Partakers of Christ   (28:35)

Hebrews 3:1.  Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;

Hebrews 3:14.  For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

Colossians 1:27.  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Eph 3:10-12.  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

Philippians 4:19.  But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

If anyone really wants to do God’s will, you have to learn to walk by faith.  There’s a wonderful scripture concerning this truth: “We are made partakers of Christ.”  Think, think for a moment: “We are made partakers of Christ.”  That doesn’t mean that we get His blessings, but it means we become united to Him: we’re one with Him.

Oh, God, how far we have drifted from the hope of the gospel, unless that hope has gripped us so that we cannot live without it anymore.  “We are made partakers of Christ.”  You know where that scripture is, don’t you?  Let’s see, you scribes and Pharisees, how much you know about it.  Where is it?  Well, there are several scriptures.  But the one I’m thinking of is tremendously marvelous.  It begins like this: “Wherefore, holy brethren…”

“Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling…”  Do you know that our meetings ought to be more important than all the sessions of university and of Congress in Washington?  It should be.  We ought to come together with Jesus Christ to learn from Him.  I sometimes tremble when I think of it—when I think of how slow I have been to comprehend and to understand.  And that is not God’s fault at all.  He has sent to us a wonderful Teacher, and this Teacher wants to “guide us into all truth.”  And you know what the truth is?  It’s the Truth that none of the princes of this world knew—with all their university education, with all their civilization, with all their instruments, with all their theology, and all their knowledge of science.  They have not been able to understand even the A.B.C. of it.  But unto us, “God has revealed them by His Spirit…”

And God’s here this morning.  He wants you to know something.  And the only way He can make us know is by filling us with the Holy Ghost.  Only that Spirit of God can make me understand these things.

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Now, why does he liken Jesus to Moses?  Because Moses had a ministry and a charge from God to lead His people out of Egypt into the Promised Land.  But Jesus Christ has a charge from God to lead you and me out of the flesh into His glory!

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Oh, this morning we’re discussing this glorious gospel, this wonderful call of God!  And the first thing that God wants is that we believe Him.  Praise God!  You might say, “Well, me?”  Many times I’ve said that to God: “My God, I’m just a little piece of dust in the great universe.  And to think that You should think of me!  My God, to think that You should love me!”  Why, that’s more than I can grasp.  I can’t grasp it.  But God wants me to believe it.  And I know it today.  And He wants me to have this confidence.

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As soon as I give myself to the Lord Jesus Christ, I know that all the responsibility is His.  He is the pilot.  “He has begun a good work” in me, and He won’t give it up until He’s finished it.  Not only that, but He is able—abundantly able, Hallelujah!  And everything depends on my having faith in Him—having confidence in my Lord Jesus Christ.  And we can search our hearts this morning and see how it is with my confidence. 

The trouble is we like to have confidence in ourselves.  That’s been my fault years ago.  I looked at myself and I said, “Hey, wait a minute.  Wait a minute!  You don’t fulfill here, or there, or elsewhere.”  You’ll never fulfill that way.  You must have confidence in Jesus Christ, that “He who has begun a good work…”  He knew what kind of material He picked up when He picked you up.  And the Bible says He has purposely picked up poor material—Glory to God!—that He might “bring to nought things that are,” that He might show unto the angels the “exceeding riches” of His wisdom toward us.

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I ought to begin in the morning every morning by saying, “Jesus Christ, I know You’re going to do ‘exceeding abundantly above all that I can ask or think,’ today.  I’m going to have that confidence.  I’m going to expect nothing from myself, but I am going to expect everything from You.  I’m going to expect You to open my mouth when I need to open it, and to keep it shut when I need to keep my mouth shut.  I’m going to expect You to take hold of my mouth, and of my mind, and of my body, and of my soul.  I’m going to expect You to keep my body well.  I’m going to expect You, my God, to keep away the germs, and the devils, and all that might tempt me.”  Why that’s the promise of God!  Halellujah!  But listen, it’s more than that—more than a promise.  It’s a provision that God makes: “My God shall supply every need of yours”—How?—“according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

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They failed God because when they were tested and tried, they refused to believe God.  And don’t we do the same thing?  Don’t we?  Haven’t you ever had the experience of needing a healing, for instance?  And you don’t seem to get an answer to your prayer right away, and then God reminds you of how some ten years ago you got a healing, or fifteen years ago you got a healing.  And then God says, “Don’t you think I can do it today?”  And because God lets you be tested—why, it’s necessary that we be tested.  The Apostle Peter says, “If need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.”  What for?  “That the trial of your faith may be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”  Not to your honor, but to His honor!  Beloved, we’ve got many lessons to learn.  And yet there’s only one lesson to learn, and that lesson is: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!

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He says, “they do alway err in their heart, and they have not known My ways, so I sware in My wrath, they shall not enter into My rest.”  It’s a dreadful thing when God swears, and He says, “Alright, have it your way!”…  Right when they were up to the Promised Land: they could have gone right in.  And right there, they failed.

Beloved, we need to “hold fast the beginning of our confidence unto the end.”  And what is that beginning?  Why, we’ve been called to be “partakers of Christ”—not to just to be a little holy, you know; not just to be a little better than the Baptists, or Methodists, or backslidden Pentecostal folks.  We’re called to be like Jesus.

An illustration of natural understanding: a preacher’s unspiritual interpretation of the coming of the Lord.  “Oh, how stupid!”    (from 5:21)

A joke about a Scotchman’s wife falling out of a plane is used to illustrate Christians who through doubt leave the “vehicle” of the Holy Ghost’s leading, Jesus Himself being the “pilot.”    (from 11:13)

The story of a man who borrowed Confucius’ horse, which stopped for every beggar until alms were given.  “Now that’s what Jesus does.  He gives you not only a horse to ride on but He gives you His pocketbook too:  He gives you ‘all that is needed for life and godliness.’”    (from 16:16)

Hebräer drei, Nummer eins. — Hebrews 3:1.

Sclerosis.  It is not clear what disease HRW is referring to—perhaps Lou Gehrig’s disease which is called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or progressive systemic scleroderma but which is not usually fatal.

Date: “I know that God pursued a certain plan with this work in these 40 years.”  The 40^th anniversary of the church was in 1965.

Audio Quality: Fair

Original tape marked (21).  See project notes for 10A.  At 9:39, HRW gets ahead of himself, quoting Heb. 3:7 out of order and then correcting himself.  These seven seconds were removed.  A number of pauses were shortened and stutters removed.  Around 18:58, “the infantry alone meh, uh, number six million men, or six hundred thousand men” was changed to “the infantry alone number six hundred thousand men.”

In March, 2010 a review of this recording led to the following work on the edited recording: DeHummer 8 filter, -30dB at 60.25Hz, a reduction in speed to 103.25% of the edited duration, and an increase of volume of 0.8dB with hard limiting, and some localized volume increases.  Around 17:06, a bump was removed using AutoHeal in conjunction with a 16 filter DeHummer around 46Hz.  Quite a bit of traffic noise remains; no attempt was made to reduce it.

The original media and project files are available upon request.