Church Life 6 – Ministry of the Word #3

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Here's the first one. Supposing the preacher starts off, senses good, liberty and life, but finds that halfway through sleepiness, heaviness has come in. Should he then tell a joke or lead the company in prayer or what? I hope that doesn't have to happen this evening. It. Well, certainly, on the whole, I would say, don't tell a joke. I'm not quite sure that that's quite the way to approach the matter. If you've really begun off there is liberty and that then there comes in a sleepiness or heavenness. Generally speaking, there may be something wrong with you. Now, these are. I think we can only ever learn this from experience. Normally we learn this kind of thing after we have done it. But remember what I said about adding things to what God has given you. Often this is what happens when God has given you something and then you add to it and then get a lot of those sort of frills and fancies have added to this. And it's that that the Holy Spirit perhaps doesn't witness to. And there comes a kind of sleepiness into the time. Of course, there are occasions when it is extremely difficult to speak. I mean, there are times, for instance, when the atmosphere may be like a turkish bath and it is extremely difficult. I personally would be rather careful of dealing with very deep and difficult subjects when the atmosphere is like that. Unless the Lord has definitely burdened you with something. And then it's a step of faith. Now, you'll find that in everything, faith is the key. It's so simple. But faith is the key to everything. And you see, when a point comes like this of heaviness or difficulty. Now, our first reaction is how to face it with human resources. To tell a joke would be the simple way to do it. Sometimes we might stop and pray, and our very prayer could be unbelief in that we feel completely submerged and hopeless and so on, you see? And then it can be unbelief. And it's no, much better. Faith is the answer to it. The only real key to a situation like that is to look to the Lord and to overcome. And maybe you should move on from the point that you're on to the next point. It may be an indication that in some way you're not quite on beam. You've got a little bit off the line. There may be occasions when you should stop and pray. I think they're rare. Providing it really is the prayer of faith and it's calling upon everyone to be together. It can be good. I hope that's answered that question. Suppose a preacher is due to speak to a gathering of people and discovers when he must stand up, that there is an atmosphere of, say, bondage or inhibition or apathy, deadness, coldness, pride or overexcitability. What would you advise? I don't know, really, because these things are rather a whole range of possibilities there. I personally think if you are alive to the Lord, you should have sensed things really, before you stand up, and from the beginning you may have to take action. I've had this again and again. For instance, I've been asked to go to speak to some gathering, and I've felt on my heart a definite message from the Lord. And then when I've got there, to my horror, have discovered a quite different type of person to the person I had visualized one would be speaking to. And in that moment, you wonder, now, have I got the right message? These people couldn't possibly understand. Perhaps you might feel what I'm going to say. I remember the first time I ever went to lynch in Austria. For some reason, I had imagined a different type of person in the gathering. When we finally got to the first of these gatherings and I set my eyes upon the company, to my horror, I found that two thirds of the company at that time were black, older ladies dressed in black and with a certain kind of headgear. They were Sieben Burger from Romania, all refugees. They spoke a kind of German from the 15th century. They kept the customs of that period. And I was absolutely horrified. I mean, what I had to say, I thought, they'll never understand a word. I mean, I'd been led to believe that I'd been given the subject, speak on the church and oneness and what is the nature of the church and the functioning together? I looked at these people. I only had a little time because they didn't have a big opening. It was just a hymn prayer, and you were in. And I looked in my heart to the Lord to help me. And the only thing that came to me was quite. [00:06:20] Speaker B: Unique. [00:06:22] Speaker A: I thought, Lord, how can I put this truth over to them? And the only way it came to me was in an illustration. I took a bucket of water quickly, I asked for a bucket of water, took a jug and four glasses, and then I began off by explaining the scripture and so on. And then I said, now I'll illustrate to you. See, this glass here is you, and this is the next person, and this is the next. And now these are four christians, you see, and now Christ is in them. So I poured a little bit of water, you see, into each one of them. And I said, here they are, four little christian units, units together. However much you put them together, the glass is separating the water. You see, they're just little. Each one's got a little bit of Christ inside of them. But I said, to be in Christ is something quite different. We must have our minds totally changed. I said, you see, it's not that God has put Christ in you. The first thing he's done is to put you in Christ. So then I poured all the water back, you see, and then I took the glass and I said, here's the first one of you. Of course, they loved it. They roared with laughter. Down went the glass into the bucket, you see. Then we took the second one, said, this is the second one. God's put this one in Christ. Down went the glass and bucket, 4th, fifth. And we filled the bucket with glasses. Now, the amazing thing was the Holy Spirit used that to reveal the nature of the church to all those dear folks. And from that point to this day, some of them are in the glory. They have been absolutely faithful and became the nucleus and foundation of what God did in that company. But it would have been hopeless if I'd given them the normal type of Bible study, because they just couldn't grasp it. But they certainly grasped the bucket and the glasses. And every time I went, they used to tell me, oh, illustration of the bucket and the glasses. It's meant so much to me. Now, I found that with those country folks, we had to resort again and again to very, very simple, sometimes acted out illustrations to get the truth into them. And now and again, that may have to happen. I mean, if you imagine that you're going to speak, for instance, to students, and you suddenly find that they're not students, but a group of folks who have not too much, shall we say, education. Obviously, you've got to look for the law. It's not the message that needs changing. It may be the manner or the way that it's put over. And that requires faith in you to look to the Lord. Now, I don't know whether that really does answer this. There are bats times when there's bondage or inhibition, and the only course there is the prayer of faith. I think that before one speaks, one's got to pray. I've often done this when I felt, especially in places dead lurum, places like that. I've been in Scandinavia when I stood up. Speak before I say. I pray in English. Not everyone can understand, but I simply say to the Lord, now, lord, by faith, I touch the rock and I thank thee that out of it is going to flow rivers of living water to meet all the need here. Now, that's a step of faith. I've confessed my faith before the Lord that he's going to do something, and I may feel as dead as the dodo, but the fact of the matter is that we find out afterwards that much has happened amongst the people. A step of faith, the prayer of faith. To what extent do you have to adapt yourself to the size of the congregation you are addressing? I think that's a good question, because on the whole, I would say, obviously, you do adapt, but the Lord himself must show you how to. When you're speaking, for instance, in a living room, in a completely informal atmosphere, it's bound to be a little more informal. And if you try to be too formal, as if you're addressing a meeting of a thousand, I think there's something artificial comes into the atmosphere. On the other hand, I think if you try to be too chatty when you're addressing a very large congregation, again, something cheap, familiar, and I think artificial comes in. Now, on the other hand, I must say this that I admire very greatly, those who have such a message and burden on their heart that they can address a drawing room filled with believers, perhaps just 20, as if they were addressing a thousand, not in the formal way, but with the same burden and passion. And I think that that is the key, not to be bothered about numbers. Sometimes when you just see 1015 people, you think, oh, this doesn't matter much. That is a terrible mistake. For all you know, there may be a spurgeon in that 15, there may be a Wesley in that, there may be a watchman knee in that 15. And it's faith which always pushes. I've known many, many people who sort of give up if they see just a few God. It's not much, you see, so they just give the bones of what they're going to say, and that's it, because it's unbelief. But if God has given you something to give, it doesn't matter if it's a thousand or any five. I saw this in dear Johnny Cochrane, why, we went up into the mountains of southwestern Ireland, Cork and Kerry, to those little crofters cottages. There were three, four people there, and he would get Arthur to sing a solo, and he would lead in prayer, and I would preach or he would counsel, and it was just as if there was a huge meeting there. No wonder the people loved him. They loved him, because the man was so pure in spirit. He wasn't the least bit bothered about numbers or finance or the collection or anything else. He was really bothered about loving the Lord's people and bringing others to Christ. And it was a great blessing to me to see those two faithful men going round those forsaken spots of Ireland and really faithfully preaching Christ in that way. Have you any advice to offer about the weighing up of an audience whom we do not know? For example, ought we to change our approach for different kinds of audiences? Women's meeting working lads club CV social evening College Christian Union Businessmen's meeting or should we be ourselves no matter where we are? Well, I think you should be yourselves no matter where you are. That goes without saying. If you are not yourself, God will not be himself. It's as simple as that. Remember that simple law. You must be yourself if God is to be himself. But obviously, as I've already said, I think there is a slightly different approach. The way you speak to what is called here delicately, a working lads club may not be the way you speak to the Women's Institute. I think there must, of necessity, be a somewhat different approach. What essential principles or practical points should be borne in mind when preaching the gospel to the unsaid? This is a good point, I think. First of all, remember, when you're preaching to the unsaid that you are preaching the gospel, you're not just giving lots of little anecdotes or interesting them or entertaining them, you are preaching the gospel. That's the first thing. The second thing is this, be in touch with this world. You will notice that wherever the gospel is preached and nothing ever happens, it is nearly always due to the fact that the language is so canaaniteish, so sort of the language of heaven, that no one who comes from the world could possibly understand. You need an interpreter before you can understand the terms that are being used, because they are terms which only christians understand. Therefore, a person must be two thirds a Christian before they can understand that kind of preaching. So remember, first, preach the gospel. That's the essential thing. Never water down your message, never compromise on your message, never make it easier. Preach the gospel exactly as God has given it to you to preach and be fearless in that sense. But secondly, be absolutely simple as far as possible in the way that you preach it. And do be in touch with the world. Don't be afraid to refer to what is happening in the world, to the up to date news, all this kind of thing. These are the things which grip people because they know all about it, even if the Christian doesn't, for the most part. And the last point I would make is, do remember illustration. It is, I think, very important when preaching to unsaved people to use good illustrations. Lindsay Glegg used to say that you can preach the gospel through one really good illustration. You can forget everything else, take an illustration, tell a story, and then preach the gospel through it. And of course, he was an absolute past master at telling a story. And then. Now, what about humor? This is not in my question, but what about humor when preaching to the unsaved? This always, of course, divides not the unsaved, but the believer. There are believers who say there should be absolutely no humor in the preaching of the gospel. They feel that it should be hellfire and brittle stone, absolutely solemn and serious and not a trace of a smile. Otherwise, it takes away from the power of the message. But the extraordinary thing is, we have to say this, that some of the most gifted and successful evangelists have been those with the most extraordinary and sometimes quite rumbustious sense of humour. WP. Nicholson had people rolling in the aisles. They shrieked with laugh, literally. Of course, people were horrified with W. P. Nicholson always taking him to task about his humour. And I think I told you the occasion when he gave it up, when two or three godly evangelical leaders approached him about this sin of his humor, because he did say some terrible things. I mean, he joked about the pope and his children and this kind of thing continually, and his bed socks or this kind. And yet the funny thing was that priests used to go to hear W. P. Nicholson in their. It's the most extraordinary thing, isn't it? You see, because the Irish are the Irish. I mean, they'll never understand the Irish. But when he gave up his humor, the power of God left him for three weeks, he saw not a soul saved. And then after three weeks, he said he couldn't bother anymore about however godly the evangelical leaders were who had approached him. He was going to go back to his line of country and back he went and people started to get saved again. This is exactly the same with Lindsay Gleg. I remember the rouse there used to be when I was in church, Baptist church, and the older ones, and the more, generally speaking, the more godly ones didn't really want him to come because they felt that there was too much levity and, well, I think we must be careful about humor merely as humor. But on the other hand, it seems to me that humor is often a way into a person's heart. And this is what Wendy was with WP Nicholson, Eve Wald's humor. He was a humorous man, and he thinks exactly the same. He can't help it. It's in them. And that's altogether different with trying to tell jokes to win an audience and actually being by nature a person with great humor. So I wouldn't be afraid of humor. Being yourself. What advice would you give to someone having to preach in the open air for the first time? Pretty well the same thing that I've just said now, except that I think you should be a good deal shorter, much more. Not secular, but what is the word I want? Much more topical. Exactly. Much more topical. So when you preach in the open air, remember Alan Redpath was the only preacher I know in Richmond who could fill the whole of the town hall gardens right down to the riverfront, right the way along, beginning with just a little crowd about twice the size of this, if that. And suddenly everyone would come from everywhere. They'd come out of the castle ball or anything. Why? Because he always started off on political things, and he would say about, what is wrong with the country? The country's going down, the thing, and this is happening, and that's happening. Rising prices, divorce rate, crime rate, and of course, everyone came out and said, he's right, he's right, and so on. And then, of course, in the end, he would say, and this is the route, and then he'd bang it home. The thing people again accused him of being political, you see. I mean, some of the Christians said that he was too political, but it was topical. And I think in the open air to a certain extent, that's so. However, we have to say that when John Wesley preached in the open air, he wasn't political at all. He just preached the straight gospel in the open air. Both he and Whitfield and thousands got saved. What is the best way of coping with interruptions or heckling during a message? Difficult. I think you just have to be led of the Lord. Sometimes it's best to ignore it and just go on, because it's exactly what the person wants you to do, is to stop and lose your thread and get all sort of upset on the other case. There are times when it really is something really evil and needs to be bound in one way or another in the name of the Lord. Again, of course, very much depends upon. [00:21:00] Speaker B: The gift you have. [00:21:01] Speaker A: I remember Leith Samuel years ago, when we was big meeting in Trafalgar Square, and there was this great thing everywhere he was preaching, and a man kept on yelling out, where did Cain get his wife? On went Leth Samuel preaching. You haven't answered me. Where did Kane get his wife? Went on preaching. And the third time the man did so. Then he just turned round on him and he said, you silly man, the same place where you got yours from his mother in law. And of course, the crowd roared laughter the man never uttered his voice. Not another peep out of him for the rest of the time. It was absolutely marvellous, really, I've never forgotten it. Perhaps a little dishonest, but it was in fact it silent. Someone who was not the least bit interested where Kane got his wife from. He was only interested in disturbing the time and in wrecking. What? The preaching of the word. I think only the Lord can help us in coping with interruptions or heckling during a message when there is much noise. For example, traffic, air conditioning, coughing, rustling papers. What do you advise? Of course, I personally have always admired those people and there are many of them who are oblivious to anything else but their preaching. For myself, I find it extremely difficult to preach against noise and interruption. I even find people who rustle through their bibles noisily or unpack a suite with the maximum of noise. I find these things terribly disturbing myself, probably because I am that type of person and I always admire those who never hear it. As I've said, I've known a person carried out on a stretcher and the preacher didn't know. And it was right in the center of the meeting, by the way. But if you are one of these people, well, there's only one thing you can do. I think you must turn to the Lord in your own spirit whilst you're preaching and look for real help and deliverance. It's when we get too self conscious. [00:23:28] Speaker B: That we have the trouble. [00:23:30] Speaker A: Just two other questions. What about speaking through an interpreter? Now, not many of you will have spoken to an interpreter, but it may well be that some of you will, and more so perhaps, in the future than now. I. Of course, much of my preaching is through an interpreter. Now, there are two or three things about being interpreted. The first thing is this. You must speak clearly. And if you don't speak clearly, you must learn to speak clearly because it is very difficult for an interpreter who's got to follow all the time if your diction is not clear. And that's the first thing. The second thing is to avoid long sentences. In other words, racing on and then stopping, because an interpreter often cannot cope. On the other hand, it's no good giving them just a fragment without the end of the sentence as other people do. You see, they've been told, now be short. And so they just give half a sentence. And an interpreter doesn't really know what to do. The thing to do is to break up what you're saying into a rhythm. Now, when you've got a good interpreter, you develop a rhythm. You speak, they speak, you speak, they speak, you speak, they speak, you speak, they speak. And there's a rhythm. Now, of course, when the trouble happens is when your interpreter turns around and says to you, what do you mean? And of course that is a problem. Then you've got to explain it, you see, and so on. And I mean, there are problems to do with being interpreted. The most wonderful thing is when you get an interpreter who's absolutely in touch with you, one spirit and really in touch with you spiritually, knows, really. And that's absolutely wonderful. It's like, you know, it's really two mouths and one message. However, I have heard some amazing things. I remember Dennis Clark preaching some years ago in southern Sweden and at the end of it, when he understood Swedish, which can be a problem if you understand the language, not well enough to preach in it, but at least well enough to know what's being said. And at the end of it, when the meeting ends in, he bowed his head and said, we do thank thee, lord, for these two fine messages we've had this evening, which is virtually true. The interpreter had got so muddled up that he preached his own message and a message for those who understood English and a message which was quite different that the interpreter was giving. That can happen, I might say. What about microphones? Or one other thing about interpreter. If ever you have to speak by interpretation, do remember beforehand to pray with the person who interprets. That's a very important point. Sometimes in the continent you find that folks are not so used to praying about these things as indeed in this country in many places. Always remember to get there earlier and just talk. When I have a rather important and more difficult message, I always go through the scripture verses particularly. I find that if an interpreter knows the scripture verses you might be quoting and can get them in their mind often writing them down. It makes it much easier for them. Well, there we are. What about microphones? Well, I think this is another good question, a very practical question. In the old days, microphones were not used and I normally ask for microphones to be switched off because I find them an awful nuisance. But when you are using a microphone, two or three things never stand near to it. This is the biggest mistake most people make. They see a microphone there and like a kuna, they get hold of it, sort of thing and sort of thing. And the result is the most dreadful cacophony of sound. Many of us remember the first time Bach singh came to Britain to speak. And when the brothers came in to the conference, beautifully measured, in came this gentleman when none of us had ever seen moxing. He appeared to be dressed in pajamas, barefooted, padded along and knelt, which no one else did, knelt at his chair. Now, when he got up to speak, he was like an ox and his voice was like a foghorn. He lifted up his voice and he started. And the noise, because the thing was amplified, it went round and round and round and that with an indian accent. And the microphone. I think I am right to say that about half of the congregation got splitting headaches by the evening meeting and the tailors were dishing out aspirins for those who were in the worst case, you see, you must stand back from a microphone. This is particularly in those places where no one adjusts the microphone. You will find in many of these meeting places, no one bothers about a microphone, just switched on and just left. No one regulates it according to the person. So try to remember that. Don't stand too near it, stand back from it. And if you've got a powerful voice and people are able to hear you anyway without a microphone, I should just simply ask, could it be switched off? That's if you've got a good voice. The use of different versions. Well, use any versions, but do just remember that you might offend some companies if you use some versions. There are companies that still have rather strong feelings about certain versions. It's worth finding that out, I suppose, before. But personally, I would say in preaching you ought to have your own really thoroughly good study version, which is your basic, and then you can use other versions. For instance, to make the living Bible your study version is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. It's not a study version if you want a study version. Personally, I don't like the revised standard Version. That's a personal feeling. I don't like it. I have no confidence really in it. I prefer either the old standard Version or I prefer the new american standard Bible. But this is a question of thing. Any one of those three, I think, revised Version, revised standard Version or the new american standard Bible should be your basic version for speaking in. Suppose we actually forget what we're going to say next during the course of a message. What should we do I hope that question was answered by what we said about having notes. If by any chance you should forget what you're going to say, honestly, if you haven't got no, I don't know what you do. Now and again I have had the dreadful experience not of forgetting. Praise the Lord, by his grace. Thus far, I've never forgotten what I'm going to say. Because it's quite clear in my heart as a burden, what is the thing, even if I forget the actual sentence. But what has happened to me now and again is I've suddenly found my mind completely blank on a word. And the more I try to get it, the more it just doesn't come. However, normally someone supplies it and generally spear ice, it's not one. It'll be someone else who supplies me with the word. And I think that's the only thing. But quite honestly, I think you should have notes even if you don't use them, just however bare they are. Just in case this possibility should come. Well, now then, let's turn now to our thing. I don't know who ought to be as a lamb led to the slaughter. First of all, this evening. Perhaps we ought to take one of the brothers now, Doug, are you going to come, or is it going to be Bob? I've done it already. Come on, Bob. [00:32:20] Speaker C: Great. [00:32:41] Speaker B: Psalm 27, psalm 27, verse one. Reading from the revised standard version. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? I noticed that psalm 23 and psalm 27 begin exactly the same way. And psalm 46 also begins in a very similar way. Psalms 23 and 27 begin with the words, the Lord is. And psalm 46 begins, God is. And it seems to me that many problems in many lives would be solved. If people could only understand that God is the Lord is. Not so long ago, I had occasion to go out into the street. In an attempt to lure or entice people to come in and listen to the preaching of the gospel. And I stopped a very modern looking young gentleman dressed in contemporary style. And I invited him to come. And he looked at me very, very skeptically and said, I made a discovery. I said, well, what was your discovery? He said, I am me. And I said to him, is that supposed to be a discovery? And he said, yes. I'm not anybody else. I'm me. And away he went. Well, I was very unimpressed with this discovery. I don't mind telling you. I thought it was extremely selfish. But shortly after that, during the episode of the ping Pong diplomacy. When the american table tennis team went across to Peking to play the chinese table tennis team, the captain of the american team was asked, do you have a message for the chinese people? And he said, tell them I am me. What a message. I am me. It seemed ridiculous to me. But then just after that, I noticed that one of the rolling stones up before the court on one of his many drugs offenses was very concerned to know who he was. And he kept asking, who am I? What am I all about? It seemed that identity, to at least these three young men, was an extreme problem. So I began to reflect on this. I am me. And I came to the conclusion that it really wasn't such a bad discovery after all. And frankly, many and many a christian needs to make the same discovery, because many of us try to be like Billy Graham or George Verwer or one of these great men when we're not. George Verwa is George Verwa, and I am me, and never the 20th. All right, then, what can we say about this discovery? I think it's quite a good discovery, provided you remember that God says, I am me. There's a context for being me. And that context, it is in what God is. God says, I am that I am, and what I am will find its significance and its purpose in what God is. Now, if we look at this verse again, we discover that there is a uniting between what David is and between what God is. And David says, the Lord is my light. The Lord is my salvation. The Lord is the stronghold or the strength of my life. Why? Was it because of what David is? No, he was just David. It's because of what God is. Because God is light. And if we turn to the New Testament, away to the very end of it, in one John, chapter one and verse five, we find that this is the message, God is light. But David had found the context for his life. Therefore, he could say, the Lord is my. It's the same with this question of salvation. David couldn't say, the Lord is my salvation because he was David. No, but he could say, the Lord is my salvation because of what we read in psalm 68. Let's look at psalm 68, verses 19 and 20. Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up. God is our salvation. Our God is a God of salvation. Therefore, because of what God is, David could say, the Lord is my salvation. What about strength or stronghold? Well, we only need to look at psalm 28 and verse eight. The Lord is the strength of his people. Or we can turn to Nahum chapter one and verse seven. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble. David knew that he was David, but he knew that God was God. Now when we think of all this, we must ask ourselves, well, what about this God? How does this God, who is all these wonderful things, become these wonderful things to me? Well, for this we have to come to our new Testament. And we read at the very beginning that nobody has ever seen this God, nobody but the only begotten son who's in the bosom of the Father. He has made him known. And it's a question of his life, because in him was life. His life was the light of men. He is the light that lighteneth every man. Therefore, if I know Christ, I get this light. I get the light of God through Christ. What about salvation? [00:39:28] Speaker A: How? [00:39:28] Speaker B: That's a wonderful thing. Hebrews chapter five in verse nine tells us he is the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him. It's a question of relationship again, isn't it? And, you know, when you think of this wonderful thing, my heart is thrilled to think of this. I'm reconciled to this God by the death of his son, and I'm saved by his life. He has become my salvation, having his life in me. I've got my salvation saved by his life. He's the author of eternal salvation. And what about strength? Well, strength, strength becomes very diminished at times, especially going up and down that lawn 25 times a day. And we discover that again. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one who is our strength, but his strength presupposes our weakness. We wouldn't need his strength if we had strength of our own. Therefore, we find this when we were without strength, Christ died for the ungodly. In our weakness, we find his strength. And when we are weak, then we are strong through the power that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul said this, I can do all things through Christ, who strengthened me right then. What can we say in the face of all this? Here we find that the Lord is light and salvation, a stronghold in strength, and we find that Christ is exactly the same thing. Well, this brings me to my conclusion, and this brings me back again to this thought. I am me. Who am I? How do I find my identity? And how do I find my fulfillment? Colossians chapter two and verse ten gives us the answer. We come to fullness of life, or we are made complete in him. In him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and we have come to fullness of life in him. And this is exactly in accordance with God's eternal and abiding purpose. One Corinthians, chapter 15 and verse 28. Takes us to the climax of the ages, when everything is handed over to God. So that he might be everything to everyone. That he may be our light, our salvation, our strength, everything that we need. [00:42:20] Speaker A: Al, do you all feel. Give him his degree. What? Give him his degree. Because I think most of us will be quickly moving on from our. Now, here's the next candidate. [00:42:40] Speaker D: Really listening was message. [00:42:42] Speaker A: Yeah, that's how I found it. Yeah. Although afterwards I was. I was quite taken up. Yes, that's how it should be. Of course. Yes. But I think. I think it was taken up with. Yes, that's good. Can I say something else? Yes. Preaching with his body disadvantage. Shuttling, did you call it? Well, I don't know about that. I think the most glaring mannerism Bob had is his licking of his. It's not even just a delicate sort of. [00:43:51] Speaker B: It really is. [00:43:52] Speaker A: It's not a delicate sort of thing. It's a real sort of. And that's one thing. The other thing I think you must watch. I would say again, when a person's got a message and you're absorbed in their message, it doesn't worry you. But I think your notes should go on the lectern and not on the table. Even when you finished with them. [00:44:14] Speaker D: They did, but he just slipped them down. [00:44:16] Speaker A: Well, I think that's a mistake. [00:44:17] Speaker D: But actually his notes are a great improvement, because I've seen God with those. [00:44:26] Speaker A: But you see, and I'll tell you why everybody. Why don't put your notes down. [00:44:30] Speaker C: All right? [00:44:31] Speaker A: You finished with them. If the doors open and a great gust of wind comes and everyone's forgotten what you were saying. Hello. [00:44:38] Speaker B: Marvelous. It is. [00:44:39] Speaker A: Someone rushes after your notes and everyone, if you. His notes have gone. You've heard of the preacher whose notes swarmed away. So my message. [00:44:46] Speaker B: My message. [00:44:49] Speaker A: Lost my message. And of course, you've heard of the other man who, when he got into the pulpit, found he hadn't got his notes and said, today I shall have to trust the Lord. Well, anyway, the thing is that. I know that's good, but why I would not put my notes down there. If you're finished with them, put them in is not that you need them anymore. But if they blow away, you will find that there'll be such a kerfuffle. Because everyone thinks, you see, that they are your notes, that you can't do without them. That really. So I would be very careful there. [00:45:27] Speaker D: But is there anything else yes, just one other thing. This is probably partly Bob, but sometimes when you emphasize and when your voice should be stronger, in actual fact it becomes hoarser. I don't know if others have noticed that. [00:45:44] Speaker A: Yes, I missed one or two words completely. [00:45:48] Speaker D: I mean, you've got quite a strong voice, really. [00:45:51] Speaker A: Oh, yes, he's got a strong voice. [00:45:54] Speaker D: You really more than a strong choice. [00:45:59] Speaker A: What was Hebrews chapter nine or chapter five verse? What was it? Became the author of we lost salvation, loss was lost completely. Hebrews chapter five. Yes, well. [00:46:18] Speaker B: Yes. [00:46:25] Speaker A: I mean, of course, what you see, quite honestly, we all get away with murder when we're able to put over a message, and of course that's the main thing. But I would say to those who, they never stand like that, because I think you'll find that unless you have got a message, and people are so absorbed in message, they don't care almost whether you stood on your head, they'll listen to you. Okay, but if not, they watch all these mannerisms, you see, when they're not so conscious of your message and they're not getting your message, they're much more conscious of your mannerisms and what you're doing or what you shouldn't be doing. [00:47:09] Speaker D: I wasn't quite sure exactly who the message was for. [00:47:15] Speaker A: Do you know, Bob, well. [00:47:20] Speaker B: Had it been, say, for a gospel message, I find this something I said to Ron when there are occasions when I get a word and I don't really know what the application is, whether it's really for believers or for the unsaved. And I think that was a case. [00:47:41] Speaker A: Well, in one way, yes, actually it could have been a very fine gospel word. Then I think you would have had to have just been a little careful of some more terms that were a little more for believers alone, that's all. Otherwise I would have said that would have been an extremely fine word to unsaved people. Say something about the scripture references. Yes, I find this isn't a Christmas. It doesn't matter if it is a Christmas we're here to criticize. It's the number of scripture references that are given and so following upon one another. And I find that with a hearing aid, for instance, it tends to take in sounds and people putting, I think sometimes scripture references given rather quickly looking for one verse, they find it gone on to two or three. Well, of course, we all suffer from this because sometimes when we give a number of references, we're conscious that time is going and we tend to give them perhaps rather quickly. [00:48:50] Speaker D: One good thing was that Bob read the portion beautifully. [00:48:54] Speaker A: And. [00:48:57] Speaker D: I can remember people. I always think of Mr. Sparks in this. Whenever he read the word, it was as much a blessing. I almost knew what he was going to say after he read it. Just by the reading of it. I found it terrific. Blessing just to hear him. [00:49:15] Speaker A: Yes. Never rush through the reading of, you know, sort of gallop through it. Always read God's word. Read it with feeling and meaning. Yes, that is good. Bob did that. Well. Well, then I think we should move on and leave. Bob. Yes. Simmering Fred, would you. Should we explain? [00:49:44] Speaker C: I was told, the proud of the potable son in six minutes, I was told. So I won't read it because it takes four minutes to read through. I timed it before I started. But if you want to look at Abbott in Luke 15, it appears in just the one gospel. And the symbolism of it was, to me, the travelsomeness of families. And while we're on that topic, I'd like to just deny a rumor I heard last night. Saying myself stuck with one of my children. She said that I've been in a communist prison. Apparently, someone asked me whether this was true. I deny it emphatically. My wife did try to get me there once, in actual fact. So the trouble was the less of the family, the family of God. I saw this as. And it very much brought me home. The reading that Ian had on Friday Evening. About desiring to dwell in one place. And this dear man, this father, certainly had his problems with his children. And the whole parable just symbolizes to me. The love and the grace of God. Poured out upon those who just don't appreciate what they've got. When they live in the house with their father. I think the robe and the ring and the shoes and the forgiveness. All symbols of the grace of the father are very wonderful. But they also bring home to me the disgrace of the son who returned very penitent and very humble. And I wondered why he chose to leave home. Why he chose just to leave that place where he seemed so secure. Possibly selfishness. He maybe didn't like sharing the living with the other brother. Who possibly was getting a bit overbearing. The man was his older brother. Maybe. Perhaps he just wanted to have everything for himself. And not share with the family. Sometimes sharing with the family seems as though it's a great loss. But in the family, there's a great deal to be gained. When we have all things one with another. I can share with you, you can share with me. And we share our experience. We lift each other up. But this boy certainly seems to me to have been someone who felt too secure in the family, too much independent. He didn't appreciate all that had been given to him. So he asked for the portion that was due to him. And the father didn't say, well, we'll go and sell that field. I can spare that. Or we'll sell a few sheep. I can spare those. He took the living. It says, the father divided his living amongst them. And the young son took the living. And it's here at this point that I felt the robe came very much into evidence. He must have left home wearing the clothes that were suitable to the place where he dwelt. And when he went to that far country, it was a far country, I'm sure that he stood out like a sore thumb. I'm sure that he was like a sitting duck for those who would prey upon him. And he was seen by the clothes that he wore, the way that he spoke, his habits, his mannerisms, that he didn't belong there. And he was promptly a great prey for the enemy because he was unprotected. He was outside the area of his father's home. He'd taken nothing with him. He was entirely independent by his own choice. A backslider if ever there was one. But I think that we can all fall into that trap that just at the moment of unguardedness we can be where we shouldn't be. I pray for the enemy to fall upon us and to rob us of all that Jesus Christ has given us. And so there he was. And very quickly he was robbed. All the life and the living of the father was just stripped from him. And then he made the second mistake. He tried to compromise. He went and says joined himself to a citizen of that country. There's a phrase in the world that says, if you can't beat them, join them. And he tried that. And there's no compromise. There's no peace when you're at war with the enemy. And all that he found was that the enemy laughed at him. He found himself eating the food that the swine would eat in the fields. And he was right down in the dirt, as it were. And then I like that phrase. It says that he came to himself. No longer was he someone who was trying to be someone that he wasn't away from the family. No longer was he someone who was trying to be part of a different society, a society where he didn't belong. But he came to himself and he saw himself as he was in his father's sight. Someone who could go back home and stand in that house. And I feel very sorry for the older son, the one who lived there. Or I think that he must have, when he came back from the fields and heard the sounds of the rejoicing, thought, well, I wonder what's going on here? And then he asked. And suddenly, because this young son had returned home all the things that he would have liked to have kept to himself about his inner feelings, about the fleshly way that he got within him came bursting out. All this was mine. And now he's come home and taken it back again. The thing that he wouldn't want to feel in the natural. Because in his natural way of life with the father, because the father was all love, he proved it. The father had shared everything with the sons. And yet somehow this all came out and there was still forgiveness. The father came out to speak to him. He'd met both sons. Both had made severe mistakes and they were forgiven. And the last words of the father were, well, all I have is yours. It belonged to both of them because they were living in the home. It was to be shared. And this father certainly tried to establish a place where love was the keynote. He never waited for the sons to come to him and grovel. And that's the hope that we have in him. Because we, all of us can make these two different sorts of mistake. Lack of forgiveness or suddenly a feeling that, well, we're doing very well now. Thank you. We can go off on our own and stand on our own without really being in fellowship. I'd like to conclude with a few verses from psalm 84. Just the first four verses. How amiable are thy tabernacles. O Lord of hosts, my soul longeth, yea, even fainteth, for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cryeth out for the living God. Yea, the sparrow hath found an house and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young, even thine altars. O Lord of hosts, my king and my God, blessed are they that dwell in thy house. They will be still praising thee. [00:57:35] Speaker A: Thank you very much, Fred. Now say, very well delivered. Yes. [00:57:49] Speaker D: The only thing I would have liked more is that Fred shared himself. [00:57:55] Speaker B: Like. [00:57:55] Speaker D: He did yesterday in the evening. Yes, he showed Fred as well as what he gave, and that was the thing. Although I enjoyed very much what he gave tonight. Yes, I think he could have shared himself too, and not be. I almost felt that he was a. [00:58:11] Speaker A: Lecturer, which he is. [00:58:12] Speaker B: You know what I mean? [00:58:13] Speaker D: Not unkindly, yes, but it's just lovely when you have Fred as well in your message. [00:58:18] Speaker A: Yes. [00:58:19] Speaker D: Show yourself. [00:58:21] Speaker A: Yes, Fred, I think you've been being helped with speech recently, haven't you? And I think this. I'd just like to say to everyone here, Fred is an excellent example of someone who has really been helped, because a few months ago, often what Fred would say was quite unintelligible. And yet I think we could say that every word that was said this evening was clear. So there is, of course, I know that the person who's been helping you said that you are the most teachable person that she has so far had. And I think that that is a very big point. You have been able to take in what has been said. But you see, this is so good, because knowing how Fred spoke before to what is now, we at least now get what he's saying and we're getting what's on his heart. Whereas before it was with great difficulty, and you couldn't listen for too long because it wasn't easy to hear or understand. I think that's good. Maybe one of the problems you had over speech, Fred, was inhibition, and it could just be that this may be the reason that stops you sometimes giving yourself a little. I personally didn't feel it so much, but I think there could be value in what Paul has said, and I think that if you ask the Lord to continue to release you and free you, it will be a great thing. One point I would like to make is I wish you'd said a little more in introduction. I know you had very little time. I wasn't quite clear whether you were speaking about human family and lessons for a human family, or whether it was lessons for the family of God. [01:00:30] Speaker D: I wasn't clear on that point. I felt that Fred had got quite an original approach. I mean, I've heard this parable many, many times from many, many angles, but I felt that there was quite a lot that was original there. It was just the framework. It may be that I'm used to listening to a good, clear framework, but I think that that is important. [01:00:55] Speaker A: This tape is continued in part two of the tape, entitled Life in the local church ministry of the Word. Part three.