Address—G.H. Hayhoe
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5th chapter of Ephesians that was read to us this morning. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse one. Be therefore followers of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.
And then in John chapter 13, John chapter 13 and.
And verse one now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And the 15th chapter and the ninth verse, as the Father hath loved me.
So have I loved you, continue ye in my love.
I said I'd like to go back to Psalm 139, Psalm 139, and I'd like to read this whole Psalm.
O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down sitting and mine uprising. Thou understandest my thought afar off.
Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways, for there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell or hades, behold thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning.
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea. Even there shall I hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me. Yeah, the darkness hideth not from thee, but the night shineth as the day. The darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
For thou hast possessed my reigns, Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.
My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect, And in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God, how great is the sum of them.
If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I awake, I am still with thee.
Surely thou wilt slay the wicked. Oh God, depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee and am not I grieved with those that rise up against Thee? I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them mine. Enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Reason I have read these scriptures, brethren, is because I have it on my heart this afternoon to speak about love and understanding. I believe we could safely say that this is what every human heart craves, is love and understanding. I believe that's very important and we have it perfectly in the Lord Jesus, in God our Father. He loves us, knows all about us, and loves us just the same.
Understands all about our being.
Our physical makeup, our emotions, the assembly where we are, the family that we're in. He understands all about that. Others may not, but He does. And this is the one that we have been brought to know. And I pray God that each one of us here may enter into this more because I believe there will be a restfulness in our hearts and an increased desire to please Him if we only have a better sense in our souls of these.
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These two things that he loves us he loved us when he couldn't like us when there was absolutely nothing in us to draw out his love because it says God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us there was nothing in us to love but he loved us and and now he loves us in spite of all that we are even since he has saved us, though our hearts have not responded as they should to his love yet that.
Love is perfect. How often, how often many of us may have said, oh, if there was just someone that I felt loved me and cared about me. Or perhaps on another occasion we said, oh, it is only somebody I could talk to that would understand. People just don't seem to understand when you try to talk to them. But oh, there's one who does love and who does understand. And that one is the one who went to Calvary Brethren and died for.
US who loved us so much that He couldn't love us more. That it's going to take all eternity for Him to continue to display that love toward us. That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
How wonderful it is to know this. And so as we have read here that this is the example for our pathway too, and I believe it's very important, it's important in family life, as our brother brought before us, that there should be understanding that we try to understand our children. They're not all alike, they're all different. They all have a different physical and emotional makeup and we need to try and understand them and to love them as they are.
And try and confirm that love constantly. It isn't just saying it once. But hasn't God all through our Christian life reminded us that He loves us? Just read through the Word and you'll see how constantly He reminds us and His people of His love. And so we need to have a sense of this in our souls, I believe. And we need to have it in our families. We need to have it between husband and wife if there's not an understanding.
Why? It's a very difficult thing to try and get along because you don't feel you can talk things over. And if love doesn't surmount every situation, it says in First Epistle of John, there's No Fear in love. That is, if you're afraid to tell somebody something, it's because you're not sure enough of their love that they'll still love you after you've told them. But isn't it wonderful?
That that's the kind of love God has, and that's the thing that should be reflected in US.
I believe that's what it means in John's epistle when it says that he has given us, not just given us his spirit, but He has given us of his spirit. That is that character that is in him because we are partakers of the divine nature and at which he has manifested toward us. We can show, perhaps we can bring it even a little closer even in the assembly.
Do we try to understand one another? Do we try to enter into the position in which?
Others are found not that we always justify them or that they should always justify us. We may be entirely wrong, but do we try to understand? Do we try to enter into that? Do we love them in spite of shortcomings and failures? Well, as I say, we have it in perfection in the Lord Jesus and because he has given us a new life and because we're indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God.
It's possible for us to enter into these things and display?
In our Christian life, because the Christian is to be one who in this world is Christ representative. That's what an ambassador is to one who represents his country. And you and I are to represent heaven in this world.
Well, how precious that verse. Walk in love as Christ also hath loved us. God has no shorter measure for us than that blessed standard. Christ loved us. And so he says, walk in love as Christ loved for loved us. And how did he show His love? It says He offered himself to God as a sweet smelling savor. In order to show out the heart of God toward us, He gave himself.
Oh, how wonderful. And that's the example for us, brethren, in walking here in this world.
And then too, in the 13th chapter of John that we read, we think of that occasion when the Lord Jesus was about to wash the disciples feet. He began by the chapter begins, I should say, by saying that the Lord Jesus knew that his hour would come. He knew the disciples were going to forsake him and flee. He knew Peter was going to deny him. He knew all that was going to happen.
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But having loved his own, which were in the world.
He loved them under the end. What a quality of love that was, right in the very time when all this was going to take place. And then after that he washed their feet.
You know, if we know a person loves us, it's a lot easier to let them point out to us things, isn't it? You've heard people say, well, I wouldn't take it from him, but they said I would take it from somebody else. And why? Well, they're confident in that person's love. And you can be confident in the Lord's love and if he ever wants to wash your feet and mine because he loves us so that we could have part with him.
Because we can't have part with him and walk carelessly, we're going to lose that happy fellowship.
That we could enjoy. And so he loved them unto the end. And then he says, As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Immeasurable, isn't it? Could I measure how much the Father loves the Son? Impossible. Well, that's the measure of His love to us. It's incomprehensible. It's beyond us, isn't it? But he wants us, as it tells us in John's epistle. He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God.
And God in him. I believe it's a atmosphere in which the believer ought to dwell, to dwell in love.
Now we know that God is light as well as love, and the other scriptures that we have read bring before us that aspect of things too. But isn't it lovely that we can be conscious of this love? And I believe that love is a motive spring for the whole of the Christians life.
That is, if we only try to straighten up our lives because it was the right thing that we should do, you'll probably get discouraged. We'll probably say, well, no one appreciates it. But if we think of his love toward us, the love of Christ constraineth us, that we should not live unto ourselves, but unto him who died for us and rose again.
1 is often said. The verse does not say the love of Christ should constrain us. It states that as an actual fact the love of Christ constraineth us. Though you say I don't always feel that in my life.
So why? Well, is it because there isn't that love in his heart toward us? No, it's just because we've got at a distance. I could illustrate it like this, supposing I had some nails here on the table and I hold a magnet in my hands, like up here.
And you see those nails, they're not moving at all.
What's the matter? Isn't there any pull in that magnet? Yes, but the problem is that those nails are not close enough to the magnet to feel the pull. But as I bring that magnet down.
Now you see the nails start to move. Is there more pulling the magnet as I brought it closer? No, it's just because it's close. You know, brethren, if you and I can only have our hearts touched with the love of Christ, I believe there will be a response. I believe we'll go away from here saying I want to live unto Him. I want to live for Him. We can't help but feel that constraint. Whether their nails are rusty or whether they're nice and clean, as long as they're steel nails.
There will be a response. And how often, when our own hearts have been cold, perhaps we've got a little bit rusty. Perhaps we got into things that were robbing us of the joy of the Lord in our souls. And then as we were reminded of His love, something happened within us and the desire was renewed. It was there all the time. He didn't put something into those nails by the magnet coming close.
All you did was bring them close and the response was there.
And God has given us a new life. Every believer in this room possesses a life that wants to please the Lord and have often said God will never ask you to do anything that your new life doesn't want to do. He's given you that kind of a life, the life of Christ, a life that delights in obedience. And so the heart responds, but the enemy brings things into our lives.
That are a hindrance and so I trust that as we think, we think of.
These things, it will affect every sphere of our life, it'll affect our personal lives, it'll affect family life, it'll affect relationship between husband and wife, it'll affect our assembly life in everything. If we think of this, if we walk in the good of it. And it doesn't mean that there's an overlooking of what's wrong, because this 139 Psalm brings before us some very practical reflections in connection with how the Lord.
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Does it all, all about us. And I believe it's good for us and healthy for us to be in the attitude that we find expressed in this 139 Psalm.
Notice how it begins. He says, O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Yes, he has searched us. There is no searching of his understanding as another verse says. He understands, He searches us, He knows us. It says in Samuel. The Lord is a God of knowledge and by him.
Actions are weighed. I believe the meaning of that verse is.
That the Lord not only knows what we do, but He knows the measure of self will and the measure of desire in everything that we do. I might do things that are very nice to please my brethren. The Lord knows that. He knows why you and I are doing this or that in our lives. By Him actions are weighed. You said I try, but I seem to make a mess of it.
But but the Lord even values the mode of desire.
And he will help you so that you will be able to please Him, if you and I are only willing. How beautiful this is. 1 especially enjoyed that in the different views that are taken of the judgment seat of Christ, the one in Second Corinthians. First Corinthians rather chapter 4 says that God will make manifest that counsels of the hearts, and then shall every man a praise of God.
I've really enjoyed that, brethren, because.
That's the only instance where it tells us that everybody's going to be rewarded at the judgment seat of Christ. And why does it tell us that? Well, even if sometimes we attempted to do something for him and we seem to make a mess of it, he still knew and valued that little response. Jonathan didn't seem to want to follow David in his rejection, but after Jonathan was dead, David said.
Thy love to me was wonderful when I read the story of John.
It doesn't seem so wonderful to me that he wouldn't go with David.
But David saw in the heart of Jonathan a love for him. He had seen some display of it, and he hadn't forgotten it. And the Lord sees every desire you say. What does it mean that?
That He'll reward us for our motives. Well, some of us have children and perhaps one day one of our children picked up the best piece of China that we had and dropped it on the floor. But they were trying to help us. They were really meant well. And we kissed them and said, I know you were trying to help me. We couldn't. We couldn't approve of what they did, but we certainly valued the motive. We have a wonderful Savior. We have a wonderful God.
Who values every desire in your heart and mind.
And what does he find when he searches you and I?
Our hearts responding right now and saying I do want to please him. I know I haven't as I should. I know I've kind of messed up my life, but I do want to please him. He values that Thou has searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down sitting and mine uprising and art acquainted with all my ways. O dear young people, you may hide things from your parents and from your brethren.
But never from the Lord.
Never from the Lord. This is true of us older ones. As our brother said yesterday, we might be different in the presence of our brethren, but there's no use trying to hide anything from the Lord. He knows our down sitting, He knows our uprising, and He understands our thoughts. He knows whether the motives are right, whether we're just trying to make an impression to our brethren.
Or trying to make an impression on our parents or somebody.
Or on a girlfriend or boyfriend. The Lord knows whether you're just trying to make an impression or whether it's really sincere. He understands our thoughts. How good it is to know this. It's a comfort, if we desire to please him, that he does understand. He loves, he understands.
Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways, and as it says.
In the fifth verse.
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Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Yes, He's behind. He goes ahead, and He follows after. We had a little bit of that in the meeting yesterday, that the Lord desires to go ahead, as it tells us in John 10. He calls His own sheep and goes before them, and the sheep follow him. But then that verse was read in Isaiah also.
Thou shalt hear a voice behind thee saying, this is the way, walk ye in it. When ye turn to the right hand or to the left, he besets us behind and before. Isn't that lovely that he's ahead of us, seeking to guide us? But if we get self willed and we try to run ahead, well, he's behind us. He never leaves us, brethren, he's watching because he cares.
Our children are self willed and they run into danger. We care, we're watching, or we should be. And we do know that this is true of the Lord. Thou hast beset me behind and before.
Think of the psalmist just considering all these things.
Can I say to my own heart, and I say to you this afternoon, are you thinking about this how you say?
I have to get away with some things. It's too hard to live in the path of faith all the time, you young people and all of us. It's not. It's the path of happiness. Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace. Did you ever find anyone who, as they looked back on their pathways, said, well, I wish I'd been a little more self willed. I wish I'd tried to.
Go my own way a little bit more. You'll never.
Meet any Christian like that.
We're sorry sometimes that we do get self oil and we do things and self will, but we're never sorrow sorry that we put the Lord first.
We need to have him as the object. Of course we must do it for him or there's no real joy in it.
We must do what we do with Him as our object, and if we do, there is a joy.
He says Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
I like that little expression. We all know that feeling, don't we? Perhaps when we were small we can remember when we were a little bit self willed and Father didn't. He doesn't punish us, He just put his hand on us and that was enough to show his displeasure. And that's what the Lord always does first. He puts his hand on us, we feel it there and we look up.
Sometimes when someone puts their hand on you, look up.
And you see where there's a smile on their face, you know they've done it in love. And you know the Lord puts his hand on us sometimes. Are we going to make him take the place of having to pass us through things in His governmental ways? He'll still do that in love, but He doesn't want to do that. He just wants to put His hand on us and for us to look in his face and realize that He cares about that.
Path that we're treading and that we're getting away from him. And why does he care, brethren?
Because He wants your company. That's why He died, not only to save us from our sins, but He died because he wanted our company. And one of the greatest wonders of Scripture to me is that verse that says he shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. Doesn't it make you marvel when you read that you're not satisfied with yourself? I'm sure at least I hope you're not, because I'm not, and I don't think any Christian really can be.
Satisfied with himself, with all the consciousness of what we are.
I heard that one time somebody pointed out a brother in the assembly to Mr. Darby who had caused quite a little bit of sorrow to the Saints, and holding that verse in Philippians 2, he said the verse says, in lawliness of mine let each esteem other better than himself. And said, Brother Darby, how could you esteem that brother better than yourself?
You know what his response was? Without a hesitation, he said. I know far.
Faults about JM Darby than I know about him.
And so it is if we're in the Lord's presence, He shows us, He besets us behind, and before he puts his hand on us, He, he knows all about us. And aren't we conscious of this? We should be. And this is what He's telling us. He's putting His hand upon us. He doesn't want to discipline us, brethren. He doesn't want to bring sorrows and trouble in our life. He'll do it if he has to, because from the Lord loveth he chasteneth. But oh, He wants to have us respond to His desires.
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For us.
And then he speaks about there's no way that he could get away.
Seventh verse. Whither shall I flee? Go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from my presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed inhaler, it's Hades, the unseen world. Behold, thou art there. That is, there's no way in life or death that we can be away from him. His eye is upon us at all times. And so how good it is for us to be conscious of this in our lives.
And then he says the ninth verse, If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, sometimes we feel, Oh, I just like to get away.
Well, can we get away from his presence? No. No.
I say again, he loves us too much. When you see somebody that you love, why, if you see them going in a certain direction, you follow them because you like to be with them. You just like to clasp your hand in theirs and be in their company. And you don't need anybody else, just the two of you, and you enjoy one another's company things. You like to be with them. You and I have the consciousness of this in our souls, brethren.
That the Lord wants their company.
It was read to us about Noah and how he walked with God in an evil day.
Says about Enoch 2 That he walked with God and I'm sure many of us have noticed a little comment that the Spirit of God makes that he walked with God after he began Methuselah for 300 years. Why does it make that comment?
Well, I believe rather than the Lord intends us to learn things in our family life and I think any of us who our parents will say the Lord has really passed us through a great many things that we've had to learn in our experimental ways in the family. And it says about Enoch, he walked with God after he begat Methuselah. And so when the Lord gave you a child.
He intended you to learn through that some of his ways.
With you and I know how beautiful is the word of God, how perfectly fitted to all the circumstances of life.
And then in the 10th verse, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
He not only knows all about us, but I say again, he wants to lead us.
When the Lord met Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus.
The He made himself known to Saul of Tarsus and then the first response of his heart was to acknowledge Jesus as Lord, and then to say, What shall I do, Lord? What shall I do, Lord? He wanted to be LED, and you and I need his leading, don't we?
Oh, this world is full of so many paths.
One is enjoyed and probably others have too. In the book of Proverbs that God provides parents to help to be a guide to the children. And so in the 1St 7 chapters of Proverbs you have the father and mother seeking to instruct the children and direct them. Perhaps you've noticed that every chapter begins either with my son or something very similar to that except the.
This chapter which begins in about the seventh verse, I think something like that and and the whole instruction in the 1St 7 chapters of Proverbs is the parent, the God ordained channel to bring before the children the path of blessing and happiness in life. What a responsibility God lays upon us as parents. But you know, the 8th chapter presents a beautiful picture.
That picture is of the child leaving home and there you don't have anything about.
Father or Mother in the 8th chapter.
You have the child leaving. He comes to the city and it says he stands in the way in the places of the paths. A lot of things are opening up. He can go this way or that way or the other way, and father or mother are not there now to say what he should do. He's come to the point where he has to make some decisions on his own, and the voice of wisdom cries to him.
The Lord takes the place of the one.
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Who is the Creator and who when he made this world, His delights were with the sons of man? I like to think about that because when I look at the nice trees and the water and I see all the wonders of creation, I think, well, isn't it marvelous that the God who sought my happiness was thinking of me when he made these things? I've sometimes said about Otter Lake, where few of us have gathered. Wasn't it wonderful at the Lord just put this lake here, in this nice Bay here, because He knew that.
Years later there was going to be a group of young people there to enjoy it and he made a beautiful place for us. This is what God has done, his whole creation and a human eyes saying, well, I know he's made all these things, but it's my body, it's my life. Or are we saying, well, he is interested in my happiness, I want to follow his instructions.
It says in that chapter, Whoso sinneth against me wrong with his own soul. And when you go and disobedience in violation to the wisdom of God in your Christian pathway, Do you know who you harm the most? Or you say I hurt my parents. Yes, you do. You hurt your brethren, but you hurt yourself most of all. You hurt yourself most of all.
Because the Lord wants to give you a happy path. His delights were with the sons of man when he made this world, and he's going to have a place. I like to think of it this way, that when man spoiled it through his sin, God said, I love man so much, I'm going to make a place that he can't spoil through sin.
And I'm going to at great cost to myself in Him, so that he can be there and enjoy it. And God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son because he wanted us to have a place where happiness would be unhindered forever. And He cares about you now, dear young person, others too. He cares about you. He wants you and I to have.
Happy path. And so it says he leads.
And his hand holds us. Have you ever felt his hand holding you? I can look back in my life and I'm thankful that his hand held me. I might have had some very serious mistakes if his hand hadn't held me. Did you ever ask him to put a block in the way if what you're doing isn't pleasing to him? Sometimes we're not sure. I know we're not always sure. Did you ever say, Lord, if it's not right, please put a block in the way because I don't want to go contrary to Thy will. And he'll do it. He'll put a block.
In the way, yes, he cares, He wants to bless us. Thy right hand shall hold me.
And the darkness and the light are both alike to Him. There's no difference in God's sight between the darkness and the light. We can't flee from His presence. Going to the dark is not going to hide anything from Him, because He knows it all.
And then in this 13th verse, For thou hast possessed my reins, thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
He noticed that this word rains appears in different cases in the scripture and I think perhaps most of us know that the word translated reigns is really the kidneys and perhaps were acquainted with the work of our kidneys and what they do is to take out the impurities and from the blood and so that work is going on and sometimes.
It says in 16th Psalm my reigns also instruct me in the night seasons.
Did you ever do something during the day and you tried to justify yourself. You told yourself it wasn't wrong and you told your pen father you didn't see anything wrong in it. And your mother, you told your friends. But when you lay down on your bed, he began to think it over. He said I'm fooling myself. I know, I I know that wasn't the thing to do. My reigns instruct me. The Lord has given you away in his presence.
Of sorting things out. He's given you the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit within you will enable you to see those things, to judge them, to own them. Just like the kidneys put aside the impurities, so He's given you. And so it says, here thou has possessed my reins. You and I want the Lord to do that to us.
Are we really saying, Lord, is there something? Please point it out to me. Are we asking Him to do this? Thou hast possessed my reins.
Thou hast covered me from my in my mother's womb. I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.
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And then he talks about the very formation of our bodies. And I rather enjoy this coming in in this chapter because, you know, we're all different. And the Lord gave us three children and they were all different. They all had different physical makeups, emotional makeups. They were just different. And you know, we're all different brethren. We're all different. But the Lord has made you the way you are.
And he made me the way I am. You see, I wish I was like somebody else and I could overcome some of these things. But you, the Lord made you that way. Remember when the Lord Jesus was here upon earth, and he passed by, and there was a man blind from his birth, the disciples felt this sorrow that had come. And they said, Who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?
The Lord's answer was neither did this man.
Nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. In other words, whatever it may be, whether you have a physical handicap, whether you have an emotional handicap, whether you find yourself in an assembly where there is not much fellowship, whatever. God has ordered and planned things and he has made you the way you are, and he can help you to be a shining light and.
For him, some of our most beautiful hymns were written by people who had real handicaps. Some of them were written by people who got into what we might call calamities in their life. But the hymns that they wrote were so beautiful that they're an inspiration for generations to come.
The Lord knows all about you and that problem that you're having, that physical thing. You say I rebel because I don't have what other people have. I don't have the energy. It gets me when I see other people have got to push and I don't. It gets me when other people seem to be able to accomplish things and I can't. But the Lord put you just where He wants you, and He made you just the way He wants you. He doesn't put all His lights in the same place.
The city doesn't put all the lights in the main corner, it puts them all through in different places. And one of the hardest things for many of us to accept is to be just the way the Lord made us and to be content. And even if He has brought a sorrow into our life, He can cause that to turn for His glory. I am fully persuaded that in glory we're going to be very surprised.
When the rewards are given at the judgment seat of Christ.
That some of the people we expected to get the best will not get the best. The scripture says the last shall be 1St and the 1St last. And if your handicap draws you nearer to the Lord, you will thank Him in that day to come. That passage that was read to us in the 5th chapter of Revelation at the end of the meeting this morning. Perhaps you noticed the last verse of that chapter and it says.
And the four and 20 and and the four living.
Creatures said Amen, and the four and 20 elders fell down and worshiped him that liveth forever and ever. What does this bring before us? Well, those four living creatures represent God's governmental ways and you and I don't always understand them here in this life, but we're going to say Amen to them all in that day.
They're going to say, like Israel, he led me forth by the right way that he might bring me to a city of habitation. And so it says, and the four living creatures said Amen. And I'm going to say Amen to everything that's happened, everything that God has allowed, even those things that had to come in discipline. I'll say it was right. I might not have understood it. I might say, now such knowledge is too wonderful for me. But then, and then what's the next part?
You just say, Amen, No, Before the four and 20 elders fell down and worshiped him, we're going to thank Him for the way He led us. We're going to praise Him for the grace that saved us. The judgment seat of Christ for the believer will be a marvelous display of how God dealt with us even before we were saved and how he led us finally bring us to Himself.
And all his ways with us. So here in these verses where he's talking about.
The physical body here, we cannot take this for ourselves. The psalmist did. He said the Lord watched my body being formed. He saw it even before I was ever born into this world. He watched it and he was over all that and.
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Says in the end of the 20 sixteenth verse, the first part, thine eyes did see my substance, yet being not imperfect, but unperfect. And in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. That is He, He's over all this. And then how precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God.
How great is the sum of them? If I should count them they?
They are more in number than the sand. That is, sometimes it's good for us to do a little bit of counting of all God's goodness toward us. We all know that little hymn. I guess we've all sung it. And count your blessings. Name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. Your old brother Mcleave, whom some of us might have known in the past, he used to say, and he was a. He was a.
222 He didn't have all the physical things that we might enjoy. He was a cripple for I think all his life, but he used to say, oh, let's sing it the other way. Count your blessings, name them tongue by tongue. He says we need to think of this, you know, brethren, we need to think of how many things we have to be thankful for. The Lord could have let us go on in our sins and have the best of health and and in the last eternity, but.
Deaths and many of us can say since he's saved me, he's done so many things. How privilege we had this morning just to be gathered to his precious name to remember him well, many things we have to thank him for, the hymn writer says in another little hymn. And all thy mercies, O my God, my rising soul surveys transported with the view I am lost.
In wonder, love and praise.
And then the end of this 18th verse, when I awake, I am still with thee.
I meditated a little bit on that expression when I awake, and I wondered just why it said it. And I just suggest this little thought, that perhaps it corresponds to what we have in Ephesians. It says, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from among the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee.
I think sometimes we go spiritually asleep.
And so he said something like in the Song of Solomon, we find that the bride had come in, she had gone to bed, she had taken her rest, and her bridegroom was not there. And then he came and knocked and she said, I put off my clothes, how can I put them on? In other words, she was seeking her ease apart from him.
But he put his hand in by the door, and when she saw his hand by, she rolled.
She came to the door, and you know, some of us saw the Lord's hand this morning because our brother read to us. He showed them his hands and his side, and she saw his hand, and she rose up and she was awakened. And in the end of that chapter, which we look at just before we close, we'll see what she thought of this person. But she was asleep. When I awake, I am still with thee. He doesn't leave us. We go asleep sometimes, but he doesn't.
Us even when we are asleep. But what is he doing? He's saying, I'll wait thou that sleepest and arise from among the dead. That is, don't lie down with the dead sinners of this world, but awake and respond to his call, to his desire to have the display of our affections in our company. And so he says, I am still with thee. He never leaves us nor forsakes us.
No matter how far away. That same brother said to me a comment that has helped me through my life too. He said, Gordon, I don't ask the Lord to be with me because he has promised I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. I just asked him to give me a sense of his presence because you and I do go to sleep. Sometimes we do seem to wander, but when we wander, he follows us. Peace there.
Her brother Hart used to tell a story about.
How he was going through a Bush country up in Canada and he had an Indian guide to show him where he wanted to go. And after he had made the trip a couple of times, he started out and then he said to the guy, I think I can find my way the rest of the way.
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So the guide said all right, and he laughed him.
And.
Mr. Hart started on the journey and after he had gone he came to a party. He was pretty sure he wasn't positive he took a path.
Came to another place.
Another parting. That one didn't look so familiar, but he made a choice. At last, he realized he was lost.
And he put his hand to his mouth and he thought perhaps somebody will hear me. And he shouted. I'm lost, I'm lost.
And he got at once a response. He said, I'm coming. The guard had no, the guide had known that he would get lost, that he wouldn't be able to do it. And he stayed close by. He was there ready to listen. And isn't that lovely? That's what our Savior's like too. He knows how we're liable to do just that. And he stays close by. When I wake, I am still with thee. Well, in this verses that follow them, we see what it leads to. It leads to separation.
How can we, having such a wonderful friend, one who loves us and who understands us so perfectly, how could we want to seek the company of the world? Says in James. The friendship of this world is enmity with God. Whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. And So what is the ground of true separation? Is it a cold?
Thing is it something that we say, well, I have to do because that's my Christian duty Now when you get married, it isn't that you say, well, I have entered into an obligation I have to it's the person you love. You want to be with your with her. You enjoy her company. I've often said the test of true love is that you don't get tired of a person's company and the Lord never tires of your company and oh how wonderful it is when we realize.
This and that. He wants her company all the time. And if we realize this, what does the world got to offer? The world has nothing. The world has nothing new to give. It has no true, no pure delight. It has nothing that really satisfies. Now if we could only realize this. Brethren, we're soon going to meet our Savior face to face. And what's going to make us happy in heaven? The street of gold and the gates of Pearl. Well, I'm sure it'll be a wonderful place.
But heaven will be heaven because Jesus is there, because we're going to be in his presence. He says, I want you to enjoy that now. It's possible for you to enjoy that now. Many of us are going to have to leave this happy occasion. Let us not be like the parents of Jesus. They brought her. They brought the Lord Jesus up to the feast at Jerusalem.
And they met a lot of friends there.
And I can just imagine, just like ourselves, we get talking together, really have a nice time and fellowship with one another. But after they had fulfilled the days of the feast, they started home and they took a day's journey without him. You know, we can sort of get so infatuated with Christian fellowship, we can actually lose sight of the Lord.
We can actually lose sight of the Lord, but let's not leave this place and say, oh, it's just grand. I met so many.
And it really had a wonderful time. I hope you did. I hope you had a real good time. With all the friends that we have met. We enjoy meeting our brethren, but let's not take a day's journey without him. They sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance and couldn't find him. And it took three days to find him. It's easier to get away than tis to get back.
We can take a few steps away, but how often? It's not quite so easy coming back. But they did come back. And if we've got away, let's come back, let's come back. It's well worthwhile. He wants our company and surely we want his.
So this is the ground of true separation. And now the 23rd verse ends. Very similar to the first verse, isn't it? The first verse says, O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. The 23rd verse says, Search me O God, and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
You say, well that person found it all about me.
I wish they hadn't found it all about me because I don't think they'll like me so well. But after this Psalm that has spoken so fully about how the Lord knows all about us, He says I want him to keep on. I want him to search me. I want him to see if there's anything that isn't consistent with his mind and will in my life.
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I want him to lead me in the way everlasting.
They believe it's similar to the thought in the 22nd Psalm where it says your heart shall live forever. If we set our heart on things here, they're going to pass away. They're not forever, they're only for a little while. I don't mean that we can't enjoy fellowship, that we can't enjoy many things that God has given in His creation. He wants us to enjoy them, but never apart from Him.
There's no true joy that leaves him out.
I often think of a man and he was on board a ship and they were looking, he and another man were looking at the sunset and the sea and it was very beautiful that sunset that night.
One was a Christian and 1 was an unbeliever and a Christian man. The Christian man was standing there looking at the unbeliever, said to him, You don't have anything more wonderful than a sunset at sea. And the Christian man said, Oh yes, I know the person who made the sun. I know him as my Savior by all your friends. It is wonderful. God's creation is wonderful. He gives us all things richly to enjoy.
But let's never use our bodies.
For never let us our time or never use what he's given us to find or try to find some joy apart from him. It's not worthwhile. It won't last, but in his company to be able to enjoy all he has given us for time and for eternity. And I hope that this will be our prayer. I don't say these last two verses should be a public prayer. I think this is a these two verses are a prayer that we should pray and pray in private.
That is, along with the Lord, we should ask Him to search our hearts, and if there's something that is hindering, something that we're allowing that's not displeasing, He'll give us grace to set it aside so that we might follow Him and that we might want His plan in our life. Do you want His plan? Do you desire His plan in your life? Well, I trust we do. We know that His plan is best for us and whatever it may be.
Is a little hymn said pleasing or painful? Painful.
Dark or bright, as best may seem to thee, I just wanted to close to that little verse in the Song of Solomon. Just the end of the 4th chapter and of the 5th chapter, I should say. It's just the last verse of the 5th chapter. His mouth is most sweet. Yeah, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved and this is my friend.
O daughters of Jerusalem, not a lovely verse, this.
Very chapter. As we were saying before the bride had sought her breast apart from him. She had to go seeking him because he wanted, he wanted to let her know that she was losing something by not enjoying his company. But as she looks back, she says he is most sweet, he's altogether lovely. He said this is my beloved and this is my friend. Is this your friend? Is this your friend?
One of the children said that little him, what a friend we have in Jesus. Are you and I enjoying? This is the best friend you can have. Other friends may disappoint you, but this is the best friend. This is my beloved, and this is my friend. And notice it says all daughters of Jerusalem. Who are these daughters of Jerusalem? These are not believers. The daughters of Jerusalem were those who were onlookers, so to speak.
And the world is watching us, for us, spectacle to.
The world and to angels and to man. People in this motel are watching us. At school, they're watching us. On the street, they're watching us. And as they look on, do they see that we have a satisfying portion? Do they hear us grumbling? Or do they say, well, those people have something that we don't have? I wish we could have it, You know, in the next chapter, I didn't be out in time to read it. But in the next chapter, the daughters of Jerusalem say to this bride.
That had been talking about her wonderful friend. They say to her, let us seek him with thee. In other words, we'd like to have a friend like that. And so may we enjoy more of his love. May we rejoice in the fact that he understands us thoroughly and perfectly, that he cares about us. May others see this so that they'll say we want to seek him too. We know that you have.
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Something really worthwhile we do.
We have Christ. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, all daughters of Jerusalem.