...tradition be true or not, it may be
that Peter died on a cross with his
feet upward and his head down according to
his own request.
Whether that be true or not, this is
true, this baking signifying by what death he
should glorify God, when thou art young, yes,
but when thou art old.
Another shall gird thee, and thou shalt stretch
forth thy hand, and thou, they shall carry
thee whither thou wouldst not.
So here we have the Lord's own word
for it, do we not?
Many, many in that day, ah, even in
our day, I told the men of Gideon
this morning of a soldier who was crucified
by the Japanese forces, nailed to a tree,
because they couldn't break him.
He was a Christian lad, and they demanded
of him something that clashed with his conscience,
and they couldn't break him, and they nailed
him to a tree, dusty, his nickname.
This baking signifying by what death he should
glorify God, then Peter turning about, seeth the
disciple whom Jesus loved following, which also leaned
on his breast at supper and said, Lord,
which is he that betrayeth thee?
Peter seeing him said to Jesus, Lord, what
shall this man do?
Now we were saying a moment ago, you
know, that the real change came at Pentecost.
This is Simon.
Note the manner in which the Savior replies,
Jesus saith unto him, if I will that
he tarry till I come, what is that
to thee?
Follow thou me.
Don't meddle, Simon.
How we need this, don't we, friends?
Well, why is it, Lord, that so and
so, and why is it that my affliction,
and why is it that Brother Tom can
do this, and I can't, and why is
this, and why is that, and why is
the other?
What is all this to thee?
Follow thou me.
Now, here we come to the key.
It would seem, I repeat, we can't be
dogmatic about it, but it would appear that
the gospel really closes in verse 31 of
chapter 20.
Then went this saying abroad among the brethren,
that that disciple should not die.
You see, the saying went abroad.
Yet Jesus said not unto him, he shall
not die, but if I will that he
tarry till I come, what is that to
thee?
Now it's cleared up, you see, for all
time.
One commentator suggested, it may have been, that
some of the disciples came to John in
his old age and said, John, you'd better
clear this up.
We see that you're going to go the
way of all flesh, and it's commonly believed
among disciples that the Savior said to you
that you wouldn't die.
You'd better clear it up.
This is the disciple.
Ah yes, it's John the Beloved.
So we have nothing to fear, it's John,
moved by the Holy Spirit.
This is the disciple which testifieth of these
things, and wrote these things.
And we know that his testimony is true.
He could have been helped some in his
old age, as he wrote.
And we know that his testimony is true.
And there are also many other things which
Jesus did, to which if they should be
written, every one, I suppose that even the
world itself could not contain the books that
should be written.
Amen.
You know, friends, our universities, oh yes, great
changes have come, and we mourn.
But our great universities grew up around all
the books, you know that.
The Bible, the Christian faith, the Lord Jesus
Christ, these great universities.
And they're filled with books, and they continue
to appear day by day by the hundreds,
regarding the sayings and the blessed person of
Jesus, the central fact of history, and the
greatest moving force in the life of the
nation.
Now we said that we were going to
study these scenes with an eye to practical
applications.
The very practical one here, isn't there?
They'd fished all the night, and they'd caught
nothing.
It seems that we fishers of men have
to come to the end of ourselves, fish
all night.
And just when we're about to give up,
well we have to give up.
Paul gave up.
He finally cried, saying, Lord, I can't.
It's not in me, Lord.
You'll have to take over utterly.
And friends, when that's our position, we're willing
to be nothing that Christ may be all.
Well, the nets get filled up.
Great things take place.
My God shall supply every need, your every
need, according to his riches in glory.
By Christ Jesus, cast your net on the
right side of me.
I can't but feel that Rio Grande the
Bible Institute is moving into a great new
day.
And there's going to be a mighty casting
of the nets, friends, for fishing in the
coming day.
Oh, may it be so.
And may it be so for each one
of us.
You know, recently, I got to thinking about
Abraham's vision.
Ah, after he made that great sacrifice, after
he put his Isaac on the altar.
By the way, you know what I was
reading?
My dear brother Abel gave me a book
there.
Mike Martin of King's Gardens up there in
Seattle.
Oh, friends, it's unbelievable the things that have
come out of that man's ministry.
They're great things.
They just have reached out around the world.
And I was reading yesterday a chapter, oh
my friends, he got hungry for the fullness
of the Spirit.
And one night the Lord awakened him at
midnight.
And the Lord brought him, well, he had
to be a corn of wheat falling into
the ground to die.
His three children, he said he got up
and he went to the bedside.
I've forgotten the name, Joyce was one.
Will you give me Joyce?
And you know, Mike said he really thought
that they were going to die then and
there.
The Lord was going to take them home.
Well, he said he sobbed beside her bed.
Yes, Lord, I'll give you Joyce.
Then the Lord took him to the next
one.
Will you give me, I would say Charles,
I've forgotten the name.
And he sat up there and he said,
yes, Lord, I'll give you Charles.
Then the Lord took him to the third.
And then he took him to his wife.
And the strange thing of it is he
thought that the Lord really was going to
take them home.
He told his wife when she awakened in
the morning, he said, I'm sure you're going
to die.
He was ready, they were going.
Then he said it was that the Lord
brought him into that fullness of the spirit.
He had an experience, well, something like Paul's
when he was caught up into the third
heaven.
Ah, and then Mike said he began preaching
the old sermons that didn't bear fruit.
Oh, the souls that turned to the Lord.
But you know, the Lord took him down
the list.
So we have to come to the end
of ourselves.
It's got to be all on the altar
so that Christ Jesus, the Lord might be
all in all day by day and moment
by moment, shall we pray.
Blessed Lord Jesus, we're so thankful.
We know that thou didst arise from among
the dead that thou didst live.
We remember thy word there in the first
chapter of the Apocalypse.
He that was dead and is alive and
behold, I am alive forevermore.
And Lord, we're so thankful that in our
nothingness we can just fall back on thee.
Oh, we fished all the night, Lord.
So often that's been the cry of our
hearts and have caught nothing.
But at thy word, we would cast forth
the net.
Oh, come blessed Lord Jesus and be thou
the beginning and the end, the Alpha and
the Omega, the all and in all of
our heart and life and moment and day
for the praise of thy holy name.
Amen.
May we bow our heads in prayer.
May the words of
my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my
strength and my Redeemer.
Amen.
The Christian, a king.
Here we have the theme of this evening
hour of praise.
Meditation.
The Christian, a king.
A slight parentesco, you'll pardon all men, I'll
just have to use a Spanish word, family
relation, family tie between the
royal family.
And as I said, one of the forefathers
of this photographer.
The news got out, and of course it
brought a degree of comfort to the hearts
of many throughout the British Empire.
When I read the word, I could not
but think of the position the Christian occupies.
How that he is a member of the
only truly royal family that there is.
That his elder brother is none other than
the King of kings and Lord of lords,
who, having made all things, upholds them by
the word of his power.
Truly in his veins there flows the blood.
Ah yes, we have already said it.
The only truly royal blood.
For Jesus, the Lord, is his life.
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear,
then shall we also appear with him in
glory.
John says it in the passage which was
read for us a moment ago.
John to the seven churches which are in
Asiom, grace be unto you and peace from
him which is and which was and which
is to come, and from the seven spirits
which are before his throne, and from Jesus
Christ who is the faithful witness and the
first begotten of the dead, and the prince
of the kings of the earth, unto him
that loved us and washed us from our
sins in his own blood, and hath made
us kings and priests unto God.
There you have it.
Yes, he hath made us kings and priests
unto God and his Father.
To him be glory and dominion forever and
ever.
Amen.
Indeed, the Christian is a king.
Now let us think for a few moments,
friends, of these correspondences, these parallel lines that
flow, this similarity between the Christian's position and
that of kings.
In the first place, of course, it is
all very simple.
Kings want to sit upon their thrones, crowned
their heads with bejeweled crowns, taking into their
hands scepters, emblems of authority and of royalty.
When the present queen of England ascended, Isabel
II, ascended the throne, oh, what a lovely
occasion it was.
The great of earth, kings, princes, ambassadors, diplomats
coming from the ends of the earth to
stand at attention as this lovely queen ascended
to the throne and was crowned.
But, oh, friends, the position of the Christian
is infinitely more wonderful for he is a
participant of the divine nature.
Paul tells us that together with Christ he
has been raised up We referred to the
passage last evening in the epistle to the
Ephesians, where the apostle says, But God, who
is rich in mercy for his great love
wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with
Christ by grace, he hath saved and hath
raised us up together.
And here it reads, made us sit together
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
I referred to the fact last evening, I
think it was, that in the Moffat version
of the New Testament it reads, And has
enthroned us together in Christ Jesus.
And we observed how the Savior himself friends,
says it here in the book of Revelation,
the third chapter, where he says, To him
that overcometh will I grant to sit with
me in my throne.
And we pointed out that overcomers are Christians.
The Savior is not referring to life beyond
the grave.
He's not referring here to the millennial age.
John tells us that believers are overcomers.
This is the victory that overcometh the world,
even our faith.
Who is he that overcometh?
He says, But he that believeth.
So the Savior is speaking to believers, true
believers.
To him that overcometh, to him that believeth,
will I grant to sit with me in
my throne.
Yes, we're still here as to the flesh,
but in spirit we're identified with that throne.
We have been with our Redeemer enthroned.
Yes, together with him we have been made
to sit in heavenly places that we might,
as it is in the epistle to the
Romans, the fifth chapter, the nineteenth verse, reign
in life.
Please observe that we might reign in life
by one, even Jesus.
No, I don't want to make the mistake
I made last evening.
I referred to the second epistle to the
Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 13, where one of
the good brethren later called my attention to
the fact that it's not verse 13 but
verse 14.
So I'm turning to my Bible to make
sure that it's, no, it's not the nineteenth
verse.
It's the seventeenth verse.
If by one man's offense death reigned, by
one much more they which receive abundance of
grace and of the gift of righteousness shall
reign, O do know, in life by one,
even Jesus Christ.
And then turning back again to the kings
of earth, we must observe that they are
not one to clothe themselves as ordinary folk.
I know.
It is the purple that is the emblem
of royalty.
When the British Queen came to Washington some
years ago, well, we were told in the
press that there were trunks to fill more
or less half the ship.
Ah, these lovely dresses of the Queen for
the many notable occasion ceremonies that were to
be had.
Now when we turn to the Christian, what
do we find?
The Christian who is a king.
Well, I dare say, friends, that these royal
robes of the kings of earth are just
rags in comparison with the robe that
Christian wears.
You will recall that verse in the epistle
to the Romans, the thirteenth chapter, where the
apostle makes this tremendous statement, Put ye on
the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision
for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof.
Why, friends, the Christian is literally, actually, truly
clothed, of course, with peril.
But oh, how it does shine through on
occasion, does it not?
We read that Stephen's face in that hour
of martyrdom shone as the face of an
angel.
Yes, the Christian literally, actually, truly is clothed
with the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
Couldn't be otherwise, Christ being his light.
To this the Savior, I should say, the
prophet referred in that passage which you will
recall the Savior took into his hands the
scroll when he entered the synagogue there in
Nazareth, saying that the words were now being
fulfilled in his person.
Angering the Jews, you will recall, they resolved
to kill him.
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon
me because the Lord hath anointed me to
preach good tidings unto the meek.
He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim the liberty, liberty to the
captives and the opening of the prison to
them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord.
The Savior didn't read what follows in the
day of vengeance, that is not yet come.
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion,
to give unto them beauty for ashes, the
oil of joy for mourning.
Ah, the garment of praise, the garment of
praise for heaven, that they might be called
trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord.
Thus does the Redeemer clothe his own with
garments of praise.
Oh, I've often thought, if folk only realize,
especially our dear ones of the weaker sex,
oh, if they could but realize the beauty
they so desire to be beautiful.
If they could but realize the beauty of
holiness.
Yes, the Christian is clothed with a garment
of praise.
The Lord Jesus Christ himself is his royal
robe.
And then in the third place, coming back
again to Kings, we know that they are
not permitted to walk.
As other folk, I should say rather where
other folk are wont to walk, it must
be very wearisome for them at times to
be imprisoned, as it were, in their palaces,
moving within these very narrow circles of the
court with princes and noblemen.
They cannot walk where other folk, ordinary folk,
walk, nor can Christians who are kings walk
as other folk walk.
How beautiful, you will recall, the prophet's word
with regard to those who bear glad tidings
of peace.
How beautiful are the feet of those who
proclaim glad tidings of peace.
The walk of the Christian, truly, friends, to
a degree, something of the air, oh, that
lovely mien of the Redeemer himself, is impressed
upon the walk of the Christian.
You will recall that word, John's word, when
the Savior appeared, how the disciples of John
the Baptist beheld him, it reads, as he
walked.
Something of that air, oh, that princely, in
the moral, spiritual sense, something of that princely
air characterizes the walk of the Christian.
It couldn't be otherwise.
Why, John says, he that saith that he
is in him, let him walk, even as
he walked.
Perhaps you've heard me tell the story.
This took place down in Columbia some years
ago.
I referred last evening to the group of
young people with whom I was privileged to
meet.
One young man arose in a gathering to
tell of what he had observed in a
nearby village, a humble washerwoman, ah, but how
Christian, who had hung out in the sun,
and garments, sheets, and shirts, and how they
shone, the lad said, so clean, as the
sunlight fell upon these clothes washed by this
humble woman.
And then, he said, a truck loaded with
coal appeared, and the driver carelessly stopped at
that point, and wheeled about, and backed right
through those glistening sheets and shirts.
The young man said when the driver saw
what he had done, he doubled up in
the cabin of his truck, awaiting the blow.
But, and how great was his amazement.
Instead of angry words and blows, a shining
face, and a sweet voice that said, sir,
don't let it trouble you.
It is well, sir.
I still have the water hot.
I'll wash them all again.
And that the man should have cried out
in amazement, so what church do you go?
Yes, I wonder too.
So what church do you go?
Well, perhaps she didn't go to any, but
she was a member of the body of
Christ, the living body of Christ, the true
church after all.
What shall we say of this humble soul?
Well, she walked even as Jesus walked.
And then in the fourth place, coming back
to kings of earth, the earth, kings cannot
give as ordinary folk give.
They must give as kings, else they are
belittled, else they are dishonored.
Imagine if some committee were to wait upon
President Kennedy.
Well, he's not a king, but the difference
isn't so very great.
We'll just think of him for a moment
as a king.
A committee waits upon the president.
This committee has waited upon me incidentally, and
I just jotted down ten dollars.
Perhaps that's too much.
This committee waits on the president.
Can you conceive of President Kennedy ten dollars?
Why, he gave away his whole salary on
Christmas, we are told, and he didn't even
notice it.
Didn't make any difference after all.
No, he must write ten thousand dollars, a
hundred thousand dollars, else he is not honored.
He must give according to his station.
And the Christian, the Christian a king, how
does he give?
Well, folks, he gives away things you couldn't
buy with all the money of earth.
Kings with all their wealth cannot obtain happiness.
No.
They may give away royal gifts, but from
their hearts do not flow rivers of living
water, for the parts sold of earth.
They may on occasions hold very festive, well,
banquets to entertain their friends and give of
their bounty, but you know the Christian can
take his soul to the very table of
the Lord, to feed upon heavenly manna.
Why, Christians can draw from the bank of
heaven, they can reach right into the very
heart of the King of Kings, in whom
dwelleth, we read, all the treasures of knowledge
and wisdom they can draw for needy souls.
Why, they radiate happiness.
Imagine old King Herod being happy, will you
please, after sending those soldiers to murder all
the children of two years of age and
down.
Why, kings of the earth have been the
most unhappy for the most wretched, many of
them criminals.
Imagine Herod who sent to murder his own
mother's soldiers.
The Christian, while his very presence signifies blessedness
and peace and joy and love, the truth
of the matter is that on occasion the
Christian is able to give away, dare I
say it, he gives away the Lord Jesus
Christ himself.
Yes, he that receiveth you, the Savior said,
receiveth me.
Ye are my witnesses.
And the Savior is wont to give himself
away on the lips of Christians who bear
witness to his grace and glory.
May I tell you of an experience I
had coming into Cali some years ago.
It was a stormy time.
President Lopez Mateos was in Lima at the
time and wasn't able to fly over to
Bolivia.
The plane I remember I was on went
back, grounded at Mendoza.
Later coming to Cali, coming to Lima, from
Lima on to Cali, there was a group
of young people who had boarded the plane
from Rio de Janeiro on their way to
Cali for a swimming match, athletes.
The young lady sitting beside me was just
down in the deepest depths of depression.
She never raised her head.
I thought, what's wrong?
What's happened to this girl?
And I tried to strike up a conversation.
Then when the trays were brought, she lifted
her head and I offered her my chocolate.
Well, she smiled a bit and the way
was open to speak to her.
She soon opened her heart and told the
story of how the night before their plane
coming over from Rio had grounded, a forced
grounding.
I don't know anything of the details, but
this girl must have had a terrific shock.
No doubt saw death there before her.
I had in my hands a New Testament.
She said, Oh, that's the Bible.
This is the Word of God.
Yes.
Well, over in the school, you know, there
are classes on the Bible, but I've never
been interested.
And now I am.
Oh, you are.
So the door opened and I could just
take her through the Word, beginning with the
manger and going through the story of the
Savior's miracles and coming to the cross and
the resurrection.
And I saw her drinking the Word with
unspeakable satisfaction.
I thought, Oh, this girl is ripe.
And I was able to bring the conversation
around to Revelation 3.20. Behold him at
the door and knock.
If any man hear my voice and open
the door, I will come in to him.
And I said to her, I do believe
the Savior is here, knocking at the door
of your heart.
Won't you open the door that he might
come in?
Yes, I will.
And she put her hand in mine.
Oh, what a moment.
What a moment as that plane filled up
with the glory of God.
Then a half hour or an hour later,
when the plane landed at Cali, oh, it
was a different girl that got to her
feet.
And as she looked at me, this was
her farewell.
I want to be a missionary in my
people.
Can the Lord work that fast?
Oh, indeed, friends.
Imagine how fast he worked with that thief
on the cross.
Yes.
What had happened?
Well, they had the privilege of giving away,
may I put it that way, the Lord
Jesus Christ.
And you have to know, no king on
earth can give away such riches as you.
And then finally, to come back to the
kings of earth, the word of the king
is a word of authority.
Oh, nations tremble and armies move when kings
speak their word of authority.
And yet you know the kings, as they
are here upon earth, the word of authority
of a king, oh, what a meager thing
it is, alongside of the authority of the
Christians.
You know, kings with all their glory can't
speak stand up to the prince of this
world, the prince of darkness.
Ah, they can't face him and order him
off the place.
Why, many of them have been the tools,
the playthings of the wicked one.
They have no authority in this higher realm,
spiritual realm.
But the Christian, do you recall the Savior's
word to the seventy?
Behold, I give unto you power, really authority
in the Greek, authority to tread upon serpents
and upon scorpions and over all the power
of the enemy.
Think of it.
And nothing shall hurt you.
The Christian shares the authority of his king,
cruel with Christ, Paul tells us, of God.
Why, he couldn't be a member of the
body of Christ and not share to a
degree the authority of the head?
Why, Paul tells us in the first chapter
of his epistle to the Ephesians that, well,
when the head was raised up the body,
the Lord Jesus Christ made to sit at
God's right hand, far above all principality and
power and authority and dominion and every name.
And then he goes on to say, passing
right on to the second chapter, and there
are motivations, you know, in the original manuscript,
and you, God, who are dead in sins
and trespasses, and you were raised up to
share your Redeemer's authority.
There are words in the New Testament that
we ought to pass over.
Well, it just can't mean that.
If you say to this mountain, and we
sort of pass it over, well, even, no,
God forbid, there are sometimes jokes regarding, well,
so-and-so spoke to the mountain, but
there the mountain was.
But in the scripture, mountains are symbols of
authority, of dominion.
Of course, the Savior is not referring to
mountains of rock and dirt, but mountains of
satanic oppression.
And oh, how they're on the earth today,
friends.
Think of it.
If you say to this mountain, be thou
removed, there are times when you just have
to rise up.
I often do it in the dark of
night in my room, and I lift my
hands.
It seems to help if you lift up
holy hands, Paul says, you know.
It seems to help to just lift my
hands and command the evil one in his
post to be gone.
Then you can sleep.
You ever tried that?
Oh, if the devil can rob you of
sleep, then you can sleep.
If you say to this mountain, be thou
removed, and doubt not in your heart what
you say shall be done.
How would you take that literally?
Of course.
We are soldiers of Christ, and we're commanded
to buck along the whole armor of God.
And there was a time in the evil
day why James tells us that if we
resist the devil, he will free.
You know, in a sense, the weakest Christian
is stronger, because the devil has been stripped
of his right, his authority.
All authority has been given unto me, the
Savior said unto Adam.
Why did he say that after his resurrection,
before his ascension?
Was not all authority his before, in a
sense?
In another sense, no.
He could only take authority away from the
devil on legal grounds.
He had to bear our sins and put
them away.
Our sins which gave the devil authority to
accuse and to oppress.
He had to take away our sins and
work righteousness and establish legal grounds.
Now he says, all authority has been given
unto me in heaven and upon earth.
Therefore, and though I am with you, we
share the Savior's authority as kings.
I think you've heard me tell the story
that appears in a little book entitled Prayer
and Missions by Helen Montgomery.
She says that over in China, demonism abounds
to such a degree that even non-Christians
are able to recognize the symptoms.
And she tells of a man who came
one day to the door of a pastor's
home in search of help, because his daughter
had fallen under the power of a demon.
The good wife said, I'm sorry, but my
husband isn't here to help you.
And then the pastor's boy, just a lad
of eight, nine years of age, surged and
said, Sir, my father isn't here, but I'm
here.
I'll go with you.
Yes, I've seen Dad do it.
I know how he does it.
And the boy admitted that on the road
he confessed his sins.
He did well, didn't he, confessed his sins
right quick.
And the father took him to the home
and he entered, in the holy name of
Jesus, thou foul spirit, I command thee to
come forth from this girl.
What do you think happened?
She was released.
My friends, it isn't the size of the
instrument.
You know, I dare say that blessed name
of Jesus on the lips of a lad
may be more effective than on the lips
of some big preacher, all full of pride
and who knows what.
No, the size of the instrument has nothing
to do with the matter.
Ah, it's the glory of that name which
the Christian takes upon his lips.
There's where the authority resides.
He has the right.
I couldn't come to you here tonight in
the name of the Queen of Britain.
I couldn't come to you here tonight in
the name of the President of the United
States.
It would be laughable, but I can come
to you in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of
lords.
And in his holy name, I have the
right to face the pole and say, no,
I'm in charge here.
These are my orders, get hence.
And if he doesn't move, point him to
Calvary and say, take a good look at
Calvary.
Now flee unto him who loved us and
washed us from our sins in his own
blood, and hath made us kings and priests
unto God.
Unto him be glory and dominion and power
forevermore.
We are so grateful, Father, that we may
take that name upon our lips.
Oh, that name which is above every name,
the name of the King of kings and
Lord of lords, the name of the one
who wrought redemption, who through death destroyed him
who had the power of death.
That is to say, the devil.
That we may take his name upon our
lips, and his king's exercise authority.
Oh, teach us, Father, teach us.
For the sake of needy souls, all the
mountains of satanic oppression may be removed from
homes, from churches, from communities.
Father, teach us to exercise authority in the
holy name of Jesus.
For it is in his blessed name that
we pray.
Amen.