291: Dick Patterson - Exhortation: Without A Vision, The People Perish

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1. 0:13

   Welcome to Good Chris Selfie and talks. I’m Levi. And I’m Chris. And I’m Brian. Thank you for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our Daily News feed. We post a new episode at the start of each week. With the short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for.

2. 0:31

   The talk you’re about to listen to. And now, let’s talk more about this week’s talk. Hello, welcome back. This is Brother Chris. As we have mentioned a few times, I have been working on digitizing some cassette tapes that I have been gathering and recently I’ve been going through several of them that were recordings of memorial services that have been given over the years at the Los Angeles Ecclesia.

3. 1:11

   This particular exhortation comes from that kind of store of tapes that I’ve been working through. This is an exhortation that was given by Brother Dick Patterson in December 5th of 1999, so just before the turn of the millennia. I mentioned that specifically because Brother Dick mentions multiple times in his exhortation that they were 26 days away from the start of the new millennia. And the focus of his exhortation is the reminder that at the turn of the millennia is the time when you could be seen the return of Christ coming sometime in this millennia, when it started at the end of 1999, going into 2000. For context, Brother Dick is basing his expectation and pulling a lot from Micah Chapter 4. So if you wanna look through that before listening to the exhort itself, feel free to pause and and go do that. But what Brother Dick is pulling from and looking at is just a reminder of the importance of having a vision, an idea of what the Kingdom is and what it’s going to be like. Several of the things he talks about are his own speculation on what the Kingdom could be like.

4. 2:22

   But I find that to be interesting, ’cause I feel like one of the beauties of the vision of the Kingdom is we want it to be personal and something that makes you personally excited about being in the Kingdom. And what is that vision? What is that idea of what you picture being in the Kingdom being in the forefront of your mind? So this was a really interesting and encouraging exhortation. It was a good reminder.

5. 2:47

   It was a little interesting to go back 25 years now and here or almost 25 years and hear what the thinking was at the turn of the century. I remember some of that when I was younger and everything that was happening at in 1999 and the fear when it came from Y2K and things that they were talking about and what did or didn’t happen after the results of that. So I find going back and listening to these exhortations, especially from so many years ago, to be a almost interesting time capsule of the mindset that some people in our community had all those years ago and what things are the same now and what things have changed.

6. 3:28

   It makes it just to be both a enjoyable and enlightening experience. So I hope you find this exhortation to be encouraging and helps you to think about and meditate on having a vision for yourself as we wait for the return of our Lord. And with that, I will turn this. Over to our brother. Dick Patterson, for his exhortation, entitled Without a Vision, The People perish.

7. 3:52

   You’ll notice that we read from the 4th chapter of Micah this morning. Our scheduled reading is the second chapter, but I wanted to consider this 4th chapter because of the wonderful vision of the Kingdom that it has in it. We’re going to talk about that vision today, and we’re going to talk about what it means to us.

8. 4:13

   And then you can meditate on it. And when you do your readings on Tuesday, read it again and see if it doesn’t take on a new meaning for you. So let’s create a mental picture of that vision as we go through it this morning. And it is important that we have a vision.

9. 4:37

   In the 29th proverb at the 18th verse we are told that where there is no vision, the people perish. And even in this prophecy of Micah in the third chapter, in the sixth verse, just the previous chapter, it says that if the people do not have a vision, it is dark unto them.

10. 4:59

    Now Jesus told us that we are to be the light of the world. If we are in Christ, certainly we cannot be in darkness, And so that we are not in darkness, we must have a vision.

11. 5:19

    A vision was so important to Jesus Christ that God took him up onto that mount of Transfiguration and let him talk with Moses and with Elijah. So that vision would carry him through those dark days when he was crucified and had to die upon that cross. That’s how important it is for us to have a vision. Now, in 26 days, according to our calendar, we’re going to enter into a new Millennium.

12. 5:53

    And as we read the magazines and as we look at the billboards and as we listen to the radio, we see many, many different reactions to the new Millennium. But what should be our reaction as Bible students, as brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, if we turn to a few Scriptures, I can think think we will see what the Scriptures tell us should be our reaction to the new Millennium.

13. 6:23

    Going back to the very first chapter of Genesis, we find that God created the earth in six days and on the 7th day he rested. Now he didn’t have to rest on the 7th day. He was the creator of heaven, of the earth, all powerful, but he did it to set a pattern. 6 days of creation, one day of rest. Looking back in history, we see from that time of creation up until Jesus Christ was roughly 4000 years and from Jesus Christ until now is 2000 years.

14. 6:59

    So there are 6 periods of 1000 years and we think that this is following the pattern of the creation. And so the next Millennium will be the time of rest. It will be introduced into the world. The Kingdom will be established. We don’t know the exact date, but we feel that it fits the pattern.

15. 7:25

    Looking at the parable of the fig tree in the 24th chapter of Matthew, we all know that the fig tree is representative of the nation of Israel. And that parable tells us that the generation that sees the fig tree putting forth leaves, we’ll see the return of Jesus. What are the leaves? What What happened with the leaves coming out?

16. 7:56

    Was it 1948, the establishment of the nation of Israel? Was it 1967 when the nation re obtained Jerusalem entirely as their capital? Or was it something else? What is a generation? 40 years? Some people say we’re living longer now. Maybe a generation, but it’d be 70 years. Maybe it’s something else. But within all of these unknowns, there is still a fairly small time period which can lead us to the conclusion that the time of Jesus return is very near. Now we can say this with confidence because over the generations and over the years it seems like every generation of people looked for the return of Christ in their lifetime. But never has any other generation seen the re establishment of the nation of Israel have seen the fulfilment of this particular prophecy.

17. 9:01

    So I think that it gives us confidence that we are entering into the next Millennium and Jesus Christ will return to establish His Kingdom during the next Millennium. With that kind of confidence of the establishment of the Kingdom, it’s certainly important that we have a clear picture and that we have a clear vision of what it will be like.

18. 9:31

    So let’s turn back to this fourth chapter of Micah, and we’ll read the first verse again. But in the last days it shall come to pass that the mountain of the House of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and people shall flow unto it. And I’d like to read to you that for you the same verse from the NIV in the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, and people will stream to it.

19. 10:11

    That brings to my mind a verse in Daniel in the second chapter and the 35th verse, where we also read of a mountain. And Speaking of the image, it says, Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold broken to pieces together and became like the chaff of the summer thrashing floors, and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them. And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the earth.

20. 10:47

    So what do we have in this figurative language? We have a mountain that fills the earth, and there is the Lord’s house up on the top of this mountain, and it is above all of the other hills around. What do we feel is the literal interpretation of that particular vision, that Jerusalem will be established as the center of a world empire?

21. 11:14

    It won’t be Washington, DC, and it won’t be London, or it won’t be Moscow, or it won’t be Tokyo. It will be Jerusalem. I have a world Atlas at home. And when I open up that world Atlas and look at the first page, it’s a picture of the world. And the United North America is over here and South America and over here is Asia, and right in the middle is Jerusalem. And I would imagine if you looked at any Atlas of the world, you will see the same thing. Jerusalem is this picture as a center of the world, and I don’t think that’s any accident.

22. 11:51

    I think God selected it and planned it that way to be at the crossroads of the world. And you know, Jerusalem is, it’s in an elevated position. It’s on that Ridge of mountains that runs North and South through Israel. And you go to the West and it falls off all the way to the sea level on the West side of the Mediterranean.

23. 12:15

    And you go over the Mount of Olives to the east and it falls down into the Jordan Valley below sea level. So it is in an elevated position right now. And I believe that that is unique of any capital, of any country in the world and being in that elevated position.

24. 12:37

    And then we’re told that people will flow unto it. We’re told in Zechariah that there will be a great earthquake at that time. And the Mount of Olives that is to the east of Jerusalem, and it is somewhat higher than Jerusalem, will break in two-part of it will move to the north and part to the South. So in that day, as you look out from Jerusalem, you’ll look down into a valley that will go right down into the Jordan Valley to the east.

25. 13:06

    We’re also told that the Dead Sea will be healed. How will it be healed? Well, I think that there will be enough water that it will be filled to be a great inland lake and so that it can finally flow out to the ocean in the Red Sea about 150 miles to the South. And so in this way you have the Mediterranean Sea on one side and this great freshwater inland sea on the other side. And so there would be easy access to this new world. Capital ships could come in on each side and have access to the capital.

26. 13:46

    And of course, there there are the Airways. Let’s go on and look at verse two. Many nations shall come and say, come and let us go up to the mountain of the the Lord into the House of the God of Jacob. And he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For the law shall go forth of Zion in the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

27. 14:09

    The law shall go forth of Zion. Jerusalem will become the center of a world government, a government that is moral, righteous, and has laws that are the best for everyone that are in the world. Jesus will be the Divine Ruler, and that law will go forth from Zion and radiate throughout all the earth. And that law will be administered by representatives of Christ in every city on the earth. These are ones that have been selected for these positions from those that have come through the judgement have been termed righteous.

28. 14:51

    At that time there will be laws that will be right for every nation and every people. They will be fair. They will be firmly enforced. There will be no corruption. There will be no lobbies, there will be no special interests, but it will be a government that will be best for everyone.

29. 15:19

    We just read. It says, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the House of the Lord and to the House of the God of Jacob. And he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths. And so emanating from Jerusalem will be one world religion. There will be no PLO, which claims that Jerusalem is the capital of their state.

30. 15:45

    There will be no Islamic mosque in the middle of Jerusalem with a gold Dome. There will be no bulletins coming out of Rome issued by the Pope. There will be no conflicting messages from various churches throughout the earth. There will be no TV evangelists putting forth their message so that they can get rich.

31. 16:07

    The temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, the House of God, will be the source of the Word of the Lord, which will go throughout the earth. The word will come directly from God’s Son, and there will be no human interpretation. And that word will be administered in these same cities, probably by representatives different than the ones that are governing. And so you will have those governing the cities, and you will have those administering the religion and they will be working hand in hand, and you will have a perfect marriage of church and state.

32. 16:45

    And isn’t that exactly what we saw in the time of David? David was the king and he had those that were ruling over the cities and he had the Levites that were administering God’s word in those cities. And in ancient Israel there was a a picture of the coming Kingdom when there was a perfect marriage, church and state. And so you will have worldwide teaching emanating from Jerusalem.

33. 17:15

    People will learn the ways of God, and they will want to walk in His path. And then it says, many nations shall come. Let’s turn over to the 14th chapter of Zechariah. And we have some other words that are similar to this Zechariah 14 and 16. And it shall come to pass that everyone that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up to from year to year to worship the king, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the feast of Tabernacles. In ancient Israel the feast of the Tabernacles was in the fall, when there was the in gathering of all of the crops. I think it was a looking forward to the establishment of the Kingdom when there would be the in gathering of all of the righteous people.

34. 18:13

    And so the Millennium will be the time when the Kingdom will be here and they can celebrate the existence of of the fact that the Kingdom is here and they can do it all year round. And so when we read in Zechariah that those from the nations will come up from year to year to worship to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, I believe I can picture a continual pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Representatives of various nations coming at times throughout the year to give tribute to the new religious leader, to acknowledge the worldwide Kingdom, and to continuously celebrate the fact that the Feast of Tabernacles is here.

35. 19:07

    The Kingdom is here. The establishment of God’s plan for the earth has taken place, and so I think we can see then a a continuous year round celebration of the Feast of the Tabernacles. Let’s go on to verse three in Micah, and he shall judge among many people and rebuke strong nations afar off, and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their Spears into pruning hooks.

36. 19:36

    Nations shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. He will rebuke strong nations. When Christ is established as the world ruler, He will have destroyed that host that came down into Israel from the north, and he will have established himself as king. Now there will be some nations that will accept him, but that there will be others that will rebel against him, and so it will be necessary for himself to forcibly establish this new government. And he will have with him the irresistible force of the forces of nature, and nothing that mankind can produce in the way of armament and compare to the forces of nature. And so this world government will have been established because of the rebuke of strong nations. And as we said, there will be representatives of this government in all of the cities.

37. 20:49

    In the second part of the verse, it talks about true World Peace, a kind of peace that man just cannot establish by himself. It requires divine power to do it when they beat their swords into Spears and their swords. Let’s go back and get the right one. Storage into ploughshares and their Spears into pruning hooks. We can see that the billions of dollars that are being spent now for the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the nuclear weapons, all of this money will now be available for the good of the people on the Earth.

38. 21:32

    And it will be put in the place where it is most needed, and it will make sure that it gets to the people that need it, and it isn’t siphoned off through corruption and other kinds of government. And the differences that exist between nations will be settled because of a fair and a righteous administration. And we go on to verse 4.

39. 21:55

    But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken it. You know how you discover little gems in the Bible and it sort of lights up. While I found one first kings 4th chapter and a 25th verse, I didn’t realize this one was here, but it talks about the same thing. And this is in the time of Solomon’s reign. And it says Judah and Israel dwelt safely every man under his vine and under his fig tree from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

40. 22:38

    Why did they exist under their vine and their fig tree during the days of Solomon? Because there was no war. It was a time of peace. Now many have taken this verse in Micah and said, well, that indicates that we’re going to have an all agricultural economy. But it applied to Solomon’s time and it wasn’t an all agricultural economy. They used the technology they had available, but they did trading and they had ships going to various parts of the world, and they had commerce and they had agricultural also, but they had a society that was working for the good of the people, and they were not afraid because there was no war. I’d like to turn to the third chapter of. And so I believe that in our time that this is describing a time of of peace, that man can sit under his vine and under his fig tree.

41. 23:34

    And in our time we will have the technology being used as it can in the world. But men can dwell peaceably among each other. And I think this is borne out in the third chapter of Zechariah, in the 10th verse, where it says in that day. I think it’s talking about the day of the Kingdom, saith the Lord of hosts.

42. 23:57

    Shall you call every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree, So at that time then everyone can call everyone else its neighbor. And so under this new world administration, the PLO terrorists will be eliminated. The Jewish Arab fighting among each other will be eliminated. The bloodbath between the Serbs and the Croats will be eliminated under a firm fair government where everyone is treated equally and none shall make them afraid.

43. 24:38

    Looking at verse 5 going back to Micah says all people will walk everyone in the name of his God and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. I believe the sense of that verse is that somewhat like this though now all people walk everyone in the name of his God, yet in the future we will walk in the name of the Lord, one religion, one God acknowledged throughout the earth, brothers and sisters and young people. There is the vision and we must keep it brightly before ourselves.

44. 25:21

    But we must ask ourselves, how will each one of us fit into that vision? Well, first, we can enjoy the benefits of the improved conditions on the earth and and we in the United States, I don’t think, realize how important this is. But those who have come from the strife in El Salvador and those who are experiencing the strife in the Balkans, the brothers and sisters at the present time can see the strife and the hatred and the suffering that’s going on in the world. And that will all be eliminated in this new order of things. And that’s one way that all can fit into that wonderful things that are planned for this earth.

45. 26:04

    We can, each one become an integral part of what’s going on in the earth. Each one, in accordance with their abilities will be assigned a part. And there will be many, many responsibilities in this new order of things in this vision that we see from that 4th chapter of Matthew, Micah. And each one of us will have a place there in a very important place.

46. 26:28

    One of the important things is to spread the word, because there will be many in the earth who need to learn about the God of Jacob and to walk in his paths. And we can all do that. We will not be hindered by the frailty of mortality. We can spread the word in that day to the our friends, our neighbors, and to the nations of the earth. And there won’t be any problems where someone can say I don’t have the ability or I don’t have the confidence or I don’t have the memory to remember things or I have a speech impediment. All of those things were gone.

47. 27:03

    We all all have the ability to preach the Word to everyone on the earth so that the gospel will go forth to all the world and go into the world and preach the gospel as it has never been done before. So in conclusion, we have 26 days before us before, according to the calendar, we have a new Millennium. During that Millennium, the vision that we have obtained from the 4th chapter of Micah that we have created in our minds this morning, we believe will take place. We pray that each one of us will be there. We pray that it will happen during our lifetime, and if it doesn’t, we know that we will be resurrected to enjoy the benefits.

48. 27:58

    Keep the vision brightly before you. It will help you to overcome the ways of the world. It will help you to stay on that path that leads to the Kingdom. Just as Christ needed the vision to help him through the hard times that he was envisioning, so we need a vision so that we can overcome the attraction of the world around us.

49. 28:23

    So it is our prayer this morning that this vision will become a reality very, very soon. Thank you for listening to the good Christadelphian Talks Podcast. We hope this talk helped you in your walk. And brightened your day. If you would like to hear more, please subscribe for new episodes. We are on all major podcast platforms and also on YouTube.

50. 29:00

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51. 29:38

    God bless and talk to you next week.