Mid South Conference 1978-03 Fellowship in the Gospel — Aldy Fam Fanous

Fellowship in the Gospel and the Promise of Christ's Return

We were told yesterday that we are coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not quite sure. This is by special request from a number of you. But we were receiving on verse 6, that's the one verse 6, being conscious of this very thing, that he which hath done a good work in you shall perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

And we say that we prefer to fellowship in the gospel. It's often misquoted as the eternal security of the believer. I don't think that the thought here is the eternal security of the believer. The believer determines that people are close to God's promise, and I know them, and I give unto them all kinds of life.

Eternal. Eternal means eternal. And they shall never perish, for the same man shall come unto my hand. My Father who gave them me is greater than all, and no man shall come unto my Father. And I and the Father are one.

Praise the Lord. But the thought here is the fellowship in the gospel which hath been posited in them by God himself. And he says that he which hath done a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Isaiah's Vision of Israel, Egypt, and Assyria

We have been considering signs that receive the coming again of Jesus Christ our Lord. Turn with me please to Isaiah chapter 19. We've not finished those signs yet. Isaiah chapter 19. We have noticed that there are three words repeated over and over again in that particular chapter.

What are the three words? Amen. In that day. And we find them in a number of verses. We find them, as I said, in verse 18, in that day. In verse 90, in that day. In verse 21, in the middle of the verse, in that day.

In verse 23, in verse 24, repeated over and over again. In that day. Please look at verse 24. It's a difficult verse to read, and my reading is a bit poor. Let us try and read it again. In that day shall Israel be the third against Israel.

What does it say? Good. What does good mean? Not against. So many people have been asking me what is going to be the outcome of the conflict in the Middle East between Herod and the Jews, and so on and so forth.

Well, the answer to this question is in God's word. And, as a matter of fact, it is one of the signs, the answer is one of the signs, that we see the coming again of Jesus Christ, of a life and life free from this curse and this hateful and treacherous mission.

That was 80 years ago, when things seemed absolutely contrary. And some people questioned me. But this is God's word that is forever established in the heavens. In that day shall Israel be a third, a third, with Egypt and with Assyria.

In other words, the outcome is going to be peace and alliance, even, among those three nations. With Egypt and with Assyria. And you know what happened just recently. When two great men of these two great countries met together, and the eyes of the whole world were focused on the meeting place of those two leaders.

Why? The focus, the attention of the world was focused on the Middle East 1 ,900 years ago. When heaven truly is the word. And placed in the last verse, a great gift, God's unspeakable gift, the day of that day.

And I believe the time has come, when the eyes of the whole world again will be focused and directed to that part of the world. Because of the coming event. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and speak unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

In that day shall Israel be a third with Egypt, and with Assyria. Assyria is what we know now as Iraq, Syria, and Trans-Georgia. Iraq, Syria, and Trans-Georgia. Even a blessing in the midst of them, from the whole of the blessing, blessed be Egypt, my people.

And Assyria, the work of my hands. And Israel, my inheritance. According to this verse, who is God's people? Don't be afraid. Amen, that's right. I'm going this way. From the Lord of Most of Israel, saying, blessed be Egypt, my people.

That's God's word. Not my word, God's word. And Assyria, the work of my hands. And Israel, my inheritance. Yes, but we have heard otherwise. Yes, you've heard right too. You've heard right too. Because Ishmael was just as much Abraham's son as Isaac was.

Right? That's right. You remember some time ago the people came to the Lord. He was on earth. They asked Him. So He gives tribute to people of God. And He said, show me a toy. And they did. And He asked them two questions.

One question, rather. Two, four questions. To whom is the inscription? And the what? And the picture. There are two sides. There is the picture. And there is the inscription. The Middle East, I might say, has two faith toys.

Ishmael and Isaac. And both are the children of Abraham. Why does He say, blessed be Egypt, my people? Because God's promises are without repentance. Turn with me please to Genesis 17. Genesis chapter 17.

Abraham, Ishmael, and the Promises of God

There's a very interesting incident there. When Abraham was nineteen years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said unto him, I am the almighty God. Go before me and be without purpose. Now the name of God had meaning.

El Shaddai, in Hebrew. Shaddai is in Arabic. And Hebrew word Shaddai means prince. I am the almighty, the all-strong God. Why? Why didn't He say, I am the righteous God, the merciful God, the all-compassion God?

I am the almighty God. Because He was going to speak to him about something that needed God's power only to perform. He had promised him a son by Sarah. And that son never came until Abraham was ninety-nine years old.

By Sarah. Well, what could he have? Had God forgotten His promises? No. But Abraham, fourteen years before, had behaved in a way which showed it was not mature. Be thou perfect, be thou mature. In this chapter, chapter 16, he did something which showed immaturity.

He wanted to help God perform His promise. And he married Hagar at the suggestion of his wife, Sarah. And God gave him a child by Hagar, and He named him Ishmael. Names in the Middle East are very important.

They have meaning. Ishmael is made up of two words, again, Hebrew and Arabic. Ishma means here, or live. And il, or Allah, means God. Ishmael, Ishmael, God here. He thought God had heard his prayer and gave him the child.

But the Lord had said to him, Behold thou before me, and be thou perfect, be thou mature. And then comes the first prayer recorded in the Book of Genesis. Or rather, in the whole text. It's mentioned in verse 18.

Abraham said unto God, chapter 17 and verse 18, Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee. Why? Did he say, O that Ishmael might live? He didn't ask for a long life for Ishmael. The most important part of the prayer is before thee.

O that Ishmael might live before thee. Because before God, by nature, and I make no apology for that, you and I are dead in sin and trespass. Right? We are dead in sin and trespass by nature. When do you become alive?

I become alive when I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord. Because in Him was life. And life was the life of man. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. You are quickened as you accept Him who is our life, Jesus Christ our Lord.

So Abraham, with the eye of faith, looked ahead thousands of years and prayed for Ishmael, that he might live before God. The Bible is really worth the name, Life Eternal. O that Ishmael might live before thee.

The Lord said to him, Walk thou before me. He prayed for Ishmael the same thing. O that Ishmael might live before thee. How did God answer his prayer? No, no. On preparation. He had no plan. No place in my plan.

Is this what God said? Look at verse 20. As for Ishmael, I have heard thee. I say very rapidly, there's a play on words here. Ishmael means God hears. As for God hears, I have heard thee. There you are.

What tense in the English translation? I have heard. Different purpose. Complicated fact. I have heard thee. Not I shall see about it. Maybe I will. I have heard thee. As for Ishmael, I have heard thee.

Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly, and will make him a great nation. That's God's promise. And friends, this prayer has been answered. Mormon faith is a very, very difficult faith.

Only ten years ago, a Mormon came to Christ. There was a great synod on it. But today, scores in various places are being converted and accepting Christ at that table. And baptized are the people of the house.

I know a number of them. We praise God for what's happening today in the Middle East, which we see with our own eyes and take as a fact that this prophecy is being fulfilled today, which is a sign that proceeds the coming again of Jesus Christ our Lord.

I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. Twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. Praise God for what is happening today in the Middle East.

But let me, in passion, again bring down the point. Walk thou before me, and be thou mature. Be thou mature. Don't try to help God. What He promised, He will bring about. Standing on the promises of God my Savior, we say again, we praise God, we have great promises in Christ Jesus.

The Rapture, the Tribulation, and the Return of Christ

Right. The point was brought up by one of these sisters yesterday. What is the order of events when Christ does come again? He may come again today. We fix no date, no hour. We know that it's imminent.

It's very near. But we know very well that He is coming again. And our brothers, refer to verses 20 and 21 of Philippians chapter 3, verse 4. Our conversation is in heaven. Please refer to Philippians 3, 20 and 21.

We have again, sure word of God, by surest, of what is going to happen when the Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Conversation is in heaven from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, the body of our humiliation, that it may be fashioned like unto a glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself.

All right. In a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, for He shall come again. The dead in Christ shall rise first. And we who are alive will be caught up to dinner to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

You and I are with the Lord in the air. Something is going to happen on earth, the Great Tribulation. I don't believe I'm aware of most of the doctrine, but as I study God's Word, I'm aware of the fact that the Church will never go through the Great Tribulation.

This is my conviction as I study God's Word. Please look up a few references here. Look at 2 Timothy, 2, 1 -12. 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as for, or not, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come except there come a flowing water first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, whose hoses and exaltments shall be brought forward unto the full God of His worship, so that he, as God sits in the temple of God, shall know himself as that he is God.

Remember ye not that with me I will get with you, I shall with you be saved. And now ye know what was hosed, that he might be revealed in his time. I believe that that which was hosed is the presence of the Church and the Holy Spirit in the world.

When the Church is taken up, and the Holy Spirit with the Church, who needs to open the air, well, then, the great tribulation which is causing us to be weak, as you studied in Venice, what must you do?

Holy Living in View of Christ's Coming

We have seen signs that we see the coming again of Jesus Christ. What is your attitude? What should your attitude be? As you heard, we know these things, we heard these things, we know them, they have been recorded in God's words, and we hear them over and over again.

I want to give you one or two verses in 2 Peter 3, 3rd chapter of 2 Peter. And look at verse 11. Saying then that all these things shall be dispelled, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversations and talkings, looking for and hastening after the coming of the King of God wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dispelled, and the elements of men shall certainly be.

What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversations. Holy simply means separate unto God. We are a separate people. I stress this fact over and over again. You are saved to live a separated life unto Jesus Christ our Lord.

And as the day approaches, as the time comes to an end, what manner of persons ought you to be in a holy conversation, a separated life unto Christ. Young people, the tug of the world today is too strong, but we praise God that He that is in you is greater than He that is in the world.

In Egypt we have a river called the River Nile, as I told you some time ago. One day I was walking along the shore of the River Nile, the bank of the Nile, and I saw different kinds of ships. I saw a sailing boat.

It goes by the wind. Whenever the wind blows, the sail catches the wind, and it pushes the sailboat. I saw a rowboat. You row the boat, the boat oars, the boat goes. You stop, the boat stops. But I saw a motorboat.

It has a motor in it. It has power in it. The Christian has power in it. I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. And it is the more abundant life that is your portion in Christ, the victorious Christian living.

And I say this especially because of the difficult times you and I are living in. You are beset with temptations from every side, but we praise God that we have the power in us to live the victorious Christian life.

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I was reading in Genesis 49 the other day, and I was struck very positively by the comment that Jacob or Israel, as he was about to give up the spirit, said about Reuben.

Reuben was the firstborn. He was the firstborn. And as a firstborn, he had three privileges. He was the priest of the family. He was the leader or the king of the family. And he had another portion because he was the firstborn.

But he forfeited all these because he defiled his father's spirit. And he lost the three privileges. The priesthood was given to Levi, the kinship was given to Judah, and the first bride was given to the son of Joseph, Prince for the enjoyment of a season.

He lost all his privileges. Samson was a powerful man, but he lost his power because he lowered his standards. And he started by lowering his standards. First of all, he wanted to marry a girl which was not a parent, which was not an Israelite, not a Jewess.

And I can understand the argument he was going to tell. One day he went to his parents and said, Dad, I told you a couple of news, it didn't come until today, I want to marry a girl. Oh, yes, okay, who is she?

Oh, she's so-and-so, her name is Delilah. That's not a Jewish name. Oh, you know, I'm going to win her to my race. I want to win her to my God. What if she wins you to her God? Oh, no, I'm strong. You know how strong I am.

I am firmly established in the faith. I'm firmly established in the tradition. I cannot be one to other gods. He lowered his standards. And when he was going to visit Delilah one day, he was forbidden by his lord not to touch his own body.

He not only touched his body, but he started by lowering his standards. Where will you stop? The way of compromise is a one-way road, and it leads to a precipice. Is there someone this morning here who is lowering his standards or her standards?

Make an exception. There is no way to stop the exception. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, even your reasonable servants.

The Hurry of American Life and Fellowship with Christ

And be ye not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by this house, as you look to Jesus Christ our Lord, day by day, in fellowship with him. You know, if I am asked to summarize as a person who doesn't come from the USA originally, if I'm asked to summarize the life in the USA, I will summarize it in one word, hurry.

If I'm asked to summarize it in two words, I'll say hurry, hurry. And if I'm asked to summarize it in three words, I'll say hurry, hurry, hurry. Right? I shall never forget the experience which I had.

The first time I took my ride on the subway in New York City, and I had to get out of 116 uptown, one university. I literally stood at the front of the train and looked, and stood at the seat, and thought, something's wrong with me, too.

Because that's the same way they were writing. I'm afraid we are just pushed. There's no time to finish with the Lord. You are troubled. It's going to be hard on her, at least. It will be very hard on her.

At that time, how many people had to eat for lunch, for supper? At least 13 people. How do we know? The Lord Jesus and His disciples. And she and him said, how would you like to share lunch for 15 people?

She was really troubled. She was really troubled. And brother and sister, I don't know. Don't let anything in the world rob you of the pleasure and the privilege and the joy of fellowship with the Lord day by day.

New Creation and Salvation by Grace

At the assembly in Nashville, 2nd Corinthians 5, 17, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. Born again. He's born again, a new creation. And we said, and God has said in the Old Testament, what was the thing that God created on the first day?

Life. Let there be life. And so it is with you. It is nothing that you can do whereby you can be saved. It's the grace of God alone. By grace, I mean faith through faith, and that's not of yourself. It's the gift of God.

Not of words that any man should bow. The Word of God. And if there be anyone this morning here who is not being called again, here is the way. I am the way. The truth and the life. No man comes from the Father but by me.

Let there be life. Let there be life. I quote now the cry of the ages. Mentioned in Psalm 118, verse 19. Hope begun to be the gate. As if there are gates in the full of things. There are no gates for us.

Men have made gates. Prayer on, giving, going to church, fasting, doing all these things. These are gates man-made only. Man-made gates. And the answer comes in verse 20. This gate is the singular form of the Lord.

There's only one gate. Only one gate. Who faith in Jesus Christ, the blood of Jesus Christ his Son. Yes. But what did God preach on the second day? The firmament expands and he said three times, let it be by.

Separation from the World and Confession of Sin

In other words, God on the second day created division. There must be a division. There must be a separation. I'm a separate people. I'm a separate man. I live separately unto Christ. He is my Lord. He is my Lord.

Anything that is not in accordance with God's will is not for me. You know? Some time ago I bought a new paper. It was a beautiful paper. It was a beautiful paper. I was so proud of it. One of my brothers gave it to me.

And I wanted to show him the beautiful paper that I bought. It came to me. It was made for me. I took the paper first. And I promptly read about the paper and I wanted to show my brother what it said.

And then they read about it. It didn't work. I'm not a technician. I'm not one of the innocent technicians. And then I promptly showed my brother. I said, look here. Don't sound nasty. It was one of those beautiful papers that we bought.

No noise. Nothing at all. And then I started to question. Maybe there's something wrong with that. Maybe there's something wrong with that. And of course I blamed it on my son. My son was only two years old.

He played with everything. He said, oh, this son of a... He must have. But looking behind, I found the reason. Was I ashamed of myself? Was I ashamed of myself? Is there a direct touch with the Lord day by day?

Anything that stops, however treacherous it may be, insignificant it may be, caused by sin. Sin. Sin has to be dealt with. We have God's promise. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just. He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us.

Yes. What should you do? Being in the center of God's will day by day and more of the time. Let's stand and sing together. 1 verse 392. 392. The rock we stand on is firm. I hope to build on nothing less than Jesus' blood.

Announcement of the Film on Tribulation

We'll be participating very shortly. It's nice to see you guys stay young and in better shape and, you know, live the way you should. And get out there and just really enjoy it. But the reason we're here to make an announcement is in regards to a film we're going to show tonight to the adults.

And our brother has been bringing some pretty beautiful messages tonight. Raise your hand. All right, quite a few. Most of you saw the season tonight. If you haven't seen that, it's been viewed by 3 billion people already.

It happened to be a friend of mine who got converted into Hollywood as a producer in the Mark Ford films and Hartman films in one hour. They put out quite a few films which are beautiful films. We had brought down with us a film that hasn't been viewed in the South yet, anyhow, called Hit the Thunder.

And it takes off from where the thief of the night left. And this has to do with tribulation. I say this without any reservation. When you feel this film, it really brings before you about the tribulation and what is going to happen immediately after the Lord takes it.

And there is some questionable things in it in regards to if you have listened to the gospel once before, we have another chance, but there's no question about the church. But I just want to read one verse that they bring out, very vividly, because I know the people will want it.

And they kind of leave this found in 2 Thessalonians that says in the second chapter, Even him who is coming is after the working and thinking, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness and unrighteousness in them.

That's very because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved, and for this cause God shall send them a deluding influence that they should believe a lie. Brought out very vividly in this film though, that this lie will be told.

But I do want you to look at it, and it will be shown tonight in the end though, in the dining hall. And so make preparations to stay tonight. It's 70 minutes long. Beautiful film. I'll tell you. Shall we pray?

Closing Prayer for Faithful Christian Living

Our Father, how can we thank thee for re-sharing thy glory with us. Our blessed Lord Jesus Christ has received thee before the foundations of the world. We were chosen in him before the foundations of the world, never but in care for all eternity.

But now, in this time between, our Father, help us not to endure our salvation, but to enjoy our salvation. Help us not to be just a focus of words. Help us, our loving Father, to keep to one of our habits in life, to really be with us, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Be with us now while we're in danger, and may our love be with you.