Catford Lectures 2014-2015

… I wish to read some verses from Luke's Gospel. First of all, the Gospel by Luke, and chapter 1. Luke's Gospel, chapter 1, verse 1. For as much as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that mightest know with the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed. And now over into Peter's second epistle, second letter of Peter, and chapter 2. Second Peter, chapter, sorry, chapter 1. Second Peter, chapter 1. I'm picking up the reading in verse 16. 2 Peter, chapter 1, and verse 16. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the father, honor, and glory. When there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day start arise in your hearts. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And then now back into Timothy, second Timothy, and chapter 3. Second Timothy, and chapter 3. Paul is writing this second letter to Timothy, and in verse 15 he writes that thou from a child hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. My thought this afternoon in this being the first address in the series of lectures for Catford Lectures for 2014 into 2015, if the Lord will, was to start where a lot of books on Christian doctrine begin, and that is with the Bible itself. I notice there are a number of younger people here, and the Bible tends to be a book that's ridiculed. People think that it's fables, mythology, full of contradictions, and irrelevant, and anachronism for our present modern 21st century. I am not going to spend time trying to prove the Bible is true. In the 19th century, when men who ought to know better were trying to find fault with the Bible, discredit it, say that certain things that were in the Old Testament particularly never happened, then there were those that went out into the Middle East and they started to make digs, and they found, lo and behold, that there was evidence, strong evidence, evidence that accounts that are in the Old Testament were in fact true. But we can only go so far back. We can only go back maybe to the times around that of King David or King Solomon, and there's even those who believe that those two kings never lived. But to go back much further, we know of ancient Egypt, and yet there are things that the Bible speaks of which are not found in secular history there even. But it would be very difficult, and there have been people to try and prove and find Noah's Ark, that there was ever a flood. The point I'm trying to make is that when we go back further and further right to the beginning of Genesis, we don't have any concrete proof or evidence that those events that we read there took place. The point I'm making is this. If the early chapters of Genesis are not true, then the rest of the Bible is irrelevant. It's not something that we can take this bit and that bit, bits we like, bits we don't like, pick and choose. What we have here from Genesis to Revelation, the Holy Bible, the Holy Scriptures, I believe is the Word of God. That God has moved men by his Spirit to write down certain things for our benefit and for our knowledge and what's more, for God's own glory. The evolutionists have shown that if there is no God, then there's no fall of man, if he's just an evolved being. And if there's no fall of man, there's no need for the atonement. And to use some words that the Apostle Paul uses in his Galatian epistle, Christ died in vain. The Bible, we can come to it from its own internal evidence. That's quite legitimate in looking at a book to see what the book has to say of itself. And that is why I selected the verses that I read to you. When Luke writes to Theophilus, he writes of things which were most surely believed amongst those Christians then. Peter says that they hadn't followed cunningly devised fables. Now either these men were totally bent on deceiving people for some mysterious reason, or the very events that they were writing about actually happened. And I'll stand here and I will say that I believe that what we have in the Bible is an accurate account of events that actually happened. You may say, well, no one was there at the creation. No, but God was. He was the creator. And God inspired Moses to write the account of the creation. Myths might have been added so people say, and legends after time has elapsed. But Moses was inspired to write about the origin of man, and the fall, and the coming of the And the fall, and the coming of the Redeemer. And all is set out in time. So when we come to the Bible, it's not a question of particularly trying to prove whether the Bible is true or not from an academic point of view. But reading the verses like I've read just now, we see something of the way in which the Bible speaks of itself as not a cunningly devised fable, and that this was something that was most assuredly believed amongst the disciples. Strange, it seems to me, that when people want to delve into the history of Christianity, for example, the last book that they seem to turn to is the New Testament. They will try and delve into secular history and see what there is there. Why not go and ask the people who were there at the time? And if you want to know what the people who were there at the time believed, and what they learned, and what they understood, then surely the Bible is a primary source of information to get the knowledge of these things. No one would go into any other particular group or family or nation and try to find out about them by never ever interviewing one of those people or delving into their archives and having a look to see something of their records. Luke wrote of those things that were most assuredly believed amongst the Christian company. And if you read the Acts of the Apostles, if you want to know how Christianity began, then the Acts of the Apostles gives a very good, detailed account, and I believe an accurate account of events that's relevant to us now. Quite a number of things are taking place in the Christian profession. Things are changing. It's hard to say much of it, not for the better. I hardly ever come across the idea that something that is being introduced into the church, something that's going to be more relevant for Christianity, something that's going to be more relevant for Christianity in the modern world, that the Bible is looked at. In fact, Christianity cannot be adapted to the world. The church does not belong to this world. The Lord Jesus Christ himself said, my kingdom is not of this world. So to try and think that the Bible is an anachronism and it doesn't fit in with our modern ways, in actual fact, the Bible is more up-to-date than tomorrow's newspaper. Because if we want to know how things all started, the Bible tells us. If we want to know where things are going in the world, the Bible tells us. And what we see taking place, either the sad state of the church, the sad state of the Christian profession, the troubles in the Middle East, the problem with Israel and the surrounding nations, then the Bible tells us how it started and it tells us how it all will end. There's one thing that's behind the problem with people wanting to understand the Bible. It's unbelief. People don't want to believe what the Bible says. That really is the bottom line. It is the bottom line. And coming back to the idea of the atheistic scientist, why is it that billions of pounds or dollars are being spent to try and find out how we've got here? Why we're here and where we're going? Did life start on Mars and send probes there? It doesn't cost a lot for a Bible, does it? To find in the early chapters of Genesis where we came from and read through the book and come to the end and find where we're going. And of course, it's very fitting, is it not, when we think of these serious matters, that we understand that fallen man needs a Redeemer and God has sent a Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the salvation, forgiveness in the Lord Jesus Christ when he's received as personal Lord and Saviour. I wish to spend the session this afternoon just saying one or two general things with regard to the Bible. The Old Testament was written originally in Hebrew, once considered a dead language, now very much a living language. It's spoken by those of the nation of Israel, the Jews in the Middle East. But the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and when the Authorized Version Bible was translated or even translations in the 19th century, it was regarded like Latin and Greek as a dead language. The New Testament was written in Greek. There was a translation made from the Hebrew of the Old Testament into Greek by 70, or probably more accurately, 72 scholars in the 2nd or 3rd century BC. And that is often referred to as the Septuagint. And you may have noticed when you read citations from the Old Testament in the New that the wording varies somewhat. And that is because very often the New Testament writers are quoting from the Septuagint, a Greek translation made from the original Hebrew, rather than the Hebrew Bible itself. The order of the books in our Bible, or at least in the Old Testament, is based on the Septuagint, or it's sometimes given the Roman letters LXX, number 70, after the 70 scholars. And sometimes in technical books, in commentaries or in concordances, you will see that referred to. So the Septuagint was a Greek translation made from the original Hebrew, and the order is there in the opening pages of the Bible. There used to be a hymn, All through the valley my Saviour leads me. And I think that the tune to that hymn, you can sing the books of the Old Testament to it, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and so on. Learning the order of the books of the Bible, of course, is a good starting point. Same with the New Testament. The ordering in the Hebrew Bible is very much different. They have 24 books. We're familiar with 39. There are 27 books in the New Testament, there are 39 books in our Old Testament. But in the Hebrew Bible, there are 24. The first five books are the same as in our Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Deuteronomy. And then they have the next books, which they call the former prophets. So with Joshua, Judges, not Ruth, Samuel as one book and Kings as one book, and then Isaiah, Jeremiah, not Lamentations, Ezekiel, and then the 12 minor prophets put together. The rest of the books are headed by the Psalms, and they're called the writings. So what you've got in a Hebrew Bible is the law, the prophets, and the writings, or the Psalms. I say this because the Lord Jesus Christ himself refers to this in Luke chapter 24, when he says to his disciples, that ought not the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were spoken in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me. So the rest of the books which I've not named then are headed by the Psalms, Psalms, and Jobs, and Proverbs, and so on. Finishing rather strangely with Chronicles, that is the order in a Hebrew Bible. I mention it again for another point, and it's something that I came across years ago when someone was trying to show that women, it's quite permitted for them to speak in the church. In 1 Corinthians chapter 14, we read there that the women are to be silent in the church, not permitted for them to speak, but to be under obedience or in subjection as also saith the law. And the critic was saying, well there isn't a law against women speaking, there isn't a law that says they must be in subjection, it's not in the Ten Commandments is it not? Well no it isn't. But I'm trying to bring in now some of the criticisms that people point at the Bible, or some of the justification that's going around in order that things which are clearly stated in the Bible are excused, explained away, and disobeyed. So when the apostle says that they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law, the apostle Paul isn't referring to the Ten Commandments, he's referring of course to the early chapters of Genesis, because that in a Hebrew Bible is referred to as the law. So if you read at your leisure Genesis chapter 3 and what God has to say in that chapter, then you will see that that is what the apostle is referring to in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 and verse 34. Indeed if the critic had only gone a few verses a little bit higher up he would have found that the book of Isaiah is referred to also as the law. So a little bit earlier up into the chapter the apostle is speaking about the tongues and he mentions the law and he speaks of the prophecy of Isaiah. So in other words to the apostle Paul when he's speaking about the law he is speaking of the whole of the Hebrew Bible, the Hebrew canon as it was then. The next thing I want to speak about is leading on to versions and translations that we now have. You will notice that I read from the Authorised Version Bible. There's only another translation that I use besides this and that is Mr Darvish's translation, but nearly all of the time I read from the Authorised Version Bible. If I read from a modern translation I usually put it down and pick this Authorised Version Bible up so that I can see what the Bible really does say. The manuscripts that translators base their translations on, the oldest ones will date back to something like the 4th century, 300 AD. That has given critics the opportunity to say well in two or three hundred years it's a little bit like Chinese whispers. Something happened in Judea or Galilee or Jerusalem a few hundred years back and as time goes by the story gets enlarged and it gets increased and it gets built up on because the earliest manuscripts of the Bible are really only there from the 3rd or the 4th century. We haven't got the original documents. Now that's quite true but it's not quite so simple as that. I'm pointing these things out because the Bible is under attack and people will use arguments in the way that I'm speaking now. There are other writings, other versions, other translations made from the original that will give evidence of what the text said even before some of the most ancient manuscripts that are still in existence now. There are the generation of men who lived on after the apostles had passed and they could refer to what the apostles said or what they wrote. So there are other sources outside of some of the ancient manuscripts in order to be able to see back to what was originally the text of the New Testament. But there's another thing too. Another objection that is raised is that well there's various manuscripts and they don't agree. Some versions have one word and another version has that word missing or some have parts that others don't have and so on. To put this in its context there are slight variations between manuscripts but the variations are slight and do not alter Christian doctrine substantially. All right. Greek mythology, writers like Plato, Aristotle, less evidence for them than for our New Testament and yet no one is going to deny that there were these men in ancient Greece and the philosophies or the mathematics or the culture or the skills. We have good sound manuscript evidence for our Bibles and in the 16th century the manuscripts that were available then were put together and the text that was made at that time was referred to as the received text. That is a text to be received by all and mainly our authorised version is based on that. Which brings me to chapters and verses because when Paul wrote his letter or Peter or when Luke wrote his gospel he didn't sit there with a piece of parchment in front of him, dip his pen into the ink and then think what shall I write for chapter one and verse one. Chapters and verses are there for our convenience to refer to a particular text. They are not divinely inspired and sometimes they can get in the way somewhat. For example, I hath not seen, neither he hath heard, nor hath entered the heart of men the things that God hath prepared for them that love him. And how many stop there? The Bible doesn't, the Bible doesn't, but God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit. How much easier Romans 7 might be to understand if in actual fact it didn't stop at the end of Romans 7 but it continues straight into Romans chapter 8. We can't live the Christian life in our own strength. The flesh in a believer is just as the same as the flesh in an unbeliever. That is never changed, that is never improved. But we have the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus and there is the answer to that deep perplexing problem that's presented to us there. So chapters and verses are very helpful. I refer to chapters and verses for our scripture readings at the beginning. They are useful, they are valuable, but we need to bear in mind that we're ever in danger of taking a verse out of its context, building a doctrine on it which it couldn't have were it placed in its proper context. Indeed, I suppose you could take a verse from the Bible anywhere and you could prove anything that you wanted from it. For example, the story has been told of the heckler in the open air preaching who shouted from the back, the Bible says there is no God. Well, it does. The fool has said in his heart there is no God. Quoted twice from Psalm 14, Psalm 53, I think. So when we speak of the Bible of being God's word, we're not necessarily saying that every word that's written down there is the word that God approves of. God has recorded that, for example, in order to show that a man who thinks there is no God and who lives his life as though there's no God is a fool. The Bible is the word of God and that is from Genesis to Revelation. It's very dangerous to say the Bible contains the word of God, otherwise I'm left to decide which part is the word of God and which part is not. The Bible is the word of God. Human instrumentality has been used. Did you notice in Luke how he thought it good also that having a perfect understanding that he would give an account of things? John's ministry isn't Paul's and Paul's ministry isn't Peter's. They have the distinct lines to follow. So while we say that the Bible is the word of God and it is, while we say that every scripture is divinely inspired and the Bible says that of it itself, we need to understand also that God has given particular lines of ministry to particular people. So if we read of Peter, for example, he is the one whose ministry is chiefly towards the circumcision, the Jews. Paul's is particularly towards the uncircumcision, the Gentiles. John, in a sense, compliments Paul because Paul would show us set right here, justified, here in the place where we've committed our sins and to show the acceptance that we have with God in heaven. Whereas John would be the one who brings all those good things of heaven down to us now on earth for our enjoyment at this present time. So the Bible then, the Old and the New Testament, 39 books in our Old Testament, 27 in the New. The Old Testament originally written in Hebrew but translated into Greek, the Septuagint version, that gives us the order of books that we have in our Old Testament but varies quite considerably to those, the ordering of the books originally in a Hebrew Bible. And the Lord Jesus makes mention of that, the law and the prophets and the Psalms, all those things that were written there that were concerning himself. The law, the prophets, the writings, the Psalms being the first book in that third section, the writings. The citations in the New Testament, the New Testament, citations in the New Testament varying somewhat from what we have in the Old Testament because they're if quoting from the Septuagint rather than from the Hebrew original. In our Bible the Hebrew is used for our Old Testament to be translated from, the Greek manuscripts for the New. And while there's variations in Greek manuscripts and none of the original documents do exist, nevertheless there is enough manuscript evidence. There's much in early versions and translations, for example into Latin and other languages of the day. There's the writings of the Apostolic Fathers and so on that give us a good sound basis for the text for our Bible to be based on. Chapters and verses have been added for convenience sake. Chapters I believe in the 13th century when a translation into Latin was being made and the verses were inserted about the time when the received text for the Greek was put in place for translation work then at the time of the Reformation. We said also that the Bible is the Word of God although he used human instruments to write it with specific lines of ministry. And there are things that are recorded in the Bible that God doesn't necessarily approve of. The statement there is no God, God is saying that because he's showing the the folly of a person who lives their life like that. Maybe there's someone in this room now as you're trying to live without God. There is God's estimate of you. Very dangerous position to be in. There are millions in Britain today in a land where we've had an authorised version Bible for well over 400 years now. Where people have tried to ridicule, set it aside, say it's full of contradictions, it's irrelevant, it's an anachronism. And yet that is God's verdict of them if they want to live without him. The fool has said in his heart there is no God. It takes time. How many books normally do you read where you would commence somewhere near the end and read a page or two then go forward a little bit towards the middle and read a few sentences and then go right back to the beginning and read the first page and then jump back on somewhere else? And yet we do that with the Bible don't we? It's a good thing to set a programme to read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. There is an ongoing message right through it. It's interesting to compare the book of the Revelation at the end with the book of Genesis at the beginning. And it's good to follow through and see the development as you read through the Bible. The situation in the Middle East, the problems that we have with Syria. Syria is a different problem to Iraq or to Egypt or to Libya because you've got to then take account of Russia. But then some of these don't surprise, the matters that we do have these problems are not surprising me because if you read through the prophetic line of Scripture you can see how these things develop. We're now in a time when Messiah came and he was handed over to the Gentiles and the Gentiles crucified him and the Lord Jesus Christ has gone on high and at the present time is the outcalling of the church, the body and bride of Christ. God in the Old Testament used to dwell in the tabernacle in the wilderness, then he dwelt in the temple in Jerusalem. But the Lord Jesus had to say, behold your house is left to you desolate. God still has a house today, it's the church of the living God. God dwells in the church by his Spirit. But the Lord Jesus Christ is coming again at the rapture and the true church will be removed. Christendom, the Christian profession, will continue in a way. But then the Lord Jesus Christ is coming to earth because you read the Old Testament prophets and it all looks on to that glorious reign of Messiah that will far outshine ever that that Israel had in the days of David and Solomon. But it's good to follow through the Bible and get a panorama of it and see how it flows. Then there's less chance of taking a verse and giving it a meaning that it couldn't possibly have if the Bible in its entire message was understood. Now I'll just mention one or two apparent contradictions that critics of the Bible sometimes come in on. One of them would concern the Christmas story. You get the idea. There's the stable, there's the manger, there's the holy babe, Mary and Joseph, and simultaneously arrive the wise men and the shepherds. If you read the New Testament it doesn't fit together like that. Traditionally people think that way. Nativity plays, Christmas cards. But each writer, Matthew who records the wise men from the east and Luke who records the visit of the shepherds, are not contradicting one another. They are taking material that will fit in the message they're trying to proclaim. In Matthew's gospel there is the king of the Jews. Where is he that is born? King of the Jews. I don't believe that the wise men from the east, the kings from the east, went to a stable. The Bible says that they came to the house. Again, Luke is writing to show that we poor Gentiles, think how in Luke's gospel the people who get the blessing, Mary Magdalene, seven demons cast out of her, that woman in Luke 7, the sinner, the prodigal son, what a disgrace he was, that crucified thief, disgraceful characters, and yet they're brought into the richness of blessings by divine grace. And so it's humble shepherds that come to visit the Saviour in the lowliest of circumstances. He came where he was in the parable of the good Samaritan. Yes, the Lord went to Calvary, not simply to bear our sins, though that was necessary, but he came to meet fallen man in the state he was in. So each writer pursuing the line that God has given him to follow brings out truths which are important and relevant in that particular circumstance. They're not contradictions but complementary truths. It's no good arguing if you've got a coin in front of you that it's got a head on one side and the other person said no it doesn't. There's two sides of the coin. It depends how it's being looked at. So these apparent contradictions which are often thrown out, in actual fact Christians are generally quite well aware of them because we've been told of them for quite some time. There's the other one that I've just picked up on and that is the account of the number that died in the book of Numbers and I think it's chapter 25 in the plague there and it's 24,000 I believe but in the New Testament when the Apostle Paul is writing 1 Corinthians chapter 10 he says 23,000 but adds in one day. No contradiction, one is the total number, one is giving the number in a day. But then again take the evacuation from the beaches at Dunkirk. One history book says 330,000 men were saved. Another book says 338,000 men were saved but nobody's going to dispute that there was an evacuation after Dunkirk beaches, that it's just a myth or something of that. Was the number an exact number? I just leave it that one is talking about the sum total, the other is talking about a one day. We wouldn't criticise these variations in numbers in ordinary secular history and yet all of a sudden it means this one discrepancy and the Bible, well you mustn't believe any of it because it's got one fact wrong, it hasn't at all of course. One is the total number, the other is the number in a day. There's some what may be contradictions that may be errors that have crept in through translation. Our authorised version gives a definition of sin in John's first epistle. Sin is the transgression of the law. But then again in the epistle to the Romans in chapter 5 verse 13 I think it is, sin is not imputed when there is no law. It's not a contradiction that the translators of our otherwise excellent authorised version Bible have put their understanding into the translation. Sin is lawlessness is what it really should say and Mr Derby puts it that way as well. Sin is lawlessness. Sin is not imputed when there is no law. So from the original text, the Greek that it's taken from, the translation is not there. That is an error that's coming through translation. Sometimes errors are introduced quite deliberately of course. The Jehovah's Witnesses with their New World translation habitually mistranslate to try and prove that the Lord Jesus Christ is not a divine person. So for example in John chapter 8 and verse 58, before Abram was I am, we have in our authorised version Bible, they have before Abram came into existence I have been. It'll work on people I suppose who can't read the original to be able to compare. But I would imagine in those bad old days when they taught Greek in school and boys were meant to read out their translation from the Greek that someone would be up for six of the best for translating John chapter 8 and verse 58 so badly. It literally is the Lord Jesus saying before Abraham became I am. The Jews understood what the Lord was saying and they took up stones. But of course the Lord was to die by crucifixion not by being stoned to death. So sometimes contradictions and errors are introduced in translation, sometimes quite deliberately. So looking at the Bible, the Word of God, the writers have not followed cunningly devised fables. They've been writing down the things that were most assuredly believed amongst them. So the internal evidence of the book we're entitled to read and to take on board. The Old and the New Testaments, the new often quoting from the Septuagint and hence the reason why this variation in the wording. The manuscripts and the versions that these have been taken from although there's varieties and different readings within them. Nevertheless no Bible doctrine is harmed and we have other evidence besides some of the even earliest ones. One of the problems with manuscripts of course before there was such a thing as printing, you know nobody typed it all out on a keyboard and pressed a button and it came printed out. It was all copied by hand and you will know as well as I do that when we copy something we will add an error, we'll introduce an error and the theory very often is if you can get back to the earliest of manuscripts you've got the purest manuscript, not necessarily so. Before the New Testament was complete error was coming in to the church was it not. We've adequate proof of that within our New Testament and some translations for example in John chapter 1 and verse 18 have the only begotten God who was in the bosom of the Father. In the original language the word for God and the word for son would rhyme and sound very similar. I can half imagine a scribe mishearing and writing their own word down. There's also the possibility too of Gnosticism where there were those who believed that matter was evil, God was intrinsically holy, which is true of course, the Lord Jesus was a derived God. That may have been an error that brought that in. So the text that we have, and Mr Kelly favours it, because son corresponds with father, the only begotten son who is in the bosom of the father he hath declared him. But there are enough manuscripts, thousands of them, to have a good idea of how reliable our translations are. Very quickly just mentioning about translation. Our authorised version of Mr Derby's translation rely on what is called formal equivalence. That is trying to express every word in the original Hebrew or Greek exactly in English. Now in fact it can't be done exactly. Modern translations tend to go along the line of dynamic equivalence. That is they will look at a whole section and then write down what they think the writer meant. Most translations nowadays do that. Unfortunately that is likely to lead to error because the translator will put in what he thinks, his theology, his ideas, and it basically then just becomes a paraphrase. One of the biggest blunders I think in modern translations, and it would support temporal sonship heresy, and it's this. In Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 5. You are my son, today I have become your father. That is in lots and lots of modern translations. Whatever thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee means there's no equivalent in the original for inserting the word father and changing the tense of the verb to becoming into that relationship. And a little bit further down in the same chapter where what is man that thou art mindful of him or the son of man that thou visitest him, what is mankind that you visit him? The son of man is the Lord Jesus Christ we know, but mankind renders the text completely meaningless. So our Bible then is the word of God. God has inspired men by his spirit to write. We have a Bible which is reliable, which is dependable, which we believe. If we want to know about God, we need to read the Bible. If we want God's message to us, it's in the Bible. We don't have to go into space, sending probes into outer space to find out where we may have come from, the Bible tells us. We don't need to be doing all sorts of research as to what may happen in the future, the Bible tells us. It tells us about God, it tells us about ourselves, it tells us that we're fallen and that we need a saviour and that God has provided a saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ who shed his precious blood at Calvary, who was God raised from the dead and is seated at God's right hand now. And that he's coming again and at the present time to use an expression that's quoted by the apostle Paul from the prophecy of Isaiah, behold now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. God is good, what a long day it's been, but these things, if we need to know the truth, if we need to know the reason why, despite unbelievers trying to discredit the Bible by inconsistencies in manuscripts, contradictions in its text, errors in translation or whatever else, one thing that has surprised me when I've had to look to see if an idea that I've got is right or not is the accuracy of scripture. I'm more and more amazed when I come to see just exactly the wording that is used and how precise it is. So the criticisms which are levelled at the Bible are quite unfounded and I give this address at the beginning of this series of lectures so that young people particularly might have confidence in the Holy Bible, the Word of God, and depend upon it, be guided by it, find the Saviour through it, and as believers the things that we read in it, made good in our souls by the Holy Spirit. May the Lord bless these few remarks that I've made on the Bible, the Word of God this afternoon. Can we sing the hymn please, 303. 303. When Israel by divine command the pathless desert trod, they found throughout the barren land a sure resource in God. Like them we have a resting view, secure from hostile powers. Like them we pass a desert too, but Israel's God is ours. 303. …

… Could we turn to the Gospel of Mark for a few passages, first in chapter 3. Mark's Gospel, chapter 3, from verse 1. And he, the Lord Jesus, entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day, that they might accuse him. And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil, to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored, whole as the other. And the Pharisees went forth and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. Further down in the same chapter, chapter 3, verse 31. There came then his brethren and his mother, and standing without, sent unto him, calling him. And a multitude said about him. And they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother or my brethren? And he looked round about on them which said about him, and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren. For whoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother and my sister and mother. Chapter 5, chapter 5 from verse 25. And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up. And she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith has made thee whole. Go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. We turn to chapter 10. Chapter 10, verse 17. And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit internal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God. Thou knowest the commandments. Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud not, honor thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest. Go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven. And come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved, for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about, and said unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answered again and said unto them, Children, how hard it is for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon themselves, With men it is impossible, but not with God. But with God all things are possible. Then Peter began to say unto him, Lord, we have left all and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that has left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my sake and the gospels. But he shall receive an hundredfold, now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands with persecutions, and in the world to come eternal life. And the last verse from chapter 11, chapter 11, verse 11. And Jesus entered into Jerusalem and into the temple. And when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve. That's father word of God. By way of introduction, I would like to quote another verse from Psalm 14, well-known verse where it says in Psalm 14, verse 2, The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside. They are all together become filthy. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. This verse tells us that God was looking down. If anybody on earth, any man, was looking, was asking for God, and the result for man was disastrous, there was no one, he could say, there was no one that was looking for God, was asking after God. When the Lord Jesus came on earth, two things changed. First of all, now there was a man on earth, the Lord Jesus himself, who did in all his life, always did what was pleasing to the Father. So if you look down, he saw one man who lived as God had intended man to live. But the other thing was that now God was not only looking down from heaven, but God was down here in the person of the Son, looking around and seeing things down here. And that is the subject we are going to deal with this evening. There are five passages in the Gospel of Mark, which we have just read, where it tells us that the Lord Jesus looked around, and we would like to ask ourselves, what does he see, and what is his judgment, what is his reaction? They all take place at different places, and they show us different situations. The first one, in chapter 3, is taking place in a synagogue. The synagogue, particularly in Mark's Gospel, is the picture of the man-made religious system of Judaism at the time when the Lord Jesus was down here on earth. God did not tell the Israelites to build synagogues. They developed very likely during the Babylonian captivity when they had no temple, and they had their own system made up. And we will see what characterized that system in relation to the Lord Jesus. And I'm sure it will not be difficult to see that the Christian, man-made Christian system of today is not much different from what it was in the days when the Lord Jesus was here. Three activities in the Gospel of Mark take place in a synagogue. The first one is in chapter 1, where it says in verse 21, And they went into Capernaum, and straightway on the seventh day he entered into the synagogue and taught. And then it says in verse 23, And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. So in the synagogue there was an unclean spirit. Was that not the situation of Judaism when the Lord Jesus was down here? What did they say about the Lord Jesus, the leaders of this Jewish system? What did they say about the Lord Jesus? He is driving out demons with the prince of the demons, Beelzebub. They said, You have a demon? They said to him even they were mocking about his virgin birth and other things, terrible things that came from a spirit that was opposing the Lord Jesus. And in our chapter, the second incident in chapter 3, in the synagogue, there it says there was a man which had a withered hand. He was unable to offer something to God, to bring something to God. Now that is typical for any religious system. They try to do something, but they are principally unable to bring anything that God could accept. And if we apply it to Christianity, the unclean spirit, it's not difficult to find out. If you knew what is taught on the pulpits where they teach theology, better you don't know it, but if you know it, a lot of these things are not by the Spirit of God. They are brought forth by a different spirit. And the powerlessness of this system to do anything to please the Lord Jesus. And there is another incident later on in chapter 6 of Mark's Gospel where they go into a synagogue again. In chapter 6 verse 2 it says, And when the Sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue. And then it says in verse 3, Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. The person of the Lord Jesus was an offense to these people. Because he was calling God his father, he was making himself equal to God. They understood quite clearly these Pharisees, what he was saying, and they were offended at this. But there's not much difference in Christianity today. The person of the Lord Jesus, he is still an offense to many. We had an exposition in our area, and we were allowed to have a Bible stand there. And somebody came and he asked me if I was also reading the Quran and the Buddhist books and so on. He said, It says in the Bible you should prove everything and hold fast what is good. And we were talking about truth, and he said like, Pilate, what is truth? Nobody knows what truth is. I said, Oh, I know somebody who has said, I am the truth. And he was really offended. He said, You cannot say that. And these words of the Lord that he is the only way to God and no other way is still an offense. In one of the newspapers in Germany, famous politicians and actors and all kinds of people were asked about their relationship to faith. Because yesterday was the day of reformation, and so they asked some people about it. And I realized nobody of them mentioned the name of the Lord Jesus. They all spoke about God, some vague idea of God and a loving God and a forgiving God and all kinds of things. But still the person of the Lord is an offense to men. And that makes also is the point which our brother mentioned before. Why are people so opposing the Bible? Because what he said is too concerning ancient history. It is very unsure. Many things are very unsure. If you want to find out which Pharaoh was reigning in Joseph's day, I suppose you will need the rest of your life to find that out, and probably without any satisfactory result. We were studying the book of Daniel in Germany, and there is a king mentioned, Darius. Nobody knows who that is. He doesn't appear in secular history. There are theories who that might be. But when our brother mentioned Plato and Aristotle, I remembered my professor with whom I learned ancient history, he used to say, we don't know if Plato lived. We only know that he was blind. With this sentence, he wanted to make sure how unsure these things are. But nobody has any trouble with accepting Plato and reading all his things because this does not change your life. But as far as the Bible is concerned, that's an offense to them because that reaches to the conscience, and people don't want that. It was so when the Lord Jesus was here, and it is so today. And so the Lord is there in the synagogue in chapter 3, and they watch him intensely to find some fault in him, that they might find something to accuse him. And then there was this man with the withered hand, and the Lord Jesus said, come on, into the midst of these people, and he said, is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days or to do evil, to save life or to kill? The Lord Jesus always tried to reach their consciences by some question when they tried to get him, and he always brought them in some difficult situations. You remember the situation when they wanted to know, why, with what authority are you doing these things? And the Lord said, well, let me ask you a question. What about John the Baptist? Was it from God or was it from man? And they calculated, if we say this or if we say that, it's always bad for us. And therefore they said, oh, we don't know. And the Lord said, so I'm not going to tell you in what authority I'm doing these things. And here he asked them, is it allowed to do good on the Sabbath day or to do evil? One of the half-brothers of the Lord Jesus, James, later on writes in his epistle, if somebody knows to do good and doesn't do it, it's sin. And so he asked him, what about doing good, helping this man? But they held their peace. They knew they couldn't give an answer that would be acceptable and help them in their plans. And then it says for the first time about the Lord Jesus, when he had looked round about on them with anger, grieved for the haughtness of their hearts. There is this look with anger, with holy anger, and at the same time he is grieved because their hearts are so hardened. I read once in one of the books, some brother says, this is equally easy to God, but alike impossible for man. God can do this, to be angry and to grieve at the same time. We are either angry or we are grieving. And when we are angry, very likely it is something fleshly which comes out of our nature. But in the case of the Lord Jesus, it was balanced, it was holy. He was angry at these people and at the same time he was grieved because of their hearts being hardened. How many people today are hardened in their hearts when you try to bring the gospel to them? And we should be grieved about that, as the Lord Jesus was, that men are so hardened that even the gospel, the grace of God, can't reach them. But if there was a need, if there was somebody trusting in the Lord Jesus, he was there. This man, with a withered hand, the Lord Jesus healed him, restored him, but the Pharisees were so hardened that they only tried to find a way that they might destroy him. So when we turn down in this chapter to the second incident, it's completely different. We are no longer in a synagogue, but simply in a house. And there are some outside who claim that they have some rights on the Lord Jesus, his relatives, his mothers, brothers outside. People that we apply it now to in Christianity, people who say that they have a nominal right on him. They call themselves Christians, but they have no real relationship to him, and they stand outside. But in the house, there were some other people who said about him. There were those who gave the Lord Jesus the central place. He was in the midst, and they were sitting around him. And the Lord said, you know, who is my brother? Who is my mother? He was one of those that I would have pleasure in. And then it says in verse 34, for the second time, he looked round about on them, which said about him, and said, behold, my mother and my brethren. This look around was not a look with anger or grief. He was pleased to find people giving the Lord Jesus a central place, sitting around him. And today, even today, when man-made religious systems are developing in a way as we have seen in the synagogue, he still says there is this place where you could give him the central place, sitting around him, where two or three are gathered to my name. He's still looking for those that give him the authority, that give him the central place, and that have this desire that the Lord Jesus mentions, for whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother and my sister and my mother. Not some outward nominal name you are taking, but the will, the desire to do the will of God and giving the Lord Jesus the central place in the gatherings of the saints. Up to this moment, these first two looking around of the Lord Jesus had to do with our collective walk, which, with the way we as Christians go, a negative one, systems that have been developed over the time where the Lord Jesus and his authority and his word are an offense, and on the other hand, those simply giving the Lord Jesus the central place of authority that belongs to him. But now we come to two other passages where we will say that the Lord Jesus also looks around because there are individual needs in the life of the believer. And the first one, which we had in chapter 5, there was this woman which, with the issue of blood, for 12 years, and it says of her, she had suffered many things, many physicians, had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. It's another picture of man in all the need of his soul, trying to get some answer from all the physicians, all the theologians, philosophers, and all kinds of people who try to help people with this issue. She has run from one to the other, and the result was, first of all, she spent all she had. It was very expensive. You have to pay money for these courses you can take where people tell you, well, if you do this yoga course or this meditation or this kind of thing, everything will be fine, but you have to pay for that. And not only money, you have to pay with a lot of other things because she said, it is said about her, it doesn't, it was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. If you had the opportunity to speak to persons who have gone from one place to the other, all through the things that are offered today, you will find how confused they are, and that things are getting worse and worse and not better. If they do not accept the simple gospel of Jesus Christ, everything gets worse. All kinds of things they have done, but nothing will help them. It's getting worse. What a terrible situation, and how many people in our Western societies are just in this situation that they have tried everything, and it's getting worse and worse. But then there was a changing point in her life when she had heard of Jesus. I think that's a sentence that should speak to us. We don't know who it was. The Bible does not tell us who told her about Jesus. If it was one person, several person, one opportunity, or if she heard it several times, but God knows who it was. But there was a time in her life when she heard of Jesus. How should people come to the Lord Jesus if they do not hear of him? And that is our responsibility as Christians, that people hear of the Lord Jesus. What about all the connections you have? Your neighbors at school, at university, at work, do they know you are Christian? Do they know about the Lord Jesus? They need the message. And in our countries, fewer people are reading the Bible themselves, so they need somebody to tell them. And here was, in this poor woman's life, there was the moment when she had heard of Jesus. She came in the press behind and touched his garment. She had faith. She said, well, if that's true, what they have told me, then he is the last person that may help me. So I go to him, put my trust in him, and if I touch him, I will be healed. Maybe they had told her stories like that, how the Lord Jesus had healed people this way or other. And she had this faith, and she came, and she touched his garment, and it says in verse 29, and straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up. There's also some typical verse in Mark's Gospel where it says seven times that an illness or something like that straightway had to leave when the Lord told it, when the Lord healed such a person. And that's what's happening. When a person comes to the Lord Jesus in simple faith, he is saved straightway. There may be a lot of things this soul has to learn. We will find that out in a minute. But the important thing is trusting in the Lord Jesus, and straightway when she did, she put her faith in him, she touched him, and straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And the Lord Jesus, immediately, he knew that power had gone out from him to heal this person. And he asked, who touched my clothes? Well, the disciples didn't really understand him. They said, well, Lord, there's so many people running around here, there's a crowd of people, and if you are in a crowd of people, we all know there's somebody touches you, and you can't help but people touching you. But the Lord said, no, no. It was not like that. I have realized that power has gone out from me to heal a person. And then it says, in verse 32, and he looked round about to see her that had done this. The Lord looked around in the crowd. He wanted to see that person. And we may ask ourselves, why? Why does he want to see that person? She was already healed, wasn't she? She could have gone home. Yes, she could. But what, in that case, what would have been the basis of her security of salvation? That's what we read in verse 29. She felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. The only thing she had was her experience, her emotions, the things she felt. And we all know what a shaky basis that is. One day she said, well, I'm saved. Everything is all right. I touched him and I'm healed. And the neighbors might say, well, you don't know, it's not coming back. Two days later she wakes up in the morning, she says, oh, I'm feeling not well today. Probably it's coming back. And that is the situation of many believers who have no basis for their salvation. They always look into themselves, how they feel and what they have experienced. And I mention it here as well because I, more than one case, I found it that this is a problem of children of believing parents. When they get saved at a young age, why did you get saved? I was saved at quite an early age. Why did we get saved? Because we had such a great impression what sin was in the eyes of God? That was not the case with me. The Lord is showing you that later in your life. But you have heard your parents, Sunday school teachers telling you that you have to come to Lord Jesus with your sins, otherwise you would be lost. When the Lord Jesus comes, you will stay here while all your family is going to be taken up when the Lord Jesus comes. And then I came home and my parents were not there, nobody was there. And I said, well, now the Lord has come and I was still there. Well, happily my parents came back. But I started to think about these things. And then simply I told the Lord Jesus the sins I knew about as a young child, that I had been not very nice to my parents, that I had lied or taken away something or whatever I could remember. But then I got older and then suddenly I realized I was still sinning. You thought this has now solved this problem, but it wasn't. And then I met persons that had a conversion like Saul of Tarsus. They fell from the horse or like the jailer, there was an earthquake. And you say, well, that was not the case with me. Maybe my conversion was not good enough. And so you try to do it again to have a better experience of these things. But you are still looking in the wrong direction. You're still looking at your own experience and all these things. And the Lord Jesus doesn't want that. That's why he looks around to find this woman. He wants to give her the basis that she needed. And so it says, but the woman fearing and trembling. Do you think that is a person that has security of salvation? Fearing and trembling, that's her situation. And so she comes and she fell down before him and told him all the truth. I like this sentence. She told him all the truth. Now she told him everything, what she had done, that she had touched him and when she heard about the Lord, she had come and she touched him and all these things. And then he says unto her, daughter, I think it's the only time as far as I can remember the Lord Jesus used these words. Was that not something that brought joy to her heart, being called like that, daughter? And then he says, daughter, thy faith has made thee whole. Go in peace and be whole of thy plague. Now she had the word of the Lord as the basis of her salvation. If now, just imagine that situation. If now the neighbors were coming and say, well, you don't know if this comes back. He said, no. He said to me, thy faith has made thee whole and be whole of thy plague. It's not coming back because he said so. And that's what we need and also what we have to teach our children, that the basis of that is the word of God. I remember the situation in one of my daughter's lives when she went through this period of insecurity. We knew as parents, we knew that she was safe because we had been present at the situation, but she was thinking about herself, looking into herself. So I wrote a couple of Bible verses that speak about salvation and put where the pronoun was. I put her name in it. And I put these verses at the bedside where she was sleeping and it took a couple of weeks. And then she said to me, well, daddy, now I know that I'm saved. I said, why? What happened? And she said, well, because the Lord Jesus says so. It says so in the Bible. And I believe that what the Bible says is true. I've done that and I accept by faith that what the Lord Jesus said is true. Maybe the Lord is still today looking around for somebody who is not secure, if he is saved or not. Maybe he is still looking into yourself, still looking for some special conversion experience where you think you must go through. But if you simply in faith put your faith on the Lord Jesus, he said so, he said it to this woman, by faith, thy faith has made thee whole, not thy experience or the things you did, the things you said, simply putting the faith into the Lord Jesus. That is the first step, so to say, on the individual's journey that has come to the Lord Jesus to be sure of the salvation by trusting in the word of the Lord Jesus. But then we come in chapter 10 to a further step. There is this young man who came running and nailed to him and asked him. This is one of the most interesting but also one of the saddest stories in the New Testament. This young man, he was really in earnest. He put energy into it. He was running. He was nailing at the front of the Lord Jesus, so he had reverence for him. And he said, good master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? Well, that's the point for all majority of men. They want to do something. What shall I do so I may inherit eternal life? Normally, you cannot do much to inherit something. You just wait until the person dies. But he wants to do something. Well, the Lord Jesus answers him on the basis on which he asks his question. That's what he always does. There was this man who said to him, you are a hard master. The Lord did not say that's wrong. He said, if you think so, then you should have done this and this and that. And here he says to this, if you want to do something, and then he takes from the Ten Commandments those commands that had to do with my relationship to my neighbor. And he says, the Lord, you know what the commandments say, do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud not, honor thy father and mother. And then this young man says, master, all these have I observed from my youth. The Lord doesn't say anything on that. He simply leaves it with that, that this young man thought he had kept all these commandments. But then the Lord Jesus in principle says, but there is also the other table of commandments that have to do with the relationship with God. How is that in your life? You shall have no other gods beside me. What about your money? And he says to this young man, go and sell everything you have, give it to the poor and follow me. The Lord touches on this point in his life where he knew that was his God. And then when the Lord does so, it says, then Jesus, beholding him, loved him. The first time in the New Testament that speaks of the love of Lord Jesus. It was a love for a man who was not saved and very likely never got saved. Normally, when it speaks about the love of Lord Jesus in the New Testament, it's the love of the son for the father or the love of the son for his own. But here he sees this man, this honest man who wanted to find the answer, but there was something in his life that kept him from coming. And so it says he was sad at that saying and went away grieved. What a sad sentence this young man knew exactly. This was my moment. I should have taken a decision and he turned away and went. He did not go away in rebellion. He was sad. He was grieved, but he did not. He was not prepared to let go all the things that were hindering him to come to God. And so he left. He was sad and grieved. I remember a talk I had with a young sister about a decision she was going to take and she was sitting in my living room and she was crying because she knew exactly that what she was going to do was wrong. But she went, nevertheless went away. She knew it was wrong, but she nevertheless did what she wanted to do because there was a power that was stronger than her own power. And so she went. And such a situation be of fear. He is sad and grieved, but he goes away. And then, after he is gone, it says, and Jesus looked round about to his disciples. This message, this story with the young man, had also a message for his disciples. It was not just simply this young man who had come and gone, sad story of somebody who didn't accept the gospel, didn't accept the Savior, but he says, well, I have to teach my disciples a message from that. And so he looks round about to see them, and when he saw them, he says, how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. The disciples understandably were astonished because the Jews thought that material wealth here on earth was a sign of blessing from God. They had, their promises were on this earth, and God had promised them earthly blessings. And so now the Lord says something they found quite disturbing, that a lot of money was hindering them. And the Lord Jesus repeats the sentence and, so to say, makes it clearer what he means. He said to them, in verse 24, but Jesus answered again and said unto them, children, how hard it is for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God. He says, it's not so much the question how much is on your bank account, but it's where your heart is. Those that trust in riches, that put their heart in it, that's the problem, that they put all their heart into this thing, and therefore it is so difficult for them to come into the kingdom of God because their heart is somewhere else. That was the problem with this young man. You shall have no other gods beside me. Is there anything in our lives that is more important than the person of the Lord Jesus? He is looking around, the Lord Jesus, to touch probably your heart or mine with this question, where is your heart? What is the most important thing in our lives? They were all astonished. Who then can be saved? And the Lord Jesus says, yes, by man this is impossible, but not by God. But the lesson the Lord has for his disciples is not yet finished. Because again, there was Peter, who always, because he is saying what he just thinks, always helps us to get more lessons from the Lord. He says, well Lord, we have left everything and followed you, what about us? We have left everything and followed you, and now? And then the Lord Jesus says, verily I say unto you, there is no man that has left house or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the Gospels. If somebody has given up, has sacrificed something in his life for the Lord Jesus, there will be a reward. And it is interesting if you read carefully what it says, then in verse 29 the Lord says, there is no man that has left house or brethren or sisters or father or mother and so on. And then the Lord says in the next verse, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time houses and brethren and sisters and mothers. So when giving up something for the Lord is the one or the other. But if the Lord gives you something, it is not as if the Lord would say, well, you have given one thing up for me, so you get one in return. And he says about the blessings, he says, and, and, and, and, he mentions all these things together. Of course, with persecution, he doesn't say you will live a life without any problems following the Lord's. May have persecution following, but that is the next point. When we, when the first look around has led us to be sure about our salvation, the next thing is that the Lord wants to know if our hearts really and completely belong to him. And I'm sure because I experienced it in my own life and with many others. In your life of faith, as young people particularly, there will be a moment when the Lord Jesus will ask you, are you prepared to give something up for me? He puts his finger maybe on a thing which you value very highly and he says, is it more important than I am? But if you are willing to say, well, I leave this thing for you, then you will experience that he is giving you in return a lot of blessings for that. But that is the point. He wants our hearts completely, that we want to follow him and there's not anything in our lives that is more important than the Lord Jesus. There's so many things that fight for our hearts in this world, but there's only one person that is worth, that we give our life to him and that is the one who died for us on the cross of Calvary. When we turn to the last verse in chapter 11, the circle closes so to say, we come now back to the collective site, the last is similar to the first with a bit different picture. It says that the Lord Jesus, he comes into the temple. The temple was something that in the beginning was instituted or ordered by God that they should build a temple. But now the Jews had taken it over and made it a den of robbers, a house where things were sold and all kinds of things, which was the house of his father. And so is it not the same in Christianity that at the beginning in Acts chapter 2, it was wonderfully started on the day of Pentecost and the spirit came down, but over all the years man has made up his own system, his own house and the Lord comes and again he looks round about all these things. And what does he do? And now as eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve, or as the new translation of Mr. Darby says, he looked round on all things, the hour being already late. Is that not the time we are living in? The hour is being late. The time of grace, the time of the church assembly is drawing to a close, the coming of the Lord is near. What are we going to do? Are we not going to follow him outside of all these man-made institution systems? Going to that place, Bethany, the house where a few were gathering around him, giving him the central place, sitting at his feet, listening to him. He's still looking for those that have the same view on things, the same judgment that he has on things that are connected with his name. Let me close with mentioning that there's one verse in the Gospel of Mark which says or speaks about the disciples looking around. Going to read that from chapter 9, Mark chapter 9 verse 8. And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man anymore, save Jesus only with themselves. That's on the Mount of Transfiguration, and there was Moses, and there was Elijah, and they were all a bit confused. But now they look around, and they only see one person, the Lord Jesus. No man anymore, save Jesus only with themselves. That's the focus we need to have. Not looking around all the kind of things we can see in this world, but just having our eyes focused on this one person, seeing nobody else but Jesus alone. Could we close with the hymn 54, how sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear. It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fear. Number 54. How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear. It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fear. Number 55. How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear. It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fear. Number 56. …

… I wonder if we can commence the meeting this afternoon with a hymn. 149. Hymn 149. Thinking especially of the third verse. Unto thy death baptised we own, with thee we died. With thee our life we're risen and shall be glorified. From sin the world and Satan we're ransomed by thy blood. And here would walk as strangers alive with thee to God. We'll sing the whole hymn 149. Lord Jesus, we remember the travel of thy soul. When through thy loss did pity the ways did o'erthrow. Baptised in death's foul quarters, for us thy blood was shed. For us the Lord of glory was numbered with the dead. O Lord, thou now art risen by travel always o'er. For sin the ones that do suffer vow less to die no more. Sin, death and hell are vanquished by thee, the Judge's hand. And lo, we share thy triumphs, thou firstborn from the dead. Unto thy death baptised we own, with thee we died. With thee our life we're risen and shall be glorified. From sin the world and Satan we're ransomed by thy blood. And here would walk as strangers alive with thee to God. Amen. I'd like us to read as the start of the meeting this afternoon, just two verses from the Ephesian epistle in chapter 4. The fourth chapter of Ephesians, and we'll read just verses 4 and 5. There is one body and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. It's my desire and intention this afternoon to speak on the subject of baptism. And I would just make it clear that it's not my intention to be controversial nor to be provocative, although I would be very happy if we are all provoked into a deeper and more careful study of God's word. But I wonder whether sometimes we have a rather superficial view of the matter. And I think it would be very helpful if what we do very simply is to look at various verses where baptism is spoken of and see if we can't find some help and instruction. And really my starting point is this verse where we're told here that there is one baptism. Now, I think we would all always be very clear and careful in encouraging one another whenever we read a verse of the Bible to understand its context and not to pluck what we might say proof text from here and there which hang in isolation. Because I think we should agree that if we look into the scriptures on the subject of baptism, we must conclude that there's quite a variety in the various baptisms spoken of. So how is it on the one hand that we have various different examples of baptism and yet here we come to a verse that says there is one baptism? Well, I think the answer will be clear and hopefully by the end of our time together we'll be able to come to a conclusion as to this verse here in Ephesians. It's not a subject over which the brethren have ever divided and I think it's important to say that. It should not and is not a divisive matter and so we should be able to rest assured as we take up the subject on that account. Also, I would suggest that it's a subject which is deliberately left a little bit in the background because there are more important things. Now in saying that, I'm not saying it's completely unimportant, otherwise I wouldn't seek to take up a lecture on the subject. But, you know, Paul was not sent to baptize. He had here a special revelation as to the Lord's Supper and as to Christ and the assembly and certainly those things really should come into the foreground in our study and understanding of the truth. And the matter of baptism is a little bit relatively left in the background and for a good reason, I think. But nevertheless, I think we will be helped by a study of it this afternoon. Now, the way I propose to approach it is this. We've, or I have, looked at a number of scriptures in preparation and one has come to certain conclusions. And I think it might be a practical way of going about it if I, at the beginning, make a number of statements which I am persuaded the scriptures support. So by way of a start, I'll make these statements and then we're going to look at a number of scriptures and I trust as we do that, we will see that the scriptures support the statements that have been made. And we might just summarize at the end by a reference to them. So the statements I think the scriptures have borne out are the following. Baptism is always unto something or someone and in that case it's identification with that someone. Baptism is the act of the baptizer, not the one baptized. The command was to baptize, not to be baptized. It is not an act of obedience. In this the scripture is very clear, I think. No man can fulfill it by himself. Another must do it for him. It is a privilege desired or conferred. It is in view of living here on earth and not a matter concerning heaven. Baptism, both baptism and the Lord's Supper are for the wilderness. We'll have no need of either when we're with the Lord. It is not a testimony to what a person is already, but rather the formal and orderly entrance into a place of privilege, admission into the professing body or house. Baptism as a sign does not go beyond death and resurrection and hence is individual and so is not a means to or even a sign of the unity of the body. Now we'll look at the scriptures that I think will help us and I want to deal with them in a way that takes them up in a chronological order in the order in which they would have taken place historically. It might seem a little bit counterintuitive that the first scripture we look at is 1 Corinthians and chapter 10, but I'm sure we'll see why this has to come first. So 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verses 1 and 2. Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. So chronologically in the history of the things of God, the first mention of something which we're told here was a form of baptism is when the Israelites went through the Red Sea and in the cloud. We're told here they were all baptized unto Moses and so this helps us in regard to the statement that baptism is always unto something or someone. In this case, it was unto Moses and thereby they were associated with and identified with Moses and it was something that happened to them as a result of following Moses as he led them through the Red Sea. In other words, the baptism wasn't an act that they undertook specifically. This was the result of their following Moses through the Red Sea and in being guided and protected by the cloud. As a consequence of that, they were baptized and we're told here that they were all baptized unto Moses and so we might say, well, that's our first distinct example of baptism and quite clearly it's not the same as other baptisms that the scripture speaks of. Very different circumstances and here the person in view was Moses. Well, now we can go to the Gospels, Matthew's Gospel and in reading chapter three, you'll understand I've selected just this one as an example of the baptism of John. We could, of course, have turned to either Luke's Gospel or Mark's Gospel but for the purposes this afternoon, this should be adequate. So Matthew chapter three and I want to read a fair portion from verse three. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And the same time John had his raiment of camel's hair and a leather girdle about his loins and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the nation round about Jordan and were baptised of him in Jordan confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who have warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits, meat for repentance and think not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our father, for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. I indeed baptise you with water unto repentance. But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor and gather his wheat into the garner, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptised of him. But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptised of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it now to be so, for thus it becometh us to fulfil righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptised, went up straight away out of the water, and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him. And, lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. I think we see from this portion that we can say that in regard to John's baptism, it was a baptism unto repentance, and it was directed to the Jewish company. And we have that stated very clearly here. Verse 11, I indeed baptise you with water unto repentance. So now we have something which establishes that baptism is always unto something or someone. First we've had unto Moses, and now unto repentance. And the interesting thing is that the Lord Jesus submitted to, if you like, the baptism of John. Now, of course we read in this portion that those that came to John came confessing their sins. And we might ask ourselves, on what basis then did the Lord Jesus come to John? He could not come confessing his sins. And as a consequence, of course, John at first was rather reluctant to baptise the Lord Jesus. But the Lord Jesus, in answer, says, Thus it becomes us to fulfil all righteousness. And I think what we can say is that in being baptised, the Lord Jesus was baptised unto John. In other words, he identified himself with that message which John brought. And I trust we know something of that already. John the Baptist was the one who prepared the way for the coming of the Lord Jesus. And John's message was that the nation had need of repentance. And that was a matter that, of course, the Lord Jesus could identify with without any contradiction as to his person. He had, of course, no need of repentance. But he identified himself with the truth that the nation needed to repent. And so, without any inconsistency, the Lord Jesus was baptised with John's baptism. And John, in his preaching, he mentions another baptism that the Lord would bring or introduce, and that's the baptism with the Holy Ghost, verse 11. So now we have yet another type of baptism. I'm hoping you're keeping a note of these variations. We said also, one of the statements I made was that baptism is in view of living here on earth. And do you not think it's remarkable that following the Lord's baptism, we read, he went up straightway out of the water and the heavens opened and the Spirit of God descended like a dove. We know that following the Lord's baptism, this was the start of his earthly ministry. And is this not then consistent with the statements that we've made already? In view of living here on earth and serving on earth, at the beginning of his earthly ministry, the Lord was baptised. Could there be any man more suited or fitted for heaven than the Lord Jesus? When he came, was he not suited for heaven? Of course, there could be no one more suited. So, in no way was baptism in view of his going into heaven. He was already suited to be there. That's from where he came. And I trust we might just see this distinction. That the baptism is not in regard to heaven, but in regard rather to living on earth. Well, turn now to John's Gospel, and again the third chapter. John chapter 3, and now we'll read from verse 22 and we'll go into chapter 4. John 3, verse 22. After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea. And there he tarried with them and baptised. And John also was baptising in Anon, near to Salem, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptised. But John was not yet cast into prison. Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. And it came unto John and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptiseth, and all men come to him. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He that cometh from above is above all. He that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth. He that cometh from heaven is above all. And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth, and no man receiveth his testimony. He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God. For God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though Jesus himself baptized not but his disciples. I would like us to look carefully at the last few verses of chapter 3, because we're going to see elsewhere another verse, and we need to bear this in mind. The Father loves the Son, and hath given all things unto his hand. He that believeth on the Son has everlasting life. And he that believes not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. If we want a verse that deals with the matter of heaven, this is it. So let us be very clear that when we're talking about the salvation of a soul in regard to eternity, this is the matter that covers it. He that believes on the Son has eternal life. On the other hand, he that believes not the Son is already condemned, and God's wrath, it stays on him. So, verse 6 says nothing of baptism. And that's because baptism has nothing to do with the matter of eternity, or the salvation of a soul in regard to eternity. Let's be very clear about that. So, in this portion we saw how John continued baptizing, and now we have the Lord Jesus baptizing. But we're told very expressly in chapter 4 and verse 2 that Jesus himself didn't baptize, but his disciples. So, I think we can derive from that this important matter. To whom were the disciples of the Lord Jesus baptized when his disciples baptized them? It wasn't to John, but rather to the Lord Jesus. I think this is right. The Lord Jesus himself didn't baptize because he was the one unto whom those being baptized were being baptized. The disciples baptized those that came, and they baptized them unto Jesus himself. And so, now, all our verses, they're maintaining consistency with the statement we've made that baptism is always unto something or someone. Okay, now we need to turn back to Matthew, and this time to the end, chapter 28. And now, we're going to see a matter which I'm going to describe as the commission of baptism given to the twelve, or rather by this time the eleven, of course, because Judas has dropped out of the scene. And I would suggest that the disciples, their commission was a baptism to disciple Gentile nations of identification with the remnant. And this is something not yet fulfilled. We'll see why in a minute. The commission to the twelve was not from heaven, but from Galilee. It was from a risen Lord, but not yet ascended Lord. Although I think in one of the Gospels, it's as the Lord ascends. But certainly, it's not out of heaven. The commission was not sent from heaven, but from Galilee. And the commission to bring the nations into connection with an accepted remnant of Jews on earth. And so let's read now just two verses in Matthew 28, verses 19 and 20, the last two verses. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age, rather than world, which is a more precise translation. So, the disciples were to go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, unto the end of the age. And I suggested that this is a commission that's not yet been fulfilled. And I suggest also that it will be in a coming day. And so this is really a distinction from the baptisms we've seen already. This commission was not to the Jewish nation, which was really, John the Baptist's focus was on the Jewish remnant. These disciples are now told to teach and baptize all nations and to bring them under the sway of the revelation of God that the Lord Jesus as Son himself brought the revelation of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But this was never completed. And we might just turn now to Galatians chapter 2. I make no apologies for making us dig into God's Word because really, there can be no better way of dealing with any subject than to appeal to the scriptures themselves. So Galatians chapter 2 and verse 7. But contrary-wise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, and this is Paul speaking, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter, for he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles. And when James, Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the heathen and they unto the circumcision. So it seems that whilst having been commissioned to go and teach and baptize all nations, that here in this portion in Galatians, they've really given that up now into the apostles' hands. And he was the one who went to the Gentiles. And we read that they unto the circumcision. And we know that these apostles, they remained at Jerusalem when there was the first scattering. We don't make any comment as to the likeness or otherwise of that, but nevertheless, it seems a fact. So rather than going and fulfilling the commission, they seem to have given this matter over to Paul, who now took the wonderful truth to the Gentiles. And we've said already that Paul was not sent to baptize. He had revelation in regard to a much wider sphere and a higher matter of things. The Lord's Supper and Christ and the church. And so it seems rather interesting to me to take note of this, that the commission to go to all nations was given into the hands of one who was not sent to baptize. So I suggest that what we see at the end of Matthew's gospel, we can say as a special commission, was not completed and has not yet been fulfilled, but will be. And bear in mind that when the Lord comes in glory with his saints to establish the millennial reign, prior to that, there will be this wonderful work among the nations in the preaching of the remnant, the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom. And we know that in a coming day, all the nations of the earth will recognize the special place that the nation of Israel has in regard to the blessing of God. They will follow the Jew. They will go up to Jerusalem. Nations that do not send delegates to go up to Jerusalem, they will have reign withheld. And I suggest you want to do some further study. You look into prophetic scripture and I think you'll see then, in a coming day, the fulfillment of the commission given to the disciples at the end of Matthew. Preach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Okay, now Mark's gospel and chapter 16. Mark's gospel, chapter 16, and we'll read from verse 14. Help if I'm in Mark, I'll just turn to Luke. Mark 16 and verse 14. Shall be damned or is condemned already. Okay, this is, I think, another portion that comes at the end of the gospel. This I would link with what we've just read in Matthew 28. Here it's clearly the 11 and the commission is to go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Now, take notice of that. To every creature. I think we must link this with a commission not yet fulfilled, but one which will be in a coming day. What I wanted us to notice very especially is the order of things in verse 16. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believes not shall be condemned. Take note of the order, please. Firstly, believe. Secondly, baptized. Thirdly, saved. Believed, he that believes and is baptized shall be saved. So we have here a very clear verse that confirms what we've said, that baptism is unto something. And here we have salvation following baptism. But we've already said, haven't we, at the end of John's gospel, that in regard to the salvation for eternity, he that believes on the Son has eternal life. He that believes not the Son, the wrath of God abides on him. So two things are possible. Either the scripture is wrong here, or the order is wrong, or there's another explanation. And I'm quite certain that the Holy Spirit was not mistaken or at fault in inspiring the writers of the scriptures to have the verse as we have it. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved. So there's nothing wrong with the order. I think the explanation is that this salvation is not what we would speak of as the salvation spoken of in John's gospel. It is not now the saving of a soul for eternity, but this is a matter of what is outward or administrative. And so in regard to the gospel of the kingdom and in a coming day, in regard to living on earth and God's dealings with men and the blessings that are to be received, the salvation is consequent upon believing and being baptized. In other words, those that believe and accept as a profession the lordship of Christ will be blessed. They will be saved in regard to the administration of things on earth. On the other hand, those that don't believe are already condemned because that's the starting point. We're all dead in trespasses and sins. And if we don't believe, then the wrath of God remains on us. We're condemned already. And so baptism is neither here nor there. If we don't believe, the absence or presence of baptism has nothing to add. So the order here, he that believes and is baptized shall be saved. And so we must conclude that this can't be the salvation that we look for when we say a person is saved, they are a believer in the lord Jesus, they have now eternal life. This is something to do with rather their position on earth. And it follows the taking a place of profession of accepting the lordship of Christ, which is the result of believing the preaching of the gospel. Now we can turn to the book of the Acts, and we'll come to another form of baptism. Acts chapter 1 and verse 5. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. Chapter 2 and verse 1. When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues, and the Spirit gave them utterance. This is the baptism of the Holy Spirit spoken of by John in regard to the coming of the Lord Jesus. And this now is something quite different from the other baptisms we've read of. This is the work of the Holy Spirit forming on earth the body of Christ. It's the inaugural setting up of the church. And when a believer, when a sinner believes on the Lord Jesus and is saved for eternity, has eternal life, at this point those that took such a place were formed into one body by the action of the Holy Spirit coming upon them. And this coming was accompanied by signs which were especially pertinent to the Jew, and it's a subject for another time. We don't want to go too much into it. But this is the baptism of the Holy Spirit of which, or the unity of which, the Lord's Supper is a figure and not baptism. And we'll just go on into chapter 2, verse 38. Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now, here I would say we have a, not another baptism as such, but a different focus in regard to Paul's speaking of it. When Paul speaks of baptism, as he does here, I suggest what we have in view is this. A saving in the form that we had at the end of Mark, a saving administratively on earth, a saving, a washing away of sins as a sign. And Paul's approach seems to be to the Jews, the Jewish nation, it seems to be this. You Jews have crucified Christ whom God has raised and exalted. So repent and be baptized for the remission of sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And in this way, it seems to be, Paul seems, Peter seems to connect it with the kingdom of heaven. So, in these verses, Peter says, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. So, the baptism was to take place and following that, there would be remission of sins and they would receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Now, remember when the Jews crucified the Lord, they really said, well, let this thing be on our heads and on the heads of our children. And so, they brought on themselves the condemnation of God because they were the ones that crucified the Messiah. And that same one whom they crucified, God has now raised up and exalted. And Peter says to them, you have to judge that matter, you have to distance yourself from that company that rejected their Messiah. And the way you do that is by baptism. In other words, by acknowledging, identifying yourself now with that risen and exalted Christ, the one whom you crucified. And if you do that, you clear yourselves in regard to the earthly position of your association with a nation that crucified Christ. And as a consequence of clearing yourself, there is administratively remission of sins and the promise of the Holy Spirit. Now, I suggest that this is quite a different approach that we would have today. When we preach and we speak of baptism, we are not coming at it from this angle. And I think it's right, therefore, to say that we have a different aspect of baptism as far as Peter is concerned. Okay, we must move on because time is not on our side. In chapter 3 of Acts, verse 14. But ye denied the Holy One and the just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses. And his name, through faith in his name, hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know. Yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. And now, brethren, I want that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. But those things which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you. Again, I suggest that what we have here is this special approach of Peter to the Jews, that at this transitional point in Acts, they've not yet completely rejected Christ. There's still, you might say, potentially a possibility that they would receive their Messiah. So, Peter's approach is that, well, if you are converted, then the Lord Jesus will come again. He shall send Jesus Christ, which was preached unto you, and there'll be times of refreshing. So, he's taking a particular view in regard to dispensational truth, we might say. And this, I think, is Peter's approach. So, what we have here, really, in Peter is John the Baptist's baptism in principle. This was what John, his baptism of repentance was to a nation who ought to repent from their sins and receive their Messiah. And if they'd done that, they would have been brought into blessing. And, really, what we have here in Peter is, in principle, the subject matter of John's baptism of repentance. Well, chapter 8, now, of Acts. Acts 8, and we read from verse 12. But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also. And when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. Now, when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John, who, when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost. For as yet, he was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. They laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Now, I read this because it's a word of caution. It's often insisted upon in what people refer to as believers' baptism, a phrase that we don't really get in Scripture. Here we have a preaching, verse 12, when they believed Philip, they were baptized both men and women. In verse 13, we have then Simon himself believed also, and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip. Now, I just bring this out because it's a cautionary matter. And it highlights really what do we mean when we say believed. It's clear that Simon's baptism followed belief, and it certainly was a matter of profession. But insofar, we might say, how far did it go? It's a question. And what it shows is that in regard to baptism, it's a matter of profession. And that's all we can go on. We cannot see into the heart of somebody. We rely on their profession. And baptism is something which is connected with profession. And it seems as if the apostles, there's no condemnation of them here for baptizing Simon. He professed, he believed, and he professed, and it was quite in order that he was baptized. But, you see, certainly what followed was not commendable. And so this would link really with the word of John the Baptist to those Pharisees and Sadducees that come. He said, who told you to flee from the wrath to come? Go forth and produce fruits worthy of repentance. We might just read now, because we're going to have to skip some of the verses, I think, in view of time. Verse 34, chapter 8. The eunuch answered Philip and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet? This of himself or of some other man? And Philip, opening his mouth and beginning from that scripture, announced the glad tidings of Jesus to him. And as they went along the way, they came upon a certain water. And the eunuch says, behold water, what hinders my being baptized? And he commanded the chariot to stop. And they went down both to the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. I've read from Mr. Darby's translation, because in the authorized, we have a verse in verse 37 that has no authority. And we need to notice that, you can look into that yourself. But, you know, this verse, I think, tells us that baptism is a privilege desired and conferred. If it was a matter of obedience or command, then the eunuch's question would be completely irrelevant. Here is water, what does hinder me to be baptized? Well, if it's a command, there's no question. But, you see, the eunuch understood that there was some privilege or blessing to be received. And so he says, what hinders me? There's no hindrance. And so they both went down into the water. Acts chapter 9 and verse 18. And with this we must close. Taking up just before the end of where we left off. I want to read Acts chapter 9. And we'll read from verse 17. Acts 9 and verse 17. And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house, and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes, as it had been scales, and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. Now, with this we should read chapter 22. Because although it's jumping ahead in the book, it's Paul's recollection of this incident. So Acts 22 and verse 16. This is Paul recollecting what Ananias said. Ananias said to Paul, and now why tarryest thou? Rise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. So here we can see that Ananias is really approaching the matter of baptism from the same point of view as Peter. He's directing his thoughts to Saul. We know he was a godly and devout Jew, a Pharisee of the Pharisees. We might say completely representative of the Jewish nation, who in their hardness of heart had rejected their Messiah and crucified the Lord Jesus. So from that point of view, Ananias, like Peter, his message was to Paul, at this point Saul, Be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. Bear in mind that Saul had a reputation, and Ananias was very fearful when first told to go to Saul. But this Saul is one well known to be a persecutor of believers. And Saul, insofar as his testimony on earth, had to disassociate himself from what he once was. A persecutor of the Lord Jesus, by persecuting those who were believers of the Lord Jesus. That was his reputation, publicly. And he had to demonstrate that he had put that behind him once and for all. In being baptized, he thus, as Ananias said, washed away his sins. Not, we would say, as we understand from God's side, in regard to eternal salvation. That, of course, is a consequence of trusting in the Lord Jesus as Saviour. But nevertheless, it was necessary, for an outward testimony, that Saul set aside his former reputation, and this is what he did. So, here we see Ananias taking up the matter of baptism in the same way that we've seen Peter do in the early parts of Acts. OK, so we go back now in Acts to chapter 13. We'll just go through the book of Acts in order. Chapter 13, and now verse 24. When John had first preached, before his coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. So this single verse is one we want to use to back up what has been said already. That John's baptism was a baptism of repentance aimed at, focused on, the nation of Israel. So, to Jews, John's message was, repent of your sins, be baptised unto repentance. So, in this verse, John first preached, before his coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. Now, chapter 16. And these next three references are grouped together in my thoughts. Chapter 16 and verse 15. Verse 14 says there's a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple. We'll read all the verse. Of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptised, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there. And she constrained us. Verse 30. This is the Philippian jailer. He brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of that night, and washed their stripes, and was baptised he and all his straight way. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. And he could, in Mr Dardis' translation, read, And having brought them into his house, he laid the table for them, and rejoiced with all his house, having believed in God. Chapter 18, verse 8. And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptised. Now, all I want to remark on in regard to these verses is that what we have here is, I believe, a principle that we find established from the very beginning. That it's God's desire to save households. This goes right against the thoughts and orders of this day. The family unit is at the centre of God's thoughts in regard to men and women. He established this from the beginning. It's God's principle that the best place for children to be born and brought up is in a family setting. One man, one woman and children. The household. Nowadays, we're told, this is all very old-fashioned. And we don't need it. Households, families can be made up in any way you like. Two men, two women. We can live in communes, groups. The state is as well able to bring up children as a family. This is the sort of message we're bombarded with these days. But God and the Scripture says no. From the beginning, I have set up as a basic unit the family. And we find that all through Scripture. We find it in regard to the Old Testament. The setting up of a household. What God connects with a man, he connects with his house. And there's blessing and there's authority to be enjoyed. And we do well to stick within the confines. What I'm saying here, and I'm only wanting to go this far, is that it's God's intention that there's blessing in the making and bringing up of Christian households. All of us here are here not as individuals, although we are all here as individuals, but we're here as part of our various households. And the reason we're here as households is a practical demonstration of the principles of which we read in this chapter. Now, of course, it's a happy thing when an individual is converted. And it sometimes happens. And we're told that God has set the solitary in families. And it's because of this reason that the family unit is the place of nurture and enjoyment of blessing. And so what we see here is that the Lord is not indiscriminately seeking to save just individuals in isolation. In other words, he didn't just desire to save Lydia and Crispus and the Philippian jailer and leave the rest of them to their own devices. No. In saving Lydia, he had in view that all her household would be blessed. And it's a very happy thing to see we have a household headed up by a sister, and households headed up by two brothers, Crispus and the Philippian jailer. So let us rejoice in this principle and go on desiring to maintain and encourage this very matter, that God seeks to draw out for himself in this world Christian households in which there is blessing in being under the lordship of Christ. Acts 19, verses 1 to 7. It came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts, came to Ephesus finding certain disciples. He said unto them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptised? And they said unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptised with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them, and they spake with tongues and prophesied, and all the men were about twelve. Now this is a very remarkable account. It's a special case. It's, we might say, an exception to the general rule. And it's brought in, I think, to help us understand in a dispensational way the way in which blessing is and has gone out beyond the Jews, bringing in the Gentiles, the Samaritans, and every tribe and tongue in principle. And just two things we want to notice here. Firstly, these were twelve certain disciples, and they had been baptised unto John. And on hearing this, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. And this shows us what we've seen already, that John's baptism, a baptism unto repentance, must be of a different kind to the other baptisms we've been seeing, what we might say Christian baptism as such. And that's really what particularly I want to draw attention to. The necessity that these twelve should be baptised unto the Lord Jesus, because hitherto they'd only been baptised to John's baptism. But another remarkable thing we must just take note of is that here they were baptised first, and subsequently the Holy Spirit came upon them. And one thing we might just mention or comment as a result is that this, I think, shows us that baptism is a matter connected with our position on earth, and not a vital matter connected with matters of eternity. Because otherwise we would have to conclude that this was out of order, or that it is necessary to be baptised first before we receive the Holy Spirit. And we know elsewhere, and we will see, that in fact the reverse is true in other cases. So what we're seeing here is a distinction between the matter of baptism and the matter of what we would say eternal salvation. One is in view of our earthly position, and one is in view of our heavenly or spiritual eternal position. We'll move now to Romans, and we've said already that Paul's writings, he takes up baptism in a different way, certainly from John, and his approach to it is different from the way in which Peter takes it up, and Ananias has taken it up. For Paul, we've said baptism is a picture, it's related to death and burial. And it doesn't really get any further than that, perhaps with a slight exception in Colossians, as we'll see. Here in Romans 6 we read, Therefore we are buried with him, Christ, by baptism unto death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. So Paul is now, he's come, he finds believers who have been baptised, and we don't know the circumstances of their baptism. They could have been in varying different companies that we've seen examples of in Acts. But nevertheless, he takes them up as he finds them, and he says, As many as have been baptised unto Christ Jesus, this is Christian baptism, have been baptised unto his death. So this verse establishes what we've said already, baptism is always unto something or someone, and in Paul's taking up the matter, it speaks of death and burial. 1 Corinthians. First chapter, 1 Corinthians 1. Verse 14. I thank God that I baptised none of you but Christmas and Gaius, lest any should say that I had baptised in mine own name. And I baptised also the household of Stephanus. Besides, I know not whether I baptised any other. So this verse, in reading it, we notice that Paul was not sent to be baptised. He did baptise one or two, not very many. That wasn't his purpose in coming, because had it been otherwise, it may have been viewed that he was making disciples of himself. And that wasn't his purpose. For Christ sent me not to baptise, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. And we can just notice also, in verse 16, he mentions having baptised the household of Stephanus. So again, we see this lovely principle that God's blessing is not just with the individual. The object of God's heart is that the household might come into blessing too. Chapter 12. And verse 13. For by one spirit are we all baptised into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. Now, we just noticed this verse, because we've said already that water baptism, the Christian baptism, has nothing to do with the body, with the church as such, with heavenly matters, but rather things on earth. And the baptism that does affect the body and heavenly things is the baptism of the spirit. The work of the spirit, that which we saw in the beginning of Acts. By one spirit are we all baptised into one body. And membership in Scripture, we never read of membership of the church. It's always membership of the one body. And it's not our doing. We don't apply to become a member of the church that such a concept is unknown in Scripture. Neither do we do anything, we don't apply to become a member of the body. We are members of the body if we're truly a believer in the Lord Jesus. Why so? Because we have been made so by the work of the spirit. The Holy Spirit baptised all into one body. It's his work, and it's not affected by our responsibility or our failure. And as such, it's a completely different matter from the matter of water or Christian baptism that we're looking at. And the figure, as we've said, of this matter is not baptism, but the Lord's Supper. When we remember the Lord, we have the Lord's Supper. This is dealing with this matter of there being one body and one fellowship. Chapter 15. Now again, this is a different matter which we need to cover to be complete in our dealing with the subject. Chapter 15 and verse 29. Else what shall they do which are baptised for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptised for the dead? And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? We need to read this verse and comment on it because it's often misunderstood. And you may hear baptism of the dead or for the dead spoken of as if it's something separate matter in itself. And the explanation is very simple. This is not a special type of baptism. For example, if a believer has died and was never baptised, some suggest that other believers were baptised in their place. Well, that's not a scriptural practice and it's not what's referred to or intended here. What is referred to as baptism for the dead or baptism for the dead? It's this. Individuals believe on the Lord Jesus and are baptised. They take place publicly in the profession of Christendom. And in a time of persecution, there's suffering and there's persecution. And if such a believer should die, fall asleep in Lord Jesus, be taken out of the company of Christians on earth, what happens as it did in this place and it does now? Well, other ones, there are new converts to take their place. And the idea is, as Paul's saying, look, if there's no such thing as resurrection, why is it that when some Christians die, others are willing still to become Christians and to take their place? Why would they do that if there's no advantage, if there is no such thing as resurrection? Why is it that there are these new recruits coming in to take the place, to fill the empty seats, as it were, of believers who've died and gone to be with the Lord Jesus? And it's really emphasising the truth, the necessity of the truth of resurrection. Why would new converts fill up the ranks of those who've died in the Lord if the dead rise not at all? Why then are they baptised for the dead or in place of the dead? So this is, it's really a reference to the same baptism, Christian baptism we've seen. We know that like an army, you know, if there's an army in conflict and soldiers fall, well, new recruits are sent to fill up the ranks and so it is in the things of the Lord. Believers die and go to be with the Lord Jesus and there are young ones coming up in the faith, new converts. So the numbers of the Lord's own are being maintained and supplemented in this way. And so if someone is baptised as a new convert, in this sense they're now baptised in the place of those who are no longer alive. Nothing more complicated than that. Galatians 3. Verse 27. For as many of you as have been baptised unto Christ have put on Christ. Very simply, this is in line with Paul's way of taking up baptism. That when we're baptised unto Christ, we put on Christ. This is outwardly. We profess now to be Christ's. We're taking, it's like putting on a uniform really that says now we're Christ's. When we're baptised as an outward profession, we're now wearing the badge of being Christ's. And it's an outward thing, not an inward thing. Otherwise, we would have to understand that in being baptised in this way, we take on the new life of Christ. And we know that that is a work of God and it's not linked. It's not the result of water baptism. Being baptised unto Christ, outwardly we put on Christ. Colossians 2. And verse 12. Buried with him in baptism, in whom ye have been also raised with him through faith of the working of God who raised him from among the dead. This verse, again, Paul's way of taking it up. Baptism, as far as Paul is concerned and teaching us, is burial. We are buried with Christ in baptism. And I've read from Mr Darby's translation and there he, in the text, it says in which ye have been also raised. But in his notes, he suggests an alternative translation is in whom. And I think that's more accurate because our burial is in baptism unto Christ. But our being raised up is not a consequence of baptism. It's a consequence of being associated with Christ. Our being raised into newness of life is a work of the Lord Jesus. And so what Paul's saying is outwardly we're buried with him in baptism. And this one unto whom we're baptised, he's the one in whom we have also been raised through faith of the working of God. Right, we're getting to the end. We'll be pleased to know one Peter in chapter 3. One Peter chapter 3, verse 21. Speaking of the few that with Noah were in the ark, he says, eight souls were saved through water. Which figure also now saves you, even baptism? Not a putting away of the filth of flesh, but the demand as before God of a good conscience. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us. Not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We've read that from Mr Darby's translation and the authorised. Another verse, because of course this is Peter, this aligns with what we've said. The way Peter takes up baptism and speaks of it to his audience. Primarily Peter was addressing converted Jews. You see he, you'll remember, he spoke of it as clearing themselves of their association with a company that had rejected and crucified their Messiah. And so he says this baptism is a figure, it does also now save us. Not, of course, the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but it doesn't save us as we save for eternity. This is not soul salvation, but nevertheless it saves us. How does it save? By clearing us from what we were once associated with, a company that had rejected and crucified the Lord Jesus. And so he has this particular focus, primarily to the nation of Israel, that they must distance themselves and that's what baptism does. And what we're saying is that baptism, Christian baptism, water baptism, it does something. It's important because it does something, if we don't do it, we don't undergo it, we're not in the good of what it does. But what it does is connected with our earthly position, not with our eternal state. The thief on the cross, for instance, had no need of baptism. I know it was before the church was established, but the Lord could say to him, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. He wasn't going to be on earth for more than an hour or so. He had no need of baptism. He was as ready for heaven as any could be. And this is the wonderful thing. Our heavenly portion is by faith and trust in the personal work of the Lord Jesus. And the work of God in our hearts and souls saves us from our sins, makes us fit for eternity. We're sealed by the Holy Spirit and we're ready, if the Lord were to come, we'd be ready to see him face to face. But while we're left down here on earth, it's right that we proclaim publicly our position. This is what Christian baptism does. It sets us on a right course as regard our position. Just three more points to cover because this will bring us hopefully full circle and we'll see the link. I'm going to ask a question now and I'm going to warn you in advance that you may find it a strange question. Before you react violently, let me get to the end. How does one become a Christian? Answer, by baptism. Now you're thinking, hang on a minute, that's not what you've said from this platform. That's not what I understand from the scriptures. Well, when I say, how do you become a Christian? I'm being very specific. I didn't say, like the Philippian jailer, what must I do to be saved? I wasn't asking that question. If I asked you that question, the answer would not be by being baptised. No, the answer would be by believing on the personal and the work of the Lord Jesus and so on. We're so familiar with this phrase Christian that I wonder whether we really think about its scriptural import. I'll ask you another question. How many times... I mean the Bible must be full, surely, of the word Christian. It must be mentioned all the time because surely it's full of Christian truth. How many times does the word Christian appear in our Bibles? Well, it depends what translation you use, firstly. The answer is either three or four. But if you can count four, you'll notice that one of those is in brackets. It's only added to make the sense. Let's read the three, only three occurrences of the word Christian. Acts 11. Well, they're familiar verses. Acts 11, verse 26. It's where we're told the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. So the believers had a reputation in Antioch and that was the first place that they began to be called, by others, notice, Christians. The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. Then in Acts 26, verse 28, Paul has come before King Agrippa and King Agrippa says, Almost you persuade me to become a Christian. And lastly, in 1 Peter 4, verse 16, Peter says, But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet, if any suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf. So, you see, Paul, Peter's there saying, if anyone suffer as a Christian, in other words, because he's known to be a Christian, and he bears the reproach of the Lord, if you and I suffer because of that, let us not be ashamed. If we suffer the reproach of the world because we're doing something wrong, then it's our own fault. But Peter's saying, if it's because of your testimony as a believer in the Lord Jesus, then don't be ashamed. So those are the only three occurrences of the word Christian. And you'll notice that when you read the beginning of any letter in the New Testament, it's not addressed to the Christians at Corinth, or Ephesus, or Philippi, it's to the saints, or to the believers. And in the New Testament, believers on the Lord Jesus are referred to as saints, brethren, the Lord's own, his sheep, and so on. In other words, what I'm saying is, the word Christian, though so very familiar to us, and we will say, yes, I'm a Christian, where do you go? I go to that Christian assembly, or I'm reading a Christian book. The point is that its focus is on an outward testimony to the world, who are not the Lord's. What they see, as we say in Christendom, is Christianity or not. So when I ask the question, how does one become a Christian? What I'm saying is, what is it that we do that the world can see? Because the world can't look into our hearts and know whether we're truly a believer in the Lord Jesus or not. Hopefully it can see our fruits. But what is it that the world can take account of? Well, it's our profession. And the way in which we become a Christian outwardly, the way in which the scriptural way, the formal and orderly way we take up this course, is through baptism. Now, you'll then say, well, what about those that are baptised, call themselves Christians, but are not truly saved? Well, I want to just turn our thoughts now to the end of Matthew, Matthew 24. Matthew 24 and verse 45. Let's read from verse 44. Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But, and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delayeth his coming, and he shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken, the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. So, we're now looking not at the church, but we're looking at Christendom. In which, under that banner of being a Christian, there are both true and false believers. Believers that possess life, and those that only profess life. And there's the faithful servant, and the wicked servant. And the wicked servant is clearly not a believer, because when the Lord comes, his portion is with the hypocrites, and as a consequence there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Clearly this is the judgement of the unbeliever. But the point is this. There are two things that are true of both these servants. They both have a Lord, and the Lord in both cases calls them my servant. And that's how it is. Whether or not you're a true believer, if you take the place outwardly of the Christian testimony, through baptism, which is the scriptural and formal and orderly way, into the outward form, you would say the house, the great house, in which there are vessels to honour and dishonour. If any have taken such a position, then the Lord holds them responsible. So they've called him Lord, they've taken on themselves that outward position, they've been in the place of profession, they've been in the place of outward blessing, but with that comes responsibility. And so when the Lord comes, he treats them as his servant, because they've taken that place. And he holds them responsible in the same way that the faithful servant is responsible. And they have called him Lord. Of course we know elsewhere that there are those that say, Lord, Lord, open to us, and he says, I never knew you. This is the eternal matter. The Lord knows those who are his. But as far as the outward position is concerned, we have just this outward profession. The place we take is through baptism. So it's a matter of responsibility, a matter of solemnity. But this is why I say, how do we become a Christian? Through water baptism. We may be a true believer, and if we've not yet been baptised, then we're not formally in the place of Christendom outwardly. On the other hand, there are many who are in that place, but they're not true believers. So this is why we desire to be consistent and to see these two side of things. So, our last point is, as to the mode and formula. What does the scripture say as to how should baptism be administered? And what does it say in regard to the terminology, the words that are used? Well, at the end of Matthew, chapter 28, we've seen already that the commission was in verse 19. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And in Acts, all through the Acts, we've seen that they should be baptised unto the Lord, or in the name of the Lord. So, this brings us back to our starting verse, which was Ephesians 4, verse 5, where we're told there's one Lord, one faith and one baptism. In Christian things, the Christian testimony, there's one Lord. Well, we know actually there's more than one Lord, absolutely, because the scriptures say, My Lord said unto his Lord, speaking of King David speaking to Jehovah. Well, in this world, of course, there are many Lords. But for the believer on the Lord Jesus, we know there's only one Lord. There are many faiths in this world, many religions. So, it's not a statement of absolute. It's not saying absolutely there's only one Lord, one faith, one baptism. But in the context of Ephesians, saying in the matter of the Christian profession, there can't only be one Lord, because there can only be one Master. We can only serve God. We can't serve God and man, for instance. We can only serve one Lord. And there's only one faith. That's faith in the Lord Jesus as the Son, God's Lamb. Any other faith is of no importance and no account in things of Christ. And in the same way, there's only one baptism. And I say this because we may hear, or we may read, that certain people were baptised into the Church of England, or they were baptised into the Roman Catholic Church, or they were baptised into this or that. And the Scriptures are saying, well, there's only one baptism, and it's unto Christ. And so, as to the form of words, when we baptise, we baptise in the name of the Lord, or unto the Lord, and in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Because the names of God as revealed by the Son coming here, we now know God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is the revelation of God for the Christian, for the believer on the Lord Jesus. That's the testimony we've heard, and the only God the Christian accepts is the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And so we're baptised in that name of the Christian revelation, and unto the person of the Lord Jesus himself. So, that really is the formula. I wouldn't, myself, be over-anxious about saying this exact form of words must be used. As long as the general principle is understood, that we're being baptised unto the Lord Jesus, and in the belief and acceptance of the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The New Testament Christian revelation of God. I am persuaded that the mode of Christian baptism is by immersion in water. Because that is consistent with the figure of baptism. But I think more important that the mode is the person to whom we are baptised, as we've said already. We're baptised unto the Lord. And bear in mind, you might ask, those who are baptised unto Moses, how wet did they get? And the answer is, not at all. Because we read they went through the sea as on dry ground. And so while in every practical case where I have baptised someone, it's been accomplished by full immersion in water. But, we wouldn't say that if, for various reasons, that wasn't done, and there wasn't complete immersion, maybe it was only sprinkling. That, you know, doesn't invalidate the baptism. Because when the Lord came to that evil servant, he still accounted him as his servant, and he had still claimed him as Lord. So, if the position is taken up, and especially if it's taken up bona fide, in good faith, then before God and the world, it's proper and valid baptism. It's always good to fulfil the principle and the type as far as possible. But, if what we might feel is not quite the right circumstances pertained, then there's no need for it to be repeated. Because the most important thing is the taking of the place in this great house of Christendom, being baptised unto the Lord in the acknowledgement of the revelation of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So, there's one baptism. I don't think God, that's how God sees it. If there's been Christian baptism, under whatever circumstances, that's it. God takes account of it. And there's required responsibility. And so, we just make that point as a word of warning or caution that the best thing is for us to be in the good of the baptism we've undertaken, if we have been baptised. The most important thing is, well, are we in the good of it? And as John the Baptist said to those coming, to the Pharisees, who told you to flee from the wrath to come? Go forth and produce fruits appropriate to repentance. And so that would be the positive thing we would encourage one another. If we've taken the place outwardly of being under Christ, then we have a wonderful sphere of spiritual blessing to go in for. And that's the most important thing, because that's spiritual and it's eternal. But, of course, there are these matters that are related to earth and are nevertheless important. So, one faith, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. The Lord takes account of it. And the most important thing is it's our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, unto whom we're baptised in that full and wonderful revelation of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I wonder if, in closing, we can sing the hymn 483. This hymn, I believe, was written by Mrs. Trench, the wife of James Trench of Dublin, written for her own baptism. So it's an appropriate hymn to sing. 483. The Lord is risen. The Red Sea's judgment flood is passed in Him who bought us with His blood. The Lord is risen. We stand beyond the doom of all our sin through Jesus' empty tomb. 483. The Lord is risen. The Red Sea's judgment flood is passed in Him who bought us with His blood. The Lord is risen. We stand beyond the doom of all our sin through Jesus' empty tomb. The Lord is risen. With Him we also rose. And in His grave, save anguish of our foes, the Lord is risen beyond the judgment land. In Him with resurrection life we stand. The Lord is risen. Redeemed now to God. We tread the desert which His feet have trod. The Lord is risen. The sanctuary's our place. Where now we dwell before the Father's face. The Lord is risen. The Lord is gone before. We long to see Him and to sin no more. The Lord is risen. Our triumph shall be. Our house prevailed by people, Lord of three. …

… The hymn I should like us to commence with this evening is 337 in the Black Books, in the Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs. O God of grace, our Father, all praise to Thee we give. We might note the words of verse two also as we sing. There only is a fountain when still immortals go, which like a glorious river still gladdened as they go. As I now disclose from all eternity, my chosen ones ever kept present to my eye, and when worst came the moment, Thou called in by Thy grace, this gently fell before us, each from his hiding place. Why would I, self-relieving, thus sanctify thy truth? Still leading all my children with gentle heavenly roads, but still the work proceeds, the work begun by grace, for which is neat and training, Father, to see Thy face. When Nick was finishing speaking, three words came into my mind, to be continued, because it was evident to me, as I'm sure it was to you also, that the subject was not complete. And I thought to myself, will I rise to the challenge? Shall I say some words on baptism? And I might have had some interesting things to say, and some surprising things, startling things even to say. But I had to think of Mr. Darby, and the occasion when a lady approached him, and said to him, Mr. Darby, what does Mr. Wigram hold on baptism? Mr. Wigram had a different view on the subject, and Darby replied, Madam, he holds his tongue. So I'm going to hold my tongue and wait my turn on that subject, and instead speak to you about election. And for that I'd like to turn to 1 Peter chapter 1. And the first two verses of this epistle would be sufficient for my purpose. Verse 1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you, and peace be multiplied. Now, that is the opening salutation. That is the greeting, and immediately he speaks of these believers as being elect, which simply means chosen. They were specially chosen. The first thing I want to emphasize here tonight is the scope of this scripture. Because it carries us back into a past eternity, if we may use that expression. Because Paul, in writing to the Ephesians, tells us that we are chosen in Christ before the foundation of the earth. Here, before anything else happens, we're elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. And then certain consequences flow out of that. And in wishing these believers grace and peace, multiplied from God the Father, That multiplication of the grace and of the peace, coming from the character of an infinite God, can never know any end. It knows neither measure nor end. In Paul's line, it carries us up into the heavenly places. In Paul's mind, it carries us into the future eternity, when we will in actuality be before God the Father, in holiness, without blame. He tells us of that future realization, when we will be to the praise of his glory. And when in company with the Lord Jesus Christ, we will enjoy such rich privileges. And there's an inkling, there's a hint of that, in fact there's a proof of that, I think, in the fact that grace and peace are multiplied to us from God. He doesn't give with a beggarly, miserly hand. He gives abundantly. What blessing is ours, beloved? Maybe we have a very feeble apprehension of it at this present time. Maybe we don't enter into our blessings. Maybe we haven't possessed our possessions. In the language of Joshua, we may not yet have put our feet down upon the ground, but the whole land is there to be possessed. Brother Ernie Brown often said, if a thing's worth saying, it's worth repeating. And the Scottish brethren, in speaking about spiritual subjects, some of these things, which are ours experientially or experimentally, or that are given for our enjoyment, that practically we might seek to enter into them. They say, it's better felt than told. It's better felt than told. We can experience or feel the thing, even if we cannot adequately put into words the explanation of the thing. I was always taught that this is what the old Scottish brethren said, and then here didn't I discover it in one of the Puritan writers of former days of a few centuries ago. So you see, in divine truth, a thing that is worth saying is worth repeating. But my first point tonight is the largeness and the grandeur and the scope and the magnificence of the salvation which is ours in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. And it has its origin and its beginning in the heart of God that we are elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. Isn't that a wonderful thing? That God had thoughts of us before ever we had thoughts of him. That he saw us ruined in the fall and loved us not withstanding all. So we go back to a great God, a God who has set his love upon us. And that's the difference in the scope of this subject. As compared with baptism, which is something, as we've heard, that has to do with this earth. That is a positional thing, that is an introductory thing, that associates us externally with the Lord Jesus and with the Christian profession. Because we saw already in the scripture that was read from Acts that there were professors who had the privilege of Christian baptism conferred on them. Because make no mistake, it's a privilege. They had that privilege conferred on them and yet they didn't know the reality in their heart. We have to face that possibility. One Lord and one faith and one baptism, that's profession. Many people say the creed. Many people own the Lordship of Christ in name only. Who don't in this day sadly, in the current condition of things in the Christian profession, they don't have the reality in their hearts. Many people acknowledge the Christian faith. They'll be confirmed, or they'll have their first communion, or they'll say the confession. And nominally they say, oh yes, I adhere to the Christian faith as a body of doctrine, as a system of ideas. People can do that without having the reality in their heart. And baptism is an external right. It doesn't confer life. It's impossible that immersion in water, or sprinkling with water, or ablution and pouring of water, it's impossible that something external of that nature can produce an inward change. So in connection with the subject this afternoon, we were looking at the important matter of our place on earth. We're looking at that which is bounded by time. We're looking at that which in a certain point of view is something external. But tonight we're considering our privileges. We're considering the reality. What we are speaking about tonight is something that only a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, who has true faith in God, who has repented of his sins. Only those whom Peter speaks of as the elect, these are the ones who enter into that truth. And it's a wonderful, establishing thing to think of ourselves as God thinks about us. Now, these people to whom he wrote were sojourners of the dispersion, if we want to give it a literal translation. They were strangers scattered. Or as it might more literally be worded, the sojourners of the dispersion. They had been uprooted. They had been dispersed. They had been resituated. They had been moved out of their own country. Because he's speaking of the Jewish dispersion here. And he's naming the places in which through the persecution or the captivity or whatever the factors were. He's naming the places where they were found. And we can find these places in Annapolis, in Pontus, in Galicia, in Cappadocia, in Asia, in Bithynia. We can find those places. And the Jews were settled there. And actually, they probably considered themselves as a downtrodden people. And as a dispossessed people. And as a people who had been messed up by, if you go back far enough, by the Babylonians or in more recent times by the Romans. Or by the cut and thrust of the politics in which, in the day in which they lived. It was fun. And that gives people a certain mindset. Because I've been visiting amongst people who've been uprooted twice. First of all, from their own country in Bhutan. And then after 19 or 20 years, suddenly they were removed from Bhutan. And asked to find a new life in the United States of America. Sometimes in very different situations. And there's at least one person here this evening who will be able to tell you with me. But they don't look at things the way, their way of thinking and their way of looking at things. Somewhat different to the way you or I, with our upbringing culture, would look at things. And sometimes the decisions they take appear to us to be a bit strange. Well, be that as it may. Evidently, these people didn't have very much. Outwardly, I should think. They had suffered. They were no longer in their own land. No longer in comfortable surroundings. And we might say they had disadvantages in life. And yet they could look up to heaven. And they could say they were elect. They were chosen by God. Isn't that a comforting thought for each and all of us? Especially if we have to go through trial. Turmoil. Bereavement. Family problems. Work. Headaches. Moving from one place to another or from one country to another, you know. It's easy. It's easy to get despondent. And in this fast-moving age, where man is everything, and where we come across intellectuals, men of brilliant mental capacity, and we look at all the inventiveness of the wit of man, and we look at the information superhighway, and we find everything that's going on all around us. And sometimes it makes us feel very small. Very insignificant. Sometimes in turmoil. Sometimes feelings of low self-worth. Actually, when we read in the New Testament and Paul's epistles, we find that very many of the early Christians were slaves. They had nothing in this life. They had no rights. They had no property. No possessions. They were merely the goods, the chattels and possessions of someone else, who could be bought and sold at will, to such people who had nothing. God says, you're mine. You're my chosen one. He says, I've chosen you according to my own foreknowledge. I've introduced you through sanctification of the spirit into or onto certain things, and I'm multiplying grace and peace towards you. Now, if we could grasp that, I think it would be very helpful. In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul turns round to the Corinthians, and he says, You see your calling, brethren? That's brothers and sisters. He says, look at your standing in life. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 26. How that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God, you see it? You caught that? But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. I believe it was the Countess of Huntington or some such person, aristocratic lady, she said she was delighted that Paul said in these verses, God has not chosen many. He didn't say, I haven't chosen any. It doesn't say he hadn't chosen any from these more privileged classes, but it says he hasn't chosen many. So we're back here even in 1 Corinthians 1 with the choice of God. And that's a very comforting truth for us, that we have value to God. We're valuable to Him because He chose you. And He chose me, that we are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. That He put such value, infinite value on us, that He sent His Son, His well-beloved, only begotten, eternal Son, the Son of His bosom, to Calvary to offer Himself without spot to God in order that we might be redeemed and come into the good of all that God has purposed for us. That comes in under the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. So, it's a really encouraging thing. And incidentally, if we want to know that we are amongst the elect of God, we don't seek to look into the eternal councils of God and occupy ourselves with whether our name is in the ledger or if God has chosen us at a particular point in time. For us, that's not the road that we have to go down. We make our calling and election sure by assuring ourselves that we have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ. And if we know Him as our personal Saviour and have that faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we can be assured that we are His and that we are God's. On the divine side, John's Gospel emphasizes strongly the sovereignty of God. And in John's Gospel, there is the dealing with individuals. And in John's Gospel, we read, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. That's the Father's part. That's between the Father and the Son. There are those that are given of the Father to the Son. They're referred to in John 17, the men whom thou hast given me. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And then it says, And Him that comes to me. That's the open invitation. Whosoever will Him that comes to me. The Lord Jesus, who is God, the Son, says, Him that comes to me, I will not in any way, I will in no wise cast out. If you come to the Lord Jesus, in true penitence and in simple faith, confessing your sins, He said, Him that comes to me, I will in no wise cast out. That's the free offer of the Gospel. And yet, behind it lies this truth. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And Him that comes to me, I will in no wise cast out. So we need to hold the balance of the truth. But when we come to this, it's God that chooses, no question. And the order is this. We are elect onto obedience. We are elect. And as a consequence, we obey. It's clear in the order of the words here. Don't put them the wrong way around. Don't say we obey onto election. It doesn't say that. It doesn't say that our obedience leads to our election. It says that the election results in and leads onto our obedience. So that's the order. We are elect. We are chosen. And we are chosen onto obedience. And then it tells us how or why this election has come about. We're told that it is according to the foreknowledge of God. Now, what does that mean? According to the foreknowledge of God. I'll tell you first of all what I don't believe it means. I don't believe that it means that God looks down through the passage of time and he realizes that this one and that one and those here and those there will choose salvation and will choose the Lord Jesus Christ and based on that foreknowledge of their actions he then elects them. I don't believe that. And I'll tell you why. Because if that had been the case there would have been no one to choose. Because Paul is very clear. There's none righteous. There's not even a single one. The summary of man's plight the summary of man's ruin in Romans is given this capstone. This is the conclusion that Paul reaches in regard to the gospel. Romans is the gospel of God. And the grand conclusion that Paul reaches looking at the sinfulness of the human race and looking at all that has happened he says there's none Romans 3 verse 11 there's none that understands there is none that seeketh after God there's not one there's not a single one of Adam's ruined race who would have sought after God. Not one. Unless God worked by His Holy Spirit. So if God looking down through the passage of time was waiting for one of us to respond to the offer of the gospel we'd have turned our backs. We'd have spat in His face like those who crucified the Lord Jesus. We would have had no time and no place for Christ in our sinful human hearts. There's none that seeketh after God. And Paul follows it up later in the epistle he says the carnal mind the mind of the flesh what we are naturally it is enmity against God it is hatred of God. That was the background. So in order for a soul to respond to Christ was necessary that God in His grace and by His Spirit should take the initiative. After all if we are dead in trespasses and in sins we may be alive in our sins but Godwards we're dead. If we're dead there's no spiritual movement whatsoever towards God and it's necessary that life should be brought in and of His own will He begat us through the word of truth. Of His own will He caused us to live James say by the word of truth. It was God's will. It was of His own will. And here it says that we're begotten again onto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We don't born ourselves again. We've no control over our natural birth. We've no control over our spiritual birth. But if poor knowledge means that God looked down through the avenues in the vista of time and waited for us to respond there would not have been a response from any of us. So I don't think that that is what foreknowledge means. It's contradicted and confounded by other scriptures. But the second point is this. We're told in scripture that foreknowledge is a foreknowledge not of deeds and not of actions but it's a foreknowledge of persons. In Romans it says whom he foreknew them he also predestinated in that great chapter in Romans chapter 8. Whom he has foreknown he has also predestinated. It's not what he saw. It's not the actions. It's not the response that would come from us. It's whom. It's persons. It's naked election. It's bare election. It's a choice of persons based on the person and not on the action. And the Old Testament bears that out. Jacob have I loved. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. So when we read about God's foreknowledge our second point in regard to it is it's a foreknowledge not of things, not of actions not of possible responses but it's a foreknowledge of persons. It's a choice of persons. Because actually and this is the third point I want to stress in connection with foreknowledge that's actually the meaning of the Greek word. If you look this word up to foreknow or foreknowledge it's speaking of choice. If you look at Little and Scott if you look at a Greek lexicon you'll see the meaning of this word. And we may be thrown off track a little bit by the English translation of the word meaning knowing beforehand. Well of course God knows beforehand. How could he not know? God knows everything. About everything. And he knows it all beforehand. The present is as the past with him. He knows everything. But this is a special foreknowing. It's a special foreknowledge. It's a foreknowledge of individuals. It's tantamount to God's love or God's choice of individuals. And we see that in Amos. Chapter 3. In regard to Israel. It says you only have I known of all the families of the earth. God knew everyone. He knew all the families. He knew all the nations. But he chose the seed of Abram. Called Abram out of idolatry. And established his covenant with him. He knew Israel in a special way. And therefore he says I'll punish you for all your iniquities. They were God's earthly people. They were in a special relationship with God. And consequently as more responsible when they stepped out of line and transgressed the covenant. Then it says therefore I'll punish you for your iniquities. But the point I'm emphasizing here is you only have I known. This knowledge is speaking of special relationship. God knew everyone. But he knew Israel in a special way. And this foreknowledge means that God has a special take. Special account. Shows a special love. Enters into a special relationship with individuals. He says I've foreknown you. And actually we might illustrate it by going down 1 Peter chapter 1 to verse 20 where it speaks of Christ. And it says there who was foreordained or foreknown in the new translation it's the same word. He was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world. Now did God need to know beforehand if Christ was speaking reverently equal to the task? If he was willing to obey and go to the cross of Calvary as the Lamb without blemish and without spot. It would be a blasphemy even to think such a thing of our Lord Jesus Christ who was very God of very God of the essence and nature of the Father in the divine and ever blessed Trinity. The Father didn't need to work out or ascertain in advance or know beforehand whether Christ was willing to obey or not. It cannot carry that meaning. Christ was foreknown. Christ was chosen for that specific task because of his intrinsic worth and because of his personal excellence and he accomplished the work of redemption. We are foreknown not because of anything that we have in ourselves but because of the infinite grace and wisdom of God. The other thing here too which I have more or less indicated but I'll say it again this choice or election is personal. It's individuals because these were Jews who were scattered sojourners of the dispersion. In one sense they had they were part of God's chosen earthly people that already were part of the chosen people in that sense but this is a higher thing and a deeper thing and this is a personal choice which distinguished them from their fellow countrymen. How blessed a thing I say it again it is to see that we as individuals have value with God that God has set his love upon us individually and that we are objects of his sovereign electing love. This choice this election is according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and then the next stage of it is that it's through sanctification of the spirit through the setting apart of the spirit and then it's on to obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Generally when we think of sanctification we think of it as an ongoing thing in our lives as believers that we need to be sanctified that we need to be more holy that we need to be more conformed to the image of Christ and that it is progressive and that it is something which happens after we believe. Actually this sanctification here takes place before we obey we are set apart onto obedience this is the initial setting apart to God by the Holy Spirit This is how God works this is the effectual call. This is this is as far as the internal work is concerned I would correlate this with new birth with the conviction of sin with faith arising in the heart all this is through the initial work of the Holy Spirit. That's the order here it's not that we've believed and then we are sanctified it's that we are sanctified onto obedience and we don't often weigh these words we don't often put the subject in this context and see that there is a setting apart of the Holy Spirit that actually precedes our obedience and precedes our being brought under the blood into the good of Christ's work that's the order here. I just want you to note that the sanctification of the Spirit precedes the obedience that characterizes the Christian life and it precedes the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ we are set apart we're sanctified onto obedience and actually the obedience is linked with the word of Jesus Christ it's not just the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ but the thought is it's the obedience of Jesus Christ and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ the phrase of Jesus Christ qualifies the obedience also that's a very important thing for us as believers to notice the character of our obedience is to obey as Christ obey it's not a legal obedience it's not just a matter of keeping the law or keeping the ten commandments because the law it didn't give any object and it didn't give any power and with the flesh in us in law keeping as Paul illustrated we're bound to fail what Peter is setting before us is the character of the life of the Lord Jesus the one who said I do always those things that please the Father the one who said I delight to do thy will oh my God he had an object before him in God we have an object before us in God and in Christ and we're called on to obey as he obeyed and the life of the Lord Jesus as man delighted in doing the will of the Father his will and the Father's will ran in the same direction the problem when we seek to put ourselves under the law is that the law and our carnal desires they come into collision and then we find that we are lacking in power and that's a very important distinction like it's like this if I said to my son you're not to go out and play you're to stay at home and do your homework and he didn't want to stay at home and do his homework the command or the instruction and the will were in conflict we're saying one thing he's wanting to do another but if I said to him right off you go out you go and play some football well he's wanting to do that his will is to play football but the command the instruction is to go out and play football the two things are running in the same direction and that's how it was with the Lord Jesus Christ in regard to the will of his God and Father and Peter is saying something quite deep here which perhaps we don't often realize that the character of our obedience is the obedience of Jesus Christ that we're to walk as he walked that we're to obey as he obeyed that we have a new life that we have a new power the spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and death and that that obedience of ours is to take character from the obedience of Christ it's the obedience of Jesus Christ but we are elect we are chosen to obey as Christ obeyed that the obedience of Jesus Christ should be seen in our lives and that's one of the reasons that God has put his hand on us so to speak that's one of the reasons God has chosen us we know that it's for glory and we know that whom he justified in Romans chapter 8 whom he justified them he also glorified we know that it's seen as a complete process we know that in regard to election there are so many links in the chain right through to eternal glory yes we're chosen for glory and in 2nd Thessalonians in chapter 2 Paul says we're bound to give thanks always to God for your brethren beloved of the Lord because God has from the beginning it's God's work he's from the beginning he's chosen you to salvation so this choice is in regard to glory and this choice is in regard to salvation and incidentally the order in 2nd Thessalonians 2 verse 13 through sanctification of the spirit onto belief of the truth is the same order that we have here in 1st Peter that it's through sanctification of the spirit onto obedience onto belief of the truth and onto the sprinkling of Jesus Christ but the point here is that God has made a sovereign choice of us not only for glory and not only for our salvation eternal salvation but also that in the here and now while our feet are on this earth it is onto the obedience of Christ we obey as Christ obeyed and then it says that this setting apart of the Holy Spirit is onto this sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ and no doubt it's an allusion to Exodus chapter 24 where the Israelites were brought under the covenant and the blood was sprinkled upon them and on that occasion they committed themselves to something that they weren't able to do in the flesh they said all that the Lord has said will we do and be obedient they committed themselves to that they grievously failed in that and the blood of the animal was taken and sprinkled on the people Peter's saying in Christ we have a contrast to that the character of the obedience is different it's the obedience of Jesus Christ God has said through Peter I'll give you the power to obey and you're committed to that through the sprinkling or the aspersion of the blood of Jesus Christ and I'll just say in closing let's not lose the emphasis on the literal shedding of the blood of Christ as we sing in the hymns all our sins so great so many in his blood are washed away because you know you listen carefully you'll find certain brethren they say the blood of Christ that is the death of Christ and they correlate the death of Christ with the shedding of his blood but here it's speaking of the sprinkling of the blood in regard to the supper in Luke's account it's the blood of the new covenant which is poured out for you the blood was poured out in John's account when the Lord's side was pierced by the spear forthwith there flowed out blood and water we have the significance of that act given in 1st John this is he that came not by water only but by water and blood cleansing efficacy of Christ's death and the purifying efficacy of Christ's death through his blood so here it's speaking of the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ we're speaking of that which is precious to God we're speaking of that which has been applied to us it's the application of the blood the sprinkling of the blood would give that signification that we are under the application that we have the merits that we have the benefits of it and truly as we look at these things how blessed we are and so grace and peace may be multiplied to us but I say the reason that we enjoy these things is because we are God's elect we are his chosen one and if we value the blood of Christ and if we are trusting in Christ as our Saviour there need be no doubt in our minds that we are God's elect and you shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect as Christ that died and is risen and is now at God's right hand as we know he's the one who's coming again and so here based on his work God can say to us through Peter grace to you and peace be multiplied may we learn more of our privileged place even as individuals as dear to God so may we sing in closing hymn 318 O Lamb of God still keep us close to thy pierced side number 318 O Lamb of God still keep us close to thy pierced side is only there in safety and peace we can abide with those that stares around us and fills their air the grace that so confound us alone can keep us clean is only in abiding within ourselves secure only in the abiding the conflict can endure I know the victory gainer for every hateful thought triumph amongst us still endure behold their crest and glow soon soon shall arise behold thee they fracture face to face and rest in their glory we'll sing thy power thy grace thy beauty love and glory the wonders of thy love shall be the endless glory of all thy saints above …

… I would like this afternoon to speak about the Christians at Antioch. And I call them Christians because that was where the disciples were first called Christians. And if the timing of these events that we have in our Bibles and our Bible dictionaries is correct, that's now 1975 years ago. The people in this world have been known as Christians. And I suppose it's always good to look back to the beginning of something and to contrast with it where we are today. That we might be brought to a sense of our needs because we haven't been able to practice things just as we should have done. But also that we might cast ourselves upon the One, the Lord. The One who loves us, who gave Himself for us to help us to be what we should be in this world for Him until He comes to take us to be with Himself. Which I'm sure most of us realize is not very far off at all. So let's look at the first scripture which mentions this place, this church. And of course we're looking at the Book of Acts. And the first scripture I would like to read is in Acts chapter 6. And verse 5. And the same pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch, whom they set before the apostles. And when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them, and the word of God increased. And the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and the great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. We'll read the other scriptures as we come to them. Just a brief introduction to the subject of Antioch. It is a town which exists today, or a city. It's right up in the northeast corner of the Mediterranean. So it's really virtually on the border of Turkey and Syria, in the place where there's so much conflict at the moment. But the Antioch of old was a very great city. In fact, for some time, it was the third city in the Roman Empire, after Rome and Alexandria. It was a city that was considered to be very beautiful, in a very beautiful location. But, of course, all those details are not really so important for us this afternoon. We want to see what the scripture says about the believers who lived in Antioch. And the first one that's brought before us is someone who had lived in Antioch, and now lived in Jerusalem, and it's Nicholas. Now, Antioch means to drive against, and it may be linked with the thought of a chariot rushing into war. And certainly we're going to find that Antioch was a place from which the gospel, the truth of God, spread rapidly throughout this world. And Nicholas, well I should know this, shouldn't I? The meaning of Nicholas' name is conqueror of the people. And yet here in this scripture we find this particular Nicholas, someone who had embraced the Jewish faith. He was originally probably a Gentile, but he had embraced the truth of God as it's revealed in the Old Testament, come to Jerusalem, and then he had trusted the Lord Jesus as his savior. And when a murmuring arose between various parts of the members of Christ's body in Jerusalem, in the early church there, sadly there was dissension. We haven't got enough time to go into all the details of it, but he was one of seven men who was chosen to help resolve the problem. And so this man, whose name means conqueror of the people, became a servant of the people of God. He waited on tables in the sense that he looked after the distribution of funds to help meet the needs of the poor among the saints of that city. Well, we're going to see in an even more wonderful way how God was able to use believers from and in Antioch for the blessing of his people worldwide. We haven't got enough time to spend any further time on Nicholas from Antioch. So we'll move on now to chapter 11. Verse 19. Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phoenice and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord. Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church, and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch, who, when he came and had seen the grace of God, was glad and exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith, and much people was added unto the Lord. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus for to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch, and it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church and taught much people, and the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. And in those days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch, and there stood up one of them, named Acabus, and signified by the spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea, which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. Now we know, or we should know, that back in chapter 10, the apostle Peter used one of the keys of the kingdom which the Lord Jesus gave to him. I'm thinking of what the Lord Jesus says to him in Matthew chapter 16, in connection with his confession of the Lord Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. And the Lord Jesus speaks to him about the fact that he was going to build his church, the future, the church didn't exist at that time, upon this rock, the rock of Peter's confession, not Peter himself. Peter's name doesn't mean rock, it means a stone, a part of a rock. But his confession of the Lord Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God is the foundation upon which the church is built. The Lord Jesus said he was going to build his church and the gates of Hades would not prevail against it. And then he went on to speak to Peter about a personal responsibility Peter would have. Peter gave to him the keys of the kingdom of the heavens. And you could say that Peter used one of those keys on the day of Pentecost when he made known the gospel based on the work of the Lord Jesus upon the cross of Calvary and his resurrection and his ascension to the glory of heaven. From whence he sent down the gift of the Holy Spirit, he presented the gospel to the Jews in Jerusalem. As we all know in that day 3,000 were saved, more than 3,000 were saved. But for a time the church was made up only of those who were Jews by birth. But of course Christianity as we learn from Ephesians chapter 2 which of course hadn't been written at this time breaks down that middle wall of partition, that enclosure between Jew and Gentile. It deals with the greatest difference there is between men and women. That's not black and white, that's not young and old, that's not educated and ill-educated or rich or poor. All these divisions that men see as the big divisions in society. No, the biggest division there has ever been is between the chosen earthly people of God and the nations, the Gentiles. And in the cross of Christ that is removed. And in this present day of grace the gospel goes out to all. And God or the Lord Jesus through his work has made of Jew and Gentile one new man. This is the wonderful proof, isn't it, of the wonder of the mystery of the church that it does away with these national distinctions. It deals with this particular one that God has placed in this world. But in these early days of the church there were simply those who were born Jews who were Christians. And the day came when, as we all know, Peter was instructed to go to Cornelius. We haven't got enough time to go into all this detail. And he was able to present the gospel to a man who clearly God had been working in already. We could say that Cornelius was already a subject of God's grace. God was already working in his heart. No doubt we could say he was born again already. No doubt we could say he was quickened. But he didn't know the gospel of salvation. And until he could be brought into the knowledge of that, he was not yet a Christian. And it was when the gospel was presented to him, he heard the truth of God. We hear that not just Cornelius, but those who were with him, they suddenly spoke with tongues. They were shown to be those upon whom the Holy Spirit had come. They had been sealed with the Holy Spirit. Because they had believed in their hearts, in the message that Peter had presented to them. But when we come to these verses we've just read, we find that there were others who were preaching to Gentiles too. It doesn't say that they had heard what had happened in Caesarea 300 miles south. And had decided, well yes, now that that's happened, we can do this. No, it's not presented like that in scripture at all. This is God working in grace. What he does through Peter establishes the principle. Gentiles may receive the gospel too. God's going out to every man in his love, despite what has happened to the Lord Jesus upon the cross. It's just, we might say, the opportunity for God to spread his word to each and every person who will receive it. Such is our God, the God of grace and love. But here these ones are doing it because they are motivated by love. They want to bring the good news that they've got to others. Now Satan had tried to stop this. A man full of the Holy Spirit and faith, one of the seven of whom Nicholas was one. Stephen had preached and he had done great works in Jerusalem. And the devil wanted him out of the way. And as we all know in chapter 7, Stephen is stoned to death. A great persecution arises. And the believers, except for the apostles, are scattered outside of Jerusalem. And this works completely in the opposite direction of what the devil was intending. The gospel is spread abroad and it's these ones who are preaching it. And when they come to Antioch, no doubt motivated by the Holy Spirit. It says that up until then they were preaching to none but unto the Jews only. Some of them from Cyprus. Now in the course of this spreading out, Cyprus had been evangelized. So maybe this speaks of more recent converts who were going further up the coast. And Cyrene, well perhaps that speaks of those who had heard the gospel first. As a result of it being preached by Peter in Jerusalem. Because he speaks about the different kinds of people that were there in Jerusalem. Or we should say the Holy Spirit speaks about those people who heard what Peter said. And they list the very places they were from. And one of the places was near to Cyrene, North Africa. Maybe through what was preached on the day of Pentecost, the word had got back to Cyrene. As a result of those who have been there. And now there were some involved in this spreading of the gospel. I'm only supposing, but it doesn't matter. The Holy Spirit is simply showing there were a variety of believers together. And when they came to Antioch, they speak unto the Grecians. These were Gentiles preaching the Lord Jesus. One thing that's very distinct about these verses is the presentation of the Lord. What did these ones speak about? The Lord Jesus. We're very familiar with hearing people say Jesus. But in scripture, we find his full name is Lord Jesus Christ. And the importance of saying Lord gives him that rightful place he has. As the one who has rights over us. And the one who we acknowledge as our Lord. Certainly here, they preached the Lord Jesus. The one who had not simply died for those who are sinners. But the one who those believing on him should obey in their lives. Now that they trusted him as their savior. The Lord Jesus. Then it says the hand of the Lord was with them. We're faithful to the Lord in our service for him as these ones were. We can be sure that the hand of the Lord will be with us. May not be with us in the way we expect, but it will be there. Working with the word of the Lord. And as these ones preach the Lord Jesus, it says the hand of the Lord was with them. And in this particular case, a great number believed. They heard the gospel and they believed. And they turned unto the Lord. So there are three mentions here of the Lord. These ones preached the Lord Jesus. Then the hand of the Lord was with them. And the result was a great number believed. And turned unto the Lord. And if there's anyone here who hasn't yet trusted the Lord Jesus as their savior. That's what you need to do. You need to turn to the Lord. If you can hear and understand what I'm saying, that's not difficult. We all know about when we're young. When we're going somewhere. And our mom and dad has told us not to go there. We'll hear them say, hey, come back. And we have to turn. We have to turn back from where we're going. Well, that's a thought here. Turning from a wicked way of life. We may not think our ways of living are wicked. But they are if they are not taking God into consideration. If we're doing our own will. We need to turn and go in another direction. That's what these people did when they heard the Lord Jesus presented to them. Not merely turning away from a wicked way of life. But turning to a beautiful way of life. Because there's nothing more wonderful than to follow the Lord Jesus. As our savior and Lord. So these three characteristics are very important. Preaching the Lord Jesus. The hand of the Lord was with them. And a great number believed and turned unto the Lord. Now, when this was heard about in Jerusalem. We're told that the assembly there. The Christians gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus in Jerusalem. Sent forth Barnabas. That he should go as far as Antioch. That was quite a long journey. I mentioned, I think, 300 miles. Where Peter spoke to Cornelius was about 300 miles away. And Jerusalem's not that different. And news had got back. Because this gospel preaching had gone on. As these people had spread out from Jerusalem. So there were all sorts of links in the chain, if you like. In the lines of communication. They didn't have Facebook and email in those days. But the Christian testimony was such. That there was a living communication of this wonderful news. Between the various believers. Who were living in this part of the world. And it got back to Jerusalem. Now, if we turn to Acts chapter 11. We haven't got enough time to do that. Peter was upbraided by various. Believers in the church at Jerusalem for going in. And preaching to Cornelius in his own house. But Peter was able to show to them. That it was the will of the Lord. That prepared the way for those in Jerusalem to realize. Yes, this is a true work of God. And so here in this verse. We don't see them in any way. Seeking to censure the work in Antioch. Or to try and control it. No, they send Barnabas because they want to encourage it. That's a beautiful thought. Here was the assembly in Jerusalem. From where the Christian message had first gone out. They hear about the way in which it's getting results. In this Gentile city of Antioch. And they send Barnabas. To go and see how things were getting on. We know it's not an effort to try and censure it. Or to try and control it. Because they just send Barnabas. One man. When it was necessary for there to be a certain authority. Placed upon what was being done in Samaria by Philip. And this was according to God. They sent Peter and John. Both of them apostles. Two apostles. To, as it were, put their hand upon the work as being of God. Then the Holy Spirit came down upon those new converts in Samaria. And it could be seen that this was one complete work. And there was unity between what had happened at Jerusalem. And what was happening in Samaria. And similarly, it was Peter the Apostle with six other brethren. Who had gone from Joppa to Caesarea. To speak to Cornelius. It became clear through the signs that God gave. It was a work of God. Now, none of that is necessary here. Just one man can go. A good man, as we're told later on in these verses. And encourage the work in Antioch. And he must have tracked the work. Because it says, when he had arrived. When he got there. Following up all that had been happening. He got to Antioch. He saw all these people who had believed the gospel. And what does he do? It says, he was glad. He exhorted them all. When he saw the grace of God. When he saw the effect of God's active love. And the way in which it was included in all these ones in Antioch. These Grecians, these Gentiles. Who had never been in any kind of relationship with God. Imbibing God's word. And treating the Lord Jesus as their Lord too. He was glad. And what did he do? He exhorted them all. That with purpose of heart. And this is our fourth mention of the word Lord. They should cleave unto the Lord. And if there's one thing that we need to do. As believers. Those of us who turn to the Lord. As we had in verse 21. We too. Need to keep doing this. With purpose of heart. This isn't lackadaisical laid back Christianity. This is real purposeful Christianity. I belong to the Lord Jesus. Therefore I'm going to abide with him. I'm going to cleave to him. I'm going to stay close to him. I'm going to go with him where he shows me I should go. And that was what. That was what Barnabas encouraged these ones to do. With purpose of heart. There's. There is with us sometimes a lack of conviction. A lack of purpose. To how we live our lives for the Lord. But. This didn't mark these believers here. That with purpose of heart. They would cleave unto the Lord. Something mentioned in the prayer meeting just before this meeting. We're starting a new year. Well of course we are. 2015. A new year. Perhaps as we look back on 2014. We might be regretful that. Perhaps we've wasted our opportunities. We've not always been as faithful as we should have been. As we start a new year. It's not that we make a new year's resolution of course. That's not something the Bible at all teaches us to do. But as we go into this new year. May we be marked by this characteristic. With purpose of heart. To cleave. Unto the Lord. The Lord. He's a person. The fact that we believe. A series of doctrines. The truth of God's a wonderful thing. But in Christianity we have a person. A person. Of the Lord Jesus. And it says of Barnabas. He was a good man. And full of the Holy Ghost. And of faith. Good man. Good in the scriptures. In the New Testament. At any rate. It's used in two ways. Can mean beautiful. Attractive. Or it can mean useful. Beneficial. It's in that second sense. That this word is used here. He was beneficial. No doubt this was one of the reasons why the assembly had sent him. Full of the Holy Ghost. Now we often hear about filling of the Holy Ghost. People often say. Have you been filled with the Holy Ghost? But really that's not the sense in which. This expression is used in the New Testament. He was full of the Holy Ghost. He kept nothing back in his life. From the Lord. Therefore the Holy Spirit was able to fill every nook and cranny. Of Barnabas's life. Often the trouble with me. Perhaps with you is that we keep bits of our lives back. From the Lord. And consequently the Holy Spirit can't fill us. In John chapter 3. We're told that God doesn't give the Spirit by measure. He's not filling one person more than he's filling another. It's a fact that some of us allow the Holy Spirit to. Occupy every aspect of our lives and some of us don't. Barnabas was in the first category. And consequently he could be used in this wonderful way here. And he was marked by faith. We're going to see an example of the faith he had later on. But when we look at Barnabas in this way. We can see why he had such a wonderful effect on the believers in Antioch. They saw what he said worked out in his life. And they followed his example. And it says much people was added unto the Lord. And this is a characteristic. In Acts. Add in. We read about it in chapter 2. And in one or two of the other early chapters. Before this one. In Acts. People were added. They were added. And this is one of the important things of Christianity of course. We come to the Lord Jesus individually. But when we've come we find we're part of something else. We've been added to the Lord. We belong to him. And it's a very closely allied thought to the one in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Where the Apostle Paul tells us about the fact that. The Lord Jesus and his people are one. One body. The Christ often is an expression. Which doesn't just mean the Lord Jesus. If I may say so. But the Lord Jesus and his people with him. And they were added. They were now part of the body of Christ. They were. We may even go as far as saying. They were part of the Lord. They were added to the Lord. Do we realize that as believers on the Lord Jesus. We're not just individuals. We are part of something that's very wonderful indeed. Which maybe we'll have something to say about later on. But then a strange thing happened. Barnabas. Barnabas went off. Why did he do that? He went off to seek Saul. And this is another aspect of Barnabas' character. He was a good man. And one good aspect of him was he realized that he wasn't. Able to meet the needs. All the needs of these people he was helping. He thought I have somebody I know. Who can really teach them. Saul. Now where is he? He's in Tarsus. Back at home. I'll go and seek him. And it says when he had found him. Obviously it took a bit of effort to do this. He then brought him back. He got faith to believe this was God's will. And he went as far as Tarsus. I know Tarsus isn't on our maps. Very far away from Antioch. But in those days it would have been quite a journey to make. Perhaps he didn't know exactly where Saul was. But he found him. And he brought him back. Because he knew Saul had this ability to teach the people. And it says that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church. And taught much people. There are three aspects here of church life. Which should characterize our gatherings. Or our Christian lives. First of all, continued. Continued for one year. These weren't here today, gone tomorrow believers. They were believers who met together in a sustained way. They encouraged one another. They helped one another. Those who taught, taught. Those who needed teaching, listened. And this went on in a sustained way. We need to be committed to the Christian life. But secondly, we're told it was assembling themselves. In fact, in the new translation it says in the assembly. And it may be as well just to briefly remind ourselves that when we become believers. We are members of the body of Christ. And we should in our localities gather to the name of the Lord Jesus where we live. And there are certain characteristics of gatherings to the name of the Lord Jesus. We read about them in Acts chapter 2 verse 42. They continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship. In breaking of bread and prayers. And there should be in our gatherings evidence of this. And indeed we find in the New Testament quite clearly for instance in Matthew chapter 18. The prayer meeting where the Lord Jesus speaking of those. Who gather to his name and find him in his midst. He says in Matthew in their midst. He says in Matthew chapter 18. Verse 19. Again I say unto you that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything. Well that's what we do when one prays and another says Amen. Anything that they shall ask it shall be done for them of my father which is in heaven. Calling upon the name of the Lord should characterize every gathering of God's people. We should be regularly at the prayer meeting. It's not a one-off I'll do it every so often type thing. Where we are gathering with saints to the name of the Lord Jesus wherever it may be. We should seek to be at the prayer meeting. And that verse about calling upon the name of the Lord just in case anybody doesn't know where it is. It's at the very beginning of Corinthians 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 2. Unto the church of God which is at Corinth to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be saints. With all that in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus. Or Jesus Christ our Lord both theirs and ours. There should also be ministry. The ministry of God's Word. And we have that in 1 Corinthians chapter 14. Where in assembly we allow the Holy Spirit to direct his ministry to be given. By two or three at the most the Apostle says. Sometimes difficult for us to do this today when we're in such small numbers. But is there an opportunity at some point in our local gathering. Because 1 Corinthians 14 isn't about a meeting which occurs at conferences. It's about a meeting which should occur in the local gathering. Is there an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to direct one here or another there. I know it can be difficult to work out. But this should be a meeting that's characteristic of a gathering to the name of the Lord Jesus. Because the whole point about gathering in assembly is the Lord is in the midst. We're not gathered in assembly here today. This isn't an assembly meeting. An assembly meeting is where the Lord Jesus is in the midst. And he is doing the directing of everything that happens. Where two or three are gathered together unto my name. There am I in the midst. And when he's there in the midst he presides. He takes control. There's nothing more beautiful than the Lord Jesus being in the midst of his own. And they simply act according to his mind and will. And then there's of course the meeting that we all love to talk about. And I've left it to the last of these three. The breaking of bread. That's what the early disciples did. And that's what we do today. A golden thread connects us with the upper room. Because the Lord Jesus gave that wonderful word to the Apostle Paul. To pass on the Lord's request. Not merely as we read about it in the Gospels. But from heaven itself. Do this in remembrance of me. When we gather about the Lord Jesus on the Lord's Day morning to break bread. We remember him in his death. There's no organization. He is in the center. Our eyes, our hearts are directed to him. One prays, one gives out to him. We sing together. We pray with each other. Even if one is praying audibly. And then we break the bread and drink the cup in remembrance of him. And there should be. There should be an overflow of worship. To him and to his father. At such a gathering. And then of course there is the meeting in 1 Corinthians 5 for discipline. And there's a meeting we don't like to talk about too much. But it's there in 1 Corinthians 5. And indeed it's spoken about in Matthew chapter 18. Where the Lord says. In verse 18 of that chapter. The verse before the verse we quoted. Verily I say unto you. Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth. Shall be bound in heaven. And whatsoever ye shall loose on earth. Shall be loosed in heaven. And whatsoever ye shall loose on earth. Shall be loosed in heaven. This should. These things should characterize Mr. Rosier in his book. What is a meeting of the local assembly. Says that perhaps there should be more meetings. Of that character among us for humiliation. So these were the characteristics of an assembly of a gathering. And it wasn't though just something that was inward. It was something that was outward. And we've seen that in that verse from Acts chapter 11. Which tells us that they taught much people. I think that goes beyond the assembly. I think many people came in to hear the word of God. And they heard it. And there's another outward aspect isn't there. Isn't there to this assembly here in Antioch. It says that when prophets came down and told them. Notably Agabus about a forthcoming famine. That every man verse 29 according to his ability. Determined to send relief unto the brethren. Which dwelt in Judea. There was a blessing. For those from whom the gospel had first come. Echoing the words of the Apostle Paul. I think it's in Romans chapter 15. Where he speaks about giving. Giving those from whom the gospels come. It may be a slightly different emphasis. Giving them practical help. In verse 27. It has pleased them verily and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things. Their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things. That's what these people did without the need for the Apostle Paul to tell them. It seems they did it. Of their own love. For their fellow brethren in Jerusalem. There was an outward effect. For others. Both unbelievers who came to hear the gospel. And fellow believers who needed their help. And support. We move on then to chapter 13. When Paul and Barnabas had done their work. Or Barnabas and Saul as they're still named. The end of chapter 12. It says that they had fulfilled their ministry. Characteristic of these two men. They fulfilled their ministry. And this isn't the only reference to them doing that. They could be given something to do and they did it. They fulfilled their ministry. They fulfilled it. Then in verse 1 of chapter 13 it says. Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers. As Barnabas and Simeon. That was called Niger. And Lucius of Cyrene and Manan. Which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch and Saul. And they ministered to the Lord. And fasted. The Holy Ghost said. Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. When they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them. They sent them away. Now. Here we see that the assembly at Antioch has made progress. Up until now we haven't known the names of anyone there. It was unnamed believers who spoke to unnamed Gentiles and shared the gospel with them. But now we find five men named. At Antioch. And if you look at the names of them. Two are very familiar to us of course. Barnabas at the start. Saul at the end. But look at the others and you'll see that. There's every indication that they weren't really from Antioch. They had. Been born and brought up elsewhere. But. In the Lord's will they had come to that city. And they were. Prophets and teachers they had a gift. And that gift was acceptable. Wherever they were because gifts are given for the whole body. These weren't elders. These were gifts to the whole church. And they were able to exercise their gift. In Antioch. So real progress has been made in the assembly here. And it seems that these five had gathered together because they had a real exercise. They had a real sense. Of. The fact that the Lord. The fact that the Lord. Might. Be minded to use them in a particular way. Because we're told that. They. Minister to the Lord. And they fasted. Fasting. There was an element of self-sacrifice to what they were doing. They wanted to be wholly. Opened up. To the Lord to show them his will. Ministering to the Lord. As prophets and teachers they were used to ministering to men. But now they were given something to the Lord. And this spirit this exercise is spiritual. Energy that they had the Lord. The Lord was able to bless it. And it's often when. We are occupied with the Lord as these men were. That we find the will of the Lord. Sometimes we say I don't know the Lord's will but then we're not praying. We're not reading the word of God. So how are we going to know the Lord's will. These five men are an example to us. Of how we find out the Lord's will they were occupied with the Lord. And they were occupied with him to the extent they fasted. And as a result. The Holy Spirit was able to convey to them. All five of them. All five of them. The mind of the Lord. And the Lord said. Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. It's wonderful to see the wisdom of the Lord here. Five men that were perhaps others but these five were particularly engaged in this. Ministering to the Lord and fasting. Two were to be separated. Three were to be left in Antioch. Three were to be left in Antioch. The Lord in using Saul and Barnabas to go out with his word. Because really this is a new departure in the book of Acts. The Lord in using Saul and Barnabas to go out with his word. He doesn't denude Antioch. Of the gift that they need. Those of us who serve the Lord should always be careful that when we serve the Lord. I mean serving the Lord in perhaps traveling elsewhere. Because we all serve the Lord really. But those who serve the Lord should always be careful to maintain a concern for our gatherings from which we go. The Lord has that concern here. He keeps three back and sends two. And they're led by the Holy Spirit to go. They don't go independently and yet it's very clear from this passage that when somebody is a servant of the Lord. They need to know the direction of the Lord. The Lord needs to be free to direct them. But they go forth in fellowship. Not here with the assembly so much. But just the other prophets and teachers that were engaged in this exercise. It's as if the Holy Spirit is emphasizing that the servant must have a direct line with the Lord. Not via the assembly. But there should still be that degree of fellowship with other brethren in what we do. May we seek to practice this ourselves in our lives. And as they got this sense of the Lord's will through the Holy Spirit. Says they fasted and prayed. Instead of ministry now they prayed. They laid their hands on them. They identified with them. This is not ordination. This is not laying the hand on them to say yes you can go. It's laying the hand on them to say yes we're in fellowship with what the Holy Spirit wants you to do. And they sent them away. They were obedient to the word that had been given to them. And this is Paul's first ministry, first missionary journey as we all know. And he went forth and what wonderful results occurred as a result of the obedience of these ones to the Lord's leading. And when we turn to chapter 14. When it tells us very briefly in verse 26 that they had concluded their work. They had concluded their work. Thence from Perga that is and Artalia. They sailed to Antioch from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God. So this does confirm the local gathering at Antioch was in fellowship with what they had done. For the work which they had fulfilled. Notice this word fulfilled to being entrusted to them. And they had done what the Lord had asked them to do. And when they were come and had gathered the church together. They rehearsed all that God had done with them. And now he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. And there they abode long time with the disciples. That's beautiful isn't it? The sharing of these servants. Of what the Lord had done through them with their fellow brethren. Who had had fellowship with them in them going to serve the Lord. And it must have been a wonderful occasion for Barnabas and Saul to come back to Antioch. And to be able to do that. We haven't got enough time to go into the next incident really. Except to just mention it briefly. Certain men came down as we read at the beginning of chapter 15. And they taught something which wasn't right. Verse 1. Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses ye cannot be saved. Now in the new translation it tells us a commotion occurred. A commotion will always occur among the people of God when wrong doctrine is taught. And Paul and Barnabas had no little discussion with them. We read in the new translation. That's the way it's put there. Now Paul and Barnabas could have said look. What you're saying is wrong. You can believe that in Jerusalem if you want to. But you're not going to teach it here. But they didn't say that. The brethren at Antioch determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem. Unto the apostles and elders about this question. This is evidence isn't it? Living evidence from the book of Acts. That the gatherings that were formed. As a result of the preaching of the gospel. In the early days of the church. Regarding themselves as in fellowship with each other. As moving on together. As being connected vitally with each other. As having a common testimony. And it was crucial that this matter should be dealt with. At the point. Where the departure in the doctrine had occurred. And it occurred in Jerusalem. So Paul and Barnabas and others went up to Jerusalem. To talk to the apostles and elders about this. Now as I say we haven't got enough time to go into the detail. About how they resolved this problem. But it's wonderful to see the way in which they were received in Jerusalem. We're told that in verse 4. When they would come to Jerusalem they were received of the church. And of the apostles and elders. And they declared all the things that God had done with them. They were from the assembly in Antioch. And they were received by the assembly at Jerusalem. There was that inter-assembly relationship. Between Jerusalem and Antioch. Now there were problems. Issues were raised as we can see from verse 5. And as we read from Galatians chapters 1 and 2. There were inner exercises going on. Paul met with the apostles and elders separately. To make sure he had not run in vain. Or was not running in vain. Sometimes when issues like this come up. It's important that those with most responsibility. Deal with the matter among themselves first of all. To get the mind of the Lord. So that there's not open dissension among them. In front of all the believers. But eventually as we read in this chapter, chapter 15. When they were all settled on what they believed was the mind of the Lord. Though these problems were brought up by those. That we read about in verse 5 of the sect of the Pharisees. It could be dealt with. Before everyone in the assembly. And a proper assembly decision could be made. That's what happened in the later verses. And it was done publicly. It was done in a united way as we go down these verses. There's nothing done in a corner or privately here. It's a matter of fellowship. So it has to be done openly and unitedly. Even to the extent that a very important thing is done. A letter is written. Which details everything that they've decided. Of course the matter of putting the law on the Gentiles could not be accepted. But it was important. The Gentile believers realized there were certain things. They shouldn't do as Christians. And we can read about them later on in these verses. If we have more time we could do that. And then they were able to send Barnabas and Saul. Back to Antioch. And the matter had been dealt with. Fellowship could be maintained. And the work of the Lord could continue. It's a beautiful comment that's made in verse 25. It seemed good unto us being assembled with one accord. To send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul. Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent them therefore. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas. Who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us. To lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things. Which are then described. So when they were dismissed they came to Antioch. When they had gathered the multitude together. They delivered the epistle. Which when they had read. They rejoiced for the consolation. And Judas and Silas being prophets also themselves. Exhorted the brethren with many words and confirmed them. What a wonderful conclusion it was to a very difficult event. But it was important because the gospel was now going out from Antioch. And it was important that everybody understood the truth of the gospel. So it could be proclaimed in a way which left no one in any doubt. As to the wonderful basis of our salvation in the Lord Jesus. May we learn from this history of the church in Antioch. And seek to practice it in our lives too. And be known as Christians. As we saw in those verses. From chapter 11. The disciples were first called Christians. In Antioch. We're singing closing 264. …

… I have quite a few scriptures which I want us to look at, but we'll look at them as we go on. I don't intend reading them to us at the beginning. Now, if you were here, I think it was two months ago, as most of us were, we heard Michael Vogelsang give a very interesting talk on some scriptures, five scriptures in fact, where it tells us that the Lord Jesus looked round. Those scriptures from Mark's Gospel. The Lord looked round. Sometimes I think because the matter brought his attention was so important that we can say perhaps the Lord Jesus diverted from what he was doing, but other times he looked round to show the significance of who or what was actually around him at that point. In a sense, I want to follow along a sort of similar theme. The scriptures record five different situations that the Lord Jesus was in, where he had an important message to convey, and what characterizes these five situations is the look that the Lord Jesus gave. It's not that he looked round, as it was with what Michael told us. For us, it's the sort of look he gave, and it's the same look on these five occasions, and only recorded about him for these five occasions. And these are what we're going to look at. Now, I just want to divert for a moment. There's a danger, and it's a danger for us all. And that is that we'll think that we are more expert than we really are. Now, it's true in so many ways. Among others, perhaps, our understanding of the original text of the scripture, the original language of scripture, and translating scripture. Now, I don't know the Greek language of the New Testament, so what I say to you is what I understand from others, specialists in the language, what they've written. So I want you to take what I say in that light. I'm not claiming, because I'm not, to be an expert in New Testament Greek. There are many words in the original language of scripture which are difficult to translate into English, so the full flavor of the word is seen in the translation. And there's one such word I have in mind. There are many Greek words that are translated by our Bibles with the word look, or something similar. Each word in the original Greek has its own emphasis, and often this emphasis is lost in the translations. The word that I want to look at, if we split it into its component parts, could be translated as in look. Well, that doesn't make a lot of sense in English. In look isn't a word. Perhaps we could say look in, that perhaps gives the flavor but it doesn't read right in English. The word seems to refer to a deliberate and penetrating look. Definitely not a glance, but a deliberate look. An intense look. A look perhaps designed to draw out something from the person being looked at, or to convey some meaning to that person. I think if we think of it as a deliberate and intense look, a penetrating look, I don't think we'll go too far wrong. Now this word is used six times in the New Testament. I'm sorry, this word is used 12 times in the New Testament, six times of the Lord Jesus himself, and it's these six that I want to focus on. I'll probably mention a couple of the others briefly as we go along. Although used six times of the Lord Jesus, it is actually only five incidents, because one instance is recorded with this word in two of the Gospels. And I believe as we look at these incidents, we'll learn something from the Lord. So this is to do with the look that the Lord Jesus gives. Why does the Lord give this look, this penetrating look? And why do the Gospel writers record it for us under the direction of the Holy Spirit? Well, let's be clear about one thing. The Lord Jesus doesn't need to give this intense, penetrating look in order to understand fully the one being looked at. He knows all about us anyway. It seems to me that this look is for the benefit of the one being looked at, for him to realise that the Lord is looking at him, looking deeply into him, and drawing out a response. The look was for the benefit of those being observed. And of course for our benefit as well. The Gospel writer records this look so we can learn. So let's turn to John chapter 1. John chapter 1. Actually we're going to start. By noting this look given by someone else, not the Lord Jesus, comes right near the beginning of the Lord's public service. And we see John the Baptist introducing the Lord Jesus to two of his disciples as the Lamb of God. So in verse 35 of John 1 we read, again, the next day, the next day after, John stood and two of his disciples. And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus. Verse 36 starts, And looking upon Jesus. This actually is the penetrating look. This is the word that I'm focusing on. It's one of those times when the word is used of somebody else other than the Lord Jesus. It's John the Baptist's look at the Lord Jesus. And it indicates, I believe, that John would be given a deep understanding of who the Lord Jesus is. And two of John's disciples were there. And they did, it seems, notice that look. A look of penetration and understanding. And they took John seriously. John's statement about the Lord Jesus here was not a casual remark. It was based on an understanding of him, shown by that deliberate look. And the disciples turned, turned away from John, in fact, to follow Jesus. And one of the disciples was Andrew. He spends time with the Lord Jesus, gets an understanding of who the Lord Jesus is, and brings his brother Simon along, telling him that he's found the Messiah. And then the Lord Jesus gives Simon that penetrating look. Verse 40. John 1 verse 40. One of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon and saith unto him, we have found the Messiah, which is being interpreted the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, thou art Simon, the son of Jonah. Thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation a stone. So this word that's been translated here in the King James Version as beheld, is this word. It's our word. It's that word for an intense or penetrating look. And the Lord Jesus gives Simon that look and then tells him that he'll be called Cephas. Cephas was the Aramaic word for stone. Aramaic was the language spoken by the Lord Jesus and his disciples. Peter is the Greek translation of Cephas. He'd only just met him. But of course, the Lord Jesus knew Simon through and through. The Lord Jesus didn't need to give Simon that intense look in order to understand him. He knew what it was like. He knew all about him. That penetrating look was, I believe, for Simon Peter's benefit, to know, to tell him, to show him that he thoroughly understood him. And for our benefit, to tell us that the Lord Jesus knows and understands us thoroughly. So by giving him that look, the Lord Jesus was showing that what he was about to say regarding Simon was based on his knowledge of him, his knowledge of him personally. And based on what the Lord Jesus knew about him, he could change his name to something relevant to his character and the role he had for him. Now we could say, I think, that the Lord Jesus had in view the building that he, the Lord Jesus, was going to construct. Peter would be a stone in that building. And we see later on that Peter understood this idea. In chapter 2 of 1 Peter, he writes about coming to Christ, the living stone, and that we're all living stones in God's building. The point I want to emphasize from this is the Lord Jesus knows us thoroughly. We can't hide anything from him. As David could write in Psalm 139, O Lord, you have searched me and known me. We could say perhaps that's the penetrating look, you know me. As someone who just met the Lord, Simon Peter is given that look to show the Lord's complete understanding of him. Well, there are others who needed that look, but their situations are different. I want us now to turn to Luke chapter 20. Luke chapter 20. Luke 20. I'll read the first two verses to start with. And it came to pass that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders and spoke unto him saying, tell us by what authority doest thou these things? And who is he that gave thee this authority? So here in chapter 20, the chief priests, the scribes, the elders, they confront the Lord Jesus and ask him by what authority he was teaching. Where did he get the right? Where did he get the right to teach the people? Now, they would presumably maintain that they had the right to teach because their authority came from their religious leadership and the Israelite way of approaching God. Their religious system had originally received its authority from God himself through Moses. But where did the authority of the Lord Jesus come from? And the Lord doesn't directly answer them, as he knows that they won't accept the truth. I mean, he had essentially told them already and given them enough evidence of the truth that his authority came from above. Now, let's go to verse 9. Luke 20, verse 9. Then began he to speak to the people this parable. A certain man planted a vineyard and let it forth to husbandmen and went into a far country for a long time. And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard. But the husbandmen beat him and sent him away empty. And again he sent another servant and they beat him also and they treated him shamefully and sent him away. And again he sent a third and they wounded him also and cast him out. Then said the Lord of the vineyard, what shall I do? I will send my beloved son. It may be they will reverence him when they see him. But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves saying, this is the heir. Come, let us kill him and the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. What therefore shall the Lord of the vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy those husbandmen and she'll give the vineyard to others. This is a picture, of course, a picture of God, the owner, sending his servants, prophets, to the Israelite nation who turned away from him. They refused the prophets, killing many of them. Finally, he sent his son, an heir. And it's he, the Lord Jesus, the one who was standing there in front of them, talking to them. And of course, this does answer the question regarding the authority of the Lord Jesus, the father sent him. That's where his authority, his right comes from. But of course, there's a lot more in this parable than that. He is, for example, telling the Jews that they will kill him, but it will not bring the result they want. God will deal with them in judgment. And then we find the Lord Jesus quotes Psalm 118. So picking up again at verse 17. And he beheld them and said, What is this then that is written? The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner. Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And the chief priests and the scribes, the same are sought to lay hands on him. And they feared the people, for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them. But verse 17, it begins, and he beheld them. He looked at them. This is our word again. The Lord Jesus gives them that penetrating look. He's making them aware that he is saying something that is of key importance to them. He's showing he understands them and what they will do. And with this look, he gives them another picture, a picture that goes beyond the picture given by the vineyard and its owner. The picture of builders constructing a building. We could perhaps say that the Pharisees were the national builders, busy with their religious systems building, but rejecting their Messiah. But actually, the Lord tells them that he will be the most important stone in the building. They might think they'll get rid of him, but he will be the head of the corner. This implies his resurrection, of course. Kill him they will, but death will not destroy him. He will rise again from the dead in triumph. And of course, this links back to what the Lord Jesus said to Simon that we mentioned earlier. His name was changed to Stone, Cephas, Peter, Stone. He'd be part of the building that the Lord Jesus was going to build. And he had an important role in constructing the building. But the Lord Jesus himself is the head of the corner. Moving away just for one moment from this application of the picture and considering the idea personally. I'd like to focus just for a moment, particularly on those who are young amongst us. Perhaps those of you who are school age. There are a few of us here, aren't there? Nearly all of you have been brought up with parents who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Who've told you about him. And you've attended meetings of Christians and heard many talk about the Lord Jesus. You're young, you're building your lives. So what have you done with the Lord Jesus Christ? Is he part of the life you're building? Have you trusted the Saviour? You know, as you get older, you'll meet more and more people who will tell you different things. There are many who've rejected Christ. But the Lord Jesus will give you this penetrating look and say, think about it. As you build your life, have you trusted in me? Are you including me as the most important part of your life? And if foolishly, you either ignore the Lord or turn around to him and say no. Then the Lord Jesus would say to you, well you can make your choice. Sadly you may choose to reject me, but you can't get rid of me. I will triumph. And notice this that we've read. I will judge all who've rejected me. This of course is extremely important and extremely serious. It's a more than life and death issue. It's an eternal life and eternal death issue. And don't imagine it doesn't apply to you. It does. So, see where we're going here. We've seen the Lord's intense look at Simon Peter, showing that he knows him thoroughly. Then we've seen the Lord's look at the religious leaders. He knows their intentions. Their intention is to kill him. And he points out to them that although they may choose to reject him, he will triumph and they will be judged. Now we go to our third. This is in Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10. This is a story that Michael, when he was here a couple of months ago, also referred to. Mark chapter 10 verse 17. And when he was gone forth in the way, there came one running and kneeled to him and asked him, Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God. Thou knowest the commandments, thou shalt not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud not, honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him and said unto him, One thing thou lackest, go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, take up the cross and follow me. And he was sad at that saying and went away grieved, for he had great possessions. So here's a young man with a real concern. He wants to inherit eternal life. He recognises that there is much more than this life. And his attitude, of course, is very different from that of the Pharisees that we read about previously. He is now to destroy the Lord Jesus. He recognises the Lord as a teacher and he wants to learn from him. And the Lord Jesus mentioned some of the commandments of the law, as we just read. Matthew records in his gospel that the Lord also included in his list, You shall love your neighbour as yourself. This young man had clearly tried to keep the law. And he considered that he had succeeded. All these things I have kept from my youth, he says. The Lord then looks at him. It says then, Jesus beholding him. The Lord looks at him. This again is our word. This is not a glance, not even an ordinary look. This is this intense look I'm talking about. This is this in look. And the young man should have seen that look and realised that the Lord had a thorough, a complete understanding of him. And what the Lord was about to say was exactly what he personally needed to hear at that moment. And then in what the Lord Jesus said to him, I think he was pointing out two things to this young man. Firstly, in spite of what he said to the Lord Jesus about having kept the law since his youth, if he thought further about it, he would realise that actually he'd failed. He hadn't kept all these commandments concerning his relationships with others. Had he really loved his neighbour as himself? Really? He was rich. There were others who were desperately poor. And then the Lord says to him, sell all you have and give to the poor and come and follow me. And as Michael reminded us a couple of months ago, this young man had ignored the first commandments of God's law, which concerned our relationship with God himself. The first commandment said, you shall have no other gods before me. And the Lord challenges him in what he says to consider whether his possessions were an idol to him, another God. And whatever takes the place that God should have in our lives is an idol. What was most important in his life? His possessions or God? And tragically, he chooses his possessions. He went away. But he went away sad. He went away grieved. You know, if someone we love turns away from the Lord, one of our prayers, I believe, should be that they should be unhappy, that they should be sad. They should have no contentment until they turn to the Lord. So it's a good thing that this young man went away sad. It gives some hope that maybe he reflected further, perhaps changed his mind. Let's notice again the way the Lord looked at him. This is the look that draws out his motives. This is the look that says, I understand you completely. I know what you're like. I know that actually you're not as obedient to the law as you think. I know what actually is the most important thing in your life. And I'm going to point this out to you. And the Lord Jesus would challenge me and you in the same way. Until the Lord gave him that penetrating look, the young man believed he was better than he actually was. But what about us? Do we? And what about my priorities? I need to get rid of anything that takes God's place in my life. Idols. We're now going to turn to our fourth example. In our fourth example, we turn to Luke chapter 22. The Lord Jesus had been arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane in the evening away from the crowds, having been betrayed by Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples. And the Lord Jesus is taken to the palace of the high priest, the Jewish religious leader. And Peter and John follow to see what will happen to their Lord. John was known to the high priest and he enters the courtyard of the palace. Peter isn't let in, so John speaks to the girl at the gate and she allows him to go in. We get some of these details from John's Gospel. Peter and John don't stay together, it seems. So putting together the accounts in the four Gospels, this is how I think it all happened. The girl who let Peter in perhaps knew that John was a disciple. Perhaps. For whatever reason, once Peter's settled by the fire, she asks him whether he's a disciple. And Peter sees the way his Lord is being treated and he's overwhelmed with fear and he denies the Lord Jesus. Then he moves away. But the girl was deeply suspicious and told those around. And she and they together asked him, and again denies any knowledge of Christ. Then there's a gap. God, of course, is in control of events. And it seems to me that God is giving Peter some time. Peter has about an hour now to contemplate. Time to think about what he'd just done. Time to think about what he'd just said. Time to remember what the Lord Jesus had said to him a few hours earlier, telling him he would deny his Lord. Time to think about his self-confident reply. Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. Time to repent, in fact. Did he? Well, after about an hour, the scriptures say another group confront him. He'd made himself prominent in the garden of Gethsemane by swinging a sword around and chopping off a man's ear. And one of those there recognized him and said, and I paraphrase, Yeah, I'm sure it was you. You were the one who cut off my cousin's ear. Others said, yes, listen to him. He's not local. He comes from up north. He's got a Galilean accent. What was he, a Galilean, doing in the high priest's palace if he wasn't one of Jesus' disciples? What he did and how he spoke gave him away. They characterized him as having been with Jesus. Now, picking up at verse 59, so Luke 22 and verse 59. And about the space of one hour after, another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth, this fellow also was with him, for he's a Galilean. Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. So Peter denied it. He denied that he was with the Lord. And he began to curse and swear, we read. And the Lord Jesus, despite being vehemently accused and brutally treated by the high priest's acolytes, focused on Peter. He looked at him. He gives him that penetrating look. And Peter's conscience was touched. And he went outside and wept. So picking up again in the middle of verse 61. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, For the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out and wept bitterly. So that was the second time the Lord Jesus had given Peter personally that penetrating look. And I just wonder whether Peter thought back to that first time he noticed the look of the Lord Jesus. When he first met the Lord. And the Lord, understanding him and his character, had changed his name to Peter the Stone. Wasn't he now denying that name the Lord had given him? There was no solidity, there was no firmness. He'd given way under pressure. Enormous pressure, but he denied his Lord three times. So what do I want to draw from this? Well, the Lord Jesus would give us that penetrating look to touch our consciences. When we deny him by what we say, or the way we live, it doesn't have to be as bold and direct as Peter's denial. Because then we aren't under the same sort of pressure that Peter was under. The way we live can deny him. The Lord would look at us and be grieved by our behaviour and try to touch our consciences so that, like Peter, we should notice the Lord's look and repent. So we've noticed the Lord's special look four times. To Simon Peter, the first time, shown that he completely understood him. Then to those who'd rejected him and were determined to destroy him, to show that he understood their motives and to point out they couldn't succeed. Thirdly, to the young ruler who was self-satisfied. And the Lord's look was followed by words that made him think about his priorities and who or what came first in his life. And now, fourthly, to Peter again. He gives Peter that look after he's denied him thrice. A look that conveys the Lord's sadness. And it touches Peter's conscience to bring him repentance. Now, for our fifth occasion, when the Lord gives that special look, we go back to the third incidence we discussed. There the Lord Jesus looked at that rich young man and, fully understanding him and his thoughts, tells him essentially that he was not the very good man he thought he was and that he was putting his riches before God. That's we've seen. But the Lord Jesus gives that intense look again. I'm going to pick up the account from Mark chapter 10 again. Although the word is also used by Matthew when he describes this incident. So Mark chapter 10 and verse 23. The Lord Jesus looked round about and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answered again and saith unto them, Children, how hard it is for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus, looking upon them, saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God. For with God all things are possible. And then Peter began to say to him, Lo, we've left all and have followed thee. The Lord's statement, how difficult it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God. And then the example of a camel going through the eye of a needle. This greatly worried the disciples, as we can see from Peter's reaction in verse 28. They didn't understand. And in verse 27 we saw, it says, Jesus looking upon them. This is the same look that I've been describing. The Lord's look at them, this intense look, this penetrating look, showed that he fully recognized their problem in comprehension. The rich were thought to be recipients of God's great blessing. And of course, God is the giver of all good. So if humanly speaking, it's impossible for those whom God has materially blessed to enter the kingdom of God. What chance is there for anyone else? What chance for them? And I think we can understand their great concern here. But what did Jesus say? What did he say? With men, it is impossible. But with God, all things are possible. What we do can't get us into the kingdom of God. As the Lord Jesus had told Nicodemus previously, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Entrance is only through new birth. New birth is God's work. It's entirely of God's grace. With man, impossible. But most thankfully, possible with God. And this young rich man couldn't enter the kingdom of God by great gestures of philanthropy or by good works. It can't be done. Nothing he could do could buy entry. With man, it's impossible. It's all of God. God's grace. Totally unmerited favor for us from God. Jesus has said that with God, all things are possible. But Peter then, rather than appealing to God's grace, in verse 28, appeals to his own self-sacrifice. We've given up so much. Surely that counts for something. And the Lord graciously reassures his disciples, yes, they will be rewarded for this, but God doesn't work according to man's assessment. Now what I want to draw from this, this penetrating look of the Lord, is this, the Lord isn't saying to them, the Lord is saying to them, you can't do it. It's all of God's grace. Now, I believe the Lord would encourage us, also correct us where necessary, by reminding us of what this look has shown us. I believe he'd give us this look to remind us that he has a complete knowledge of us, that he will triumph, and those who reject him will not succeed, that he fully understands our motives, and we need to examine ourselves to make sure that he comes first in our lives, that he's grieved, and wants us to return to him if we deny him, and that salvation and all blessing are only through God's grace, not through anything that we do. And I think it's not unreasonable to consider that any time when the Lord shows us, shows me, shows you, something from his word, or even in some other way, that is personal and relevant to us, that is similar to the Lord giving us this penetrating look we read and thought about. It's based on the Lord's personal knowledge of us, and it demands a response. Now, I want to close by mentioning one more time that the word is used. On one occasion, the Lord Jesus told his followers to use it. Now, I appreciate that these words are spoken in the first instance to the Jews, but the principles apply to us too. And the lesson from this occasion that I'm just about to read when the Lord tells us to use that look is this. We have every good reason to trust in God. He cares for us. He provides. So if you turn over to Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6. This, of course, is in the Sermon on the Mount. Verse 26. And it starts with the word behold. This is our word. Look intensely. Verse 26. Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they? Look at the birds of the air. Look at. Study them intently. Think about them. They are so unimportant compared with yourself, but God provides for them. They don't store away food. God daily supplies them with food and the ability to find it. And then the question, are you not more valuable than they? Won't God provide for you? Yes, he will. And, of course, this applies not just to our material needs, but to our spiritual needs also. God provides for us, but like the birds of the air, we need to gather daily, get our food from a daily quiet time with the Lord. Daily reading of the scriptures, prayer, meditation. The birds of the air need to get their food every day. We need to as well. Now I want us to close with hymn number 308. This hymn refers to this look that the Lord Jesus gives in verse 6. "'Tis the look that melted Peter." So hymn number 308. Hast thou heard him, seen him, known him? Is not thine a captured heart? Chief among ten thousand, own him. Joyful choose the better part. 308. …

… I'd like to look at the story in the Bible of Samson. Samson and the Philistines. So if we could begin with Judges 13. I won't read it all at once, but we'll just work through it as we have the time. Chapter 13 of Judges. And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. And there was a certain man of Zorah of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah, and his wife was barren and bare not. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now thou art barren and barest not, but thou shalt conceive and bear a son. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing. For lo, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall come on his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb. And he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible. But I asked him not whence he was, neither told me his name. But he said unto me, Behold thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing, for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb to the day of his death. Then Manoah entreated the Lord, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born. And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her. And the woman made haste and ran, and showed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me that came unto me the other day. And Manoah arose and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am. And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him? And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman, let her beware. She may not eat of anything that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her, let her observe. And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, I pray thee, let us detain thee until we shall have made ready a kid for thee. And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread. And if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord. For Manoah knew not that he was the angel of the Lord. And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy saying come to pass, we may do thee honour? And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret, or margin has wonderful? So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord. And the angel did wondrously. And Manoah and his wife looked on. And it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. But the angel of the Lord did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. But his wife said unto him, If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have showed us all these things, nor would he at this time have told us such things as these. And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson. And the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord came to move him at times in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshteron. This was a time in Israel's history when they should have been enjoying the good things of the land that God had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey. But unto Joshua, when they should have possessed the land, they hadn't done it with the energy and the faithfulness that Joshua exhorted them to. And as a result, many of the enemies were still in the land, and they troubled them continually. But worse than this, the people of God, they continued to disobey God, and were unfaithful to him, and did not submit to his will, but they carried on in their own way. As Isaiah says in chapter 53 of that book, we all like sheep have gone astray, we have gone everyone in his own way. This was true of the people of Israel. And so God would chasten them by taking up these enemies in the land, and bringing them under their power and authority. And the people in their wretchedness would be exercised by this chastening hand, and they would cry unto God in their distress, and God would raise up a deliverer. And we have before us such an occasion, the enemy is the Philistine. All of these enemies in Joshua, they all speak of that which is spiritual. We read in Ephesians that our warfare is spiritual, that our enemies are the principalities and powers in the heavenlies, not flesh and blood. But these enemies in the land, they would speak of spirit of weapons, as it were, in the hand of Satan, that he would use to bring the people of God, the believer, into bondage, so that they're not able to testify as they ought, or to walk in the path that the Lord would have them to walk in, and to glorify God in their lives. And the Philistines, they are such as it were a weapon in the hand of Satan, typically, because they would speak of carnality, particularly as it intrudes upon spiritual things. Now, it's not difficult to see that, because the Philistines are spoken of frequently in the scriptures as the uncircumcised Philistines. Now, all the tribes were uncircumcised, but that is only used to the Philistines. So, plainly, the Holy Spirit is wanting to bring something to our attention concerning these Philistines, what they speak of. And they speak of that which does not bow to God's judgment concerning the flesh. Circumcision is the cutting off of the flesh. Paul to the Philippians, he could say in Philippians 3 verse 3, for we are the circumcision. We are those who have bowed to God's judgment regarding the flesh within us. And we worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. So, the circumcision have no confidence in the flesh. God has judged it, so we have turned away from it, and we will not walk in that way anymore if we are obedient to God. But the uncircumcised Philistine, he walks, as it were, in the flesh. He has not judged it. This is the way he walks. He is carnal. Now, it's possible for a believer to be carnal. The Corinthians, the Apostle, when he addressed them, he spoke to them as those, he says in 1 Corinthians 3 verses 1 to 3, at the end he says, are you not carnal? He says, and walk as men. You are walking as men walk. The natural man walks. In other words, they were walking according to their feelings. They weren't judging things as it was revealed to them by God in his word, but they were walking to their own inclination and feeling and emotion. And they were walking not by faith in God and in his word, but by sight. They were working things out according to their own natural minds and walking in that way. So they were governed, not by the spirit of God, but by their senses. And so too, this is something else we read of the Philistines, that they are governed by five lords. This expression comes up frequently again, the five lords of the Philistines. Now, it may be that other tribes of the land had five rulers over them. I think there are some perhaps who did, but we never get this expression used of them, only the Philistines, the five lords of the Philistines, because the natural mind is governed by the senses. He has no understanding of spiritual things. He will not accept God's revelation concerning himself. Rather, he will walk in his own way. And this is the carnality that is presented to us by the Philistines. And this is a great danger to us that we walk in this carnal way, by sight, not by faith. Because one thing the Philistines did, we read of it very early on in Genesis chapter 26, verse 15. It says, for all the wells which Isaac's father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them and filled them with earth. And so Satan would, through leading us down a carnal way, he would, as it were, have us occupied with the earth, with the things of the earth. He would take our eyes off the Lord Jesus in the glory of heaven, and he would fill up, as it were, our lives with earth. And as a result, and as a result, those wells of salvation which the Spirit has opened up, they will be blocked up. In John chapter 4, the Lord says to the woman at the well, Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into eternal life. Satan would seek to block up those wells. He would grieve the Spirit in our hearts, so that he is not able to take of the things of Christ, to minister to us, minister them to us, so that there is that joyous response of the Spirit in our hearts, which rises up to God in worship and praise and joy. Those things, we will be robbed of that, because our lives will become clogged up with the things of the earth. Another thing the Philistines did was to take the ark away from the people of Israel. They stole the ark. 1 Samuel chapter 4 verse 10, And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent. And there was a very great slaughter. For there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen, and the ark of God was taken. Israel, the people of Israel, they had to follow the ark. It would lead them. It would direct them in the way they were to go. And the ark, too, it's spoken of as the ark of the testimony. It testified to the fact that God was in their midst. He could dwell in their midst. They could be his people, and he was their God, and the ark testified to that. And, of course, the ark speaks of Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, Satan would try through carnality, introducing carnality into our lives. He would rob the testimony of Christ. The Apostle Paul says in Timothy regarding the church of the living God, 1 Timothy 3 verse 15, that it is the pillar and ground of the truth. The assembly is the pillar. The pillar in scriptures is often spoken of as that which bears testimony to something. And we bear testimony to and we bear testimony to Christ in this world. And it's the ground of truth. It's where the truth is found, where it's worked out in practice, where it can be seen in the lives of the people of God. And then he goes on to say, for great is the mystery of God. For without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. He says that immediately after having said that the church is the pillar and ground of truth. He goes on to speak of that mystery of godliness. And this is what should be seen in the lives of the people of God. Because we testify to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is himself God, manifest in the flesh. And that mystery should be seen as part of our testimony to him. But Satan would take that away because this is what his true enmity is against the Lord Jesus. And he would take that away because he does not want to see it anywhere testified to in this earth. Well, the great... God's answer to the Philistine is to raise up a deliverer. And that deliverer would be a Nazirite. The word Nazirite means separated or sanctified, set apart. And the Lord says to the woman, he says that she would have a son. No razor should come on his head for the child should be a Nazirite unto God from the womb. And so Samson was a Nazirite from birth. He was born a Nazirite. And this is one aspect of our Naziriteship because we are Nazirites. We are separated unto God. We are sanctified. And there is an objective aspect to our Naziriteship. That is to say, we are Nazirites through the will of God. He has brought us into Naziriteship because we have a new nature. We are born again. The Apostle Paul could say to the Corinthians, he could speak of the wickedness that could not inherit the things of God. And then he would say, and such were some of you. But now ye are washed. Now you are sanctified. Now you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. They were washed. Now this is sanctification by water. This speaks of new birth. As we read of it in John chapter 3, born of water and of the Spirit, born of the Word. Peter could say, couldn't he? I'm born of incorruptible seed by the Word of God. And so this is the objective side of our sanctification. We are being set apart by God for him, separate from the world, separate from his order of things because we are born again. And then there is sanctification by blood, which we read of in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 9. Again, this is an objective matter. It's about the will of God. Then said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will, that's God's will, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. That's sanctification through the death of Christ, by the will of God. That's sanctification through blood. Our sins have been removed. Our guilt has gone. We have been brought into a new position before God. We are Nazarites by his will. But there was also the subjective side, the practical side. Because Samson was a Nazarite by birth, therefore he must walk as a Nazarite. His will must conform to God's will in this matter. And we as Nazarites Paul says to the Corinthians, you walk as men. But as Nazarites, we should walk as John tells us in this epistle. First John, chapter 2, verse 6, he that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked, even as the Lord walked. This is how we should walk, as he walked. And he alone can give us, through his spirit, the power and the grace to walk as he walked. Now, how did the Lord Jesus walk? Well, again, we can turn to our illustration of the Philistines. When they had the ark, God subjected them to judgment. And they wanted to get rid of the ark. It was causing them so much distress and pain. They were coming under God's hand in a terrible way. And so they set a test for the ark. They would get milch kind, 1 Samuel, chapter 6. Now, therefore, make a new cart, the Philistine, the leaves of the Philistines said, and take two milch kind, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kind to the ark, and bring their calves home from them. And take the ark of the Lord, and lay it upon the cart. Put the jewels of gold, which you return him for a trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof, and send it away, that it may go. And see if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Beth Shemesh. Then God hath done this great evil unto us. But if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us, it was a chance that happened to us. So they put a test on the ark. What way will it go? Will it go the way of nature? Because these milch kind, naturally speaking, they would return back to their young. That was the way of nature. Or would it go as directed by God, back to its own place, to Israel, to Beth Shemesh? And of course the ark went the way as directed by God, not the way of nature. And this is the way the Lord walked in, in manhood here upon earth. Satan brought him under testing in the wilderness. In Matthew 4 verse 4, When Jesus had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward and hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. So the Lord Jesus, Satan tried to tempt him to satisfy that which was natural. He was hungry, he had not eaten for forty days and forty nights. And Satan said, Use your power, if you're the Son of God, use that power. Take matters into your own hands and satisfy your hunger. But the Lord, he would walk the path of dependence. He would be subject to his God. And so he says to Satan, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. He would not walk the way of nature. He would be subject and dependent upon God and his word. And that is how we must walk also, to be subject to the word of God and to God's call to the Ephesians in his final goodbye, as it were, in Ephesians 20. He commends them to God and to the word of his grace. And these are the resources we have, God himself and the word of his grace, to enable us to walk before him as Nazarites. We must hurry on. I don't think we're going to have time to go through the life of Samson. But the Nazarite too, he must not drink of wine or eat any unclean thing. And this would tell us that our joy, because wine in the scripture speaks of joy, it's not found in this earth, in earthly things, in natural things, in carnal things. The joy of the Nazarite is found in God. This displaces every joy. The Lord Jesus, again, is the perfect example of the Nazarite. We read in Luke 10 verse 21, the Lord Jesus has been ministering, he's been teaching, he's been preaching, he's been preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God throughout Israel. And the response is one that meant he had to mourn over the cities of Israel. And he says that if what had been done in the midst of them had been done in Sodom and Gomorrah, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes. How hard was the heart of Israel to the ministry of their Messiah, their God, their King, who is in the midst of them. But it says in that same hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit. And that word for rejoice, it means he leapt for joy. His heart leapt for joy. He says, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and has revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. He found no joy in the earth, in his natural people, his earthly people, but he found his joy in God. That's where his joy lay. And he says in John 15, 11, to his disciples, these things have I spoken unto you that my joy, the joy that I have, might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. And so the Nazarite, there is joy for the Nazarite, but it is not earthly joy. It is a far more wonderful joy. It is a joy in our Lord Jesus Christ. It is his joy, the joy that he had as he walked with his God here upon earth. And then they were to eat no unclean thing. The Lord is holy. And if we are to continue with him, in fellowship with him, then we cannot partake of that which is unholy. If we are to have that joy, which the Apostle Paul speaks of to the Thessalonians, he tells me that they have the joy of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit. If we have that joy, then we cannot go on with that which is unclean in this world, and there is much of it, and it is freely available. It can easily be accessed. We must turn away from it with that purpose of heart that Daniel showed, when he refused to eat the king's meat, the food of Babylon, and he would eat only that which was clean, clean food. He would feed upon that, not upon the unclean food that the king of Babylon would have fed him with. Well, we must move on. And we read of Samson being exercised at the end of verse 13. The Spirit of the Lord began to move him. He was exercised. That word for move, it means agitation of spirit. And no doubt, like Moses, he would look upon his people, and he would grieve at their condition and at their bondage, and the Spirit would move him in this direction. And so in verse 12, we read of how he would act. And Samson went down to Timnath and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughter of the Philistines. And he came up and told his father and his mother and said, I've seen a woman in Timnath of the daughter of the Philistines. Now, therefore, get her for me to wife. His parents were troubled at this. They said, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? Samson said unto his father, Get her for me, for she pleases me well, or she is right in mine eyes. But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord that he sought an occasion against the Philistines, for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. And so we see motive here, Samson's motive, which was of the Lord. We read in verse 4, it was of the Lord that he sought an occasion against the Philistines. This was of the Lord. But we also see means, how he went about it. That was not of the Lord. He was going to go about it in a fleshly and a carnal way. He saw a woman. He was being led by his, by sight, not by faith. By sight, not by faith. How often Samson reminds us of Peter. Peter, motives of his heart were good. He loved the Lord and he was at one, he was prepared to die for him, but he was going about it in a fleshly way. He was going about it in his own strengths. But the Lord can divide between that which is fleshly and that which is spiritual. And he says to Peter, he says, the spirit is willing. That's of, that is of God, that is of the Holy Spirit. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. He was saying to Peter, you cannot go about achieving what is in your heart by going this fleshly way that you are walking in. And this was Samson. He was a mixture, there was a mixture in his life of that which was of the flesh and that which is of the spirit. And this is so often the case with us. But the word of God can, and the Lord can divide between those things and show us what is of himself and what is not. And so Samson goes down to take this woman. And it says in verse five, behold, a young lion roared against him. And the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him. And he rent him as he would have rent a kid. And he had nothing in his hand. But he told not his father or mother what he had done. And he went down and talked with the woman and she pleased Samson well. And after a time he returned to take her and he turned aside and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion. And he took thereof in his hands and went on eating and came to his father and mother and he gave them and they did eat. But he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion. And so right at the outset of Samson's life, God shows him that if he is to defeat the most mighty of things, it can only be in the strength that he is given by God. The spirit came upon him and he rent the young lion as if it were a kid. And we shouldn't think that a young lion is something immature and weak and inexperienced as it were. In Ezekiel 19 verse 6, we read of the young lion. He went up and down among the lions. He became a young lion and learned to catch the prey and devoured men. And he knew their desolate palaces and he laid waste their cities and the land was desolate and the fullness thereof by the noise of his roaring. So the young lion is a fearsome thing. And of course, the young lion here speaks of Satan himself. But when he was in the power of the spirit, when he was under the hand of his God, there was no enemy that was mightier than he. And he could rend it as a kid and it brought forth sweetness, blessing. Of course, this allegory also shows us the reason why we can be victorious over Satan. Because the Lord Jesus is the one who has destroyed the one who had the power of death and delivered us, delivered those who all their lifetime were subject to bondage through the fear of death. He has annulled Satan, the lion, and brought sweetness from it, deliverance from Satan's power, from the power of death. Again we read, don't we, in 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 10, that he has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. This is the sweetness that comes out from the victory of Christ over Satan and over death. But Samson, he takes this secret that he's been taught and he engages with the Philistines with it. He expresses it in the form, as it were, of a riddle, an intellectual exercise. And this is how he has knowledge that they don't have. But that superior knowledge, as it were, he takes it up on an intellectual level. And this is carnality, and this is how we can engage sometimes with the scriptures, with the things of God. Merely that which, as it were, touches us in our minds, an intellectual exercise. But the word of God, we must be subject to it. It must not just enter our minds, as it were, but also it must enter our hearts, and it must touch our consciences. The word of God is sweet, isn't it? In the Song of Songs, the woman, she says, she rested in her beloved shadow with great delight, he says, and thy fruit was sweet unto my taste. Like Mary, sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus, in his shadow, as it were, and his word was sweet to her. But if the word of God is sweet, it also is bitter. In Revelation, chapter 10, verse 10, John says, I took the little book, that's the little book of prophecy, the prophetic word, out of the angel's hand and ate it up, and it was in my mouth, sweet as honey, and as soon as I'd eaten it, my belly was bitter. Because the word of God, although it is sweet to us, it exposes us, what we are. And there must be self-judgment, as we read the word. We must read it in subjection to God. It must exercise our hearts. It cannot just be on an intellectual level, as we have here with Samson and the Riddle. And the Philistines, they're quite happy to engage with him in this, and they're going to try and find out the meaning of the Riddle, but they can never come to knowledge of the truth that Samson had themselves. Because the natural mind, we read, in 1st Corinthians, chapter 2, verse 14, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. So the Philistines could never arrive at that understanding that Samson knew, because they were carnal. The carnal mind, the fleshly mind, is at enmity with God. But they can learn it as a form of words, and we read that they found out the answer by getting it from the woman that Samson had taken up. They get it from her, and therefore they can repeat it to Samson as just a form of words that they've learnt. What is sweeter than honey, they say. What is stronger than a lion? But in that very answer, they show their ignorance, because Samson had been shown what was stronger than a lion. They never had that knowledge. And so they say, what is stronger than a lion? As far as they're concerned, the lion is the strongest thing there is. They do not know Samson's God. And so they get the garment that Samson told them that he was going to give them, if they could get the riddle, the answer to the riddle. 30 sheets, verse 12 of chapter 14, 30 sheets or shirts, and 30 changes of garment. They get their garment, and they put it on, no doubt. And they think it's a new garment, but it's not a new garment at all, because Samson has taken those garments from the Philistines. He has slain Philistines, taken their garments from them, and given these garments to these guests at his wedding feast. So they appear to have a new garment, but in fact it's the same old Philistine garment. And so there can be that profession of Christianity, which has no vitality, no life in it. It is purely carnal, because it is possible to profess the name of Christ, but not know Christ himself. A carnal profession. And this is what we see in Christendom today. We see a carnal profession of Christianity, which has no life in it, because Christ is not known. He is outside of that profession. Well, we must hurry on, because we haven't got much time. Perhaps we could just speak of the two times that Samson called unto the Lord. There are twice in Samson's life, it says, he called unto the Lord. Now one of those times is after his great victory over the Philistines, when he was abiding in the rock Etam, in the cleft of the rock, or the top of the rock, as in the authorised, he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam, or the cleft of the rock. That is a safe place, isn't it, to be. And God said to Moses, didn't he, he says, there is a place beside me. Thou shalt stand upon the rock. That is the place beside God. A safe place, abiding in Christ. And figuratively, this is the place that Samson was found in. And it was from there that he was victorious over the Philistines with the jawbones ass. That which is in itself a base, we might say. But God put it into his hand and the Spirit of God came mightily upon him. And so God used the base things, as we read in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, 26. For you see your calling, brethren, have that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty and base things of the world. And things which are despised has God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. And so Samson, through this base means, the jaw of an ass, he slays a thousand Philistines. But afterward, he is thirsty with a great thirst. And he cries unto God. He says to him in verse 18 of chapter 15, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant, and now shall I die for thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised. He knew the danger. He knew that he had a thirst which only God could meet to prevent him from falling into the hands of the Philistine. And so it is with the believer. So it is with us. We have a thirst now, a thirst that God has created in our souls. And it can only be met by him, by the Lord Jesus. And so God, he, we read, God clave, and perhaps the better translation is, and God clave the hollow rock which was in Lehi, and water came out. Water came abundantly out of the rock. We've heard that before, haven't we, with Moses, how he must speak to the rock, and water would come out. Not the first rock that had to be struck. That speaks of the Lord Jesus crucified, and life through his death. The second rock, the rock that followed that one. And the word for rock is different. It comes from the root word meaning lofty, or exalted, high, lifted up. It speaks of the Lord Jesus in heaven, and we must cry unto him, and he will provide abundantly of that water, that which sustains us in our life, that he has given us, which comes only from him. And so the Lord could say to the woman, if thou knewest who it is that speaketh to thee, thou would have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. And so Samson calls this place in Hakore, which means the caller's spring. We just have to call unto God for that which will satisfy our need, and sustain us in life. And it says at the end of that chapter, verse 19, it says, which is in Lehi unto this day. It is still there, the Spirit of God is saying to us. It is there even now for us. We can call unto the Lord now, and have that which refreshes our souls, and which sustains us in life. So the first time Samson calls, it is to be allowed to live. And this is one part of the necessity of victory in our lives. Samson said, that he asked for his thirst met, that I fall not into the hands of the uncircumcised Philistines. If we don't drink of this water that the Lord provides, reading of his word, seated in his presence, prayer, these things which bring us to him, and through which we feed on him, then we will fall into wrong ways. We will, as it were, fall into the hand of the uncircumcised Philistines. But there is another side of victory, and this is represented by the second time that Samson calls unto God. And this is at the end of his life, when he has tasted of the bitterness of the path that he was walking in. He has become under the authority of the Philistines, and they have blinded him, and they have bound him, and they have made him work in the prison house under heavy labour. And in his wretchedness, he is there, grinding in the prison house, reminding us that it is possible even for the Christian that sin can have power over us. Let not sin reign in your mortal bodies, says the Apostle in Romans 8, I think it is. Sin can gain ascendancy over us if we walk down that path. But then Paul says, sin shall not have dominion over you. Although sin can get ascendancy over us, it cannot, it can never have dominion over us, because the Lord is the one who has dominion over us. He has bought us, we belong to him. He is enthroned in our hearts, and sin can never therefore take the place that only belongs to him. So it cannot have dominion over us. And it was seen with Samson, as he ground in the prison house, that his hair began to grow. And the Philistines would taunt him, and humiliate him, and take him out to be an object of ridicule. And he would be led by this little child by a chain. And it was then that he called unto the Lord the second time, not for life, he says, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, verse 28 of chapter 16, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged to the Philistines from my two eyes. Verse 30, and Samson said, let me die with the Philistines. So he had called out once to live, and this is one aspect of victory. We are, we live, we are alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. But if we live unto God, we must learn, we must die unto self. And Samson learnt this at the end of his life, that he must not go on in the way that self would lead him, the way that flesh, nature would lead him. He must die to that. And so he asked to die with the Philistines. He accepts that judgment of God upon himself, which was the same judgment upon the Philistines. Just as we read, in Adam all die, in Adam all die, in Christ shall all be made alive. And so there is that objective side again. Paul says to the Colossians, for ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. This is God's judgment upon the flesh, and this is true of us as to what we are in Adam. We are dead. To self we are dead. This is the objective side, but then there is the subjective side. Romans 6 verse 11, likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And in that step of faith, in that recognition of faith, simply trusting what God has said, and walking according to his word as to what we are in Adam, what self is, Paul could say in Galatians chapter 2 verse 20, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, in this flesh and blood, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Perhaps we could close with singing hymn number 50. …

… We start by reading a scripture from the first epistle of John and chapter 1. First epistle of John chapter 1 and verse 3. In John 1 verse 3, that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that he also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And then from the second chapter, verse 22. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is the Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same has not the Father. But he that acknowledgeth the Son has the Father also. And then from Hebrews chapter 1. Epistle to the Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 1. God who at sundry times and in diverse manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets has in these last days spoken unto us by or in his Son. So far for now. In one way I'd really like to carry on where our brother Paul left off this afternoon when he closed with the verse, the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me and the hymn that spoke of the Lord Jesus. And we really have a wonderful topic in the Lord Jesus. Last week on Saturday, our house was absolutely crammed. There were so many people that we ran out of seats. And some were sitting on cushions and some not on cushions, just on the floor. And I'm not sure what the neighbors are thinking, why so many people are coming and you don't hear any loud party noise, just some singing of Christian sounding songs. In any case, the reason they did come was that we were studying one of the glories of the Lord Jesus. It was an official glory, it was the glory of the high priest and only under one aspect that is under the garments in Exodus 28. Now we could spend other Saturdays studying other official glories. On other occasions, we might be occupied with the Lord Jesus and we study his moral glories, how he acted in his life, how every word he spoke was appropriate, every action, how he took the children on his arms. And yet perhaps the deepest glories of the Lord Jesus are his personal glories. And what I'd like to do with the Lord's help this evening is to say a few words about the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, and I'd like to do this with the help of seven particular expressions you find in the New Testament where each time a slightly different name is given to the Son of God. Now there may be more than seven, I don't know, but these seven were the ones that jumped out at me and that warmed my heart and I hope will warm yours as well. The first verse we read in 1 John 1 makes a very important point. Perhaps I should have read verse 4 also which says, And these things write we unto you that your joy may be full. And that's my opening question, would you like full joy? Perhaps I should first ask, would you like joy? And everybody says yes, but you can have more, you can have full joy, a full measure. And how would the recipients of this letter receive that joy? It's a joy that comes out of fellowship with the Father and the Son, the Father telling us what he appreciates about the Son, and the Son telling us what he appreciates about the Father. It is really, therefore, it's not a question of theology, it is a question that is at the very heart of Christianity, of the Christian faith, and of our practical enjoyment and joy as believers. Having said that, the second verse we read shows us something else. It said there in chapter 2, verse 22, He is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. It's not the Antichrist prophetically, but it is Antichrist in the sense of against Christ and a substitute for Christ. It is a false Christ. And what we learn, essentially, is that the enemy focuses his attacks on the Lord Jesus, and in particular, on the Lord Jesus as the Son of God. Now thinking about it, the two things really go together. If the truth about the Son of God is at the heart of Christianity, we shouldn't be surprised if the enemy focuses the attack on this. So we are on a ground where we must expect the enemy to contradict and attack. But I just mention this, I don't want to focus on controversy this evening at all. I want to speak about that which is precious to all of us and that which can help us enjoy this full joy. Now the Son of God. We read in Hebrews 1, a very important verse, it shows a complete change in time. It shows that the coming of the Son brought about a big change. Incidentally, you will find the same in Galatians chapter 4, where it says that in the fullness of time, God sent his Son. It is really before and after. The history of mankind and of everything is divided by this event, the coming of the Son. And what we learn here in Hebrews 1 is that before the Lord Jesus came, it's not that God didn't speak, he did. It's not that he didn't send prophets, he did. It's not that he didn't reveal himself, he did. But it was partial. Today we would say it was piecemeal. It was here a little, there a little. It was all true. It was all precious. This afternoon we read about how the angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah and his wife, his wife first. This is Christ before incarnation coming to man, speaking to man, but it is not yet the revelation in the Son. And in these last days, it says God has spoken to us by his Son. It's also translated in or in the person of the Son. If I said to you that every word which the Lord Jesus spoke was word of God and was revelation from God, this would be true. But it wouldn't be enough. It's not only what he said. His person was the revelation. He had come, the Son. The Son goes along with dignity. There's a verse later on in this epistle that explains this very beautifully where it points out the marvel of the thought that the Son learned obedience. Normally, you would have expected obedience from a servant, but it says he being the Son, the one in whom God had spoken, he learned obedience. God has spoken in his Son. Now I need to move on to these seven expressions, seven different terms where something is added to the word Son. And for the first one, I'd like to turn to Genesis chapter 22, a very well-known passage, Genesis 22 and verse 1, and it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham. And he said to him, Abraham, and he said, behold, here I am. And he said, take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering. So the first in the series of expressions is the only. The fact that he is the only son. This is emphasized in this chapter, I think it's three times in this chapter that it's repeated that it was the only son that Abraham had to offer. It was the one of whom God had said, in Isaac shall thy seed be blessed. There was no other in that sense. There was, of course, Ishmael, but God had blessed Abraham through Isaac. It was the only one in whom God's promises could be fulfilled, through whom blessing could come. And God says, this only son I want you to place onto the altar. I was struck when I noticed that this expression, only son, occurs seven times in the Bible, three times in this chapter, and then three more times in the Old Testament, where each time it is connected with mourning. Perhaps the best known of the three is Zechariah 12 verse 10. There will be a mourning like one mourneth about an only son. The seventh time is in the New Testament, and in the New Testament you have a widow and her son has died, and it says that he was her only son, and I think taking those together we learn something about the value of God's gift. He gave the only one. There was no other to accomplish redemption. It's interesting that there are passages that apply to the Lord Jesus where he is called the chosen one or the elect one, like Isaiah 42, for example, and Psalm 89. But when it speaks of the Lord as chosen one, this is not in eternity. In the past eternity there was no other to choose, but as man he is the chosen one, the one chosen out of many. Let's move on to another expression, and we go back to the New Testament now and to the epistle to the Romans, and I'll read three passages again. First of all in Romans 8. For what the law could not do, and that is was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh. And verse 32. He that spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? And for the third one we need to turn back to Acts chapter 20 and verse 28. Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers, to feed the church of God which he has purchased with his own blood. Or in the new translation it says with the blood of his own. Now we've seen the Lord Jesus as the only son, now we see him as God's own son. And the word own of course indicates property, possession. And the point is made that the one whom God gave was his very own personal property. And what did God do? Romans 8 verse 3, it says, sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, for sin condemned sin in the flesh. Our brother spoke about this earlier, that there is the problem of the flesh and keeping the flesh in death. Now God dealt with that problem in a principle in a fundamental way. The flesh could not be improved, repaired, mended in any way and what God did is he judged the flesh. Where did he judge the flesh? He judged the flesh on the cross in the three hours of darkness when Christ suffered. And pointing us to those moments the scriptures say his own son, who would give his own son to bear that judgment. But look at the consequences. If you think of the three great facts in these chapters 7 and 8, but there are more, but three I want to draw your attention to particularly, you first learn, and the person in chapter 7 learns it through a struggle, sin is still in me. And then you learn secondly in Romans 8 verse 1, but I am not under condemnation, although sin is in me. Now how is that possible? Chapter 7, sin is in me. Chapter 8 verse 1, there is no condemnation. Well, because God has already condemned sin. God has condemned sin in the flesh, in his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, his own son. It's interesting that we find this expression again, to my knowledge only in these passages we've read, but we find it again in the end of the chapter, verse 32, that he spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us. How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Perhaps we've got used to this, perhaps we've read it many times, but do we imagine what it means not to spare one's own son? Last week I got a phone call, it was a brother in the Congo. He was traveling to a conference and he told me that his nephews had gone into the forest to hunt. Sometimes, when they have a really good day, they get perhaps an antelope, more often perhaps a monkey or some furry creature, a bit smaller than that. But on that occasion, on that night, something tragic happened. While they were hunting, I don't know whether it was with bow and arrow or with some sort of spear, in any case, they tragically wounded another boy. And this other boy died from the consequences. And what then happened was perhaps something we can't easily imagine here. The father of that boy, he went to the village where these nephews came from and he took revenge. And he actually killed the mother of our brother. Now that is what the death of his son did to him. It brought enmity between him and those who were the culprits, even though unintentionally, of that death. I'm reminded of Romans, where it says, chapter five I think, that we have been reconciled by the death of his son. Those nephews and their whole family had been alienated by the death of this man's son. But the death of God's son has reconciled us, because as we read here, he did not spare him. But the reason Paul mentions this here is a very special one. Why does he tell us that God did not spare his son? Because he wants to explain to us how God will give us everything that's good for us in our lives. And he says, if you have a God who did not even spare his own son, how will he not give us everything? Basically, he says, the smallest present, the smallest gift is included in this largest of all gifts, the greatest gift ever, the gift of his own son. In Acts 20, we read almost the same expression again, even if son is not mentioned, but it says his own. And it says that God purchased the assembly with the blood of his own, obviously, his own son. So Romans 8, verse 3, sin was judged in his own son. Romans 8, 32, it's the guarantee that God is for us, he will give us everything that's good for us. In Acts 20, we have a third truth connected with God's own son, and that is that his blood was the price that God paid for the church. The price tells you something about the valuation. Apparently, an arts museum in Qatar just now paid 200 million pounds for a painting, 200 million pounds. They must have loved that painting. But what is 200 million pounds against the price that God paid, the blood of his own son? That's the price he deemed had to be paid in order to possess the church. That's very practical, by the way, to see two things in connection with this. One is the value of the church in God's eyes. The other is the church belongs to him. We should never think of the church, or even a small part of it, as our. Peter warns against this, not to act as though it was our possession, 1 Peter 5. But to be conscious it is God's church, he paid the price. And any service we do for the benefit of believers, it's a service for that, for the benefit of that, that is so precious in God's eyes. Now let's turn to the Gospel of John and chapter 1. John's Gospel, chapter 1, verse 14. And the word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us. And we beheld his glory, the glory of an only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Verse 18, no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. I hope you've all picked out the number three, the third expression. The only Son, the own Son, and now the only begotten Son. And there are five passages in the Bible that speak of the Lord Jesus as the only begotten Son, all by the way in John's writings. And the question is, what does this expression actually mean? I know that some of you have been brought up on a German Bible and they will have been used to an expression that essentially means the only born Son. And some of you have been brought up with a French Bible that says his unique Son. And some of us have been brought up with an English Bible that says the only begotten Son. Now let me start with the French. I'm sure the good brother who translated in this way, he chose the word, the closest word that he found to render what is behind this wonderful name. And I wouldn't know a better French word. And yet, I think it is not exactly the same as unique. We have the only in Genesis 22, the only Son, but the only begotten Son is more than that. It is not only unique, but it is unique and very special. Unique and the center of affection. It is the one who is unique and to whom the love of the Father flows out. I could say, just to explain the difference, there has only ever been one person who has burgled my house and put everything, turned everything upside down. Now that man would be unique, but he wouldn't be very special to me and he wouldn't be the center of my affection. So the only Son is already a very important title, but the only begotten Son takes us further. Now what we should not connect with only born or begotten, and I don't think anybody here would do this, is any sort of a point in time or a beginning. We will see in these passages that when we read about the only begotten Son, we read about him as the one who was the Son eternally. I should have mentioned this, by the way, in Hebrews 1, where it says, by whom he made the world. He was already the Son when the world was made. There is no beginning, there is no creation, of course, there is no derivation, there is no impartation of life. It is the Eternal One of whom it says, in him was life. He is the I Am, the one who however far back you go in time, he was there and he was already the Son. Now in the two verses we read, we learn two very precious truths about the only begotten Son. In verse 14 it says, and the Word was made flesh and dwelled amongst us. What we find here is that God acts, and God acts because he has a very special desire. His desire is to reveal himself and to show to his creatures the truth about his Son and how much he loves his Son. I believe that whenever God reveals himself, he really does this through his Son and he does it for the glory of his Son, even in creation. Have you ever thought why God created the rest of the universe apart from the Earth and the Moon and perhaps a few stars for us to see or have orientation? Why are there so many galaxies? Why are there distances that are just mind-boggling for us, places in the universe where light would have to travel for a long, long time before it would even get there with the speed of light? Why did God do this? God has this desire. God wants to show man how great his Son is and God wants to show man how much he loves his Son. And he says, I love my Son so much that I've made all this to place him as heir over that and I want people to see a little bit of his glory. Now for that to happen, and it had never happened before in the Old Testament that God was fully revealed, for that to happen the Word had to be made flesh. The Word is the expression, everything God had to say. And now he had to not come as angel of Jehovah, but he had to become man. And now how does God reveal himself in his only begotten Son? It says we beheld his glory. Now we shouldn't think of this as some sort of outward appearance, some sort of halo that would have marked the Lord out. Many people didn't notice, but there were people who were close to the Lord, like John, leaning on his breast. And he can say, we beheld his glory. Now what did they actually see when they beheld his glory? It's the glory of an only begotten with a Father full of grace and truth. I'm so thankful for the order here. You know, if it said, and we beheld his glory, full of truth and grace, I think none of us would be here. If God had first acted towards us in truth, he would have had to condemn us. But God first acted towards us in grace, but then also in truth. It's interesting that the Lord says of himself, I am the truth. And he says of the Word, thy Word is truth. And he says of the Spirit, 1 John 5, the Spirit is truth. Now how can that be possible? Well, the Lord is the truth, that which is being revealed. The Word of God speaks to us about it, and the Spirit helps us apprehend that truth. And there wasn't just a little bit of grace and truth, but he was full of grace and truth. Now in verse 18, we come, if you like, to the flip side, the opposite perspective. It says no man has seen God at any time. If in verse 14 God had the desire to reveal himself, in verse 18 man has the desire to see God. I think our brother mentioned the verse this afternoon, Exodus 33, where Moses says, let me see thy glory. And you find again and again that man have this desire in their hearts, they want to see God. And yet nobody really could see God. Now what did man do? Man said, well, if we can't see God, then we must make something we can see. They refused to glorify God as creator, and they started making little idols and pictures and images, and bowed down before them, Romans 1. And they still didn't see God. In order for man to see God, what had to happen? The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him, only in his Son. It's interesting that it says, who is in his bosom. Can make two mistakes here. Some have thought he came into his bosom, and some have thought he came out of his bosom. And both are completely wrong. It's his eternal place, being in his bosom. That means in the place of the Father's affection for him. I need to move on. Chapter 3, verse 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. Verse 18, but he that believeth on him is not condemned. But he that believeth not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. We learn five things about the only begotten Son of God. The first one was God wanted to reveal himself. The second, man wanted to see God. In John 3, verse 16, we learn that the only begotten Son is the measure, I should say the gift of the only begotten Son, is the measure of the love of God. You know when it says here, God gave, perhaps in our minds we think about the Son coming to earth, and we say now God has given his Son. But I think there's more to it, because it's connected with verse 14, where it says the Son of Man had to be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. This is the cross. But verse 16 says, if God gave his Son on the cross, this shows you the greatness of the love of God. And it doesn't say, for God so loved the elect, but it is the world. And that's everyone. And everybody here can substitute their name and say, for God so loved me. But can you also just substitute your name in the second half? Not necessarily, because in the second half it says that whosoever believes has everlasting life. Love of God is for all, but the benefit is only for those who believe. Now perhaps you say, well, this eternal life, this higher quality of life as it is sometimes presented to us, you know, knowing the Father, knowing the Son, I'm not so interested on this. I'm quite happy I'm just alive. Just, you know, any life will do for me. Why do I need this special, this eternal life? Well, a brother once explained that very nicely. He said, you know, if I had the choice of living the life of a mouse, you know, always of being afraid of the cat and rushing around and hiding, or if I had the opportunity to become a bird, he said, I think I would do that. I would become a bird, perhaps a sparrow. But he says, if I then got the chance to become an eagle, you know, so I don't need to flutter like crazy all the time, I would just, you know, soar into the heights and I would live the life of an eagle. He said, I would go for that. Eternal life is a wonderful thing. If we didn't have eternal life, we would not be able to enjoy a single thing in the Bible. We wouldn't be able to enjoy God at all. But God has given his only begotten Son, who was so precious to him, to give us that life. Now, in verse 18, we have a fourth truth, and this is very solemn. It says, he who believes not on the only begotten Son is already condemned or is already judged. I want to be very clear about this. Everyone, even the children, should know this, that if someone does not believe on the Lord Jesus, it's not a possibility that he could be judged, it's an absolute certainty. It says he is already judged. If you remain in unbelief and you say, I'm not interested, I don't want to hear about all this, God says he is already judged. I sometimes use this when speaking with colleagues or friends who are not believers, and they say, you know, what does God want of me? What do I need to do? I said, you know, God will only have one question for you. God will say, what have you done with my son? I gave the only begotten, and make sure you have a good answer. Make sure you can say, I trusted in him. As it says here, he who believes in him is not judged, is not condemned. Now quickly, 1 John 5, the fifth reference. 1 John 5, sorry, 1 John 4 and verse 9. In this was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only begotten son into the world, that we might live through him. Here in his love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. We love it, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. It's very interesting how the truth of the only begotten son comes into this chapter, where the apostle really speaks about brotherly love. He says, if you are children of God, you love those who are children of God. And if you don't love the children of God, you are not one of his. And in that chapter, we encounter again the only begotten. And it says that it is in him that we see the love of God, and in two ways. There are two things that have happened. Verse 9 says, God sent his only begotten son into the world, that we might live through him. That's number one, life. Verse 10, sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. I'm so glad that we have both here. Just imagine, we only had verse 9. It's wonderful that it speaks about the love of God. But if we had only life as a result, without propitiation, would that not be terrible? We would have an appreciation of how terrible sin is. We would have an everlasting existence. But without knowing that God's claims have been met, without knowing that propitiation has been made, but thank God, he has done both. In his only begotten son, he has given us life, and he has given us propitiation. And then John comes back to his subject, brotherly love. And he says, look at this. We are children of God. God has demonstrated such love, now should we not love one another? It's hard to speak about this if you think about the measure that is applied here, how God gave this treasure. And then to say, looking at this, should we not love one another? But God has given us a new nature and he wants to encourage us to exercise that divine love. Now we had the only son, the own son, and the only begotten son. I've got four more, and only about four minutes. So I'm afraid I will only be able to give you the headings, and I hope it will encourage you. I tell you, if you look into this a little bit, you will find you've struck gold. It's just wonderful. I'll just mention the other four now, very quickly. In Matthew 3 and other passages, you read of my beloved son. Remember the baptism? The Lord Jesus was baptized, like many others were baptized. He came out of the water, but when he came out, Matthew 3, 17, the heavens opened and a voice was heard, this is my beloved son. You find this expression seven times. Three times in connection with the baptism, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and three times in connection with the mountain of transfiguration, Matthew, Mark, Luke. Each time it appeared that the Lord was one of many or one of several, and heaven opened and said, no, this one, he is different. He stands out from the crowd. He is my beloved son. And then in 2 Peter 1, talking about the mount of transfiguration again, my beloved son. Now then, let's just turn to one or two others. Matthew 16. Matthew 16 and verse 16. And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. Have you ever noticed this? We often emphasize that Peter confessed Christ as the son of God and this was the foundation of the church, but have you ever noticed this little extra word here, the son of the living God? It's interesting to study where God is called the living God, for example, when people turn to idols who are dead, it says you've turned away from the living God. Or Goliath, he mocked the armies of the living God, not aware how God could act and intervene. Now here we have the son of the living God and he actually went into death and he conquered death and this was pure grace. And then he came out of death victorious. And I believe that is the basis for the church. Why? Because it goes on to say, the gates of Hades shall not prevail against her, because the son of the living God who went into death, he has come out of death, the son of the living God. The church is not marked by failure, the church is not marked by weakness, but it is marked by these principles, the power and the grace. The son of the living God went into death by grace and in power he came out of that death. Now interestingly, you find the expression elsewhere, for example, the church that is built on this foundation in 1 Timothy 3 is called the church of the living God. We must move on, Colossians 1, you find yet another name to do with the son of God and verse 13, Colossians 1, 13, it says, who has delivered us from the authority of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the son of his love. Yet another expression, the son of his love. What is brought before us is how a complete, not even transformation, translation has been brought about. We were in an area, a realm called power of darkness. Like the Lord said before going to the cross, this is your hour and the power of darkness. And even a child growing up in a Christian family, before conversion, is in the power of darkness. But if you have believed, you have been translated into a new realm and it's called a kingdom. I don't think it's the kingdom like in Revelation 1 where you have sufferings and tribulation. It is the kingdom as in the sphere where the son of his love is known. Now perhaps you say, look, how can I be comfortable in that sphere? This is too wonderful for me. No, it says, listen, he has made us fit. That means he has given us a new nature. And it's not that he will do it, it's that he has done it. He has made us fit to be partakers of this inheritance in the light and fit to be at home and to enjoy this kingdom of the son of his love. I must close, and I close with a verse in 2 John where you have the seventh expression that I found, second epistle of John, verse 3, grace be with you, mercy and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of the Father in truth and love. Now remember, this epistle is all about the dangers of the attack from outside, how people were coming, not bringing the doctrine of the Christ. And what is the answer of faith? What does John do, the aged apostle? He writes to that family, to that sister. He wants to encourage her to be faithful to the Lord, and what does he do? He uses an expression only used here in the Bible, the son of the Father. And he basically says the thing to do in the last day, in the day of attack, is to hold up the banner and to encourage one another to say, let us cling to him, let us cling to the truth, he is the son of the Father. Now, if you don't mind me doing this, I'll close with the same verse that Brother Paul closed with earlier. Having considered a little bit of who this son is, the only one, the own one, the only begotten one, the beloved son, the son of his love, the son of the living God, and the son of the Father, don't we want to encourage one another to live for him, to live for the one who loved us, and it's very personal, Galatians 2.20, the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. We have time to sing a hymn, I suggest number 436. God and Father, we adore thee, now revealed in Christ the Son, 436. …

… The topic of the exercise that I've got before me this afternoon is something that, I must admit, concerns me a little because what I feel I should talk about is to go into the book of Isaiah and to try and speak on 10-11 chapters in the book of Isaiah and to try and give an overview of what the Spirit of God has said and teaches us about what will happen to nations in the future. We thankfully hear a great deal in passing and in considerable detail about the future of Israel as a nation itself. But I don't remember hearing anybody speak about what Isaiah, and there are other places in the scriptures that deal with this topic, what they say about the foreign nations, the nations that surround Israel. And in this passage, and I'm talking about Isaiah chapter 13 to 23, and here there are 10 burdens that were laid upon Isaiah and these burdens he was caused to write down which concern countries that sometimes they've got the same name that we know them by today, sometimes there's a little bit of a gray area exactly where they might be, and certainly in these passages, as I found, there are a number of verses that it's not quite clear what's being said, they're a little bit difficult to understand. So my greatest concern is to try and get these things right of course, but is to try and present this in such a way that we're not racing through 10 chapters, but we're highlighting on the main events. Because the scriptures here are in the main very clear about what will happen to these countries or cities or places that we find in the Middle East today. And in teaching us about these things, we can see, I think most importantly, that God is in control. God is in control of history, what has happened in the past, and he is in control of the future. It's like we dotted here at Catford in 2015, we might have our concerns, we might have our worries and cares, and we might not know what the future is. The next day, the next week, the next year, we certainly cannot be sure about it. But if we know that things are going to be alright in the end, if we know that the Lord Jesus will come and take us home and take us out of this world, and that we will spend eternity with him, if we can be sure of the end, then that gives us great encouragement. There will be ups and downs on the way, but how thankful we are that we can put our trust that the Lord will return. How thankful we are that we can trust him for all that is to come. And as we look at these prophecies, we can see, in fact, that some of those prophecies were fulfilled shortly after Isaiah said them. Some were fulfilled hundred or so years later. We know there are other prophecies in the book of Isaiah that were fulfilled when the Lord Jesus came. And some of these passages here have been partially fulfilled. We see that history tells us that these things did happen in the past, and that partial fulfillment can give us confidence that we can trust in God's Word for the future. And welcome comments from what other people think, but looking at present-day events. I remember people in the past saying you can listen to present-day events with a Bible open, and that we can see some of the things that have happened in the recent past, that they have come true. I was thinking, driving along, that I've lost track how many years the Catford Lectures has been going, but a considerable length of time. They'd go back further into the turn of the century. If somebody here was speaking from these passages or similar ones, and said things like that the Jews would have gone back into their own land, that would have been absolutely unthinkable at that time. We can see that something towards that has happened over the last 50 years. What encouragement that gives. Something unthinkable is now happening. And we can look around the Middle East, we can look at some of these nations, I'm not sure but some of you might have descendants who've originated from these parts of the world, and we can see that the Lord has brought some of these things to happen. But I would just emphasize again, I'm really trying to give an overview and hoping that some of you students will go away and have a look at these things and delve into them in more detail. So if we look at the first part of the book of Isaiah, we need to get where we're at. The first 12 chapters talk, Isaiah is talking about Israel. And as he talks about Israel there, he goes into some considerable detail. The chapters that we're considering, 13 to 23, they speak of burdens directed towards the foreign nations. What we will see in there is that one of them does seem to be Jerusalem. And we might ask ourselves a question, why when this section is about foreign nations, why is it speaking about Jerusalem? And it seems to be that Jerusalem, that the people of God had gone so far away from the Lord that they were now being counted as one of the nations. And that's a lesson for us today. And then the chapters 24 to 27 would speak about the world in general as to the future. So these chapters from 13 describe judgments that arise from local circumstances. And at that time, Isaiah was writing in the 700s BC, that Isaiah and the people there were being threatened, and being threatened mainly by the Assyrians. And as we look in these chapters, it's worth me just pointing out that there are parallel chapters, particularly in the other major prophets. In Jeremiah, chapters 46 to 51, and Ezekiel, chapter 25 to 32. There's a summary of sorts, or a brief description, in the first two chapters of Amos. So this is not isolated, but they very much agree in what they've got to say, and sometimes we need to look at one to help us with the overall sense. So those first 12 chapters dealing with Israel teach us the important lesson that judgment that is coming will be, first of all, it must begin with the house of God. That's a scriptural principle, isn't it? Judgment begins with the house of God. That it was Israel that would be dealt with first. We can apply that to the Church of God, that where there are issues and things that need to be dealt with, that the Lord will deal with his people first. And we see this exemplified from the beginning of Isaiah here. The other principles that we have is that we're left with a distinct impression, it's emphasized, that God is not just a tribal God. He's not just somebody who is the God of the Moabites, or the God of the Egyptians. That's Psalm 47, verse 2. God is a great king over all the earth. We know that, we can appreciate that, but in those days especially, each tribe, each nation, would have their own gods, and it would be a matter as whose gods would be thought of as strongest. But Nebuchadnezzar, that king of the Babylonians, had to be brought to that realization that he is the God of the heavens. That he had to own that Jehovah was the one who he had to deal with. Another principle that we know, going right back to Genesis chapter 12, is that those nations, those peoples that deal well, kindly, with the people of God, that God will bless. We almost feel like sending a text to David Cameron in Downing Street, because this country was blessed because of the way, to at least some extent, it dealt with the Jews. And that's a principle that should guide foreign policy of all the nations. So if we look into chapter 13, it begins straight away by telling us, this is the burden of Babylon, which Isaiah, the son of Amos, did see. So in Isaiah chapter 13, we begin, and he tells us clearly, who is he talking about? Babylon. Why is this remarkable? This prophecy uttered in just 700 odds BC, Babylon hardly existed at that time. And he makes these predictions, and tells how in the first instance, the Medes would come up against Babylon and overthrow it. And he's making these predictions a hundred and seventy-five years, approximately, before that event took place. It's like somebody standing here and saying, the peoples from Vanuatu are going to come and destroy this country in the future. It was so remarkable as that, that Isaiah would be speaking specifically about this place. And verse two, lift up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand and they may go into the gates of the nobles. I have commanded my sanctified ones. I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. There he is saying that there is going to be people, sanctified ones. And that causes us to stop, because it's clear that he is talking about these peoples that would come up against Babylon, and that these people were sanctified. And we might say, well, how are these Assyrians sanctified? And really, we think that it means that they're set apart for a particular purpose. And we know that God uses nations in the past, and he will do in the future, to meet out his discipline and his judgment on whomsoever he will. That he uses them. They might not, and they will not, understand, appreciate. But God is acting. He is over all. He is high over all. And he is able to cause peoples to work in such a way. If we mention those verses two to five, talking about the Medians, Medes, who are going to come against Babylon itself. If we look at verse six, we see there the day of the Lord is at hand. And verse nine, behold the day of the Lord cometh. And one of the issues that we have to deal with in interpreting these chapters, is what's present, what's in the near future, what's in the distant future. And when we see those words, day of the Lord is at hand, then we can get a glimpse that the millennium, and the events before that, just before that time, are ones that are going to be brought into fruition. If you look at, just picking out verses, verse 12, I will make a man more precious than fine gold. What's that meaning? It's indicating that people are going to be precious. That this judgment that's going to take place is going to be a severe judgment. That he is going to punish the world for evil and their wickedness, rather like we can see the Lord speaking of in Matthew chapter 24. Then if we pick out verse 19, and Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited. Neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there. Neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. And the two verses go on and give this description of an uninhabited place. A place that would never be inhabited. Now we ask ourselves the question, is anybody living in Babylon today? We've perhaps been fortunate to see pictures over the last 15, 20 years of the area exists. It isn't. It's a waste. It's a desert. But we come to what is really, I think, one of the most interesting points of these chapters. Because chapter 13 seems to describe that near prophecy as far as Isaiah and the people living at that time were concerned. This is going to be fulfilled as the Medes went in and destroyed Babylon and shortly afterwards. But then chapter 14, which still mostly deals with Babylon, seems to turn away from the city of Babylon to the king of Babylon. And chapter 14 there gives us some indication of distant events. And it talks about Babylon being overthrown. Unfortunately we would have liked to have gone into Revelation and looked at the chapters there talking about Babylon the Great. But how do we square the circle? We're told that Babylon is going to be uninhabited. But Revelation in particular, those chapters towards the end, speak about Babylon the Great. And they speak about Babylon the Great being utterly destroyed. Wiped out completely. No mention of it again. It's not there at the moment. How is Babylon the Great going to be destroyed? And there are expositors who have pondered this. Some, I think Mr. Vine was the one that was brought to my attention, did suggest that they would be a literal rebuilding of Babylon. But others suggest that Babylon the Great is really the epitome of that great religious and commercial power that will arise in the last days. When the ten kings will be found there. And when there will be the rise of the Roman Empire. Now I think you can see here that these verses cannot apply to the earlier destruction of Babylon. Because if you look at 1 to 3 of chapter 14, for the Lord will have mercy on Jacob and will yet choose Israel and set them in their own land. And the strangers shall be joined with them. And they shall plead to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them and bring them to their place. The house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids. They shall take them captives, whose captives they were. And they shall rule over their oppressors. It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve. So in particular there is talking about the Jews as they return shall make captives of those who were who captured them, who oppressed them. That didn't happen in the time of Nehemiah or Ezra. And it's difficult to see that as Israel is caused to rejoice over the destruction of Babylon in the end times, that it could apply to an event two and a half thousand years previously. The actual destruction of Babylon in the end times is before Israel is restored to greatness. And I find it interesting to see that in the past when Babylon was destroyed and the Medes came in under Darius and Cyrus, that it was the Medes that gave the Jews permission to go back to Jerusalem. So in those days there was a partial restoring of Israel. The remnant went back following the destruction of Babylon. In the future the destruction of Babylon will bring about that great blessing for Israel as the Lord appears in all his glory. So that deliverance for Israel will bring in a great time of a blessing for those people. Perhaps if we if we move on and look to the end of the chapter, verse 28. Now Babylon is one burden that we could spend many hours discussing. But there's actually a mark in my Bible which isn't quite in the right place because verse 28, I believe, begins, in the year that King Ahaz died was this burden. And it goes on to say, rejoice not thou whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken. For out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety. And I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. Howl, O gates! Cry, O city! Thou whole Palestina art dissolved, for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times. What shall the one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust it. So here, in our authorized, it calls it Palestina. Mr. Darby refers to a Philistia, Philistines. And even a cursory reading of the Old Testament scriptures tell us how the Jews were played for hundreds of years by the Philistines. And those five cities of the Philistines, we hear about them from time to time. And we hear how David fought against them, how Solomon fought against them. And they were a continual thorn in the flesh to the people of God. What I find amazing reading these verses is that when I look on my map to see where the Philistines lived, what do I see there now in its place? I see a remarkable new piece of land. We know it as the Gaza Strip. Gaza, one of the cities of the Philistines. And we find here in the scriptures that it's talking about amongst the foreign nations are the Philistines and what's going to happen to them. It was in the year of Ahaz. It's actually written down the year that he was talking about. And it's saying in 29 that the rod of him that smote thee is broken. It was written in the year King Ahaz died. Ahaz was fighting against the Philistines. He died. The Philistines would think this is great. The problems that we've suffered from him, they're going to be reduced. They're going to be lessened. We're going to be able to live in some measure of peace. But here Isaiah is saying to them, for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. So it's obviously written in very poetic metaphorical language. But he's saying here don't get carried away with yourselves you Philistines because it's going to be worse. Out of the root shall come a cockatrice. There's going to be more problems for you on the way. And we know 2nd Kings 18 tells us about Hezekiah and Hezekiah who smote the Philistines unto Gaza. And it talks about his fruit in verse 29. His fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. And that fruit seems as if it might refer to the Lord himself, the Messiah. And verse 30 goes on to talk about a time when the firstborn, the greatest of the poor shall lie down in safety and I will kill thy root with famine and he shall slay the remnant. At the end time of the Philistines, then the root is going to be killed with a famine and they're told to howl and they're obviously in great distress. And we know when looking at Daniel's prophecy that at the end time the Philistines are going to be destroyed by the northern invader. It doesn't make that clear in Daniel but we think from other scriptures that that would refer to Assyria. That in the past there were people that came against the Philistines and one of them was Alexander the Great. They were on that route, still that route as we'll see between Egypt and Assyria in particular. And Alexander the Great came through and destroyed them. Again the people at that time would have seen Isaiah's prophecy coming to a measure of fulfillment. But it's a partial fulfillment and we look towards future times to see this happening. And Zechariah chapter 9 gives us more details of that. The last verse where it says the whole world hear the Lord hath founded Zion. The whole world hasn't heard that at any time in the past. That's obviously again referring to the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom. So to my mind it's interesting to see that the Philistines here are mentioned in scriptures. Then we come in chapter 15 to Moab and we know that again there are a number of instances where Moab comes into the scriptures. What do we know about the Moabites? Well we remember Naomi coming from Moab. We don't tend to think a great deal of Orpah, her sister, going back into Moab. What happened to her? We know what happened to Ruth. Tremendous blessing. It didn't look promising to her. She had to take that step of faith. What happened to Orpah? Well we don't know but she went back into Moab. But we can see that those who followed the Lord, those who desired to be obedient to him, were tremendously blessed and that should give us encouragement. But the Moabites were idolatrous. Like many others around them, they worshipped Akimosh and a whole host of other idols. Jeremiah 48 verse 11 tells us that Moab was complacent, at ease, since his youth. 1 Corinthians 10 verse 12 tells us that we should be we should beware, take care, because those who think they stand lest we fall. That Moab was scornful in Jeremiah 48 27. They looked with derision and scorn at Israel. And lastly it says in fact in chapter 16 looks at Moab as well. The verse 6, verse of chapter 16, we have heard of the pride of Moab. He is very proud. Even his courtiness and his pride and his wrath but his lies shall not be so. A characteristic of Moab. How God will act against these people. And if we look at verse 5 of chapter 15, my heart shall cry out for Moab. His fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old. For by the mounting up of Luhith with the weeping shall they go it up. For in the way of Horonim shall they raise up a cry of destruction. Obviously difficult times there. There's a cry, there's fugitives, they're having to flee. And this seems to refer again to the Assyrians coming down from the north and these people fleeing to Zoar which we read in relation to the beginning of Moab. Moab began with that incestuous relationship with Lot and his older daughter when they fled to this same place. And here they are fleeing to the same place again. And if we see that these sorts of things, if we look at verse 4 to 5 of 15, let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab. Be thou a cover to them that from the face of the spoiler, for the extortioner is at an end and the spoiler ceaseth. The oppressors are consumed out of the land and in mercy shall the throne be established. And he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgment and hasting righteousness. Clearly millennial pictures again at this time. And there has been a considerable amount of discussion about these first verses here as to who exactly they refer to. It isn't a hundred percent clear. But we can see that we can even go to Jeremiah chapter 48 and it says, I will bring again captivity of Moab in latter days. Moab will be a captive but it will not be destroyed like Babylon in the latter days. So we've seen our first burden, Babylon, completely utterly destroyed. We come to Philistia and we can see how it will be overrun by the Assyrians. We come to Moab and we see that it will be brought into captivity but it will not, it appears, be ultimately destroyed. That's going to have to move on for the sake of time to chapter 17 and Damascus. Now certainly there's a city in the news. What's the Scriptures saying about Damascus? Well the verse 1 again is illuminating, isn't it? The burden of Damascus. Behold Damascus is taken away from being a city and it shall be a ruinous heap. It talks about the other cities, the flocks lying down them in verse 2 and then verse 3 the fortress also shall cease from Ephraim and the kingdom from Damascus and the remnant of Syria they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel saith the Lord of hosts. So we've got this is talking about Damascus which interestingly is the city not the country Syria but it's saying that there'll be a ruinous heap and but it's also linking in to this Damascus burden Ephraim or the ten tribes of Israel part of God's people and even further back into Isaiah chapter 7 we read of the destruction of the ten tribes because they allied themselves with Syria when Ahaz was king of Judah. That's a most important lesson for us there that the ten tribes had gone further away from the Lord quicker than Judah and that they had been overrun we know they had been exiled and carried away there is a thought from this chapter and elsewhere that there was a gradual wasting away of these ten tribes but Ephraim Israel was linked with them what was Israel doing being linked with Syria that they had both come against Judah and caused a great deal of death to Judah and clearly because Ephraim had sided with Syria against Judah God punished Ephraim his own people because of their wickedness because of their association with evil people and we need to think about that for ourselves don't we but if we associate with wrong systems wrong peoples wrong things and wrong principles that the Lord will come in and act he will act and he will judge and he will discipline those of his people that Ephraim would have gone after Syria great deals of concern at that time of people mainly the Assyrians who are coming down and destroying most of the peoples around about them but Judah was encouraged to wait upon the Lord and we know that 185,000 of these people were killed by the angel and relieved the pressure from Judah but Judah to some extent trusted in the Lord the Lord delivered them and it wasn't through allying themselves with other countries of the nations that brought them into a measure of peace now if we move on to chapter 18 I think without a doubt this becomes to get the exact meaning of these verses perhaps the most difficult of our section it's difficult because of the area that it's talking to verse 1 woe to the land shadowing with wings which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia that sendeth ambassadors by the sea even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters saying go ye swift messengers to a nation scattered and peeled to a people hitherto a nation meted out and trodden down whose land the rivers have spoiled now this forms section these three chapters 18 19 20 have mentioned their title Ethiopia and Egypt as well but you can see that it talks about beyond the rivers of Ethiopia beyond the rivers of Ethiopia and people have tried to suggest where it might be some suggestions are that it could be that the land of Kush that we sometimes read about present-day parts of Sudan again a country that we read a great deal about the Nubians I remember reading missionary prayer letters about those believers on the mountains there who were actually being bombed when the country split some suggestions that this is the people that are talked about but it describes them as a people nation scattered and peeled now that is a very unusual description which has kept the commentators busy for many a year some as you go down here you see it talks about sending ambassadors by the sea people would tend to think that's that actually the River Nile and at that time Egypt surprisingly was conquered by the Ethiopians and there was a dynasty set up by the Ethiopians and it was at this time that Isaiah was in fact writing so we can see there that at that time there was this threat of the Assyrian invasion that the countries were trying to ally themselves Egypt was a big power at that time Ethiopia had taken over Egypt and that here ambassadors were being sent to try and prevent these Assyrians coming forward we see that God again is in control verses 3 to 6 there's a phrase there that says I will destroy the council of in verse 3 and the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel Lord and a fierce king shall rule over them so the Lord is saying what's going to happen to these people he's going to say the Egyptians are going to be taken over and we believe that's by the Assyrians in that near future but as we consider and move into chapter 19 you see it refers to the burden of Egypt now we know that Egypt is representative of the world for us the world which is so much against the Lord and his things but behold the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud and shall come into Egypt and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians and it speaks there in a little bit of detail about how Egypt is going to be treated is going to be civil war there's going to be problems with agriculture they're going to be conquered fishing is even mentioned the textile industry is going to be taken over even the aristocracy of the land is is mentioned there of bad times coming to Egypt but if we move down to verse 16 and look towards the end of the chapter we notice in verse 18 in fact that it says in that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan and swear to the Lord of hosts one shall be called the city of destruction in that day shall there be an altar to the Lord has there ever been in the history of Egypt an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord and it shall be a sign and for a witness unto the Lords of hosts in the land of Egypt they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors he shall send them a Savior and a great one and he shall deliver them clearly speaking about future events and the Lord verse 21 shall be known to Egypt how incredible the Lord should be known to Egypt and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day shall do sacrifice and oblation they shall vow vow unto the Lord and perform it and the Lord shall smite Egypt he shall smite and heal it and they shall return even to the Lord and then in verse 23 in that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt the Egyptians into Assyria and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians in that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria even a blessing in the midst of the land how incredible here is talking about these three nations Egypt Assyria and Israel really being part of a threesome and they will be a threesome honoring the Lord and it's talking here of this great highway that will run and verse 25 blessed be Egypt my people what a transformation blessed be Egypt my people and Assyria the work of my hands so Egypt in that future day will be blessed Assyria will be blessed Israel will be blessed we know that when the Lord comes and he rules in the Millennium the whole nations of the world will be blessed but Babylon completely wiped out Moab will be brought into a position of being a fugitive but will be helped out in the end some will be destroyed some will go through difficult all go through difficult times in fact but here Egypt and Assyria are brought into this prominent position and they will be greatly blessed and if we look at chapter 20 it talks there about Ashtod and Tartan and Sargon the king of Assyria and there it's going back in time a little bit and giving an insurance to the reader that the events that we've just read about in chapter 19 will be fulfilled that it's dealing with this help that they wanted and Isaiah was caused to walk naked it says in verse 2 and barefoot throughout Judah to speak to them in a in a pictorial way and show them that don't put your trust in Egypt don't go running to Egypt when the Assyrians come in and he had to act and behave like that as a sign to them to show them in a forcible way that they mustn't ally themselves with Egypt at that time so if we move on to 21 chapter 21 there appears to be about Jerusalem in particular it was where it was put in the midst here near the end in fact of this account of the foreign nations you see that it's called the burden of the desert of the sea so at the beginning there it doesn't mention that it would be Jerusalem but if we read through there you can see that there is some allusions to the fact that this would be talking of and I'm sorry I've got that wrong there this chapter 21 if I just put that right is clearly talking about Babylon again it goes up to verse 10 verses 1 to 10 speaking of Babylon again as it had done at the beginning of the section it mentions conquering by the Medes there Babylon is fallen in verse 9 is for all the graven images of her gods but if we move on to verse 11 you see it mentions this place Dumar and it is thought that that is Edom and the name means silence or stillness of death and there's a question that goes out in verse 11 he calleth to me out of seer watchman what are the night watchman what are the night the watchman said the morning cometh and also the night if you will inquire inquiry return and come just those two verses and if we look at other scriptures Isaiah 63 in Obadiah it talks about darkness over the land of Edom in the latter days that morning would come but only after hours of darkness that they would suffer in those later days but morning would come for Edom the saviors on Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau is mentioned in Obadiah verse 21 then if we look at verse 13 perhaps surprisingly to you it talks about Arabia now we're increasingly hearing more about Arabia from the little places that are mentioned Tima and Dedanim it seems that this is northern Arabia but verse 16 talks about within a year according to the years of a highling all the glory of Kedar shall fall now Kedar we can trace right the way back to Ishmael obviously the son of Abraham but although we're not given a great deal of information here the residue verse 17 the residue of the numbers of arches the mighty men of the children of Kedar shall be diminished for the Lord God of Israel has spoken it they're going to be diminished they were going to suffer and again the northern part of Arabia was affected by the Assyrians at that time but as Isaiah 42 verse 11 talks about the inhabitants of Kedar sing when Jehovah's servant was manifested so when Jehovah comes to reign the inhabitants of Kedar as mentioned as those that sing those that rejoice at the coming of the Messiah so chapter 22 and chapter 22 is where we do get illusions to Jerusalem verse 9 you have seen also the breaches of the city of David that they have membered and verse 10 Jerusalem is actually mentioned and it talks here about revelry verse 13 that in Jerusalem at that time although it was difficult they were liable to be invaded at any moment but there they were rejoicing they were reveling in the streets rather than repenting in dust of ashes because of their wickedness and failure to honor the Lord and the second part of the chapter talks about Eliakim and Shevna who are two people one should we say one good and one bad and how that the proud one was to be overthrown and taken over then we come lastly to Tyre in chapter 3 23 chapter 23 Tyre I always think of Tyre as being a most interesting prophecy not least because there are some very detailed prophecies about Tyre in Ezekiel and they speak with considerable detail how of this place on the Mediterranean coast and I was reading mr. Rossier many years ago talking of Tyre has been the ancient equivalent of London because of its he was writing good few years ago now but the commercial hub of the world the ships coming in and out plying their goods making lots of money for people and here he's talking about Tyre being just that place and if you look at it the first first how all you ships of Tarshish not sure exactly where Tarshish is we think it's at the west towards the western end of the Mediterranean Sea but there was no room for the ships to get in what was the problem Tyre was being attacked and we know that Nebuchadnezzar came and tried to attack Tyre that it was made up of two islands were joined by a causeway to the mainland and that Nebuchadnezzar came and was able to destroy and conquer the mainland part of Tyre but never the islands and it was Alexander the Great that came later that destroyed the islands and the detailed prophecies speak of this event which again we're talking about the 175 years later and hundreds of years later in the case of Alexander the Great it talks about fishermen spreading their nets on Tyre and how that the place would be deserted and as we look here in verse 7 it talks about a joyous city verse 8 a crowning city verse 11 a merchant city how this destruction of Tyre was that great commercial center is there showing that God will destroy these places these places that are concerned about making money concerned about making fortunes think a few miles down the road there with those rather tall buildings financial centers making absolute fortunes and God he spoke to Tyre in those days I'm going to destroy you and it's still destroyed today how that God will act against those that don't honor the Lord Jesus in verse 5 Egypt is pained because of the report of Tyre Egypt have been sending linen and other cloths and food that it was making to Tyre there was nowhere to sell their goods and we know that during the days of the Great Tribulation similar events are happening where perhaps in the end after the series of woes 50% of the world's population will be wiped out and it will affect the whole world we've seen that in the crisis of the last few years but it affects everywhere and these prophecies in in Scripture talk of similar times and how God will deal with these places Tyre will be destroyed by divine intervention he will use and did use Nebuchadnezzar and Alexander the Great to destroy them how we can see that when God speaks in his word that he speaks clearly the detail in here that we haven't been able to go to is remarkable and in dozens of other chapters throughout the scriptures and we can see by looking at the past that some of these events have already happened it gives us confidence to see that the scriptures will be fulfilled that the Lord Jesus will come that we thankfully we were taken out of this world at the rapture and the Lord will judge what is is left and then he will come that approximately seven years later to rule and he will rule in righteousness and he will rule in judgment and as we see these things already spoken just briefly about Israel how we can see those things beginning to move in position I'm sure some of you would have thoughts why is it that that little piece of land there which we hear such a lot about these last few weeks and months ISIS and IS what's that piece of land there well it's it's it's a serious just those little bits of Syria we read about Syria coming that king of the north coming through is this the beginnings of it it was a bit of desert that nobody really bothered about we didn't know much about it but the scripture talks about these things and when we see what has been fulfilled what is still left to be fulfilled we see the hand of God in this world and we see that we can leave things to him and we can rejoice in the fact that he will come to act that we will be taken out of this world before he judges this world during those seven years and I'm sure how much we can all rejoice in that fact and look forward to this time when the Lord will come and when he will rule this world and he will rule it with that rod of iron and he will be given the glory that he is due by the nations so when we look at prophecy hopefully encourages to see that those hundreds upon hundreds of prophecies that are in the Bible you can't look to any other book in the world with such a degree of fulfillment than the scriptures we can take heart and we can be encouraged to go on faithfully serving the Lord so shall we close and sing number 87 Jesus shall reign where I the son doth his successive journeys run his kingdom stretch from shore to shore till moons shall wax and wane no more hymn number 87 …

… I hope that what it is on my heart to speak about this evening will, in some respects, dovetail with the word that was brought to us by our brother Jeff this afternoon. I want to speak about three of the parables of the Kingdom of the Heavens in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 13. But in order to help us in the understanding of this expression, the Kingdom of the Heavens, I want to turn you first of all to the Gospel by Matthew, chapter 3. Matthew's Gospel, chapter 3, verse 1. In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent ye for the Kingdom of Heaven, or the Kingdom of the Heavens, is at hand. Verse 7. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Verse 11. I indeed baptise you with water unto repentance. But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and fire, whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor and gather his wheat into the garner, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. And now in chapter 8. Verse 5. And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum there, came unto him a centurion beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me, and I say to this one, go, and he goeth, and to another come, and he cometh. To my servant do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marveled, said to them that followed verily, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Joseph in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And now in chapter 13, verse 44, these three well-known parables. Chapter 13, verse 44. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field, which when a man hath found, he hideth. For joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant, a man seeking goodly pearls. When he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind. Which when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world, the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just, shall cast them into the furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. In order that there may be a kingdom, there must be a king. And there must be a domain where the rights of the king are acknowledged. The Gospel by Matthew shows us both these things. It shows that the Lord Jesus is the king, God's king, and that he has a kingdom. Matthew begins by telling us that this Gospel is the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. So that the Lord Jesus, as David's heir, has title to the throne of Israel. And as the son of Abraham, he is the one through whom every promise that God made to Abraham concerning Israel is going to be fulfilled. In chapter 2, you remember, the only Gospel that notices their visit, there were the Magi, the wise men who came from the east and they went to Herod and they asked, where is he that is born king of the Jews? That's a remarkable question. Because at that time, Joseph, our Lord's legal father, was still alive. But the Lord Jesus had an infinitely superior claim to the throne of Israel than Joseph did. Because in chapters 1 and 2, he's presented to us, as we all know very well, he's presented to us as Jesus, Jehovah, the Saviour. He's presented to us as Emmanuel, God, the mighty God, with us. And further down in chapter 2, we read that out of Egypt, God called his son. Egypt provided shelter for the son of God. When Herod sought his life, and our brother Jeff was reminding us this afternoon of the blessing that is to come upon Egypt in that time to come, when our Lord comes to reign. In the verses that we've read at the beginning of chapter 3, the context shows us precisely what the character of this kingdom of heaven is. It's the millennial kingdom. That's what John the Baptist was preaching about. That's what the Lord began to preach about in chapter 4, verse 17. Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The king has come, and he needs only to be received by the people who take their proper place in the dust. It's altogether unworthy of such a king and such a kingdom. And we know, again our brother Jeff this afternoon was making it clear to us from the chapters in Isaiah to which we turned, that this millennial kingdom is introduced by divine judgment. It's one of the things that the first Psalm shows us. So clearly, that if the righteous in Israel are to be blessed, if the godly are to be blessed under the reign of Messiah, then the wicked in Israel, the unbelieving portion of the nation, must be dealt with in judgment. The wicked aren't like the godly, the psalmist says, but are as the chaff which the wind driveth away. And they are driven away by the wrath of which John spoke here in verse 7, all generation of vipers who have warned you to flee from the wrath to come. It's talking about earthly governmental wrath that will make room for the Lord Jesus that will prepare his way before him. And then lower down in verse 11 he says, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire, whose fan is in his hand. And he will thoroughly purge his floor, gather his wheat into the garner, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Here we see the end of the unbelieving portion of the nation. Their lot will be found in the Gehenna of fire, where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. There is only never-ending judgment. I want to ask you. Most of you I know are believers on the Lord Jesus, but I want to ask you, where you are in your soul in relation to the Lord Jesus? Have you believed on him? Have you received him by faith into your heart? And are you seeking day by day to follow him, to please him in all things, as one who is one of his subjects, as one who is under his divine authority as Lord? He wants to bless you. He wants to fill your heart and your life with his joy, to make you happy in a way that nothing else can. There are a thousand and one things that the devil in his wiles would dangle before us, by which he would seek to distract us and draw us away from the Lord and the place of blessing that is known at his feet. Don't be drawn away. Don't be distracted, but keep your heart above all that is guarded, for out of it are the issues of life. So John says of the Lord Jesus that he shall baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. It's not to be confused with what is brought before us in Acts chapter 2, when the Spirit came and it sat upon each of the disciples and appeared as a cloven tongue of fire. There is that in us which is sinful and which needs to be sat upon and kept in its place by the Spirit. The cloven tongues in that context speak clearly of the going out of the Gospel not only to those who were of the nation of Israel but to those also who were Gentiles and a blessing reaching the Gentiles. And this is something that we will see as we think about the other verses that have been read. So the kingdom of the heavens here in this context is the millennial kingdom and when the Lord Jesus takes that kingdom the link between the heavens and the earth will be restored again. Hosea speaks of this at the end of chapter 2 in his book where he says that Jehovah will hear the heavens and the heavens shall hear the earth and the earth will hear the corn and the new wine and the oil and they shall hear Jezreel. Jezreel is a name of Israel. It's a name which means God's souls. And Israel then will be altogether or the remnant of the nation that come into the place of the nation will be there altogether as the product of Jehovah's sowing as the product of his working in the hearts of the remnant. Now I read the verses in Matthew chapter 8 because they bring before us a most significant turning point. And the occasion of our Lord's words was the coming to him of a centurion about his servant. And he owned that he wasn't worthy that the Lord should come under his roof. He had faith to say that the Lord only needed to speak the word and his servant would be healed. And it says in verse 10 when Jesus heard it he marveled. He wondered, he marveled at the faith which this Gentile demonstrated, a faith that went way beyond the faith of any in Israel who had come to him. And I say unto you that many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The Lord Jesus was referring to the fact that there was going to be a change of dispensation. That the millennial kingdom wasn't going to immediately appear. But the children of the kingdom, the Jews who had a natural claim as regards a place in it, they would lose their place. They would lose their claim because they were rejecting the king. But into their place there would come instead like this centurion who is a picture of Gentiles coming from the east and west and lying down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens. Their lying down I think is to be taken as a figure. And I think it's right to connect this passage and our Lord's words with what is further opened out by the Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Romans chapter 11 where he speaks about the olive tree. And he speaks about some of the natural branches being broken out and he speaks about the Gentiles, a wild olive tree being grafted in and partaking of the fatness of the root. And the root in this context is Abraham and the promises made to Abraham since the millennial kingdom is postponed. The promised blessing is now going to reach Gentiles in the kingdom of the heavens. And we find the most solemn thing said about the children of the kingdom in verse 12 They shall be cast out into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is an expression that we find six times in the Gospel by Matthew. On every occasion it relates to people who have enjoyed a place of privilege but have been unaffected by it. They've missed the blessing because of unbelief. In the other five occasions where you get the expression it is always applied to those who are within the Christian profession but who have no real link with the Lord Jesus. When we come to the parables of the treasure of the pearl and of the net, the sane net, the drift net all said to be parables of the kingdom of heaven I am aware and many of you will be aware that there are differing interpretations as to in particular what the treasure signifies also what the sane net and the fish that are caught in it signify I remember as a young believer reading a certain brethren writer who pointed out that Matthew writes dispensationally and he suggested that the treasure is Israel, the pearl is the church and that the fish that are caught in the net represent Gentiles blessed in the time to come. That seemed very acceptable to me at the time. I remember picking up a copy of Kelly on the Gospel by Matthew turning to the comments on Matthew 13 and here the editor had included a printed footnote in which he actually commended the view that I've just set out and I'm sure Mr. Kelly would have been extremely upset to know that such a footnote had been inserted in his book because whilst on the face of it this interpretation seems to hold water in fact on closer examination we can see that it is not scriptural. One of the reasons that is put forward that the treasure is Israel is because Israel in the Old Testament is called a peculiar treasure. I think we get the expression about eight times in the Old Testament and the first is in Exodus 19 where crucially when you look at the reference you find that it is conditional and Jehovah says to the children of Israel if you keep my covenant then you'll be a peculiar treasure unto me. But the whole tenor of the Old Testament is that they had not the ability to keep the law and we know from the council in Acts 15 that this was a conclusion that the apostles and elders came to and formally announced in a letter that was sent out. The last reference to Israel as a peculiar treasure is in the book of Malachi chapter 3 where Jehovah speaks about their being such in the day when he makes up his jewels and within the context of that chapter that day is clearly the future day the millennial day when God as we have seen already from Hosea chapter 2 will sow Israel so as to produce a people that are fit for the kingdom of the heavens when it is set up on the return of the Lord Jesus. But here what this chapter is showing us is that there is a kingdom of heavens now a kingdom of the heavens now and that you and I are a part of it. We've seen in chapter 8 that the Lord speaks about the bringing in of the Gentiles lower down in that chapter the Lord speaks about himself as the son of man for the first time when a scribe came to him and said he would follow the Lord wherever the Lord went except the Lord said the foxes have holes the birds of the air have nests but the son of man hath not where to lay his head. And were we to look in detail at chapters 11 and 12 of the gospel we have in those two chapters I think at least seven things that show that the Lord Jesus was rejected. His forerunner John the Baptist was in prison. And the cities of Galilee where most of his mighty works were done refused. The ministry of both John and of the Lord Jesus and the Lord has to upbraid them on that account. He speaks of Capernaum being exalted to heaven being brought down to Hades because of their unbelief. And then as we read on in chapter 12 when the disciples walked through the cornfields and were hungry and began to rub the corn between their hands and to eat of it and the Pharisees confronted the Lord about what they had done because it was the Sabbath day. The Lord Jesus speaks about what David did when he was rejected how he ate of the showbread. And when the Lord on the Sabbath day healed the man with the withered hand. We read that the Pharisees went out and took counsel against him how they might destroy him. But the Lord Jesus continued in his ministry of grace he healed all them that came to him charged them straightly that they should not make him publicly known. And in this connection Isaiah 42 is quoted he shall not strive or cry out nor shall anyone hear his voice in the streets a bruised reed shall he not break smoking flats shall he not quench until he bring forth judgment unto victory and on his name shall the nation's hope. Lower down he speaks about when they come after all the signs that the Lord Jesus had given them. When they came and asked him for a sign he said no sign shall be given but the sign of the prophet Jonas who was sent you remember to preach to the Ninevites. And we find this wonderful grace of the Lord Jesus going out to the Gentiles. Chapter 13 begins with the fact that the same day went Jesus out of the house and sat by the seaside. And this is a most significant movement. It shows us the Lord Jesus quitting the house of Israel and turning now to the Gentiles in order to carry on a work among them as a sower. And so there are two other references in the chapter which I think show beyond all doubt that the treasure here is not Israel. And the first is in verses 10 and 11 of chapter 13. His disciples came and said unto him why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven but to them it is not given. And this word mystery that occurs some 27 times in the New Testament always speaks about something that wasn't revealed in the Old Testament. And of course the place that Israel as a nation is to have is clearly shown us in the Old Testament. But now the kingdom of the heavens takes a spiritual form that was not previously revealed in the scriptures of the Old Testament. We have the same thing substantially lower down in the chapter in verse 35. Verse 34. These things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables and without a parable spake he not unto them that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet saying I will open my mouth in parables I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. So the treasure is not Israel but the treasure represents every individual believer on the Lord Jesus during this church age. Every real Christian forms a part of this treasure. And the Lord says the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hidden a field the which when a man hath found he hideth and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth the field. In his explanation of the parable of the wheat and tares in this chapter and he gives us the explanation in verses 36 down to verse 43. The Lord gives us keys to the interpretation of all the parables of the kingdom of the heavens. And he says that the man in verse 24 in the parable of wheat and tares who sows good seed is the son of man. And that clearly is the Lord Jesus in verse 44 which when a man hath found he hideth. We know that it does not yet appear what we shall be that apart from our behavior which should be very different morally to the behavior of the world there is nothing outwardly that distinguishes us from other people. And if we were to go to them and say I'm a child and a son of God I'm blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ they'd be very surprised to hear what we have to say. Their reaction might be a mocking one. But this is because the time of our manifestation as the sons of God has not yet come because the time for his manifestation, for his appearing has not come. He hideth and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth the field. The Lord Jesus tells us in his explanation that the field is the world. And we think of the Lord Jesus coming from heaven and laying aside every claim that he had in relation to Israel and going to the cross and paying the price there in his work for the purchase of the world and for the purchase of everything that is in the world. It's clearly not in this verse the idea of redemption but of this price that the Lord Jesus has paid that the world and everything in it might belong to him that he might have rights of ownership over it. And then we come to the parable of the pearl and I'm not aware that there are other interpretations of this parable than that the pearl represents the assembly, the church. The only other place that we read about pearls in the New Testament apart from where the Lord speaks about not casting our pearls before swine not speaking about the precious truths that we have found in the word of God to those who are incapable of enjoying them or appreciating them. The only other time that we read about pearls is in connection with the heavenly city the bride, the lamb's wife and it has 12 gates, each severally of one pearl and the reason that the number 12 is prominent in that connection and is found again and again in Revelation 21 after verse 9 is that in the world to come it is the center of divine administration and in connection with each of the gates there is a name of one of the tribes of Israel and it shows that there will, in that coming day, in the millennial day there will be that communication between the city and the earthly Israel and then we come to the, and again the Lord Jesus when he had found one pearl of great price went and sold all that he had and bought it it had such value in his estimation that he was prepared to give everything that he had that this pearl might be his and then we have the parable of the seine net I think the reference to the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens and in verse 35 to things kept secret from the foundation of the world shows again that the parable of the seine net and the fish that are caught in it does not refer to the blessing of the nations in the millennial age but it's talking about the gospel the Christian gospel of the grace of God being preached and of those that are reached by it those that are affected by it one should say because when it was full they drew it to the shore it says and sat down and gathered the good into vessels but they cast the bad away and the gospel net does that it gathers of every kind I think the same word kind is elsewhere translated nation so you get the idea of the gospel going out worldwide and of souls responding either truly or falsely and there are those that are concerned with gathering the good into vessels ensuring that those that are caught that are really the Lords are taken care of and that they are brought to the place of God's assembly that they are encouraged to go on and to grow as Christians and are helped in this process so shall it be at the end of the world the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just and shall cast them into the furnace of fire there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth again we find that there is judgment for those who are not real what a solemn consideration that is living as we do on the very threshold of the Lord's second coming and yet this must be the portion of all those who make a profession of faith and yet aren't really the Lords well may the Lord bless his word and our consideration of it help us in our further contemplation of the scriptures that have been before us and of this wonderful subject of the kingdom of the heavens I'd like us to conclude by singing number 449 Lord Jesus come and take thy rightful place Son of man of all the theme come Lord to reign all supreme Lord Jesus come number 449 …

… Let's turn to Daniel chapter 7 and then just read a verse from that chapter, in fact a fragment of a verse in opening this meeting. Daniel chapter 7 and verse 13, as I said we'll just read a fragment of the verse. Daniel chapter 7 verse 13. I saw in the night visions and behold one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the ancient of days. If one were going to give advice to a newly converted believer as to things which would be helpful for them to study so that they might be built up in our most holy faith. There are many things that could be suggested to them as being worthy and very profitable for study. John's gospel might be an example because of its wonderful depiction of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God. Romans might also be suggested for the foundation truths of the gospel. But something else that might be very profitable for study would be the names and titles of the Lord Jesus and I guess going further than that perhaps his offices as well and other descriptions that are given to him in God's Word. For those of us who have been believers for some time we might challenge ourselves as to how much we know of these things and whether our knowledge of them is as it should be. Could we for example give an outline of the epistle to the Romans and the things that are taught there. Even if we have been a believer for a long time and know these things very well I'm sure there is much to be gained by consideration of these sorts of foundational truths and the things that are involved in them are the sorts of things that will refresh our hearts every time we turn to them again. Perhaps it's in view of those sorts of considerations that I can be forgiven for taking up a subject which might overlap a little bit with recent Plumstead, Canterbury, Yarnfield conferences although perhaps the overlap might not be too much and that topic is the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man. Time is always a constraint and the subject of the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man is rather a vast one and in the time that's available this afternoon I propose to look at the meaning of the title Son of Man then some of the truths that are associated with the Lord Jesus being the Son of Man and then some of the glories that he has as the Son of Man. This title Son of Man is one that is of some significance and the Lord's position as Son of Man is a special one. If we consider the Lord's life on earth and his verbal ministry to men he most frequently referred to himself as the Son of Man and not by any of his other names or titles and some of the most plaintive ways in which he speaks about himself make use of this title the Son of Man and the Son of Man for example has nowhere to lay his head. There must be a particular reason why the Lord Jesus refers to himself in that way in the context of that verse. Daniel's vision that we read a fragment about his vision was of one who was like a son of man. We know that this is the Lord Jesus but the point I want to emphasize here is that the way in which Daniel saw the Lord Jesus when he had this vision was as a son of man again not in any of the other characters that he might have and when it comes to for example the hymns that we have in our hymn book admittedly not many of them use the expression Son of Man but those that do it's clear that the hymn writers have deliberately chosen that expression for a particular purpose when they use it. In the hymn that we started with hymn 109 we have the words as Son of Man it was thou gavest thy life for us. We might also think of hymn 438 which begins how wonderful that thou the Son and that is the Son of God has come but here for us as Son of Man a change in expression there has died. As I said there must be some significance to this title Son of Man and hopefully we will get some help this afternoon towards seeing what that significance is. So turning firstly to the meaning of the title or the words Son of Man that phrase Son of Man and sometimes in the plural Sons of Men is used elsewhere in the Bible to denote what the expression literally means Son of Man, Man there when the phrase is used in the Old Testament in the Hebrew Man is the word Adam speaking of mankind in general or men generically. So Son of Man, Son of Mankind the phrase on its own means literally that someone who is a son of mankind someone who is a man himself or generically someone who is a member of mankind or a person. Just to give one example demonstrating this in Numbers chapter 23 verse 19 we read God is not a man that he should lie neither the Son of Man that he should repent. There's an example there of the literary device that is often used in Hebrew writing and that is the repetition of a thought in different terms and so we have God is not a man that he should lie and then the thought repeated but in different terms neither the Son of Man that he should repent and putting the two together that we see that there is a correlation between man and Son of Man the two essentially meaning the same thing. When we come to the Lord Jesus one of the things that the title Son of Man encapsulates is his humanity and perhaps in discussing this subject of the Lord's manhood I can be forgiven if I sometimes describe his or describe the Lord as being fully man or truly man or things like that. Certainly those expressions fully man and truly man and they're not found in the scriptures but the truth is there and we'll come back to that and I think or I fear that sometimes other non-scriptural expressions which are sometimes used amongst us to describe the Lord's manhood perhaps inadvertently take something away from his manhood and sometimes there seems to be an application of expressions or statements which are made about the Lord Jesus in resurrection sometimes they are perhaps not entirely correctly applied to him in his life as a man before his death and perhaps that can be misconstrued as taking away something from his manhood. That the Lord Jesus was and still is a man is a truth that is taught in many ways in the Bible and not just through the expression Son of Man. In John chapter 1 verse 14 we have the statement the word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us that's just one example. When it comes to the incarnation and the birth of the Lord Jesus we have it stated in genealogical terms that the Lord Jesus was the son of Adam and that is in chapter 3 at the end of the chapter. So the Lord Jesus did become part of Adam's race and now in addressing this subject we need to recognise that the Lord Jesus was not physically descended from Adam as that would have involved him inheriting Adam's sinful condition and nature but rather as we have a bit earlier in Luke's Gospel chapter 1 verse 35 the angel speaking to Mary saying unto her the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee. At this point it's perhaps also worth emphasising that the Lord Jesus as a man was wholly harmless and undefiled throughout his life and he did no sin as we have in 1st Peter chapter 2 and knew no sin as we have stated in 2nd Corinthians 5 and also in John's writings 1 John chapter 3 in him was no sin. So in those senses the Lord Jesus was different from us and different from all other men and clearly very different but that does not make him any less of a man. The rest of Luke 1 verse 35 goes on to say that holy thing which shall be born of thee. The holy thing the Lord Jesus would be born of Mary and Galatians chapter 4 confirms this when it says at the right and proper time that God sent forth his son come of woman. These expressions mean that the Lord Jesus as a man was a man and to use my own expression the Lord Jesus was fully man. I think that over emphasising the ways in which the Lord Jesus was different from us as a man perhaps risks taking something away from the fact that he was truly man. That's a necessary truth that the Lord Jesus was man because man was ruined, man was at enmity with God. All of us had sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and to address all of these things and for them to be addressed in a righteous way there needed to be a mediator. One who was one with God but one who was also one with man and could therefore bridge the gap between the two of them and meet our needs before God and this mediator as we have stated in 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 5 was the Lord Jesus but he is there described as being the man Christ Jesus. Okay it doesn't say fully man but surely that is implicit there in the verse otherwise it would be rather misleading for him to be described as the man Christ Jesus. In God's righteous ways it was also necessary for propitiation for our sins to be made by the Lord Jesus as a man in his sacrifice upon the cross. We have this stated in Hebrews chapter 2 in in verses which we'll come back to so I'll just refer to them briefly now but it says in verse 17 in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation or propitiation as it should be for the sins of the people it behoved him. It was a necessity for the Lord Jesus to be made like unto us in order for propitiation for our sins to be made so it was very much necessary for the Lord Jesus to become man. The fact that the Lord Jesus became man also reveals to us something of the loving and gracious character of God in that God wanted to make himself known and make himself fully known to men and the best way to do that, a way which was even far superior to God speaking in time past through the prophets was for God to speak in his son, to speak through his son, to send his son even in the likeness of flesh and sin so that God would be with men, God could be seen, God could be heard, God could be understood. Wonderful to see that God wanted this to come to pass so that he might be fully known by men. The Lord's manhood is also something which can provide encouragement for us in the difficulties of our Christian walk. Returning to the verses in Hebrews chapter 2 it says in verse 17 it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God and then verse 18 for in that he himself hath suffered being tempted he is able to succor them that are tempted. The Lord Jesus being man just as much as we are able is able to understand and give comfort and support when we are put through trials and difficulties because he went through the very same things as a man in the same condition as we were although again obviously very different in many ways but yet he went through these experiences and so he is able to help us as we go through them. So the Lord's manhood is a truth that is taught in many ways in Scripture but I think it's covered by this title son of man because the literal meaning of those words son of man is one who is a man and the Lord Jesus could not have spoken of himself as the son of man if this were not true of him and the Lord Jesus in his life and in the words that he spoke didn't shy away from the fact that he was a man and he said who do men say that I the son of man am not who do men say that I the son of God am or I the king or many other titles that he could have used but who do men say that I am the son of man am and the Bible the gospel records make it clear that he experienced the frailties of the human condition just as much as we do he hungered as we read in Matthew chapter 4 and he had to sleep because he was tired in Mark chapter 4 and he sorrowed and wept in sad circumstances as we see an example in John chapter 11 and the list could go on. Perhaps just the last thing I would say in respect of the Lord's manhood is that it reveals his condescension that he would come into our condition and experience all of these things and of course on top of this take our place in judgment and take our sins upon himself to bring us into blessing a wonderful thought and that the Lord Jesus would humble himself empty himself of all of the things that were rightfully his and take upon himself and the form of a man. This perhaps leads into one of the truths connected with the title son of man as it's applied to the Lord Jesus and that is that this title refers to the way in which he humbled himself again if we look at Hebrews chapter 2 we get some helpful statements in connection with this Hebrews chapter 2 as we probably well known well know that contains a quotation of Psalm 8 but also a bit of a divine exposition of the psalm and if we just read verses 6 to 9 we see there one has testified somewhere saying what is man that thou remember rememberest him or son of man that thou visitest him thou has made him some little inferior to the angels thou has crowned him with glory and honor and has set him over the works of thy hands thou has subjected all things under his feet for in subjecting all things to him he has left nothing unsubjected to him but now we see not yet all things subjected to him but we see Jesus who was made some little inferior to angels on account of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor so that by the grace of God he should taste death for everything if we follow through the verses we see that the one who that is referred to at the end of verse 6 the son of man is the one who in verse 7 is made some little inferior to the angels but then has been crowned with glory and honor and set over the works of God's hands all things subjected under his feet although we do not yet see that verse 9 who this person is is expressly stated for us there it is the Lord Jesus but in terms of him humbling himself as the son of man that we have it stated in the 7 that he was made some little inferior to the angels and then verse 9 gives us the reason for this made some little inferior to angels on account of the suffering of death now there's no doubt that the angels served the Lord Jesus in his life we see one example of that in Matthew chapter 14 sorry Matthew chapter 4 after he had been tempted of the devil and as Hebrews chapter 1 tells us all the angels worshipped him at his birth but I think these things had to do with the fullness of the person of the Lord Jesus and the fact that he was son of God when it comes to the position of men and angels we read in 2nd Peter chapter 2 that angels are greater than men in might and power we also read in Luke chapter 20 that angels do not die and from this perspective from the perspective of the order of things in creation and angels are therefore above men the Lord Jesus though wanted to save us from our condition wanted to deliver us from the fear of death and so he had to take a form where he was capable of dying and they're not subject to the sentence of death for the reasons and that we have already noted and he was not physically descended from Adam and he was always sin apart but yet he took a form where he was where it was possible for him to die he became so that he could dismiss his spirit and so that through his death we would be delivered from the fear of death and so that he might taste death for everything becoming a man wasn't just an experience or an experiment for the Lord Jesus to see what it would be like to be like a part of his creation for a little while and he became man to suffer and to suffer death to lay down his life and he did this all for us a son of man in becoming man the Lord Jesus humbled himself greatly during his life and he was also humble in his attitude and his interactions with men and that's something else that we see from the way in which the title the son of man is used particularly by the Lord Jesus himself one example of this is in Matthew chapter 8 and this is an encounter that the Lord Jesus had with a scribe Matthew chapter 8 verses 19 and 20 and the Lord Jesus has just been healing various people and then we read in verse 19 and a certain scribe came and said unto him master I will follow thee with us however thou goest and Jesus saith to him saith unto him the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head the scribe in verse 19 verse 19 thought it would be a great thing and probably an easy thing as well to follow wherever he would go one who had this great power to heal people of their diseases one who perhaps he had some idea might be the promised Messiah the one who would come with healing in his wings but the Lord Jesus had not come in that character at that time if we think of what the Lord Jesus ought to have had in his life by rights he ought to have had a noble birth and not a birth in a manger he ought to have enjoyed honor and wealth all of his life and seen people being obedient to him but in fact he came not demanding any of those things but came in entirely the opposite way in verse 20 and he says the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head not just that the Lord Jesus was poor but he didn't even have so much as a patch of ground that he could call his own where he could rest when he was weary and the Lord Jesus took absolutely the lowest amongst man when he came here as the Son of Man the expression Son of Man also brings before us the service of the Lord Jesus to men in his life and particularly during his three years of public ministry again the Lord Jesus did not come to receive the honor of men or to use his own words as we have been Matthew chapter 20 verse 28 and the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many the Lord Jesus didn't come to be ministered unto he also didn't come to this earth simply for the purpose of going straight to the cross even if perhaps not wanting to speak irreverently but even if that might have been possible still to bring about redemption the Lord Jesus also came to minister unto the needs of men and of course as it says at the end of the verse to give his life a ransom for many and there were these three years when the Lord Jesus was not thinking of himself not thinking of his own needs at all but displaying grace and truth to men and what better way was there for the love and grace of God to be demonstrated towards men and to be shown to be unlimited love and grace without any condition without any expectation of men doing anything to deserve it than having the Lord Jesus the Son of God among them as a man serving them diligently and without thinking of himself the title Son of Man is also associated with the Lord's rejection by his earthly people the Jews but also his greater work following that towards all men in Matthew chapter 16 we have the question that the Lord Jesus asked his disciples in verse 13 whom do men say that I the Son of Man am if we take up the answer to the question as it's given in one of the other Gospels in Mark chapter 8 let's bring it up the connection that I want to make a little bit more clearly that we have in the second half of verse 29 of Mark chapter 8 Peter's answer thou art the Christ and then we see that the Lord charged them that they should tell no man of him and he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and of the chief priests and scribes and be killed and after three days rise again the Lord Jesus was going to be rejected by his people and then in fact to be killed so he could not announce himself and he could not be announced by others as the Christ as God's anointed one that the one that the Old Testament Scriptures had told the Jews and to look for and rather he could only describe himself as one who had been rejected by his people and the Son of Man and going back to Matthew and to some earlier chapters of that gospel we see in chapter 12 of Matthew the Lord being rejected by his own and then in chapter 13 we read about his new work as the sower sowing good seed in the field and the first two parables in Matthew chapter 13 referring to this and it being stated later in the chapter that the sower of the good seed is the Son of Man and the field is the world wonderful to see that when he was rejected by his own the Lord Jesus I'm sure it hurt him greatly and caused him much sorrow but it didn't cause him to react in in some petulant way but rather it's inspired him to start a new work of which we are the beneficiaries a work ministering grace to the world at large including the nations of which we form a part but he did this as the Son of Man just mentioned two more things briefly as Son of Man the Lord Jesus is presented as the Savior of course the Lord Jesus is the Son of God is also presented as the object for the faith of men as we have in John chapter 3 verse 16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son whosoever believeth in him the only begotten Son of God should not perish but should have everlasting life the preceding verses though referred to the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man and in verses 14 and 15 of John chapter 3 we read and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him this is the Son of Man this time should not perish but have eternal life the Lord Jesus being lifted up there and that is a reference to the cross when he was physically lifted up from the earth but if we go back to numbers chapter 21 which is what the Lord Jesus is referring to here when he refers to Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness in verse 8 of that chapter we see that when the people looked at the serpent on the pole then they would live and the Son of Man lifted up is the object of faith for men and perhaps along similar lines in John chapter 6 verse 53 we have the words of the Lord Jesus verily verily I say unto you except he eats the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood ye have no life in you so the Lord Jesus is saying here that one must appropriate his death one must make it good for oneself in order to be saved but it is the death of the Son of Man that is referred to here and I just dwell on this because perhaps it illustrates the fact that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance in that he has made the way of salvation very easy we're not required men are not required to have faith in some abstract or some supernatural principles or things that we can't describe with human words or things that we as men and women living on this earth simply have no conception of and our salvation was accomplished and by a person and in a way which of course we can't enter into all of the details of it but which any of us can readily understand our faith is in a person the Lord Jesus and the Son of Man and our faith rests on his death the death of a man of course one who was also the Son of God the Lamb of God and all of these things but to be able to believe in a person and believe in him laying down his life for his friends I think that is a relatively easy thing for men to do and it demonstrates one of the ways in which God desires that all men might be saved that he has made the way of salvation the person who is at the center of it all as well very easy to grasp. One final thing in terms of truths connected with the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man is the fact that he is the Son of Man and that is the way in which he referred to himself who do men say that I the Son of Man am and perhaps in the fact that the Lord Jesus consistently refers to himself as the Son of Man he is he's not drawing attention to him not trying to glorify himself of course but he is and perhaps there is a reminder there of the fact that he was unique in his person and in his life and in everything he did as hymn number 50 says all thou speaking of God the Father didst air desire of man that we see in him and he was the perfect man. Now moving to some glories of the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man one of them we see in John chapter 13 verse 31 when the Lord Jesus is with his disciples Judas having just left the room to go out to betray him the Lord Jesus can then say to his own in verse 31 now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. This verse is looking on to the work on the cross and the way that the words of the Lord Jesus are recorded here it's as if that work has already taken place and is fully accomplished. This is a manner of expression that we see a number of times in John's gospel. Now when we consider the cross I think we need to have a right and proper and reverent balance of feelings because on the one hand the cross was the place where the Lord Jesus God's only begotten Son but begotten Son the perfect Lamb of God it's where he bore our sins where he was made sin for us where he endured such agony during those three hours of darkness. In that respect the cross is a very solemn thing to consider in some ways also an awful thing to think that the Lord Jesus went through all of that there. It's also the place where he was made a curse as we have stated in Galatians where he was lifted up and made a spectacle for men and subject to their mockery. The list of those sorts of things goes on and when we think about the cross there must be sorrow in our hearts when we think of all of the untold things and that the Lord Jesus suffered there. But at the same time we can also sing of surveying the wondrous cross and as it says in the verse that we've read from John chapter 13 as the Lord Jesus himself said that the Son of Man was glorified there not glorified in an outward or visible way and very much the opposite but glorified in a moral way because it was the perfect and most perfect possible and the complete display of the love of our Savior and every aspect of his character really that he should lay down his life for us for those who at that point in time were enemies of God for us who were alienated from God and all of those sorts of things he laid down his life for us and he bore our sins in his body his perfect body on the tree he suffered death that we might never know death it brought us into such wonderful blessing when we consider that side of things again we don't want to take away from the suffering and our reverent appreciation of that but there can also be amazement when we consider what the Lord Jesus did for us praise and worship no doubt will flow from our hearts when we consider how the Lord Jesus the Son of Man was glorified at the cross the Lord Jesus as Son of Man also enjoys great glory now in heaven at God's right hand we see this in the verses that we've read from Hebrews chapter 2 just returning to them briefly verse 7 after saying thou has made him some little inferior to the angels that says thou has crowned him with glory and honor and then verse 9 we see Jesus crowned with glory and honor and this is God's response to the work of the Lord Jesus and all that he did upon the cross man awarded the cross to him but God was glorified in the Son of Man God has raised him up and set him at his right hand and crowned him with glory and honor already the Lord Jesus has abundant glory and honor at God's right hand I'm reluctant to say much more about this or to try and put it in my own words because I think I would just mess things up but we as the verse says we see Jesus there we can consider him and by faith we can look up and realize all that he enjoys now at God's right hand the place of nearness to God the place of honor the place where there are pleasures for evermore as a result of his work upon the cross the Lord Jesus will also enjoy further glory in the future as the Son of Man we also see this referred to in Hebrews chapter 2 the end of verse 7 now thou has set him over the work over the works of thy hands thou hast subjected all things under his feet for in subjecting all things to him he has left nothing unsubject to him although as it says at the end of the verse but now we see not yet all things subjected to him this is really the purpose for which God created this earth and so that the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man should have dominion over it wasn't really created for Adam to have dominion over it and God even when he created the heavens and the earth and had the Lord Jesus in view but the Lord Jesus will not just rule over this earth he will rule over all things this is a reference to his millennial reign it is literally all things and something which is also explained in Ephesians chapter 1 and 1st Corinthians 15 and those chapters don't refer to the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man but they take up the same truth it is literally all things except God of course that the Lord Jesus will reign over and when we consider the vastness of this universe and all created things in it really is amazing that one man will be capable of ruling over all of these things and doing it in a absolutely perfect and righteous way and there's also being visibly witnessed by all things and there will be great glory for the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man in this future day. I'm reluctant in some ways to conclude by making some remarks which might be described as practical ones I say this for two reasons one it kind of feels a little bit perhaps demeaning to divine things to have to bring them down to our level of weakness and failure but secondly and perhaps more importantly any consideration of the Lord Jesus is inherently practical we shouldn't think that consideration of these sorts of things is not practical. John chapter 6 tells us that the Lord Jesus meditating upon the life of the Lord Jesus as a man on this earth is bread is our spiritual food and 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 tells us that when we consider the Lord Jesus in glory we are changed in a moral way from glory to glory. Perhaps though I can just make two remarks which may be helpful the first is that when we consider the humility of the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man he sets the perfect example for us perhaps one that is very needful for us as well and think of his expression that the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister a good example for us there to not look for things to be done for us but to consider how we might be able to dedicate our lives to serving our brethren. The second and final practical remark is one along the lines of encouraging us to consider these things further and perhaps especially when we consider our position compared to Daniel's position and going back to the verse that we read at the beginning of the meeting Daniel was a godly man and one who had this special revelation from God but his knowledge of the Son of Man was limited because all he had were two scriptures to go by Psalm 8 and one verse in Psalm 80 both of which present the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man but that was all his knowledge of the Son of Man and as a result when he had this revelation that's recorded in Daniel chapter 7 he didn't have a full understanding of what it was and he could only see one who was like a Son of Man and by contrast we've been blessed greatly in particular we have the full revelation of the New Testament and also the help of the Holy Spirit to understand the things that are recorded in God's Word and it really places a responsibility upon us to look into these things to consider all of the truths concerning the Lord Jesus that God has presented to us. It won't be an abstract study though as we do it I'm sure that our hearts will be warmed and that we will want to as a result express our great appreciation to the Lord Jesus for all that he is and for all that he has done. Could we finish with hymn 219? 219 Lord what is man? It is he who died and all their nature glorified. Thy righteousness and grace displayed when he for sin atonement made. …