Brother Mr. Robert Walker from Aberdeen. Thank you. We might read together from the Book of Joshua chapter twenty-fourth. Twenty-fourth chapter of the Book of Joshua. Reading from verse one. Joshua twenty-fourth and verse one. and Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and for their judges and for their officers and they presented themselves before God. They presented themselves before God. And Joshua said unto all the people, that sets the Lord God of Israel Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time. Even here are the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. Down to verse fourteen, now therefore fear the Lord and serve him, serve him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt. and serve ye the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods which your fathers serve, that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell. But, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Now will you come, please, to the prophecy of Jeremiah, chapter six. Jeremiah and the sixth chapter. Jeremiah is called the weeping prophet. He had much to weep about. And in chapter six and verse fifteen, were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush. Therefore they shall fall among them that fall. At the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord. Stand ye, stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths. Where is the good way? And walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. but they said we will not walk therein. Now to the New Testament, so the Gospel according to Matthew chapter six, Matthew and the sixth chapter. Reading from verse thirty of Matthew chapter six. Well, for if God so closed the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith. Therefore take no thought, no anxious thought. Take no anxious thought, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all these things shall be added unto you. Take thou for no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Now over to the epistle to the Philippians, please. Philippians chapter two. Philippians and the second chapter. And verse fourteen, Philippians two and fourteen, do all things without murmuring and disputing. Philippians two, verse fifteen, that ye may be harmless, blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world. holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. Now you'll notice in the margins of verse fifteen, possibly in your Bible, it says, Among whom shine ye as light in the world. Then the last reading is in first Corinthians chapter eleven. First of Corinthians, the eleventh chapter, and we'll just read verse twenty-six. I Corinthians eleven and twenty-six. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he comes. The margin again will help you, and you'll see that it renders it, show ye the Lord's death. until he's come. Now may the Lord add his blessing to the reading of his words. For a little while at the commencement of this great conference I would like to draw your attention to these passages of the Word of God that we've read together. And you'll find in them five short exhortations for the people of God. We realize that there's a great variety of need in a meeting like this. There are the children and the young men and the fathers. And everybody needs a portion from the Lord. And as you go from this place today, we trust that you'll have received something for your soul, something that will help you to keep going on for the Lord in the days that lie ahead. And so we direct your attention to these simple phrases which everyone can easily remember. And the first one is this. In Joshua twenty-four, the word is serve ye. tell ye the Lord. And then in Jeremiah six and sixteen, stand ye, stand ye in the waves and sea, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they unfortunately on that occasion said, we will not walk therein. Then in Matthew chapter six and verse thirty-three, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Put first things first in your life. Philippians two, shine ye as lights in the world, and at first Corinthians eleven, show ye the Lord's death till he comes. It's always fascinating to me to read the book of Joshua because it's a book of action, that every young man likes a book of action. Someone has said that the Bible really is a young man's book. And I think that's worth considering. And it's fine to see so many young men gathered here today to listen to the ministry of the Word of God. For on your shoulders in days to come will nigh the responsibility of continuing such a testimony as this. Your elders won't always be with you, but the work must go on. Sometimes you know God buries his workmen, but he's able to carry on his work. fits a young man called Joshua to serve him and to enter into the land of Canaan. And this chapter that we've read is the last chapter of that book. And the thing that I particularly like about it is this, that when Joshua gathered all these people together, just in some such fashion as you're gathered together today, he didn't really gather them together to listen to what he had to say. He gathered them before God. Now that's the first thing we ought to learn when we come to our conscience. We oughtn't to be following men. And we oughtn't to be just listening to the words of men. If you've come here hungry for a word from the Lord, you'll go away satisfied and blessed. For the Lord is always looking for a hungry child that's longing for a bit of bread. If you come in a critical frame of mind, of course you'll go away with nothing. The greatest critic in the world is in this YMCA this afternoon, and he's not any person sitting on the seats. The greatest critic in the world and in the universe is this book that we hold in our hands. We are told by the scholars that the only place in the New Testament where the word critic really occurs is in reference to the word of God. The word is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. The discerner, there's your word, the discerner of the thoughts and intent of the heart. And if we've gathered together to be criticized by God through His Word, we'll go away blessed and satisfied and refreshed and fitted for what tasks lie before us. A very godly girl called Caroline Blackwell, who lived about a hundred years ago roughly, lived only to the age of thirty. But in the course of that very short life, she wrote some very spiritual letters. They're gathered together in a book that's very little known these days, and quite out of print, it's called a living epistle. If you ever can lay hands on that book, then you keep it, read it, and glean something from it. In her book, a living epistle, in one of her letters, she writes this. It's one thing, she says, to get our heads together over the Word of God. But it's another thing to get our hearts together under the Word of God. And that's the difference, you see, between a debating society about religious things and a meeting where the power of God is felt, where God is speaking to our hearts. And we're glad to be in such a meeting today, where we believe that many have turned aside at this holiday season to spend an hour or two under the word of God, getting their hearts together under the word of God. When Joshua got these people together, it wasn't so much to hear him, we say, but it was to hear what God had to say. And when he got those folks together and God was speaking to them, then a real work was done in their hearts. You'd notice also in our reading that all kinds of folk were there. The rulers, the heads, the officers, the judges, all the people were there. And it's nice to see all the people represented at a conference like this. people of all classes and walks in life for one thing people at all stages in spiritual experience for another people it may be who have just recently trusted the Lord it's a grand thing to come to your first conference wonder how many here are here today at their first conference as a Christian I mean I attended many conferences before I became a Christian I remember going with my late father whom so many of you knew so well I used to often attend conferences with him and I recall on one occasion even reaching the platform. You know the place was crowded in those days in Aberdeen and there just wasn't room so an appeal was made for folks to go up to the platform and I nudged him until he moved and went up to the platform and took me with him. So I sat on the platform at a conference before I was saved. I wonder if there are any little fellows with us this afternoon and you're just here with your daddy and you're here to see the company that gathers, or some little girl maybe. And you've gathered here today to listen to the word of the Lord. Well, we trust it will be a dear blessing for you. We would rejoice. Every man on this platform would rejoice if a little girl or boy were to get saved in this meeting today. Somebody at a conference last night was saying, well, it used to be that souls were saved at almost every conference. Well, why not now? Why not now? I was greatly encouraged just the other day to hear about a conference in Irvine in Ayrshire, where I'd been a little time ago and probably had said something like this, where a young fellow aged fifteen was caused to think about his soul and he got saved soon afterwards. We'll rejoice over that. Well, but somebody might be here for the first time at a Christian conference as a Christian. Some of you have been attending these meetings, I dare say, for fifty years, and maybe some more than fifty years, I see some nodding their heads, maybe there are some who have been sixty years attending meetings of this kind, and it never grows still when you enjoy the ministry of the Word of the Lord. Then there are those in middle life that are the young men, as I mentioned already, and with a great desire to see young men going on for the Lord. I believe that the idea in the Bible is that the truth of God should be taught to the generation following. Many a time you find in assemblies that there's a generation here and then a whole long gap. There's a generation missing. Then the children are coming up. But that really ought not to be. It ought not to be. If we could possibly teach the word of God to the generation following, just immediately coming up. harden our steps. That's our responsibility. And it's your responsibility as much as mine to pass on what you know, the mind of God, to those who are coming up. Well, it's grand to see such a representative company of different classes of the people of the Lord, all gathered together with their parts under the Word of God. Joshua, of course, had his part to play. Although he wasn't God, he had his part to play as a servant of God. And God's servants here today have their trust to play, and we trust that we can rely on the prayers of God's people in the doing of it. It's not the easiest of things to minister the Word of God. We come to realize as the days go by that it costs a good deal. Namely that if you haven't already been tested on what you're saying, it won't be long before you will be. And that's one way that God has of safeguarding the ministry of His Word. And we have to beware of piercing others with a sword that hasn't already pierced ourselves. But today we stand humbly before you, we trust, just with this little word that might help you. And Joshua stood before those people as a man transparent in character, a man who knew his God, and a man to whom the people would listen. And as he went down their history and told them some things there, eventually he came to the point of challenge. and to the point where he felt they ought to reach a verdict. Now you're accustomed to that over in Ireland in your gospel meetings and at first you're also accustomed to it in your ministry meetings. For there will be no effect in the hearts and life unless we reach a verdict, unless we come to a point of decision, a point of making our choice. And Joshua says this, now choose you this day whom you will serve. You've got to make up your mind. Choose you this day whom you will serve. He had exalted them, serve ye the Lord. He had told them as far as I'm concerned, whatever other people do, that doesn't matter to me. As for me and my house, we are going to serve the Lord. Now choose you this day whom ye will serve. Serve ye the Lord. Now I like to take this little word serve and divide it up in this way. We have a little acrostic on it in a Bible class fashion. maybe for the benefit of the young folks and maybe for the benefit of the older ones too, we'll see. The first letter is the letter S, and we've got to serve the Lord sacrificially. We've got to serve the Lord sacrificially. If there's not sacrifice in our service for the Lord, then it doesn't count for much in his sight at all. Of course we're not to talk about sacrifice. C.T. Studd said when he laid aside that great fortune, He said, if Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice is too great for me to make for him. You don't talk about sacrifice, but you need to make sacrifices. And sacrifices are necessary if we're going to serve the Lord acceptably. We deserve him sacrificially. And if we do that, it will be pleasing to him. Wonder if you remember the story in the Gospels. of that woman who came with an alabaster box of ointment. And the Bible says it was very precious. But another version tells us it was very costly. That means to say it was very costly to her. It would have represented, we're told, about a year's wages. It was very costly to her, and that's why it was so precious to him. And if there's sacrifice in your service, it'll be well pleasing to the Lord. Be assured of that. Said David on one occasion, I will not offer to the Lord of that which cost me nothing. Does your service cost you anything? Does it cost you anything? Oh, we don't hardly speak about this kind of thing. Does it cost us anything? We'll listen to the missionaries sometimes telling us of folks who'll walk for six hours, of folks who'll walk for two days, of folks that'll spend two or three days or weeks together. away in the bush or away in some most inconvenient place just to get a crumb from the master's table. We can't talk about sacrifice with all the means of transport that are available for us. And yet it's so difficult sometimes just to shake ourselves out of lepergy and to come to listen to what God has to say. A little bit of sacrifice. Take sacrifice to get along to the prayer meeting. Take sacrifice to do this or that for the Lord. There's to be sacrifice in many ways, not merely in money. That's only one thing. And I often feel that by and by at the judgment seat, at the judgment seat, we're going to be called in question, less for our misuse of money than for our misuse of time. You've got all the time there is. I wonder how you're using it. How we misuse the time at our disposal. a little bit of sacrifice shall we say for the reading of the Word of God. Ever think about that? You say that's a big book you hold in your hand. Yes, it is. It would take you young folks a long time to get through it, wouldn't it? I wonder how long you think. You know, if you read this Bible for twenty minutes every day, you'd be through it in the course of a year. Did that ever occur to you? For if you read twenty minutes every day, you'll read about four chapters. And if you do that, you'll be through your Bible in the course of a year. A little bit of sacrifice, and you wouldn't call twenty minutes a day much of a sacrifice, would you? How long do you spend on the newspaper? How long do you spend on other things? Twenty minutes isn't long. It's hardly a sacrifice. It's hardly worth mentioning. And yet, many of us can't get down to that. Twenty minutes and a day to read the Word of God. Sacrificially we've got to serve the Lord. And there's to be sacrifice if it's going to be pleasing to him. The next letter is the letter E, and we're reminded that we've got to serve the Lord earnestly, earnestly. I believe in these days we need more earnestness in the service of God. Earnessness in God's service is contagious, or maybe it's infectious, at least it gets around. If we're earnest enough, why others are touched by it. There's nothing like an earnest man in the service of the Lord. Joshua was earnest himself. He was a man who devoted himself to serve the Lord and to please him. And so he had an influence upon others. I wonder just how much we realize the value and the power of influence, influence either for good or for evil. While it is perfectly true that we must not get our eyes on other people, in the final analysis we must get our eyes on the Lord. Yet we are greatly influenced, are we not, by the earnestness of the people of God. When you see somebody in real earnest in the preaching of the gospel, for instance, why does a worm get in your heart too? And you begin to warn to that and you feel akin to what he's trying to do. And you make some endeavor also to serve him in that way. Serve him earnestly. Great earnestness. Be like Hezekiah. who set his heart to the work that he accomplished for God. His heart was in it. All we could do is more hearts, could we not? I once saw in a shop window in Aberdeen, it's the big heads that make the world go round, but it's the big hearts that make it fit to live in. And I believe that's true. And in your assembly life, it's true. Also, you need some big hearts. You know some real big hearts of people, don't you? and they really make your assembly fit to live in. You enjoy their company and you enjoy their presence. They put into practice the things that they're told to do. And we're not in any way, don't misunderstand me, despising doctrine. I believe in it as much as anything else. It's in the Word of God, but it always leads to practice. And if the doctrine that you're going to hear today doesn't lead you to practice some of these things in your Christian life, well, it'll be in vain listening to it. Not in vain for our brethren to give it, but in vain for us to listen to it. If it doesn't spare our minds and hearts to, in love for the Lord and all that he's done for us and revealed to us, go and put something into practice for his glory with a servant earnestly. Daniel did it. Is thy God whom thou servest continually able to deliver thee? he continually and darenously served the Lord, and examples might be multiplied of that. The next letter is the letter R. And I was pleased that our friend Mr. Turner mentioned this fact already for me, that we are to serve the Lord reverently. Now it's not an easy thing for us to do. We people who are saved by the grace of God and know that we are saved and bound for heaven, And we who know each other so well, when we meet together on occasions like this, with so much to talk about, it's not just always the easiest thing to have a reverence service. And other folks coming in often notice the fact. Now, there might be excuses for it, of course. That's perfectly true. As I've said, we know each other so well, and are so at home in each other's company, because we're in the same family. And you seem as if you had known a Christian all your life, although you'd never met them before. But doesn't alter the fact that God, the God who saved us, is a God of infinite holiness, and he's never ceased to be that. Never ceased to be that. And he expects us to serve him reverently. Let us have grace, says the Epistle to the Hebrews, whereby we may serve God with reverence and godly fear. And sometimes this is most needed at the end, for instance, of a gospel meeting. You know how we rise and we speak about anything and everything as the folks disperse. And maybe some deep impressions are being dispelled from the hearts of those who are anxious to be saved. We need reverence in our service for the Lord. Then the letter V, we have to serve the Lord voluntarily. There has to be a willingness to serve the Lord. Who then is willing, says the word, who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord? We're thinking at this morning's prayer meeting of the possibility that there might be some young people here who are turning over in their minds the future days of service for him. Maybe the Lord is laying his hand on somebody at these Belfast meetings this new year, who knows? And you're wondering what you're going to do. who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord. Be willing to serve him. In our assembly at home, a little meeting in Aberdeen, we have a motto up at the front. We do believe in texts in Scotland as well, as over here we've got some texts in some of our halls, and we're glad to see them. And at the front of this little hall there's a text, and across the centre, heartily, heartily. willing-hearted, whole-hearted, and in the center, heartily. Not a bad motto for that little assembly. Seeing so many of you knew my father, I'll tell you one thing that he used to say very often. He would say that all assemblies are composed entirely of willing people. He said there are those who are willing to work and those who are willing to let them. And that's often the case, isn't it? Those who are willing to work and those who are willing to let them. But we want to be willing in the good sense and in the right sense, willing to work. You know, there's such a thing in assembly life as seeing folks doing the work and blaming them for doing it and saying, why do they take so much on their shoulders? Might be because you're not doing your bit. Did you ever think about that? And you wonder why so long prayers are said in the prayer meeting. And, well, have you helped in the prayer meeting, young man? Have you now? There's no excuse for the long prayers. I agree with that. But then have you helped? Or does it rest on the shoulders of two or three? And if they didn't take part, there'd be no prayer meeting. You see, we've all got to act up to our responsibilities. And to serve the Lord voluntarily. Then the letter E, we must serve the Lord expectantly. Expectantly of his return. Expectantly that soon he'll be coming back again. That's what the Thessalonians did. The word of the Lord says that they servant to God from idols to serve the living and the true God and to wait for his son from heaven. And while they waited, they were. And if we serve the Lord in that spirit, expectantly of his return, surely we'll receive a blessing and we'll be more energetic in our service for him. Now I'm just going to mention the other scriptures. I don't want to take up too much of our brethren's time. In Jeremiah chapter six, we have a way to serve him. We've got to serve him sometimes by standing still. They also serve to only stand and wait. And sometimes God calls upon his people to stand and listen to what he's got to say. Said Samuel to Saul one day as they came to the end of the city, bid the servant pass on, he said. That was at the end of the city. Some of us need to get to the end of the city. That's maybe why some of you stay in the suburbs, so as to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life. But is it doing your soul any good? Are you reaping any spiritual benefit from it? Have you got the city out of your heart, although you stay out there? Get to the end of the city, you see, so as to have an opportunity to listen to what God has to say to you. Bid the servant pass on, and happy is the man who can leave his business cares and worries behind him when he comes to his house in the suburbs. But alas, sometimes, you know, the business cares and worries just follow them. And the Bible is still right when it says that the rest of a laboring man is sweet. The rest of a laboring man is sweet. But we've got to get rid of these. Servants have to pass on. Now, said Samuel to Saul, stand thou still a while until I show you the word of the Lord. Stand still, stand still. Stand ye, says the prophet, stand ye in the ways. A good gospel text, fine for your open air preaching sometime, but it's applied to the Lord's people, primarily to the Lord's people. Thus says the Lord, stand ye in the ways and see and ask and walk, four verbs in it. and you must think about these for yourselves. Stand and see and ask and walk. Stand ye in the ways and see, ask for the old paths. Now that's a good phrase, it's in the Bible, and so it's bound to be a good phrase. And it's a phrase that we like very much, and that we believe in very much, as long as you know what you mean by the old paths, of course, as long as they're old enough, not merely the traditions of fifty years or so, which might be good and might be bad, but the old paths surely are things and principles that are revealed to us in God's Word. We've got to get back to the principles of the New Testament scriptures. We'll maybe hear more about that later, I don't know. But we've got to get back to what the Word of God says as to how we live individually and collectively. I'll just quote one. It's in Acts chapter two. And it tells us that those that heard Peter's word on that occasion, he was speaking no doubt, as the oracles of God, those that heard his word, they were baptized. They were baptized. I wonder if every Christian here has been baptized. I wonder if every young believer here has taken that step. It would be a great joy for us to hear of that. These are old things. These are things we need to be reminded of, I suppose, at every conference. Have you been baptized? You know, if you get baptized, it'll be a real witness to others. Many instances just flood into my mind, but I'm thinking just now of a very wild man. His name was Duncan Donaldson. He stayed in Erdrey and still does. Just about a year ago, he got saved. I remember the night he got saved. It wasn't so much the preacher or the preaching that influenced him. But there were some young people that night going through the waters of baptism. He told me that that spoke to him very loudly. Might speak to somebody very loudly if you obeyed the Lord in that way. Just think about it. They were baptized and then they continued steadfastly in the Apostle's doctrine and in the breaking of bread and in the fellowship and in the prayers. They continued steadfastly. It's a great joy to see people say, I'll confess that. but it's a greater joy to see them going on. And John's epistle reminds us of that. I've no greater joy, he said, than to hear that my children walk in truth. In the case of the Apostle Paul, it was a new phenomenon in religious history. It was a matter of life and death if his converts went on. Wonder how many have fallen by the wayside since last Christmas conference now. Wonder how many are not here today, not because of illness, and not because they're in heaven, but because they're in the world. And let him that think as he standeth, take heed lest he fall, and realize the grace of God that keeps you on the road. Let's continue in his ways for his glory. Then the next one I mention, seek ye first the kingdom of God. Put first things first, but I address myself to the young people once more and encourage you to put first things first, put God first. The last place where we stayed just a little ago on the bedroom wall that hung that motto, God First, God First. The classic example of it in the Old Testament is of that prophet of the Lord coming along to the widow's house and seeking accommodation there. The Lord had appointed a widow woman there to sustain him, and so he came along and he made a demand upon her. He said, as she gathered these two sticks to make a fire, to bake a cake for herself and her son before they would die. Make me first a little cake. Me first. God first. She dared to put God first. And you know the consequence, she and her son and the prophet lived of that for many days to come. Would you dare to put God first? He'll look after your interests then. It may not appear so at the time. I'm thinking about a young couple who have, just to use an illustration, they have a petrol filling station somewhere in Scotland not far from the new Fourth Bridge. But the results when they took it over, they wouldn't open on Sunday, except for emergency, of course, they wouldn't open on Sunday. Well, what would you have thought if you had been in their shoes on the day the Fourth Bridge opened, the Sunday the Fourth Bridge opened, to think that your neighbour down the street had sold a thousand gallons of vessel that day, two hundred and fifty pounds worth at the old price. thousand gallons of Esau that day. That would have tested you, wouldn't it, as no doubt it tested them. You say, what meeting are they in? They're not in any meeting. But they're Christians just the same. Could be doing with more folks like that in the meetings, or couldn't we? I'm sure we could. People of conscience and people with a conviction, before their Lord, not dictating to anybody else, but before their Lord, they decided to do this. We must think about these things, put God first. If you do that, you'll shine as lights in the world. Shine ye as lights in the world. It's a dark world in which we live, and we've got to shine brightly for the Lord. The darkness is increasing on every hand, not only in other lands, but in this land. In this land, the darkness is increasing. And I suppose in the north of Ireland, it's just the same as elsewhere. My heart was touched the other day. When a Muslim, an Egyptian, came along to our gospel meeting in East Kilbride, a scientific lad at one of the national research stations there, and the next day he brought an Irish fellow with him. And the Muslim appeared to me to believe more about eternity than the Irish lad. Touched my heart to think of an Egyptian bringing an Ulster man to hear the gospel. Well, you see, the darkness is increasing. increasing. We've got to shine more brightly. And the light that shines the furthest, shines the brightest, nearest home. If a lighthouse keeper lets the light out once, he'll be dismissed for service. If we've been dismissed God's service for letting the light out once, we'd been dismissed long ago, long ago. And then the last thought is just simply this, that we have to show and proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Many of you will be doing that tomorrow morning. You ever thought that you should do that the first day of every week? If these seed thoughts in your mind cause you to think, then you ask somebody who knows more about it and you'll be guided along the right road. And don't forget that we show forth the Lord's death in view of his return. These words often help me till he comes, till he comes. Orthodox Jews say when they keep the Passover, perhaps next year in Jerusalem we might say as we keep the feast perhaps next week in the glory now may the Lord help us continue to guide his servants in their ministry for him this day serve ye the Lord keep that in view as you listen to the rest of the words that you're going to hear that there's to be a practical outcome from what you listen to today and the Lord certainly will bless and make this conference one that will be pleasing to him. Somebody once asked a servant of God, how many servants of the Lord were at the conference. He said, two hundred and fifty, perhaps today eight or nine hundred would there be. Oh, said his informant, all these preachers, no, not all these preachers, but all these servants of God. And there's a work for Jesus none but you can do.