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Pioneers Memorial

W.D. Frazee: Sun Set Series

W.D. Frazee

Ministry of Heresies

Let us turn to Romans, the eighth chapter, the 28th verse.

I suppose this is 1 of the most quoted, most often repeated texts in the Bible, and properly so.

There's a great deal of encouragement in it, isn't there?

Shall we say together, read together the words of Scripture?

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the call according to his purpose.

As we view them here in this world, they seem to be working at cross purposes, don't they?

But all things are working together, and they're working together for what?

Would the Lord like to have them work together for good for everybody?

Having given man the power of choice, it rests with man as to whether everything that's working together is working together for his personal good or not.

But we must But we must never lose sight of the eventual triumph of God's purpose, the eventual carrying out of God's plan.

And we must never for a minute think that those forces which seem to bring defeat are nevertheless being used by God.

All things are working together for good.

Notice how Paul speaks of this in 2 Corinthians 13.8.

Paul's nothing in this text is quite as strong as is all things in the text we have just read.

For we can do nothing against the truth but for the truth.

Even the devil can't do anything really against the truth.

And here in this world he seems to be having his way a great deal of the time.

But this morning, let's look behind the scenes a bit.

And we can do nothing, and no 1 else can do anything against the truth, but for the truth.

Take another text on this, 76th Psalm, the tenth verse.

In the great crisis that is ahead of the Church, perhaps I ought to say the which is even now entering, we shall need the courage as well as the wisdom that comes from reminding ourselves of these promises and appreciating their full import.

Psalm 76, Psalm 76 says, Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee.

The remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.

God uses even the wrath of man to praise him.

Now man shouldn't get any credit for that.

But God should get a great deal of credit for using even the plans of his enemies and the wrath of the dragon to work out his will.

God should get a great deal of credit for that.

Speaking of those that gather against the remnant church in the hour of peril, Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me.

Whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.

Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work, and I have created the waster to destroy.

No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.

In every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.

God says to his people, you see all those out there gathering together against you, don't worry.

They're not on my side, but not 1 weapon that they form against you is going to prosper.

And no matter what they do, no matter what they may seem to do to the Church of God and the truth of God, no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper." Well, I'm glad for these wonderful promises this morning.

All things work together for good to them that love God.

The 1 in Corinthians, we can do nothing against the truth but for the truth.

In Psalm 76, 10, What happens to the wrath of man?

And if there should be any wrath that wouldn't praise him, what does he do with it?

The smith that blows the coals in the fire and brings forth an instrument with which to harass or to attempt to destroy the Church of God.

God's going to take care of him, in other words.

God will not allow him to do anything without in advance weighing the matter and seeing as only divine wisdom can see that some good purpose can be accomplished by it.

Now remember in all this, this is no credit to Satan.

And this is no credit to any of his devils that work with him.

And it's no credit to human beings that fall for his devices.

They must all suffer in the final judgment for their rebellion against God and for the specious theories which they have advocated in advance, all of that they must meet God in judgment over.

They are as guilty, watch this point, as though they had succeeded in subverting the truth of God and unseating God from his throne.

They are just as guilty as though they were successful.

Nevertheless, God is to be glorified as we rejoice in this wonderful fact that not 1 of them is going to succeed, Jesus says, he that sent me is with me, and no 1 is able to pluck my children out of my hand.

I'm glad for that this morning, aren't you?

Well, I've been led to study this, dear friends, as I have contemplated this statement from the messenger of the Lord in an article in Signs of the Times, January 6, 1898.

It's 1 of those inspiring statements that show that it's an inspired author that was writing.

It is thought by some to be a misfortune when erroneous theories are advanced.

But the Lord has said all things work together for good to them that love God.

The contention among the Corinthians made it necessary for Paul to write his wonderful epistles to them.

Aren't we glad we have 1 and 2 Corinthians?

If the Gentiles had not backslidden from the faith, this is speaking about Galatia, Paul would not have written, I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ into another gospel which is not another.

It was a misapplication of the scriptures to prove falsehood and error true?

Are we glad that we have the epistle to the Galatians?

If the Thessalonians had not misinterpreted the instruction they received, they would not have entertained the belief that the Lord was immediately to be revealed in the clouds of heaven, thus making it necessary for Paul to present the truth as it is in Jesus, leaving on record truth important for all time.

Remember how in 1 Thessalonians, Paul, in writing vividly of the coming of Jesus, said, Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds." And the Thessalonians read that first letter, and they were just thrilled with the prospect that in just a little while Christ was going to come.

Some of them were inclined to be a bit discouraged.

Enoch’s Outpost

We've studied John the Baptist here before.

He who was translated to heaven without seeing death.

Has anybody else ever been translated to heaven without seeing death?

So far, 2 men have gotten out of this world alive.

We believe the hundred and forty-four thousand have that great destiny, that high privilege.

What happened before to only 2 men is going to happen now to thousands of people.

We remember that wonderful appeal from the messenger of the Lord, let us strive with all our powers to be among the 144, 000.

So you and I have a special reason for studying the life and experience of Enoch.

Now let us go to Hebrews, the 11th chapter, and notice what is said about Enoch.

There aren't a great many things in the Bible about Enoch, but there's enough So that we can get a picture of his work and experience and apply it to our own.

By faith Enoch was translated, that he should not see dead, and was not found, because God had translated him.

For before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God.

Right here in this world, Enoch pleased God and knew it.

Now, we can have, we must have the experience that Enoch had.

Gospel Workers 54, after quoting this text I've read from Hebrews, to such communion God is calling us.

As was Enoch's, so must be their holiness of character, who shall be redeemed from among men at the Lord's second coming.

Well, you will unless 1 of 2 things happens to you.

You will have an experience like Enoch's unless you are lost or unless you die before Jesus comes.

Well, I don't want either 1 to happen to me, do you?

Not a 1 of us wants the first to happen to us.

And I'm sure that we cherish the hope of translation.

Of course, I recognize that it's all in God's hand whether we rest in the grave or whether we are alive to be translated.

But we are invited to cherish that hope, make that our goal, our objective.

Now we will go back to Genesis and notice what this first book of the Bible says about this man.

His father was Jared according to the 19th verse of Genesis 5.

And when Enoch was 65 years old, he begat Methuselah.

You know, it's interesting, there are many people in the world that know more about Methuselah than they do about Enoch.

But I think the end of Enoch is far more interesting than the end of Methuselah, don't you?

Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah 300 years and begat sons and daughters.

And all the days of Enoch were 360 and 5 years and Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him." What does it mean he was not?

Just as somebody goes to a home, somebody comes to the door, so and so here, No, he isn't here.

Somehow I've liked the story the way the little boy told it.

That Enoch and God used to walk together.

Sometimes they'd take long walks together.

1 day they got so far away from Enid's home that God said to Enid, Enid, it's closer to where I live, come on home with me.

Now, in Gospel Worker's 51, I read, Enoch's walk with God was not in a trance or a vision, but in all the duties of his daily life.

Well, that's where he walked with God first.

Enoch's walk with God was not in a trance or a vision, but in all the duties of his daily life.

He did not become a hermit, shutting himself entirely from the world.

Well, back in the early ages of Christianity, not the very first, but after the apostasy came in, there were men that had the idea that the way to be holy was to get off in a cave somewhere and do nothing but just read and pray, and read and pray.

They got clear away from all society, out in the desert, way out in the mountains.

Cost of Medical Missionary Work

Let us turn to Matthew, the eighth chapter.

I want to study with you tonight the cost of medical missionary work.

I'm not referring to the dollar cost of health care.

Literally billions of dollars are being poured out in the United States today in the effort to improve the health of our nation.

But as the New England Journal of Medicine pointed out in an editorial, during a certain period, the money outlay troubled 3 times the cost, but without any appreciable or measurable increase in health.

That's something to think about, isn't it?

But it isn't that price that I want to study with you.

The real healer, as you and I know, is Jesus Christ.

Let me say before I read our text, I believe there are 2 misconceptions that we need to have cleared away in our minds, just as cobwebs can be brushed aside.

1 is the idea That there is miraculous healing and there is natural healing, and the 2 are quite distinct and separate.

The truth of the matter is that all true healing, whether it's sudden or gradual, and whether it comes when the minister kneels down and prays, or whether it comes through the services of the physician and the nurse.

I suppose most of us here tonight have that pretty clear in our minds.

But quite a number here this evening, perhaps all of us, I trust, are going to get a clearer view of another facet of this whole question.

I'll put it this way, what does it cost God to heal?

Well, somebody may say it doesn't cost him anything.

He has an infinite fund of vital force, and this is true.

Now, don't Understand that in creation it cost him anything in the sense that I'm studying with you tonight.

But creation and redemption, friends, are 2 different expressions of the love of God.

Creation was the thought of God expressed in making beings like himself, holy and happy, intelligent beings, capable of understanding love and of choosing love, revealing love.

But redemption, oh, that is the expression of the love of God in reaching down to lost men, sinful men, degenerate men, and raising them up to be once more capable of appreciating and experiencing and reflecting the love of God.

So we're going to read our text, Matthew the eighth chapter, verses 16 and 17.

When the even was come, They brought unto him many that were possessed with devils, and he cast out the spirits with his word and healed all that were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, himself took our infirmities and there our sicknesses.

Now in the 16th verse we notice the clear statement concerning the healing power of Jesus and how that was manifested in curing all the diseases.

It says that what he did in the healing of all those sick people was a fulfillment of what Isaiah the prophet wrote.

Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses.

Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away, beareth away the sin of the world, John 1 29.

But he came not merely to take away our sins, but to take away our sicknesses.

It took the divine Son of God to accomplish both.

In fact, sin and sickness bear to each other the relation of cause and effect.

And Jesus must take our sins and carry them in order to take them away from us.

The only way a man in the ancient typical service could get rid of the burden of sin was to place it on the Lamb, and then the Lamb must die.

But our text tonight shows that this is true not only of sin but of sickness.

Himself took our infirmities and there, that is, carried our sicknesses.

Did you know, friend, did you know that Jesus had to suffer in order for you to get well?

Whether your sickness is malaria or cancer, whether it be pneumonia or an ulcer, whatever your sickness, Jesus must suffer and die in order to provide healing for you.

This is the message that we're studying this evening.

And if that seems too much, let me tell you the infinite love of God doesn't feel that it's too great a price to pay to get you well and to get you saved here and hereafter.

Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.

Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

I want to read this text, a line of it that we've had here in Matthew, as given in 1 of the other translations.

He himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.

You can't take it from yourself any more than you can take sin from yourself.

Did you ever wish you could just throw some sickness away, but you can't do it.

But Jesus took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.

Now let's look at the ninth chapter of Matthew, verses 35 and 36.

And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

Now notice his attitude, but when he saw the multitudes he was moved with compassion on them because they fainted.

The heart of Jesus went out in tender love, in true compassion.

It cost Jesus something to heal those people.

You remember the experience where the suffering woman pressed through the crowd and touched the hem of his garment.

I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.

There was no exaggeration in what he said.

He had given of himself for the healing of that woman.

I want to read you an inspired comment in the book that I may know him, page 48.

Christ alone was able to bear the afflictions of the many.

In all their affliction, he was afflicted.

You see, Jesus never broke the laws of health and life, just as he never broke the moral law.

He was never a sinner, spiritually or physically.

But he took our sins and suffered the just for the unjust.

And what I'm studying with you tonight, he took our sicknesses, he took our diseases, and he suffered for and with us.

And just as he took our sins, that he might be a savior from sin, he carried our sicknesses, that he might be a physician to heal the sick.

He never bore disease in his own flesh, but he carried the sickness of others with tenderest sympathy.

He looked upon the suffering ones who pressed about him.

He groaned in spirit as he saw the work of Satan revealed in all their woe, and he made every case of need and of sorrow his own.

Did you ever have a dear 1 suffering on a bed of pain and it just hurt you, even though you were not sick, yet in a sense you were.

A mother with a child, a husband or wife with a companion, somebody you love suffering, you suffered too.

Jesus suffered that way with every suffering 1 that he met.

And may I tell you, dear friends, it's still true.

You'll find it in Desire of Ages, page 823.

When fever is burning up the life current, he feels the agony.

All that you ever felt with the dearest 1 you love, all that you ever experienced going through a time of terrible suffering for and with that loved 1.

Christ feels in an infinitely greater way for every son and daughter of Adam, every child of human.

Left, Right, or Center?

Isaiah 30, 18-21 And therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted that he may have mercy upon you.

For the people shall dwell in Zion and Jerusalem.

He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry.

When he shall hear it, he will answer thee.

And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more.

But thine eyes shall see thy teachers, and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left.

Note that there is a blessing in that 18th verse for those who do what?

Waiting characterizes the remnant people of God.

And patience is exhibited and is strengthened by waiting.

But there are those who don't seem to be able to wait.

He waited 7 days for Samuel And when the time appointed passed and Samuel hadn't appeared, he says, I forced myself and offered a burnt offering.

Blessed are all they that wait for him, for God.

And just now, friends, there are those who are learning, and I trust each 1 here tonight will share in it, the lesson of waiting.

You'll see what I'm thinking about as we proceed further into our study tonight.

Now on that 20th verse, the last part, I want to read it to you and also the next verse with it as Moffat translates it.

Other translations also agree in rendering that teacher's teacher, the divine teacher, Christ.

Though Scanton's scarce may be your bread and water from the Lord, yet he, your teacher, never leaves you now.

You see your teacher for yourselves, and when you swerve to right or left, you hear a voice behind you whispering, this is the way, walk here.

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W.D. Frazee: Sun Set Series

Left, Right, or Center?

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