Baptism

… Romans, 3rd verse. Know ye not that so many of us, as were baptized unto Jesus Christ, were baptized unto his death? Therefore, we are very quickened by baptism unto death. But like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of our Lord, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we be planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. In connection with what has been said already, we have both Elijah and Elijah crossed that river, which is typical of them, and they got to the other side. I see in this which we have in the 6th chapter of Romans, that God's desire is that we in our hearts, in our minds, in our ways, we should be on the other side of death. As we see, death then means the end of everything connected with us on this earth. Now we find that Elijah said to Elijah, when he got over the other side, he said, if you see me taken from you. He asked for a double portion of the spirit of Elijah. God graciously gave him to see him. Elijah was taken from his lips up into heaven. And when he came back again, crossed the river, his life, as we have heard, had a different character to Elijah's. Now I take it that God's desire is that our lives, having been baptised, in particular to be baptised, and I take it that it is of not much value to be baptised without faith in God, in Christ Jesus. So we find then that if he crosses over the river, he has to live a life which is of a different character, what is spoken of here in Romans as newness of life. Now where do we see it? I have made, in my years, I have seen many Christians, I have seen their lives, I have seen the way they walk, and however much I may admire them, I never get to see one third of it. However, there was one person on this earth who did live a life of purpose, and he, every step of that life, bore the characteristics of a new man. May I turn with you then to Psalm 16. Now I think if we study what we read in this psalm, we see a new character that God wants to see in us. Not according to pleasure, not according to what we have as people of this world, what we have in Christ. Let me read it to you. Psalm 16. Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, thou art my Lord. My goodness extendeth not to thee, but to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all thy might. Their sorrows shall be multiplied at least one after another, O God. Their drink offerings of blood will I not offer. Now take up their names upon my lips. The Lord is a portion of my inheritance, and of my property. Thou maintainest my lot. The lions have fallen, and have made pleasant places. Yea, I have a goodly heritage. I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel. My rains also instruct me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices. My flesh also shall rest in peace. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine own want to seek corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life. In thy presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. There's an expression there in the last verse, which as it were puts it all in a nutshell. The path of life. Yes, we're left down here to live Christ's life. Let him be the one that is seen in us. Where might he be? He might just say, I want a double portion. I want a double portion. Now we see from the second chapter of Acts, where Peter brought this down, that it was evidently these words can be very good to the Lord. Every word. Not that I'm able to explain it all to you. But I see in this psalm the absolute expression of one who walked down here to the glory of God. That's what God wants us to do. Now, as I said, I want to look at it then as those who were able, because they were not just exactly the same as the Lord. Why is it, I often thought, why is it that we want a double portion? Elijah was typical of the Lord. He had the Spirit. Evidently down here was the Lord. In the power of the Spirit of God, as the people do, he lived. But why is it that I, you, or Elijah, should say, I want a double portion? I say it, I only give my own thoughts. That if I might so say it, I need twice as much of the Spirit of God in the Lord now. Not that I'm speaking this kindly to you. I want a double portion. Why? There is a need for a work on both sides. I am a man, you are, who is able to fall. Sin resets it. The enemy comes in and we can fall. Never occurred to the Lord. He was greatly tempted, but he never failed. I need the power of the Spirit of God to enable me to say, to be getting further on, in the sixth chapter of Romans, to put death with regard to that which is of the flesh. The Spirit of God enables us to live Christ. I need a double portion. Whether you do or not, I leave it to you. Now let us look for a few minutes there. Let this sound. Remarkable that it should be audible. I'm sending the Lord. Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. There was one who knew that there was only one able to do. The Lord. Peter David brought this out, but I'm not looking at it in that way. It's the Lord. The Lord down here is a perfect man. He is ever-dependent. And he says, preserve me, O Lord, for in thee do I put my trust. Do we put our trust in the Lord? Have we so much confidence in him that we can put our trust in him in all the troubles and trials and difficulties of this life? He said, preserve me. In other words, you could say he almost felt the enemy was around him, wanted him to fall. He said, preserve me. Preserve me for in thee do I put my trust. Do we do that? Can we serve the Lord and say, preserve me for in thee do I put my trust? How often do we put our trust in ourselves, in our own ability, in our own ingenuity in doing things, or that we were more dependent on the Lord? O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, thou art my Lord. Have we truly said to God, or even to the Lord Jesus, thou art my Lord? Here is the blessed Lord himself who could say to God himself in heaven, thou art my Lord. The Lord is the one who guides your life. He has the right to say, do this, do that, do the other. Ah, he says, thou art my Lord. My goodness extendeth not to thee. Ah, here was a man on the earth. Where was his goodness extended to? Not going up to God, as it were. Down here to the excellent of the earth. That's where his heart was. He was here for one purpose in mind, to bring blessing to those upon whom his heart was set. It's not his desire to bring judgment. Why, when he says, judgment is God's strange word, what does he delight in? Blessing. Blessing, all the blessing that comes to us from God. So he can say to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight. Is that where our delight is set? It cannot refuse. Are we set to find our delight? In fellow Christians. Some of them may be very kind of Christians. Very heartily do it. The Lord did it. He did it with those disciples of his. Did he not? He did. He taught them in all the ways. He could tell them of men, such as John, who lay on the bosom of the Lord, and yet he's turned a son of thunder. And when all the mountains wouldn't accept him, he said to him, shall I call on you higher from heaven like Elijah? No, no. We'll pass away from Elijah. We'll come to Nashville. We'll call on the Savior. Not God is Jah. Not God that is the Great One. Majesty and glory. The lowly, humble Savior. That's the one that suits us. So he says, I am mighty and I will be there. Their sorrows shall be multiplied that they snap at another God. Their great offerings of love will I not offer. I'll take up their names upon my lips. He would not have anything to do with this world and all the things that pertain to it. May God give us wisdom, guidance, ability to be done with all this world. What's the glory of it? It's the flower that appears for a little time and fades away. The Lord is the portion of my inheritance. I wonder if we can really say that God is the portion of our inheritance. It says here, the Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup. What I have to take down here, you drink out of a cup. We often, as we come together here, we read of the word, many minister to us the things of God. And we enjoy their ministry, it's real. The portion of good things that we get are worth having. They're true. But, it says, the Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my cup. Consciously, as it were in our hearts, we look up to God and say, yes. Thou art our portion. There's nothing on this earth. It's beyond death. It's the other side of death. That's where we are to have it and where we will have it. The cup that we have to drink is down here. But, the Lord is with us in it. Can we accept that? In all the sorrows and trials, in all the difficulties down here, sometimes it's very bitter, that cup. But the Lord maintains my cup. Does he maintain yours? Ours is one of the inheritance before us in the heavens above. Very nice of him. We see the Lord, who is down here, is in the heavens now, come with glory on earth. And there, where he is, is our portion. Our lot is there, but what is it down here? A cup to drink. A cup of no sorrow. Even the Lord, in his dependence upon God, upon his Father, when he met there in the garden, when he saw all that was before him, the God of the world, the sin of the world, all connected with the will of the Father, he says, it will be possible. Let this cup pass from me. Let it pass away. Was it that he was rebellious and wouldn't drink it? No. But he always had the bitterness of it in his own soul. It is not possible. Nevertheless, not my will, but that of the Lord. When the Lord takes us through a difficult pathway, it may be the sorrow of lost ones, it may be weakness, infertility, it may be suffering, agony in the body. Can we say that in that cup that we drink, the Lord is with us? I will bless the Lord, who has given me counsel. My names also instruct me in the night season. Has he not told us of all the things his counsel refers to? He has. There are portions of scripture which tell us, but by the Spirit of God, we are able to grasp it, in some measure. The counsel of God, all the purposes regard for that blessed person. The Lord is centered around me. And he told us not. He has told us. He has made it known to us. I will bless the Lord, who has given me counsel. He will bless the Lord, for all the good things that he says are ours. My reigns also instruct me in the night season. Do we often meditate upon these things? It may be even in the night seasons. These things that are... We meditate upon the counsels that have been brought to our knowledge. And what does it come from? My reigns instruct me. I get instruction, as it were, as I think and meditate upon these things. I accept the Lord always before me. As I said before, there's only one that ever did that. And that's the Lord. But can we say, we ought to, I accept the Lord always before me. And no one else before me. Or what is that object that's over there, that's giving me a gaze? What is it? Is it something on me, sir? Or is it that person in the drawer? I accept the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be afraid. Oh, he's at my right hand. He's there to help me. He's there to show me the way. He's there to sustain me in the pathway. I accept the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Can we have confidence in the Lord? We don't want to. We can say that as confidence. Confidence in the Lord. Because I've taken to the Lord all the things that exercise my power. I've taken to the Lord all that I've learned. And I'm not an abhorrent. He's there at my right hand to sustain me. I shall not be moved at all that goes along. Oh, there's confidence there. Is your confidence such in the Lord that you'll not be moved if things go wrong? When the end comes in, in various ways, will you not be moved? For the Lord always before you. Take it to the Lord in prayer is a word that I've often been encouraged to. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Therefore, my heart is there. My glory is just there. My blessing. And also, rest in hope, shall dwell confidently in the Lord. My blessing. The Lord is there. In your life, may I tell you, there was a need many years ago to be nailed to a tibetan in a meeting. But he said, I can go along. I've got my trust in the Lord. He will not fail me. Therefore, my heart is there. My glory is just. My blessing also shall rest in hope. Thou wilt not leave me. Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell. Neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to seek corruption. The Lord said that as if it were in his own heart. He said it to his glory in heaven. Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell. Have you so much confidence, beloved friend, beloved one, that you know that at the end of this life on earth, God will not leave your soul in hell. We have a law of resurrection. The Lord is the proof of it. He's risen himself. The proof that we shall rise. Put your confidence in that blessed person. He'll enable us to live here for him. Thou wilt not suffer thy holy one to seek corruption. We know that particularly was the law. He didn't seek corruption. But it is that we do seek corruption. Makes no difference. Makes no difference to the God of life, the God of resurrection, not whatever. But he said, thou wilt show me the path of life, fullness of joy. In thy presence is fullness of joy, that thy right hand shall pleasure forevermore. The path of life. It's a path that we have to tread. You have to tread that path. It's a path of life. To the Lord himself it is through death. It may be that we have to take that same path through death. But it's a path of life, not a path of death. It's a path of life. Show me the path of life. Thy presence is fullness of joy. In thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Well might it say, as I see my own picture, verse 6. It says, the lines are fallen into me in pleasant places, yea, I have a wounded head. My lines are fallen into wounded places. Pleasant places. Now I take it that God referred to his life on here, on this earth. He found down here the lines, the demarcations of his life, that fall into pleasant places. Where did the Lord live down here? He lived in Galilee. Now you're following a class of people, most of them are Jews. Yet he lived among them. He worked among them. God blessed him. In thinking of it in that light, my mind went to what we get with regard to Solomon. You remember Hyrum? He helped Solomon a good deal to build his house, to build the temple. And he got the wood and stone and helped him very much. And he asked for a reward, as it were, from Solomon. And what did Solomon do? He gave him, I think it's twelve, twelve villages in Galilee. Hyrum comes to look at them. Oh, it's a dirty filthy place. Dirty filthy, but all right. It was that same Galilee where the Lord found his lines were in pleasant places. Are our lines, the life we live down here, the circumstances in which we are found, are those lines pleasant places? Or we need to bring the Lord into it all. They'll never be pleasant at all. But I find this in my own heart that if there's one thing that I'm finding, I'm always wanting a change. Something different to what I've got. It's nature. I have nature in me. Wherever I am, we need to have confidence in God. Wherever it may be then that the Lord takes us to, we can take it and say, the Lord's with me. I've traveled along the road with him, and he's with me. That's the path of life. Wherever it be, my presence is full of joy. In our measure we can enjoy it now, in the spirit, pleasures forevermore. In the day, how soon it will be when actually, bodily, we'll be in the presence of the Lord and know what pleasures are forevermore. …