Passion

[0:00] Praise the Lord. Christ has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, redemption. He's everything, isn't he? All we need. I was just looking at my Bible before I got up and this prophet Ezekiel was told to prophesy, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

[0:28] ! And elsewhere I was reading how the word of the Lord came unto me. The word of the Lord came unto me. The word of the Lord came again unto me. And I pray this is a word from God this morning, not from me, but a word of challenge, a word of stirring, a word of blessing.

[0:49] Now it's Mother's Day and this message has got absolutely nothing to do with mother's. So I could try to extrapolate and say that I have a love for my mother's cooking. The hot pot that we used to have. And you just smell the flavour of mum's cooking and how I had a love for my mum's cooking.

[1:12] Now I've developed a love for my wife's cooking. But the thing of love, it really follows on from what our brother Peter was sharing too about love the Lord with 99% of your heart.

[1:25] Love the Lord with 99% of your soul. Is that good enough? No, love the Lord with all your heart. Love the Lord with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength.

[1:35] Passion. Passion. Let's go to Matthew 5. I was thinking what would be a good kind of sermon to give you this morning and I thought, WWJP. What would Jesus preach?

[1:58] Matthew 5 verse 6. Now the Sermon on the Mount. And really just to lead in here. Matthew 5 verse 6. And really I'm going to be hop skipping and jumping a bit this morning through different scriptures so you might not be able to keep up.

[2:15] But we've got them viewing here so you can read them at least as we project them. Matthew 5 verse 6. Blessed are they.

[2:28] Which do hunger and thirst after righteousness. For they shall be filled. Let's pray. Lord we thank you for your word. For your love.

[2:40] Your great love with which you've loved us. The great grace you've given. That we can know that so great salvation. And you are truly great. And greatly to be praised.

[2:51] Lord we bless you. And lift up your worthy name. And open your pages of scripture now. Open our ears. Our hearts to understand. To take it in. And to take action.

[3:02] Lord we pray. In Jesus name. Amen. Blessed are they. Which do hunger and thirst after righteousness. For they shall be filled. There's a promise here. For you.

[3:12] For me. Today. A promise of God. And his promises are. Yea. And Amen. Again. Exceeding great and precious promises. This is just one of them.

[3:23] If you hunger. If you thirst. After righteousness. You shall be filled. A hunger. A desire for God. A passion. Passion.

[3:34] Get that word. A desire for God. To do a work in you. In us. In his church. And Mark 11. 24 says. Our Lord tells you again.

[3:46] Another promise. Matthew. Mark 11. 24. Therefore I say unto you. What things so ever you desire. When you pray.

[3:57] Believe that. You receive them. And you shall have them. Pray with desire. Pray with faith. Pray believing. I want to urge you today.

[4:07] To pray for zeal. To pray for passion. To pray for a renewed desire. A refreshing of that first love. A developing a greater desire. To please him.

[4:19] To please him. Your Lord. Your master. To live more passionately for Christ. If you desire it. In prayer. In faith. You shall receive it.

[4:31] You shall receive it. God promises that. The passion. Of a Christian. Truly. It is Christ. Isn't it? He is our passion. He is our love.

[4:42] The lover of our soul. He loved us to the extremity. The excruciating. Extremity.

[4:54] Of the crucifixion. The passion. Of our Lord for us. And truly. The passion of a Christian. Is Christ.

[5:04] Christ. Christ and him crucified. Hear the word of the Lord. Christ. And him crucified. Do we get that passion this morning? Are we hungry yet?

[5:16] Now. Don't start thinking about lunch just yet. But. But are we hungry? Are we hungry for that? Not mum's cooking. But hungry. For more of God.

[5:28] Hungry for righteousness. Hungry. And thirsty. Are we hungry enough? Thirsty enough? God promises again here. Another scripture. In Isaiah 44 verse 3.

[5:40] Another promise you can claim by faith this morning. Isaiah 44 verse 3. God promises. That he will. Pour out his spirit. On such.

[5:52] Who are thirsty. Our Lord God says. For I will. Pour water. Upon him. That is thirsty. And floods. Upon the dry ground.

[6:04] I will pour my spirit. Upon thy seed. And my blessing. Upon thine offspring. Floods.

[6:15] Upon dry ground. Glory. If you're feeling dry. He will pour out. His spirit. Upon the dry ground.

[6:26] Upon the dry. Upon him. That is thirsty. I will pour water. Upon him. That is thirsty. Thirsting. And hungering. It's our most basic desire.

[6:39] All living creatures long for sustenance. For food and drink. And without it. They're goners. You know. Out in the paddock. You've got to make sure. There's some water out there. Or.

[6:49] Or the flock. Will die. And. Food and drink. It's the most basic. Of. Needs. And. Yet. What about. That spiritual hunger. Now really.

[7:01] It's not just. Passion. It's spiritual passion. Not. Because there's fleshly passions. There's passions other than spiritual ones.

[7:12] But our Lord calls us to. This. This. Spiritual passion. This. Spiritual thirst. And spiritual hunger. For righteousness. For God's righteousness.

[7:23] Surely then. We will be filled. By and large. The church worldwide. Is cold. Lifeless. Lukewarm. Left its first love.

[7:34] By and large. When you reckon. When you really look. At the. At the. Signs. Signs. All around. It's like.

[7:44] We're living in a world. That is high tech. But low spirituality. Isn't it? High tech. But low spirituality. We've got all the mod cons.

[7:57] But they've conned us. They've robbed us. From spiritual life. From our Christian life. It seems like. We've lost something. Perhaps.

[8:11] And maybe. Without even realising it. Have you ever had that happen to you? You go looking for something. And you didn't even realise. You'd lost it. But. Yeah. Wow. I must have lost that.

[8:24] Somewhere along the line. And. As believers. Sometimes we can lose. That freshness. That zeal. And not even realise it. It's like. With Samson. The Lord left him.

[8:35] And he. He wasn't even aware. That the Lord had left him. Have we lost the joy. Of our salvation. It can happen. It happened to. David.

[8:46] Can happen to the best of us. As David. Fell. Badly fell. Into gross sin. And he repented. In Psalm 51. And he says.

[8:57] Restore unto me. The joy of my salvation. Restore unto me. The joy of my salvation. Uphold me. With thy free spirit. Believe God. Receive. His promises.

[9:08] Cry out to him. Like David did. You might feel far. Far away. David did here. But he asked God. To restore. To bring back. To return that joy.

[9:19] Is our soul. Fainting within us. For the living God. Are we like. Him that is thirsty. I will pour out my spirit.

[9:33] Upon him that is thirsty. He says. Is our soul. Fainting within us. Maybe feeling overwhelmed. With the circumstances. Of life. At times.

[9:46] Are we fainting. For the courts. Of the Lord. Is our heart. And our flesh. Crying out. For the living God. Psalm 84. Verse 2. This is David again.

[9:58] Can we cry. Along with David. My soul. Longeth. Yea even fainteth. For the courts. Of the Lord. My heart. And my flesh. Cryeth out. For the living God.

[10:09] He had this. Intense. Urge. This. Crying out. From within. The depths of his spirit.

[10:21] Crying out. Longing. Desiring. His soul. Fainting within him. For a life filled with the presence of God. He wanted it. He was hungry.

[10:32] He was hungry. Are you hungry? Hungry. Thirsting. For that renewed devotion. For that. Wanting to. Be.

[10:43] In. Fellowship. Wanting to be. Where you can receive. The word. Hear the word of the Lord. Is that our hearts cry?

[10:55] To have that soul fainting within us. To be filled with his presence. His life. His joy. His peace. We serve the living God. The living God. The living God.

[11:07] No. Earthly. Men. Invented God. No substitute. Counterfeit God. We serve the real. The living. The one who is alive. And real. Risen.

[11:18] And alive. Ever living. How can we refresh this? How can we. Refresh this longing? Have the heart. Cry of David. Do you want to be used of God?

[11:33] To be used of him. You can be. We all can be. Everyone. Everyone. Everyone. Has something. That God has put within you. To be.

[11:43] To do. To realise. That gifting. That calling. That drawing of God. To be about. What he has called you to be.

[11:53] To do. How can we be. To be used of God. To be a vessel. Unto honour. A vessel.

[12:04] Unto honour. It's conditional on some things. Paul was telling Timothy this. In 2 Timothy 2. 2 Timothy 2. Verse 21.

[12:16] Do we long for that closer walk with him? It's conditional on some things. We're told here. And Peter. Sorry. Paul tells Timothy. If a man therefore purge himself from these.

[12:29] So the context was getting rid of some things. Having a. A clearing of. Of house. A. Having a. Getting rid of.

[12:40] Of the junk. You know. I've got. You know. Some. I've got a bit of an anointing for it. You know. What I keep in my shed.

[12:51] I'm never going to use half of it. Probably. Probably 90% of it. What you accumulate. Amen. What about spiritually too. We accumulate stuff.

[13:03] Stuff we're never going to use. You know. We should. Make it easier for our. Our kids when we pass away. Just. You know. Clear it out. Put it on the hard waste.

[13:15] Get the skip in. You know. But what about spiritually. Amen. Spiritually. Maybe have a garage sale. Get some money for it. But you know. Purge yourself of these.

[13:26] Those things are the junk. And. And. To be a vessel unto honor. Sanctified. Made holy. Meet. Fit. For the master's use. Ready for the master.

[13:38] Fit for the master. Prepare. For the master. For every good work. That he's called us to do. To be. Some things have to go. For us to be prepared. And.

[13:49] Be willing to. Pay the price. Pay the price. Now. Not going to be like some. Tele evangelist. And it's paying the price. Of putting it in the bag.

[14:00] You know. No. We're talking about spiritually here. What matters. Is spiritually. To pay the price. To really pay the price. To cross that line. To step over the line.

[14:11] That comfort. Zone. Leave it behind. Many are. Wanting. But they're not willing. Not many are willing. Be in the minority.

[14:25] Now. Just to whet your appetite. I'm going to be talking more about that tonight. I'm preparing. That's the next meal. That's about the. Being in the minority. You know.

[14:36] We're a minority group. Aren't we? So. I'm going to be addressing that tonight. So. Let me prompt your appetite.

[14:46] For the next meal. But not many are willing. And we see that in Isaiah. 64. Not many are willing. To pay the price.

[14:58] Isaiah says. And there is none. That calleth upon thy name. That stirreth up himself. To take hold of thee. For thou hast hid thy face. From us.

[15:09] And hast consumed us. Because of our iniquities. It's saying here. There's none. That call upon. Thy name. That stir themselves up. To take hold of thee.

[15:19] You know. Elijah thought that. On just one. But. The Lord said. There's thousands. That haven't bowed their knee to Baal. That are all around us. We might feel like we're.

[15:29] In a minority. But truly. One plus God. Is a majority. Isn't it? And. So take hold of God. Take hold of him. Feed your spirit.

[15:40] Stir your spirit up. Stir yourself up. To take hold of God. Grow in that knowledge of Christ. His word is the word of life. We see that in Colossians 3.16. I know these are somewhat scattered thoughts.

[15:52] But hopefully they're all pulling together. To this one essential theme. Passion. Passion for Christ. Paul says. Let the word of Christ dwell in you.

[16:03] Richly. Richly. In all wisdom. Teaching and admonishing one another. In psalms and hymns. And spiritual songs. Singing. With grace. In your hearts to the Lord.

[16:14] It's telling us here. Let the word work. Within you. Work richly. Work abundantly. Within you. The word. Should govern. Every.

[16:25] Every area. Of our lives. Shouldn't it? This should govern. Every area of our lives. This isn't just some book. We're going to dust off. On a Sunday morning. It's.

[16:35] The governing. Of our life. Of. The truth of it. We must believe in its authority. It's authoritative. We must hold firmly to its teachings.

[16:47] We must trust in its promises. Yes. Lord. I believe. And we can stand up against all heresy and doubt. And heed its warnings. And follow its commands. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

[17:02] Let it be something rich. That yes. This means everything to me. God's precious word. I was. I was blessed to see a sister's Bible lately. That was marked well and truly.

[17:13] And I thought wow. She's been reading a Bible. Amen. That's what we need. Now the best Bible. Is a red Bible. I've got a black one. But get a red one. One that you read. Alright. Get a red one.

[17:24] A red Bible. That's what we need. Isn't it? Amen. Read your Bible. Believe its promises. Stand upon the word of God. Hear the word of the Lord. Wow. Let's have big ears to hear.

[17:36] Hear that word. Wow. I want to hear that. I want to get a full dose of that. And we can know his zeal refreshed within us. As we let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.

[17:47] We'll share the heart of God. We'll get the burden of the Lord. What's stopping you from knowing this? You know we could all make excuses. I've heard really that someone has defined excuses.

[17:59] They are sugar coated lies. Sugar coated lies. Don't make excuses. Make it your daily business. To do business with God. To search after God.

[18:09] To serve him with all your heart. Do we lack zeal? Lack personal revival? What is it that's blocking us? Is it all that junk in the shed?

[18:21] You know as it were. And spiritually. The stuff that just piles up in life. That God just gets less and less of us. What's blocking us?

[18:32] In Psalm 138 verse 7. The psalmist says. Though I walk in the midst of trouble. Thou wilt revive me. Thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies.

[18:43] And thy right hand shall save me. I love that one. Don't you? Where's revival? Though I walk in the midst of trouble. Isn't that encouraging?

[18:54] So brother, sister. You might feel I'm in trouble. Big trouble. I'm going through troubles. I've got my share of troubles. I've got a sack load of troubles.

[19:08] In the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me. Sometimes it's the best place to be, believe it or not. That personal revival even in time of trouble.

[19:21] Maybe it's there that we have to go. Into trouble. You know, you have to get out of the trench and over the line. Over the front lines and into the combat zone.

[19:33] Maybe it's there that we have to go. Into trouble. So let's not make excuses. Oh, it's too hard. I've got too much trouble to feel revived.

[19:47] In trouble, thou wilt revive me. Into trouble. Go into trouble. Don't worry about the trouble. Because God is already there. Whatever lies for you ahead.

[19:59] God is already there. And let the zeal of God continue unabated. Not interrupted. It's not a stop-start thing. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me.

[20:15] And Paul exhorts, keep on praying too. Sometimes we get trouble and it stops us from praying. Whereas it really should prompt us to pray.

[20:27] It should make us pray more fervently. More. Stirring up yourself to take hold of God. Stirring up yourself to take hold of God. We need to get stirred up in such a way.

[20:40] Not a manufactured, fleshly, engineered thing. But God is everything to me. And I will pray always. I will pray without ceasing.

[20:50] I will have a zeal unabated, uninterrupted. And I will know personally, personal revival.

[21:01] Of course, there's not to talk about revival in different quarters. Different ones claim they're having revival because of certain goings on. But really it's a person-by-person thing, isn't it?

[21:13] One by one by one. One soul at a time. Not a manufactured, fleshly thing, but a real, a freshness. But how? How can I know this thirsting, this longing, this hungering, this passion, this spiritual passion?

[21:31] How? What must happen? It's been truly said that pride is the number one roadblock to revival. I think that's a good quote there. It makes you think, doesn't it?

[21:43] Pride is the number one roadblock to revival. So we've got to get rid of pride. We must have the message of the cross.

[21:54] Agonize. The Lord Jesus says, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. Agonize.

[22:04] The cross wasn't comfortable. Agonize. I know Paul used that word in the Greek somewhere.

[22:17] I'm not sure of the reference. Agonia. There's that sense of agonizing. And that means getting rid of half-heartedness. To get rid of neglect and self-seeking.

[22:32] To decide to seek after God. Comfortable Christianity is powerless to impact society. Comfortable Christianity. We need to get rid of that.

[22:44] I know someone was telling me lately that someone in their family prefers another kind of church. And he called it a discotheque.

[22:55] It's like a discotheque. That's how he compared it. He compared it to a discotheque. That's comfortable Christianity.

[23:09] That's just... But it's really powerless. There's a lot of noise, but there's no power. There's a lot of emotion, passion, but no spiritual passion.

[23:23] That real zeal. And yet even... It seems like there's this tendency, just broadly speaking, that people just seem lackadaisical.

[23:38] I was just reading in the news today how the AFL are lamenting something that's going on lately. There's been some big game. They called it the Monster AFL Saturday.

[23:52] There's some big games on, apparently, on Saturday. I don't really follow that, but... There was one thing that was striking that the commentators made a comment. They said, On Saturday, Melbourne annihilated Gold Coast in front of a record low crowd.

[24:09] A record low crowd. So even the footy. Even the footy players. Even the football matches. Struggling to get attendance. Attendance is low.

[24:20] Poor attendance. So, brothers and sisters, whilst we might seem few in number here, maybe even the AFL struggle to get people to come and attend a footy game.

[24:32] And what a picture that is of comfortable Christianity. And really, maybe it's the smaller in number, the more powerful we are.

[24:43] I wonder sometimes, you know, again, I'm talking about the remnant tonight. The remnant. Not that we should get proud and think I'm a holy remnant. But, you know, or have that fortress mentality that, you know, we're a holy huddle and a holy club that is just only select people are invited to.

[25:03] But we should be a holy people. It doesn't matter the numbers. That's irrelevant, really, isn't it? Hebrews 11 verse 6, it says, But without faith it is impossible to please him.

[25:17] For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Notice the word diligently. Diligently. Seek God diligently.

[25:29] Develop within you a holy determination. A diligence. To know the indwelling of God's spirit. To get hungry. Who's hungry yet?

[25:42] Mum's cooking? No? Not talking about mum's cooking. You might be fasting for lunch. No? We need to get holy, don't we? We need to get hungry for more of God.

[25:54] Spiritual passion. To determine to have that responsiveness to the working of God's spirit. And brother, sister, I'm not meaning to make lightness of this.

[26:07] Because this is a holy thing. That spiritual hunger. It's something our Lord counted as precious and critical.

[26:23] So it's so blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Why? For they shall be filled. We see in some people a thirst for learning.

[26:35] I know where I work, often there's training opportunities. And I like to attend training. And I like to call it brain food. I like to get brain food. I like to get stimulated in my mind.

[26:46] And learn new skills. Learn new knowledge. And new stuff. And we can do that in that secular sense, can't we?

[26:58] Keep developing that brain. Young people, you might have aspirations for further study. For a particular career that you've got in mind. It's going to take hard work to get there.

[27:10] But getting that brain food is good for you. But how much more? Soul food. Wow. Yes. Soul food. Get hungry for it.

[27:24] And pick that precious truth of God's scriptures. Hunger and thirst for it. Dig deep into it. Study it. Dedicate time.

[27:38] Apply yourself. Study to show yourself approved unto God. And as a church, we want to proclaim the word of God. Hear the word of the Lord. Be where the word is.

[27:49] Where we can hear it. Where we can act on it. Every chance that we can. Come. Come. And bring someone with you. What an opportunity. You might say, hey.

[28:01] Someone you know. Come and join me at church tonight. Bring someone with you to church. Who knows? They might. Also get a hunger and thirsting.

[28:13] So. Wow. They might catch. Catch that fire that you've got. And. Know your saviour. Like you do. Invite people. And bring them with you.

[28:23] Bring your children. To church. Whenever you can. How will they develop a habit. If you are not training them up. In the way they should go. Mind you.

[28:34] My children are not always in church. And I'm sad about that. But I've taken the opportunity. While I were under my charge. To bring them to church. Because. What greater thing can I do.

[28:46] Than. Have them where the word is. Where they can hear you. Where they can hear it. Where they can learn it. Where they can get a habit. Of bible study. A habit of fellowship. Critical.

[28:59] Critical. As many times as you can. As much as you can. Don't neglect that. I urge you. Let's get hungry. And get our children hungry. Let's get serious about serving God.

[29:11] This is no light thing. This is not some worldly career. This is not some. Vain effort of men. This is God's thing. This is God's work. It's something we should get serious about.

[29:23] Because nothing else really matters. And truly it's simple. The truth is simple. Plain and simple. We don't need some polish and varnish added to it. Some new cart.

[29:33] Some new effort of men. We don't need to put some smoke machine in here. Or some strobe lights. Or some disco girl singing to you. And putting on a big dance and show.

[29:46] And gliss and glots. And glamour. And razzmatazz. We just need the simple truth. Don't we? The simple truth of God's word. Live it.

[29:56] Hear it. Breathe it. Put it into action. And God's spirit working in your hearts. We'll make it come alive to you. We don't need some new way. Some new Bible. Or some new song.

[30:08] We need to return to the old paths. The old paths. Here is the way. Walk ye in it. God's way. And walk worthy. It's the road to revival. So determine that.

[30:19] Above all. You'll make this your resolution. To please God. With all your life. With your soul. With your decisions. With your everyday living. Psalm 63.8.

[30:31] It says we must follow hard after God. Psalm 63.8. I don't have it to project this one. But in part it says. My soul followeth hard after thee.

[30:43] My soul followeth hard after thee. It's got that sense of intensity. That sense of. I'm going to really follow after God. And do it. Strongly.

[30:54] Fervently. Who is your role model? Who do you look up to? To aspire to be like? You know sadly. Some. Just want to follow.

[31:05] What the royals are doing. Prince Harry. He's just a man. He's just a man. Some rock star.

[31:19] Beyonce. Or whoever. I don't know what their names are. Some great footy player. I don't think I can name one of them. Whoever they be.

[31:29] I mean. What? Are they your role models? I mean. I'm not denigrating. Hey. You might have some. You know. Some carnival addiction to sport.

[31:39] You know. Like my dad. You know. I've got to keep praying for him. With his. With his Manchester United spirit. We've got to. We've got to cast that Manchester United spirit out of him.

[31:50] No. We're not saying. You know. This. Sport is not necessarily a demon possession. But you know. It comes close. But. We're just saying. Let's get real.

[32:01] Let's get real. Brothers and sisters. What really counts? Who's your role model? You know. You see some young people. And they've got some big. Pop star poster on their wall. Or some. Some footy player.

[32:12] Or whatever it be. Maybe they're nice people. Maybe. Maybe it's pretty harmless. But. Who is your role model really? Christ.

[32:22] Christ. Christ should be our role model. And we are his representatives. Who do we want to look up to? Who do we want to be like? Do you want to be like Jesus? Shouldn't that be our hearts cry?

[32:34] To be like him? To be like him? To have that oneness with Christ? It says that Christ in you. Is the hope of glory. Christ in you. Paul prays.

[32:45] He says. To whom God will make known. What is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. Which is Christ in you. The hope of glory. He says this is great treasure. These are great riches.

[32:57] And he says that we preach Christ. Warning every man. Teaching every man. In all wisdom. That we may present every man. Perfect. In Christ Jesus. We want to talk about Jesus. Let's talk about Jesus.

[33:11] Let's talk about him. Warning. Teaching. Presenting every man. And Paul says. I labour for this. With his working. Striving in me. Working in me mightily.

[33:22] Not half-heartedly. But mightily. I want to tell everybody about Jesus. And there's great riches here. A great treasure. Are you hungry and thirsty.

[33:33] For. This great treasure. You know. Some people get hungry and thirsty for money. They're money hungry. Heard that expression. It's like money's everything to them. And. Money hungry.

[33:46] Rather get. What's the word? Godly hungry. Get God hungry. Not money hungry. You know.

[33:58] Money's. Going to burn one day. It's going to rust. And corrupt. You know. I was. I know my dad was telling about. A break in lately. His next door neighbour. Had some.

[34:10] Item stolen. And I've got to tell you this. Morning. That I am a witness. I'm a witness of a break in. Last night. At about five o'clock.

[34:21] Julie and I were here. And we heard a bang. Out in the car park. And thought. Oh. Someone's. Hit my car or something. And then this. Burglar alarm was going off. Ding. Ding. Ding.

[34:32] Ding. And I thought. Well something's going on out there. So I looked out. And there was a woman. And ran over to the house. Over here. And I thought. Oh. She's gone to turn her burglar alarm off. Went back inside.

[34:42] And then the. Woman came. Who lived there. And she saw the woman run out. And so. It was actually. I saw the thief. That she must have gone back. For a second load of stuff.

[34:54] And so. And. I'm using that to illustrate this here. That. The Lord Jesus says. Lay not up for yourselves. Treasures upon earth. Where moth and rust doth corrupt.

[35:04] And where thieves break through and steal. Now the bang I heard. Was the door getting flashed in. And then the alarm going off later. As I came back inside. And didn't realize what was going on. So the police then.

[35:15] Interviewed me. And I'm a witness. We all need to be witnesses. Don't we? We've seen something. We've known something. We know our saviour. We should be his witnesses. But. Brothers and sisters.

[35:26] The thieves are going to break through and steal. You know. Who knows. You could get home after church. And someone's broken in. Now you start worrying. It's like when Julie and I left the church one day.

[35:37] And our house was flooded when we got home. It was some burst under the sink. And everything was wrecked. And you know. The treasure's on earth. Things are going to break through and steal.

[35:49] The moth's going to come and eat it all up. All that. All those Pierre Cardin clothes you've got in your wardrobe. Brother. You know. Or sister those lovely dresses. The moth's going to come in and gradually eat little holes in it.

[36:01] It's going to be fit for the garbage. Moth and rust doth corrupt. Things break through and steal. But rather. He says. Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt.

[36:14] And where thieves do not break through and steal. And. There's much more we could say here. There's great treasure. For where your treasure is.

[36:25] There will your heart be also. Maybe we need to do a bit of a. You know. Not go and see a financial counsellor. Or a. What they call those people who go to get investment advice.

[36:37] But. Hey. We should go to God. And how should I invest. This most. Limited resource that I have. My time. How should I invest my life. What's the best investment I can make.

[36:50] The kingdom of God. Yeah. Seek those things that are above. And. And he says. As I say. Put your treasures in heaven.

[37:01] Delight in God. Seek after him. It's a pearl of great prices compared to. It's compared to like having a treasure. You know. Sometimes I get out in the backyard. And I've got a bit of a big backyard.

[37:12] And. You know. I start digging with my pickaxe. Trying to plant something. I think. Oh. That's a. It's a bit of metal there. It's sort of heavy. Probably just a piece of iron. Iron sort of rock. I think.

[37:23] If I keep digging. Maybe I'm going to get. Hit gold one day. And. There could be treasure in my backyard. That I don't realise. You know. There's gold mines up there somewhere. Not far away. Isn't there?

[37:33] You know. Just not far away. Who knows whether there's. There could be gold. Next time I'm a bearer. And I'm digging a hole for my. My. Plant. I'm going to strike gold. And it's. Oh. Wow. You know.

[37:43] But. No. The Lord says. Don't worry about the treasure on earth. Put your treasure in heaven. For where your treasure is. There will your heart be also. Things are going to break in and steal.

[37:56] This earthly. Life. This. The earthly. Junk. It's just. Nothing. Isn't it. Really. And the Lord tells a story.

[38:07] In Matthew 13. How a man. It's. The kingdom of heaven. Is like unto a treasure. Hidden a field. You know. That gold nugget. When he's found it. He's got joy.

[38:17] He sells all he has. So he can buy that field. And. Like a merchant. Seeking goodly pearls. When he's found one. A pearl of great price. Just so. Perfect.

[38:28] He sells all he has. To buy it. And brother. Sister. Let's. Let's have that thought. About what really counts. This treasure is so precious.

[38:39] The riches of. His glory. And when we find a treasure. That matters to us. We'll sell all we have. To have it.

[38:49] Well. Nothing else will compare. With this. With this treasure. And there'll be a zeal. There'll be a passion. That just. Makes us want to. Give our all.

[39:01] A zeal. That will motivate us. Now. Now. If we need another motivator. To stand for God. It's a place called hell.

[39:12] That should motivate us. The wicked. Should we turn into hell. And all the nations. That forget God. You know. I went to a funeral.

[39:24] Just on Friday. And. It was a godless funeral. God was not mentioned. And.

[39:34] Likely the man. Was godless. What a loss. What a tragic end to a life. Hell. Should motivate us.

[39:45] It's a militant evangelism. It should motivate our zeal. To. Stimulate our love for God. Our love for souls. If we love him. We'll obey him.

[39:56] He says. Come unto me. All you that labour. And are heavy laden. And I'll give you rest. Here's another motivator. He says. Come. Come unto me. He says. Let's stop resisting.

[40:09] His call. Let's stop. Blocking our ears. To his. Cry. Let's. Hear his word. Hear the word of the Lord. Come unto me.

[40:20] He says. All you that labour. And are heavy laden. And I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. And learn of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart. You shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy.

[40:30] And my burden is light. Just simply do what he says. It's not rocket science. It's not technical. Complicated. Complex. It's simply responding to his call.

[40:42] Come unto me. He says. Take my yoke. He says. I have something I want you to do. He says. Take my burden upon you. Now we're all called to carry a burden.

[40:53] And. And. We can carry lots of things. Can't we? Through life. We can get burdened down. Loaded up.

[41:04] With all kinds of care. I know. Again. Talking about my back paddock. I've got it. It's.

[41:15] My backyard. Sort of goes. Down. And up again. And it's very. It's steep. And. And. Hard to climb. I had to get some things from the other side.

[41:27] Some. Tree guards. That I had to pick up. And it's all a big bundle of stuff. Just carrying it down. It's just. And it's heavier every step. Isn't it?

[41:38] When you're carrying something heavy. And you're dropping stuff. And you. You know. I've got to go down. And then up the other side. And we can get loaded down. With so many burdens. And so many things that we try to carry in life.

[41:49] One burden. He wants us to have. Is a burden. For souls. Get a burden. For souls. A burden. That will drive you. To your knees. A burden. That will drive you.

[41:59] To witness. To. Tell others. And the first step. He tells you. Is come unto me. He says. My burden. Is light.

[42:10] He won't give you a burden. That is. More than you can bear. He will. Help you. And. Come unto me. He says. There's a closeness. That he wants.

[42:22] And it's a coming. To him. A closeness. To him. And it's ongoing. You know. We don't just say. Oh. I'm going to come unto Jesus. 10 o'clock. To 11.30. And then I'll wait. Till 10 o'clock.

[42:32] Next week. Next Sunday. No. Come unto me. All the time. All the time. He doesn't. Clock off at 11.30. I've got two minutes left here.

[42:43] He doesn't clock off. At 11.30. He's always with you. Isn't he? Amen. And we're called to pray. Always pray. Not just on a Sunday service. But always. Monday morning.

[42:55] When you're at work. When the rubber hits the road. When everything's going hard for you. And you've got to live. You've got to make a living. You're on a mission. You're a missionary.

[43:06] And his mission is our mission. I love this one. I know it's dear to my dad as well. Luke 4.18. The spirit of the Lord is upon me. He's anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

[43:17] He's sent me to heal the broken hearted. To preach deliverance to the captives. The recovering of sight to the blind. To sell at liberty them that are bruised. We've got a glad message. A message of deliverance.

[43:28] Deliverance to the captives. This message that we have is life changing. It's eternal. It's an everlasting change of direction. For souls. And.

[43:42] Notice that our Lord when he tells of this prophecy of him. The Lord. The spirit of the Lord is on me. He hath sent me. And I look through this concordance.

[43:53] And this phrase. Sent me. Often our Lord says. That the Father hath sent me. He often used these words. And in John 20 verse 20.

[44:06] It tells us that. The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. The Lord had risen. And then the Lord said to them. Peace be unto you. As the Father hath sent me. Even so.

[44:17] Send I you. And then it says that he breathed on them. The spirit of God. He said. Receive ye. The Holy Ghost. As the Father hath sent me. He says. So send I you.

[44:29] We are sent. Can we grab a hold of that truth. We are sent. We are commissioned. We're sent with a mission. This is another motivator.

[44:41] For that hunger and zeal. That hunger and thirsting. We are sent. We are called. We are called out people. Separated from the world. A people called to be possessed of God. So let's hunger and thirst.

[44:54] Let's realize he sent us. That should motivate us. To a greater passion. That you are sent. And he's empowered us by his spirit.

[45:07] He says. Receive ye. The Holy Ghost. Friends. Just to. Draw it to a close here now. Sometimes I feel these are scattered thoughts.

[45:17] But. I pray that these are all pointing you in that one direction. The one direction of greater passion. Passion. Greater passion for God. And not a.

[45:28] A fleshly. Carnal passion. But a spiritual passion. A spiritual passion. That we might be. Collectively. A people mighty in faith. A people standing firm and fast.

[45:41] A people knowing personal revival. No matter what. We're going through. And even more so. In trouble. We will know. And we will know this.

[45:52] We have been sent. As. The father sent me. He says. I'm sending you. And then the harvest. He. Draws the.

[46:03] Disciples attention. To the harvest around them. The fields are white. And the harvest. He says. The fields are ready. He says. Truly the harvest is great. But the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore.

[46:14] The Lord of the harvest. That you would send forth laborers. Into his harvest. And he says. Then he says. Behold I send you. Behold I send you. Forth.

[46:25] As lambs among wolves. Friends. The world. Is. At times. Not. An easy place. I know. I know.

[46:36] I've told this. Illustration before. But. Jillian and I. Got some chooks. And. Just yesterday. I saw a fox. In the neighbor's. Yard.

[46:47] Just. A few meters away. From our. Dear beloved chook. Who. Blesses us with a nag every day. And. And. There's wolves out there.

[46:57] There's foxes. There's. There's things that want to devour. There's. There's. There's. There's. Enemies. Of the cross. There's. There's. There's. There's false teachers. And false prophets.

[47:08] There's. There's. There's false churches. There's. There's. There's. The enemies. Workers. The sinful workers. That are all around us. And. And. The Lord says. I'm going to send you forth. As lambs.

[47:20] Among wolves. It's not. Easy being a lamb. Amongst wolves. But. Your shepherd is with you. Amen. Your shepherd is with you. So.

[47:30] You need not fear. Because. The great shepherd. The good shepherd. The chief shepherd. The Lord our shepherd. He is with you. So. Go forth. As lambs. Among wolves. So.

[47:40] Someone's opened the doors here. So. A great picture here. The doors are wide open. And. Thank you sister. For that sermon illustration. That. The doors are wide open.

[47:52] And. The fields are wide. The harvest truly is great. But. The laborers are few. I send you forth. As lambs. Among wolves. Do we see the harvest? Do we stop.

[48:04] And see the harvest? The Lord Jesus says. Lift up your eyes. Look. On the fields. Could be people we work with. Couldn't it? Could be people that we're friends with.

[48:16] People we. You know. If we're one of those common people. We're going to play sports with. Or. People that you rub shoulders with. Brother. Sister. That's probably. That's your mission field brother.

[48:27] Isn't it? When you're out there. Playing sport. Not denigrating it. Whoever you rub shoulders with. That's your mission field. The people that.

[48:38] You work with. Maybe God. Has put you there. So you can witness to them. Couldn't that be so? I believe in this.

[48:49] When we hear his voice. Isaiah said. I heard the voice of the Lord. Saying. Here shall I stand. And who will go for us? Then said I. Here am I. Send me. Here am I.

[49:00] Send me. Let's willingly. Heartlessly respond. Brother. Sister. Passion. Talking about passion. And. We can have passion for lots of things.

[49:12] Can't we? People get passionate. And some people just love having an argument. Whatever it is. Whatever subject it is. But. Not talking about earthly. Carmel. Fleshly passions.

[49:23] A spiritual passion. To hunger and thirst after righteousness. To be that dry ground. That he says he's going to pour water on. To ask him. Lord. Restore. That joy of my salvation.

[49:35] To have that. Crying out for the living God. To have that. Calling upon his name. Taking hold of him. To purging yourself. From all of these things.

[49:46] To have that. Fitness for. The master's use. It starts with this. Are you hungry? Now. It's getting close to lunch time.

[49:56] I'm sure. Now. I was. I was sitting with someone yesterday. And. And. I could. I could hear this noise. This growling noise. And I thought. That man's hungry. What about spiritually?

[50:06] Amen. Let's get hungry spiritually today. Let's pray. Lord. We thank you. That your grace is sufficient. For each of us today. Lord. Your mercy.

[50:17] Is everlasting. Your truth endures to all generations. Lord. Lord. Help us to hear your word. The word of the Lord. Hear that word. Of spiritual passion.

[50:28] Of spiritual hunger and thirsting. Bring it in us. Lord. Quicken it in us. Lord. Make us hungry. Lord. For more of you. To know you more.

[50:39] To long and search and desire. And to know that sending. That you've called us. To come unto you Lord. To hear your word.

[50:51] Lord. Help us. We pray for every person here today. That most especially. If there's anyone who's yet to trust you. As saviour and as Lord. They would hear your voice. When you say.

[51:01] Come unto me. All you that labour on a heavy laden. And I will give you rest. Rest unto your souls. We pray. That each one would know. The soul rest. That we can just be still.

[51:13] And know that you are God. And put our faith. Our hearts trust in you. And the work of the cross. In dying and rising again. Lord. In bleeding and dying. Shedding your blood.

[51:24] As the lamb of God. For our sin. Lord. We receive that gift. That treasure. Lord. And help us. To lay our treasures. Not on this earthly life.

[51:35] Or earthly things. But. To lay up our treasure in heaven. And Lord. To have that heavenly heart. That heavenly. Heart cry. That Lord.

[51:45] Send me. Send me. I want to be used of you. Help me to clear out. And clean up my act. Lord. That I can be. Fit. For the master's use.

[51:56] Prepared. Unto every good work. We pray. Lord. For these missionaries. Here. This morning. This is a commissioning service. To all the missionaries here. Seated here in this place.

[52:09] That all of these men and women. These young men and young women. That they are missionaries. Missionaries sent. As the Father hath sent me.

[52:21] So send I you. Thank you Lord for that. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen.