John Thiel mp3

 

We are living in a time of great perplexity whether we know it or not and the perplexity is magnified by the multiple churches that call themselves Christians and the multiple little companies everywhere. The ability to discern the arm of the Lord is of great importance, to see where God’s arm is bare amongst all these different religious exercises that are around us today.

 

The subject of this hour is leaning on the arm of flesh or leaning on the arm of the Lord. God help us so that His arm may be made bare to us and made bare to all nations as it says in this scripture that we have been reading and to seek to understand the baring of God’s arm. 

 

Jeremiah 17:5 Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. 6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. 7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. 8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

 

Here is a picture portrayed to us. Somebody who dwells in the desert where there is not much to drink, not much to eat, and somebody who dwells near a river and becomes a tree bearing fruit and is lushly supported and so Jeremiah there tells us in verse 5, the term making flesh our arm. 

 

Ascertain closely what that means, cursed is the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm. The next phrase is of vital importance to understand this – whose heart departeth from the Lord, he shall be in the dry desert.Somebody who relies on man and not on God, that person is leaning on the arm of flesh because he is departing from God’s way and God’s counsel, departing from the Lord at heart. 

 

When in need, when we are desperately yearning for an answer, an intervention of help, relying upon human assistance that is bereft of God’s content, human help that is outside of God is depending merely on flesh for support (the arm of flesh). 

 

There’s an interesting event in Scripture that is very indicative to help us to understand this. It’s a statement that comes from 2 Chronicles 29 but I’m reading it from the Spirit of Prophecy. Ahaz, the king of Judah was in dire straits. He needed help and the answer came to him from Isaiah who was talking to him.

 

Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted …. Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it: … thus saith the Lord God, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. The prophet declared that the kingdom of Israel, and Syria as well, would soon come to an end. “If ye will not believe,” he concluded, “surely ye shall not be established.” Isaiah 7: Verses 4-7, 9. PK 329.1
Well would it have been for the kingdom of Judah had Ahaz received this message as from heaven. But choosing to lean on the arm of flesh, he sought help from the heathen. In desperation he sent word to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria: “I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.” 2 Kings 16:7. PK 329.2

 

Can you see something very important here? The Lord had come to him through Isaiah and He said, you don’t have to be afraid, trust the Lord, and instead of listening to the message of God to him through Isaiah, he decided that he would rely upon the king of Assyria. If Ahaz had received the message from heaven, he would have been supported.  However, choosing to lean on the arm of flesh, he sought help from the heathen, the arm of flesh. Relying upon help outside of God and bereft of God’s content, that’s the object lesson here. 

 

As we consider this, the arm of flesh, not only we do this like it says that we rely on something or someone around us that is not blessed of God, relying on the heathen around us, but there is something else that we can do even within our own selves. Outside of conversion each individual relies inside of himself on the arm of flesh within. Think about this, the arm of flesh inside of yourself. 

 

Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

 

Can you see here; the desires of the flesh fulfilling the lusts of the flesh and of the mind that is connected with the flesh and we are by nature the children of wrath, even as others. Inside of ourselves without conversion, we rely on ourselves in our flesh, our natural state. To redeem us from this, follow the language of the Bible. 

 

 

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

 

 

Can you see a differentiation between the trust in God and your natural state? What are you doing in leaning to your own understanding? You’re leaning on the arm of flesh. Being wise in thine own eyes, you’re relying for wisdom on the arm of flesh. But the contrast is trusting the Lord. Don’t lean unto your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and let Him direct your path, not what you assess that you’re going to do. 

 

 

Jesus

 

 

Let’s look for an example for this because the best example is our focus on Jesus again. What did Jesus display to us in the days of His flesh, as an example not to rely on our flesh? Here we have an illustration:

 

 

Hebrews 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

 

 

Jesus became the author of dealing with our needs; and with His needs, by relying upon Him who could save Him from death, He did not rely upon Himself and He uttered that in John chapter 5, in the days of His flesh. We’re letting the Bible really unveil this to us.

 

 

John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

 

 

Are you getting the picture? He could have relied on Himself, on His flesh, on the arm of His flesh but He said in the days of my flesh I can do nothing of myself. I’m relying totally upon what I’m seeing the Father do. In verse 30 he enlarges it again.

 

 

John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

 

 

Here is the example not to rely on the arm of flesh, not to rely on myself. To really tune into this in all reality we need to understand what Jesus did. How many people rely upon their judgment instead of reading carefully as Jesus did following the scriptures in all its various descriptions of life.  Jesus said I can do nothing of myself. This made Him the author of salvation and from this authorship proceeds the arm of the Lord. That’s how we can understand something about the arm of the Lord. 

 

Isaiah 53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

 

Did you just catch something here? To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Who is that he’s talking about? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant. Isn’t that Jesus, the root out of a dry ground? He, in the days of his flesh, was just a root out of a dry ground. No comeliness or beauty that we should desire Him. The arm of the Lord is now revealed in this person.He could of His own self do nothing and He would rely upon the Lord, He would not lean on the arm of flesh. When a human being such as Jesus denies His flesh within, communicating and depending only upon God, then the arm of the Lord is made bare. 

 

 

Isaiah 52:10 The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

 

 

Are you reading a right? the Lord hath made bare His arm in whom? We read it there, in Jesus the arm of the Lord is made bare and all nations. All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of the Lord. What is the Scripture declaring here? The arm of the Lord is made bare in Jesus. 

 

 

John 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

 

 

Jesus was sent, and the arm of the Lord was revealed in Him and what does Jesus say? Even as the Father hath sent me to reveal the arm of the Lord, so I send you to do the same. A human being as Jesus was, was the arm of the Lord. The human beings who are in the flesh like Jesus was, but rely not on themselves but on the Lord/the Father, are in turn the revealing of the arm of the Lord.  That’s the conclusion here.  

 

 

Jesus was struggling, we see him struggling with the onslaught of the human flesh. Jesus was suffering in the human flesh. Was He going to rely on the flesh? 

 

 

Isaiah 59:16 And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.

 

 

Here He was in Gethsemane. His arm which was the appendage of God, that was His arm because He said of my own self I can do nothing. He was not relying on the arm of flesh. His arm was the reliance upon the Father. His arm brought salvation unto Him. 

 

 

Isaiah 40:6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: 7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. 8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. 9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! 10 Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. 11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

 

 

Can you see the development here? Flesh withers if you rely on flesh then it will be like a dry desert because it will dry. Oh, to read the word of God with understanding. His arm shall rule for Him, His reward is with Him, this is again speaking of Jesus the great Shepherd of the flock and He is being declared that He is not relying on His flesh, but He is relying on the Father ‘of my own self I can do nothing’. Therefore, His arm is obviously Him relying on the divine element that you can trust and depend upon. That’s the arm of the Lord versus the arm of flesh.

 

 

The Atonement

 

 

Here again we are confronted with the subject of the atonement of Jesus Christ. He became at one with us in our human sinful flesh and as we open our heart to this understanding, it helps us to understand the arm of flesh versus the arm of the Lord. As we are embracing the beauty of what Jesus is delivering to us in His example in the days of his flesh, as we open our hearts to this, follow closely as we examine the answers that we are looking for in reference to the arm of the Lord that is being made bare. 

 

 

The Knowledge of God

 

2 Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

 

 

 

The knowledge of God and of Jesus gives us that divine power. Through the knowledge of God, through the knowledge of Jesus, what do we become partakers of? By His precious promises – if you open your heart to this story you are going to receive the divine nature. As Jesus was divine and human, we may receive the divine nature. The nature in the human flesh is the arm of the Lord. The arm of the Lord made bare in Jesus Christ and through Jesus Christ and through the knowledge of Jesus, we may be partakers of the divine nature. 

 

Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

 

This is what the scripture is saying, God’s design is as we’re letting the Bible do the talking, that we shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. It’s for us to believe the promise, it’s for us to depend as Jesus depended. There is something inside of the believer, that is the divine nature in conflict with the fleshly nature. The flesh wants to do what it wants, and if you have the divine nature in you, the Spirit that has been brought to us through faith in Jesus Christ, then the arm of the Lord is made bare in the human flesh. We will learn to lean upon the divine nature not the flesh, although the flesh is fighting ‘I want my way’ and the Spirit says, no, this is the way; you are not to rely upon the arm of flesh inside of yourself. You are to rely on the arm of the Lord, the divine arm. In the battle of the arm of the flesh and the arm of God within, which will we lean on? Don’t lean on the arm of flesh, lean on the arm of God. Inside of every believer we are confronted with this. 

 

Jeremiah 17:5 Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.

 

 

Jesus was in the flesh and He heard these words. He read these words as He was growing up saying don’t lean on your flesh. If you make flesh your arm, then you will depart from the Lord. This is the answer which will we lean on, the flesh or the spirit inside of the believer? This is the issue.

 

 

Isaiah 33:2 O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.

 

 

Can you see what this is meaning? Jesus the man in human flesh is paying attention to His dependence upon God and not to depend on the arm of flesh inside of Him, but the arm that is the Lord; inside of us, the divine nature. 

 

 

Here we get the clarification of the interaction of the human being with the divine nature as Jesus demonstrated it. 

 

 

After the war in the heavenly courts Satan and his followers were cast out. As human beings, we are subject to the crafty wiles and temptations of this fallen foe. And unless we are kept by the power of Christ, we shall certainly be led away by the satanic sophistries by which the world is flooded. Our safety is to lean not on human power, on the arm of flesh, but upon the divine arm. Those who are partakers of the divine nature will not be beguiled by Satan. 21MR 464.3

 

 

Everyone will be tested. Men professing to be Christians will be placed in positions of trust, as guardians over the flock of God. But if they act as dictators, using arbitrary authority, they are out of their place. Christ alone is our sufficiency. Great mischief has resulted from the course of men who set themselves as lords over God’s heritage. 21MR 464.4

 

 

We are God’s property. In Jesus Christ we are to behold a pattern of what we should be. Every soul should be educated to look not to his fellow men, but unto Christ. He is the author and finisher of our faith. Let no man think it his place to point out to others in a compulsory manner their duty. This God forbids. All are to be guided in the path of duty by the plain word of God. 21MR 464.5

You can see what Sister White has been interweaving here to help us understand that the great and important issue is to learn from Christ’s example and give ourselves over to God as Jesus did so that in our flesh as we believe the promises, the divine nature will be brought to us. 

 

 

Tthat divine nature is the nature of Jesus in His state with us, and that nature said – ‘I can of my own self do nothing. I’m going to rely upon what the Father says.’

 

 

This knowledge, this understanding, is that which makes Jesus the human and the human beings that Jesus sends out like His disciples. He tells them ‘I relied on the Father, I want you to do the same. Whatever you bind on earth is going to be bound in heaven’.

 

 

That the human is laid down in subjection to the divine inside of the believer and it is these people who are the ones like Jesus that bear the arm of the Lord.

 

 

Jesus and David’s Example

 

Psalms 89:18 For the Lord is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king. 19 Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people. 20 I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: 21 With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.

 

This is now a careful transition of letting the Bible really lay it out before us.

That this is the daily decision of Jesus and the example of someone like king David who was anointed by the Lord.  David, a man of whom Jesus was the son by descent. Let’s carefully continue to get this picture clear as the bearing of the arm of the Lord in a person like David and in a person like Jesus.

 

 

Under David’s rule, the people of Israel gained strength and uprightness through obedience to God’s law. 4BC 1155.6

 

 

What is written about David, and about David in reference to us? 

 

 

Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. 4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.

 

I asked somebody a question not so long ago. Was this reference to David and the sure mercies of David, the everlasting covenant that is connected with that, before he fell into sin or as well after he fell into sin? 

 

 

He still continued as the commander over the people because he himself made an experience by which he can be of help to us. The story of king David, his fall and his rising again, is a very powerful story of the arm of the Lord manifested and made bare, because somebody who has sinned is displayed before us as somebody in Jesus. Jesus Himself suffered with our sins at the cross and in that condition, He revealed the arm of the Lord as David did. See what David said after his sin and how powerfully this story of King David as a commander, as the sure mercies of David is being revealed to us. 

 

 

Psalm 51:1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

 

 

The sure mercies of David, the arm of the Lord, is revealed through David made bare for us to understand that wherever we find ourselves, if we will hang on to the Lord, He will use His people as the arm of the Lord.  

 

 

If you were to go to such a man as David for counsel, would you be leaning on the arm of flesh? Would you if David has been forgiven and the Lord has restored him and you come to David as a commander, as a guide in your life, would you be leaning on the arm of flesh? Let’s examine that. When confused between the flesh and the spirit, is there someone who has gone before who went through that and came out victorious? He has depended on the arm of the Lord in his life. Jesus went through the cross, He went through that. David went through it and came out and he continued to teach people to keep the law of the Lord. In Jesus and in David, two men, are given to us the baring of the arm of the Lord. That’s what we’re looking at.  We who are confused inside of ourselves, we can say –  here is the arm of the Lord in the midst of our depraved condition. We see the arm of the Lord lifting us inwardly like it was done to David, like it was done with Jesus. He hung upon the cross and He said ‘Father to your hand I commend my spirit’ and He became a revelation of salvation; the arm of the Lord inside of Himself. 

 

 

The Right Hand of Moses

 

 

Isaiah 63:11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him? 12 That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name? 13 That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?

 

 

The arm of the Lord was made bare through Moses. He said – ‘stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.’ He put his staff over the sea and the sea parted, the arm of the Lord. He brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd’s flock; He led them by the right hand of Moses with His glorious arm. 

 

 

In the perplexities and adversities of today out of which we need guiding, is it only the Lord and I without any human agent? 

 

 

Ephesians 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

 

 

The Lord works through His arm. 

 

 

Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

 

Were these human beings? If we’re relying on the apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists and so on that God has sent, are we relying on the arm of flesh?  Can you see the important lesson here? We need to understand God’s way on earth. God has not left Himself without human helpers in the last days. 

 

 

Matthew 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

 

God works and makes bare His arm through human beings such as Jesus, David, Moses, apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, etc. 

 

 

Malachi 2:4 And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts. 5 My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. 6 The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity. 7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.

 

 

If you need help, don’t go to the human beings who are flesh; go to human beings who are relying on the arm of the Lord. Many today see no value in seeking for help of any man, because they read certain statements and don’t understand what those statements mean. This statement is often used to not rely on any human being:

 

 

For a long time I have seen the danger that was coming into our ranks in the tendency to look to human wisdom and to depend on human guidance. This will always prove a snare to souls, and I am bidden to lift the danger signal, warning my fellow workers against it, and pointing them to the Lord Jesus. The man or woman who leans upon the wisdom of the human mind leans on a broken reed. UL 290.2

Never should a worker encourage one who is in need of instruction and help to go first to human agencies for an understanding of his duty…. It is a wrong education to teach our people to lean on human aids, instead of going to the Lord in prayer. The enemy of souls has been the instigator of this, that minds might become obscured…. Those who bear responsibilities in the work are to cooperate with heavenly angels in teaching men and women to look to God as the source of their strength…. UL 290.5

 

 

Now that’s an interesting swing suddenly. We’re not to go to human beings but what did I just read? ‘Those who bear responsibilities in the work are to cooperate with heavenly angels in teaching men and women to look to God as the source of their strength.You read this, and then people come up to one conclusion – I don’t need any church, I don’t need any man, I don’t need any preacher or teacher. I can do it myself but there is a balancing statement. 

 

 

What Sister White wrote, is just what we had established. That if we rely on the human who relies on human fleshly wisdom, we are not to go there. But we if we are going to someone whom God has sent, then we are not relying on the arm of flesh.

 

 

The Lord calls for men of experience, men who will carry responsibilities in His name and in His strength, men who will receive His grace with a realization of their accountability to impart it to others…. UL 181.3

Men of experience in the things of God. Men who will receive grace with the realisation of their accountability to impart it to others. They are accountable to impart to people their true understanding of dealing with things. 

 

 

The Lord’s agencies, the men of His appointment, are individually to receive wisdom from Him. They greatly dishonor Him when they trust in human devising as assurance. They are to see Him distinctly as their sufficiency, their strength. UL 181.5

If you are going to men of God’s appointment who are relying not on the arm of flesh but on the Lord in their life, are you relying on the arm of flesh if you go to them?  It says plainly here that they are God’s appointment, and they are to communicate what the arm of the Lord is communicating; they become instruments in God’s hand.

 

 

Ministers, physicians, or directors are walking in false paths when they regard themselves as a complete whole; when they feel no need of counsel from men of experience, who have been led by the Lord, who, as they have moved forward in self-denial to advance the work, have given evidence that they were led and controlled by the Holy Spirit and were thus enabled to speak and plan and act wisely and understandingly. MM 46.5

 

It is written also that we are to go to men of experience. We are to let them help us because what are they doing? They are themselves depending on the arm of the Lord, and they’re being sent out by God to help those in need. This is the balancing statement. 

 

 

Those who make the fear of the Lord the beginning of their wisdom and give heed to the counsel of men of experience can be a great blessing. 9T 199.1

Because the men of experience who are leaning on the arm of the Lord will communicate to you the arm of the Lord and you will be able to lean on the arm of the Lord by taking notice of their council.

 

 

Summation

 

 

God would have us think and act as free moral agents, gathering light from Him to reflect upon others, while we must be willing to be entreated of our brethren and to gain wisdom from men of experience. 15MR 345.2

Gain wisdom from where? Men of experience. That’s plain and clear here.

 

 

I spoke upon James 3:13-18. Words went home to hearts. No one man is to consider himself authority in all things. We should be willing to learn one from another. Great and noble-minded men are teachable. Selfish and narrow minds are not willing to be taught. It is the privilege of men associating with men to lay under tribute every man’s mind with which they come in contact, absorbing every particle of common sense that they can gain by the experience and education of others. 15MR 346.1

Then those people who have learned at the hand of those who have been men of experience, in turn are sent also to care for the flock.

 

 

The minister’s work is not done when he leaves the desk. He should not then throw off the burden and occupy his mind with reading or writing unless this is actually necessary. He should follow up his public labors by private efforts, laboring personally for souls whenever an opportunity presents, conversing around the fireside, beseeching and entreating souls in Christ’s stead to be reconciled to God. 1T 432.1

I tell you from my experience, this kind of work is not appreciated – in Christ’s stead.  A true minister comes to your home to continue to apply what has been preached in the divine service. The minister’s work is to follow up his public labors by private effort laboring personally for souls whenever an opportunity presents, beseeching and entreating souls in Christ’s stead.

 

 

If the minister comes and counsels with you after he has presented the word of God from the pulpit, are you leaning on the arm of flesh if you depend on his counsel? This is always the question. 

 

 

God sends human beings who are relying on the Lord in everything that they do and guiding us by the preaching of the word from the pulpit and then caring for the flock thereafter.  We are living in a time today when this is not wanted. 

 

 

Summary

 

 

In summary, we lean on the arm of flesh within ourselves by relying upon our own human thinking or relying on human beings who have human mindedness, not God-mindedness.

To lean on the arm of the Lord is to trust implicitly all the word of the Lord and receive of those the Lord has sent us.

 

 

I do pray in these last days, that we will be able to pick up these realities and not wonder around as sheep without a shepherd because that’s what I’m seeing but to really be under the pure arm of the Lord is the challenge each one of us needs to meet.

 

 

May God bless us to rely on the arm of the Lord. 

 

 

Amen