The God With Skin On

[0:00] And we're going to go to John chapter 20. I won't accept something I can't touch, feel and see.

[0:13] That's what a man said to me yesterday.! Paul and I were out door knocking in a street not far from here. I won't accept something I can't touch, feel and see.

[0:25] It's something people can often say as a reason why they won't believe. Someone else said that virtually to me lately too. They've got to see it, they've got to touch it, they've got to feel it.

[0:42] The Lord tells of such a time as this. In John 20, verse 24, it tells how the Lord appeared.

[0:52] And verse 24, but Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. Thomas was not with them.

[1:04] Verse 25, the other disciples therefore said unto him, we have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

[1:23] And after eight days again his disciples were within and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus. The doors being shut.

[1:36] And stood in the midst and said, peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, reach hither thy finger and behold my hands. Reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side.

[1:49] And be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, my Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed.

[2:04] Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. That's you and me. We've not seen the risen saviour in the flesh, yet we have believed.

[2:16] And it goes on to speak of that challenge really, isn't it? Blessed are those that have not seen and yet have believed.

[2:32] I want to tell you today, he is one who we can know, who we can touch and feel. We may not be able to see him in our time, but men did.

[2:43] There's a story I heard of a little boy. He was frightened one night with this huge thunderstorm. And he called out to his father from his bedroom and said, Daddy, I'm scared.

[2:56] Come in here. And his dad, who had settled in for the night, wanted to go to sleep. He told the little boy, son, it's all right. God is with you in that room right now.

[3:10] You're okay. There was a moment of silence. Then the little boy shot back, Dad, right now, I need someone with skin on. Now, friends, I want to tell you today, the one that we talk of today, he is the one with skin on.

[3:26] He is that one with skin on. It tells of him, without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. That's Jesus.

[3:38] Manifest, revealed in the flesh, in human skin. Justified in the spirit. Seen of angels. Preached unto the Gentiles.

[3:49] Believed on in the world. Received up into glory. He is the God with skin on, isn't he? God manifest in human skin.

[4:00] He came and men saw him. They felt him. They touched him. And he touched mankind. He touched our planet. And left his fingerprint on our planet.

[4:11] He had fingerprints, I'm sure. And he left those fingerprints on the lives that he touched. And he can touch your life. And you can know him. Know him yourself.

[4:23] I'd like you to encounter the God with skin on. You can know him. Let's hear what happened when the God with skin on showed up and walked among us. We read about him in John 11, verse 32.

[4:35] Where it tells of the occasion where Lazarus had died. The man Lazarus, Jesus' friend. And the Lord Jesus came to the scene in verse 32 of John 11.

[4:55] And Mary and Martha, his sisters were there. And it says, verse 32. Then when Mary was come, where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if there had been him, my brother had not died.

[5:15] Then when Jesus, therefore, saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping, which came with her, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled.

[5:32] And said, where have you laid him? And they said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, behold how he loved him.

[5:50] And some of them said, could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? Jesus, therefore, again groaning in himself, cometh to the grave.

[6:04] It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. So this tomb, this place of burial, was some cave in the side with a stone covering its entrance.

[6:24] And verse 39, Jesus said, take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days.

[6:43] There was a dead body in that tomb. Verse 40, and Jesus saith unto her, say I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God.

[6:56] Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

[7:08] And I knew that thou hearest me always, but because of the people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

[7:28] And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin.

[7:39] Jesus saith unto them, loose him and let him go. I present to you two words. Jesus wept.

[7:50] Two words to focus on. It's the shortest verse in the Bible. Clear, plain, simple. Now you might be thinking, could this short verse mean a short sermon?

[8:04] Some of you might like that. Just two words. Yet they tell us so much, don't they? Jesus wept. They tell us so much about the heart of God.

[8:18] Jesus wept. It's the disturbing truth. Tears shed. His tears. It tells of our Saviour's grief and sorrow. Weeping is the deepest human emotion.

[8:32] A sign of pain. And we see here the tenderness of Christ, our Saviour. His love. He is a man of sorrows. And acquainted with grief.

[8:45] He knows what grief is. He was acquainted with it. He was used to it. We see the Lord Jesus Christ as truly man. Subject to like passions.

[8:57] Only without sin. He was truly God. Verily God. Truly man. Verily man. He wasn't some pretend man.

[9:09] He was a real man. The perfect man. And of him it says, He is a high priest. Not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.

[9:21] But was in all points tempted. Like as we are. Yet without sin. He is one who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. So he is able to understand.

[9:33] He is able to understand you. Me. Our feelings. Our hurts. He is not removed some distant, far, far away God. He is right here.

[9:44] With you. In your life. What is happening for you. He can relate. And he has got compassion. That is not a weakness now. It is a strength. God has feelings.

[9:58] He has feelings. And he loves. That's who he is. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion. Slow to anger.

[10:09] And of great mercy. Jesus wept. Why did he weep? Think of this. Firstly note why he wept.

[10:21] Jesus wept. He wept about death. He wept about death. Because it's a reality that we all have to face, isn't it?

[10:32] When we hear of someone we know passing away. Our heart is filled with sorrow and pain. Our heart is touched with sadness and sorrow. Our heart goes out to the loved ones left behind.

[10:46] Jesus knows. He wept about death. I am a dying man preaching to dying people here today. We're all on the way there.

[10:58] It's a one way way. Death is the end. Well, it's the gateway, isn't it? Unless he takes us first, we will all come to that time.

[11:12] And death is confronting. It's disturbing. It challenges us. It's approaching every one of us. Yet the holy comforter is with us. We can turn to our Lord, God, and know his comfort.

[11:26] It's who he is. He's the comforter. And our Lord and Saviour, it's interesting, it's noteworthy that our Lord wept at Lazarus' grave. Think of that.

[11:37] And the sense of it is he was deeply disturbed. These were deep feelings. When he saw the people weeping, as he was there, as he stood at that tomb of Lazarus, he was deeply troubled.

[11:51] There's a sense of anger, even, of outrage in the wording, that the Lord Jesus was annoyed at death's intrusion into his creation.

[12:04] Think of it. It wasn't God's intent that death would come. It's an intrusion on his perfect world that he made. But sin brought death.

[12:17] The Lord Jesus had not come to accept or make peace with death. Death is an enemy. And soon his own death and resurrection would defeat that enemy.

[12:33] And at his own return, eventually, he'll destroy it for good at the end of history. Death, although defeated by the Lord, has yet to be destroyed fully.

[12:44] Yet for us, we can have sure hope. Tomorrow is uncertain, but eternity is for sure. So we should think of eternity and get ready for our death.

[12:56] He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with greed. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

[13:06] Think of this one. It's a very title of him. Man of sorrows, acquainted with greed. This one who tasted death, yet he triumphed over it, can hold us.

[13:19] And we can know his victory over death. So we see Jesus wept. The Lord weeps. He sees our grief. Our times of grief.

[13:30] We all have them. Moments of pain. He shares that. Our sorrows. He carries them. He's moved. He's moved with the feelings. The feelings of our infirmities. We've all seen funerals.

[13:42] And the Lord knows the hard, hard times. Jesus wept. He knows this pain and loss. He feels the pain of death and sorrow.

[13:54] And friends, he's with us. He's surely with us. Let's go back to John 11 and verse 33. It reads of Mary. Mary weeping. Because her brother had died.

[14:06] We see there John 11, 33. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping. He saw her tears. It says, and the Jews also weeping. Which came with her. It says he was groaning in the spirit.

[14:19] And he was troubled. Now this Mary was the one who had sat at his very feet. And heard his word. She listened to him. Heeding his word. Mary was this one who had broken that box of costly spikenard.

[14:34] And anointed and wiped his feet with her hair. As she did after the event in John 12. The Lord Jesus felt her pain. He wept. And he groaned in his spirit.

[14:46] Friends, death is coming. And death is something that grieves God's heart. That blight of sin. The hurt, the pain of death on his creation.

[15:01] On mankind. He wept. And he groaned in his spirit. Because of death. Now it's he, the Lord Jesus, who is the only way for man out of sin and death.

[15:13] He can overcome sin and death. So Jesus wept, number one, because of death. And our Lord Jesus wept, secondly, because of love. He wept because of love.

[15:26] They said of him, behold, how he loved him. What a sight. Tears rolling down the face of God. Tears shed out of pure love.

[15:37] Jesus wept out of love for humanity, in sympathy, in care. And for those whose hearts were breaking at this time.

[15:49] He saw their tears and he wept with them. And John writes in verses 33, 34. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, he saw Mary's tears.

[16:02] And the Jews also weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled and said, Where have you laid him? And they said, Lord, come and see.

[16:15] What a comfort you can know today. You can have the great high priest who shares our feelings. We've been looking at it Wednesday night in the sense that there's still an accuser of the brethren.

[16:33] But the Lord is the advocate, comes before the Father. He's that one who intercedes for us, the great high priest. And he knows your feelings, he knows your needs. He's praying for us. Each believer, he's praying for you.

[16:46] We see he's that great high priest who we can bring our needs to. And he shows his grace and speaks for us. He speaks pardon for us as our intercessor.

[17:00] And we see the Saviour's love, his loving, compassionate heart. The overwhelming depth of it. His eyes gushed with tears. This is the one merciful, faithful, high priest.

[17:13] He's able to support them. He's able to support them. He's able to support them. He's able to help us that are going through testings and trials.

[17:26] We see here his deep emotions and mercy as his eyes gushed with tears. His loving heart. And no matter where we are at in our lives, no matter what our struggles and the numbers of struggles, I get to hear about some of them.

[17:43] Things people don't always get to hear about. I hear about them often for those that want to tell me. And it weighs me down sometimes.

[17:54] But the Lord knows your setbacks. He knows your sadness. He knows your suffering. He knows whenever we might feel hopeless and feel like it's too hard when we're facing troubles.

[18:05] We know that he will not forsake us. And he brings compassion to the hurting. He meets our need. And the Lord gave the story of the Good Samaritan really as a model for God's own compassion.

[18:23] Of course, we should be like the Good Samaritan ourselves. But even more so, it's really what God does for us. He's the ultimate one.

[18:35] That model, isn't he, of compassion. God's own compassion we see modeled by the Samaritan. He came to that victim of theft and violence and ministered to him.

[18:46] It says of our Lord that he's the friend of sinners. He's the one that receives the sinners. He welcomes us, the downtrodden, the outcasts.

[18:58] And the heart of God, it longs to reach out to us. His arms are wide open. As we see in Luke 15, he reaches the very lowest, the least, the lost.

[19:09] The lost sheep, the lost son, the lost coin. He searches and he reaches and he finds and he restores.

[19:20] His love is merciful. He is full of compassion. You know, he's got compassion to the brim. That's how merciful he is.

[19:32] That's how compassionate he is. The Lord Jesus, he comes to our world and he came in great mercy, God's great mercy. And he came to eat and drink with sinners.

[19:44] He came to the lost. He came willing to die, to pour out his life so that lost sinners can be found. That we might not perish but have everlasting life.

[19:57] He came to rescue, to save. And in his compassion, he stooped down from glory to Golgotha, that non-perish. Think of that. He came in love to save man from eternity lost.

[20:11] He came to save sinners. And what motivated him? Absolute love. He took on our flesh and blood. He exchanged heaven's height and came down to earth's lowest depths.

[20:31] He exchanged heaven's throne for Calvary's tree. To die on a cross in shame and agony. To die the death reserved for the worst of criminals.

[20:43] And he did it for you. For me. It's mind-blowing, isn't it? Why did he have compassion? Our Lord Jesus wept. Why?

[20:54] Because of death. The enemy of all of us. Because of love. The love that brought him to answer that.

[21:07] Death. Thirdly, he wept because of lost souls. We see it reads of him that when he saw the multitudes, the crowds in Matthew 9.36, says of him, our Lord, he was moved with compassion.

[21:23] He wasn't in inaction. He was moved to action. By the compassion that he had, he was moved to action. Because they fainted and were scattered abroad, a sheep having no shepherd.

[21:36] The shepherdless ones. They will not come to the shepherd. He's moved about that. The Lord Jesus looked over his beloved city. That city that he had come for.

[21:48] The city that he would die for. And he broke out into bitter weeping. And his eyes burst with tears. With loud weeping and sobbing is the sense of it.

[22:00] In Luke 19.41. And when he was come near, he beheld the city and wept over it. It's got the sense of it. He was wailing aloud.

[22:11] This was a weeping that was loud and strong. And Jesus wept when he saw the city. As he looked over the city that was before him. And it was kind of party time in Jerusalem.

[22:24] It was joyous. Carnival mode. A festival time. The feast of Passover. There was much feasting and hilarity. Yet this crowd had a religion which was empty of reality.

[22:36] It's the same today. The Lord Jesus sees the superficiality of their religion. They had pomp and ritual. But no God. And our Lord entered Jerusalem.

[22:48] There was much fanfare and applause. But he did not want to be treated like a celebrity and a superstar. He knew the heart of man. He wept over the city.

[23:00] He knew that Jerusalem would reject him. The peacemaker. As it struggles still today. Jerusalem. There's no peace there yet. It has rejected the Prince of Peace.

[23:13] You know Julie and I had the privilege to visit Jerusalem. And it seems like on every street corner there's people. Soldiers.

[23:24] Carrying machine guns. Men and women soldiers. And they're ready to use them. Because there's no peace in Jerusalem yet.

[23:35] It's not there. They missed the peacemaker. They rejected the Prince of Peace. They still do. And the crowd was saying with a loud voice. Hail him. Hail him.

[23:46] Our great king. Hail. Hail Jesus. Yet in just one week they would be shouting. Nail him. Nail him. Crucify him. Crucify him.

[23:58] They had religion. But they did not have him. And Jesus wept because he knew that. He wept for Jerusalem. He showed his love and care. He expressed the sorrow of his heart.

[24:09] Jesus was heartbroken. He cried his eyes out. Why? Because the people had not accepted him as king. They'd accepted him as a conquering king. As they thought of him.

[24:20] But this was not the kind of king that he was. They accepted the wrong Jesus. That's like people today. That follow false religion. A false Jesus. They don't know the real Jesus.

[24:32] They're still lost. Friends his mission is to seek and to save the lost. Luke 19.10. The lost. Now that's a foreboding word. God says you're either saved or you're lost.

[24:44] There's no in between. You can't stand on that fence. You've got to go one way or the other. And if you're not going that Jesus saves you, then you are lost. It's no in between state.

[24:56] You've got to say, yes, Jesus saved me. I trust you. Otherwise you're lost. And lost. Lost is a foreboding word. It's a word that should make us weep.

[25:08] For those that are lost. I think of lost ones that I know. It makes me want to weep. Think of lost ones, don't you? Lost ones that you love. Lost ones that you know are lost. Lost. Lost.

[25:18] It's a word that speaks of a straying traveller. Lost from safety and shelter. Lost in that dark, cold, stormy night. Lost. It speaks of the doomed passengers of a sinking ship.

[25:30] Lost with no hope of rescue. There's not enough lifeboats. You're lost. Lost speaks of the patient. Lost taken by death from the surgeon on the operating table.

[25:43] Oh, we've lost him. Lost. It's a graphic thought, isn't it? But oh, think. Think what the lostness means of the Christless ones.

[25:55] Of their awful peril. Lost. Lost for eternity. For eternity. Lost souls. Lost. Forever lost. That should move us.

[26:07] It moved him. He wept over the city. He wept over those lost souls. Lost souls. Lost. Forever lost. Friends. Souls tormented. With regret.

[26:17] That have rejected the gospel. That hope. That joy. That peace. Lost. Wasted lives. Wasted. Forever. Forever. The awful condition of lost and perishing souls should stir us.

[26:32] As it stirred him. Our Lord's compassionate heart. To the very depths. What breaks the heart of God should break our heart too. There are many lost people and they're all around us.

[26:44] There's lost people within a stone's throw. Lost people right here where we are, where we live. In our streets. In this city. Do we, like our Lord, have that same heart?

[26:55] To behold the city and weep over it. Lost souls in heathen darkness in Australia.

[27:07] Crying out for the gospel light. While some, as someone pictured it in a dream, they're busy making daisy chains.

[27:18] As it were. You know, just playing, playing with frivolous things. Trivial things. Playing with their lives. As they tick, tick, tick, tick.

[27:33] Their lives are gone. And they've wasted it. On trivial stuff. While lost souls are perishing. Do we weep like Christ did?

[27:45] Over the doomed city? Over perishing, blinded ones? Think of it, friends, today. Honestly, think of it. Our Lord Jesus. The God with skin on. God manifest in the flesh.

[27:57] He wept. He shed tears. He knows human feelings. He cares. He wept. It says he wept. Over death. At that tomb. At that grave he wept.

[28:07] He wept in love as he cares for love for men and women. And he wept over lost souls. Because there's a destination.

[28:20] There's a destiny. So what does it mean for us? Death, love, lost souls. I want to encourage you today, really, friends, brothers and sisters, that we are mindful of this today.

[28:37] That Jesus weeps. Today. Just as Jesus weeps at the grave of his dear friend Lazarus. Jesus weeps with us. With us. He weeps with the grieving ones at the effect of death.

[28:49] He weeps with us at the effect of sin. For the hurting, the addict, the abused. He looks at our city. He sees its unbelief. Jesus weeps today.

[29:01] And Mary questioned. Lord. Lord. Lord, if you had been here. My brother had not died.

[29:14] Mary questioned. Maybe blamed. There's a question there, isn't there? Did she doubt his care?

[29:26] His concern? But moments later, he was with her there in compassion. Weeping at Lazarus' grave. You know, we can question, why? Lord.

[29:37] Lord. God is here. He is close. When we face testing and trial. When it's hard to understand.

[29:47] In tragedy and loss. He's close to you. The God with skin on. He's as close as a prayer away. If you'd but. Reach out. The Lord weeps.

[29:58] He's grieved with men's hearts. With sin and carelessness. I'm quoting here. God himself had the life of his own son violently. And unjustly ended by misguided.

[30:09] And sin-filled human hearts. Like ours. Now think of it. God's compassion today. And he shows us his broken heart.

[30:19] His heart breaks. Jesus weeps today. He's still got that compassion. That care. That whosoever will may come. There's good news today still.

[30:30] For those who grieve. For those who will hear his voice. He stands with you. Jesus weeps with you. In the pain of life. The sadness.

[30:41] Jesus. The sorrowful times. He is with you friends. Know that. Let us pray that the Lord will help us know. That same heart. That passion.

[30:52] To stir our hearts. To have his heart. That we will be like him. Well look at our city. And it will move us. He wept aloud. God loves the city.

[31:06] City of Playford. The city of Adelaide. The Lord Jesus weeps over the city. The city of Jerusalem here. And if I'm a follower of him. Then I ought to. Likewise.

[31:18] Have my heart broken. What broke his heart. Ought to break mine. What moved his heart. Ought to move mine. And we think. Our Lord Jesus. As he looks at the nation.

[31:29] He looks at humankind. He looks at churches even. And he would weep over them. He weeps over us. Over our church. The global church. Over our city.

[31:40] Friends the Bible is full of tears. It's a tear stained book. There's tears on these pages. It says of the saints. They lifted up their voices.

[31:50] And they wept. It tells of the tears. Pouring down from the cheeks. Of God's own prophets. Night and day. They wept. Because sometimes it's hard.

[32:01] To deliver a message of judgment. A hard word. Is hard to deliver. And the man of God. Weeps. The Bible is not a cold book.

[32:14] Of empty human philosophy. This is not some. Mythical. Theoretical. Man conjured up book. This is the very heart of God. In print.

[32:25] The Bible is filled with emotion. With feeling. With heart. Jeremiah was the weeping prophet. His eyes were as a fountain of tears. Friends the ministry of Christ.

[32:37] Was a tearful ministry. And his ministry broke his heart. As well as sacrificed his life. And Paul talked about his own ministry. And told of tears.

[32:48] He said of serving the Lord with all humility of mind. With many tears. And temptations. He tells how he ceased not to warn. Everyone. Night and day. With tears.

[32:59] You know the preacher has to warn people. It's not an easy thing. With tears. He tells of much affliction. Of anguish of heart. Of many tears.

[33:12] He tells of enemies of the cross of Christ. Weeping as he told of them. And we see of Luke 19. That the Lord's emotion is furthermore.

[33:23] Strong as he came to the. If you like the church of his day. As he read in Luke 19. Really it's just. A little after.

[33:34] Our Lord's weeping over the city. We see that he goes into the temple. You know Luke 19 verse 45. It shows here another emotion. Of our Lord.

[33:45] Righteous anger. As he attacked the very institution. That represented him on earth. The church of the day if you like. In a kind of a way. The temple.

[33:56] It was backslidden. It was worldly. You know the retort. I know Paul and I. When we were door knocking yesterday. One man was talking about.

[34:07] Well look at what the churches have done. I think Jesus would be very very angry. Don't you? Very very angry.

[34:18] About some men of the cloth. Clergy. And the shameful things. Shameful things. I can imagine the Lord Jesus curling his lip.

[34:30] In rage. Outrage. At hurt little boys and girls. God have mercy on them. Jesus gets angry sometimes.

[34:43] Amen. And it's righteous anger. It's rightful anger. As he was there. Attacking the very institution. That represented him on earth.

[34:56] And those who should have been. The guardians of God's truth. Were busy finding fault. And missing the point. And so the Lord Jesus was rightfully angry. Our God has emotion.

[35:12] And feeling. And they're rightful. He cares about sinners. He cares for the lost. He cares about a church that is carnal. And dead. And astray. When there might be much hype.

[35:24] And song. And dance. But it's spiritually dead. Sometimes it's the noisiest of churches. That are the deadest. They've lost the love for the Lord.

[35:35] They've lost the truth. No wonder it says. Our Lord Jesus wept. He was moved with compassion. As he saw the multitudes.

[35:46] He was moved with compassion. They were scattered abroad. As sheep having no shepherd. And he says to his disciples. The harvest truly is plenteous. But the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore.

[35:58] The Lord of the harvest. It's his harvest. That he will send forth labourers. Into his harvest. Friends. That's the heart of God. It's for this world. The lost.

[36:09] Lost souls. Do we have his burden. Like he had. We should care about our own soul. And get saved. And we should care about others. Who've got lost souls.

[36:19] To see them saved. And take a look at the sad state of the church worldwide. The carnality of it. The decline of truth and of zeal. The godlessness.

[36:30] The neglect. They don't care about souls. By and large. Some church has got nothing. Nothing but thoughts of putting people on seats.

[36:42] Of having. You know. Some showy spectacle. And performance. They don't care about souls headed to destruction. What about you and me? Now we can be the same.

[36:55] We might have all the theology right. But it's not put into our shoe leather. We're not living it. We're not doing it. When we put our shoulder to the wheel. Our nose to the grindstone.

[37:06] When we have our heart and soul. A love that moves us. To action. To energy. The Lord Jesus. A friend of sinners. Will we be like him? A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

[37:18] Do we care? Like he cares? He faced grief in his trials. Neil read about sorrow there. There was sorrow at Gethsemane. There was sorrow through.

[37:29] Right through the blood stained path to the cross. Grieving. Grief. He was moved with compassion. He was moved to go to the cross.

[37:41] Friends. And we. Will we be like him? The Bible talks about the fellowship. Of his sufferings. Do we know anything of suffering? Really? Someone said I rejoice because you're persecuted for righteousness sake.

[37:54] Well. Nah. I've not been persecuted. I need a bit more suffering. A bit more persecution. A bit more punishment. Because we're meant to be in the fellowship of his sufferings.

[38:08] We're meant to be misunderstood and maligned. We're meant to be hurt. We're meant to bear the cross. And it's shame.

[38:20] Will we go the second mile? Do we really understand this? That I may know him. And the power of his resurrection.

[38:31] And the fellowship of his sufferings. What? What sufferings do we have? In Australia? Come on. Oh.

[38:41] I've got to get up a little bit early to go to church. I'm picking someone up on the way. And I've got to take that extra 20 minutes out of my way. What? Honestly. Come on.

[38:53] Oh. It's a bit hard to get to Sunday night services. You know. I've got all sorts of good reasons why to not come. I don't want to put myself out.

[39:04] Yeah. I don't want to. Yeah. Look. The fellowship of his sufferings. Really. Do we have that?

[39:15] Will we go the second mile? Some will watch some soppy movie. And be moved to tears of sorrow. I know. I watched one not that long ago and it was a cartoon.

[39:26] And I was crying because of the cartoon characters. That's what Hollywood does to you, doesn't it? These tearjerkers. You can cry over some cartoon characters. Do we cry?

[39:38] Do we weep about lost souls? What about that? Sinners are going to hell by the thousands and nobody really seems to care enough to do anything.

[39:50] And the psalmist speaks of how he that goes forth weeping and bearing that precious seed, they shall doubtless come rejoicing, bringing the sheaves with them.

[40:02] Now the harvest will be reaped by the ones that go out. To bring the harvest in, we've got to go out, bearing the precious seed.

[40:16] And don't forget the middle bit there, go forth weeping. Bearing precious seed. We've got to take this stuff seriously enough, don't we?

[40:26] Our Lord Jesus was outcast by men, betrayed by his friend, denied by his disciple, forsaken by his companions, tortured and nailed to the cursed tree.

[40:37] And it tells of him in prophecy, Psalms 69 verse 20, reproach hath broken my heart. This is our Lord it's talking about in a prophetic manner.

[40:51] Reproach hath broken my heart. In Mark 14 verse 50 it says, they all forsook him and fled.

[41:04] He had nobody. They all left him. He knows human pain. He knows loneliness. He knows loss. He knows heaviness. And that heart, friends, that heart is broken for you, broken for us.

[41:17] As he wept in deep sorrow over his beloved Jerusalem, he knew its coming fate. I don't think he was weeping for himself. He was weeping for the city. Amen.

[41:29] He gave himself, all of himself, to save the city, to save us. So, friends, can we ask the Lord to give us some more compassion for the lost, to take away any hard-heartedness and stiff-neckedness?

[41:51] May God stir our hearts. Here's a quote. To realise and know that souls, precious, never-dying souls, are perishing all around us, going out into the blackness of darkness and despair, eternally lost, and yet to feel no anguish, shed no tears, know no travail, how little we know of the compassion of Jesus.

[42:18] End quote. Jacob travailed until he prevailed. We should travail in prayer. Wrestle till God pour out his Spirit that sinners be converted.

[42:30] Friends, in closing, consider this, eternity, eternity. In hell, there shall be weeping. They'll be weeping there.

[42:42] In hell, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. It says, the Son of Man shall send forth his angels. This is Matthew 13, 41.

[42:55] Shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

[43:08] There's going to be some weeping in hell. That's what it says. You can't read it any other way. You can't change what it says. That's what it says in black and white.

[43:19] That's what hell will be. There shall be a weeping. There shall be a wailing. A gnashing of teeth. And we see, in contrast, there's another place.

[43:32] Praise God. Another place. What a contrast. To think, instead of that place of weeping, of hell, a place where there's no weeping. None at all. Zero weeping.

[43:44] The Lord has prepared a tear-free environment, if you like. An environment where tears will no longer be needed. There'll be no tears when we say goodbyes because we'll never say goodbye.

[43:56] We'll always be with the ones we love. We'll never part. We'll always be with them. There'll be no more goodbyes. There'll be no more graves. No more tears at the open grave.

[44:07] There'll be no more brokenheartedness because it says of that place, as John heard the voice from heaven, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men.

[44:18] God's dwelling place, that tabernacle. God comes and he tabernacles. He dwells in this place, this time with men, it says.

[44:28] And it says, and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people. And God himself shall be with them and be their God. And it's saint of God. It promises you this.

[44:40] And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying. Neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away.

[44:53] Think of that. The promise of God and the promises of God. It tells us they are yea and they are amen. In other words, we can believe it and receive it and God's stamp of authority is upon it.

[45:05] It's amen. We can trust it. It is so that God shall wipe away all tears. Every tear. All tears from their eyes. For the time being then, before we leave this earthly time, is anything too much for us to suffer for Christ?

[45:23] Is there anything that we should say, oh, I'll go so far but no further? Oh, that might be putting myself out. Oh, there's a line here in the suffering on the other side of it.

[45:35] Step over the line. Is there any sacrifice too great for us to make for him? Any devotion to the Son of God too extreme?

[45:48] Jesus wept. He's the God with skin on. And friends, I put to you today, you can know him personally, know him yourself, know him, know him for now and for eternity, know his saving.

[46:00] And he's the one, the God with skin on, Jesus wept. He weeps over death at the grave.

[46:11] He knows what life is and what death is. He weeps in love. His heart, his big heart, his heart full of compassion is moved and he weeps over the lost souls.

[46:23] And he wants us to have that same move in us. let's pray. Our God and King we thank you Lord that you are that God.

[46:36] God manifest in the flesh that you actually came and intervened and still intervene in human life and you can be one we can know.

[46:48] Lord we pray each one might have that knowledge to trust you to say Jesus save me I trust you as saviour and Lord. that we can know that and we know that you are that God with skin on and one day we will see you with our physical sense of sight yet for now we know it's just the eye of faith.

[47:10] Lord help us to trust you to reach out and touch you as you want to touch us and help us to touch others to be moved with love to have a care for lost souls to have a heart like your heart.

[47:25] Lord we pray that each one can know that trust that you died on the cross for our sin you're our risen saviour you've conquered that last enemy called death it's no longer going to hurt us or take from us because we have really victory over it Lord we thank you for that knowledge of the hope of that living hope of one day we'll be resurrected and yet even before our resurrection when we are absent from the body we are present with you our Lord and ultimately we'll be in that presence where it'll be heaven and there'll be no more tears no more crying no more sorrow no more pain and Lord we thank you for the comfort that gives to us even in the present time when we tread earthly paths where sorrow comes at times Lord help us to know your great care in Jesus name we pray Amen Amen