Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/church4u/sermons/87113/ebenezer-hitherto-hath-the-lord-helped-us/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] So, let's go to the Word of God. As we return to 1 Samuel chapter 7, the copy of the story of the prayer at this time. Lord, we thank you that if you've come today by your mercy and grace, we thank you, Lord, that it's all thanks to Calvary, it's all thanks to your goodness and grace, Lord, for your blessing is all due to you.

[0:22] And we can only humbly say, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. And we pray for each one that is here tonight, that each one might receive something from your hand, that we might be blessed tonight as we take your Word and feed upon it.

[0:38] Lord, all to your praise. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. 1 Samuel chapter 7, it says this, verse 12, Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Nisbet and Shem and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.

[1:02] Back in chapter 4, Israel once again had fallen away from God. The people's hearts had turned away from the Lord their God and turned to idols, their favourite idols, the false gods.

[1:15] And then came the Philistines. The Philistines were the enemy of Israel. They were godless, idol worshippers. Israel had suffered long, under them for 14 long years.

[1:28] The Philistines had waged a war on Israelites, on the plain of effect. 4,000 of the great warriors of Israel had lost their lives. And then there came yet another battle.

[1:41] This time they tried with their human wisdom to use the Ark of the Covenant, which was of course the sign of God's presence, as some kind of a good luck charm for them. As if that would be something that would bring them good luck, good save.

[1:57] They lost another 30,000 men. And the Ark of God then was taken. The people of God knew defeat after defeat. In 1 Samuel chapter 7, Samuel summons the people to true repentance.

[2:14] We see that as we read from verses 3 through 4 of 1 Samuel 7. It says this, And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If you do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods, and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.

[2:42] Then the children of Israel did put away Balaam and Ashtaroth, and serve the Lord only. It goes on to say, Now the people of God entered again into battle, and God brought a great victory for them.

[2:58] Then their enemies returned the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel. So again they had that tangible sign of God's presence and power with them.

[3:10] So that's the backdrop here for this verse, verse 12. As to what was happening here, verse 12 began, Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between this man and his shed, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hither too hath the Lord helped us.

[3:31] Now what was Ebenezer? Ebenezer, it was just a simple unpolished stone, a monument, a marker, a rock.

[3:43] Ebenezer, it means a stone from hell. It was not some artistic object of worship, it was simply a memorial stone.

[3:53] Samuel set this landmark, memorial here, so that the Israelites would not forget the intervention of God. What God did for them.

[4:07] It was a simple reminder. We all could use a reminder of God's grace and help for the past. Amen. Amen. We're marking a day today, nine years as a church here, established for the glory of God, nine years of God's grace and help.

[4:24] Amen. That's what we're marking today. And it had been right here, 20 years before, at Ebenezer, 20 years before, when the people of God had suffered a great defeat.

[4:36] They had been unfaithful, and the glory had departed. Thousands had been slain in battle at this very spot, at this very place, they had the Ark of God taken from them.

[4:48] The place where God's presence came to them. It was gone. Ebenezer had been the place of disobedience. So here at Ebenezer, Samuel cries out to the Lord for help.

[5:04] The Lord gave victory over the Philistines. They were beaten. Tells us how they fled in terror before the army of God, the army of Israel.

[5:15] So here, Samuel says, we're going to mark this day. We're going to set here a stone. We're going to raise up a stone on the battlefield. Ebenezer was a memorial, a memorial stone of victory.

[5:31] It was an altar of worship, of praise unto our God. It was a sign of thankfulness. Ebenezer, hither too, hath the Lord helped us.

[5:42] Up to this point, right here, right now, we look back and we say, before, to this time, the Lord has helped us. Hither too, hath the Lord been our help.

[5:55] And the Lord had His people set up memorials through the Word of God. We see other occasions of that. For example, as with Joshua and the children of Israel, as they crossed over that Jordan River on dry ground, by the grace of God, they took 12 stones from the bottom of the Jordan and stacked them up in Gilgal.

[6:16] It was a memorial stone, a memorial they made of these 12 stones. And for Joshua and the people, I was going to remind them of the difficulties they had passed through.

[6:29] And no matter how deep and how wide the river that we face, brother, sister, our God will bring us through. Our God will bring us over the Jordan on dry ground.

[6:40] We serve the same God. And He has the same power. For us, we mark another year as a church here today. And it's good to take the time to pause, to see love, as it were, to pause for a while and think and remember to think back of what it has taken to get to this place, to this point, this time.

[7:04] And remember, brother, sister, individually, for each one here today, you might have some victory as you could think of. What God has won for you. Where the Lord has brought you from.

[7:15] The victories He's given you. In your life and in the church life, what the Lord has done. Hitherto, amen, hitherto hath the Lord helped us.

[7:27] We can recall, can't we, the mercies of God, the grace of God, His short and servant great help. Surely, God has helped us. We mark that today.

[7:39] He's carried you. Oasis Baptist Church, amen, He's carried you. I know that's your faithful pastor's thoughts today that God has carried you as God's people here and now.

[7:52] Your faithful pastor and His wife and you as a church for these nine years. So it's good to be reminded, brothers and sisters, as we get together tonight of the mercies of God, of the personal victories.

[8:05] You can think of that in your life. I can think of victories in my life where God has given me victory and we can think of God's faithfulness. Don't you know, it's good to give Him glory and to say, thank you.

[8:18] Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord, for your help. We're going to do that today. We're marking it down. So, I'd like to put to you three things for you to think about of this memorial stone of Ebenezer, if you like, the Ebenezer that is planted here, this marker today, the Ebenezer marker of some things.

[8:37] Firstly, it's a marker of God's victory. The Ebenezer stone was a marker and this place where they set the Ebenezer was a battlefield. Notice that.

[8:48] Thus far has the Lord helped us. Notice that the Ebenezer stone was erected on a battlefield where they had been twice defeated. You know, I know our brother kind of hinted at it, it's hard work.

[9:03] Sometimes, there is hard work. There is a sense of labour. There's a labouring. And God bless your labours. I know I was talking to a brother just earlier in the meeting.

[9:15] God bless the labours of the people of God. And you won't leave that labour unrewarded. But there is a labour. There's some blood, sweat and tears.

[9:28] There's some heartache. There's some hurts. And often, it's the preacher that gets it in the guts. I'm talking a bit colloquially in here, but there's a sense where, you know, the preacher gets stabbed in the back and kicked in the guts.

[9:45] And often, the hard times, he's the man, he's the target. And the devil's got his crosshairs on Pastor Athol. And you need to lift up your pastor.

[9:55] You need to lift him up and lift up his wife, Sharon. Lift them up because they're in the target sites of the evil one. But thank God there's a victory for the people of God. And it reminds us this battlefield, they'd been twice defeated there before.

[10:11] It reminded them of the battles, of the hardships, of their own helplessness, of their failings. Ebenezer was a place of failure. They'd been failure there.

[10:21] They'd been unfairfulness there. The people of God, they had made many mistakes and lost some battles there. Ebenezer had been a place of trouble, of battle, of defeat, of hardship.

[10:37] The same that cried out to the Lord. He says, At Ebenezer, he cries out to the Lord, hear the tune, hath the Lord helped us. At Ebenezer, the victory was won.

[10:47] The ark was regained. No matter the defeats, this was the place of victory here. At Ebenezer, we celebrate the victory. God has truly won the victory.

[10:58] I noticed the songs, the themes of the songs we sang were themes of victory. And that's a good thing, isn't it? It's a good thought to have. Because Ebenezer is a place of victory.

[11:09] Our feet is with a defeated enemy. Amen? The enemy of your soul, he's defeated. He's got his toe between his legs and he's on his last legs. His teeth are amazing and falling out even if he tries to bite you.

[11:23] This enemy cannot take you down because he's already lost the fight. God has truly won the victory for you. But believe, our fight is with a defeated enemy.

[11:35] Because at Calvary, the Lord Jesus laid down his life for us. He took our very sin, our place, our payment, our penalty, and here's one victory for you. I believe.

[11:46] And that victory at the cross is a place of resounding victory. It was a place of a decisive victory, an eternal victory. It says of our Lord that all the enemies will be put underneath his feet.

[12:01] It says in 1 Corinthians 15, 26, the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Even death is underneath his feet. Now, I've had a funeral just a week ago, someone who knew the Lord, and while she was dead, she's very much alive with the Saviour.

[12:21] She's faced with him. And we that believe can have that confidence. The very last enemy shall be put underneath his feet, shall be destroyed. The Lord Almighty became flesh and blood.

[12:35] And it says of this one, Hebrews 2, verse 14, in part it says that through death, he won't destroy him that has the power of death that is the devil.

[12:46] This enemy that you face, our Lord has already won the victory over here. And it says that through Calvary's death, through the blood of the cross, it says that our Lord will destroy him that has the power of death that is the devil.

[13:03] Even death cannot hurt you that believe. And everything means that we see God's great power. We see the sin destroying power of God.

[13:14] We see the Satan defeating power. We see his soul saving power. We have the victory. Amen? Do you believe that tonight? Amen.

[13:24] Have you got victory? Yes, indeed. You that know him, you can say yes. Victory in Jesus, my saviour, forever. There the Lord Jesus, it says in 1 Peter 2 24, in part it says, who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree.

[13:42] Our sins were there. He battled for us on that rugged cross, on that wicked hill of Golgotha where evil man punished him.

[13:58] He battled there for you. He endured the shame for you and he conquered there. Death and hell, sin, Satan, and he had victory today because of the cross.

[14:10] It's at Calvary. That's the ultimate Ebenezer, isn't it? The ultimate place of victory where the Lord Jesus bore our shame, our load of guilt and sin, and he bore our very death sentence.

[14:24] You know, when we talk to people, and I know you're a witnessing church, you're a soul winning church, when we see people at the doorstep, we often would quote the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

[14:40] And the very wages of your sin, death, he paid it, he paid it, and the cross was paid there, the death, that we ought to die, he died for us, and at Calvary, he bore that load of sin, and our very death sentence, there the Lord Jesus destroyed death and hell for us that believe, he demolished the chains of the wicked one, for you that trust him, so that now we, being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness, find new stripes, ye will heal, that's the people were gathered here together, at this place called Ebenezer, they gathered here to worship the Lord, and they were not armed for a fight, they weren't kind of expecting that suddenly they were going to be attacked, but that's exactly what happened, here were the people of God gathered in worship, it says, as they heard the Philistines were coming against them, Samuel was there, he's preparing the sacrifice, we read there from 1 Samuel chapter 7 verse 9, it says that Samuel took a suckling lamb, and he offered it for a burnt offering, holy unto the Lord, and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him, now this time, we've got the Philistines are coming, and here are the people of God, they're gathering to worship,

[15:58] Samuel offering up a lamb, to mark this worship, and 1 Samuel says, and as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel, but the Lord thundered with a great thunder that day upon the Philistines, and discomforted them, so they were really put to flight, and they were smitten, it says, before Israel.

[16:26] Imagine, picture the scene, the people of God are gathered in worship, maybe it was such a kind of atmosphere as we have here, a time of worship, when we're thinking about the cross of Jesus, our Lord, thinking about the land, we're thinking about an offering unto God, and here at Ebenezer as they pray, as they go sacrifice, they look to the land, that's what they did, they look to the land, they look to the Lord, and they cried unto the Lord, it says, send a cry unto the Lord, and the Lord heard that, it says, and the Lord gave a great victory.

[17:03] It's interesting, when you think of it, they gathered to worship, and they continued to worship, they offered the land, then the Lord brought the victory, the thunder against the Philistines, they looked to the land, verse 11, it says, and the men of Israel went out of Nispa and pursued the Philistines, and smoked them, until they came under Beth-car, so here's the men of Israel, they pursued the Philistines, the enemy, and they smoked them, they destroyed them, and they came under Beth-car, now it's interesting, Beth-car means house of the land, house of the land, that's what we are, isn't it, this is what this is, this normal place is a dwelling place of the land, that makes it special, that makes it blessed, that makes it God-glorifying, this is the house of the land, the house of the land, that's what we are, the church, and our victory, friends, tonight, is because of the land, our victory is by the land, so at

[18:05] Ebenezer, we give our praise, we give all the glory to our God and King, glory, where is the land, hitherto, hath the Lord helped us, stand before the people to remember God fights for his people, now the church goes through some fights, hopefully not internal fights, but fights with the Philistines, that's all we need to fight, we need to fight the Philistines, not one another, but it's good when the church is fighting the Philistines and God will thunder and give the victory, there's more fighting that lies ahead people, you wonder what's going on in this world especially, don't you, you wonder what's going to happen next, you read the headlines and you think this world's going nuts and you wonder, friends I think there's some more fights ahead, there's some more fights down the track, but there's more fights that lie ahead for us, more trials, yet there will be more triumphs, amen, I know you've been through some testing times, I know Sharon, your health and situations of the past, the pressure trying to keep your income and support the growth of a church, it's tough work,

[19:12] I've been full time in a job, running a church and multiple meetings and the pressure's there, the fight is on, but the triumph is there, amen, because God will bless the faithfulness of you, the people of God, there'll be more answers to bread, there'll be more victories, sure enough there'll be more fights, but there'll be more victories, worthy is the land, Ebenezer, the marker of God's victory, secondly, Ebenezer is the marker of God's mercy, God's mercy, he's merciful isn't he, that he would dare to bless us with salvation, to be amongst other godly friends tonight in a good church, God's mercy is here, God's mercy was at Ebenezer, peace was restored to Israel at Ebenezer, Lamentations 3 verse 22 through 23 it says it it is of the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not, they are new, every, void, great ears, by faithfulness, the faithfulness of this work is a testimony for the glory of God,

[20:24] God's mercy, Ebenezer is a place where we think, we recall the mercy of God to us, that God has taken us by his hand in times past, he's taking us through, he's giving us strength, he's taking us through the waters, he's taking us through the flame, and even through the times of trial, through the times of defeat, and the losses, we can be reminded of the faithfulness of God, and his faithfulness will be here tomorrow morning, amen, and the morning after, and the morning after that, may we be reminded of the faithfulness of God, Ebenezer, we say, thank God, it's a marker of his mercy, may we ever be mindful of our dependence upon him, God would be that we would ever get to a place where we do not depend on God, that we weren't a praying church, that we weren't a faithful church, that we were neglecting, rather let's trust the mercies of God.

[21:20] Friends, we've got committed enemies who sought to attack us, I can think of our own church, enemies against the church of God, they're multiplied, they're multiple, there's fighting within without, sometimes we know, there's enemies who come to attack and undermine, as a church, at our church up north we have false teachers and false doctrines of sailors, but we've held steady, we've held our force, that's what we must do, we're not going to boast, we're not going to be moved, other than by the cloud, we're not going to be moved other than by our God, and I can believe that as a church here, as has been the case of our own church, we've had people come and have said they want to change us, they want to change our Bible, they want to change our doctrine, they want to change our music, we've held steady, this church has held steady, thank God for that, I know there's others that have not held steady, we've got to hold steady brother, hold steady system, and not be blown off force, the Lord has enabled us, and we praise him today, and thank

[22:26] God that this is a place where the word of God is preached, where the message of the gospel of salvation, if you don't know the saving today, you're in the right place, because the mercy of God is here for you to call on personally, to call on him for mercy tonight, to call on him for his saving grace, he's real tonight, God is real, and his salvation is real, and it's personal for you, that you can trust him, you can know his mercy personally tonight, praise him, God has grown this godly number, the whole pastor faithful word, sometimes it takes time, and I was reflecting earlier today, as I talked about the day of small things, that God is in the small, and big by big, it builds, and grows, counting blessings today, this is a time of Ebenezer, see what God has done, and you can think of God's mercy to you personally today, and then think of it personally tonight, but you are blessed to be amongst God's people here tonight, to be in this time of thinking about him, of his word tonight,

[23:42] God's blessing, we count and bless him, see what God has done, think of his mercies, in the past, for you personally today, and make this an Ebenezer moment, that you think, yes, his mercies in you, every morning, Ebenezer, it's a marker of God's victory, it's a marker of God's mercy, and thirdly, lastly, Ebenezer is a marker of God's help, at Ebenezer, won't you take time today to stop and wonder, the help of God, he's a helper, we see the hand of God in our life, Psalm 46, verse 1, it says, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, if you're in trouble, God's there, right there, he's very present, isn't he, when you're in trouble, when you're in trouble in your health, troubling your job situation, troubling your home situation, God is a very present help, in trouble, think of

[24:48] God's help in your hitherto, think of your hitherto's if you like, not worth the past, think of what has happened hitherto, before and to present, think of how God has been there for you, in the situations of the past, sometimes we look back and we think it was those periods of pain, it was those times of loss, of trial, of cross, that God was very close, he did not leave us, he carried us, and he sustains us, he's our strength, and he's our strength, so friends tonight, Ebenezer is a place, we look back and we say, hitherto have the Lord helped us, his help us in the past, through those times of tense, God has helped you, he's led you, he's giving you his help, his provision, giving thanks for his help, in your hitherto soon, and not only do we look back, but we look forward to, friends, we look forward to the future, trust in him, for this church, for the future, that lies ahead, we look forward, even though he may face trouble and hardship, he may not say it's going to be easy,

[26:01] I'm not telling you today that there won't be some trouble in the pathway ahead, but know that God is already there, he's already there, he's already there in the tomorrow, he's there to give you comfort for us, you that know him, and just as God has helped us so far, he'll help us further, he'll help us in what lies ahead, he says I'll never leave you, never, forsake him, God is your helper, God has been there in your hitherto, and he'll be surely with you in your hereafter, because he never leaves his children, see the past in God's hand there, God's help, take his hand for today, and let him lead you forward into your tomorrow, for the future that lies ahead, go there by faith, venture ahead by faith, friends he's worthy of our thanks, our praise, and we're grateful to God, one single sound, verse 13, it says, after this occasion, it says, so the

[27:01] Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the post of Israel, and the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines, all the days of Samuel, it says, the Philistines were subdued, this mortal enemy of the people of God, it says, they did not invade Israel's territory again, think of it for yourself personally here, just now, when you do something for God, you can expect to face a baptism, I know some of you are out there on the streets, on Friday nights, quite likely, preaching the gospel on the streets of Adelaide, I'm sure you don't get too many people crazy for it, or patting on the back for it, I mean, you get the occasional one, but you're more likely to get people to throw some insult, or a curse at you, keep on, keep him on, it's all the more important you don't stop, it's all the more vital, because your message matters, the message of hope,

[28:11] Adelaide needs churches like this one, it needs faithful preaching, it needs evangelistic people, it needs men and women of God to put their running shoes on, and hit the track, that's what we need to do, and friends, thank God, there's still great days ahead, who knows what's going to happen, it's this all the world turning against Christians, isn't it, the media is biased against the Bible, it's biased against churches and ministries that preach the truth, and yet, you are in the target sites, every one of you, not just your pastor, you are in this target site, what will you do, will you be like the people of God, said, Ebenezer, let him up today, God's helped me here too, and God's going to help me here after, God's going to subdue my enemy, the evil one,

[29:13] Satan, we can look back with thankfulness, and we can look forward with faith, with hopefulness, we can look back at the hither too, and we can look forward in faith, to the hereafter, friends, this is not the end, it's the beginning, isn't it, there's more, there's yet more, there's yet more, battles, but yet more victories, and it's the same in life, for all of us, I know, he knows what tomorrow will bring, I had to get some checks for cancer myself, and there's that sense where we're immortal, we don't have any guarantee for how long we've got on this planet, we want to make every day count, every day, in your hereafter, make that hereafter count, that you'll stand each day wisely while you've got the time to live, make each one say, like Samuel said, hither too, have the Lord helped us, it's the Lord, it's not my skill, it's not my wisdom, it's not my abilities, it's not our sound system, or all the wonderful things we can construct that might help, it's not anything we can take credit for, it's hither to the

[30:26] Lord, he's done it, he's done the work, he's helped us, he's helped us and he'll continue to help us, surely he will help us hereafter, God gave the people a victory and Ebenezer was the marking point, the same God of that place of Ebenezer is the same God of you that believe, the same God is our great deliverer and mighty conqueror, his sustained power is the same and make me trust him for more victories, Ebenezer was where the lamb was slain, they didn't stop the worship because the philisians were coming over the hill, someone said hey, we're worshipping, we're going to offer the lamb because we want this to be the place of the lamb and when they overcame them, it was the house of the lamb, the lamb of God, as John says, behold, the lamb of God, he takes away the seed of the world, that's the one we present to you tonight, that's the one we want you to have you focus upon tonight, where the lamb was slain, is where the victory came, and it's the same today, where the

[31:41] Lord Jesus, the lamb of God, was slain, your victory is there, if you'll claim it, if you'll receive it, Samuel took the time to worship and to pray, he cried unto the Lord and he brought the lamb, and what did God do?

[31:57] The Lord thundered and wrought a great victory at Ebenezer, Ebenezer was the place of prayer, it sounds just like this place doesn't it? The place of prayer, the place of God's people, the place of worship, the house of the lamb, that's what this place is, it's the place of revival, of answered prayer, and we mark Ebenezer today, at Ebenezer we give all the glory to God, all the glory praise to him, our great God, we can look back and see what God has brought, these three things, to recap again, we have God's victory, and it's by the blood of the lamb, that's how it is, that's how you can have victory, that's how you can know you're saving, not by any working or religion or doing, but by the lamb of God, you must put your trust in him entirely, and only the one who can save you, it's the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, that cleanses us from all sin, there's victory there, there's mercy there, there's mercy as we recollect, as we mark today, of God's long suffering with us, of his grace, of his sustaining, of his working with us, and we see God's help, he's close by, he's never left our side, even through those trials, he was a very present help there, and he still is a present help, and he will be leading us on, in the future, walking with us, by us, lifting us, the people of

[33:17] God, have been on a journey, and that journey was from Ichabod, to Ebenezer, now there was a previous place called Ichabod, where the glory had led, the glory had departed, now this was the people of God, the glory had gone, there was an absence of God's glory, it had gone, then they came to Ebenezer, the glory came back, the glory came back, they went from the spiritual decline, and disobedience to revival, so friends, there was an encouragement that stirs us today too, that as you, the people of God, here and now, in this time and place, can have a deeper faith for the future, we can know the holding of God, he's holding you in his care, forget not all his benefits, there is yet more to come, who knows how many more years, by the grace of God, maybe till the rapture, maybe till the next meeting, I'd like to think the next meeting, the meeting in the air, as it were, we won't have to worry about what's happening

[34:22] Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, it could be tonight, it could be the meeting in the air, if you that are ready, that's trusted in him, friends, you'll go, and we'll meet him in the Lord, in the air, we'll be together, in the presence of God, together, who knows, if that is the next meeting, and friends, not everyone will be there though, if you do not know the Saviour, you won't be in that meeting, it matters, it matters to trust him, I can't underline and emphasise this enough, that you that are on the fence still tonight, and I don't know you, I'm not casting fingers or pointing or singling out anybody here tonight, God knows you, God knows your situation, maybe for you, you're kind of still halfway there, half in, half out, almost a Christian, friends, make tonight an Ebenezer moment, make tonight a marker, where you're going to put a marker down and say,

[35:30] I'm going to mark tonight, this is important, this is my new spiritual birthday, I want to be born again, I want to know the Saviour, I want to be saved, I want to know him, and you can know him tonight, as you simply fall, and trust him, trust his work done for you, trust his blood shed for you, trust his salvation given to you, as you will receive it, let's pray, Lord, we thank you that here we have a time, a place, I've got faithful people here, Lord, we thank you for Pastor Apple and sister Sharon, for his family, Lord, for the workers, the faithful ones, Andy, with the songs, and our sister with the keyboard, all the ones that go to help him make this place, a fretful place, a warm place, a warm fellowship, Lord, for Fred at the door, and others, Michael, and the ones giving out tracks, and faithfully going down the street of Adelaide, taking the brunt of an attack at times,

[36:36] Lord, that each line here tonight, it's not just about Apple, it's about the people of God, it's about the faithfulness of God, that's what we're marking here, Lord, and we thank you, Lord, that we'll see people that hold up the hands of the man of God, and they'll get behind this work, they won't falter or fail, they won't be part of the gainsayers, they'll be part of the cheerleaders of this church, that we can see a mighty work of God, Lord, we pray, Lord, for the future ahead, that our faith will be refreshed, we pray for each one here, that they might know that it stays in grace of God, your victory and help is sustained in town, Lord, the mercy, the faithfulness that's near every morning, and help us, Lord, to mark it down, and Lord, to trust you for greater victories, there'll be battles yet, but there'll be victories further, and Lord, we thank you for that, that you have helped us, and we'll continue to do so,

[37:41] Lord, we entirely rest upon your mercy and grace, your help, your sustaining power, Lord, we pray, by your spirit, continue this work, all to your praise, in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

[37:56]  Amen.