[0:00] We will turn once again to that portion of scripture that we read this morning. And tonight we will read a smaller section of it in John's Gospel chapter 20.
[0:18] Where we shall read the section with regard to Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene. So we shall read together John chapter 20 from verse 11 down to the end of verse 18.
[0:38] But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. And as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain.
[0:52] One at the head and one at the feet. They said to her woman why are you weeping? And she said to them for they have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid him.
[1:07] Having said this she turned around and saw Jesus standing. But she did not know that it was Jesus. And Jesus said to her woman why are you weeping?
[1:18] Whom are you seeking? Supposing him to be the gardener she said to him sir. If you have carried him away tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away.
[1:29] Jesus said to her Mary. She turned and said to him in Aramaic. Rabboni which means teacher. Jesus said to her do not cling to me.
[1:44] For I have not yet ascended to the father. But go to my brothers and say to them I am ascending to my father and to your father. And to my God and your God.
[1:57] Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples. I have seen the Lord. And that he said these things to her. Amen and may the Lord bless to us that portion from his own holy word.
[2:14] We shall sing once again this time in Psalm 34. Psalm 34. And we will sing this time from verse 17 to the very end of the psalm.
[2:30] At verse 22. Psalm 34 at verse 17. The righteous cry unto the Lord. He unto them gives ear. And they out of their troubles all by whom delivered are.
[2:44] Down to the end of the psalm. And shall the wicked slay laid waste. Shall be who hate the just. The Lord redeems the servant souls.
[2:55] None perish that him trust. Shall we sing these words together. To the Lord's praise. Amen. Amen. The righteous cry unto the Lord.
[3:12] He unto them gives ear. And they out of their proude Thoude Son.
[3:26] I can be delivered now. The Lord is ever nigh to them, that he of broken sin.
[3:47] To them he saved me, I'll come for the God in heart of life.
[4:03] Let Thou will sign up in the trust, bring down the very near.
[4:19] The head of the life of the Lord, the Lord has set him here.
[4:35] He can't truly be, whatever can be gone.
[4:50] That God's so much as one God, and that he of broken be at all.
[5:05] His child, the beauty is still in which shall be who is a just.
[5:22] The Lord begins with sermons and will not perish at him now.
[5:39] Amen. We shall look one final time today at this portion of scripture that we have read together.
[5:56] John chapter 20, and reading again tonight at verse 16. Jesus said to her, Mary.
[6:11] She turned and said to him in Aramaic, Rabboni, which means teacher. Particularly that one word, particularly that one name, in verse 16.
[6:27] Mary. Mary. As I said in the morning, seeking the Lord's help, I sought in the morning to bring to your attention Mary Magdalene's meeting with the angels in the sepulcher.
[6:51] And now tonight we look at Mary Magdalene's meeting with the Lord Jesus Christ in the sepulcher.
[7:03] And we see that from verses 14 to verses 18. And together as we go through these verses, we shall see how Mary Magdalene's grief was turned into joy.
[7:22] And seeking the Lord's help, we will look at that under four headings. Mary Magdalene's despair, Mary Magdalene's delight, Mary Magdalene's duty, and Mary Magdalene's delivery.
[7:41] And Mary Magdalene's delivery. Despair, delight, duty, and delivery. So let's look at verses 14 and 15 then.
[7:52] At the start of the service here tonight. Where we see her despair. And we spoke of that at great length this morning.
[8:03] Of the despair and the confusion that this woman had. We spoke in the morning about her continued confusion and her continued confession.
[8:18] And now we speak one last time in these two verses 14 and 15 about her despair. Her despair is obvious.
[8:29] Her despair is as we have already said. Her Lord was gone. Her Lord was nowhere to be seen. And even the angels from glory could offer her no more comfort.
[8:46] I don't know of any other part of scripture where the angels offered no comfort to the Lord's own people.
[9:05] And we noticed in the morning how she is in a place where she ought not to be weeping. But weeping she is. Unnecessary tears, as we have said.
[9:21] Still caught up in her own theory of grave robbery. And here we have her in verse 14 and 15. And we ask some questions about her.
[9:34] At this place, at this moment in time. It is so interesting to read where we left it in the morning. The angels have asked her woman in verse 13, Why are you weeping?
[9:47] And she has answered them and said, They have taken them away my Lord. And I do not know where they have laid them. And that is all we get from the angels.
[10:01] They are no sooner introduced in one verse and then we hear no more of them again in the next. And it would appear when we read through this portion of scripture that something happened.
[10:19] Something extraordinary happened. Something extraordinary was already happening there for Mary Magdalene in the presence of the two angels.
[10:32] But here she is in conversation with the two strangers. And before the angels have a chance to reply to what she has said, it would seem that Mary Magdalene turns round.
[10:51] And we ask what made her turn round. I wonder did she hear something that made her turn round? Or I wonder in the midst of her great tears, did she see in some way something of utter awe in the expression of the angels as Christ entered into the sepulcher?
[11:20] Whatever it was, it made her stop her conversation, where she was facing the entrance and facing the angels, and she turns round.
[11:34] And when she turns round, in verse 14, we read, having said this, she turned around and saw Christ standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
[11:51] What was Jesus? These words are almost incredible to comprehend. As she traveled from place to place with the disciples and with the followers of Christ, yet she doesn't recognize Christ.
[12:11] and it's interesting to notice that Christ appears before the angels have a chance to speak a second time to her it's almost as if the Lord himself knows that the angels themselves are not going to quench her thirst and satisfy her heart's desire and so Christ himself steps in and the appearance of Christ was so unexpected to her as was the appearance of the angels and yet she fails to recognize either the angels or the Christ and isn't it incredible that we read in verse 15 that Jesus says unto her woman why are you weeping?
[13:15] whom are you seeking? and supposing him to be the gardener she said to him sir if you have carried him away tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away here we have in verse 15 the remarkable first words of the risen Christ spoken not to his mother not to his beloved disciple not to any of the other disciples but to a broken hearted woman who doesn't even recognize him she doesn't recognize his face she doesn't recognize his appearance she doesn't even recognize his voice as Christ speaks to him and the Lord asks her the exact same question as the angels have asked and a second question woman why are you weeping?
[14:30] whom are you seeking? and of course Christ knows the answer to these questions but look at his compassion look at how he lovingly wants to draw a response from Mary Magdal and here we see the compassion of Christ but here we see something else as it was when Mary Magdal spoke to the angels we see a respectfulness in how she speaks to Christ she addresses him as sir it's remarkable isn't it?
[15:19] she addresses him as sir thinking that he is the gardener the one who is in charge of the garden the one who is in charge of the grounds where this new sepulcher is where Christ has been laid to rest her words speak a language of loyal love unto the Lord and it's remarkable how when we read this that she even begins to think that Christ is the person in charge of the garden of all things that she could have called Christ she calls him the gardener and who knows but maybe in her own mind in her brokenness and in her distress it's almost as if she may very well be thinking at this moment in time that this man has the answer is it possible is it possible that this man has conveniently removed the body of our Lord and placed it somewhere else is it possible that this man was not happy that Christ was laid to rest in a brand new tomb and maybe perhaps he was moved to a less honourable place and remarkable still that she goes on to say to him tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away now we know absolutely nothing about the appearance of Mary Magdalene she may very well have been a very strong healthy woman but can we really expect that she would have been capable of carrying the body of her dead saviour if she was it was pointed out to her where he was laid to rest so that she could lay him to rest somewhere else this is the extremity of her words and do you notice as she is speaking to Christ the one she is calling the gardener can you notice what is taking place here it is almost as if this broken woman is saying in her own mind perhaps after all it wasn't the enemies of Christ that took his body but perhaps it was the gardener oh how confusion reigns how confusion reigns calling Christ the gardener in a sense
[18:32] Christ was a gardener wasn't he did he not did the Lord not many centuries before in creation provide for Adam and Eve the garden of Eden a garden of life a fruitful garden in the process of creation but that is not what she is speaking of here and this is the only time that the word gardener is mentioned in the entire New Testament and here's a follower of Christ not recognizing Christ assuming that he is a gardener and so we come to the big question that we need to ask why is it that she did not recognize
[19:42] Christ that she was so earnestly seeking when she is staring at him face to face why is it that she does not recognize his voice well some will say that maybe the tomb was dark inside but we can't accept that because of what we read in verses 6 and 7 with regard to the account of the clothing that Peter and John saw and the detail of that clothing and as Mary talked with her saviour she didn't recognize his voice either that voice that she had grown to love that voice that she had grown to trust why does she not at least recognize the voice some suggest that the appearance of Christ had changed well of course it had changed
[20:54] Christ was now in a glorified body in a glorified state this was a different person to what she saw on Calvary's cross the man standing before her was no longer mutilated no longer covered in cuts and bruises no longer was this a man whose flesh had been torn from every part of his body through the cruel whips that had ripped his flesh apart it was a glorified Christ but she still doesn't recognize his face and others will say well maybe perhaps she had a temporary blindness as did the Emmaus Road disciples that day but I don't think that's true either the only conclusion that I can come to whether rightly or wrongly is that she did not recognize him because of her tears as we have said in the morning they were blinding tears tears now there are people in here today
[22:26] I know and you have wept blinding tears I'm not talking about a natural tear when you lose someone you love I'm talking about tears that are uncontrollable tears tears that every time you think you're going to stop you start again tears that go on and on and on and cannot be stopped I'm talking about tears that when you rub your eyes to clear your eyes instead of getting a clearer picture you get a more marred image because the tear ducts in your eyes cannot focus on anything have you ever wept like that have you ever lost somebody that you loved in your family and wept like that have you ever been told that you needed drastic surgery and you wept like that that is the kind of tears that she weeps and I believe with my whole heart that that's why she didn't recognize
[23:48] Christ because her vision was marred with her tears does that not show us the love that this woman has for the Lord there may be times in our life when the Lord is right by our side when we are going through hard and difficult times and we don't realize it until afterwards at a later date I can think of experiences that I have had that I would not wish on anybody in here dark and painful experiences that led to tears and all I could say was where are you Lord where are you do you not care about the situation that I am in where are you
[25:02] Lord and yet as the days and the weeks and the months go by and you reflect on being in that valley of darkness you realize that the Lord was there by your side and you praise his holy name that he broke you to experience that close fellowship with you but you wouldn't wish anybody else to be broken as you were that time in John chapter 13 and in verse 33 this is what we read of Christ he says to his followers yet a little while and I am with you you will seek me as I have said to the Jews and so I say to you where
[26:04] I am going you cannot come and then we find in John chapter 16 when he speaks about your sorrow will turn to joy he he says he says in verse 16 to them a little while and you will see me no longer and again a little while and you will see me and further on in verse 20 truly truly I say to you I say to you you will weep and lament and the world will rejoice and you will be sorrowful but your sorrow will turn into joy see how the Lord had told them what was going to happen see how the Lord had warned them about what was going to happen but yet not one of his disciples believed that he was going to die again and rise from the dead time and time again they were so slow to learn and are we generations later as the
[27:18] Lord's own people any different and so we come to our second heading tonight then which we find in verses 16 and 17 Mary Magdalene's delight here we know of course that the Lord knows that this is a broken woman and her mind is so confused but all that is about to change and have you ever looked at this and realised that he did not rebuke her for all that she has done and all that she has said in verse 16 this is what we read Jesus said to her Mary and she turned and said to him in Aramaic Rabboni which means teacher isn't it interesting that he doesn't rebuke her isn't it interesting that when she speaks in the sepulcher to the angels and to
[28:29] Christ they do not rebuke her but instead they ask tender loving questions why does the Lord not rebuke Mary Magdalene here when she calls him the gardener why is it that he doesn't rebuke her because Jesus knows her sorrows that's why Jesus knows all of our sorrows and it was only at the point where Christ calls her by her own name that she realises that this is the Christ and she recognises the voice of Christ before she recognises the face of Christ because of the tone of Christ in how he spoke her name have you ever thought of that
[29:40] John chapter 10 when Christ speaks of these wonderful words that I am the good shepherd he says in verse 3 the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out and when he has brought out all his own he goes before them the sheep follow him because they know his voice I might be wrong in saying this but I think if the Lord had asked her another two questions another three or four questions she still would not have recognized him until he said Mary sheep vegetables you name it it was there and
[32:11] I remember I was terrible at getting up in the mornings in many ways I still am I need snooze after snooze after snooze on my phone but my mother and father would come in every Saturday morning sometimes eight o'clock sometimes before sometimes half eight and wake me up pull the duvet off me I lifted off the floor and snuggled the back under it they would shout three or four times come up to the room and the worst one was when my father would come into the room and open the window wide open so that the cold air would come in so that I would have to get up to fill the bags from the crew for the and it was my mother who had come up three or four times to wake me and three or four times I had gone back to sleep and at the bottom of the stair all
[33:13] I heard this Sunday Saturday morning was and I never forgot that tone it was a tone mixed with frustration it was a tone mixed with disappointment it was a tone mixed with anger it was a tone mixed with exasperation but that's not the tone Christ has was Mary Magdalene Mary we know when we are in the right or in the wrong by the tone of somebody who calls us by your name we know if they are happy or glad to see us by the tone in which we are called can you even begin can I even begin to imagine the joy that floods
[34:16] Mary Magdalene's heart when that one word Mary is uttered by Christ can you even begin to understand what it meant to her after hours and hours of crying and here is her reply she no longer supposes him to be the gardener she says to him in Aramei Rabboni which means teacher teacher which means master and there's something very very interesting about this word teacher it is a term of reverence and it is a term also of respect and in later years the Jewish people and the Jewish culture they had three levels of teachers and the lowest rank of a teacher in years after
[35:24] Christ was what was called the Rab R-A-B that was the lowest form of a teacher and then there was the middle class of the teacher and that is a more well known word to us it was Rabbi but the highest and the most excellent and the most wonderful of teachers were known as Rabboni Master and that is what she calls Christ and that is why Christ is named as Rabboni here by Mary Magdalene oh what joy filled her soul that day and then we come to our third heading which we find in verse 17 which is
[36:25] Mary Magdalene's duty Jesus said to her do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to the father but go to my brothers and say to them I am ascending to my father and to your father and to my God and your God now these next words that Christ speaks to Mary Magdalene they are difficult to understand now I have to watch what I see but I will say this nevertheless there is no version of the Bible that I love more than the authorized however when studying the word it is always good for us to have two or three different translations to get a proper picture of what is going on now in the authorized version we have these words in verse 17 touch me not for
[37:45] I have not yet ascended and these are that is an unfortunate translation at a time like this in the midst of all the joy that is in the heart of this woman to be told touch me not whatever Christ was he most certainly was not untouchable we know this because even before long before he died in John chapter 12 and in verse 3 we read of Mary anointing Jesus at Bethany Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment and made a pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume
[38:45] Christ was not untouchable and even later on in this chapter in verse 27 we see that Christ says to Thomas put your finger here and see my hands and put your hand and place it into my side Christ was not untouchable touch me touch me is in some ways better translated in this version that we have here tonight where Christ says do not cling to me what Christ is actually saying is stop clinging to me stop holding on to me because can you even begin to imagine how much this woman wanted to embrace the Lord at this moment in time but there was a lesson here for her to learn and these words suggest to us that
[39:50] Christ is either telling Mary Magdalene to stop doing what she is doing or not to start doing something that she is going to attempt to do you understand that and therefore even in her delight there's an element of confusion for Mary Magdalene here she had lost her Lord and now she has found her Lord and now she is reunited and how can we even begin to blame her for wanting to cling onto Christ but she still has not fully understood the resurrection at this moment in time clinging onto Christ is all she wants to do and who can blame her for that but I wonder if she even realises what she's doing
[40:51] I wonder if she's even at this point thinking to herself that this is not even the resurrection I wonder is she even thinking to herself is this the second coming is she remembering the words in John 14 let not your hearts be troubled believe in God believe also in me in my father's house are many rooms if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and take you to myself is that what she's thinking what the Lord is actually saying with these words touch me not do not cling to me what the Lord is trying to imply here is that from this day onwards Mary's contact with Christ must be by faith after his resurrection she is trying to say that he is not going to be there day after day after day like he was before he died and
[42:12] Christ could tell by the intentions of Mary Magdalene what she wanted to do and he knew of her intention and he knew of her desire and that desire might even have been to restrain Christ and Christ could not allow that no doubt Mary Magdalene would have wanted nothing but for things now to go as they were before no doubt she would have been quite happy to keep hold of Christ so he would remain with his followers and with his disciples but that was not the way it was going to be and so she sought to hold on to him and we can understand that too we can understand that too he you know sometimes as
[43:13] Christians when it comes to even preparing to lose a loved one sometimes as Christians if it was up to us we would even deny our loved ones a place in heaven if it meant that we could keep him by our side for a while longer I remember when I was 16 and my granny and Shen both died in the same year in point and visiting my Shen in his hospital bed as he got weaker and weaker and sicker and sicker and I knew he was ready for glory he was the hero of my youth and then I watched him getting weaker and weaker and when the day came he died I was raging with the
[44:13] Lord that he didn't keep me that he didn't keep him with us as a family in my selfishness I would rather have had an unconscious grandfather for a few days a few weeks longer than have them going home to glory we can all understand that and this is what the Lord is seeking to teach Mary Magdalene touch me not she needed to be taught that the risen Lord was not going to be with us each day she needed to learn so many things Jesus has now already been glorified and here the Lord no longer belongs to this world here the Lord is going to be like the angels just coming and going as he pleases he now belongs to the heavenly realm and that's what
[45:19] Mary Magdalene must need to understand the glorified body of Christ it was only going to tarry in this world now for a matter of 40 days to be with his friends and with his followers before his ascension and as he says to Mary Magdalene touch me not do not cling hold of me he says something to her now that is even more wonderful than any other part of this whole account he is saying to her do not cling on to me because I have something for you to do I have not ascended to my father yet but you go to my brothers and say to them
[46:21] I am ascending to my father and to your father and to your God and to my God now again I come back to what I said a short while ago here we have in this version of the Bible the word you go to my brothers but in the authorized version the word is brethren and to me that's a more wonderful word brethren you go to my brethren and you tell them that I am not yet ascended and you go and tell them that your father that to my father and your father and to my God and to your God there was a joy here taking place in our Lord and in our Saviour the joy of the resurrection to whom was a step towards his ascension as
[47:27] I have said in forty days and this woman without delay seeks to honour the Lord the delay of Christ before going home to glory forever more in these forty days was going to be for the good of his own disciples in order that they would go on to become apostles and to go all over the world with the good news of the gospel of the risen Christ go to my brethren what amazing words how Christ could have told her you go to my deserters you go to those who denied me you go to those people that I called my friends and you tell them I want nothing to do with them again but that's not the way of Christ no
[48:27] Christ forgives and forgets and the command that he gives to Mary Magdalene it's got absolutely no anger whatsoever in it isn't that remarkable he is not ashamed to call them his brethren before this Christ has called his disciples he has called them his servants before he died he has called them his friends but now for the first time ever he calls them his brethren and in doing so he puts them in a new relationship with the Lord for the first time ever this word brethren is found in scripture in the new testament and not just that but now these disciples they are to know that
[49:37] Christ's father is their father and they are to know that God was their God isn't that wonderful as brethren through his redeeming work his true disciples have become joint heirs with him joint heirs with Christ in a heavenly inheritance as he names them his brethren they are no longer now going to be called his disciples no longer going to be called his friends but his brothers and his brethren and this is the news that Mary Magdalene is to bring to them and then we come to our final heading tonight in verse 18 Mary Magdalene's delivery Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples
[50:39] I have seen the Lord and that he has said these things unto her what a responsibility is given to Mary Magdalene to go and see the very chosen disciples of the Lord and to tell them what she has seen and what she has heard this was to be her reward for her devotion and her love and her tears for Christ despite the fact that she had got it so wrong in so many aspects of it great was going to be her reward for the Lord and what we see here is that love leads her to obedience her love for the
[51:39] Lord I am quite sure she is no sooner told to do this and she does it what is going to be the reaction of the disciples well we are told in Mark's account that the disciples were mourning and weeping when Mary Magdalene came and she came and she not only shares the fact of the resurrection with them but she shares the words of Christ and remember here she is going to see Peter and John and she's going to hear quote the words of God from God himself unto her and to them what a privileged position she is in and does this not tell us the importance of the word of
[52:42] God she is now going to transfer these words of Christ that Christ has given to her and she is going to transfer them to the disciples and she longs for her experience to be the same for them now do you know this my friends if your minister could come or any of the elders here or the deacons or any Christian in here and if you're in here tonight and you still haven't trusted in Christ if any of these men or women could put their hand on their heart and then put their other hand on your heart and transfer from their heart the love of
[53:45] God into yours they would do it but they can't but the word of God can and the word of God will so what do we read of their reaction what are Peter and John going to make of this woman who a few hours beforehand had come to them telling them that Christ's body had been stolen what are they going to make of her now when she comes with this news that she had got it wrong and Christ's body had not been stolen but that Christ was alive and Christ had spoken to her and that she had seen the risen Christ well this is what we read in Mark Mark 10 and
[54:50] Mark 11 she went and told those whom she had been with as they mourned and wept but when they heard that he was alive and that had been seen by her they would believe it not they would believe it or not and not just that but let us go and jump forward and see what Dr.
[55:20] Luke says to us in his account and Dr. Luke in chapter 24 has similar words in verse 11 when Mary told these things to the apostles these words seemed to them as idle tale and they did not believe them ah well friends that's really a sad read but we praise the Lord tonight that the Lord himself was close behind his messenger and in a few verses time in the next section of this chapter Christ himself was going to reveal himself to the disciples in the early evening Mary Magdalene in conclusion teaches us many things do you know when
[56:25] I was a wee boy and the people in the village used to ask me what are you going to do when you're a big boy when you grow up I remember being four or five or six years of age and please don't be offended by saying this and I used to say when they would say what are you going to do when you're a big boy I used to say I I going to people in the world that got to heaven were ministers when I was four or five or six I never thought for a minute that women got to heaven that's just a childlike imagination but what do we see now Mary Magdalene here teaches us today that women can without doubt receive the highest authority to be the Lord's own mission workers many of us here know even women who are from this very island who are serving the
[57:34] Lord in far away countries doing missionary work what an honour was bestowed upon this woman what an honour was given to her the first person whom the risen Christ has spoken to and you know isn't it remarkable that it's to Mary Magdalene that he spoke first and not to Mary his mother and her Christ given task that day will forever be an example to the church and to each and every single one of us and how to go and tell people that Jesus has risen from the dead and how to do it with a heart full of love and a heart full of joy we cannot my friends in conclusion we cannot meet with
[58:43] Christ in this world until we discover the empty tomb and the empty tomb and the empty cross tonight are God's reminders to you and me that Jesus has done it all paid it all and there is nothing left for us to do but to accept it all so we ask a question as we walk out the door do we accept this teaching of the resurrection do you tonight will you walk out of here and will you put your hands on your heart and say I believe in the risen Christ if you do that my friends you have saving faith and if you have saving faith you are guaranteed a place in glory at the end of life's journey and may it be that that is where we will all be found one day soon at the end of life's journey may we leave here tonight praising the
[60:05] Lord's holy name that we don't worship a dead Christ but one who rose from the dead and will one day intercede for his own people and he will say he is mine and she is mine because they believed upon me may that be you and may that be me amen may the Lord bless to us these thoughts from his own holy words will conclude tonight singing in Psalm 89 Psalm 89 Psalm 89 and we will read from sing from verse 21 to 26 with whom my hand shall established be mine arm will make him strong on whom the foe shall not exact nor son of mischief wrong down to the end of verse mark 26 thou art my father he shall cry thou art my God alone and he shall say thou art my rock of my salvation shall we sing these words together to the
[61:23] Lord's praise with whom my hand shall established be nd hear line h and oh But in the cold shall not stand, Nor stand of mission wrong.
[62:06] I will be damned before this is, For my angels' foes.
[62:24] I will and'll be yolé of doom with〇 implegten moles.
[62:43] My mercy and my faithfulness within the ciel shall be.
[63:01] And in my name is born and found, men shall exalt the sea.
[63:19] His time thou world shall reach our heart, I'll set it in the sea.
[63:39] And this my God, he established it, shall in the river sea.
[63:58] Thou art my Father, he shall cry. Thou art my God alone, and he shall stay.
[64:21] Thou art the Lord of my salvation.
[64:36] Let us pray in conclusion. O Lord, as we give thanks for the word of God that is set before us, to instruct us and to guide us, we rejoice this night in knowing the honesty of the truth of it.
[64:56] For we read time and time again of the many failures and the many mistakes of the Lord's own believing people.
[65:09] And these things have not been excluded from the word. And these things are in the word to encourage us. And encourage us they do.
[65:21] And we give thanks, Lord, that each and every single one of your saints that we read of in the word of God that has made mistakes that are recorded in Scripture.
[65:35] Despite these mistakes, they are in glory worshipping you right now. And oh, how we long that that will be our experience too in the fullness of time.
[65:50] Grant us, Lord, we pray, a place in thy kingdom for each and every single one of us in here. Bring us to that place where we will see this day for us to live as Christ and to die as gain.
[66:08] Grant us now, we ask, travelling mercies as we make our way to our own homes. Guide us and keep us in the week that lies before us if we are spared to see it.
[66:20] And walk with us through the rest of this day. In Jesus' precious name. Amen.