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42B. Respect unto All His Commandments (with a review of commandments in Ephesians 4)

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  speaker icon   1. Oh, How Precious Are the Promises of God to Me   (2:13)
  speaker icon   2. Holy Bible, Book Divine, first and last verses   (0:56)
  speaker icon   3. Respect unto All His Commandments   (25:15)
  speaker icon   4. The Wise and Foolish Builders, Matthew 7:24-27   (2:20)
  speaker icon   5. The Lord’s Prayer   (2:56)

Selected Verses:

Psalm 119:6.  Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.

I Peter 3:8.  Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous.

Ephesians 4:17-32  This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk…  22That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man…  24And that ye put on the new man…  25Wherefore putting away lying…  26Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath…  28Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good…  29Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.  30And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.  31Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted…

Opening:

Tell me, why don’t we keep all His commands?  David says in Psalm 119, “Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all Thy commandments.”  We ought to search our own hearts tonight and see.  We’re going to be ashamed if we don’t.  Do you know that?  We’re going to miss it.  We heard about David a while ago.  What in the world was the matter with David?  Why was he tempted and tested?  Why, because the devil contested the kingdom.  The devil had ruled.  The devil had gotten in through Saul.  And the devil said to God, “He ain’t any better than Saul.  If he is, You prove it to me.  I’ll show you.  I’ll tickle him.”  And like Peter…  Jesus said to Peter, “The devil, Satan, has desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat.” 

You know how Saul lost his kingdom?  Not by committing a gross sin, but by forcing himself and getting out of God’s will just a little bit—just a few minutes.  He forced himself and he did something that seemed very religious, but it was not God’s command.  God said, “I can’t use him, can’t use him.”  And don’t you know that we have a kingdom coming?  Don’t you know that Jesus says, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”?  Don’t you know that thousands of years have gone by and God has had a kingdom ready and He has not had people that were worthy to receive it as yet?

Selected Quotes:

speaker iconEvery transgression, every disobedience received a just recompense of reward.”  We’re reminded of those books that record “every idle word.”  Do you know where those books are?  Why, it’s your body, it’s your soul, it’s your heart.  Every sour thought puts another line of wrinkles under your eyes.  You can tell by the faces of people what they think, and—oh, they may not be thinking it just then—but you know, it becomes petrified.  Really, after 50 you have the face you deserve!

speaker iconO God, how far have we drifted from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus!  Look what else He says, “But ye have not so learned Christ.”  Why, my whole life’s job is to learn Christ.  O God, if You’ll help us, we’ll put aside everything else—we’ll put it aside.  Beloved, we will.  That’s what the Apostle Paul did when He said, “Beloved, I do one thing: I count everything but refuse.  Away with it: anything that’s in my way, anything that robs me of the time that belongs to God—my prayer time, my waiting upon the Lord—away with it!”

speaker icon I’ve seen the face of Jesus.  I’ve felt the drawing power of the Son of God.  I know something about “the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe.”  Sin has no more powerFlesh and devil have no more power.  When He says, “Never give up,” beloved, Jesus says “I tell you He will avenge them speedily.  Nevertheless, shall the Son of Man find faith upon the earth?”  Faith for what?  Why, faith for holiness, faith for overcoming, faith for the nature of the Son of God.  Tonight, in this meeting, He is ready to bestow it upon everybody that wants it.  But, beloved, we don’t labor over it.  We don’t labor over the Bible.  We don’t say, “Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all Thy commandments.”

speaker icon Why, He says, “If so be that ye have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man.”  People are satisfied to chip off a little bit here and a little bit there and a little more here, and then polish a little bit.  And then the thing grows out again like a crab: if you cut off his claw, he grows another one.  No, beloved, you “put off the old man with his deeds,” and “put on the new Man.”  Jesus is that new Man.  Does He live in you?

speaker icon Oh, the change that came into my life when Jesus came!  It was unspeakable.  I’d heard others talk about it, but I didn’t know how real it was.  Oh, how real is Jesus!  Glory to God!  He is more real than the old man.  He is the new Man from heavenHe is the “life-giving spirit,” glory to God!  He says, “Father, Thou hast given Him power over all flesh.”—He has power over your flesh—“to give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him.  And here is life eternal: that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.”

speaker icon My Father, if I have “respect unto Thy commands,” I will soon find myself in union with God.  God will soon step out of heaven and make His abode within meThat’s the difference, glory to God!  That’s the difference between “having a form of godliness and denying the power thereof.”  When I do it out of love for Jesus, I will love His word.  I will “delight myself also” in the “law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus,” because it opens to me wide a door into union with the Father, and with the Son, and with the Holy Ghost.  And there is no other way of being filled with the Holy Spirit.  People can have the baptism according to Acts 2:4, and then walk in the flesh.  Why, the baptism is given to me that I might now realize that I no longer need to walk in the flesh, thank God!  We’ve come out of that.

Illustrations:

The story of the HRW’s aunt, whose discipline was instrumental in his quickly learning English.  “They didn’t know how it happened, but if they had known my aunt, that would have… cleared up the mystery in their minds.  Oh, beloved, we need an aunt like that.”    (from 10:13)

An illustration of “let not the sun go down upon your wrath.”    (from 17:17)

German at 22:23:

O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst! verses 1 and 4
Ferdinand Freiligrath, ca. 1840

 

O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst!
O lieb, so lang du lieben magst!
Die Stunde kommt, die Stunde kommt,
Wo du an Gräbern stehst und klagst!

Und hüte deine Zunge wohl,
Bald ist ein böses Wort gesagt!
O Gott, es war nicht bös gemeint—
Der Andre aber geht und klagt.

Oh, love, for as long as you can!
Oh, love, for as long as you like!
The hour is coming, the hour is coming,
When you will stand at gravesides and lament.

And guard your tongue well:
All too soon a harsh word can escape from it.
O God, it was not meant in malice!
But the other departs and weeps.

References: 

Around 11:30, HRW makes a subtle reference to the poem Beyond the Brightness of the Sun, by T. P., translated by Frances Bevan.  See 33B for the full text of the poem.

Audio Quality: Fair

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