Address—C. Hendricks
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For 193.
193.
Jesus, my Savior.
Thou art mine, the Father's gift of love divine.
All thou hast done and all thou art are now the portion of my heart.
193 Someone raised the tomb, please.
I want to talk on the truth.
The truth.
Jesus, my Savior.
Now we sang that together.
Is that true of you?
Is he your personal savior? We didn't sing Jesus the savior, we sang Jesus my savior. We didn't sing Jesus our savior either, but we made it very personal, Jesus my savior.
Thou art mine. Can you say that really truthfully? Can you sing that in truth?
Is he yours? That's the first question that we have to put to our souls. Jesus, my Savior, thou art mine.
Who is he?
The Father's gift of love divine each.
Line of these hymns brings out this glorious and wonderful truth.
The Father's gift of love divine. The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
The Father gave his only begotten Son.
All that thou hast, all thou hast done, and all thou art.
Are now the portion of my heart tremendous truth, we sang.
All thou hast done, and all thou art, are now the portion.
Of my heart.
If we were in the good of that, we wouldn't see a sour face on any of us.
We'd all be happy and rejoicing in this wonderful truth.
Poor, feeble, wretched as I am.
That the truth is that the way you think of yourself as you examine your own heart and your own ways and your own thoughts and life.
Can you? Can you truly say that?
Poor, feeble, wretched as I am.
I now can glory in Thy name. In ourselves we are that.
And now we can glory in His name.
Now cleansed in thy most precious blood.
Did you partake this morning? When we remember the Lord in his death ate the bread and drank the cup.
If you did and you're not real, you did a lie. Because the Lord's Supper is only for those who are cleansed by the blood and members of the body of Christ. It's only for them, for an exclusive company, those that have made the Savior theirs.
And come into blessing.
Now cleansed in thy most precious blood, can you say that? Is that true of you? Are you in the conscious enjoyment of that tremendous truth, that all your sins, so great, so many in His blood, are washed away?
And made the righteousness of God.
We who were.
Nothing but sin in ourselves by nature and by practice. Far, how very far from God. But made now the righteousness of God in him. That's tremendous truth.
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All that thou hast, thou hast for me.
All that thou hast, we're talking to the Lord all that he has.
Thou hast for me if we are children.
We are heirs, heirs of God.
Heirs of God.
I like to think of it this way. If we're children, we're heirs.
We have two uncles and 1 is very rich and the other one is not very rich at all and we hear that one has died and he's left us something. Which one was it?
Well, it was the rich one, Uncle John.
Very rich.
Heirs of God, very rich.
He owns the universe. How much did he leave me? What am I an heir of?
Joint heirs with Christ. Joint heirs with Christ. That's the measure.
Of what our inheritance is.
By nothing.
AM all that thou hast Thou hast for me. All my fresh springs are hid in thee, and thee I live, while I confess I nothing. Am yet all possessed while we sang that hymn.
Is it true of you? Is it true of each one of us?
I want to talk about truth and I want to read some scriptures that bring before us wonderful truth. Turn to Isaiah 40. Isaiah 40.
Verse 8.
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever.
Simple statement of scripture. Everything I read from this book that I'm going to read this afternoon is the truth. The word of our God shall stand forever.
It will never be proven to be wrong.
Because thy word is truth.
Thy word is truth.
Verse 28 Wonderful truth.
Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the eternal God, the Lord Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faded? Not, neither is weary. There's no searching of his understanding.
Wonderful truths we read through these verses so oftentimes.
Without pondering them a little word in the Psalm Sila, pause and reflect and consider what we're reading. The everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary.
There is no searching of his understanding.
I could read more but.
We will pass on.
Chapter 42.
Behold verse one, my servant whom I uphold.
My delect, in whom my soul delighteth. Now it's God the Father that's speaking here.
And he talks about his servant. That's the Son, that's the Lord Jesus.
And then he says, I put my spirit upon him in that one simple verse.
Of the Old Testament we have the Trinity, God the Father.
Saying, Behold, my servant, that's the Son, and then saying, I put my spirit upon him.
Wonderful truth that we gain from the Word of God.
Verse 5 Thus saith the Lord God to the Lord he that created the heavens and stretched them out.
Scientists found out recently that the universe is expanding. Anyone that had his Bible in hand could have told him that.
God is stretched out to heavens. It is expanding.
All truth that we need.
Is in this book verse eight. I am the Lord, that is my name.
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And my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. We were mentioning in the readings that all the other gods are false gods. There's no there's only one true God, and he is the living God, and all the others are false and dead.
The product of man's imagination.
This book reveals the true and living God.
Just pick out a few more wonderful statements of truth.
Verse 11 of chapter 43 I even I am the Lord Jehovah, all capitals. It means Jehovah. We know that I believe and beside me there is no savior. So we don't have to look elsewhere for a savior, it must be him.
It must be Jehovah.
His name in the Old Testament is Jehovah. His name in the New Testament is Jesus.
Acts 4 says there was number other name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved. But the precious name of Jesus here it says Jehovah says beside me there is no savior. They're one and the same glorious person. These are truths that we learn as we read the word of God.
Now I'm I'm going over truths that 90%.
Of this nation and other nations in the world know nothing about.
We take so often for granted these precious gems of truth that are in God's wonderful Word.
Verse 15 says I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.
Jehovah speaking their king over the cross, they wrote. This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Yes, Jehovah, their king.
Zachariah 9 says, Behold, thy king cometh unto thee lowly, and riding upon an *** and a colt the foal of an ***.
How could God, Jehovah write on an ***? He had to become a man. He had to come down here and be called Jesus when he was born.
Yes.
You get the truth when you put these passages.
Together.
Verse 25 of chapter 43 The Lord says, I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions.
For my own sake, it will not remember thy sins. We have a forgiving God.
A forgiving God.
So many of the deities that have been created by man don't have that attribute for that quality.
Verse 6 of chapter 44. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts.
I am the 1St and I am the last and beside me.
There is no God.
Beside me there is no God. Get a hold of these truths, young people, especially when you are fed the lives of Satan in the universities and schools of the land.
By people that don't know the Lord and don't believe this book because this book is the truth and it contains what we need to ward off and fight the the lies of Satan.
The lives of Satan.
But I think that's enough.
To go now to the New Testament, John's Gospel.
And chapter 1.
Just wanted to touch on a few points and there are many many more.
But as we read these truths, store them up in your mind and make them part of your, of your belief system. What you believe, what they would ask you, what do you believe? What is it we are to to hold fast to the faith that was once delivered to the Saints? The faith once delivered to the Saints is the whole body of revealed truth, and that's what we believe.
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If we are intelligent in the Scriptures, John 1 and verse 14, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And I'll skip the parentheses full of grace and truth. And again in verse 17, the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
You can't have it anywhere else. It came by him and he is.
The truth himself, outside of him. I'm talking about moral and spiritual truth. I'm not talking about mathematics or history or geography or any of those sciences. I'm talking about moral and spiritual truth. Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where are we going? This book, and only this book answers those 3 questions.
Tells us where we came from.
Science has stabbed at it with their nonsense of evolution, but anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that won't fly.
We didn't get here by evolving up from lifeless matter by nothing.
Now God, I enjoyed what a brother said. God took inanimate clay from the dust of the ground, and he breathed into it the breath of life and man.
Became a living soul, and only he, only God, the living God.
The true and living God can do that.
Man cannot create life. Only God can do that. And he did it and He is.
A life giver himself.
In the 4th chapter.
In the 3rd chapter, verse 34.
For he whom God hath sent, speaketh the words of God.
For God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
He is the one that has the fullness and power.
Of the Holy Spirit.
Verse 23 of chapter 4. The hour cometh, and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.
There's so much worship that's going on in Christendom that is not worshiped in spirit. It's worship in a material mechanical contrivance, such as an organ or a piano or an orchestra or whatever it is. Instruments that have no life, that have no spirit and no soul, they can make sweet sounding music to the human ear. That's not Christian.
Christian worship is worship in spirit and in truth by the Spirit of God.
And according to the revelation that he has been pleased to make of himself.
In Christ.
We need to know what that truth is to worship spiritually. God is a spirit. Verse 24.
And they that worshiped Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
In truth.
Now let's turn over to the 8th chapter.
To the 8th chapter of John.
Verse 29 The blessed Lord is speaking, and he that sent me is with me. The Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please Him.
A lot of children here. You have a father, mother.
Is there anyone here that can say I do always those things that please my father? I couldn't say that, none of you can. But there was a man in this scene that could utter these words of truth. The Father hath not left me alone. He was always in that perfect communion with his father. He says I do always those things that please him. Wonderful truth.
And it's only true of him.
As he spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If you continue in my word.
Then are you my disciples indeed?
And ye shall know the truth.
And the truth shall make you free. It's only the truth of God that can free you.
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From the the thoughts and the opinions and the ideas of men.
One of the most worthless and evil things that have developed in the in this century of ours are the talk shows. I don't know if you know what they are. Everyone expresses their own opinion on the different subjects that are before them, and if The opinions expressed are not formed by the word of God, they're absolutely worthless and wrong.
And you can you can get positive injury.
Your soul by listening to that.
By listening to that, because that will put thoughts into your mind which may never have come there except that you heard it.
Someone asked me recently.
We were talking about some of the errors of Effie Raven back in the 1890s where he denied that the Lord Jesus was eternal life in his person.
And he said to me.
What was the thought process that he must have gone through to arrive at that? And I said, well, if I knew, I wouldn't tell you because that would be putting into your mind something that you should never even consider hearing because it was a lie. It was wrong. If you know that something is is a lie and not the truth of God, don't pursue it. Don't go farther into it because it will only defile you.
Be content with the truth and only the truth itself. And that's what sets us free from the opinions of men. Some of the awful opinions that have been expressed on certain verses of Scripture and the wrong interpretation placed on them in order to support some of the evil theories that have come out in Christendom. Many of you don't know what I'm talking about.
But I've looked into some of these things, the measure of detail.
And they're very defiling.
I know the way I felt when I got through reading some of Mr. Ravens statements. I felt dirty.
Felt like I had to take all my clothes off and get in the shower and get a good clean bath because of the the the evil thoughts that he advanced.
Denying fundamental truths of the Bible said, Be wise as to that which is good, what is good, the truth and simple concerning evil. Follow that and you will avoid many a snare in your life. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Verse 36 he says if the son, therefore he who is the truth.
In his person shall make you free, He shall be free.
Indeed, he engages in a conversation with those that hated him, and in verse 40 he says, Now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth which I have heard of God. This did not Abraham.
Verse 44 Ye are the Lord used very strong words to these Pharisees, these hypocrites. He says ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father he will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar, and the father of it. Strong language. There is no stronger language it's ever been uttered than that which the Lord Jesus spoke when he was dealing with religious hypocrites.
Because I tell you the truth, he believe me not. Which of you convinceeth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do you not believe me?
I passed over it. You don't have to turn back but I'm just going to read it. It's in the 3rd chapter where he says he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
The truth.
These wicked religious leaders.
Blind leaders of the blind.
Both fall into a ditch.
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Well, he turned to the 14th chapter.
I have much to cover, I don't want to get stuck on too many details.
Verse 6 very well known verse. Jesus sayeth unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me when I was in Canada some years back now.
They elected a new president to the UMM.
The Canadian.
Amalgamation of some churches.
The Union.
And someone quoted this verse to the one that had been elected to it supposed to be a man that knew the Bible.
The Lord Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
His idea was that there's many ways of coming to God. This verse says there's only one.
And when he heard that verse, he said, is that in the Bible? Is that in the Bible?
I'll have to look it up.
That's so ignorant. Some of these religious leaders are of the word of God.
He is the truth, objectively.
As you trace his footsteps, hear his words, see his works as they're portrayed to us in the four gospels, you see the truth lived out in perfection in a man.
The question is not what would Jesus do? That's often put, you know, nowadays.
That depends on what I think he would do. No, you the question is what did he do?
What did He do? How did He act in the various circumstances of life? And there you see the truth being expressed. And then in verse 16 of chapter 14, he says, I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever. There's another verse that has the whole Trinity in it. The Son prays to the Father, who gives the other comforter the Holy Spirit.
Even the spirit of truth.
Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him.
For He dwelleth with you and shall be in you. Just remember that young people, that the people of this world do not know the truth, but we do We do.
And he's called the Spirit of Truth. He's called that in the 15th chapter.
Verse 26 But 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 ye have been with me from the beginning.
That's why he's here, to bear witness to the Son. The Son was here to bear witness to the Father. And now we're here too, to bear witness to the Lord Jesus.
Verse 5 of chapter 16 he says, Now I go my way to him that sent me.
And none of you asketh me, whither goest thou, but because I have said these things unto you.
Sorrow hath filled your heart. 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. The suggestion by our brother that we take up in the readings the Spirit of God was a good one, because, and especially in John's Gospel, because He is the one who is the truth subjectively.
He is within us, Christ is outside of us. He is the truth objectively, and the Word is called the truth. We have all the equipment, if I can put it that way, that is necessary to walk in the path that is pleasing to God. 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.
Brother was talking to another that professed to be a Christian and.
He said, well, what what goes on in your group?
And well, basically what was going on was the Spirit is doing this and that and the other thing amongst them, and it was all being occupied with the Spirit. Now the Spirit of God is not here to occupy you with Himself, He is here to glorify the Son.
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And if it's all the subjective line, mystical subjective line.
Very dangerous indeed.
Anytime you get occupied with what the Spirit is doing within you, you're occupied with the wrong thing.
Be occupied with Christ outside of us who is the truth Spirit of God will occupy us with him and you can judge where whether a message is spiritual or not by is it? Does it exalt Christ or does it get us occupied with How am I doing in the Christian life?
That's not what the Spirit is here for. We can greet Him and we can quench Him, and if we grieve him, we we will, we will experience a loss of his power. But he's not here to occupy us with himself. And as we get occupied more and more with Christ and study the beauties and the preciousness of Him, study his words, hear what he said, and trace his footsteps and see.
He did. It's all the revelation of the Father. Beautiful.
No book like it. John's Gospel.
The truth. Now we have the spirit of truth within us. We have the truth objectively in Christ outside of us.
And we have the word of truth right here that I hold in my hands. This is the greatest miracle, by the way, that was ever committed, in my opinion, is how did we ever get all these different books put together in one volume? That's tremendous miracle, tremendous. The most precious possession I own is this book. If I had to make a choice, it would be an easy one. This would be the last to go.
It would have to be. I can do with everything else, but I can't do without the word of God.
And whether you know it or not, neither can you.
Neither can you.
Because it contains, it is the truth.
It presents to us two persons, the Son and the Spirit, who are both called the truth.
Who is it that they're the truth of? They're the truth of the Father. He is the one who is being revealed.
Chapter 17.
Chapter 17.
And.
17.
The Lord is praying to the Father, Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy word is truth.
The word is truth.
This blessed book and that's how we can be sanctified and set apart now. Chapter 18.
Verse 36 Jesus answered, My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom are of this world, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews?
But now is my Kingdom not from hence I have therefore said unto them, Art thou a king? Then Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I might I should bear witness unto the truth.
Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice, Pilate said unto him. What is truth?
I can just hear the sneer in his voice. What is true?
He was a politician.
No such thing as absolute truth. I think I've told this story before. Some have heard it, some have not. So I'll tell it again.
There was a brother that had written a book and he was being interviewed by one of these modernistic liberal women and she said to him, how do I know that what you wrote in that book is the truth?
He said, ma'am, you can't know that it's the truth unless you know the truth itself.
And you can never know the truth itself unless there is a truth to know.
This is the truth that we are to now occupy yourself with this book. It is the truth.
And it tells us the truth about God. It tells us the truth about man. It's the only book that says the heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things. Who can know it? God looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand in that that sought him. And he said they're all together become corrupt. They're all turned aside. There's none that doeth good. No, not one. You won't read that in any other writings of men. You won't read that.
Because they don't present the truth.
Of man's real condition, they present the lie that everyone of us has a spark of the divine within us.
And all we have to do is hand that into a gigantic flame. That's the lie of Satan.
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We had that before us when we were considering the new birth.
Why is it absolutely necessary that we must be born again because the nature with which we were born the first time?
Is incorrigibly bad and we need a new nature, a new life.
Everything new and this book tells it. This book tells us, and only this book.
Ephesians 4.
Ephesians 4. Just a verse.
Verse 20. But ye have not so learned Christ, if so, be that ye have heard him.
And have been taught by him as the truth is.
In Jesus.
That's where the truth is. It's found in Him and only in Him. All the leaders of other religions are false prophets and deceivers. Now turn to 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2.
Some of you have heard of the book Left Behind.
Tim the Hay, the author.
And he does teach in that book, he said. I have read it that if you miss the Rapture, you'll get another chance.
Well, let's see what the scripture says, The scripture of truth.
Chapter 2 of 2 Thessalonians.
For the mystery verse 7. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work. Only he who now letteth or hindereth will let until he be taken out of the way.
That's a reference to the Holy Spirit who is hindering the full development of iniquity. And then shall that wicked one, that's the Antichrist, be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, Him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders.
Very same miracles that the Lord is reported doing in Acts 2 are done by the Antichrist. He's an imitator. I once handed to a child a counterfeit dollar bill. I said this isn't the real thing. What does it prove? It proves there's a real 1. You can't counterfeit nothing.
You have to have the real the real article in order to make a counterfeit. So if you have a counterfeit piece of money.
It proves that there is the real thing.
Verse 11 For this 'cause verse 10. Verse 10. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish. Notice this now, because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. They didn't receive it, they refused it. They willfully rejected it. The love of the truth is John 316 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.
It's God, not just truth, but the love of the truth, the love of the heart of God, and giving His beloved Son that he might save your poor wretched.
Hell bound soul.
If you're not saved.
Because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved for this cause.
God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie.
That they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure.
In unrighteousness, the Word of God clearly says that if you've heard the gospel, I mean heard it and understood the offer of salvation that God has made to you, and you say no, as it was said last night, no, I'll put it off. I'll wait till another time.
And then the rapture would take place and you are left behind. You're not going to believe the truth. You've already rejected the truth.
In the person of Christ, you will believe a lie.
And you will be damned.
There will be many, of course, that would never have been guilty of rejecting the truth because they'd never really heard it, and only God can determine if you have heard it and in your will rejected it. You won't get a second chance.
That's what the word of God says, which you are going to believe the fiction of that book.
Or the truth of the Word of God.
Philippians says whatsoever things are true, Whatsoever things are honest starts out with whatsoever things are true. Don't read fiction.
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Don't read it because it will, especially if it's on religious subjects, because they can let the mind of man just go wild on those things and plant ideas into your mind that are not true. Absolutely not true.
May you cultivate getting your scriptural you get getting your spiritual knowledge from this book.
And from men who fear God and have written upon it, but especially from the book itself. Second Timothy 3.
Second Timothy 3 No one. Timothy 3 First Timothy 3, verse 15 if I carried long, that thou mayest know how thou Artest to behave thyself in the House of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Now the church is not the truth, Christ is the truth, the Spirit is the truth, the Word is the truth, but the church is the pillar and ground of it. It is taught.
By men that are given by God to teach.
The truth from the Scriptures and then once taught, it is responsible to uphold and maintain the truth, the church. But the church is not a legislative body. It does not determine what is right and wrong. This book does, God does and he's the author of this book. He is the he's the legislator and the assembly administrates and is a judicial body when it has to. What is the cardinal truth?
Uphold the 16th verse tells us First Timothy 316 without controversy. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory.
That verse gives us God coming down, becoming a man, and then man going up into the very glory of God, and that's where he is.
Tonight.
How do I know this by this book? I didn't dream it.
Didn't come to me in a vision at night. It's here. The truth is here and you can know it just as sure and certain as anyone. One thing we have to be careful of. God has given teachers in the church. Yes, He has, and we can be thankful for them and shepherds and evangelists.
But don't make any teacher. I don't care how well taught he is to be your standard of truth.
It's the Spirit of God who is the truth and he will not mislead you. Men have misled many, sad to say in the history of the church. Gifted men, well taught men.
I could name.
Those that followed Mr. Raven in 1890 and it would make you leap.
He didn't do that. He didn't go with that, did he? Yes, I could name them.
Just tells us we're not to trust in man, we're to value them.
And be thankful for the truth that they bring. But this is the truth. We don't establish what the truth is. None of us does it if we ever get to that point.
We are in sorry shape indeed. I'll turn to the second epistle of Timothy in chapter 3.
He says in verse 14 to Timothy, Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned.
And has been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them. Now I couldn't appropriate that verse to myself because I wasn't taught the truth as a child.
I was pretty much raised as a heathen. I was saved, the first one in my family saved and I brought the gospel home and then my my mother got saved, and then my sister and finally my father.
But I didn't, I wasn't raised as a Christian, raised as a heathen in this so-called Christian land of ours. And there's, that was 50 years ago. What is it today? It's far worse. Most young people have never heard the gospel, never heard it. They wouldn't be among those that had not received the love of the truth. They've never heard it. I never heard it till I was 19.
There are many are like that today. You who have been raised in a Christian family and have been immersed in the truth and Bible reading and and prayer meetings and and and reading meetings of the assembly and meetings such as we've had. You are have a tremendous advantage.
Tremendous advantage to bend.
In the truth you value it, that from a child verse 15, thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, but you're able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Timothy was taught the scriptures, the Old Testament scriptures by his grandmother and mother from a child.
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Then wonderful truth, verse 16 all scripture is given by inspiration of God.
And is profitable for doctrine. That's teaching.
For reproof, we need to be reproved. We need to be corrected for correction.
For instruction in righteousness, we need to be taught, we need to be reproved if we're going the wrong way or doing the wrong thing or having the wrong thought, and then we need correction and being being shown the right thing, destruction in righteousness.
That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all.
Good works.
Chapter 4. I just want to read the fourth verse. It says verse 3 the time will come, and this time has come when they will not endure sound doctrine.
But after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth.
And shall be turned unto fable.
Fables.
Now turn to.
First Epistle of John.
First Epistle of John.
Chapter 1. I won't comment on many of these verses, but I'll set them before you. Verse 6. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, with him who is light.
And walk in darkness. We lie and do not the truth verse.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth.
Is not in US verse 4 of chapter 2. He that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar.
And the truth is not in him. Say you know him and you walk your own way. You do your own thing.
You're not responsible to act according to the teachings of Scripture.
You're not in the truth. That's what John is saying here.
Then when he talks about the little children in the family, chapter 2, verse 18, he says little children. It is the last time families divided into fathers, young men and babes or little children. Now it's to the little children that he warns them against error and against antichrists. Striking, isn't it?
It is the last time, as ye have heard, that Antichrist shall come, even though are there many antichrists, whereby we know it is the last time.
They went out from us, these apostates. They were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest that they were all not of us.
But he speaking to the babes in the family, ye have an unction from the Holy One, that's the Spirit of God.
The anointing and you know, all things that they had, the potential, they had the divine teacher within them.
I don't have to go to men to learn to men. I don't mean gifts, teaching gifts in the church, but I'm talking about men in their wisdom.
You have an unction from the Holy One. Ye kneel all things, Verse 27. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you. Ye need not that any man teach you, just man, but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and His truth. There you have again the statement, The Spirit of God is the truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, you should abide in him.
Now we have just a short time turn to Second John. Second John.
I want you to notice how many times the word truth appears in this epistle. These two epistles, second and third John.
Second, John the Elder unto the elect Lady and her children, whom I love, and the truth.
And not only I, but also all they that have known the truth, for the truth's sake, which dwelleth in US and shall be with us forever.
Grace be with you, mercy and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
I rejoice greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.
And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another, and this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment that.
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As as ye have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it, for many deceivers are entered into the world. Second, John is warning this elect lady and her children about deceivers, and how she's to conduct herself to herself, towards them, herself and her children.
Many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not Jesus Christ coming in flesh. This is the deceiver and an Antichrist.
Look to yourselves that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, that's the truth of his person, that he is very God and very man.
Doesn't abide in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God.
Either divided in the doctrine of Christ, yet both the Father and the Son. He is giving her instruction, true instruction as to how to recognize someone that comes to her door peddling literature.
Professionally a minister of the Gospel.
Bringing their false literature to your door. They don't bring the doctrine of Christ. How is she to deal with that? And her children? Notice the children are included in second John.
If you're, if you're a child here, if you're a young person and you've accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, I'll hear this, hear this. You should know who Jesus is.
That's the most basic truth that you should be held accountable for the elect lady who should have known and so should the children. You should know who he is. He is God. If anyone comes to your door and and offers you literature that denies that truth have nothing to do with it.
Don't let them in.
Whosoever transgresseth verse 9, and abides not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God he that divideth in the doctrine of Christ, yet both the Father and the Son. Now here's instruction to this elect lady and her children, if there come any unto you, purportedly being messengers of the gospel and of Christianity, and bring not this doctrine.
Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and you could go on and on and on and name the different cults.
That are in Christendom, that are peddling their poisonous literature.
They don't bring the doctrine of Christ, the truth of this person. Receive him not into your house.
Neither did him. Godspeed. Don't even give him the common courtesy greeting of the day.
For he that biddeth him Godspeed is a partaker of his evil deeds.
Because of time, I'm going to read 3 John. Notice how many times the truth occurs. Second John is negative. It instructs this woman whom not to receive over. Second, John has written God is light over Third John is written God is love. It's instruction how to receive friends, those that bring the gospel of Christ, those who are friends, those who are four times in this epistle called Beloved, not once.
In second John, because he is warning. In two John, he is warning this elect lady and her children.
About Antichrist and deceivers and those that bring a false gospel.
And present a false Christ, don't receive them.
3 John tells us whom to receive the elder unto the well beloved Gaius.
Whom I love in the truth.
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth, For I rejoice greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. I've got no greater joy than to hear that my children, thy children walking through. Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest, through the brethren and to strangers. Men had come to Gaius's door that he'd never seen before.
They were strangers, but they were bringing the truth of God. And He welcomed them in, He fed them, He put them up for the night, sent them on their way. That was proper, because that for His name's sake they went forth taking nothing of the Gentiles. Both. Both of these two epistles, second John, are those that go about peddling error and a false Christ. Those in 3rd John are presenting a true Christ and the truth of God.
Dear friends.
Which have borne witness of thy charity before the Church, Verse 6. Whom, if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well.
You sent them on their way, because if for his name's sake they went forth taking nothing of the Gentiles, we therefore ought to receive such.
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Second, John tells us elect Lady and her children who not to receive. Third, John tells Gaius whom to receive.
Now, in order to know who I should receive and who I shouldn't receive, you have to be able to recognize who are enemies and who are friends, who are holding the truth and who are not.
And in order for you to recognize that, you have to have the truth yourself.
If you don't know the truth yourself, you will be at a loss to recognize the difference between truth and error.
You've got to be acquainted with this book.
It's got to be very well acquainted with this book.
Because after his name's sake they went forth taking nothing of the Gentiles. We therefore ought to receive such.
That we might be fellow helpers to the truth.
And then Diatrophies is mentioned and I'm going to skip him and read in verse 11, He's the one that was out of tune with Gaius. He wouldn't receive John. He wouldn't receive those that came that were real friends and he put them out. Verse 11, he says beloved follow not that, which is evil. Verse 5, he says beloved. Verse 1, he says beloved. He's talking to the beloved.
That word doesn't even occur once in Second John because it's a stern warning.
Against those that were enemies to the truth. Here there are friends, Friends to the truth. Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. Either do as good as of God, either doeth evil hath not seen God.
This is a letter accommodation for Demetrius. Demetrius hath good report of all men and of the truth itself. Yeah, and we also bear record, and you know that our record is true. I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee. Notice this last verse in 3rd John. But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. The friends salute thee. Greet the friends.
By name.
Second John. He's dealing with enemies.
He's warning this elect lady and her children to refuse them, not to let them in, not to show fellowship to them. They're Johnny's dealing with friends. He's dealing with those who are beloved.
Those who are true to the Lord, we got to know the difference. Don't treat.
An enemy like a friend. Don't treat a friend like an enemy. We got to know the difference.
And once you know the difference from the Word of God and the Word of God will tell us, you can ask a few questions.
To believe that Jesus is the Son of God? Yes, Jehovah's.