Works - Who are you working for?

[0:00] John chapter 10. Who are you working for? That's my question. Who are you working for? The Bible talks about the works of the devil and the work of God. And what a contrast between the two, isn't it? And there is a payoff. The devil pays his wages. The wages of sin is death.

[0:24] The devil pays. The wages of sin is death. John 10 verse 10 is where we're going to start. We're going to talk about destroying the works of the devil. The works of the devil, we should destroy them. That's what the Lord Jesus said in John 10 verse 10. He tells about the devil. He says, The thief cometh not for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly. What a contrast. Two contrasts here. Two polar opposites, isn't it? What a choice we're faced with. To follow this one who is a thief. He's come to steal, to kill and to destroy. You can follow him.

[1:13] But I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly. What a choice to follow the devil to destruction. He's come to kill, to steal, to kill, to destroy. Or to follow the Lord Jesus who's come to bring us life, life and life more abundant.

[1:39] And what's more, the Lord Jesus says that he has come to destroy the works of the devil. In 1 John 3 verse 8 it says, For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil.

[2:00] Your conduct shows who you're working for. Who are you working for? I know I've got the joy at the moment of working for a good boss. I count him as a good boss. He's not, as far as I know, he's not a saved man.

[2:17] But he's a man who's, he gives me his ear. He gives me his attention. He spends time with me. He cuts me some slack. Helps me to learn and do a job that I've never done before.

[2:33] And in a field of work that I've never worked in before. And he's still, I still feel like he's mentoring me, training me, supporting me. He's a good boss. But I've had other bosses before.

[2:45] Other bosses before. Bosses that haven't been so nice. Bosses that, I trembled in my boots every time I had to go and talk to them. And it's like they were just finding, you know, some people they try to catch you doing things wrong.

[3:02] Don't they? And you think, oh, when you call to their office, what have I done this time? Whereas others, like my good boss, tries to catch you doing something right.

[3:13] Says something that builds you up, helps you learn, helps you grow. And this is the contrast really between these two masters, isn't there? These two kingdoms, these two lords.

[3:25] Really, one's an imposter, isn't he? He's not really a king. He's the prince of darkness. And he's destined, his kingdom of darkness is destined for destruction.

[3:37] But I put to you that your conduct shows who you belong to. And the question is, who are you working for? Now, we're going to look at some wildlife today.

[3:49] That slide's not in the right one. That's talking about destruction. What should we do with the works of the devil? We should destroy them. But let's talk about some wildlife now.

[3:59] Some African wildlife in particular. But the zebra is distinct among members of the horse family. And because it's got a startling colour pattern and its resistance, and it's also got a resistance to training.

[4:14] Who's ever seen a zebra? I'm sure lots of us have. Lots of us down at the zoo in particular. But a zebra. Some like to say zebra.

[4:26] A zebra. They're both strong and stubborn. They're swift and fierce fighters as well. And while they're always on the alert, always on the lookout for their chief foe, the lion, they frequently underestimate the peril of a more deadly enemy, the cape hunting dog.

[4:47] This African fighting dog, the cape hunting dog. And one cape dog. It's just a little dog, really. You know, yap, yap, yap. Little dog, just kick him away.

[4:57] Like, not that we treat little dogs like that, but if it was a dog that was after you, if you're the posty, you know, you'd just scare it off. And one little cape dog, one little fighting dog, is not big enough or strong enough to take down a zebra by himself.

[5:18] You can imagine this little dog chasing this zebra. But what happens is these little fighting dogs bunch together and they form these brutal packs of 12 to 20 and they stalk the zebra.

[5:34] They hunt and they begin in single file, the leader out the front. And at first they move slowly. Then as the victim is separated, they pick up speed. And a pack has been known to maintain a speed of some 30 miles an hour.

[5:49] A consistent speed for some time. And as the prey tires, the zebra gets tired. And as this little dog has opportunity, the lead dog will lock its jaws onto any piece of flesh so that it can grasp and tenaciously it hangs on.

[6:06] Grabs a hold of their leg or whatever bit they can grab hold of and just hangs on tight. And this clinging dog just weakens the zebra as it still tries to run away from the pack.

[6:18] But the other dogs soon catch up. And the entire pack converges on the struggling victim, pulling it to the ground. The dogs begin to feed immediately, often while the victim's heart still beats.

[6:32] And once down, the prey is completely devoured in less than half an hour. Now you might say, what on earth is he talking about? What's this got to do with what I'm talking about?

[6:44] The question is, what are the hunting dogs of your life? Those things that maybe grab a hold of you, maybe just bite at your heels, but they lock their jaw in and they've got a hold of you.

[6:57] What piece of your life can it be that you're like this zebra that's got this little fighting dog hanging on to? Just a little piece of them, but it's dragging them down.

[7:10] And that can happen for us spiritually too. Something grabs a hold of us. It grabs us down. Whether it be something of the flesh, something of the old nature, something of the world's ways, whether it be foul language or a lack of prayer, lack of spiritual devotion.

[7:31] It just locks hold, grabs hold of us. The devil's works are like that, aren't they? The devil is like these little fighting dogs. Grab a hold of us, tries to pull us down, drag us down, tries to devour us.

[7:51] Devour us like a roaring lion. What are some of the signs that we've got these fighting dogs holding on to us? Could it be unforgiveness in our life?

[8:03] Could it be pride? Something that's not resolved between someone. Some gossip, some maybe materialism just gets a hold and drags us away, drags us down.

[8:15] Worldly jokes, worldly loves, worldly thinking. Drinking, drugs, lust, anger. What is it that is that fighting dog?

[8:29] Pulling us down, dragging us down, holding us back from following God. Maybe it's even less obvious things.

[8:41] Maybe seemingly harmless things. Laziness. That can get a hold of us. Distractions. Could it be friends who don't know the Lord that we're spending a lot of our time with?

[8:53] Just pulling us down. Dragging us down. Thinking and acting like the world does. Just the world's barrage of information that bombards us all the time.

[9:06] That says homosexuality is okay. It's just an alternative lifestyle. Whatever it be. Just be tolerant. Be inclusive. Just sweep it under the carpet. Don't kick up.

[9:20] Just be neutral. How can we be neutral to what the Bible says is sin? Those fighting dogs. Just grab a hold of us. Could it be those soap operas that sometimes just get our attention and just appeal so much?

[9:40] While at the same time they're feeding us all of these things like unfaithfulness, hate, revenge, materialism, murder.

[9:52] And even comedies where it's coarse, lewd and crude, vulgar. And people just laugh along with all the innuendos and all of the off-colour stuff until it just grabs us and holds us down.

[10:11] Tears us up like this pack of fighting dogs tears up the zebra. What about TV entertainment? Often it's fleshly and devilish. Sometimes it's better to steer away.

[10:24] Do something more positive, more spiritual, more helpful for your spiritual life. The word says do not give place to the devil. Don't give him an inch. Now sometimes we think, oh, just a little bit.

[10:37] Just a little bit. Like the door's ajar, isn't it? And then the devil gets his foot in. Keep it sharp. I would urge you, avoid what is sinful.

[10:48] Do not compromise with the world. Psalm 97.10, it says, Ye that love the Lord, hate evil. It's good for us to hate some things.

[11:01] It's good for us to be intolerant of some things. It's good for us to say no to some things. What you feed yourself with will make you who you are.

[11:13] Some people have a diet of junk food and it makes them unhealthy. They wonder. I've got to see the dentist soon and probably because I'm a bit of a sweet tooth.

[11:24] It has an effect, doesn't it? What we take in affects us. I've got to repent of my gluttony of sugary things. But seriously, what is your mind feeding on?

[11:36] What about your mind? What is that taking in? What's the old saying? Garbage in, garbage out. Worldly thinking, worldly philosophies. We start talking and walking like it.

[11:48] Is what you're engaged in right? Is it good? Is it wholesome? We've heard about darkness and light. They don't mix really, do they? When the light comes in, the darkness disappears.

[12:00] What if Christ was to come back catching us doing something or in the middle of something that we're taking part in and we know it's not really what would please him?

[12:13] Would we be ashamed? Let me tell you another animal story. There was a preacher who related it this way that he was going down the street.

[12:28] He says, I saw a drove of pigs following a man. Here were all these pigs walking after this man. And he was amazed at the sight.

[12:39] It was just such a curious sight. And so he walked along and he says this. He says, to my great surprise, I saw them follow him to the slaughterhouse.

[12:51] Oh, these cute little pigs. What a shame. Bacon and eggs. I was anxious to know how was this brought about. And I said to the man, my friend, how did you manage to induce those pigs to following here?

[13:07] Oh, did you not see, the man said. I had a basket of beans under my arm and I dropped a few as I came along. And they followed me. Here he was with the little basket.

[13:19] Dropped a little bean here. Little bean there. And the pigs just followed along. And so it is spiritually too, isn't it? That the devil has his basket of beans under his arm.

[13:33] And he drops them as he goes along. And the multitudes are induced to follow him. Have a little munch of a bean here and there. They're off to the slaughterhouse. Got to be careful, don't we?

[13:45] People of God. There's an everlasting slaughterhouse. And there's a broad and crowded way there. A broad way that leads to destruction.

[13:57] And the devil is throwing his beans and people are all just carrying along. In such a time as this, we ought to gird up the loins of our minds.

[14:12] Now, that's talking about your gird is talking about a belt. It's talking about a belt. But a belt on your mind. That you brace your mind. That you have your mind fixed and switched on and strongly held.

[14:26] Gird up the loins of your mind. Have your mind such that you're thinking straight. You're wising up to what's going on. You're being sober. You're hoping to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

[14:43] As obedient children. Not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance. But as he which hath called you is holy. So be ye holy. In all manner of conversation.

[14:54] In your whole manner of life. Be holy. Why? Because it is written, Be ye holy for I am holy. Now, notice here it says, Not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts.

[15:08] Now, this word fashioning has the connotation of like a horseshoe is fashioned. Now, I don't have a picture of another animal here. But something an animal wears.

[15:20] A horseshoe on an anvil. Bang, bang, bang. That horseshoe is fashioned. It's moulded and shaped and made into that shape of a horseshoe.

[15:33] Out of just a piece of metal. And likewise too, we can fashion our minds. After the fashion of the world. What does it say?

[15:44] Not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance. Don't fashion yourself according to this world. Don't let the devil bang your head. Bang your thinking, your mind.

[15:56] And your attraction, your affections after this world. But let your affections be heavenly directed.

[16:08] As it says elsewhere, Set your affections on things above. Not on things on the earth. So, who are you working for?

[16:18] That's my question. Wouldn't you rather work for a good boss than a bad boss? Do you want to work for a boss who's a thief? Who's come to steal?

[16:29] To kill? To destroy? Or would you rather work for someone who says, I am come that you might have life. And have it more abundantly.

[16:40] So, I put to you, in this question of who are you working for, what are we to do with the works of the devil? Destroy them. Destroy the works of the devil.

[16:52] Just like the Lord Jesus, the purpose that he's come for is to destroy the works of the devil. We'll move on to the works of God.

[17:04] It's a two-point sermon today, so I'm keeping it short. Not the... Oh, thanks, sister. It's not a three-point, it's a two-point. Talked about the works of the devil.

[17:15] Now we're going to go to the works of God. The works of God. And we heard about, in brief, creation. The works of God. The creation. It's astonishing, isn't it?

[17:26] Our amazing Lord, the creator of the universe, who's made you and me, and all that we have, in him we live and breathe and have our being.

[17:37] He's awesome. The works of God. Let's contrast that with the works of the devil. How can we work the works of God? This was a question that the disciples asked our Lord.

[17:50] They said unto him, What shall we do that we might work the works of God? What a question. We want to follow our Lord.

[18:01] We want to work for our God. And we want to do his works. What shall we do that we can do that? And our Lord says this, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

[18:16] Believe on me, he says. Our Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the work of God. The work, the one and only work that will save you, is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.

[18:34] And friends, he himself said, Of his works, I must work the works of him. In other words, the works of God.

[18:45] The works of him, the works of the Father, that hath sent me while it is day. The night cometh when no man can work. People of God today, there's a time limit on when we can work the works of God, isn't there?

[19:01] Now I've been thinking quite soberly of death. And how time is short. There's only a lifespan. And how wide is your lifespan? Who knows?

[19:11] I was listening to some radio commentary and there's some little app that people can go to and it tells you the date of your death. It actually calculates it.

[19:23] Of course it's quite guesswork because it's based on the approximate normal age that someone of your age will live. You know, your kind of life expectancy and it goes into kind of a bit of a calculation based on various factors and you can find out the date of your death.

[19:43] Of course it's purely imaginary and it's purely random as far as, you know, it's only the best guess they can come up with. But imagine that, if you knew the date of your death.

[19:54] You knew what it was November 2017? No, they must have made a mistake. Could it be sometime still in October 2017?

[20:06] Wow, I better get busy. You know, I've got only a limited time. You know, how much time have we got? We don't know, do we? Realistically. So we oughtn't to be ready.

[20:17] Oughtn't we? To be ready. Be ready. Be busy for God while we can. While we've got that lifespan. Because night comes. You know, in the old days they didn't have light bulbs.

[20:30] You know, night comes when you've got to actually clock off and put down tools and close up shop. One day it'll happen for us.

[20:42] For each one of us. And realistically, let's make the most of it while we can. So what are God's works? We could think faith. Ultimately it's faith, isn't it? To believe on Christ as Saviour and Lord.

[20:54] To know Him. To believe Him. To trust Him. For time and for eternity. To have faith. And faith, furthermore, faith in action. Faith that's real, that's alive, that's lived out.

[21:06] That's changing us from the inside out. The works of God. Our giving, our witnessing, our serving in whatever capacity we can.

[21:18] While we can. While it is day. While we can. Let's do the works of God. One of the reformers of old said this about faith.

[21:28] And what matters truly, what matters truly and mostly and absolutely absolutely is faith. And one old time reformer of old, he said this, the true living faith, which the Holy Spirit instills into the heart, simply cannot be idle.

[21:46] True living faith, it cannot be idle. It has to be jumping out of its skin. Doing, being, blessing. Here is what counts most of all, faith.

[21:59] Paul says this, after he talked about being a living sacrifice, he says, for I say through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God had dealt to every man the measure of faith.

[22:21] He's given you faith. Every man has got some measure of it. Even those who deny him, they still have that little possibility of faith.

[22:33] Every man has that capacity. Even those who mock and scorn deep, deep down, there's something there still. There's the God factor. There's the God zone, isn't there?

[22:46] It's in our DNA really, isn't it? As human beings, we cannot but know God believe, yet some cast it away.

[23:02] They will not follow him. They like the old boss too much. Wow, what? He's a thief.

[23:12] He's come to steal, kill, destroy. You want him? Wow, why would you do that? Why on earth would you want a boss like that?

[23:23] Why would you want to serve such a one as that? He's just got it in for you. He's a trickster. He's a con artist. He's going to rip you off and most of all he's going to steal the very soul of you.

[23:38] Yet some will still follow him. Everyone has an inbuilt God awareness. Surely. Everyone. But what will they do with it?

[23:49] this faith that we speak of is a resolute faith in Christ himself. Christ. It's faith in Christ. Not some misplaced faith.

[24:01] We can have misplaced faith. Now I've got another animal to show you. Here he is. Here's another animal. Well really, I like to say humans are not just another animal.

[24:16] are we? There's something different about you. Something different about humankind, mankind, human beings.

[24:26] Because we're made in the image of God. You're not just an animal. You are made in the image and likeness of God.

[24:38] Wow. Well let me tell you a story about this man. Well this is just a picture of a skydiver but such a one as this, a skydiver.

[24:49] And in April 1988 the evening news reported on a photographer who was a skydiver. Now I'm talking about misplaced faith.

[25:02] He jumped out of the plane along with numerous other skydivers and he filmed the group. He took lots of snaps with his little GoPro or whatever he had on his head. He filmed the group as they fell and opened their parachutes.

[25:19] Then on the film that was shown on this telecast as the final skydiver opened his shoot, the picture went berserk.

[25:30] The announcer reported that the cameraman had fallen to his death having jumped out of the plane. without his parachute. Misplaced faith until that point.

[25:45] It was all fun and joy. Oh, he was freewheeling and you know, whatever they do. And everybody saw smiles.

[25:55] It was so exciting and fun. But tragically he had acted without thought, with thoughtless haste and deadly foolishness.

[26:06] Nothing could save him. For his faith was in a parachute that was not buckled on. Faith in anything but an all-sufficient God can be such a tragic result.

[26:20] Tragic spiritually. Only faith in Christ. Christ alone. Christ himself. Only in Christ can we dare to step out into the dangerous excitement of life.

[26:34] This one in this account had misplaced faith. Misplaced faith. You know, people have faith in all kinds of things. But to miss out on faith in Christ, to not trust Christ for your salvation, is to be eternally lost.

[26:53] God is real. And he is a reality. We must seek after him. It tells us that without faith, talking about soul-saving, God granted, God directed faith.

[27:10] Without faith in Christ, without faith, it is impossible. It's like jumping out of that plane. You might fly around and think, uh-oh, where's the parachute?

[27:24] Without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe. Believe that he is. Believe that he is. And that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

[27:37] Sadly, some deny him. Sadly and foolishly, they deny him. It tells us some professing themselves to be wise, they become fools. There's a lot of PhDs that are fools, isn't there?

[27:51] Fools. Foolish, foolish people. uh, to, yeah, they profess themselves wise. But they miss the whole point. He that comes to God must believe, believe that he is, that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

[28:09] Do you know him? Are you in contact with the Lord? Do you know that hunger, that sensitivity to him in your life? Are you letting his word govern your life, direct your ways? Have you an interest in the needs of others?

[28:21] Are you becoming more loving, more forgiving, more like him? Are you more aware of sin? God may teach you so that your faith can grow. He may teach you through troubles, through trials, through testing, such that his intent is to draw you closer, draw you closer to him.

[28:41] You let go of those things that are getting in the way and you draw closer to him. And that can mean his discipline, it can mean his testing, it can mean life's trials can help you get stronger, to trust him further.

[28:58] And will our prayer be to have stronger faith? The disciples said to the Lord, increase our faith. That's a three word prayer you can pray, isn't it?

[29:10] That's a good prayer, isn't it? Three words. You could even memorize them. Increase our faith. Oh, I've got it there. Oh, wrong one.

[29:25] And the apostles said unto the Lord, increase our faith. Increase our faith. We talked earlier about pleasing him.

[29:37] We talked about professing themselves to be wise, they become fools. Think about atheism. Atheism. What does it say? They've got two concepts.

[29:50] An atheist has two concepts. Number one, there is no God. There is no God. Number two, I hate him. Isn't that true?

[30:04] You see these folk that call themselves an atheist and they say, oh, there is no God. And then they start attacking the Bible. They start attacking Christian view, Christian worldview, Christian viewpoint, Christian teachings, Bible concepts, because they truly deep down, whilst they say they deny his existence, they reject and fight against him with all their venom and hatred and gusto.

[30:44] Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, sadly. I pray for those folk who call themselves an atheist, that they will truly surrender to him.

[30:56] Stop fighting him. Just give it over to him. Let him take over your life. and be like these, increase our faith. Wow, I need to pray that prayer.

[31:09] When life's troubles come and it's hard, I know there's folk I dearly love that are going through some testing, some physical affliction, life is tough sometimes.

[31:24] It wears you down to keep saying, Lord, increase our faith, increase my faith. Now, this is not an animal story, this is a ship story now.

[31:38] And there's a missionary called Hudson Taylor. Who's heard of Hudson Taylor? A missionary to China. And it's about responding in faith.

[31:52] It's about reaching out to God in faith. And combining your faith with action. Hudson Taylor is a classic example of that. As he goes in this vessel, in the sailing vessel, and he was heading out to his missionary journey, and he went through this peninsula and passed the island of Sumatra.

[32:14] and the missionary heard this urgent knock on his door. The crew were all panicking. The captain was here. Mr.

[32:24] Taylor, Mr. Taylor, we have no wind, and we're drifting into this island where there's heathen savages and they're cannibals. They're going to eat us for lunch.

[32:37] And so the captain was just, you know, he was panicking. He'd lost it. What are we going to do? And he respected Taylor, Hudson Taylor, the missionary Christian.

[32:53] He said, what can I do? What can I do? I understand that you believe in God.

[33:07] I want you to pray for wind. I understand that you believe in God. I want you to pray for wind. All right, captain, I will, but you must set the sail.

[33:23] And the captain said, well, that's ridiculous. Look, the sea is calm here. There's not even the slightest breeze. Of course, the sails were down at that time.

[33:35] And beside, the sailors will think, I'm crazy putting the sails up. But finally, because of Taylor's insistence, he agreed. And 45 minutes later, he returned. And he found the missionary still on his knees.

[33:46] And he said, you can stop praying now. We've got more wind than we know what to do with. You know, faith. This captain didn't believe.

[33:57] Hudson, the missionary says, set your sails. Well, I pray. Hudson believed. Hudson believed God would intervene and send the wind. And he did. We can be like the captain and just, yeah, pray, but do nothing.

[34:13] Hudson says, set the sail. Faith is combined with action, isn't it? Our faith is combined with our trust in God. We're living it. We're walking with him.

[34:24] We're working the works of God. And like the Lord Jesus, he set the pace for us in humility, in worship, in contentment, in commitment. And it's been said that you're either a worldly!

[34:35] Christian or a world-class Christian. Now, for a worldly Christian, their prayers focus on their needs, their blessings, their happiness. It's a me-first faith. How can God make me more comfortable?

[34:49] They want to use God for their purposes, like some errand boy. You know, they've got a little checklist, a little prayer list, what I want God to do for little old me.

[35:02] Instead of, how can God use me for his purposes? How can I be used of God for his kingdom? freedom? We're saved to serve.

[35:13] We're saved to serve. And we're made for a mission. Whoa! Dropped the ball there, so to speak. We'll go back to the ship.

[35:26] World-class Christians, that's what we're meant to be. We've got a personal assignment to be used of God, to be used of him. Here we are, we're back on the ship. We're back on the ship and God's sending it where it needs to go.

[35:39] Amen? So, and we've all got this personal assignment from God, to be that privilege of being used of him. And world-class Christians are truly the only fully alive people on the planet, aren't we?

[35:53] We are fully alive, fully alive, life, life, and life more abundant. And when we wake up every morning, we know God's going to work in us and through us and for us.

[36:06] that's the kind of Christian he wants us to be. And he invites us into that greatest blessing to be his, to be his servants, what's more, his sons, his daughters, to know him.

[36:22] And he's building for eternity. Night comes when no man can work. So for the meantime, let's get that eternal perspective reality check.

[36:39] What was the date of my death again? I hope I need to check the internet. Maybe I could fudge the figures a bit, get a bit more time. But no, we can't. The date of our death is set.

[36:50] It is appointed unto men once to die. After that, the judgment. For the meantime, we've got a mission, haven't we? We've all got a mission, we've all got a calling, we've all got a work to be doing.

[37:02] And it's been said that someday the great commission will be the great completion. He'll say, I've got the last one in.

[37:13] And he'll go like that, it's over. But for the meantime, we've got people we can reach, haven't we? Our loved ones and friends, our workmates and people we know.

[37:25] And one day there'll be an enormous crowd of us, of every race, tribe, kindred, tongue, nation, every language, and one day we'll worship him.

[37:37] Maybe we'll all learn Hebrew, or we'll all have a massive learning of that one language.

[37:49] One thing's for sure, we'll all say hallelujah, won't we? Hallelujah. That's what they're going to sing. So for the meantime, let's be that world class Christian.

[38:01] Now, a man came to Christ, crying out for the Lord to intervene, to save his child who was demon oppressed. And Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

[38:17] All things, if you believe. All things. And he says with tears, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief.

[38:27] Now, we've heard a story here about spears and tears. They were fighting, not threatening only, but actually killing themselves with spears.

[38:44] And God brought tears, tears of repentance. And this man, he came crying with tears, Lord, who's worried about his child, under demonic affliction and control, bondage, worried about his dear child.

[39:07] He says, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. That's another prayer we can pray, isn't it? The first one was, increase our faith. Here's another one.

[39:18] Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. Isn't the times we have our faith tested such that we think, oh, I don't know. I don't know what God's doing.

[39:29] I can't understand it. Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. When I have those times of doubt. And the Lord responded to this man's faith, as weak as it was, as he cried out with tears, God brought joy and blessing.

[39:45] And faith is seeing him who is invisible. We don't always understand. We can't always fathom the depths and the magnitude, the expanse of God's wisdom in our finite little mind, or say my little brain at least.

[40:06] It just cannot capture it. It cannot reckon it. It cannot fully grasp love. The many treasures, the many riches, the deep treasures of the word of God, we're just scratching the surface, really, most of the time.

[40:25] Yet, we can believe and see him who is invisible. That's faith. Now, some would mock such a concept, but it is they who will lose out.

[40:38] Not everything is visible. not everything is seen by the eye. And to illustrate that, one last little animal story here. Now, here's an African impala.

[40:51] They can jump a height of over 10 feet. A height of over 10 feet. And that's a lot taller than me. It's probably, well, it's, would be maybe as high as the ceiling, do you think?

[41:08] Maybe 10 feet. That's how high this animal can jump an impala. And it can cover a distance greater than 30 feet. So not only can it jump that high, but 30 feet, maybe, I should have measured the building, I could have said, well, that's 30 feet, probably is.

[41:27] And yet, these magnificent creatures, they can be seen in zoos all around the world with a three foot wall. Three foot. These animals, they will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will fall.

[41:43] Isn't that like some people? Oh, when I see it, I'll believe it. because I can't see it, I won't believe it.

[42:01] Faith is the ability to trust what we can't see. And this faith that we can have in Christ, he is the unseen, but one day it says, every eye, every eye shall see him, every eye shall see him, every tongue shall confess Jesus Christ is the Lord, every knee shall bow.

[42:27] For the meantime, who are you working for? Who are you working for? God. Now, we've seen the choice between a master who's a thief.

[42:48] Why would you want to serve a master like that? He's come to steal, to kill, to destroy. Or the one who says, I am come, that you might have life, life more abundant.

[43:03] He has come, it says, to destroy, the works of the devil, and so should we. Recognise them for what they are, the works of the devil. Let's recognise the works of the devil and destroy them by God's help in our own lives, in our own hearts.

[43:21] Prayerfully seek God. Is what I'm doing here a work of the devil or a work of God? How can I let go and take up, let go of the devil's works and ways and take up the ways of God?

[43:39] Destroy the works of the devil and do the works of God. And the first work, how do I work the works of God? Believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

[43:50] It starts with faith. We can be a busy person, busy, busy, here, there, running our tail off, as it were, getting very busy about church things, yet not knowing Christ.

[44:05] That's a big mistake too. It starts with faith. It starts with faith in Christ, to trust him. Trust him alone for your salvation and then your faith that is real and alive will be lived down and will impact the way you live.

[44:22] Who are you working for? This is the question I put to you tonight, today and I ask you think about this deeply. Think about this and not just today but all the time.

[44:33] Night comes when no man can work. Whose works are you going to do? You've got a life span. You've got a day as it were. Hopefully you've got more than a day, more than two days.

[44:44] But the today that you have, every day is the time you have. Use it wisely and it starts faith in Christ. I can't stress this enough.

[44:56] Your only hope is faith in Christ. That is the works of God. Not any religious church works. You can be a very busy religious person but unless you know Christ as Saviour and Lord, it's worth nothing.

[45:12] It's empty. It's vain. Vain works. But if you put your faith in Christ, new life begins. And every moment is his.

[45:24] To bless, to serve, to rejoice, to live and to be a blessing. Praise God. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that you are wonderful, you are great and precious to us, Lord, that at the cross you paid the wages of our sin, death, that we can have the gift of God, eternal life.

[45:44] We pray if there's any here today, Lord, they'll know what it is to reject the wages of the devil, to stop being in his service, but rather, Lord, to in faith put our trust in you and to follow you and your new life, to know the joy that it is to serve and live for you while it is day.

[46:11] May we choose wisely the works that we do. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen.