Gustafson, Bill: Tape 8 Family Ministry Obeying and Honoring With Joshua

Folks, about the issue of obeying and of honoring. And we've seen some illustrations in the scripture of young people who have grown in nurture and admonition of the Lord. And we want to think tonight for just a few minutes about a fellow named Joshua. We've picked several highlights from the Old Testament, and we want to pick this one. The first time we read about him is Exodus chapter seventeen. Some scholars say maybe Joshua was about forty at that point, we're not sure, but anyway, he's an interesting lesson for the young folk, okay? The emphasis is the children of Israel are in a place called Rephidim, and we are told that the word Rephidim implies the idea of standing along a railing, just like you do at a ball game, you stand and look over the fence. It implies the idea, fellas and girls, that somebody is watching us. And here are the children of Israel, Exodus chapter seventeen, a place called Rephidim, and what are they doing? They're arguing and bickering with each other about water supply and that sort of thing. If God could get them out of Egypt and open the Red Sea and get them across, they should have been able to trust him for a little water supply. I mean, how much water can you carry, you know? But they're arguing, they're at each other's throat, they're ready to stone Moses and do their own thing, go back to Egypt, as it were. And all the time this is going on, the Amalekites are creeping closer and closer and closer. And all through the Old Testament scriptures, one of the fascinating studies, some of you brethren want to may mark it down for a, a couple of Wednesday nights sometimes, study the Amalekites. They're a picture of the flesh, the old nature in all of us that is constantly haunting us. And the Amalekites hounded Israel all through their journey through the wilderness on into the promised land, always bugging them, always annoying them, st- stealing some animals, uh, grabbing a few servants, that sort of thing, the people that were lagging behind. So here's Israel arguing with each other, not paying any attention to the fact that the enemy is coming just down the road a few miles. And all of a sudden, word gets to Moses. He looks around and sees what the problem really is. And he turns to a young fellow named Joshua and says, man, you're on. First time you ever read about Joshua in the Bible. We don't know anything about his upbringing. We don't know anything about his age. We don't know what he did for his schooling. We don't know what his interests were. Just like that, all of a sudden he's on the world stage. And Moses says to Joshua, you put together an army, and you go deal with the Amalekites, and I'll be up here on the mountain, and I will pray for you. Dads and moms and grandmas and grandpas, there's an incredible lesson there for us. There's an incredible lesson for the assemblies. You and I see the younger generation out seeking to serve the Lord, seeking to live for the Lord in the classroom, short-term missions, whatever the situation might be, we'd better be back home holding up our hands, as it were, to the Lord and praying for them. And the first major issue we see in Joshua's life is this young fella is obedient. He does exactly what Moses asked him to do. He didn't stick his finger in his mouth and say, why me? He didn't say, wait a minute, I got to go home and ask my mommy. He didn't say, I never did this before, how do I know what I'm supposed to do? Instantly, Joshua is obedient, he selects an army, he goes out, and because he was obedient, number two, he was victorious. He won the battle. He was able to defeat the Amalekites. You know the story about Moses, Aaron, and Hur on top of the mountain. Moses gets tired, they sit him on a stone, and they hold his arms up. A picture for us of the Holy Spirit and the work of the Lord Jesus helping us to hold up those who are out serving the Lord, as we say, on the front lines in all these faraway places here and there around the globe. We also learn in that same seventeenth chapter, in addition to Joshua being obedient, in addition to him being successful or victorious, you and I are supposed to be victorious too. That's Romans chapter twelve, Don't be overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. The word overcomer is our Greek word Nike, all right? Supposed to have your Nikes on. The third lesson we learn in that same chapter is Joshua was teachable, and we've talked about that together. We need to be willing to be taught, all of us, young and old. There are still things to learn about the Lord. There are still things to learn about the scripture. There are still things to learn about serving the Lord, and we have Sunday school, and we have vacation Bible school, and we have camp ministries, and we have Bible studies and all these different areas of outreach and ministry, so that all of us are learning together. We're in a sorry state of affairs if we ever get to the plateau in life and say, hey, I- I've got it all down pat. I don't need to be taught. We're in trouble if we start thinking like that. The Apostle Paul himself said, I can never say I have apprehended, I have arrived. Not a one of us can say it either. No dad or mom can say, look, kids, I know all the answers, don't give me any hassle, just do it. No, they better be learning right along with the children, okay? Three things about Joshua. Exodus chapter seventeen: He's obedient, he was victorious, he was a teachable young men, young man. God said to Moses, you write all this down in a book and you rehearse it in his ears. You go over it again and again and again, okay? Now we have to go over to Exodus chapter twenty four to read about Joshua the second time in the Bible. Chapter twenty four in the book of Exodus, Joshua and, and Moses and Aaron and all the other leaders of Israel are on the mountain. They're having a little time of worship. They build a little altar. Chapter twenty five, the pattern for the tabernacle is laid out. Chapter twenty four, they're speaking with God. They're talking with God. And we read about Joshua, and he is Moses' servant, or if you have a King James, minister. The first time we find that word in our King James Bible. Here's our young friend Joshua, and he's learning to serve. Hey, he was just a great hotshot military general a few pages back. Remember, he won this great victory. No, God gave the victory. God gets all the honor and glory. Now here's this same young man who's willing to serve in a military sense as a leader of people, and he's Moses' water boy, if you will. He's just going along as Moses' helper. Dads and moms, young people alike, we need to learn to serve, and that starts in the home, and it translates into the local assembly, and then it works into everyday life. We le- need to learn to think of others and serve others. J-O-J-O-Y, Jesus others yourself. You remember the sequence. Next time we read about Joshua is chapter thirty two in the book of Exodus. The children of Israel have just been through this incredible golden calf incident. God has been speaking to Moses on the mountain. He says to Moses, you better go down there and take care of those folks. Moses starts down the mountain with the tablets of the law, throws them on the ground and smashes them, you remember, on the way down, because everybody's broken at least three of the commandments already. On the way down, Joshua says to his friend Moses, man, what's going on down there? That sounds like war. Maybe he was listening to a radio station today, you know. Some of that stuff they call music sounds pretty horrible, you know. Moses says, no, I don't think that's war. It doesn't sound like anybody's winning. It doesn't sound like anybody's losing. He says, I think that's some kind of a celebration. When they got down there, they found out what kind of celebration it was. That's supposed to be people having a good time. Joshua was learning, you see? His ear wasn't tuned. He didn't know just what that sound was all about. And you and I, as we progress through life, we're tuning our ears to know right from wrong, to know what's appropriate and what is inappropriate, to know what is of value and worth and what is trash. And you remember, as a result of that incident, God said to Moses, I don't want to be in the middle of this camp. He was going to be, they were going to build a tabernacle and place it in the middle, but that hadn't come yet. So God said to Moses, you put up a little temporary meeting place outside the camp. You and I have that little verse reflected in the book of Hebrews. We'll go forth to him outside the camp. And God said to Moses, if anybody wants to come see me, anybody wants to talk about fellowship, anybody wants to talk about sin and sacrifice and forgiveness, they can come outside the camp. We don't know what kind of tent that was. It's called the tabernacle of the congregation in some of our translations. It wasn't the tabernacle. Some say maybe it was Moses' own private tent. Some say maybe it was a little specially designated tent. Anyway, set up outside the camp, Exodus chapter thirty three. Children of Israel would go out there if they wanted to speak to God. God didn't want to be in the middle of the camp for a while because of all this sin and debauchery, chapter thirty two. But our friend Joshua shows up again, fascinating. Because we read there that Moses went out and he worshiped the Lord and, and he set a good example for all the families, and the men stand up, and they're standing in their tent doors worshiping, and then Moses goes about his service for the Lord and the Lord's people. He's got a lot of things to do. He's got a busy schedule. He has an agenda, just like all of you do. But it says of Joshua, he didn't leave. He enjoyed being in that little temporary meeting place. I think there's a lesson there for us, guys and gals. We need to be careful who we, as you say, quote unquote, hang out with. All right? We need to be careful who we pick for our friends. Joshua said, I enjoy being out there with God's people. I'm going to stay somewhere around this little tabernacle here and just communicate with God's people, just enjoy fellowshipping together with them. He's a very perceptive young man, right? The folk you and I spend our time with from these earliest years right on along, they're going to have an influence on us. And the sad commentary is, once we leave the local fellowship like this and go into the week, generally speaking, the majority of folk are going to be unbelievers. It'll be very rare to be otherwise. Maybe you're in a Christian school, a few opportunities like that, but generally speaking, once we leave here, the majority of people around us are going to be unsaved. We want to be an influence, we want to let our light shine, we want opportunities to witness for the Lord to them, but we've got to be careful who our closest friends, our closest associates are, because their lifestyle is going to rub off on us. So here's Joshua, who goes from being obedient to being a teachable young man, to spending time in service for others, to picking and choosing who he spends time with and say, hey, I'd like to be at the tabernacle of the congregation. I- I'll just stay around here, Moses. You go ahead and serve. You've got tasks, you have responsibilities, I know and understand, but I'll just stay here and I'll be with God's people. Dads and moms, there's a tremendous privilege for you and I to be involved in a local assembly like this, to share ministry with each other. We are laborers together with God. We get caught up on the laborers together. I got to work with Malcolm? Yeah, you got to work with Malcolm, okay? Might learn something from Malcolm. But we're laborers together with God. That makes a world of difference. The eternal God, the one who is our s- our Savior, chooses to work in and through us every single believer, from the youngest to the oldest. So we learn to serve, and we learn to grab every opportunity of fellowship we can. I think you've started a new tradition. I think you're going to have meals every Wednesday night. This looks like it'll really go in here, all right? That was tremendous tonight, ladies. Thank you. What an opportunity to sit in fellowship for just a few minutes, to spend a little time in the Word. Boy, it makes a difference in the middle of your week, doesn't it? Just when you're really beginning to sag out, the Lord ca- brings you this little pick-me-up, and all of a sudden you make it to the weekend after all. And then comes Sunday, praise the Lord, or maybe Friday night for some of you, praise the Lord, another opportunity to be with God's people. Grab those opportunities. Tremendous influence for your children, your grandchildren, nieces, nephews, whatever, and a great encouragement for every one of us, because we were, we're with the family. We can let our hair down, we can be honest, we can be real, we can be frank, we can be pointed, we can say, hey, pray for me, I'm really struggling with this, this, this, or this, and nobody's going to criticize, nobody's going to gossip, they're just going to pray. And we come back and say, hey, the Lord did this and this, and we all rejoice. That's what the local family of God's people is all about, isn't it? Well, Joshua is another one of those fascinating characters in the Old Testament scriptures who give us a great illustration for these younger guys and gals, as well as all the older folk. Thanks for listening so well, okay? For you folks, we've certainly appreciated your faithfulness in coming out night after night, such a busy week, such a busy month as you have had. Part of our intention in our study tonight was quickly to look at one a- one area of difficulty in the home, and in turn in the local church, the area of communication and conflict. There were several questions that came in, in that regard. It's been suggested by a great number of folk when writing on this issue of communication, the whole purpose of communication is to develop and strengthen a relationship. And as we travel among the Lord's people, as we mix and mingle with Christians, one of the greatest difficulties we have today is communicating husband and wife, parent and child, brother and sister in the Lord in the local assembly. And as intriguing and amazing as the subject might be, I walked right into the trap Sunday night myself, okay? I conveyed a message here to a certain brother and sister sitting here tonight, which offended them. Communication. It vividly illustrates the issue, brothers and sisters, and I'll just be the guinea pig, right? Of what is happening in our marriages today. We are so incredibly busy. We're trying to maintain a schedule. We're racing here and there. We're fighting the calendar, fighting the clock all the time. And then while we're eating dinner, the husband and wife are trying to talk, the kids are trying to talk, we're talking about schoolwork, we're trying to watch the news, we're trying to listen to the sports score, we're looking at the clock, realizing we got to hurry up and get out of here and get to a meeting or get to the ball game or whatever. And we're really doing a poor job of communicating in our society today among the Lord's people. I'm not worried about the rest of the folk out there, but among the Lord's people. It's a combination of a number of things. What did she actually say to me? What do I think she said to me? What did she mean to say to me? And what did she think she said to me? Yeah. All right? You, you follow where I am? Because we've all been there, you know? You're listening to your wife talk, and you're trying to understand, but your mind is somewhere else. It's still on the traffic jam, it's on the schedule in the next hour or two, and you're not clearly paying attention. Brethren, one of the most serious issues we need to deal with in our families today is to sit across the dinner table from our wives and look them straight in the eye and listen. Someone as well said, you can determine a wife's relationship with her husband by looking into her eyes when she talks. And the same should be true of us as believers. You can determine our relationship with our Heavenly Father, with our Heavenly Bridegroom, by looking into our eyes when we talk about him. Speaks volumes, doesn't it? And here in America, we have learned to use voice inflection. We have learned to use facial expression, and we've le- learned to use what we call body language to convey certain messages. And we can say one thing and mean absolutely the opposite, and everybody knows it by the way we respond. But if they're not looking, they don't get it, all right? Or if they're not listening carefully, I watch in the assemblies as I speak here and there, and there's a brother or two dozing somewhere around, you know? As you know, I like to randomly pull some names from around the room. It's usually people on aisle seats, either the front seat or the back seat. If you want to know next time we come, you're forewarned. It's usually an aisle, front or back seat, because those are the ones who are sticking out, all right? And I'll pull a name, and I'll use them in some sort of an illustration, and if one of those brothers is dozing, boy, does he wake up in a hurry. His wife gets him especially. It's, he just called your name, turkey, you better wake up. See? All right? Here's an illustration. Our daughter and son-in-law just bought a, a used Suburban. They just found one a couple, three weeks ago in a little dealership in a little small town outside of Augusta, a, a ninety nine model. Chris went over and picked it up one day. The kids were all at home. We happened to be there when he came driving in the driveway. Gorgeous, beautifully maintained, nice vehicle, low mileage, just what they needed. He walks in the house and says to his three boys, the oldest one just turned nine, they're all just learning to ride bicycles, well, go ahead, guys, get your bikes and run into it, and let's get it over with. Not a one of them went out the door. They knew exactly what he was talking about, yeah? They weren't going near that thing with their bicycle. A kid who's beginning to ride a bicycle, you better stay off the property, not just out of the road, you know? They knew exactly what he meant, you see? Sometimes we say things and somebody understands it this way. Sometimes I think I have said thus, and I said exactly the opposite. I'm busy going along telling the story of Abraham and and Sarah, and I'm calling him Moses and Sarah. You know? And people say, yeah, we know who you're talking about. We know who you're talking about. You'll get around to it eventually, and it never does dawn on me, the whole message, you know? Okay? Or somebody's relating an incident, and they keep telling you about what happened on Tuesday, and we know it was Thursday. You know? We do that all the time. Or you pull out of some- someone's driveway and you turn to the right when you know you're supposed to have turned left. And about three blocks down the road, it's like, hmm, I think we're going the wrong way. And very often it's our spouse that points that out, or one of our children, see? Right? I've asked Mr. Bradford's permission to share the story, all right? Something I said or conveyed Sunday evening offended that dear brother and sister. They are hurt because I defamed his character in front of the congregation. I'm hurt because they think I would do that, you see? We've known each other for, give or take, twenty years. I didn't find out about it until Monday. A third party had to call and say, brother, Mr. Bradford is offended at something you say. It was Tuesday morning before I could catch up with him by phone. So here's the devil sitting in his heart and life and sitting in my heart and life, simmering. This dear brother's trying to figure out what on earth is wrong with Bill Gustafson. I thought he was my friend. Known him for twenty years. We've entertained him. We've done this, we've done that. We've enjoyed his ministry. Then he gets up and says that. And I'm sitting there trying to figure out why these folk misunderstood what I think I said. We cannot go back and rectify. I've apologized for my comments, and I asked his permission to apologize publicly to the whole assembly. If anything I said Sunday night, in your mind, defames the character of either that brother or sister, you have my public apology. It is on tape, on the record, okay? The seriousness of communication. When I go around the audience, I'm pulling names like this. I'm trying to talk, I'm going double speed, and somehow or other I conveyed, either verbally or by impression, something that ought not to have been conveyed. When you and I are talking about our children, when we're talking about our spouses, when we're talking about brothers and sisters in the assembly, it is easy to do that. And some of the folk ask questions about how do you deal with conflict? How do you deal with that tension and issue in the, in the family structure? Well, deal with it as rapidly as you can, as quickly as you can. Listen to what's being said, and then jump up after the meeting and say, Brother Bill, just a minute. Do you realize what you said about me a while ago? Or did you really mean to say that? That would have been better. Time has gone by. Now, every time that brother sees me for the next twenty years, he'll remember that incident, unless the Lord supernaturally removes it from his mind. He's been in this assembly before hardly any person in the room has been. We know some of his family. There's the commentary about the man and his integrity. They're going on for the Lord. The family members we have not met, we've heard about. Incredible reputation among the Lord's people, all up and down the eastern seaboard. The family members we do know, you sit back and say, there's the commentary, see? So whatever I said and however I said it, it came across the wrong way. And every man in the room has done that with his wife more than once. I said it Sunday night, I will say it again, I will say it as long as I live. Every Christian man that I know, his wife is going to get a reward for putting up with him, right? That's not a joke, I'm dead serious. Every man I know, every Christian man, the wife will get a reward for putting up with him someday because men are callous, men are not emotional, men are hard, men are calculating. All they want to know is dollars and cents. And three-fourths of the time, they're not listening. And it spills over to the assembly. We have error being taught in our assemblies today, and people aren't listening. I know of two different assemblies, two different occasions where a man publicly said something that was gross error in reference to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ or in reference to what was necessary for salvation, and in neither case did it dawn on anybody in the auditorium, except some sisters in one place and a full-time worker who was visiting from out of town in the other. That brother got up and said, just a minute, sir. I think what you just said is in error in the word of God. Let me tell you why. He interrupted the meeting. Not an elder in the room picked it up. Those are the kind of things we need to be on guard today against, brothers and sisters. And these folk were listening somehow or other, picked up a little phrase that they took to heart and sat and simmered on all night long Sunday night, you see. Communication and conflict among God's people. And some people want to spout it all out and spread it all over, and other people just sit there and let it boil, and all of a sudden we wonder, how come Joe walked out on his wife? Well, he got fed up to here. There was all this communication lag, there was all this problem, and nobody would deal with it, and he finally got to the boiling point, said, I've had enough, and he goes across the street and finds another friend, right? And we're doing the same thing, spiritually speaking. You see that constant parallel between the family and the circumstance in the local church. We have to be careful how we communicate, that we're accurately communicating. And some people enjoy being teased, and some do not. And you sit around a couple's gathering and start listening. And you start watching the facial expression of the wives, and you'll know who enjoys the teasing and who doesn't. And the husband better be observant, or he's dead meat when he gets home. All right? And some guys just go on and on and on and on. And the wife is the brunt of all the jokes and all the sarcasm, or one of the elders in the assembly is the brunt of all the jokes and sarcasm, and everybody just sitting there rolling their eyes, like, how long does this guy think he's going to get away with that? So, brothers and sisters, communication is a serious issue among us today. We have so many words that have double standards, double meanings. And we have to be really careful in the home, listening to our teenagers, seeing where they're coming from, talking to the spouse across the table, and then bring it into the local assembly in the communication with one another. I have spoken to this dear brother on the telephone and begged his forgiveness, and I do the same thing for you this evening. Verbally or intimation, whatever, they were hurt. And how long it'll take to overcome that, only the Lord himself knows. And if perchance we had gotten in our car on Monday and drove out of town, as we often do, we'd have never had a chance to talk about it, see? And you know what the devil could have done with that over the next six months, eight months, year, or whatever, you see? Better to take care of it before the sun goes down. You're not listening to your wife, you're not paying attention, all of a sudden she's in tears in the kitchen. It's like, what is her problem? You better go find out where her problem is, or she'll find somebody who is sympathetic, see? But the same thing among the Lord's people, brothers and sisters. The saints get offended. Sometimes they're this thin-skinned, all right? But sometimes it's a genuine offense. And you and I are to go after them. We're to seek restoration. We're to seek to make amends. You have in the New Testament gospel record the Lord Jesus saying, when you bring a gift to the altar, if all of a sudden you realize your brother has an offense against you, you go to him. Wait a minute, that's not the way we do it in the USA. I'll wait till he comes crawling to me, begging and clamoring. When he asks for forgiveness, I'll give him a little bit if he deserves it. No. The Lord Jesus reversed the roles. He said, when you realize a brother has an offense against you, you go to him and see if you can make amends. If fi- if you can, fine, praise the Lord. If he'll have none of it, then that's his problem. You've done your part, then you go back and give your gift. You see, we're to do everything we can, as much as lieth in you, to live peaceably with all men. All right? Let's move on to something else quickly. Trying to hit three or four things all in just a few minutes tonight. You'll remember that Paul wrote to Timothy in the New Testament, very last epistle that he wrote. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. It is the word which implies to us the idea of that which is helpful, that which is serviceable, that which is to our advantage. You remember Paul wrote to Timothy in the first epistle and said, godliness is profitable to everything. Exercise is good for here and now. Godliness is profitable for everything you do, and for time and eternity. So in his second epistle, he says, the word of God is profitable. We need to reinforce the teaching of the word of God, the doctrinal truths of scripture. It gives us doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction, and righteousness. It tells us how to live in the family, whether that's at home or here in the local assembly. It tells us what is wrong. It gives us the necessary tools to set our course correctly, to get back on course, navigational term for you yachtsmen here in South Florida. He helps us to correct things. The best way I know how I've been thinking for two whole days, two and a half days now, how to correct the situation with this brother and sister without further alienating them and creating problems, you see. How to set the thing back correct, correction, and then instruction and righteousness, teaching us that which is right so we don't get into this again. Correcting your heading, your good direction in life, young and old, and then sailing that steady course, so that the man of God might be perfect. It doesn't mean your husbands are going to be perfect ladies. They aren't this side of eternity. That's why they're still here. The Lord is working on the rough edges. But they will become more perfect, more Christ-like, more complete, more well-rounded believers, if you will, spiritually speaking, that the man of God might be perfect, thoroughly furnished for all good work. We talked a bit about the men, and we illustrated the idea of the men have the role in the home and also in the local assembly of being the leader and of being the one who establishes the tone for love in the assembly. They set the example. If we've got leaders, we've got to have followers. It has nothing to do with superiority or inferiority. That is not the point. Some are designated to be leaders, and some are designated to be followers. In the family and in the church, it's the men who are to be the leaders. By God's arbitrary choice. We understand Eve and all that sort of thing from the Garden of Eden. God just said, all right, the man is going to be the leader. So, the women are to complement that leadership role by being followers, and the women are to complement that role of love that the man sets, that pace that he sets in the local assembly in the home by being a helper or a help meet or complement fit or suitable for him in the home and in the assembly. The Lord Jesus is our heavenly bridegroom. He's the leader, we're the followers. He's the good shepherd, the chief shepherd, the great shepherd. All we have to do is follow. We sang a little gospel chorus years and years ago that said that. It seems so simple, but that's difficult for us because we keep looking at Bypass Meadow over here. We keep getting distracted. We keep going off on tangents. The devil keeps throwing little stumbling blocks in the way here and there along the pace for us. The woman is going to be the follower. She's going to be the helper, just as the local church follows the Lord Jesus and helps him, if I can use that term reverently, accomplish his work, his plan here on earth. The only hands and feet the Lord Jesus has are us. The only mouth he has, us, Christians, believers, all kinds of denominations, all kinds of labels and tags. We're not going into that issue. Each of us are to bloom where we're planted. Each of us are to function in our little corner. And so the Lord wants us to simply follow him. It's a choice of the will, isn't it? I can follow, or I can say, hey, it's my turn to lead. I don't like this. I don't like to follow. He's going too fast. He's going too slow. No, he's going to use great spiritual judgment and discernment and going to minister to the needs of everybody in the assembly. That's a heavy bill of goods, but that's what the scripture asked for, you see. Following Jesus ever day by day, nothing can harm me when he leads the way. Follow me as I follow Christ, the Apostle Paul said. Be followers of God as dear children. The scripture over and over again says we're all to be followers of Christ, and then God gives us under-shepherds here on earth in the church. We follow their leadership, and if they aren't leading, they have to give account. Hebrews chapter thirteen. Some of the young people come along and say, okay, Mr. Bill, how about if the, if the shepherds are not doing the job of shepherding? Then you pray. And you encourage them. You have that in Peter chapter three, don't you? When a man's not fulfilling his role of responsibility in the home, the wife is not to badger him and kick him in the backside and say, come on, let's get up, let's get with it. She's to be very careful and very submissive and very obedient, and by her demeanor, he will be urged to step out and take his role of leadership. And as we've already said, gentlemen, we don't need this don't do as I do, do as I say thing. Don't tell your kids not to drink when you've got beer in the refrigerator. And I know a lot of Christians who are doing that, right? Uh, you're not old enough yet. Well, hey, be an example, you know. It's a choice of the will. It is the Lord who enables us to do it. It is God who works in you to will and to do of his good pleasure, because some of us naturally don't like to follow other people. I want to be out in the front. I want to be a leader. I want to set the pace. No. Just follow the leadership that God has given you and leave the responsibilities, the decisions with him. It's God's choice for us. It is a privileged partnership, if you will, and it requires listen. It requires communication. It requires knowing what each other are thinking, where each other are coming from. The elders are going to communicate with the assembly. They're going to share needs and concerns. They're not going to bare their souls. There are issues they take up with the Lord that we don't need to know anything about, but they're going to keep us posted on what their plans are and what their goals are, as you had in your corporation meeting here the other week when our brother Bradford led us in the Sunday afternoon gathering, you remember. That's a requirement state of Florida. We don't have that in Georgia, Carolina. Every state's going to be different. But it gave us something of what the Lord has been doing in days past and what the anticipation for the future is. Praise the Lord. Now we can pray intelligently, give intelligently, and those kinds of things, volunteer to participate as the Lord might enable us. It requires communication. It requires talking back and forth. The leadership is going to be in our homes. They're going to be asking questions. They're going to be probing to see how things are going, just as the husband and wife had better be doing. Turn the silly television off. Turn off the VCR, turn off the cell phone, and sit there for thirty minutes or an hour or whatever it takes and listen to what's been going on in her heart and life today, or the last day or two if you've been out of town, as the case might be. Since we came to South Florida, a sister came to Barbara and said, my husband is out of town this week. It's going to be a great week. I get a rest. That is reality, brothers and sisters. That was in one of the assemblies, all right? Those are the folk you fellowship with day in and day out. It is Martin Luther who says, let the wife make her husband glad to come home. And he reverses it by saying, let him make her sorry to see him leave. And we should have that same relationship with the Lord Jesus. Ah, Sunday, another opportunity to meet with God's people, another opportunity to draw close to the Savior, another opportunity for worship and remembrance. Oh man, we got to go listen to Malcolm again. This is pick on Malcolm Knight, all right? We got to, that's the third time this month he's been up there. See? No. An opportunity to be with God's people, an opportunity to hear the word of God, an opportunity to fellowship, but an opportunity to get closer to the Savior and get to know him. A love relationship that we build vertically, and then it spills over into our hearts and lives and families on a horizontal basis. So the following responsibility is necessary. You remember Titus, the scripture says women are to be keepers at home. Okay? That does not say she has to stay home. Okay? The Old English, we are told, is the keeper of the drawbridge. You guys are into Dungeons and Dragons and all that weirdy stuff, know what drawbridges are all about. The guy who's back there controlling the chains to the drawbridge controls total entrance and total egress from the, I think that's the right word, from that palace. Right? It's the only way you get across the moat. It's filled with gators. The keeper of the drawbridge, the woman God has specifically designed to guard her turf. Whether that's your little one-bedroom apartment or that is your palatial mansion on the Intercoastal, it doesn't make any difference. You're to guard your turf. And brethren, we're the bride of Christ, and we're to be guarding our turf. This is our turf. We're not worried about the church across the street. We're not worried about the one down the road. We're not worried about this system or that. We're concerned about the physical property God has given us, the group of people who are fellowshipping here, and we're guarding them for our heavenly bridegroom, because we have to give account. And the wife is called upon to be a keeper at home. She's to be concerned about what goes and comes in her home. What kind of videos, what kind of music, what kind of friends, what kind of literature, the list goes on and on and on. Better know who those kids are with, where they are, how long they're going to be gone, when they're coming home, et cetera, et cetera. It is the same term God used when he spoke to Adam in Genesis chapter two, and he said, man, you're supposed to keep the garden. What do you mean keep the garden? There's nothing to keep. Nobody here but Eve. The Lord knew differently. He knew just outside was this serpent coming along who had certain intentions on Eve. And you and I would love to sneak back and say, uh, Adam, where are you? You weren't guarding your turf, fella. You weren't paying attention, and Eve fell. Brothers and sisters, we need to know what's going on on the video and know what's going on on the computer and know the kids where our friends are, our young people are mixing and mingling with, and on and on the list goes. That's the importance of being in this local church. You can at least trust these families, you know. You can trust this leadership, you see. The rest of them up down the road, you're a little hesitant about sometimes. Keep her at home. To provide a homey atmosphere, if you will. The widows have just as much privilege of doing that as if you have eight children, as the wards do. The singles have just as much privilege of doing that a- as those who've been married fifty years. Makes no difference. The same thing happens in the assembly. We provide a homey atmosphere. Doesn't mean it's gonna be hokey, all right? That's the word they use up in the mountains. Bunch of hillbillies running around in their thongs, you know, all right? No. It means it is a family atmosphere, and your little one-room apartment can be just as homey and family oriented as this assembly can be. Where we're brothers and sisters, we can share meals, we can share prayer requests, we can study together, we can weep together, we can rejoice together, we can go on excursions together, or whatever. Because we're family. We don't have to put on any airs. We can be honest, we can be pointed, we can josh each other once in a while, we can picket each other once in a while, and we can get along great, just like in the family. The woman has the unique ability of setting that pace in the family, giving that homey atmosphere. Give it to the men, it'll be all sterile and starched and perfectly clean and all that, but it's like, boy, this is boring. It's like being in an institution, you know? That suits the guys. Just give me styrofoam, it'll work, you know? The ladies like candlelight and cloth napkins and vase instead of a vase and all this stuff, you know, eh, you know. Hey, you know, if it hits their hot button, fine. It makes it homey, all right? It makes it family, and that's exactly what we're trying to do here in the local assembly. It's our responsibility. Yes, we meet at a certain hour, we do this for an hour, we punch out, we come in, we come in, come in, go out, go in. Yeah, we have a schedule, we have routines and all that. The men can take care of all that. But at the same time, we're to have heart, and we're to be ministering to each other and sharing together, interacting with one another, just as we would do on the home front. Maybe one of the key phrases or key words that is so desperately lacking in our world today is the word contentment. The advertising media would fail in a week if you and I nationwide would say, hey, we're content. Don't need anything. I don't need a new car. I don't need a cheaper mortgage. I don't need better insurance. I don't need pills for my liver or whatever. I'm just doing great, thank you. But we're not content. That spills into the family. But dad, they've had a swimming pool for three years, and we haven't even started digging. Dad, come on! And we do the same thing in the assembly. We become very discontent with simplicity. What's wrong with New Testament simplicity? It worked two thousand years ago. Why doesn't it work today? It should. It will, if we do our part. But we start looking around and comparing ourselves to other church groups and other fellowships and all that, and we become very discontent. Godliness with contentment is great gain, the scripture says. Be content with such things as ye have, for he has said, I will never leave you, never forsake you. You've got Christ, what else do you need? Lord is my shepherd, I don't have any other wants. If the Lord chooses to give me a new job, praise the Lord. He did that for Aaron. This Aaron, not the one in the Old Testament. Okay? God does that sometimes, all right? Fascinating story, see? God comes along and drops little things here and there, handfuls on purpose for us. Sure, he does that. But if we learn to be content where we are, young people especially, content in singlehood, content being a bachelor, content living with a few gals in this place, content serving the Lord over there, then wait and see what the Lord opens up for the days down the road. But I want to go to the mission field, Mr. Bell. I want to be there tomorrow. Well, maybe the Lord doesn't have you, wouldn't have you there tomorrow. He might route you a little differently. He might take a little longer. He might have some other plan for you. So one of the issues we need to struggle with is this issue of being content. Being content to be a follower of godly leadership in the family, in the local assembly, and leaving the r- the result with the Lord Jesus himself. Then we've suggested too that the wife is to be the helper, the help meet fit suitable. Just as you and I come along and complement the work of the Lord Jesus, we are his helpers here on earth, if you will. He gave us the indwelling Holy Spirit, he gave us that paraclete, that comforter who stands alongside, and l- laboring shoulder to shoulder, hand to hand, we do a work for God, whether in the bandshell on the beach, in the prison ministry across the parking lot, in your Sunday school here, your Friday night program, or wherever. Maybe a little team of you will go to Jamaica or Ireland or South America sometime for a little short-term missions project. The Lord has all these things laid out, and he wants to use us in all those areas of blessing, you see. Let's see, let's see. Let's go to, um, Joshua chapter twenty four, if you would, real quickly. Joshua chapter twenty four. We're running out of time rather rapidly here. Joshua chapter twenty four. here's the other end of Joshua's life. We were at the beginning of his life a little bit earlier with the younger guys. Joshua chapter twenty four and verse fourteen. you know the text well. Joshua chapter twenty four and verse fourteen. Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in truth, that is, be wholehearted. Put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. If it seem evil to you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve. If you think there's a problem with serving the Lord, then you have to decide. Nobody's going to make the decision for you. If you don't think that's where life is at, if you don't think there are eternal goals in mind, then you decide accordingly. But choose you this day whom ye will serve. You see, all of us are serving someone. Either we're serving self or we're serving God. So he says, you choose whom you're going to serve, whether the gods your father served on the other side of the river or the gods of Amorites in whose land you dwell. As for me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord. It's a great way to end our little series, that you and I, before the Lord, reverently decide with his help, whether we're living by ourselves or with a house full of children or in a, in an orchestrated community situation where there are all these seniors around, whatever the circumstance. As for me and my little niche of the world, I'm going to serve the Lord. Now, you're going to have to make that commitment every day. You're going to have to make it every hour sometimes, because the old devil's going to keep sticking, yeah, but what about your will? Not my will, thine be done. We're going to struggle with that. The issue of being a follower, we're going to struggle with that. Every few hours, I'm going to have to realize I'm supposed to be following, I'm supposed to be the little niche where he's placed us. It's been well said, I think we've mentioned it earlier in our series this week, spiritual truth is more caught than taught. Yes, we teach the word, yes, we teach doctrine, yes, we teach biblical principles, but we also want to be living it out. And that's the whole thrust of New Testament Christianity. Living out the practical truths of the word of God so people can look at us and also listen, and it all agrees. Our walk and our talk balance out in life, you see. Several turned in questions that had to do with this, some of the things we've touched on this week. Um, resolving conflict, we've touched on that a bit together already. Uh, how do husband and wife become united in purpose? I think, again, it is an issue of communication. It is an issue of praying with each other, praying together for each other. The same is true in the local assembly. How are we united? How are we drawn together when there's such incredible diversity among us? There are older folk and younger folk and middle age and people from this country and that background and this nationality and that, and the Lord has blended us together in the body of Christ. Best thing we can do is pray for each other and then begin to talk, link together, communicate one with the other, and the Lord will unite our direction. Not to say that all of us are going to do the same things at any given point in time. Barbara and I remember being in a hospital room just a few months ago when this brother was laying there, and the question was being raised about amputating a toe or two, you know? Now he's up and about. The Lord chose to work things out so he didn't have to have the amputation. We've been praying for their family ever since. He's been such a vital key to the little gathering down in Hialeah when they're working on re- remodeling a little building on another piece of property there. And the Bartling boys have kept us paced from along the way about Brother Bill and all his contribution, you see. So his sphere of service is going to be a little different than Aaron or Jody or some of the younger guys, you know? Bob Anderson, he's kind of in between, so I will fit him in there somewhere. Our sphere of service, our area of influence is going to be all uniquely different, but it is all blended together and complementary. And we've got to be communicating. We can't be offended because they didn't ask me to play the piano. This is the third week in a row. Well, if they did ask you, they probably wouldn't ask you again, so don't worry about it. Maybe that's not your gift, that's not your talent, that's not your best skill, that's not where you're needed the most. And as age comes and goes, those spheres all change here and there along the way. A question has also been raised on the issue of provoking our children to wrath. We touched on that a bit the other evening, Ephesians chapter six. The, the men especially are noted for that, all right? Here I'm gonna, it's a class action suit, all right? It says fathers don't provoke your children to wrath. The terminology implies anybody in the ancestry, grandparent or whoever, but in our generation, it's mostly the men who are guilty. Guys, the best thing you can do is listen to your spouse, because they've been watching the kids all day. They're listening to the kids. They know what's going on, and when you come in heavy-handed and start rolling heads, they know just when you've pushed over the limit, and a few more days like that, and your kid's going to run away from home. And you'd better listen to your spouse. You'd better hear what they have to say. The same is true in the assembly, brethren. There are sisters in the assembly that have been in the meeting longer than some of us have been living. They have some godly input from time to time. That's the necessity of being in and out of people's homes, listening to their input, answering their questions, getting feedback from them. We're not of a congregational vote. I have no use for that. That's not in the New Testament scripture. But the sisters have viable input as to how things are going in the assembly because they're listening to the younger sisters. They're observing the families. They know what's happening. We do well to listen to them, and we'll so save ourselves a lot of heartache and problem in dealing with our children or in dealing with the saints, as we just listen. We won't have to worry about provoking. Very seldom is it the woman. Once in a while, you and I would be hard pressed to name that many women of our acquaintance who aggravate or provoke their children. A few nag, but not many to the extent that the men do, right? It's just a generalization, right? What does a young person do when they're in a situation where things are not doing well at home, or in the assembly, as the case might be, where there's tension and conflict and difficulty? The best thing they can do is be submissive and be obedient and be praying about the issue. They can have a far greater impact by praying for their parents, by being obedient and submissive in every way they can. That'll knock their socks off. All right? Instead of just getting all riled up and get your, all right, dad, let's go out in the backyard and settle it, you know, that won't help. And when we get antagonistic in the local assembly, all that does is alienate the Lord's people. We're better to be submissive to the authority, even if we don't like the decision they made, even if we're not sure about it. You don't have to support it financially if you don't want to. You pray for them, you ask God to overrule and guide. Boyd Nicholson told Barbara and I when we were first married, God will never permit his Christians, his saints, his people to make an irrevocable mistake. When you're trying to do what you think is right, God will work supernaturally in your life and bring you to the place where he wanted you to be. Sometimes you're a little overly harsh, sometimes you've not been firm enough. The Lord sovereignly can work in all those circumstances and bring good out of it if you're simply trusting him in those decisions day by day, right? Um, dinner conversation. Most people's dinner tables are battlefields. When the family sits together at dinner, statistically in America, that is only like once in the whole week. Families do not sit together as a family in most American homes. You and I ought to be doing things a little differently because we're trying to build up the structure of the family. Meals like this, desperately needed among the Lord's people today to sit and fellowship for a few minutes without having to fight the clock. Yeah. Very important among the Lord's people to be communicating, to be talking. And the best time to do that is dinner table, depending on what your schedule is and travels and job, and I understand all those variables, all right, thrown into the mix. Somewhere along through the day, the whole family needs to be sitting together without the television going, without some video games going, without the phone ringing, without the dog barking and whatever else, and you're just looking at each other and listening and communicating. Then you'll have some input as to how things are going, how Johnny's doing at school, how Susie's getting along with the kid next door, and those kinds of things. We need to know those sorts of things. One of the biggest problems of families working together is one mate or the other being fake, this questioner asks, right? Um, we would call that a hypocrite, biblical terminology. One who has an interest in spiritual things, one who has an interest in making money, one who wants to do this, one who wants to do that. Those are the issues, guys and gals who are still single, that you had better work through. How can two walk together so they be agreed? You have in First Peter chapter three, we've referred to it on several occasions, the wife being submissive to the husband, even though she may know he's wrong. She leaves the choice with him. She says, look, I don't think it's a good investment. I don't think it's a wise move. I don't think it's good, but you make the decision before the Lord, and you're responsible for what happens in the family. If he's listening, that puts a heavy burden on his shoulder, if he's listening, right? The same thing is true in the assembly when decisions are made about major issues like relocating and all those kinds of things, you know? You tell the leadership what you think, you give them your input, and you say, hey, we're just going to back off and pray. It's your decision before the Lord, you do what you think is right, and we'll zip it. Live with the consequence, you see. Um, you have a lot of situations in today's families where one member, we're not talking about an unequal yoke, one being saved, one being unsaved, though that is a serious issue and very ominous in scripture, but unequal yoke, spiritually speaking. One wants to live for the Lord, and the other doesn't. One wants to go to the mission field, the other doesn't. One wants to be involved in the assembly, the other doesn't. I just show up once a week, that's good enough. I wrote a check, didn't I? That's all they wanted, no? Those are the kind of issues you need to work out before you ever go into the marriage relationship. When you come into the local assembly, you need to know right up front what's expected of you. How does it function? What's involved here? And if one member of the family's not on the same page, the best thing you can do is just pray. Ask the Lord to bring that individual along and show them their need of being godly leaders, if that's their task, or Godly followers, as the case might be. I think most of the other questions we've touched on here and there through the week. A couple of questions were dropped in totally unrelated to this subject. I guess we should have qualified our question box the other day. I was going to try to pawn these off on Malcolm and Aaron, but they said, no, go right ahead since you're answering questions, try these, all right? Um, a question has been raised about the Lord Jesus veiling his glory, Philippians chapter two, when he came to earth. The illustration from scripture is that when God left heaven, I'm sorry, when the Lord Jesus left heaven, he took off his royal robes, as it were, and laid them aside because he wouldn't need that down on earth. The terminology in Philippians chapter two is what theologians call the kenosis theory. He veiled his godly attributes. He did not cease to be God. Please understand that. He could still walk on water, he could still give sight to the blind, he could still heal those who were lame. At the same time, he could be hungry, thirsty, sleepy, tired, etcetera. He was the unique God man. You'll never understand that this side of eternity. Don't try to get a handle on it, okay? He simply veiled his godly attributes while he was here on earth. He did not leave his godliness in heaven and come to earth and was just a mere wimpy man being beaten about by human beings. He was still God, as the hymn writer said, he could have called ten thousand angels to deliver him from the cross, but he determined to go to Jerusalem, his face set as a piece of flint or engraved granite, if you will, to suffer. He divested himself, one translation says, of his visible glory. And yet, Mount of Transfiguration, a few disciples saw him in all of his glory. They got a little glimpse of it. The Gospel of John, chapter one, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He had to eat, he had to sleep, he had to drink water, he had to shower, and whatever else people do, okay? He was a real human being. Word became flesh and dwelt among us, yet we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. An incredible concept that is being totally abused in our society today in so-called evangelical circles. There are a lot of folk who say he was just a mere man. If he was God, how could he be tempted, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. We don't have to explain that to our satisfaction. We just have to believe what God said in his word. He was God, very God, man, very man. He simply veiled his godly attributes. He did not walk around with doves sitting on his shoulders. He did not have a little halo glowing over his head. He looked like an ordinary man, and yet he could say, Tabitha, arise. Up she comes, you know? How awesome. And then a question was asked about the Lord Jesus Christ when he was here on earth, body, soul, and spirit. Okay? First Peter chapter two, he bore our sins in his own body on the tree. He was given a specially prepared human body so he could die. By definition, God could not die. The Lord Jesus is going to be the substitute. He's going to die for sin. He's got to have a body that will die. But he was given a prepared body, came in Bethlehem's manger. He bore our sins in his own body on the tree. Isaiah fifty three says he poured out his soul unto death. At the crucifixion, the Lord Jesus says, into thy hand I commit my spirit, body, soul, spirit. The Lord Jesus was just like us, but he was still God. You'll never equate that this side of eternity. Somebody said if you try, you'll have a mental breakdown, so don't even go down that road. Just take it at face value from the word of God. When we think of body, that's the part that has to sleep and be fed and has to be nourished and that we take care of and so forth. That's the part we see. When we think of soul, that's the seat of the emotions and relationship with people. When we think of spirit, that's the relationship between us and God. The Lord Jesus was body, soul, and spirit. And when we read in Genesis chapter two, man was created in the likeness of God, very likely that's what it means. It doesn't mean we all think God is, I mean, that Roger looks like God and God looks like Roger, all right? We don't know whether the Lord Jesus had a beard or not. Maybe he did in his culture, all right? We know he was Jewish, but that's all, all right? We're not saying man looks like God, but the scripture says man was created in the image of God. He was given body, soul, and spirit so he could have relationships. So he had a longing to know the God of heaven, and he had a body so he could live and serve the God of heaven while he was here on earth. Well, we've had a great time together. We've certainly enjoyed the week, ten days that it's been in our schedule this time, your kindness, your hospitality, your faithfulness here and there along the way. If I have misspoken in any way, please come right after the meeting, and let's get it straight, because in the will of the Lord, we are leaving town tomorrow morning, and we don't need a cloud hanging over our relationship because somebody was hesitant to bring up something, and poor Mr. Bradford is sitting there thinking for months and months and months, I can't believe that guy said that about me. And I'm going up the highway thinking, I can't believe the Bradfords thought I would say that about them. Because the devil is like that. And he will use the least little thing, the least little tone of voice, the least little expression, and you and I have seen it happen a hundred times among us. Somebody has this horrendous excedrin headache, they can't even tell what day of the week it is, and they walk right past you and never smile and never speak to you, and they say, did you see what he did? He didn't speak to me today. Hm, boy. And we sit there and simmer about a week on that issue, and then find out the guy could hardly see the door, he had such a throbbing headache. We have been in those kinds of circumstances, you know. Best thing to do, go to the individual immediately after the meeting, get the issue straightened out. If someone has misspoken on the scriptures, every brother who's ever stood on the platform has done that. The great majority of the men who mo- move among us speak extemporaneously. There are a few, I can name a few on maybe one hand, who memorize their speeches, memorize their messages. There are a few, very few. Most of us work with an outline, and we speak extemporaneously, and our mind is running ahead, looking at the outline, and we're trying to convey a message, and we can say something absolutely contradictory to what we're thinking we said, and not ever realize it, and nobody gets a clue, yeah? You see that, you pick that up, no matter who the brother is, I assure you they will be delighted to sit and talk with you. They'll be delighted to straighten it out. They'll be delighted to clarify the thing, or you don't need them on your platform, one or the other. And I don't think you'll find that problem among the Lord's people that we know and love up and down the East Coast of the United States. They want to be a help. They want to be an influence for good. They want to be a godly example, and if they've misspoken or erred in some way, whatever, get it straightened out before you leave the meeting. Don't have to route it through a third party or wait for a week and then try to figure out and go back and reconstruct why, wherefore, and that kind of thing. Go to the individual. And brethren, do the same thing with your wife and children. The men are notorious for that kind of thing in, in the Christian home today. We have to learn to listen, watch body language, look at the eyes, look at the facial expression, catch the tone of the voice, and see where they're coming from, because we're accountable to the Lord for that little family God has given. We pray for you folks regularly. We're thankful to the Lord for the work that has gone on here in South Florida, the assembly testimony that has been maintained down here so very long, and delighted to be able to come down from time to time and minister the word. Um, I guess we'll stop right there. I had a few lines of poetry, but we've gone over time. We should stop. Had a great time of fellowship together this evening. Thank you for all the good food as well. Our Father, we're thankful for the Savior and for the blessing of knowing our sin is forgiven, have a home in heaven for all of eternity. Thankful for the blessed hope that's laid before us and for the awesome task of representing the Lord Jesus here on earth until he comes. All of us fall far short. We readily admit that. We have all kinds of shortcomings and failures because of the flesh. We pray that thou will overrule in things that are said and things that are done in our families and in the local assembly, so that our testimony is solid and clear and faithful in service for the Lord Jesus Christ. The world around us is desperately needed, needy, and we pray that we'll be faithful in maintaining a good example for the Savior day by day. Thankful for these dear saints and for the times we've enjoyed. We pray thy rich blessing as they launch into the activity of the year and maintain a full and busy calendar week in and week out. Be with us for good, we pray, as we give our thanks for the Savior and the blessing we've enjoyed together in Jesus' name. Amen.