Luke 9;57 Waterloo Conference — Gerry Covenhoven

To get into God's presence, I'm hearing for it, because after all, it's not just a fellowship that is needed although that is a wonderful thing that it's done. It's not just to hear, perhaps, about the work somewhere and to know a little bit more about the work.

Hearing God and Seeking Lasting Transformation

It's to have God speaking to each one of us. We ought to know that. We ought to know that, as our brother says, we must be vigilant of that. We ought to know that there might be a change that will not be just for a week or a month and then fade.

But by God's grace, it might get continually worked out for the time we are. And I'd like you to open your Bibles to Luke chapter 9. Luke 9 says,. And another also said,. And it goes on to say,. So to speak, it's drastic.

The Cost of Following Christ

But the Scripture does not say that any of them, each one of these men whom the Christ had looted and loathed, had also looted them in his tremendous love for them, as persons, as individuals, as those that recognized who he was.

And the Bible asserts him, and yet at the same time were not willing to pay the price that was required of them for that work. This is something not acceptable. And notice exactly what there was in each one that was a blot in it.

Notice this first man. This man volunteered without recognizing the hardship and one that was following the Lord Jesus and giving his all in his desire to follow him. At the same time, recognizing where his weakness was, reminds him so confidently that if he were to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, he was to have to suffer the privation of many of the comforts of life that he could have if he chose not to do his work.

Worldly Comforts and the Distractions of Modern Life

I held back. I had become so accustomed to these things in order to follow the Lord. There was only then a surprise in which I knew the power and influence of that epithet. I knew because they felt that this was another way in which the word was getting involved.

It became commonplace as a radio and then a Christian poem. There was a lot of Christian opposition to television, but these things are necessarily in themselves wrong. For he opened up to us tremendous areas of influence and advertising pressure that he put upon us.

And they mold our thinking, our concepts, our philosophies. It matches our thinking. And it's so convenient just to be able to mix up a couple of days of fire, milk, or something relevant. It's just time to do it each bottle at a time.

Well, I should have brought that milk and someone home. Because we want to stay home and watch our favorite program on TV. We can't go out until Wednesday night, 5 or 7 p .m. And we don't want to. A clothes dryer.

We don't have a clothes dryer. We have to do our own thing. But then, we have a clothes dryer for real profit. We have to go without a clothes dryer to get clothes dry. Hard to go to school. We have to have air conditioning.

We can't drive without a car. And if you get out of the business field, and even if you were to have the money, you might not be able to have an air conditioning. Because we don't have electricity. The hot climate in general may be a very driving thing.

We had trouble with the hot climate over there in the Philippines. We had a lot of trouble with the hot climate over in the capital of Peru. Because of that hot climate, Canago had to move there. They said, well, we'll take you to a better climate.

We had to move. We'll take you to a better climate. No air conditioning. No air conditioning. The American families have freezers. This is a wonderful thing to be able to go to sleep at night. Pull out something for dinner.

That's going to be very beneficial. You have a freezer. You don't have to go to school. You don't have to go buy your meat fresh every day. You don't have to wait in line. You don't have to get up at 4, 3, 5 o 'clock in the morning in order to get in line.

They sell meat very early in the morning over there. If you don't arrive until 6 or 7 o 'clock, there's no need for that. There's no need for going out to eat things in order to survive. That's why 30 of the American families have two or more cars.

You might be out there in the midst of jail, but you don't even have the money to buy a car. You don't have to travel on rivers and low-hanging roots. You have an outboard motor, but you don't have the money to buy an outboard.

You go ahead and you buy a boat, and you travel a lot. You go traveling. You get paid a lot. You get hired, and you get searched. So that even when you arrive at your destination, you're searched for three or four days before your money finally gets done.

And you're able to accommodate yourself to the climate and the hardship of getting out there and taking it on. The birth of the earth has men. But the Son of Man does not have what it is that he has. The fruits of God's creating have been more voluptuous than those that follow the Lord Jesus Christ in unbeknownst manner.

Covetousness and the Higher Standard of the New Covenant

Temporal blessings and material things in order to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Are we rather held by that spirit of covetousness to various things that one should not covet under the Old Testament law?

The Apostle Paul, when he was speaking about the gift of sin composed with heart, said of his Roman brethren that the commandment came alive to him when he realized it simply said, Thou shalt not covet, period.

As part of the New Testament application of that different thing. It's not simply coveting what my neighbor has. It's coveting material things. It's sin to get a grip on our hearts. And desiring to have sin.

Rather than desiring to serve fully for the Lord. And the religion. Think about it. Keep your child in one thing or another at our front. And let the crowd in. And say, well, let's follow the Lord. Once again I would say we've got to be oh so careful that this world does not mold our thinking.

The tremendous, unsatisfied majority of the men. Can you teach us how? It comes on as the light and the vision. And we continue to live for material things. It's good to follow me. The process. We don't have their intent.

But the Son of Man does not have what it is they intend. And they can trust it. The goals. And the Babylonian garments. And a few of the things that we saw there in the City of Jericho. It's in this place in our hearts.

It's very strong. We find ourselves living for this world. And I know missionaries that have had to go and ask questions that are important in their work. When summer comes along and you're on a vacation, that's as far as missionaries' incomes drop.

There's a regression here. That's a ten percent. They're in fear of offerings. They're in fear of first fruits. They're in fear of other things. Well, the Old Testament instills the primary things. The fundamental things.

And then the little book has to be moved on to greater things. The Old Testament says the goodness of faith. Now, let's not hide behind it and say, Well, the Old Testament is legality, and we're not under the law anymore.

No, we're not under the law. In fact, God is for us. But God has raised us, His standards, to a higher plane. The Old Testament says, God shall not go against Him. He looks upon a woman's truth. Desire her in His heart.

Say, go ahead and do this is what we will do. With her. He's raised it all to a higher plane. Raised to a higher plane, not a lesser plane. It's not less than ten percent. No, we can't anymore. By the Spirit of this world and its covetousness and hell-fied etherealism.

Sacrificial Service and Commitment to Ministry

With a testimony on Buddha moving ahead for God. And now as I'm moving on to Constantinople, there are many attendees that are not moving ahead for God, but there are many attendees that are attending.

The attendance at the meeting has been well done. It was good fun for so many of our meetings, but still Sunday evening, and still again, when we have Bible sessions, for instance, people are so uptight that they can't even get to work.

And not really willing to sacrifice what's wrong. For it comes as ministry and a lot of the Sunday is a tremendous hurry of ministry. There are some men that spend their time studying the Word of God and willing to give themselves in preparing themselves with a message for God's people.

The result of this and quite a number of attendees who are involved in different Christian sins, well, even if there were God's people, that's the only reason why there's nothing there that people attend anymore because it doesn't mean anything to them.

And with the run of the mill, particularly running around in the middle of church and the running back, we don't have time for it. We don't have time to really give ourselves. One man, opening the door, and I will tell you, recognize the worship of Jesus Christ.

Serving God Rather Than Material Possessions

Because you cannot serve the master. And we cannot serve him. As far as our possessions are concerned, we are bound by material things. We have not got well before 30 years, and I mean a person beyond 30 years that they could not make a living doing it.

And their means of service was a bunch of material things. I have a report going on by Lucas Hedges according to a material thing that he didn't have children. The problem is, you have to get children that are closer than that.

You know, that they're not willing to be considered a life of service in a foreign field. He's too boring. That's the downfall. The wonderful life is of the fallen. He's really following him wherever he might be, whatever the tribations might be.

When one is in the center of God's will he doesn't bother to hear. The Lord Jesus Christ reaches out and calls him. The Lord Jesus Christ says to him, Call me. But he says, Lord, help me first to go and learn the truth of this.

He doesn't take any attention off this man. Why? The Lord Jesus Christ wanted him in his service. He was not included amongst the dead. The Lord Jesus Christ said, Let the dead bury our dead. You're not among the dead.

Regeneration and Proclaiming the Kingdom of God

What is regeneration? What is regeneration for? For the whole spirit of God is in Christ. He has eternal life. That's all he has. He says, So, preach the kingdom of God. Here's a man with a gift. Here's a man with a message.

Here's a man that can be used for God who simply took it away. Preach the kingdom of God. And the Lord Jesus Christ says, You have a very secret spiritual experience that some of you seem to disdain. It does mean that the fallen have just died and that they have to wait another day before you know you're gone.

It may be that their fathers don't live again. But the phrase, Lord, let me go first and join my fathers is simply another way of saying, a correct way of saying, and also told Jesus Christ to all. He recognizes the Lordship and the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Resolving the Conflict of Wills

I want to follow you. This will is an opportunity for the will of the Lord Jesus Christ for the conflict of will. I promise you that when I want to avoid the conflict of will in your life, what I do by that will is to follow the Lord Jesus Christ forever.

And it's all freely the gospel of the living angels. And it is absolutely granted that sometimes the typical task of living by faith it doesn't only depend upon you living by faith, it also depends upon God's people living by faith.

So, the first question moves us here by an outbreak of pacifism that put out a big storm. And this propaganda that you see moves your emotions and so gets you and so they generate this and so they tell you that up to fifty percent, up to fifty percent of the population is living by faith.

And you see and that is of pacifism that is outbreak of pacifism that is.