Jack Jurgens's Ministry Library

Ministry from Matthew Cain on Sunday afternoon.

[0:00] Our reading now will be in the book of 2 Corinthians 5, please.

[0:30] For we know that if our earthly tent, I am reading from the CSB, we know that if our earthly tent we live in is destroyed, our present body, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands.

[1:29] For if we are out of our mind, it is for God. If we are in our right mind, it is for you.

[2:10] Even if we have known Christ from a worldly perspective, yet now we no longer know Him in this way.

[2:49] God is making his appeal through us, we plead on Christ’s behalf. Be reconciled to God.

[3:54] Other times, the experiences are more positive, while still out of our comfort zone, it is a more positive experience and it shapes our thinking for a little while.

[4:24] Or traveling with seed sowers to Mexico a couple of times and visiting my brother and his family in the work of the Lord there. A little travel can often broaden and enhance our perspective.

[5:42] Most of the change that is going to take place in your life, maybe you’ve just heard some things and you’ve thought about some changes you need to make, well, if those changes are going to be made, your commitment, your determination to make those changes is happening right now.

[5:58] If there’s going to be a difference when you go outside the walls of Eastern Christian school, most likely the commitment to making that change, the determination to make that change, it’s happening right now. It happens to people in their seats.

[7:07] Seemingly a bit of a self-righteous and a self-seeking man, a Pharisee of the Pharisees.

[7:43] And what he’s doing now in 2nd Corinthians is letting the Corinthians see a changed heart.

[8:52] Having a proper perception of self hinges on you having a proper perspective of your relationship to Christ and knowing your place in Christ.

[10:09] And some of you might sometime in your Bible study and in your reading, you might pick up some commentaries and you will read about a new perspective on Paul, NPP, new perspective on Paul.

[10:54] No. Never. Never in the Bible does the word Israel include Gentile believers.

[11:56] The world sends you a different message about self.

[12:22] Sam Albury says, just be true to yourself sounds very intuitive.

[12:58] It, but to take up my cross and deny it.

[14:15] We don’t want to bring the culture of self-entitlement and self-expression and self-aggrandizement, into the church of God.

[14:48] It could be small things. Maybe you inconvenience yourself by staying a little bit later when the meeting has ended to visit with people and to talk with some people who could use a little chat.

[15:15] Maybe when you’re choosing your course schedule next semester, instead of just choosing the one that is most easy, maybe you think and you choose the one, what would permit me to be with the church as much as possible, to spend time with the Christians?

[16:34] We don’t want our models to be self-seeking men and women. Look for the Christians who you see, they love God, and they love their neighbor as themselves and emulate them.

[17:56] The cross should change my perspective. It should enhance my perspective and continually be impacting my perspective, and it should change my view of suffering.

[18:32] Now he’s enduring suffering like Christ did.

[19:12] And so presently, you groan in the earthly tent of your burdened body.

[19:32] But the hope of the gospel is that we’re gonna be clothed with the best looking clothing that we could ever wear, sinless body with no effect of sorrow and sickness so God’s salvation is for our entire person spirit soul and body we tend to speak about body soul spirit, but the scriptures in first Thessalonians 5 says may God sanctify, you spirit soul and body but it includes it all and we look for the Savior in a soon coming day he’s going to come and he’s going to transform the body of our humiliation, our humble condition. He’s going to change it to be like his, glorious body. So a gospel-shaped perspective on suffering, it includes the hope of resurrection. I’m going through this now, but it’s just helping me to look forward and to think about what God has for me in Christ. He raised the Lord Jesus, he will raise up our bodies. And the Christ who loved you when he hung on a cross to die for you, the Christ of resurrection glory still loves you deeply. He wants you to be home with him in glory. It’s great to be a Christian.

[20:55] We think of the Lord Jesus loving us as He hung there on the cross, of course He did, but as He’s up high as our high priest, as our shepherd, as our advocate, He loves us.

[21:07] Cares for every pain you experience, and it does us good to keep contemplating the love of the Lord Jesus for us. It did Paul good. He says the love of Christ compels us.

[22:37] In Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself. to himself. Verse 20, we are ambassadors for Christ. Since God is making His appeal through us, we plead on Christ’s behalf.

[22:56] Verse 14, if one died for all, then all died. You see, his perspective was changed by the cross.

[24:08] I’ve purposely saved the interpretation of these couple verses to right now, in the middle of Sunday afternoon, so that if you disagree with me, maybe you’ll be dozing off by now, and then we’ll never know the difference, and we won’t be the worst because of it.

[24:52] I think that’s supported by verse number 16. He says, we do not know anyone, no man from a natural perspective.

[26:12] Some people who talk in awful ways and do awful things when they leave your office on the weekend.

[27:34] Now when I say that, there’s probably one troublemaker here thinking, I would like to corner Matthew at the supper break and ask him how that relates.

[27:56] That’s a time for a long drink of water, isn’t it?

[29:18] Maybe some of you have wayward adult children, and I know that’s a grief, and the Lord knows that grief.

[30:35] You could be saved right now, because the work to reconcile you back to God has been done in the Lord Jesus at the cross.

[30:50] And I’m preaching a message from God that has the power to change anyone’s life in that meeting.

[31:15] It’s a message for every single individual and every individual that believes in that moment that they believe the gospel They’re reconciled to God whatever they look like like, whatever they sound like, whatever they smell like, once they are reconciled, they are a new creation in Christ and we should treat them as such. This is why C.S. Lewis said, you have never met, there are no ordinary people. You have never met a mere mortal. Civilizations are mortal. Nations and cultures are mortal.

[32:26] And the world will tell you, maybe on your heart a little bit, is to take the gospel somewhere, and the world will tell you, don’t do that.

[33:24] The cross has changed his perspective of self, not self-justification or self-expression, but for me to live is Christ. It’s changed his perspective on sufferings. If Christ, the perfect servant, knew sufferings and I’m following him, then there’s going to be sufferings, but there’s resurrection glory to follow. The cross has changed his view of society.

[34:46] I do think if I was in closer contact with Christ, I’d be in closer contact with the, society, with the message of reconciliation.

[36:04] Scratch that one. More than just trying to tell ourselves that we need to spread the gospel more.

[36:28] Because I’d think about what they’re missing, what I’m enjoying, and then I’d have that sense that I am a debtor to men and women in that sense, that God has entrusted this message to us.

[37:54] I’ve been crucified with Christ. It’s no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

Ministry from David Gilliland on Sunday afternoon.

[0:01] Now, again, I express my appreciation of the kind invitation to be here, the warm welcome, when we did arrive, and the privilege of sharing with our brethren over the various sessions of the conference.

[1:11] And we’ll just pick up one or two verses to give us the context here.

[1:18] Verse 1, At that time heard the Tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus and said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist. He is risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works to show forth, themselves in him. Verse 10, And he sent and beheaded John in the prison, and his head was was brought in a charger and given to the damsel, and she brought it into her mother.

[2:47] He went up into a mountain apart to pray. And when the evening was come, he was there alone.

[3:38] Out of the epistles, we have Hebrews, and out of the evangelists, we have the gospel according to Matthew. We’ve already heard quite extensively and helpfully from the epistle to the Hebrews, in the earlier sessions of the conference and this morning. And that particular book presents the Lord Jesus as we were reminded as the priest. When we come to this other book that has a Jewish background to gospel according to Matthew, of course, this gospel is presenting the Lord Jesus as the King. Those were the two great aspirations, the two great institutions in ancient Judaism.

[4:28] The king has a scepter. The priest has a sacrifice. The king has a throne. The priest has a temple.

[5:15] Then I want to say something about a section within the book.

[5:57] The conference this weekend, very encouraging, very positive. As a visitor here, I don’t think ever I have been at one of the conferences here where so many younger believers were present.

[6:08] And where the interest was so keen, and the attention was so riveted upon the Word of God.

[7:30] The first reference to the sun in the book of Genesis, God set a great light and a greater light in the sky to rule by day and so on.

[8:51] They have heard the story of the messianic star and the Messiah who will fill the dark sky of human unbelief and depravity and ignorance. We have seen his star. What a wonderful phenomenon in the sky was that messianic signal that God’s Son had now arrived and light was now beginning to shine such as never shone before, the Messianic star, as we commence the New Testament.

[9:33] The Lord Jesus, in that final announcement, cheers the heart of the prophet John.

[10:50] It’s making the bridge back across the centuries to the Old Testament, the book of the generation, the book of the genesis. That’s the Greek word for generation, the book of the genesis. You say, I’ve heard that word genesis before. I think you have. And you’ve heard the word genesis right at the beginning of the Bible. There was an old genesis. There was a genesis for the natural creation. And the head of that natural creation was Adam. And the book of the generations of Adam we find in Genesis chapter 5. And the book of the generations of Adam tells us, and he died, and he died, and he died, and he died, and he died, and he died. But thank God there’s a new genesis. Not the genesis of the natural creation. There is the genesis of the new creation.

[12:13] And every entry in the line of Adam’s generation has died. The sentence of sin, the Savior has brought in life, a new birth. And there has been the opening of a window of new hope. What a Genesis there has been with the arrival of Christ. The book of the Genesis of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham, the bridge between Adam and Christ. Abraham is halfway, approximately round figures, 2,000 years.

[12:49] And God is telling us that right as soon as sin entered into the world, he said, I have been measuring and I’ve been marching the century.

[13:43] You say, David did have a son. He built a temple. Yes, he built a temple. He was a builder.

[14:06] The Son of David built a sanctuary. The Son of Abraham became a sacrifice.

[14:44] And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Here we are, dear Christians, they tell me, they tell me in some of the modernistic thinking that Christianity is on the decline.

[14:57] That Christianity is in a shamble, that Christianity is obsolete and dated and will soon be outmoded. It’s struggling for its existence and it will soon disappear and become nothing but a bare mention in the books of history and in the chronicles of antiquity. No, no, I tell you, we trust in the Savior and he said, I will build my church and some of the building blocks, some of the living stones are right here this afternoon and the Savior is building still.

[15:37] Composed of every saint that owns no savior but the living stone.

[16:34] And upon that altar, he stretches out himself in self-abnegating love, and he makes the ultimate sacrifice, covers the throne of God with everlasting glory. And we appreciate, we appreciate that Matthew is not only a book with, with a book that makes a bridge, and a book that makes a new beginning, and a book with interesting boundaries. In fact, in fact, that’s a little thing to look out for when you come to reading the books of the Bible, very pronounced in what we call the four Gospels.

[18:01] You say, what has happened? When Luke’s gospel commences, there’s a man in the temple praying that the Messiah might come.

[19:00] It’s not three human presence. He says, all power is given unto me in heaven and on earth.

[19:28] And we represent him this afternoon. That’s what gives Christianity its dignity. So, through the book itself, and I could say quite a number of other things, I refrain from doing that, but the broad parameters, the framework of the book, many a picture, you know there are many pictures, many beautiful portraits and landscapes, it all depends the kind of frame. If you have a nice picture and you put the wrong frame, it will detract from the picture. If you put the right frame, it will enhance the picture and it will lead the eye of the beholder into the center of the picture and will actually facilitate focus. So it is with the books of the Bible. God puts His book in a special frame and when we begin to admire the frame, our mind, our souls, our hearts, our eyes are carried to the interior of the picture and the frame is an invitation to make a closer inspection of the contents. As far as this section is concerned, and I’ll just mention this very, very quickly. In fact, I should nearly omit it, but I’ll just mention it. This section of the gospel begins with chapter 4, verse 17, From that time forth Jesus began to see to repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

[20:48] From that time forth. And that goes right on to chapter 16, and again you get this little key From that time forth, Jesus began to preach the kingdom of God. No!

[21:17] And from chapter 16 to the end of the gospel, it’s the passion of the King. We’ve been hearing about the priesthood and the kingship of the Lord Jesus already today. Our brother was reminding us about Melchizedek, the king of Salem. It’s not a very interesting, it’s not a very provocative title. He has already explained it to us, Salem. The first mention in the Bible of the great city of Jerusalem. It’s Matthew’s gospel that tells us that Jerusalem is the city of the great king.

[21:54] And all of that was presaged in the arrival upon the stage of history of Melchizedek, the King of Salem. The King will come back to that city of Jerusalem, and that very point on planet earth will become the pivot of his rule in the coming kingdom era. And fanning out from Jerusalem right across the world, there will be the global government of the glorious Christ, the city of the great King, the very place where the ground received the precious blood that he shed, the very place that knew his shame, that very same city will become the theatre of his glory.

[22:52] To see Him reigning, worshipped, glorified, adored. What a grand day that will be. But Matthew tells us about the passion of the King. And from chapter 16, with a steady step, He moves to the cross. But in these earlier chapters, we have the great presentation of the.

[23:18] King. His words. Read about all that great so-called Sermon on the Mount. His works.

[24:25] Rest in pardon and relief from the load of guilt and grief. Rest in perfect peace with God.

[25:29] The Canaan rest that was partially enjoyed when Joshua brought the people into the land of milk and honey, the conversion rest.

[26:02] The word for rest, the common word for rest, not the sabbatismus word, which is worthy of further investigation.

[26:58] And that’s the rest that we have found in Christ. When we came burdened with our sin, according to Matthew chapter 11, He lifted it up. He took away the old yoke of sin, and our shoulders chafed under all the burden and the blistering heat of our sins. He lifted it up, and he gave us relief.

[28:20] And all the struggles were over, and all the strivings ceased, and He lifted up and gave me rest, and I laid down my useless works and found a resting place in Him.

[29:37] Maybe you’ve walked away from it, just return onto your rest and again go back to where it all began.

[30:41] Sometimes He goes to the seclusion of the desert. You say, what do you go to the shore for?

[31:21] When the Lord has gone away. He has been rejected by Israel. He is withdrawn from the nation.

[31:40] Oh, you see, that’s a sad story, isn’t it? The great servant of Christ decapitated, just to satisfy the base lust and the bloodthirst of this ruthless king. It’s a sad story. It’s a story of sorrow. We’re told the disciples of John the Baptist came and they gathered up the headless corp and they buried him. You talk about a sad funeral. I often wonder why the Lord didn’t go to the funeral. I’ve often wondered why the Lord never visited John the Baptist in prison. You see, the man that served with such sterling dignity, why did the Lord not go to see him at least? If he didn’t bring him out at least, why did he not even go to his funeral? John’s disciple, there’s some sad funerals, dear.

[32:37] Christians. While the Master’s away, there’ll be days when we’ll follow the funeral cortege to many a grave. Story of sorrow, days of sorrow. Then the next is the days of service. The Lord brings these disciples and they have a great day feeding all these multitudes and taking the bread and distributing and a wonderful day of service it was. I think it was a high point in their experience. That’s a good story. Then the third story is the story of the storm.

[33:11] That’s what it’ll be like when the master’s away. Days of sorrow, days of service, and days of storm.

[33:47] When you’re sad, and when sorrow grips your soul, and when the tear trickles down the cheek, falling from the fountain of a broken heart, just tell him.

[35:10] He says, O ye of little faith, he treads the way, and he comes with his presence, and he speaks peace into their soul. He says it as I, be not afraid, trusting as the moments fly, trusting as the days go by, till within the jasper wall, trusting Jesus, that is all.

[36:30] And it’s not now the revelation of Christ in this great section, and it’s not now the rejection of Christ, it’s the reaction of Christ. You say, how did the Lord Jesus deal with all these different circumstances? Well, in his service, he becomes an example for us.

[36:59] I should have been here 10 minutes ago. But this is what I want to say and finish, my little message. This is 23, verse 23, for the year 23. Is there anyone here today and you’re finding it difficult to cope? You’re stressed. You’re distressed, D-I-S-T-R-E-S-E-D.

[38:12] What did the Lord Jesus do? Well, there are three words in verse number 23. It says, when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray, day. And when the evening was come, he was there alone.” My three words are these, away.

[38:37] Apart on the mountain alone. That’s how to de-stress.

[39:50] There has to be a discipline, there has to be a boundary. I don’t know what the multitude is in your life.

[40:53] How we expect to hear the voice of God. When we’re always open to the voice and texts of others, I don’t know, you have probably more science in those things than I have.

[41:39] You see things with a different vision. You see things from a different vantage point.

[42:32] He said, we can’t get onto higher ground. We’re already in heavenly places and praise Jesus.

[43:44] Hard to be alone nowadays.

[44:56] The light becomes clearer, and I say send certain things away. Go to the mountain apart and learn what it is to spend time alone. We find comfort in company. Company is good. We’re not meant to be hermits, but there are times we need to be detached from the human and touch the heavenly.

[46:09] Above, upon the mountain top, alone with God. We mutter, we sputter, we fume, and we spurt.

[46:35] When all that we need is a short time with Him.

Ministry after the breaking of bread from Jonathan Seed.

[0:01] Hebrews chapter seven. When I was very young, there was an old Dutch preacher named Hans Bouman, and I remember him saying at a conference one time, when you’re stuck for time, you treat your sermon like a fish and you cut off the tail and the head and you just give them the body.

[0:20] And so that’s what I’m going to have to do this morning. Hebrews chapter number seven, and we’ll start reading in verse number one.

[0:49] Neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham, gave the tenth of the spoils. And verily, they that are the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham. But he whose descent is not counted from them, received tithes of Abraham and blessed him that had the promises. And without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better. Verse number 11, if therefore perfection, were by the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people receive the law, what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchizedek and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

[2:00] Spake nothing concerning priesthood. And yet it is yet far more evident that after the similitude of Melchizedek there ariseth another priest who was made not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

[2:37] For such an high priest became us, who was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, made higher than the heavens, who needeth not daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins and then for the people’s.

[3:03] But the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh a son who is consecrated forevermore.

[4:09] And I wanted to say this just very plainly and very clearly. When you’re studying or when you’re thinking about Melchizedek and his relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ, we have to get it the the right way around. Melchizedek or Christ does not resemble Melchizedek.

[5:13] And our love can grow, and our adoration can become deeper as we learn more and appreciate more about our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. I just wanted to mention very quickly, just thinking about the structure of the scriptures as we have a little bit this weekend and young people here in Bible study and getting things the right way around. Well, when it comes to the study of the Old Testament, one of the things that, sorry, the New Testament, one of the things that I’ve appreciated so much is how the New Testament authors are interpreting the Old Testament.

[5:41] I’ve noticed that they have absolute confidence in the Old Testament. The New Testament writers do.

[6:57] I want to say to the young people here, you know, I don’t like dropping names and all that sort of thing, you know, it’s kind of, anyway, but there’s one book I will recommend to you.

[8:07] And especially implied features. Implied features means this, the author recognizes, that there are certain things, certain ways that the Old Testament was written that imply a truth.

[9:01] Spiritualized, allegorical interpretation of the Old Testament, making things up, whatever was convenient for the time. There’s lots of that in Christian history. But these, authors gave respect. They had confidence in the Old Testament and therefore they could come, to these conclusions. So that’s what we find here with Melchizedek. It’s a comparison.

[9:55] He notices a resemblance with respect to Melchizedek’s occupation. He notices a resemblance here with Melchizedek and the silence that we see in this chapter, a resemblance with the interaction that Melchizedek has with Abraham. And he says those things are significant. That’s interesting. I never noticed that before.

[11:03] That the priesthood that is described in Genesis 14 is a superior priesthood to even the priesthood, of Aaron. And then that makes sense of Psalm 110. And then that is what brings us to the conclusions of Hebrews chapter 7. He goes back and then he comes forward and goes back and then he comes forward, not reading into the text, but reading out of the text and filling in the gaps all along the biblical storyline until he reaches Hebrews 7 as he’s writing it. And he explains to us, this is how it all makes sense now in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. So what are these similarities that we see between Melchizedek and the Lord Jesus? He’s similar in terms of his name.

[12:14] This automatically brings us to the Lord Jesus Christ, what we were thinking about this morning.

[12:42] The righteousness of God is what caused the wrath of God to fall on the Lord Jesus Christ as he punished and condemned sin in the Lord Jesus Christ as he was made sin for us and as a result of the righteousness of God leading to the wrath being poured out on Christ. Now, we, have the peace of God. Without righteousness, there is no peace. And therefore, Melchizedek, he looks forward to the day when the Lord Jesus Christ would come. All of these stories in the Old Testament, they are designed. It’s a, fascinating aspect of the Old Testament. It is designed designed so that we would have these pictures that help us to understand who the Lord Jesus Christ is, when he would come and how he would come as we see in 1 Peter chapter number one.

[14:00] Have you seen one of those in the Old Testament? A king and a priest. I believe it’s in 2 Chronicles, and there’s a king who tries to be a priest and he’s reprimanded by the other priest because he’s not even able to offer incense in the sanctuary and he suffers the consequences for trying to bring together these two different offices that were never brought together. A king who was also a priest. We find, however, in Zechariah chapter 6 that there will be a priest who will sit, on the throne and that’s looking forward, looking forward to the Lord Jesus Christ, prefigured in Melchizedek. Very odd, very rare. We do not find, this isn’t normal. This is something that is different from the Levitical priesthood. This is different from the Sons of Aaron. This is different than the Old Covenant and it’s superior and it’s better and we should be thankful.

[14:54] And it should help our hearts grow in worship. As we consider our priest, our great high priest, who comes not from a line in which it was impossible to bring together a king and a priest, but from a line in which it was possible to bring these two great offices together.

[16:21] In fact, I would venture to say that to think that Melchizedek was a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ would ruin the argument of Hebrews 7. It doesn’t work.

[17:35] And therefore the Lord Jesus being one who is eternal, though he has a father, he is eternal.

[18:31] A man of superiority. We see that first with Abraham. With Abraham, we understand that in the loins of Abraham, you understand that in the Old Testament, Abraham, the man, a grandfather, for example, would be considered to have all of his descendants in his loins. He would represent all of his descendants. And therefore, when Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils to Melchizedek, paid, the tithe to Melchizedek, it was as if Aaron, as if the Levitical priesthood, you could say, or as if Aaron was paying a tithe to Melchizedek. Now that’s significant because the Israelites were supposed to pay tithes to the priests and not the other way around because they were superior in terms of their role. Now it comes to Abraham representing those priests who were supposed to receive. The one who was supposed to receive is the one who gave.

[19:58] That’s an accusation against dispensationalism, usually, that we believe that the Old Testament saints were saved by works and in the New Dispensation were saved by grace. That’s not the way that it was. They were not saved by the Ten Commandments. This was a tutor, it was a, schoolmaster to bring them to Christ. There was a point at which it would end. It was never intended to perfect. It was never intended to cleanse the inside, cleanse the heart, cleanse the mind, give them a new light, put the spirit in them. That was never the intention.

[20:28] And I should say, by the by, just in connection with yesterday, when it comes to the kingdom and all of these ideas about kingdom now and spreading the kingdom, along with the idea of the kingdom now comes the idea of the legitimacy of following the law today. Those two things always go together. And we must be very careful because the law has been abrogated. The law has been left behind on purpose. That was the design left behind because we have something better, something superior. We have a better priest. And as you go through the book of Hebrews, a good study for all the younger ones here today, all the better things in the book of Hebrews, we have this superior priest because he’s part of a superior priesthood, a priesthood that represents eternality. It goes on forever. And that’s the next argument here in the chapter. It’s a superior product, because through this priesthood, we receive perfection.

[21:49] What is it that this priest can do that the others could not?

[23:17] All those that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.

[24:02] Being purred, our conscience being purged so that we might be holy, So that we might before God be presented to Him at His coming and be presented when He is glorified and all the saints, when He returns with Him down to the earth.

Gospel from Matthew Cain.

[0:01] If you have a Bible, I would love you to turn with me to the book of the Psalms, Psalm 75.

[0:19] There is a well-known New Testament text that I would like you to think about as well, Romans 5 and 6. You could probably quote it with me, that when we were yet without strength or helpless, Just the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.

[1:23] Promotion, exaltation does not come from the east, the west, or the desert, for God is the judge.

[2:05] I suspect a good many of you have seen some of the BBC Planet Earth video series.

[3:27] I don’t know if you noticed, I tried to highlight in our reading references to horns.

[4:49] Or you might say, well, I know, I’ve memorized Isaiah 53. Fantastic, that’s a good thing for you to do.

[5:00] Or you might say, well, I don’t swear and curse like my friends do at school.

[5:32] No, you wouldn’t be this silly. You wouldn’t be so silly to think that you could out-duel God and fight against God and overcome God.

[6:29] In the strength of your own righteousness or goodness or purity, you’ve got nothing to go against God. He cuts off the horns of the wicked. He leaves them absolutely helpless.

[7:56] Christ has met our need at the cross.

[8:00] We need to think about what Christ has done for us. We’re all accountable to God for our sins.

[8:29] But not outside the control of the God of the Bible. Think about artificial intelligence.

[9:34] The initial reaction of many Americans, understandably, whether they were just soldiers or politicians or regular citizens or the scientists, when they first heard of the bomb’s success, 70,000 people being instantly killed.

[11:03] You think maybe you could run the universe a little bit better than God does.

[11:57] Savior and I’m a sinner. You’re a judge and I’m guilty. You’re my rescuer and I’ve got no other hope. You’re strong and I am weak. You’re pure and righteous and I’m a sinner.” That would be the right thing for you to do tonight. That would be the right attitude. That would be a right way to respond to the Word of God. Just to bow your knee to bow your heart before him and say Lord I know that you are right and I know that you’re righteous and I know that my sins deserve judgment but I know that the Lord Jesus has come for people just like that when we were without strength Christ died for the ungodly remember it is the heart of God to bless you God is the judge God is also the Savior that’s a lovely title of of God that you have in Titus, in 1 Timothy, in 2 Timothy, God, our Savior.

[13:01] His desire is to bless you, and so he gives you this warning that if you don’t repent and admit your guilt and your fault and your sin, then judgment comes.

[14:05] But God is our judge.

[14:26] We want to exalt ourselves. We like to convince other people of how good we are and how righteous we are, and how much we deserve to be saved. We read here it says, exaltation, verse 6, does not come from the east or the west or the desert. It’s like somebody who’s looking all around trying to find, is there anybody around here somewhere that recognizes my greatness and how good I am? And we look at Instagram and we look on Facebook and we look on Twitter or we look in the mirror and we’re hoping somebody’s going to see just how good we really are.

[15:49] He’s lifting up his horn against Tevin. Oh God, you know how good I am. I hardly need to tell you, but I’m gonna tell you anyway. You know how good I am, and I’m not as bad as this sinner over here. You know how much I give. You know all the good things that I do, and I’m thankful that I’m not as bad as other people. You, You know, God, how good I am.”.

[16:15] And the other man, he prays. You listen to his prayer. This is a prayer of salvation.

[17:05] That’s who I am. I’m a sinner. I don’t have a fancy horn to impress God.

[17:54] God will save them. That’s what the text says at the end of Psalm number 75. I will cut off the horns of the wicked but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up and when I put my faith in the Lord Jesus in God’s mercy he counted me among the righteous not because of what I have done but because of what the Lord Jesus has done and he’s already exalted the Lord Jesus and he’s going to lift me up with him it’s gonna be great one day I’m gonna be in heaven with the Lord Jesus? Are you going to be there? I hope you’ll be there because otherwise you’re drinking this awful cup that he describes. He says there is a cup, there is a cup in the Lord’s hand, and it’s not a cup of clear spring water. He says it’s a cup full of wine blended with spices.

[19:05] When I was a boy, I used to listen at times at night. My father was in sales and he had this set of cassette tapes.

[20:00] My daughter’s gonna eat her peas. No daughter of mine’s gonna refuse to eat peas.

[21:12] And if you meet God on judgment day in your sins, you can’t say, no, I’m too bad, I refuse to drink. You’ll drink it. To the dregs, eternal punishment, separation from God forever. Worse than we can even imagine.

[22:37] But see, I’ve left a lot in there. When the Lord Jesus drank the cup of judgment, he drank it to the last drop. Drained it for me.

[23:26] It’s empty now for me. He drank it for me.

[24:16] Now, the righteous one, the Lord Jesus, he has been lifted up, his horn has been exalted.

[24:39] And now God says that He’s raised me up with Him. And it’s like I’m seated with Christ in heaven.

[25:31] So listen to Ephesians 2. For by grace are you saved through faith.

Gospel in Spanish from Jonathan Seed.

[0:00] Primera de Timoteo, capítulo número uno, por favor. Versículo número quince, primera de Timoteo uno y quince.

[0:35] De ser recibida por todos que Cristo Jesús vino al mundo para salvar a los pecadores, de los cuales, yo soy el primero y pedimos que el Señor bendiga la lectura de su palabra.

[2:04] Es parte de un argumento que él está haciendo en el capítulo.

[2:43] Nosotros escuchamos mensajes todos los días, si lee las noticias, usted, pues usted recibe el mensaje, ¿no?

[3:36] Y por lo tanto, en el Nuevo Testamento, cuando predicamos el Evangelio, pero estamos hablando del mensaje que Dios prometió.

[4:07] El cumplimiento de la promesa que Dios dio. Dios prometió en el Antiguo Testamento que su hijo iba a venir para morir, para vivir una vida encarnado, tomar un cuerpo, llevar ese cuerpo al Calvario para ofrecerlo y para morir en lugar de nosotros, en lugar de los pecadores, para pagar por los pecados. Y ¿sabe lo que sucedió?

[5:25] Quizás otros no. Este sí. Otras personas van a fallarlos. Dios no. Yo puedo prometerle.

[6:02] Dice que es una palabra fiel, pero también una palabra digna.

[7:08] Si hay un mensaje en el mundo, si hay un mensaje en esta noche que es digno, que merece su atención en esta misma noche, es la preg… es el Evangelio.

[8:23] Pues hay varias maneras de cambiarnos y aún usando la Biblia, usando la Biblia, ellos dicen pues con la Biblia yo veo que tengo que vivir una vida santa.

[8:41] Pero cuando la Biblia habla acerca de la salvación, no habla de santidad, sabía.

[9:18] Tengo que arrepentirme. Al arrepentirme, yo voy a estar bien delante si lo hago todos los días, si me arrepiento de mis pecados, si a lo largo de la vida yo muestro una vida de arrepentimiento.

[10:34] Hace poco estaba hablando con una señora, se llama María, estaba en un centro de rehabilitación, son todos los detalles que les voy a dar, centro de rehabilitación, ella estaba recuperando de unas cosas que, vicios, etcétera, ese tipo de cosas, estábamos predicando allí un sábado y después de la predicación ella se me acercó y me dijo, yo quiero ser salva, quiero ser salva. Fue muy interesante su historia porque María, según ella, había servido en su iglesia por 15 años. Creo que fueron 15 hasta 20 años. Sirvió en una iglesia.

[11:37] Entonces empezamos a hablarle acerca del evangelio y fuimos a Hebreos, capítulo número nueve.

[12:42] Le di María, léelo otra vez y lo leo otra vez. Una vez en el fin del mundo, él ha aparecido para quitar el pecado, por el sacrificio de sí mismo y la tercera vez.

[13:51] El bautizarme no quita el pecado, o el apóstol Pablo ha de haber sido un muy mal predicador, porque dice en 1 Corintios 11, yo no he venido para bautizar, sino para predicar el evangelio.

[15:03] Dios lo hizo pecado al que no conoció pecado. Dios lo hizo pecado porque en ese momento Dios le trató a su hijo.

[16:01] La última parte del versículo nos aclara exactamente cómo es. ¿A quiénes? ¿Quiénes son los que pueden recibir esta salvación? Dice el final del versículo, 1 Timoteo 1, versículo número 15, dice, de los cuales yo soy. ¿De quién está hablando? De los de los cuales yo soy el primero.

[17:19] Si yo puedo ser salvo y yo soy el peor, cualquier persona puede ser salvo.

[17:29] Si yo puedo ser salvo, cualquier persona puede ser salva. No hay excepción.

[18:36] Al creer en Él, soy salvo. Una vez y para siempre.

Panel discussion, Leadership in the assembly.

[0:01] You could open your Bible to 1 Timothy 3, please.

[0:20] And Mr. Gilliland as well. And it’s intimidating because I know there are a number of brothers in front of me and you’ve served as overseers and you know a lot more about this work than I do. I’m aware of that.

[0:47] Number one, it’s good for you, as it is for all of the assembly, to recognize those whom the Holy Spirit is fitting for this work.

[1:53] This saying is trustworthy. If anyone aspires to be an overseer, in our King James, if anyone aspires or desires the office of a bishop, if anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.

[2:29] Acts 20, verse 17, now from Miletus, he’s sent to Ephesus and summoned the elders of the church. Notice who he summons, the elders.

[2:42] Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd, to feed the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.

[4:00] The Church of God. The shepherd is the word pastor. In Spanish, are they the same word?

[5:18] 1 Peter 5, verses 1 to 5.

[6:24] A picture of people like a sheep under the Lord’s shepherd care is very common and a very precious imagery in the scriptures.

[7:47] I was just going to say, Brother… That’s good.

[9:05] So we not only need shepherds for direction, and we need shepherds for unity to keep the sheep from being scattered tither, thither.

[9:33] And then of course, in Mark chapter 6, he saw them as sheep having no shepherd, and, the time was far spent, and they needed food.

[10:47] I think chapter three would lead us to think that the very first thing that she- Of what book? I’m sorry. First Timothy chapter three.

[11:33] Again, a very general point. Brother Matthew, Moses, who became a great leader, as we all know, I think one of the early things that’s said about Moses in Exodus 2, that he saw their burdens.

[12:25] So even as young men, you can be looking around the assembly and even though you are not going to address such and such a problem, you can be thinking about it, praying about it, and even thinking about what the biblical way of addressing said problem would be.

[12:52] Different ways that you could find your gift or your role of service in an assembly, but part of that is sensing what burden has God placed upon your heart, and maybe the reason that you have that burden is because God wants to use you to meet that need.

[14:20] He didn’t, it wasn’t so much that he saw the burdens, but he came to see the battle.

[15:07] You have read a passage from Acts 20 that speaks about the Holy Ghost begging overseers.

[15:39] I don’t think that we’ve, I don’t think they’ve asked you to cross the ocean, you’re to ask the questions.

[16:48] That’s what you’re going to say. What about, though, so you’ve said there’s a desire within them, the Holy Spirit’s working, others are recognizing this. Is this something that should be formally announced to the assembly if the brothers want to bring someone else on to to join them in the work of oversight, should there be an announcement or should it just be obvious to everyone already?

[17:13] I personally, I think an announcement is part of doing things decently and in order.

[18:03] Yeah, I agree 100%, and I do know of situations where there never was any communication announced, and it does lead to some awkwardness.

[19:17] And we actually went through 1 Timothy 3, every single characteristic, and for every, maybe you think this is too laborious, nobody’s gonna wanna come visit us and go to the heart, but anyway, we went through every single characteristic and said, does he qualify for this characteristic?

[19:53] And what about if there is a brother whom the saints do perceive as doing this work and current overseers would love to have him formally, communicated as being in this work, but he’s maybe not willing to participate or he’s not willing to join them.

[20:18] Well, I’m not sure, Matthew, but all I would say, speaking about and to that brother, if the Lord fits a man for a work, and the man reluctantly refuses to take that work, maybe he sees it’s going to be difficult, it’s going to be demanding, which is true of overseership, if he’s reluctant and refuses to take that work, he needs to be very careful that he doesn’t grieve the Lord. And there would then come into his life a state of spiritual stalemate.

[21:41] And there will be consequences for the other people and consequences for yourself as well.

[23:00] And the people of God need to hear the perspective of godly wisdom and spiritual men with their experience.

[23:26] Than the church of God, nothing.

[24:03] So being a shepherd will likely kill a man.

[24:09] I’m over-exaggerating. It’ll cost him his life. It’s not a hobby.

[24:42] Some of you, there’s a couple of you probably in this room. I did do a little email survey a few years ago for another message and for ultimately for our podcast and I emailed a whole bunch of elders.

[25:44] I think we should move on. Anything else? Go ahead, Jonny. – I was just going to say about the counsel you’d give to somebody who’s intimidated by the prospect of it. We kind of already covered this a bit, but I think you should be having healthy intimidation.

[26:59] And we’ve heard about character and so on, and vitally important, but unfortunately, there are certain brethren, And you never really see what they are, until they get power.

[27:15] And by the time they show what they are and have authority amongst the Lord’s people, it’s too late.

[28:17] You’d ask me the question. Yeah. Do you mean that what the examination would look like or what? Yeah.

[29:18] So he has to be able to work in fellowship and in harmony with other believers, not a one-man band.

[30:06] That could work, I’ll say this is a bit of a judgment call and in circumstances that could be fine.

[31:26] And the assembly was directed by the decisions of medical practitioners, not the oversight.

[32:50] All right, I’m determined not to let the discussion go to deacons, there’s three brothers here and I suspect we’ll get four views probably.

[34:08] It has always impressed me, brother Matthew, what isn’t said.

[35:19] You know, I have known in my little experience, I’ve known assemblies where men got into power, and authority and positions. I don’t know about one way or another they did, and they weren’t, mentally stable. They were men off in the head, oddballs, just unusual characters.

[36:15] Good. Johnny, what’s on your mind? I was thinking verse 5. Now, I know there’s exceptions to this, right?

[37:02] Is that the positive, just as the positive things that you do in your own house can be be replicated in the assembly.

[38:24] Just as we come to that, this whole thing that we’re talking about, the correlation, the engagement between home life and assembly life, It’s the opposite in the world.

[39:08] Is it Titus has the qualifier not unruly or given to riot? What does it say?

[40:11] So one of the brethren, I thought, gave a very wise answer. He said, no, he said, overseers are not essential for the being of an assembly, but they are essential for its well-being.

[40:24] Yeah. Our brother Jonathan will know here, these brethren, you could go to an area, see number were saved, an assembly planted, and at that point there will be no overseer.

[41:45] Secondly, if I’m not taking care of myself, there is a greater risk of burnout as well. And so we need to be mindful.

[42:04] Just when you’re saying that, I was thinking immediately of John 21.

[42:26] He gets them off the boat. He gives them breakfast on the beach.

[43:41] All right, the church is not a corporation. It’s a group of people.

[44:01] What would you say are just one or two things that you think need to be the emphasis of their work?

[44:30] If someone just simply said to you, what is an overseer’s main responsibilities? What would you say?

[44:38] Well, it’s not the word feed, of course, as you have emphasized, is the word tend and shepherd and so on. First of all, sheep are very ugly animals. You know, this idea, lovely wee sheep, a lovely wee lamb, oh so cuddly and so nice, you just love to look after them.

[46:00] Then, if they’re in opposition and surrounded by enemies, he’ll give them a special portion, spread a table in the midst of their enemies.

[47:12] And so he should be spending time with them and have them in his home and know what they’re facing.

[48:00] I think it was Mr. Hull that I heard once give a message on a shepherd and how to man it.

[49:06] But most of all, he’ll need a heart to love them and to appreciate.

[49:38] We sometimes say, if an overseer goes wrong, we say, ah, the trouble was, he never should have been an overseer. The Holy Spirit never made him an overseer.

[51:01] I’d almost want to say you’re clearly on prohibited ground. Not prohibited, but you know what I mean. You’re not doing the job you were called to do. So, for example, if your work as an overseer consists of inviting speakers, of cleaning the hall, of doing practical things, around the building and among the believers and that sort of thing, I think you’re spending your time doing things that you weren’t called to do. I don’t want to be too harsh, but, If we stick to those two categories, which I think encompass quite a few things, that we see in Acts 20, 1 Peter 5 and 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1.

[51:39] To proclaim the word of God and to protect the sheep, what you will find is that there actually isn’t any more time to do anything else.

[52:40] That double side there in Titus chapter one, they are to encourage with sound teaching and refute those who contradict it.

Ministry from Jonathan Seed Saturday afternoon.

[0:01] Hebrews chapter number one.

[0:23] Hebrews one, verse one. God who at sundry times and in diverse matters, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

[1:44] Sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

[2:00] Verse number five, small section of exhortation here at the beginning of chapter two.

[2:44] Wherever we speak. But one in a certain place testified saying, What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest him?

[3:51] Come down to verse number seven. In verse number seven, by faith Noah being warned of God of things as seen not yet, not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house by the which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness, which is by faith.

[4:41] Verse number 12, speaking of Sarah, sorry, verse 11, through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

[5:49] I’m a little concerned for my generation and perhaps even younger generations.

[6:35] Decided that he would design and how he would structure himself and how he would speak about, the storyline of Scripture. It’s very instructive, it’s very helpful, and I think that we should follow when we’re going to interpret Scriptures, we must follow their train of thought, follow, their line of thought, follow their logic, follow their reasoning, and not read into the text what.

[6:52] It is that we might think. When we go right back to the beginning of Scripture, we can think of a garden, and I love thinking about the storyline of the Bible with these two bookends, the garden at the beginning and the garden at the end, the presence of God at the beginning and then the presence of God at the end. A door at the beginning and then an open gate or gates at the end. A man who or an angel with the flaming sword at the very beginning in the garden barring access on the eastern gate or on the eastern side into the presence of God. And as we’ve just heard about the pattern that is seen in the tabernacle, we see once again a door on the eastern side. And yet at this point and at this time with the presence of God among his people, now there is access. Now we can go in from the eastern side, as it were, retracing the steps of Adam and Eve themselves.

[8:08] So it’s kind of difficult. What do we do with the word? Well, maybe we can make another word up, but the point of the parenthesis is this.

[8:54] And we once again enjoy the presence of God among us. Even here in this very meeting we, have the presence of God among us. But it doesn’t end here. It keeps going. The story of the Bible keeps going past the church age and we see that there’s a millennial, there’s a future millennium.

[10:10] And the second coming of Christ. You see, there’s another way. There’s another way to explain the the storyline of the Bible. The other way to explain it is this, that really the entire story of Scripture is about the kingdom, and that’s actually true, the reign of God on the earth. But this kingdom that begun really at the beginning and was exemplified in Israel, again as we have heard, and a great illustration for the world that Israel was, and they had their own Israelite kingdom. But that kingdom came to an end. And we read in the book of Daniel that another kingdom is going to come and it’s going to destroy all the different kingdoms. It won’t be the kingdom of Israel, this will be a different kingdom, the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this kingdom, when it comes, it will come, and it will take over the earth little by little, piece by piece, city by city, city council by city council, culture by culture, person by person. It will slowly grow and it will slowly permeate the earth and it will slowly spread to each and every corner of the earth that we inhabit today. The kingdom has come, in this understanding.

[11:17] Of the scriptures, the kingdom has come. We ought to build the kingdom. We ought to spread, the kingdom. We ought to enjoy our kingdom life. You know, the reason why I’m worried about my generation, I say it for this reason, all the books that you go to a Christian bookstore, every single, I would venture to say, almost every single book that you’ll find in the bookstore would tell that story. We’re in the kingdom, the kingdom is now, we build the kingdom, we spread the kingdom.

[11:43] Every song that you might listen to, again, I’m exaggerating, over-exaggerating, just I’m exaggerating.

[12:45] Therefore, look forward. Not just keep going as we saw earlier today, but look forward to that future day because it is not here yet.

[13:21] The writer to the Hebrews, he starts in chapter one and he tells us about this majestic Son of God, focusing on his Sonship, but he is the one who is the Son of God.

[14:17] Well, Psalm eight tells us that there was a man there are men who have been chosen to take dominion. This is back in Psalm 8. This is a positive psalm. Look at the son of man. Thou art mindful of him. What is man? Or the son of man that thou visitest him, thou madest him a little lower than the angels. Thou crowned him with glory, and honor. These are all positive things. These are great things about man and about his dominion.

[14:57] Then we come to this phrase, but now, but now, younger people in the crowd, maybe older as well, I don’t know, I have a burden for the younger, here with this topic especially, is a very important phrase, But now, we see not yet all things put under him, but we see Jesus. There’s a writer and he.

[15:32] A lot of benefit to a lot of believers, and I’m not trying to tarnish his legacy or anything of that sort, but he was famous for promoting pre-millennial eschatology. Pre-millennial eschatology would essentially be the belief that when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back, there will be no rapture.

[16:42] What has happened, I noticed with this phrase, is that the emphasis today is on the already, and not on the not yet.

[17:44] Getting things ready here, preparing here, setting things up here, gaining and gathering treasure here, and not thinking about what is to come, the world to come. Just look at the way He does the trajectory here in chapters 1 and 2, and if we have time we’ll get down to chapter 11, where I’m impressed at the forward look at each one of those worthies in chapter 11. But 1 and 2, there’s a trajectory, it’s a storyline. In chapter 1, He speaks about the Son. He is the one who has come from heaven. God is finally this final revelation, this final prophet who has spoken to us. The Lord Jesus.

[18:19] Christ who is God’s own son who has come to the earth. He is the majestic one. He has been exalted. He is at the right hand. Then he comes to chapter number two and the focus is on what has not yet happened but we see Jesus not necessarily the one who is reigning on David’s throne but we see one who came to suffer and that is the great tenor of the Christian life. It is suffering. As we read in the, epistle to Timothy, suffering and then glory. That’s the pathway of Christ. First we suffer and then we come into glory. First we suffer with him and then we will be even glorified with him at his coming with the rest of it when he is glorified in his saints. The storyline in chapter number two is one who was glorified, who was with the Father in his glory before the world began.

[19:15] If you get that wrong, you will be very confused when you suffer.

[19:21] If everything is now, and if we receive everything in this moment and in this life, then we will not know what is happening when there’s loss, when there’s sickness, when there’s failure, when we don’t get what we want, when we don’t receive what we’re asking for.

[20:13] Go further down the chapter. What does he repeat? What does he take from the psalm?

[21:16] Crowned with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man, suffering and death, for it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things and bringing many sons unto glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

[21:37] We see later on, verse number 16, if you could look down there, For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

[22:52] First example I want to notice is Noah in chapter number 11.

[24:10] I was thinking of this brother because he’s also a brother who’s an example of sacrifice, but not an example of the other extreme.

[25:40] But he’ll go home and he’ll keep working till midnight, one in the morning, two in the morning, so he can do it all over again the next day. Take care of the family, attend to his wife.

[26:00] Attend to the brethren, live a hundred percent. I agree with our brother when he said, you know, you can’t be a professional in baseball. I agree with that. This brother’s not trying to be a professional artist and a professional elder. He has a job, he attends to his job, he provides for his family, he gives them what they need, but all of his extra and his spare time as an elder, this isn’t for all the brethren, but as an elder, it is all dedicated and it is devoted, to the assembly. And he does it because he’s looking forward. I speak to some of the elders here and I speak humbly as one who has not been many years at this type of work. Men here in the crowd who’ve been at that work for much, many more years than I have. But brethren, I wonder if sometimes we have the ratio off. It’s the career and it’s the making the money or it’s a hobby, it’s the motor, whatever it is, whatever, it doesn’t matter, fill the blank. And when it comes to the assembly, well if there’s extra time, let’s see if we can visit so-and-so next week. I’ll look at my calendar, I think it’s in about a month, it looks like I have a little blank spot in the calendar, we’ll see if we can squeeze you in. No, no, these brethren, they looked forward, they realized that this is not the time to prepare, this is not the time to build barns, unless you’re a farmer, This is not the time to accumulate wealth, the time to think about everything that I can get.

[27:28] It’s a time to be faithful, but looking forward and not looking down.

[28:38] We don’t know. But like Abraham, we’re standing on the word of God, we see biblical principles that are foundation of the decision that we’ve made and we’re going out in faith and we trust that the Lord will bless his word. That’s exactly what Abraham did. He didn’t know where he was going.

[28:59] He had the Word of God. This experience, the presence of God, Abraham did just as with, Moses and with Joshua and all the great men of the Old Testament, those great encounters with God.

[30:19] Is that they didn’t overthink, overthink as much as we do. You know, well, I remember some interactions with his brother and talking about how we’re going to speak to someone and we’re going to go on a visit and we’re going to talk about a certain subject and I’d be worried about how he’s going to feel.

[31:04] It doesn’t matter. And I’d say, what do you mean it doesn’t matter?

[32:26] It wasn’t because of a stiff upper lip. It wasn’t because of the families they came from.

[33:50] See how the writer to the Hebrews handles the assembly here.

[34:59] For you had compassion of me. You took joyfully the spoiling of your, you knew in yourselves that you have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.

Ministry from David Gilliland Saturday afternoon.

[0:02] It’s most encouraging to see all who have assembled for this afternoon, and we look to the Lord for his help.

[0:26] And we’ll commence at verse one of Exodus chapter 19.

[0:33] In the third month when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai, for they were departed from Rephidim and were come to the desert of Sinai and had pitched in the wilderness, and there Israel camped before the mount.

[1:39] Chapter 20, we have the commandments, verse one, God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

[2:09] And we read in verse 1, the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Make thee two trumpets of silver, of a whole piece shalt thou make them, that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.

[3:13] I know if I told you that I was going to try and cover 60 chapters of the Bible, you might think it a rather daunting task, especially for the first session after that very enjoyable lunch, but that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

[3:58] The structure, the symmetry of Holy Scripture, then we’re in a better position to appreciate the substance.

[5:27] God brought a people and he settled them there for a year.

[5:33] It was quite a marvelous year, 11 months and two-thirds of a month.

[5:54] When they arrived there, they had just been slain, making bricks, down in Egypt, under the thralldom of the prince of this world, Pharaoh.

[6:11] He has great things in mind for this people, but before he launches them on their worldwide mission, he stops and he gives them a crash course of spiritual education at, what do, we call this place, Eastern Christian School.

[7:33] And I’ll talk to you, and I’ll speak to you.” And they stood, riveted, shuddering at the foot of Mount Sinai. They had never been in a classroom like this before, and they heard literally the voice of God. He engaged them. He nurtured them. They’d just been born as a nation.

[7:58] Under the banner of the blood of the Lamb, they had exited Egypt.

[9:23] It’s quite an interesting thing that in the first five books of our Bible, we have about 60 chapters.

[9:55] That has never been repeated in world history. That is a one-off. The making, the molding, the marking, and the maturing of the infant nation of Israel in the school of Sinai.

[11:03] Here we have a congregation of people this afternoon and we have often sung together, my chains are snapped, the bonds of sin are broken, and I am free.

[11:29] We have known redemption, Lord, from bondage worse than theirs by far.

[11:56] He said, I lifted you to a higher level, and from the mud plains of the River Nile, making bricks, with your nose grinding in the dust. He said, I have brought you across the sea and into the uplands of Mount Sinai, and I’ve planted your feet upon higher ground. Well, I tell you, dear Christians, we are higher still. Not only has grace brought us out, we are seated with Christ in heavenly places. We have experienced an emancipation. We have enjoyed a spiritual elevation with Christ. And God said, now, He said, I’m interested in your education.

[12:38] He said, just when I have you here, having brought you out and brought you up, He said, I want you to sit at my feet and I will teach you. And He said, in this 12-month period of teaching, Well, we all know that there is no teacher like the Lord himself.

[14:01] Gave them in that one year crash course of spiritual instruction at Mount Sinai.

[14:09] And when they left Mount Sinai, the God who had emancipated them and elevated them and educated them, he had equipped them.

[14:19] By means of these five institutions, he had equipped them to go out and to be a marvellous…

[15:41] Hmm, you say, what does that mean? Well, he said, that’s what I intend for you.

[16:08] You’ll become a kingdom of priests. You’ll become a conduit directing people to the knowledge of the true God. He said all of those people out there have no idea who God is or what God is and they’re worshiping all kinds of idolatry and frogs and lizards and wizards and all kinds of things. But he said you are the monotheistic nation, you know the true God and I have saved, you and he said through you these people were brought out of the ignorance of their idolatry to get to know me you will be a mediatorial nation he said that’s a big task well he said as well as that you will not only be a mediatorial nation he said you will be a model nation you’ll be a holy nation he said because you know me and because your testimony bearers for me he said you’ll live holy lives.” He said, those people don’t live holy lives. They don’t know the word holiness, not even in their vocabulary. He said, associated with their idolatry is all kinds of immorality and all kinds of confusion and all kinds of corruption. And he said, they don’t know it.

[17:35] When he saved Israel, you say I thought he just brought Israel in so that he might stir up world politics a little bit and that he might create some kind of a social construct in the surface, of planet earth and leave everybody a little bit out of joint because of this weird people, that have been brought into existence. No, God brought Israel into existence so that they may become testimony bearers to him and that through their testimony and their holy living, and their knowledge of God that other people might be brought to know God as well. Is it any different for us? Is that not why he saved us? He’s brought us out and given us a spiritual elevation, lifted us to higher level, given us an intuition into the understanding of spiritual things that the clever people of this world know nothing about. And He not only has touched our personality at the deepest level by His indwelling Holy Spirit, enriched our minds, He has ennobled our behavior. We live according to a different standard. We march to a different drumbeat.

[18:56] What is there about this people that seems to be so distinct?

[19:44] Because you will have such a task. It’s a big task. But he said, so that you can fulfill that task, I will give you a special training.” And that’s the 12 months at Sinai. And God did give them at Sinai a very, very special training. And He put into their possession, I say, those very unique implements, items, institutions. They didn’t have any of these when they came to Sinai.

[20:45] A number of months before this, and God gave Moses the equipment to do his work.

[21:27] It will not be because they didn’t receive the equipment. There will be no blame with the teacher. So you say, well, what exactly did he teach them? What was the training? What were the subjects that were involved? The five subjects that you have mentioned? Well, those five subjects cover these 60 chapters from Exodus 19 to Numbers chapter 10. And I could go through them in fine detail, but you would only become lost in the crowd. And so would I, and I’ll not do that. But the five of these, first of all, the stone. You should look after those, stone. It said, inscribed the engraving of the great creator. God scratched out on the, the granite stones of Horeb, his word.

[22:19] There’s not another nation in all the world of that day or this day, ever received stone written with the very finger of God.

[23:28] And I’m going to show you just how the sacrifices are all to be laid upon the altar.

[24:39] And he said, this calendar of seven seasons, I will detail it for you.

[25:45] Why the difference? I think I’m not taking time. I don’t have the time. I’m not taking time to apply all of that. But you see, God has given us certain things that make us different. And people, should be asking why we do this and why we’re marching to a different drumbeat and why we have different outlooks and priorities in life and a totally distinct worldview. So, you’re following with me, I think, in this crash course of education at the School of Sinai. And I say, separated from all the distractions of Egypt, they listened and they looked and they learned, from the stone, from the sanctuary, from the sacrifices, from the season. Then you.

[26:34] Get into the early chapters of the book of Numbers. God says I’m going to give you signals, two special signals. They didn’t have these signals coordinated before they came to Mount Sinai. He said there’ll be a signal for your ear, The silver trumpet, there’ll be a signal for your eye.

[27:20] If God redeems people, they need to learn how to behave and live with each other, don’t steal and tell lies, and all those kinds of things that Christians would never think of doing.

[27:51] We’ll learn a little bit about that, I hope, just in a couple of minutes. From the sacrifices, they’re going to learn something about God’s rich provision. What a marvelous provision. Even if they fail, they had a sacrifice that would cover their failure. Thank God we learn, as Christian experience goes on, we learn the perennial and eternal value of Calvary, not just for the salvation of our soul, but for the maintenance of our communion with God. And they learned all of that, his provision from the sacrifice, his program from the season. Those programs, that great sabbatical calendar, those seven seasons throughout the year, they marked out the great stepping stones of God’s redemptive program. All of you, dear believers have often heard those special bible lectures by competent brethren on the seven feasts of Jehovah. Some of these younger brethren and sisters here get your hand around these things when you say it’s very difficult you I was only saved last year you wouldn’t expect me to know Israel has only saved six months. God said I’m going to teach you these things and they’re only saved six months, there’s no better time to learn than just at the start. Learn early.

[29:21] Paddling around in the shallows of scripture and being an expert at baseball at the same time. You can’t be an expert in baseball and the Bible at one and the same time. I’m sorry to tell you, it won’t work. Get into God’s book as a young Christian. Make it. Make it the mold of your mind.

[30:12] Guided by the sound, the signal of a silver trumpet, sounded by men of the sanctuary.

[31:15] Written by the finger of God. And he said, put them in a golden box.

[31:53] Why not 12? You see, I thought that would be a good number. Had to be a good number. 12 tribes, one for each tribe.

[32:53] Let the Word of God have its power in your heart.

[33:52] On our hearts with an eternal pen, that we may in some small degree return, would it be great if God would take an eternal pen. There’s a young man here today, and God could incisively scratch out on the tablet of his heart, at the very center of his personality. The God who left a permanent engraving of his word upon the stones to equip Israel. There’s a sister here and God could engrave upon your heart a message from heaven.

[34:59] You could hardly find a bigger distortion of the Bible. God said to Israel, He said, you see these Ten Commandments, these Ten Words?

[35:53] With that eternal pen in scribe what we need to learn and the impression of God’s sanctuary in my heart will become the expression of my testimony to the world and his word will make a mark on me that means that I will then be able to make my mark for him it’s the word of the stones he said He said, you keep them, take my word seriously, the stones.

[36:23] Well, he said, I’m gonna live with you, I’m gonna give you my presence.

[37:30] There are a lot of ways of doing church in our day.

[37:56] And make the pattern the center of your life. Young people here with corporate world backering, climbing the ladder, the commands and the demands of career, the peer pressure to succeed in the material things of this world.

[38:20] Especially on Primary Day night, Wednesday or Tuesday night or whatever it is, put it out on the… Oh, I’ll turn up on Sunday and I’ll dip my toe into the water of Assembly Fellowship at the Remembrance Meeting and I’ll give it a bye for the rest of the week and I’ll organize my life and I’ll have the Assembly just nicely in one little comfortable corner that doesn’t interrupt my program. That’s not the way to do life for God.

[39:45] Did I not know what it was to say no to some of the offers because of the assembly?

[39:55] We’re trying to convince ourselves that we can be high flyers in the world with its possessions and its pleasures, and at the same time be men and women for God, hardly likely.

[40:37] It. You don’t start at the Trestle, you start at the Passover. We start at Exodus 12. Those, offerings in Leviticus chapter 1 to 7 were not to tell these people how to be brought into communion with God, it would tell these people how to maintain communion that had, already been established. And if I’m in communion, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, brought out into freedom, into fellowship with God, and I make mistakes and I fail in my commitments. You say that’s the whole relationship over. No, thank God for the, value of sacrifice and the value of Calvary. And we go back to the cross. The, Apostle Paul would say, for example, in Ephesians chapter 5, Christ loved us, gave himself for us, and offering a sacrifice to God for a sweet, you say, that’s a burnt offering. Hallelujah!

[42:03] There are facets of the death of Christ that we would never be able to distinguish.

[42:09] That’s why we, you’re coming into New York and you look at the skyline and you’ve got your, you’ve come from just the dark woods of Ireland And you have a little handbook that says New York and all the details.

[43:04] Anyway, that’s it, that’s it. I’m stopping here. We’ll have to leave the season.

[43:43] They marched out from Sinai. They had a great task, they had a great training, and they went out and they conquered the world for God. Oh.

[43:57] It would break your heart. They didn’t obey his word. They didn’t respect his tabernacle.

[44:41] You say, what? 7,000? And it started off with 605,000 that were at the school of Sinai.

[45:58] Eastern Christian School, Eastern Sinai School, I trust the Lord will help us to learn the lessons of this ancient 60-chapter document of Old Testament Scripture.

Ministry from Jonathan Seed in Spanish Saturday afternoon.

[0:01] Leamos en Josué, capítulo número uno, Josué uno, y quiero hablar acerca de la persona de Josué.

[0:30] Dice lo siguiente Aconteció después de la muerte de Moisés, siervo de Jehová, que Jehová habló a Josué, hijo de Nun, servidor de Moisés, diciendo Mi siervo Moisés ha muerto.

[1:40] Que de día y de noche has de meditar en él para que guardes y hagas conforme todo lo que en él está escrito, porque entonces harás prosperar tu camino y todo te saldrá bien.

[2:11] Porque dentro de tres días pasaréis el cordón para entrar a poseer la tierra que Jehová, vuestro Dios, os da en posesión.

[3:19] Que el pueblo de Israel cruzara y entrara a la tierra de Canaán sin que ellos estuvieran basados en la palabra de Dios, sin que ellos entendieran lo que era la palabra de Dios.

[4:27] No dos espías que fueron escogidos de la nada.

[5:07] Dos espías y fueron. Muy interesante hablando de los dos espías y a ver cuánto tiempo nos nos da para alcanzar, para a ver cuánto podemos ver. Pero en cuanto a esos dos espías, ¿alguna vez habían pensado que Josué pudo haber ido él solo? O sea, ya lo hizo, ¿no? Él ya había entrado. Número 14.

[5:53] Sin embargo, él escogió a dos espías, estos dos jóvenes para que le ayudaran a hacer una obra que él pudo haber hecho, pero que él quiso dejar para los demás, dejar para otros hermanos, para que, ellos funcionaran, para que ellos pudieran servir de esta manera y no siempre y solamente Josué.

[7:17] Algo interesante del cruce del cordón es que para poder ir adelante, para poder avanzar, tenía que ir hacia atrás.

[7:38] Y después, posteriormente, tenían que celebrar la Pascua. Creo que Josué entendía muy bien un principio que es explicado a profundo, no a detalle en el Nuevo Testamento.

[8:28] Pero después nadie es circuncidado. Es más, no celebraron la Pascua, lo celebraron en Egipto, obviamente.

[9:25] Cada vez que fueron para conquistar otro pueblo, otra ciudad, regresaron a Gilgal para prepararse de nuevo, para pensar de nuevo en qué es lo que iban a hacer.

[10:16] Que vieran, para que reconocieran, para que regresaran y para que ellos se dieran, cuenta una vez más que Cristo murió por nosotros, pero yo también morí con Cristo.

[11:23] El pueblo ya preparado pudo avanzar. Hermanos, no debemos entrar a la batalla.

[12:23] Satanás para atacar. Ha sido así en su experiencia también, justo en esos momentos cuando todo va bien, viento en popa. Estamos con la familia y la relación con la esposa, todo bien, relación con los hijos, el trabajo, una chulada, como decimos en México, no sé si así en sus países. Pero bueno, todo bien, todo bien, perfecto. Y de repente viene algo. ¿Y eso de dónde vino?

[12:54] ¿Por qué me manda esta prueba en este momento, cuando todo iba bien?

[13:11] Más adelante leemos en el libro acerca de, pues acerca de la ciudad de Ai y este señor llamado Akan.

[14:30] Hermanos, esto no es una acusación a ninguna persona aquí, pero lo que yo he observado en mi vida muchas veces, en la vida cristiana, si hay pecado oculto, no hay avance. Si tenemos esos de vez en cuando aquellos hábitos, no que digo hábitos que muchas veces son pecados, como esos pecados favoritos. Pues nadie se da cuenta. Pues nadie sabe. Yo lo hago a solas, a escondidas en mi casa, en el closet, etc. No, pues no pasa nada. Puedo seguir haciéndolo.

[15:54] Gálatas capítulo número cinco versículo dieciséis dice lo siguiente.

[17:05] Oh. Estamos llegando a algo más común, ¿no? Es la misma lista. La misma lista del adulterio.

[18:10] Explosiones de ira, contiendas, divisiones, sectarismos. Ah, pues aquel predicador, ese sí.

[18:50] Explosiones de ira, contiendas, divisiones, sectarismos, envidias.

[19:41] Hay que confesar. Cuando estas cosas los vemos en la vida, de repente sale ese celo, de repente esa enemistad, de repente ese pleito, de repente esas explosiones de ira, la contienda, la división.

[20:50] No, no, en el día de la gracia hay la opción de disciplina en ciertos casos cuando es necesario.

[21:53] Y continuaron en la vida cristiana, oh, qué bueno es confesar, qué bueno es para el corazón, qué bueno es para la mente psicológicamente, espiritualmente, qué bueno es cuando confesamos y continuamos y lo dejamos atrás.

[22:12] Atrás. El pecado de Acán atrás, confesado, tratado. El pueblo de Dios avanzando, avanzando, cambiando, transformados, más maduros, recibiendo la herencia que Dios les había dado, que Dios les había prometido, la preparación del pueblo, el pueblo preparado, el pueblo corrompido, pero también el pueblo corregido. Yo no sé cuánto tiempo tengo. Puedo continuar, pero háganlo así. Si ya quieren que termine, pueden hacerle así. Ya me voy a sentarme. Pero un punto más acerca de Josué. Se me hace muy interesante. La última cosa que voy a mencionar, quizás en otra ocasión, su confianza, la confianza de Josué. Una de las cosas más maravillosas de Josué es su confianza en la palabra de Dios. Es muy semejante a Josué. Hablamos de Éxodo 3 y cómo va de la mano con hebreos.

[23:26] Él tuvo confianza. Él descansaba en la palabra de Dios. Dios le llamó.

[23:53] Ha de venir de una de esas familias grandes, esas familias buenas.

[24:23] ¿Cómo?

[24:38] No tienen que buscarlo ahorita, pero es su tarea. Pueden buscarlo en otra ocasión.

[26:00] Josué capítulo 1 y los siguientes capítulos, Josué, Caleb y todos los demás.

[26:10] Termino con eso. El COVID fue muy contagioso, ¿no? Pues también una buena actitud, y un buen ejemplo para nuestros hermanos también puede ser contagioso.

Ministry from Matthew Cain Saturday morning.

[0:01] Good morning. It’s great to be with you. It is a blessing for me to be at the Midland Park Conference for the first time. And so I thank the assembly here for giving me this opportunity and for the brothers who have spoken good words already today, I’m very thankful. I would like you to open your Bible with me to the book of 2 Corinthians and chapter.

[0:26] 4. My reading with you is going to be from the Christian Standard Bible this weekend.

[1:39] I want to speak with you this morning about when serving the Lord is hard.

[2:30] We are persecuted, but not abandoned. We are struck down, but not destroyed.

[3:47] Is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen, for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

[4:39] With me, okay? At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith I received my sight and now I am happy all the day. I gotta delete that from the recording. It’s the happy all the day line that makes me a little bit grumpy. Because, maybe I’m just a little bit jealous of Mr. Ralph Hudson who wrote it, but while I do rejoice in my Savior and my salvation, I don’t sense happiness all the time. Do you? And I wonder if you were to take that song, I mean, imagine some of the experiences that Paul writes about later in 2 Corinthians 4, I wonder if you could meet him with the words of that song when he’s going through some of of those experience, maybe you interject just after lash number 37 of 39 has come down for for the fifth time.

[5:53] Or when he’s in his third shipwreck and your head is bobbing with his, and he’s reaching for a piece of driftwood, and you say, sing it with me, Paul. Now I am happy all the day. I don’t know. Maybe, he would have. He was a remarkable servant. He did sing in the prison cell in Philippi. He did carry on for Christ, even when ministry was hard. But why does serving the Lord have to be so hard sometimes. You probably haven’t been stoned like Paul but you could say with him in verse 8 that you have you have been perplexed. You probably haven’t been without food and clothing but you know what it is to sense a little bit of increasing antagonism and persecution from the culture and if we serve the, the enthroned Christ, the Apostle and High Priest of our Confession, seated at the right hand of God.

[6:57] Why is it hard to serve the Lord? Verses 7-12, the challenge of Christian ministry.

[7:25] And serving the Lord in an evil age, which is what we are in, was never supposed to be easy.

[8:51] But he says the Lord never said it would be easy.

[8:55] Well I would agree with all that. I would add one thing to it.

[9:35] Well, that doesn’t mean you give up and leave the challenge to somebody else.

[10:00] Or maybe, maybe you try to preach the gospel a little bit, and some of the older sisters at the back throw rotten tomatoes at you.

[11:07] Mr. McShane, in his commentary, What the Bible Teaches on 2 Corinthians, he says, “…likely in no other part of the New Testament do we have such an emphasis put upon the frailty, of the human vessel as in 2 Corinthians 4-5.”, And this treasure has been placed in fragile men and women, such as you and I, so that, – there’s a purpose clause, did you notice that?

[11:47] So one of the reasons that serving the Lord is hard sometimes is for you and I to remember that we are just clay vessels, and all the glory belongs to God, and the power for ministry success—whatever that may be, that’s an interesting phrase—but the power for ministry success belongs to God.

[13:12] And that’s a humbling thing, and that is a thrilling, encouraging thing.

[14:42] And Paul says, it’s a priceless treasure in clay jars. The Corinthians had this mistaken thinking that the power of the apostle lay in the power of the apostle.

[16:00] We are completely overwhelmed, beyond our strength, so that we even despaired of life itself.

[16:35] You know you’re supposed to go stand before the flock and you don’t even feel like going to meeting. You’ve got children to care for and you can’t get out of bed.

[17:32] No, we are vulnerable jars of clay, all of us. But the answer for vulnerable jars of clay who sense the exceeding pressure and stresses of life is the exceeding power of God.

[18:30] A second reason ministry is hard, verses 10 and 11, so that our experience parallels the pathway of Jesus.

[19:03] And just as Jesus actually rose from the dead, the life of Jesus in verse 10 and 11 is his resurrection life.

[19:21] Suffering, death, weakness, the power of the life of Jesus. See, the Corinthians had this problem of over-realized eschatology, right?

[20:46] When our hearts fall in love with convenience, the call of Jesus to shoulder a cross, will feel strangely foreign.

[21:52] Now remember, the cross, the weakness of the cross, that’s followed by resurrection power and along with his service, excuse me, along with his sufferings, this noble servant experienced the resurrection power of life in his ministry.

[22:32] However, I would like to shift gears a little bit now and give you a few more encouraging, words. Verses 7 to 12, the challenge of Christian ministry. Verses 13 to 18, conviction and courage for ministry, why we don’t give up.

[22:53] Now, verse 13 gives us this brief, simple, yet fascinating quotation from Psalm 116, by the way, younger believers, as you’re studying your Bible and you’re reading in the New Testament and you see there’s a quotation from the Old Testament, you go back and look into the context of that Old Testament passage and why is he using that now and how is he using that?

[23:45] Even when I suffered.” And as Paul is meditating on Psalm 116, he sees a shared experience between himself and the people of God in Scripture. And he concludes, my faith is built upon the same Scriptures as the people of God in the past, so in my sufferings too, I also will choose to believe what God has said.

[24:44] You don’t need more authority than the scripture. There is no greater authority.

[25:44] Come out of my bedroom in the morning and he’s there at his desk with his Bible in front of him and shelves of commentaries behind him. He was always the man of the Bible. But when life started to crumble around him a little bit, he just drowned himself in the Scriptures and especially the Psalms. And some of the words that he gave, some of the messages that he gave from the Psalms at times after the Lord’s Supper there in Halifax was amazing, honestly. Powerful words. The Word of God sustained him. How could he speak in the midst of the chaos in his life when business crumbled and other things attacking him? He believed, he was in the Scriptures, and he spoke. So in your weakness and in your affliction and in your perplexity, when you don’t know how to carry on, Make sure you get into the Bible.

[26:40] I’m currently reading with our younger children a book. We read it with our older children a few years ago.

[27:39] The others are watching. What’s it taste like?

[28:54] Is there somewhere in your word where you will tell me that you will help me?

[29:32] And when serving the Lord as hard as it will be, We need to be sustained and encouraged from the Scriptures.

[30:24] Maybe you feel a little discouraged because you’ve heard the call of God to do something in the past and you know that you’ve disobeyed the will of God. You haven’t followed His leading and you feel defeated and you wonder if God would have anything for you still.

[30:54] And you read about Elijah in the cave, or you read about Moses in the wilderness.

[32:22] That conviction has bookended this chapter. Verse 1, we don’t give up.

[33:32] Him, that led him to see displayed the extraordinary power of God in chapter 4 that enabled him, and that has led to this extraordinary weight of glory that awaits him. Extraordinary pressures pave the way for the extraordinary power of God which lead to this extraordinary weight of glory. Two things I would like you to remember today. Serving the Lord is going to be hard sometimes. Two, serving the Lord is wonderful. It’s good. It’s worth it. Don’t give up. Don’t give, up, lean heavily upon God, remember the pathway of the Lord Jesus, and take courage from God’s, infallible word.