A Christian is a child of God, born again by faith in Christ Jesus, and this new life brings possession of eternal life, freedom from condemnation, and passage from spiritual death to life. This spiritual life is characterized by a desire for worship in spirit and truth, enabled by the indwelling Holy Spirit, and it requires instruction through the Holy Scriptures. The Word of God is presented as the essential tool for spiritual growth, providing ability, authenticity, and the ultimate aim of making believers mature and fully equipped for good works, urging believers to search, study, and obey its teachings.
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of joy seeing you this morning and we trust the Lord will bless you and grant every encouragement for coming along. Remember, you're our best means of advertisement of you yourselves who are being blessed by the ministry. Then you tell others of it and encourage them to come along with you morning by morning. I look back to you two years ago and we had wonderful blessings during those morning meetings. Then we trust we're going to see even greater blessings during each particular day. I thought this morning of speaking on the child of God, then the heir of God. But I can't get away from that expression, child.
And we're going to go back to it this morning. The Christian is a child of God. Those of you who are in for the very first time this morning, we're just so glad to see you. And we are talking these days on who is a Christian. We found that Christian is one who belongs to Christ, who witnesses for Christ, and who suffers with Christ. We also notice that Christian is a child of God. And we become children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Galatians three, verse number twenty-six, with John one, verse number twelve.
And we may emphasize the fact that a child of God is a real born-again Christian. a Bible Christian. I trust all of us know that joy today. If you are not yet a Christian, I trust the result of the meditation this morning. You will see your need of the Lord Jesus and place your complete confidence and trust in him. May I say these meetings will be over each morning by eleven o'clock. So you will be quite safe to come along, but just last for exactly the one hour. So now turn to John chapter five. John and the fifth chapter.
I quoted part of this last night in the meditation and it kept flashing into my mind during the early hours of this morning from about four o'clock. These words came flashing into my mind and we must go back to them. Remember last night we noticed as I gave you the cross on the word child, first of all the child needs care. A child needs care, then a child needs a home. And I'm going to continue a little bit along this line. Many testified to a blessing as a result of the ministry during this weekend, and especially last night, when they came to recognize a child of God and how the child needs care, and our responsibility of putting the young convert into the good of redemption.
and then the child needs a whole. Now keep that before you. Look at verse twenty-four of John chapter five. Verily, verily I say unto you, Now please remember the Lord Jesus is the speaker. He that hears my word and believeth on him that said me, Ha, everlasting life. and shall not commit the condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." There are five beautiful words in that verse. The first word is Eres.
Now remember Romans ten verse seventeen says, Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. There are two factors in faith. A divine factor, the word of God, a human factor, the hearing with the ear. He that hears my word. Now again, the next word is believe it. And notice it reads the letters E-T-H. Not only having believed, but continuing to believe. Believe it. It's in the present tense. I want you to think of this for one moment. Believe it on him.
I love that. You hear the word. You believe on him. That's set the word. Christ, the living word, set me. The little Greek word is fast. have, not you hope, you trust, or maybe, but you have everlasting life. How did you get it? You heard the word, you believe the record God gave concerning his Son, you received the Son into your heart, for a member to believe on him is to receive him, John one, verse twelve, to as many have received him, To them gave He the right to become the sons of God, even to them the belief on His name.
So to believe on Him is to receive Him. You have, in the present tense, everlasting life. Now the next word, shall not come into condemnation. There you've got now the future tense. And then none of the latter part is passed from death into life. And there you've got the past tense. Very simple. First of all, the present tense, we are the possessors of eternal life. Now I want to say something here. It may seem strange to you. Yet it's not strange.
All men have everlasting life. All men, all children of Adam have everlasting life. We're going to live on either in eternal bliss or in eternal war. But only those who receive Christ are the possession of eternal life. And eternal life is the capacity to know God. And this is life eternal to know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou has said. What does it say?
Remember, in John three, verse fifteen, he that believeth on him shall not perish but have eternal life. The revised verse of John three, sixteen says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Now isn't this precious? Notice then, in the present we have eternal life. The future, new condemnation, the past, from death unto life. Now notice verse number twenty-five.
This is the verse. There the verily I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now it. Now on the line the three words, and now it. When the day shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that here shall live. For as the Father livened himself, so he gave the Son of livened himself, and had given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man. Now notice that title. Verse twenty-five is the Son of God.
Verse number twenty-seven is the Son of Man. Marble not at this. For the hour is coming. Now notice coming here. Three words are missing. Verse twenty-five and now is. But verse twenty-eight just says, The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice. and they shall come forth. They have done good and the resurrection of life. They have done evil and the resurrection of judgment. Now chapter four, verse twenty-three, the same book, John's Gospel, the fourth chapter and the twenty-third verse.
Again the Lord Jesus is the speaker. He says, The hour cometh. Now know this. And now is. When the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him. Verse twenty-four. For God is a spirit. And they that worship him must worship him in spirit, in contrast to the flesh, and in truth in contrast to error. The wonder of it all. Now get the picture. One is saying verse number twenty-five, the hour is coming and now is.
Yet in verse twenty-eight just says the hour is coming. I think you have the answer in the two titles given to the Lord Jesus. The title of the Son of God has to do with grace. This is the hour of grace. The hour is coming and now is. And this is the day, the hour, may I say, the moment of grace. It was to remember the year of grace, the day of grace, the hour of grace, but you know, the hourglass is getting very low. And the day is fastly ebbing up.
And I think we're in the moments, the closing moments. of the hour of grace. But it now is. It now is. And thank God for the present tense. The hour is coming and now is. The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God. Now this means spiritual death. Those who are dead spiritually shall hear the voice of the Son of God. And they that hear shall live. You hear with a hearing of faith.
Isn't that lovely? And hearing with a hearing of faith that brings life. But go down to the next one now. It says, the title of the Son of Man. The hour is coming in which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice. It says, no, no word at all about grace in verse twenty-five. No. Verse twenty-eight, they are physically dead. They've died and their bodies are in the grave. Verse twenty-five of those who are spiritually dead. Remember it says in Ephesians chapter two, dead in trespasses and in sin.
There we are all by nature. But we've heard the voice of the Son of God through the Word of God. Believe the record God gave concerning his Son and received him by faith into her heart. And this morning we are the possessors of eternal spiritual life. And because we are the possessors of such life, we are the children of God. We have become partakers of the divine nature. We've got the very nature of God. We've got the very life of God. That nature of life and light are ours this morning because you receive Christ who is light personified.
You receive light because Christ is light. And he having coming into our life, my friend, for the transformations taken place, that we have judgments concerned for the believer that judgment concerning sins gone and gone forever. But now notice, because we are children of God, running parallel with the hour of grace is the hour of worship. The unit is down in John four, verse twenty three. The hour is coming and now is that the Father seeketh such to worship him, who shall worship him in spirit and in truth. And because I am a child of God, one of the first evidence is I've got a desire for worship.
I've got a desire for worship. Now I've got a desire to worship Him, to adore Him, to thank Him, to crave Him. And worship, my friends, is a result of our contemplation of the Lord Jesus Christ. When our hearts are contemplating this one, and he fills our vision, our heart just bubbles up within us, and simply overflows, says the Samus, in Psalm forty-five, verse one, my heart indicting a good matter. I feel things I may touch in the King. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. The ready writer is the Holy Spirit who takes their tongue, of the one whose heart is engaged with Christ that speaks for his praise.
And we say, Thou art fairer of the children of Maine. Grace is poured into thy lips. Why, he is thy Lord. Worship thou him. Oh, we bow before him this morning. We worship and we adore. Why? Because we're the children of God. We worship God. The Father sees such to worship Him. Who shall worship Him in spirit and in truth? You cannot worship God unless you've got the nature of God. You must have the life of God. You must be in the family of God before you can worship in spirit and in truth. The spirit, my friend, must indwell us.
The spirit. And when do I receive the spirit? Unbelieving. on belief, and it says in Galatians chapter four, on hearing the word of faith, the Holy Spirit entered. Isn't that lovely? And because it's now a word in spirit, see the Holy Spirit fills our vision with Christ. occupies our heart's affection with Christ. The result? Our heart well up and simply overflow and there's an uprising, a whirling up of adoration, of worship to the Father. All the delight, all the joy. Now, that's why the child not only needs care, the child needs a spiritual home, a spiritual home.
And that's why we gather as those who are the children of God, to remember the Lord Jesus in his all-appointed way, when he said, This doer remembers of me, till I come again. The brain, a picture of his body broken, given, the wine, a picture of his blood outpoured. And he says, this dude is remembrance of me. Oh, what an honour, what a privilege, what a joy to remember him and his last loving request. I often think, and maybe wishful thinking, But I would like it to happen, that when we gather together around the Lord Jesus, on the Lord's morning, fulfilling his last loving request, to hear and say, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
For remember, it is only till he comes. It is only till he comes, all the joy is brought to his heart when we fulfill that loving request. Go to the Father now, shall we? Go with me across to the word in Proverbs chapter four. I refer to this last night as I close. We'll go to Luke now. The child needs instruction. And this is very, very important. The child, my friend, needs care. The child needs a home. Oh, I trust we've all got a spiritual home. I trust you know the joy of what it means to be God with those who under the pure heart call upon the name of the Lord Jesus.
I trust you know the joy of meeting with those who come together to remember Him, to worship Him as Holy Priest and then to serve Him as Royal Priest. We come in, my friend, as a Holy Priest in worship. in Sam's giving, and that is the prerogative, the privilege and joy of all believers. I believe in the priesthood of all believers, because God were teachers the priesthood of all believers. We thank God on the day for our great unchanging high priest, our adorable Lord Jesus Christ. But just to think by its metness, grace, by the redemption of its precious blood, is made us kings and priests out of God.
The wonder of it all. And what a privilege it is ours. to worship Him in this way. I trust you, God, a spiritual home, a home where the unadulterated and undiluted Word of God is taught in all its simplicity, in all its unvarnished power, where my frame lies are governed and controlled by the Word of God. This is the spiritual home. If you're a child of God, you desire such a fellowship. You desire just spiritualhood. We're all one great big family. That's what I like about part of the pond. There's a oneness. There's a family atmosphere. Dear Mr.
Willie this morning, he just, as a family, spoke to the brethren about some predictor of thing had taken place here on the conference ground. Just unburden his heart, just as a family, I called for rejoicing, I called to just bring real joy to all of our hearts. I wonder, do you know the joy of this family? Are you in the family of God? If not, I trust you in today. We're going to deal with this tonight. You're the aristocracy of heaven. There's nobody like you. The wonder of it all. But now look at verse number one. Proverbs chapter four. Says here, Hear ye children the instruction of a father, and attain to know the understanding.
For I give you good doctrine, for seek ye not my law. For I was my father's son, tender, and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words, keep my commandments and live. Get wisdom, get understanding, forget it not. You decline from the words of my mouth, forsake or not. And she shall preserve thee, lover. And she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore get wisdom.
And with all thy getting, get understanding. Exalt her. And she shall promote thee. She shall bring thee to honour. When thou dost embrace her, she shall give to thine head an ornament of grace. A crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. Hear, O my son, and receive my things, and the years of thy life shall be many. I have taught thee in the way of wisdom. I have laid thee in the right path. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straightened. The Hebrew makes a beautiful change in this verse.
You know what it says? When thou goest, Take by step as thou goest, the way shall open before thee. Isn't that lovely? We got that up in our drawing room at home, in the house. Step by step as thou goest, so shall the way open before thee. What a beautiful change, isn't it? May we know this joy. And when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. Take fast hold of instruction. Let her not go. Keep her, for she is thy life. So dear child of God, some of you are not just quite so young as you used to be physically.
That means some of you may be quite young spiritually. And there is a need for instruction. I have got to instruct. Thank God for spiritual fathers. for spiritual mothers, for spiritual teachers, who sought to instruct us on the ways which are in Christ Jesus, the ways that are going to bring real life and life and liberty and love and real joy and fruitfulness into our own lives. Keep that before you now and go to Second Timothy and chapter three. Second Timothy and the third chapter, please. Now I want you to look with me at verse number fourteen.
The fourteen verse, Jeopardy, second Timothy. Now here's the old warrior, Paul, about to lay down his armor, The says of young Timothy, his son in the faith, but continue thou in the things which thou has learned and has been assured of, knowing of whom thou has learned them. And that from a child thou has known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, counter-full stature, counter-full growth, truly furnished, and all good works. I want you to notice something here. Verse number fifteen, from a child. Verse seventeen, that the man of God. We have not to continue as children. We are born as children into the family of God, but we must be very and mature.
How are we going to do it? Here is the instrument. And I want you to think of the instrument, the Word of God. May I suggest three little a's to you that you can get a grip of. In verse fifteen you have the ability of the Holy Scripture able to make the wise under salvation. Isn't it lovely? The Holy Scripture able to make us wise under salvation. Verse number sixteen, rather a big word, the authenticity of the Holy Scripture. These are the authentic, authoritative words of God.
And so here we have now the authenticity. What does it say? All Scripture. And that means the first five books of the Bible. That means the book of Jonah. It means, my friend, the spiritual births. It means the sinless life of the Lord Jesus. It means his vicarious death and the shedding of his blood upon the cross. It means his victorious resurrection. Oh yes, it means the parables and the miracles. All I have mentioned are being denied by certain schools today. My friend, all Scripture.
It's a God-breed word. That's the word. It's given by inspiration of God and is profitable for instruction in righteousness. So first of all you got the ability of the Holy Scripture, then you have the authenticity of the Holy Scripture, and the last one, verse seventeen, the aim. What is the aim of the Holy Scripture? What does it say? That the man of God may be perfect, come to full stature, come to full growth, full development, truly furnished unto all good worth.
Isn't this lovely? Now, the Holy Scripture is God's great gift to you and to me. We sometimes say, I have a wonderful treasure, the gift of God without measure. We will travel together, my Bible and I. Oh, do you appreciate the Word of God? You tell me how long you spend with God's Word, and I'll tell you how much you love the Lord Jesus. Friends, you can't tell me you'll love him if you do not read his word. There it indicates, my friend, you'll love the Lord. You'll spend time in the Holy Scripture. If you love a person, you want to listen to that person.
You want to be in the company of that person. And so now because he's loving, we just love to listen to him speaking to us through the love letter, the Word of God. The ability. Now if I appreciate God's word, I am going to do three things. One, John five thirty-nine, I am going to search the Holy Scripture. Remember it says in John five thirty nine Christ says search the scripture for these are they that testify of me and that's why we search the holy scripture to find the Lord Jesus out of these upon him our hearts delight as we look upon him and then to Timothy two fifteen study the scripture study the scripture that we may be approved unto God, workmen that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Go back to that just for one moment. To Timothy, two-fifteenths, look at the word again. You have a threefold preparation in this one verse that clashes to my mind. You have a spiritual preparation and this is why we should search and study the word of God. Before I touch this, may I suggest to you, the word search is a very interesting word. It's a word that means like a bloodhound. The bloodhound gets the scent of the prey. And like the bloodhound, as a bloodhound, it searches the prey down until it catches its prey. And that's the very word used here.
And Christ used the word search like the bloodhound. You've got something my finger searching for. And don't give up, go all the way until you find it. And with the Lord Himself. The Lord Himself... all the delight of all this. But this word study is another word. It's a deeper word than the word search. The same is right here now. Search Study to show thyself, firstly, approved unto God. So there you've got a spiritual preparation. And when we search the scripture, it's not a case of just getting a mental knowledge or getting a wonderful grasp of the word.
Oh no. Our first ambition must be with a desire to find Christ. And we occupy with the Lord who is the living word. Now, I love conferences. I like being with the Lord's people. He does something to me. And I love ministering to God's people. It's a real joy. But may I say this? No, we go around to conference here and conference there. Well, listen to the ministry coming from God's beloved people. Some really wonderful teachers of the Word of God. Men will feel ability. Oh, isn't that wonderful? Isn't that wonderful? And you know, get no fun in our head if it even gets there.
If it even gets there, My friend, we must not only hear the word, we've got to hear it with a hearing of faith. What does that mean? We've got to receive the word. We've got, my friend, to appropriate the word of God, to make it our very own. And the word may get right down deep into our heart. And when that takes place, we shall study the word with a view of being approved unto God. There shall be the spiritual preparation. And secondly... A practical preparation. What does it say? A workman that needeth not to be ashamed. There you have the practical preparation now. You see, the word of God should affect my life.
If it doesn't affect my life, then it's just like rain in the middle region. It won't do the earth much good. If the word only gets into my mind, how often? You'll listen to men preaching the word of God, probably women too. When I'm talking about men, you listen to men preach the Word of God. They're so lucid. They're so clear. Oh, what a wonderful cup life. A beautifully constructed message. Worth perfect in its delivery. And it leaves you as cold as ice. It never reaches your heart. It never warms you. There has been an intellectual grasp of the Word of God that has not reached the heart.
I pray God during these days, the word is going to reach your heart and my heart and there's going to be a molding effect go on in our life that we shall be firstly approved unto God in a practical way our workmen need not to be ashamed and then there's the biblical preparation next thing is now rightly dividing the word of truth rightly handling the word of truth may God give us a heart appetite and a heartwarming toward the Lord himself, just as it did. And they may have heard. Remember it said, Did not our heart bond with in us as it opened to us the Holy Scripture?
Oh, maybe we know the Lord himself opening the Scripture to our heart. Oh, there shall be a heartwarming. And we'll look up and say, Oh, precious Lord Jesus, how lovely thou art. Come on abiding, rule in my heart. Break every fetter. Thy face let me see. Then thou shalt ever be precious to me. Oh, is he precious to you this morning? Go with me now. You got that, didn't you? To James chapter one. I'll just touch this because there are another verse I want to give you before I close. I'm sorry I got the close right there in that first letter of instruction. We'll need to go on to letter L tonight.
Verse number twenty-one, shall we? James one, twenty-one. First of all, the gift. What am I going to do with God's gift of Holy Scripture? I am going to search the Scripture. I am going to study the Scripture. Now ask, I am going to submit my whole life to the Scripture. Verse twenty-one. Wherefore they are part of filthness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But being ye doers of the word and not hearers only, there's got to be the practical outworking of this, deceiving your own self.
For if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer, He is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass. For he beholdeth himself and goeth his way, and straightly forgeteth what matter of man he was. But whosoever looketh into the perfect law of liberty, the word of God, and continue therein. And Christ says, remember, in John's Gospel chapter eight, And ye are my disciples indeed, if ye continue, in my words, If he continues, in my word, verse twenty-five again, and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word.
Notice verse twenty-two, a doer of the word. Verse twenty-five, a doer of the word. It's got to become practical in our lives day by day. Not only do you hear it, but to do it and to practice it, my friend. This man shall be blessed in his deeds. Oh, may we all become that blessed man, that blessed woman. Now, I'll ask for him for you. First Timothy. First Timothy, please. And chapter four. And verse number thirteen. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
Neglect not the gift that is in me. Verse fifteen. Meditate. The same word as looking into. John and James chapter one. Looking into. The same word here is meditate upon these things. Give thyself holy to them that thy providence may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself. Now notice the order here. First take heed to thyself, then unto the doctrine. The preparation of man is far more important than the doctrine. All for a heart experience of Jesus Christ. Over a heartily lies vacant, but lovely man, ruling and reigning in her heart day by day.
Take heed to thyself and unto the doctrine. Continue in them, says the old warrior. For in doing this, thou shalt both save thyself, and then hear thee. Look back with me for a moment at verse fifteen. Meditate upon these things. Notice now, apply thyself wholly to them. Bengal said, Apply the holy scriptures holy to thyself. When? When you've applied yourself holy to the scripture. May I look at it this way? You'll do it with me. It says in verse number fifteen, Meditate upon thy six, Apply thyself holy to the scripture, then apply the scripture wholly to thyself.
Is that clear? May I go to the floor? I talk very fast. Let me go to the floor. Apply thyself wholly to the scripture, then apply the holy scripture wholly to thyself. Did you get that? Four ways we can do it. One, by prayer, by searching, by meditation and by obeying. The third tree, beloved, gives knowledge, prayer, searching and meditation. But obey gives power. With that I'm going to close.
The third tree gives me knowledge, what are they? Praying, searching, meditation. but the forebond obedience gives me power. May God give us that power as we continue our meditation during these days. Now may I sum up, the child needs care, needs a hope and needs instruction. May God bless the instruction this morning to your heart and to my heart. May we know something of practical effect of this in our life. Now let us sing together, shall we? Three hundred and seventy-nine.
I thought I was getting done as far as discipline this morning, and I chose not him for it. But we didn't get done as far as that, did we? Three seven-nine. Under his wings I am safely abiding, though the night deepens and tempest of wild, till I can trust him, I know he won't keep me. He has redeemed me, and hallelujah, I am his child. Ain't just the first verse of three hundred and seventy-nine. Notice the words to sing them.
Under his wings I shall stay free abiding, till the night's deep and temptation are wise. Till I can trust him, I know he will teach me. He has redeemed me, and I am his child. After his wake, beyond his wake, look of his lock and devil.
Under his wing, my soul shall abide, safely abide forever. We thank you this morning, Blessed Father, for all who know me as a living reality and know the Lord Jesus as the Lord and the Holy Spirit as her continual companion and guide and counsellor and comforter. God bless the assembled company. We send each one here this morning.
We each one be able to say of a truth. I'm glad I went to the house of the Lord. I've seen him this morning. And I've heard his voice. God bless. In a very real way through the balance of the day. May the meditation of our hearts and the words of our mouth be acceptable in thy sight. Our God, our strength, our Redeemer, to whom be glory both now and forevermore. Amen.