Address—G.H. Hayhoe
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
I'd just like to reverse in the Song of Solomon.
The 5th chapter.
The 5th chapter of the Song of Solomon.
And the 16th verse.
His mouth is most sweet. Yay. He is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend. Oh, daughters of Jerusalem.
I was just thinking, brethren, when I read that verse, I wonder if there's anybody who knew all about me, all I had ever done, all I had ever thought, who would love me just the same, who would have the same feeling toward me after they found all that out. But I want to tell you today that I'm going to talk to you about a person who knows all about you and about me. He knows everything we have said. He knows everything we have done, and we have everything we have thought, and He loves us.
Just the same loves with unchanging love. And more than that, you might say, well, I think I could love that person, but I think I would get tired of their company if I find out they're a person like that. But you and I are going to dwell that person, the Lord Jesus Christ, for all eternity, and we're never going to tire of all His love and his grace, and he's never going to get tired of us. Isn't that a wonderful thing?
And so we might say this is my notice What?
He says here, this is my beloved and this is my friend. And I know that everyone of you, young people and older ones too, who know Him as Savior can say those very words. This is my beloved, this is my friend. And if there's some here that don't yet know him, haven't yet trusted in Him as your Savior, I trust that this very afternoon you'll see your need of Him.
I'm sure your parents love you, and you perhaps have friends that really think a lot of you, but you will never have anyone that loves you as much as the Lord Jesus. You will never have anyone who loved you enough as He did to go to Calvary's cross and bear all that shame and all that suffering in order that He might have you for one of his redeemed and that He might have you for his companion. And he calls us his friend. Isn't that a lovely thing?
It's a wonderful thing that I can say.
The Lord Jesus is my friend, but I find it still more wonderful that he should say, ye are my friends, ye are my friends. Nice to say, well, that person's my friend, but that person say the same of you. He is my friend now. That's what he said to the disciples. Ye are my friends. And so, so it'll privileges ours this afternoon. Well, I'd just like to talk a little bit about how much he knows about us. And so I wonder if we could turn to the 100.
39th.
Reading from the first verse.
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 aren't 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 lay 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 my 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 part of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. Surely the darkness shall.
If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, even the light shall. The night shall be light about me. Yeah, the darkness hideth not from thee, but the light 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.
Sinai did see my substance yet being unperfect. And in Thy book all my members are written, 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.
00:05:06
Well, as Sam follows up the little thought we were speaking about how the Lord searches us and knows us, knows us all the thoughts that had ever come into our minds, but I especially enjoyed in this chapter. It says thine eyes did behold thy substance, yet being unperfect. Quite a number of people here today. We all have different physical emotional makeups. Isn't it a wonderful thing that the Lord watched your body and my body.
Being formed, He saw her body being formed in the womb and he formed him in such a way. And he has made us all different. Here we are. None of us have the same fingerprints. We're all different people. And yet he watched our bodies being formed. And he knows your weakness. He knows my weakness. He knows what we might think are our strengths too. He knows all about us. Isn't a grand thing to have one like this and to know that He loves you and He cares for you.
And he looks down in this room and says he calleth his own sheep by name.
He knows a lot of people that I've seen here. I shouldn't know their names, but I'm afraid I forget some of them and I have to shake hands and can't say their name like I wish I could. And some I don't even know their names. But the Lord could start in the back row and go right through, and He could name everyone without any hesitation. He knows our name. Is your name written in the Lamb's book of life? Is it there to be manifested in that day, the companion of the Lord Jesus?
One for whom he died.
On Calvary's cross, oh, I think that's so nice because you often hear people say people just don't understand me. They don't understand my makeup, they don't understand I'm emotionally different from other people. The Lord does, the Lord does and he cares and he can help you in all those things that we have because every one of us, because we're living in a world where sin is. We all have some deficiency. We all have something in one way or another that.
We need grace from Him to overcome, but He can help us to overcome in these things, and there isn't a single thing about us that He can't enable us. It tells us in Hebrews chapter 4. Therefore let us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we might obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Isn't it lovely that you can come to Him?
And you say I'm afraid to talk to anybody else because they wouldn't understand.
There's a verse in, I think it's the 62nd Psalm that I've always enjoyed very much too, that it goes like this. It says, well, perhaps I better read it because I'm afraid it won't quote it just right.
62nd Psalm.
Now I'll read from the fifth verse. My, my soul wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not be moved in. God is my salvation and my glory. My rock. The rock of my strength and my refuge is in God. This is the particular verse. Trust in Him at all times, ye people.
Pull out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us.
It's just that little expression I think is so touching. Pour out your heart before him. You know, you'd often like to. Perhaps you've said to yourself sometime I wish there was a friend I could talk to and just tell how I feel. I don't think they would understand. I wish there was that kind of a friend. You have that kind of a friend. He says to pour out your heart. There's very few people that you can pour out your heart to, but you can pour out your heart to the Lord.
And there's nothing you can tell him that will change his love.
He may be grieved, He's often grieved with things that I do, and I'm sure he's grieved with things you do too, but he loves you. It doesn't change his love. I've always been impressed in the Bible that the times when the Lord specially tells his people of his love to them as the most unexpected times we find in the book of Jeremiah, when Jeremiah was tears in his eyes, was warning the people about how far they had got away from the Lord.
And that God was going to have to deal with them, and the king of Babylon was going to come up and destroy their city. And where are you going to find such a wonderful verse? It's right in Jeremiah 31. I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. Then you turn over to Malachi, and you find there the the remnant have really departed from the Lord.
00:10:12
They wouldn't even open the doors of the Lord's house for not.
They were offering the Lord the lame and the blind afraid. We do that sometimes people say, well y'all come to meeting if nothing else turns up that I have to do. In other words, that second the Lord isn't first isn't often true. And then we're not giving the Lord first place. And yet it tells us there in that lovely one. I have Jacob have I loved.
Right in that very one his love toward them. Then we turn to and we.
Read about Martha and Mary and the Lord puts Martha first. Jesus, love Martha and her sister. How wonderful it is. This is the kind of a friend. This is my Savior, this is my friend, and this is the friend you have too if you know him as your Lord and Savior. Well, this beautiful Psalm here is the Lord's searchings and he does search us and you know we need to be willing.
Now if you come to the border and they want to search.
You, you've got nothing to hide. You put your hands up and you haven't got a single hesitation because you don't care what they find, because everything's in order. And the Lord searches us sometimes. What does He find when he searches us? Are there little hidden things in our lives, things that are not for His glory? Well, he searches them, He finds them out. But He, he loves us just the same, and he wants to bring us to confession.
And so in this.
Some it ends with.
The 23rd verse 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 a way everlasting. You wouldn't be afraid to tell someone something if you knew it wouldn't change their love. It wouldn't change their feelings towards you. And isn't it wonderful that whatever the Lord, for He knows it all anyway, finds about us, it doesn't change his love. And that's the beautiful part of it. And so that's what I wanted to say first of all.
This one that I want to talk about is our Savior. He's our friend. He loves us with an everlasting love and nothing that he'll ever find out or could find out about us. He doesn't already know, but He is seeking our good. And there's an awful lot of self will in each one of us, I am sure. And sometimes we're not aware of that self will that's there and that's what's the hindrance to our happiness.
Doesn't hinder his love because he loves us just the same.
But it hinders our happiness because we're putting our own wills before His. We're seeking to do what we'd like to do. Well, I'd like to turn to the book of Proverbs and.
Look a little bit at first of all the 8th chapter.
It's often said that the book of Proverbs is heavenly wisdom for our earthly path.
And we could be very thankful for a book like the book of Proverbs that gives us wisdom in connection with the things of daily life.
You don't really find the way of salvation developed in the book of Proverbs, but you do find that wisdom that is so needful and good for us.
And our pathway here, and it's very interesting, if you notice going through the chapters, the first 7 chapters, the first chapter begins with.
An introduction if you noticed and then in the.
In the fourth verse you read those two little words, my son, the 2nd chapter. It begins with my son in the 3rd chapter, my son in the 4th chapter. Here he children the instruction of a father. The 5th chapter, my son, the 6th chapter, my son, the 7th chapter, my son, the God ordained channel to teach us when we're young as our parents.
And so I want to say because there's a lot of young people here today.
Sail honor thy father and thy mother that it may be well with thee. And I've often said I've never seen a young person that didn't honor their father and mother that it was really well with them. You know, that's the starting point. And God has ordained you say, well, my father and mother don't always give me very good answers. Nevertheless, you should honor them. Honor your father and your mother. And those chapters bring before us that the God or change channel might not do a lot of parents here.
And I know I failed as a parent many times, but we have a great responsibility to be a father or a mother either, and a family. Oh, how those young children are put into our hands. I think when a baby is born into the world, as if God says, here's a life begun, a life begun for eternity, a life begun for eternity. And I am giving you as a parent the privilege of telling that child about the Lord Jesus that it might be.
00:15:27
Saved. We've been talking in the meeting about the path of the truth in which they should walk. And we teach them this. This is a wonderful thing. And many of you, boys and girls and young people have Christian homes, fathers and mothers who love you more than you can realize. And they're seeking your good and they're seeking your blessing. And isn't it lonely that in these 7 chapters in the book of Proverbs, we have the Father?
Instructing the child, warning him.
Helping him. And so I just say, honor thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee.
But now I wanted to come to the 8th chapter because there's a little change here when you come to the 8th chapter and I'm going to read a few verses in this chapter.
Does not wisdom cry? An understanding put forth her voice. She standeth in the top of the high places, in the way of the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. And to you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men. O ye simple, understand wisdom, and ye fools be of an understanding heart.
Here, for I will speak of excellence.
Things and the opening of my lips shall be right things, for my mouth shall speak truth, and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness. There is nothing forward or perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understandeth, and write to them that find knowledge.
Received my instruction, and not silver and knowledge rather than choice. Gold for wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared with it. I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions.
I'll read a little more later, but here you find.
I think I like to think of this when I read the first 7 chapters. I think of the young person still at home. I was at home with my father and mother for a while. But then the time comes, you know that you have to leave home. You go perhaps to another job in another city, perhaps go to college or go to school. You leave home and you don't hear the voice of your parents anymore because you've gone out now and you're out, so to speak, meaning the world and so.
Chapter brings that change. The 1St 7 chapters are the voice of father and mother, the parent, especially the father in the in this part of the book of Proverbs we have the mother later on. But here we find the boy or the girl is leaving home. And now the voice of wisdom cries, the voice of wisdom. But where are you going to find wisdom? Oh the word of God, the name of the Lord Jesus is Wisdom.
He is wisdom itself. And I want to say to you.
Acquaint yourself with the word of God and often said when I talk to young people or older ones either. If I quote a verse to you today, I didn't learn it yesterday because I can't remember things as well as I used to when I was young. But I thank God that I stored my mind with a lot of scriptures when I was young and dear young people I know were living in days when people don't do much storing of their mind.
With things of the Bible, I know that.
Life is very busy and school and.
There's radio and all kinds of things going all the time. You can be listening all the time, and you can have very little time left to read God's Word and to listen to what God has to say to you, but you'll never get anything any more wonderful than you have in the Bible. It's perfectly up to date. I always think of our.
Brother, my brother used to go along. He someone said to him all the Bible's old fashioned, it's out of date. And he said, oh, why? What's out of date with it? Oh, he said the things have changed so much today. And he said, do you still drink water? Oh, yes. He said, of course. I guess everybody does. Do you think your parents drank water? Oh, yes, yeah. Did your grandparents drink water? Yeah. Well, don't you think you're pretty old fashioned if you're still drinking water?
00:20:00
Are you still old fashioned?
If you still keep on reading this wonderful book, it's not outdated. It's up to date. It's more up to date than the daily newspaper. It's more up to date. It's got exactly what you need for the year 2001. It's all there for you. And the more you look out on the spectrum of this world, the more you see how wonderful the book is.
I can remember when Israel became a nation. And you know, I read some of the old writers, I read in the Bible, how God.
Foretold the return of Israel to their land, he said after two years he will revive us. In the third year we shall live in his sight. And I can remember when Israel became a nation and the heading on the Ottawa newspaper was after 2000 years, Israel is a nation again.
The Bible wasn't very outdated, was it? It told after two days they would be revived. They became a nation again. It tells us all about these nations around there that are against them being in that land. They say they'll never be peace until they're out. And that's exactly what the Bible tells us, Tells us of the different nations that will come together and try and put the name of Israel from remembrance says in 83rd Psalm that is cut off the people at the name of Israel.
Israel may be no more in remembrance. That's what they're trying to do. Is the Bible outdated? No, it's up to date. Does it tell what's happening today in society? Yes, it does. Oh, dear young people, you have a tremendous treasure. You have your father and your mother. I hope you listen to them because they have a lot of good, helpful instruction for you, and they love you more than anybody else in this world.
And they want your happiness and your blessing. And then you, you have the word of God.
You have the assembly too, where you can come together and have fellowship with the people of God. How very privileged you are when we say, but there's a lot of problems come up. I like this little expression here now that it says.
And the 12TH verse.
I wisdom dwell with prudence and find out knowledge of witty inventions. There's a magazine called the Consumer's Digest and I guess a lot of people know about this and if you're going to buy something you can find in that how a number of people have bought this thing before you thought about it and they're making their comments what they found out about it. Isn't it wonderful that you have not the comments of men, but it says I.
Wisdom dwell with prudence. Did God know what was going to happen when television came in and when all these kind of things came in? Yes, He knows all those things that were going to happen ahead of time. And he warns us. He gives us all those instructions in his word. How thankful I wisdom dwell with prudence and find of knowledge of woody inventions. They're pretty good inventions, but they can also do a lot of harm if they're not used in a way that's honoring to the Lord.
And so.
It says here the fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Pride and arrogancy of the evil way and the forward mouth do I hate? Aren't we often very arrogant? We don't like somebody that tries to help us and correct us, and we get pretty upset with them. They're only saying what they're saying toward us because they're seeking our good.
I'm a bit older myself and I know I don't always say things even my wife tells me. Well, you don't approach the subject very well, Gordon, and very often we don't say things just in the right way that we should. But nevertheless, we're seeking your good. And you know, your parents, your older brethren, seek your happiness and your good and your blessing. Well, we have wonderful instruction in the word of God. Then it goes on to say.
14 counsel is mine, and sound wisdom.
I am understanding, I have strength by me Kings reign and Princess decree justice. Isn't it wonderful to know the one who controls the King's heart is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of water? He turneth it whithersoever he will and won't take time. But I think it's in the 106th or 7th Psalm.
That when Abraham was wandering in the land that God had promised to him.
To his posterity, it says he suffered no one to do them harm. Yeah, he reproved kings for their sakes. In other words, they were under his protection and God wouldn't let anybody touch them. And then later on, in the same Psalm, it says he turned their hearts to hate his people, to do, to be unkind to them. Oh, you say, would God do that too? Yes, she did that too.
00:25:08
Why did he do it in the first place?
And turn the heart so they couldn't do any harm to Abraham. Well, because Abraham was in the land that God had given him. And God wouldn't allow anyone to take away what he had promised to them. And in the other case, the children of Israel would have settled down in Egypt. They would have stayed there. They were getting pretty comfortable with the leeks and the onions and the garlic and everything was pretty nice. And they had fish and all that they wanted.
And so God says I'm going to stir up the.
Gotta make it uncomfortable. People won't be nice to them and they'll be ready to go. And they were ready to go. Always remember, people's attitude towards you is allowed of the Lord. I don't say they're always right in their attitude, but if it happens, the Lord has allowed it. It wasn't right for them to hate God's people in the land of Egypt, but God allowed it. And God allows this and the person has a bad attitude. Take it from the Lord. Lord's allowed it. It's going to be an opportunity for you to.
The grace that's in Christ Jesus, it's going to be your opportunity to show that you can return good for evil. Isn't it lovely? We have all these things in the Word of God?
Says here then in the 20th verse, I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment, that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance, and I will fill their treasures. The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth.
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
Before the mountains were settled, before they brought forth, when as yet He had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the earth, when He prepared the heavens, I was there when He set a compass upon the fountain, upon the face of the deep.
So you see, he was in control in all the creation of this world, and that's the one that is wisdom, That is the one who is for us. And so he's the one that created it. You know, we ought to be more thankful as we think of that. My father used to often say he could have made the world all one color. It would have been pretty monotonous living in a world of all one color, but he gave a great variety of colors.
He gave us the different kinds of food. He could have made all our food.
Delight, but he gave us a nice, nice variety. You realize what a wonderful God we have that he has provided for us. And then when he tells us there's something I don't want you to do that we rebel and say, oh, I think I know better than my creator. I think if I do that thing, I'm going to get some fun and you maybe ruin your life. You maybe ruin your life just because you thought you were going to have a little bit of fun and you didn't listen to the one who made everything beautiful in his time. He made things that.
Could enjoy, but you can't enjoy them if you abuse his goodness and that's what man has done with this world. Are you abusing your body because God has made it so and you are abusing it? Or are you going to say want to use my body the way God wants me to use it and for his glory says in.
Romans 12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable or intelligent service.
And then it says the end of this.
It's ate the proverbs notice.
34th verse.
Here blessed is the man that heareth Me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso foundeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord. But he that sinneth against Me wrongeth his own soul. All they that hate me love death.
Yes, it tells us here that if we don't listen to the wisdom of God, who do you harm?
You harm yourself. You harm yourself. You don't listen to the wisdom of God. Why? It's yourself that you harm. You say, well, I know I harm other people. Yes, you probably do. Maybe hurt your parents, maybe hurt a lot of your friends, but who's going to suffer most? You yourself. Oh, how good that we have such instruction. So that's what I wanted to bring before you, especially, especially those who are young.
That the Lord knows all about us. He watched our bodies being formed.
00:30:02
He gave us parents who instructed us and who helped us, and then he made provision for the time we have to leave home because you can't stay in the parental home all the time. And you go out and you have to meet the world. And so he says, now you've got the Lord that you can turn to. He knows all the different paths. All these paths open up. Often when we're traveling, you come to a place where there's maybe three or four ways you can go. So you look very.
Carefully at the signpost and you choose which way you want to go. And dear young people, a lot of you are coming to points in your lives where there come a parting of the ways, so to speak. Your parents may not be there, maybe you're away from home, but you have this voice of wisdom. I say again, this is most interesting. The first 7 chapters God gives you the parents. Then when you come to the 8th chapter, it gives you a little picture of leaving home and He shows you that there is.
One who made your body, who knows all the different roads, who underwrites all the different things that seem very interesting and nice to you. And he says just like that, consumers digest. You can read it and see what people have found out who tried these things and you have the wisdom of God for your pathway. I say again, I'm not just speaking to you who are young, I'm speaking to myself. I'm a few years older than a few people here, but I still.
Have decisions to make and you can make some bad decisions. When you get old too, you can make some bad decisions. And why? Because we don't follow the wisdom of the Word of God. The Word of God is always perfect wisdom. The very name of the Lord is wisdom. Well then we just. I'd like to turn over to Proverbs 31.
I just want to notice this first verse to start with. It says here.
The words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him, What my son and what the son of my womb, and what the son of my vows.
And here we find we've been talking a little bit about the father because in the first chapters, it's mostly about the father, although it does say in one chapter here the instruction of a mother. But here, when you come to this 31St, it's something that this wonderfully wise king remembered that his mother told him, his mother told him. And you know, mothers often do have an insight into things that we were men don't always see in the same way. And we can.
Very thankful God hasn't just made men, He's made women too, and they have a different way of looking at things. And God has provided both. So we have a father, we have a mother. Above all, we have the one whose very name is Wisdom, the Lord Jesus. And now this has to do in this chapter with marriage as we know, and the partner that you choose in your life, oh, how very important that is, how it's going to affect your whole life that you might get the one whom the Lord intended.
For you and who can be a real blessing in your life. And you know it gives us that instruction. It says here.
Just to read the tenth verse, Who can find a virtuous wound for her price is far above Rubies, the heart of her husband thus safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of his life. Her life. She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchant ships. She bringeth her food from afar. She rises also while it is yet.
Giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. She considers a field, and buyeth it with the fruit of her hand. She planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good. Her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hand to the spindle, and her hands hold this path. She stretches out her hand to the poor.
Yet she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. He's not afraid of the snow for her household.
For all her household are clothed with scarlet, she maketh herself coverings of tapestry or clothing is silk and purple her clothing. Her husband is known in the gates when he sitteth among the elders of the lamb. Here we find the mother introduced at the end. And this especially when it comes to the question of marriage. How how very important it is to listen to our parents and realize that they know a lot of these things.
That we need to know.
00:35:02
There's a lovely verse in the.
Book of Ecclesiastes, I won't turn to it, but it says 2 are better than one and a three fold cord is not quickly broken. And so we need father, we need Mother, and we also have the threefold cord. Someone said to us, well what's the secret? How is it? Can you live that way together for all that length of time? The Lord has given us many happy years together.
And we said we needed the Lord. He's the threefold cord.
You know, if you don't have the Lord in your marriage, one time when we were Papa daughter Lake many years ago, there was a boy, he was going with a girl and I had occasion to speak about this and I said, you know what, we need the threefold cord. We not need not only need each other, but we need that threefold cord. Another person, he says I don't want any threefold cord in my marriage. Well, he didn't have a threefold cord in his marriage either and I didn't go very well.
You know, we need a threefold cord. We need the Lord.
We need the Lord in all these things. So this is really instructive here. But this was the instruction of a mother because no, mothers often have, as I say, an insight into things that perhaps the husband doesn't.
And so tell us all the things that she does. And I'm sure that many of you girls can say, well, that's just like my mother. She's a wonderful person and she's the one who has made our home what it is. And so all this is given to us. And 1St that she takes care of the household, then she reaches out her hands to the poor. She has business abilities. She considers the field and buys it.
And then it tells us too.
Her husband is known in the gates when he sitteth among the elders of the land, that is.
She's the completion of her husband, in other words.
Even in the Lord Jesus it says, let's turn to Ephesians chapter 1.
A very wonderful expression.
Ephesians chapter 1.
The end of the first chapter it says about the Lord Jesus.
21St verse.
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 that filleth All in all that is the Lord Jesus looks upon you and I who are the completion of his joy. He's going to have more joy when that.
Marriage of the Lamb takes place in heaven. He's going to have more joy than we have. Wonderful for us to look forward to the time.
Fun, as it says, the marriage of the Lamb is common. His wife hath made herself ready, but who's going to have the most joy? The Lord is going to have the joy. And it says He'll be glorified in His Saints, and admired in all them that believe. What a wonderful day that will be, where there won't be one thing in any one of His own but that which is the fruit of His grace. What has wrought in us now very often.
Not always that conformity to Christ, but what a marvelous day.
When the marriage of the Lamb takes place, the bride is presented in all her beauty, and then that eternal joy begins, and the heavenly city is looked at as the bride, the Lamb's wife. Well, when we think of all these things, dear young people, and I speak to those of us who are older too, how thankful we can be. And then we were speaking a little bit this morning, the wonderful privilege that we have.
That the Church is the bride of Christ.
And I think that this we're Speaking of the natural side of things now, the spiritual side of things is so wonderful that Christ has chosen a bride. Not much. Did he love that bride? Well, He loved that bride enough that he gave himself for it. Did we respond like we should? No. How often. How often. Our hearts were rebellious. And he kept after us. And in his mercy he sought us, and he found us and he drew.
To himself, and in his wondrous love he is seeking now to produce in us that conformity to Christ, that it might be seen in US, and I think as gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus. It's a wonderful privilege when we lay hold of this, what the Church really is to Christ Himself.
00:40:05
I encountered A privilege that I by grace and gathered to his precious name. But I love to think that the Lord Jesus is, shall I say, rejoicing more to see those who are members of His body gathered around him. Now it must grieve his heart to think that there are many that will rather call themselves by some other name. I wouldn't like it very well if I came home one time when I've been away for a while. My wife said, well, I've chosen to take another name.
I think I got tired and everybody didn't know your name.
Very well, I'd like I've taken another name. How would I feel? And why would we ever want any other name but the name of the Lord Jesus?
You know, you can join a lot of systems and they all have a name. They have an organization they don't recognize. As our brother said, the head, there's a lovely thing to be gathered. Someone says, how are you saved? You say the Lord Jesus is my Savior. He died for me. He shed his precious blood for me. And so his to me is the name which is above every name and what church he belonged to.
Isn't strange that people then suddenly come up with some other name?
Isn't it lovely to be able to say, well, the same one who's my savior, I'm gathered to him. He's the one gathered as a member of his body in that wonderful place of nearness to himself. What a privilege that is. You and I value it. I'm sure when I was young I didn't value it.
I can remember when we were walking to meetings sometime, my father met a couple of other Christians that were going the other way opposite to us and walking around. He saluted them and said good morning very warmly. And I said, who are those people, Father? Who are those people? Will? He said they're Christians, but they're not gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus. They don't meet with us. Isn't that sad? To thank the Lord Jesus died that he might gather together in one. The children of God were scattered abroad.
The church is going to be presented another way in another day as a glorious church. Oh, you say, but there's a lot of failure. You're going to break up your marriage because things aren't perfect, because there aren't just all together the way they should be. Oh, how wonderful it is that we have such a wonderful Savior and that he has died for us that He has. And so I just like to say again.
What I was saying at the beginning, this is my friend. He's altogether lovely.
This is the one that I want to talk to you about, and he knows all about you and he knows all about me.
And he plans everything in our lives for us. He watched our bodies being formed. He gave us parents.
And the parents that you have are the parents that God gave to you, and you can be blessed by them. I don't know any parent that doesn't really seek the happiness and good of their children. We're not always wise. I wasn't always wise as a parent, but I think I could say we honestly sought the good and happiness of our children and know how wonderful it is to have such. And then too that they have a mother who cares too.
And then before we close, I'd just like to read a passage in.
Romans, chapter 12.
Romans, chapter 12.
I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable or intelligent service, and be not conformed to this world. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
For I say through the grace that is.
Give unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Well, when we think of all these things, then what should be the natural impulse and result of our hearts? Well, I hope it'll be in my heart and I hope in yours that you'll just look to the Lord Jesus and say, Lord, here I am, here I am, and I was paid a great price for me. I belong to Thee. I'm redeemed by thy precious blood.
Start caring for me in every step of my pathway. I'm going to be in that beautiful marriage of the Lamb that's going to take place in heaven, and I've only got a little time.
Here in this world, and I only can live this little time, you'll never be able to recall one day or one hour of your time.
00:45:02
I remember the little thing that I read said one time it said lost 1 golden hour somewhere between sunrise and sunset set with 60 diamond minutes.
No reward is offered. It's gone forever.
And you know, every hour, every day that you and I lose is not just lost time for this world, it's lost time for eternity. And we all believe who are the Lords that His coming is getting very near. Our lives are going to pass into review in His presence. And what has not been acceptable is just going to be burned out.
Thank God the Lord Jesus has borne all the punishment. There's not going to be any punishment.
The judgment seat of Christ is not for any punishment. The judgment seat of Christ for the believer is for manifestation and reward.
And sometimes, pardon me repeating an illustration that I often use because some people think, how can it be the judgment seat of Christ if there's no judgment there? But, you know, we use the word judgment in two different ways in English. That is, as a judge in a courtroom. And there's a judge at a craft show, we'll say.
You went to the court and there the judge and somebody's brought up before him and he passes judgment and the person has to pay a fine or whatever. He's a penal judge. He's there to punish people. Well, you and I will never meet the Lord Jesus in that way, but we will meet him at the judgment seat of Christ.
And let's suppose Just for you is safe. Using my illustration, you go to a craft show in the evening, and the same man who was judged in that courtroom, he's the judge in the craft show.
And he's looking over all the things. Is he going to punish anybody there whose work wasn't accepted or rewarded? No, not going to punish anybody. What's he going to do? He's there for reward, for manifestation and reward. And so whatever has been acceptable is manifested and rewarded. The judgment seat of Christ for believer is not for punishment. If you know the Lord is your Savior, judgment has passed forever. Jesus is gracious, wondrous love.
Before the full burden of my sins.
Calvary cried. It is finished. His blood has cleansed me from all sin, but he's going to make a manifestation of our lives.
And when that time comes that your life passes into review and mine passes into review, wouldn't you like it if there would be that which the Lord could say, well done, well done. You know how happy you'd feel at that craft show Your thing is picked out and they say, well, this is a beautiful piece of work. There's vice Lord for this.
Isn't it nice to think that a Savior who loved you and I enough to die for us to bear our sins, to bear with all our oddities and funny ways and disobedient ways and everything, learned us through it all and told us didn't change His loved one bit that after it all. And that you say, well, I'm not too much concerned because I know I'll never be punished. So I'm not very concerned about whether there's going to be much in my life that will meet His approval and His reward.
How are we going to think that way? Well, I hope the Lord will touch.
My heart and your heart too, and say I want to do just what it says here in the 12TH of Romans. I want to present my body and say, Lord, here I am. I'm not my own. I'm but with a price I belong to Thee.
A living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable or intelligent service.
Has He done enough for you? Has He done enough for me? He's done everything that love could do, you know. I just pray that my life, and your life too, will respond more to His love. And as we're talking to you this morning and perhaps this afternoon too, a little more about this great privilege of being gathered to His precious name according to His word. I want to be lovely. Didn't David value the ones who followed him and his rejection?
Your young people, the Lord really values it. If you value this place and privilege that you have, that you, in the scene where He was crucified and cast out, can be gathered to His precious name in that place of dearness, as a member of His body, to remember Him until He comes, will their hearts respond more to His love. This is my beloved, this is my friend. I beseech you, therefore, by the mercies of God, that you present your.
Living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. Which is your reasonable service? Should we just bow in prayer?