The furtherance of the work of the Lord

And perhaps you'll forgive me for what I consider to be just a simple message. The thing about it is this, that it has been remarkably challenging for my own heart. And I trust that as I deliver it today, it will also provide challenge to everyone that is here and direct our steps into the waiting for the Lord Jesus.

Let's turn to the book of Judges. The reading I'm going to take is going to be in the Old Testament book of Judges and in chapter one, the book of Judges and chapter one. And let's read together at verse number one.

Now, after the death of Joshua, it came to pass that the children of Israel asked the Lord saying, who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first to fight against them? And the Lord said, Judah shall go up. Behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. And Judah said unto Simon, his brother, come up with me into my lot that we may fight against the Canaanites and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot.

So Simeon went with him. And Judah went up and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand and they slew of them in Bezik 10,000 men and they found Adonai Bezik in Bezik and they fought against him and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites. But Adonai Bezik fled and they pursued after him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.

Now look down at verse number eight. Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem and had taken it and smitten it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. And afterward, the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites that dwelt in the mountain and in the south and in the valley.

And Judah went up against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron. Now the name of Hebron was before was Kirjath Arba and they slew Shishaiah and Ahimon and Talmai. And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir.

Now just notice with me at verse number 12. And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath's sephir and taketh it to him will I give Aksah my daughter to wife. And Othniel the son of Canaas, Caleb's younger brother, took it and he gave him Aksah his daughter to wife.

And it came to pass when she came to him that she moved him to ask of her father a field. And she lighted from off her ass. And Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou? And she said unto him, Give me a blessing for thou has given me a south land.

Give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave unto her the upper and the nether springs. Now look down again further down the passage.

Look at verse number 19. And the Lord was with Judah and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because the Lord had chariots of iron and they gave notice this one please look at verse 20. And they gave Hebron unto Caleb as Moses said and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak.

And the Lord blessed to us that likely quite familiar reading from the book of Judges. I would say that most of us here know that when we are reading in the book of Judges it's quite a dark day in the history and in the period leading and dealing with God's people the children of Israel. Just for your handle on the book this will be helpful particularly for young Christians.

Just for a note the book of Judges is not a chronological book. What you'll find is this that there are actually two sections to the book. Chapter 1 through chapter 16 is the first large section of the book.

And then from chapter 17 through to the end of the book chapter 21. That's the second section of the book of Judges. Now as we would be reading through the book we would almost imagine that the book stands as a chronological book.

And we're reading chronologically from chapter 1 about happenings right through to the end of chapter 21. But that's not how the book is designed. The first 16 chapters it sits like this.

And in exactly the same time period chapter 17 and chapters 21 sit exactly in the same time period in the book. So if we keep that in mind that some of the things that are happening or appear to be happening at the end of the book actually are overlapping some of the details which are happening in those first 16 chapters of the book of Judges. You will find if you analyze the book that there are two introductions to the book.

And there are two conclusions to the book. Just so that young people know that I'm not making this up. You see when you're in chapter 1 of the book it opens with the death of Joshua.

When you move into chapter 2 of the book right through to chapter 3 verse number 6. There is a second introduction to the book. And again the death of Joshua is referenced. So there's a two-fold introduction to the book and there's a two-fold conclusion to the book.

This book in dark days the book of Judges. The first thing I mentioned just as a little introduction for myself. You will notice that this was a critical day.

And you might be wondering why I mentioned that. Well just at verse number 1 we see the crises of the day. And the crises of the day is this.

Now after the death of Joshua there has been a man who has been raised up amongst the Lord's people. He has been a leader amongst God's people for all these many years. He's been one of the things that we would describe as one of the fixtures.

When some of the the little ones were growing up Joshua was there. When they reached maturity Joshua was still there. And now beloved saints God has chosen just at this point to call his servant home.

It is quite a day and I say it carefully but it is quite a day when some of those men who have been with us for years the Lord takes them home. I remember a day in my own life just a few years ago now. I come home from the breaking of bread.

I was living in Ireland at the time. I'm so thankful none of you folks have ever held that against me. But I was living in the UK at the time.

And when we come home from the breaking of bread there was a message on the voicemail at home. And it was a dear brother from Nineveh Nova Scotia. And all he said on the voice message was this.

He said John Peter Oroszok's gone. That's all he said. It is quite a day beloved saints when God calls good man home.

Because we feel the vacuum. Here we are in Iowa today. The reality is this.

There are men here and we should value them. Men who have been raised up in leadership amongst God's people. Men who have spent time in fact poured their lives into the things of the Lord.

Let me just assure this company they won't always be here. And I want us to understand what happens when good men are called home. This was a day.

It was a very critical day. Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass the crises of the day. The second thing that I'll intimate very quickly is the changes of the day.

You will notice actually this compares very favorably for us in assembly life. You see at the beginning of the work when God began to work amongst these people to bring them out of Egypt there was a man raised up in leadership. His name was Moses.

After the death of Moses God raised up another man. His name is Joshua. He was the man Moses took them to the the boundary and the border of the promised land.

Joshua carries them and takes them in to the promised land itself. And here are the two men. Just when God needed men in leadership the two men are there.

And you say what's happening now? Well those leaders are gone. Now God is raising up amongst his people what we would call and what the New Testament calls elders. It's not one designated leader such as Moses.

It's not another designated leader such as Joshua. Now the pattern is delegated authority in the elders of the tribes of Israel. And you know that's how assembly life works.

At the beginning of assembly life in Iowa you have heard and I have heard that what happened was this. There were men raised up in the field. And after those men others were raised up.

And there are still some among us active in the field in gospel testimony. But what happens amongst assembly life is this. That as those evangelists move and step away from assembly life in a sense they're not stepping away.

They shouldn't step away. I'm just using the phraseology. What I mean is this.

From active leadership amongst those companies God raises up oversight to handle things in local companies of his people. And so you can see not only the crises of the day but the challenge of the day. And so we have it now delegated authority in the midst of the elders of the people of Israel.

And so it is amongst us. The Lord has raised up overseers amongst the companies of his people. The thing that I want to come to is this.

Not just the crises of the day. And it's not even the changes of the day. I want you to notice with me the challenges of the day.

And this is the thing that really took a hold upon me. I was actually in the UK just about maybe two months ago. I was at a conference there and at the conference I thought well at least for me I thought it was a heavy workload for myself.

And at the conference the brethren came to me and they said there is also going to be a report meeting. We would like you to speak a little bit and give a report along with everything else of the work in the maritime and Atlantic provinces. And so I agreed to that.

Now when you're giving a report the problem is this. I was faced with the challenge. I'm going to try and keep myself out of the report as much as possible.

And so what I decided to do was I would tell them about some of the areas in Nova Scotia, some of the areas in Prince Edward Island, some of the areas in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador. And I would tell them stories about the past and how God worked and how those same places they're still assemblies for God's glory today. And I started to do that.

Do you know what I found? Here I was speaking to the Lord's beloved people and I was telling them stories. And you know beloved saints they are stories. I told them about Lennon Knox Michael Wayne just outside the town that I live in.

And he was having a series of gospel meetings and people were coming. Rented an old building and people were coming. One Friday night there was hardly anyone there and he said to the audience why is no one here tonight? And they said they're going to dynamite the building.

But we have decided if they blow up the building we'll be with you. And he was preaching and they heard a scuffle outside that little building and he went out and there was the man putting the dynamite underneath the building. And he got down on his hands and knees and he looked right into the eye of the man that was placing those sticks of dynamite and the man was so freaked out he took off.

And I told them stories like that. I told them about being on the coast of Newfoundland and a man brought out a speaker. And he said to me John he said do you know what this is? I did know what it was.

I said Francis I've never seen it but I've heard about it. When the boat the MGM arrived on the coast of Labrador and they were playing music just as the boat was coming in towards the coast. One of those dear people from the locality brought out his shotgun and he shot at the boat.

And there was four men on board on deck there was four men. Herb Harris was on the deck. Bert Joyce was on the deck.

Mr. Gaeus Goff was on deck and George Campbell was on deck. George Campbell was a former marine and when the shots rang out George Campbell made a dive as if he was going to the wharf. And Bert Joyce put his hand on his shoulder and he pulled him back and he said not today George not today.

And what really challenged me was this. For 45 minutes I told them I told them some of those instances about Prince Edward Island and the Maritime and Atlantic provinces. And as I was standing up on that platform the thought came to me John you're telling them about the past.

What about now? And I was so convicted. You're telling them about a God that worked then. What about a God that works now? You're telling them about power in the message then.

Is there no power in the message now? Days of challenge. I will be quite honest with you. I never said a word to anyone but I could hardly wait to step off that podium and just make it to my little seat.

And so beloved saints today I want to speak about these days that parallel our days. Days that are dark. Days that are difficult.

Days when Joshua has moved off the scene of testimony and here the people are and they are left for the glory of God. But here we are at a Manchester conference. You know beloved some have gone.

The Lord has called some home. But we are still here at a Manchester conference. And this which I trust has been a burden on my soul.

I hope today I hope by the help of God that I can communicate to you a burden. So it will be a burden on your soul. I want to speak on three things as I said very simply.

I want you to notice first of all the verbal commandment for the furtherance of the work of the Lord in this day. The second thing I'm going to speak about is not only the verbal commandment but the voluntarily commitment for the service of the Lord in this day. And the last thing I'm going to speak about is the vital continuance for the furtherance and the service of the Lord in this day.

Well you say the verbal commandment. Now Joshua is gone. And it's just at that point that the question is asked to the Lord.

Who shall go up? Because you see there's still land to take. Just at the end of the book of Judges. Joshua rather.

And it's even repeated in the book of Judges. It says this. The land had rest.

The land had rest. But beloved saints there was yet more land to be possessed. Now here we are in Iowa.

And I would say largely speaking the land has rest. I mean things have prospered in the gospel and the land has rest. But as you and I are still here whether it's Iowa or Wisconsin or from other parts there remaineth still more land to be possessed.

We cannot rest beloved saints. In fact we dare not rest. We are at a stage in testimony where we need to see a mighty matchless marvelous movement of our God.

That's where we are. Not just here in Iowa. But I have come from three weeks of gospel in Nova Scotia.

And we need it there. And they need it in Prince Edward Island. And we need it in New Brunswick.

We need to see beloved saints the mighty moving hand of our God in a very real way. Who shall go up? Who shall go up? And the answer is given right here. Judah shall go up.

The verbal commandment of the Lord. Now I would like to stay with this for a little bit. But I've forgotten what time I got up here.

That's always a bad thing. I'm very sorry. But I'll try and be as short as possible.

This is one of the things in which Judah is first. I won't develop this. I won't take time to develop it.

But you will find in the scriptures there's at least seven if not eight things in which Judah is first. You remember in Genesis 49. You'll recall Jacob is speaking to his sons.

There's the old man leaning on the top of his staff. And he speaks first about Reuben. And then he speaks about Simeon and Levi.

And the fourth son that he speaks about is Judah. With Reuben there's no praise. Simeon and Levi, no praise.

Until you get to Judah. And then the old patriarch just bursts forth into a great pain of praise. And he says, Judah thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise.

Judah is first in praise. You see when the tribes are gathering, I'm referring now to the book of Numbers. Numbers chapter 2. When the tribes are gathering, who is first in gathering? Judah is mentioned first in gathering.

You see when the tribes are giving to the Lord. Numbers chapter 7. Who is first giving to the Lord? Of all of those princes. Numbers 7 mentions 12 princes that will give to the Lord.

Who's mentioned first? Judah. When the tribes are on the journey. Numbers chapter 10.

What's the first tribe that moves on the journey? Judah. Here we are in the conquest. The mighty movement of God further into the land.

Who's first in the conquest? Judah. And you say why? What tribe did the Lord Jesus come from? What we are learning here is this. The preeminence of Christ.

Christ is ever and always first. Beloved saints as we are here today, Christ will ever and always be preeminent amongst the people of God. I'm taking time that I don't have, but the correlation of course would be the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews chapter 12. Looking forth unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of faith, who for the joy that was set before us, he endured the cross, despising the shame and he sat down on the right hand of the majesty of God. Beloved saints, the first standard that they saw waving in the breeze as the land was to be taken was the lion of the tribe of Judah.

And so who shall go up? Verbal commandment from the Lord. The second thing that I want to mention is this. There was one place.

I read verse number eight for a particular reason. There was one place and it was quite strategic. Did you notice the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem? Why Jerusalem? Why is Jerusalem mentioned? Why is Jerusalem brought forth to the things here will tell me where is the Lord's eye? Where will the Lord's house be? Beloved saints, could I just encourage our hearts today? I'm just skimming through these things and I'll be leaving this very quickly, but never forget when you go over to the temple of the Lord, Solomon is told mine eyes shall be there.

Solomon was told my name shall be there and here are these people and they had to claim ground. Oh, they had to claim ground. And you say, what will happen on that ground? That will be the ground where the Lord's house will be found.

Tell me, why do we work at gospel work? Let me just challenge our hearts again now. Why do we work at gospel work? Oh, you say we want to see people saved. True.

We want to see people living for God. That's absolutely right. We want to see people and their families swept into the kingdom.

Beloved saints, listen, we live for all those reasons and preach for all those reasons. But don't forget the Lord's eye has ever and always been on one singular place. One singular place now.

Well, you say you can't say that now. I'm sorry. I know I'm among friends in Iowa.

The Bible is quite clear. The Lord has one way to save souls. The Bible is abundantly clear.

The Lord has one way that those souls should be baptized. The Bible is also very clear. The Lord is one gathering center where those dear ones should be.

One gathering center, beloved saints. And the Lord's eye is there and the Lord's name is there. And right here in Judges chapter one, Jerusalem comes to the forefront right now in the passage.

Why? The verbal commandment of the Lord. Who shall go up? Judah shall go up. By the way, that verbal commandment was never rescinded.

You'll remember there was a verbal commandment given by Christ. He's standing just on the slopes of Bethany at the Mount of Olives. And as he's standing at the slopes of Bethany, he's lifting up his hands.

And he said to those men, go ye into all the world. And he says, make disciples of all nations. He says, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

He says, teaching them to observe all things. He says, I have commanded this. You know, beloved saints, that verbal commandment has never, ever been rescinded.

And here we are. So many years removed from Pentecost. So many years removed from Matthew 28.

And still the commandment goes forth. Go up and take ground for God. The verbal commandment for the furtherance of the work of the Lord.

The second thing, it's actually about the man Caleb in verse number 20. It's not the verbal commandment, but I want you to notice with me the voluntary commitment. Well, you say, how old was Caleb? This is unpacking for us the book of Joshua in chapter 14.

And you see in the book of Joshua chapter 14, they come to part of the land. It's the highest inhabited point of the land of Canaan. And when they get to this place in the land of Canaan, its name is Hebron.

Caleb says to Joshua, he says, now don't forget, don't forget. 45 years ago, the Lord assured me that this would be mine. Well, you say, wait a second now, wait a second.

You were one of the spies that went into the land. He says, I was. And you say, Caleb, when you were in the land, you saw Hebron.

Tell me, what does Hebron mean? Come on now. I know it's not an interactive ministry service. I know that.

But I'm just waiting to see. I see quite a few know what it means. What does Hebron mean? Hebron means fellowship, joining.

Do you know what this man ever had in his mind? Fellowship. And here he is, 45 years before it. He's one of two spies in the land.

And he saw the place of fellowship. And he desired the place of fellowship. And 45 years have come and they've gone.

And the man is 85 years of age. And now he's standing at the same place. And you know what we would tell him? We would say, listen, Caleb, listen, there's no point you getting too exertive now.

I mean, when you were 40 years of age, we could see you wanting this place when you were 40 years of age. But I mean, all of these years have come and gone. It's time for you to go down to the local store and buy yourself a La-Z-Boy chair and pull the handle of the La-Z-Boy chair and just eke out the remainder of your years just lying in your La-Z-Boy.

Any 85s here today? You don't have to put, we wouldn't, I wouldn't be as disingenuous as to ask anyone to raise their hand. But let's face it now, 40 years of age, when you're 40 years of age, there's a bit of vibrancy about you. And there's a bit of something that you'll give to the Lord.

What about 85 years of age? Here's a man, 85 years of age, and there's still as much vigor. Here's a man, 85 years of age, still as much desire. Here's a man, 85 years of age, and he still wants to live for the Lord.

And did you notice, beloved saints, he wants higher ground. Where he is will not satisfy him. No, no, no.

He wants to put his feet above what is normal. He wants to be lifted up. He wants higher ground, beloved saints.

Lord, lift me up and let me stand by faith on heaven's table land, that higher plane that I have found. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. Let me ask you now, what are we living for? I see so many young Christians here.

Let me ask you, what are you living for? I have to challenge my own heart. What am I living for? I'm in my 40s. If my wife was here, she wouldn't speak up, but she'd say barely.

But I'm still in my 40s and I'll hold on to it as long as possible, Lord willing. But let me just challenge our hearts now. Teenagers here, what are you living for, you teenagers? You young adults that are here, what are you living for? You dear parents that are here, husband and wives, what are we living for? And you dear older friends that have gathered, there's bound to be a few in their 70s, perhaps in their 80s.

Here's a man and the voluntary commitment is still there. And he looks at Hebron and he desires Hebron and he got Hebron. Beloved saints today, this man, the furtherance of the Lord's work, voluntary commitment.

I got to finish here. My time's well, well over. I want you to notice with me and I will finish with this, the vital continuance in the furtherance of the work of the Lord.

Well, you see, Caleb was quite the boy. He was quite the boy. There was a place that they wanted to take for God.

Its name was Kerjathsephir. And you say, will they take it? Well, Caleb did something. I don't think we would be doing this, but Caleb did it.

He says, the man that takes Kerjathsephir, I will give him Axa, my daughter. He get my daughter's hand in marriage. And it came to be that Othniel, now Othniel is either Caleb's brother or Caleb's nephew.

I personally prefer that he's Caleb's nephew. Othniel, he took Calebsephir and Caleb was as good to his word. And he gave him Axa to be his wife.

And you say, what's your point here? Ah, listen to the story now. Listen to the story. You see, whenever he had taken her to be his wife, she says to her husband, the portion of ground that my father has given me, it's quite a dry portion.

There's no springs there. She says, I would like something a little bit that will feed the water in. And if there's water coming into what we have been given, you folks are farmers here.

You don't need me to instruct you about drainage and tilage and water and springs in Iowa. But she's thinking to herself, if we can get drainage and if we can get water into that area, you think of the crops that could be produced. You think of what it would do for us and our family.

We would feed our family. We would feed God's beloved people. Tell me, do you feed God's people? Do we feed God's people? And here she is.

And she says to her husband, she says, whenever you see my father, you ask him for a different portion for us. But here they come to kill him. And did you notice what happens? Just as they're approaching her father, it says, she lighted off the donkey.

Mind you, I kind of like Aksa. For my own, for my own self, I kind of like the lady coming to her father. And Othniel is right there.

And he was no timid man. Now, you know that in the book of Judges, he holds a very specific place in the book of Judges as a judge. Othniel was no timid man.

And they get to the stage, they're approaching her father. She lights off the donkey as quick as possible. And she says, you've given me, you've given me a Southland.

She says, dad, it's dry. She says, I want you to give me something that will refresh us and it will refresh God's people. You know, as I'm standing here today, beloved saints, we need ministry.

I trust and perhaps our brethren will do it in a way that I cannot do it. But we need things from the book of God to refresh our hearts as God's beloved people. The burden.

This day of commandment from the Lord. Here we are today in Iowa. I have heard the stories.

Did you ever hear about the man who wanted to give a gospel papers tracks? So what he did was he cut up old rubber pipe. You ever hear those stories? And he took elastic bands and he wrapped the gospel tracks around elastic bands. And when he's passing, I'll let you guess where this was now.

When he was passing through the neighborhood, he would throw and he would hit the driveway. They tell me that he became so expert at it that it was right into the mailboxes. You remember where that was, brethren, beloved sisters, you got it right.

That was right here in Iowa. That man's name was Oliver Smith. And Oliver Smith is dead, brethren.

Oliver Smith is gone. But can I remind this audience today, Oliver Smith's God lives. The God that Oliver Smith served.

The God that worked in the life of Oliver Smith. The God that Oliver Smith lived for and loved and right to his dying day served with his last breath. As I look at this audience today, that God still lives.

I say to your heart, this challenged my standing at that pulpit at a Lurgan conference. This challenged me in a way I've never been challenged before. John, you're telling them about the past.

Tell them about God who can work now in the present as he worked in the past. May the Lord help us, beloved saints, for his own glory and the furtherance of his work.