The Happy Man 07 Expressions-Saved Soul — James K. Boswell

This is Basil Nye. I really enjoy being here in the quiet, congenial and very pleasant atmosphere of these grounds. And also meeting you, dear people, some for the very first time, others we've known for quite a long time.

It's a real joy being with you all. I enjoy ministering to you. You've been a very, very fine crowd of people. You've been responsive and most cooperative, and that means a terrific lot when a man's ministering the Word.

The morning sessions have been exceptionally good. I really enjoy ministering in that joy love letter, morning by morning. And our hearts have been strangely moved as we consider our beloved Lord Jesus.

As we continue, we're going to do so again tonight with favourite songs. It has been a real joy seeing you coming along, and I don't think any of us will ever forget last night's meeting. We believe the Spirit of God was operating here in a very real way.

We've had evidence of that, for which we do praise Him. Now, you've been down here during the winter months. If you want to come up north during the summer months, then you come up to Guelph Bible Conference Centre.

I've been in many conference centres. I'm not referring to the part of the Palms, of course, which is a retirement community. I'm now becoming very favoured, and I feel will become a very popular conference centre.

But I've been on most of them on this North American continent, and I haven't found one yet to equal Guelph. No, I haven't. No, I mean that. You'll find everything so helpful there. During the summer months, it's nice and cool.

Then, of course, all come back and bring others with you, the part of the Palms, during the winter months, to be a real blessing. But come north and go to Guelph. I had a letter from Jamaica today, and they tell me Mr. Wildridge is making very good progress, going still around in crutches, and he hopes to be taking part at the Easter conference in Jamaica.

It was our privilege to be there last year. There were 3 ,500 people gathered to each session at that wonderful Easter convention. We're looking forward to going there again next year, in the will of the Lord.

But he, Mr. Gavin Hamilton, along with one of the local brethren, who is a pathologist, a dear man of God, called Zeruk Daniels, and he gave the closing message last year. Again, he tells me he's given the closing message this year, a man with will ability.

Please continue to pray for Mr. and Mrs. Wildridge. He may continue to be blessed. She may have patience given to her in dealing with a man who's so active. And for a man being so active and being incapacitated, not able to get around, has been accustomed to doing, it's not always just too easy, but she says he's a wonderful patient.

So he must be practicing his own ministry. Is that right? Get right, all of them. Psalm number, what's it going to be tonight? Psalm 6 -3, the 6th to 3rd Psalm. For you have just come in tonight and are not accustomed to my voice, it's Psalm.

The Five Books of the Psalms and Their Spiritual Themes

We say Psalm. Psalm number 6 -3. Now you will remember that there are something like 150 Psalms. These 150 Psalms divide themselves into 5 distinct books. You have book 1, from Psalm 1 to Psalm 41. Psalm 42 to 72, you have the 2nd book.

Psalm 73 to 89, you have the 3rd book. From 19 to 106, the 4th. And from 107 to the end, you have the 5th book. Now did you get that outline? Well, well, you do very well. Here it is, and shall we go again?

Psalm 1 to Psalm 41, the 1st book. 42 to 72, the 2nd. Psalm 73 to 89, the 4th. I'm in the 3rd. Thanks a lot. I'm glad you're with me. 19 to 106, the 4th. And 107 to the end, you have the 5th. Now it is not of that significance that you've got 5 books commencing the Bible.

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. And those first 5 books of the Bible dovetail right in to those first 5 books of the Psalm. In Genesis you have the theme, Born and Brought Up. Born and Brought Up.

Exodus, you are redeemed and brought out. Redeemed and brought up. Leviticus, you are sanctified and brought in. Sanctified and brought in. Numbers, you are preserved and brought through. Preserved and brought through.

And then the 5th book, Deuteronomy. You are instructed and brought home. Instructed and brought home. Now these dovetail right in to the 5 books of the Psalm. Science won't allow me to divert that. And if you didn't quite get it, then buy the tape.

Now you want to get Psalm 84, the secret of real, true, lasting joy. If you can't get the whole of it on the tape, it's on a record called the Living Voices. The first record made on Living Voices. And I think your tape is a little bit cheaper than the record though.

Because the record is only $2 .75. But may the Lord bless you as you re-get those tapes and you go back over them in the quiet of your own heart. And you know what people tell me? They can listen to me easier on a tape.

And they can get it far clearer from the tape than they can when I'm preaching from the rostrum. So try it out. Psalm 83 please, verse number 1. O God, my God, earnestly will I seek Thee. My soul thirsteth for Thee.

My flesh longeth for Thee. In a dry and thirsty land where no water is. I'm going to read an expression coming four times in this wonderful psalm. Verse 2. To see Thy power and Thy glory so as I see Thee in the sanctuary.

Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life. My lips shall praise Thee. Thus will I bless Thee while I live. I will lift up my hands in Thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness.

And my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips. When I remember Thee upon my bed. And meditate on Thee in the night watches. Because Thou has been my help. Therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice.

My soul follows hard after Thee. Thy right hand upholdeth me. But those that seek my soul to destroy it. Shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword. They shall be a portion for foxes.

But the king shall rejoice in God. Everyone that swears by him shall glory. But the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. The Lord will add his blessing to that reading from his word to our hearts tonight.

The Soul’s Desire, Delight, Diligence, and Deliverance

I want to draw your attention to this expression coming full time. The expression is, oh, my soul. Didn't you notice that? Verse number one. You have the soul's desire. Verse number five. You have the soul's delight.

Verse number eight. You have the soul's diligence. And in verse number nine. You have the soul's deliverance. May I go back over these four little d's? Verse number one. You have the soul's desire. My soul thirsteth for Thee.

My flesh longeth for Thee. Then verse five. We see overflowing to the soul's delight. My soul shall be satisfied with marrow and fatness. Then down at verse number eight. You've got the soul's diligence.

My soul follows hard after Thee. Then verse number nine. My soul's deliverance. For those that seek my soul to destroy it shall go into lower parts of the earth. Oh, beloved fellow believer. I know full well you did not come to these beautiful conference grounds just to have a holiday or a nice vacation.

I believe you didn't come down just to get away from the cold bleak Canadian weather or the northern weather of the United States of America. I believe you came down here because you had a desire. You had a real desire.

And it is a spiritual desire. It's a healthy desire. And notice what it says. My soul thirsteth not after any dogma. Not after any theory nor creed nor catechism. Not after any religion. My soul thirsteth for Thee.

There's a secret. My soul thirsteth for Thee. Now, isn't that a healthy desire? What does the Lord Jesus say? Blessed is the man hungrest and thirstest after righteousness for he shall be filled. If any man thirsts, he says, let him come unto me and drink.

So you're coming to the right source when you're coming to our adorable Lord Jesus Christ. My soul thirsteth for Thee. Now notice again the next phrase. My flesh longeth for Thee. I presume the expression is more in the light of being homesick.

Homesick. My flesh. You find the whole man. My soul. My flesh. Longeth for Thee. In a dry and thirsty land where no water is. I know, dear saint of God, this is a dry and thirsty land in which we are living.

There isn't anything for the spiritual man or woman or young person in this old tottering cosmos. Nothing whatever. To him it's a dry and thirsty land where no water is. The spiritual man finds no springs of water here.

None whatever. So he looks away from these to the fountainhead. He looks away to the Lord. And notice verse 5 of the previous psalm. What does it say there? My soul waits only upon God. For my expectation is from Him.

Verse 11 of the same 62nd psalm. All power belongs unto the Lord. So dear child of God, tonight look away. Look away to Him in whom all power is invested. All power belongs unto Him. All my expectation is in Him.

And Psalm 87, the very last phrase says, and I love this. All my springs are in Thee, O Lord. Oh, isn't that just lovely? Have you proved that so down here during these days of conference? Can you truthfully say, all my expectation is in Him in whom there is all power?

Because all my springs, all my resources are in the Lord Himself. And so again tonight you can say, Lord, Thou art enough. The mind and heart are filled. Oh, fix my earnest gaze, O Holy Lord, on Thee.

That with Thy beauty occupied I elsewhere none may see. Yes, beloved, you have turned your eyes upon Jesus. You have looked full in His wonderful face. And you have found the things of the earth becoming strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Seeing Christ’s Power in the Sanctuary

Now with that before your heart goes to verse number 2. This is the desire of your heart, but where does it lead you to? It leads you right into the sanctuary. And what does it say here in verse number 2?

To see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary. Now you have been in the confines, the precincts of this delightful chapel. And in these wonderful, congenial circumstances. And no doubt you have beheld the glory of the Lord.

No doubt His power being manifested to you in one way and in another. And in a way, my friend, you can't describe to anybody else. It's indescribable. You can't explain it to anyone. It's so sacred, it's so precious between you and the Lord.

Those have been intimate moments. Those have been moments, my friend, of this close intimacy. Transactions taking place between your heart and the Lord. And you're just about to leave this conference centre and go back to your own sphere.

All I want to tell you, keep your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. No squinting. You know, when Peter was walking on the water. Remember how the Lord goes walking upon the water to Peter, I mean to the disciples.

See, I'm so glad I've got a Lord who can see in the dark. Aren't you? Ah, He can see in the dark. And I know no darkness can hide from the eyes of our adorable Lord Jesus. And He sees them toiling. He sees them, their lives are in jeopardy.

And what does He do? Does He go there and just pray for them? Not at all. He goes walking over the foaming billows. Walking towards them. And remember, He calls the only one word. Sergio! Be of good cheer.

It is I. Be not afraid. Peter says, Emmet, pray thou, Lord, bid me come to thee. And the Lord said, Come. And Peter did something I would never have done. At least I don't think I would. Peter jumped out of that boat and began walking to the Lord upon the water.

Everything went all right as long as Peter kept his eyes focused upon the Lord Jesus. As long as Peter tried to tilt his vision, everything went all right. When Peter got one eye upon the waves which were mountainous high, he saw them about to envelop him and take him down into a watery grave.

The Bible says,. And Peter, beginning to think, cried out, Lord, save me. Oh, I'm so glad Peter didn't pray for twenty minutes. How did he pray for twenty minutes? He had been drowned. He just said, Lord, save me.

And the Lord stretched out His hand and caught him up and He said, Oh, ye of little taste, wherefore didst thou doubt? Now that word doubt comes from the very same root as the word squint. I know your word for squint means narrowed in to a given point.

The old Saxon words are words that mean cross-eyed. Cross-eyed. Looking two ways at once. And Peter got one eye upon the wave and one eye upon Christ. And those waves were Peter's circumstances. And Peter, beginning to think, he noticed those waves about to envelop him and about to take him down.

Oh, Peter forgot two things. One, those waves were under the feet of his Lord and the laws of nature must obey the Lord of nature. I want you to get that. Oh, you say this is wonderful. These are wonderful circumstances.

Wonderful surroundings. But when I go back to those neighbours, back to those people up north, I don't know how I'm going to put up with them. Oh, you've got one eye upon your circumstances and one eye upon Christ?

Oh, no. Oh, no. You go that way, you're going to sink. No squinting, my brother. No squinting, my sister. Both eyes focused upon Christ. Two evangelists met one day back in Scotland. One said to the other, How are you, my brother?

Oh, he said, I'm not so bad under the circumstances. The other one said, What on earth are you doing there? In them but never under them. Got that? In them but never under them. And so I find so many dear children of God, they get one eye upon the circumstances.

Oh, if I could only get away from this place. I would be wonderful. I would be so happy. It would just be so wonderful. They forget. They're taking their old self with them. They are themselves in trouble, not the circumstances.

And themselves are taking, and no matter where they go, they'll never be happy until that big self goes to the cross. And when it's cancelled at the cross, then something's going to take place, you know.

Isn't that true? Amen? Pretty weak one, but I think you'll agree with me. But here it is now. And then they get one eye upon their fellow believer until they think what their fellow believer ought to be doing and ought not to be doing.

And of course they begin to think. Then they get one eye upon Pope's self. They occupy with self. They get so self-centered and egotistical, and they just keep looking in all the time. And they get so despondent.

They get so discouraged. Oh, beloved, tonight both eyes turned upon the Lord Jesus. If you'll get nothing else, now get this. Please don't squint. Both eyes on Christ. You're going from the mountaintop, and you're going back, my friend, maybe to the valley.

But don't squint. Keep your eyes upon Christ. He'll never disappoint you. He'll never let you down. You beheld His glory, and so now you've been changed from glory to glory into the same image. And now His power has been made manifest to you.

You've known that power in a living, vital way. He's the same Lord. He's the same Lord. His power is not something apart from Himself. He is your power. He is your joy. He is your peace. He is your life.

He is your love. He's just absolutely everything to you. And when He's in your heart and upon the throne of your life, all these things are just so blessed, aren't they? Verse number three, because I see my time's rushing.

God’s Steadfast Love and the Need to Love Christ

Because thy lovingkindness is better than life. Do you know what I saw just now? No, no, no. There was that someone just looked round at the clock. Well, did you ever? I won't look at that person, at least not just now.

And because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Now, this word lovingkindness means steadfast love. Because thy steadfast love is better than life. And you know, like Himself, His love is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.

His steadfast love. I love this, don't you? Now, there's a great man of God, and I still is very godly. A great man of God named Mr. Harold St. John. We call him St. John back in Britain. We call him St. John across here.

But someone asked him one day in the city of Hereford in England, Mr. St. John, why is it you're always so ragedly happy? You remember him with his lovely rosy cheeks, lovely white snowy hair. The sage just beamed and he said, well, if there's a reason, it is this.

Every morning when I awake, I wrap my soul in His steadfast love. Mr. Alfred Mace, another great giant, while in Victoria, British Columbia, was asked a similar question. Mr. Mace, why is it you're always so triumphantly happy?

And he gave almost a similar answer. There's never a morning before I leave my room, but I bathe my soul in His steadfast love. No wonder that one was ragedly happy and the other triumphantly happy. And everybody noticed this.

Everybody could see this. That one was ragedly happy, the other one triumphantly happy. And the reason? They knew the secret of the sanctuary. They knew the joy of getting alone with God. Before they saw any other face, they saw His face.

Before they heard any other voice, they heard the voice of that adorable Lord Jesus Christ. And in the quiet of their own room there, in the sanctuary, in the secret place, they just bathed their souls, and one enveloped and raptured his soul in the love of the Lord Jesus.

And they had been girded for the battle of life. They set forth into a new day, strengthened and fortified with the love of God surging abroad in their heart by the Holy Spirit. Oh, my beloved brother, my beloved sister, what do I know of this?

These are moments you just can't describe to anybody else. They're just so precious and they're just so sacred. You know what I'm talking of, don't you? If not, I trust you'll learn the secret tonight of getting alone and to bring your soul in steadfast love, to become Christ-occupied, moment by moment.

Now, I believe today, the greatest need among us, as God's beloved people, irrespective of what label we may have upon us, I believe it's not more ministering, it's not more manpower, it's not more new methods, it's not more ministry, more meetings.

Not. I believe the greatest need is for the individual believer to fall in love with Jesus Christ. Got that? I believe that's the greatest need among us today, is for the individual believer to fall in love afresh with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh, the wonder of this, beloved, tonight. Recognize the value, moment by moment, it was Professor Drummond who said, it's the expulsion of a new affection for Jesus Christ. Isn't that true? And my friends, when we're heartfully in love with Him, and supercharged by the Holy Spirit, then, my friends, all we need, we shall find completely supplied because of a living intimacy with the living Lord, our beloved Lord Jesus Christ.

Keep that before you and flip down to verse number five. And now what does he say? He's just overflowing, just bubbling right over, and he says, my soul shall be satisfied. The soul that was desiring in verse number one is now delighting in verse number five.

My soul satisfied as with marrow and fatness. He can look up and say triumphantly, now none but Christ can satisfy. None other name for me. This love, this life, this lasting joy, Lord Jesus found in me.

This word, I love it, marrow, speaks of spiritual enrichment, and fatness speaks of spiritual strength. When we go into New York, we live with a doctor there, and he told me that marrow was essential for enriching the blood.

And he also finds that the stock made from the marrow is most beneficial for those who suffer from nervous exhaustion. It's proving a far greater success than all the pills and the medicine the medical world can give them, just the stock made from the marrow.

Now as a boy in Scotland, my mother used to send me down to the village butcher to get a marrow bone to make soup with. Remember that? The marrow bone, how beneficial, how nutritious, the stock made from the marrow.

And my friend, the medical world today is finally proving a greater benefit to those suffering from nervous exhaustion than anything else the medical world can give them. Just a simple thing like that, call it beef tea if you like, for the stock made from the marrow.

Now please, I am not giving you a prescription, at least I'm not going to charge you five dollars for it, but try it out if you like. The marrow is essential for enriching the blood and also for strengthening and fortifying the whole nervous system.

Try it out. Even Dr. Dan will agree with me. I'm sure he will. At least he smiles anyway. Now may I help you right here? Might be a real help to you too, dear children of God. The marrow is essential for enriching.

The fatness is essential for strengthening. Now get the picture from the book of Ruth. Remember way back in the book of Ruth, that wonderful love story? There you'll find neomine, down the land of Nome.

Ruth, Naomi, and the Reward of Faithful Devotion

Neomine means pleasantness or joy. And now you'll find, even through her suffering and sorrow, stripped of her husband, stripped of her two sons, there she is with her daughters-in-law. And the sweetness of her character shines bright through her sorrow.

And the daughters-in-law are won by the mother-in-law. They said, God visited my people and giving them bread, I'm going back to my own land. And they say, we're going back with you. Ah. Orpha means high swiftness of feet.

Ruth means friendliness or beauty. And you see the three of them going off. And there you'll find them, friends, standing at the crossroads. The frontier of Bethlehem, Judah, and the land of Moab. Now the acid taste comes.

The crucial moment always arrives. And oh my Ruth, her daughters-in-law to the test. Orpha kissed her mother-in-law and went back. And you'll never read of Orpha again. Orpha is a picture of a mere professor who in some evangelistic campaign puts her hand up her son's decision card, but there'd be no heart regeneration, no real movement of the Spirit of God within that heart.

And they go back and they go back and you'll never hear of them again. But Ruth, what a difference. Ruth is a real successor. And Ruth said, entreat me not to leave you to return from following after thee.

Where thou goest, I will go. Where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people. Thy God shall be my God. Where thou diest, I will die and there will I be buried for the wonderful baptismal text.

Where thou diest, I will die and there will I be buried. And what happens? We find Ruth going all the way with Nehomai. Nehomai is a picture of Christ in humiliation, stripped in death, known the bitterness of death.

And now we find young Ruth is undivided to Nehomai, her deliverer. And back they go to the land of Bethlehem, Judah. And what happens? Cutting my long story short, she's introduced a man whose name is Boah.

A man whose name is Boah. Boah means strong one. And the Bible says he's a mighty man of wealth. Do you get the picture from Psalm 63 verse 5? Beloved, you have here spiritual enrichment in the marrow.

He was a mighty man of wealth. His name means strong one. And there you have the spiritual strength and the fatness. My friend, what would Ruth have missed had she not gone all the way with Nehomai? May I picture here that story for you?

Nehomai is a picture of Christ in humiliation. The Boah is a picture of Christ in resurrection. In resurrection. And we find now young Ruth linked up with Boah. And as a result of that union, there is rest, there is joy, there is love, and there is fruit.

Do you remember the picture? Down in the land of Moab when she was married to Melon, there was no fruit. No fruit. And remember, dear child of God, the old nature, the old life can never produce anything for God.

Remember that. The old life will never produce anything for God. It's when you're linked up with Christ in resurrection power, there's going to be fruit, there's going to be rest, there's going to be joy, there's going to be love, there's going to be life and life in abundance.

And as a result of that union came Obed. Obed means waiting, watching, and worshipping. And from Obed came Jesse, and from Jesse came King David. So do you see the picture? Christ in humiliation, both Christ in resurrection, the coming King, Christ the coming Lord, and in between we're waiting and we're watching for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you get the picture dear child of God? Oh how much Ruth would have missed had she not gone all the way with her deliverer. Now what is the picture? Our union with Christ in death. You have died. You are buried.

Now you are raised with Christ. Oh to know Him in resurrection power we've been singing. I may know Him in all His power. There's only one way my brother and my sister. It's through death. Now as you recognise your union with Christ in death, Geoffrey Booth says, there is no resurrection apart from crucifixion.

There is no crown without any cross. And dear child of God, if you want to know Him in resurrection power, you must die. And you must recognise your union with Christ in death. And you'll never know your union with Him in resurrection.

And when you're coming to resurrection power, there is light. There is fruit luscious and precious and joy unspeakable and full of glory and inner serenity and inner peace the world can never give you.

And the world can never take it away from you as long as you keep your eyes focused upon Jesus Christ. Set your affection on things above, not on the things in the earth. And the result will be fruit luscious and joy.

Meditation, Praise, and Spiritual Diligence

Time won't allow me to develop that, but slip down please to, will you, to verse number seven. Because in verse number six it speaks about both day and night, we belong to Him, and He is the meditation of our heart.

Oh, is it wonderful to have the Lord the meditation of your heart, to wake up in the middle of the night and your thoughts thinking of Him. Oh, the joy of that. What kind of thoughts do you have when you wake in the night?

Are they thoughts of the Lord Jesus? Does He fill your waking thoughts? Remember, as a man thinketh in his heart, so is He. May I be allowed to quote Mr. A .P. Gibbs? You're not what you think you are, but what you think you are.

You are what you think. What kind of thoughts do you have in the early mornings? Are they of Him? Precious is that conditional spirit of that soul. And notice verse number seven. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

Do you notice in verse number five it says, My mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips. And when your heart's occupied with Him and all His resurrection and power and glory and you're linked up with Him, then beloved, it's not long before your mouth's going to speak for these praises.

So many Christians are like the Arctic Ocean. They're frozen at the mouth. The only way to get them defrosted is for the warm, white love of Jesus Christ to be shed abroad in their heart by the Holy Spirit.

And when that love is so white hot, it touches the lips and redeems the Lord. See? See? Say so. Now it's rather a weak one, but they say so. Very good. Now we go to Father, shall we? Verse seven. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

Ruth 2:12 and the Reward for Caring for In-Laws

Do you know... I know you're listening carefully. You all with me? Some of you look rather... Yes? You with me? You know there's a special reward for looking after your mother-in-law. You say, what?

You say, I need it. There's a special reward for looking after your mother-in-law. How do I know? The book of Ruth. Boaz says to Ruth, It has been shown me what thou hast done for thy mother-in-law from the day of thy husband's death.

A full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel under whose wings thou hast come to try. Isn't that lovely? So there's a full reward for those who look after their in-laws. I'm not being funny.

I mean it this time. You know, it's truly true. You know, back in Britain when somebody passes away they usually get a mourning band or a black diamond on their arm. Pat the Irishman went into a dry goods store to get a mourning band.

So someone said to him, the girl said to him, What width do you want it, Pat? Oh, he said, I didn't know there were different widths. Oh, yes. The nearer and the dearer the relative, the wider the band.

Oh, he said, give me a shoelace. It's my mother-in-law. But Pat didn't know the truth of Ruth chapter 2 verse number 12, did he? A full reward shall be given thee of the Lord God of Israel. You know, I had the best mother-in-law in all the world.

You may have the second best, but I had the best mother-in-law in all the world. I read it. She's in heaven today. I had the joy of hearing confession of faith from that dear woman. I buried her. I believe she's in heaven today.

She's the best mother-in-law I ever had. She's the only one, mind you. And I have a feeling she'll be the only one too. May I help you right here? She said to some folks one day, Jim Boss was the best son-in-law I have.

She had another three by the way. But she said, I don't know how he'll turn out. May I pause just now? Do you have trouble with your in-laws? Do you really? Here's a secret. Become Christ-occupied. Christ-occupied.

And I want to tell you there's a special reward for looking after your in-laws. On the campus here, a marriage counselor came to see me the other day. And he went and turned around and said, I'm counseling people all the time.

I've come to you. I want counsel. You don't know this marriage counselor, so don't worry about it. Don't try and think. We got down to Branstown. The girl says, no one ever talked to me like this. I'm not talking to you.

The Lord's talking to you. The Lord got the victory. The burden was lifted. Christ was enthroned. Lord of all. Here's a secret. Here's number eight. My soul follows hard after thee. Thy right hand upholdeth me.

Diligence in Business, Study, and the Christian Life

Now may I pause? Thy right hand upholdeth me. Now this word, my soul, the soul of diligence, and the word here is a businessman's word. A man must be diligent in his business. If not, it's not very long before he goes into bankruptcy and the business goes into liquidation.

If a man's not, what do you call it, diligent in his business, diligent in his service, then what happens? He goes into bankruptcy incorrectly so. It's a student's word. And here we find the student must be diligent in his studies.

If not, he just flops out in the exam. The athlete's word, an athlete must be diligent in his training or he flops out in the field or in the time of competition. Now get the picture. The Bible says, not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.

Now the businessman should be diligent in business, but how much more about the business, the business of the Lord. The student should be diligent in his studies, but how much more so the study of the word of God.

In 2 Timothy 2 .5 it says, 15 rather, Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed of rightly dividing the word of truth. The athlete must be diligent in his training and correctly so.

It's good to have a body that is fit and strong and healthy. See the Lord never encourages laziness, whether in the physical or in the spiritual. Be diligent, as the diligent soul is made fat. The diligent soul is made fat.

Now won't you get that and remember fatness belongs to the Lord. And fat is precious to the Lord. But now what about the athlete? It says in Timothy again, A bodily exercise provideth for a little while, but those that exercise themselves unto godliness will do it a life eternal.