaiah because his book is so full of JOY. He had a wonderful vision of the way of salvation, but also of the joy of salvation. And in spite of the difficulties that surrounded him, no one writes more about rejoicing, singing, etc. Maybe that’s why Jesus quoted Isaiah so often. A young man was very hesitant to offer for the work, but after he was in it he said, “I didn’t realize it was going to be this wonderful.” In Jesus, we have an example of the joy of service, getting up early to pray, helping a soul at noonday when others were seeking rest in their own homes, and not even partaking of food when it was brought to Him, “I have meat to eat that ye know not of.” May God help us to see the joy of this service, regardless of what our place may be.

Proverbs 24:30-31, SLOTHFUL IN PROTECTING what had been entrusted to his care. “Void of understanding”, he didn’t understand the value of the vineyard. He was probably the 3rd or 4th generation. The one who planted it knew what was involved, all the time and toil and sweat, to clear the land and plant those choice vines. And his son would have known it too, because he was right there helping. But the grandson was different, not that he did anything bad; he just didn’t know the value of it, and soon the vineyard was completely taken over by the elements of the world. When jungle land is cleared, it has been found that the jungle will reclaim that piece of ground within 3 years, if left to itself. In one of the northern states, there were several acres of dryland ferns, good for nothing. Finally, someone cultivated that land and planted strawberries. Sixteen years later we passed by and that strawberry field was still very productive, but we noticed that several people were out there hoeing. And what were they hoeing? Dryland ferns! Whatever grew in the background is what tries to take over again. Before the vineyard was ever planted (Proverbs 24), we know what grew there, nettles and thorns. Some of you worry because you have to keep fighting your old background. Whether it was a religious or an irreligious background, you find that some of those old tendencies keep springing up. Let me give you this word of encouragement: Just keep fighting! Don’t let the jungle take over. May God help us above everything else to realize the value of this inheritance we have. God save us from being void of understanding. When I think of the generations that have gone before us – all their sacrifice and blood and tears, that we might have access to this glorious fellowship today, and now it is in our hands. We want it to be just as wonderful when we hand it down to the generation following as when it was handed to us.

This afternoon, my thoughts are found in Psalm 37. This Psalm is the story of a righteous man or a righteous person. The first verse of the Psalm describes a righteous person. I’m always glad when I can find a definition of a word in the Bible, because then I know we have God’s mind on the matter. Sometimes you look up a definition in the dictionary, and you get a modernistic meaning of the word. We often miss the real essence of what God intended we should get from the word. The forepart of this Psalm is God’s description of what a righteous person really is.

The latter part of this Psalm tells of seven special blessings that God gives the righteous, a fulfillment of what is mentioned in the 16th verse. It speaks of a little that a righteous man hath. I don’t believe he meant for a single minute that we have so little in comparison with the world, but the world thinks we have so little. I think it was just a message to the world. You think we have so little, you think we don’t have anything to live for. You think our lives are empty.

I am going to tell you about seven things that we enjoy that all the money in the world cannot buy. He speaks about the riches of many wicked. You put compound money together of many wicked people, many wealthy people, and we have something all that money cannot buy. We have something that belongs to the unsearchable riches of Christ, and nothing can be compared with that. This Psalm is a practical Psalm. We learn to look on the Scriptures as a practical book, and the more so the older we get. It is referred to as a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path, and nothing could be more practical than that.

When you are walking on a narrow path, and darkness surrounds you, when danger lurks on every side, the most practical thing you could do would be to take a light with you. Peter said, 2 Peter 1:19, “You do well if you take heed to that light, as to a light that shineth in a dark place, till the dawn of the resurrection morning.” You will always see that light, and it will always be there. We can be thankful for that.

James mentions in his writings that the Bible is like a mirror. When you look into a glass, you see yourself as you appear in the eyes of your fellow man, and what you can do to improve your appearance. When we look into the Bible, we see ourselves as we appear in the sight of God and what we can do to improve that appearance. I hope none of us will forget the reflection we have gotten of ourselves the last four days, as we have looked into God’s mirror, and as He has shown us just exactly how we appear in His sight. But He hasn’t left us without hope, because He has also told us what we can do to make ourselves acceptable in His sight.

I don’t know of any portion of scripture that has helped me more this last year or two than Psalm 37. And I don’t know of any other portion of scripture that I have given to others in their distress more than the practical teaching that is found in Psalm 37. We are told in the first verse not to fret. That is good, practical, common sense counsel. This Psalm was written under conditions very much like what we are living in today. There was wickedness abounding in the world on every side.

Sometimes when you see these things abounding, it makes you just fret. And to begin with, may I say to you, folks, that fretting never helped anybody. All that you can do when you fret is make yourself miserable, and you make those around you miserable, too. No one has ever helped a situation by fretting. If you don’t remember anything else that I’ve tried to tell you in my privilege of speaking to you this afternoon, if you can carry that thought home with you, it will make our time well spent.

Fretting has never helped anyone. All it does is make you miserable and those around you miserable, and there is no way that fretting can help in any situation. So the Psalmist said when you see these things happening, and I think he was referring in this verse to the conditions in the world – evildoers, evil prevailing on every side – don’t fret about it. That won’t do a bit of good. You just get yourself riled up.

Later on, he said to them Psalms 37:7, “Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way.” I think that would refer to somebody inside the fellowship. It might be someone who, seemingly, is getting by with something. Sometimes you see that and you begin to fret. You think, “Why doesn’t somebody do something about it?” In verse 6, he says, “Don’t try to do anything about it. Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.” So if you get to fretting, which you shouldn’t do, but if you do it, and you see something happening perhaps inside the fellowship, and you get all distressed over it, and you have a tendency to take matters in your hand and shake things into place – he said, “Don’t do that.”

If you want to make matters worse, just do what this verse warns you not to do. Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. We are told that instead of fretting, we should trust. That is very good and Godly counsel. That is why I read it over frequently because by nature, it would be easy for me to fret. I thank God that I have proven the value of putting my trust in God. I’m glad to tell you that my trust in God is deeper than it ever has been before, and I have reason for saying that!

If you want to help a situation, whether it is outside the Kingdom or inside the Kingdom, instead of fretting just do what it tells us in Psalms 37:3, “Trust in the Lord and do good.” In other words, do the right thing yourself, and leave the rest up to the Lord. Trust that the Lord will take over and do what you can’t do. The best way for you to correct any situation is by doing the right thing yourself. Remember that. There is no better way you can help any situation, no matter what the situation may be, than by just doing the right thing yourself.

A young brother went to an older sister worker once when he was fretting. Some things had happened at preparations at this convention that he didn’t think was just right. The older sister worker kindly said to him, “You know, whenever I see anything happen that I don’t think should happen, I just double up my efforts to do the right thing.” That is the best way to correct it. That worker was my companion, and a year or so ago, he told me that was the best advice anyone ever gave him.

It is the best criticism in the world; it is the best correction fluid in the world. If you see a tendency on the part of some to digress from what they should be and prospering in their own way like this verse says, the best way to help the situation is to double up your own efforts to do what is right, and that never fails. The reason I am advocating this to you this afternoon is because it has worked in so many cases where people in their fretting distress have come to us wondering what to do about the situation, and this is the verse we have given them, and it works every time.

If in your experience this year, you find yourself facing experiences which have caused you to fret, you just remember, if I double my efforts to do the right thing myself, I will be helping the situation far better than anything else I could possibly do. You just do good, and trust in the Lord, and He will take over and do what you can’t do yourself.

Would you like to know another secret given in this Psalm about how to help a situation like that instead of fretting? It is in Psalms 37:4, “Delight thyself in the Lord.” Get into this thing and enjoy it. Enjoy it to the fullest yourself. In His presence, there is fullness of joy. The joy of the Lord is your strength. The joy of the Lord is also your beacon light. Often men and women have been drawn to the Kingdom when they saw the joy that was radiating from the lives of God’s people.

I think the reason why we are getting so many wonderful sterling young workers in the work the last few years is because of the joy that is radiating from the young workers that are already in the work. It is so noticeable. A young woman came to me at the Saginaw convention. She had been to the Orick convention, and she came to me in tears. She said down at Orick and here also, all the young workers seem so happy, and they are just radiating joy, and they are all so satisfied. She said, “I don’t have that joy.” She said, “Do you suppose the Lord is trying to tell me something?” I said, “Well, you keep listening.”

I am satisfied the reason why we are getting so many sterling your workers into the work the last few years, and you see it wherever you go, is because the ones who are in the work are enjoying it. They have tasted of the depth of joy, and it radiates from their lives. They can’t cover it up.

We had a woman come to us who had professed in our meetings a short while before. She was anxious for her husband to also profess. She said to us one day, and this was after we had already given her counsel on how to help her husband. She had some of the old background training in her mind, and she could hardly believe that our counsel was really sound in a case like this. She came to us and said, “I did such and such a thing. I think that will impress Bob.”

I said, “Anything you do to impress Bob or anyone else will only depress them.” That is really the essence of Phariseeism. That is what the Pharisees were trying to do all the time. They were trying to impress others with long prayers, with the long robes they wore, and the other extended activity that only drew attention to themselves. All they were doing was depressing people. We said to this woman, “If you want to help Bob, the thing for you to do is to get into this thing and enjoy it for yourself. Forget about him for the moment.” She did, and Bob came to convention the following fall and professed.

You will notice how the latter part of this verse reads, “Delight thyself in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” If anyone here this afternoon, any husband would desire to see his wife saved, or any wife would desire to see her husband saved, this verse tells you how to do it. You just delight yourself in the Lord. Don’t be satisfied with the fact that you are in the Way. You taste the joy of salvation. Let that radiate from your life.

This verse says if you do that, the Lord will give you the desire of your heart. Maybe your desire is to see your husband saved, or your wife saved, or your children saved, or whatever the case may be. You just get into this thing and enjoy it, and God will give you the desire that you have for those that you love and would want to see helped.

I am so thankful that I had the privilege of growing up in a home under the care of my folks who really had found the way of salvation. They didn’t tell us many facts and figures about the truth when we were youngsters, because they didn’t know very much themselves. The mission in our little mining village was very much like the mission held at Thessalonica, but there were forty-two adults that professed in that mission. The workers had to leave shortly afterwards, and really they didn’t know too much.

About all they knew was that they had found a wonderful thing, and they kept on going. I am glad to tell you that all but two of that forty-two finished faithfully. That was back in 1909 when that mission was worked, and my father passed away a year ago. He was the last of those forty-two who professed at that time.

My folks didn’t know what you parents know today. We didn’t have workers in our field very much. We would go out to the convention in the fall of the year, and we would be with the workers for the four days of that convention, and then in the spring of the year generally four workers, two brothers and two sisters, would come into our district and visit a week, and we would have special meetings on Sunday. These are the only workers that we ever saw. None of us there had any chance of getting an understanding of the Truth like you folks have who sit in mission after mission throughout the year.

I can count on the fingers of both hands the number of Gospel meetings I was in before I went into the work. What I am going to tell you, I am telling you with all sincerity. I don’t believe there was ever a greener person went into the work that I was. I firmly believe, and I say this with all sincerity also, the reason why God has preserved me in the work is just to make a monument of the grace of God, and assure anyone if a person with as little to start with as I had can make it, then anyone can make it.

I didn’t know many of the facts and figures when I professed as a boy, as far as the Truth is concerned. But there is one thing I did know, and it was evidenced in our home every day. I did know that my folks had the most wonderful thing in all the world, and that is what I wanted, and that is why I made my choice. I made my choice when four of those workers came in for special meetings, and they had a gospel meeting while they were there. My sister, who is in the work also, and myself and some others professed in that meeting.

Like I said, I didn’t know many facts and figures concerning the Truth when I made my choice, but I knew my folks had the most wonderful thing in the world and I wanted it, too. Later on, I understood why it was the most wonderful thing in all the world. But we would say to you again, if you want to help the cause along, if you want to offset any evil on the outside or inside of the Kingdom, and if the desire of your heart is to see a relative brought into God’s Truth, you just get into this thing and enjoy it.

Learn to delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desire of your heart. Whether it is your desire to see a husband saved, or a wife saved, or your children saved, or whatever the case may be, you get into this thing and enjoy it. Then you put yourself in the position where God, through you, can work to the advantage of His Kingdom.

Psalms 37:5 says, “Commit thy way unto the Lord.” If you see someone taking their own way and seemingly prospering in their own way, you may begin to fret and wonder why isn’t somebody doing something about it? Why are they getting away with it? He said, “Instead of that, you just commit yourself to the Lord.” You see to it that it doesn’t happen to you. You see to it that the Lord gets full control of your life and of your way. As our brother told us so helpfully this morning, when he spoke of presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice.

You just see to it that your whole life is in the hand of God, that He is the controlling factor in your life. If you do that, you will find everything that will make your life worthwhile, and He will make you a channel of blessing, regardless of what might be going on in the world, or what you might see sometimes that shouldn’t take place inside the kingdom. Trust in the Lord, delight in the Lord, and commit thy way to the Lord.

Then rest in the Lord. Just sit back with perfect confidence. That is what it means to rest in the Lord. You put your situation in His hands, you put your life in His hands, you put your cares in His hands, you turn the situation over to Him, and then you rest calmly, sit back and wait for Him to take over, because you have all the faith in the world that you do the right that the Lord will take over and do what you can’t do.

That is what the Bible says constitutes a righteous person. Wasn’t that true in the case of Abraham? You remember the story we have in Romans 4:20, God made a staggering promise to Abraham, and the staggering promise was, “Abraham, I’ll do for you what you never have been able to do for yourself.” He made a staggering promise that we won’t go into this afternoon. We are told that Abraham staggered not at the promise of God, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.

He was fully persuaded that which He had promised He was able to perform, and it was accounted to Him for righteousness. If you want to know what the righteousness of Abraham consisted of, it is just that he believed God, and he trusted God, and he turned things over to God. And God proved to him, “I can do for you what you have never been able to do for yourself.”

If you would like to have the righteousness that filled the life of Abraham, the secret is given in these four things here. The Lord will bring it to pass, and He will make you a channel of blessing. You will have the comfort in your heart of knowing that now you are in a position where you can offset the evils of the world; and you are in a position where you can offset anything that comes into the kingdom that should not be there.

We will go down to Psalms 37:16 now. It says, “A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.” Remember now these first seven verses describe what a righteous person is. If you have these marks in your life, if you have submitted to these conditions, that puts you in a position where God can give you these things that all the money in the world can’t buy. All the amalgamated riches of the world put together, they can’t buy one of these seven things that God enumerated that He has given us in these next verses.

The first one is in Psalms 37:17, “For the arms of the wicked shall be broken; but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.” And in Psalms 37:24, He tells us how He does it, “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand.” If you are a righteous person in this meeting this afternoon, you have got something that all the money in the world couldn’t buy. You have got the hand of God helping you. That is the greatest possession of all, the greatest insurance that a person could have in life, and the greatest you can have in the life to come is the hand of God helping you.

I have been making a little study of Nehemiah lately, and I hope I can get a convention message out of it sometime; but it is not there yet. There is one thing I know, that when Nehemiah put his confidence in God, everything happened. In each case, he said, “According to the good hand of God upon us.” He recognized that. The king was moved to do something that normally would have been impossible to move him to do. It was because the good hand of God was opening up the way.

They needed provisions, they needed to have the way opened, and everything just fell into line, because the good hand of God was upon them. Then they started repairing the wall of Jerusalem, which was a tremendous undertaking. They undertook it against all kinds of odds, but they prospered because the good hand of God was upon them. I’ll tell you, everything will happen to you, and the greatest blessing of the blessings of God will be your portion, and the way will open up through every circumstance if you will just keep yourself under the mighty hand of God. There is no end to what you can do when a person puts themselves under His hand.

There are some verses in Isaiah 41 that we have referred to before, and maybe we could just take a moment to refer to them again. They are wonderful verses. If you have never marked them in your Bible, maybe you would like to mark them and read them frequently this coming year. You might find you need them. Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not thou, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. Fear not thou, for I am with thee. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.” Isaiah 41:13, “For I, the Lord, will hold thy right hand.” That means He is bringing His left hand into play now. I, the Lord, will hold thy right hand, and I will help thee.

You don’t have anything to fear when you have the mighty hand of God helping you like that. This was spoken to people who were fearful because they were facing an unknown future, and they had the same apprehensions people have today when they face the unknown future, not knowing what they will be called upon to face. But the Lord said, “Don’t you be afraid. You have put your trust in Me, you’ve committed yourself to Me and I will uphold thee. I will open up the way with the right hand of My righteousness,” and that is the same mighty hand of God that opened up the waters of the Red Sea. You read of that in Exodus 15.

Think of it, folks, that is the same mighty hand of God that is opening up the way for His people today. We don’t know what we are going to face in the future. We have no idea what the opposition might be that would present itself to us in the future. What we do know is this, the mighty hand of God that divided the waters of the Red Sea is still in the picture, and it will open the way for us regardless of what we might be called upon to face.

With His other hand, He is holding ours. I, the Lord, will hold thy right hand, saying, “Fear not, I will help thee.” Those verses are left on record in the Bible for your comfort. To assure you that when you put your trust in God and you commit your life to His keeping that you put yourself in the position that God can lead you triumphantly forward regardless of what you might be called on to face in the world. And that is just as true today as it was when God gave those words to His prophet away back so many years ago.

Maybe we could just notice Isaiah 41:14 for a moment. It says “Fear not, thou worm Jacob.” I can help you too. This expression, ‘miserable worm’ is an expression that you read in the bible. I noticed that Jesus used the expression, that it was prophesied of Him in Psalm 22 describing His feelings as He hung on the cross, “I am a worm, and not man.” That was one of the sufferings that Jesus went through on the cross because He was taking the place of others who would have ended up in a lost eternity as a miserable worm.

These people had made such a miserable failure of their lives, and they were feeling like miserable worms on this occasion. The Lord said to them, “Fear not; I can still help you. You just put your hand in Mine, and you just start off afresh here, and you let Me open up the way with the right hand of My righteousness; and I can still put you on your feet. I can cleanse you again, and put a new spirit in you, and send you on your way rejoicing.”

If there is anyone in this meeting this afternoon, and you have been sitting here just like a miserable worm because of your past failures, this is a personal message from the heart of God to you. Say He can still help you. He will uphold you with the right hand of His righteousness, and He will lead you safely through. So this is one thing now that the righteous have that all the riches of many wicked could never buy, and that is the helping hand of God.

Psalms 37:21, this is another thing the righteous have. It says, “The wicked borroweth and payeth not again; but the righteous sheweth mercy and giveth.” The righteous have a different spirit. God has given His people a spirit that is altogether different to the spirit of the world. Often when people ask what is the main difference between your church and the other churches in the country, we tell them it is the spirit. Yes, it is true we have a ministry that is revolutionary. We have a fellowship that is different to any other in the world, but it is the spirit that has made that possible. God has endowed us with a spirit that is different to any other spirit in the world, and that is what makes this fellowship a paradise right here on earth. The Bible says it is, and we have proven it to be that.

The Psalmist said the wicked borroweth and payeth not again. He never intended to in the first place. That is the spirit of the world. Sure, they will make you some fabulous promises, but they don’t intend to pay them. I would just like to say to our wonderful young people in this meeting, the wicked that makes up the rank and file of this world will make some wonderful promises to you. If they can just borrow your affection, if they can just borrow your fellowship, if they can just borrow you or your substance, oh, they will make some wonderful promises to you.

When they get out of you all they can, they don’t care what happens to you after that. They borrowed from you, but they don’t intend to pay it back again. They make some wonderful promises, and that is the spirit of the world. They have a saying in the world, “I couldn’t care less.” That is the spirit of the world, and it is true. They don’t care what happens to you when they get through with you. They don’t care if you bury your broken heart in a suicide’s grave. They don’t care if you end up in a mental institution because of your dissolution. They don’t care if you hang your head in shame. They couldn’t care less.

All they are concerned with is borrowing all they can get from you. They don’t intend to pay it back. That is the spirit of the world. That is why we give so much warning against the world. I hope that will just refresh the warning in the minds of you young people, and that it will help you to keep your shields of faith high, and protect yourselves from the fiery darts of the wicked.

The Spirit of God is so different in the lives of His people. We live to give. That is the purpose of our lives. Our biggest concern is what we can do to help. What can we do to aid the cause? Often our brethren will come to us and say, “Isn’t there something more we can do to help? We would just like to do anything, if you will tell us what we can do.” That is the Spirit of Truth.

Our sister was telling about their study in 1 Timothy. Paul said there the law was not made for the righteous, but for the lawless and the disobedient. The righteous don’t need the law. The law says, “Thou shalt not steal.” I don’t need a law like that. I’m out to give people all I can. My greatest joy is when I can share with others this something that has proven to be the most wonderful thing in all the world to me. My greatest joy, and I know it is the greatest joy of my fellow-labourers, is when we can share with others the unsearchable riches of Christ.

We don’t want anything that the other person has, but we would sure like to give them what we have. The law says, “Thou shalt not kill.” We don’t need a law like that. Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life,” and the reason we are going forth with the Gospel of Christ is that we might impart that life to others. We don’t want to take life from people. We want to give people life, the life that is so abundant, the life that is worth living. It is the only life that gets better with the passing of time. It is the only life that you will continue to enjoy throughout eternity.

This is the spirit that God has given to His people. It is an unlimited study. I have been looking into it lately, and I haven’t scratched the surface. I will give you just one reference. It is in Daniel 5:12. This was something the ungodly queen of the land saw in Daniel. She saw there was an excellent spirit in that man. That man had a spirit that was different from any other spirit in the world, and it was making him different from any other person in the world.

In the last part of that verse, it says he was a dissolver of doubts. Folks, you can take this excellent spirit into the world with you, you will be a dissolver of doubts. That is a wonderful accomplishment, because the devil is busy putting doubts into the minds of men and women from every angle, and there is nothing in the world to dissolve those doubts other than this excellent spirit that God gives unto His people.

If you carry that spirit in the world where you stay, and into the place where you work, and into the meetings where you meet, you have got something that automatically dissolves the doubts of people. They might have doubts as to the existence of God, or the greatness of His way, or the authenticity of the Bible, or so many of the doubts that fill the hearts of men and women. God has just one way of dissolving those doubts, by an excellent spirit. If He can use you and me as a vessel, as we were hearing about, the most glorious privilege that a person could have in this life is dissolving doubts. As they look upon the lives of our people, all their doubts are dissolved.

Strangers will come to a gathering like this. If they had rumors of this fellowship that is not accurate, or not complimentary, they are all dissolved when they come to see what we actually have and what we actually are. So this is the second thing now that the righteous have that the riches of the wicked cannot buy. You can’t buy the Spirit of God for all the money in the world. This is the Spirit given to those that trust in the Lord, those that delight in the Lord, commit their way to the Lord, and rest in the Lord. They are the ones to whom an excellent spirit is given, and then you have something to give to others. You have something that dissolves their doubts. You’ve got something that stimulates them and spurs them on along the way.

Psalms 37:25 is the third thing the righteous have that all the money in the world couldn’t buy, and that is satisfaction. “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” In the Bible, food always has reference to satisfaction. To those of us who have been in those eastern countries, we have seen that satisfaction to those, is a stomach full of food. That is their conception of paradise. They don’t have any hopes of the hereafter, but their concept now of paradise is a stomach full of food.

You studied the parable in Luke 14 a while back, when the king made this great feast, and he invited the Jews. They didn’t come, and he invited others, and still there was room. In Luke 14:23, he said to his servants, “You go out into the hedges and highways and compel them to come in.” That is a language that is familiar in those countries, because a vast number of those people have never had a home. They just walk the highways by day, begging, borrowing, and stealing anything in the line of food that will keep their body and soul together one more day.

When darkness comes, they crawl under some shrub or hedge, and that protects them from the equatorial rains that generally fall at night. The people who live in the lands where these incidents were recorded, most of them never knew what it was to have a stomach full of food, and their concept of satisfaction is to have a full stomach. So when God was trying to show people the inward satisfaction of soul that He offered to people, He told them it was like a feast.

He said, “Your soul will delight itself in fatness,” and fatness comes when you get more than you need. For those poor people who had never had a stomach full of food, it must have been wonderful to think of the possibility of getting more than they needed. Whenever you read of food in the Bible, you read of satisfaction. God was giving to the hungry souls of men and women a satisfying portion. David was saying in this portion, “I was young when I made my choice to serve God, and now I am old, and I have never seen the righteous forsaken, or His seed begging bread.” Never once has God let His people down. He satisfied them under all conditions.

We had a woman come to our convention in Chelan a few years ago. She had just moved into the district, and she had several conversations with the sister workers there during the preparations. This resulted in her coming to the convention. She came to all twelve of the meetings and later on, after convention was over, she was talking to two of these sisters, she said, “The thing that impressed me about your convention is that you people are perfectly satisfied with what you have. All that you want is more of it.” I thought that was a good analysis.

She mentioned that she had been a delegate several times to her Christian Church conventions, and they lasted for ten days. She said all the time during those ten days was spent in trying to devise means whereby they could improve on what they had. They weren’t satisfied with what they had. They were trying to find a way they could improve it. And she thought it was so wonderful that God’s people could come to convention and sit there for twelve meetings perfectly satisfied with what they had; and all they wanted was more if it.

Isn’t this a wonderful thing when we start to analyze it? I suppose we are all guilty of taking too much for granted along this line. Isn’t it wonderful we have something so wonderful we wouldn’t want to change it? If someone should suggest to you that maybe a new plan would help a situation, you would say, “What, a new plan? We have got something that is working perfectly.” It is God’s way that is perfect from the beginning. Every year, you are more satisfied than you were the year before. All we want is more of it. That is why you came to convention. You didn’t come here to get an improvement of things, or to get a new variation of teaching, or anything of that sort. All you wanted is more of what you have, and you have certainly gotten it, because it has been a feast that has filled every one of us to overflowing.

A lot is mentioned in this Psalm about being fed. Remember when you read that in the Bible it speaks of the Lord satisfying the hungry souls of His people. It says, “So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.”” Psalms 37:19, “In the days of famine, thou shalt be satisfied.” Even though everyone around you is famine stricken, you are still being satisfied. God doesn’t let His people down because the world has gotten themselves into a turmoil.

There is a statement Paul made in II Corinthians 1:18, that I’ve thought of so much lately, and I would like to share it with you. Maybe it will help you in this coming year. He said to them, “When we preached the gospel to you, the promises that God made to you through us were not yea and nay. They were yea and amen.” In other words, they were not yes and no. God didn’t say to you when you listened to the gospel story, “Yes, I can help you. No, I couldn’t help that person; he is too far gone.” Or He didn’t say, “Yes, I can help you now, but I couldn’t do that if the Communist took over.”

The promises God made to these people through the gospel He has also made to us. The promise that God made to us was yea and amen. Yes, I can help this person, but I can help that person just as well. Yes, I can take care of you when everything is going good, but yes, I can take care of you when some foreign power might come in and try to devastate your nation. It doesn’t make any difference to God what the situation is. His promises to His people are not hanging on surrounding conditions and that is the thought the Psalmist is bringing out here.

Even in time of famine, we will be satisfied. Even if the world has gotten itself in a famine stricken condition like it has today. Men and women are running to and fro seeking the word of God, seeking something to feed their soul. They are not finding it, and the famine is existing all around us, and here we are enjoying ourselves. We are delighting ourselves in the abundance of fatness. That satisfaction, that fatness of soul, that inward contentment we have, that is another thing all the money in the world couldn’t buy. The world things we don’t have much – that what we do have is so little. But when you stop to analyze these things bit by bit, you realize we are the wealthiest people that has ever walked the face of the earth from the dawn of creation until now.

Psalms 37:29, this speaks of the inheritance that the righteous have, and I think it is good to remind ourselves from time to time that what we have in Christ is an inheritance. It is not something we deserve; it is not something we worked for; it is not something we merited. It is something that we have received through the kindness of God.

There is a verse in Romans 8:17 that has thrilled me from time to time when I read it or think of it. It says when you become children of God, then you are heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. Can you take that in this afternoon – that Christ has made you an heir with Him, and that is as true today as it will be eternally? Everything that God placed at the disposal of His Son, He has placed at your disposal and mine today. We are told that the mind of Christ is within our reach. We are told that the mind of Christ is within our reach. We are told that the Spirit of Christ is at our disposal.

It says of the grace of Christ, “Of all His fullness have we received, and grace for grace.” Everything that God has placed at the disposal of His Son Jesus, He has placed at the disposal of you and me. And through that medium, we are able to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. When we talk to the world about following Jesus, and God’s plan for us to do so, they say it is impossible. He was the Son of God, and we are just creatures of the dust. Well, we might be a creature of the dust to start with, but you put your trust in the Lord, you rejoice in the Lord, you commit your way to the Lord, and God will place at your disposal everything He placed at the disposal of His Son Jesus Christ. We are heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ, and that enables us to walk in His footsteps, and have close fellowship with Him as we walk along the way.

This inheritance is so vast. Peter said it is incorruptible, undefiled, and fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. It is something that reaches right on into eternity. When we are talking about His inheritance, I would like to give you a testimony of Joshua. In Joshua 23:14, Joshua had reached the day of his death, and he said to the elders of Israel, “I am going this day the way of all the earth.” This is the way everybody goes out of the picture, through the avenue of death. He said, “You know that not one good thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord thy God spake concerning you.” All have come to pass, and not one thing hath failed thereof. What a wonderful testimony.

Think of sixty-four years walking with God and not one thing had failed of all the good things God had promised when he started out. You might say, well, he has had his inheritance. You turn to the next chapter, and you read of him dying that day, as he said he would. In Joshua 24:30 it says, “They buried him in the border of his inheritance, in the place called Timnathserah.” It just seems too wonderful to think that for sixty-four years he had been just inside the border.

I don’t care how long you have been professing, or how deeply you have gotten into this thing. I don’t care how much you love it, or how much you have invested in it. The fact remains that when you die; you will be just inside the border. It will take all eternity for you to enjoy the remainder of your inheritance. This place where Joshua was buried was called Timnathserah. You look up the meaning of that word in the back of your Bible, and it will tell you that it means a portion of the remainder. For sixty-four years, Joshua had been enjoying a portion, and it will take all eternity for him to enjoy the remainder.

I say again, no matter how much you put into it, no matter how deeply you enter into this thing, or how fully you enjoy it, the fact remains that when you lay your head down on your pillow for the last time, you will be just inside the border of your inheritance. Ephesians 2:7 tells you it will take all the ages to come for you to enjoy this vast inheritance. So here is something else we have that not all the money in the world could buy. Nobody enjoys but the children of God. Romans 8:17, “When you become children of God, then you are heirs of God; you are joint heirs with Christ, entering into something that is more valuable to you with the passing of time, and will continue to be right through the countless ages of eternity.”

Psalms 37:30 speaks of the special wisdom God gives to the righteous, so that when you speak you are not giving your own opinion. You have the wisdom from above. In Proverbs 10:11, it says, “The mouth of the righteous is like a well of life” – an artesian well. An artesian well always gets its supply from a higher source, and it just bubbles out through the opening.

The mouth of the righteous is like that. You have wisdom, but it is not earthly wisdom; it is not human reckoning. When you are talking to people, and when you are answering their questions, which this verse also includes, you are not giving them your ideas. You are not giving them some surmisings of your own. No you are sharing with them that source of wisdom, which comes from above, from the higher source of supply. “The mouth of the righteous is as a well of life.” What we are sharing with people as we go from place to place is that wisdom from above. Read James 4, and it will tell you what that wisdom consists of.

Psalms 37:32 speaks about the special protection God has made around the souls of the righteous. We don’t have to comment on that. Verse 39-40 speaks of the salvation God has provided for the righteous.

You analyze these seven things when you go home after this convention; and you will agree with the writer of this Psalm when he says in verse 16 that what you have, little though it may seem in the eyes of the world, is better than the riches of many wicked. You have got seven wonderful virtues that make up your living, and that all the money in the world cannot buy. And there is no power in the world can take them from you.

This is what the Lord has placed at our disposal. Remember all we have to do is:

Trust in the Lord;

Do good;

Delight thyself in the Lord;

Commit thy way to the Lord; and

Rest in the Lord.

Then all of these wonderful things will be our portion. I hope this will be true in our experience more and more as we enter into this new year of victory and blessing with the Lord.

Not part of the original message:

Of the seven things I found six that Howard mentioned “clearly.” The other one was specifically referenced – but from reading the notes I feel it was the first one. He spoke so much about not fretting and in Psalms 37:11 “and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” If you locate all seven of the “things” specifically referenced, please let me know.

Gail

Psalm 37:11, We have abundant peace in the presence of turmoil.

Psalm 37:17, We have the Hand of God helping us.

Psalm 37:21, We have a different spirit.

Psalm 37:25, We have satisfaction. We are a ‘fed’ people.

Psalm 37:29, We have an inheritance. We are joint-heirs with Christ.

Psalm 37:30, We have Godly wisdom.

Psalm 37:33, We have the

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There are several men and women mentioned in the Bible, who were instruments of righteousness in the hand of God. In each case the Lord used them to save the situation! They were men and women whose interest in the Kingdom exceeded their own interests. In some cases, they jeopardized their own lives in order that the situation might be saved, and that the work of God might go forward. Following are some of them whose efforts seemed to be outstanding.

MOSES, Exodus 32:10-4 (Psalm 106:23). Had Moses been seeking his own interests, he would have let the Lord go ahead with what He had determined to do. It would have magnified his own name. He proved by his intercession, however, that his love for souls was greater than his love for self. Normally, we think of God pleading with men to be more compassionate with each other. Here was Moses pleading with God to be more patient with these needy people. This moved the heart of God ….. and it saved the situation!

ABIGAIL, I Samuel 25:21-34. David on this occasion was not fighting the Lord’s battle. Had this been so, then he would have been justified in pursuing the course he had set out to take. David was out for personal revenge, and this could never be approved in the sight of God. Nabal had insulted David, and had mistreated his servants, and David was out for revenge, verses 10-13. Had he done this, it would have left a blot on his own testimony. Abigail, realizing this, reasoned with him in such a touching manner that it changed David’s mind ….. and it saved the situation!

THE SONS OF ZADOK, Ezekiel 48:11-12. These sons of Zadok are mentioned in another place. In each reference, it simply said of them that they “went not astray.” They turned neither to the right hand nor to the left. There is one sad thought in this story. It is concerning the Levites. It strongly suggests that the children of Israel went astray, because the Levites had gone astray. Instead of them being an inspiration to the Lord’s people, they had only hindered them. These sons of Zadok had done nothing spectacular. They just kept true to their charge which God had given them, regardless of what the others did. They went not astray … and God was able to use them … and it saved the situation! Now the Lord was rewarding them with this special consideration.

BARNABAS, Acts 15:37-39. The background of this story is that John Mark had started out into the Work, and had later on gone back home, Acts 13:13. Now Barnabas, who was Mark’s uncle, wanted to take him back into the Work again. Apparently Mark had realized his mistake, and was anxious for another chance. Paul felt that the risk was too great, in the light of the long journey they were contemplating, so Paul took Silas with him. Barnabas went ahead and took Mark, and it is good to notice that Mark made good this time. Paul acknowledged this in II Timothy 4:11. It was the love of God in the heart of Barnabas, no doubt, that moved him to act as he did in this crisis … and it saved the situation!

These messages have really gone home to my own heart. We find ourselves often in similar situations. Decisions have to be made, and often they are very far reaching.

One would like to be so governed by the Spirit of God that, in each crisis, we would be moved to act in such a way that would “save the situation.”

My thoughts this morning are all found in the book of Revelation and I would like to speak to you about this book in the light of a Sunday morning meeting. We have always looked upon this book of Revelation as being a mysterious book; there are so many phrases and terms and illustrations used that are foreign to us today and it would be impossible for us to know exactly what they do mean. For that reason, many are a little hesitant to delve into this book more deeply. Some time back, it took on a new meaning to me when it dawned on me that it was just a record of the last Sunday morning meeting that you read of in the Bible. In the first chapter, verse 9 we read of John, “A captive on the Isle of Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ,” and in the 10th verse, it tells us he was in the spirit on the Lord’s day; the Lord drew near and it was a wonderful meeting.

As near as I can understand, there were only three in that meeting, to start with anyway. That is the wonderful part about the Truth, it does not depend upon numbers. We are interested in numbers, we just wish everybody in the world could be enjoying it but we know we cannot determine this factor for ourselves. It is a wonderful thing to know we are in a fellowship that will work when only two or three are gathered together in His Name. That meeting does not depend upon numbers; as near as I can determine, only three were in that meeting on that Isle of Patmos. It was such a wonderful meeting it took 22 chapters to describe it. I cannot see anything in Revelation but what the Lord wants to reveal to you and to me, at every Sunday morning meeting. Every Sunday morning meeting should be a fresh revelation. Every day of our walk, we face circumstances that are not too pleasant sometimes. It is easy for us to get too taken up with the course of life and that is why God has planned it so that He could give us a fresh revelation of the better things.

Now, the first thing God gave was a fresh revelation of His Son; the second thing was, he got a fresh revelation of himself; the third thing was a fresh revelation of what he could do for others; and the fourth thing was a fresh revelation of the worth-whileness of these things. Let us go over this, this morning, just momentarily. He got a revelation of God’s Son first and foremost. The reason why God gathers His people is to uphold the example of the beauty and glory of His Son. The second thing is in the 17th verse. When he saw the Son it says, “I fell at His feet as dead.” That was the revelation he got of himself. I wonder, do we know why it was? Why is it the Lord’s people feel so unworthy? We have the most wonderful thing in all the world, why is it we should feel unworthy when we come into the presence of God? I believe this verse explains it. It is because we keep our eyes on Jesus. Now, the Pharisees missed the mark because they compared themselves with the publicans and sinners and the drunkards down the street and felt, “Well, I thank Thee Father I am not like other people are.” If John, on the Isle of Patmos, had compared himself with the hardened criminals he could have had the right to say, “I thank Thee Father I am not like other men.” He did not have his eyes on the criminals, he had his eyes on Jesus. When he saw the glory and the perfection of the life of Jesus…even though he had been in the work for sixty years, even though he was one of the most faithful and effective of all the apostles, in spite of all that, he felt, I am so undone when I find myself in the presence of the Lord, This is also the experience, was it not, of Job, that man we have been hearing about. He said, “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eyes seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.” That was that righteous man we read about in the book of Job. This was also the experience of Isaiah, wasn’t it, when he saw the Lord high and lifted up he said, “Woe is me….” I believe, folks, the reason why we often feel unworthy, no one feels more unworthy of this than me. As I sit in this Convention those words of Jacob’s keep running through my mind. “I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies.” I don’t feel worthy to be here myself when I think of all the kindness and fellowship and tenderness that you folks have extended to me, not for a single moment, but I know the reason why we feel so unworthy, it is because we are in the greatest thing in all the world, we are measuring ourselves by the greatest example in all the world, that is why we feel so unworthy in comparison.

That day, the next thing God revealed to John was what he could say to his brethren and then He revealed to him the worth-whileness of this thing. He saw the time when Babylon would fall and Rome would be destroyed and all the kingdoms of this world would be brought to a humble subjection to the reign of Christ. He saw a new heaven and a new earth, the future glory God plans for His people, he saw the worth-whileness of this thing. As I said before, I cannot find anything in this book but what God is anxious to reveal to you and me every time we come together. There are a lot of symbols and terminology which we don’t expect to understand but it does not change the overall picture of the general concept of it in any way.

There is a central theme of this book of Revelation. 31 times we read of the Throne. We read of God on the Throne, the Lamb in the midst of the throne, the river proceeding out of the Throne, 31 times we read about the Throne and the key verse to the whole book is in the 19th chapter and verse 6. “For the Lord Omnipotent reigneth.” Now, that is another wonderful thing about the Sunday morning meeting; it is the place where the needs of God’s people are personally met and the reason why God gave John, on this occasion, that wonderful vision of the Throne and of God on the Throne was because that is what John needed that morning. You can imagine the feelings that must have been his; the questions that must have been in that man’s heart. Under the reign of Emperor Domitian, the Roman Emperor, the Lord’s people had been subjected to atrocities and hard experiences, many of them being put to death on top of that; in order to show his contempt further for this cause of Christ, he had John arrested, the elder brother to whom they were looking in their moment of fiery trials, he had John arrested and banished to the Isle of Patmos, where, I understand they sent only the most contemptible criminals, to indicate to those people how much contempt he had for John and for what he stood for; and you can understand the questions that might have been going on in the mind of John. “What is wrong? Could It be that this thing is going to pieces? Could it be God is allowing evil to triumph over right? Could it be I have given sixty years of my life to something that is going up in smoke before my eyes?” You can understand the questions in his heart that morning. That is why God drew near to him and gave him a fresh vision of the Throne and the Lord God reigning, to assure John this is not going to pieces, it is not evil triumphing over right, you have not given sixty years of your life that for which this is going up in smoke, it is merely -“all things working together for good;” and you will prophesy before many nations and tongues and kings because of this experience you are going through. This is merely, all things working together for good. If you find yourself, from time to time, going through dark experiences, wondering what is wrong, why did God allow these things to happen to you, you will find the answer in that thought, this is merely all things working together for good, and in the process of time I find this thing which seems to be a calamity at the moment will be one of the blessings of God when the final chapter is told. Did you ever notice the close resemblance between Daniel and Revelation? Daniel also was a captive like John, not for failure on his own part but because of circumstances beyond his control. God drew near to Daniel and gave him a vision of this same throne. Daniel 2:20-21, “He changes the time and seasons…” In other words, the thing that man saw and the thing he rejoiced over there was the fact that God Omnipotent is reigning. He could change the times and seasons, He could set up kings and He could remove kings, He does not change His plan to suit the times. If any changes are necessary, He changes the time and seasons. Over and over again, He would change the times and seasons to suit His plans. He never once changed His plans to suit the times and seasons.

An elderly couple were telling us about the pastor of their local church. They called him a peeve preacher. This man was a negative speaker. The thing about the Truth that they appreciated was that we had a positive message. The pastor had a special grudge against lodges and the ungodliness of the lodges. As the years came and went, he came to modify his message. This Sunday he asked all the members of the lodge to come to the front of the church, so they came down the next morning to see him and they asked him, “Why this change? Ten years ago you said it was an unpardonable sin for a person to belong to a lodge and now you honor them for it.” He said, “Well you know, we are living in a changing world and if our church is to be a success we will have to keep up with the times.” They asked us, “Does your Church have to change like that with times?” and we could tell them from the bottom of a grateful heart, that our God, if necessary, can change the times and seasons; He could remove men and bring about certain conditions in the world but never once has He had to change His plans because He is the Lord God Omnipotent.

Now, the throne, going back to the book of Revelation, is the central theme of the book of Revelation but the Lamb is the central character of the book of Revelation and over twenty six times in this book of Revelation you read of the Lamb of God and the wonderful provision God has made for us through the Lamb of God. That is wonderful, is it not? Every provision that is necessary for blessing in the lives of God’s people is portrayed in this book of Revelation, coming to us through the medium of the Lamb. I understand a little better when I read this book what Paul meant, when writing to Timothy, “There is one God and, one mediator between man and God, the man Christ Jesus.” (I Timothy 2:5) That is the Lamb of God. It is through Him that the richest blessing man has ever known comes into the lives of God’s people. That is why the Lamb is the central figure in the book of Revelation and should be the central figure in every meeting when we come together we should be constantly conscious of the fact that if it were not for the Lamb of God and for the provision made for us through the Lamb of God none of us would be here today.

Revelation 7:9,13-14, “After this I beheld and Lo a great multitude…” He saw people of all countries and nations and tongues gathered before the Throne with palms in their hands, the question would arise, “Who are these?” John said, “I don’t know, I cannot answer that.” The one that spoke to him said, “These are they which came out of great tribulation and washed their clothes in the blood of the Lamb.” I am very fascinated myself by the origin of words. To me, if I can understand the origin of a word and how it was used originally, I understand better its application. This word ‘Tribulation’ when you look in the dictionary, you will find this word tribulation is taken from the old Latin word tribulum which means flails; an instrument for threshing corn by hand, the old primitive method of separating the corn from the chaff. If you find difficulty in understanding this word tribulation, you just use the synonym separation. That is what tribulation does for God’s people, it separates us from the things that are only chaff, the chaff of the world and prepares us for the time God can gather us into His garner. Everyone in that throng came through great tribulation; everyone of us that expects to find ourselves some day in that throng, would have gotten there as a result of having gone through tribulation, separation. Sometimes this is like a painful flail, the experiences the Lord brings about to bring us to that place. The experiences God leads us though is to separate us from the chaff; that is mentioned first and then they washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. The religious world today would offer you the blood of the Lamb without the separation. I would like to say, especially to the young people here, I remember my folks, as a young person, I used to wonder why it was necessary this separation be brought into the picture; separation just brings us to the place where the blood of Jesus can take over. Could that help you to see the worth-whileness of it? Separation just brings us to the place where the blood of Jesus can take over. That is the reason why when Jesus introduced the bread and wine for communion, He gave the bread first and the cup afterwards. That was not a coincidence, what was the true order? This bread represents “My body broken for you” and when I take that bread and put it in my mouth, I am expressing by that act how much I appreciate that one whose body was broken for me, whose will was broken in every respect in submitting to the Will of the Father that I might have an example to follow; not only that, that I am willing to partake of the same brokenness, I am willing that my will be broken and brought into subjection to the will of the Father and when the disciples had partaken of the bread that evening, on that occasion it was evening, the Lord handed them the cup, then they were worthy to partake of the cup. That might help you to understand why we partake of the bread first. It signifies my willingness to be broken in the same manner as the Lamb of God was broken in submission to His Father’s Will and if we will have the brokenness, the separation comes about as a result of it, then we are worthy to partake of the cup, with fresh assurance that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. Going back to the original thought, this is just a reminder, folks, you and I would never enjoy a place in the congregation like this, we would never enjoy a place in the eternal congregation on the other side were it not for the provision God has made for us through the medium of the Lamb.

The 3rd verse speaks of one of the blessings that come to us; God on the Throne, ministering to us through the medium of the Lamb. “Blessed is He that readeth … for the time is at hand.” If you don’t mind marking your Bible underscore the word time – that word is the key to understanding this verse. The Bible is a time book, the Bible reminds you and me we have a short time at best. The Scripture tells us time is given for us to prepare for Eternity. We have to redeem the time. There is no such thing as a convenient time to serve God, there is no convenient time to read the Bible, to pray or to enter into activities and fellowship with God. These things come about as a result of redeeming time; that is, I purchase that time at the expense of something else, something I would like to have been doing at that time, I give up something, instead of doing what I want to do. This coming year is going to be no different from the last; there is not going to be a convenient time to read and pray or visit the hospital or write to a worker overseas, or for any of these things; we have to redeem that time; we must give up something else, maybe doing something for ourselves, in order to make time to do the important thing.

There are two references to time in this book- one is in the 10:6. We read of the angel standing upon the sea and on the land saying, “There should be time no longer.” This is spoken of in a general sense but the application is also true in the personal sense, that if the Lord delays His coming in the process of time, sooner or later, the angel will have laid his hand on everyone of us in this meeting and said to us, “Now, for you there will be time no longer.” We were having a Convention in Ohio and at one of the meetings was a man sitting in the second row; he sang the first hymn heartily, another hymn was called and he started to sing and before the end of that hymn had been sung his time was finished, that man was in Eternity, right there during the second hymn of the opening meeting, the angel just reached down and touched his shoulder and said, “For you, time will be no longer.” I did not know the man but one of the statements you heard about him frequently was “Well, he was certainly ready to go,” and the question came to me, “If God would have put His hand on my shoulder in that meeting, could it have been said of me, ‘Surely, he was ready to go.’?” Maybe we could just bring that down a little more to home this morning. Supposing in this meeting, in this very meeting of this Convention, this Sunday morning meeting of this Convention, God would suddenly reach down and touch you on the shoulder and say, “For you, there will be time no longer,” could it be said that you were ready to go? How would you feel if the Lord reached down and touched you on the shoulder? Can you understand what Jesus meant when He poured out His heart to them at the last supper? He said, “Be ye therefore ready.” We just never know. If the Lord delays His coming in the process of time the angel is going to put His hand on your shoulder and say, “For you, time shall be no longer.” May God help us to live for Him day by day, to live whatever time, whatever the cost might be, may God grant that when that time comes for you and me we will be ready to go.

There is another verse I would like to call your attention to, that is in the 12th chapter of this book. Verse 12 says the devil is exceedingly wrath because he knows the time is short. When I read that verse this morning, I said to myself, “Would to God that we were as wise as the devil.” I don’t think any of us in this meeting realize that at best we have a short time; the devil realizes that. It tells us here he was working night and day to accomplish his purpose because he knows he has but a short time. There is such a tendency for us as human beings to think of time as an indefinite future. You think of all kinds of time ahead of you and sometimes we don’t stop to realize that at best we only have a short time. I was in a home some time ago, the family in that home had received a little pamphlet from an insurance company. This pamphlet was to make people time conscious because the more time conscious you make them, the easier it is to sell insurance to them. It this pamphlet, there was a graph which broke down the ages into different years and then compared them with the allotted span of life and if you are this old, then your life is one-third gone, or this old, life of yours is half gone and so on, Well, when the pamphlet was handed to me, naturally I got a little curious and read down the column where my age came into the picture; if you are such and such an age, your life is two-thirds gone. I thought, “That cannot be true.” So I took a pencil out of my pocket and began to figure it out for myself and, sure enough.. if I lived the allotted span of life, my life was already two-thirds gone and that was several years ago. I wouldn’t want you to do it in the meeting, after the meeting some time, you just figure that out, you might get the shock of your life; you don’t have that much time left as you think you might. I learned a little lesson when I read what it says of Satan. It speaks of him working by day and night; he is exceedingly wrathful and energetic because he knows he has a short time. Going back to the 1:3, “Blessed is he that readeth… for the time is at hand.” The only time, folks, you and I can be sure of is today; the only time we can actually call our own is today, time is at hand; none of us know what we might be found doing tomorrow. May God help us to be time conscious. That is why the scripture is written. “Blessed is he that readeth…” That is what the Scripture does; it teaches us how to redeem the time and how to use the time to get the blessing of God and to be right with God when the angel calls us; we will have everything to look forward to when our time on earth is no longer.

Chapter 22:14, another blessing that comes to us through the medium of the Lamb of God – “Blessed are they that do His commandments,” and again mark your Bible, underline the word “right” – “that they may have the right to the tree of life.” Normally, folks, you and I have no right to this at all. There is not one of us would not have to hang their head and say, “I am not worthy to know the Truth, Lord I am not worthy of even the least of all thy mercies.” Nothing you and I can do, folks, that will merit the right to partake of the tree of life, or enter in through the gates to that city but the Lord comes to us and says, “Now, just keep My commandments; if you just keep My Word, just fit into My Will, I will give you that right.” I would like to ask you a question, “Isn’t it worth it? Do you think it is costing too much to fit into His Will, or to abide by His plan when He gives us the right in return to this tree of life and, to all the glorious things related to that eternal city?”

If I was a Sabbath keeper, I would tell you this would mean the ten commandments and the fourth commandment is, “Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.” If you don’t keep the Sabbath or the rest of the commandments, you have no right to the tree of life, or entering into that city; that is the reason they would bring up. Did you ever notice a verse, what Jesus spoke to His disciples the last night He was with them that made the distinction between the commandments of the Old Testament, the tithing and ceremonial feasts, its drinks offerings and Sabbath days. He was going to the cross of Calvary and He was to be nailed to the cross. Paul tells us that in the letter to the Colossians when Jesus went to the cross of Calvary, all those ordinances and ceremonials of the Old Testament were nailed to the cross. It was now consummated and He was introducing them to His commandments. Now the commandments concerning repentance, concerning baptism, concerning His ministry, the commandments concerning love, love one another and a perishing world, the commandments He gave concerning worship and so many other things Jesus had commanded them in His teaching, He was committing to them now. These commandments, if you keep these commandments, I am not asking you to go back to keeping the Sabbath, to tithing, to the commandments of the Old Testament, I am asking you to go forth and keep My commandments, abide in My teaching, submit to what I have instructed you to do and when you read of the commandments in the Epistle of John, we heard so much about yesterday, and those commandments in the book of Revelation, these are referred to the commandments which you and I are living today, as the New Testament Christians, not the Old Testament with its tithing and ceremonials, that was all nailed to the cross and we are now abiding by His commandments.

Then the 22:14, “Blessed are they that do His commandments.” In other words, blessed are they that are willing to submit to His teaching. I don’t care whether it means to us as workers or you as Christians, whatever the circumstances of our background, blessed are you if you are willing to submit to the teachings of Jesus, submit to what He asks of you because if you do that you will have the right to the tree of life the right to this life Jesus spoke about, “I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.” This is a living reality to God’s people because of the fact of being wholeheartedly submitted to Him. I thought of my parents in this respect. My father and mother were just as religious before they got saved as afterwards. My father was a deacon of the church and my mother was a deaconess and neither of them smoked, or drank, or played cards, they had never danced and never gone in for any of the activities of those days. Not only were they living a sanctified life but also a dedicated life. In spite of this sanctification, they were still not getting that living wonderful something that they read of in the Scripture. The only satisfaction they got was from the fact that they were doing the best that they could and they asked the minister, “Why is it that we do not get that life that the Scripture speaks about, the same as the New Testament Christians?” They got this answer, “Well, times have changed and you cannot expect to have the same thing that the New Testament Christians had.” They thought to themselves, “If God expects the same sanctification out of us and the same dedication as from them, why didn’t He give us the same life?” That was the question that was unanswered until two of His Workers came into our district. They were not eloquent but they saw that these two men had something that we have never been able to get; these men have that life that we have been reading about and have always wanted. My mother and father attended the meetings. My mother was the first one to profess; my father professed five months later. Before she passed away, she saw two of us in the work and some of our other relations profess, and her grandchildren, too.

Revelation 22:2 tells us of the tree of life and the twelve manner of fruits it bore. There is not an experience, there is not a phase of life that you pass through but there is something on the tree of life to sustain you and help you to go through those experiences. When that is over we will enter in to the gates of the city where we get the right to this, all because we are willing to submit humbly. The new Heaven and the new earth, this was such a place of grandeur that it could not possibly be told in positive language; the Lord had to resort to the negative approach, “There shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain, no more tears.” In order that you and I might understand what this wonderful something is, that He has prepared for His people. Remember that right is given to you and me as a result of submitting to His Will.

I would like to say in closing, if the question ever comes into your mind, is it costing too much to fit into His Will, well, would you just read 22:15 that tells us of the classes of people that will be outside of that city eternally. You ask yourself the question, “Do I want to spend all Eternity with people like that, in outer darkness, with a wall between me and the rejoicing people of God?” If you ever feel, or if the feeling ever comes to your heart, this is costing too much, you just take the Bible, please, and go in and get down on your knees beside your bed and read 22:15 and just ask yourself the question, “What would it cost me in endless tears, in aching pains, in endless remorse, if I had to spend all Eternity with that kind of people, just outside the Eternal city?” I believe just one glimpse of that verse would help you to appreciate His dealings with you. There is no price too great to pay. Don’t ever get to think, it is costing too much to fit into the commandments and teachings of Jesus. Don’t think for a minute it is costing too much. It gives you the right to the only thing in the world that is worthwhile, it gives you the right to the only thing in this life and the only thing that will be worthwhile through the countless ages of Eternity.

It has just dawned on me, I nearly forgot to give you that reference, when Jesus made the distinction between the Old and New Testaments, you will find it in John’s Gospel 15:10, the words He spoke to them on His last night with them. I hope every fellowship meeting you and I have the privilege of attending, or other meetings for whatever reason, I hope every one of them, every fellowship meeting God gives us grace to attend, that it will be a fresh revelation to us. As I said before, I say again, you will find nothing in this book but what God is anxious to reveal to His People. I hope the coming year will be a year of endless revelation for us all, a year of endless joy, of submission to His Will, a wonderful year for everybody else for His Sake.

Would you like to open your Bibles now to Psalm 100. And if you don’t mind marking your Bible, maybe you would like to underscore that little word, “His,” which occurs quite frequently in these verses. Read Psalm 100. This little pronoun ‘His’ which occurs eight times in these verses, is just a reminder to us that ALL that we are and ALL that we have, and ALL that makes our life worth living has come down from above. These things were HIS, and He shared them with us.

You remember when Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians, in the midst of some of their rejoicing, he endeavored to make this same appeal to them when he asked them that same question, “What maketh thee to differ from another, and what hast thou that thou has not received?” This was at a time when these people were rejoicing over the fact that their lives were different from the people around them. And they were rejoicing over the fact that their lives were richer and fuller and sweeter than they had ever been before, and I don’t question for a single minute that Paul was rejoicing with them over this wonderful possession. But he wanted them to observe the fact, and be fully aware of the fact that this wonderful possession which is yours today is not because of you, and not because of anything you have done. It is because of what has been shared with you from above.

If you were not in this meeting this morning, you would be in a little fellowship meeting. Gathering together like the New Testament Christians did. And in the center of that room there would be a little table and on the table a white napkin and under the napkin the emblems of the broken body and shed blood of Jesus. And do you know, folks, why we partake of this week after week, in accordance with the Lord’s command? There are several lessons we learn from taking of the Lord’s communion. One of the reminders is, that ALL that we are and ALL that we have, and ALL that makes our life worthwhile has been made possible through the sacrifice of Jesus. We don’t want to forget that. God forbid that the time would ever come that we would partake of these emblems and it would be just formality and a routine thing in the meeting. But may they remind us each time of the fact that ALL that I am and ALL that I have and ALL that makes my life so rich and full and complete has been made possible through the sacrifice of Jesus.

Now I find that I can understand this 100th Psalm a little better by dividing it into five sections. First of all, HIS PRESENCE, and then HIS WORKMANSHIP, and then, HIS CONTROL, and then HIS PROVISION, and then HIS SECURITY. Before we go into these sections of this psalm, I would like to call your attention to HIS NAME, which is mentioned in the closing part of the 4th verse. Because it is through HIS NAME that we receive these things.

I used to wonder what Jesus meant that last night that He was with His disciples when He told them that if they needed anything, “Just ask the Father and I’ll give it to you.” Just ask the Father “In My Name.” I used to wonder why He instructed them to ask the Father in HIS name. I have found that I can understand this a lot better now when I think of that in the same sense that you would think of a credit card. Supposing that the gas tank of the car was dry and you had no money, and no way to do anything about it. And one of your friends would walk up to you and he would say, “Now you take my credit card and you go down to the service station and fill up.” So you do it and give them his name. You don’t have a credit card. You just give that in his name don’t you? Since you haven’t a credit card of your own, and no ‘where-with-all’ to do it for yourself, this wonderful thing that you are getting now has come to you through the name of another. I like to think of the Lord’s name being like a credit card. You and I have no credit card that would enable us to go into the PRESENCE of God and ask for anything.

We have nothing with which we can purchase these wonderful things that God has in store for His people. And the Lord knows that. That is why, so-to-speak, He gives us His credit card and says, “Now you go into the PRESENCE of the Father anytime you need anything and give the Father My Name and He will give you anything you need.” I don’t think it is by coincidence now that HIS PRESENCE, is mentioned first in this Psalm. The farther on we go the more we are aware of the fact that HIS PRESENCE tells the whole story. It is His presence in a meeting that makes a meeting worthwhile for us to come together. If it wasn’t for God’s presence in our homes, they wouldn’t be what they are. We are conscious of the fact that it is HIS PRESENCE that makes the difference.

I feel this morning like Moses did when the Lord was leading him up to the Promised Land. The Lord said to Moses, “My presence shall go with thee and I will give thee rest.” And Moses said, “If your presence doesn’t go with us, carry us not hence.” In other words, he didn’t want to go to the Promised Land even if it would have been a Utopia for him right here on the earth, Unless he was sure that he had the presence of God with him. He would rather stay in the wilderness, and enjoy the presence of God than to go anywhere without it. The Lord said, “My presence shall go with you and I will give thee rest.”

Can you understand why the presence of God means so much to His people? It is because only in His presence do you find that rest. The Psalmist said, “In Thy presence is fullness of joy.” It is only there that you will find the fullness of joy. On another occasion God said, “I will hide thee in the secret of My presence.” This is the protection that you find there. In the book of Isaiah you read of a time when the Lord’s people were in dire need, and it says, “The angel of his presence went forth and saved them.” Didn’t Peter, in the first of the Acts, speak of the REFRESHING that comes from the presence of the Lord?

Aren’t we reminded in the book of Hebrews that it is in His presence that intercession is being made for us through the blood of Jesus? Can you understand then folks, why it says in this verse, that we should come before His presence with singing. The Lord’s people are a singing people because they are a happy people. We are a happy people because we have access to the presence of God and we enjoy that presence. In it we find things that can be found no place else in all the world. I am glad today that the feeling of my heart is that expressed by Moses when he said, “If Thy presence goes not with us, carry us not up hence.” I would not want to go any place, regardless of what the advantages would be, or appear to be, if I couldn’t have the presence of God with me.

And folks, I hope that you will use that as a barometer in your choices. Don’t make any choices, don’t go any place, don’t do anything, unless you can be sure that the presence of God will accompany you there. And if you do that, the song of praise will never leave you. There is no doubt in my mind this morning but what the happiness and the thanksgiving, and the song that rings out from the hearts of God’s people, is the beacon light that the world sees. We pray that God will make us a light in the world, and there is no doubt in my mind today but that it is that rejoicing and that satisfaction, and the deep contentment that the Lord’s people enjoy, that is the thing that shines forth to all who are dying on every hand. For that reason I hope that this coming year will find us faithfully, day in and day out, in HIS PRESENCE, so that we won’t lose that joy, or that singing that is found only when we are there.

In the 3rd verse, you read of HIS WORKMANSHIP. “Know ye that the Lord He is God. It is He that has made us and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” Now he is not referring here to the fact that God created man in the beginning. That was a foregone conclusion. But what he is referring to here is, that it is the Lord that has made us what we are now as the people of God. That is the reason why we are able to blend together as sheep in the pasture. We are having perfect fellowship because God has made us all alike.

We sometimes tell people at gospel meetings that no child of God comes ready made, and we also remind them of the fact that a child of God is not a self made person, and neither are they a man made people. They are a God made people; they always have been. Samuel said, “It has pleased the Lord to make you His people.” Do you know why the Lord has reserved this workmanship? IT IS BECAUSE HIS AIM FROM THE BEGINNING OF TIME HAS ALWAYS BEEN TO MAKE HIS PEOPLE ONE. And that can never be brought about through any other channel. If the Lord’s people were a self made people, we would be different. I would be living up to my ideals, and you would be living up to yours. And the more conscientious we would become, the more different we would become. And there is no fellowship on that basis. If the Lord’s people were a man-made people there would be no fellowship. The religions in the world around us have proved that. Men have always set standards that some can attain to and others cannot. And that makes the difference.

Where there is a difference in the picture, friend, there is no fellowship. The reason why God has reserved this workmanship in His hand is because it has been the purpose of God from the dawn of creation to conform every one of his people to the image of His Son. You will read that in Romans 8:28-29. When God takes my life and conforms me to the image of His Son, who is the Lamb of God, and when God takes your life and conforms it to the image of His Son, who is the Lamb of God, then we are able to blend together as one. Just as sheep in the same pasture, aren’t we? We have the same nature, the same mind, and the same spirit. And we enjoy the same kind of pasture. We are able to feed together as the flock in his fold.

Whenever you read of sheep in the Bible, it speaks of fellowship. God’s people are likened to sheep. The people of the world, the irreligious world are likened to dogs. Not so much contemptuously, but that is just the term that is often used because a dog is just living to gratify his own basic appetites. The religious world, in the Bible, strange to say, was referred to as swine. The reason why was because a swine walks like a sheep. But he doesn’t have a sheep nature, does he? If a creature would walk along the road during the night and leave its tracks in the sand, when you saw those tracks the next morning, unless you were a real good farmer, you wouldn’t know whether that was a pig or sheep that walked by there. They leave very much the same kind of tracks.

One of the things that has become a curse in the religious world is that they train their people to walk like sheep. Yes, they train them to walk to church instead of to the bar. And they train them to walk to the hospital and visit the sick. They train them to walk on some of the high standards, instead of the lower standards of the world. So one of the curses of false religion is that they train their people to walk like sheep, but they can’t give them a sheep nature, and that is why they can’t produce fellowship.

You put two or three of them together and the first thing you know is a squeal is going on. There is no possibility of having fellowship under those conditions God’s people in the Bible are referred to as sheep, and can you understand in the light of this, why God has reserved this work for himself? It is only the workmanship of God that can conform you or me to the image of His son. That is why the Psalmist said, “It is the Lord that has made us, not we ourselves.” In Proverbs 22:2, the rich and poor meet together. The Lord is maker of them all. When the Lord makes the rich man over, and the Lord makes the poor man over, a miracle takes place. Normally they would not have anything in common. But now they can meet together and have fellowship. GOD has conformed them to the image of His Son, the Lamb of God. Man couldn’t have done this himself.

Convention is just a wonderful picture of the workmanship of God in this respect. There are people here that would have nothing in common with each other whatever, and yet God has taken each life and He has made it over, and has conformed it to the image of His Son, and that is why we have the most perfect fellowship that human heart could possibly know. There is another thing that I am glad for, as far as the workmanship of God is concerned, and that is the fact that it hasn’t changed. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So naturally His workmanship is the same yesterday, today and forever. I wonder, folks, does it thrill you when you stop to realize that we have today the same wonderful things that you read about in the pages of God’s word? It thrills me when I read here of the workmanship in the lives of God’s people. I will tell you of a greater thrill that I get and that is when I lift my eyes and see the evidence of that same workmanship today. Now I don’t think that I am sacrilegious in making this statement that we have people in our fellowship today who are the product of that same sterling workmanship that you read about in the Bible.

You know sometimes it is easier for God to take people out of the false church than to GET THE FALSE LEAVEN OUT OF US. I know for years it was hard for me to get that old leaven out of my life. We had been taught in the false church that these people that you read about in the Bible were supermen. They were just way beyond us. It would be utterly impossible to be like that today. It was a great revelation to me when I awakened to the fact that those people were not supermen. They were just ordinary people like you and me. Many of them with less privileges than we have today. Yet God took those common ordinary people and made out of them the great men and women that they became in the world. Doesn’t it thrill you to see the evidence of the same handy work of God continuing today? We have Pauls in our fellowship today. I have had older companions, and I can see in them everything that I read about in the life of Paul. We have Timothys and Tituses in our fellowship today. Yes, and we thank God for them. Yes, we thank God for the Marys and Phoebes of today. The farther on I go the more I thank God for the ministry of the sister workers. To think that God could take a woman today, when you see the evidence of the type of women that are on every hand in the world today, and, to me, it’s nothing less than a compound miracle that God can take women and make out of them the wonderful characters that represent our sister workers. It is a wonderful assurance that the workman hasn’t changed. And neither has His workmanship. We were hearing of Pricilla and Aquilla, those wonderful elders. We have elders and their wives today that have everything that Pricilla and Aquilla had, and that others had. It is a thrill to me, and I just can’t get over it, to think that these wonderful things that you read about that God by His workmanship worked into these people so many years ago, are being reproduced right before our very eyes in this present generation.

We can thank God for it and it should cause us to come before Him with singing when we realize that we are partakers of such. There is another reason why He has kept this workmanship in His hands. It is so that in every generation He can raise up another generation to take the place of the ones that have gone before. I don’t know of a time, friend, and this is not just my own personal feeling as there are some things I don’t say until I talk them over with some of the other older workers to be sure that my enthusiasm doesn’t get the best of me.

One of the things that we have been enthused about in different parts of the country is the fact that today God is raising up one of the most wonderful crops of young people that we have ever known in our generation. That again is a miracle. When you think of the juvenile delinquency in the world, and when you realize that the youth problem is the No. 1 problem of the nation, when the average young person of today is going to the dogs, isn’t it a marvelous thing to think that right in the midst of this sin and decay, God is able to raise up and establish one of the best crops of young people that we have ever known in our day and generation? That is not only true here in New Mexico and Texas, but every place that we have had the privilege of going to convention this year to see that same wonderful evidence.

Now I wouldn’t want to give you the impression that all of our young people are all that they should be. Sometimes our hearts ache when we see some of our young folks having such a glorious privilege and are not making use of it. We would like to think that some of you young people who have come to this convention that haven’t been too Christ-like, and haven’t been too separated in your life, that the effect of this convention would send you forth, with your sisters looking more like sister workers, and you brothers, with more of a spirit of a brother worker. That is one of the purposes for which we come to convention, is so that God may help us to see the worthwhileness of that taking place.

I have often mentioned to people that I wish that everybody would do what Moses did. When Moses left Egypt, when he got saved, he went to the very backside of the desert. He got just as far away from the world with it’s fashions and passions and customs as he could possibly get. It was on the backside of the desert that he had the sweetest fellowship with God that a man could possibly know. He proved that the “Desert bloomed as paradise.” This is when God called him into the work. It was there in that remote place God called that young man into the work. There is no doubt in my mind today that if we could encourage our brethren, old and young, and especially the young folks to go to the backside of the desert, and get as far away from Egypt with its fashions and its passions as fast as you can, you will enjoy a joy that is beyond your comprehension.

It might even be as a result of you being back there that God might even call you into the work. I am not saying that God is going to give that privilege to you. That is a sacred privilege that God does not give everybody. If God, in the coming years, would lay His hand on your young life and make it known to you that He wanted you in the work, don’t feel sorry for yourself, and don’t rebel against it. Remember, God is giving you a sacred privilege that only a few people know. There is another reason why we would encourage you to go to the backside of the desert, friend, and that is because this world is nothing but a jungle. That is why so many expressions are used in the Bible like that.

The false prophet is referred to as a ravening wolf. There are already references to the dogs. The devil is referred to as a roaring lion. Peter spoke of some in his day as natural brute beasts. They are not fit to live and are only fit to be destroyed. Do you know why those terms are used in the Bible so frequently? It is just to remind us of the fact that the world that is around us is nothing but a jungle, and it is filled with the most vicious forms of death that a person could possibly imagine, and we would like to plead with you this morning, to beware of the jungle. You BEWARE of the jungle. It looks inviting on the outside, but you haven’t any idea of the heartache and death on the inside. I wouldn’t want to give you the impression that everybody out in the world is a brute beast, not for a single moment. But I do want to impress on your mind that they are at every turn of the road, and they come to you in sheep’s clothing so you haven’t the least idea what their motives are when they begin to approach you and take an interest in you. Those people don’t care whether you go down and hang your head in disgrace or not. They don’t care whether you wreck your health or not. They are natural brute beasts and the world is full of them. There has never been a time when the jungle has been more teeming with beasts, and we would certainly appeal to our young people to stay as far from that jungle as you can. They are not concerned about your soul. They don’t care whether you go to hell or not, or whether you spend the rest of your life in shame or not. They are not concerned about anything other than any other brute beast, and that is just satisfying their own natural self.

In the hymn book issued before the one we have now, there was a song that was supposed to have been composed by an Irish singer who came to this country thinking she was finding Utopia, and found herself in amongst brute beasts. When that young woman was breathing her last breath on a premature death bed, with her character and her life wrecked, she composed these words: “BEWARE OF THE JUNGLE.” “I stand on the shores of an unknown land, On the brink of eternity. At last, at last I can understand The worth of reality. Earth promised me much, But my end is this; I die unheeded, unknown. I drank with the many the cup of bliss, But the dregs I drink alone. The love that many professed for me Is gone when I need it most, (notice that in particular) The joys of the earth that were lavished free, Full many a tear has cost. And now as I reach eternities brow, Life reads with a meaning new. The REAL separates from the unreal now; The false joys from the TRUE, Too late, too late, no strong loving hands Do I see outstretched for me. Alone on an unknown shore I stand, On the brink of eternity.”

That poor young soul thought she had reached Utopia, only to discover too late that it was nothing but a venomous jungle. I would say to you young folks to make a copy of this song, and write on it “Beware of the Jungle.” That is one of the reasons why God would like to have you get to the back side of the desert, because he wants to preserve your future. He wants to preserve that precious young life of yours that Christ purchased with the last drop of his precious blood. But while we have some young folks that live too near to the border, we thank God for the multitude of those today that are dwelling on the backside of the desert. I can take you into the homes over the country that I have had the privilege of being in the last while, just young married couples’ homes. You know, these young folks are just as godly as any home that you read about in the Bible. The same sanctity, the same zeal, the same Godly sincerity the same wonderful “something” that has always characterized the homes of God’s people.

It is wonderful to go everywhere today and find those same kind of homes being reproduced in the world. We thank God for them. Our sister was telling us about the many who have gone into eternity since she was here five years ago. Everywhere you go you find those homes, that have been pillars in the family of God. Homes that have been so sacred to God and to His people, those homes that are fast being closed by death. It would be a sad thing if the older ones were dying off and there were none left to take their place. This is why I thank God from the bottom of my heart as I see the young generation that God is bringing up today, not only the young christians in their homes, but the young workers in the work. To see that God is not only raising up another generation, but He is reproducing in our midst the same genuine sterling workmanship that you read about in the Bible, and we thank God for them as well as those that have gone on before.

I had a young brother with me this year, a young man just starting out in the work. I have never been around a more godly man. I just marveled to see the godly virtues that are already worked into the life of that young man. In fact, one of the saints in the field where we were came to me and said, “Howard, I used to worry about what would happen to this fellowship when the older workers passed away, but just watching that young man, and seeing what God is doing in the life of that young worker, I realize that I don’t have anything to worry about.” I wonder if you thank God as much as you should for the future that God is mapping out for His people along this line. I would like to think that every one of us who represent the older generation would do everything we can, by prayer, and by precept, and by example to help this younger generation to rise up and be all that God wants them to be in this world.

This is a wonderful picture of his sterling workmanship. In the next verse you read of HIS CONTROL; ENTER INTO HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING AND INTO HIS COURTS WITH PRAISE.” One of the things I am most grateful for is the fact that the Lord does control the gates of this fellowship. God has made us watchmen on the walls, as workers and that is a very important place, but I am so glad that God hasn’t made us, as workers, watchmen on the gates, because we can’t tell what is going on in the hearts of men and we could easily be deceived in the matter. I am so glad that the one who is controlling the gates of this fellowship is the one who knows the hearts of all men. “All THINGS before Him are open.”

I don’t know if you have read anything about that old city of Babylon, but I have been amazed at the greatness of that old city. According to the historians, that city was l4 miles square. That would make it 56 miles in circumference, and the walls around that city were 87 feet thick and 335 feet high! There were 100 gates of solid brass, 25 gates in each of the four walls. And yet the enemy broke through in a single night! Now this is just history and you can put “some salt on it if you want to.” But according to some of the historians, the way that they broke in was they knew that Belshazzar was going to have this great feast, so a few days beforehand they had some of the soldiers go into the city disguised as merchant men. The men at the gates didn’t know but what they were just like the others that had come in. The night when the feast was going on and most of the city was reduced to a drunken state of orgy, these men pounced upon those guards and slew them, and then threw open the gates. The mighty army of the Medes and Persians swarmed into the city, and according to the account you read in Daniel this is the time that Belshazzar was slain.

Now there was a real fortress, but it fell in one night because they had human beings keeping the gates. Now do you understand why you and I should be so grateful that God hasn’t left the keeping of these gates in the hands of mortal men. The Lord has kept in His hands and that is why He has been able to protect the fellowship inside as He does. Jesus said, “I thank Thee that Thou hast kept these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes.” In other words, “I thank Thee that You are controlling the situation.”

The Scripture tells us that it is the ATTITUDE towards the Truth that a person has that determines whether or not God lets them into the gates. Did you ever notice that? I will give you some verses: Isaiah 26:2, and II Thessalonians 2:11. I used to wonder about these verses. Why God would send them a strong delusion. If it had said the devil was doing it, I could understand because it is the work of the devil to delude people and deceive people. But it says that God was doing it. It says they had not a LOVE for Truth. If people haven’t a desire for Truth God doesn’t want them inside of His city because this city is spoken of as a city of Truth. It is made up of men and women who LOVE the Truth as Jesus lived and taught it.

God was so anxious that men and women would understand what this truth was all about that He sent His Son into the world and for 33 1/2 years to live to show us what TRUTH is. He said to His disciples, “I am the Truth,” and to Pilate He said, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.” Oh, the Pharisees had a doctrine that they called truth, and the Sadducees had a doctrine they called truth, and others had doctrines that they referred to as truth. This is why the question in the minds of many was the same question that was in the mind of Pilate that day when He said, “What is Truth?”

This is the same question many people are asking today. All of the conglomeration of teachings that we have in the religious world today, with everybody calling their doctrine truth, puts the question in the minds of people, “What is Truth?” Jesus answered this when He said, “To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto Truth.” So then today as men and women looking on my life may understand Truth. I must follow the true way for a preacher to preach, the true way to be baptized, and the true way for a person to worship and serve the Father. This is the true way that was lived and taught by Jesus. ATTITUDE is so important.

If you are setting in this meeting as an unsaved person, remember that IT IS YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE TRUTH AS IT WAS LIVED AND TAUGHT BY JESUS that determines what God’s attitude toward you will be. If you are willing to BELIEVE Truth and HONOR it, God will throw the gates of the city open to you. “Open ye the gates that the righteous nation that KEEPETH the Truth may enter in.” If you aren’t willing to obey the truth, and if you have no desire for it, and no love for it, God will send you a strong delusion that will take you a million miles away from it. One of the things that God is very concerned about is that there would be nothing in the world that would be developed that would resemble truth.

Sometimes people come to us and say, “Which one of the denominations are the closest to Truth?” The answer is as simple as can be, “There is none close to the Truth.” God has seen to that. He has put the same difference between His way of Truth and Everything else in the religious world. The same difference as between night and day. God keeps the Truth separate and pure that way. We would like to think that everyone in this meeting would have a love for the Truth, and would desire to obey the Truth. So that you could have a part inside His Gates, and could enjoy the sweetest fellowship that men and women have ever known on the face of the earth.

There is more that I could say about God’s control over the GATES, but I want to pass on now to the next section of this Psalm. HIS PROVISION: “Enter into His courts with praise.” There were two courts in particular. They were very precious to God’s people when this Psalm was written. And are still very precious to God’s people today. There was the Court of Prayer and the Court of Fellowship. In the court of prayer, men and women were allowed to enter and to pour out their heart to God. Did you ever notice that there are two sides to prayer? This wonderful privilege that God offers to His people in this court has two sides. They are prayer and supplication. Have you ever wondered why those two were connected together? I did, but learned one day that this word SUPPLICATION in its original meaning meant “to ward off.” Then I understood why prayer and supplication were connected. Prayer is the avenue whereby we get from God the things that we can’t get along without. Supplication is the avenue whereby we ask God to ward off the things that we just can’t possibly face. Now if you would like an example of this you read Esther 4:8. You remember the time that Naaman had the decree issued that all of the Jews were to be put to death, and this got to Mordecai, and he in turn went to the queen, and said, “You must do something about this or we are going to perish, and the whole nation of God’s people will be annihilated unless something is done.”

We read in this verse that he encouraged her to go in to the presence of the king and make supplication. She went to the king and asked him to ward off this awful calamity that was hanging over the heads of the Lord’s people. She asked him to ward off this thing that would have been too much for them to bear. Prayer and supplication represent the two needs of God’s people, and that is why they are put together. Paul said in his letter to the Philippians 4:19, “My God shall supply all your needs, etc.” Isn’t it wonderful when you and I go into this place of prayer, that Court of Prayer, and we appeal to God through this avenue for the things that we feel so much in need of, and how wonderful to be in the presence of the One that can do something about it?

God is in a position to supply all of our needs, whatever that spiritual need may be. When we go into that place of prayer and pour out our heart to Him, every need can be met. When we go to pray we go into the presence of the One who can do something for us. Then, there is the other side of the picture. “God is faithful and will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able.” In other words, when you go to God in supplication and ask him to ward off the thing you feel would be too much for you to take, He is able to do this.

Isn’t it wonderful, friends, that you can go into the presence of somebody that can do something about it? He is the one that can control the situation and He knows just how much you are able to stand. Keep yourself in the Court of Prayer, that is a controlled place. Then God will see to it that nothing comes into your experience beyond what you are able to bear. If we had our way about it, we would have nothing but sunshine. And that wouldn’t be good for us because they say that continuous sunshine makes a desert. If the devil had his way about it, we would have nothing but storms, and that wouldn’t be good for us either because continuous rainfall makes a jungle.

When God has His way about it, then we have a paradise because God knows when to send the sunshine and when to send the rain. Could you understand then why it is so vitally important for us to very frequently visit this Court of Prayer? It is there that we put ourselves in a controlled atmosphere. God is not only controlling the gates, but He is controlling the situation on the inside. If we keep ourselves in that atmosphere of prayer, we will have that avenue open whereby God can supply each need as they arise. We will find ourselves in the place where we will find a way of escape when we need it. God promises His people, “You will be like the Garden of Eden.” He promises this if they will obey the gospel and let Him control their lives, that He will make them like the Garden of Eden. This paradise that was the Garden of Eden was possible because God was controlling the situation there. He knows when to send conditions that bring about right results. When you go forth from this convention, you purpose in your heart that you are going to spend more time than ever in this Court of Prayer. Then God can meet my needs and ward off the things that I couldn’t face. Then He can control the situation so that my life can be that fruitful Garden of Eden that He promised He would make out of His yielded people.

There is one thing more that I want to mention about this Court of Prayer, and that is, when you and I go into that place of prayer, and we get down on our knees and pour out our hearts before Him, we get that wonderful relief that is only found in the place of prayer. It wouldn’t hurt for us to just stop from time to time and remind ourselves, now this is HIS court. This is His, and when it comes right down to it, I don’t have any right to go in there. The only one who has any right to go into the presence of God and make requests is the Son of God, But He sees that my need is so great that He has opened those gates to me. He has given me His credit card and allows me to go into this place of prayer everyday of my life, and gives me these things that really are too wonderful for me. I don’t think that we appreciate it as we should, but I hope that we will in the future.

With all my heart I hope that we will appreciate this privilege because it really is too good for us. There is another court that was very precious to God’s people, and that is the Court of Fellowship. In Isaiah 62:9 we read, “And they that have gathered it, etc.” He is speaking of the fellowship inside the court of God’s holiness. Someone once said that a little fellowship meeting is just like a pot-luck dinner. Everybody brings something and they put it on the table. Then they sit down and eat and they rejoice together. This is what this verse is telling us.

One of the things I marvel at is another evidence of God’s control over His people. It’s when we do come together for a little meeting, everybody doesn’t bring the same thing. Wouldn’t it be a great picnic if everybody brought pickles, or everybody had brought sandwiches, and nothing else? That would not be a very balanced diet, would it? Have you ever noticed when you come together and sit down to feed with the Lord’s people in the Courts of His Holiness, what a variety there is? To me it is just the wonderful evidence that God is controlling the thoughts and the desires of His people, so that when we come together there is a balanced diet. There is everything there to make glad the hearts of those who have gathered in the meeting. I heard that a sister who was giving her testimony once, said she got a spiritual lesson from a little happening at a Thanksgiving dinner that had taken place the Thursday before. She said that she had the table all set and she took one last look over the table before she called the guests in. The turkey was there, and the gravy was there, and the salad was there, also the rolls along with everything else, when suddenly she noticed there were no pickles. And with such a rich meal as this you need to have something like that. So she went down to the cellar and got a jar of pickles and put it on the table, and then she called in her guests. She said, “I’ve learned a great lesson from this.”

Sometimes I have felt that my testimony wasn’t worth very much because the others bring so much more to the meeting than I do, and sometimes I have been discouraged by it. But I got a real encouragement from this. The thought came to me that maybe I can’t bring roast turkey that the others bring, or the mince pie, or some of the other things, but I can bring something that will help. Thereby I can contribute to the meeting something that will help to make it what God intended it to be. Did it ever occur to you that sometimes you have been a meeting in the category of a robber? Had it ever occurred to you that you could go to a little fellowship meeting and before God be a robber? Maybe you feel it wasn’t very much that God gave you, but if you don’t give it out you could be a robber. If you ever go to a meeting and do not take part, that’s what you are. Because you are robbing others of what God intended they should have. Then there is another form of robbery. There are those people who are so wound up that they take up so much time from others that they rob the other person of the time that belongs to them. We bring only a leaf, not the limb or tree. Let us remember that the Lord wants us to give others what He has shared with us, and we are to give others the time they need to give to us what God has shared with them. I hope this year we will give ourselves over to the Lord in the Court of Prayer so that He can control EVERYTHING ABOUT OUR LIVES, and then we will be the happiest people on this earth.

This afternoon my thoughts are found in Psalm 37:16. This Psalm is the story of a righteous man or a righteous person. The first verses of the Psalm describe a righteous person. I am always glad when I can find a definition of a word in the Bible, because then I know we have God’s mind on the matter. Sometimes you look up the definition in the dictionary, and you get a modernistic meaning of the word. We often miss the real essence of what God intended we should get from the word. The forepart of this Psalm is God’s description of what a righteous person really is. The latter part of this Psalm tells of seven special blessings that God gives to the righteous, a fulfillment of what is mentioned in the 16th verse. It speaks of “A little that a righteous man hath.” I do not believe he meant for a single minute that we have so little in comparison with the world, but the world thinks we have so little. I think it was just a message to the world. “You think we have so little–you think we do not have anything to live for; you think our lives are empty.”

I am going to tell you about seven things we enjoy that all the money in the world cannot buy. It speaks about the riches of many wicked. You put compound money together of many wicked people, many wealthy people, and we have something that money cannot buy. We have something that belongs to the unsearchable riches of Christ, and nothing can be compared with that. This Psalm is a practical Psalm. We learn to look on the Scriptures as a practical book and more so the older we get. It is referred to as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, and nothing could be more practical than that. When you are walking on a narrow path and darkness surrounds you, when danger lurks on every side, the most practical thing you could do would be to take a light with you. Peter said, “You do well if you take heed to that light, as to a light that shineth in a dark place, till the dawn of the resurrection morning.” You will always see that light, and it will always be there. We can be thankful for that.

James mentions in his writings that the Bible is like a mirror. When you look into a glass, you see yourself as you appear in the eyes of your fellow man and what you can do to improve your appearance. When we look into the Bible, we see ourselves as we appear in the sight of God and what we can do to improve that appearance. I hope that none of us will forget the reflection that we have gotten of ourselves in the last four days, as we have looked into God’s mirror, and as He has shown us just exactly how we appear in His sight. But He has not left us without hope, because He has also told us what we can do to make ourselves acceptable in His sight.

I do not know of any portion of Scripture that has helped me more this last year or two than Psalm 37. And I do not know of any other portion of the Scripture that I have given to others in their distress more than the practical teaching that is found in Psalm 37. We are told in the first verse not to fret. That is good, practical common sense counsel. This Psalm was written under conditions very much like what we are living in today. There was wickedness abounding in the world on every side. Sometimes when you see these things abounding, it makes you just fret. And to begin with, may I say to you, folks, that fretting never helped anybody. All that you can do when you fret is to make yourself miserable, and you make those around you miserable also. No one has ever helped a situation by fretting. If you do not remember anything else that I’ve tried to tell you in my privilege of speaking to you this afternoon, if you can carry that thought home with you, it will make our time well spent.

Fretting has never helped anyone. All it does is make you miserable and those around you miserable. And there is no way that fretting can help in any situation. So the Psalmist said when you see these things happening, and I think he was referring in this verse, to conditions in the world, evildoers, evil prevailing on every side, don’t fret about it. That will not do a bit of good. You just get yourself riled up. Later on he said to them in verse 7, “Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way.” I think that would refer to somebody inside the fellowship. It might be someone who, seemingly, is getting by with something. Sometimes you see that and you begin to fret. You think, “Why doesn’t somebody do something about it?” In verse 8 he says, “Don’t try to do anything about it.” “Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.” So if you get to fretting, which you should not do, but if you do it, and you see something happening perhaps inside the fellowship, and you get all distressed over it, and you have the tendency to take matters into your own hand and shake things into place, he said, “Don’t do that!” If you want to make matters worse, just do what this verse warns you not to do. “Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.” We are told that instead of fretting, we should trust. That is very good and Godly council. That is why I read it over frequently because by nature it would be easy for me to fret. I thank God that I have proven the value of putting my trust in God. I am glad to tell you that my trust in God is deeper than it ever has been before, and I have reason for saying that!

If you want to help a situation, whether it is outside the kingdom or inside the kingdom, instead of fretting, just do what it tells us in verse 3, “Trust in the Lord and do good.” In other words, do the right thing yourself, and leave the rest up to the Lord. Trust that the Lord will take over and do what you cannot do. The best way for you to correct any situation is by doing the right thing yourself. Remember that! There is no better way that you can help any situation, no matter what the situation may be, than by just doing the right thing yourself. A young brother went to an older sister worker once when he was fretting. Some things had happened at preparations at this convention that he did not think was just right. The older sister worker kindly said to him, “You know, whenever I see anything happen that I don’t think should happen, I just double up my efforts to do the right thing.” That is the best way to correct it. That worker was my companion, and a year or so ago he told me that was the best advice anyone had ever given him. It is the best criticism in the world; it is the best correction fluid in the world. If you see a tendency on the part of some to digress from what they should be and prosper in their own way like this verse says, the best way to help the situation is to double up your own efforts to do what is right, and that never fails. The reason I am advocating this to you this afternoon is because it has worked in so many cases where people in their fretting distress have come to us wondering what to do about the situation, and this is the verse we have given them, and it works every time.

If, in your experience this year, you find yourself facing experiences which have caused you to fret, you just remember, “If I double my efforts to do the right thing myself, I will be helping the situation far better than anything else I could possibly do.” You just do good, and trust in the Lord, and He will take over and do what you cannot do yourself.

Would you like to know another secret given in this Psalm about how to help a situation like that instead of fretting? It is in verse 4, “Delight thyself in the Lord.” Get into this thing and enjoy it. Enjoy it to the fullest yourself. In His presence there is fullness of joy. The joy of the Lord is your strength. The joy of the Lord is also your beacon light. Often men and women have been drawn to the kingdom when they saw the joy that was radiating from the lives of God’s people. I think that the reason why we are getting so many wonderful sterling young workers in the work the last few years is because of the joy that is radiating from the young workers that are already in the work. It is so noticeable. A young woman came to me at the Saginaw convention. She had been to the Orick convention, and she came to me in tears. She said that down at Orick, and here also, all the young workers seem so happy, and they are just radiating joy, and they are all so satisfied. She said, “I don’t have that joy.” She said, “Do you suppose that the Lord is trying to tell me something?” I said, “Well, you keep listening.” I am satisfied that the reason why we are getting so many sterling young workers into the work the last few years, and you see it wherever you go, is because the ones who are in the work are enjoying it. They have tasted of the depths of joy, and it radiates from their lives. They cannot cover it up.

We had a woman come to us who had professed in our meetings a short while before. She was anxious for her husband to also profess. She said to us one day, and this was after we had already given her counsel on how to help her husband. She had some of the old background training in her mind, and she could hardly believe that our counsel was really sound in a case like this. She came to us and said, “I did such and such a thing. I think that will impress Bob.” I said, “Anything you do to impress Bob or anyone else will only depress them.” That is really the essence of Phariseeism. That is what the Pharisees were trying to do all the time. They were trying to impress others with long prayers, with the long robes they wore, and the other extended activities that only drew attention to themselves. All they were doing was depressing people. We said to this woman, “If you want to help Bob, the thing for you to do is to get into this thing and enjoy it for yourself. Forget about him for the moment.” She did, and Bob came to convention the following fall and professed.

You will notice how the latter part of this verse reads. “Delight thyself in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” If anyone here this afternoon, if any husband would desire to see his wife saved, or if any wife would desire to see her husband saved, this verse tells you how to do it. You just delight yourself in the Lord. Do not be satisfied with the fact that you are in the Way. You taste the joy of salvation. Let that radiate from your life. This verse says that if you do that, the Lord will give you the desire of your heart. Maybe your desire is to see your husband saved, or your wife saved, or your children saved, or whatever the case may be. You just get into this thing and enjoy it, and God will give you the desire that you have for those that you love and would want to see helped.

I am so thankful that I had the privilege of growing up in a home under the care of my folks who really had found the way of salvation. They did not tell us many facts and figures about the truth when we were youngsters, because they did not know very much themselves. The mission in our little mining village was very much like the mission held at Thessalonica, but there were 42 adults that professed in that mission. The workers had to leave shortly afterward, and really they did not know very much. About all they knew was that they had found a wonderful thing, and they kept on going. I am glad to tell you that all but two of that 42 finished faithfully. That was back in 1909 when that mission was worked. My father passed away a year ago. He was the last of those 42 who professed at that time.

My folks did not know what you parents know today. We did not have workers in our field very much. We would go out to the convention in the fall of the year, and we would be with the workers for the four days of that convention, and then in the spring of the year generally four workers, two brothers and two sisters, would come into our district and visit for a week, and we would have special meetings on Sunday. These are the only workers that we ever saw. None of us there had any chance of getting an understanding of the Truth like you folks have who sit in mission after mission throughout the year.

I can count on the fingers of both hands the number of Gospel meetings that I was in before I went into the work. What I am going to tell you, I am telling you with all sincerity. I don’t believe there ever was to greener person who went into the work than I was. I firmly believe, and I say this with all sincerity also, that the reason why God has preserved me in the work is just to make me a monument of the grace of God, and assure anyone that if a person with as little to start with as I had can make it, then anyone can make it. I did not know many of the facts and figures when I professed as a boy, as far as the Truth is concerned. But there is one thing that I did know, and it was evidenced in our home every day. I did know that my folks had the most wonderful thing in all the world, and that is what I wanted, and that is why I made my choice. I made my choice when four of these workers came in for special meetings, and they had a gospel meeting while they were there. My sister, who is in the work also, and myself and some others professed in that meeting. Like I said, I did not know many of the facts and figures concerning the Truth when I made my choice, but I knew that my folks had the most wonderful thing in the world and I wanted it also. Later on I began to understand why it was the most wonderful thing in all the world. But we would say to you again, that if you want to help the cause along, if you want to offset any evil on the outside or inside of the kingdom, and if the desire of your heart is to see a relative brought into God’s Truth, you just get into this thing and enjoy it. Learn to delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desire of your heart. Whether it is your desire to see a husband saved, or a wife saved, or your children’s saved, or whatever the case may be, you get into this thing and enjoy it. Then you put yourself in the position where God, through you, can work to the advantage of His Kingdom.

Verse 5 says, “Commit thy way unto the Lord.” If you see someone taking their own way and seemingly prospering in their own way, you may begin to fret and wonder, “Why isn’t somebody doing something about it? Why are they getting away with it?” He said, instead of that, you just commit yourself to the Lord. You see to it that that does not happen to you. You see to it that the Lord gets full control of your life and of your way, as our brother told us so helpfully this morning when he spoke of presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice. You just see to it that your whole life is in the hand of God, that He is the controlling factor in your life. If you do that, you’ll find everything that will make your life worthwhile, and He will make you a channel of blessing, regardless of what might be going on in the world or what you might see sometimes that should not take place inside the kingdom. Trust in the Lord, delight in the Lord, and commit thy way to the Lord. Then rest in the Lord. Just sit back with perfect confidence. That is what it means to rest in the Lord. You put your situation in His hands, you put your life in His hands, you put your cares in His hands, you turn the situation over to Him, and then you just calmly sit back and wait for Him to take over, because you have all the faith in the world that if you do the right things, the Lord will take over and do what you cannot do. That is what the Bible says constitutes a righteous person. Wasn’t that true in the case of Abraham? You remember the story we have in Romans 4. God made a staggering promise to Abraham, and the staggering promise was, “Abraham, I will do for you what you never have been able to do for yourself.” He made a staggering promise that we won’t go into this afternoon, but we are told that Abraham staggered not at the promise of God, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. He was fully persuaded that what He had promised He was able to perform, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. If you want to know what the righteousness of Abraham consisted of, it is just that he believed God, and he trusted God, and he turned things over to God. And God proved to him, “I can do for you what you have never been able to do for yourself.”

If you would like to have the righteousness that filled the life of Abraham, the secret is given in these four things here. The Lord will bring it to pass, and He will make you a channel of blessing. You will have the comfort in your heart of knowing that now you are in a position where you can offset the evils of the world, and you are in a position where you can offset anything that comes into the kingdom that should not be there.

We will go down verse 16 now. It says, “A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked.” Remember now these first seven verses describe what the righteous person is. If you have these marks in your life, if you have submitted to these conditions, this puts you in a position where God can give you these things that all the money in the world cannot buy. All the amalgamated riches of the world put together cannot buy one of these seven things that God enumerated that He has given us in these next verses.

(1) The first one is in verse 17–“For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.” And in verse 24 He tells us how He does it. “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand.” If you are a righteous person in this meeting this afternoon, you have something that all the money in the world could not buy. You have the hand of God helping you. That is the greatest possession of all. The greatest assurance that a person could have in life and the greatest you can have in the life to come is the hand of God helping you.

I have been making a little study of Nehemiah lately, and I hope that I can get a convention message out of it sometime, but it is not there yet. There is one thing that I know, that when Nehemiah put his confidence in God, everything happened. In each case he said, “According to the good hand of God upon us.” He recognized that. The king was moved to do something that normally would have been impossible to move him to do. It was because the good hand of God was opening up the way. They needed provisions, they needed to have the way opened, and everything just fell into line, because the good hand of God was upon them. Then they started repairing the wall of Jerusalem, which was a tremendous undertaking. They undertook it against all kinds of odds, but they prospered because the good hand of God was upon them. I will tell you, everything will happen to you, and the greatest of the blessings of God will be your portion, and the way will open up through every circumstance if you will just keep yourself under the mighty hand of God. There is no end to what God can do when a person puts themselves under His hand.

There are some verses in Isaiah 41 that we have referred to before, and maybe we could just take a moment to refer to them again. They are wonderful verses. If you have never marked them in your Bible, maybe you would like to mark them and read them frequently this coming year. You might find that you need them. Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not thou, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed for I am thy God. Fear not thou, for I am with thee. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” Verse 13, “For I the Lord will hold thy right hand.” That means that He is bringing His left hand into play now. “I the Lord will hold thy right hand, and I will help thee.” You do not have anything to fear when you have the mighty hand of God helping you like that. This was spoken to people who were fearful because they were facing an unknown future, and they had the same apprehensions that people have today when they face the unknown future, not knowing what they will be called upon to face. But the Lord said, “Don’t you be afraid. You have put your trust in Me; you have committed yourself to Me, and I will uphold thee. I will open up the way with the right hand of My righteousness,” and that is the same mighty hand of God that opened up the waters of the Red Sea. You read of that in Exodus 15:6. Think of it, Folks! That is the same mighty hand of God that is opening up the way for His people today. We do not know what we are going to face in the future. We have no idea what the opposition might be that would present itself to us in the future. What we do know is this: the mighty hand of God that divided the waters of the Red Sea is still in the picture, and it will open the way for us regardless of what we might be called upon to face.

With His other hand He is holding ours. “I, the Lord, will hold thy right hand, saying, ‘Fear not, I will help thee.’” These verses are left on record in the Bible for your comfort, to assure you that when you put your trust in God and you commit your life to His keeping, that you put yourself in the position that God can lead you triumphantly forward, regardless of what you might be called on to face in the world. And that is just as true today as it was when God gave those words to His prophet away back so many years ago.

Maybe we could just notice verse 14 for a moment. It says, “Fear not, thou worm Jacob.” It can help you, too. This expression, miserable worm, is an expression that you read in the Bible. I noticed that Jesus used the expression, that it was prophesied of Him in Psalm 22:6 describing His feelings as He hung on the cross, “I am a worm, and no man.” That was one of the sufferings that Jesus went through on the cross because He was taking the place of others who would have ended up in a lost eternity as a miserable worm. These people had made such a miserable failure of their lives, and they were feeling like miserable worms on this occasion. The Lord said to them, “Fear not, I can still help you; you just put your hand in Mine, and you just start off afresh here, and you let Me open up the way with the right hand of My righteousness, and I can still put you on your feet. I can cleanse you again, and put a new spirit in you, and send you on your way rejoicing.” If there is anyone in this meeting this afternoon, and you have been sitting there just like a miserable worm because of your past failures, this is a personal message from the heart of God to you, saying that He can still help you. He will uphold you with the right hand of His righteousness, and He will lead you safely through. So this is one thing now that the righteous have that all the riches of many wicked could never buy, and that is the helping hand of God.

(2) Verse 21. This is another thing that the righteous have. It says, “The wicked borroweth and payeth not again, but the righteous sheweth mercy and giveth.” The righteous have a different spirit. God has given His people a spirit that is altogether different to the spirit of the world. Often when people ask, “What is the main difference between your church and the other churches in the country?” we tell them “It is the Spirit!” Yes, it is true that we have a ministry that is revolutionary. We have a fellowship that is different to any other in the world, but it is the Spirit that has made that possible. God has endowed us with a spirit that is different to any other spirit in the world, and that is what makes this fellowship the paradise right here on earth. The Bible says that it is, and we have proven it to be that.

The Psalmist said that the wicked borroweth and payeth not again. He never intended to in the first place. That is the spirit of the world. Sure, they will make you some fabulous promises, but they don’t intend to pay them. I would just like to say to our wonderful young people in this meeting that the wicked that makes up the rank and file of this world will make some wonderful promises to you. If they can just borrow your affection, if they can just borrow your fellowship, if they can just borrow you or your substance, oh, they will make some wonderful promises to you. When they get out of you all that they can, they don’t care what happens to you after that. They borrowed from you, but they don’t intend to pay it back again. They make some wonderful promises; that is the spirit of the world. They have a saying in the world: “I couldn’t care less.” That is the spirit of the world, and it is true. They do not care what happens to you when they get through with you. They do not care if you bury your broken heart in suicide’s grave. They do not care if you end up in a mental institution because of your dissipation. They do not care if you hang your head in shame. They couldn’t care less. All they are concerned with is borrowing all that they can get from you. They do not intend to pay it back. That is the spirit of the world. That is why we give so much warning against the world. I hope that will just refresh the warning in the minds of you young people, and that it will help you to keep your shields of faith high and protect yourselves from the fiery darts of the wicked.

The Spirit of God is so different in the lives of His people. We live to give. That is the purpose of our lives. Our biggest concern is what we can do to help, what we can do to aid the cause. Often our brethren will come to us and say, “Isn’t there something more we can do to help? We would just like to do anything, if you will tell us what we can do.” That is the Spirit of Truth.

Our sister was telling about their study in first Timothy. Paul said there that the law was not made for the purpose of the righteous, but for the lawless and the disobedient. The righteous don’t need the law. The law says, “Thou shall not steal.” I don’t need a law like that. I am out to give people all I can. My greatest joy is when I can share with others this something that has proven to be the most wonderful thing in all the world to me. My greatest joy, and I know it is the greatest joy of my fellow laborers, is when we can share with others the unsearchable riches of Christ. We don’t want anything that the other person has, but we would sure like to give them what we have. The law says, “Thou shall not kill.” We don’t need a law like that. Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life,” and the reason we are going forth with the Gospel of Christ is that we might impart that life to others. We don’t want to take life from people; we want to give people life, the life that is so abundant, the life that is worth living. It is the only life that gets better with the passing of time. It is the only life that you will continue to enjoy throughout eternity.

This is the spirit that God has given to His people. It is an unlimited study. I have been looking into it lately, and I have not scratched the surface. I will give you just one reference. It is in Daniel 5:12. This was something that the ungodly queen of the land saw in Daniel. She saw there was an excellent spirit in that man. That man had the spirit that was different than any other spirit in the world, and it was that making him different than any other person in the world. In the last part of that verse it says he was the dissolver of doubts. Folks, if you can take this excellent spirit into the world with you, you’ll be the dissolver of doubts. That is a wonderful accomplishment, because the devil is busy putting doubts into the minds of men and women from every angle, and there is nothing in the world to dissolve those doubts other than this excellent spirit that God gives unto His people. If you carry that spirit in the world where you stay, and into the place where you work, and into the meetings where you meet, you have something that automatically dissolves the doubts of people. They might have doubts as to the existence of God, or the greatness of His way, or the authenticity of the Bible, or so many of the doubts that fill the hearts of men and women. God has just one way to dissolve those doubts: by an excellent spirit. If He can use you and me as a vessel, as we were hearing about, the most glorious privilege that a person could have in this life is dissolving doubts. As they look upon the lives of our people, all their doubts are dissolved. Strangers will come to a gathering like this. If they heard rumors of this fellowship that were not accurate, or not complementary, they are all dissolved when they come to see what we actually have and what we actually are. So this is the second thing now that the righteous have that the riches of the wicked cannot buy. You cannot buy this Spirit of God for all the money in the world. This is the Spirit given to those that trust in the Lord, those that delight in the Lord, commit their way to the Lord, and rest in the Lord. They are the ones to whom an excellent spirit is given, and then you have something to give to others. You have something that dissolves their doubts. You have something that stimulates them and spurs them on along the way.

(3) Verse 25 is the third thing the righteous have that all the money in the world cannot buy, and that is satisfaction. “I have been young, and now I am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” In the Bible, food always has reference to satisfaction. To those of us who have been in those Eastern countries, we have seen that satisfaction to those people is a stomach full of food. That is their conception of paradise. They don’t have any hopes of the hereafter, but their concept now of paradise is a stomach full of food.

You studied the parable in Luke 14 a while back, when the King made this great feast, and he invited the Jews. They did not come, and he invited others, and still there was room. In chapter 14:23 he said to his servants, “You go out into the hedges and highways and compel them to come in.” That is the language that is familiar in those countries, because a vast number of those people have never had a home. They just walk the highways by day, begging, borrowing, stealing anything in the line of food that will keep their body and soul together one more day. When darkness comes, they crawl under some shrub or hedge that protects them from the equatorial rains that generally fall at night. The people who live in the lands where these incidents were recorded, most of them never knew what it was to have a stomach full of food, and their concept of satisfaction is to have a full stomach. So when God was trying to show people the inward satisfaction of soul that He offered to people, He told them it was like a feast.

He said, “Your soul will delight itself in fatness,” and fatness comes when you get more than you need. For those poor people who had never had a stomach full of food, it must have been wonderful to think of the possibility of getting more than they needed. Whenever you read of food in the Bible, you read of satisfaction. God was giving to the hungry souls of men and women a satisfying portion. David was saying in this portion, I was young when I made my choice to serve God, and now I am old, and I have never seen the righteous forsaken, or His seed begging bread. Never once has God let His people down. He satisfied them under all conditions.

We had a woman come to our convention in Chelan a few years ago. She had just moved into the district and she had several conversations with the sister workers there during the preparations. This resulted in her coming to the convention. She came to all 12 of the meetings and later on, after convention was over, she was talking to two of these sisters. She said, “The thing that impressed me most about your convention is that you people are perfectly satisfied with what you have. All that you want is more of it.” I thought that was a good analysis. She mentioned that she had been a delegate several times to her Christian church conventions which lasted for ten days. She said that all the time, during those ten days, was spent in trying to devise means whereby they could improve on what they had. They weren’t satisfied with what they had. They were trying to find a way in which they could improve it. She thought it was so wonderful that God’s people could come to convention and sit there for 12 meetings, perfectly satisfied with what they had, and all they wanted was more of it!

Isn’t this a wonderful thing when we start to analyze it? I suppose that we are all guilty of taking too much for granted along this line. Isn’t it wonderful that we have something so wonderful that we wouldn’t want to change it? If someone should suggest to you that maybe a new plan would help the situation, you would say, “What, a new plan?” We have something that is working perfectly; it is God’s Way that is perfect from the beginning. Every year you are more satisfied than you were the year before. All we want is more of it. That is why you come to convention. You didn’t come here to get an improvement on things, or to get a new variation of teaching, or anything of that sort. All you wanted was more of what you have, and you have certainly gotten it, because it has been a feast that has filled every one of us to overflowing.

A lot is mentioned in this Psalm about being fed. Remember when you read that in the Bible it speaks of the Lord satisfying the hungry souls of His people. It says, “So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.” Verse 19, “In the days of famine thou shalt be satisfied.” Even though everyone around you is famine-stricken, you are still being satisfied. God doesn’t let His people down because the world has gotten themselves into a turmoil.

There is a statement that Paul made in 2 Corinthians that I have thought of so much lately, and I would like to share it with you. Maybe it will help you in this coming year. He said to them, “When we preached the gospel to you, the promises that God made to you through us were not yea and nay. They were yea and amen.” In other words, they were not yes and no. God did not say to you when you listened to the gospel story, “Yes, I can help you. No, I couldn’t help that person, he is too far gone.” Or He didn’t say, “Yes, I can help you now, but I couldn’t do that if the Communists took over.” The promises that God made to these people through the gospel He has also made to us. The promise that God made to us was “Yea” and “Amen.” “Yes, I can help this person, but I can help that person just as well. Yes, I can take care of you when everything is going good, but yes, I can take care of you when some foreign powers might come in and try to devastate your nation.” It doesn’t make any difference to God what the situation is. His promises to His people are not hanging on surrounding conditions, and that is the thought that the Psalmist is bringing out here. Even in time of famine, we will be satisfied. Even if the world has gotten itself into a famine-stricken condition like it has today. Men and women are running to and fro seeking the word of God, seeking something to feed their soul. They are not finding it, and the famine is existing all around us, and here we are enjoying ourselves. We are delighting ourselves in the abundance of fatness. That satisfaction, that fatness of soul and that inward contentment we have is another thing that all the money in the world could not buy. The world thinks that we don’t have much, that what we do have is so little, but when you stop to analyze these things bit by bit, you realize that we are the wealthiest people that have ever walked the face of the earth from the dawn of creation until now.

(4) Verse 29 speaks of the inheritance that the righteous have, and I think it is good to remind ourselves from time to time that what we have in Christ is an inheritance. It is not something that we deserve, it is not something that we worked for, it is not something that we merited; it is something that we have received through the kindness of God. There is a verse in Romans 8 that has thrilled me from time to time when I read it or think of it. It says that when you become a child of God, then you are an heir of God, and joint heir with Christ. Can you take that in this afternoon – that Christ has made you an heir with Him – and that is as true today as it will be eternally. Everything that God has placed at the disposal of His Son, He has placed at your disposal and mine today. We are told that the mind of Christ is within our reach. We are told that the Spirit of Christ is at our disposal. It says of the grace of Christ, “Of all His fullness have we received, and grace for grace.” Everything that God has placed at the disposal of His Son, Jesus, He has placed at the disposal of you and of me, and through that medium we are able to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. When we talk to the world about following Jesus, and of God’s plan for us to do so, they say it is impossible. He was the Son of God, and we are just creatures of the dust. Well, we might be a creature of the dust to start with, but you put your trust in the Lord, you rejoice in the Lord, you commit your way to the Lord, and God will place at your disposal everything that He has placed at the disposal of His Son, Jesus Christ. We are heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, and that enables us to walk in His footsteps and have close fellowship with Him as we walk along the way.

This inheritance is so vast. Peter said that it is “incorruptible, undefiled, and fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.” It is something that reaches right on into eternity. When we are talking about His inheritance, I would like to give you the testimony of Joshua. In Joshua 23, Joshua had reached the day of his death, and he said to the elders of Israel, “I am going this day the way of all the earth.” This is the way everybody goes out of the picture, through the avenue of death. He said, “You know that not one good thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord thy God spake concerning you.” All have come to pass, and not one thing hath failed thereof. What a wonderful testimony! Think of 64 years walking with God and not one thing had failed of all the good things that God had promised when he started out. You might say, “Well, he has had his inheritance.” You turn to the next chapter and you read of him dying that day, as he said he would. In verse 30 it says, “They buried him in the border of his inheritance, in the place called Timnathserah.” It just seems too wonderful to think that for 64 years he had been just inside the border. I don’t care how long you have been professing, or how deeply you have gotten into this thing; I don’t care how much you love it, or how much you have invested in it, the fact remains that when you die, you will be just inside the border. It will take all eternity for you to enjoy the remainder of your inheritance. This place where Joshua was buried was called Timnathserah. You look up the meaning of that word in the back of your Bible and it will tell you that it means a portion of the remainder. For 64 years Joshua had been enjoying a portion, and it will take all eternity for him to enjoy the remainder. I say again, no matter how much you put into it, no matter how deeply you enter into this thing or how fully you enjoy it, the fact remains that, when you lay your head down on your pillow for the last time, you will be just inside the border of your inheritance. Ephesians 2:7 tells you that it will take all the ages to come for you to enjoy this vast inheritance. So here is something else we have that not all the money in the world could buy. Nobody enjoys this but the children of God. Romans 8:17. When you become children of God, then you are heirs of God, you are joint heirs with Christ, entering into something that is more valuable to you with the passing of time, and will continue to be right through the countless ages of eternity.

(5) Verse 30 speaks of the special wisdom that God gives to the righteous, so that when you speak, you are not giving your own opinion. You have the wisdom from heaven above. In Proverbs it says, “The mouth of the righteous is like a well of life,” an artesian well. An artesian well always gets its supplied from a higher source, and it just bubbles out through the opening. The mouth of the righteous is like that. You have wisdom, but it is not earthly wisdom, it is not human reckoning. When you are talking to people and when you are answering their questions (which this verse also includes), you are not giving them your ideas. You are not giving them some surmising of your own. No, you are sharing with them that source of wisdom which comes from above, from the higher source of supply. “The mouth of the righteous is as a well of life.” What we are sharing with people as we go from place to place is that wisdom from above. Read James 4 and it will tell you what that wisdom consists of.

(6) Verse 32 speaks about the special protection that God has made around the souls of the righteous. We don’t have to comment on that.

(7) Verses 39 and 40 speak of the salvation that God has provided for the righteous. You analyze these seven things when you go home after this convention and you will agree with the writer of this Psalm when he says in verse 16 that what you have, little though it may seem in the eyes of the world, is better than the riches of many wicked. You have seven wonderful virtues that make up your living that all the money in the world cannot buy, and there is no power in the world that can take them from you. This is what the Lord has placed at our disposal. Remember all we have to do is:

Trust in the Lord;

Do good;

Delight thyself in the Lord;

Commit thy way to the Lord;

Rest in the Lord.

Then all of these wonderful things will be our portion. I hope that this will be true in our experience more and more as we enter into this new year of victory and blessing with the Lord.

Hymn 357, verse 1, “Fret Not Thy Soul”

Final hymn, number 85, “I Must Have the Saviour with Me”

John 6:1-14, these verses speak of a miracle. The feeding of the five thousand, with those few loaves and fishes, was a real miracle. We are often asked if the age of miracles is past. NO!!! As long as God exists, there will be miracles because everything that God does is a miracle.

I often say that I cannot tell you what causes miracles, but I can tell you WHO causes them! If we understand what causes a thing, then it is no miracle. Maybe we could use, for example, the Catholic church. It is no miracle. We know what makes it function. Plenty of brains, lots of money, and very hard work. As far as organizations go, it is a powerful one. It has existed for over 1,600 years. It is the largest of the denominations. But, it is no miracle. Men have contributed very much, they have planned with all the craft and cunning they possess, and an enormous lot of hard work has been expended – and there you have the Catholic Church. No miracle! Just a powerful organization.

But God performs Miracles! The sun, moon and stars are all miracles. How they keep their places is a miracle. The way which God’s church exists is also a miracle. the true ministry is a miracle. How they get their education which enables them to see eye for eye is a miracle. Where they get their sermons is a miracle. How they are supported is a miracle. The love they have for souls is a miracle.

The ministry you see in the religious world, on the other hand, is no miracle. You well know where that ministry gets its education. You know where they get their sermons, and how they get their support. There is no miracle at all in that picture. But God’s true ministry is a miracle from beginning to end. The members of the Lord’s church, who are not ministers, are just as great a miracle as the ministers are. The way they got into the church is a miracle.

Only by the miracle of God actually speaking to the individual and creating a new life within, can any person become a member of God’s church. The fellowship meetings are a miracle. Those who speak in meeting are telling of things that God has taught them. It is not what they imagined, but is what God taught them. That is why their testimonies ALL blend together. The Lord’s people know, that only by a miracle, can they hope to continue on in the pathway.

That is what is taught in this 6th chapter of John. Jesus and his disciples were on the mountain at this time. There was no normal supply of food there. Only a miracle could have provided it. Now, again, we have a contrast. Verse four tells us that the Passover feast of the Jews was nigh. The Jews had a big organization, plenty of food, plenty of entertainment, but no miracle. In comparison, the disciples had very little or what seemed very little. But they did have the Lord, and He could work miracles! I would much rather belong to a church that, though they have little outward show, do have the Lord. He can always provide what is needed.

In verse 53, Jesus spoke of His flesh and His blood. According to verse 63, His flesh was typical of His word. He was the “Word made flesh.” The quickening performed by His word, and the cleansing of His blood, is all that His people need to keep them in the way. The miracle of it all is that His people are satisfied with that provision, and with that WAY.

The greatest miracle in the New Testament was the raising of Jesus from the dead. The greatest miracle in our own experience will be the raising of our mortal bodies, by the Spirit from Him that now dwells within us. The poor Pharisee church preferred their organization to the WAY of Jesus. That was a sad mistake. They remained dead in trespasses and sins, in spite of their religious zeal, because they had no miracle to quicken them. On the resurrection morning, they will also remain in their graves, because there will be no miracle to raise them. They will be numbered among the “rest of the dead” mentioned in Revelation 20:5.

It is a miracle that I am in the Lord’s family. It is a miracle that I am in the work of God. It is a miracle that anyone gets saved. It is a miracle that the Lord’s people are satisfied with His Way. It is a miracle that they are held together as “one.” It is a miracle that we will get to heaven. Yes, I believe in miracles. Because, in God’s Way, we have miracles!!

The prophet Micah (whose name means, “Who is like unto Jehovah?”) inspired people to see the greatness of our God. The corruption in the world of his day was comparable to ours. Chapter 2 tells of the corruption of the political and business world, chapter 3 of the religious world, and chapter 7 of the pleasure and social world – even in family life. A child of God does not need to be apprehensive about the events of this world, because the promises of God to His people are not relative to surrounding conditions.

II Corinthians 1:19-20, there are no hidden clauses. God always says, “Yes” (“I can do it”) and “Amen” … regardless of circumstances.

Micah 6:6-7, the religious world has taught and still teaches that your sacrifice will make your life acceptable. The Bible teaches that your life will make your sacrifice acceptable. The idea of giving your firstborn for the sin of your soul came from the worship of Baal. Parents had to witness the killing of their baby by the priest. If they cried out or showed any other sign of emotion, then they would have to give their second born, also. There is nothing more cruel, demanding and inhumane than some of the practices of the religious world. The Lord has already given His firstborn so that little child of yours might have blessing instead of annihilation. “Who is like unto Jehovah?” …

Micah 2:12-13, the “breaker” is a shepherd’s helper who goes in among a large flock of sheep and separates them so that each sheep may pass alone before the shepherd for his individual inspection and care.

John 13, I Corinthians 13, and Hebrew 13 are all love chapters. In the 13th chapter of John, we read of the love of God manifested by His Son, Jesus. In the 13th chapter of I Corinthians, we read of the love of God manifested by His servant Paul. And, in Hebrews 13, we read of the same love of God manifested by the saints. We realize the importance of chapters like these because this fellowship we are part of is a fellowship of love. These chapters teach us how we can fit in and be a part of this fellowship that works by love.

We are asked by people who have observed our fellowship, “What is it that makes this fellowship work?” They know it works but how does it work without elected officers? The answer to this question is found in the Bible! We might add there is an answer in the Bible to every vital question. If someone should ask you how your faith works, take them to Galatians 5:6 for in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision: but faith which worketh by love. We tell people in gospel meetings that this is a wonderful Way that is from eternity to eternity. Jesus said this fellowship was planned in heaven in love before the world began. It was established on the cross by love and since then it has been held together in a fellowship of love. This is the greatest love scene that men have ever know. We today value these love chapters. These chapters give us an understanding of how we can fit into this fellowship of love.

John 13, “Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.” This was the pure endless love of God. You might wonder why Jesus continued loving these disciples when many times they disappointed Him and let Him down. Why did He keep on loving them? It was because He loved them with a Godly love.

John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The reason He gave His Son was because there is no other statement to the love of God than “giving.” Human love is selfish and cruel but the love of God is wonderful because His love manifest itself in giving. The reason why Jesus could love these disciples unto the end was because He loved them with a Godly love. He didn’t love these disciples because of what He could get out of them. Their salvation depended on what God could give them! If you don’t remember anything else this morning, remember the love of God manifest itself in giving. The reason why God loves us and continues to love us right to the end of our journey is because our salvation depends on what this divine love can give us! This makes me thankful the love of God is an endless love.

In John 13, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. This reminds us that the love of God is a “serving” love. I am sure you understand that this matter of washing the disciples feet was not a religious custom; it was a necessity that was brought about by the conditions of that day. People in those days often made a long, dry, dusty walk. When they came home, their servants would meet them at the door and refresh them by washing their feet. It was an act of hospitality. Someone asked me recently, “Is there anything in the Bible that proves that?” There is one verse in my estimation above another that makes it very definite. That verse is found in 1 Samuel 25:41, “And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, ‘Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.’” She was not only content to wash the feet of the king, but she was equally willing to wash the feet of His disciples or servants. There is a background to “feet washing” in the Bible.

In Mark’s gospel, it mentions there was a dispute amongst the disciples “who would be the greatest.” Jesus felt this spirit and He said unto them, “What are you disputing about?” He explained to them the greatest in this fellowship is not a matter of holding an office or wielding a club, but the greatness in this fellowship is the willingness to serve. This is the unalterable law of the Kingdom of God. Jesus, on one occasion asked them, “Whither is greater? He that sitteth at meat or he that serveth?” Jesus gave them plenty of time to rise to the occasion. He waited until after dinner and in that land there are several courses. A meal takes an hour usually and sometimes an hour and a half. Jesus put on the slave’s garment and washed the disciples feet. He proved to them, He was the greatest. Our greatness in this fellowship is determined by our willingness to serve.

I have often wondered who it was among the disciples that was disputing. I feel it was Peter and John. Luke records that Jesus singled out Peter and John. Jesus told Peter and John to “go into the city and make ready the Passover.” The fact that Jesus asked them to go and prepare the Passover would suggest there was no servant in that home. Perhaps the people of that home were invited to share the Passover in another home. When Jesus arrived at this home that night, there was no servant and it would have been a wonderful opportunity to settle that dispute as to who was the greatest! Peter and John were too proud to serve. Jesus didn’t force the issue. Jesus waited until the Passover was over. He gave them at least an hour and a half to think it over. Finally, Jesus arose from the table and laid aside His garments and clothed Himself with the towel and Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, proved His greatness by taking the place of a slave and washed the disciples’ feet. Peter responded, “Lord, Thou shalt never wash my feet.” He made Peter take his medicine. John watching this dramatic scene, knew there was no need of him persisting. He took his medicine too. After the meal was served, John laid upon Jesus breast. Do you know why John did that? Was it because he was closer to Jesus than Peter. No, it was because he was like a whipped child and he wanted to get back into the graces of the Lord again. John was saying, “I have learned my lesson.” This spirit of serving is what keeps the fellowship working among God’s people. They didn’t understand the spirit behind the “washing of feet” that day, but later on in the scriptures we read where they learned the value of serving and keeping that love alive in their own hearts.

Galatians 5:6-13, “faith which worketh by love.” It is this spirit of serving that keeps the love working and it is love that keeps the faith working. You may not understand why this example and teaching is important, but with the passing of years, you will appreciate this working principle. This teaching is within the reach of each of us. It is always a thrill to me, to go into another field and see this wonderful teaching in our workers and saints being lived out. The more we learn to serve as Jesus served, the greater opportunity we will have of proving His greatness.

John 13:34, “A new commandment I give unto you: That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” I am grateful Jesus interjected that little clause, “as I have loved you.” If Jesus would have left that clause out, it would have given the disciples a loop-hole. It was the same endless love and the same giving love and the same serving love. In this 13th chapter of John, Jesus brings Judas into the picture to give us the right estimation of our love. His love for Judas was burning just as strong as it was for the other disciples. That kind of love is the hallmark of God’s people.

Sometime ago, we were having meetings in a certain place. The different churches in this city were disputing which one was right. One group said, “the proof that we are right is because we keep the Sabbath.” Another group said, “The proof that we are right is that we have the right name.” Another group said, “The proof that we are right is that we have the fastest growing membership.” Some of our folks were mentioning this and I said to them, “Why didn’t they use the Lord’s standard to prove they were right?” Didn’t Jesus say, ‘It is the one mark by which all the world would know ye are My disciples by the love ye have one for another.’” This divine love is the same endless, giving and serving love that unites and keeps His people today.

I Corinthians 13, Paul wrote in detail about this love. Every verse in this chapter applies to every child of God. The wonderful part of this chapter is that Paul applied this chapter to himself! This was the barometer whereby he measured his love as a servant of God. Seventeen times in this chapter he uses the pronoun “I.” We will say again, Paul was measuring his love by this standard as a minister of the Gospel. Many of you in this meeting remember our brother Jack Carroll speaking from this chapter often. I don’t know of another worker who would be more qualified to speak from this 13th chapter of I Corinthians. Jack was 1 Corinthians 13 personified. He told us there are seven things mentioned in this chapter that love will do and seven things love will not do. Jack encouraged us to read this chapter over every week. This chapter helps us to understand how important our love is. When I read over the seven things that love will do, it deepen my joy. I love everything about His Way and His Truth. I love this Ministry that I am a part of and I love His people.

However, when I read about the negative side of this love, it made me stop and think. Paul wrote, “Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoice not in iniquity, envieth not and so forth. It is those thoughts that drive me to my knees. I realize this is the part of my love service that is often lacking. I would encourage you to read frequently this 13th chapter of I Corinthians. When you read over the seven things that love will not do again, ask yourself, “How do I fit into that picture?” I’ll say again those are the things that causes me to go to my bedroom and bow my knees and heart before the God of heaven.

Paul wrote, “Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” This is the standard by which the world judges their ability. These acts move congregations to benevolent sacrifice. Paul was telling us this is not the mark of the true ministry. The Lord’s servants are not classified by their ability to speak. We are not classified by our ability to bring out deep mysteries. The true ministry is measured by their love and willingness to serve. It is through this serving love, this fellowship of God’s people is bound up. Our service before others will reveal our depth of love.

I would like to go back to the seven negative things that Paul wrote about for a moment. This year, at the Chelan convention in Washington, a sister worker shared a nice thought with us. She mentioned verse 11, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” She told us those seven negative things that love will not do are like the childish things. They certainly are, when you stop and think about them. She remarked for example about that statement, not puffed up. That is a childish mark! Paul knew he needed to put away the childish marks before a childlike spirit could be manifested in his life. We hope you will receive something from this chapter that will stimulate your faith to keep that love of God burning with a constant flame in your lives.

Shall we turn over to Hebrews 13 for a few moments. This is the love of God manifested in the private home-life of the saints. This chapter applies to the saints. It is a chapter that doesn’t need any explanation. This chapter contains a list of things love will do and then a list of things love will not do. It would be a good idea to make a list of things in this chapter that a person will be doing if the love of God is in their hearts as it should be. Then look at the other side. Make a list of things you wouldn’t do because the love of God would restrain you. Compare these two lists. You will find most of the help in this chapter is easily understood and needs no further explanation.

However, I might mention two or three things in this 13th chapter that might need some explanation. In verse 11, “For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.” He took these Hebrew Christians back to the Old Testament. He was telling them that the sacrifice to cover their sin, that was committed inside the camp, needed to take place outside the camp. People had to go outside the camp to get the benefit of the sacrifice. When Jesus offered Himself as the sacrifice for sin, he had to go outside the gate of the city. He could not offer himself in the social camp because sin was controlling the social camp. He couldn’t offer himself in the political camp because He was not controlled by politics. Jesus went outside the camp, outside the gate to sacrifice. That is why they reproached him. The scripture reads, “Let us go forth without the camp.” It does not say, “Go outside the camp to sacrifice.” Jesus did not go outside the camp to sacrifice. We get the benefit of His sacrifice when we leave behind the world. If your love for the Heavenly Bridegroom is all that it should be, that love will lead you outside the camp.

Once we had the privilege of being in a home for a few hours. I didn’t know that a home could be so elaborate. The daughter of those people married a fine professing young man a couple weeks before. They were living in a little cracker box apartment! The room that was her bedroom before was far bigger than the whole apartment. Do you think she was complaining? No, of course not. There was no evidence of self-pity. She was rejoicing because she had the privilege of spending her time with the one that captivated her love!

I also would like to tell you about one of our young men serving in Vietnam. While he was serving time in that country, he became acquainted with a Vietnamese girl. There relationship blossomed and soon they planned to be married. She knew if she married him that it would mean leaving her family and country. When the United States brought their soldiers home, they decided to wait for a few months before deciding to marry. If they still loved each other, he would return to her country and marry her and bring her back. Well, the absence made the heart grow fonder! She became his bride. She was anxious to marry him because she wanted to be close to the one who captivated her love. If your love for Christ is all that it should be, do you think it would be difficult to go forth without the camp? Sometimes we hear the Lord’s people complaining that professing is so hard because you have go give up this and that. When I hear that refrain, I wonder how much of the love of God they have in their hearts for the Bridegroom. If you love Him as you should, and if I love Him as I should, we will want to be with Him! We will want to be with Him because He is the Bridegroom of our soul.

Hebrews 13:15, “By Him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.” This is another statement of love. When we give our testimony in meeting, we are expressing our “thanks.” That is the purpose of giving our testimony. This is one of the basic differences between true worship and false worship. False worshippers come together to give something. When the Lord’s people come together, they come together to thank God for what they have in Christ. Whether our testimonies are from the Old Testament or the New Testament, our testimonies should be leavened with the unmistakable evidence of thanksgiving. That is the true purpose of a testimony. When you express your thanks as you should, it is a statement that everyone can say, “Amen” to. It is also an inspiration to everyone in our meeting to hear your words of thanksgiving. This attitude of love becomes a child of God.

In the Song of Solomon, he said, “What is this bridegroom more than another?” The writer wrote a most wonderful song describing the wonderful virtues of that Heavenly Bridegroom. If my love for that Heavenly Bridegroom is all that it should be, this love song will always be on my lips. I don’t know if there is anyone here that finds it difficult to give their testimony. Surely this spirit of thank you is within the capacity of everyone in this room today. If you just stood up in a meeting and from the bottom of your heart said, “Thanks,” every soul in that meeting would be thrilled. Sometimes the reason people are reluctant to give their testimony is because they haven’t been as near to the Bridegroom as they should have been. There is not the thankfulness in their hearts as some of the others. If you have not been giving your testimony, this meeting would be a wonderful place to start. You can purpose in your heart that from this Special Meeting on you are going to give your testimony. As you express your thankfulness, you will understand just how much you have to be thankful for. And, the more you express your love for the Bridegroom, the more reasons you will find to love Him.

Hebrews 13:16, “But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” This is another way in which we can express our love for God. We communicate that love by letter or visit one of our dear friends in a nursing home or someone who might be hospitalised or someone living in a lonely place. This is one of the avenues which we can express to others the love of God. Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love Me?” We express our love to Him in what we do for others. The best way to communicate that love, as that hymn says, “Live for others.”

I would like to finish by telling you about a young couple living in our field. They hadn’t been married very long. One day they came home from a Sunday morning meeting and they were just bubbling over with all they heard that morning. It was an extra good meeting and even during their dinner conversation, they were still talking about all that they heard. He said to his wife, “Let’s go up and visit aunt Ella and tell her about the meeting.” Aunt Ella was a faithful soul, confined to a nursing home. Her old body had played out. After they had shared their meeting with her, tears of gratitude flowed down her cheeks. This young couple made up their mind right then and there, that they would come every Sunday afternoon to share their meeting with that bedfast soul. They could have had fellowship with other young couples or it might have been easier for them to stay home. No, without fail, this lovely young couple would visit our dear friend confined to that nursing home. Do you known what they were doing? They were proving their love for the Lord. They were doing what they could do to help this poor helpless soul finish her race in victory. I suppose you know some shut-ins like that. Perhaps there are no fiends nearby to visit them. This would be a wonderful opportunity for you to express how much you love the Lord. You might remember one of the servants of God labouring off in a lonely corner for the gospel sake. You could sit down and write them a letter. Jesus said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of My little ones, ye have done it unto Me.” One of the greatest ways we can prove our love, is by what we do for others. I hope these three chapters will help you in the days to come. Remember this is a fellowship of love and a faith that works by love and a service that keeps the love working. May the Lord help us to know better how to fit into this fellowship of love so that we can contribute our hearts to the joy of it.

Will the fellowship with Christ that has meant so much to us here on earth continue beyond the grave?

Will it be ours in the interval between death and the resurrection?

There are two words that would make this a little easier for us to understand: “With Christ.”

If we enter into fellowship “with Christ” here on earth, we can have the glad assurance that the fellowship “with Christ” may continue between death and the resurrection and then afterwards “with Christ” throughout the eternal ages.

The children of God do not go to the ultimate and final Heaven at death.

That ultimate and final Heaven will be theirs at the resurrection.

The question that troubles most of God’s children is: “What is the condition of those who have gone before, between death and the resurrection?”

First of all, I would like you to read John 1:39, “and abode with Him that day.”

That was the beginning of their fellowship with Christ.

John the Baptist had pointed out the Lamb of God to them that day.

Mark 3:14, “And He ordained twelve that they should be with Him and that He might send them forth to preach.”

Matthew 28:20 gives the same promise, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”

John 14:23, “and we will come unto Him and make our abode with Him.”

John 15:1-8, the figure of the vine and branches suggest the same thought – the close and intimate relationship with Christ.

Luke 24:13-16, “Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.”

Acts 4:13, “They took knowledge that they had been with Jesus.”

In 1st Corinthians 1:9, Paul stated that the purpose of the gospel is to bring us into fellowship with Christ, “fellowship of Jesus Christ, our Lord.”

Revelation 3:20, “I will sup with Him and He with me.”

1 John 1:2-4, “With His Son, Jesus Christ,” here on earth.

“They abode with Him.”

Matthew 18:20, “Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them.”

The promise in John 14:23 is He will make His abode or dwelling place with us.

Then the passage in Luke 24:15, “Jesus drew near and went with them.”

A little later on they said in verse 32, “Did not our hearts burn within us, while He talked to us by the way?”

In Acts, we read of those who took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus.

I Corinthians 1:9 shows the purpose of the gospel call, “Called unto the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.”

1 John 1:3, “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ.”

The ideal Christian life is a life in fellowship with Christ.

They were in fellowship with Christ and that’s the only foundation with each other, for fellowship.

If it’s possible for us to have fellowship with Christ in this life and enjoy that fellowship, and for others to recognize that that fellowship is really ours, the question naturally arises, “Does death put an end to fellowship with Christ?”

When a child of God is called from this scene, what does the Scripture teach us with regard to their experience?

Did the fellowship that meant so much to them in life end at the grave, or are there scriptures which encourage us to believe that the fellowship in the great beyond is deeper and sweeter and more enjoyable that any fellowship “with Him” that the children of God know on this side?

2 Corinthians 4:17-18, we have some verses that give Paul’s outlook as he thought of the future.

Evidently in the midst of his afflictions (because that is what he is talking about), the thought of a more exceeding and eternal weight of glory thrilled him and enabled him to see the value of living his life for the things that are not seen, “For the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Then in 2 Corinthians 5:1-9, the last part of verse 8 is the thought that is associated with the first verse: “Absent from the body, present with the Lord.”

That is clear and definite.

In the first verse he says, “We know that if the earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,” eternal home.

It is a little difficult to get the real meaning from the Authorized Version here, but the thought is, that in thinking about death, Paul says it’s just like this, “It is leaving a tent for a house or building.”

Nobody would like to live in a tent for life – exchanging a tent or temporary dwelling place for a permanent abode.

Verse 8 says it would simply mean to be absent from the body to be present with the Lord.

There are those who say that death means sleeping in the interval between death and the resurrection, a period of unconsciousness, which is not true.

Paul tells us it means absent from the body, present with the Lord, a definite conscious experience with Him, with whom they walked and talked when here on the earth – “absent from the body, present with the Lord.”

Philippians 1:23, two things stated in this testimony of Paul that are very good in this connection:

“To be with Christ, which is far better”;

“I am in a strait betwixt two”.

“I don’t know exactly which to choose… I would like to go, I am willing to remain.”

Departing – leaving this earthly home, this tabernacle, means departing to be with Christ.

He says, “I will sup with you and you with Me…I will make My home with you.”

They walked with Him in the way.

This verse shows us, unmistakably, the fellowship that begins with Christ and, in time, continues beyond the grave.

Philippians 1:23, “having a desire to be with Christ which is far better.”

This answers the question of what is the condition of our brethren who have gone before, during the interval between death and the resurrection.

The latter part of this verse tells us, “which is far better.”

Those of you who have looked up other translations of this passage know it puts it just a little stronger than here. It says, “Which is far, far better.”

When Paul was thinking about death, he was thinking about going to be with Christ, and when he was thinking about this experience he says, “It’s going to be far, far better than any experience I have known upon earth.”

Sometimes we are inclined to think this sounds too good to be true. It is started here.

Here is a man near the end of life – face to face with the last enemy, awaiting his trial, knowing sentence of death may be passed, and not knowing how soon execution may take place, but he says, “One interest reigns in my heart, that Christ might be magnified in my body.”

Death couldn’t be gain if what lay beyond was not something better than had been experienced on earth.

He says, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

We usually associate death with loss, eternal loss.

Paul associated it with eternal gain.

“For me to live is Christ…I am in a strait betwixt two.”

So, when somebody comes to you and says that during the interval between death and the resurrection we are in a condition of unconsciousness, that is the Seventh Day Adventist and First Day Adventist teaching.

This verse alone proves that it is altogether untrue.

If, to Paul, death meant going to be with Christ, and it was to be far better than any experience he had on earth with Christ, it could not be a state of unconsciousness.

Hebrews 12:1, the picture Paul had in mind when he wrote this was the Roman arena (comparable to the stadium at Tacoma) – all around are the witnesses; the runners are in the bottom of the arena.

The picture here is that those who have gone before are still interested in the race.

They are watching as we run, and we can be comforted and encouraged by that thought.

I cannot believe that those whom we have loved, who have gone long since, are less interested in our welfare, in our running, than they were on earth.

I like to believe they are more interested than ever, are spectators of our running and, “wherefore, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses..” (Hebrews 12:1).

The thought I want to leave here is this: We cannot think of Christ watching us, taking note of how we run, we cannot think of Him but as an interested spectator, and as those who have gone before are with Him and are enjoying closer and more intimate fellowship than they knew on earth, then it isn’t unreasonable to allow the thought to rule in our minds that they, too, are watching and interested.

Here the question may arise, “Do we take with us our memory beyond the grave?”

There are two pictures in Luke 16 – Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom and in verse 25 Abraham said, “Son, remember.”

If the man taken to a lost eternity has memories of what took place on earth, it isn’t unreasonable to think the child of God will also take to the other side memories of experiences here.

What is Christ doing for us now?

Revelation 5 – what is the unfinished work of Christ, the uncompleted work?

It is intercession, Revelation 8:3-4 and Revelation 6:9-10.

If Christ, our Great High Priest, today is an intercessor, pleading our cause before the Throne, surely it isn’t unreasonable to believe that they, too, are remembering us before the Throne.

This isn’t the Roman Catholic idea of “praying for the dead,” but the New Testament idea of those who have gone before praying for the living.

The Roman Catholic idea is: we will pay so much to the priest and he will pray for those who are dead.

The New Testament idea is that those who have gone before are making intercession for us, having fellowship with Him in that intercession and that seems to be the reference here in Revelation to the prayers of the saints (Revelation 6:9-10).

I Thessalonians 4:15-18 deals with what will take place when Christ comes again.

It says if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we which are alive and remain shall not [precede] them which are asleep (shall not in any way have advantage over those who have fallen asleep).

Here he is dealing with two things: the coming of Christ and the resurrection, the second coming of Christ and the resurrection, and He says there will be those living on the earth when Christ comes, and those who have gone before.

When Christ comes, who will come with Him?

They have been with Him from the hour of death; now when He comes, He will bring them with Him, and those living will be changed (I Corinthians 15:51-56).

The same thought is in II Corinthians 4:14, the resurrection and the second coming take place together.

Christ comes – those who have been with Him during the interval between death and His coming, will be given resurrection bodies.

Those who are alive and remain will be changed.

Philippians 3:20 is very suggestive. It says, “For our conversation is in heaven.”

What we have here is the Old English word for “our manner of life.”

Those of you who have a marginal reading will notice it says, “Our commonwealth” or our citizenship is in Heaven, but another translation is even better.

The translator gives the thought of Paul better than any other translator, “For we are a colony of Heaven, from whence we look for the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Philippi was modeled after a city of Rome in a foreign land.

We are also modeled after another country, Heaven, and we are looking for the Saviour from Heaven, who will come to take us to be with Him forever. “For we are a colony.”

We will be given new bodies, a body not subject to diseases. “Who will change our vile bodies.”

What kind of a body are we going to have in the resurrection?

There is a pattern, “a body like unto His glorious body.”

Will we know each other in Heaven?

Will we renew on the other side the friendships and fellowships that meant so much to us on this side?

I cannot conceive of Heaven apart from recognition.

We would have no interest in going there if we did not have some hope of meeting those whom we have loved on earth, and discussing with them some of the experiences we passed through on earth, recognition.

Jesus, in His resurrection body, was recognized by the marks on His body, His hands, His feet, His side, His brow, and will be recognized throughout all eternity by these marks.

They knew Him.

They recognized Him, and if we are going to have in that future kingdom resurrection bodies after the pattern of His body, we will carry with us our individuality, our personality; you will be you, Paul will be Paul, James will be James, Mary will be Mary, and you couldn’t conceive of individuality apart from recognition and renewal of friendships and fellowships that meant so much to us on this side of the grave.

Colossians 3:4, I John 3:1-3, it is a good thing to be in the Family now, but it will be infinitely better later on in the future.

Hebrews 11:13-17, “for He hath prepared for us a city.”

In Revelation 21:1-5, we read about that city – a description given of that city – in verse 22 to the end of the chapter, “there shall be no need of light there,” and that shall remain forever and ever.

That takes us from earth to Heaven.

Fellowship with Christ begins here and continues beyond the grave – during the interval between death and the resurrection.

At the resurrection, the children of God who have gone before and have been with Christ, some for 1,000 years and some 2,000 years and more, will get resurrection bodies. “Those who remain will be changed in a twinkling of an eye to be forever with the Lord and shall be given the City four square,” Revelation 21:16.

Now, do you think the Lord is through with His people when He takes them home?

Don’t you think He will have a job for them throughout the ages?

Don’t you think we are now qualifying for a more fruitful and greater service in the life beyond?

“His servants shall serve Him.”

So the life of service doesn’t end at the grave, or with the resurrection; it opens the door to greater service and more satisfying service in the world to come. I only want to make three points:

1. The ideal Christian life is a life in fellowship with Christ now.

2. At death, that fellowship continues.

3. At the resurrection, that fellowship will be greater.

The Gospel message is a call into the fellowship with Christ.

When death takes place, the earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved; it is exchanging a temporary tent for a permanent dwelling place.

Paul says, “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.”

We mourn over those who have gone before, but we would not wish them back.

Their experiences are now better, far better than any experience they have known here on earth.

And that experience, that fellowship will be perfected at the resurrection when we get our new resurrection bodies and are able to have a closer and more intimate fellowship through the years to come.

Heaven wouldn’t be Heaven if we didn’t take with us our individuality.

Jesus said in Matthew 22:32, “God is not a God of the dead but of the living” speaking of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc.)

If Abraham will be Abraham, Isaac will be Isaac, etc., it is reasonable to believe that you will be you, and I will be me.

There are several men and women mentioned in the Bible, who were instruments of righteousness in the hand of God. In each case the Lord used them to save the situation! They were men and women whose interest in the Kingdom exceeded their own interests. In some cases they jeopardized their own lives in order that the situation might be saved, and that the work of God might go forward. Following are some of them whose efforts seemed to be outstanding.

MOSES, Exodus 32:10-4 (Psalm 106:23) Had Moses been seeking his own interests, he would have let the Lord go ahead with what he had determined to do. It would have magnified his own name. He proved by his intercession, however, that his love for souls was greater than his love for self. Normally, we think of God pleading with men to be more compassionate with each other. Here was Moses pleading with God to be more patient with these needy people. This moved the heart of God ….. and it saved the situation!

ABIGAIL, I Samuel 25:21-34. David on this occasion was not fighting the Lord’s battle. Had this been so, then he would have been justified in pursuing the course he had set out to take. David was out for personal revenge, and this could never be approved in the sight of God. Nabal had insulted David, and had mistreated his servants, and David was out for revenge, verses 10-13. Had he done this, it would have left a blot on his own testimony. Abigail, realizing this, reasoned with him in such a touching manner that it changed David’s mind ….. and it saved the situation!

THE SONS OF ZADOK, Ezekiel 48:11-12, These sons of Zadok are mentioned in another place. In each reference it simply said of them that they “went not astray.” They turned neither to the right hand nor to the left. There is one sad thought in this story. It is concerning the Levites. It strongly suggests that the children of Israel went astray, because the Levites had gone astray. Instead of them being an inspiration to the Lord’s people, they had only hindered them. These sons of Zadok had done nothing spectacular. They just kept true to their charge which God had given them, regardless of what the others did. They went not astray … and God was able to use them … and it saved the situation! Now the Lord was rewarding them with this special consideration.

BARNABAS, Acts 15:37-39. The background of this story is that John Mark had started out into the Work, and had later on gone back home, Acts 13:13. Now Barnabas, who was Mark’s uncle, wanted to take him back into the Work again. Apparently Mark had realized his mistake, and was anxious for another chance. Paul felt that the risk was too great, in the light of the long journey they were contemplating, so Paul took Silas with him. Barnabas went ahead and took Mark, and it is good to notice that Mark made good this time. Paul acknowledged this in II Timothy 4:11. It was the love of God in the heart of Barnabas, no doubt, that moved him to act as he did in this crisis … and it saved the situation!

These messages have really gone home to my own heart. We find ourselves often in similar situations. Decisions have to be made, and often they are very far reaching.

One would like to be so governed by the Spirit of God that, in each crisis, we would be moved to act in such a way that would “save the situation.”

We were telling you yesterday about some seminary students that came to our meetings and got saved. One day, we were talking to one of them about his education, and he felt it was equipping him so much better to face the ministry than what we were equipped, so I asked him, “Just what are you learning at the seminary that is equipping you so much better for your future in the ministry?” He replied, “Our studies are classified under three headings, Homogenetics, Heterogenetics and Apologetics.” I said, “All right, we will begin with the apologetics. What does it mean?” He said that, “It is a defense of the Bible. We go back into ancient history and other manuscripts and find evidence that defends the Bible.” I said, “We don’t need apologetics in our ministry because we have a Bible which defends itself. We don’t have to go back and dig up evidence to defend the Bible.” There has never been a time when the Bible has come under more criticism than it is today, and never has there been a day when the Bible has been more triumphant than it is today, because there has been no day when more of its truth is being fulfilled than it is today. We don’t have to make any apology for the Scriptures.

I had the privilege of spending a little time in Greece four years ago, and at the time I was there, I had a number of visits with our elder brother, Anton Koutsorelis. He has a degree in English and a degree in Greek and I asked him from time to time, “How does this word read in Greek; or, how does this verse read in Greek, or what meaning do you get out of this verse?” One day I asked him, “Anton, do you feel it is a real advantage to know the original Greek when it comes to understanding the Bible?” and his answer was, “Not one bit.” He said, and – I want you to get this, and this is especially for you young people in the midst of us because I know you are often faced with criticism against the Bible, “You have every accuracy in your Authorized Version that we have in the original Greek; every accuracy. There might be some words in the original Greek which would give a little deeper insight into the meaning, but it would not change the meaning, but as far as accuracy is concerned, you have every accuracy in your KJ [King James] Authorized Version that you have in the original Greek.”

I just made up my mind that I am going to tell my brethren wherever I go and especially our younger brethren, because the Bible everywhere is being discredited and criticized from every angle. You have every accuracy in this book that was in the heart of God. To begin with, it needs no other interpretation or explanation than the help of the Holy Spirit, but that is not the only reason I believe the Bible and am so satisfied with this way of Salvation I rejoice in. The reason I believe the Bible is, because it works. We accept the Bible; we don’t try to explain it away. We accept it just as it fell from the lips of those men of old. We accept it just as it fell from the lips of Jesus. We accept it, we believe it, and we walk in the light of it and are enjoying the greatest miracle as a result of it. We enjoy the peace of God that is found in no other place and have a fellowship that is found no place else. We believe the Bible because it proves itself to be true; we don’t have to make any apologies for the Bible. The Bible proves itself and every year is proving itself to be more valid than it ever was before. More Scripture is being fulfilled tonight than it ever was before, but there is nothing that should strengthen your faith in God and the Bible more, than to read the promises that were given way back in the Old Testament, and then turn to the New Testament and find them fulfilled to the very letter, and then nineteen hundred years later to find it fulfilled to the very letter in your own life and fellowship today. That is why we say to you again tonight, “Do you realize how fortunate you are?” Blessed are your eyes that see what you are actually seeing, and do you realize how fortunate you are that [you are] in this fellowship that means more than life itself to you. You have the embodiment and fulfillment of everything that was in the heart of God and promised from the very beginning, before the world began.

“The law and the prophets were until John; since that time the Kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.” The Kingdom was preached and all these wonderful things took place before their eyes – here was the fulfillment of everything God had promised from the beginning of time. No wonder the people pressed into it. Why should they sit back in the types and shadows when they had the fulfillment of it? This is one of the glad tidings of the Kingdom, because in the Kingdom of God we have a fulfillment of everything that was in the mind of God for His people from the beginning of time.

Luke 17:20-21, “And when He was demanded of the Pharisees, when the Kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said, ‘The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation; neither shall they say, ‘Lo, here’ or ‘Lo, there,’ for behold, the Kingdom of God is within you.’” The prophets of that day; the religious leaders were deceiving the people into believing that when Jesus came into the world to establish a Kingdom, it would be a physical Kingdom with His headquarters and throne in Jerusalem, and a Kingdom like it was in the days of David where the Jews would be the triumphant nation again. Their teachers had sold them on that idea. The first great disappointment Jesus brought to the Jews (and He disappointed them so many times because what He brought was altogether different from what their false prophets had talked about) – one of the first disappointments that was brought to the Jews was that when He was born into the world, it says, “Thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins.” That was a disappointment; they didn’t want to be saved from their sins; they were enjoying their sins. They wanted a Messiah that would save them from the Roman army and set up a throne in Jerusalem and make them a triumphant nation like in the days of David. The ministry of Jesus had covered quite a period of time, and nothing like that was happening, so they demanded of Him when the Kingdom of God should appear, and He told them, “The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation….for the Kingdom of God is within you.” This is the good news; this is the glad tidings. That is the real essence of glad tidings – right where you need it the most. If Jesus had come and set up His throne in Jerusalem, it would not have done you or me one bit of good; if He had remained in Bethlehem, it would not have done you or me one bit of good, but the glad tidings of the Gospel; the good news is that Jesus came to set up His throne right in your heart. It is not Christ in Jerusalem your hope of glory, it is Christ in you, the hope of glory, right down in that heart of yours which the Bible tells us is desperately wicked and who can know it? If you cannot understand your heart, how can you know it and how can you know to do anything about it?

I will tell you some verses I would like you to mark in your Bible. Matthew 15:18-20, in these verses, Jesus said that every tendency that would make for sin is bound up in the human heart and that takes in your heart and mine. No one is an exception to that. These tendencies Jesus mentioned there that would lead to sin, temptation, and destruction are bound up in every heart and the reason why the Lord said, “Now you give Me your heart, My son,” is because He knows that only His presence in your heart can help you to subdue those tendencies that can take you out to a Christless eternity.

My companion and I were having dinner one evening with an official of the State Penitentiary in the state of Idaho, and this official was explaining to us some of the things about prison routine and their parole system. He told us something that evening that was a shock to me. He spoke of the number of men that were in there for murder and he said they were all exceptionally good men. He said, “We have had gangsters and outlaws that have been convicted for murder but they were always sent to the maximum security prison, but the men here in our prison for murder, everyone of them were exceptionally good men; good citizens; good husbands, good fathers to their children; of high repute in the community,” and this is the way he explained it. “In an unguarded moment, in a moment of weakness or in a fit of anger or jealousy, they lost control of the situation.” That is the way he put it in his words. When they lost control of the situation that is when the murder took place and those men were languishing behind bars. It happened because they had tendencies in their hearts which they could not control at the time of crisis.

I would like to tell you on the authority of Jesus that you have tendencies bound up in your heart which could take you to a Christless eternity. You could make headlines; you may not end up committing murder but you could hang your head in shame for the rest of your days just because you have tendencies in your heart which you cannot control under all conditions. Maybe when everything is going good you can, but maybe in an unguarded moment or a fit of rage or jealousy, you can find yourself losing control of the situation with something happening. It may not put you into prison but may cause you to hang your head in shame for the rest of your days and may cause you to go out into the blackness and darkness forever, when your days on earth are over, and that is why the Lord says, “Son, give Me your heart.” That is why the Lord is anxious to reach right down there in that heart of yours and set up His throne. That is where He wants to reign, right there in that heart of yours that is deceitful and desperately wicked and that you cannot do anything about yourself. The Lord with a full understanding of the situation says, “You let Me set up My throne in your heart.” It is Christ in you, the hope of glory. That will give you hope for today and for the countless ages of eternity.

Jesus spoke of four things that His inward work was like when He comes and sets up His throne in your heart. Like a seed in the soil. He is speaking about things on the inside giving you new life. Like the leaven in the meal producing the loaf; like the oil in the lamp giving forth light; like the wine in the bottle producing a vessel. Most of those are simple enough if you just accept the word of Jesus; they require no explanation, but I would like to talk to you about the wine in the bottle.

Many of the bottles even today in those parts of the world are made from the skins of animals. They prefer the goatskin, it seems to be the right size; a lamb is too small and an ox too large to be efficient. They take that skin from a newly-killed animal and they fill it with unfermented grape juice and sew it in tight. When the wine begins to ferment and the gasses begin to form it balloons out into a big oblong form and they let it harden that way. They pour the wine out and they have a vessel formed. A useful vessel is formed through no outward influence or pressure but because a miracle of God worked on the inside. When they want to make it more durable they hang it in the smoke that would put a metallic finish which makes it almost indestructible. That helps me to understand what the writer of Psalm 119 meant when he said, “I am become like a bottle in the smoke.” Subjected to the heat and the smoke; not a pleasant experience but he knows this is going to be good in the long run and make for a real durable service when he got out of this experience. The thought is this, it was the wine or grape juice working inside the vessel which ballooned it out into this shape and formed the vessel of usefulness. It was not because of any outward pressure, but because of what was working on the inside. It is like the seed in the soil producing new life, and it is like the leaven in the meal producing a loaf, and it is like oil in a lamp making light possible, and like the wine in the bottle. These are just little pictures of what takes place in the positive sense when Christ comes in and sets up His throne in your heart. If in a Meeting He says to you, “Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and sup with him, and he with Me.” If you ever hear that voice and if you ever feel the knock of the nail-pierced hands at your hearts door, we would encourage you to let Him come in and let Him set up His throne in your heart and protect you from the tendencies in your heart that would take you out to a Christless eternity. Let Him establish that positive work in your heart so that your life can abound in fruitfulness and all good blessings.

Just one more I would mention in Luke 1:33 when the messenger was giving to Mary a wonderful foretaste of what this king would be like; this King Jesus. “And He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His Kingdom there shall be no end.” That is another message of glad tidings. You would recognize that without me even telling you about it, a Kingdom like we were hearing about this morning that will never end and will lead on beyond the power of the grave into the other side of eternity. We sometimes tell people that we have a universal fellowship. We often tell people it is something worth talking about. Because of the Spirit He has given to us, we can go to any part of the world and have perfect fellowship with our brethren there, but we also like to tell people that it is an eternal fellowship because of the Spirit God has given us and because of His reign in our lives and what He has brought about, we can sit down and have fellowship with the people we read about there as well as the people you know in this present day and age.

Jesus also gave us a glimpse into eternity and He said the day is coming when you will have fellowship in that great day on the other side. He said, “… and they shall come from the east and from the west and from the north and from the south, and shall sit down in the Kingdom of God.” That is on the other side. Abraham represented one generation, Isaac represented another generation, and Jacob another generation. All the succeeding prophets stretched out over a period of hundreds of years representing different ages of the world’s history, but in each case they knew what it was to have God’s Spirit with them, and they were brought into the same fellowship and enjoyment of the same things. Now Jesus said that when they gather together in the great gathering on the other side, there will be Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets from your generation, from the north, south, east, and west coming together, and you will sit down in perfect fellowship together there. That will be a Convention that will never end. There is only one thing that I do not enjoy about Conventions like this one, and that is we sit down and we have four days of Heavenly fellowship and our souls are satiated and our hearts are knit together and then the Convention ends and you say goodbye. Sometimes you know you are saying goodbye forever and oftentimes I’ve seen the teardrops fall with the parting taking place, but oh can you visualize (this is one of the glad tidings and the good news) the great Convention on the other side with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets and the Lord’s people coming together like you have all been together here, from the north, south, east, and west. You will find yourself sitting at the feast of the Lord; a Convention that will never end, and you will continue to enjoy all of this wonderful fellowship throughout the countless ages of eternity. There will be no more goodbyes, aches and pains, distresses, battles, and coldness; no more of the things you have faced in the world, just like one endless Convention reaching into the countless ages of eternity. If you are part of this Kingdom and the King is reigning in your heart, this is something that won’t end at the grave and you will go on to enjoy all of it in fullest measure through the countless ages of eternity.

When the Angel told the shepherds about this, he said, “This is good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.” This is for all people, and this means no matter who you are or what you are or what your background might be or what your status is in the world tonight, that doesn’t make one bit of difference, for it is for all people. It is within your reach and if you hear or feel tonight the knock of His nail-pierced hands at your hearts door, then you let Him in to set up His throne in your heart and then every one of these glad tidings of the Kingdom that we have talked about tonight will become your own personal experience. It is something too great to miss and I hope that no one here will want to miss it. Now we shall sing hymn 222, “Jesus my Saviour King,” and I hope this will be the language of every heart here and I hope no one will miss it.

Would you like to open your Bibles to Hebrews 11 and we will read verse 21, “By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.” We would like to talk about the staff that supported Jacob in his dying hour. This takes on real meaning to us when we remember that this staff is always used in the Bible as a symbol of faith. Faith is to a child of God what this staff was to a travelling man. No one would think of taking a journey in that country without a staff. They used it to help them over the steep climbs. They used the staff to help them feel the way when momentarily it was too dark to feel the way to take the next step. They used it to ward off the serpents and beast in the way. They used it to beat out grain for their daily bread. They used the staff for support when their own strength was letting them down. Can we understand then why this staff is used in the Bible as a symbol of faith? Faith helps us over the steep climbs; faith helps us to go forward when momentarily we cannot see to take the next step; faith protects us from the dangers along the way and faith helps us to get the daily bread. This faith supports us when everything in life is letting us down. The Bible tells us that these wonderful people in Hebrews 11 all died supported by faith.

Before we continue with our subject, I would like to mention (3) staffs that the Lord told His people not to put faith in. The first one is found in Psalm 105:16, “Moreover He called for a famine upon the land; He brake the whole staff of bread.” God had to brake their staff of bread to make them realize they needed something better to support them. This staff of Bread would just speak of a person’s faith in their own ability. It is nice to see people who have the ability to earn their daily bread. It is nice to see people that are honestly getting ahead in life. But God never intended that we should use our own ability for a staff. There comes a time in all our lives when we need something more than our ability to lean on. We were speaking a while ago with a man who made his fortune. When we tried to talk to that man about the things of God, he laughed at us. He said, “I have never asked God for anything and I need Him less today than ever.” He continued, “I have more money in the bank than I will ever be able to spend. I have never found anything yet that money cannot buy.” But a few months later, that same man found there was something that money could not buy. His only daughter, age 19, was stricken with an illness and passed from time into eternity. When I saw that crushed man weeping over that open casket, I thought to myself, “Here is something that money cannot buy.” He still had more money in the bank than he would ever spend, but that money couldn’t buy him one ounce of comfort when his heart was breaking. I say again, “It is nice to see people who have ability get ahead in life, but we would encourage you not to use your own ability as your staff.” There comes a time in every life when we need something more than our own ability to lean upon.

The Lord told His people not to lean upon Egypt as their staff. We read in Isaiah 36:6, “Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.” Egypt is always used in the Bible as a type of this world, and the world promises people a great deal. The world makes some golden promises, especially to young people, but the trouble is the world cannot back up its promises. We read in this verse that Egypt is a broken staff and if you lean upon it, it will pierce your hand. In other words, if you put your faith in this world, you will find in a time of need that it won’t support you, and it will be a painful disappointment.

The Lord told His people not to use Moab as their staff. We read in Jeremiah 48:17, “All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, ‘How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod!’” Moab was the centre of false religion at that time. The worst part of false religions in Moab was they were speaking in the name of the true God, but the scriptures tell us they were handling the word of God deceitfully. They had not put to death in their lives the things that were wrong. It tells us they were taking their own way and not submitting themselves to the will of God. These scriptures tell us that this is just like a beautiful staff that breaks when you lean upon it. It might look beautiful and promise you a great deal, but that staff will let you down when you need it the most.

These three staffs represent the world, flesh, and devil. The staff of bread would speak of putting confidence in the flesh. The staff of Egypt represents the world and the staff of Moab represents false religion which is a product of the devil.

Now I want to turn you over to a more pleasant side of this picture. When the Lord sent out his Ministers, he sent them out with a staff. Mark 6:8, “And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse.” This staff was symbolic of their faith in the promise of God, that He would care for their needs. This is one of the proofs to me that He is still working miracles; the fact that His servants can still go forth and freely give the Gospel. In the religious world, money is their chief worry. But God assured His servants that they didn’t need to worry about their needs. They are going forth today without collections, tithes, or salaries and that is a proof in itself that God is still working miracles. No servant of God from that time until now, who have put their faith in God, has ever been let down.

When the Children of Israel left Egypt, they left with a staff in their hand. We read in Exodus 12:11, “And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s Passover.” This staff was a symbol of their faith in those two servants of God. They had faith to believe if they obeyed those servants of God and take the steps that they asked us to take, it will bring us into fellowship with God. Do you remember when the servants of God first came into your community? The first thing that impressed you was, “Here are people who know God and are having close fellowship with God.” Faith was begotten in your heart, you had faith in the right ministry and that ministry brought you into close fellowship with the God of heaven. The children of Israel left Egypt with that staff in their hand. Was that staff justified? Exodus 19:11, “And be ready against the third day; for the third day, the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.” Inside of three months, the scriptures tell us that Moses led those people outside the camp to meet with God.

I would just like to say the purpose of the Gospel is to bring people to God. Jesus gave Himself, the Just for the unjust that He might bring us to God. The reason that Jesus went out to give His life for man was that He wanted to bring people into this sweet relationship with God. When we see people respond to the Gospel and begin to enjoy this fellowship with God, then we feel that our mission has been accomplished. Paul wrote of some of his converts, “You have become followers of us and of the Lord.” We might add this staff has never let people down.

Jacob began his journey with a staff, too. It tells us in Genesis 32:10, “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which Thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff, I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.” The staff was symbolic of God’s presence. Just before this, Jacob had seen that ladder. It was a vision of God’s way leading from earth to heaven. He had seen those angels ascending and descending on that ladder, assuring him God will give you all the help that you need. He saw God standing at the top of that ladder ready to receive him at the end of life. God spoke a personal message to that man’s heart from the top of the ladder. He told Jacob, “Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean and change your garments.” And He told Jacob, “The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to they seed after thee will give the land.” In other words, he told Jacob, “You put your faith in Me and I will never let you down.” When Jacob started out that night with his staff in his hand, it was a symbol that God’s presence would go with him. When he returned twenty years later to this place, was Jacob lamenting? Did he feel that this was not what he expected? He said, “I am not worthy of the least of all Thy mercies and of all the truth, which Thou hast showed unto Thy servant.” He started out with his staff and now he had become two bands. God had blessed him twice as much as he expected.

It is impossible for a person beginning in the Way to understand how wonderful this Way will become to them. When I started out in this Way, I never dreamed how wonderful this fellowship would become to me. We want to say to you this afternoon, “Put your faith in God and you will find out that it is much much better than even God promised it would be.” Forty eight years later, in Hebrews 11:21, “By faith Jacob, when he was dying blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.” Jacob had been following God for about sixty-nine years. He was an old man and he was dying. Everything else in life had let him down. His family was gone, his home was gone, his physical strength was gone, but God, in who he had placed his faith sixty-nine years before was still supporting him, he was leaning on that same staff in the last moments of his life. He was worshipping God and to worship God means that Jacob was just giving God thanks.

The basic difference between true worship and false worship is found in this verse. The false worshippers come to worship on their day of worship to get something. All week long, their lives have been lonely, hungry, desolate and they come together on their day of worship to “get something.” God’s people come together on their day of worship to “thank God.” You had a wonderful week and God has given you daily bread. He has helped you through every experience during the week. He has been to you like the shadow of a great Rock in a weary land, and when you come together on your day of worship, you have come to thank God. David said, “I will magnify the Lord with thanksgiving.” A “testimony of thanks” means more to God on Sunday morning than any sacrifice you could make. Jacob was an old man and he had many reasons to give God thanks as he leaned on the top of his staff. God had taken care of him far better than he anticipated.

He had lived long enough to see his two sons brought into sweet fellowship with that same caring God. On this occasion, he blessed the two sons of Joseph. In other words, he lived long enough to see his two grandchildren get saved. Is it any wonder that this old man worshipped God as he leaned on top of his staff?

The New Testament parallel is found in the story of Timothy. Paul spoke of the unfeigned faith that was in Lois, his grandmother and Eunice, his mother. This same unfeigned faith was now in Timothy. I often think of that old woman, Lois. Don’t you feel that she was also worshipping as she leaned upon the top of her staff? Every step she took was a step of faith and every word she spoke was a word of faith. Her daughter, Eunice, was raised in that same godly atmosphere. She followed in her mother’s footsteps, taking steps of faith and speaking words of faith and now we read of Timothy following in his mother’s footsteps. Their home was safe for other children to come and visit in. Could we ask you parents, “Is it safe for your children to be in the same home with you?” And, “Is it safe for your children to follow in your steps?” And, “Is your conversation in the home safe for your children to listen, too?” It is a thrill to the servants of God to witness parents putting their faith in God. And, it is a thrill for us to be in your homes, where there is a safe environment for your children to learn about God and have that same childlike faith in the promises of God. This was the reason Jacob was thanking God, leaning on the top of his staff worshipping God. He had a faith that never let him down, and it never let his children down and it never let his grandchildren down.

In closing, I would like to tell you about a letter that my mother wrote to me at two o’clock in the morning. I might mention that my mother was the first one to get saved when two servants of God came into our community. We had never heard of this wonderful way before. We never knew that anything like this existed. As my mother listened to the Gospel, faith was begotten in her heart, and she made her choice not knowing another soul who believed like she did. My father was just as deeply impressed but he did not have the faith that mother had. He loved the servants of God as much as mother did. Dad was deeply touched that two young lives were gladly going out and giving their lives for a perishing world. He loved their messages and he thought it was wonderful that they could get so much out of the Bible. But my father was a businessman and from a business man’s point of view, this could not work. These two servants of God had told them they had no organization or registered name. They had no board of directors or code of rules to follow. Based on this, my dad felt this faith couldn’t possibly work. He felt sorry for those two servants of God because he knew they were earnest men and he just dreaded the day when they would find out that this thing would not work. Fifteen months after my mother made her choice, my father was convinced that this was working because the miracle of God was in it. The next opportunity dad had, he made his choice. Do you think my mother regretted putting her faith in God during those fifteen months? No, now they had something in their home that they had never had before, even though they were religious. There was two of us children in the home at the time and three others were born in the home afterwards. One by one, when we got old enough, my mother had the joy of seeing us make the choice to follow the same God she was following. Do you think she was sorry she had put her faith in God in the beginning even though she was standing alone? Years later, she had the joy of seeing two of her children go out into this wonderful work and tell others about this beautiful fellowship. Down through the years, she had the joy of seeing relatives on both sides listening to the gospel and being added to the faith because of her influence and faithfulness through the years. This letter that she wrote to me at two o’clock in the morning was written because she had the joy of seeing her first two grandchildren get saved. She went to bed that night but she was too excited to sleep. She got up and wrote this wonderful letter to me. In that letter, mom relived her whole experience from the time she first put her faith in God and she mentioned all the wonderful things that God had done for her down through the years that followed, far beyond her expectation, and she ended her letter by saying, “To think God allowed me to live long enough to see two of my grandchildren get saved.” My mother had been walking with God for fifty-three years when God took her home to eternity. She died, worshipping God and leaning upon the top of her staff. Everything else in the process of time had let her down, but her faith in God was still supporting her in the dying moment of her need.

It is wonderful that we can leave this convention with the staff in our hand. God has made some wonderful promises to us at this convention. Those promises can be to us just like a staff, and we can put our faith in God and step forth from this convention with that staff in our hand, and we can assure you that this year will be the most wonderful year of your life. If there is anyone in this meeting that haven’t put your faith in God, we would encourage you to take hold of that staff before you leave this meeting. We can assure you from our own experience, that this faith is something that will never let you down. It will mean everything to you personally and it will mean everything to your family. The farther on you go, the more thankful you will be that you ever reached out and took hold of that staff. When you come to the end of your days, you will have something to lean on that will not let you down. You will be numbered amongst those of whom it was said, “These all died in faith.” May God help us to go forward with this staff in our hand and with our faith in God. We are confident that this coming year will be the best of our lives and I hope it may be so for His sake.

Hymn 327, “He Who Hath Lead Will Lead”

It speaks of what the Lord will do and perhaps we often sing it. Thinking of looking a little into the future and it has been appealing to me, as being so relevant what the Lord will do in these days of retreat that we spend in His presence.

Malachi 3:6, “For I am the Lord, I change not therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” In the next verse, “‘Return unto Me and I will return unto you,’ saith the Lord of hosts.” He said, “I am the Lord I change not” – similarly, I suppose, that those words perhaps speak to us sometimes as a warning; sometimes as a stern and serious reminder that what God has spoken will forever remain and nothing can change it and no statute of His will ever be removed or altered and the way that He has marked in Jesus can never change, the standards of His teaching can never change and His doctrine will never change. It means all that of course but I was noticing that on this occasion when the Lord said these words, He was speaking it in a context of reminding these people, that even though they had not been what they should have been, yet still they stood before Him and even though they had not been what He would have liked them to have been, yet still He was showing them that they could return to Him and He would return to them.

I, the Lord, change not – I am sure you can remember the sense of wonder that you first knew when God spoke to you in the beginning, the sense of amazement, to think that despite what you were; despite your deadness; despite the sin that had trapped you and kept you in its power, yet God in Heaven was taking notice of you, and that God, the almighty God, was showing Himself to be to you not just the Almighty God and the Creator and judge of the earth, but your Father, the One who looked down on you with a pitying eye and a caring heart and the One who is prepared to reach out to you even in your very lowest state. I am sure we don’t forget the wonder, do we? The sense of wonder that filled our hearts that God, the great God, would even think on me, and that He would be prepared to speak and that He would be prepared to reach out to us, and not just turn away His face in disappointment or disgust at what we are or what we be or where we’ve been, but that He would look upon us and even that He would look upon us with a face that shone and that He would look upon us with a smile of welcome and look upon us with arms outstretched and bid us to come to Him. We don’t forget do we? The first days when our hearts were stirred and we began to understand that God is a God full of compassion and a gracious God, a merciful God.

I am the Lord, I change not – remember first when He looked on us with that tender smile and with those arms outstretched in welcome to bid us come to Him, He still looks on us the same, with the same smile and to bid us come to Him even yet again. I’m sure we don’t forget do we, in the very beginning how it was almost beyond us to comprehend that someone could love us in the state that we were in – that God could love us in the state which we were in, and love us not just in the measure of what we have known of human love or something that could spring out of the human heart, within a measure far greater than that. In fact something far greater than that, without measure, that the wonder to know that He loved us, He loved us so much that He sent His Son, His only begotten Son. He sent Him to live and to die for us that we might have a door of hope and opportunity opened to us that we might be reconciled, and that we might be set free; that there be nothing held against us that every burden might be taken away and all guilt and all heaviness might be taken away. It is almost beyond our comprehension, isn’t it, that we might understand the Lord was looking upon us and wanting to set us free, looking upon us in the state in which we were in – wanting to set us free, and now He is saying to us, “I the Lord, change not – I still feel the same; I still love to set you free.” Though perhaps you may feel somewhat disappointed and maybe you feel somewhat self conscious within yourself, coming into the presence of God, that perhaps things haven’t been just as they might have been, or should have been, the Lord does not change, the One who looked on us in the beginning with a pitying eye with the desire to bless, the desire to save, with the desire to draw us to Himself in reconciliation in Jesus and to be at one with us, He looks at us today, as we gather in again unto Him today, He looks on us with the very same look and with the very same feeling. He has not changed.

Sometimes when we are overcome within ourselves, we feel broken and dragged down by things that we feel that would be grieving to God. Satan tries to tell us, doesn’t he? That God will never look at us again, He won’t want you now, and He won’t hear your prayer and it’s finished, you’re done for; it’s finished because you’ve made a fool of yourself before God – that’s Satan’s words, but it’s not God’s, He doesn’t change. He wants you now, just as much as He ever wanted you and more and He wants you to be His and to remain His, just as much as He ever did. He wants to keep you close to Him and draw you close to Him, just as much as He ever did, He wants to hold you safe and walk with you just as much as He ever did, He does not change. “You return to me,” He said, “and I will return to you.” It tells us in the 80th Psalm, three times in that Psalm, “Turn us again O Lord cause Thy face to shine, so shall we be saved.” Turn us again, cause Thy face to shine. You know what the problem is when sometimes perhaps we don’t feel so conscious of the Lord’s face shining toward us as perhaps we have been at other times. Do you know what the problem is? It’s not that the Lord doesn’t want to look upon us, or not that He doesn’t want His face to shine upon us, but it’s that we need to be turned. We need to be turned back to Him and His voice is saying to us, “You return to me and I will return to you.” If you have a look at this afterwards and just read the words that He said – the words before, that we didn’t read together, and you’ll see some of the things that these people had fallen into and some of the faults that the Lord was pointing out to them, and they were no small things and He had to tell them that He wasn’t happy with where they were and what they had done, but He wasn’t telling them that just to cast them off, was He? He wasn’t telling them that as words of condemnation. He was telling them that to encourage them, that though He knew everything about them, yet still He wanted them to turn back to Him again. Although He knew the kind of faults and problems they had fallen to, serious though they were, yet He was telling them, “You return to Me and I will return to you.” He still feels the same as He ever did. Do you think the Lord who looked upon us in our sin when we were completely dead to Him and He loved us and He cared for us and desired to bless and to save us? Do you think that He would feel any less that way towards us now because we may have failed and may have done the wrong thing? He feels more that way towards us now because though we have failed yet we are His, and though we have failed and not been what we ought to have been, we have tried to please our Lord. We had no thought of Him and we weren’t making any attempt to serve Him or please Him and serve Him and do His will, yet He loved us, and how much more does He love us now, when we have been those who have been all these things. Though our efforts may have been feeble, though we may have failed many a time, we have been those who have been trying to please our Lord, trying to do His will, trying to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. When we were dead in sin, Christ died for us; when we were dead in sin, God loved us, and He sent His Son and He gave everything that He had. He gave His Son, He sent Him into this world to live and die for us that there might be hope, and that there might be reconciliation and how much more; how much more do these things apply to us now and how much more does the Lord like to extend that hand to us now as though we have been made alive to Him and been brought to Him and our feet have been set in the path of Life and our desire is still in that path of Life and our desire is still towards Him to have a love for Him and we are grieved when we fail Him.

I was looking into the experience of Peter and especially what is written about the Lord speaking to him in the last chapter of John, chapter 21, we know what went before that. Jesus had told Peter, hadn’t He, that Satan desired to sift him as wheat. “But I have prayed for you,” He said, “that your faith fail not, and when you are converted, you strengthen your brethren.” Peter had said, “I’m ready to die with you Lord, nothing will turn me, I am ready to die.” We know what happened don’t we? That dark night when Peter succumbed to that pressure of the enemy, and how he denied his Lord and we read a little later on in that chapter 21 of John, where, he along with others of Galilee, went fishing and the Lord appeared to them in the morning standing on the seaside after their fruitless effort, He asked them did they have any meat and they had to say “No.” He said, “You cast on the other side of the ship and you’ll find.” They did that and they enclosed a great multitude of fishes and Peter swam ahead of the others it seems, to go to Jesus, realising this was his Lord and he just wanted to be near to Him. Maybe, Peter may well have wondered, “Just what kind of a welcome am I going to get here? I’ve made a fool of myself, I promised I’d die for Him, I denied Him, failed my Lord the One I love, I wonder what He’s going to say to me.” The thing that appealed to me in reading that passage again, was what the Lord didn’t say what He could have said, but He didn’t say it. He could have rebuked His disciples, couldn’t He? He could have reminded Him of those three times that he denied Him and even said he’d die for Him; He could have reminded him that He’d warned him. “I warned you, didn’t you take any notice; didn’t it sink in, – didn’t you understand? I warned you that Satan was after you, I warned you about praying and the weakness of the flesh, I warned you.” He could have said so many things; could have rebuked him so sternly; could have even scorned him for the failure that he had become after the things that he had said. He said nothing like that. No rebuke, no condemnation, no hard word. He might have mentioned what Job said in the 23rd chapter, he said about the desire to draw near to God, longing that he could have found that place with God, longing that he could speak to God, he said, “Will He plead against me with His great strength, no, with His great power?” He said, “No. He will put strength into me.” Job 23:6, “Will He plead against me with His great power, NO, He’ll put strength into me.” It says in another Psalm, Psalm 85, “O hear what the Lord my God will speak, for He will speak peace to His people and to His saints; but let them not turn again to folly.” He was to speak peace. Peter on that day, when he might have wondered so much, it might have even been in fear, he knew that he could do nothing else but rush into the arms of his Saviour. There was nothing else he could do, and just as we feel as we come to this place, here in the presence of God, the only consolation there is for what is in our heart, to find rest of heart from a distressed heart, nothing else we can do but fly into the arms of our Saviour, and yet, perhaps we have been wondering what will He say? No rebuke, no condemnation, no hard words, just speaking peace with His people. Jesus spoke to Peter, He just asked him that question, “Do you love me?” “Yes Lord I love you.” “Feed My sheep, feed My lambs.”

I love the way that Jesus, in speaking to Peter, was looking forward. Peter no doubt was looking back a little, a lot of sorrow in his heart, a lot of guilt and Jesus was looking forward, “Feed My lambs and feed My sheep.” You don’t need to bury yourself with self condemnation and you don’t need to bury yourself in your distress and your sorrow, you can go forward. Didn’t He say to him before that, “I have prayed for you” and that “Satan desires to have you, to sift you as wheat but I have prayed for you that your faith fail not, when you are converted strengthen your brethren.” Jesus knew where he was going to go and what he was going to do. He knew the bitterness that was going to come into Peter’s own soul because of what he himself had been and failing his Lord. He knew all that, but He was looking forward even then, wasn’t He? Looking forward to this converting of this man, this change that would come because of how the Lord dealt with him in his failure; because of what he had learnt himself and because of what it had been put into him. He said, “You strengthen your brethren after you have been through this valley and through this experience you are going to come out a strengthener of your brethren; you are going to be a stronger man; you are going to be a feeder of sheep, you are going to be a helper of souls; you are going to be something that you haven’t been to this time, because when you have failed, you came to Me and I was able to help you look forward.” Not to be taken up by looking back or taken up by the depth of the hole from which he had sunk, but looking forward.

God has kindly gathered us in again to the place that means so much to us where we can feel we can do nothing else but to fly into the arms of our Saviour, in this place He wants us to know this converting again, this turning again, this knowing again of His face shining upon us, and He wants us to be able to look forward and to remind us that what He has ever been to us, He still is and desires to be and ever will be, and He doesn’t change. The One who gave His life to save souls and to bring the blessing of God to souls, it’s still His desire towards us as His people to bring the fullness of God’s blessing, to keep us in His Salvation, it doesn’t change. His love towards to us, it doesn’t change, His purposes they don’t change, His feeling towards us, it doesn’t change, He still wants us to be His and to keep us; to keep us His forever and wants to send us forward again in the strength that we receive from Him as we wait in this place, so that we would go on to better things and may go on to please our Lord more and to be more of a help to others. May it be so for us all.

Hymn 69

Matthew 18:3, “Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus said there was no way to enter; it is impossible to enter unless there is a change in their lives. The question in my heart is, “Was Jesus speaking to men in the world, to the Pharisees or Sadducees?” I find it is not so–he was speaking to His 12 disciples, men who had left all and had been doing it for years. He said, “You cannot enter unless there is a change in you–you must change and become like little children”–these words are serious. These 12 men had made a great sacrifice–they had left their work and left their homes, their family, their father and mothers, and had done a lot for Jesus’ sake. They had made an immense sacrifice for Jesus’ sake. If you don’t change, you cannot enter He said; all your sacrifice will be in vain unless there is a change in your spirit and you become like little children. These men had good things in their hearts, they had faith and they had love, they were willing to sleep outside and have no home, but all this sacrifice would be in vain unless they had the spirit of a little child. We could do a lot in sacrifice, in caring for the people of God, in our service to God, but all would be in vain unless we have the spirit of a little child. It is this which touches my heart. It should touch the heart of every person gathered here, for we want to leave here with the spirit of a little child–it is very important.

There was a man we met 40 years ago who had made his choice to serve God. He had been professing for two years when we met him, and it was very clear that he loved the things of God, the way of God. He lived for God and had a very clear vision and revelation of God. He started very well, but this man died outside of the way of God. He walked in this truth for 30 years; he took part and always gave a testimony, always prayed and was very faithful. He could preach to others also. He wanted to correct others and it was then we understood he had never had the spirit of a little child. He had been in the truth for many years and left everything for this very truth. He left it but the last years of his life were spent outside. It would seem that he never had the spirit of a child. It is so important for you to have the spirit of a child because you cannot enter heaven without it. We could do a lot of things; you could follow me but all is in vain if you do not have the spirit of a little child. Who has the best future in the world? Who has a wonderful future in this life? In the natural sense, it is a child. In the spiritual sense, it is the person with the child spirit that has a wonderful future in this life. They have the promise of eternal life, for they can grow and make progress–they can learn things. In a little child’s first years of life there are many changes–there is growth, but there is no growth in older people, and if I do not have the spirit of a little child, there will be no spiritual growth in me and I will be stuck where I am and stay there.

There are two stories of children in the Bible and both cried. Moses was a baby, very little, maybe two or three months old, and he was in the river in a basket. The daughter of King Pharaoh came and saw the child, who wept– she heard his cry and these tears and cry changed his life. Moses had no future in this life, as King Pharaoh had said all male children were to be cast in the river. He did not want Israel’s children to have a future, so the babe Moses had no future, not even a week. But Pharaoh’s daughter came and saw the babe weeping and had compassion on him and had mercy. Pharaoh had made a law which included his own house, a strong law, “Take all the male children and throw them into the river,” but the cry and the tears of the child was stronger than the law of the king. There is a power and strength in the tears of a child before God for He hears the cry from our heart when we have the spirit of a little child. All this changed Moses’ future and now he could live for years in Pharaoh’s house; now he had a future.

Then we have the story of Hagar, the mother of Ishmael, in the desert. She was cast out of the house of Abraham and now found herself and the child in the desert. The child cried, and also the mother. There was a noise from both of them and it says God heard the voice of the child, but not the voice of the mother. What was the reason God heard the cry of the child and not the mother? They both were needy and were in a hard situation. It was because there was a different cry coming from the mother than the child. The child had a need and wanted to drink something, for it was hot and so he cried. He needed help and it was a cry of need. Hagar cried because of her spirit, and she cried because she felt she had a right to cry, because she had been in Abraham’s house and was the mother of his child. She felt, “I’ve done everything that is right; I have done my part and I became the mother of his son and now I am thrown out–it is not right!” She pitied herself, and it was a cry of self-pity, “Poor me, I have had an injustice done to me, what is Abraham thinking, why is his wife so cruel?” We could understand her thoughts and why she cried like this, but God did not hear this cry; He heard only the voice of the child. Sometimes we think it is not right and we ask, “Why, why”–question upon question. We fight against things and seek to justify ourselves. We say our own words and even say God is not right in this. We just don’t see it, but God does not hear a cry like that, and hears only the cry of the child, a pure cry of need, a need for water, living water from God. If we have this sort of cry we have a future.

In Matthew 18:10, it tells us about angels. Little children have angels who always see the face of the Father. They are for His little ones, not for adults, those who are big in themselves; no, they are only for those who have the spirit of a little child. We have an angel who sees the face of God, but if I am not a child then my future is limited. I can see clearly that my body is not like it was 40 to 50 years ago; my vision and my hearing are not the same and I have lost some of the sensitivity of hearing. I am also becoming stiff–all this is all so different for a child. The spirit of a child is very important to us. We see Lazarus, not in the house, but in the bosom of Abraham. One time I saw a photograph of a father and mother and their children–big children, small children, and a babe–there were six children. Which one of the children is sitting in the bosom of the mother? It was the babe. Lazarus was like this because he died as a child, having the spirit of a little child. The rich man died as a great man, for he was not a child but was big.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem and King Herod got to hear of it by his magicians, his wise men. The wise men were asking questions, “Where could they find the king that was born?” They knew He would be born and they had fear just as Herod had fear. He asked the wise men to let him know when they had found Him so that he could worship Him also. Herod was a strong king with great authority but he had the fear of a little child–he trembled and he feared. The king of this world, the devil, also fears the little child, especially when he sees the spirit of a small child; he becomes fearful. Let us take care to have the spirit of a little child because Satan fears it when he sees that spirit of a child. It is when we have this thought of being big that we have no help available to us.

Simeon, in Luke 2, went to the temple to become acquainted with Joseph and Mary and when he saw the child Jesus, he took him up into his arms and said, “I have now seen the salvation of God.” Right there in their midst was the salvation for the world! He saw the world in darkness, yet he also saw salvation in the small child in the arms of His mother. This is the solution to all the problems and differences in the world and amongst us in the Family of God–it is for all of us to have the spirit of a little child, for this brings us peace and is our salvation. Simeon saw that the salvation of the world lay in the spirit of a little child.

He was not listed with the troops abroad

He carried neither bayonet, nor gun,

No grateful throng stood ready to applaud

The devastating battle he had won;

He fought his pride, his selfishness, his ease,

The battle was deep in his own heart

And though he conquered all his enemies

No chant of triumph sounded in the Mart.

His name is not upon the honor roll.

No medals spangle on his manly chest,

But the God who looks upon the soul

Hath kept a place for him among the blest

Because he conquered self: the only foe

Who could have dealt to him a mortal blow.

Hymn 217, “My Savior’s Love”

Convention was a family reunion. If we’re with the lamb of God – we’re not going to lose power to overcome this obstacle.

I Peter 2, “Choose in generation… called you out of darkness into His miraculous light.”

Psalms 23, “paths of righteousness for His Name sake.” You bear your Father’s name, so don’t shame it.

When we do things out of love, we probably won’t remember. It’s a spirit one feels from the inside.

We need to appreciate the love God gives to us and therefore we should appreciate doing what is right. Find the “I want to” button.

Hymn 386, “Christ for Us”

Jesus spoke, Jesus resurrected…those are miracles. We received Christ within.

Acts, “…up through you into Heaven….” / Revelations 1, “… all kingdoms see Him…” Jesus knew He was going to be the lamb and was going to be hated and despised by you and me. He was going to bring hope and salvation. The first coming was when we accepted Him into our hearts.

Revelations, “… every eye shall see Him.” We’re thankful for His resurrection. We should see Him as our Redeemer and our Savior – from a lost eternity. We are thankful that He gave His life for us.

In Luke, He showed His Father’s business. Don’t turn your back on the Lord. He will come to us in the clouds. So, we need to be looking upwards. Never once did He transgress. Jesus never once glorified Himself, but glorified His Father. He didn’t fulfill His own desire. This was God’s plan (for Jesus to die in His prime / for Jesus to be who He was).

We shouldn’t be ashamed to be with His fellowship. The will of God was complete in Jesus. We need the will of God constantly. We have the greatest privilege because we are counted with the faithful few. We have the liberty to serve and love Him while we’re here. Put our lives in order for His return. We are a separated people. We should acknowledge that we’re God’s people. To whom shall He come? And, what will we have when he comes? We should always accept Him.

Our eternity matters. He wasn’t contaminated with anything evil, but He came to an evil world to save us. His bread, His life, the wine as we partake…His blood. We’re here to glorify God (not ourselves).

Genesis 12, “And, there was a famine in the land.” Abraham went down and later Isaac went down, and so on – and Jacob went down, then Joseph.

Ruth – the day the judges rule – there will be a famine in the land. This world is a famine. There is bread for the seed in the 19th century (and now in the 20th century). When your life has been delivered from a world of famine, it’s just like the house of God – as He delivers the truth to us (delivers us from evil – an evil world of famine). In Ruth, Naomi passed on the word about the famine coming. There was nothing to feed our soul until God sent His seed.

Micah 5:2, here is your one life…among millions and millions in this world. There has been something born into your life, the Son of God. The day came when the bread came (was born) into the house of life. There was bread there for the soul.

Revelations 7:17, God shall wipe away all their tears. You can have a famine due to no rain. There’s neither bread nor water for our soul out there, but there is one that can deliver all of this. Dwell on what is in this House of God so we can be more thankful.

Hymn 205, “Thou Has Been My Help”

(Open Congregational Testimonies)

Hymn 28, “Come, Let Us Follow Jesus”

The miracle is the beginning to receive something from God. Natural life has a beginning and an ending. But, with this fellowship – there is no ending and it doesn’t have to have an ending.

John 4 talks about the woman’s beginning. The experience is parallel (for a beginning and an ending). The same beginning is leading to the same kind of fellowship in far away lands. This beginning must have a continuing. When we leave, don’t speak of ourselves – but of God.

When we read about Steven, when Steven looked up into heaven – it’s a continuing… a “comma”… part way through a story. A comma (,) is like a gravestone. When one dies at 100 years old, that’s just a tiny fragment of time. Keep a balanced attitude. Steven was filled with the love and power that was a process. He was willing to begin and continue.

The man on the cross next to Jesus had a vision. That man could not take one physical step. Jesus asked His Father to forgive others for what they were doing (“For they know not what they do”). The other 2 men were amazed that His Father could forgive Him. One of the two men had that vision. What was really there on that cross: 1 man alone…far from God and 2 men who were united as brothers (Jesus and the man who had that vision). The very miracle that needs to happen in everyone’s heart is a beginning and a continuing.

When Jesus was born – those who were looking down…singing…Luke 2:10, “Christ the Lord.” Angels were singing a song with great assurance. They know He was going to receive a little help and then become the Savior.

What we talk about at convention is not imaginary (not like utopia). It’s the power of God that we cannot fully understand, but we see the result of it. We have a visible reality. We see a light beyond the natural light. That wonderful light – that’s in our lives.

Luke 2:29, it brought peace into His heart. We can have the same feeling as Simon had. God would like to give us a taste of help. You will then see His miracles.

John 17:20 (“…one of us”) – What Jesus prayed for that day is being fulfilled and that can be fulfilled today. How much of this prayer are we fulfilling? We can help fulfill what Jesus was praying for. We can help others know what Jesus taught. He is the Son of God.

II Peter 1:13 (“…of His majesty.”) He wasn’t talking about lack of hope, but going onto something better.

Acts 14:22, Acts 13:43 – Continue!!!

Hymn 328, “Ere We Part”

Hymn 294, “A Life of Overcoming”

Genesis 49:16, sometimes we’re overcome and feel that we have more failures than victories. Sometimes the enemy wants to overcome. Jesus is the alpha and the omega and He is the overcomer. Jesus is our comfort and our strength…everyday and every hour – in thy Father’s house, where the provision is, where it is safe. Don’t hold back your problems. Tell it (them) to God and ask Him.

Ask for forgiveness. The people can’t do it (help forgive us of all sins), but God can. Miracles do take place in our lives. “The troops should overcome him, but he should overcome at the last.” We will overcome in the end with our right path that we’re on.

Deuteronomy 33 (About Dan) / Revelations, the 12 tribes. It’s a matter of growth. Take the right steps that God can help you. It’s important to grow with the willingness of God. We have to be healthy little children in order to grow.

John the Baptist – he grew. The Lord increased in stature. Have more fruit.

Do we understand our calling?  We should.  The borrower is a servant to the lender.  We’re only borrowing this life.  We depend on each other.  The workers depend on us (the saints).  This interdependent fellowship is great for all.

“Lend to many nations” (but don’t borrow).

Having our own well (our own water) so we may be able to share it with others.  You can have so much effort, but the cost is nothing.  You can give and keep giving, you’re not going to be afraid of the cost, but you’ll get your water (your treasure / eternal paradise with God).

A cup of water of Jesus will never lose its eternal reward.  Becoming a lender after you are a borrower is very gratifying.

Revelations 20:6, it’s the saints that are going to rule and reign with Christ (not the workers).  It excludes the workers so that the workers are free to take this gospel to every corner of the earth.  That’s not possible until after the first resurrection.  We are “joint-heirs” in this kingdom with God.  We’re living today in the day of the Gentiles.  God fulfills His promise in His own time and in His own day.

Matthew 24 (read), “For when the world might end, what is the sign of His coming?  The Father knows when He is coming.”

God wanted to preserve the world by choosing Noah to build the ark.  God said, “Come thou” (into the ark).  The family waited.  “Today’s the day / replenish the earth.”  Noah first built an alter (used animals for a sacrifice).  We must understand what our job is and what God’s job is. We don’t question God’s perfect plan.

The disciples pointed out the beauty of the temple.  Jesus reminded them there will not be one stone left upon another (it’ll all be flattened).  About 32-37 years later – it was destroyed.  They didn’t leave 2 stones together.  God will know we’re His children with knowing the love we have for each other.  God is here to preserve and keep.

Thessalonians 4:14, “Those who have died, God will bring with Him.”

Matthew 24 (at the end of the chapter), caught up in the air to meet with Him.  “The powers of heaven will be shaken.”

Luke 15:31, in this parable, there are 2 kings and 2 kingdoms. One kingdom is of our hearts…and we make the decisions there. The other kingdom is the Kingdom of God, which is greater. Why we still have time, ask that King – can we please meet (not as enemies)?

According to Jesus’ works, we will count the cost. To give up our all – that is a great cost and it’s worth it.

We cannot afford to meet the King as an enemy and worry in fear about that day of destruction. With this new King – He is a ruler of peace in our heart. We alone cannot bring peace into our own kingdom. We don’t know what’s best for our kingdom, but God knows. He will bring us a prosperous kingdom. Leave all decisions to God.

Colossians 3:15, the love of God and for God rules in my kingdom in my heart…a love of God for me. Let nothing arise up in your heart that tries to take “first place” or that challenges His rule.

Hymn 85, “The Savior With Me” (1st and last)

Numbers 10:29 / Mark 4:35, tells about a journey. These days our journey is of our heart. God is concerned about our heart – not our actual heart, but the center of our being for those things that are good for us and for the Kingdom of serving Him. Uplift Jesus constantly.

Exodus, God gave a message to Moses and asked Moses to show you his way. God said, “My presence will go with you.” Moses said carry us not up hence (if your presence doesn’t go with us, don’t carry us up there). Wanting for “me, myself and I” is a dangerous road.

Psalms 23, we cannot go through the valley alone. The disciples took Jesus in a boat. He is still the same (yesterday, today and forever). Paul wrote “Christ in you – the hope of Glory.” The disciples took Jesus on the water (Jesus remains the same). They took Him Just as He was.

Genesis – “Let Us make man in Our Own image.” This is heart business.

Psalms 17, last verse…I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.

Luke 2, when Mary and Joseph took their son to perform a ceremony, they were on their way home. Mary and Joseph supposed that Jesus was in the midst of them. That part was a little dangerous…“supposedly”. We cannot suppose He is with us. Either He is or He is not (in our lives). If we go to a lost eternity, we take the blame. Could we suppose He is with us and He’s not? What part does He have in our hearts? We shouldn’t use Jesus for our “Emergency Exit.” He needs to be our Lord, King…and our complete all.

Storms come because the master is not at helm. We need to get to the source of all our problems. When He arrives, when we see Him, we will be like Him.

Revelations, Jesus knocks on the door and He will sleep with us (give us peace). We are only loaned (for this life).

Hymn 368, “I Am Satisfied Indeed”

Hymn 206, “Gracious Redeemer” (Last 3 verses)

(Open for Testimonies)

Hymn 306, “He Waits for Thee”

Jeremiah 32:38-39, a choice, one way… right or wrong. Be thankful for walking in the way…the perfect way. We may fall, but we can rise once again. If we are willing, God will give us grace to walk with Him. God has given us “meeting shoes” (for us to walk in the way – His way). He has made provisions for us to keep walking…with one heart and one way. This is an unchanging way. Physically we change, but the way does not. We are the people of God. Take every forward step to reach the heaven abode. This way is a self-denial way…a praying people.

Acts 16:17 / Matthew 7:14, “narrow is the way.” I’ll do this for your good, but for also the good of your children. You “train” up a child…a disciplined people. Our commitment is with God…every Sunday morning.

“Be ye courteous – one to another.” This way is a courteous way with courteous people. Know the training and use it wisely. It would be said if they went to the world and were disciplined and then went back to the way and it wasn’t there.

Public prayer should be brief.

Have courage to know what is right and wrong and to say your mind (to your children, friend, etc.).

Be of concern, even if the people are of “trained people.” In a home, you will know if the home is harmonious. You’ll know if workers are friends (just getting alone) or companions.

Love teaches us how to give.

Be thankful the way is still narrow. This is a way that does not change us / humanly fashion or the ways of the world.

Our leader is Jesus.

There is power with prayer.

The Father who sees in secret – so, people pray in secret sometimes. Keep our meetings brief, sharp, and focused.

Anything (this way) alive – it will not be dead.

Pray from heart always, with an open and tender heart.

Psalms 25:9, be meek. Humility doesn’t need to be advertised. It will be advertised itself. Through one’s tears – we can show our humility. We can only humble ourselves. When we want help – we can go to an elder brother or elder sister. It isn’t self of what one is, or what one has done.

Psalms 139:24, an overwhelming way. This way is a way that has no end. “Man-made” ways are not in existence. If they are – they’ve changed. This way is everlasting.

Enjoy the fellowship with a redeemed blood. People aren’t telling what they’ve done, etc. They’re only telling what He has done. “Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God.” God requires – 1) Simple honesty and 2) Walk humbly.

Service means a lot to God. Bring something to Sunday meetings – not from our hearts or thinking, but from God’s heart. This is a heart religion. If you have a lot in your heart – your brain doesn’t have to do a lot of talking. The best faith is with those who are visiting / talking with pure-hearted people.

Ask God for forgiveness, cleansing, and ask Him for us to submit more.

One leader = Jesus. We follow Him. Humbly follow Him. Keep “coming” unto Jesus. Have a humble resignation.

Hymn 345, “I Will Journey All The Way”

References about sanctuary / thankfulness for prayer. Through prayer – it can be one’s only way to reach God’s heart.

Psalms 73:17 / Genesis 3, Adam and Eve were faced with a choice. Be thankful for the power of God (for He meets our needs). Jesus in the garden – when He passed the cup (“not My will but Thine”). The road that was true, right and holy is the road Jesus took.

Satan disturbs our prayers with worry, fear and self-righteousness. God will take us down a road that is right.

Hebrews talks about “the minister of the sanctuary.” When you feel the need for love, we can go to our sanctuary. It is His plan we don’t have to walk in darkness, but in light – so that it will cleanse us from all sins. “We’re a joint-inheritor” of the riches of heaven (eternal life).

People who are cruel – they “know not what they do”… they don’t know the big picture. Perhaps that is their way of building a wall of not letting love in. We can ask for forgiveness in others and in ourselves. Intercede for others and pray for others.

John 17:11 (“…these in the world…keep…”) Jesus knew God wanted nothing more than to keep His own. If Jesus prayed and asked for things for others, we can do the same in the safe sanctuary.

Hymn 220, “More Love To Thee” (Verses 1 and 3)

For every deeper pain, we can allow God to do a much deeper work.  So, we can go forth with a sweeter savor.

For every measure – is a profit to our soul.  Each of us has a mill (that we should let it do its work).

Don’t be left behind in the soil.  Grow upwards and let the deeper work happen.

Matthew 5:20, God wants the deeper work of righteousness within…not just the appearance.  The unclean city is the continuous battle.  In the garden, Jesus took care of the root.  The greatest struggle had expired.

Our tongue has no power.  It’s a member without power.  The deeper work we need done is in our heart.

The greatest work is not staying together.  Accept our righteousness.  The greatest work is the miracle of staying together and loving again.

We should go to God for man, not man for God.  When God is working – we’re on-lookers.  We feel that.  We leave everything up to God.  Maybe we haven’t made a right beginning and the devil uses us.  But, now is the time to start and/or continue that path to God.  Even though you had no foundation – God can still speak with you for you to follow.

John 14:6 and John 6:44, these are 2 very clear foundations.  “No man cometh to the Father except through Jesus.”  It’s not when you feel that the time is right.  We’re answerable to God no matter what life we’re living.

You’re accountable for the life you live.  Acknowledge all our thoughts – that we’re without hope, even our kindest things and attentions; our actions or things that have never been expressed.  He will bring us to a place of repentance.  A complete change.  He’s seeking to draw us.  You could still have a good life and be satisfied, but still have things missing.

Souls do not belong to God because God can stir up one’s heart.  He will draw men and women to themselves through Him.  This sincerity that we have, God will open up our hearts and in earnest.  Don’t let anything ever move you – even though it was done and it’s not with sincerity.  With speaking to God, you must be doing it sincerely and earnestly.

John 17:3, “Life eternal that they might know the truly God…”  We want the change, Jesus will make in our lives before the grave.  Don’t always focus on eternal life, but how Jesus can effect our lives today… a purpose to life.  He offers things that will outlive this life.  He will change your life that is a better quality of life for the eternal.  (“… Eating My flesh / drinking My blood…”)

Jesus showed that we could live in the world and even above the world.  “A dead fish goes down stream.  However, a live fish can swim against the current.”  Don’t be victims of the things of the world.  People who don’t know God are like the dead fish – just following along.  Sometimes people live so long in the dark – they forget what it is like to live in the daylight.

Our heart is wicked.  People make decisions and they don’t know the results.  If you hear God calling, stop and listen.  Being moved to read your Bible is God awakening you.  God can deal with you then.

When you feel you have a need (for prayer or for things in your life) – ask God about them.  Surrender!  The Bible can come alive when you pray (through prayer).  Let God work in our lives.  If you have learned obedience, it will make you submit to God easier.  The Lord makes life worth living…from eternity’s point of view.

Hymn 69, “To Whom, Lord, Shall We Go?”

Matthew 13, parable of the soils, then parable of the Field – the treasure in the field.  The two parables.  The seed (the word of God) can be sewn in our hearts.  In both of them and teaching of Jesus, we can have 100 fold, 60 fold, and 30 fold.  Never be satisfied if there is more (fold).  So, try to get there (to God) closer than you ever have.

There is one 1 of 4 kinds of seeds that is fruitful:  1) Wayside soil was never cultivated, so the seed wasn’t sewn (and cannot be sewn);  2) Stony soil, you can’t cultivate a stone.  The roots are unable to grow deep due to the stones.  The stones would have to be removed.  3) Thorny soil, thorns are different.  It’s growing thorns well, but it’s using up the seeds.  Those weeds have to be controlled.  [The grace of God will put seeds into our heart.]  We have to be careful of the thorns (in life).  4) One was a good soil…a 100 fold, 60 fold, and 30 fold.  100% is nothing compared to a 100 fold.  A single fold (1 fold) is 100%.  One fold is another one just like it.  A fold is 100 times more than 100%.  100 fold means 10,000%.  Anything that God helps us with is better than anything, but don’t just give 1% or a small percentage.  Go for it, give God your all.

Jesus spoke of 5 parables that day about soil and seed.  The mustard seed is the Palestine mustard seed.  “The mustard seed is like the kingdom of heaven.”  If you just get it right – you’ll see how small it is and what it will become.  It’s capable to become a shrub.  It changes from a shrub to a tree.  The branches become thick and birds can then hide in the tree for safety.  This parable is not about birds in trees – but those seeds are inside a little pod.  (Merlin had someone picked the pod and broke every pod and counted the average per pod – 3 times for each pod).  It’s so much greater – this kingdom of heaven and the treasure – this way.

Know the peace in our lives and the joy and comfort of His word and the workers God sent to us.  When “I was a stranger – He took me in.”  Jesus said that with possibility – some 100 fold, 60 fold, or 30 fold.  We’re a part of God’s kingdom.  It’s a glorious calling (to be saints).  You can still pray with sincerity.

Verse 44, the treasure is hidden in a field.  You cannot buy the treasure, but you can buy the field – as long as there is seed to be put back into that field.  There will be plenty of seed already, but you still have to work at it.  You can’t exhaust the field as long as you have a handful of seed.  We’re responsible on how much we share in this field.  (Eight parables in all.)

Luke 13:20, leaven: a power within. The gospel brings a power to our lives…an inner power.

I Corinthians 4:20, the kingdom of heaven is in power, not just words. “There is none good, save one.” “God is good” (Jesus said to a man that asked). The power of God will continue to work as we believe.

Hymn 63, “Precious Seed”

(Prayer)

Hymn 402, “Lord, Grant My Life”

This race doesn’t get easier. No comparisons between the creation and the creator. No comparison between my will and God’s will.

The only sure thing is [in?] the work [world?] is change. Being forced to change can hurt. However, it is for the better. It is worth it.

Psalms 22:14, “I am poured out like water.”

Luke 22:44, pray more earnestly – pour out thy soul. Don’t bend to self. He did come back for us.

The word is sharper – we need to handle it with care.  God stretched the heavens and set the constellations in order; He is well able.  He wants to do a fine work, a careful work.

Jeremiah 17:1 – …“well able… to handle…”

Ezekiel 18:23, shows the heart of God.  Sinners will turn and their sin will be taken away.  He wants to work in our heart with His holy spirit (with a touch of a dove).  We should revere His power.

Titus – “earnestly contend the faith” (that was delivered to the saints).

Paul wrote to Timothy to say He should be a good soldier.  We’re called to contend with God.  How you prepare everyday is how you’ll perform in battle.

Two examples on how Jesus prepared (found in place of prayer):  1) Luke 6:12-13 – we need to have an earnesty and urgency that God will have for us.  2) Matt. 26:39 – Peter prayed for this 3 times – when the blood hit the ground.  He (Christ) never saved self, so the life He led can be trusted.  To serve God – you need complacency.  God will not accept 2nd best.  God longs to give us His greatness.

Hymn 393, “I am Now a Child of God”

Romans 8:29 (and 15) and I John 3, “The Father hath bestowed upon us… / … we shall see Him as He is.” The story of adoption: in one sense – we’re born into His spirit. However, we are a part of being adopted by God. When you’re adopted and are shown love – you will respond. You will see that yourself as well as others will see it.

Our position – it is because we have a need and God will give us a place in Him. Keep His holy name clean and pure, because ye are shown love. As we’re led by the spirit, we will continue to be more like Him.

Ephesians 1:10, even though we have never met other people from other conventions, meetings – we will have our family reunion in heaven.

Revelations, it’s the multitude that cannot be numbered. God wants some of our private time, also. What a wonderful family we have and the love that goes beyond a family love.

Hymn 201, “Lowly at Thy Feet”

(Prayer)

Hymn 347, “Once We Were Wandering”

I Peter 1:3, God has brought us hope, not because we’re worthy, but because we’re needy.

Acts 6:8-15, especially verse 8 which indicates Stephen full of faith and power.

I Peter 3:4, whatever experiences that we go through – there’s always hope. You can be thankful for your experiences / your struggles. They may be costly, but if we’re willing – God will trust in us and give us hope to have a peace and quiet spirit.

Hymn 380, “Search Me, O Lord”

Psalms 139, “God is a heart specialist / a heart surgeon.” Like in life – there’s a lot of pain and suffering and with God’s help, we will heal. We need to have a heartbeat of heaven – having God remove any hardness to replace it with tenderness. A soft heart is like the heart of Jesus – of grace and truth. The depth of one’s repentance can make a heart even softer (i.e., David).

Ezekiel 11, God will give them the land of Israel. He will take away the stained heart. He can take out the stony heart. Have our heart in the right condition. He does speak to our hearts. God still has love for a perishing world. A soft heart will go all the way with Him with the spirit of Christ in us.

Hymn 244, “My Heart is Resting”

Mark 16:15 (“Go to Milltown”), believing always brings action. He that is baptized – that is action. You can be abundantly satisfied with everything that is brought into His house. You must do your part.

We need to obey the gospel. You must live in the Truth – rather than explain it. We have Jesus (even though we’re a non-denominational name)…when asked.

The power of the gospel is awesome. Power of a new day…a gentle power is Jesus. We can be thankful for the power of the gospel. We need to be responsible for bringing the fellowship of the gospel to everyone.

By grace – you’re saved through faith.

God is fire – He brings a warmth to everything. We can never let that fire go out.

Cast all of your sins into the depth of the sea. Acknowledge all of your sins to God and you will be forgiven.

The Lord leads us, He guides us and every need will be met. Don’t launch out on your own. Be a humble saved person. True humility rips our hearts. The hope of the gospel.

The Lord is honest of reaching all of us. We must admit all of our sins.

Revelations 14:6, another angel fly (i.e., just like the 2 workers going to a home to stay {story Harry told}).

Hymn 216, “The Perfect Love”

Acts 28, thank God and take courage.

It’s okay to pray for a miracle… something that would change our life for the victory.

Have a wonderful day in your life (the best day) and have a better day the next day.

Malachi (read the entire book).

Have more than what your parents have in order for you to have for your children.

Acts 4:2, taking back before He left… taking so much / being “re-supplied.”  In a figure – we’re going home with evidence with the resurrection of power.  God is not limited to what He can do for us.  He would like to send us away- full (when we leave convention, meetings, etc.).  We want to take the purity of the message home with us.

Hymn 24, “From Every Stain”

Ephesians 1:4-6, you need to be a child of God to understand grace. We need to look beyond the kingdom of heaven. If we’re not of this world, we’re part of the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom is a pure and holy place.

We’re here to be made clean – free from stain. We need to be pure in heart and through Jesus we’re cleansed from all sin.

Keep a pure mind. Sometimes our prayers are earthbound and not beneficial to us. Sometimes before we pray – we already have the answer in our mind. However, when we pray – we should go with an empty mind and heart and God will then speak to us.

Having simplicity – to believe it as it is written. Sometimes we look for justification. That’s not right. We read the Bible in its simplicity and accept it all as it is. We need to be careful about our steps (i.e., the media.)

Having a pure conscience…never let your conscience be your guide because it can lead us into problems. Example: Two Japanese women and Ivan were in Japan standing along a dirt road waiting for the bus to come. The bus came and they bowed to Ivan to let him get on first. He bowed back because in our custom it was taught to be women and children first (unlike their custom where it is taught to put men first). After a couple of times of bowing, the bus driver drove away.

We need a conscience given to us by God…by being born again and to teach us what’s right and what is in His spirit. We need to put the world’s lust, greed, envy, etc.- all to one side. We are like adopted children. God has sent His son to come and get us.

Ephesians 1:7, God planned redemption long before He sent His son. This earth is just a testing ground. Love was born into us. When Ruth’s husband died and she brought back her husband, she slept at the feet of Boaz – for he was the one that could redeem her. Every day (especially Sunday) we should give our all.

Ruth 3:8-13, Boas awakened at midnight and wanted for Ruth to lift up her skirt and he would redeem her. She would then be in the fellowship with God and His wings.

In Australia, the rice fields were burned and one chicken was burnt to death in the field; but under the chicken there were 4 little chicks. It’s like Jesus taking us under His wings.

I Corinthians 11:24-27, “You do this in remembrance of me.” You partake of these emblems worthily. We should first examine ourselves. During the past week, did I forget to forgive someone or did lust take over my body? If we’re not worthy while taking of the emblems – it is our own damnation. Pray the night before, morning also. Examine ourselves and ask God to cleanse us and forgive us all. Jesus gave His life for us so that we would know eternal salvation.

When we’re spiritually sick, it’s hard to get up and pray, go to meetings, etc. So, we want to be awake for the coming of Christ. Keep the world separate than the world that is the kingdom of heaven.

Hymn 384, “Cleansing for Me”

Hymn 26 – Thy Life Was Given for Me

We find we are giving our life over and over again.

Genesis 22, when Abraham was spoken to and he said, “Here I am” (or ‘Here Am I’) and to lift up his eyes and be allowed to see what God wanted him to see. He saw Jesus. The faith in him meant that God would provide and God did provide. God gave His son to be slain.

Luke’s gospel, the disciples and Jesus going a little farther and that His prayer was very costly because He was going to be the lamb slain.

Exodus, one lamb in the morning and one lamb in the evening to be slain as an offering. Beginning the day with the lamb and ending the day with the lamb. We can ask where would Jesus go or how would Jesus feel?

We know how He prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Think of Jesus as the lamb and there will then be victory. Search thine own heart first. The life which I lived by in the flesh, I now live in the flesh.

Matthew 13:44, a parable is picture to the eye, story to the ear, and a picture to the heart. Jesus told this story…the field where there is the will of God. The treasure – is Jesus. Nothing outside of Jesus will give us a heavenly reward.

The man – is you. Men, women, boys and girls… who can find a field – find a treasure and make it their own. Rest in your heart and mind. We must find the field before finding the treasure. It’s sometimes not easy to find that field.

Fruit of the spirit – is the treasure. Fruit of love is torn. Fruit of the spirit is ripened and we make the treasure our treasure in our heart. “The man hid the treasure in the field, sold all he had (his own way) and then he bought the field.” He bought the treasure with obedience, willingness, etc. We have to get to heaven with willingness over and over again. He bought the field then, there was the treasure.

It’s good to buy the field and then find the treasure. The treasure is to throw yourself into the kingdom of heaven. See Job…he faced many tests. Prosperity, poverty, grieving, sickness (ill health), conflict (with the fighting God), misunderstanding, then his own imagination (when he thought God turned away). He learned his experiences were without a cause, but not without a purpose. The unseen lies behind the seen.

If you keep yourself in the faith of God, you’ll keep yourself in the will of God. God wasn’t punishing him – God was teaching. Job bought a treasure – unity. The devil likes to attack the unity of everything man has. Job paid with tears, money, everything and he’s a good example of finding the treasure.

Joseph’s treasure was bread…when he ought it. He said, “I humbly forgive” when he was in the pit (while his brothers were eating bread) and when he was sold and when he was accused. He was bread to the Egyptians, to his brethren and to God.

Joseph paid a price. He sold all he had and the treasure was bread. Sell all you have and buy the field.

Hymn 195, “Lord, We Rest in Peace Abiding”

I Peter 1:8, joy that is unspeakable.  Rising above and beyond the limits of… that is our joy in Christ.  Joy that’s ascending.  Sadness can turn to great joy.  You can miss out on the pain and suffering and still miss out of the joy.  The joy of the birth of Christ and the resurrection of Christ.

Isaiah 35:10,  “everlasting joy upon their heads” – may we know how to rise up and know.

Hymn 153, “Jesus Alone Can Save Me”

Read I Samuel 23:14.

Matthew 4, when Jesus was weak (fasted) and Satan came to Him. Jesus stayed true to His word, to His Father and Satan left.

John 8:28, Jesus was hidden within His Father’s will.

Hymn 371 is a good example. There’s no place of safety except within the will of God. Fight the battle with God’s help.

Hymn 381, “Heart and Purpose” (Carol’s choice)

God isn’t asking us to settle for something less. He has chosen our place for Him. “Focus less on the vehicle and more on the destination.”

Luke 16, the rich man relaxing while Lazarus was outside gathering. The first time on the other side, he was homeless. Point others and yourself to the homeland and the journey we have to make.

Revelations 22, the picture of the homeland is more beautiful than anything. The word of God is not bound. If we didn’t know anything else, but to be with Jesus – that is enough. Depart and be with Christ – the homeland. Funerals are a time of victory and rejoicing because they have gone home. When life seems dreary, His pathway leads to endless day – to home.

Hymn 177, “Low at Thy Throne” (Donna’s choice)

II Peter 2:10, Many are called, but few are chosen. The predestination is that all would be chosen. Who are to be chosen? They are the ones that choose to be chosen. We must continue this.

In Matthew 22:1-4, regarding the wedding feast… only a few were chosen for that wedding.

Matthew 22:11, the king chose a man (one of the guests) to be there, but he was without the wedding garment. Then, the people in the vineyard were chosen to be there- but some were told, “Go from me.” “We must choose daily to be a little child.” (The people of the vineyard didn’t love the workers more.) “Make our election sure.” When David had the experience (when he was young) against Goliath – he chose to have a “child-like trust.” There are many “Goliaths” out in the world.

You must choose to trust in God. Example: A boy was sitting on a bus. People got off and people got on. One woman was concerned. She asked, “Do you know where you’re going?” The boy said, “No.” She then asked, “Do you know when to get off?” The boy then said, “No.” She then asked, “How do you know where to get off then?” The boy said, “My father’s the bus driver.”

Face your sin… wanting nothing but the faith of your Father. Continue to choose to be chosen. Choose to be a little child.

Mark 16:14, “Equation” – mathematical, where there’s an equal sign – where they are equal. Equations are conditions and results.

Proverbs 29:1, hardening your neck by repenting and repenting will eventually make your neck not turn… turn to be soft (that is). We stray, wander, and we’re going to reprove. But, we don’t want to get to the point of not being able to turn our head.

Mark 16:16, “Believe = ‘It’s true and I agree with it and I’m going to do it.’” If we don’t believe, we are condemned. Being baptized is not necessarily all the steps…it’s just a further step. Continue to take steps.

John 6:54, think of the flesh of Jesus is the outside (outwardly) side; what man sees. Understand the blood of Christ…inwardly…the side that only God saw. We want to partake of what Jesus saw – inwardly and outwardly…making that a part of us.

John 15:1-2, 4-6, we can’t bear fruit unless we’re abiding in the vine. (We wait to abide in that vine – that fellowship.) If we’re part of that vine, but not bearing any fruit – we won’t last that long. Not only abiding in Christ; we could be attached to the fellowship and bear no fruit. Christ will (and must) abide in us.

Matthew 10:38, but if we take up our cross, our result with Him will be more worthy. Simon took Jesus’ cross to the place of death. Where will we take up our cross? Many times we feel like we must die… and that’s denying ourselves. Take up your cross and follow Jesus. When you hear the words taken up by God’s servant, don’t get taken up by God’s servant – but by who sent the servant.

Revelations 3:20-21, there’s a knock and a call. This happens continuously – if we have faith and hear both.

Revelations 1:18, keys for door / letting someone in or out. If we’re in the will of God and we know it – we’re living a heaven on earth. If we’re in the will of God and not know it, we’re living a hell on earth.

Revelations 3:8, with the open door, you need to have a little strength and faith.

Hymn 155, “Incline Your Ear”

December 25th was originally a pagan festival. It was a time in which they celebrated the birth of Sol, or the return of the Sun on its northern journey. Most of the activities associated with Christmas have been carried over from that pagan holiday. It was not until the year 354 that the Catholic Church first associated the birth of Jesus with December 25th. In so doing, they allowed the people to have the same day, and celebrated it in the same manner, only under a different name. The following on Christmas is condensed data, found in the “New Standard Encyclopaedia.” It gives more:

Christmas: The festival commemorating the birth of Christ, observed in most countries on December the 25th. The term Christmas is derived from the Latin ‘Christes masse’ meaning Christ’s mass. History: In the first few centuries of Christianity, there was no uniform celebration of the birth of Christ, because the exact date was unknown. Churches variously celebrated the event on January 2, March 25, April 18, and May 20. The adoption of December 25, as the birthday of Christ, was decreed by Bishop Liberius of Rome, in 354. This date was probably chosen because it coincided with the pagan festival of the winter solstice. The Romans observed Saturnalia, the feast of their god Saturn, at that time. The Germans, Gauls, and Britons celebrated Brumalia on December 25. The Norsemen held their Yule feasts between December 25 and January 6. Many of the customs of these festivals later on became a part of Christmas.

In the Middle Ages, the church opposed the traces of paganism, surviving in the popular Christmas customs, and counteracted by creating special Christmas masses. The church also introduced the nativity plays, manger songs, and Christmas carols. During the restoration period in England, the Puritans of New England, also forbade the celebration of Christmas. Origin of the customs: with the exception of Christmas greeting cards, which were first used in 1846, nearly all the holiday customs can be traced to a non-Christian origin. The Christmas tree, usually an evergreen, is derived from the Roman saturnalia, and the Norse worship trees. It was in Germany, in the sixteenth century, that the tree was first used as a symbol of Christmas. The custom was brought to England and the United States in the 19th Century. The mistletoe was the sacred plant of the druids, priests of ancient Britain Gaul. The Yule log symbolised protection against evil spirits, in the Norse festivals.

The above information is very enlightening. It helps one to understand how misleading the modern story of Christmas really is. It also gives one a glimpse of the great bondage, brought on the world, by the traditions of men. This should help us to appreciate, more fully, the glorious liberty we have in Christ. It should help us to keep from the spirit of hysteria that grips the world at this season. It also gives us a wonderful opportunity to let our light shine. When people can see that our homes and lives are different, from those in the world around us, it assures them that we have something better to live for. You might enjoy reading these notes, and it may answer some questions you may have. We have discussed this subject with a number of our friends and all seem to appreciate the information. In general, we have found that when our brethren learn the facts of such things, they form their own conclusions and make their own separations. This is better than for us to lay down laws for them to abide by.

A few more facts about Christmas:

This holiday will be celebrated as the birth of Christ. Yet……

a. During this season, there will be more domestic violence, more alcohol-related injuries and death, more debt incurred, and more marital infidelity than at any other time of the year!

b. Office parties soon become drinking parties, reveling, etc.

c. And this is how men should remember the birth of Jesus?

Men are far more interested in observing their religious days (Christmas, Easter) than they are in observing the Lord’s Day (Hebrews 10:25).

a. Human memorials of Christ’s birth versus Lord’s memorial of His death (I Corinthians 11:23-26).

b. Christ will only accept honor given Him in God’s way – John 4:23-24.

We should be concerned with Christian’s involvement in the activities of Christmas:

a. Is the religious observance of Christ’s birth authorized by God?

b. What is the history of this religious holiday?

c. What is the Christian to do at this time of year?

d. What are we teaching our children about Christmas?

We want to be “the faithful” who come before God as He commands!

THE BASIS FOR THE RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE OF CHRIST’S BIRTH: MAN OR GOD?

A. The Bible Does Not Reveal The Date Of Christ’s Birth. 1. Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:1 – Days of Herod the Great (37-4 BC) and Caesar Augustus (27 BC-14 AD). 2. Luke 2:8 – Shepherds in fields watching flocks:

a. Summer months.

b. Song of Solomon 2:11 – Winter marked by cold and rain.

c. December is not “the time of Christ’s birth!”

Human speculation over date:

a. Clement of Alexandria – November 18, 3 BC. / May 20.

b. Hippolytus – January 2, March 25 or April 2, finally December 25.

c. Others – January 6; March 28; April 18 or 19; Every month!

d. “No sufficient data, however, exists for the determination of the month or day of the event” – (The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia Of Religious Knowledge, Reprint 1977, III:47).

God would have told us if He had wanted us to know! (Deuteronomy 9:29)

B. There Is No Biblical Authorization For The Celebration Of Christ’s Birth.

1. Historical record does not authorize celebration of the event!

a. Baptism of Jesus; Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension……

b. Silence of the Bible must be respected by men!

c. The Religious Celebration Of Christ’s Birth Is Based Upon Human Authority, Not Divine Authority – Matthew 21:23; II Timothy 3:16-17; Colossians 3:17; II John 9-11; Galatians 1:8-9.

THE ORIGIN OF CELEBRATING THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.

A. Definition Of “Christmas” – “Mass Of Christ.”

1. Catholicism – Celebration of the birth of Christ by a special mass.

2. This festival created to counter pagan festivals:

a. Roman Saturnalia (December 17-24) – Honored Saturnus, a pagan god. A time of gluttony and licentiousness.

b. Roman feast of Mithrand, the Sun god (December 25).

B. Clearly, The Festival Of The Birth Of Christ Began In Post-Apostolic Times.

1. Encyclopedia Of Religion & Ethics, III: 601 – “There is no evidence of the existence of a Feast of the Nativity before the 4th century.”

2. Shaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, III:47 – “There is no historical evidence that our Lord’s birthday was celebrated during the apostolic or early post-apostolic times.”

3. How December 25 was selected for celebrating Christ’s birth:

a. Liberius, Bishop of Rome, declared Dec. 25 to be celebrated as Christ’s birthday in 354 AD.

b. “There can be little doubt that the Church was anxious to distract the attention of Christians from the old heathen feast days by celebrating Christian festivals on the same days (Encyclopedia of Religion & Ethics, III: 607).

c. “The indications are, that the Church in this way grasped the opportunity to turn the people away from a purely pagan observance of the winter solstice to a day of adoration of Christ the Lord” – Collier’s Encyclopedia.

4. The observance of Christ’s birth began in Catholicism and paganism, not Christianity!

5. “Human in its origin, arbitrary and irrelevant in its time, and Pagan in its ceremonies, it clearly has no claims whatsoever upon the true Christian.” (W.K. Pendleton, Millennial Harbinger, 1848, p.22).

WHAT IS THE CHRISTIAN TO DO?

A. He Cannot Participate In The Religious Additions Of Men – II John 9-11. 1. II John 9-11 – Breaks fellowship with God; Fellowships errors of men.

2. Galatians 4:8-11 – Religious days of OT wrong to observe…What of those started by men in the 4th century?!

3. II Corinthians 6:14 – Don’t be forced into adding to God’s will for your life!

B. Use The Opportunities Of The Season To Explain Why You Do Not Celebrate Christmas As The Birthday Of Christ – Matthew 5:13-16 (verses 11-12).

1. Cf. School activities, work events, neighbors.

2. People are surprised, but generally respectful of your convictions. But, you must live by your convictions regardless of how others react…….do not compromise your faith!

C. A Christian Can Observe Portions Of The Christmas Holiday Non-Religiously.

1. Many things which may carry religious meaning can be practiced non-religiously: a. Circumcision – Acts 16:1-3.

b. Washing hands; Eating meat sacrificed to idols, etc.

2. Romans 14:5,23 – Without violating God’s authority or one’s conscience!

a. Festive, joyous season of goodwill, exchanging gifts, visits, helping the needy, many seasonal traditions which have no inherent religious significance.

b. Galatians 6:10 – Of course, these should be everyday attitudes and actions!

3. Christmas can be observed non-religiously, even though some will be observing it religiously!

Conclusion

1. The basis for observing Christmas as the birth of Christ is man’s religious authority (Catholicism and paganism). It started centuries after the time of Christ. It is not commanded in any way in the New Testament.

2. While we fully believe in the virgin birth of Christ and thank God for it, God has not authorized us to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and to do so is a violation of His holy will! (Colossians 3:17; Galatians 1:8-9)

3. Let us truly be faithful to Christ this holiday season, and every day of the year!

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.”

We need to hate any influence that will hinder us from being pleasing to God.

We cannot serve two masters.

We cannot enter the kingdom of heaven unless we are a little child. Our own self can hinder us most in serving God.

“Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds!” – The law of the Word!

“Thou shalt not plow with an ox and ass together!” – The law of the Work!
“Thou shalt not wear a garment of diverse sorts, as wool and linen together!” – The law of Worth!

Paul wrote, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness!” These three Old Testament Laws speak a clear message! God sets boundaries for the conduct of His People! He draws lines of demarcation! There are clearly defined principles which remain as “fixed” now as they were in the beginning! These three Laws bear a message for us today! We’re living in a time that Paul said is ‘perilous’ where everything tends to erase these lines, cross these boundaries! Trying to mix what God wants unmixed.

No doubt we are experiencing in some measure that there is a replay of the Days of Noah and sinking to the level of the Days of Lot. It is quite evident that men are “lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. …. traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.”

MADNESS: music is mad! Fashions are mad! Art is mad!

The way they dress, dance, and conduct themselves is “madness!” Are they to blame? They have found that their parents are dishonest in religion, crooked in business, and corrupt in politics! What can they believe? Accept?

Psalms 11:3, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” There is an answer! The Battle revolves around the Bible! Salvation depends on that answer! Is it or is it not the Word of God, the final rule for conduct? We must know beyond doubt what is fundamental and what is eternal. There is no ambiguity. We face certainties. These precepts are laws of behavior and are unalterable! They have been proven in practice! They are backed by centuries of experience.

They bear a message for our TIME: First Law – “Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds.” God dictated these laws in “picture language,” something akin to the Parables of the New Testament. It is a picture to the eye, a message to the ear, and a lesson for the heart! God is the only author of absolutes. Jesus said the Word is the Seed! Whatever raises question to the WORD is a “divers seed!”

Proverbs 3:5-9, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil!” There is more wisdom in these words of Solomon than all the philosophy of the world. We are in trouble when we mix God’s Word with the conclusions of men! God’s Ways are not our ways! A Christian is a “believer,” not picking and choosing, but as Paul testified in the long ago, “I confess unto thee that after ‘The Way’ which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing ‘all things’ which are written in the law and the prophets!” Without faith, we cannot please God! Only the Word of God can preserve us from this madness. It is the “sword” that can cut the way through the vain babbling and the science falsely so-called of our day, as in Paul’s, “Dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, joints and marrow and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Second Law – “Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together!” Unequal terms are so evident here. Just as the Bible must be the “single authority” in our lives, so must there be only “one standard” for our service to God. It cannot be ½ ox and ½ ass, ½ serious and ½ casual. There is no peace until our life is settled in this matter!

I John 4:4-5, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” That’s not difficult to understand, as Jesus prayed for His disciples to be kept in the world, but to be kept from evil! That is the goal! Yoked with unbelievers is no way to be kept from evil. We must mingle with unbelievers. Jesus was constantly in the center of crowds, but He had fellowship with only a few true believers! He had a single purpose in meeting all kinds of people, “Bring them to God!” It is impossible to plow a straight furrow with an unholy mixture! There is only “one yoke.”

In Matthew 11:29, 30 the conditions are given: “Come, take My yoke upon you and learn of Me.” Only then can we claim the promise and become Christ-like.

Third Law – “Thou shalt not wear a garment of diverse sorts!” God wants a plain simple testimony. John describes this eternal testimony of the Ages: “It was granted that she shall be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white!” For the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. Our garments of righteousness must be one thing or another: the boundary is clearly defined and marked! God accepts only ‘one righteousness’ and He will not honor a mixed garment, the wearing of two kinds of garments. Some try to repair their old garments! God expects us to discriminate between self-righteousness (our own goodness); and the imputed Righteousness of Christ, through Calvary! Many garments may pass inspection in the religious world but never crash the Gates of the Kingdom with them!

Matthew 22, the King came in to see the guests … “How camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?” We’ll have to let the Spirit clothe us. Only the Spirit knows what is proper for the wedding! There is no doubt the man in this Bible account wanted to do right and end up at the right place! The trouble was he wanted to do it his own way! We must let the world know that we are heading towards the wedding and we want to be arrayed with the Garment fitting for the occasion! “Being found in Him, not having mine own Righteousness but that which is through the faith of Christ, the Righteousness which is of God by Faith.”

Acts 5:20, “Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this Life!” Not a theory! Not a doctrine, but the Life of Jesus lived over again! The Bible is the Record of this life! Names are written in Heaven in the Book of this Life of the Lamb! The Gospel is the Story of this Life. Born again is receiving the Spirit of this Life! “In Him was Life!” Everything pertaining to Jesus is Life! It’s the Way of this Life of Jesus! The Bread of Life, and it is the only thing that can satisfy a hungry soul! The Tree of this Life! Eat the fruit thereof and live forever. A pure River of Water of Life: It purifies and quickens!

All that Jesus touched came to Life. He touched blind eyes and they saw! He touched deaf ears and they heard! He touched muted tongues and they spoke! He touched the lame and they walked! He touched lepers and they were cleansed! He wants to touch our hearts! He wants to touch our lives and conform us to His Image and Likeness.

Paul preached, “The Spirit of (this) Life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and death!” The Promise of the Father is “to be endued with power from on high!” (His Spirit). This made the “Acts of the Apostles” possible! It could also be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit! This Book is God’s work at its best! One word is often repeated–“filled!” Not ½ full, or partly full, but filled! When they had prayed, the place was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost! They spoke the Word with boldness! Others knew it, especially the adversary!

Verse 28, “Ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” If we are not filled in the right way, we will be filled with the wrong!

Verse 17, “The high priest rose up and all that were with him and were filled with indignation!” The Battle is joined: Wherever God is working, the devil also is busy! The adversary sows Weeds! Heaven sows Seed. The enemy sows difficulties.

Verse 18, “They laid their hands on the Apostles and put them in the common prison!” If the devil didn’t realize how important “fulfilling the Will of God is” in our lives, we wouldn’t have opposition! To move in God’s Plan leads to opposition! Lukewarm and indifference are not attacked: They have clear sailing right into a lost eternity. “Submit yourselves to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you!” Satan will hunt and hound the steps of Jesus’ Disciples to the very end! We are promised victory, not ease! “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him that loved us!” We can trust God when we are doing His Will.

Verse 19, “The angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth!” Verse 20 can be our theme and thoughts here! God can open wide what sin locks tight! “Commit thy ways unto the Lord, trust also in Him, He will bring it to pass!” He’s the Author and Finisher of the Faith: (the Starter and Stopper). He’ll have the last Word! Do you remember who said, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us?” He brought it to pass! Paul and Silas in prison had their feet fast in stocks, but they prayed and sang hymns and suddenly there was a great earthquake that the foundations were shaken, the doors opened and their bands loosed.” That Power from on high was working for them. “He gives His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” The hosts of heaven tip the odds in favor of His Servants! We are to preach “all the Words of this Life.” Angels are not commissioned to preach. It takes a saved person to carry a living message! Wonderful when we have this “anointed utterance!” They were straitly commanded not to teach nor preach in His Name! The World System challenged their Right to preach! That they were unauthorized! They had a backing from Heaven, the Holy Spirit.

Verse 29, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” His Spirit is vital and central in this work!

Verse 32, “We are witnesses of these things and so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey Him!” The price-tag is “obedience,” complete surrender of self: “Not my Will but Thine!” Nothing else avails! No Elder or Worker should ever overrule the leading of His Spirit! Peter got a call to go to a Gentile Home and Preach! Something that was so against all his raising and previous experiences! The Spirit said, “Go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them!” He likely thought it was this Roman Officer that had sent for him! But an angel had spoken to him, to do that! Peter was called on the carpet as he returned to Jerusalem, “Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised and didst eat with them!” Peter just related all the Holy Spirit had wrought in that experience and ended with these words, “What was I, that I could withstand God?” He wouldn’t go against the leading of the Holy Spirit! Apart from the Holy Ghost, Wisdom becomes folly! Strength is weakness! “When I am weak, then am I strong!” Learning is confusion until He reveals! Worship is form until He inspires! Preaching is powerless until He anoints! Pray in the Spirit! Sing in the Spirit! Work, wealth, enthusiasm have so little value, without the prompting of His Spirit! This is God’s Work. He will prosper and complete it.

Verse 38, “Refrain from these men and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought, But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God!” Jesus said, “Upon this rock (Revelation of His Spirit) I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Don’t forget the Builder. “I will build my church!” Not left to men, though He uses human instruments. “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

There are two creations mentioned in the Bible. In Genesis 1, we read of the Natural and in John 1, we read of the Spiritual. God set aside the Sabbath day in honor of the natural creation. The new Creation is given to us in Jesus, and the first day of the week is set aside in His honor. The more we know and understand about the natural, the more we will appreciate how wonderfully it all has been made – the beauties of nature! There are the wonders of the Heaven, or skies. Scientists spend their entire lives studying the laws that govern this universe and make new discoveries to add to the many already known, although they realize there is much YET they do not know! The Earth is round, a globe, yet seems flat! The oceans cleave to this globe! The Earth turns to give us Day and Night, turning at the right speed to give us a twenty-four hour day, not too long, nor too short! It tilts forward and back once a year, giving us the four seasons! “The fool hath said in his heart, ‘There is no God!’” Psalm 14:1. He is lacking something, to not see in the Natural there HAD TO BE A MAKER, A CREATOR!

Our Universe is only one in a million others! Man stares and studies the galaxy, the Milky Way, ever making more powerful telescopes to see further and further into the “far beyond” and ever seeing millions of miles further than previously and ever seeing more and more universes much larger than our little sphere! The Milky Way might be compared to a large snowstorm raging between Paris and Moscow: many millions of snowflakes, all different. Our tiny Universe could be compared to one of those snowflakes in this vast snow storm! Yet, an unseen and mighty Hand has made and is guiding all on a fixed and steady course! The vastness of the Milky Way is so great, so immense, that it takes many years for the light from one of those distant stars to reach us here–let us say, in the midst of the Milky Way, as man can look either way without end! “The fool hath said in his heart, ‘There is no God!’”

Psalm 139:14, David marveled at the wonders of the human body. Doctors and many others are busy trying to learn more about the genes of the body, a part that was left unexplored until recent years! It is not so many years since man invented the thermostat! However, there are many such in our very body, from the very beginning, known by other names, glands, regulating and controlling so many things, even our growth! One regulates the blood pressure. When it is too low, it puts something into the system to increase it; when it is too high, it supplies something different to lower it. It not only knows when it is high or low, but at the same time creates (or provides) the medicine to correct the illness! The pancreas maintains the sugar level at the right consistency. If it is too low, the energy fails; if it is too high, a person can fall into a coma and even die if not immediately helped! All the checks and balances work silently and unbeknowingly to us, manufacturing the insulin and other remedies necessary to maintain health! It is only when, by misuse or abuse, these regulators fail to do their duty, do we become aware that God put into our bodies these wonderful “adjusters” with the means to cure and correct! We ever learn more and more how well and wonderful our bodies are made! “The fool hath said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”

In recent years, man has invented the computer which is capable of grasping, storing up information, and even drawing from it when needed. The human brain can store up a lifetime of wisdom, knowledge, and information, then use, benefit and draw conclusions from this vast storehouse! Kidneys filter out the poisons from the blood and yet leave the good untouched… wonderful discernment! Eyes can see and appreciate beauty and yet abhor the ugly! The nose can give the alarm of the presence of poison gasses and contaminated atmosphere, as well as appreciate lovely fragrances! The tongue can taste and speak; the teeth can bite and chew and begin the whole process of digestion that sustains the entire body. The heart is a marvelous pump that beats continually for 80 years without repairs, circulating over a gallon of blood throughout the body again and again every few minutes! The lungs work continually to purify the blood! And this isn’t even mentioning the nervous system, like a telephone network uniting and collaborating all these different functions together in perfect harmony! Something tells the heart to beat faster when walking a swift gait and to slow down when sleeping, etc.! Something that we, not only unconscious of their working, but even of their existence, works continually, keeping this entire body healthy and wise. We haven’t even touched as yet on the most important part and work of all – the second or Spiritual Creation! All this natural side of man, the body, provides a Temple for the soul.

This very abbreviated and rough account of the highest form of the natural creation for the sole purpose of preparing the soul for eternity— that is, to conform this inner man, the part that lives forever and ever, to be made like unto the Son of Man, conformed unto the image and likeness of Jesus, God’s Son! This is just a little insight into the second, or Spiritual Creation. The body, an important part of the natural creation, so marvelously and miraculously made, is only like unto the scaffolding erected about a house while it is in its building. When the house is completed, the scaffolding will be removed. When the inner man is completed, the scaffolding will be removed too. So when the inner man is completed and has attained the likeness of the Creator, Christ Jesus, the outer man will be also removed. God will make a New Temple (a new body) for the soul, a new Earth and even a new Heaven that is a prepared place for these prepared souls—those who have permitted, or who have allowed God to work in their lives and souls. What has the fool been saying? “There is no God!”

The animal world is equally amazing: not only the egg, but the hen that laid it. Marvel of marvels! Two eggs are put under a hen: one is fertilized and in three weeks will bring forth a little chick. Every feather and plume in place! It has feet that can stand, walk, run; it can peep and peck the day it was born. It is a wonder, a marvel! It’s a new creation! But, what happened to the other egg that was not fertilized? It became bad – rotten! Is not this a clear picture of the possible difference in a human life? One life whose soul is quickened (or fertilized) by the Spirit of God produces this new creature. The image and likeness of Christ develops as the Spirit is given its rightful place and part, allowed to work, fitting man to become part of this Eternal Family! What happens to the other soul that has not been quickened by the Spirit of God, who has not been made ready or prepared for the prepared place and not fitted for a place and part in His Eternal Family? Such will become just like the picture or parable given: a bad egg, rejected forever!

Two altars of service before the believer stand:

The one for a Holy and useful life, an “offering made with hands,”
The other for prayer and praise, for “time that is set apart”,
To bow at His feet in communion sweet, “an offering of the heart.”
We need to witness for God and to serve Him all our days:
But no work of our hands can meet God’s demand
For a life of “prayer and praise.”

Whoever wrote those verses expressed a deep spiritual truth. In the Old Testament, God’s Picture Book, we see two altars clearly set forth: one for “burnt offerings.” It was outside the Tabernacle in the outer courtyard. Animal sacrifices were burnt there every morning and evening. “The fire was never to go out.” The other altar was placed inside the Tabernacle in the Holy Place of the Sanctuary. There, incense was to be burnt perpetually. No strange incense, burnt sacrifice, nor meat offerings were ever to be placed on this golden altar. The purpose of each altar was distinct. They could not be interchanged.

This has an important truth to teach us today. Our body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost; therefore these two altars should be in every Christian’s life. First, the Altar of Service to God: outward acts, testimony and life presented unto God. No one would be worthy unless there was this daily sacrifice, a life used in His service. Our outward duty is to render service to our Lord, desiring to please our Master in our walk, work, and actions. Our daily concern is seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven and His righteousness. This Altar of Sacrifice is part and parcel of our spiritual life. It is the means of presenting our bodies unto God as a living sacrifice…which is our reasonable service.

However, this outward altar is not enough. There is another altar that we need just as badly. It must not be neglected, for it is the “altar of incense.” It is hidden inside the Tabernacle. It stands before the veil. It is our daily offering of “prayer and praise” to God, our daily schedule of personal devotions. Service without communion is never enough! One balances the other. They are sisters, the Martha and Mary of our service and worship. Outward duties accomplished because of inward inspiration which makes us “want to do it” and not “have to do it.” This inward prompting produces outward sacrifice and service. Inward relationship makes for outward responsibilities! God waits for the incense, for this “quiet time” alone with Him. God’s way is more than knowledge and good words; it is a personal relationship with Him. By failing to converse with God, we deprive ourselves of a very vital privilege and deny Him His rightful place in our lives.

Psalm 77:13, “Thy way, O God, is in the Sanctuary.” We may think God’s way consists in proclaiming the Gospel freely, preachers going two and two without a home, and the Church in a home. This is definitely true, yet it is only the “outward expression of inward direction!” Just as one might offer us a single grain, just the kernel, and say, “This is corn!” We thought corn had a tall stock with tassel, with a row of low leaves on each side that rise and curve gently down, having an ear in the middle with cob, grains, silk, and husks! Right again! Yet this whole plant is composed in miniature, found within the germ of a single seed. The other is just the outward development of the “inward life.” To have the outward frills without the inward thrills is only husks!

Psalm 96:6, “Honor and majesty are before Him: Strength and beauty are in His Sanctuary.” The Tabernacle was covered with ram and badger skins: outwardly it was not attractive. However, it was all glorious within! Most things were of pure gold or covered with gold. Isaiah speaks of Jesus, “No form or comeliness, no beauty to be desired.” Yet we know the same Bible speaks of Him as the “fairest of ten thousand” and also the “altogether Lovely One!” The One, as the unregenerate eyes of the world see Him and the other, as He is seen in the Sanctuary: the beauty of His holiness, of His lowliness, of His sacrifice, and the beauty of being in time and in tune with God. This power and pleasantness procured from dwelling in the “secret place of the Most High” can’t help but permeate our whole person and thus be an honor to God. Much like some people who work in a perfume factory: wherever they went, they were known by the odor of sweet incense that saturated their clothes, even their hair! The incense of this golden altar was never to be imitated. The only place where this perfume was burnt was in the Sanctuary. As we contact this “inner altar,” there will be this fragrance in our lives, an anointing that’s detected. This is what makes hymns speak. It makes prayers effective, makes testimonies real, and gives them a ring! It makes preaching the voice of God! Without it, meetings become dull, words are duds, and gatherings deteriorate to mere form – just going through the motions. It’s possible to be working hard at self improvement, for high standards, trusting the record of our good works, righteous zeal, and religious knowledge. All this can be like “strange incense” of self-satisfaction: “Lord, see what I’m doing!” None of these can repair the failure to “draw nigh to God.” It is like trying to be our own saviour instead of seeking God’s guidance for our lives each day, His direction for all we do and say. There is no substitute for a personal relationship with God. Our hope depends on help sent from the Sanctuary.

Luke 16:11 speaks of the “unrighteous mammon and the true riches.” Faithfulness in use of the unrighteous mammon, is the way “true riches” are committed to our trust. We are to “make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness.” An important lesson in life is to learn the “use and purpose of money.” James 2:1-6, their gold and silver was a witness against them. They heaped up treasure that would be to their eternal condemnation. No wonder we read in Proverbs 30:8 this prayer, “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food convenient for me.” Many people are hard up, head-over-heels in debt because they never learned to handle money. Fiscal fumbling is so common among young couples. Credit is so easily obtained and so hard to handle. People who are careless in money matters, are often careless in other manners. Discipline is necessary; unpaid bills means an unheeded testimony. If God can’t provide temporal needs, people wonder how He can provide spiritual needs.

Philemon 4:19 is a good testimony, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” It is a promise of our “needs,” not our “wants;” that’s another matter. Extravagance and neglect in money matters, failing to live within their means, is a blot on the Truth as bad as drunkenness or [being] depraved. The world’s full of high-powered salesmanship, each crying their wares, promoting their products, praising their goods. Their song is loud and long – it’s constantly drumming in our ears; it attacks prudence and patience, enslaves by its envy and greed. If a saint can’t get the upper hand in this conflict, they will have little influence on others. Can’t stand in a tub and lift it. Their influence null, mouth closed by debts, by misspent and misused mammon committed to their trust.

We are only “stewards” and must be faithful, not accused of wasting the Masters’ goods. Jesus said, “If ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?” If there’s a lack of good sense in money matters, it’s hard to find it in spiritual matters. We must be respected before we will be heard. Paul wrote, “Owe no man anything,” and again in the same Epistle said, “I am a debtor unto all men.” There’s no contradiction; he’s dealing with two entirely different provisions. The mammon of unrighteousness and the true riches. “We are our brother’s keeper,” we owe others something. We need to share with them what Christ has done for us.

I Peter 3:15, “Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” We need to learn to invest in the worthwhile things of life, the riches of His Grace, of His love, and His knowledge. These are the “true riches” that can never be taken away from us. The mammon of man will fail. You cannot “take it with you,” but you can “take with you” the things it accomplishes to your eternal credit. The importance is to know how to invest it. Not to blow it, but to bless it to have it work for you, not disappear in debt and want. You either use it or lose it. When we invest, we multiply. When we hoard, we subtract.

Some kinds of help only help people downward. You can give money so that it increases that person’s laziness. That’s misguided giving! You can lend support and in so doing, relieve the obligation that should rest upon that person’s immediate family. That’s a mistaken charity. The right attitudes we want to share! We have something so good that it would be evil to keep it all to ourselves. It would be evil, if we had a “cure for cancer” and failed to reveal it to others. We have stewards of even greater revelations. So we are debtors. We owe every lost soul. We care about them – our burden toward them is an obligation as definite as a mortgage. We’ll never get out of debt in this life – a deep concern in the salvation of souls.

Jesus saith, “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness.” Not by building bigger barns, nor by adding acre to acre, not making estates, rather by “making friends, that they may receive you.” It’s acceptance only, Heaven can’t be bought with money. We know how quickly a gift sours if we learn there is an ulterior motive, seeking to buy or influence us. The mammon of unrighteousness is neither sordid nor sacred, neither the goal or god. It’s a medium of exchange. The blessing is involved in the right attitude and use of it. It makes a good servant but a cruel master. It can be shared by showing an interest in others; bearing the burdens of others, especially when misfortune overtakes them; share their sickness and sorrows as well as their joy and gladness, and also in transportation and service. It would be vain if only words and not works.

James 2:16, “Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit?” Mammon can be shared when it’s a question of hospitality, so often mentioned in the Scriptures. Homes and furniture can become too good and exclusive to be shared – afraid it’ll be soiled.

How many are moved with Jesus’ instructions as they invite? “When thou makest a dinner or supper, call not (only) thy friends, thy brethren neither thy kinsmen or rich neighbours…but call the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind and thou shalt be blessed for they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” Ask someone to “eat with you” and likely know more success when you “ask them to go to meeting with you.” We must make friends before we make disciples. This is not done by withdrawal into a personal paradise rather willing to spend and be spent, to show mercy so as to obtain mercy.