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[0:00] Let us turn once again to that word in Mark's Gospel chapter 4 and verse 11. Mark's Gospel chapter 4 and verse 11.

[0:14] And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. But unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables.

[0:33] Now we tried to speak a little this morning in respect to another mystery. But more particularly of those unto whom this mystery is made known.

[0:50] And we noticed that it is unto those whom God seeks for himself.

[1:06] It is unto them who are born again, not of the will of man, or of the will of the flesh, but of the will of God.

[1:26] And we noticed that there was a man who had gone from Jerusalem to Jericho.

[1:39] And he was found in the ditch, half dead, by a Samaritan.

[1:52] And this Samaritan went to him and had compassion on him. Poured in oil and wine. Took him to an inn.

[2:03] And undertook for his healing and his recovery. And provided for all his needs. And we noticed that that man, when the Samaritan came unto him, had but a spark of life.

[2:25] And that in the natural strength that was his, he would have turned away from that Samaritan.

[2:40] And so it is, we believe, unto such that are brought into that low estate that it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God.

[2:59] And surely, one of the things that are brought forth from each heart that is a recipient of these mercies is the springing forth of praise that it is all of grace.

[3:22] And dear friend, when we are brought to sing to the praise of free and sovereign grace, then of necessity we must speak forth and acknowledge and wonder at electing love.

[3:44] Why me? I wonder how many times as we have received mercies countless as the sun.

[4:01] How many times we've been caused in praise to search and to wonder of the grace and the electing love that has taken us up while others are left to follow their own natural inclinations nations.

[4:35] Now we read this evening that portion well known to every one of us in respect of Joseph and his brethren and how that Jacob sent his ten brethren into Egypt to buy corn for there was a famine in the land.

[5:04] And you know that when those ten brothers came into Egypt we are told that Joseph's brethren came and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.

[5:23] So it's evident they came to him as Lord with authority as one who ruled. That was how they approached him.

[5:39] But dear friend there is a precious word for the Lord says and in that day thou shalt call me Ishi thou shalt no more call me Bali Now if you read the marginal interpretation of those words though they both mean man my man yet there is a difference and a great and a precious difference in them for it speaks of the relationship of husband and wife and there are many who do acknowledge their husband's authority over them and particularly in other scriptures the husband was the head of the house and of the family lord unto the woman and so though it is of a relationship that exists between them as man and wife yet there is a deeper a sweeter and a more precious relationship when there is that love one between the other so that she says of him though he is her lord he is her beloved god now the these the brothers of joseph came to egypt and they came unto him as coming to a lord as to one with authority now dear friend when the word of the lord began to exercise your soul and when the truth was revealed unto you and searched you out and brought to light all that wickedness that lies therein how did god appear unto you as one having authority and power and might and rule and your approaches and your desires to approach surely were tempered by this understanding the lord says i am the lord there is none else and dear friend if you are brought to look unto him you you look unto him then as one having authority and power and might and they bowed themselves down before him with their faces to the earth and i believe that the lord's people know what it is to come to the lord as coming to one having authority and power now the word tells us that joseph saw his brethren but he made himself strange and spake roughly unto them and said whence come ye and they said from the land of canaan to buy food and then the scripture says this and joseph knew his brethren but they knew not him oh dear friend when you consider the lord's dealings with you how that he came and set you up against the word of his righteousness when he laid upon you the law what was your response one of fear knowing that it was an impossibility to keep it and weighed down by the burden of guilt that rested upon the soul but oh dear friend that you might know and that you might be caused to recall even in those circumstances feeling as it were beyond hope bowed with your face to the earth joseph knew his brethren children but they knew not him and so it is with all the lord's people when he by his word that word which is as a fire hath caused you to draw near unto him and though you are bowed with your face to the earth yet though he speaks strangely and though it may appear that his dealings with you are hard to be understood this is what the word tells us in respect of everyone to whom it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God that they were known that they were looked upon that they were loved and delighted in before the foundation of the world so that when in the fullness of time he calls you to him he knows you and therefore that word

[12:30] I have loved thee with an everlasting love and with loving kindness have I drawn thee he's made a reality in the experience of the Lord's people consider this in whatsoever things Joseph said and did to his brethren did it do them any harm rather the word teaches us that it was for their good he put them in prison dear friend do you know what it is spiritually to be in prison in that place where the truth and the light of the word of God has shone in your heart and revealed such things that all a sense and reason despairs and the very things that are written in the word of God seem but to hold you fast but you know when they'd been in prison three days these are the things that came forth out of those brethren we are verily guilty and what is it that the scripture says in respect of such a fruit springing forth in the hearts of sinners if we confess our sin he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness now I believe this is one of the evidences of the springing forth of that kingdom upon the ruins that satan has made and the giving of honour and glory unto the

[14:45] Godhead which is the mystery of the kingdom of God and there are the evidences of it in your own soul the tokens that the Lord hath done this good work in you now when these brothers confessed their sin they knew not that Joseph understood them for he spake unto them by an interpreter and the effect upon him was this he turned himself about from them and wept oh dear friend do you think sometimes of the Lord Jesus Christ when he looked over Jerusalem and the tenderness and the gentleness and the love that was in him and consider that his thoughts and his desires are the same to every one of his children for he says many is the time I would have gathered thee as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and when you and

[16:23] I are brought so to acknowledge our sin all the tenderness and the love that is in his heart and you notice that though he turned himself about and wept he returned and communed with them I love to think of that record in the word of God where the word tells us that the Lord came and spoke with Abraham and he made him many great and precious promises and then the word tells us this and the Lord left him and Abraham returned to his own place now the place that Abraham returned to was marmarie and marmarie means rebellion or bitterness and you think of it he was a man that had received of the

[17:39] Lord most precious promises and the Lord left him and he returned to rebellion and bitterness but you know there were those times and they're left on record when the Lord came and the Lord caused him to know joy and gladness wonder and praise but it is needful at times that we are brought to know the rebellion that dwells within us by nature and the bitterness of it that we might look more unto him and that we might seek more diligently after him supposing that you and I received of the

[18:41] Lord precious promises and never knew the bitterness and rebellion of soul how often would you go to the throne of grace dear friend have you ever gone to the throne of grace except you had a need there's many times that we've had to be thankful for the children that God has given unto us because we are certain that they have been to us a cord that has drawn us to the throne of grace when we wouldn't have gone and I'm sure many dear parents know what it is to be thankful that the child has been the means to bring us to the throne of grace for while we've been there we've been softened we've been caused to remember we've been stirred up at times and so they are indeed a blessing under the

[20:02] Lord's hand now when Joseph had demanded from them that his younger brother or their younger brother was brought to them you know that he commanded that their sacks be filled and their money returned and he gave them provision for the way and sent them having in mind the welfare of their families at home now consider this Joseph sold to all the people of the land of Egypt and all those that came and Joseph's brethren were only one group among many that came yet Joseph treated them differently from everyone else that came even from the Egyptians for he sold unto the

[21:08] Egyptians so much so that they had to mortgage their lands and their houses to buy corn and ultimately they came into the possession of the king but these ten men from Canaan he sold not to them he gave and why because Joseph knew his brethren and so it is with the Lord's people it is given unto you to know the mystery of the kingdom of God now I'm sure that each one of you knows that the ensuing record and ultimately how that Joseph could no longer refrain himself when

[22:09] Benjamin was brought and Joseph made himself known unto his brethren now in the fourteenth chapter of John's gospel this word is written and I will love him and make myself manifest unto him now the Lord hath undertaken so to make himself known unto every one of his brethren and I believe that when that day is known and enjoyed in the soul it is the day when as we have reminded you we no more call him Lord but he is to us one precious beloved as an elder brother you see how they reacted and how he reacted as he made himself known unto them they put their arms about one another's neck and I often think of those words and that desire of the woman of old to put her arms about his neck and never let him go is there known in your soul experience a time when he hath revealed himself to you and is as an elder brother one beloved one near precious tender gentle one from whom you have received gifts in love well I trust that if that day is not yet fulfilled in your soul's experience that it may be and that you might come to look unto him in love knowing the love that he bears unto you now if we are brought to look to him because of our need and remember that

[24:54] Joseph's brethren only went to Egypt because they had great need and therefore they saw him and knew him as the supplier of their need and and of the bestower of good and a precious gift so is the Lord Jesus unto every one of his children and I wonder whether we do rightly regard the provision that God made under the old dispensation for his people a setting forth the Lord Jesus Christ in his beauty in his glory and in his love for remember when the Lord chose

[25:55] Israel to be his people he came and he said I am the Lord your God he made the relationship and so it is when the Lord comes unto his children he comes and makes the relationship he says thou art mine you read that chapter in Ezekiel where one cast out into the open field to the loathing of their person he passed by and he looked upon them and it was a time of love and he said I cast my skirt over thee and thou becamest mine the Lord makes the relationship now when the Lord made that relationship with Israel of old he then laid upon them rules and government and ordinances he said ye shall not do according to the doings of the

[26:58] Egyptians among whom ye dwelt neither shall ye do according to the doings of the Canaanites among whom ye go to dwell for I am the Lord your God and so it is with you if you're his if he hath come and called you his own then he lays upon you rules and government and ordinances and it is in these things that we know and experience the blessings the promises and the fulfillment of them the Lord didn't expect the Egyptians and the Canaanites to abide by his rules and government and ordinances he required that Israel did and dear friend I spoke a little this morning of the separate and different position of those to whom it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God and here is an extension of it it is not required that the world shall live subject to the government and the ordinances of the

[28:10] Lord but it is of his people and it says in respect of them and the people shall live alone and not be counted among the nations dear friend that you and I contend to be nothing and to be as nothing one of the chief desires of human nature is to be something and to be someone in the eyes of our fellow man oh dear friend turn from it it's not the way of those to whom it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God now under this dispensation laid upon Israel the Lord made provision lest any should unwittingly take life and he provided six cities of refuge three on west side

[29:16] Jordan and three on east and those cities I believe do set forth the glories of the Lord Jesus Christ and when you consider them and I trust that you might be enabled to do so I see that the time has almost gone when you get home in the 20th chapter of Joshua you read this and they appointed Kedesh in Galilee and Shechem in Mount Ephraim and Hebron in the mountain of Judah those were the three on the west side and on the east side Beza in the wilderness upon the plain and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh now these six cities were appointed for those who sought refuge to run into and I believe one of the most precious verses in the word is this and it's in the fourth chapter of the fourth verse of the 20th chapter and when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering in of the gate of the city and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city they shall take him into the city unto them and give him a place that he may dwell among them in the

[31:05] Lord oh dear friend if you and I are brought to look unto the Lord Jesus Christ see his glory and his love then surely in our need we shall flee and we shall run even into the entering in of the gate of the city for Kedesh is holiness and when the word hath discovered unto you your great need surely as he is set forth in the word of God to be holiness you will run there and the word tells us that if we are found there standing at the gate of the city telling our cause they weren't allowed to turn them away they had to take him in they had to find him a place and it wasn't a place for a moment it was a place to dwell and if you and

[32:16] I are brought to look to the Lord Jesus and to run unto him who is holiness then we shall find a place to dwell for he that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out now the second of these cities was Shechem which means shoulder strength and I believe that there is a wonderful setting forth of the Lord Jesus Christ in respect of his people and this word shoulder or strength and it refers to Samson of old for he was found in a city one night and the Philistines took counsel together to slay him and they locked and barred the gates of the city and they said we have him he cannot escape we'll wait and lie in wait until the morning and then we'll take him and we'll kill him and the word tells us that at midnight

[33:38] Samson arose and he took the gate and the two posts bar and all upon his shoulder and bore them to the top of an hill now when the Philistines saw in the morning light what was done the very means that they supposed would have been his death his destruction he had borne them away upon his shoulder dear friend have you considered what the Lord Jesus has done we if it is the Lord's pleasure in a few moments do expect to remember even this occasion his death and to show it forth till he come because we do gather to remember these solemn yet precious moments the angels invited

[34:54] Mary come and see where they laid him and there are those times in the experience of the Lord's people when they are brought there have you dear friend by faith been brought to see where they laid him it's a place where even naturally speaking only those who love the departed one do gather those who have respect for them and desire to honor them around the graveside the Lord calls his loved one to remember and to show forth his death why because there is now no hindrance no barrier in death the sting of death is seen and he hath borne them away so that there is therefore now no condemnation and if you and

[36:23] I are brought to look upon these things then surely it is with joy and gladness that we run to enter in there and to dwell to rest secure that he hath borne upon his shoulder our iniquities so that we can say oh death where is thy sting oh grave where is thy victory and rejoice in as much as he hath given unto us a most gracious promise and it is this to him that overcometh will I give to sit with me in my throne even as I have overcome and am set down in my father's throne dear friend is this where you rest and where

[37:26] I rest is this where we dwell well I believe that if these things are made precious to us then we shall I'll just mention the names of these and trust that it may please the Lord in his mercy and grace to illuminate them to you that you might find comfort there for Hebron means a means of crossing the water a joining and I comment only in this the Lord hath said when thou passest through the water I will be with thee now dear friend if he is to us a for a joining and it was given unto him to proclaim and to bring forth unto sinners the ministry of reconciliation and he hath said when thou passest through the waters

[38:37] I will be with thee he he is then unto us as are those stones upon the bed of the river upon which we stand and by which means we cross from death unto life now that city beza in the plain in the wilderness upon the plain and means again strength and ramoth means exalted the heights and go long a circle I trust that you might bear this word away with you the Lord hath said in gracious promise to his people as the mountains around about Jerusalem so is the

[39:38] Lord round about his people from henceforth even forevermore they're encircled of him and oh dear friend to be found in him what wondrous joy this is and that's the promise of the Lord may you and I find him to be a very present help a refuge in a time of trouble to our souls and all that we might not fear but that we might run and pursue even into the entering in of the city telling our cause there and we shall be received and there may we dwell Amen Let's close this service by singing hymn number 1090 1090 westerns or hope to

[41:08] Jesus prayer, Jesus stronghold ordained for you gird up your loins and seize them all and to the Lamb your way pursue in 1090 in 1090 in 1090 in 1090 in 1090 in 1090 in 1070 in 1070bean訂閱

[43:16] THE END THE END THE END

[44:18] THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END

[45:20] THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END Every day sent him to the dock.

[46:04] The End The End The End

[47:34]  The End The End