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[0:00] I speak as a dying man to dying men and women. The reality of life, of death, of eternity faces all of us.

[0:16] ! I speak God helping me with a thus saith the Lord. Not because I'm conjuring up something but because I'm speaking from this sacred book.

[0:27] ! Thus saith the Lord. It is written. What saith the scriptures? That matters, doesn't it? And we see in many circles there's all this getting aside from the scriptures where the scriptures are scarcely opened and they're scarcely referred to.

[0:48] My message today is things we have need of. Things we have need of. And what saith the scriptures? What is it that we have need of?

[1:00] May we consider our need. What we have need of. We each have need of many things. We could talk of many needs. The Bible speaks of many things that we need.

[1:11] I'm just touching on some of those things. I want to urge you today to direct your thoughts heavenward to his supply. To see God as your supply, as your source.

[1:25] And Matthew 6 is where we'll start. Here in Matthew 6. Matthew 6. In the context of prayer. Of course, the Lord's Prayer, as some call it. Where the disciples asked our Lord, teach us to pray.

[1:40] And he tells of the heathen with their vain repetitions. And he says, verse 8 of Matthew 6. Be not you therefore like unto them.

[1:52] For your father knoweth what things you have need of. Before you ask him. Your father knows what things you have need of.

[2:03] Can you consider as we can just take a moment to reflect on where we've come from. We know there's a time where they made a monument.

[2:18] Ebenezer. Hitherto have the Lord helped us. Look back on the blessings that you've received. Consider the many gifts God has given unto you. James 1.17 says, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.

[2:36] And cometh down from the Father of lights. With whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Every good gift, every perfect gift comes down from above.

[2:48] Consider what you've been given. You know, as we've referred to earlier, the blessings are manifold, aren't they? What have you been given if you're a saved man, a saved woman here?

[3:00] You have a high and holy calling. You have a heavenly calling. What a blessing that he should call you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

[3:12] You have a sacred calling. Every believer has such a call. And your life's object now is to make heaven richer and hell poorer. You've got a message to impart.

[3:23] To bring dead men back to life. That's every believer's calling. To be a witness. You can witness in manifold ways. Whether in public fashion, in open air, in street witnessing, in track giving, in personal testimony.

[3:42] In shining your light through the good works that others may see your light. You have a calling. A heavenly calling. You have a need of a responsiveness to God.

[3:57] We all have need to be responsive to God. To hear his call. The master beckons, as in Luke 9. And some respond weakly, as the one did in Luke 9.67.

[4:12] One said, Lord, I will follow thee. But. And there was another one too. Lord, I will follow thee.

[4:23] But. But. Let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. I will follow thee. Yes, I will follow thee, Lord. But. But. How will we respond to the Lord?

[4:38] Will it be like that? With our conditions and our needs and our wants first? Or will we say, I will follow you no matter what? I will follow you.

[4:50] Full stop. We have need of responsiveness to God. We have need to put things in priority order. Again, in the context of Matthew 6, from verse 25, it says, Our Lord urges them, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body, what you shall put on.

[5:12] Is not the life more than meat and body, more than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns.

[5:24] Yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are you not much better than they? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature?

[5:36] We can't make ourselves any taller. And why take ye thought for raiment, for clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, for how they grow, they tall or not, neither do they spin.

[5:47] And yet I say unto you that Solomon, even Solomon in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

[6:07] Therefore take no thought, saying, what shall we drink, or what shall we eat, or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

[6:21] God knows you have need of some things. Naturally, day by day living. But verse 33, But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

[6:35] Take therefore no thought for the morrow. You know what's going to happen tomorrow? For the morrow, tomorrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

[6:48] What he's saying there, our Lord is saying we have need of setting some priorities, of putting things in a priority order. Now, as I started by saying we've got many needs, and we're just touching on a small number here.

[7:04] If you were to really sit down and think through, as I've got this endless to-do list, what to do, and what my needs are, and I never get to most of them, but we all can make a big long list, can't we, of the things to do, a to-do list, and what the needs are we have in our life.

[7:24] But what about putting things in a priority order? Now, of course, what Julie wants is number one priority, and on my to-do list, of course. But what is it that God wants of us?

[7:35] What is it that God wants us to do on our spiritual to-do list? Shouldn't that be number one? The priority should be what God sets for our lives. Shouldn't that be the case?

[7:46] When we put things in a priority order, shouldn't it be that what God wants gets the priority? What is it that we value? What is it that we devalue? What matters? Putting things in priority order.

[7:58] Seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And everything else can come after that.

[8:09] It can come secondary to that. What does it all boil down to? Really, friends, what we have need of is simple faith, isn't it? We can worry about what we're going to wear, what we're going to eat, what we're going to do, the trivialities.

[8:28] Or we can really value the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And in simple faith, trust him. Simply trust him. Simply believe. Trust him.

[8:38] I had a young woman approach me, concerned for her soul in recent days, and she sought for reassurance about her salvation. She was uncertain of her salvation.

[8:50] What could I answer? What could I say to her? I could simply only point her to the word. To point her to the Lord. To point her to his promises. To simply trust his promises.

[9:04] That's all any of us can do, isn't it? None of us have any greater claim than another. But we all have the same book, the same promises, and the same God.

[9:17] And simply trust him. Simply trust him. We have need of faith. And the word tells of faith, faith that is holy. Faith that is most holy. That's an interesting concept, isn't it?

[9:31] That the faith that we have is most holy faith. In Jude 1 verse 20 it says, But ye beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.

[9:45] Our faith is most holy. It's the sense that the one we serve and love and know, he is holy, holy, holy. And our faith should be likewise.

[9:59] Made holy faith. It transforms us. The faith that shapes us and makes us like him. I know it was an interesting object lesson at the recent conference.

[10:13] We had a preacher demonstrate by having a man stood here and a bunch of other folk on this side representing the world.

[10:27] And one of these folk trusted in the Lord and was saved. So their direction changed towards God the Father.

[10:41] And they turned their direction towards the Father. Father God. They were a saved man. In this case it was a man who was saved.

[10:53] A saved soul. And the preacher talked about steps of obedience. Steps of obedience. As the saved soul grew in their faith.

[11:05] And their faith grew stronger. They took those steps of obedience. Drawing closer to God. The Bible says, Draw near to God. And he will draw near to you.

[11:16] I think it might have made the object lesson even better. If as he took the steps of faith, God took a step towards him. There's a sense where as we draw near to God, he draws near to us.

[11:27] There's that magnetic effect, isn't there? We become more godly. And he embraces us. He draws us unto himself. In that precious truth of salvation.

[11:41] And of sanctification as those steps of faith, we grow more like him. And we grow less like the world that we're leaving behind us. And he made the point of demonstrating holiness by this object lesson.

[11:56] That as we are transformed, we turn towards God, we repent, we turn towards him, we leave our old ways, we leave the world, we draw closer to God, he draws closer to us, we become more Christ-like.

[12:11] And holiness, excuse me, holiness, it's not so much the emphasis on leaving the world and the worldly ways, it's more about the direction we're setting.

[12:23] It's more about that our object of our affection, of our attention, of our love, is God. We're drawn to him. And as we grow in our Christian faith, with those steps of obedience, we walk closer to the Father.

[12:37] And we walk closer to our Lord. We become more like Christ. And so, in a sense, holiness, it's almost incidental that we're leaving the world because our affection is unto him.

[12:55] Our faith, our most holy faith, is our direction, our drawing is unto Christ to be more like him. And that is our holiness. As we receive his righteousness, as we partake of his likeness, we become partakers of Christ.

[13:12] And just that picture sort of made me think, yeah, because sometimes we can dwell on, oh, it's what you leave behind, the world. Of course, we do turn our back on the world as saved people, as sanctified people.

[13:23] We do shun and leave behind the world and the ways of the world and the love and affections of the world, the cares of the world, the things of the world. But the emphasis is not so much on that as in the do's and don'ts, but it is in that love for Christ our Lord, that holiness of God, that he draws us unto himself.

[13:44] And the more we become like him, the more holy we become. And those things of the world drop off and we leave them behind us. It's about that sensitivity to God, that sensitivity towards God.

[13:57] And as I say, that communion with him, and really for this woman who sought my counsel, who sought after assurance, it was God moving her to settle this question.

[14:10] Because we can take it lightly. We can take it in a careless way. And we can be subject to carnality and the flesh.

[14:23] And the enemy wants us to stay in that domain of doubt and uncertainty. And God moves us out of that domain into getting things right with him.

[14:34] He moves on us. He convicts us of our sin. He draws us to what is right and to leave what is wrong. And that's the conviction of the Holy Spirit, isn't it?

[14:44] We should all have that. We have need of that. We have need to not grieve the Holy Spirit. Because God is a jealous God. We can't two-time God.

[14:55] There's one God. Love him only. Serve him only. Be devoted unto him. He is a jealous God. There's a holy jealousy. And it's rightful that we are wholeheartedly dedicated unto him to maintain that sensitivity towards God.

[15:14] Samson knew that not, that the Lord departed from him. We see in the scriptures where Samson was deceived to giving the secret away of his hair as his strength, as that symbol of his consecration unto God was that hair that he grew.

[15:31] And then he was sleeping there in the lap of Delilah. You know, who loves their afternoon naps? In other words, an afternoon nap, he was in the lap of Delilah. Maybe she was singing him a little lullaby and caressing his forehead or feeding him grapes.

[15:47] You can imagine, I'm being a little descriptive here, kind of imagination here going wild. He was sleeping in the lap of Delilah. And how warm it would have been and how comfortable.

[15:59] And the soft pillow and the restful, just the nature of it. You can imagine the atmosphere of it.

[16:09] He was sleeping in the lap of Delilah. And before long, his eyes were put out. And he was there at the grinding stone.

[16:20] Samson knew not that the Lord had departed from him. Let's not get careless. Brother, sister, we have need to maintain our sensitivity towards God.

[16:32] The enemy will have those Delilas to take us away from him. And we must trust in the Lord. Be sensitive towards God. We have need of the word.

[16:44] And we have need to hold it fast. We're soldiers of the cross. As Eliezer in 2 Samuel 23. Eliezer, who firmly stood his ground in a time of battle.

[16:56] The battle scene was there in 2 Samuel 23. And verse 9, it says of Eliezer, the son of Dodo, the Ahahite, one of the three mighty men with David. He was one of the three mighty men.

[17:07] One of the pillars of the church. One of the soldiers of the Lord. One of the warriors for Christ. As it were. And he stood with David. And it says, they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle.

[17:20] And the men of Israel were gone away. And it says of Eliezer in 2 Samuel 23.10, he arose and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary and his hand clave unto the sword.

[17:33] And the Lord brought a great victory that day. And the people returned after him only to spoil. His hand was weary and his hand clave unto the sword. You know, there's a time we need to stand for the word of God.

[17:48] When the world is falling for lies and fake news and false religion and false philosophies. We need the sword of the spirit, don't we?

[17:59] I was down at the store some weeks ago and someone took me into, they sold me some steak knives.

[18:11] And they demonstrated these steak knives and I was convinced of their cutting power, of their sturdiness as they demonstrated on various objects as they got this knife and they're cutting into the metal of a hammer and cutting things just, just, it was such a stunning performance of the cutting power of the sturdiness of these blades.

[18:35] And they used to, they would say, wait, there's more. Wait, there's more. And they would bring out more and more selection of these various blades. But friends, I want to tell you there's a blade, there's a blade that is not a dull blade, amen?

[18:50] There's a blade that is a two, it's sharper than any two-edged sword. There is a blade that will not be dullened, that will not need sharpening, amen?

[19:00] A blade that will be eternally sharp, cutting even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit. And this is the ever sharp sword.

[19:11] And we need to be like Eliezer that his hand clave unto the sword. His hand was weary but his hand clave unto the sword. Let us not let go of the sword.

[19:22] We have need of the word, don't we? Let's be a people of the book. We need to be students of the word. We cannot plumb the fathomless truths of this book. It's a mind that we cannot reach the furthermost truth.

[19:40] It's just this fathomless, isn't it? There's depths we cannot plumb. And we need to tremble at this book, take it so seriously.

[19:51] We have need of the book. Now we've got a little reading planned there, how to read through the Bible in one year. We've got some of those little leaflets at the back table there. It's a good practice.

[20:02] It's a good habit. Be in the book, the book. And may we tremble before him at these eternal truths. It's a serious business. Friends, today, there's churches that it's all amusement instead of the awesome awe of God.

[20:22] People are going for entertainment instead of edification. They're going for this fanciful, flossy, fairy floss instead of the bread, the meat, the milk, the food.

[20:40] That is the word. And they wonder why they've got a health problem, a spiritual health problem. There's some Christians who are spiritually unhealthy in their spirit because they don't have a good diet.

[21:01] It tells us in the word of God, Psalm 60 verse 4, Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. We've got a banner. And we should not be ashamed to fly the banner.

[21:14] Friends, souls are in danger. May we have compassion. Pull them out of the fire. It's a picture of like a, you could picture it as a fireman, a firefighter going into a burning building and dragging people out.

[21:34] Or a car wreck that's about to spark into flame. Have compassion pulling them out of the fire. fire. This should be our hearts crying.

[21:46] May we have compassion such that we take action. Because this task is ours. As I've said before, he doesn't send angels, he sends you and me. Go ye. All of us have this task, this task, this call, this message.

[22:01] And the message that we have is a fountain of life to souls that are in death, that are about to expire. fire. And friends, we're all on the edge of eternity.

[22:15] As I thought of this poor man, you get to heaven by being honest. I had to implore him as he slammed the door upon me. No, you're wrong, sir. You're fearfully wrong.

[22:28] You're eternally wrong. Desperately wrong. And that's what motivates us to be a church that witnesses, a church that cares about soul winning.

[22:38] Because this message that we have should be burning and pressing us. This love for our Christ, this love of Christ, it constrains us.

[22:50] We must tell. And this task is ours. We are called to this. This message we have, this thirsty world, needs this fountain of life.

[23:02] And you are that water carrier. They may not be thirsty, but you'll strike one who is. As our brother shared today, there's thirsty souls who will receive the water of life.

[23:15] And so we have need of boldness today, don't we? It's one of the things the early church prayed for. Pray for boldness. Pray that this preacher will be bold. Whoever preaches will be bold. That we'll be a church that is bold.

[23:28] The righteous are as bold as a lion. The early church specifically prayed for boldness. We have need of boldness still, don't we? Don't we? The early church specifically prayed for it and they received it in Acts 4.29.

[23:45] And now, Lord, behold their threatenings and grant unto thy servants with all boldness they may speak thy word. This is the uncompromising message.

[23:58] It's sad that in some quarters they don't even have a real Bible anymore. God, it's, it's, it's, it just blows my mind.

[24:11] Even the, just the paraphrases they use now, it's just mind boggling, isn't it? People don't have the word of God anymore. And we should have an uncompromising stand that our hand will cleave unto this sword and we'll not let it go.

[24:27] The uncompromising message. We must hold it fast, hold it forth. There are ancient landmarks that must not be moved. People are moving them.

[24:38] They're detouring. So no one knows the way anymore. Where's the milestones? Where's the landmarks? How do I know what's right and wrong? Because they've got away from this book. They don't cleave unto the sword anymore.

[24:49] more. The landmarks have got lost. You know, we see around building sites people would be familiar with that, the fact that the stakes are set and are definitely set in definite places.

[25:09] And the word tells us the landmarks are set in definite places. Some things are not, they're not negotiable, they're not up for question, they're not up for debate.

[25:21] That really, when God puts a landmark, he hammers it in the ground and he says that's the landmark, that is the definite point, that is the definite truth.

[25:35] It's not changing. We're not budging from that. But now people want to detour from the landmarks and change where God sets the guidelines, God sets the boundaries, God sets the milestones.

[25:50] But we have timeless, changeless truth. This is not up for debate, for question. The truth doesn't get revised according to the culture and fashions of the day.

[26:02] The truth does not get changed. The truth is the truth, always has been the truth, always will be the truth. And this truth is what our world desperately needs to hear.

[26:13] So we have need of boldness to stand fast in a world that's just drifting, drifting away. And most importantly and uppermost of our needs, we have need of him, don't we?

[26:27] Don't we have need of him? Most importantly, he says John 15, 5, I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bring forth much fruit.

[26:39] For without me you can do nothing. And I was challenged when our brother prayed as we went out witnessing and he specifically quoted this one, without me you can do nothing. Now we can go through all the motions, we can have a jam-packed calendar, we can have meetings morning, noon and night and so-called revival meetings or special meetings and I could work you really hard and badger you and hound you and harass you to be at every meeting and we can have a church packed full of people for various meetings but that would be all in vain if it was without him, isn't it?

[27:16] Because without him we can do nothing. And better that it was one or two, even one, and I know there's a man who comes and prays in this building just on his own with God.

[27:30] That's a holy place, isn't it? Wow. And not that you have to come to this particular piece of geography to get into a holy place but you can have a holy place right at home, in your lounge room, in your bedroom, in your study at home, wherever you are, in your car, in a corner at work, on your break or whatever it be, you can have a holy place.

[27:52] You can set up a holy place, a family altar, a personal altar and to have that heart-changing work because what matters is we need the Lord. That's what we need.

[28:04] We need the Lord. And I know there's a contemporary song which I'm not necessarily supporting or endorsing but people need the Lord. That's the truth, isn't it? People need the Lord.

[28:15] This world needs Christ. This community needs Christ. This city, this nation. We need the Lord. We need the Lord to have this heart-changing work to be about the work of God such that we can cry out from the depths of our being, my heart is fixed, oh God.

[28:32] Let's get ourselves fixed first. Get right with God. I'm saying that to me, for each one. And as the saved, we have need of the church.

[28:43] Some think the church isn't important such that they neglect the fellowship. It's so important, isn't it, the church? And when I say the church, I mean the gathering together, the assembly.

[28:54] And you can have an assembly in your home too. I know that. Some do. You may not get to every meeting but you can have an assembly in your home where you get together and pray and encourage each other.

[29:07] That can be an assembly too. But there's a sense where the church is important and we ought not to neglect fellowship. Because why is the church important? We're meant to be together.

[29:19] Something happens when God's people get together. Something happens in the supernatural. supernatural. Because we ought to be as an army with banners, it says.

[29:30] As Song of Solomon 6 verse 4. And I know I've quoted this before kind of a bit tongue in cheek. We should be a terrible church. In the sense that we should be terrible as an army with banners.

[29:42] You know, a terrible church such that it strikes terror into the heart of Satan. That we are mobilized, advancing. That we are a church that is on mission.

[29:56] That is on target. That is on the advance. That is on the attack. Terrible as an army with banners. Terrible in the sense of terrifying.

[30:06] We should strike terror into the enemy of Christ. That we are an army with banners. We're not afraid to show our true colors. You know, some make a big fuss about floating the colors of their footy team.

[30:22] This is much more important, isn't it? The banners. Our Lord God. Our salvation. We want to shine it. We want to shout it. We want to fly it. As a flag.

[30:34] We cannot be an army functioning on our own. Some people think they can be an army that kind of, oh, I'll go to this church this week and this church that week.

[30:44] And, oh, I'm not even going to go to a church this week. You know, you're meant to be an army. So an army actually says, I'm reporting for duty. I'm joining the assembly.

[30:56] I'm standing when the parade ground, there's a trumpet course and we assemble as an army would assemble. As an army terrible with banners. We cannot be an army when we're acting independently.

[31:09] A lot of people think that they can just be an independent. A floating, flitting butterfly. A floppy, flotty, flossy. That's not an army.

[31:22] Get in the army. We cannot be an army unless we're together. It's a good thing about getting together, isn't it? Because you can encourage me.

[31:34] I can encourage you. You can stir me unto good works, unto love. It's a good thing. So let's get in the army and function together as a fighting army unit. There's a discipline.

[31:45] There's a blessing that comes as we gather. And we have need of consecration, don't we? Are we ready for the master's use? That's a big need that we have, isn't it?

[31:58] You might say, preacher, I know I've got things that are holding me back. Well, drop them. Let it go. Cut it off. Shake it off.

[32:08] Like, pull a snake. Shake it off in the fire. Get rid of it. Whatever's hanging on to you, holding you back, dragging you down. Get ready for the master's use.

[32:19] Don't let anything deter you. Don't let anything stop you. Don't let anything bog you down or make you unfit for the master's use. Get ready for the master's use.

[32:31] How do we do that? Get in the word. Encourage yourself in God. Take time. There's so many resources at our fingertips now. As we know, there's good and bad on the internet, but there's some good things you can get your teeth into, into fellowship, into study.

[32:47] You can do an online Bible course and get, you know, you could get more trained than the one who goes to a particular school. You know, Spurgeon said, a good library is better than a Bible course.

[33:01] Now get some good Christian material. Get some good Christian books so you can learn, so you can grow. Get ready for the master's use. Take that time. Another specific prayer request that our Lord urges us to pray, another need that's still in need of today is a need of workers.

[33:18] A need of workers. Luke 10, 2, as we know, the one where he sees the harvest and he says, the harvest truly is plenteous. There's lots of harvest out there, but the labourers are few.

[33:31] Pray ye therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he may, would send forth labourers into his harvest. We have need of workers. I don't like to tell you all the needs of this church, but there are many.

[33:45] And who's going to meet the need? People. It's people. That's what we need. We need workers. Workers who will say, yes, sir, I'm ready to serve.

[34:00] Not unto me, but unto him. We have need to keep on growing. Let's never get settled. Sometimes Christians get stagnant and static and stale.

[34:11] We have need of getting off of the bench and into the game. Let's embark on that journey of spiritual recovery. We have need of liberty in Christ so we don't get entangled again in the yoke of bondage.

[34:25] You know, Christians get so tied up with things that they're like a man in a net. Just shake it off. Whatever's stopping you. We've got liberty in Christ.

[34:36] Be not entangled again. We have need of surrender. Let go of the habits that hold you back, that hold you captive. We have need of holiness.

[34:47] You know, there's still high places today. In the Old Testament, there's high places, aren't there, where the heathen gather, where the heathen party, where the heathen have their anti-God or their God substitutes.

[35:03] There's high places all around us today. What are they? There's some people here today because they're playing sport.

[35:17] There's still high places today where the heathen gather, where they drink and party and booze and smoke and party on and go their merry way.

[35:30] And these are not the places for the children of God to gather, to be. And I was convicted lately as we read something about even going to a hotel. You question, I mean, that's a personal conviction thing.

[35:42] But, you know, why do we want to support where the heathen gather, where the heathen do their stuff? High places. Don't go there. Rather go to the holy place where your family can grow, where you can be blessed, where you can encourage, where you can minister, where you can serve.

[36:01] We have need to believe God in a world that's full of lies. This world hates God. The education system, the governmental systems, they're Christless and Christ-denying and anti-Christ largely.

[36:17] Look at the education system. It does not say, in the beginning, a nebular mass. In the beginning, some hairy monkey swinging by the tail. It says, in the beginning, God.

[36:28] That's what it says. In the beginning, God. But our world would deny him. They don't want to believe the truth. Friends, we must have the truth.

[36:40] And we need to believe God wholeheartedly such that we refuse the lies of the evil one. And to communicate the truth, we have need of the power of God, don't we? As he says, without me you can do nothing, to rely upon his power such that the preaching, such that all of our working, such that everything that we're minded to do and be as a church would be resting on the power of God, relying upon his power.

[37:06] The power of his grace. The power of his Holy Spirit. The name of Jesus. The name above all names. The one who is our refuge. To find our refuge in God. And one day he will dry all our tears.

[37:17] For the time there will be some tears. There will be some tests. There will be some tragedies. We have need of catching a vision of the holy. May we truly have eyes to see the things for what they really are.

[37:32] To see the high places that are all around us. To recognise them. To see the false gods of our world for what they are. It's interesting when the Philistines had captured the Ark of God and they housed it in the temple with the false god Dagon, the statue, the idol.

[37:50] It's like they wanted to have it both ways. Some people are like that. You know, I've seen some professing Christians and they've got a little statue of Buddha on their porch.

[38:01] And I think, oh, you know, some people are just, they don't get it. There's some false gods out there. What should we do with those? Smash them for smithereens. It's like they wanted to have it both ways, these people, the Philistines, to have the vain pagan idol of stone and the Ark, the place of God's presence together.

[38:19] And in 1 Samuel 5 verse 3 we see that as they came the following morning, Dagon had fallen upon his face to the earth before the Ark of the Lord.

[38:30] Then they set him up again and he came tumbling down again and fell before the true God. You know, they rioted the stone idol and the next morning they found him face down, fallen on his face and shattered.

[38:42] We've need of catching a vision of the holy. So we don't want to mess with the false gods. You can't have it both ways. You've got to be rock solid. We have need of praise.

[38:53] You know, friends, there's so much we could say. In Psalm 96, read the whole psalm. Psalm 96, declare his glory. He's great and greatly to be praised. Honour and majesty are before him.

[39:05] Give unto the Lord glory and strength. Come into his courts. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. So much in these verses. It's about regaining our praise.

[39:19] We have need of praise. Take time to praise him. You know, I was really blessed by some of the songs that we were blessed with as the orchestra played.

[39:30] And not to negate, we've got a wonderful orchestra here in Julie. But it's lovely to see musicians playing, a great multitude singing praises unto our God.

[39:41] We need to regain our praise. Our worship. You know, have time with worship. Get some good godly music. You can play and sing and hum and whistle, whatever it be. Our worship is unto him.

[39:53] Our praise is unto him. He's our gladness, our joy to regain that sense of him and who he is. Your father knoweth what things you have need of. We've talked about a few today.

[40:05] Your father knows what you have need of. You know, sometimes we get so detoured by the things that we need. And we miss the things that we really need, don't we? The things that we've talked about today.

[40:18] Can we get a burden? Get a burden. And really get a sense of who he is.

[40:28] He says, you call me master. Sometimes it's just that. You call me master. We must go beyond the lip service. Not just call him master, but that he truly is.

[40:41] To be men and women of action. And I'm drawing closer to a close here. Mate, we have need of perseverance too. Need of perseverance. Because it's so easy to be deterred.

[40:53] And when things come against us. I heard a good saying lately. We can't make runs if we're not bowled at. That's true, isn't it, in cricket? We can't make runs unless we're bowled at.

[41:05] Now, sometimes things are bowled at you. Make some runs, amen. Press on. Don't let anything stop you. Ask the Lord for more grace.

[41:15] When you have some challenges, we're called to service. The Laodicean church said, we have need of nothing. Some people like that too, aren't they? Oh, I don't need anything.

[41:27] Your father knows what you have need of. He knows what you need and what you really need. What matters? Because we actually have many needs. And often it's the spiritual needs that go missing, isn't it?

[41:40] We go missing about those spiritual needs. We've talked about our need. Our trust is in our never-failing supply, our Lord. Our responsiveness to God is a need.

[41:53] Putting things in a priority order is a need. Get that to-do list and maybe think about what are the spiritual things that I really need, that I really need, what my father knows I have need of.

[42:04] Maybe put those up the top instead of having them down the bottom. Amen? Amen. I know I need to do that. Trust him. Put things in priority order. Trust him in simple faith.

[42:14] Keep that sensitivity towards him. Hold fast his word. Cleave unto your sword. You're in a fight, an eternal fight, a fight that matters. We have need of boldness.

[42:26] Know that without him you can do nothing. Your need of him is uppermost and foremost. We have need of the church. Don't miss it. We have need of consecration, of surrender, of need of trusting him, a need of catching a vision of the holy, a need to realise, hey, there's high places all around us, as it were, where the heathen are at.

[42:48] Not saying we're holier than thou and we shouldn't reach out and go behind enemy lines, which we should too, but the sense we don't want to linger there. Don't linger where the heathen are, the godless, in their emptiness, are wasting their lives.

[43:09] Catch a vision of the holy. And we have need of praise. Don't stop to praise him. Don't stop praising him. Don't stop thanking him. The Lord knows what you have need of.

[43:20] Friends, today, what you truly need, he really does know what you need. And sometimes we just, we're not always conscious of what it is that we need. And it's spiritual.

[43:31] It's spiritual. But the promise of God is, my God shall supply all your need, according to his riches in glory, by Christ Jesus. He's our supply.

[43:42] He's our source. Friends, just let me just quickly revisit where we've come from here. What do we need? Faith. Trust him.

[43:52] Without him you can do nothing. What do we need? Consecration. We need our eyes open to get a vision. We have need. We need to be workers. We need to be enlightened, to see the needs all around us.

[44:08] We have need of the church. Such that we are an active part of this church. And we have need of surrender. Need to yield to his way.

[44:20] And what does he say? I'll supply all your need. What really matters is he will supply all that you really need. And I urge you today to trust him. Let's pray.

[44:33] Dear Lord, we praise you that you are our supply. And Lord, you know, our Father, what we have need of. As we know that this world would take its attention to things to wear, to eat, to be, to go.

[44:49] But we must seek first the kingdom of God. Your kingdom, Lord. Your righteousness. Lord, help us to be such a people, we pray.

[45:01] Help us to see what we really, truly need. In that spiritual sense. Lord, help us to have a heart that is sensitive. That responds to your call.

[45:13]  That we won't just call you master. But that you will truly be such. Help us, Lord, we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.