Catford Lectures 2008-2009

… For this afternoon I have some Old Testament characters that I'd like us to consider and I have some lessons which really are very simple in principle and I suppose we could say that we know them well enough, but I believe the Lord wants us to draw out from the Scriptures account of these men some of these simple lessons, reminders that hopefully will be valuable to each of us. Now I think we're going to get the most benefit if we see these characters in their historical context. And to do that we need to go back just over 2,600 years. Go back to King Josiah. Now it's not Josiah I want to talk about, but he'll be our starting point. Josiah came to the throne when he was very young and through his life he had a real desire to follow the Lord and to encourage his subjects to do so. And I'll quote from the Scriptures about Josiah. We read of him that, like unto him there was no king before him that turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might according to the law of Moses neither after him arose there any like him. That's what the Scriptures say about Josiah in 2 Kings 23. A very high commendation indeed. And we also read in 2 Chronicles it says, Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even serve the Lord their God. And all his days they departed not from following the Lord the God of their fathers. Again, a wonderful testimony to a great man. But although he made the people, it says, serve the Lord, it's clear that there were very serious problems. Jeremiah had been preaching to the people of Judah and Jerusalem from the 13th year of the reign of King Josiah. And Josiah died after ruling 31 years. So Jeremiah had been preaching for nearly 20 years during Josiah's reign. And it's clear that although the book of Jeremiah is not set out in chronological order, much of what is contained in that book was Jeremiah's message during the years of Josiah's rule. In fact, if we just now turn over to Jeremiah 25, we can get a feel for the situation. Jeremiah 25, and just picking up here at verse 3, Jeremiah says, from the 13th year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the 3 and 20th year, the word of the Lord has come unto me and I've spoken unto you, rising early and speaking, that ye have not hearkened. So although Josiah was a godly man and tried to lead his people in a godly way, in fact there were extremely serious problems. And in verse 5 of this chapter, Jeremiah tells us what the message was. Turn ye again everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your doings. This had been his message for 23 years, including most of Josiah's reign, but they hadn't listened. And Josiah in the 31st year of his reign, not yet 40 years old, involves himself in the affairs of others and he pays for it. Now undoubtedly he felt provoked. The Egyptians came through his land to fight with the last remnants of the Assyrian Empire against the Babylonians. And Josiah may have felt that the Egyptians taking their massive army through his land was an insult to the Lord. And therefore the Lord would help him fight them. And he may have thought back several generations to Hezekiah and seen how the Lord had rescued the people then against what, humanly speaking, were overwhelming odds. But there's nothing to indicate he consulted the Lord. And Pharaoh warned him off, but Josiah still goes to fight him. And Josiah gets killed, a tragedy, particularly as his sons were spiritually poor characters. An odd thing happens then. The people of the land, we're told, decide on the next king. And they don't choose Josiah's eldest son, Eliakim, they crown a younger son, Jehoahaz. I can't see any indication for the reasons for this, but that's what seems to have happened. But after three months the Egyptians came along and replaced Jehoahaz as king with his elder brother and they changed his elder brother's name to Jehoiakim. And Jehoiakim was 25 years old. And spiritually things don't improve. In fact they further decline. Whereas in Josiah's day Jeremiah was free to warn and admonish, now he feels the opposition of the authorities. And in the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign, we find Jeremiah restricted. He's restricted in what he can do. He doesn't have the freedom he had when Josiah was king. And we read that he was shut up. Not in prison, but living unobtrusively, perhaps in hiding. And we have the Lord speaking to him to tell him to write down all that he's told him to say. This is in Jeremiah 36. There still seems a chance for Judah if they repented. And Jeremiah instructs his secretary Barak firstly to recall all he's said, then to read it openly. OK, now we come to a crunch point. Let's go back to Jeremiah 25. Jeremiah 25, and I'm picking up at verse 8. Therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, because ye have not heard my words, behold I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and will make them in astonishment, and in hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover, I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle, and this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment. Jeremiah tells them what is about to happen. The Babylonians are about to punish them for their rebellion against God. And we get in the first verse of this chapter when exactly he's speaking to them. It's in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Now, let's turn to Daniel. So, move across to Daniel. Daniel chapter 1 Daniel 1. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shina, to the house of his God, and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his God. OK, here we read that Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians came and besieged Jerusalem, and the Lord gave Jehoiakim into his hands. We read it's in the third year of the reign of king Jehoiakim. It seems that this is an example of different time frames. We should be familiar with that from the New Testament, where the times of events, particularly those surrounding the crucifixion of the Lord, are given in Jewish time in the synoptic gospels, and in Roman time in the Gospel of John. Well, here it would seem that in Chaldean, in Babylonian recording of time, the first year of a king's reign was sort of considered introductory, and the following year was considered as the first year of his reign proper. So what Jeremiah was saying, he was telling them about events that were about to happen. He was telling them about what was going to happen, as is described here in the book of Daniel. Now I want particularly to talk this afternoon about Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. A lot of what we can say about them is true of their friend Daniel, but there are some differences as well. Scripture records these three really as being involved in four events, and we look at each of them and draw lessons from them. And the first event is their captivity. So we'll pick it up at Daniel 1 and verse 3. And the king, that's Nebuchadnezzar, spake unto Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certainth of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the prince's, children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank, so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now among these were the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names. For he gave unto Daniel the name Belteshazzar, and to Hananiah of Shadrach, and of Mishael, of Meshach, and to Azariah of Abednego. Daniel and his three friends were young. My guess is they were young to mid-teenagers. And we also see they were from the nobility of Judah. And until four years before this, four years before their exile, they'd been ruled in Jerusalem by the godly king Josiah. And these four young men would have remembered Josiah and his godliness, almost certainly they'd been too young to have remembered that marvellous Passover that Josiah organised. Undoubtedly they'd have known of Jeremiah. It's possible they may have listened to his preachings. And although young, they would have sympathised with what he said and agreed with him. And I think therefore they would have had some insight into future events. How soon they'd come, they may not have realised, but that disaster loomed in spite of godly king Josiah would have been clear to those who are faithful to God. So these four young men, along with others from the royalty and nobility, were dragged from their homes, their families, their country, with little hope of ever seeing their loved ones ever again. The fact that undoubtedly they had some understanding of the reasons doesn't distract much from their suffering. They had emotions and feelings like everybody else. It would have been a difficult journey, at least a thousand miles. They'd probably have had to have walked at least some of the way. And although there were special captives, and probably treated better than other captives, it would still have been a terrible experience. And then when we find that they get to Babylon, their names are changed. Their Jewish names were no longer to be part of their life. I understand that Hananiah means loved by the Lord, Mishael means who is like God, and Azariah means God is my help. These names have to go. They're a great testimony to the true God, but they now have their names changed to have names that are centred on the Babylonian gods Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And although not mentioned in scripture, it's very likely that they'd have had to undergo the, I guess, crude, humiliating, painful operation of being made into eunuchs. A lesson from this is obvious, but it's worth remembering that as Christians, we're not exempt from God's dealings with the world around us. Judgment on the Jews for their disobedience to God and rebellion against Him caught up these godly Jews as well as the rebellious. But they didn't lose their faith because of this. Rather, their faith in God shines through their circumstances. Now we find the second event I want to mention in the following verses. So we'll pick this up at chapter 8 of Daniel 1. I'm sorry, verse 8 of chapter 1. I apologise, verse 8 of chapter 1. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink, for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? Then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king. Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, prove thy servants I beseech thee ten days, and let them give us pulse to eat and water to drink. Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eateth the portion of the king's meat, and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. And at the end of the ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat and the wine that they should drink and gave them pulse. One thing that comes across here is a difference. A difference between Daniel and his three friends. Daniel was determined and acted. His friends sympathised and supported, but it was Daniel who acted. It was not an easy task for Daniel to deal with the authorities here. The temptation to be the same as everyone else must have been enormous. Firstly as captives, important captives, but still captives, they had no rights. This was not like being at home where they had choices. Why put themselves in danger over food? And then they could argue that they'd been abandoned by the Lord. He'd allowed them to be taken from their land and placed among heathen, in fact subservient to heathen. Circumstances were different. Why should God's law matter? And I'm sure there are many among the Jews, the Jewish captives, who were not willing to take a stand. They weren't told what the specific issue regarding the food was. Perhaps it was food that was forbidden under God's law. Perhaps it had been sacrificed to idols. But Daniel knew it would be wrong to eat it. And the scriptures tell us that Daniel determined in his heart to do what was right. And it's clear that Daniel initiated and led the request to be given different food. Now perhaps we shouldn't speculate, and it is of course impossible for us to know, but I wonder how these lads would have acted were Daniel not with them. They were young, they were showing a courage and maturity beyond their years, but they were still young. And if any of them had been on their own, I just wonder whether he'd have had the strength to stand up for what was right in an alien, unforgiving and vicious world. We can't tell. But the point is, we don't need to. Because the Lord provided for them. He knew their personalities, He knew their desires, He knew their weaknesses. And He provided support and godly leadership for them. Of course we're all different. We have different strengths and weaknesses. We have different personalities. Some of us find some tasks, some duties, more difficult than others. Some are natural leaders, others aren't. But the important thing to remember is that God knows. The Lord knows, He understands us completely. He knows and understands what we find difficult. And He'd say to us, as He said to Paul with his thorn in the flesh, my strength is sufficient for you, but my power is made perfect in weakness. God knows us, He knows our personalities, He knows our needs. I'm sure I can't easily do some of the things that you can do, and there are undoubtedly some things that you find difficult. The Lord knows and understands that we need the support of others, the leadership of others. We have our weaknesses, and we have things that we find difficult. But God provides practical ways to support us, as He did for these three young men. The Lord deals with us as we are, because He knows us completely. Okay, let's just return to Daniel. Daniel, first of all, gets a bit of a brush off from the prince of the eunuchs. The prince of the eunuchs is not willing to risk himself for Daniel. So Daniel doesn't give up at this point. He approaches the steward who's been put over them, and rather than insisting, he offers a test, and the official accepts the test, and because of Daniel's faithfulness to the Lord, the Lord honours him and achieves the objectives through the test. Without the Lord, there could be no guarantee that the result of the test would be so positive. It was only for ten days, but the Lord works for them. Verse 17, chapter 1, verse 17. As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar, and the king communed with them, and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore stood they before the king, and in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in his realm. Undoubtedly they worked hard during their three years' training, but it was God who gave them knowledge and skill, or knowledge and understanding, in the literature and learning of the Chaldeans. God is actively helping them in this. He gave them the knowledge and skill, and when they're taken to Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar recognises their special gifts, and that they much surpassed the wise men of Babylon. The next incident involving our three comes in the next chapter. It's described in the first verse there as being in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, which wouldn't seem to take account of the three years' training, but this could perhaps be explained by the way partial years are considered in their numbering system. Chapter 2, verse 1. And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep break from him. Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king, and the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriac, O king, live forever. Tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation. And the king answered and said to the Chaldeans, the thing is gone from me. If you will not make known unto me the dream with the interpretation thereof, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. But if you show the dream and the interpretation thereof, you shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour. Therefore show me the dream and the interpretation thereof. They answered again and said, let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation of it. The king answered and said, I know certainty that you would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me. But if you will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you. For ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can show the interpretation thereof. The Chaldeans answered before the king and said, there is not a man upon the earth that can show the king's matter. Therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler that asks such things at any magician or astrologer or Chaldean. And it is a rare thing that the king requireth. And there is none other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. For this cause the king was angry and very furious and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain, and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. The choice for the wise men of Babylon is stark, isn't it? Either tell the king his dream and receive gifts, rewards and great honour, or fail and be cut limb from limb and have your houses turned into rubbish piles. They fail. They can't go beyond their systems of interpretation and actually discover what the dream was. And the executioner goes out. Now being part of this system, being part of this advisory system to the king, presumably newly qualified, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego have to die with the others. Verse 14. Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Ariok, the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon. He answered and said to Ariok, the king's captain, why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Ariok made the thing known to Daniel. Then Daniel went in and desired of the king that he would give him time and that he would show the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, his companions, that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision and Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel and his friends had clearly not been aware of what was taking place and again, as we saw in our first chapter, it's Daniel who is active. He asks the king's executioner for details and Daniel has the courage to go into the king's presence and ask for time. The Lord had given Daniel ability to understand visions and dreams of all kinds but this was different. He needed to know from the Lord what Nebuchadnezzar's dream actually was before he could interpret it. Now we notice that Daniel doesn't take Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah with him. He discovers what's happening and acts alone. Times of the essence. He needs an answer quickly. The impulsive, the impatient king won't wait long. But Daniel returns home and explains it all to them and he asks them to pray. Why does he ask them to pray? He asks them to pray because he has every confidence that the Lord will listen to them. And this tells us not just about Daniel's confidence in them but also their relationship with the Lord. Daniel knew them. He knew that the Lord would listen to them. He had confidence of that. He believed it was worth spending the time explaining what was happening to them and for them to plead with the Lord. This is proof, proof, if it was needed, that they were continuing in their godly walk. Their godly walk that had been so evident when they started their training. Now I want us to read a couple of verses from Isaiah 59. We just need to remember what the Lord says to the Jews through Isaiah here. First two chapters of Isaiah 59. The Lord is speaking to the Jews through Isaiah. Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear, but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear. Unconfessed sins damage our day-to-day relationship with the Lord. And they were a real barrier to prayer. This wasn't a problem for the three. They were clearly continuing in their godly walk and God answers their prayer. Now it might be easy for us to look at this incident with Daniel and his friends and think that the key role was Daniel's. But the three only had a minor role and certainly Daniel was the most prominent in this. But they were as vital as he was and Daniel recognises their importance. We shouldn't need to have it emphasised to us because the importance of prayer is so clear in Scripture. But for some of us who lead busy lives, neglecting proper prayer may be a real danger. And for those of us who are older, less able to be engaged in active pursuits, there's always the valuable activity of prayer. The Lord answers his prayer. Daniel's given the dreamer's interpretation and so their lives are saved. They were in right relationship with the Lord and this allowed their prayers to be unhindered. Now we're not going to talk about the dreamer's interpretation. Let's move on to the end of the chapter. Chapter 2. Verse 46. Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and worshipped Daniel and commanded that he should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. The king answered unto Daniel and said, Of a truth it is that your God is the God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldst reveal this secret. Then the king made Daniel a great man and gave him many great gifts and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. Then Daniel requested of the king and he set Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon but Daniel sat in the gate of the king. So Nebuchadnezzar keeps his promise and he exalts Daniel. He's made ruler of the province of Babylon and as the empire was centred on Babylon, the province of Babylon was the most important of the provinces of the empire. And Daniel urges the king to give appointments to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego as administrators in the same province. So they will be responsible to him, Daniel, and managed by him. Why was this? Well, there are two reasons I think that could be pertinent here. Undoubtedly Daniel wanted people working for him that he could trust. People who'd be honest in their dealings. Now how important that is, isn't it? I would have thought that in the affairs of Babylon there'd be plenty of opportunity for bribery and corruption, theft, dishonesty, as there is in many jobs today. Daniel wanted those he could trust, those who would work hard, those who'd be honest in their dealings, to work with him. The way we work is so important, isn't it, in our Christian witness, as is emphasised in the New Testament in many places. Secondly, he may have been considering the three. Compulsorily being part, and a very junior part with no influence, of this heathen, Chaldean system of magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers, as one translation puts it, would have been extremely difficult for any godly Jew. So any opportunity to get away from this system would have been most welcome. They must have deplored, hated the ungodly, perhaps demonic system that they've been forced to join. But the Lord provides a way out for them. Again, we see how the Lord understands them, understands their situation and provides for them. OK. Let's just quickly recap what we've observed so far. These three young men were captives, taken forcibly from their home, their family, their land, to perform a service to the Emperor of the great power of the day. They remained faithful to the Lord, and the Lord knowing them, provides the support and encouragement they need at critical points. They evidently remained faithful to the Lord during their years of training. So that when a crisis arises, which Daniel addresses, he entrusts the central, the essential task of prayer to them. And he knows that the Lord will hear and ask them. And we noted too in this last incident that we considered, that God sees the working environment that's been forced upon them. And he provides a way out for them. The last time we read of them is in the next chapter, chapter 3. And this provides our fourth incident. Daniel's no longer with them. Now, this seems surprising, but it's likely that an important official like Daniel would travel for the king. He could be away in some other province of the king's vast domain, necessitating his absence for weeks, perhaps months on end. But clearly Daniel's not around. So we have a different situation for our three. No longer do they have Daniel to lead them. I would suggest that this is what they've been trained for. Their previous difficult experiences where Daniel took the lead, they supported him, where the Lord honoured them, was training for this crucial event that we see in chapter 3. The Lord had a massive task for them. They had to stand up to the most powerful and autocratic man on earth and refuse his command. Knowing the consequences, knowing they faced his death sentence for doing so, and so witness to him in a powerful and practical way of the greatness and authority of God. It could be argued that this was one of the greatest tasks ever entrusted to man as far as witnessing to the world was concerned. Perhaps comparable to Paul witnessing to the leader of the big power of his day, the Emperor Nero. If they'd failed to stand for God, they'd have missed out. Nebuchadnezzar would have missed out. In fact, the whole empire would have missed out. Chapter 3 verse 1. Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold whose height was three square cubits and the breadth of six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Jura in the province of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Then the princes, the governors, the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces would gather together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then a herald cried out, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, that at the time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, sorterie, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. And whoso falleth not down and worshipeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. Therefore at that time when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, sorterie, and all kinds of music, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. He sets up this golden image, Nebuchadnezzar, nearly a hundred foot tall, and he calls together the important officials from all over the empire to worship it. With each tribe having its own gods, he presumably wanted to assert the power and authority of himself and the Babylonian gods. And the three are there. Our three are there. They have a choice. Of course they could have done as everyone else did. It caused them no trouble. But their previous experiences were God's training for them. Joining with Daniel when he stood up to the authorities right at the beginning, then experiencing the Lord's deliverance after they were sentenced to be cut in pieces along with all the other wise men, God was training them for this occasion. Verse 8. Wherefore, at that time, certain Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews. They spake and said unto King Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live forever. Thou, O king, has made a decree that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, sorterie, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. And whoso falleth not down and worshipeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have not regarded thee. They serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar, in his rage and fury, commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king. The three stand for God. Their refusal to bow to the idol is reported to Nebuchadnezzar who is filled with rage and has them brought to him. Verse 14, Nebuchadnezzar spake and said to them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if ye be ready, that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, sorterie, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made, well. But if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace, and who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands? He offers them a second chance, and in doing so, he challenges the true god. And their reply is clear. Verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. He offers them a second chance, and in doing so, he challenges the true god. And their reply is clear. Verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our god whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Their reply is clear. They don't want a second chance. They are determined not to bow, whatever the consequences. I love their reply. They don't know what's going to happen, and they acknowledge that. But they know with certainty that god is able to save them from the flames, but they don't presume to know whether he will prevent their deaths in the furnace. But they do know that god will save them from Nebuchadnezzar. Their fate isn't in Nebuchadnezzar's hands. It's in god's hands. Verse 19, Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he spake and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in the army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were banded in their coats, and hosen, and hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar's furious anger isn't really shown in a very practical way. Hotting the fire seven times was not going to make the experience worse for his victims. In fact, humanly speaking, they might be expected to die before even reaching the fire, as the soldiers did. Verse 24, Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said to his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said, I was the king. True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire. They have no hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. And of course, the Lord did save them from the flames. Men of enormous courage, ready to suffer the pain of being burnt up, rather than bow to idols. What a privilege it must have been, mustn't it? To have walked in the fire with the Lord. There are many events described in scripture where we like to listen to conversations. The Lord instructing Cleopas and his companion on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus, explaining in detail how the Old Testament taught of him, is a great example. But I'd love to know what was said here too. As the fourth figure, as Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges, like the Son of God, walks in the flames with them. And then Nebuchadnezzar tells them to come forth in verses 26. They come out. They must have been very reluctant to do Nebuchadnezzar's bidding, I'd have thought, and come out of the fire. What a contrast between walking with the Lord in person and being with Nebuchadnezzar. But their job isn't finished. They have a further interview with the king. And then we see that the king issues a decree. He comments on verse 28. Let's just read that verse. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any God except their own God. Therefore I make a decree that every people, nation, and language which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made of dunghill, because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. For a faithful God-fearing Jew in Palestine or anywhere else in the empire to read this extraordinary decree must have been amazing. Their emperor witnessing to the power of their God. Now I just want to look at one more aspect of their lives. Five times we read in this book of Hananiah. And every time we read of Hananiah we also read of Mishael, and every time we read of Mishael we also read of Azariah. 15 times we read of Shadrach, and every time we read of Shadrach we also read of Meshach, and every time we read of Meshach we also read of Abednego. That all was recorded as being together. They were united. I can't think of I can't think of a couple in scripture, let alone a triple, who were always together and mentioned as many times as these three are. I appreciate their circumstances were exceptional, but it would be extremely unlikely that there was nothing about them that irritated or annoyed each other. But rather than quibbling about each other's ways and habits, they operate together. They're together. In fact there's such unity between them, such harmony, that when they replied to King Nebuchadnezzar back in verse 16 of chapter 3, the scriptures say, then Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the king. Now they didn't chant in unison, but there is so much of one mind that it doesn't actually matter who actually did the speaking. They are together in this. So let's learn from them. We're in a heathen world that's hostile to those who hold and practice the truth, as they were. Showing unity is part of our witness to the world. It's very noticeable as we look at the lives of these three, that the Lord is there. They're living in extremely difficult circumstances, in an alien and hostile culture, but the Lord is there. They're put in positions where they have to stand up for the Lord and take the consequences or give up. They stand for the Lord and he honours them. He is there supporting and encouraging. Knowing them, he provides Daniel for them, but when Daniel isn't there, he himself shows himself with them. Now perhaps we may not feel we easily identify with the three. Their circumstances were very difficult to ours. Generally we don't suffer the open and active persecution they did, but the world is hostile to God and the principles that govern their behaviour and the Lord's dealing with them remain the same. I want to close at this point. OK, let's just have one verse, because time's gone, of 289. 289. Be still my soul, the Lord is on my side. Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide. In every change he faithful will remain. 289. …

… Will you turn please to the Gospel by John, chapter 14. The Gospel by John, chapter 14 and verse 1. Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also. Later in the chapter, verse 25, these things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Chapter 15, verse 26. For when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me, and he also shall bear witness, because he hath been with me from the beginning. Chapter 16, verse 7. Nevertheless I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, of sin because they believe not on me, of righteousness because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more, of judgment because the Prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. Regular attenders at Catford Lectures, which includes most of you, will remember that last year, about this time, we looked at seven reasons why Jesus is in heaven and, of course, we looked at the Scriptures to establish that fact. This evening, with the Lord's help, I hope to look at nine reasons why the Holy Spirit is on earth. If you like, the counterbalancing study to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is in heaven. Now, if this was a personal conversation with those of you who know me pretty well, when I say I want to mention or look at nine reasons why the Holy Spirit is in heaven, knowing me well, you might well say, well, you would, wouldn't you? And I would say with great innocence, what do you mean, you would, wouldn't you? You would say to me, well, you often feel obliged to say that in the Scriptures, when God is at work, that somewhere in the immediate context, you get references to God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and then in the New Testament, particularly in John's Gospel, when the Lord Jesus is spoken of and it is emphasised that he is God, that you keep telling us that to emphasise the deity of the Son of God, things happen in sets of three. Well, of course, I would be obliged to admit the truth of what you say. I have also noticed, and I cannot help repeating what I see Scripture says, in a similar way, I have noticed that very often when things about the truth concerning the person and the work of God the Holy Spirit is looked at in Scripture, things tend to happen or things are set out in sets of nine. Now, you may well find it somewhat of a coincidence, you may even think it is contrived, that at the very least, I have noticed nine sets of nines in Scripture where the Holy Spirit is directly or indirectly involved. I am sure there is many more, but as a start, it is a help to me that when the Holy Spirit is referred to and when the power, the person, and the work of the Holy Spirit is being emphasised that there is a guidance of the Holy Spirit himself in setting things together in sets of nine to trigger off the expectation in my mind, certainly, ah, there is something important here about the Holy Spirit which I will have to follow up. Now, I am not going to attempt in any way to line, to delineate, or to spell out the nine sets of nine, but as a start, I will mention one or two of the easy ones for you to follow up. You are aware, of course, that the fruit, singular, the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, 22 is demonstrated to be ninefold. The fruit of the Spirit is so intimately connected, the aspects are put together under one head, the fruit of the Spirit, there are nine features of that. You will have noticed that there are nine persons in the Scriptures, Old and New Testament together, there are nine persons who are spoken of as being full of or filled with the Holy Spirit. You will have noticed that the nine features or virtues that Peter speaks about in the first chapter of his second epistle, again, there are nine different expressions of that. You will have noticed that in 1 Corinthians 13, which includes chapter 14, verse 1, nine times over, demonstrations or accentuations or features of love are spoken about in a ninefold way. Way back in the Old Testament, the ingredients of the holy anointing oil and the holy incense, the ingredients that had together before they were made, again, there are nine ingredients mentioned. I will only mention one more to whet your appetite. When the spices used in the preparation of the bride in the Song of Solomon are mentioned, no surprise is it there are nine spices which are listed there. Now, I am sure there are more than nine sets, but at least having got nine sets of nine, I am satisfied for the moment. I will get to know a bit more about the details of them before I look further afield. So tonight, I want to suggest, for a start, nine reasons why the Holy Spirit is here upon earth. Now, I am going to start with the most difficult one first, John Gospel chapter 16, verse 8. When the Holy Spirit is come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Now, the difficulty or the apparent difficulty is this. We won't necessarily agree on what verse 8 means or what verses 9, 10 and 11 mean. Don't worry about that. Take any two honest Christians who study the Bible for themselves with whatever help they can get. You will always find there is some detail of Holy Scripture on which they don't see eye to eye. Inevitable. And if it is on something relatively important, if it is a detail of application, you don't need worry too much about it. Of course, on vital matters, you would want to be in full agreement with him or her. Now, the reason I say we wouldn't all necessarily agree on this first one is this. I would suggest, happy to discuss it with you afterwards, that this demonstration of the Holy Spirit while he is in the world is what I would call passive rather than active. It's what we learn from the fact of his being in the world rather than what he does while he is in the world. I hope that's not too abstruse for you. Certainly, when we see what follows, the three statements that are made, we are told very plainly that the presence of the Holy Spirit in the world is intended to be taken account of, not at the moment by unbelievers, but by believers. You and I know and are reminded that the Holy Spirit is in the world because the world wanted nothing to do with Jesus and cast him out. Wicked, cruel hands crucified and slew the Lord of glory. That in itself teaches us Christians a lesson and it's the presence of the Holy Spirit that brings that to our mind. I want to suggest things that will enable you or cause you to think them through for yourselves, but I would expand verse 8 into verse 9 and say the Holy Spirit's presence in the world reproves the world, demonstrating the world is under sin. It's under the domination of people whose lives are riddled through with sin so that they cannot make a sound judgment of anything in spiritual matters and because of that they are unable to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is reflexive. It says the world is under sin because they believe not on me, but it's also true that they cannot believe on him until God effects a work in their hearts by the Spirit because sin dominates the thinking of unbelievers. Secondly, in verse 10, he said the world, and it follows on from verse 9, the world is without righteousness. Righteousness is not a feature of present day governing the world at large. Popularity, self-gain, self-aggrandizement, all these things feature in what men seek to do and the world is not ruled in righteousness. This is why in Acts 17, 31, we read that the day will come, God has appointed a day in which he will rule the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained whereof he has given assurance unto all men in that he has raised him from the dead, evidently speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ. If you want to know a little bit more about when and how and what relates to these things, if the Lord hasn't come, come along next Saturday and I'm sure you'll hear a bit more about it. But for the moment, we'll just say that the presence of the Holy Spirit in the world demonstrates that the world's under sin because they rejected Christ, it's without righteousness because the world will never be ruled on a righteous basis until the Lord Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and it says the world which is under sin and without righteousness doesn't know it but it's heading towards judgment, it's going on to judgment. Now my suggestion tonight is completely apart from the work of the Holy Spirit, what he does while he's in the world, the very fact that he's here demonstrates or reminds the believers that Christ has been rejected by the world but God raised him from the dead and has seated him at his own right hand in glory. That's before the Holy Spirit does anything at all. Now I'm suggesting that the first reason why the Holy Spirit is in the world to give a passive demonstration not by what he does but the fact that he is here, that demonstrates to you and me who have the scriptures in our hands, the Holy Spirit in our hearts and that gives that demonstration to us, that's what I mean by a passive demonstration. Of course it is also true that as he did with you and me, the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of men and women, boys and girls, to give a sense of sinfulness and sin which gives an awareness of spiritual need which God uses to bring men, women, boys and girls to the Saviour. The first book in the Bible, Genesis, chapter 6 isn't it, God says my spirit shall not always strive with men but it's implicit that until a certain point is reached that the Holy Spirit does and will continue to strive with men bringing them to a sense of their sinfulness and wickedness. So the actual conviction of sin is brought about by the Holy Spirit himself and that I would put as a second reason for his being here. Once we've been brought to Christ, what then? Oh we find very quickly there are greater issues at stake than little you and little me and one major matter that the Bible teaches us is that on the day of Pentecost, 50 days after the day when Jesus our Lord was raised from among the dead, Acts 2 tells us in great detail that the Holy Spirit inaugurated the Christian church. He brought it into being. He formed it. He brought it into being. Now just, I think it will help to look at the scripture, we have the time, 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse, by one spirit are we all baptised into one body whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free. God has brought into being a community, chapter 12 verse 13, I got it the wrong way around first time. God has brought into being a community, a group, a body that collectively God speaks of as the assembly, the church of the living God. And God brought it into being on the first Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus our Lord was raised from among the dead and that is another mighty reason why the Holy Spirit came into the world to inaugurate the Christian church, the assembly. No time for the detail, it is not the point. Acts chapter 2 with many comments in the New Testament epistles, that is what I have suggested as a third reason for the Holy Spirit to be here. My suggestions are more or less but not necessarily in chronological sequence. We read the verses in John 14, 15 and 16 and like many other things, well known to most of us but a very happy point in the history of our souls when we have confirmed in the very text of scripture things that we instinctively are aware of but perhaps have difficulty finding where in the scripture it puts it. But in these well known verses in chapter 14, 15 and 16, we find this fourth, as I put it, reason why the Holy Spirit is here. Relative to the unbeliever, the unsaved sinner, we thought about it, the Holy Spirit produces a sense of sin, a sense of spiritual need and in one way or another, this involves the presentation of Christ to the soul. Warnings, exhortations, warnings of future peril and the judgment of God have their place but unless there is the presentation of Christ to the soul of the sinner, there can be no salvation enjoyed. Oh but you and I are no longer unsaved sinners, oh we're still sinners but we're saved sinners now and what has the Holy Spirit got for us compared with what he has for the sinner? It's exactly the same. The Holy Spirit brings to the believer on the Lord Jesus Christ aspects, different thoughts, different teaching of who Christ is, what he's done, what he's done for God, what he's done for us, what he's going to do in the future but basically, as with this unsaved sinner, it's true for the saved sinner, we get the presentation of Christ for the soul. Now, if we were to look at Luke's Gospel, chapter 24, I think we will. John's Gospel, chapter 24, please. Luke 24, verse 25, Jesus said unto them, O fools, slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. What they had as the scriptures then are what we refer to as the Old Testament scriptures. The New Testament scriptures had not been written. And then we read that in all the scriptures he spoke about the things concerning himself. He presented Christ. He presented himself to the souls of the disciples in their day. Now look on to verse 44. He said unto them, These are the words which I speak unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning me. Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the scriptures and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. Now go back to verse 26. Ought not Christ to have suffered and to enter into his glory? There's a nice little touch here. To read about the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow, you need Moses, which is a title for all the Psalms. And the prophets include the historical books and the major and the minor prophets. That's how the Jews looked at them. But you get an addition in verse 46. You also say that thus it is written, it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead. The addition is the resurrection of Christ. Now we've already read in verse 44 that as well as Moses and the prophets, the Lord taught them from the Psalms. And it is in the Psalms that we get direct and indirect references to the personal bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. So we see how exact scripture is. Now it shows Christ in all the scriptures certainly takes in all what we have as the Old Testament scriptures. But when we turn to John 14, 15 and 16, and it's a real joy the first time you notice this, we get references that imply, if they do not directly state, that as well as all the Old Testaments that the Lord Jesus himself used to teach the disciples all things concerning himself, we also in a special way get help from all the New Testament scriptures. In one of these verses we've read, speaking about the Holy Spirit, the Lord said, he will bring to your remembrance whatsoever things I have spoken unto you. Clearly the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, that's the place to look for the record of the things that the Lord Jesus did and brought to the attention of the disciples. Another phrase that's used by the Lord, ye shall testify of me. That's the book of Acts. Clearly that's the record of the early years of the church where the disciples and those who responded to their teaching went about preaching and teaching the Gospel message, the Acts. Again, the Lord said, the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth. That wouldn't be possible unless we had the New Testament epistles available to us that we can read for the Holy Spirit to enlighten us about. Again, he will show you things to come. In particular, the book of Revelation, I suppose, most of the second epistles, but other little touches here and there in much of the New Testament, not excluding the Gospels, which tell us in what way the Holy Spirit uses the New Testament scriptures to show us things to come. I like the little touch that the Lord gave, I love it all, but a special delight is when he summed up the totality of what the Holy Spirit would do because he'd come into the world relative to the Christian believer and the assembly, the church of the living God. Overall, the Lord said he, the Holy Spirit, shall glorify me. That's why we sang about that in that lovely hymn number 33. Was that the first, second, third, that was the fourth object in view, the fourth reason why the Holy Spirit has come into the world. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit brought into being, set up, inaugurated the assembly, the church of the living God. That was the beginning of it. In order that there might be a proper continuation and development of what was according to God, God has provided resources, spiritual resources, in order that the assembly might be built up, and that it might continue, develop, and function as we know the human body functions. Each member with its own job to do, and all interdependent in a correlated way to one another, and we know all about that in the human body. Now, this matter is taken up in three special chapters. In Romans chapter 12, we learn that God as such has provided the gifts, that's the resources. In Ephesians 4, we read that the head of the body has provided the gifts. In 1 Corinthians 12, and you'll understand the reason for that, we are told that it is the Holy Spirit who has set up in the assembly those who will be a measure of help to others as members of the body help one another, and that matter of gifts. By the way, in chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians, you get nine operations of the Spirit that help in the development and maintenance of the body. So, that is number five. Now, as a distinct matter, we have a special chapter which tells us how the resources are to be employed, how the gifts should operate, how they should be in exercise, and that's 1 Corinthians 14. There are certain vital chapters and concepts in the Bible about which I can never understand our bashfulness or why we are afraid of them, things that are perfectly plain in the Scripture and which Scripture spells out, and there's no need to be afraid of them or to despise them. We can just read them and put them into practice if we choose so to do. Matters like baptism, election, predestination, and 1 Corinthians chapter 14. I think it would be a good thing if, not infrequently, we were to sit down and read 1 Corinthians chapter 15 as to the proper manner in which the assembly should function when we come together in assembly, and we'd have to discuss many ramifications of that. But if we want another reason, and each of these reasons is sufficient in itself for the Holy Spirit to be in the world, one valid reason, apart from anything else, one valid reason for the Holy Spirit being in the world, indwelling the assembly, is to empower and control the gifts that he himself has placed in the Christian church, and that is a separate matter in itself. Again, still in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, and this is the seventh reason, we read that the purpose of the gifts functioning in the assembly under the guidance, leadership, and control of the Holy Spirit, that it is to have three results, edification, exaltation, comfort. If you like, we need to be built up. We need to be stirred up, and we need to be comforted. We need to be bound up, and these three expressions of the result of the work of the Holy Spirit in regulating things according to God by the Holy Spirit is indeed something that only the Holy Spirit can do. Now, again, I would welcome the opportunity to be present when you discuss this, because it is a very edifying thing in itself. But if we want to look at one chapter above another which tells us how we should regulate or be regulated by the Holy Spirit through the gifts, 1 Corinthians 14 is the place to look. Number eight, God is holy. God makes holy those who are his, those who belong to him, and God requires to be holy, in a practical way, those who've come to God through Christ. If you like, that's a summary of the truth of sanctification. God sets apart for himself those who are Christ's. He does it by the Holy Spirit. Now, this is one of the important things in scripture about which we read that God himself does it as such, the Lord Jesus does it, and the Holy Spirit does it. Wherever you notice something which is attributed to God, the Son, and the Spirit, or the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, you can be sure that it's very important indeed, and the truth of sanctification. God setting apart for himself those who are his is a very important subject. Now, when we get to the practical epistles, all scripture, properly understood, has a practical result. But those who concentrate on that sort of thing, like Peter, puts it very simply. On behalf of God, he quotes God to say, be ye holy as I am holy. Because you are, what in ecclesiastical terms might be said, because we've been granted or brought into a position of sanctification, God requires us to show practical sanctification, to live in a holy way devoted to him. And this is, whether it's individually or whether it's collective, what we are when we are together, and bear in mind that the way we act when we are together is a reflection upon what we are as individuals. Shame on us, in many cases. Let us bear in mind, if we make a mess of things when we are together, and we do, it's because as individuals we shy away from this requirement of God that those whom he has made holy in the absolute sense, he requires to be wholly sanctified in a practical sense. Now, there will be many more. But having given you wait for a start, I will give you one more. In chapter 24 of Genesis, we find that a servant who isn't named is sent by his master to a far country, a great distance away, in order that he might first of all secure, obtain, then preserve and bring home a bride for the master's son. Now, without any lectures about it, if we read the Bible and pray every day, whatever age or stage we are, I trust we do that. If we've never read any of the Old Testament, but we are conversing with what the New Testament says, when we read that story of Rebekah being secured and preserved and presented to her bridegroom, straight away we say that's got to be a picture of the Holy Spirit who has come down from heaven into the world, has formed the church and will preserve that church until it goes to heaven and is presented to Christ at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Isn't that so? The thought appeals immediately. Not so easy, perhaps, to get direct scriptures in the New Testament that tell us in a direct, unmistakable way that that is one of the reasons why the Holy Spirit is here. The truth is there, of course. The Lord said, I will go away. Now, if I go away, I will come again and receive you unto myself. But he went on to say, I will send the Holy Spirit and he will be with you forever. Now, again, a little point we might differ on. Forever doesn't, to me, necessarily mean forever and ever chronologically. It's not always directly related to time, although it usually involves that. Very often, the term is used to indicate something that's necessary will be made available and it will continue to be available as long as it ever is necessary, whether you agree with that or not. The New Testament tells us that, well, the Lord said he will be with you forever. If there's blessing for you and me, it's only the Holy Spirit who can make that good in our souls as to knowledge, as to enjoyment, as to response. And because the Lord Jesus, who came into the world and became a man and has gone back to heaven as a man, all that God has to tell us, show us, give us enjoyment of in eternity will be through Christ, who has entered into what we might call an eternal, everlasting manhood. And the power that God has made available and will continue to be available so that we can enter into the eternal enjoyment of what God has done through Christ will always be in the power of the Holy Spirit. I only issue the word of caution because when you get to the epistle to the Hebrews, where the phrase forever is used, it hasn't always that kind of meaning. But the Lord said he'll be with you forever. Very good. And certainly, when you get to the negative side, the Thessalonians had quite a few problems about whether or not they would be preserved, whether they'd missed the boat, whether when Christ comes in glory they would be with him. And to satisfy them, to put their minds at rest, apart from other things, Paul said to the Thessalonians, he said, the Holy Spirit will be available to you and to keep evil and Satan under proper restraint until the church, the Christian church, is taken out of the way. No need to worry about a so-called partial rupture. The Holy Spirit, who indwells you because Christ has put him there, because God has put him there, because he himself has set up residence in your heart, he will be with you until the catching away of those who are Christ's at his coming. Now, that's what I mean. The term is used that as far as this world is concerned, the Holy Spirit will continue to be on the earth indwelling the believers as individuals, indwelling the church, the assembly as a whole, until, as we read in 2 Thessalonians 2, until he be taken away. Well, I've given you a start. Nine reasons why the Holy Spirit is in the world. I wish you every effectiveness in looking for many more and I'll be delighted to get your emails or your letters to give me a long thesis on how many I've missed out. I'll be delighted to receive them. But before then, let us sing another relevant hymn, number 462. O gracious God, our Father, we thank thee for thy Word. We thank thee for thy Spirit that moved these men of old, who in the holy record thy truth and love unfold. The whole hymn 462. The impression, the Holy Spirit is a person, he is a mighty person, he is God. But we need always to remember that nowhere in Holy Scripture is there anything which properly understood would encourage or allow us to sing to or to pray to the Holy Spirit of God. We read those verses or the statement by the Lord, he shall not speak of himself. Now, again, we have to treat that word with care. Really, it is he shall not speak from himself on his own behalf, on his own initiative. He says many things about himself in the Scriptures. We've considered some of them this evening. The point that outweighs everything else to me, as well as the Holy Scriptures, is that there is never any record of the Lord Jesus himself addressing the Holy Spirit in heaven while the Lord Jesus himself was on earth. I think that gives us the necessary note of caution while we are most impressed by all that the Holy Spirit has come to do. Let us pray. …

… Guten Abend, es freut mich, Sie wieder da zu haben. Vielleicht können wir unser Gespräch mit dem Hymne Nr. 365 beginnen. Oh, die Gläubigkeit der Gläubigkeit, die in dem Gesicht des Heiligen schimmelt, erzählt die gesegnete Geschichte der Wege Gottes in der Gnade. Nr. 365 Oh, the brightness of the glory shining in the Savior's face, erzählt die gesegnete Geschichte der Wege Gottes in der Gnade. Glorified and exalted in the world, he came to say, By the glory of the Father which triumphed from the grave. Center of the Father's Council, King for whom all things were made, object of the Father's pleasure, who the Father's name displayed. Oh, the Father's will accomplished be, to death obedient brought. Now in highest glory seated, center of the throne of love. There we see him crowned with glory, glory in his honored face, and in peace and rest before him, in that glory bled of grace. For it shineth in the visage of the one who for us died, for our sins and all that judgment, Jesus Christ the crucified. Oh, to share the Father's pleasure in his well-beloved Son, seated on his throne in heaven, for the world on earth will know. We adore him and are waiting to behold him face to face. In his presence raise the glory and the riches of his grace. Amen. I thank God in his precious name. Amen. I'd like to read from 2 Corinthians chapter 3. If we can read the whole chapter. Do we begin again to commend ourselves, or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men. For as much as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. And such trust have we through Christ to Godward, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God, who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit. For the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away, how shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. Seeing then that we have such a hope, we use great plainness of speech, and not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of the day. They could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished. But their minds were blinded, for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament, which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. The Apostle Paul, it seems as we read the first verse of this chapter, to the Corinthians, it seems he'd been asked for a letter of commendation. The Corinthian believers were always restrained in their affections towards Paul. They seemed to hold him somewhat at arm's length. There was never a wholehearted reception of him. On Paul's side, there was unrestrained affection and love. He could say to them in chapter 6, in chapter 12, I will very gladly spend and be spent for you, though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. There was a coldness. He said to them again, he said that there was no restraint on his part. His mouth was enlarged towards them. He was ready to speak of these things which had been committed to his trust by the Lord from heaven. His heart was enlarged towards them. He says if there's any restraint, then it's within your own affections, towards him, but more seriously towards the Lord himself. It seems there were those amongst them who even questioned his authority as an Apostle. So that in the first epistle, he had to defend his authority. He said in chapter 9 of the first epistle, Am not I an Apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ, our Lord? Are ye not my work in the Lord? Perhaps there were those amongst them who were envious of Paul. And they desired influence over these Corinthian believers. And they saw the great influence that Paul had and the authority he spoke with. And they wanted that for themselves. But who was really behind it, this questioning of Paul's authority? Well, it was Satan himself. Because as we read this epistle, this chapter, we realize the administration that was committed to Paul, the administration of the Spirit, the ministry that was committed to him. And this ministry, the end of it, it set forth the glory of the Lord Jesus. And it told of the blessing that there was for those who were found in him, who had faith in him. Blessing which was all of God. And of course Satan, he does not want the people of God to have this blessing. He does not want the Lord Jesus to have that glory in the hearts of his own. And so he would try to undermine the authority of Paul as he does today. He would say to believers that the epistles that Paul wrote, they're not that important. They are narrow. They will hold you in bondage. The teachings of the Lord Jesus, well, that is good. But the teachings of Paul, no. They're narrow. They will not benefit you. And yet Paul, he could speak of the liberty at the end of this chapter. He could say, now the Lord is that spirit. And where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Yes, there is great liberty in these things alone. Satan would seek to bring us back under the law. And as we read this epistle, we realize that Paul is contrasting the two administrations, that under law and that under the spirit. And he's showing them how wonderful the administration of the spirit is. But he uses this coldness on the part of the Corinthian believers to bring out this truth. He says, ye are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men. For as much as you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. The very existence of these Corinthian believers was the proof of Paul's apostleship. They themselves were, as it were, a testimony to that authority. They were his letter. They were his letter of commendation. But even more importantly, they were a letter that commended the Lord Jesus. Because they bore witness to the work of Christ through the spirit. And as such, they were known and read of all men. Not written in ink. They didn't have to, as it were, write down in ink on a piece of paper what they stood for and the way they had been formed and what they had believed in. And then if somebody came to that company and asked them, they would say, well, there it is. You can read it. It's all written down. It was demonstrated in their lives. The Holy Spirit in them. The Holy Spirit working through them. All men had to do was look at that company. And the spirit, if he was unhindered in that company, they would see what they were. They were of Christ. They witnessed to Christ. They spoke of Christ. And so that if one came into their company, we read in 1 Corinthians 14, 25, the secrets of his heart would be made manifest. And so falling down on his face, he will worship God and will report that God is in you of a truth. This is because he bears witness to the testimony of the spirit. He bears witness to the testimony of the spirit through them and the work of the spirit in them. Not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. It was not that there had been, as it were, a constitution imposed upon them from without and a set of rules given to them which they must follow out of some legal duty. No. It was the work of the spirit in fleshy tables of the heart. It was a work within. And it was a desire to obey God out of love for him. It was not law that had brought this about. It was not that administration of law. No. It was the spirit. It was the administration of the spirit. And this leads Paul to go on, to speak about those two administrations. And he says, he says that as a minister of the new covenant, in verse 8, 6, he says, the sufficiency is not of ourselves, it's all of Christ. He was not able in himself to do anything. He had no authority of himself. If he had authority, if he had ability, it was all of Christ. And this is so of Paul, but it's also so of every believer. If we have a work to do for the Lord, then we will not be sufficient to do it. It's all of Christ. And even the walk, even our walk, even as we walk through life, we're not sufficient of ourselves to walk in a way pleasing to the Lord. We couldn't even take that first step. Like the apostle Paul, our sufficiency is of God. And so Paul goes on to say, who also hath made us able ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter, but of the spirit. For the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. Now what does Paul mean by this? Able ministers of the new covenant. Well, if we read of that new covenant, in Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 31, this was the new covenant that God will make in a coming day with Israel. And this is the covenant that Paul refers to. Jeremiah 31, verse 31. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant may break, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord. But this will be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. For I will forgive them, saith the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more. As we read that covenant that we made with Israel, it reminds us, doesn't it, of what Paul has said of the Corinthian believers. I will write that the work of the Spirit has written the Lord himself, not in tables of stone, but in the special tables of the heart. And the Lord says in that covenant, he says, I will write it in their inward parts. He says, I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts. So Paul is saying that the ministry that he has been given by the Lord Jesus is of that same character as that of the new covenant which will be given to Israel in the coming day. It's of that same kind. It is marked by the Spirit of God. It is marked by grace. It is of the same sort as that. And he goes on to expand on these two covenants. Verse 7 down to verse 16 is a paraphrase. Perhaps we should read from 6 and then verse 17 just to get the sense of it. Who also hath made us ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. Verse 17. Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Perhaps it might be helpful to look at the character of that new covenant that God will make with Israel. First of all, it's all of God. I will, he says, I will do this. I will do that. I will do this. I will do that. I think five times he says throughout in those few verses, he says, I will. How different it is to the first covenant. There it was a matter, the people said we will. We will do this. But no, it is all of God. It is all from himself. And it begins with a work of the Spirit in the heart of the nation of Israel. The result of that work is that the law is written on their hearts. There is now a desire after God, a love for him, and therefore a love for his word, a love for his law, which could not be there under law. The law could not produce this. The Spirit of God produced it. Just as the Apostle Paul would say to the Romans, he would say that they had obeyed from the heart the form of doctrine they had received. It was an obedience from the heart out of love for Christ. And this new covenant that we made with Israel will have that same character. They will obey from the heart. They will love their God, not because they have been told to by an outward imposition of law, but because of the work which has been done in their hearts. And then another thing which marks the new covenant is that they will all know God. They will all know him, the knowledge of God. He will be revealed to them in a way which he could not have been revealed under law. And we get this revelation, don't we, in what Paul is telling the Corinthian believers, the revelation of Christ, the unveiled face of Christ. And then also, I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more, the forgiveness of sins, the giving of righteousness, not through anything they have done, but on the basis of the work of the Lord Jesus. This is why, when we remember the Lord Jesus on a Lord's Day, often we are reminded of those words, this is the new covenant which is in my blood. The Lord would have us to think upon that new covenant because it would convey to us the character of our own blessing that we have in him. And it is all founded upon that great work of his. This is why God can move out in righteousness, in blessing, because of that work of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross, the new covenant which is in my blood. Well, Paul goes back to the ministration of death, the law, in verse 7. If the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away, how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious? The children of Israel, when Moses came down from the mountain, it says in Exodus 34 verse 29, it came to pass when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come nigh unto him. In verse 7, they could not look upon the face of Moses, they could not look upon the glory of that administration. And why was that? It filled them with fear. Why? Because it spoke somewhat of the holiness and the righteousness of God. And they could not stand before him in that way, because they had fallen short of his glory, and therefore they were condemned, and that glory condemned them. And therefore it was a ministration of death. It ministered death to them. But the ministration of the Spirit is not of death, but it is of life. It is the work of God, firstly in the soul. And then, under this administration of grace, of the Spirit, the righteousness of God is revealed, not for condemnation, but for salvation. This is something we read of in Romans, isn't it? Chapter 3. Verse 21, But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe. For there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just for the glory of him which believeth in Jesus. And so under the law, God's righteousness was known in condemning man. But under this dispensation of the spirit, this administration of grace, God's righteousness is known in offering salvation to all. He is righteous to save because of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And his righteousness is known in saving those, in forgiving those who have faith in the Lord Jesus. We read of that righteousness in the first epistle of John in regard to the believer. It says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins. His righteousness is known now in the forgiveness of sin. That's Romans, isn't it? Here, in 2 Corinthians, we have another wonderful application of that righteousness. We have it contrasted in verse 9 with the administration of condemnation. If that was glorious in its way, then how much more glorious is that ministry of righteousness? Because God not only reveals his righteousness in forgiving sins, but he brings us into righteousness. He confers righteousness upon us. The law demanded righteousness from man. And of course man, he could not be righteous. He could not obey the law. And so it merely condemned him. But this administration of grace, in that administration, righteousness is conferred upon the believer. He is made righteous. The righteousness of God is conferred upon him. He is brought into that very righteousness. And so we have this, the power of the Spirit. He is the power of this administration. And the Lord Jesus, he is the one who presides over it. Perhaps that's why in verse 17, it speaks of the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. We have two persons of the Godhead. We have the Lord and we have the Spirit. And there is unity of purpose. Although distinct in their persons, there is unity of purpose. And what is the ultimate object, as it were, of that purpose? It is the glory of Christ. That is what the Holy Spirit desires. That is what he works toward in us. To convey that glory to us and to conform us to that glory. And the Lord Jesus too, he is presiding over that administration of grace. His glory is that which is seen. And then the Apostle goes on to speak in verse 13. Well, firstly verse 12. He says, seeing then that we have such a hope, we use great plainness of speech. In other words, there's nothing now to keep this revelation hidden. Having such a hope, we are bold in announcing it. There is nothing to hide it. It needn't be hid any more. The Lord has been revealed. Grace and truth came by him. The Lord Jesus is the one who has revealed God. In John's Gospel, no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father. He hath declared him. And so we have a full revelation in Christ of the glory of God. And so Paul says, having this hope, we use great plainness of speech. Not like Moses, which put a veil over his face that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished. In verse 13, in verse 7, they could not look upon the glory because they were afraid. In verse 14, it's more a matter of they were not allowed to look upon it. They should not look upon it. Moses put a veil upon his face in order they might not look upon it. They might not look upon the end, it says. They might not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished. That's the law. We can, as it were, read the five books of Moses, the law, and we can see the end of it. It's the Lord Jesus himself. It's his glory. It all testifies of him. And on the road to Emmaus, the Lord revealed out of the law all the things concerning himself. But the Israelites in that day, under that administration, they could not see the end of it. Moses veiled his face, and that was, it were, a figure of this fact that the revelation of Christ, the revelation of God, could not be given under that administration. And even today, Israel, in unbelief, the veil is over their heart. They cannot see what the Old Testament, what the law, the prophets, the Psalms, what it all speaks of in type and in shadow. It all sets forth Christ. But that's hidden from them because of their unbelief. There is a veil over their heart. But that veil will be taken away in this day that we read of in Jeremiah 31, when God makes that new covenant with them. Then life will be breathed into that nation. They will be born again. Every individual within that nation will be born again, all at once, in a day. What a glorious time that will be at the end of that tribulation period. Just a residue left, a remnant. We read of them in Isaiah chapter 10. They will have come through that tribulation just a remnant. And God then, when the Deliverer is seen coming out of Zion, he will take up that people again and they will be brought into life as we have it in Ezekiel. The dry bones shall live. God will cleanse that people. He will give them a nature which is of himself. He will quicken their spirits, bringing them into life. And as a nation, they will receive him. They will receive the Lord Jesus and repent. And they will be brought near to him, just as Joseph brought his brethren near to himself. But we, we have that nature now. That which Israel will come into in a coming day under the new covenant is ours to enjoy now. And so, Paul goes on to speak. We all, with open face, if I could read it from the Darby translation, if you don't mind. But we all, looking on the glory of the Lord with open face, are transformed according to the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit. It's not, it's a bit difficult to understand in authorised because it seems as though the veil is upon, the veil is, it's our face that's unveiled. But it's the Lord's face that's unveiled. And we look upon that glory, the glory of the Lord, of the unveiled face of the Lord, and there is brought about a moral change, a transformation. This word for change is the same word as is used in the metamorphosis of an insect from a caterpillar to a butterfly, a complete change, a glorious transformation. And it is in being occupied by the glory of the Lord Jesus that the Spirit affects this change. He occupies us with that glory and he brings about this change in us, this moral change into that same image. It is the glory of the Lord that every true believer longs to see. Even Moses. I say even Moses, but Moses was a child of God. And he said to the Lord, he said, I beseech thee, I beseech thee, O Lord, that thou might see thy glory, that thou might show me thy glory. That's what he longed for. But of course under the law it couldn't be shown him, although God was very gracious with him. And the Lord said to Moses, no man shall see my face and live. That could not be possible under the law. And so Moses, he passed by Moses, all his goodness passed by. And Moses saw his back pass and that's all that could be seen under the law. A kind of a shadowy outline of God. But God has been fully revealed in the Lord Jesus. And we are exalted to be occupied with his glory now in heaven. And in John, in John 17, this is what the Lord desires for his own eternally. Father, I will that they also whom thou has given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou has given me for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. Perhaps we could just briefly consider that glory. In the Old Testament, the glories of the Lord Jesus are given to us typically in colors. The garments of the high priest, Moses was told by God in Exodus 28 verse 2, thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. And verse 5, they shall take gold and purple, sorry, gold and blue and purple and scars and fine linen and they shall make thee for the gold of blue and the purple of scarlet fine twine linen with cunning work. And so we get these colors presented to us which would set forth an illustration of the glory of the Lord Jesus. We get the color blue. Now in Ezekiel, the prophet gives us an understanding in figure of what that color would speak of and he speaks of a sapphire throne. Ezekiel chapter 1 verse 26, above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne as the appearance of a sapphire stone and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. There is a man upon that throne which is high, which is above the firmament we read of the Lord Jesus in Hebrews made higher than the heavens. We read of him at the end of Mark he was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And we read of the character of that man in Ezekiel. He is a man above. This doesn't mean that he is a man who is above although that's true of him but this is his character. He is a man from above. He is a heavenly man and this is what the color blue would set forth. The glory that the apostle Paul saw when he saw that vision and he could speak of it into the king in Acts 26 at midday O king I saw a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun shining round about me and then which journeyed with me. And this led him in Ephesians to speak of that glory. In Ephesians 1 verse 20 which he wrote in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but also in that which is to come and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church which is his body the fullness of him which filleth all things in all. In that glory that heavenly glory that company associated with him the church his church his body that which as it were is his fullness he would not be complete without that companion by his side for all eternity his heavenly glory his heavenly company this is our hope in heaven but we read of the scarlet and the purple also and there it's the thought of his glory associated with the earth and then associated with him on the earth of course it is earthly people Israel this is the ministry of the apostle Peter particularly he says in 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 16 for we have not followed by his 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 honour 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 we read at that time in the three gospels Matthew Mark and Luke we read that after six days Jesus taketh Peter and James and John his brother and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart and was transfigured before them and his face did shine as the sun and his raiment was white as the light the scarlet speaks of his the glory of his majesty king of Israel but the purple would go beyond Israel beyond the empire it would speak of the fact that he is king of the whole earth he will be king over the whole earth he will rule the nations with a rod of iron this is the colour purple and at that time we read in Habakkuk chapter 2 that the knowledge of the glory of the Lord over the waters cover the sea but then we have the colour white which speaks of his moral glory and that's seen in everything it's his glory that he has which is seen in manhood because he is God this is the moral nature of God being seen in the Lord Jesus when he was on the mount of transfiguration his garment shone white as the light of his glory shone out on that mountain and in the river Jordan too as he comes out of the waters of Jordan the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove alights upon his head the Holy Spirit does not testify of himself in taking that form he is not bringing any truth no he's bearing testimony to Christ taking that form the form of a dove which in the Old Testament is a figure of the moral nature of God pure unblemished that nature is found in this one the Lord Jesus because he is God and so death cannot hold him why? because there is nothing in him worthy of death if we read of the prophecy of David 2 Samuel 22 verse 17 he sent from above he took me he drew me out of many waters verse 20 he brought me forth also into a large place he delivered me because he delighted in me the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me for I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God for all his judgments were before me and as for his statutes I did not depart from them I was also upright before him and have kept myself from mine iniquity or that should be I've kept myself from iniquity being mine because there was no iniquity found in the Lord he was impeccable there was no sin in him he could not sin and so we get his moral glory in the white but then we find the gold the gold speaks of the glory of deity and every glory that he has is his because of who he is and when they put the gold into the garments of glory and beauty we read in Exodus 39 verse 3 it says they did beat the gold into thin plates and cut it into wires to work it in the blue and the purple and the scarlet and the fine linen with cunning work so that gold was beat into thin plates and then it was cut into wires and the wires were threaded through the scarlet and the blue and the white so that whenever you looked at any color the gold shone through the glory of sonship the glory of deity and this is the glory that John testified of in his gospel and in his epistles he says in John 1 14 the word was made flesh I'll just miss out the parenthesis for a moment the word was made flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth that was that which man could take account of they could see the grace they could see the words of truth even though they would resist them they felt the power of them never man spake of this man they said they knew it was truth although they resisted it and the grace they wandered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth they could recognize the grace but there was a mystery as it were and we find it hidden within these words that John speaks of we beheld his glory we beheld his glory this is a glory only seen to the eye of faith as of and only begotten with a father the glory of deity the gold shining out in and all the other glories as it were resting upon that glory the glory of his person well our time is nearly up but we are changed from glory to glory if we look at the words from glory from glory to glory from the word from it indicates it indicates the origin where the change comes from it comes from glory that word is used in John 13 to speak of the Lord Jesus chapter 13 verse 3 it says knowing that he was come from God that's where he came from and we are changed from glory the change that's where the change comes from that's where the that's where it is effected from where the Lord Jesus is he himself is bringing about that change through his spirit and then it's to glory in other words that is the object in view two examples of how that word to is used to get the context in other places it says Noah moved with fear prepared an ark to the saving of his house that was the object of what he did it was to accomplish this the saving of his house and then in first Thessalonians verse 3 chapter 3 verse 12 we read the Lord make you to increase and inbound in love etc etc to the end he may establish your hearts this is the thing in view and so it is from glory that that change that we can trace that change to and it is to bring about glory in us because the Lord Jesus would have us to reflect his glory in this world his moral glory and we read of the sons of Aaron in Exodus 28 and for Aaron's sons thou shalt make coats and thou shalt make for them girdles and bonnets shalt thou make for them for glory and for beauty the high priest his garments were for glory and for beauty for him and yet his sons they wore garments which were also for glory and for beauty and we also occupied with that glory the glory of Christ there was a moral change brought about in us and that will reflect in us the glory that belongs to the Lord Jesus himself perhaps we could close in singing hymn number 181 glory Lord is thine forever ever thine thou art the son great the glory thou art given great the glory thou hast won verse 3 yes we see thee crowned with glory highest honor to thee given but the glory of thy person is the light that shines in heaven thou art greater glorious savior than the glory thou hast won this the greatness of thy glory ever blessed thou art the son number 181 glory Lord is thine forever ever thine thou art the son great the glory thou art given great the glory thou hast won great the glory and the splendor of the holy heavenly place great the glory shining savior in my case Lord of glory thou didst make this world this dark world of sin and joy hail thy glory yet was weakness by thy law my will be done thou didst die and now we praise thee hail thy glory Lord of all for in heaven thou hast been thou hast prepared all the fullness of God's love blessed be thee crowned with glory highest honor to thee give and the glory of thy person is the light that shines in heaven thou art the son great the glory savior and the glory thou hast won is the greatness of thy glory heavenly place thou art the son …

… Good evening again. I can just add to this announcement about the tapes for 150 and the CDs for 50p. If it's still too much, you can also download it from the internet and then it's free. And if you don't know how to do it, ask your grandchild. They tend to know. Now, could we start please with hymn number 331? Father, thy sovereign love has sought, captives to sin gone far from thee, the work that thine own Son has wrought has brought us back in peace and free. And now as sons before thy face, with joyful steps the path we tread, which leads us on to that blessed place prepared for us by Christ our Head. 331. Father, thy sovereign love has sought, captives to sin gone far from thee, the work that thine own Son has wrought has brought us back in peace and free. Thou gavest us in eternal love, to Him, to Him, our soul, to Thee, to Him, to Thee, our soul, to Thee, our soul, to Thee, our soul, to Thee. In Thy own house, fair love divine, fills the bright courts with love bestowed. What is the life that made us thine, fills all that house without a void. A wondrous place, which fills with joy, how we will all that enter here. God's nature, love without a void, our hearts are here, here now to share. God's righteousness, with glory bright, which with His grace fills us here, in Christ our God, the power and light, our title is that light to share. All mine divine, so must it be, that glory all belongs to God. O love divine, that gift degree, we should keep after Jesus' blood. O keep us now, divine yearly, that we are not in death's day alone, and ever to Thy glory be, walking in faith by day we know. For Thy love on us bestowed, hymn number nine. O come, thou day-by-day, and sing, O come, thou day by day, and sing, O come, thou day by day, and sing, O come, thou day by day, and sing, Friends of Father, we address thee, O to thee, the sons of God. Wondrous was the young in Him, Jesus, for us since to die. Wondrous was His grace in meekness, for us since the death of life. Now the sprinkled blood has freed us, hastening onward to our rest. Through the desert doubts lead us, with Thy constant favor bless. By Thy truth and Spirit guiding, earnestly our walk's to come. And with this, when provided, let us lead Thy children home. What a privilege betrayed, this is not a resting place. Shall we of the weary weary, when we see our Master's face, Knowing how anticipating, in this hope our souls rejoice. And His promised habit waiting, soon shall hear His melding voice. Shall we read please from Romans chapter 8. Paul's epistle to the Romans. Romans chapter 8. Let's start reading in verse 12. Romans 8 verse 12. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if you live after the flesh, you shall die. But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected the same. In hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, and not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to which the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope, for what a man seeth, what does he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is in the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to his purpose, for whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. If we had to give a title to this middle section of Romans 8, perhaps we could choose something like this. Sons and children of God on their way through sufferings to glory. On their way through sufferings to glory. It's an extremely interesting section and a very important link between the first part of the chapter that tells us about our new position in Christ, no longer in the flesh but in Spirit, and the end of the chapter that comes to the glorious conclusion God is for us. And this middle section treats the question well, but what about now? What about the time in between? The time where we have already received this new position, but we are not yet in the glory, and we are confronted with all sorts of difficulties on the way. How should we live? Well, where we started reading it says we are debtors, but not debtors to the flesh to live after the flesh. You know the flesh is the carnal principle, the principle that says I can. And we don't really owe anything to the flesh, neither to sinful flesh nor to our own abilities that we think we might have, because what would it lead to? It says if we live after the flesh we shall die. This afternoon we heard about the ministry of condemnation. You know the law, that's the principle of the flesh. You must do this, you must do that, and all it can do is condemn. And then you would have assumed that the sentence continues saying well we are not debtors to the flesh, we are not debtors to the flesh, but we are debtors to the spirit, or to live according to the spirit. And naturally we are carnally minded, and this principle comes to us very naturally that we are now indebted to do this or that. But it doesn't continue like this at all. It says in verse 13, if ye through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. It doesn't say we should mortify or put to death the flesh, we can't do that, but we should mortify the deeds of the flesh. And it tells us how it can be done, and the answer is not by trying to adhere to a law, but by the spirit. Now just to be very clear, the question here is not are we going to get to heaven. The question is not if we are once saved are we saved for all. Yes we are. But this is not the subject treated here. When it says in verse 12 you shall die, or 13a, and in the second half of the verse you shall live, it's not a question of losing our salvation. It's a question here of what is the principle that should govern our lives as believers here on this earth. For as many, it says in verse 14, as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God. We come to a very interesting word here, and that's the word sons. It's not exactly the same as children, and I believe that both of these, sons and children, tell us about two different parts of the truth. Perhaps the one we are more familiar with is the truth of children, and less known perhaps is the side of sonship. Now how would you go about finding out what is meant by us being children and by us being sons? You say, well, it's obvious. I look at the places in the Bible where it talks about children, and I see what the word of God says, and the same about sons. The difficulty is that in some translations it won't actually work, because some of the places where in the original it says children are translated sons, I actually counted I think 21 in the New Testament where it should say children and it actually says sons in one translation, and you find some examples the other way around where it should say sons and it says children. Now I'll just point you perhaps to one or two that I think are very important to understand these two sides. As to children, I suppose we must have heard it at one stage or another, child speaks of birth and nature. Now one very helpful verse on the subject is in John's Gospel chapter 1, and it says in verse 12, But as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God. Now here it's really children. He gave them the power to become the children of God to them that believe his name. And now you learn about the truth it implies, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And you see that's the side of children. It's to do with birth. It's to do with nature. And those who are born of God, they have a new nature. Now you could also go to another well-known verse in John's first epistle, chapter 3, and you probably all know this by heart. It says, Behold the love, what love the Father has given us, 1 John 3, verse 1, has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. Now here again it's really children. And the same in verse 2, Beloved, now we are, should be the children of God. And as you read through the chapter, you find that the marks are given, just look at verse 10, for the children of God and the children of the devil. They have different natures and the children of God have the nature which mainly does two things, it obeys and it loves. Now that's childhood, very briefly. The blessing of being children of God. Now what about sons then? Well, the first thing we learn here in our verse is that the sons of God are characterized in a very special way, as many as are led by the Spirit of God. Sonship in the Bible does not speak of nature. It speaks of relationship. First of all, Christ himself, eternally, was the son of God. Obviously, that's not through birth. But it's a relationship between him and the Father. He also became son as man. That's the second part. The question with the son is about the relationship between him and his father. And by the way, just in case anybody wonders or in case I forget to say this, I better say it now. When I speak about sons, it also applies to daughters. Now, the mark of sons that is given here is that they are guided by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God. There's something peculiar about these sons of God as they move through this world. They are not guided as the people in the world by their own instincts, by their intellect, or just by perhaps by following the crowd or even by lusts. But the sons of God, they are guided by the Spirit of God. They have this divine guide. And the question here is not whether this always happens with us to the full extent every day in our practical life. Perhaps there we say, well, it's all very mixed in our lives. But that's not the point here. The point here is there is something that characterizes every believer. A believer is a son of God and characterized by the fact that he has this divine guide, the Spirit of God who guides him or her through this scene. Now, we learn a bit more about the difference between sons and children in the next verse. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption. Now, perhaps you say, sorry, but this verse doesn't speak about doesn't speak about sons at all. And you're right. In our translation, the word doesn't occur. But it does talk about the spirit of adoption. And although we can't see this in the English language, the word adoption is really a word that's composed of two words. And the first part means son and the second part means as much as placement. And I think that really gives us the idea of sonship. And indeed, it's sometimes translated sonship. It means to take someone who is potentially far away in no relationship and to place him into the relationship of a son or a daughter. There are, I think that the word occurs five times, out of which it's twice in this passage. And then once in Romans 9, where it speaks about Israel, says in verse 4, who are Israelites to whom pertaineth the adoption. But that was the people as a whole had been brought into a relationship with God. Now, the two other verses, I'd just like to show to you. One is Ephesians 1. And it says there in verse 4 that we have been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy without blame before him in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children. Now, sorry, but again, children shouldn't be here. All that's here is son placement. And the point is that this is not an afterthought of God. It's not something that suddenly came to God's mind later on. But it is something that was in his mind before we existed, before the world existed, before the foundation of the world. We have been predestinated predestinated for what? For the relationship of sons to be sons of God. And then you come to Galatians chapter 4. And the well-known verse, verse 4, tells us about the great change that occurred when the fullness of time was come. God sent forth his son made by a woman under the law to redeem them that were under the law for what purpose? That we might receive the adoption of sons. Now, just take the three together now. Ephesians 1, the thought of adoption, the thought of placing people into the position of sons was in God's mind before the foundation of the world. Galatians 4 tells you about the price that was paid in order to bring that into effect. God sent his son who redeemed us. And now in Romans 8 you find, I would call it the practical enjoyment of that relationship. It says in verse 15 we have received Romans 8, 15 he have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba, Father. Now, how much closer could you get to God than to say just to him Father. Not to have to address him as Almighty or as King or as Messiah but to be able to address him as Father. Now, how much closer as Messiah but to be able to say to him Father. As a child would say Dad. As a child would feel there is nothing between him and the Father there is direct access. A word that occurs three times in the New Testament already referred to Galatians 4 where it's emphasized that we can say to God Abba, Father. And you all know the third time it was really the first time and that's where our great example the Lord himself was in the garden Gethsemane and according to the Gospel of Mark when he fell on his face in the garden Gethsemane to pray in agony he said Abba, Father. And he prayed for the cup to pass him by. You see the dependent servant absolutely dependent on his God in an extremely difficult situation and decision and he does what we can always do now by his grace he uses the access he has directly to the Father. Now this matter of adoption is of course something that's very close to my heart. You may be interested that it surfaced in I think it was the end of 2004 when the tsunami struck especially Asian countries and there were two or three hundred thousand dead and as a result of this tsunami disaster there were many many orphans and there was a wave of sympathy going out for these children who had no parents from the West and some of them actually came forward and said we would be willing to give one such child a family. We would put it into the position of our son and daughter only to hear the answer sorry but in these countries especially Muslim countries the concept of adoption does not exist in the law it used to be very widespread in the East from the earliest days you find adoption already in Genesis where Ephraim and Manasseh were adopted by Jacob you then find that Moses was given the place of a son of the daughter of Pharaoh you find that Esther was adopted by Mordecai and so you find many examples but with the advent of Islam the notion came up that actually adoption according to Sharia law is forbidden and that's why in these countries it just doesn't exist it's a Christian concept that comes out of the Bible and I'm not surprised that the enemy has undertaken efforts to undermine that concept of sonship of placement into the relationship of sons because it's a biblical concept that we should know and that we should appreciate now that's not yet all it says here whereby we cry Abba Father the spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God now children and actually it's correct it is children in this verse you might say there are two there are two opening gates and both gates lead you into the position of having God as your father the one opening gate or perhaps I should just say lead you into the position of having a father the one opening gate and that's what we're familiar with very much is birth, the other opening gate is adoption and with the Christian the thing is that both apply on the one hand if we are believers on the Lord Jesus we have received a new nature we are born of God we are children but it is also true of us although perhaps less known that we once were people pretty much alive and existing but without any relationship to God far away he took us and put us into the position of sons so to the Christian both blessings apply nature and relationship but it says here that the spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God it's wonderful to see the work of the Holy Spirit we mentioned that at birth we are born by water and spirit the Holy Spirit does that, he gives us a new nature but that's not enough, then the Holy Spirit dwells in the believer so we have a divine person dwelling in us then we've seen in verse 14 yet a step further now the Holy Spirit guides us through this world and now we find in this verse 16 that the Holy Spirit does something else the Holy Spirit gives us a consciousness of the fact that we are children of God it's something that every child of God should know and God has given us the spirit to give this witness to bear witness with our spirit and it says and if children then heirs interesting that this matter of inheritance comes up you will find that it also emerges in Galatians 4 you have the contrast there between sons and servants and obviously the son inherits and the servant isn't you may remember this story Abraham at the time he had a very vexed problem perhaps not a problem that many of us feel we have but the problem Abraham had which he couldn't solve was a combination of two things one is he was very rich and the other is he had no heir nobody to give it to and then he said to God God how do you want to bless me I'm going to die soon and I have no heir let's say my servant becomes the heir and God says no I've got a different plan the son that I will give you he will be the heir and that's you know Isaac Isaac is the heir and he's the picture of the one who's mentioned here when it says we will be heirs and then it says heirs of God joined heirs with Christ Hebrews 1 verse 2 God has appointed him as heir over all things well perhaps you say what are we going to inherit well I think it's clear from that same verse if we are joined heirs with Christ it means we are inheriting what he inherits and he is appointed as heir over all things all things given to Christ and he wants to share this with us I read I read a story of a young man a young man who had to fight in the Vietnam war much appreciated by his comrades and one of his friends actually drew a portrait of him apparently this young man I referred to was one who had saved the lives of many but the day came when he was fatally wounded and he died and when his friend came back from the war he went to see the father of this young man who had died and his father was actually a very wealthy man he had a great collection of art very valuable paintings this comrade comes to that house and he says to the father I believe I know your son and he says I am not a great painter but I did do a little portrait of him and he shows the father this portrait and he says well could this be your son and the father recognises the traits of his son of his face and he says well come in and they speak about the son and the father actually takes the portrait and adds it to his collection of art a little later the father dies and an auction takes place in a luxury hotel somewhere there is a room packed with bidders for the precious works of art and everybody waits for the auctioneer to arrive and finally he comes everything is quiet in the hall and they are all waiting for the auctioneer to offer the Picasso and the Rembrandt and whatever and the auctioneer says well we now start the auction and the first item to be auctioned off is this picture and it was that simple portrait that had been drawn in the battlefield people got a bit impatient and they said just do this in the end we want to get you the Picasso and the Van Gogh and he says no no no this was part of the testament this picture must be auctioned off first and he offers this picture for auction and nobody wants to bid and finally there is a voice from the last row in the hall and it's the gardener of that of the man who owned the collection and he said I'll bid $100 nobody else bids anymore and he gets this portrait for $100 and the auctioneer says ladies and gentlemen this is the end of the auction the one who has the one who has bought the picture of the sun he gets the whole collection he gets he gets the whole mansion he gets everything he is the heir and you know why he became the heir because he was associated with the sun he had in the picture he had the sun and that's why he had everything and you know that's perhaps a weak picture of what we have here we are children of God and it says if children we are heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ and then strangely you might say it says and if so be that we suffer with him we may also be glorified together we are sons of God we are both one in Christ we have the spirit of God we are heirs joint heirs of Christ and now it says suffering and there's a special kind of suffering here it says if we suffer with him some Christians have the privilege and perhaps to some extent we have the privilege to suffer for Christ that means we are identified with him and because the world hates him they hate us or they make us suffer in some way but here it says suffering with him and this is a suffering that is unavoidable for every Christian every one of you suffers with Christ now why is that you know in this world everything is opposed to Christ there is suffering there is misery and there is evidence everywhere that minds are darkened and they don't want to know about God and as the Christian sees this to a greater or lesser extent he will suffer but Paul says you know if we are identified with Christ in this way that we suffer on our way here we will also be identified with him in glory we will be glorified together and then he takes the two things and he puts them onto a balance and he says which one is heavier and he doesn't really say this he says I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared let's not take the balance because it's not a worthy comparison are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us now in us some translate to us we shouldn't think that it means communicated to us or that it means made known within us the point is that we will be the vessels of display that God will use to make known his glory and we'll see a bit more if we read on very quickly following verses verse 19 for the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God in the verses which follow now and we won't have time for all the details but the key point is that there is a lot of suffering in this world and the reason for this is that creation suffers creation groans creation waits creation suffers and it's very interesting to learn about the reason it says it waiteth creation waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God we've learned that we are sons of God we have this relationship but you know if we go out of this hole nobody will know about it nobody will say oh look there a son of God but a moment will come when people will say that when the sons of God will be manifested and when is that going to be well when Christ appears in glory and he takes us to come with him everybody will see that we are identified with the son and there are many sons coming with the one who is the son the point when the sons of God will be manifested until then it says verse 20 the creature was made subject to vanity not willingly, creation doesn't have a will but by reason of him who subjected the same that's Adam Adam sinned and you might say by his sin he dragged the universe he dragged all of creation into the suffering but not forever it says in hope which really belongs to the next verse can be translated in hope that the creature also shall be set free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty into the liberty of the glory of the children of God I know that you've all learnt this certainly those who were here at the conference a couple of weeks ago or three I don't remember we learnt that Christ came Christ set us free it will take a long time from the point that Christ came first, took a long time until today, soon Christ will come and take us out of this world then there will be tribulation and then a moment comes when Christ comes to reign and creation will be changed completely the wolf the wolf will be with the lamb the child will play at the hole of the serpent but what we learn here is why you might have asked if Christ's work is fully accepted and if we are already sons of God and all this has already come into effect, why isn't creation set free why do we still know brothers and sisters who have brain tumors and cancers and degenerative diseases and so forth, why is there all this suffering and the answer we get here is well before creation is set free it has to wait for one thing it has to wait for the sons of God to be manifested as such perhaps you never thought of it this way that creation is not just waiting to be set free but it's waiting for us it's waiting for us to be manifested it's a great thought by the way that we're perhaps more familiar with the first part of it Adam by his sin dragged creation into perdition, into suffering into chaos but the second part of it is really worthy of God man was the cause of this man is the culprit God finds a way of salvation for man and when this redemption for man is fully effected, we already have it for the soul, but one day we'll have it for the body and when that is entirely complete, then God can also remove the consequences of man's fall from creation we know that the whole creation was 22 groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now it's of course a picture of the terrible pain of childbirth and as is often said when the child is there, this pain is forgotten after the birth this new birth is going to come for creation, actually the Lord Jesus spoke about it himself in Matthew 19 he speaks about the regeneration regeneration when you shall sit on 12 thrones and so he says until then there is this travail for creation and we are effected by this, verse 23 but we ourselves also which have the first fruits of the spirit the first fruits of a tree, I tell you what the rest of the harvest is going to be like and we have the first fruits of the spirit now as dwelling in us, as guiding us as giving us consciousness of being sons and children of God and that gives us a foretaste of what it will be like one day and yet it says we ourselves groan within ourselves a Christian groaning? doesn't a Christian always have to look happy and have a smile on the face well we have lots of reason to be happy but it is true that Christians may groan and this is not a rebuke here it says no, it's a fact you are part of creation and we groan and even the Lord Jesus when he was here he groaned one day they brought a man to him and the man was deaf and he had a speech impediment and the Lord sees this man who can't hear the wonders of the miracles of God and he can't use his mouth to praise God and he groaned he sighed and he said be opened you know that's legitimate it's not moaning moaning is different if I moan because everything is so bad but this groaning is an expression of sympathy with the heart of God but then it says groaning what? forever? waiting for the adoption and that's the fifth reference or the second in this passage to wit the redemption of our body what you say? we still have to wait for the adoption I thought we had it I thought we were sons well yes we are but not yet publicly the world doesn't know God has not yet been manifested and that public manifestation of our sonship we are still waiting for and when that comes then all the groaning will be gone creation will be set free our bodies will have been transformed already before that to the conformity of the body of Christ and this this is the end point the redemption of our body you know some people say actually if you are a Christian you can't be sick anymore otherwise it just proves you haven't got faith if you have faith you can be healed from anything well it doesn't say that in my bible in my bible it says we have to wait for the redemption of our bodies what we've already got 1 Peter 1 verse 9 there's a positive side you know we always want everything here and now and if we have to wait we don't like it recognize myself in that but it says here for we are saved by hope but hope that is seen is not hope for what man sees why does he yet hope for it you know if we got everything now we wouldn't have a hope and in that sense it's a good thing that we have this glorious moment to hope for and it makes us wait with patience as verse 25 says likewise the spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered it's not a shame if you don't know what to pray perhaps you're in a strait, you're in such difficult position it even happened to Paul and he didn't know what to pray and he prayed three times to the Lord and then he stopped praying that prayer and the Lord's answer was better than the prayer he had prayed that Paul had prayed but you know when such a moment comes and we don't even know what to ask for we just sigh and groan you know then there's still the spirit in us and the spirit knows us but the spirit is also as Paul mentioned this afternoon he is a divine person and he knows the mind of God and he is able to feel completely what goes on with us and in us but then to mold it into a prayer that goes up to God and that is according to the spirit of God and then verse 28 and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God perhaps you say well I'm not sure whether I love God enough so I'm not sure whether everything works together for my good well every Christian has a new nature and every Christian loves God and therefore this is a promise here to every Christian that all things work together for good but you know it's not only that we love God it's also it says immediately afterwards to them who are called according to his purpose it was really God who loved us first and he decided in his purpose that he wanted us he wanted to give us that position of sonship and he called us it's really the start here of the conclusion of the chapter the grand conclusion is going to be this remarkable statement God is for us and this here is the starting point all things work together for good for us and the final closing with verse 29 final point for whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren you know you might say here we come to the end of this circle which we had in this passage we started off with our position as sons being guided by the Holy Spirit and now at the end of this passage chapter we've discussed that we have hope in sufferings now we come to the point where God traces everything back to his purpose and what is his grand purpose he foreknew us and he predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his son you know this afternoon I was very thankful for this to the moral side of this that the believer is gradually brought into more conformity with Christ by looking at him by looking at his glory now and what we have here is that there is a point in the future where this will happen in perfection and that's always been God's plan he had a son but he wanted many sons to be brought into conformity with him so that Christ should be the firstborn among many brethren the place that Christ has as risen man and if the bible didn't say it we wouldn't dare saying it is our place he is a son as man and we are made sons of God he will ever have the preeminence he is the firstborn among many brethren and the purpose of God was that we should be conformed to the image of his son could we close with hymn number 418 if we have time for a hymn in that bright scene of cloudless light where sons at home shall be with him may the glory bright and all his beauty see the whole hymn 418 welcome home unbounded love has reached us through thy son we now behold him unbounded love eternity is begun one star from thee and let it sin in him who is here the spirits rise to bless thy name and holy worship him the praises led by thy dear love delight and holy give and live with us in thy new rejoiced and praise to share under thy love a portion is thou gives us to thy son all thy glory and for his may life that blessed one in that bright sea of cloudless light the sons that old shall be with him will share the glory bright and all his beauty amen …

… Now we might commence our evening session by singing the words of hymn 373. All the path, the saints are treading, trodden by the Son of God, all the sorrows they are feeling felt by him upon the road. Verse 4 says, whither joy or whither trial, all can only work for good. We'll sing the whole hymn please, 373. All the path, the saints are treading, trodden by the Son of God, all the sorrows they are feeling felt by him upon the road. All the path, the saints are treading, trodden by the Son of God, all the sorrows they are feeling felt by him upon the road. He is able thus to suffer, thus to tread the blessed path, he is able thus to suffer, thus to tread the blessed path, he is able thus to suffer, thus to tread the blessed path, he is able thus to suffer, thus to tread the blessed path, he is able thus to suffer, thus to tread the blessed path, he is able thus to suffer, thus to tread the blessed path, he is able thus to suffer, thus to tread the blessed path, he is able thus to suffer, thus to tread the blessed path, he is able thus to suffer, thus to tread the blessed path, he is able thus to suffer, thus to tread the blessed path, he is able thus to suffer, thus to tread the blessed path, he is able thus to suffer, thus to tread the blessed path, he is able thus to suffer, thus to tread the blessed path, he is able thus to suffer, amen. After the word this afternoon, I want to read seven scriptures, and I'm going to divide them very nicely. Three plus four. I want to speak about God in everything, and about finding everything in God. First of all, then, in the Old Testament, in the book of Daniel, chapter 4, verse 34, and at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes onto heaven. It's good to lift our eyes onto heaven sometimes, because that's how we get understanding. Nebuchadnezzar lifted up his eyes onto heaven, and it says, mine understanding returned onto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion is a neverlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, what doest thou? Then, please turn with me to the book of Jonah. Chapter 1, and it's in verse 14. And it's the last clause, particularly. It's the mariners, wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, we beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and they not upon us innocent blood, for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee. Then, a well-known scripture in Romans chapter 8, and verse 28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. Those are the scriptures in connection with God and everything. Now, we could turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And verse 28. And when all things, we have the all things again here. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. And verse 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, or there is a new creation. Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. Colossians chapter 3, verse 11. Now, for the sake of connection from verse 10, and speaking of believers, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, scythian, bond, nor free, but Christ is all and in all. Christ is everything and in all. And lastly, in the book of Revelation, and chapter 21, and verse 5. He that sat upon the throne said, behold, I make all things new. Verse 4, for the connection, God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor cry, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. Behold, I make all things new. And in verse 6, he said unto me, it is done. So, I think, dear brothers and sisters, from these scriptures, you will see that I have in mind how we should see God in everything. God in all things, in the detail of our daily lives, as we pass through this scene. Leading on to that time when we'll find everything in God, we'll find everything in God. When all things will be of God, when Christ will be everything and in all. And when God says, behold, I make all things new. What a privilege for us as believers to know that the end is secure, that the path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more onto the perfect day. But you know, dear ones, sometimes we get discouraged by the outward weakness, because we're at the close of the dispensation. We're not in the days of the acts of the apostles when everything's in freshness and in power. The last days, difficult times will come. Men are lovers of their own selves and lovers of pleasure. The love of many will wax cold, confusion all around us. Sometimes we switch off. That's why the writer of the Hebrews had to give the exhortation. He said, not forsaken the assembling of yourselves together. There's a danger of staying at home and not coming out to the meetings. Oh yes, Lord's Day morning, we go to remember the Lord. But when it comes to weeknight for the prayer meeting or the Bible study, perhaps we find home comforts more congenial, or perhaps we find something else more absorbing. And we need a little reminder, not to forsake the assembling of ourselves. It's the manner of Psalmist. And so much the more as we see the day approaching, the day of Christ's glory, the day of review and reward, the day when everything will be taken into account. And when God will be the absorbing object of our heart, surely Christ will have that place in our hearts, then will not be room for anything else. But even here and now, he ought to have that place in our lives. And in connection with that, I want to look at how God is in everything. And we sang, whether joy or whether trial, all can only work for good. I was very encouraged when Mr. Cyrus referred to that verse, at least I think it was that verse, in prayer in the upper room before the meeting, because it was a confirmation of the scriptures that I had in mind for this meeting. But to go to Romans chapter eight, the great mainstay for our souls, all things work together for good to them that love God. And when things are going smoothly, things are going along nicely, we are comfortable in our circumstances, we can quote that verse very easily. You know, once, a good number of years ago now, someone crashed into our car, an elderly gentleman crashed into our car outside our house. Bang! One stroke, his car was destroyed. Our car was destroyed. Stopped, never to go again. And I had some gospel tracts in the boot of the car, not just for individualist distribution, commercial quantities, and the force of the impact, they went everywhere, like confetti. It gave a new meaning to blanket coverage of an area with tracts. And the road was blocked, and the fire engine, fire engines came, and the ambulance came, and the neighbors come out. Everybody gathered around. And the amazing thing was, this man was sitting in the midst of all this chaos. He wasn't even injured, thank the Lord. So we brought him into the house and sat him down. There must have been something about the home that indicated to him that it was a Christian home. And he himself was a believer. And we started talking. And I ventured to quote to this poor, unfortunate man, Romans 8, 28, all things work together for good to those that love God. And he looked at me and he says, do you think so? Well, there's a right way and a right time to say a thing. And we need to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves. And I learned perhaps there might've been a more appropriate time to bring that scripture underneath his notice. But you see, that's an example when sometimes it's more difficult to accept the truth that God is in control in our lives and in our circumstances. Nevertheless, it says it. And in Thessalonians chapter four, chapter five rather, the last chapter of 1 Thessalonians, Paul says, in every thing, give thanks. Now in our authorized version, it says everything, everything, two separate words. So we're looking at our individual circumstances. But if we turn to Mr. Darby's translation, he puts the words together. He says, in everything, one word. Well, this may not be the time to go into the intricacies of the English language. And someone actually will maybe tell me what more closely approximates to the Greek. But isn't it approximate to the Greek? But isn't it good if we take specific incidents in our lives, specific occurrences? Wouldn't it be good to be in a state of soul where we can give thanks to God? And if we look at the more general picture, the overall view, in everything, give thanks. It's no accident that in the preceding verse, it says, pray without ceasing. Pray without ceasing. Because if our prayer life suffers, if we're not in touch with headquarters about our daily lives, it's going to be difficult to give thanks. Pray without ceasing. In everything, give thanks. Now to turn to these Old Testament scriptures, I thought in Daniel, this was an amazing commendation of God as the most high and of his wisdom from a man who was a heathen king until such times as God had dealings in his life. In fact, chapter four of Daniel is really Nebuchadnezzar's conversion story. And I do trust that each one here, young and old, does have a conversion story and is able to tell about what God has done in their lives. God did something in Nebuchadnezzar's life, and Nebuchadnezzar was able to write about it. And he blesses the most high, and he's able to save them. He does according to his will in the army of heaven. We might expect that in the Lord's prayer, as it says, as we say, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We might expect to see God's will done in heaven, but we should also see it on earth and in our lives. And so he says, he does according to his will in the army of heaven. But then he adds, and among the inhabitants of the earth, that's very wide sweeping, none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? It's a tremendous scripture to point out to us the sovereignty of God and the fact that God is still in control, even among the inhabitants of the earth. And Paul tells us we should pray for kings and for those in authority. All these matters are in God's hand. Catford, forever in this world, you want to look, he does according to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and who can stay his hand? That's the big picture. Oh yes, Nebuchadnezzar was writing from the point of view of his own experience, but he gave the big picture. When we come to the book of Jonah, we have a very remarkable illustration of God in everything, in relation to one man, to one believer, to someone such as you and I. We're not here this evening for an ancient history lesson. It's not stories from the past. It's not just about Jonah. Paul, in writing to Timothy, wrote to him about how one should behave or conduct himself in the house of God, which is a living God's church, the church of the living God. Things in the living God, things in Christianity are living. These experiences of Jonah were real. God wants us in our daily lives to have real experiences. First thing I want to notice about Jonah tonight is he was going in a wrong direction, because God told him to arise and go to Nineveh, preached it. Jonah turned and went in the opposite direction. Instead of going to preach, he fled. Anyone here tonight going in the wrong direction? Anyone here tonight just going along with the thing outwardly? Just going with the flow? Because of parents, or circumstances, or background, or family, or whatever it might be, because of parents, or circumstances, or background, or upbringing, Moses had to make a decision. Moses, when he was come to years, some of you here have come to years, or are coming to years, might be reaching, you might have reached the stage where you can go into a shop and buy tobacco. For yourself, or some of these other things that you need to be a certain age to do. What about tonight coming to a certain age and making it the bent of your life to live for God? Moses, when he was come to years, chose, he made a definite decision and choice to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin. Plenty of that in Catford, plenty of that in London, plenty of that on the television, or whatever other form of entertainment you go in for. You can be very happy in your sins. You can get absorbed in things here. But what's there going to be in your life for God? What's there going to be in eternity? You know, I read something, someone was speaking, and they said about men, he said, there's nothing in their lives for God. He said, they live their lives and God takes no pleasure in their lives. And he said, God takes no pleasure in their death. He said, they go to meet the penalty and the judgment of their sins. As we've come up to London on this occasion and gone by public transport and been about the place. So many people all around us, there's nothing in their lives for God. The fact that you're here this evening, just a few of us together, is surely an indication perhaps that there's a desire in your heart that there might be something for God. And so we can learn from Jonah. And so we can learn from Jonah. The first thing here is, he's going in a wrong direction. When I was a student, they didn't have these iPods and MP3s and they didn't even have compact discs. It wasn't even cassette recorders. It was these vinyl things that turned at so many revolutions per minute. I was a student, there was a John Denver song someone used to play a lot, my acquaintance. I think it was about a preacher's son. It said, he's a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction, taking always wrong direction in his lonely path back home. Is that you? Are you a walking contradiction? Are you taking always wrong direction? Your lonely path back home, perhaps the end's secure. Jonah went down, he was on the wrong pathway. It says in verse three, he went down to Joppa. He went down. And not only that, in verse five, it says when Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship. And then in chapter two, verse six, he gave his experience. He says, I went down to the bottoms of the mountains, down into the depths of the ocean. How did Jonah know incidentally that there were mountains underneath the sea? Wasn't a scientist. Of course, it's a proof of a creator God. It's a proof of creationism. It's scientific. He went down into the weeds, into the depths of the sea. He went down to the bottoms of the mountains. Anyway, it was all downward. Down to Joppa. And then he went down into the ship. He didn't expect to go down into the depths of the sea. You realize that, dear young people? Sin takes you further than you want to go. You might have a cutoff point. It says, okay, to do this, go to that place. I can get into that ship. I can get into that ship. I'm grown up now. I can decide which direction. I'm going to go to Tarsus. I'm going to get into a ship going to Joppa. I'm going to go down into the ship. I'm in control. Sin takes you further. As the song says, than you want to go. Jonah ended up in the belly of the whale. He entered up in the depths of the sea. So there's a lesson in Jonah as to the direction of our lives. Christianity, you don't stand still. You're either going against the current or else you're floating down with the current. In Christianity, if you're not advancing, you're regressing. That means to say, if you're not going forward, you're going back. As we start a new year, review your spiritual history. Review your spiritual progress. In the year that has passed, have I been going forward? Has it been onward and upward and heavenward? Or have I gone astray? Have I got sidetracked? I can remember years ago, I got on a train to go somewhere in a country called Belgium. At least I thought I was going somewhere. And it turned out my sense of direction or my knowledge of French, call it what you will, ended up very far from where I wanted to go. And one of the station attendants or conductor, he gave me a ticket. He gave me a special pass. And the ticket, the pass said in French, passage de voyer. That means you've got completely off track. I don't know how to translate it into English. You've got off track. You are derailed. So many Christians are derailed these days. Christopher Willis, he wrote a little book on wrecks on the Burma road. I see Edwin nodding his head, so I have to say you can purchase it from chapter two. And it told about during or after the war, Christopher Willis going on the journey on the Burma road down from China. Fantastic journey, descending thousands of meters. And he saw all these wrecks of different vehicles that had gone wrong and that road engine blown up or they'd gone over the ditch or something had happened to them. And he wrote a very, very interesting and very moving little story called wrecks on the Burma road and its applications to Christian. You can get knocked off track. You can go wrong. First lesson from Jonah tonight, God and everything. In spite of Jonah's failure, God was in control because it says God sent a great wind into the sea. It says later down, God had prepared a great fish. In the last chapter, it says God had prepared a gourd or a plant. A gourd or a plant. And then it says God prepared a worm. God prepared a vehement east wind. You can call that four times or five times, depending on how you want to put the numbers together. The first time it was God sent out something. The four subsequent occurrences, it was God had prepared things in Jonah's life. Do you see the hand of God in your life? Do you see the hand of God in your circumstances? Do you see God's control? God in everything? Because in connection with Jonah, certainly God was in everything here. And although he was going against God's will and God's instruction, God had his eye on him. And thank God he has his eye on us tonight. Perhaps there's something in your life that God has been speaking to you about. Something you should be doing that you're not doing. Or perhaps it's something you shouldn't be doing that you are doing. God spoke to Jonah. Jonah resisted. I went off in his own way, in the opposite direction. And then God had to act in his life in a very powerful way, in the way of discipline, in the way of discipline, and in the way of chastening and in control. It was all, in the latter end, it was all for Jonah's good. But it raises the question, is there something that God has been speaking to me about and I've been resisting it? May God give you the grace tonight to answer to his will, if that's the case. The other thing about Jonah is that he was a passenger. You know, sometimes in our meetings we have a lot of passengers. A lot of passengers. And they sit back and they let others take the responsibilities and they let others do the work. You never even hear them until there's some problem, some difficulty, some onward occurrence, and then their voices heard. But you know, in Christian things, in Christian things, God doesn't want us to take a back seat. He doesn't want us just to lie down and go to sleep. He wants us to be active for him. So we can ask ourselves that question. In relation to our local setting, in relation to our local responsibilities, in relation to the local assembly where the truth is practiced, where we have the opportunity to work things out on a weekly basis, on a weekly basis, are you a passenger? Or are you part of the crew? Are you active? Are you doing anything? Are you getting involved? Are you praying in the prayer meeting? Are you taking part audibly, the brothers, when it comes to the remembrance of the Lord? Are you reaching out with the gospel, perhaps with tract distribution or in other ways? Are we going to be passengers? Or are we going to be active? There are so many things about Jonah that we can learn. And another thing was that he was asleep. He was asleep. It would seem. He was gone down into the sides of the ship. You know, we talked about this downward process. And he lay and was fast asleep. I wonder, is anybody asleep tonight? I don't mean literally, I'm speaking metaphorically. Sleeping amongst the dead. No different from anyone else if you're asleep. Is that how it is at school with you? Are you no different from anyone else? Or is there something different about your life that tells people I'm a Christian, that I'm from a Christian family, that I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ? And when your friends say, I'm going to such and such a place, are you going to come with me? I'm going here. I'm going to the theater. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that. And you just say, oh, no, no. I'm going to wash my hair tonight. Or I've got a Nessie to hand in. Or some excuse out of your pocket. Or do you fly the flag of the kingdom? Do you take matters into your own hand and say, I'm sorry, I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. He has a prior claim on my life. He died for me. He washed my sins away in his blood. I don't go to such places. I've got better things to live on. Or are you just sleeping no different outwardly, no different externally to people of the world that are all around you? Jonah was asleep. Paul gives the exhortation in Ephesians 5, awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ shall give you light. There's abundant light in Christ to guide and direct your steps. And then it says you have to walk carefully. It's talking not just about what way you put one foot after another. It's talking about your behavior in this world, your deportment, your appearance, your way of living, your walk. Says you have to walk carefully. He says you're not to be unwise. You have to be wise because you've got to buy up the time. You've got to redeem the time. You've got to seize every good and favorable opportunity because the days are evil. Because the days are evil, we need to be wide awake and we need to be careful in our lives and we need to be different in our lives and we need to understand what the will of the Lord is. And then he gives it in more detail, not to be drunk with wine in which is debauchery, not excess of drink, but be filled with the Spirit. That's a challenge to me. I'm sure to you. Are you living a Spirit-filled life? Are you awake spiritually? Here's Jonah, servant of the Lord that he was, prophet of the Lord that he was. And he decides to go off duty. He goes off to sleep. Another thing we can learn, we need to sleep with our boots on. I was reading about the Israeli army in regard to Gaza and a possible invasion. One of the soldiers said they were sleeping with their boots on. See, because one of the figures that Paul uses of us as believers is that we are to be as soldiers, not just indeterminate soldiers or mediocre soldiers, he says, as good soldiers. Not to be good soldiers, he says, endure hardness as good soldiers of Christ Jesus. We need to be ready at all times to give an answer for the hope that is in us. Paul says, preach the Word, be instant in season and out of season. To be well-rounded Christians and the possibilities for us and knowing the Word of God, the Scripture which is given by inspiration of God is that we might be complete, that we might be kitted out, that we might be fully fitted onto all good works. So what sort of works, what sort of things have been seen in our lives? We should be ready at all times. We should be active and we should have in view the needs of others. We should not be like Jonah and just switch off and go off duty and say, thank you, Lord, but it's not for me tonight. So with all these circumstances in Jonah's life that we can learn from, we can see God in everything, how God prepares things, how God was in control of the circumstances. Another thing, he got into trouble with the crew to such an extent that in a God-fearing way, they put him overboard because they recognized God's claims, especially when he told them that Jehovah was the God of the sea, who had made the sea and the dry land because deities in Palestine and Philistia, pagan deities are associated with a certain geographical area and especially with land. And here they were in a big storm. And Jonah says, oh, Jehovah, that's our God. Jehovah is the God of the sea. They're still in his testimony. In spite of the circumstances, they could still recognize the claims of God. They say, oh, Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life. For thy, oh Lord, has done as it has pleased thee. We beseech thee, oh Lord, we beseech thee. There was an earnestness about their prayers, even though they were heathen. Is there a similar earnestness about our prayers? Anyway, Jonah got into difficulties with the crew. There was an allusion to the brethren being like the clock, you know. We get out of sync with each other. Someone once said, there's no trouble, no trouble is bad, no trouble like meeting trouble. Here, Jonah was a problem to the crew. Sometimes we may be a problem to our brethren. We may have difficulties, even over a period of years. And yet, in spite of circumstances we go through, and in spite of that, which sometimes even we bring upon ourselves, because Jonah brought all this trouble upon himself. But you know, what we do does not just affect us individually. There's collective responsibility. That's very clear in 1 Corinthians 10. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of the Christ? It's what we bless. It's just one brother gives thanks, but he's doing so on behalf of the company. It's a collective thing. So our individual behavior affects others. Wherever we go, we take our brethren with us. Our activities, our actions, our lives has a bearing on the Christian company. So he was in difficulties here with the crew, and they had to ditch him. But God had prepared a great fish, and now he's in the belly of the whale, or the great fish. Some of these other things were minor compared to what Jonah's confronted with now. What do we do in the circumstances of life? When our wife stops talking to us? Well, that's minor. When there's marital problems, or marital unfaithfulness, one of the partner walks out, takes up with someone else. We're not inventing stories. We're talking about real life situations. What do you do if you're in a head-on collision, and your husband dies right in front of your eyes, even with all the medical help that you can bring, and leaves you a young widow with a young child? What do you do if, in extreme situations, your partner of many years is taken away? Or if you or your family have to cope, someone has to cope with a serious degenerative illness for a long period of suffering? What do you do if your mental and emotional equilibrium, your nervous system gets messed up, and you want to go and throw yourself in front of a train? You say that such things don't happen to Christians. Actually, they do. Not so long ago, I had a young man in my bookshop, and he was in a very distressed state of mind because a friend of his had taken his own life. And he wanted to be assured that he could truly be the Lord's, because previously he'd had a credible Christian profession. I could only tell him, you know, that there's physical illness, and there's mental illness, and they're both forms of an illness. And if people are ill, in one way or the other, God still cares for them. That's what Peter says, he careth for you. Or if your bank balance goes into the red, or if you lose your job, there's so many, many serious situations in life. Sometimes when we're young, we don't think about these things. Those who've had experience know about the difficulties of the way. Maybe family members have no interest in Christianity or the things in the Lord, and we've been praying for many, many years. Others fall in a little white coffin, burying a 21-month-old child that was near and dear. These are real life living situations, and we're only skimming the surface here. We're not, you know, these are just some of the situations that people have to go through. Well, none of our situations are as desperate as Jonas in the belly of the well. In the belly of the well. Truly, he was at wit's end corner. He couldn't help himself. He had no outlet. He had no recourse. The only person he could appeal to there was God. And sometimes God puts us in these situations in order that we have the realization that he's in charge, that he's in control of circumstances, and that he's in control of our lives, and that we have to do with him. He's the one with whom we have to do. And sometimes we wonder why things have to go on for so long, maybe a course of years. Smyrna, they were going to have tribulation 10 days. Okay, it's symbolical, but it was a specified period. God had prepared the fish here, and you would think, well, why did the fish not just God had prepared the fish here, and you would think, well, why did the fish not just vomit Jonah up immediately? Why does God not intervene? Why does he not change our circumstance? Why is heaven silent? Jonah had to learn he was shut up completely on God. He talks a lot about himself. It's I, what I've done, and I went down, and I'll make my vows, and I'll remember the Lord, and I'll sacrifice, and I will pay. So many I's. It's just like the man in Romans 7. How many times is I mentioned in Romans 7? Someone can look into it and study it a little bit further. It's all about self there. I, me, and mine. Jonah 2 here, it answers to Romans 7, and then Jonah reaches the end of himself, and he says, salvation is of the Lord. He says, it's not about me at all. He says, it's the Lord. It's Jehovah. Salvation is of the Lord. That's exactly the lesson in New Testament words of Romans 7. Oh, wretched man that I am. The problem of indwelling sin, the problem of desiring to do that which is right and always doing the wrong thing. Who shall deliver me? Didn't say what. He said, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? And the answer comes, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And here Jonah says, salvation is of the Lord. It's good if we too can come to the realization that we're in God's hands, for God to deal with us, and for God to bring the answer or answers to our specific problems. The whole catalog of things in Jonah chapter 1 and chapter 2, we've looked at some of them. The answer comes from God. Salvation is of the Lord. And we could go on, but I'm afraid we're out of time. Creature comforts. God had prepared a gourd or a plant, made it come up over Jonah. It was a shadow over his head. He was comfortable. It's nice to be in a comfortable situation. And Paul could say he knew how to be abased and he knew how to abound. Nicer to be able to abound, but sometimes God will remove that prop. Sometimes whatever it is that's giving us an easy time, God has ways of working. With Jonah, he took this support, this plant, this shelter, this comfort away from him. And then we find Jonah says, thank you, Lord. We can see how wise you are. No, he didn't say that at all. It says he got angry with God. He'd already been angry with God because, strange thing, this, he knew that God was a gracious God. And if he'd gone to Nineveh to preach, the people would repent, and then God wouldn't act in judgment upon them. That's actually why he went away. And then God prepares the gourd, the plant, and he's comfortable under it. But then God prepares the worm that takes it away. And God prepares the east wind. And then God says, I'm going to take you away. And then God says to him, doest thou well to be angry for the gourd. Jonah was quite a bitter man at this stage. He says, I'm angry even onto death. Well, we shouldn't get angry with God. But sometimes that's what happens in God's dealings with us. But God was working in Jonah's life to bring him to a knowledge of himself in spite of his circumstances. And God works in our lives to show that God is in everything. That's the lesson that we need to be taught down here. But then there's another thing, and we haven't time to develop it. It's not that God's in everything in regard to our circumstances, but God is bringing us on to a time when he will be everything. And it's new creation. God works in us. God provides Christ before us as the object for our hearts, that he might be everything to us. He tells us of a time which is coming when God will be all in all, when we'll be completely focused on God, and when we'll be completely focused on Christ, when nothing of the old Adam, nothing of the original creation will remain, but all will be new creation. All will be brought into reconciliation in regard to ourselves and in regard to the former things will be passed away. And God says, behold, I make all things new. What a wonderful moment that will be when we're with Christ and like Christ in glory, and when indeed Christ and God will be everything to us in our circumstances. He's with us in our circumstances. He controls, he overrules, he teaches us the lessons, the discipline of life. It comes to our side, but it's an order to bring us over to his side, where Christ will be more precious to us and where Christ will be everything to us. May God grant it for his namesake, and we might just sing in closing hymn number eight. Number seven, rather. Verse four says, when all things filled by thee are wholly blessed and God's deep love eternally shall rest in that whichever speaks to him of thee, thy greatness, Lord, the universe shall see. The first, the fourth, and the fifth verse of hymn number seven. When all things filled by thee are wholly blessed, and God's deep love eternally shall rest in that whichever speaks to him of thee, thy greatness, Lord, the universe shall see. Thy beauties, Lord, thy holy, precious blood, still passing through the deepest joys of earth, Lord. …

… Could we begin by singing hymn number 42. Lord Jesus Christ, our living head, how bright Thy glories shine, unique in Thy humanity, eternally divine. Thou wast before created things, of all the author Thou, upholder of the universe, to Thee as God we bow. Hymn number 42. Lord Jesus Christ, our living head, how bright Thy glories shine, unique in Thy humanity, eternally divine. Thou wast before created things, of all the author Thou, upholder of the universe, to Thee as God we bow. The creature mind, how e'er sublime, Thine essence cannot know. Yet we to Thee emerge as we with reverence bend low. But in Thy manhood's glorious fate, our thankful hearts rejoice. For of Thy body, Lord, are we, of love divine the choice. Thanks for salt, and butter, and food, all riches from Thee flow. Bow on Thy church, Thy fullness here, all treasure dost bestow. So unto Thee, our glorious head, last tributes now we bring. In nearness, here to Thee, all mine, in heavenly pleasure sing. Shall we pray together? In Jesus' name, amen. I'd like to bring before us this afternoon the essential truth of the fact that God is a creator God. That God creates, that right in the very first verse of the Bible, we are instructed in this most important truth. That in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The scriptures affirm this truth many, many times. And yet, I'm quite sure that it's true to say that we're in the midst of a battle. A battle to reassert these truths. A battle to persuade those who know not the Saviour that there is a God and that God has created the heavens and the earth. I think it's fair to say that we're also in a battle to encourage fellow believers to hold on to this most important truth. And that how important it is that we're not swayed by man's wisdom. That we look to the scriptures, that we look to God's word, and that we rely upon what God has said. And that we take great encouragement therein. I'm sure all speakers who come to the Catford lectures and at other times as well, always will be able to say of the debate and the thoughts that sometimes rage within them as they seek to know the Lord's mind about a topic and how to present it. I was in such a position for a number of months and wasn't quite sure that the few things I had on my heart was what the Lord would really have us to think about this afternoon. But I was in fact sat one Monday evening in a Sunday school teacher's meeting where we were planning the events that were going to take place now, every Sunday afternoon till the annual prize giving that we hold in Lowestoft in a couple of weeks time. And although we've done the subject before, one of the favourite subjects of the Lowestoft Brethren is the creation. And we felt it right to raise and bring this point before the children again. And somebody said that it's in fact around about this, I think it's February the 12th, it's just a few days hence, that the world would be celebrating Darwin's birthday and would be celebrating, I think it's 200 years, and it's 150 years this year since the publishing of the Origin of Species. So it seems very apt. And I'm particularly keen that many young ones here this afternoon would be able to follow some of the things that are said and I hope some of the help that are given so that we can understand what the scripture says and so that we can be able to use scripture and other thoughts to help other people have a true understanding of this topic. Because what we've had brought before us the last week or so has really been, and will I think reach a crescendo this week, a bombardment of some of the world's thinking. And of course we know that many of these are propagated and preached by people who are distinctly atheists, whose agenda is very much destroying people's faith and of trying to prove to the ordinary men and women that God does not exist. I'm sure living in London you've all heard of the messages that have been on the buses but I heard also that a Christian group was also paying for the opposite message. I'm not sure of the wording to be put on the buses, but the fact that God does exist. We are, I think, definitely in the midst of a battle. And we need to know. I think we need to do a bit of research. I sincerely think we need to do quite a lot of reading. I think we need to learn some of these things. And I think we almost need to practice how we should answer people when they might raise these questions. Because I have firmly found in the last almost two decades of my life that this subject of creation and the wrong teaching of evolution is by far the best way to engage people about spiritual things. In my life as a teacher, these days we're very much discouraged and indeed hardly allowed to say anything about Christian things. And there are very few opportunities in a busy working life to talk to people about God and about spiritual things. But using this topic, using the opportunities that we've got in front of us, especially over these next few weeks, challenging people as to whether they really believe what the media would suggest as the origin of life and how life came into existence, this is a God-sent opportunity for us to talk to people and bring to people's attention the truths that are contained in this word. And I would encourage again the younger ones in particular to not be shy, not to feel on the back foot, not to feel that what we're told is perhaps scientifically right, because we can trust God's word. We know God's word to be true. We know it to be infallible. Man's ideas come and go, but we know that the word of God abides forever. Who knows, we might find in the media next week they might have thought of some other explanation to try and suggest how man was found in this planet, in God's image of course, and they might have thrown evolution out of the window. And I think it's important for us to realise that both creation and evolution are two faiths. We know that by faith we believe the word of God, that we believe that the heavens were fashioned, but also the doctrine of evolution is a faith. It is almost, and some people would regard it as a religion. It has its advocates, it has those that preach it, it has those that evangelise its cause, but evolution, as we can see from a reading of the scriptures, is most certainly wrong. On one of the occasions where I was seriously wondering about what I should talk about this afternoon, in fact some of you might know that my father-in-law had been taken suddenly into hospital and was quite seriously ill just after Christmas, and a few days after he thankfully had recovered and was in the hospital ward, so we went in to see him and he was saying that although people on the ward were quite well, he tried to strike up a conversation with the old man in the bed opposite him. And as soon as he started to talk about spiritual things, the question of evolution came up. And this was something that he used straight away to put up that barrier and explain, I don't believe in this because... Now, do we know how to answer such questions? Are we ready and prepared to talk to people, youngsters in particular? It crops up at school. Are you ready to talk with your teachers and to debate with them? Perhaps some of us are shyer than others, I'm sure that's true. But have you got the answers? Do you know the answers to some of these everyday important questions? It always brings a smile to my face when my oldest daughter, who always has got something to say, that when she was studying biology A level and the theory of evolution would come up fairly frequently, I think she made sure it came up, but that she used to discuss and cause the class to discuss and then one day the teacher came to her, who was an ardent evolutionist, and said to Naomi, I've got the principal coming in today to observe my lesson. Will you please not bring up evolution? I almost beg you not to bring up that subject today. And she was very... She assures me she was very good and forgot about it for that day. But there are opportunities there. There are opportunities to challenge people. Creation evangelism, I think, in many of our instances, is the best tool we've got. It creates opportunities to cause people to question about origins. So, despite the onslaught of the media and the many, if the polls that have been done, I believe, when people are asked, the ordinary person in the street, whether they would accept that God exists, that God, someone, somewhere, created the heavens and the earth, whether they're asked whether they believe in evolution, the evolutionists are probably aghast and astounded that still in this secular country of ours, that most people would still say that they believe that there was some creative force that brought life into existence in this world. But the ordinary men and women in the street, the ordinary boys and girls still have that inherent thought that there is a creator God. And I'm reminded of one verse that we might turn to in a few moments where the scriptures tell us in 1 Peter 3, I think it's verse 15, where we're encouraged, we're told, perhaps it's worth just reminding ourselves now that we should have an answer ready. And that requires some diligence, it requires some thought, and it requires some preparation so that we might know how to answer these things. 1 Peter 3, verse 15. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man who asketh you a reason for the hope that is in you. And then it does remind us with weakness and fear that we're to be ready to give that answer. So I would like to, and I hope the younger ones are going to remain with me now because I remember quite often at Sunday school we used to have sword drills. And what I'm going to do is to have my Bible here and I'm going to turn to quite a few scriptures. And I'd like you to try and follow and find the places and read these scriptures with us together because we know that the scriptures are true and we must know what the scripture says so we know what God says about this important topic. Now, of course, the scriptures are so many that we can only read a few of them this afternoon. But if we could turn to that very first, most important verse in the Bible, Genesis, the book of the beginnings. And if we just read that verse one together again. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, let there be light. So straight away, the Bible tells us something that many, many people don't know and don't understand. It tells us quite clearly that God created the heaven and the earth. Answers to questions. The Bible tells us answers to daily questions. Clearly and simply, God created. If we look through chapter one, which we haven't got time to read, it tells us that God created in these six days. And if we look perhaps importantly, just pick out one example, verse 12. And the earth brought forth grass and herb yielding seed after his kind. And the tree yielding fruit whose seed was in itself after his kind. And God saw that it was good. So everything that God created was good and all the vegetation that we read of in this verse, we're told that it was after its kind. And we're introduced to this idea of kinds. That animals, creatures, vegetation didn't change over a long period of time from one form to another. That everything brought forth after its kind. That if we put two animals of the same kind together, we get the same animal. The animal that two dogs make a dog, that two cats make a cat. And that is what we find in present day circumstances. And the Bible explains that to us. Verses 24, 25 tell us the same thing about the animals. If we look at 26, verse 26. And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creature and creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image. Perhaps you can just remember to look at the verb that is used in 26 and 27. Verse 26, God said, let us make man in our own image. And 27, God created man in his own image. If we can bear that in mind for later on. But it tells us clearly that man was created in God's image. That God created man. That man didn't descend from millions of years of ape-like creatures. That God created man and he made him in his own image. It tells us later on, and perhaps it's worth pointing out there, that I believe there has been, again, quite a debate raging just this week about that idea of dominion. That in one of the evolution programs that one of the prime evangelists, David Attenborough, who I'm sure you know, produced and was shown this week, he got out the book of Genesis and he read part of Genesis and he read this verse about dominion. And he used this verse to say how wrong it was for the efforts and the calamities and the problems that man had caused in this earth. He seemed to be saying how terrible it was that man, Christians believe that man was given dominion. That it was wrong for man to be given dominion over all the living things in this world. Well we have here from God's word that God did give man dominion. It explains to us why these puny little looking creatures of man is so dominant in the world today. It's absolutely obvious. God tells us why it's so and of course the evolutionists haven't got a proper answer. So if we also remind ourselves that it tells us that God in verse 27, that he created them male and female. Of course, another very important topic for us today. That God made Adam and Eve. He didn't make Adam and Steve. He made Adam and Eve. And that helps us to understand about another important topic. We're told again in verse 31 that God made everything and that it was very good. If we look at verse 2, of chapter 2, we're told that on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made. And he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. Why are there seven days in a week? There's no answer at all except the fact that God made the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh day. If you go around most of the world, you'll find that many cultures, their weeks are seven days. I believe that in fact when the communists took control in Russia, that they didn't want their people resting every seventh day, that production and manufacture was so important to them that they tried to extend the day to ten days so that people worked nine and had the rest or the tenth as a rest day. Got more work out of them. Didn't succeed at all. Seven days. The scripture explains that to us. Then if we move on and just remind ourselves, we look at Psalm 19. Psalm 19, verse 1. Another very important verse. Hope all the youngsters have got that verse. Perhaps some noting it down. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. We know that one of the proofs that we can give as a ready quick answer when people ask us the question, how do we know God exists? I hope we've got in our minds five or six answers that we can bring to bear immediately to people to prove to them that God exists. This is, I think, the first one. The stars, the sun and the moon. It's true, isn't it, that obviously we see this. Well, we haven't seen much of the sun over these last few weeks, but although we know and do have seen it, that the many stars that are in the heavens, that living in cities as we do, that we very rarely see the full panoply of them. We, in fact, went to China at Christmas and I know my wife took a picture one night out of the window and I said to her, what on earth are you doing? It was pitch black outside. And she said, I'm taking this picture because I've never seen pitch black before. It was absolutely pitch black. And I feel that this is one of the reasons why people don't consider and don't appreciate the majesty of the heavens. It's because we very rarely see the stars. The light pollution and the weather that we have. If we were all out in the open air and sleeping out in the rough and we looked up at night and saw the stars, then we'd have a greater appreciation of the glory of God and the puniness of man himself. If we look at... I meant to read this one before, so I was going to go through the Bible in order. But Exodus chapter 20, verse 11. Very important verse. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. And therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath and hallowed it. And if we can just move on and look at chapter 32, verse 16. You might read it and think, well, what on earth has this got to do with our subject? But it talks about Moses coming down from the mount. And Moses turned and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony was in his hand, and the tables were written on both their sides. On the one side and on the other they were written, and the tables were the work of God. And the writing was the writing of God graven upon the tables. Now we know that we have the word of God before us, but that also tells us that the Ten Commandments, of which we've just read in Exodus 20, were written on those tablets, and they were written by the hand of God. The hand of God itself. And one of the things that it tells us is that in the six days, the Lord made heaven and the earth. Very important, I think, that we realize that. And then, in fact, we read this verse in Lowestoft just Thursday evening this week. We're reading through the book of Nehemiah. Again, I think it's apt that we've come to it at this present time. But Nehemiah 9 and verse 6. Again, a verse that we'll read now and perhaps come back to it, refer to it later. Nehemiah 9 and verse 6. Thou, even thou, art Lord alone. Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all things that are therein, and thou preservest them all, and the host of heaven worshipeth thee. It's perhaps could be considered the best verse for actually stating all that the Lord made. Heaven, heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all the things that are therein, and the seas and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all, and the host of heaven worshipeth thee. A catalog there of different categories that the Lord has made, making it very clear. If we look into the New Testament, and look at Mark chapter 10, verse 6. Now here, it is the Lord Jesus himself speaking. Rather like we have the tablets of stone that the God actually wrote upon, we have the words of the Lord Jesus himself. And it comes in the midst of another argument, and we're just picking out a verse here. But it tells us quite clearly, doesn't it? But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. And the point I want to remind us of there is that it says it's from the beginning of creation that God made them male and female. Two or three important points there. If you look in the book of Luke chapter 3, in the very last verse, 38. Luke chapter 3, verse 38, is the chronology that we don't often read of the Lord Jesus. But it goes right back to the beginning here, and which was the son of Enosh, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God. The Bible doesn't say and give us there a list of supposed half men, half apes that existed between Adam and God. The scriptures say the son of Adam, which is the son of God. No intermediate characters in between. We all know John chapter 1, verse 3. But again, such an important verse. Can we turn to it? Perhaps if we're talking with fellow Christians and we need to persuade them, can we find this verse, remember where it is? All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. Clear categorical. No doubt that the Lord Jesus was involved in making everything. If we look at Romans chapter 5, verse 12. Romans chapter 5, verse 12. Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin. And so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Clearly a crucial verse telling us how one man caused sin to enter into the world. That resulted in death, and that's the reason death passed upon all men. And then lastly for the moment, if we can look at 1 Corinthians 15, and verse 45. 1 Corinthians 15, 45. And so it is written, the first man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Last Adam, of course, the Lord Jesus, but the first man, stating quite categorically the apostle Paul, Adam, the first man. Clear? I think you'll agree without any doubt. So we've seen by looking at a range of scriptures, albeit very quickly, that the scriptures tell us these important things. They tell us these things quite clearly. People might discuss them and argue about some of them, but the word of God is upon which we should rely. We shouldn't rely upon the theories of men and be swayed by man's ideas. Now, when we're asked about evolution, and I'm encouraging you this week to go out and to start talking to people about evolution. Start asking them questions. People come up to me in the staff room, did you see that last night? Start asking me questions about genes. Yesterday, I used the topic to talk to somebody else, and he's a science teacher, and I wanted to check a few things with him, let him talk for a bit, and try to show him, quite clearly, the errors of his ways. Use the opportunities, I would encourage you. But how do we answer these things? We know what the scriptures say, we learn what the scriptures say, but what about science itself? Science itself, properly used, we can use it to help people understand that what they're talking about is not right. It cannot be right. Evolution cannot be right according to science and logic itself. And often these arguments are useful to bring to bear. I'm reminded of Nehemiah, that Nehemiah there's doing his job, serving the king, bringing the wine before him, and all of a sudden, an opportunity presents itself when the king asks him why he was sad. And he sends up that arrow of a prayer to heaven, asking for wisdom and help in what to say, how to say it. And surely, when we're speaking to people, when we're looking to tell people of the Lord Jesus, and the wonders of what he's done, we need to be quietly seeking the Lord's help and wisdom so that we use the right things for the right people. So, when talking to people, how can we try and answer some of their questions? Well, the first point that might be useful at certain times is to ask them how they would explain that something, the created universe, the earth and everything that's in it, appeared out of nothing. It's quite a simple argument. Evolution cannot explain how something appeared out of nothing. Of the two models, creation and evolution, only creation can explain how one day there was nothing, and the next day there was something. Something out of nothing. Ex nihilo. If sometimes used the idea that if we went into a darkened room and there was absolutely nothing there, we closed our eyes, and when we opened them again, something was there, whatever it was, what explanation would you give to that fact that something was there before you? Would you try and explain it that millions of years ago there was some sort of dark amoeba in a swamp somewhere that gradually became higher forms of life? Or would you say the obvious thing is somebody's put it there? It's obvious. It's clear. But I think we should remember that. In some science textbooks, even today, there was an experiment done by somebody called Miller in the 1950s in the USA, and often this is put on a science textbook for the youngsters. It says something like creating something out of nothing. But what this gentleman did was that he took some... In fact, he generated by passing electricity through them some amino acids. There was something there. It wasn't something from nothing. You could challenge people and say, take me to some corner of this earth and show me now how something appears from nothing. And it doesn't. It can't. Only God can create. A second argument we can use is the designer argument that men in particular, that the animals and everything that we find upon this earth is wonderfully and fearfully made, that it has the hallmarks of a designer, that it's made to do that particular job or live in that particular atmosphere or environment, and that it's intricate, it's wonderful. Man himself is indeed a most incredible piece of designed... I was going to say equipment, but a person. The eye, of course, is the most or one of the most incredible organisms that exists, and that man is still a long way off reproducing an organism that can do such wonderful things in such a small space. There are other arguments from the natural world. We have shown the youngsters some small film, and there are many, many examples of how a creature has been made, and that if it had evolved from other creatures, then it wouldn't have been able to exist. It wouldn't have been able to survive. One of the examples we use is a small little insect, a bombardier beetle. And this bombardier beetle gets its name because it's the most incredible small insect that to stop itself being eaten, that it's able to generate some gases inside this little creature, and at the right time, it blows them up. It creates an explosion, this very tiny little creature, and blowing this explosion up will scatter its predator away. Now, if you think about evolution, how did that evolve? How did that evolve? You know, it's beyond belief that a small little creature could be experimenting with these different proportions of gases, that it could find a way of blowing them up just at the right time. It would have blown, and millions of them would have blown themselves up to smithereens before it got that right mix to activate in the right way and at the right time when the predators came out, so that it doesn't blow itself up, but it still exists after this explosion occurs to rid itself of problems. Another good example is the giraffe. The giraffe is the only animal in the human kingdom, I believe, that's got two hearts. And the larger heart down in the base of its body, well, in fact, it's very difficult for the evolutionists to explain how that small pump at the very top of its head got to be there because we obviously know it's a long-necked creature. And the reason it's there, because when the giraffe bends its head, and we can imagine this ourselves, when we bend our heads, if we had to, from a great height, even our heights, to bend down and drink of the water, then we go dizzy, it takes us a long while to get our bearings, the blood doesn't get pumped to our head. How did that long neck of that giraffe evolve? Until sometime this heart or small pump miraculously appeared at the top of its head to make it be able to exist. The creature would have been eaten by lions and other predators a long time before. The hallmarks of a designer. We see God's hand in every living thing that we see. One of the most useful arguments is to talk to people about intermediate fossils. If evolution existed, there would have been many lines of creatures we're taught to believe. And those creatures would have been living, obviously died, and some of them would have been found in fossils. But there would have been millions upon millions of examples of tiny little differences between the creatures. Whatever line we look at, millions upon millions of these creatures. And when challenged, for an evolutionist to say, well, where are the intermediate fossils? They will come up, and they did last weekend, with just a two or three examples that they suggest. They suggest the archaeropteryx, which most people would now agree is a bird, a type of dinosaur creature that no longer exists. They suggested the platypus as well because it's such a peculiar animal. But these are only two or three that they can suggest. But there should be millions of them. Absolutely millions. It would be impossible to classify the animal and vegetable kingdom. Impossible. Because they're all slightly variation from each other. But what do we do? We find something in the rocks, and we say, it's an ammonite, or it's a trilobite, or it's a woolly mammoth, or whatever it might be. We classify them. It doesn't make any sense. In fact, one very, very apt incident took place. I think it was 2001. The National Geographic magazine had on its front cover, missing link found. And they talked about an archaeoraptor. And it was supposed to have been found in China. And it was this link they're trying desperately to find. And they said that they'd found one in China. And they'd got it. There was its picture on the front cover. This missing link between the dinosaurs and the birds had been found. Well, it took about a year or so, I think it was, before they had to put a very small correction and apologize. But in fact, it was a forgery that some farmer in China had taken half a dinosaur, half a bird, and incredibly stuck them together with resins and glue, and that this had been brought to New York and fooled the top scientists for all that length of time. They're so absolutely desperate to find something that they will grasp at anything in the hope. And of course, we know that Charles Darwin, when he wrote his book, Origins of Species, said that this is the major problem with my theory. We don't know of any intermediate fossils. But he said, we'll find them over time. We'll find them eventually. Well, 150 years later, and we're still looking. Other arguments that we can bring, and I think this is quite an important one that we should understand. It's about the idea of natural selection. Natural selection happens. Natural selection does occur. And why it's important is because natural selection, the way in which animals adapt to their environments, and the way in which small changes happen, is a hallmark of God as the creator. God has built into these animals the ability to be able to adapt. If none of these animals could adapt and change and live in different environments, then they would go and be extinct. But what happens, of course, and we see this ever so often, and Darwin's example of the finches in the Galapagos Islands is the case in point, that these animals, with their small changes in their big size and their big shape, were found on the different islands. And so he said that they change because of the circumstances. Yes, they do. He's right. But it's small changes within the kind. And what they do is they extrapolate that idea of those small changes and make this huge joke to say that dinosaurs change into birds, that other creatures, and eventually, change into us. The proof isn't there. Nobody's seen it happen. Nobody was there when it was supposed to happen. And it doesn't happen today. But the animals remain in their kinds. There is no evidence. And when you hear that being mentioned, it's natural selection. It's very small changes within its kind. And, of course, they haven't got a mechanism to make evolution happen. They suggest mutations and changing mutations. But the changes that do happen in genes are changes that don't add any genetic information. That most mutations, there's a suggestion that they happen only one in a million per gene per generation, that they are to the detriment of the creature, that they are changes within the genetic information. For evolution to happen, there must be new information added. And there's no mechanism for which that happens. For those who are interested, obviously suggesting you are, then one of the laws that you need to have a look at is the second law of thermodynamics. It's a very important law, a law that's been proved many, many times. That law states that particles, that things, and even people have a tendency to decay, for a tendency to become disorganized and to break up. And that is completely opposite to the law of evolution, or the theory of evolution. Evolution is saying that things become more organized, that things become more complex. But that is against this very well-known scientific law. So I hope that there's five or six things to look out for, and the way in which you can talk to people and engage people, challenge people, and bring in the fact that God is a creator, and God sent his son, the Lord Jesus, into this world. But if we think back and just consider for a few moments, it's obviously a difficult time for Christians, Bible-believing Christians, 200 years ago, when the evolution theory came to the fore. And Christians, and no doubt we have our difficulties as well, how did they react to this theory? Did they remain true to God's word? Well, there are suggestions that you still hear of today, and we need to know something about these suggestions, and how and why we think that they might not be right. One of them can be called the day-age theory. I'm sure you've heard Christians and other people talk about this. If you turn to the second epistle of Peter, chapter 3, verse 8, you can see where this idea comes from. So to Peter, chapter 3, verse 8. But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. So taking that scripture from a different context, some Christians suggested that the six days of creation were in fact, the days could be considered, well, at least a thousand years. They could be considered as longer periods of time. The scientists were saying that the earth was, the universe was millions and billions of years old, and Christians tried to explain this away by this verse from scripture. But there is a number of quite obvious things wrong with that explanation. The Hebrew word, which is yamu yanim, that is used in the scriptures to talk about a day, a literal 24-hour day, then is always translated day throughout scripture. The word is always the same. If you look at that word throughout the Old Testament, you see that it always means a literal day. And of course, we have in the chapter that we glanced through, we had the evening and the morning. It was a day. If we look and just remind ourselves of those, that verse, Exodus chapter 20, verse 11, that the, that tablet of stone was written in the context of the seventh day. Now it seems very strange. Doesn't seem right at all, does it? That we read there that in six days the heavens and the earth were made. And he's saying six days to explain why the seventh day was the Sabbath, the seventh day, which was a literal 24-hour day. There are further problems with that theory in that the order that evolutionists would like to explain to us of how life progressed upon this earth is different from the order that we have in Genesis itself. There are about 20 differences, I believe, between the order of the first chapter of Genesis and the order that the evolutionists would have us believe. So I think we've got to be very careful about suggesting that day-age theory. But there are others who, there are many sort of slightly different variations of categories that are theistic evolutionists. And that means that really they come from a God-believing background, but they believe that God started the process off, but that evolution carried the process through. I hope we've seen from the scriptures that we read how the scriptures don't bear that up at all. But it's amazing. I just found, again, a lot of material on the Internet that anybody can have a look at. It really is quite amazing. But one portion that I found just by accident was talking about theistic evolutionists and said that right at the start the Catholics, Roman Catholics, just kept dumb about the subject. They hadn't got an answer. But in the last 30, 40 years, they have pronounced on this side of theistic evolution that the Eastern Orthodox Church mainly have followed that idea, that some Jews believe in theistic evolution and some mainline Protestants. But I think we've seen, haven't we, how the scriptures talk about six days. We've read about Adam being the first man. We've read about the different kinds. We've read in particular that God made man and created him in his own image. And then something that we haven't got time to go into a great deal, but I do think that as Christians here we've got to consider this gap theory. And we've got to, I think it's quite a difficult job, to look at the books and the different things that people have written about the gap theory. The gap theory was first suggested, I think it was 1815, by a Scottish clergyman. And it was propagated in a number of circles. And the gap theory suggests that to get in these millions of years, that there was a gap somewhere in Genesis. Now I would like to challenge you to look in Genesis chapter 1. And when people, often youngsters, first hear of the idea of a gap theory and read Genesis 1, they say, where's the gap? I can't see a gap. Where's this gap supposed to be? Because I don't think it's immediately obvious. But many have suggested there's a gap between verse 1 and verse 2. And they suggest that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, that that took place in the very beginning. And they would further go on to suggest that there was Satan's fall in this period here. And that Satan's fall caused judgment and cataclysm. And the description we have in verse 2 talks about the effects of Lucifer's fall in that time. Now I think we've got to seriously consider this. If right from the very earliest of times, most Jews, most Christians, have taken Genesis chapter 1 as to be an account of creation in the six days. Literal six days. That this theory was brought into prominence to try and bring in and make Scripture harmonize with what science was telling us over the millions of years. Some people have heard it just recently, said that Mr. Kelly in particular brought that theory forward before Darwin wrote his Origin of Species. Well, that's not strictly speaking, that bit is strictly speaking true. But the millions of years was around in scientific terms for a good 50 years before that. It was quite a common thought. Charles Lyell and his Principles of Geology brought that to everybody's attention at the end of the 18th century. So the idea was certainly still around. One of the basic tenets of the gap theory, and here we get quite complicated, is the distinction between the word create and make. Create is the Hebrew word bara, I don't know how to pronounce it, and make is the Hebrew word asa. And Schofield's reference Bible in particular makes a big play of the difference between the words. That in verse 1, it's God created, and there are two other occasions in chapter 1 where creation is made. But most people, and I'm sure we can find this out for ourselves, that if we look through the Old Testament and get the reference books that are available, we see that the two words are used interchangeably. Even in verse 1, sorry, chapter 1, verses 26 and 27 that I asked you to look at use the two words in succeeding verses. 26, let us make man. 27, God created man. So the two words are used to describe the same thing. Verse 21, we've got creating the fishes and the birds. And verse 25, making the animals and every creeping thing. I referred you to Nehemiah, the word was used to make, asa, and it describes that whole panoply of things that were made. And we find throughout the Old Testament that the words were used interchangeably, that there isn't and doesn't seem to be that distinction. There's a big debate about the word was from the Hebrew. And the earth was without. Some would say that that is the Hebrew word became and should be translated became. In other words, the first one talks about the creation and then the ruin and the catastrophe that happened after that. But most now would not see that as evidence from the Greek. We have, importantly, the two New Testament verses that we read talking about death coming in as a result of Adam's sin and that Adam was the first man. We can even look and think about the idea of when did Satan's fall take place? It's worth thinking about and worth discussing. Did Satan fall in this gap? Did he fall after the creation or did he fall during the creation? We know that Genesis 1.31 tells us that everything was good. Everything was good. If Satan was there on the earth, in particular, everything wasn't good. Satan would seem to fall after the six days. There are other arguments that can be brought to bear. Some would talk to us about Lucifer's flood in that gap. Very little evidence for mention of Lucifer's flood. For Noah's flood, we have three chapters in this same book of Genesis. For those who are interested, there was a graduate student in the USA. Because of the arguments that raged over the Hebrew, took a poll. He wrote to 20 Hebrew scholars in the USA and he said to them, is there any evidence from the Hebrew that there is a gap in Genesis 1? And they all replied to him quite equivocally, wrote and said, there's no evidence that the Hebrew is suggesting a gap. So that's certainly something that I think we need to look into and see what the scriptures do say about the matter. But on the main tenant that I wanted to bring before you this afternoon, this is an argument that is raging. It's an argument that I strongly and firmly believe we can use to tell people about the Lord Jesus. Youngsters, in particular, are meeting this day by day. They're in the forefront of the battle. And I would strongly urge the youngsters to have ready answers, to talk to people about it, to not hide your light under the bushel, but to engage with people and to talk with people. I must admit that sometimes I'm a bit naughty and I taunt the science department at school. They used to have really bad results at the school and they were letting the whole school down. I would say to them, you're never going to get decent results. You're teaching them a whole load of rubbish. When you start teaching them the truth, then your results will improve. And I think it's an opportunity that we should use, that we should do the research, we should pray about it, we should ask wisdom and talk to people about evolution, how it's wrong, how the scriptures say it's wrong, how the science says that it's wrong, how that it's completely unbelievable that anybody could think of such a thing. If we were to put, sometimes use the argument, perhaps imagine a room, a workshop at school, and if you put a whole load of metal, junk in the corner, and say to them, how many millions of years do you think that would take to turn into a man? It's just unbelievable. And so I would continue to encourage you to bring these matters to people's attention and use them to spread the gospel and talk to them about the Savior's love and how that he came to save man from his sin. So could we close by singing, perhaps if we just sing the first verse of hymn number 44, Maker of Earth and Heaven, whose arm upholds creation, to thee we raise the voice of praise and bend in adoration. We praise the power that made us. We praise the love that blesses, while every day that rolls away, thy gracious care confesses. Hymn number 44. Maker of Earth and Heaven, whose arm upholds creation, to thee we raise the voice of praise and bend in adoration. We praise the power that made us. We praise the love that blesses, while every day that rolls away, thy gracious care confesses. …

… Good evening everyone. Let's begin by singing hymn 212. Called from above and heavenly men by birth, who once were but the citizens of earth. As pilgrims here we seek a heavenly home, our portion in the ages yet to come. 212 Called from above and heavenly men by birth, who once were but the citizens of earth. As pilgrims here we seek a heavenly home, our portion in the ages yet to come. Where all the saints of every kind shall meet, and each with all shall all the ransomed greet. But for the height of bliss our Lord shall be, to owe it all and share it all with thee. Thou who washed the image in man's gloomy guise, of the invisible to mortal eyes. Son of His bosom, come from heaven above, we seek in Thee, incarnate God, His love. Thy lips, the Father's, name to us reveal, What burning heart in all Thy works we feel, as with enraptured hearts we hear Thee tell. The heavenly glories which Thou know'st so well, No curse of war in reward's sovereign grace, And now what glory in Thine unveiled face, Thou didst attract the wretched and the weak. Thy joy the wand'rers and the lost to seek, That precious stream of water and of blood, Which from Thy pierced side so freely flowed, Has put away our sins of scarlet dine, Washed us from every stain and brought us night. We are but strangers, here we do not crave, A home on earth which gave me but a grave. Thy cross has severed ties which found us here, Thyself a treasure in a brighter sphere. I would like to turn to Genesis 2, not Genesis 2, but Genesis chapter 15. I think it would be good to read the whole chapter. Genesis chapter 15 verse 1, After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And Abraham said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abraham said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed, and lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars if thou be able to number them. And he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another, but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abraham drove them away. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abraham, and lo, and horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abraham, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years. And also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge, and afterwards shall they come out with great substance, and thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace. Thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. And it came to pass that when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates, the Kenites and the Kenazites and the Kadmonites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Rephaims and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Girgashites and the Jebusites. May God bless the reading of his word. I suppose all of us when we've encountered this chapter in Genesis have found it a rather strange story, a rather enigmatic story. Perhaps we could be forgiven for saying a little bit of a mysterious story. What does it mean? Well, I was privileged to be with some brethren in eastern Nepal two and a half weeks ago, and during a session of questions and answers, and I've learned it's dangerous sometimes to organize sessions for questions and answers, I and the two brothers with me got a question about this chapter. Fortunately, it was the last question of the day and it was getting rather dark and we had to get back to where we were staying, so we were able to put off answering the question until the following morning. But my purpose this evening isn't to present to you what we said to the brethren there in Nepal for its own sake, but to challenge us all about the lives we're living for the Lord Jesus today. Abram was a man of faith. In fact, the scriptures call him the father of all them that believe. We could say the father of the faithful. So he's a wonderful example to us of how we should be today. Now we've confessed in our hymn, the start of this meeting, that we're heavenly men by birth. There's been a work of God in us which we call new birth, and we've come to believe on the Lord Jesus as our savior. And that makes us different from all those around us. It's not only that we're heavenly men by birth, but we have a heavenly destination. We're going to heaven. Heaven should characterize us while we're on this earth. It was very good to be able to hear about the account of creation in the scriptures earlier today from our brother, Jeff. And he brought before us the need to answer to the challenge of our day. Fifty years ago, most people in this country would have acknowledged there was a God. And so the question would be, where do you stand with regard to that God? You're a sinner, you need to be saved. But sadly today, very often, people won't acknowledge a God with whom they have to do. They believe in some power, some influence, but it's not one that they really think they have to think about in a personal way. And as a result, they have no sense of their need to be made right with that God. Very often today, we have to start with the fact that there is a God, a creator God, before we come to the matter of redemption, the need to be saved, to be made right with that God. So the matter of creation, upholding it, is very important today. But what I hope to bring before us this evening, not just you, but myself especially, is the need for us not only to be able to explain from God's words the fact there is a God, but to be able to live it out in our lives that we know that God and he affects our life and we're different from those around us in such a way that they are attracted to the person that we know, our God and our Father. And of course, our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who loved us and gave himself for us. If we turn back to Genesis chapter 12, we find it says in the first verse, Now the Lord had said unto Abraham, Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house unto a land that I will show thee. If we were to compare that with what Stephen says in Acts chapter 7, we would see that Abraham had a wonderful experience. The God of glory had appeared to him when he was in Ur of the Chaldees, when he was among the idolaters of that land, those who did not know God, who worshipped heathen gods. But he didn't immediately respond to that call in all its fullness. He didn't actually depart from his father's house. In fact, it was his father, Terah, who went with him and they stopped short of the land that God was going to show them, or show Abraham, in this place called Haram. And so we see that even though Abraham is a wonderful example of faith, he's also an example to us of the fact that very often, those of us who have put our faith in the Lord Jesus as our saviour, don't always put that faith into practice fully in our lives. We don't always live by that faith as we should. If you look in Hebrews chapter 11, you'll find that there are many witnesses of the efficacy of faith, the value of faith in the life of a believer on God. But two stand out predominantly. Abraham, an example of the endurance of faith, and Moses, an example of the energy of faith. They are the two main characters in that wonderful catalogue or gallery of faithful men and women. But we see that faith didn't come automatically to Abraham. He had to learn faith. We may say that as we trace his experiences from chapter 12 through to the end of his life as it's recorded in scripture, we see him learn in faith. And one of the wonderful lessons that we can learn from his experience of learning is the patience of our God. God is a patient teacher. He teaches us faith. Eventually Abraham was to leave Haran as we see in verse 4 of chapter 12. He came into the land that God had promised him. But unfortunately, where he had hesitated in Haran, now he went too far. Very often we can be like that. Sometimes we lag behind God's leading, other times we go too far in front of God's leading. And eventually Abraham went down to Egypt because of a famine. But there are some wonderful things that we could just learn briefly from chapter 12. I don't want to spend too long in it because our chapter really is chapter 15. But there are a number of things in chapter 12 which can really help us. If you read verse 6, you'll see that Abraham passed through the land unto the place of Sikkim, unto the plain of Moreh, and that Canaanite was then in the land. Then it says in verse 7, the Lord appeared unto Abraham and said, unto thy seed will I give this land, and there he builded an altar. That's the first thing that I would like to bring before you from this chapter. He had an altar, which means he had a place of approach to God. He was marked by worship. He was a worshiper. Abraham was a worshiper of God. Then it says in verse 8, he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethlehem and pitched his tent. There we see he has a tent, and that shows us that Abraham was a sojourner. He was, if you like, a pilgrim, someone who was on the move. We've already mentioned in connection with our hymn that we're heavenly men by birth, but we have a heavenly destination. Our lives here in this world should show that we're not at home here. This is not our home. We have a hymn in our hymn book. Heaven is our home. We're going home. Abraham is an example to us of how we should be in our lives. Paul says our conversation, our citizenship is from heaven. It's not of this earth. Our interest should lie in the things of heaven, not in the things of this earth, certainly not in the things of this world. Then as we read on down, it says that after he pitched his tent having Bethel on the west and High on the east, there he builded an altar unto the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. That's the third thing. He called upon the name of the Lord. In 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul says that the words he writes are to the believers at Corinth but they're also to all those who call upon the name of the Lord in every place. Christians should be marked by calling upon the name of the Lord. And being English, I like to connect things up by putting the same capital letter in front of them. You could say the first point here is he was a worshipper, the priestly character of Christianity. We bring praise and worship to God. We go into the presence of God and we come out speaking of the marvelous things of our Lord. We get that, don't we, in 1 Peter chapter 2. There's a priestly side to Christianity. And then in the wonderful thought of the tent, we have the pilgrim side which we've mentioned already that we're on a journey, we're going home. This is not our home. And then thirdly, the thought of prayer. Dependence upon God, seeking his help and guidance for every step of the way. Priest, pilgrim, and prayerful man. These things marked Abraham, the man of faith. But sadly as we've already mentioned, he went away from the place where he had put his altar and where he had pitched his tent and where he was calling on the name of the Lord and he ended up in Egypt. And as you read the account of what happened in Egypt, you won't find any mention of him calling on the name of the Lord. He hadn't gone there through the direction of the Lord. We haven't got enough time to go into exactly what happened in Egypt, but the important thing we learn as we turn the pages of scripture is that when he came out of Egypt, he had to go back to where he had gone wrong. That's in verse 4 of chapter 13. It says, unto the place of the altar which he had made there at the first, and there Abraham called on the name of the Lord. We might have thought God would have said, you hesitated before you went into Canaan, Abram, and now you've got into Abram, you've gone far too far, you've gone all the way south and you're out of the land and you're in Egypt. And furthermore, you've denied the relationship you have with your wife. How can I use you for anything, for my glory or for anybody else's blessing? But does God say that to him? No, God doesn't say that to him. God brings him out. Yes, it involved plaguing Pharaoh's household to get Abraham out of that situation where he was. And often when we get into wrong situations because we don't follow the leading of the Lord, we will find there are consequences, not only for ourselves, but for others too. And we're going to touch on that in a moment as well. But Abram came out of Egypt. God got his man out of Egypt. And we read then in chapter 13 of the strife between Abram's servants and Lot's servants. This just brings before us again the fact that still Abram's obedience of faith, we read in Romans of obedience of faith, you can find it in the first chapter of Romans and you can find it in the 16th chapter of Romans. The obedience of faith. God wants to see obedience mark us in our faith towards him. Yes, it's a wonderful thing to have faith in the Lord Jesus as our savior. That is obedience to God, to turn from our sin, to acknowledge our sinnership, to trust in the Lord Jesus as our savior. But it goes beyond simply the matter of eternal salvation. It goes into the way we live our lives. But Abram's obedience of faith had not been complete because there was still this person Lot with him, of his family, Lot was still there. And as we're going to see briefly, Lot was of the same kind of conviction as Abram was. But there was this conflict between Abram's servants and Lot's servants and eventually they had to part company. And sadly, Lot decided to go for the well-watered plains of the Jordan where Sodom was, that place of sin. But God gave a wonderful promise to Abram once they had separated that he would inherit the land. He said, look at the land, it's verse 14 of chapter 13, lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art northward and southward and eastward and westward. It seems that when Abram got fully free of his connection with Lot, which he should have got free from before, then God was able to encourage him with a look to all the blessing that God wanted to give him. And it's wonderful to see this sort of lifting up the eyes. Again, it's the heavenly look. It's looking at things from God's point of view, looking at what God wants to give. It reminds me of this verse and some of the other verses which we're going to mention of the way in which Paul presents the mystery, the privileges and blessings of Christianity in his letter to the Ephesians. Here it's the breadth and length and height and depth, isn't it? But here it's the dimensions of the land that God had in mind for Abram to enjoy. And he was to arise and walk through the land in the length of it and the breadth of it, for I will give it unto thee. This is what God had in mind for his servant Abram. But you see, there probably had been consequences of another kind through Abram going down into Egypt. Lot had been with him. And it seems that what attracted Lot to the particular part of the land that he chose was that it was like Egypt. He had got a taste for Egypt into his heart and his life. And I think this is a challenge for us, particularly when we're younger as Christians. Have we got a taste for Egypt in our hearts? Egypt in scripture is a picture of the world. We can say we're heavenly men by birth, but has Egypt, has this world got a little bit, perhaps a large bit of our hearts, of our desires, of our lives, of our occupations? It had for Lot, probably as a result of him going down to Egypt with Abram. And incidentally, it may well be that it was in Egypt that Sarah got her handmaid Hagar, for she was an Egyptian. We've only got to think of chapter 16 to think of the consequences of that. So we need to be encouraged to see that on the one hand, God is patient with us. But on the other hand, if only we were more devoted to God, if only we really were marked by that full obedience of faith, how much more God would be able to accomplish in us for his glory and for the blessing of others. But in chapter 14, a remarkable thing happens. Lot now effectively in Sodom is involved in a conflict between five kings and four kings. And he's on the wrong side. The king of Sodom is defeated and Lot is taken into captivity. But you know, the wonderful thing about Abram is he's marked by the wonderful attributes of God. His relationship with God has affected him and he goes after Lot to bring him back. And we all know the story of how he brings him back and how he brings back much more than simply Lot. He's the one through whom much is recovered to those kings that were defeated, including the king of Sodom. And the king of Sodom wants to give something to Lot, to Abram as a result. And Abram refuses the entreaties of the king of Sodom. In verse 21 of chapter 14, the king of Sodom said unto Abram, give me the persons and take the goods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldst say, I have made Abram rich. Abram, in his heart, desired to be for God. And he was exercised in every respect to be holy for God. He made mistakes, but the desire of his heart was to be faithful to God. Of course, we know from the verses just before the verses I've read that this mysterious person, Melchizedek, has already come forth bringing bread and wine. He was the priest of the most high God. And it seems that his ministry to Abram at this time was what provided Abram with the moral strength to resist the charms of the king of Sodom. And the Lord Jesus, our high priest, of course, Melchizedek is a picture of the Lord Jesus, is in heaven, praying for us, providing us with the help we need to be able to resist the attractions of this world, because Satan will use this world to try and divert us from real dedication and faithfulness to the Lord. This is a real challenge, particularly to younger believers. Those who have their lives, humanly speaking, before them, if the Lord Jesus doesn't come. The world is a very attractive place for the young person. More and more, the world is geared up to attract the young. Even the technology of the world is designed particularly with the young in mind. And the world is constantly placing its wares, its attractions, before our eyes. And the young have the greatest opportunity to take advantage of them. But God, God is laying out before us the wonderful opportunity to be for him in this life. To live in this world for the one with whom we're going to spend eternity. And the question is, which are we going to go in for? The offerings of a world that can only please us for 70 or 80 years? Or the things which go on into eternity? And perhaps this is the biggest challenge for us today. Are we going to go in for the things of God? Abraham, because he went in for the things of God, he could be such a blessing and helped a lot in this particular instance. He was really able to be Lot's shield, wasn't he, in his danger when he was taken captive. And he was one who was offered much in return for his prompt and brave action in sending his servants to recover Lot. But he was faithful to God in resisting every temptation to go down the wrong road. And that's where we come to chapter 15. Because often it's when we've done something for the Lord that we're in the most danger. We feel we've triumphed in some way for the Lord. And it's really quite small and insignificant. But there is a tendency in all our hearts to take credit for what we've done. But God comes in to protect Abraham from any such tendency. He brings himself before Abraham and he says, fear not, Abraham. Perhaps Abraham had a sense of fear. Perhaps he thought that his stand in regard to the King of Sodom marked him out even more as someone who was a bit different. And that's a fear we have, particularly when we're young as believers. We're afraid. I know when I was at school as a Christian, I was afraid to be clear that I was a Christian because it marked me out as being different from all the rest. And I'm sure others have had that feeling too. But God says to Abraham, fear not. We need to look at things from God's point of view. And he says furthermore to Abraham, I, not an angel, but I myself, I am thy shield. You've been a shield a lot. I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. You've turned down the rewards that the King of Sodom would give you. But I am your reward. And I suppose one of the biggest challenges of this particular story is, do we really believe what we say we believe? Do we really believe that our God and Father, that our Lord Jesus Christ, do we really believe what the scripture presents about our Father and about our Savior? Do we really have it in our hearts that they are for us and the Holy Spirit indwells us and enables us to live for the glory of God? Do we really believe that? Is it a practical thing in my life that I'm a Christian, that I believe in the Lord Jesus, that I know I belong to God, that I have God as my Father, that I'm going to heaven? Is that something that really affects the practical aspects of my life day by day? This chapter would bring before us the fact that it should. But when we're younger, we've just been thinking of the kinds of questions people ask us. We often have questions. We've been thinking about questions in regard to creation and evolution. But here was Abram. He said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me seeing that I go childless? The word go here really is the word depart. Abram here was someone who was middle-aged. He was getting to a point where he was thinking, I'm never going to have a child. I'm not going to have an heir. I'm going to go out of this life childless. What will you give me, God? Because the only person really who's going to carry on my business, if you like, my household, is this Eliezer of Damascus. Behold, to me thou has given no seed, and lo, one born in my house. In other words, a servant is mine heir. Sometimes we do have to ask questions of God because we have to realize that when we want to know something, we have to turn to God's word. And he's the one who will show us his mind and his will. It's good to ask our parents. It's good to ask brothers in the meeting. It's good to turn to books of doctrine and exposition of God's word. But how often do we pray? How often do we come to the Lord and say, Lord, show me the answer to this particular situation, this particular problem? Remember, one of the things we said about Abraham was that he was marked by being a prayerful man. And this is an example of him asking the question. And the Lord gives him a categorical answer. This shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bounds shall be thine heir. And if we were to look at Romans chapter 4, we would see Paul's commentary on this. Because there the apostle Paul uses this experience of Abraham as an example to us of a man who takes God at his word. And as a result, gets into the blessing that God has for him. God brings him out of his tent. Now, we were hearing earlier on about the lack of light, the lack of, no, not the lack of light, the fact there's too much light today in our cities and towns. When we look in the sky, we can't see the stars for all their grandeur. But that wasn't a problem in Abraham's day. But isn't it beautiful to see God bringing Abraham out under the canopy of the stars and turning his face upward. We need to keep turning our face upward. Lift up your eyes. And here he says to him, look now toward heaven. Look toward heaven. And tell the stars if they'll be able to number them. And he said unto him, so shall thy seed be. God had promised Abraham a seed, was to be as the stars of heaven. It's the heavenly aspect of the seed which comes out particularly in this chapter. And we are the heavenly seed. Of course, we have believed on the Lord Jesus as our savior. We aren't part of God's earthly people. We are his heavenly people. And it says Abraham believed in the Lord and he counted it to him for righteousness. It doesn't mean that his faith was righteousness. It means that believing God got him the righteousness that God gives to those who simply take him at his word. This is the principle that Paul uses in Romans chapter 4 to bring before us the fact that Abraham got his righteousness not by way of circumcision because this happened before God gave the mark of circumcision to Abraham. He got it by simply taking God at his word. The crucial thing is, have we just done this, as it were, for our eternal salvation? Are we working it out in our lives day by day? Something to mark us continually. But it is an encouragement to anyone here who hasn't trusted the Lord Jesus. This is another verse to show you all you have to do is to take God at his word. That's all you have to do. Take God at his word. God promised this to Abraham and Abraham at that moment, as he looked at that night sky, he heard God speaking to him. As we can hear God speak to us in the Bible and he took God at his word and God records here for our spiritual blessing that he counted it to him for righteousness. And then he presents himself to Abraham. I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit it. You see, sometimes we think faith is a matter of simply believing God and we have no more questions to ask. But this is the education of faith. God leads us on step by step. Abraham's faith was real, but he still had questions. And he says, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And God in his grace leads him to do this thing, which sometimes we've found difficult to understand. He tells him to take these five creatures. They're all creatures that later on in the scriptures we find are sacrificial creatures. They're used in the approach particularly of God's earthly people to him. We can think in the case of the heifer, of the red heifer that was used for the purification of sins as the people went through the wilderness. You'll remember that red heifer had to be taken and it was burned after its blood had been sprinkled in front of the tabernacle. Its ashes were then mixed with water and it was used as a medium of purification whenever somebody was defiled as they went through the wilderness. The she-goat, the goat, we can think of the two goats that were used on the Day of Atonement. Here it's a she-goat. Goats were often used as sin offerings, but they were also used as burnt offerings. We can think of the ram of consecration for the priests. We can think of the turtle dove and the young pigeons that were provided for those who were poor when they couldn't bring the other animals as their offering, whatever it might be. We can think of the way in which it says of Mary and Joseph that when the Lord Jesus was presented in the temple, they brought, didn't they, the two young pigeons or doves. And so these animals, they do speak to us of the sacrifices that would be used by the people of Israel in their approach to God. And if we think of that, then we can think of the fact that these sacrificial creatures were pictures of the Lord Jesus himself who would give his life for us upon the cross of Calvary to bring us to God. Abraham did as God asked him to. He divided them in the midst, laid each piece one against the other, but the birds divided he not. And there they were on the ground. Now if we were to look at Jeremiah 34, we would see that the people there did something similar to this. They took a calf, they split it in two, they walked through the two parts of the calf to make a covenant with God. In that case, that they would give their servants freedom. It's there in Jeremiah 34, we haven't got enough time to look at it now in detail, but the sad thing was having walked between the two parts of the calf to prove that they meant what they said, that they were going to give freedom to their servants. They then went back on their promise and God held them particularly guilty for doing that. So it seems that this was a way in which people made an agreement between themselves. They would take animals, they would cut them in two parts, they would walk between the two parts in proof of the agreement that they had come to. Because God had asked Abram to do this, Abram divided these animals in two parts each except for the birds and then, I don't know what he was expecting to happen, but the birds came down to devour the carcasses. And Abram, he drove them away. He didn't want this symbol of his agreement with God to be spoiled and he tried to stop the birds coming down to spoil it. There's something lovely about this, it shows Abram's dedication, it shows his energy, it shows his desire to experience the blessing that God was promising him. But God had another lesson to teach him. The birds were coming down, the day was getting late, the sun came down and a deep sleep fell upon Abram. He hadn't got the energy or the light to keep on doing what he was doing and lo and horror of great darkness fell upon him. Often deep sleeping scripture speaks of death, darkness speaks of being out of God's blessing. Abram felt no doubt because it speaks of horror here that what God had promised wasn't going to be realized, that he wasn't able to find what God was going to give him. But then we hear the words of God, God said unto Abram, know of a surety. God gives Abram his word, your seed that which shall proceed from your own bowels, from your own body, they will be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and they shall serve them and they shall afflict them for 400 years. We know that this 400 year period really lasts from the time that Abram departed his life to the point at which the people of Israel came out of Egypt where they were afflicted and the nation, God says in verse 14, will I judge and afterward they shall come out with great substance, how true this was for the people of Israel. True God says you'll be buried in a good old age but in the fourth generation your seed shall come hither again for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. This verse brings before us the fact that Abram was really only thinking of his own particular situation. He wanted to know if he was going to have a seed to carry his name forward, to enjoy the blessings which God had promised. But sometimes we have to be brought back to this fact that we are part of God's designs that go beyond just our own lives and our own interests. And here in this particular case, God was also working with the Amorites, the people who dwelt in the land. God was not going to judge them immediately but eventually despite whatever witness the Amorites had of God, their cup of iniquity was going to become full and it was through the people of Israel that God would judge them when they came back to the land. And it came to pass that when the sun went down and it was dark, when there was no light at all, behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the end, Abram wasn't going to walk through those pieces with God. He wasn't going to get this blessing that God promised him by his own efforts in warding off the birds which often speak, as we know, of the evil one who wants to take away the blessing from us. God was going to do it for Abram all by himself, if we can put it that way. The smoking furnace speaks of the refining work of God that would take place among the seed of Abraham. And the burning lamp speaks of the light that God would give them to find their way, that he would, to find his way for his glory in their history. And we have to learn these two things as well. When we want to know God's will for our lives, we have to learn that we need the refining work of God in our lives. Presented here by this smoking furnace, I think the word smoking here would bring before us the intensity of the heat. But it would also bring before us the fact that God has got his hand upon the situation. We read about the chastening that God exercises as father of us as his children. We get that in Hebrews chapter 12, don't we, just after that passage which speaks about the need for faith. And as well as the smoking furnace, we read here of the burning lamp. God is always leading us, always directing us, always showing us the way in which we should go if we're going to please him in our lives. We know that the people of Israel did have to have this chastening in their lives, but God was ever faithful as he led them out of Egypt and into Canaan. They always had that pillar of cloud which was light by night to guide them through the pathway. Indeed, the very flame of fire in the burning bush when God spoke to Moses and directed him to lead his people out is an indication of the way in which God is ever faithful to direct and guide us, but he's also refining us in our lives. God was really showing to Abraham that he was going to be true to his word and bring his people through for his glory. And in the same day, in the good of that vision which Abraham had, God made a covenant with him and he again presents to him the immenseness of the blessing which he has in mind for him. I think for us we have to learn this lesson. We too need to live our lives with God day by day. We need to be willing to be directed by the Holy Spirit, guided by God's word. We need to be helped by the fellowship of the saints. We need to show the same endurance of faith and energy of faith which was seen in the life of Abraham. And if that happens, we can be sure that God will guide and direct us through our lives. The scene may be dark, there may be all sorts of influences on us like these birds that seem to be bent on taking away from us what God wants to give us, but we have to rest in the fact that God loves us and wants the best for us. That's been demonstrated at the cross where the Lord Jesus went into a far greater furnace, if we can put it this way, than ever we shall be called upon to go through in our lives. When he suffered and died for us on the cross of Calvary in order that we should be made right with God, that we should know God as our father and him as our Lord and saviour. We should know him as our shepherd and our guide. In this respect, the Lord Jesus as ever is the perfect example because the Lord Jesus could say to those two disciples on the way to Emmaus who were downcast, they reasoned amongst themselves, they couldn't understand or work out why things had happened the way they had happened. The Lord Jesus himself drew near. He showed them from the scriptures the things concerning himself. But he said to them, ought not Christ to suffer and then enter into his glory? Often there is a pathway of suffering to be experienced by us if we would truly know the blessing that God wants to give us. It says in the Psalms, by pressure thou hast enlarged me, but God is always faithful. God will achieve his purpose in our lives even though sometimes we cannot explain why certain things happen. But God is in control and God will carry us through and bring us where he wants us to be. Paul had a sense of this in his heart. In Romans 6, we can read the truth of the fact that we died with Christ. That's a doctrinal thing. Positionally that's true. God has finished with the first man. We've been baptised, we've been baptised unto the death of the Lord Jesus. But you know Paul had gone past that simply being a doctrinal thing. He bore in his body the dying of Jesus. He realised in a practical way that the only way to live was to be totally devoted to Christ. He was truly morally in the place of death. He gave everything over to the Lord. Often we hear about people today who live on the edge. Paul lived on the edge. He lived on the edge, you could say. He lived on that margin between life and death because for him to live was Christ, to die is death. And I think the challenge for us is we feel weak and perhaps we feel unworthy to say these words, but we really need to be dedicated to Christ in our lives. These are the last and closing days, the dark days. The sun is going down, the night will soon be fully over this world. Of course we won't be here when it is like that because the Lord Jesus is going to come for us. We don't look for that day when darkness will fill the earth completely. The sky, not the grave, is our goal. The Lord Jesus has said through the words of the Apostle Paul, he's coming again to take us to be with himself. Every Lord's Day morning when we break the bread and drink the cup, we announce his death till he comes. And remember it was on that night when he instituted his supper, that by which we remember him Lord's Day by Lord's Day, that he said to his disciples, I will come again for you myself, take you to be with me. And the Lord Jesus is descended, he will take his saints out of this world. But the night is drawing in. Are we going to be marked by the same faith that characterised this faithful man Abraham and that marked the Apostle Paul in his life and dedicate our lives to the Lord? If anything that I've said has not been right, I'm sure the Lord will take it away from our minds but I will pray that the urge, the challenge of these words will particularly speak to my younger brethren because we're so weak today in the gatherings of the Lord's people. Those who seek to be true to the truth of the assembly, we need young brothers and sisters who will be dedicated, who will be marked by faith, who will follow the Lord and put into practice the things of the scriptures despite this dark day, the smallness of numbers so that there might still be an assembly testimony here in this world when the Lord Jesus comes to take his own to be with himself. May it be so for his name's sake. Hymn 364. Have I an object, Lord, below which would divide my heart from thee, which would divert its even flow in answer to thy constancy? O teach me quickly to return and cause my heart afresh to burn. 364. Have I an object, Lord, below which would divide my heart from thee, which would divert its even flow in answer to thy constancy? O teach me quickly to return and cause my heart afresh to burn. Have I a hope, however dear, which would differ like the only Lord, which would detain my spirit here when all can last in joy and woe? From it my Saviour set me free to look and love and pray for thee. Be thou the object bright and fair to fill and satisfy the heart. My hope to meet thee in the air and never more from thee to part that I may undistracted be to follow myself and wait for thee. …

… 330. What raised the wondrous thought, or who does it suggest, that we, the Church, to glory brought, should with the Son be blessed? O God, the thought was Thine. Thine only it could mean. Breath of the Wisdom of Divine, make pure our hearts to live. Portion of our heart and mind, for us to grow shall be. Great was Thou strength, could ever find, Thine only it could be. Lamb of God, take this my word, that lamb of God shall die. Blissful was Thou, Lord of His birth, in glory bright to shine. O God, with great delight, Thine wondrous hope we see. Upon His throne, in glory bright, the light of Christ shall be. Still with the Holy Ghost, we triumph in that love. Thy wondrous thought has made our vows, glory with Christ the Lord. We ask this in His name. Amen. I'd like to read five portions with you this afternoon. Two in the Old Testament in the book of Genesis, and three rather shorter in the New Testament. Could we start, please, by reading a few verses in Genesis chapter 2. Verse 8, the second chapter of Genesis and verse 8. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed. Now drop down, please, to verse 18. And the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him and help meet for him. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them. And whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle and to the fowl of the air and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found and help meet for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept. And he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. Now Genesis 24, please. Verses 7 and 8. 24th chapter of Genesis, verses 7 and 8. The Lord Abram is speaking, the Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me and that swear unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land. He shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this thy oath. Only bring not my son thither again. Down to verse 51. Reading verses 51 to 58. Behold, Rebekah is before thee. Take her and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the Lord hath spoken. And it came to pass that when Abram's servant heard their words, he worshipped the Lord, abowing himself to the earth. And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah. He gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things. And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night. And they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master. And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten. After that she shall go. And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prepared my way. Send me away, that I may go to my master. And they said, We will call the damsel, and inquire at her mouth. And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. Verse 61 And Rebekah arose, and her damsels. And they rode upon the camels, and followed the man. And the servant took Rebekah, and went his way. And Isaac came from the way of the well Lehiroi, for he dwelt in the south country. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and behold the camels were coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. For she had said unto the servant, What man is this, that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master. Therefore she took a veil, and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent. And took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. Now, in the New Testament, three scriptures, quite short. The first one in the second epistle to the Corinthians. The second epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 11, just verses 2 and 3. The apostle is writing to the assembly in Corinth, and to all the saints in Achaia. For I am jealous over you, with godly jealousy. For I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Ephesians chapter 5, verses 25 to 32. Ephesians 5, verses 25 to 32. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. That he might present it to himself, a glorious church. Not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. But that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh. But nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church. For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery. But I speak concerning Christ and the church. Finally, in the Revelation, chapter 19, verses 5 to 9. Revelation 19, verses 5 to 9. And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of saints. And he said unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. Thus far, the word of God. There won't be any surprise to you if I say that the thought I have before me tonight is the bride of Christ. Now, that's a vast subject, and we cannot deal with it all. But what I do want to speak about is God's purpose in the assembly. The scriptures that we've read give us a fairly clear indication, a very clear indication, I think, of what that is. God's purpose in the assembly. I'm not going to be looking at the bride herself particularly, although that may come into it as we go along. But my thought is God's side of things rather than ours, although we cannot leave that out altogether. If you want to know what the bride of Christ is like, study the 21st chapter of Revelation and the first five verses of chapter 22. We're not going there this afternoon. There was an address on that given from this platform April 2006 by our brother Jeffrey Brett. He spoke on the bride of Christ and the effect of what she's going to be then on what she should be now in the interim. I'm sure that if anyone missed that lecture, tapes or recordings will be available. We read, first of all, from the second chapter of Genesis, which gives us a pattern. You say, well, how can you apply this to the church? It doesn't mention the church in the second of Genesis or the 24th if it comes to that. Why are you linking this with the church? Well, the very fact that in the scripture we read in Ephesians that Paul quotes so fully from the passage we read here, I think entitles us to apply this pattern that we have in the second of Genesis as being a pattern of the church, the bride of Christ. Let's set the scene, first of all. The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden. This was a paradise. Eden means paradise. And you would find it very profitable to look up the mentions of paradise in the Scriptures and link them together. But this was what God created in this world for His pleasure. And it's planted eastward. Planted eastward, looking towards the sun rising. And that surely reminds us that it was planted for the glory of God. The heavens declare the glory of the Lord. The glory of God comes from the east. And in a coming day, in a millennial day, when the glory of God returns to His temple here in this world, the glory comes from the east. And so here it is. This garden, this pleasure ground, this paradise that was planted here in this world was not only for man's pleasure and man's fulfillment, it was for God's glory. And He provided in this paradise absolutely everything that was needful. The creation is really described in chapter 1, but chapter 2 fills in the detail of it. You get Adam and you get Eve, both created in chapter 1, but this gives us a little bit better understanding, not better, I shouldn't use that word, a little fuller understanding of what was involved. There was everything here by way of food. There was a river which divided into four and would provide irrigation for the whole world. And God's thoughts of blessing have always been for the whole world. Now there is a particular portion for the church and it's that that we're going to look at this afternoon, but don't let's ever forget that God's provision of blessing gives you a universal blessing. And that's going to be seen, not only in the millennium, but in the new creation. But we come to verse 18. And God said, it is not good that man should be alone. There was Adam, he had everything that he needed. He was in charge, we might say. God brought the animals to him and whatever name Adam gave them, that was their name. And that had God's authority. Adam was able to do that, but amongst all those creatures, there was nothing that could really respond to Adam, intellectually, physically, or emotionally. There was nothing there that was a help meet for him. And it was God who said that, Adam didn't say it. Adam didn't say, I would rather like to have somebody to share. No. God said it is not good for man to be alone. Now, we can understand that if we're speaking about Adam. We struggle to understand it if we're thinking about the Lord and his church. We just take it that in the purpose of God, he wanted for the Lord Jesus Christ to have by his side in eternity one who was fit to occupy a place with him. We know, of course, from scriptures like, his delights were with the sons of men. We know that that thought was ever there from eternity past. But here's a nice picture of what it is and what it meant to Adam. And God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam. And while he was in that deep sleep, he took a bone out of him, a rib, and he made it into a woman and brought her unto the man. Can you imagine what Adam thought when God brought Eve to him, which he did? But you see, Adam had first to fall into a deep sleep. And this surely is the picture of the Lord Jesus giving himself for the church, of which we read in Ephesians 5, we'll come to that. That deep sleep was needful, that the woman could be taken out of the man and that there could be a help meet for him. And there she was in all her beauty, in all her purity, in all her perfection. And God brought her to Adam. And this is just a picture in innocence. This is just a picture of what we have in Revelation 19 when the church, the assembly, and all its perfection at that time is going to be brought to Christ. It's not our purpose this afternoon to speak about family relationships, but here in verse 24 is God's basis for the family. We cannot pass over that verse without just saying that. God's basis for the family. A man and a woman, and the man leaves his father and mother. Now, those words of course stretch forward. Adam never had a father, did he? But those words stretch forward. This is God's basis of marriage. A man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh. Words that we read again in the epistle to the Ephesians. God's basis for marriage. It means, it implies, doesn't it, that you get another family unit, that the man and the woman are another family unit. And that also implies that marriage is for adults. Let's pass on to chapter 24. Chapter 24. We read what were really Abram's instructions to his servant, who we know from another chapter was called Eliezer, although I don't think he's named in this one. But we know he was called Eliezer. And God gave Adam, Abraham, I'm sorry, Abraham, gave his servant very clear directions. What is the meaning of that, those verses 7 and 8? The bride for Isaac. This is what's involved. A bride for Isaac. And a bride from Canaan where Abram and Isaac were living wouldn't do. No, it must come from Abram's kindred. So the servant is sent back to Mesopotamia to take a bride. Why? Why? Because this involves the idea of calling. This involves the idea of blessing. Those who lived in Canaan were descended from Ham. And Ham received a curse. Genesis chapter 9. Whereas Shem received a blessing. And Abram and all Abram's family including his brothers, including Terah his father, they're all descended from Shem. And the bride for Isaac must come from the tribe of Shem. From the tribe that had been blessed. And the bride for Christ must be one who has been blessed. This world has nothing to offer. It brings in the thought of the calling and the blessing of the bride of Christ. That is why when we read Ephesians 1 verse 3, we read that we're blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Never underestimate the height of the blessings into which we're brought. Both individually and as part of the bride of Christ. That's the first point. There is the calling of the bride. The second point is that Isaac must not go back. Isaac had been received as it were from the dead in figure. And Isaac must not go back to that place where they had come from. And this surely is just a picture of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ has been here once in this world. He has been down into the depths of death. He's risen again. And when he said, I will build my church, it's not that he's coming back now to build it. The Holy Spirit is doing it. He's carrying on that work even now. And surely Eliezer, Abram's servant, is a very vivid picture of the Holy Spirit in what he says and what he does. Because if you read this, we didn't have time to read the chapter all through, but if you read it all through, you see that Eliezer speaks and acts as Abram would if Abram had been there himself. He acts with absolute authority. Of course, the Holy Spirit is not a servant. The Holy Spirit is God, but that presses the likeness even further because we read in Romans 8 towards the end, God knows the mind of the Spirit. Not the Spirit knows the mind of God, but God knows the mind of Spirit, of the Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is God. And everything that he does, he does as God. And he is working in the world today, drawing out and building Christ's church. Well, in Genesis 24, we get the picture. We see that all persons of the Godhead are involved in this picture. There's Abram, there's Isaac, and there is the servant. We can see these three standing for pictures of the Godhead, three persons in one. When we come to verse 53, the bride must be brought into a suitable condition for Isaac. The servant brings forth jewels, their gifts, jewels of silver, jewels of gold and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah. Now, there is a meaning to all these things, which we'll look at in a minute. But this, I think, constitutes a betrothal. This isn't marriage yet. This is a betrothal. And this corresponds to the state that the bride of Christ is in at the moment. It was customary in those days, it was in the days of the children of Israel, and no doubt it was beforehand, for gifts to be given. And the gift of silver or something like that would mark the betrothal of the woman to the man. But, of course, these things have a spiritual meaning too. Jewels of silver, of course, makes us think of redemption. The redemption money, Exodus 30, verses 11 to 16. And the bride of Christ has been purchased with a price. Not with corruptible things like silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Yes, the price has been paid in full, never needs to be paid again. Can I just pause at this point? I've been speaking as though we all know the power of the saving blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, but I wonder if that's a wise assumption. Can I just say that if you put your faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary, faith in God and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and his finished work, you will be saved. There is redemption for all who put their trust in that finished work of Calvary. The shed blood figured by the jewels of silver. There are jewels of gold, now that speaks of divine righteousness. Because we're brought, when we're saved, we're brought into a state where we're fit for God. We are made righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a scripture that I pause every time I read it, it's so vivid. He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made, what? The righteousness of God in him. And you and I are endowed with the righteousness of God the moment we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only so, but she had raiment given her. Raiment, of course, speaks of, I suppose, garments of salvation. But I think it may also mean, as a little stage further, putting on Christ. Putting on Christ. Romans 13, verse 14. Not only do we accept salvation, but there should come a point in our Christian lives where we put on Christ. Not only was Rebecca given these things as a mark of the betrothal between her and Isaac, but the family also were given precious things. And I really believe, and I'll say that from this platform, that I really believe that the families of believers are often blessed. They often receive blessings that perhaps they do not know the source of. God is gracious, and God can give to the family precious things. He did here, and so it is for the believer. Well now, so here is Rebecca. She is what we would call today, she is engaged. What next? Well, no doubt in those days, certainly it was the case among the Jews later and among Middle Eastern nations generally, there was normally a fair length of time between the engagement and the actual marriage itself. That's not a strange idea to us today, is it? There usually is. I think, it's a long time ago, but I think we're engaged for about a year, Margaret and I, because financial things come into it, and there are all kinds of things. But it was normal perhaps for the engagement to last a little while before the marriage itself. And so I think the request of the family, let Rebecca stay here 10 months, 10 days, 10 months, 10 years, whatever, it was not altogether surprising from a human point of view. But the servant, he wanted to complete his business. And so they asked Rebecca, what do you say? And she says, I'll go. Isn't that a remarkable case of faith? This young woman who'd heard about Isaac, but all she had really to go on was the word of this one man, previously a stranger to her, and she says, I will go. But what an example this is to us, isn't it, of faith. Because you see, for us, when we come to the Lord Jesus Christ, now the wedding, the marriage supper of the Lamb is a little way ahead yet, we're not there yet. But for us, what we have is the wilderness journey. And this is where we should be occupying ourselves, traveling through the wilderness of this world, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and thinking of the things of Christ. The Mesopotamia should have no more attraction for us. We are physically in it, it's true. But we have to leave it behind and set out on that journey, indwelt by the Holy Spirit who dwells in each believer and in the assembly, on that journey to meet the bridegroom. Rebecca has no doubt, and she sets out. At the conclusion, Isaac is waiting. Rebecca takes a veil and covers herself. But Isaac is waiting. And Isaac is a study, we haven't time to talk about Isaac, but Isaac is a study in himself. If you want to know about sonship, study the life of Isaac. And just one thing to point out here, here he is by the well Lehi-Roy. And in the next chapter, years afterwards, he's still living there by that well. And the name of the well means the name of the one who lives and who sees me. Now that is the position of sonship. Living in the light of the presence of God. The one who lives and who sees me. That's where Isaac lived. I just want to note before we move to the New Testament, that Isaac loved Rebecca. You probably all know that that is the second mention of love in the scripture. The first one is the love of Abraham for Isaac. The love of the father for the son. And here is the love of, pictured, the love of Christ for his church. Now the source is the love of the father for his son. Now that's another subject. But it is true that our blessings come to us because, in the first instance, because of the love of the father for the son. And then we get the fact that Christ loved his church. But before we go into Ephesians, let's just look for a moment at that scripture we read in 2 Corinthians 11. I said that we're moving away from types now. That we're moving into reality, into our own position only. And I said that we are, as it were, in the time of betrothal. And this is the figure that the apostle takes up in writing to the Corinthians and to the saints in Achaia. Now I say that, it sounds long-winded, but that is how the epistle is addressed. And it gives me confidence to say that these things apply to us not only in a general way, as part of the assembly of Christ, but to us individually. And we each have to take note of these injunctions. The apostle says, I am jealous, with a godly jealousy. I have espoused you to one husband, and I present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. That is the objective. That as Eve was brought in all her innocence and purity to Adam, so the assembly, in all its redeemed purity, is going to be brought to Christ. And this is the desire of the apostle, that these things might be a reality. The purity of the assembly might be maintained. And his fear is that they could be spoilt by deception. Satan is always anxious to deceive. He deceived our earliest parents that he hasn't changed his tactics. He distorts. He may not deny something God has said, but he will do his best to either leave a part out or to add a bit to distort it in some way. And the apostle is anxious lest any of them should be beguiled through the wiliness of Satan. Satan has always sought to spoil God's fair creation, and that is his objective still. And if he can stumble you or me and turn us aside from the pathway of faith or give us some strange and erroneous idea about the Lord Jesus and about what he wants from us, he will have achieved his objective. A solemn warning, these two verses. We can be led astray in doctrine. We can be led astray in affection. The affection that should be in our hearts by way of response to the Lord Jesus and his great love to us. Now, if Satan can get us to doubt that love, he's again achieved his objective. If he can get us to doubt that Christ loves us, he loved us, gave himself for us, and he loves us today and will love us forever. And if he can get us to doubt that all things work together for those who love God, then he's achieved his objective. And the warning here is plain. Now, we must go on to Ephesians. The time is running away. I think we started promptly, but the clock goes faster. Now, in Ephesians, again, here, it's the church I'm going to speak about. There's much that we can talk about in Ephesians chapter 5 to do with family relationships, which doubtless would be profitable. But we must leave that, otherwise we shan't finish. In any event, I think it's a subject that needs taking up and it needs taking up seriously, honestly, by those who know that of which they speak and by those who live practical lives that enable them to minister on this topic. I'm sorry, I'm going to say this. You know, as brethren, we talk a lot about impersonal things and we love to talk about assembly things and assembly truth, and quite right too. I won't hear a word said against it. But if we have a fault, I think we've been a little bit remiss in our teaching on family relationships, what a Christian marriage is, what a Christian family is, and how each person fits into the family and fits into the assembly. But not this afternoon. Now, we speak of Christ and the church. Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. I've said this several times already, but do we understand that that love came first? Just as when a man asks a woman to marry her, it is to be hoped that he loves her before he asks her. Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. That love, it was, which was in his heart, that moved him, that caused him to give himself. We read of God loving the world. We read of Christ loving his own, John 13, verse 1. And we read of him loving the assembly. Now, this love caused him to give himself, that is, completely and fully. This answers to the deep sleep that Adam passed through. The Lord Jesus Christ went through death in reality. He plumbed death to its very depths. He yielded up himself upon the cross. He gave himself for it. He might sanctify it and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. There are two things there. One is past, one is present. He has sanctified it. He's put it aside for himself. But then there is that daily washing. You might call it sanctifying, but let's be clear that it is sanctified once and for all. And then there is the daily washing of water by the word. Now again, this is an individual truth as well as a collective truth. It's speaking here of the assembly, but if you are part of that assembly, then he does this for you too individually. The washing of water by the word, the cleansing, the removal of everything that is defiling, everything that would offend, everything that's out of keeping. And that's a daily process. Corresponds to the washing of the feet, I suppose, in John chapter 13. But he has an object in view in all this doing that he might present it to himself. A glorious church. Not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. This is speaking of the time when he presents it to himself. But earlier in this epistle, there is a reference, of course, to the church growing up unto him in all things. When will that be? Well, I think the thing here is in verse 27 that he might present it to himself, a glorious church. And this is what he will do. This is what he will do when we come to the marriage supper of the Lamb. But what is the condition now? If Christ is undertaking all this work on our behalf, shouldn't we be in a state that corresponds to what he is doing? His objective is that he might be able to present to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. The closing verses of the chapter we perhaps don't need to spend too much time on because we have mentioned already that we are members of the body of Christ. We are bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh. We sang that in the opening hymn. That wasn't just something the hymn writer thought up. It's clear in the scripture. It's difficult for our human minds to understand it, but it is true that we are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones. That is, we are made the same as he is in the sight of God. Difficult to understand? We don't need to understand it. We need to accept it as the truth of the word of God. For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and here we have it again. And the apostle says this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. There is a double meaning in this passage, as we said at the start. It does have a practical application to Christian families, but it's also a picture of Christ and his assembly and how wonderful it is that God the Holy Spirit, in causing this word to be written, could actually use the institution of marriage set up by God as a picture of the assembly and his church. It's difficult to speak of one without speaking of the other, but we have to distinguish what refers to the assembly of Christ. Now let's turn for the last few minutes to Revelation. Not very much said about the marriage supper of the Lamb. There are only a few verses. As I said at the outset, if we want to know about the bride of Christ, what is she like, we turn to Revelation 21. But here she is in a fit condition to be presented to the Lord Jesus Christ. At this point, this is not now, this is after the rapture of the church. First thing to happen is that the Lord is going to take all his own to be with himself in the glory. After that comes the judgment seat of Christ where you and I will stand before him, not to be judged for our sins, but to receive his assessment of our life. I remember our brother, Mr. Fred Petman, who's been with the Lord a good many years now, used to say, you and I will be glad that that is so, that everything is cleared before we enter into the joyful presence of the Lord Jesus. There'll be nothing to be brought up again. It's all been gone through, it's all been settled. And we will be at ease in his sight. And we shall be at ease. And everything, I think it's not only individual sins we've committed, I think it's the course of our life that will be gone through. What has the course of my life been? How much has been for Christ? And how much for myself? Where have I given my attention, my talents, my energies such as they are? These are the things that will be gone through at that judgment seat and they will be settled before we enter into the joy of the Lord. That will have happened. There will have been many things happening on this earth. There will have been judgments. There will have been judgments poured out on the earth, the seals, the trumpets, the vials poured out. All these things have taken place on this earth. And something else has just taken place at this point and that is the judgment of that which is false in the professing church. And Revelation 17 and 18 are taken up very largely with the judgment of something referred to as Babylon. Not quite the same as the Babylon of Genesis chapter 11, but a false professing worldly company that has nothing whatever, has no correspondence at all with the true bride of Christ. And at the beginning of chapter 19, the false church, and I call it the false church for want of a better name, call it Babylon if you like, it has been judged. And this means that the way is now open for worship. And verse 4, the living creatures and the 4 and 20 elders fall down and worship God that sat on the throne of men. Hallelujah! And praise God all ye His servants and ye that fear Him both small and great. And in verse 6 we learn that the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Every enemy has been put down. The false church Babylon has been judged. Now the way is open for God to take up His power and to reign over this world which He will do through the Lord Jesus Christ. But first, first there must be the marriage supper of the Lamb. The marriage of the Lamb is come and His wife hath made herself ready. I think that refers to the process I've just spoken of. The judgment seat of Christ. The wife, the bride, the wife is now ready. There's no hindrance now. And she's going to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. And that represents the righteousnesses of saints. I think this takes us a stage beyond the fine linen that we had in Genesis 24. That is all there as well. Fitness because of the redemption that is ours. The garments of salvation. Putting on Christ. That is all there. But here is something else now that can appear for the first time. Our own righteousnesses. And that is counted as fine linen. And so, the bride here is presented. And the marriage supper of the Lamb can take place. We don't get a description of it exactly. But we are told that blessed are they who are called to it. That's not the bride. They are the guests. Those who look on with a loving interest. And these are the true sayings of God. Others will see the marriage supper. And the marriage supper of the Lamb is an answer to all the Lord's work on earth. He is going to have for himself a bride in glory. One fit to be with him. One without spot, blemish, any such thing. One by his side forever. In time and in eternity. The first eight verses of Revelation 21 speak of the bride in her eternal state. And she's still referred to as a bride. But during the following verses, where it says in verse 9, come and see the bride, the Lamb's wife. That is at the outset of the millennial age. Unchanging. Unchanging. This is the bride of Christ. One fit to be with him. Well now, the midnight cry has gone out. Behold the Bridegroom. Go ye forth to meet him. How does this call of the Holy Spirit appeal to our hearts? And how does it affect our response to the Lord Jesus Christ? Behold the Bridegroom. Right, we'll sing a closing hymn. I hope there are some French people here The audience, number 498, verses 2, 3 and 4. Thee shall we contemplate, gaze on thy face adoring, Saviour and Bridegroom Lord, beauty supreme above. Verses 2, 3 and 4 only, 498. Thee shall we contemplate, gaze on thy face adoring, Saviour and Bridegroom Lord, beauty supreme above. Sound in the silence, measureless voice exploring, heights of thy fearless grace, depths of thy boundless love. Heights of thy fearless grace, depths of thy boundless love. Jesus, from Thee alone, borrowing my translator, Thou, Thou of righteousness, lending Thine austerous grace, aid in Thy prides ever, through the long years which blend, knowledge immaculate, Thine unperfectionate. knowledge immaculate, Thine unperfectionate. Thus with the contemplate, hell of thy hasty longing, hell of thine unsworn, love of thy wondrous love, there with Thy mercy love, Thou wilt rejoice in me, rest in triumphant love, sing for joy all of us, rest in triumphant love, sing for joy all of us. …

… Could we commence this service, this time tonight, with the singing the hymn 438. How wonderful that thou the Son has come and here for us a son of man has died. Our sins were laid on thee thou didst become, salvation's rock when thou was crucified and faith perceives thy finished work the rest where love well known yet passing human thought has set our feet as those thy love has blessed. We praise and worship by thy spirit taught 438. How wonderful that thou the Son has come and here for us a son of man has died. Our sins were laid on thee thou didst become, salvation's rock when thou was crucified and faith perceives thy finished work the rest where love well known yet passing human thought has set our feet as those thy love has blessed. We praise and worship by thy spirit taught 439. To thee, O Lord, we bring a note of praise. To thee who bore for us the cross of shame. What grief thou knewest in all the day of days when curse and death upon thee the victim came. How great thy grace, no mind on that can grasp. The love told, O dear, suffering on the tree. Love that has gathered now within his cross. Those once far off but now brought home to thee. How wonderful that thou made manifest in the ear's fullness. Told, sir, that the heart touched when a kindness finds in thee its rest. And lost in thee, but o'er it knows its past. Best to us, thou in rich unmeasured grace, and us to maintain more and more revealed. Called forth from ev'ry mouth thy endless praise, and willingly lift their hearts and homage yield. Amen. I'd like to read a few verses from John's Gospel, the first chapter and into the second chapter. John's Gospel, chapter one, and we begin at verse 29. The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him and said, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said he cometh after me. After me cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he was before me. And I knew him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bear record saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and it abode upon him. And I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him. The same is he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bear record that this is the Son of God. Again the next day after John stood and two of his disciples and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said, Behold the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him speak and follow Jesus. Then Jesus turned and saw them following and said unto them, What seek ye? They say unto him, Rabbi, which is to say, be an interpreted master, where dwellest thou? And he said unto them, Come and see. And they came and saw where he dwelt and abode with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 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 said 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. The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee and find Philip and said unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael and said unto him, We have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and he said unto him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. Nathanael said unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and said unto him, Rabbi, thou art the son of God, thou art the king of Israel. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou, thou shalt see greater things than these. And he said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. Chapter two, verse one. And the third day there was a marriage in Canaan of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus said unto him, They have no wine. Jesus said unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. His mother said unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six water pots of stone, after the manner of purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus said unto them, Fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he said unto them, Draw out now and bear unto the governor of the feast, and they bear it. When the rulers of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine and knew not whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew, the governor of the feast called the bridegroom and said unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine. And when men have well drunken, then that which is worse, for thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Canaan of Galilee manifest his glory, and his disciples believed on him. Those of you who had the privilege of being with us in November, we had a conference over the Saturday and the Lord's Day where we looked up the subject of the dispensations. I know that this is a subject that many in Christendom do not see. Many of the Lord's people, truly the Lord's, do not see. But we, in that time together, I think we clearly saw that there is a truth and there is something real about these dispensations. We saw that under the law, under the period of time when Moses was here, that God acted towards his people in a different way to which he acts towards us now. Then it was a question of law. Then it was a question of do and live. At this present moment, it's a question of looking at the one who has lived and follow him. And so it's a day of grace and not of law. And we had some very interesting topics on the question of these dispensations. Not only do we get the dispensations in the Old Testament, but we get them in picture form. And I believe in the New Testament, we also get little pictures that God shows us what is about to come to pass. One of these such things is a very well-known time in the life of the Lord Jesus when he healed and when he rose a person from the dead. Those of you who will remember the story, and perhaps most of us have heard it from our Sunday school days, the story of Jairus. Jairus comes to the Lord Jesus and he says to him, he's a ruler of the synagogue, he says, my daughter is about to die. And you know, that is the condition of the nation of Israel when the Lord Jesus was here. That nation of Israel was about to die and the real death knell came when the nation crucified the Son of God. And the Lord Jesus says he will go to Jairus's house. But in the meantime, this woman with the issue of blood comes and in her faith and in her need, she touches Jesus and she is made whole. And the Lord Jesus says those words, thy faith has saved thee. And you know, that is what marks the present day in which we live in. We live in a day which is marked by men and women who in simple faith put forth their hand and touch Jesus, put forth our hand and accept him. And that's what we see in the story of the woman with the issue of blood. But then we find that the messenger comes, that the daughter is dead. And as we look at Israel at this moment, as far as their response to God would come, he not put over it, they are dead. But the Lord Jesus goes with Jairus. And you know, there's a day coming when the Lord Jesus will once again take up the nation of Israel and Israel will be brought into blessing. And the words from the apostle Paul writing to the Romans, he says, all Israel shall be saved. And so Israel is going to come into tremendous blessing. And I want to suggest that what we have in these verses here that we've read is a little picture of what is happening today, a little picture of what is going to happen and a picture that will take place when there is tremendous blessing, not only over the nation of Israel, but over the whole world. And I want to link that with these three days. Now, in order to point out these three days, as many people will find different days, but I'm going to suggest that here we have three days and we're going to start at the back end. And we're going to say that the third day is listed in chapter two. We find there that it's the third day. And when you read in the scriptures, various statements, let us not, let us not just think they're there haphazardly because I firmly believe, and I can support this from first Corinthians chapter two, that every single word that is in the scriptures is there for a reason and for a purpose. The Spirit of God never wrote a word just to fill in the gap, just to make the numbers up. If you're writing an essay or a letter, some of you will have to write so many words, and you will put add words and take words away. But when the Spirit of God led John, everything that he said was as he needed it. And here it says the third day. And I believe that we can see in this the third day, that glorious period of time when the Lord Jesus will be in control, when the Lord Jesus will reign, and there will be that wine which speaks so clearly of joy. But then in verse 43, we have the day following. And I want to suggest that this is the second day. And this is a day which is marked by the calling of certain to him, and particularly Nathanael. And Nathanael's words to the Lord Jesus is given, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel. And there is a day coming when the nation of Israel, according to Zechariah, is it chapter 13, will look upon him whom they have pierced, and they will realize that the Son of God, the one that they crucified, was the Messiah. And they will say as Nathanael said here, you're the Son of God, you're the King of Israel. But there's another day, and that's this first day which is recorded on two occasions, in verse 29, the next day, and in verse 35, again the next day. And I would like to suggest that there is a time that is marked by the present day in which we live. Here is a day which is marked by, first of all, the Lord Jesus being held up as the one who is the Saviour of sinners. He's marked out as the one who is the Lamb of God. And as a result, there are those who are attracted to him, and they go to him, and are with him. And not only are they with the Lord Jesus, but as a result of being with him, there is an evangelical fervor, and there are those that are going out with the gospel as we see in the story of Andrew. But having said that, there are two points, two ways I want to tackle these verses. First of all, is to point out the greatness and the glories of the Lord Jesus. And I suppose that is the most important thing when we come to Scripture, to see something of the greatness of the Lord Jesus. But then, there is a practical effect, that we have to look at our own lives, and say, are our lives consistent with the ministry and with the truth that we have before us? And when we talk about our own selves, and when we talk about things which are practical, they maybe are going to hurt us, they maybe are going to make us say, I need to adjust my life, I need to change around, I need to do things different. Well, that would be a result of the Spirit of God speaking to you tonight. But when we come to these opening verses, and we want to speak a little bit about the greatness of the Lord Jesus. You will note that John, and of course it is John the Baptist, he says in verse 29, the next day John sees Jesus coming to him and said, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Two points here that I would like to point out. First of all, he is the Lamb of God. Those of you who have been reading through your Bibles will know in the 22nd chapter of Genesis, we have a tremendous story mentioned by a brother this afternoon, as the first occasion of the mention of love. There we see Abraham taking his son Isaac to offer him, and God says, Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest. A clear picture of, as it says in John's epistle, the Father sent the Son. And as they are going up the mountain, Isaac says, Father, here is the wood and the fire, but where is the Lamb for the burnt offering? And you know we very often misquote the next verse, and we say God will provide a Lamb for the burnt offering. But we miss a little word out, because whether you read the authorised version, or JND, or modern translations, it will say God will provide Himself a Lamb for the burnt offering. And you know the first thing, when we look at the Lord Jesus, He was here as God's Lamb. He was here as the one that was going to fulfill all God's pleasure, and all God's delight was going to be fulfilled, and was fulfilled in the Lord Jesus. And so very often we like to say that He was our Lamb. In the Exodus chapter 12, we read there about every man shall take his Lamb, but here we're looking at the Lord Jesus as God's Lamb. And what did God's Lamb do? It says here, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. We've got to be careful, we mustn't add words, we mustn't even add letters which are not in the original. And here it definitely says He takes away the sin of the world. It doesn't say He takes away the sins of the world. If you were to read in John's epistle, I think it's chapter 3, we read there, 1st epistle chapter 3, For this reason was the Son of God manifest, in that He might take away our sins. And as far as believers, He took away our sins. And you know what a wonderful thing it is to know that every sin that we've committed has been taken away through the work of the Lord Jesus, and through His shed in His precious blood. But here, He takes away the sin He takes away the sin. Sin is the root, sins are the fruit. And as far as sin is concerned, it is never forgiven. We read in Romans chapter 8 that it was condemned. The Lord Jesus bore the judgment, He condemned sin. Because when sin entered into this world, it was an affront to the holiness and to the righteousness of God. And it came as a dishonor to God. But the fact that the Lord Jesus came into this world, the one who was able and willing to take away sin, that brought honor to the glory of God. And so John sees the Lord Jesus here. He's the Lamb of God. And in this verse, it's what He is for God. But then John says, and another point that brings out something of the greatness of this person, the Lord Jesus. John says in the next verse, He was before me. Theologians might look at that and say, John, you got it wrong. Because if you read Luke chapter 1, you will realize that you were at least six months older than Jesus. Well, that is absolutely true as far as the life of the Lord Jesus here. John was born six months, we believe, beforehand. But John is here making a statement, a clear statement that leads us to believe and leads us to clearly get hold of that the Lord Jesus is God. And I believe that this statement speaks of His deity. The next statement we're going to look at would speak of His manhood. But as far as His deity is concerned, He was before John. And however far back in time we go, He was there. We could read the first few verses of John, in the beginning was the Word. He was there. But not only was He there as the Word, He was there as the Son. And this is vital. And this is important. Because we could glance our mind back in the first chapter, chapter 18, and in the first chapter, verse 18, no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. Why is it that we make it vital that we believe and we hold that the Lord Jesus was Son in a past eternity, is the very fact that if we don't have a Son in a past eternity, we don't have a Father in a past eternity, and we don't have the revelation of the Father. But He was one who was before. He existed before. Because He was God. Because He is God. And He existed as the Son. And as coming into manhood, He was able to reveal everything that was in the heart of the Father. Because He dwelt in that heart. And He is always there. He was there in a past eternity. He was there when He was upon the cross. And He will be there in a coming eternal day. And so here we have John speaking this Word, which I believe emphasizes His deity. But the next little point that I want to bring out is in verse 33, when John sees the Spirit as a dove, and it descends and it remains upon him. In Genesis chapter 8, we find that Noah, the ark is resting on the mountains of Ararat, and we see that Noah releases the raven. And the raven flies off and found plenty to satisfy it. But the dove, it goes out of the ark and it comes back into the ark, and it says in the chapter, it found no rest for the sole of its foot. And you go through the Old Testament, and you'll never find the dove resting. You'll never find a reference to the dove sitting. Why? Because there was nothing in that scene which was satisfying to the heart of God. There was nothing here that would brought pleasure to God. But here was a man in which the dove could rest upon. And the dove could rest upon him, because this man was absolutely holy. This man was absolutely perfect. Listen to what the apostles say about the Lord Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 5, 21, the apostle Paul, the intelligent man, the man that was brought up under the feet of Gamaliel, he says he knew no sin. The apostle Peter, 1 Peter 2, 22, the man that was always doing things, the man that says on one occasion, I go fishing, he says of Jesus, he did no sin. And John, in 1 John 3, 5, the man that leant on the bosom of the Lord Jesus, he could say, in him sin is not. The perfection of this man, the Lord Jesus, is something that is wonderful. And it is something that makes us make us bow in worship as we meditate upon him. That not only was he God manifest in flesh, but as a perfect man down here, he was absolutely sinless. And you know, we needed both in order for our salvation. We needed one to come from a different sphere. We needed one to be absolutely sinless. And we have that person in the Lord Jesus himself. And then we come to a practical word to each one of us. Because in verse 35, looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said, behold, the Lamb of God. I want to ask you a simple question here tonight. Have you ever looked upon the Lord Jesus as he walked? Well, you might say there were only a few that had that privilege. The writer of this very gospel was one. He could write in his letter to, in 1 John, he says, that which was from the beginning, which we have seen. They actually saw him moving through this scene. We cannot see the Lord Jesus through the eyes that we have, through these literal eyes, but we can through the eyes of faith. And I wonder how often we have sat down. We're all very busy. We've got so much in our lives to do. The young people, they've got lots to do. They've got lots to see. How often have we sat down and read through the life of the Lord Jesus and looked at the Lord Jesus as he walked? I think it would do us all very good if on a Saturday evening, we sat down in our quiet and we would read through one of the gospels. It will only take us an hour and a half to read through Mark, a little longer for the other gospels. But what an effect it would have upon us when we gather on the Lord's day morning, in order that we have something in our hearts that we can bring and offer. You know, in the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 16 verse 16, we read there that God says, all the males have come before me three times a year. And he says, not any of them are to come before me empty. And the challenge to my heart and to the brothers here, and the sisters as well, can take part in this exercise when we gather together to remember him on the Lord's day morning. Have we got something that we can bring? Have we got something that we've gleaned on the life of the Lord Jesus? Because here, John had looked upon him as he walked and what was the result? He could say, behold the Lamb of God. There was worship, not at this time, not at this moment, linking his work, but it was his person that was before him. And what a wonderful thing it is and what an exercise and a challenge it is to us to have the Lord Jesus before us as we gather to remember him in his death. And then we have these disciples, they leave John and they follow the Lord Jesus and the Lord Jesus raises a question. And the question is a simple question and he said to those disciples, what seek ye? May I ask you that question tonight? What are you seeking? Young people, what are you seeking? Old people, what are you seeking? You know, the chances are, it has been said that if you're young enough and you seek hard enough, you will get whatever you seek for. The story is told of a pastor who went to a new church and in order to introduce himself and in order to see what the congregation was like, he said, I would like you to do something for me. I want you to write on a sheet of paper, which is on your chair, 10 things that you would like to be. And they soon began with a pen to write and in order to help them, he suggested a few things which they might like. He said, there are some here who might like a big house. You might like a four bedroom detached house. And some of them scribbled that down. He said, there are perhaps there are others here who are looking forward to having a big car. And they wrote that down. And then perhaps there's you here who would like the yacht you could spend your weekends on. And they carried on writing. When they had finished writing, he said, I would like you now to draw a line at the other side of the piece of paper and put a tick beside each one that was true of the Lord Jesus. Did he have a house? Nowhere to lay his head. The challenge comes to each one of us, dear friends. What are we seeking? Are we seeking fame? Are we seeking something in this world? Are we seeking something that will make us great? Because here the question was raised, what are you seeking? And these disciples, and these disciples, they said, where dwellest thou? You know, dear friends, where does the Lord Jesus dwell? We would all put our hands up and say, yes, he dwells in heaven. Well, first that's the apostle Paul. Where does the Lord Jesus dwell? He will tell you, set your affection on things above Colossians one, Colossians three, verse one, where Christ dwelleth. The Lord Jesus is in heaven and our affections and our heart should be set upon that man. And how do we set our affections upon him? It's by getting ourselves steeped in the word of God. It's by making this word part of our life. And if we have this word before us, occupied with him where he is in glory, it will make a vice, a vast difference in our lives. And so here, these two disciples, they leave John, they come to the Lord Jesus, and it says here, well, they said, what the point is, where dwellest thou? And Jesus says, come and see. And they came and dwelt with him. And abode that day, for it was about the 10th hour. If we understand that John uses Roman time, this would be the same as our time today, 10 o'clock in the morning. What a wonderful thing it was to be able to dwell with the Lord Jesus for that day. And you know, we have that exactly the same privilege today. We can dwell with the Lord Jesus, even in our lives, as we move around in our work, in our school, in our university, whatever we're doing, we can dwell with him, be in happy communion with the Lord Jesus. And it's only as we are occupied with him that we are dwelling where he dwells in heavenly things. And what is the result? The result will be that we will want to go out and tell others. There's no good thinking that we can go out and preach the gospel and be successful if we don't really appreciate what the Lord Jesus has done for us. If I am spending my life enjoying the things of this world, I cannot tell people to come to Christ because he satisfies. The challenge is, does he satisfy me? Because if the Lord Jesus is satisfying me, and here were two disciples who was totally satisfied with the Lord Jesus, dwelling with him that day, then there is that going out, as we see with Andrew. He went out and of course, first of all, he went to his own brother. Perhaps it is the hardest sphere to witness in, is our family. Perhaps one of the hardest spheres to witness in is the workplace where we are known, the school place where we are known. The hardest place to witness, but how often in the scriptures we find that that is the first place that we need to witness in. We think of the Gadarene that was cleansed and had the demons cast out of him. The Lord Jesus says, go home and tell. So it's a good thing to go home to those that are close and near to us and to them to witness of something of the greatness of the Lord Jesus. And so we come to this day in verse 43, the day following. The Lord Jesus calls Philip. We know that there is a day coming when the Lord will rise up from the nation of Israel, those that will preach the gospel of the kingdom and that gospel will go forth and there will be those that will be brought in. And yet here we see Nathaniel and what is marked by Nathaniel is first of all, unbelief. He looked at Nazareth and he says, can any good thing come out of Nazareth? And you know, this world despises the Lord Jesus. It still does today and it will do in that day. And these cities of Nazareth, you know, Nathaniel should have known something about these cities. These are the cities that are mentioned, I believe it's in first Kings eight, when Solomon gave Haram certain cities in Galilee and Haram looked at them and he basically says, they're an insult. I don't want them. They were not the types of cities that you would want. And yet, you know, there is a verse I will turn to it because this is the verse that Nathaniel should have known. It's in Isaiah chapter nine. And it says, the land of chapter nine. And it says the land of Zebulun, the land of Naphtali, and I've heard by the way of the sea beyond Jordan in Galilee of the nations, the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. Isaiah had already mentioned that he would come from that place in Galilee and here Nathaniel, he didn't know. How blind Nathaniel was we can say, but how blind the nation of Israel is, is that even today, they do not acknowledge, they do not see that the Lord Jesus is the Messiah. And yet, as we said at the beginning, there is a day coming according to Zechariah, when they will look upon him whom they have pierced, and they will realize that this man, this one who they crucified, in the words of Isaiah 53, we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. And the remnant will say, but he was wounded for our transgressions. And that is what Nathaniel here, he picks up a little picture of that remnant, who in that day yet to come will say, thou art the son of God, thou art the king of Israel. What a glorious time it will be when the Lord Jesus will be vindicated, when he will be owned in this world. But before we go, there's a wonderful little point about the Lord Jesus. It says, Philip, he says, this is the one which the Moses and the prophets speak about. You know, what a wonderful thing it is that as we look at the Lord Jesus, we see that he is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies. The Old Testament prophecies which deal with the fact of his birth, his virgin birth according to Isaiah 7, the very time in which he was going to be born according to Daniel 9, the very place that he was going to be born according to Micah 5, were all fulfilled in the birth of the Lord Jesus. And when we go on further and we look at his death, what a confirmation that here is the one that is God's Messiah. The number of Old Testament scriptures that were fulfilled in the death of the Lord Jesus. He indeed is the one who is the fulfillment of the prophets and what Moses said. But another point is, is that while Nathaniel was under the fig tree, the Lord Jesus saw him. We read of Zacchaeus, he was up a sycamore tree. Whether you're up a tree, whether you're under a tree or wherever you are, the Lord Jesus can see us. What a challenge this is to our pathway as we move through this scene. The Lord's all-seeing eye is upon us. And so we find that Nathaniel, typical of the nation, will say, thou art the king of Israel. They will acknowledge that he is their king and Zechariah tells us that every family will mourn apart. They will realize that the one that they crucified was the Son of God. You know, dear friends, we're in a wonderful day. We're in a day which is prior to his glory. We're in a day before the Lord Jesus will be vindicated in this world. Let not any of us here look back at this time and say, I wish I had vindicated the Lord Jesus in my life while it was the day of grace. There's a day coming when every knee will bow to him and everything will be clear. We're at this present day in the time of his rejection. Let us be faithful to the Lord Jesus. And so in the second chapter, we come to this the third day. There is reference in the book of Hosea, after two days and the third day, he will receive them up. And perhaps a reference is to this the third day when the Lord Jesus will come and will reign and when the nation of Israel will be there as those that have gone through the tribulation and those that have confessed him and will go into this, the earthly kingdom. We had brought before us already this afternoon, something of the bride of Christ, that wonderful, that unique company that we form part of, that part of that heavenly bride. But not only will there be a heavenly bride, we also know that there will be an earthly bride. And I believe we see something of that in these verses here. But there's a very practical thing that we should bring out as well as we come to the close of our time this evening. We find here that we read the mother of Jesus was there. John does not say that it was Mary. The emphasis is not upon Mary, as some would put, as the Roman Catholics would say. The emphasis is always and ever upon the Lord Jesus. Whether you're reading John or whether you're reading Matthew. Matthew, you know, he records the occasion of when the wise men came to see Jesus and they said that Mary and Jesus was there and they presented the gifts to him, not to her. The Lord Jesus is absolutely supreme. The Spirit of God makes it clear on page after page, the greatness and the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. And in verse two, we find that both Jesus and his disciples were called. If you read this in the New Translation, it says, Jesus and his disciples were invited. What was the result of their invitation? They went. And the challenge that I bring this afternoon to each one of us here, is are we prepared to invite the Lord Jesus to all our parties, to all our functions, to everything that we do? Am I prepared to invite the Lord Jesus into my home to watch what I'm watching? Am I prepared, the Lord Jesus, to come and to read what I'm reading? This is something, dear friends, that we have to challenge ourselves with. Are you prepared to invite the Lord Jesus into your innermost being? Are you prepared for him to do what you do? Many of our young people are wasting a great deal of times by watching DVDs, by watching videos, and you very well know that you wouldn't invite the Lord Jesus to be with you. You won't have your parents there, they won't have anybody else there. They're watching these things. Will we have the Lord Jesus with us at that occasion? This is a challenge. We get a bit older, and perhaps we like reading. Would we allow the Lord Jesus to read alongside us that which we are reading? This is a challenge to me. I'm sure this is a challenge to each one of us, because we find that the Lord Jesus goes to that wedding, and there he is. What a wonderful thing. Again, we could develop this thought about the Lord Jesus going to the wedding, the importance of the wedding, and we find that when they get to this wedding, they have no wine, and the woman, again, she's not mentioned as Mary, but this time in verse 4, the woman said, but this time in verse 4, the woman said, Jesus said to the woman, my hour has not yet come. She requests the Lord they have no wine, and Jesus says, my hour has not yet come. It's a good thing to study the question of the hour in John's Gospel. There are many times we read that expression. In chapter 4, the Lord Jesus says, the hour cometh and now is when the true worship shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. That hour has been going on for nearly 2,000 years. In chapter 5, we read of another hour. He says, the hour cometh and when everyone in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God. We read, too, the Lord Jesus speaking about the cross as his hour has not yet come. But here, perhaps this is the hour when the Lord Jesus will be manifested in this world, when every eye shall see him and when he will be in control. And how will the result be? The result will be blessing. But you know, the words of the mother of Jesus are very good in this verse 4. Verse 5, she says, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And you know, many of us here, we read through the scriptures. Let us not read through the New Testament and say, that is Paul or that is somebody else. The very words that the Lord, that the Apostle Paul says. On one occasion, he says, if you think you're spiritual, let him acknowledge that the words that I say unto you, they are the words of the Lord Jesus. And when we read through scriptures and we see something, we've got to take it to heart. We've got to do it. And if we want blessing in our Christian life, if we want blessing in life as a whole, we ought to take heed to the words of the Lord Jesus. And I would say that the only way that we will ever get blessing is by taking heed to what Jesus said. And the words that Mary said is whatsoever he saith, do it. You read something in the scriptures, do it, obey what he said. And the Lord Jesus says to them, he says, you've got these water pots. He says, fill them. And you know, it says they went and they filled them to the brim. The Lord never told them to fill them to the brim, but they filled them to the brim. They believed, they'd done exactly what Mary had said. Whatsoever Jesus said, they did it. And you're very often, if it was me here, and perhaps if it was you, we would have filled one fairly well. We would have filled others half up, but they filled them to the brim. You know, in the stories of Elisha, we read there are three occasions in which the measure of their faith was linked with the measure of their blessing. On one occasion, the kings were in a particularly difficult situation. There was no water. And Elisha says to them, he says, I want you to fill the valley full of ditches. And in the morning, those ditches were full of water. And how much they believed in the prophet was how much blessing they got. You read the story of the woman who had her two sons, which were sold for creditors. And Elisha says, he says, borrow vessels from your neighbors, borrow not a foo. And no doubt she went around her neighbors and she borrowed vessels. And I can still remember as a youngster watching this woman in the middle of her tent, full of jam jars, and she got that oil and she poured it. And when she came to the last jar, it ran out. Her measure of her faith was the measure of her blessing. And you know, that is true today. The measure of our faith and our trust upon the Lord Jesus will be the measure of blessing that we receive. And what a wonderful person we have here, the Lord Jesus. You know what the Lord Jesus did? It was the beginning of miracles. One brother said it was a miracle as we look at it, but for the Lord Jesus, it was something which he does every year. We live in a world which we set crops in France and Switzerland. We've seen them grow. They have grapes. What happened to them? Well, the rain comes and the farmer gets the grapes and he crushes them or takes them to the crusher and they crush them and they get the wine. After all said and done, it's water turned into wine through a process. Here we're dealing with the one who is the creator, the creator of the universe and he can turn water into wine. This world will look at these chapters and will think, what a myth, what a story. But it's absolutely true because in our very eyes, there are miracles going on in this world. And the greatest miracle, no doubt, is not in relation to creation, but it's a soul that is being saved, a soul that is being turned from darkness into his marvellous light. And so these little thoughts came before me that we might look at the Lord Jesus in all his greatness, in all his glory. And as we've seen him in this chapter, may it have a practical effect upon us that as we look upon him as he walk, something of that life that brought glory to God, that life which in every footstep he did, it was an honour to his God and to his Father. And as we live our lives down here, it's only a few days, it's only a little while before the Lord Jesus comes. Let us be certain that we're living our lives here in a way which is pleasing to him. We're just going to simply close with a hymn, number 422. God and Father, we adore thee, for the Christ, thine image bright, in him all thy holy nature dawned upon our once hopeless night. Thou didst send him as a witness of a life beyond compare. By thy Spirit we received him, knowing Christ how blessed we are. 422. God and Father, we adore thee, for the Christ, thine image bright, in him all thy holy nature dawned upon our once hopeless night. Thou didst send him as a witness of a life beyond compare. By thy Spirit we received him, knowing Christ how blessed we are. Fellowship with thee, the Father, and with Jesus Christ, thy Son, such thine own most gracious giving, by thy Spirit to each one. For in Christ was life eternal, once beheld and heard below, and in him dwelt all the fullness, though in grace he stood so low. Now in him, O God and Father, sharers of thine love are we, now partaking with thy Saviour this unceasing rest in thee. Grace divine is this outstanding, all that else the heart employs, tis the Son and Father, deigning us to live a fairer joys. …

… Could we begin by singing the hymn number 365. For the brightness of the glory, shining in the Saviour's face, telling all the blessed story of the ways of God in grace, lowly hated and rejected in the world He came to save, by the glory of the Father, raised triumphant from the grave. Number 365. For the brightness of the glory, shining in the Saviour's face, telling all the blessed story of the ways of God in grace, lowly hated and rejected in the world He came to save, by the glory of the Father, raised triumphant from the grave. Number 365. For the brightness of the glory, shining in the Saviour's face, telling all the blessed story of the ways of God in grace, lowly hated and rejected in the world He came to save, by the glory of the Father, raised triumphant from the grave. Object of the Father's pleasure, through the Father's name displayed, all the Father's will accomplished He, to death obedient from now in highest glory seated, center of the throne of God, where we see Him crowned with glory, glory in His angel face, and in peace and rest before Him, in the glory well of grace, glory shining in the face of the man who for us died, for our sins and all their judgment, Jesus Christ, the Crucified, Holy shed the Father's pleasure, in His wealthy love exult, seated on His throne in heaven, all the world, all heaven's will bond. We adore Him and are waiting to behold Him face to face, in His presence, praise and glory, and the riches of His grace. Amen. Amen. Now, could you turn, please, first of all, to Song of Solomon. Song of Solomon, chapter 2 and verse 3. As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the suns. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. Now, some verses in Leviticus, chapter 1. Verse 1. And the Lord called unto Moses and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, if any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd and of the flock. If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a meal without blemish. He shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord, and the priests, heirs and sons, shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he shall flee the burnt offering and cut it into his pieces. And the sons of Aaron, the priest, shall put fire upon the altar and lay the wood in order upon the fire. And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the parts, the head and the fat in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar. But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water, and the priests shall burn all on the altar to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord. Now next in the New Testament in the Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 2, verse 5. Hebrews 2, verse 5. Unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come of whereof we speak, but one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels, thou crownest him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet, for in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him, but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee, and again I will put my trust in him, and again behold I and the children which God hath given me. Last of all, in Titus chapter 2. Titus 2 and verse 11. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and unworldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority, let no man despise thee. Should be enough. I wonder if I'll be permitted to ask a question. Have you ever been to Scotland? I see some nods there up and down the way. If you haven't been, well you don't know what you're missing. But that's all I want to say regarding the Scottish tourist industry. But if you had lived in Scotland 3, 4, 5 centuries ago, you would have seen such a beautiful sight, a marvellous sight, especially in the highlands of Scotland, from north to south, east to west, a massive forest. It was known as the Caledonian Scotland Pine Forest. But as the name suggests, the biggest amount of trees, the bulk of the trees would be the Scots Pine. But even today, if you travel up that way, you can see little clumps here and there, which was the remnants, you might say, of that vast forest. Walking through the forest, a person who maybe lived there, or even visitors, unfortunately in those kind of days every visitor came with a spear and a sword and a gun, but it's changed a little now, but the forest has gone more or less. But if you walked through that forest, it would be the Scots Pine. And if you say you had been walking through, then all of a sudden you saw a different tree, maybe in the springtime covered in blossom, maybe in the summertime that same tree would be laden with fruit. And you would have to say that that tree is a one-off. It's absolutely unique. No other tree like it. And this is a little picture that's been painted for us in Song of Solomon. The bride here speaking of her beloved, she says of him, he's like an apple tree among the trees of the wood. We know that some have suggested, maybe the expert on these kind of things would say that it was probably a tree of the citrus variety. But nevertheless, blossom and fruit. And she compares her beloved, or not compares, we cannot compare when we speak about Christ with the world, we contrast him. But she says that her beloved was like the apple tree among the trees of the wood, and so is my beloved among the suns. The Lord Jesus Christ that we want to take from this picture, a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ as a man here, one who's been here for God's praise and glory and for our blessing. We should never forget what it costs God in sending his son into this world, and what it costs the Lord Jesus Christ in coming here and giving himself. But in that pathway down here, he brought so much pleasure to God, and when we reflect upon it, when we follow through his pathway, as we have it declared in the Gospels, we can only but see someone who is totally unique. No one has ever trod this scene like the Lord Jesus Christ. Perfect in every way. And so he was as the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the suns. Whether we think of the suns as the sons of men, from the very beginning they were marked by failure. I'm sure there were many who did so much marvelous things, and there were many of his companions, if we look on this as those who were in relationship with God, those whom God used in this world, we could think of Abraham and the patriarchs, we could think of Moses, David, Solomon, many were great servants of God, and yet we often read of things where they failed. But in contemplating this person, the Lord Jesus Christ, we look at one who never failed. Some of us last night were privileged to be at Martha O'Shuman, we heard ministry, more or less in the line of what we're saying here, speaking about the perfect humanity of our Lord Jesus, his perfect pathway, and to the believer, if we put ourselves into this picture as the beloved, viewing her loved one, our beloved there, she's really speaking the language that we should be really speaking. And speaking about him, we can speak about no greater. In all things, he must have the preeminence. Well, we can certainly go over the history of others, even those who are in relationship with God, as we mentioned some. And since then, many servants, but I'm sure every one of them, to a man or woman, would say that in some way they failed in a point. But in the Lord Jesus Christ, he never failed. And I've often been taken up with the testimony of others. No doubt, you too. When the Lord cured a man who was deaf and dumb, they said he had done all things well. When the temple officers were sent to bring the Lord before the priests and so on, when they came back, they said, well, where is he? All they could say was, never man speak like this man. There's not been a man spoken like the Lord Jesus Christ. Unique, perfect, and surely he demands from us such a response in our hearts, praise to himself what he has done. And even before Pilate, you remember Pilate said, I find no fault in him. He says, nor get Herod. He says, I sent you with him to Herod. He's come back and nothing worthy of death is found in him. It didn't stop Herod or Pilate from scourging him. But they couldn't find anything worthy of death in him. And even Pilate's wife said, she said, have nothing to do with this just man. I have suffered many things in a dream because of him today. This just man. And from the cross, one of the malefactors eventually realizing his position and realizing that the one who was hanging beside him there on the cross was the only answer to his need. This man had done nothing amiss. Nothing amiss. And even after the Lord gave up the ghost, the centurion said, this was a righteous man. This was a righteous man. And I wonder what we would say to others concerning him. Well, we often say there's not enough words in English language to be able to extol the name of Him with whom we belong and who has come under the benefit of His perfect pathway here. So that was the testimony of others, but you know the Lord in a way wouldn't accept testimony for others. Maybe from the thief on the cross or the centurion, or even maybe Pilate's wife. But there was occasion the Lord knew that they were going to come and they were going to make Him a king, and He would have none of it. You see, when the Lord Jesus Christ takes up the right to reign, as we will see, Lord willing, He wouldn't take up the right to reign because others were wanting Him to reign. He'll take it up because He has a right to do it, and He won't depend on any democracy or any popular vote to take it up. He who bore the cross shall bear the glory. And of course, we speak about the world to come, or as some have said in relation to that verse in Hebrew, the world to come of which we don't speak. And I'm sure there are times we enjoy the very fact that the one who has suffered so much will indeed bear the glory. He shall sit and rule upon His throne. And so really that is just the beginning of as the Lord was down here and what others saw in Him, their experience. It's a wonderful thing just to go over the life of Christ. And if we do feel in our own selves the burden of our own failure, if we got too occupied with our failure, we would be overwhelmed. And I've often said in encouragement to others, don't look at yourself. Of course, you have to address the cause of the failure, but look at the one who never failed. If you feel you're on a maybe slippy slope, going away, maybe in your affections, well, the Lord Jesus Himself is the antidote. And if you're in such a state and you look back and say, I've been foolish. I took the wrong turn. I went in for the wrong things and see where I am now. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ is the cure to such a state. Occupy yourself with Him, the one who never failed. And what a joy you'll find in your own souls to be able to appreciate what He has done and to be responsive to Him, to be able to render to Him the thanksgiving of the heart for His love to us has caused Him to go that way. Despite all that men said about Him, which was contrary to Him, He went on and He accomplished that work at Calvary's Cross, as we will see in just a minute or two. And by that work, you and I have been brought into such blessing. And you know we're going to praise Him throughout the countless ages of eternity. Better to start now. Begin the song now that will be our occupation throughout eternity in praise and worship to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of the Spirit, we can enter into it now. And what joy it must bring to His own heart and to the ears of the Father that in the very world where Christ was crucified, where His Son was cast out as worthless, in the very world that He experienced these things, there are those who are prepared to give Him His rightful place and the praise and worship of our hearts. We've got so much to praise Him for, we may as well start now because it will have a fuller and a deeper sense or experience when we reach those courts above. So just to start off, really what I had in mind today was to look at the Lord Jesus Christ as a man here, as our pattern or our example, and look at the Lord Jesus Christ where He is now as an object for our souls to keep looking up and keep going on. Our brother Frank Wallace used to say this often, keep looking up, keep going on. And you know once we have our eyes in the right direction, everything in life will come right. We won't be mourning the fact that we failed and failed miserably. We're so occupied with Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, that brought so much pleasure to His God. Some of us again, as we mentioned a little while ago, were at Martlesham last night. You know sometimes you think, I can see the strings on the violin starting to go twang here because a lot of these things were mentioned, but still it's nice to go over them again. And again I've been encouraged in looking in John's Gospel in chapter 8, and the Lord had to face such anger against Himself, such opposition, and in it all He said, I do always those things, always those things that please Him, Him being the Father. Has there been anyone else who could ever utter these words? It would be just sheer presumption for you or I to say that, but He could say it. He could say it. Everything that I've done and do, I do it for the Father's pleasure. And then we have an answer from the heavens itself. The heavens opened upon a man here. If we read of old, God looked down. Was there any good? Any sought after Him? There was none. But when the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world, there was an object here in the Lord Jesus Christ, one in whom the Father had such pleasure. Again we were reminded last night of the beginning of the Lord's public testimony. The Spirit ascended on Him at the baptism. And you may say that towards the end of His public testimony, three and a half years or three and a third years is it, after the baptism, on that Mount of Transfiguration, the Father came out, this is my beloved Son, in whom I find all my pleasure. And you could understand in a way Peter's feelings. I'm sure they were terrified at that time. He wanted to build three tabernacles, one for Moses, one for Elias, and one for the Lord obviously. But you know in all things He must have the preeminence. And the Father came out in testimony to the One who was here for His pleasure and glory, the Lord Jesus Christ. And only Peter, writing later, spoke of the experience. And he said, For He received of God the Father honour and glory, when there came to Him such a voice from heaven, from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son. What other man could ever experience this? Despite what Peter said, once that had been uttered, there was the Lord standing. They saw no man save Jesus only. What a sight for us to look at. The One who was here for God's pleasure and glory. And we know too that the Lord, in speaking of the Spirit, He said, He shall glorify me. He shall glorify me. The Spirit's work, if we could put it that way, is to bring Christ to us in such a way that it causes us to be responsive to Him, to the Lord. He brings forth that which was pleasurable to God, and He brings it to us, and then we have the blessed position of being those who represent Christ in this world, and who can tell others of what He has accomplished. The Spirit works within us. We might say, well, it's all right speaking about these things, but left to myself, I can't do it. Well, that's true. If it was left to us, it would be only an act of the flesh, and the flesh cannot please God, but we must remember that we're empowered by a divine person, the Holy Spirit Himself. He brings these things to us. He makes them good to us, and so in it all, Christ is glorified. The saints encouraged. We're on the same wavelength as heaven. We desire to bring to the Father something of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot bring our own works, our own accomplishments, because again, sometime or other, we'll be marked by failure, but when we present Christ, it's that which has brought so much pleasure to the Father when He was down here, but to see it reproduced in the lives of His own, in the praises of His own, to glorify the Father and to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. If He doesn't have this from the saints, He'll find it nowhere else. He'll find it nowhere else. It's a privilege that you and I have. Do we let the privileges go? Are we so occupied with our own failure? Are we so occupied with Christ? That is the answer to any failure in our own lives, any shortcomings. As I said, we have to deal with these things, but if you dwelt upon it, and we've met saints, we've met saints who all their life, and every time you spoke to them, they spoke about their failures or the failures of others, good to talk about one who never failed, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so there's a pattern down here. Remember on occasion, when they carried out the act of feet washing, they told the disciples, well, take note of what I've done and you can do it to each other. We know when we embark upon washing one another's feet, it's not in the littlest sense that the Lord carried out according to John 13. But we're passing through a world of defilement. Defilement. You may be in a shop, on a bus, wherever, next thing you know someone is blaspheming the name of the Lord. And if that gets into our thoughts, it's not a sin on our part, but there's no two ways about it, we are defiled in that way. And the only way that that can be eradicated is in the presentation of Christ. That which is pleasurable to Him. I remember on occasion when a man I worked with said he blasphemed by saying the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I continued it, I said the same yesterday, today and forever. And he wondered what I was talking about. I said, well, you started the verse off so I thought you'd complete it. And that's the best way to react to these people. I remember an old brother, now with the Lord, he was sitting on a train and these young lads came in and started blaspheming. And he says to them, look, do you realise what you're saying? You're blaspheming a wonderful person. So they turned their anger on him and they started calling him names. And he says, when I stood up for the Lord, I was suffering with Him. And when they started on me, I was suffering for Him. And you know these things we're faced with day in and day out. So the defilement of the pathway is what others, what we might see with the eyes, we might look at these London buses with a stupid remark on it. I think it's probably there is no God. But just think about it. Just think what the Scripture says. The fool has said in his heart, no God. I think it literally means no God for me. They just don't want to know. So I thank God for the position that we are in and belong to the Lord Jesus Christ and we can wash one another's feet, we can encourage each other in the pathway here. I remember an experience, need to go on. An old sister in the meeting, she fell, broke her arm and landed in the hospital. Now this sister, she was like a nana to us and she was widowed at a very early year in her marriage. So I said to my wife, I said I'm going to go down, had no transport, jumped on the bus, and I said I'm going to give her a bit of encouragement. After the pleasantries, you know, how's your arm, nice day, so on, she started, and I couldn't get a word in edgeways, and from the start to the finish, she spoke about the Lord. I came home and I says, well, I don't know who was encouraging me or her, but she definitely encouraged me. And you feel the effects of feet washing. In a vile world, to speak about Christ is indeed washing the saints' feet. It builds up and encourages and to be able to go on. Now, we looked in Leviticus chapter 1 and I don't want really to go into the details of this, probably left to some others who may have the ability, but I just want to pick out something that I picked up many years ago. In fact, when I first heard this, I probably had black hair then, and you see it's a long time ago. It's changed since then. But it was then, it was refreshed in my memory, just maybe a couple of years ago. I was sitting in a Bible reading, we were looking at this, and I wasn't saying too much, and it was Daniel Patterson who says, well, what do you think of these verses? And I says, well, I'll tell you one thing I heard many years ago. And he says, I'll give you for what it's worth. In verse 8, it speaks about the head. You've probably heard all this. It speaks about the head. And the brother who told us, or told me it while I was in the Bible reading, he told us, he quoted from 2 Corinthians 5, regarding the head, the Lord who knew no sin. And then it goes on in verse 9, the inwards. And we have from 1 John 3, in Him is no sin. And last of all, it says, the legs. Inwards to be a burnt offering, made by fire unto the Lord. When I find the verse. Yes, verse 9 again, inwards and His legs. And he said regarding it, I've got it marked here, it says, 1 Peter 2, who did no sin. Who knew no sin, in Him was no sin, and He did no sin. Now I got that from a brother called Jeff Brett. And he said he got that from George Davison. And he said that George Davison got it from F.B. Hall. So there's nothing new under the sun. But it's something that's worth passing on. And make it good to yourselves. We've always been told that if you're going in for the burnt offering, don't forget chapter 2 in the meal offering. Because if the meal offering speaks about the perfect humanity of Christ, then the burnt offering speaks of that which met God's righteous claims. He met the will of God. Remember in the prophetic word, to do thy will, O God, He came. And in His death upon the cross, it met God's righteous claims. But of course in verse 4 it says it will make an atonement for Him. And so when we identify ourselves with what Christ has done, then we see what it was for us. But certainly we'd like to think about what the Lord did to meet the righteous claims of God. Was there ever a man who could have done it? No one ever passed this way who have done what the Lord Jesus Christ did and given Himself. But when we think of the new meal offering or the meat offering, it speaks really about the Lord's perfect pathway, His perfect humanity. Because there's no blood, as has often been pointed out, there's no blood connected with it. Fine flour, which would really be a picture of the Lord's perfect way He acted. There was nothing of rough and tumble. There was nothing that was obscene in the offering. There was nothing there that shouldn't have been there. It was perfect in every way, as seen in the fine flour. And in the oil, well they know He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness and so on. And yet, and also the frankincense would be that which would indeed make it as a sweet savour offering. The new meal offering or the meat offering and the burnt offerings were sweet savour offerings. There was so much for God in it. The very fact it was an accomplished work is something that we can rejoice in. And you know, the more we realise the perfection of the pathway, I'm sure it would give more character to our morning meetings. You know, sometimes we're in morning meetings and we just hear about our sins are forgiven, we're on our way to heaven. We forget that the Lord, we're there to remember the Lord and what He accomplished. We're there to, as it be reciprocal in our affections to Him, rejoice in the very fact He has been here and accomplished everything for God. And because of that being accomplished, then we are brought into blessing. We can point indeed to the blood and say, well this made my peace with God. You know, sometimes we forget about God's portion. He was a sweet savour offering. And what a joy is ours, a privilege is ours to be able to be found in that spirit of praise and worship because of what Christ has done. So we're just going to leave that. One other thing I want to say about before we just finish off and the second thing I had in mind is Christ in the glory. Again it was mentioned last night, I'll mention it again. Again at the start, you might say of His public testimony, the Lord was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. And then He was tempted by the old adversary, Satan himself. And we know how he tempted the Lord and how the Lord answered him. Eventually says that He left him for a season. You get the impression that Satan was really saying, I'll deal with him later. But what really happened, the strong man, Satan himself, was bound. He couldn't do a thing about it. Even with the temptations, the Lord answered, it is written. Remember if you have any opposition from without, remember what the Scripture says and don't try and flannel your way out of it. There's enough in the Scriptures to be going on with. The Lord quoted the Scriptures. And so Satan was bound. And then it left the Lord free in His work to show such grace to those who needed it. Those who were under the bondage of Satan. To the poor, to the broken hearted, to the captives. There's a list of them, read it and look for. But before he could do it, he had to bind the strong man. And it was Satan that was bound at that time, not the Lord. And at the very end of his public testimony, before he went out to Gethsemane and to Gabbatha and to Golgotha, he said that the prince of this world cometh, speaking about Satan, and hath nothing in me. There was not one little blemish in the Lord's life. There was not one wrong word that the Lord said or one wrong thought in his head that ever Satan could attach himself to and say, well, here's your man who's a failure. The Lord says, he's got nothing in me. Nothing he can attach himself to. The Lord was fit for Satan. And you realize if you feel the abundance of opposition, no matter where it comes from, the best place is on your knees and tell the Lord all about it. And remember the way he answered, it is written, it is written. So that's all I want to say in that line. It was in relation to the perfect life of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a wonderful Savior we have, and what a wonderful life. As I said, the more we enter into it, the more we'll rejoice in the accomplishment of a finished work. A finished work. But we did say we wanted to go on to look at the Lord as now glorified, now raised by the glory of the Father, now seated at his own right hand in heaven. If you want to look at the past in relation to the crowns, just think of the crown of thorns, that's past. If you want to look at the crown mentioned in Hebrews 2, it's the victor's crown. And if you want to see the finality of it all, look in Revelation 19. It's the kingly crown. And here we have the victor's crown. When I was obviously employed, I came into the mess room and of course there's the television going. It was during the Greek Olympics if I remember right. Just in time to see Britain getting some gold medals. I think it was about the only ones they got. And placed on each head was a laurel wreath. It used to be the norm during the games way back centuries. And this is the picture here. Look at the language it says. But now we see not yet all things put under him, but we see Jesus. It's a present sight for our souls to behold. They may have said, when shall he die and his name perish? Quoting from the Old Testament. They may have said, well this is the finish of him. But you know despite what he has suffered at the hands of men, God has seen to it that his well beloved son has been glorified. They gave him a cross, they gave him a tomb. God has given him glory. And he's there today as the victor. As the victor. And that's the way we can view him and think of our position with him because he says further down where we finish, behold I and the children which God hath given me. You and I in that company, present day we have the eye of faith. We can see Christ where he is now. We can view him as the one who has come out victorious. The kingly crown we have to wait because kingship regarding the Lord is for earth. We never read of him as king of the assembly, of king of the believers. But we wait that time when he shall reign supreme, king of kings and Lord of lords. But today, but today we have him as the one who is the victorious one. And because we are on his side, we are on the victory side. Wonderful thing to be occupied with him now. Rejoice, ever to rejoice that he has suffered on our account. He has suffered for us. He's given himself for us. And now because of the price that he has paid, we are now brought into that sphere and we can rejoice that we belong to him. But rejoice too that the Lord Jesus Christ at the present moment bears this victor's crown, the Stefanu. It's really like the laurel wreath or the ivy crown he put on the head. They gave him a crown of thorns. Here he has the victor's crown. Yet future, but very soon I believe it's going to happen. Very soon I think we're on the verge of the Lord's coming. And then we know after that he'll come out and take up his rightful place, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But the crown in there is the kingly crown, the royal diadem. He's going to wear it and wear it because he has the right to wear it. He won't wear it because he's voted in. It's not a democracy, power to the people. He won't take it because he has the power to do it. He has the right to do it. And the wonder of it all is that you and I will be with him, will come out with him, that heavenly company coming out with Christ. We have that in Colossians 3. I just read these scriptures just to give us a savor for it, give us an appetite for it, to go in for it, and to be encouraged that we belong to the Lord and that we are on the victory side. He was made a little lower than the angels for suffering of death, now crowned with glory and honor. Crowned with glory and honor. But in Titus, again it's a scripture that's often taken up, looking for that blessed hope has been put in this way, looking for the blessed hope that be the rapture and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. That's when he comes out to take up his rightful place as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He'll clear the scene of any opposition and he'll reign supreme through that millennial time. The world to come of which we speak. Well, I hope we do speak about it because it's the Lord's right to take that place. Because he who bore the sorrows of the cross shall bear the glory and he shall sit and rule upon the throne. But in the meantime, we're in the time of patience. But oh, it's going to be realized in such a wonderful way. Very soon, we're going to hear the voice that cried, it is finished. We're going to hear that same voice calling us to be with himself. And it will indeed be a joy for us, but what will it be to his own heart to have that company with him, surrounding him and vocal with his praise throughout all eternity. And ours is a privilege even now just to go in for these things and just to be encouraged in them. Just to have an appetite for them. If you feel you haven't the appetite, get on your knees. And you are always encouraged to be at the meetings. You won't be encouraged by the brethren sitting in the house when you know you could be at the meetings. It's always wonderful to be there and to hear the thoughts of others and to go into these scriptures and to be encouraged in our Lord Jesus Christ. I wonder if we could sing finally... 261. It was really the start of the second verse that caught my attention. His beauty shineth far above our feeble power of praise, and we shall live and learn his love through everlasting days. 261. 262. 263. 264. 265. 266. 267. 268. 269. 260. 261. 262. 263. 264. 265. 266. 267. 268. 269. 261. 262. 263. 264. 265. 266. 267. 268. 269. 260. 261. …