WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.419 this evening singing in Psalm 103, Psalm 103. That's in the Sing Psalms version on page 135. 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:14.080 We'll sing verses 1 to 11, these first three sections. 00:00:15.019 --> 00:00:22.500 Praise God, my soul, with all my heart. Let me exalt His holy name. Forget not all His benefits. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:28.620 His praise, my soul, in song proclaim. The Lord forgives you all your sins and heals your sickness 00:00:28.620 --> 00:00:35.140 and distress. Your life He rescues from the grave and crowns you in His tenderness. 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:40.500 So on down to verse 11, praise God, my soul. We'll stand to sing. 00:00:46.500 --> 00:00:58.500 Praise God, my soul, with all my heart. Let me exalt. 00:00:58.619 --> 00:01:21.319 His holy name. Forget not all His benefits. His praise, my soul, in song proclaim. 00:01:21.319 --> 00:01:40.319 The Lord forgives you all your sins and heals your sickness and distress. 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:59.319 Your life He rescues from the grave and crowns you in His tenderness. 00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:19.319 He satisfies your deep desires from His unending source of good. 00:02:19.319 --> 00:02:38.319 So that just like the King of strength, your beautiful name God is in you. 00:02:38.319 --> 00:02:53.319 The Lord is born for righteous acts and trust is true. 00:02:53.319 --> 00:02:54.319 The Lord is merciful. 00:02:54.319 --> 00:02:58.319 The Lord is merciful. 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:00.319 The Lord is merciful. 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:16.620 Moses' name may go on his ways, his mighty deeds to Israel's sons. 00:03:16.620 --> 00:03:36.099 The Lord is merciful and kind to hang us low and full of grace. 00:03:36.099 --> 00:03:54.659 He will not constantly reproof or end his anger by his face. 00:03:54.659 --> 00:04:12.659 He does not punish our best deeds, forgive our sins, their just reward. 00:04:12.659 --> 00:04:31.680 How great is love that I ascend towards all those who fear the Lord. 00:04:34.980 --> 00:04:40.480 We're going to call upon the Lord again in prayer, so let's all just join together in prayer. 00:04:42.660 --> 00:04:51.120 Almighty and gracious God, as we give thanks for being able once again to gather here 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:57.420 and to come before you as worshipers of your great name, we thank you for these words we 00:04:57.420 --> 00:05:03.080 have been singing, reminding us of your own unending stores of good for those who love 00:05:03.080 --> 00:05:09.400 you and for your own people down through the centuries, even from the beginning of the world. 00:05:09.399 --> 00:05:15.239 Lord, you have taken from these stores of good and dispensed them to your people. 00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:21.299 We thank you tonight, Lord, in the access we have to you, that we can seek from you, that 00:05:21.299 --> 00:05:27.319 you would dispense further from these stores of good that which would do us good this evening. 00:05:28.500 --> 00:05:34.579 We thank you, O Lord, that we can come to you and claim in the name of Christ access to the 00:05:34.579 --> 00:05:38.800 grace that is in you and to these stores of good and to these stores of good and to these 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:41.479 that flow toward us so abundantly. 00:05:42.659 --> 00:05:46.139 We thank you that we have not earned them for ourselves. 00:05:46.759 --> 00:05:53.599 We thank you that they are indeed by your grace and the free gift by which you come to dispense 00:05:53.599 --> 00:05:54.339 your salvation. 00:05:54.339 --> 00:06:00.259 We thank you tonight for the way that you teach us, O Lord, of those great issues in 00:06:00.259 --> 00:06:02.719 your word that have to do with our redemption. 00:06:03.959 --> 00:06:09.359 And we thank you that in your word you have taken account of all our need as we find ourselves 00:06:09.359 --> 00:06:10.219 in this world. 00:06:11.379 --> 00:06:16.099 O Lord, bless us, we pray, as once again we gather here before you. 00:06:17.099 --> 00:06:23.500 Help us once again to turn our mind to those things that are revealed in your word that are 00:06:23.500 --> 00:06:28.839 of eternity, the things that belong to the most important issues that we can know in life, 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:35.720 our own relationship with you, your own rule over us, the way in which you have provided 00:06:35.720 --> 00:06:42.220 redemption for us, the glorious attributes that belong to you, the way in which we can have 00:06:42.220 --> 00:06:46.579 our confidence in Christ and know that our life is secure in him. 00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:53.240 We pray, Lord, tonight that you would lead us further into the understanding of your truth, 00:06:53.500 --> 00:06:55.860 as you have revealed it to us in the gospel. 00:06:56.899 --> 00:07:01.740 We pray tonight that you would give to us further encouragement, Lord, to trust in you, 00:07:02.540 --> 00:07:10.620 in a world in which we find so much that discourages us, so much that causes us at times even to 00:07:10.620 --> 00:07:15.019 feel disconsolate and disappointed and disillusioned. 00:07:15.560 --> 00:07:19.160 Help us, Lord, we pray, to find our confidence in you. 00:07:19.160 --> 00:07:28.420 Help us to come to know that as we trust in you, so you have guaranteed to your people that victory 00:07:28.420 --> 00:07:33.500 that is especially brought to us in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 00:07:34.440 --> 00:07:41.379 And enable us, Lord, as we continue to trust in you, that we may find day by day that your grace 00:07:41.379 --> 00:07:48.079 is channeled into our lives, that your strength is made perfect in our weakness, that we find the 00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:53.519 fulfillment of your promises to look after your people even as they go through this life. 00:07:54.600 --> 00:08:00.719 Bless us then, Lord, we pray, as a congregation of your people once again as we gather before you. 00:08:01.560 --> 00:08:08.139 Bless us, we pray, too, in all our other activities that accompany the worship of your name in our experience. 00:08:08.139 --> 00:08:18.519 We thank you, Lord, for all that we are enabled to partake of and take part in, Lord, in the course of each week as they go by. 00:08:19.300 --> 00:08:27.120 And we pray that you would bless all that we seek to do in your name with all the different activities and groups that meet from time to time. 00:08:27.959 --> 00:08:30.500 We, Lord, seek your blessing upon them all. 00:08:30.500 --> 00:08:41.740 Again, we pray your blessing for our children, for our young people, for our young adults, for those who, O Lord, receive instruction from your word, 00:08:42.379 --> 00:08:46.259 and for those who meet also in the upper years of life. 00:08:46.419 --> 00:08:50.059 Lord, we pray that you would bless each and all of these activities. 00:08:51.139 --> 00:08:55.080 We ask that your blessing will be especially upon your word to them. 00:08:55.080 --> 00:09:04.280 Anchor, O Lord, these young lives, especially in the things of your truth, and give them to be rooted and grounded in Christ himself, 00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:11.500 so that they have him as their sure foundation, that whatever things lie in a wait for them as their life develops, 00:09:12.160 --> 00:09:14.620 they may be sure that this is not going to change, 00:09:15.379 --> 00:09:18.879 that however many changes they may experience in the course of life, 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:27.980 they may never find the foundation in Christ himself to be subject to any change or moving or any alteration. 00:09:28.860 --> 00:09:30.639 And so, Lord, we commend them to you. 00:09:31.159 --> 00:09:34.879 We give thanks for the many young families we have as a congregation. 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:39.600 We give thanks for the many young people who come to attend the means of grace, 00:09:40.340 --> 00:09:43.259 the services such as these and other activities. 00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:47.820 And, Lord, we pray for them as we commend them to you tonight. 00:09:47.820 --> 00:09:50.160 We pray that you would go before them, 00:09:50.800 --> 00:09:55.960 that you would provide nourishment for them daily from your word. 00:09:56.920 --> 00:10:02.900 And we ask that they would indeed come to walk confidently in the steps of faith, 00:10:03.540 --> 00:10:05.320 trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:10:06.280 --> 00:10:09.200 We ask tonight for those who may be struggling with their faith, 00:10:09.960 --> 00:10:14.040 struggling to deal with the issues that are in their life in providence. 00:10:14.860 --> 00:10:16.180 Lord, we pray for them. 00:10:16.179 --> 00:10:20.599 We know that there are some of us who find it difficult from day to day, 00:10:21.359 --> 00:10:23.359 who struggle with mental health issues, 00:10:24.219 --> 00:10:28.319 who find ourselves sometimes bewildered with what's happening in the world around us. 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:32.519 Oh, Lord, we ask that you would grant us this stability 00:10:32.519 --> 00:10:36.679 that would be from your own guidance of us, 00:10:37.239 --> 00:10:39.419 from your own spirit at work within us, 00:10:39.839 --> 00:10:42.339 from that living relationship with you, Lord, 00:10:42.439 --> 00:10:44.719 that draws all our strength from you. 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:46.940 Remember, we pray tonight, 00:10:47.019 --> 00:10:50.600 those who are laid aside with illnesses of various kinds, 00:10:51.300 --> 00:10:53.860 we commend to you, Lord, those who are receiving treatment, 00:10:54.600 --> 00:10:58.399 those who have been through operation and surgery in recent days. 00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:00.960 We ask, Lord, that you'd bless them 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:04.100 and bring them back to health and to strength, we pray. 00:11:04.100 --> 00:11:09.860 We ask, Lord, that you'd bless Marianne as she recovers from her own surgery. 00:11:10.100 --> 00:11:13.580 We thank you that she is recovering. 00:11:13.720 --> 00:11:19.060 And we thank you, Lord, for all that she has done and continues to do in the congregation, 00:11:19.320 --> 00:11:20.860 and especially with our young people. 00:11:21.519 --> 00:11:23.659 And we pray that your hand will be upon her, 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:25.840 that you will know, Lord, your strengthening, 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:30.160 your guidance and your restoration of health to her at this time. 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:34.980 And we pray, too, Lord, that you'd bless all others like her 00:11:34.980 --> 00:11:39.600 who are known to us at this time to be suffering from various types of illness, 00:11:40.319 --> 00:11:42.860 confined to hospitals, those in our care homes, 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:45.419 those who are looked after by others at home. 00:11:46.039 --> 00:11:47.439 We pray for them, O Lord. 00:11:48.100 --> 00:11:51.639 We pray for those whose years have now reached the stage 00:11:51.639 --> 00:11:55.860 where their faculties physically or mentally have begun to fail. 00:11:55.860 --> 00:11:57.919 And, Lord, we pray for them. 00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:02.279 And we give thanks that despite our outward failures, 00:12:02.419 --> 00:12:07.060 Lord, your word assures us that our inward man is being renewed day by day. 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:12.019 And we thank you that the spiritual condition of your people 00:12:12.019 --> 00:12:14.279 is constantly in your hand. 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:19.460 And that even as we anticipate our bodily decay as the years go on, 00:12:19.899 --> 00:12:22.039 we thank you, Lord, that there is no decay 00:12:22.039 --> 00:12:25.240 in the life spiritually that you give to your people. 00:12:25.980 --> 00:12:29.419 Help us to hold on to and to cling to these great truths. 00:12:30.439 --> 00:12:34.980 We pray tonight, too, Lord, for those who mourn the passing of loved ones. 00:12:35.719 --> 00:12:37.659 We know, Lord, as each week goes by. 00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:41.699 We have pretty much each week that we experience here 00:12:41.699 --> 00:12:48.199 various deaths that affect families belonging to us as a congregation 00:12:48.200 --> 00:12:49.900 or in our community. 00:12:50.840 --> 00:12:56.700 We pray for them, O Lord, tonight as they seek to adjust to life without loved ones 00:12:56.700 --> 00:13:00.240 and also those who have lost loved ones in days gone by. 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:02.259 We pray for them, Lord. 00:13:02.320 --> 00:13:05.560 And we pray for those especially in this week gone by 00:13:05.560 --> 00:13:10.000 that have had to bid farewell to their loved ones. 00:13:10.180 --> 00:13:14.100 We pray for Anne Chris as she misses her beloved Neil. 00:13:14.100 --> 00:13:18.519 We pray for herself and Martin and Christine and for the whole family. 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:22.320 And we commend them to your care and ask that you would uphold her 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:24.519 and all who help her at this time. 00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:30.540 And so we pray, Lord, for all others who mourn tonight in this troubled world of ours. 00:13:31.320 --> 00:13:35.159 And, Lord, we pray that we would never forget, 00:13:35.580 --> 00:13:38.700 even though they may have disappeared from news items, 00:13:38.700 --> 00:13:43.960 those in the world who suffer so greatly in various circumstances 00:13:43.960 --> 00:13:48.520 and conditions that are beyond our understanding and experience, 00:13:49.180 --> 00:13:52.140 those, Lord, especially who have the devastation of war, 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:55.420 of famine, of being outcasts, of refugees. 00:13:56.580 --> 00:13:59.060 Oh, Lord, all of these great problems in our world 00:13:59.060 --> 00:14:02.960 and the management of them and sometimes the mismanagement of them, 00:14:03.640 --> 00:14:06.120 we, Lord, seek for the gospel to be blessed, 00:14:06.120 --> 00:14:08.100 for your kingdom to advance, 00:14:08.220 --> 00:14:11.919 for people to come to know the Lord Jesus Christ himself, 00:14:12.539 --> 00:14:15.399 for them to place and deposit their lives in his hand. 00:14:16.019 --> 00:14:17.860 And so we pray, Lord, for the gospel, 00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:21.419 for those who take the gospel to various parts of the world 00:14:21.419 --> 00:14:24.720 and face deprivation themselves and consequence. 00:14:25.259 --> 00:14:27.139 Oh, remember your people, we pray, 00:14:27.799 --> 00:14:29.759 as they carry the message of Christ 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:32.919 into this world that so largely does not want it. 00:14:32.919 --> 00:14:35.519 And we ask for your Holy Spirit, Lord, 00:14:36.139 --> 00:14:38.639 to come to shine into people's hearts 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:41.219 the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:46.000 When we read, Lord, in the earliest stages of the world 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:50.579 that the Spirit of God hovered on the surface of the waters 00:14:50.579 --> 00:14:53.479 and that by your Spirit all of these things 00:14:53.479 --> 00:14:55.860 were kept together and managed, 00:14:56.259 --> 00:14:59.019 we pray, Lord, for the management of human lives 00:14:59.019 --> 00:15:01.959 to be brought under the directing of your Spirit, 00:15:01.960 --> 00:15:04.560 to be brought to know you as a Savior 00:15:04.560 --> 00:15:07.980 who is able to do so much, Lord, 00:15:08.100 --> 00:15:11.019 beyond what we are able to ask or even think. 00:15:11.720 --> 00:15:13.900 Oh, Lord, we pray for reviving power 00:15:13.900 --> 00:15:15.560 in our own experience. 00:15:16.280 --> 00:15:18.180 We pray that our own hearts will be 00:15:18.180 --> 00:15:21.019 reignited with the flames of your Spirit. 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:23.960 We pray, oh, Lord, that you would come in our day 00:15:23.960 --> 00:15:29.139 and as we complain to you of how we find so little, 00:15:29.379 --> 00:15:32.200 oh, Lord, of an appetite for the things of God. 00:15:32.780 --> 00:15:35.440 And so we pray that you would re-instill in our hearts 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:38.420 that hunger and thirst for righteousness 00:15:38.420 --> 00:15:41.440 that you tell us characterizes you people. 00:15:41.780 --> 00:15:43.680 And we pray for ourselves tonight 00:15:43.680 --> 00:15:45.480 that we may draw, Lord, 00:15:45.900 --> 00:15:47.960 our spiritual nourishment from you 00:15:47.960 --> 00:15:49.120 through the gospel. 00:15:49.980 --> 00:15:51.240 Hear us then, we pray now. 00:15:51.240 --> 00:15:53.840 Continue with us, guide us into your word, 00:15:53.940 --> 00:15:56.480 and pardon our sin for Jesus' sake. 00:15:56.840 --> 00:15:57.279 Amen. 00:15:59.139 --> 00:16:01.180 We're singing once again now to God's praise, 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:02.980 and this time it's in Psalm 54. 00:16:03.700 --> 00:16:06.299 Psalm 54 in the Scottish Psalter, 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:07.500 page 284, 00:16:08.379 --> 00:16:10.759 verses 1 to 7. 00:16:10.759 --> 00:16:17.460 Save me, O God, by thy great name, 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:19.639 and judge me by thy strength. 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:21.720 My prayer here, O God, 00:16:21.980 --> 00:16:23.860 give ear unto my words at length. 00:16:24.580 --> 00:16:26.139 For they that strangers are to me, 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:27.539 do up against me rise. 00:16:28.259 --> 00:16:29.779 Oppressors seek my soul, 00:16:29.860 --> 00:16:33.580 and God set not before their eyes. 00:16:33.580 --> 00:16:36.039 Psalm 54, verses 1 to 7, 00:16:36.379 --> 00:16:37.240 to God's praise. 00:16:37.240 --> 00:16:47.240 Save me, O God, 00:16:47.340 --> 00:16:51.700 by thy great name, 00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:59.779 and judge me by thy strength. 00:16:59.779 --> 00:17:08.079 My prayer here, O God, 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:17.779 give ear unto my words at length. 00:17:17.779 --> 00:17:28.779 For they that strangers are to me, 00:17:28.779 --> 00:17:36.779 do up against me rise. 00:17:36.779 --> 00:17:42.879 O presence of sin, 00:17:42.879 --> 00:17:55.779 my soul, and God set not before their eyes. 00:17:55.779 --> 00:18:01.779 The Lord, my God, 00:18:01.779 --> 00:18:05.779 my help, 00:18:05.779 --> 00:18:15.779 Lord, that for I am bold, 00:18:15.779 --> 00:18:25.779 He take the heart with every one, 00:18:25.779 --> 00:18:33.779 that hath my soul of old. 00:18:33.779 --> 00:18:39.779 But do my name, 00:18:39.779 --> 00:18:45.779 and he is the child, 00:18:45.779 --> 00:18:53.779 may save and ill be paid. 00:18:53.779 --> 00:18:59.779 O Lord, my truth, 00:18:59.779 --> 00:19:03.779 save but them all, 00:19:03.779 --> 00:19:11.779 and weep and lead away. 00:19:11.779 --> 00:19:21.779 I will have sacrifice to thee, 00:19:21.779 --> 00:19:23.779 and with thee, 00:19:23.779 --> 00:19:31.779 and with thee worthiness. 00:19:31.779 --> 00:19:36.779 Thy name, O Lord, 00:19:36.779 --> 00:19:41.779 be cost is good, 00:19:41.779 --> 00:19:43.779 with grace, 00:19:43.779 --> 00:19:51.779 with grace I will forfez. 00:19:51.779 --> 00:20:01.779 For he hath me delivered, 00:20:01.779 --> 00:20:09.779 from all my mercilies. 00:20:09.779 --> 00:20:15.779 And this desire, 00:20:15.779 --> 00:20:19.779 my life hath seen, 00:20:19.779 --> 00:20:31.779 upon my enemies. 00:20:31.779 --> 00:20:33.779 Let's now turn to read God's word. 00:20:33.779 --> 00:20:35.779 This evening we'll find that in 2 Timothy. 00:20:35.779 --> 00:20:37.779 The second letter of Paul to Timothy, 00:20:37.779 --> 00:20:39.779 chapter one. 00:20:39.779 --> 00:20:43.779 Reading through the whole chapter. 00:20:43.779 --> 00:20:49.779 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, 00:20:49.779 --> 00:20:51.779 by the will of God, 00:20:51.779 --> 00:20:55.779 according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus. 00:20:55.779 --> 00:20:57.779 To Timothy, my beloved child. 00:20:57.779 --> 00:21:00.779 Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father, 00:21:00.779 --> 00:21:03.779 and Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:21:03.779 --> 00:21:05.779 I thank God, whom I serve, 00:21:05.779 --> 00:21:07.779 as did my ancestors, 00:21:07.779 --> 00:21:09.779 with a clear conscience, 00:21:09.779 --> 00:21:12.779 as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day, 00:21:12.779 --> 00:21:14.779 as I remember your tears. 00:21:14.779 --> 00:21:16.779 I long to see you, 00:21:16.779 --> 00:21:18.779 that I may be filled with joy. 00:21:18.779 --> 00:21:21.779 I am reminded of your sincere faith, 00:21:21.779 --> 00:21:24.779 a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois 00:21:24.779 --> 00:21:26.779 and your mother Eunice, 00:21:26.779 --> 00:21:29.779 and now I am sure dwells in you as well. 00:21:29.779 --> 00:21:31.779 For this reason, 00:21:31.779 --> 00:21:34.779 I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, 00:21:34.779 --> 00:21:37.779 which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 00:21:37.779 --> 00:21:40.779 For God gave us a spirit not of fear, 00:21:40.779 --> 00:21:44.779 but of power and love and self-control. 00:21:44.779 --> 00:21:48.779 Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, 00:21:48.779 --> 00:21:50.779 nor of me, his prisoner, 00:21:50.779 --> 00:21:55.779 but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 00:21:55.779 --> 00:21:58.779 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, 00:21:58.779 --> 00:22:00.779 not because of our works, 00:22:00.779 --> 00:22:03.779 but because of his own purpose and grace, 00:22:03.779 --> 00:22:07.779 which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 00:22:07.779 --> 00:22:13.779 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, 00:22:13.779 --> 00:22:18.779 who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 00:22:18.779 --> 00:22:22.779 for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 00:22:22.779 --> 00:22:25.779 which is why I suffer as I do. 00:22:25.779 --> 00:22:27.779 But I am not ashamed, 00:22:27.779 --> 00:22:29.779 for I know whom I have believed, 00:22:29.779 --> 00:22:35.779 and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. 00:22:35.779 --> 00:22:40.779 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, 00:22:40.779 --> 00:22:43.779 in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 00:22:43.779 --> 00:22:46.779 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, 00:22:46.779 --> 00:22:49.779 guard the good deposit entrusted to you. 00:22:49.779 --> 00:22:54.779 You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, 00:22:54.779 --> 00:22:57.779 among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 00:22:57.779 --> 00:23:00.779 May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, 00:23:00.779 --> 00:23:05.779 for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. 00:23:05.779 --> 00:23:07.779 But when he arrived in Rome, 00:23:07.779 --> 00:23:10.779 he searched for me earnestly and found me. 00:23:10.779 --> 00:23:14.779 May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. 00:23:14.779 --> 00:23:21.779 And you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus. 00:23:21.779 --> 00:23:26.779 And may God once again bless to us our reading of his holy word. 00:23:26.779 --> 00:23:31.779 Let's now sing once again, before we turn to this passage, 00:23:31.779 --> 00:23:36.779 Psalm 125 on page 419. 00:23:36.779 --> 00:23:39.779 Psalm 125, the whole of the Psalm. 00:23:39.779 --> 00:24:08.779 We are going to be looking later in a moment at what Paul referred to as his own security in Christ Jesus, his Saviour. 00:24:08.779 --> 00:24:15.779 And here's a reminder, a Psalm that reminds us how the Psalmist found an illustration of his protective, 00:24:15.779 --> 00:24:20.779 God's protective care and his security, even in the physical creation, 00:24:20.779 --> 00:24:27.779 as the mountains around Jerusalem stood in such a grand, immovable way. 00:24:27.779 --> 00:24:34.779 And so he found that as an illustration of the security that he himself had in God as his Saviour. 00:24:34.779 --> 00:24:41.779 They in the Lord that firmly trust shall be like Zion Hill. 00:24:41.779 --> 00:24:42.779 which at no time can be removed. 00:24:42.779 --> 00:24:47.779 but stand by the Lord that shall be like Zion Hill. 00:24:47.779 --> 00:24:54.779 then the Lord that firmly trust shall be like Zion Hill. 00:24:54.779 --> 00:25:01.779 which at no time can be removed. 00:25:01.779 --> 00:25:10.779 which at no time can be removed. 00:25:10.779 --> 00:25:16.779 but stand the death was still. 00:25:16.779 --> 00:25:28.779 as round about Jerusalem, 00:25:28.779 --> 00:25:35.779 the mountains and the way. 00:25:35.779 --> 00:25:36.779 I find the commandments God is where one nation can bring forth to him. 00:25:36.779 --> 00:25:52.940 The mahdoll 00:25:52.940 --> 00:26:09.940 What ill men shawed upon the Lord of just men shall not lie, 00:26:09.940 --> 00:26:27.940 lest righteous men set forth their hands unto iniquity. 00:26:27.940 --> 00:26:45.160 Good power to all, O Sáad, be good, thy goodness stormed in part, 00:26:45.160 --> 00:27:02.160 and do thy good to all, O Sáad, a bright within their heart. 00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:19.160 But as for Son has turned aside, after their crooked way, 00:27:19.160 --> 00:27:36.320 God shall be poor, when wicked men on Israel these shall see. 00:27:38.320 --> 00:27:42.220 Now please turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter 1. 00:27:42.220 --> 00:27:51.660 2 Timothy chapter 1, and especially words you'll find there in verse 12. 00:27:57.500 --> 00:28:04.940 He's been talking here about how as a called apostle of God and preacher and apostle and teacher, 00:28:04.940 --> 00:28:15.279 his sufferings that he's endured are so keyed into this particular way in which he has served God. 00:28:16.120 --> 00:28:16.759 But he says, 00:28:16.880 --> 00:28:20.680 But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, 00:28:21.559 --> 00:28:27.860 and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. 00:28:27.859 --> 00:28:37.240 Now one of Paul's great concerns in writing these letters to Timothy is that Timothy not only will be encouraged, 00:28:37.539 --> 00:28:42.519 but also prepared to meet with the difficulties that will still come in his way, 00:28:43.219 --> 00:28:47.459 and especially so when Paul himself is no longer in this world, 00:28:48.139 --> 00:28:52.459 and when he will no longer be receiving letters from the beloved apostle. 00:28:52.460 --> 00:28:57.840 As we see in this epistle itself, Paul is saying to Timothy, 00:28:57.980 --> 00:29:01.319 I'm now being poured out in verse chapter 4, 00:29:01.920 --> 00:29:04.200 and the time of my departure has come. 00:29:04.740 --> 00:29:09.160 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 00:29:09.860 --> 00:29:17.059 So he's alerting Timothy to the fact that his own future is safe in the hand of God, 00:29:17.059 --> 00:29:24.980 but he is going to actually face difficulties as he continues to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in this world. 00:29:25.419 --> 00:29:32.720 Which is why he says that both he and Timothy together must be partakers of the afflictions of the gospel. 00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:37.619 They must willingly take to themselves the share that God has appointed to them 00:29:37.619 --> 00:29:45.079 in whatever afflictions come their way as apostles or as servants or preachers of the gospel. 00:29:45.079 --> 00:29:53.279 And now he comes to bring Timothy's mind to what is actually foundational to his confidence 00:29:53.279 --> 00:29:59.039 and encouragement as he would go ahead and go on serving the Lord. 00:29:59.179 --> 00:30:03.359 He brings him really to the ground of confidence, the ground of confidence, 00:30:03.480 --> 00:30:06.980 indeed the only ground of confidence, which is Christ himself. 00:30:07.559 --> 00:30:11.000 He says, these are the sufferings I am suffering, but I am not ashamed, 00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:17.279 for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day 00:30:17.279 --> 00:30:19.359 what has been entrusted to me. 00:30:19.420 --> 00:30:23.640 Or we can translate it as we'll see what I have entrusted to him. 00:30:24.140 --> 00:30:28.920 So he's really putting it in the form of a brief personal testimony to Timothy. 00:30:29.460 --> 00:30:30.880 Paul is saying, this is my testimony. 00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:32.900 This is what I'm convinced of. 00:30:32.900 --> 00:30:38.080 This is what I'm leading you to actually keep in place for yourself as well. 00:30:39.120 --> 00:30:43.380 And of course, at the end of anyone's life in this world, 00:30:43.460 --> 00:30:46.300 if we know that somebody wants to speak to us, 00:30:46.600 --> 00:30:51.019 especially somebody who's been a faithful Christian over many years, 00:30:51.800 --> 00:30:55.420 and they call us and we go to see them and they speak to us, 00:30:55.420 --> 00:31:01.220 well, it's a situation, as you know, where you take more careful note than usual, probably, 00:31:01.340 --> 00:31:02.360 of what they have to say. 00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:05.840 Because when they know that they're on the verge of eternity, 00:31:06.420 --> 00:31:08.480 their words have added significance. 00:31:09.840 --> 00:31:12.640 And most of us, of course, have maybe come to, 00:31:12.840 --> 00:31:16.500 some of us at least come to that position where we've seen somebody 00:31:16.500 --> 00:31:19.640 just reaching the end of the course of life in this world, 00:31:20.420 --> 00:31:22.880 and the things that they say to us, what they believe, 00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:26.260 the kind of life they've lived, the advice that they give us, 00:31:26.920 --> 00:31:31.940 that is even more significant in these consequences, in these circumstances. 00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:35.620 And that's really what Paul is doing here. 00:31:35.700 --> 00:31:40.280 He's giving some very direct encouragement to Timothy, 00:31:41.100 --> 00:31:43.060 but it's in the light of his own departure, 00:31:43.720 --> 00:31:46.260 in the light of the fact that he's not got long to live. 00:31:47.420 --> 00:31:50.240 And as he stands on the threshold of eternity, 00:31:50.840 --> 00:31:51.980 he's really saying to Timothy, 00:31:51.980 --> 00:31:56.860 this is the only fail-safe foundation that you've got. 00:31:57.539 --> 00:31:59.960 This is what you need to come back to again and again 00:31:59.960 --> 00:32:02.559 when so much changes around you, 00:32:02.620 --> 00:32:04.519 when you see so many fears in yourself, 00:32:05.180 --> 00:32:07.140 when you find yourself questioning things, 00:32:07.640 --> 00:32:08.579 you have to come back. 00:32:08.620 --> 00:32:10.180 He's really saying, pretty much saying this, 00:32:10.660 --> 00:32:11.920 you have to come back to this, 00:32:12.339 --> 00:32:15.120 that he, this Savior, this Jesus, 00:32:15.119 --> 00:32:18.679 is able to look after things for you 00:32:18.679 --> 00:32:21.959 and to look after yourself especially. 00:32:21.960 --> 00:32:27.579 So he's saying, I know whom I have believed. 00:32:28.519 --> 00:32:30.799 And so because he's able to say that, 00:32:31.200 --> 00:32:32.319 he has that confidence, 00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:35.680 he's convinced about Jesus looking after 00:32:35.680 --> 00:32:37.519 all of his possessions 00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:39.940 and all of his confession 00:32:40.700 --> 00:32:41.920 and all of his person 00:32:41.920 --> 00:32:43.620 as he looks to the future. 00:32:43.619 --> 00:32:45.319 I want to look at two things 00:32:45.319 --> 00:32:47.039 that arise out of this. 00:32:47.159 --> 00:32:48.419 It's a wonderful passage. 00:32:48.939 --> 00:32:51.339 First of all, the issue of knowing Jesus. 00:32:52.159 --> 00:32:55.419 I know whom I have believed. 00:32:56.479 --> 00:32:58.799 I know whom I have believed. 00:32:58.959 --> 00:33:00.319 There is a confident note 00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:04.059 in the apostle and Paul's testimony here 00:33:04.059 --> 00:33:06.039 to Timothy. 00:33:06.399 --> 00:33:08.459 I know whom I have believed. 00:33:08.460 --> 00:33:09.600 The second thing is 00:33:09.600 --> 00:33:12.039 what we can call a safe investment 00:33:12.039 --> 00:33:13.900 when he comes to say that 00:33:13.900 --> 00:33:15.900 he is able to guard 00:33:15.900 --> 00:33:17.579 until that day 00:33:17.579 --> 00:33:19.519 what has been entrusted to me. 00:33:19.579 --> 00:33:20.500 And we're going to take that 00:33:20.500 --> 00:33:22.100 the way the AV puts it. 00:33:22.420 --> 00:33:23.700 I'll explain that in a minute. 00:33:24.279 --> 00:33:25.140 And when we come to it, 00:33:25.160 --> 00:33:26.079 he is able to guard 00:33:26.079 --> 00:33:28.220 what I have entrusted to him 00:33:28.220 --> 00:33:30.259 until that day. 00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:32.779 So here's first thing of all. 00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:34.660 First of all, knowing Jesus. 00:33:34.920 --> 00:33:36.079 Now, together here, 00:33:36.079 --> 00:33:38.779 you'll find knowing and believing. 00:33:39.220 --> 00:33:40.519 I am not ashamed 00:33:40.519 --> 00:33:44.419 for I know whom I have believed. 00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:47.639 So the knowing and the believing 00:33:47.639 --> 00:33:49.279 are locked together. 00:33:49.859 --> 00:33:50.740 They're not alternatives. 00:33:51.399 --> 00:33:52.599 They exist together. 00:33:52.960 --> 00:33:53.919 They belong together. 00:33:54.279 --> 00:33:55.279 They're in partnership 00:33:55.279 --> 00:33:56.960 in the experience of those 00:33:56.960 --> 00:33:58.139 who actually have 00:33:58.139 --> 00:34:00.500 a saving experience of Christ. 00:34:01.579 --> 00:34:02.379 It's a mistake 00:34:02.379 --> 00:34:04.220 to actually think somehow 00:34:04.220 --> 00:34:05.920 that you have to separate 00:34:05.920 --> 00:34:07.620 faith or believing 00:34:07.620 --> 00:34:09.079 from knowledge, 00:34:09.280 --> 00:34:10.099 from knowing. 00:34:10.760 --> 00:34:12.519 That the working of your mind 00:34:12.519 --> 00:34:13.860 is somehow detached 00:34:13.860 --> 00:34:15.300 from what you're doing 00:34:15.300 --> 00:34:16.119 when you believe. 00:34:17.059 --> 00:34:18.159 You'll find that idea 00:34:18.159 --> 00:34:21.039 that is sometimes thrown at us 00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:23.199 for believing in a Jesus 00:34:23.199 --> 00:34:24.800 that we don't physically see 00:34:24.800 --> 00:34:27.019 and that we believe things 00:34:27.019 --> 00:34:29.139 that the Bible tells us about him, 00:34:29.780 --> 00:34:30.720 that we believe 00:34:30.720 --> 00:34:32.199 what Christians have believed 00:34:32.199 --> 00:34:33.360 down through the centuries. 00:34:33.360 --> 00:34:34.920 And people will accuse us 00:34:34.920 --> 00:34:35.840 of really, you know, 00:34:35.880 --> 00:34:36.780 you're believing in something 00:34:36.780 --> 00:34:37.940 you cannot verify. 00:34:38.940 --> 00:34:40.400 You've never seen this person 00:34:40.400 --> 00:34:41.480 and yet you claim 00:34:41.480 --> 00:34:42.440 that you believe in him, 00:34:42.460 --> 00:34:43.460 that you trust in him, 00:34:44.120 --> 00:34:45.780 that you actually find him 00:34:45.780 --> 00:34:47.660 the basis of all your hopes. 00:34:47.700 --> 00:34:48.780 How can you do that? 00:34:49.440 --> 00:34:51.180 Well, because believing 00:34:51.180 --> 00:34:52.059 and knowing 00:34:52.059 --> 00:34:53.700 actually go together. 00:34:53.820 --> 00:34:54.740 It's not simply a matter 00:34:54.740 --> 00:34:56.539 of believing in Christ. 00:34:56.620 --> 00:34:58.079 It's also knowing Christ. 00:34:58.539 --> 00:34:59.200 And our believing, 00:34:59.599 --> 00:35:00.160 in any case, 00:35:00.200 --> 00:35:02.120 is not a leap in the dark. 00:35:02.119 --> 00:35:03.339 It's not as if you're just 00:35:03.339 --> 00:35:05.000 jumping off a spiritual 00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:06.099 or moral cliff 00:35:06.099 --> 00:35:07.039 and somehow hoping 00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:08.719 that you're going to land safely 00:35:08.719 --> 00:35:09.920 without really knowing 00:35:09.920 --> 00:35:11.339 what's ahead of you. 00:35:11.679 --> 00:35:12.679 That's not the kind of thing 00:35:12.679 --> 00:35:13.880 that faith is. 00:35:13.940 --> 00:35:14.219 Tonight, 00:35:14.519 --> 00:35:15.900 if you're a believer in Christ, 00:35:16.039 --> 00:35:17.359 you're not believing blindly. 00:35:18.199 --> 00:35:19.679 You're not believing in something 00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:22.059 really that you don't know much about. 00:35:23.019 --> 00:35:23.339 Because, 00:35:23.799 --> 00:35:24.639 as Romans 10, 00:35:24.900 --> 00:35:26.199 verse 17 tells us, 00:35:26.279 --> 00:35:28.219 faith comes by hearing 00:35:28.219 --> 00:35:30.000 and hearing the word of Christ, 00:35:30.059 --> 00:35:31.279 the truth of God. 00:35:31.280 --> 00:35:32.500 Your faith, 00:35:32.680 --> 00:35:34.220 as you place your faith in Christ, 00:35:34.440 --> 00:35:35.920 is not a blind faith. 00:35:36.960 --> 00:35:38.400 It's not a launching out 00:35:38.400 --> 00:35:39.200 into the dark 00:35:39.200 --> 00:35:40.820 as if you don't have any access 00:35:40.820 --> 00:35:42.640 to what's true at all. 00:35:43.340 --> 00:35:44.440 You believe 00:35:44.440 --> 00:35:46.400 because God has revealed things 00:35:46.400 --> 00:35:47.340 to you to believe. 00:35:48.440 --> 00:35:49.120 You believe 00:35:49.120 --> 00:35:50.660 because you are convinced 00:35:50.660 --> 00:35:51.900 that this Bible 00:35:51.900 --> 00:35:54.180 is God's revelation to you 00:35:54.180 --> 00:35:55.680 and it's reliable 00:35:55.680 --> 00:35:57.660 as well as being authoritative. 00:35:57.659 --> 00:35:59.019 And so, 00:35:59.119 --> 00:35:59.559 when you come 00:35:59.559 --> 00:36:01.159 to believe in Christ, 00:36:01.539 --> 00:36:02.379 it's not a Jesus 00:36:02.379 --> 00:36:03.440 you know nothing about. 00:36:04.460 --> 00:36:05.399 It's not a Jesus 00:36:05.399 --> 00:36:06.059 that's somehow 00:36:06.059 --> 00:36:07.719 hiding in the shadows 00:36:07.719 --> 00:36:08.299 from you 00:36:08.299 --> 00:36:09.319 even though you can't 00:36:09.319 --> 00:36:10.179 see Him physically. 00:36:10.719 --> 00:36:11.440 He's not hiding 00:36:11.440 --> 00:36:12.440 in some sort of 00:36:12.440 --> 00:36:14.480 moral or spiritual shadow 00:36:14.480 --> 00:36:16.139 that you can hardly make out. 00:36:16.779 --> 00:36:18.079 He is actually revealed 00:36:18.079 --> 00:36:19.859 in all His beauty 00:36:19.859 --> 00:36:20.659 and His glory 00:36:20.659 --> 00:36:21.659 as far as we can 00:36:21.659 --> 00:36:22.980 actually follow it at least 00:36:22.980 --> 00:36:24.819 in these wonderful pictures 00:36:24.819 --> 00:36:25.559 of the gospel, 00:36:25.559 --> 00:36:26.380 these descriptions, 00:36:27.099 --> 00:36:28.199 these things that make up 00:36:28.199 --> 00:36:29.420 the truth of God. 00:36:30.299 --> 00:36:33.099 I know whom I have believed. 00:36:34.199 --> 00:36:36.380 You embrace Christ 00:36:36.380 --> 00:36:37.279 as He's offered 00:36:37.279 --> 00:36:38.299 in the gospel 00:36:38.299 --> 00:36:39.519 willingly 00:36:39.519 --> 00:36:41.480 by the grace of God. 00:36:42.639 --> 00:36:43.840 And always remember that 00:36:43.840 --> 00:36:45.500 when somebody comes to you 00:36:45.500 --> 00:36:45.840 and says, 00:36:45.920 --> 00:36:46.099 you know, 00:36:46.960 --> 00:36:48.059 I don't really think 00:36:48.059 --> 00:36:48.940 you've got a ground 00:36:48.940 --> 00:36:49.779 for believing 00:36:49.779 --> 00:36:50.860 what you believe 00:36:50.860 --> 00:36:52.860 or trusting in this Jesus 00:36:52.860 --> 00:36:53.980 when you can't tell me 00:36:53.980 --> 00:36:55.659 that you've actually seen Him 00:36:55.659 --> 00:36:56.320 at any point. 00:36:56.679 --> 00:36:57.980 No, but you actually say to Him, 00:36:58.280 --> 00:37:00.019 well, I believe certain things 00:37:00.019 --> 00:37:01.059 but I believe them 00:37:01.059 --> 00:37:01.940 not just because 00:37:01.940 --> 00:37:02.440 they're written 00:37:02.440 --> 00:37:03.820 in the pages of the Bible 00:37:03.820 --> 00:37:04.820 which I regard 00:37:04.820 --> 00:37:06.119 as the truth of God. 00:37:06.480 --> 00:37:07.440 I believe them 00:37:07.440 --> 00:37:09.179 because I know Him 00:37:09.179 --> 00:37:11.019 as well as what's written 00:37:11.019 --> 00:37:13.760 in the Bible 00:37:13.760 --> 00:37:14.940 and what's presented 00:37:14.940 --> 00:37:15.740 in the gospel. 00:37:16.059 --> 00:37:17.000 That's the second thing here 00:37:17.000 --> 00:37:18.599 in terms of knowing Jesus. 00:37:19.260 --> 00:37:20.260 There is a knowing 00:37:20.260 --> 00:37:21.500 along with a believer. 00:37:21.619 --> 00:37:22.719 You know what He's saying here? 00:37:22.719 --> 00:37:23.159 He's saying, 00:37:23.159 --> 00:37:24.279 I know 00:37:24.279 --> 00:37:26.799 whom I have believed. 00:37:27.919 --> 00:37:28.859 See, the apostle here 00:37:28.859 --> 00:37:29.699 is not saying 00:37:29.699 --> 00:37:31.899 I know what I have believed. 00:37:32.679 --> 00:37:33.500 And he's not saying 00:37:33.500 --> 00:37:34.980 I know what I believe 00:37:34.980 --> 00:37:36.159 about Jesus. 00:37:37.000 --> 00:37:37.739 He's not saying 00:37:37.739 --> 00:37:39.500 I know things about God 00:37:39.500 --> 00:37:40.599 and I believe these things 00:37:40.599 --> 00:37:41.179 to be true. 00:37:41.459 --> 00:37:41.799 He's saying 00:37:41.799 --> 00:37:42.759 I know 00:37:42.759 --> 00:37:44.799 whom I have believed. 00:37:45.219 --> 00:37:46.859 I know this person. 00:37:47.519 --> 00:37:49.739 I know this person 00:37:49.739 --> 00:37:51.319 of Jesus for myself. 00:37:51.320 --> 00:37:53.200 I don't just believe 00:37:53.200 --> 00:37:54.160 blindly 00:37:54.160 --> 00:37:55.400 and I don't just believe 00:37:55.400 --> 00:37:56.620 because I've got a Bible 00:37:56.620 --> 00:37:57.320 to believe. 00:37:58.059 --> 00:37:58.700 I know 00:37:58.700 --> 00:38:00.019 this person 00:38:00.019 --> 00:38:01.140 that I believe in 00:38:01.140 --> 00:38:02.980 and trust myself to. 00:38:03.519 --> 00:38:04.400 That's what He's saying. 00:38:04.660 --> 00:38:05.160 I know 00:38:05.160 --> 00:38:05.980 whom 00:38:05.980 --> 00:38:07.160 I have believed. 00:38:07.280 --> 00:38:07.519 You see, 00:38:08.059 --> 00:38:08.500 Paul 00:38:08.500 --> 00:38:10.200 is on personal 00:38:10.200 --> 00:38:11.240 terms 00:38:11.240 --> 00:38:12.400 with this Jesus. 00:38:13.680 --> 00:38:14.519 He's not 00:38:14.519 --> 00:38:16.700 believing 00:38:16.700 --> 00:38:17.680 in this person 00:38:17.680 --> 00:38:18.960 because he knows 00:38:18.960 --> 00:38:19.760 him as the founder 00:38:19.760 --> 00:38:20.540 of a religion 00:38:20.540 --> 00:38:21.720 that he respects 00:38:21.720 --> 00:38:23.260 such as you find 00:38:23.260 --> 00:38:23.880 in the major 00:38:23.880 --> 00:38:25.120 world religions 00:38:25.120 --> 00:38:25.980 of today 00:38:25.980 --> 00:38:28.060 founded by 00:38:28.060 --> 00:38:29.040 whether it's 00:38:29.040 --> 00:38:29.400 Muhammad 00:38:29.400 --> 00:38:30.460 or Buddha 00:38:30.460 --> 00:38:32.580 or whoever else 00:38:32.580 --> 00:38:33.380 it might have been 00:38:33.380 --> 00:38:35.020 that have founded 00:38:35.020 --> 00:38:35.920 or established 00:38:35.920 --> 00:38:37.020 these great religions. 00:38:37.240 --> 00:38:38.380 But they're gone. 00:38:39.840 --> 00:38:40.680 They're dead. 00:38:42.120 --> 00:38:42.740 They've passed 00:38:42.740 --> 00:38:43.360 from the scene 00:38:43.360 --> 00:38:43.800 of time. 00:38:44.260 --> 00:38:44.920 They're no longer 00:38:44.920 --> 00:38:46.060 living as 00:38:46.060 --> 00:38:47.100 Jesus is living. 00:38:47.460 --> 00:38:48.260 But here is Paul 00:38:48.260 --> 00:38:48.520 saying, 00:38:49.100 --> 00:38:49.660 I know 00:38:49.660 --> 00:38:50.380 whom I have 00:38:50.380 --> 00:38:50.960 believed. 00:38:51.580 --> 00:38:52.060 I know 00:38:52.060 --> 00:38:52.520 the one 00:38:52.520 --> 00:38:53.200 that I've 00:38:53.200 --> 00:38:53.780 placed my 00:38:53.780 --> 00:38:54.380 trust and 00:38:54.380 --> 00:38:55.240 confidence in. 00:38:55.560 --> 00:38:56.200 I know 00:38:56.200 --> 00:38:56.560 him 00:38:56.560 --> 00:38:57.400 because he 00:38:57.400 --> 00:38:57.880 is still 00:38:57.880 --> 00:38:58.280 living. 00:38:59.020 --> 00:38:59.580 Because he's 00:38:59.580 --> 00:39:00.060 risen from 00:39:00.060 --> 00:39:00.680 the dead. 00:39:01.160 --> 00:39:01.660 Which is why 00:39:01.660 --> 00:39:02.260 you find him 00:39:02.260 --> 00:39:03.660 dealing so much 00:39:03.660 --> 00:39:04.040 and so 00:39:04.040 --> 00:39:05.060 foundationally 00:39:05.060 --> 00:39:06.340 and so centrally 00:39:06.340 --> 00:39:07.060 with the 00:39:07.060 --> 00:39:07.600 resurrection 00:39:07.600 --> 00:39:08.320 of Christ 00:39:08.320 --> 00:39:09.120 from the dead. 00:39:09.640 --> 00:39:10.080 He has brought 00:39:10.080 --> 00:39:10.600 life 00:39:10.600 --> 00:39:11.920 and immortality 00:39:11.920 --> 00:39:12.640 to life 00:39:12.640 --> 00:39:13.560 through his 00:39:13.560 --> 00:39:14.160 resurrection. 00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:15.360 And Paul 00:39:15.360 --> 00:39:15.740 is saying, 00:39:15.739 --> 00:39:16.919 I know 00:39:16.919 --> 00:39:17.379 him. 00:39:18.819 --> 00:39:19.419 God has 00:39:19.419 --> 00:39:19.859 brought me 00:39:19.859 --> 00:39:20.739 into a 00:39:20.739 --> 00:39:21.099 living 00:39:21.099 --> 00:39:21.979 relationship 00:39:21.979 --> 00:39:22.419 with him. 00:39:22.679 --> 00:39:23.079 I'm not 00:39:23.079 --> 00:39:23.859 following a 00:39:23.859 --> 00:39:24.799 dead founder 00:39:24.799 --> 00:39:25.639 of a religion. 00:39:26.139 --> 00:39:26.719 Nor am I 00:39:26.719 --> 00:39:27.739 following the 00:39:27.739 --> 00:39:28.500 gospel as a 00:39:28.500 --> 00:39:29.259 mere system 00:39:29.259 --> 00:39:30.000 of belief. 00:39:30.739 --> 00:39:31.599 Such as you 00:39:31.599 --> 00:39:32.079 might find 00:39:32.079 --> 00:39:33.079 people following 00:39:33.079 --> 00:39:33.859 a creed or 00:39:33.859 --> 00:39:34.759 following a 00:39:34.759 --> 00:39:35.639 system of 00:39:35.639 --> 00:39:36.459 belief founded 00:39:36.459 --> 00:39:37.259 by whoever 00:39:37.259 --> 00:39:38.119 it is and 00:39:38.119 --> 00:39:39.639 continuing to 00:39:39.639 --> 00:39:40.519 actually follow 00:39:40.519 --> 00:39:41.419 that kind of 00:39:41.419 --> 00:39:41.979 system of 00:39:41.979 --> 00:39:42.459 belief or 00:39:42.459 --> 00:39:43.759 that creed 00:39:43.760 --> 00:39:44.840 or other. 00:39:45.180 --> 00:39:45.740 No, he says, 00:39:45.940 --> 00:39:46.200 I'm not 00:39:46.200 --> 00:39:46.760 following a 00:39:46.760 --> 00:39:47.120 system. 00:39:47.440 --> 00:39:47.700 I'm not 00:39:47.700 --> 00:39:48.100 following a 00:39:48.100 --> 00:39:48.580 religion. 00:39:49.180 --> 00:39:49.740 I'm following 00:39:49.740 --> 00:39:50.520 a person. 00:39:51.860 --> 00:39:52.760 I believe 00:39:52.760 --> 00:39:53.940 in this 00:39:53.940 --> 00:39:54.760 living person. 00:39:55.260 --> 00:39:55.800 I know 00:39:55.800 --> 00:39:56.440 this living 00:39:56.440 --> 00:39:56.980 person. 00:40:01.180 --> 00:40:01.860 And really 00:40:01.860 --> 00:40:02.280 that's how 00:40:02.280 --> 00:40:02.700 you've got to 00:40:02.700 --> 00:40:03.040 look at it 00:40:03.040 --> 00:40:03.300 yourself. 00:40:03.480 --> 00:40:03.860 What is it 00:40:03.860 --> 00:40:06.140 that distinguishes 00:40:06.140 --> 00:40:07.740 a person who 00:40:07.740 --> 00:40:08.500 is a Christian 00:40:08.500 --> 00:40:09.500 in a living 00:40:09.500 --> 00:40:09.900 sense? 00:40:09.980 --> 00:40:10.200 I'm not 00:40:10.200 --> 00:40:10.740 talking about 00:40:10.740 --> 00:40:11.540 a Christian 00:40:11.540 --> 00:40:12.100 in the sense 00:40:12.100 --> 00:40:12.740 of, you 00:40:12.740 --> 00:40:13.080 might say, 00:40:13.079 --> 00:40:13.699 the formal 00:40:13.699 --> 00:40:14.299 sense because 00:40:14.299 --> 00:40:14.799 you follow 00:40:14.799 --> 00:40:15.719 the Christian 00:40:15.719 --> 00:40:16.819 faith rather 00:40:16.819 --> 00:40:17.599 than Islam 00:40:17.599 --> 00:40:18.360 or Buddhism 00:40:18.360 --> 00:40:19.039 or whatever. 00:40:19.739 --> 00:40:20.159 Well, in a 00:40:20.159 --> 00:40:20.599 sense, that 00:40:20.599 --> 00:40:21.199 makes you a 00:40:21.199 --> 00:40:21.739 Christian, of 00:40:21.739 --> 00:40:21.980 course. 00:40:22.219 --> 00:40:22.559 If you're 00:40:22.559 --> 00:40:23.239 following the 00:40:23.239 --> 00:40:24.099 Christian faith, 00:40:24.380 --> 00:40:24.900 you're a 00:40:24.900 --> 00:40:25.299 Christian in 00:40:25.299 --> 00:40:25.880 that formal 00:40:25.880 --> 00:40:26.739 outward sense. 00:40:26.960 --> 00:40:27.179 What I'm 00:40:27.179 --> 00:40:27.699 talking about 00:40:27.699 --> 00:40:28.480 here is a 00:40:28.480 --> 00:40:29.360 Christian in 00:40:29.360 --> 00:40:30.840 the living 00:40:30.840 --> 00:40:31.759 sense of 00:40:31.759 --> 00:40:32.639 living in 00:40:32.639 --> 00:40:33.699 dependence upon 00:40:33.699 --> 00:40:34.219 Christ, 00:40:34.659 --> 00:40:35.219 living in a 00:40:35.219 --> 00:40:36.460 relationship that 00:40:36.460 --> 00:40:37.159 you know is 00:40:37.159 --> 00:40:38.900 live with 00:40:38.900 --> 00:40:39.480 this living 00:40:39.480 --> 00:40:40.079 person. 00:40:41.579 --> 00:40:42.340 Is that 00:40:42.340 --> 00:40:42.680 you? 00:40:44.059 --> 00:40:44.760 Is that 00:40:44.760 --> 00:40:45.360 you tonight? 00:40:48.820 --> 00:40:49.680 Are you a 00:40:49.680 --> 00:40:51.360 Christian through 00:40:51.360 --> 00:40:52.480 knowing Christ? 00:40:53.960 --> 00:40:54.720 You're surely 00:40:54.720 --> 00:40:55.539 not just saying, 00:40:56.100 --> 00:40:56.740 I'm a Christian 00:40:56.740 --> 00:40:57.700 because I'm 00:40:57.700 --> 00:40:58.380 different to a 00:40:58.380 --> 00:41:00.460 Muslim, because I 00:41:00.460 --> 00:41:00.920 follow the 00:41:00.920 --> 00:41:01.640 teachings of the 00:41:01.640 --> 00:41:01.980 Bible. 00:41:02.559 --> 00:41:02.920 Wonderful. 00:41:04.100 --> 00:41:04.840 That's so 00:41:04.840 --> 00:41:05.320 important. 00:41:05.460 --> 00:41:05.820 That's so 00:41:05.820 --> 00:41:06.480 crucial to 00:41:06.480 --> 00:41:06.760 you. 00:41:06.760 --> 00:41:06.820 true. 00:41:08.260 --> 00:41:09.220 But what makes 00:41:09.220 --> 00:41:09.800 you a Christian 00:41:09.800 --> 00:41:10.420 in the living 00:41:10.420 --> 00:41:12.220 sense is that 00:41:12.220 --> 00:41:12.620 you know 00:41:12.620 --> 00:41:14.460 Jesus, that 00:41:14.460 --> 00:41:15.220 you know Christ 00:41:15.220 --> 00:41:15.860 for yourself, 00:41:16.100 --> 00:41:16.840 that you know 00:41:16.840 --> 00:41:18.980 he lives, that 00:41:18.980 --> 00:41:19.340 you know he 00:41:19.340 --> 00:41:19.980 has conquered 00:41:19.980 --> 00:41:21.480 death, that 00:41:21.480 --> 00:41:21.840 you know he 00:41:21.840 --> 00:41:22.400 has forgiven 00:41:22.400 --> 00:41:24.300 your sins, that 00:41:24.300 --> 00:41:25.040 you know he's 00:41:25.040 --> 00:41:25.540 your daily 00:41:25.540 --> 00:41:27.660 companion, you 00:41:27.660 --> 00:41:29.180 know whom you 00:41:29.180 --> 00:41:29.900 have believed. 00:41:29.900 --> 00:41:30.139 need. 00:41:31.840 --> 00:41:32.500 And then he 00:41:32.500 --> 00:41:33.920 says, and I 00:41:33.920 --> 00:41:34.920 am convinced. 00:41:35.780 --> 00:41:36.500 You see how it 00:41:36.500 --> 00:41:37.840 grows out of 00:41:37.840 --> 00:41:38.840 this knowing 00:41:38.840 --> 00:41:39.579 of Christ. 00:41:39.680 --> 00:41:40.220 He's saying, I'm 00:41:40.220 --> 00:41:41.599 not ashamed, I 00:41:41.599 --> 00:41:42.340 will not be put 00:41:42.340 --> 00:41:43.539 to shame, I 00:41:43.539 --> 00:41:44.180 will not be 00:41:44.180 --> 00:41:45.200 shunned by 00:41:45.200 --> 00:41:45.820 God, I will 00:41:45.820 --> 00:41:46.680 not be rejected. 00:41:47.300 --> 00:41:47.780 All of that 00:41:47.780 --> 00:41:48.360 comes into what 00:41:48.360 --> 00:41:48.840 he's saying, I'm 00:41:48.840 --> 00:41:49.240 not ashamed. 00:41:49.340 --> 00:41:49.920 It's not just a 00:41:49.920 --> 00:41:51.079 feeling of being 00:41:51.079 --> 00:41:51.539 ashamed. 00:41:52.039 --> 00:41:52.480 In the New 00:41:52.480 --> 00:41:53.539 Testament, being 00:41:53.539 --> 00:41:55.079 ashamed is tied 00:41:55.079 --> 00:41:55.780 up with being 00:41:55.780 --> 00:41:56.980 rejected or being 00:41:56.980 --> 00:41:58.119 judged and found 00:41:58.119 --> 00:41:58.579 wanting. 00:41:58.579 --> 00:41:59.900 that's not 00:41:59.900 --> 00:42:00.420 going to happen 00:42:00.420 --> 00:42:01.799 to me, saying, I'm 00:42:01.799 --> 00:42:02.519 not ashamed and 00:42:02.519 --> 00:42:03.039 I will not be 00:42:03.039 --> 00:42:04.559 put to shame, for 00:42:04.559 --> 00:42:05.460 I know whom I 00:42:05.460 --> 00:42:06.539 have believed and 00:42:06.539 --> 00:42:07.840 I am convinced. 00:42:08.579 --> 00:42:09.299 You see, from his 00:42:09.299 --> 00:42:10.920 knowing of Jesus, he 00:42:10.920 --> 00:42:11.579 comes to be 00:42:11.579 --> 00:42:12.319 convinced about 00:42:12.319 --> 00:42:13.179 certain things, 00:42:13.420 --> 00:42:14.920 about him, and 00:42:14.920 --> 00:42:15.819 about the truth as 00:42:15.819 --> 00:42:16.699 it is in him. 00:42:19.619 --> 00:42:20.539 You might say 00:42:20.539 --> 00:42:21.659 he's got an 00:42:21.659 --> 00:42:22.400 assured 00:42:22.400 --> 00:42:24.340 believing from 00:42:24.340 --> 00:42:25.599 knowing Christ. 00:42:26.679 --> 00:42:27.079 Now, you're to 00:42:27.079 --> 00:42:28.559 ask Paul, well, 00:42:28.579 --> 00:42:29.799 Paul, how can you 00:42:29.799 --> 00:42:30.940 possibly be sure 00:42:30.940 --> 00:42:31.579 about these 00:42:31.579 --> 00:42:31.860 things? 00:42:32.179 --> 00:42:32.920 How can you be 00:42:32.920 --> 00:42:33.739 convinced about 00:42:33.739 --> 00:42:34.319 things? 00:42:34.900 --> 00:42:35.340 How can you 00:42:35.340 --> 00:42:36.179 actually say that 00:42:36.179 --> 00:42:37.099 this is, in 00:42:37.099 --> 00:42:38.799 fact, certain 00:42:38.799 --> 00:42:40.400 for you, and 00:42:40.400 --> 00:42:41.500 that this is not 00:42:41.500 --> 00:42:42.420 just the truth for 00:42:42.420 --> 00:42:43.079 you, but it is 00:42:43.079 --> 00:42:43.880 the truth? 00:42:46.500 --> 00:42:48.239 Well, he says, I 00:42:48.239 --> 00:42:50.119 know, I'm sure, I'm 00:42:50.119 --> 00:42:51.119 convinced because I 00:42:51.119 --> 00:42:53.279 know him, because I 00:42:53.279 --> 00:42:54.179 know himself. 00:42:54.179 --> 00:42:56.099 And when you 00:42:56.099 --> 00:42:58.019 know himself, it 00:42:58.019 --> 00:42:58.879 doesn't matter what 00:42:58.879 --> 00:42:59.719 somebody says to 00:42:59.719 --> 00:43:01.219 you and tries to 00:43:01.219 --> 00:43:01.980 convince you 00:43:01.980 --> 00:43:02.500 otherwise. 00:43:03.519 --> 00:43:04.079 It doesn't matter 00:43:04.079 --> 00:43:05.139 what doubts the 00:43:05.139 --> 00:43:06.139 devil or somebody 00:43:06.139 --> 00:43:07.379 else might try and 00:43:07.379 --> 00:43:08.339 instill in your 00:43:08.339 --> 00:43:08.739 mind. 00:43:08.980 --> 00:43:09.719 It doesn't matter 00:43:09.719 --> 00:43:10.779 how much somebody 00:43:10.779 --> 00:43:11.879 might try to shake 00:43:11.879 --> 00:43:13.000 your faith and 00:43:13.000 --> 00:43:14.599 bring you back to 00:43:14.599 --> 00:43:15.799 the kind of ideas 00:43:15.799 --> 00:43:16.579 you find in the 00:43:16.579 --> 00:43:17.460 world that tells 00:43:17.460 --> 00:43:18.519 you you're stupid, 00:43:18.659 --> 00:43:19.339 you're a fool to 00:43:19.339 --> 00:43:20.460 believe something 00:43:20.460 --> 00:43:20.960 you've never 00:43:20.960 --> 00:43:22.119 verified scientifically 00:43:22.119 --> 00:43:23.639 or whatever, I 00:43:23.639 --> 00:43:25.259 know whom I have 00:43:25.259 --> 00:43:25.960 believed. 00:43:27.099 --> 00:43:28.440 I know himself. 00:43:30.059 --> 00:43:30.980 That's why I'm 00:43:30.980 --> 00:43:31.480 convinced. 00:43:33.319 --> 00:43:34.219 I'm convinced 00:43:34.219 --> 00:43:35.839 about these things 00:43:35.839 --> 00:43:36.559 about him. 00:43:37.559 --> 00:43:39.119 See, Paul, you 00:43:39.119 --> 00:43:39.779 guys put it this 00:43:39.779 --> 00:43:40.679 way, Paul is not 00:43:40.679 --> 00:43:41.839 searching for the 00:43:41.839 --> 00:43:42.199 truth. 00:43:43.319 --> 00:43:44.699 This is one of the 00:43:44.699 --> 00:43:46.559 great fallacies of 00:43:46.559 --> 00:43:47.359 today, isn't it? 00:43:47.380 --> 00:43:48.779 When you find people 00:43:48.779 --> 00:43:49.980 who are established 00:43:49.980 --> 00:43:51.000 churchmen sometimes 00:43:51.000 --> 00:43:51.599 saying, you know, 00:43:51.599 --> 00:43:52.460 you can't actually 00:43:52.460 --> 00:43:54.019 possibly believe that 00:43:54.019 --> 00:43:55.059 Christ is the only 00:43:55.059 --> 00:43:56.679 way to God, that he 00:43:56.679 --> 00:43:57.679 is the way, the truth 00:43:57.679 --> 00:43:58.319 and the life, as 00:43:58.319 --> 00:43:59.339 John's gospel puts 00:43:59.339 --> 00:43:59.579 it. 00:44:00.259 --> 00:44:01.059 You've got to have an 00:44:01.059 --> 00:44:02.199 amalgamation and a 00:44:02.199 --> 00:44:03.880 conglomeration of all 00:44:03.880 --> 00:44:04.639 sorts of different 00:44:04.639 --> 00:44:06.380 religious ideas and 00:44:06.380 --> 00:44:07.559 it's as you weld these 00:44:07.559 --> 00:44:08.259 together, as you 00:44:08.259 --> 00:44:09.539 actually bring all of 00:44:09.539 --> 00:44:10.500 that together and as 00:44:10.500 --> 00:44:11.639 you walk along with 00:44:11.639 --> 00:44:13.039 people who believe in 00:44:13.039 --> 00:44:14.039 other systems of 00:44:14.039 --> 00:44:14.900 belief and as you 00:44:14.900 --> 00:44:15.579 join all that 00:44:15.579 --> 00:44:16.880 together and as you 00:44:16.880 --> 00:44:17.539 try and worship 00:44:17.539 --> 00:44:18.679 together and engage 00:44:18.679 --> 00:44:19.860 with each other, then 00:44:19.860 --> 00:44:20.900 you're involved in a 00:44:20.900 --> 00:44:21.840 search for the 00:44:21.840 --> 00:44:22.200 truth. 00:44:22.440 --> 00:44:23.420 You're involved in a 00:44:23.420 --> 00:44:24.860 progress onwards until 00:44:24.860 --> 00:44:26.119 eventually at some 00:44:26.119 --> 00:44:27.119 point or other you're 00:44:27.119 --> 00:44:28.019 going to come to the 00:44:28.019 --> 00:44:28.880 truth hopefully. 00:44:30.400 --> 00:44:31.059 Paul is saying, 00:44:31.820 --> 00:44:32.559 nonsense, 00:44:33.960 --> 00:44:34.420 rubbish. 00:44:34.420 --> 00:44:37.519 I know the truth 00:44:37.519 --> 00:44:40.659 because I know Jesus 00:44:40.659 --> 00:44:41.220 Christ. 00:44:42.260 --> 00:44:43.320 I know the truth 00:44:43.320 --> 00:44:44.300 because I know the 00:44:44.300 --> 00:44:45.900 Son of God who is 00:44:45.900 --> 00:44:47.220 himself the embodiment 00:44:47.220 --> 00:44:48.800 of the truth as he 00:44:48.800 --> 00:44:49.940 came into this world to 00:44:49.940 --> 00:44:51.880 reveal the truth of God 00:44:51.880 --> 00:44:52.599 to us. 00:44:53.000 --> 00:44:56.000 I know whom I have 00:44:56.000 --> 00:44:56.639 believed. 00:44:57.920 --> 00:44:58.940 Some people would say, 00:44:59.519 --> 00:45:00.460 you know, that's really 00:45:00.460 --> 00:45:01.360 being pretty arrogant, 00:45:01.519 --> 00:45:01.900 isn't it? 00:45:01.900 --> 00:45:03.280 I'm pretty arrogant 00:45:03.280 --> 00:45:05.420 towards other faiths 00:45:05.420 --> 00:45:06.539 or other systems of 00:45:06.539 --> 00:45:06.960 belief. 00:45:07.260 --> 00:45:08.240 If you're saying to me 00:45:08.240 --> 00:45:08.900 tonight that, 00:45:09.280 --> 00:45:10.059 and they might say to 00:45:10.059 --> 00:45:10.840 you, if you're saying to 00:45:10.840 --> 00:45:12.260 me tonight that Jesus 00:45:12.260 --> 00:45:14.500 is exclusively the 00:45:14.500 --> 00:45:15.880 Savior and the way to 00:45:15.880 --> 00:45:17.639 know God and to come 00:45:17.639 --> 00:45:18.280 into a living 00:45:18.280 --> 00:45:20.000 relationship with God 00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:21.200 and to have the 00:45:21.200 --> 00:45:22.460 righteousness that God 00:45:22.460 --> 00:45:23.860 requires of us and 00:45:23.860 --> 00:45:24.960 live the kind of life 00:45:24.960 --> 00:45:25.980 that God is pleased 00:45:25.980 --> 00:45:27.280 with, how can you say 00:45:27.280 --> 00:45:28.960 to me that only Jesus 00:45:28.960 --> 00:45:30.180 can do that for you 00:45:30.179 --> 00:45:31.419 or only through Jesus 00:45:31.419 --> 00:45:32.379 can you come into 00:45:32.379 --> 00:45:33.519 that relationship with 00:45:33.519 --> 00:45:33.899 God? 00:45:34.179 --> 00:45:35.019 Well, I can say that 00:45:35.019 --> 00:45:36.639 because I know Jesus 00:45:36.639 --> 00:45:38.099 and I know this is what 00:45:38.099 --> 00:45:39.500 Jesus himself believed 00:45:39.500 --> 00:45:40.119 and said. 00:45:42.119 --> 00:45:43.359 Am I going to actually 00:45:43.359 --> 00:45:45.039 trust the word of 00:45:45.039 --> 00:45:46.279 someone whom I know 00:45:46.279 --> 00:45:47.279 to be my Savior? 00:45:48.699 --> 00:45:49.480 Or am I going to 00:45:49.480 --> 00:45:50.299 simply say, well, 00:45:50.839 --> 00:45:51.639 you know, we've got to 00:45:51.639 --> 00:45:52.559 add to that, we've got 00:45:52.559 --> 00:45:53.559 to change that in the 00:45:53.559 --> 00:45:54.699 world in which we live. 00:45:55.159 --> 00:45:56.339 We've got to add to that 00:45:56.339 --> 00:45:57.819 other kinds of ideas 00:45:57.820 --> 00:45:59.420 and especially as the 00:45:59.420 --> 00:46:00.380 world has progressed 00:46:00.380 --> 00:46:01.940 technologically in terms 00:46:01.940 --> 00:46:03.480 of finding things out 00:46:03.480 --> 00:46:04.700 and affirmations from 00:46:04.700 --> 00:46:05.940 science as to how 00:46:05.940 --> 00:46:06.940 things work and all 00:46:06.940 --> 00:46:07.640 the rest of it. 00:46:08.640 --> 00:46:09.500 It doesn't matter. 00:46:11.059 --> 00:46:11.920 You don't have to 00:46:11.920 --> 00:46:14.440 understand many of 00:46:14.440 --> 00:46:15.240 these scientific 00:46:15.240 --> 00:46:17.539 discoveries or how 00:46:17.539 --> 00:46:19.280 the analysis is made 00:46:19.280 --> 00:46:21.760 of life as you know 00:46:21.760 --> 00:46:22.580 it in this world. 00:46:23.780 --> 00:46:24.780 All you need is to 00:46:24.780 --> 00:46:25.240 know him. 00:46:25.239 --> 00:46:28.839 I know whom I have 00:46:28.839 --> 00:46:29.500 believed. 00:46:30.899 --> 00:46:31.939 Paul's not searching 00:46:31.939 --> 00:46:32.599 for the truth. 00:46:33.000 --> 00:46:33.899 He doesn't need to. 00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:36.379 He knows that he's got 00:46:36.379 --> 00:46:37.279 that in Christ. 00:46:38.479 --> 00:46:40.000 He knows that what he 00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:42.639 has in Christ is God's 00:46:42.639 --> 00:46:43.939 supreme revelation of 00:46:43.939 --> 00:46:44.439 himself. 00:46:44.959 --> 00:46:45.859 He's the light of the 00:46:45.859 --> 00:46:46.159 world. 00:46:47.879 --> 00:46:49.179 He is himself the way, 00:46:49.519 --> 00:46:50.779 the truth, and the life. 00:46:51.839 --> 00:46:52.939 He is the resurrection 00:46:52.939 --> 00:46:54.000 and the life. 00:46:54.000 --> 00:46:55.300 He's all of the things 00:46:55.300 --> 00:46:56.320 he claimed to be. 00:46:57.199 --> 00:46:57.840 And although Paul 00:46:57.840 --> 00:46:58.599 himself, of course, 00:46:58.920 --> 00:47:00.340 was adamant at one 00:47:00.340 --> 00:47:03.300 time that the last 00:47:03.300 --> 00:47:04.179 thing in the world he 00:47:04.179 --> 00:47:05.780 wanted was to give his 00:47:05.780 --> 00:47:06.780 life over to this 00:47:06.780 --> 00:47:09.380 Jesus, he regarded him 00:47:09.380 --> 00:47:11.400 as a fraud, regarded 00:47:11.400 --> 00:47:13.019 him as somebody who was 00:47:13.019 --> 00:47:14.800 being peddled by his 00:47:14.800 --> 00:47:16.699 followers as somehow or 00:47:16.699 --> 00:47:18.340 other a representation of 00:47:18.340 --> 00:47:20.500 God on earth until he 00:47:20.500 --> 00:47:21.579 was making his way as an 00:47:21.579 --> 00:47:23.119 enemy of Christ, to 00:47:23.119 --> 00:47:25.039 Damascus with further 00:47:25.039 --> 00:47:29.000 intentions in his mind to 00:47:29.000 --> 00:47:30.259 cast more of the 00:47:30.259 --> 00:47:31.380 followers of Jesus into 00:47:31.380 --> 00:47:32.440 prison and so on. 00:47:33.500 --> 00:47:34.639 And then he met with this 00:47:34.639 --> 00:47:35.139 person. 00:47:36.239 --> 00:47:38.539 He was arrested by this 00:47:38.539 --> 00:47:40.699 Christ himself who turned 00:47:40.699 --> 00:47:42.119 his life around and put 00:47:42.119 --> 00:47:43.279 everything upside down for 00:47:43.279 --> 00:47:44.259 him, or rather the right 00:47:44.259 --> 00:47:45.059 way up for him. 00:47:45.059 --> 00:47:47.960 And now he's saying, I 00:47:47.960 --> 00:47:48.960 know whom I have 00:47:48.960 --> 00:47:49.500 believed. 00:47:50.860 --> 00:47:52.000 And all the things that I 00:47:52.000 --> 00:47:53.900 once held on to as so 00:47:53.900 --> 00:47:55.920 essential for earning the 00:47:55.920 --> 00:47:58.799 favor of God, of coming to 00:47:58.799 --> 00:48:00.099 gain God's approval, as he 00:48:00.099 --> 00:48:01.420 says in Philippians chapter 00:48:01.420 --> 00:48:03.759 3, I now count these as 00:48:03.759 --> 00:48:04.960 worthless rubbish. 00:48:05.500 --> 00:48:08.179 He's not being disparaging of 00:48:08.179 --> 00:48:09.599 what he once believed in a 00:48:09.599 --> 00:48:12.199 sense, but he is rejecting it 00:48:12.199 --> 00:48:13.239 as the basis of his 00:48:13.239 --> 00:48:14.519 acceptance with God. 00:48:16.519 --> 00:48:18.899 I count him, he says, as 00:48:18.899 --> 00:48:21.599 worthless so that I might 00:48:21.599 --> 00:48:23.659 gain Christ and be found in 00:48:23.659 --> 00:48:25.859 him and have the righteousness 00:48:25.859 --> 00:48:28.039 as of God by him. 00:48:29.319 --> 00:48:32.259 I know whom I have 00:48:32.259 --> 00:48:32.599 believed. 00:48:32.679 --> 00:48:33.919 You know, Paul would really 00:48:33.919 --> 00:48:35.719 look out over those folks who 00:48:35.719 --> 00:48:37.199 claim that Christ is not 00:48:37.199 --> 00:48:39.019 enough, that you've got to add 00:48:39.019 --> 00:48:41.579 to Jesus himself or to the 00:48:41.579 --> 00:48:43.920 gospel where Jesus is set 00:48:43.920 --> 00:48:44.980 forth as the Savior 00:48:44.980 --> 00:48:45.799 exclusively. 00:48:46.819 --> 00:48:48.920 People, as we said, will say 00:48:48.920 --> 00:48:49.860 to you, that's really not 00:48:49.860 --> 00:48:50.159 enough. 00:48:50.239 --> 00:48:51.079 You've got to move ahead 00:48:51.079 --> 00:48:51.480 nowadays. 00:48:51.719 --> 00:48:53.099 You've got to progress. 00:48:53.940 --> 00:48:55.380 What will Paul say to that? 00:48:57.360 --> 00:48:58.779 Paul said to that, you've got 00:48:58.779 --> 00:48:59.559 a big problem. 00:49:00.779 --> 00:49:02.380 You've got a massive problem. 00:49:03.639 --> 00:49:05.179 And the problem is you don't 00:49:05.179 --> 00:49:06.000 know Jesus. 00:49:06.000 --> 00:49:10.900 And you don't know Jesus as God's 00:49:10.900 --> 00:49:15.139 exclusive, wonderful, sufficient 00:49:15.139 --> 00:49:16.880 Savior of sinners. 00:49:19.400 --> 00:49:21.860 So here's for me the question 00:49:21.860 --> 00:49:22.260 tonight. 00:49:22.360 --> 00:49:23.900 Do I know Jesus? 00:49:26.099 --> 00:49:28.039 Have I been standing in pulpits 00:49:28.039 --> 00:49:30.039 for well over 30 years and still 00:49:30.039 --> 00:49:31.360 don't know him for myself? 00:49:31.440 --> 00:49:32.139 I hope not. 00:49:32.260 --> 00:49:32.940 I trust not. 00:49:33.059 --> 00:49:34.019 I believe not. 00:49:34.019 --> 00:49:36.519 Do you know him? 00:49:39.400 --> 00:49:40.960 Do you know him as your living 00:49:40.960 --> 00:49:41.539 companion? 00:49:43.139 --> 00:49:45.179 Are you in a daily conversation 00:49:45.179 --> 00:49:45.699 with him? 00:49:46.659 --> 00:49:48.920 Do you know him in such a way as 00:49:48.920 --> 00:49:51.480 would say, you know, if everything 00:49:51.480 --> 00:49:53.360 else was taken out of my life, and 00:49:53.360 --> 00:49:54.480 that's a very difficult thing to 00:49:54.480 --> 00:49:58.920 say, I would still have Jesus and 00:49:58.920 --> 00:50:00.139 my life would be secure. 00:50:00.139 --> 00:50:04.960 I know whom I have believed, says 00:50:04.960 --> 00:50:05.519 the apostle. 00:50:08.000 --> 00:50:09.659 And for you and for me, it's not 00:50:09.659 --> 00:50:11.819 just a matter of believing in 00:50:11.819 --> 00:50:14.480 Christ, believing God's word, 00:50:14.980 --> 00:50:16.480 believing what it says there about 00:50:16.480 --> 00:50:16.679 him. 00:50:18.259 --> 00:50:20.819 Believing means a knowing of him, 00:50:21.719 --> 00:50:24.319 a coming to live in a living 00:50:24.319 --> 00:50:27.519 relationship with him, where you 00:50:27.519 --> 00:50:29.500 have, as Paul himself had, 00:50:31.239 --> 00:50:34.079 personal terms with Christ 00:50:34.079 --> 00:50:35.420 every day. 00:50:36.159 --> 00:50:38.559 I know whom I have believed. 00:50:38.719 --> 00:50:40.340 But then he says, and I am 00:50:40.340 --> 00:50:41.960 convinced, rising out of that 00:50:41.960 --> 00:50:43.759 relationship that he has with 00:50:43.759 --> 00:50:45.300 Christ, this knowledge that he has 00:50:45.300 --> 00:50:47.119 of Christ, he's saying I am 00:50:47.119 --> 00:50:48.880 convinced that he is able to guard 00:50:48.880 --> 00:50:50.840 until that day what has been 00:50:50.840 --> 00:50:51.900 entrusted to me. 00:50:51.900 --> 00:50:54.280 Now, I've said that personally I 00:50:54.280 --> 00:50:57.840 prefer the old AV rendering of it 00:50:57.840 --> 00:50:58.019 there. 00:50:58.119 --> 00:50:59.400 It's perfectly possible 00:50:59.400 --> 00:51:01.760 grammatically to render it either 00:51:01.760 --> 00:51:03.059 way, either like this. 00:51:03.460 --> 00:51:05.400 He's able to guard what has been 00:51:05.400 --> 00:51:07.420 entrusted to me, by which the 00:51:07.420 --> 00:51:09.539 translators here have been really, 00:51:09.760 --> 00:51:11.019 their view is that he's talking 00:51:11.019 --> 00:51:13.119 about the gospel, the message of 00:51:13.119 --> 00:51:13.519 Christ. 00:51:14.039 --> 00:51:15.500 Whereas the AV took it in the other 00:51:15.500 --> 00:51:17.039 way that, again, is possible 00:51:17.039 --> 00:51:17.760 grammatically. 00:51:17.760 --> 00:51:21.280 I am convinced, he says, that he 00:51:21.280 --> 00:51:24.360 is able to guard what I have 00:51:24.360 --> 00:51:25.420 entrusted to him. 00:51:26.680 --> 00:51:29.020 And you see it's, you find later 00:51:29.020 --> 00:51:31.460 on there the verse 14, by the Holy 00:51:31.460 --> 00:51:33.440 Spirit who dwells within us, he's 00:51:33.440 --> 00:51:35.560 saying to Timothy, guard the good 00:51:35.560 --> 00:51:38.120 deposit entrusted to you. 00:51:39.400 --> 00:51:41.100 And I think it's from that that this 00:51:41.100 --> 00:51:43.720 translation itself has come to 00:51:43.720 --> 00:51:46.500 translate it this way, to guard what 00:51:46.500 --> 00:51:48.179 has been entrusted to me. 00:51:48.900 --> 00:51:50.760 Now, do you see, verse 14 there is 00:51:50.760 --> 00:51:53.719 really saying the Holy Spirit who 00:51:53.719 --> 00:51:56.619 dwells in us, you, Timothy, guard the 00:51:56.619 --> 00:51:59.480 good deposit entrusted to you. 00:52:00.840 --> 00:52:02.380 But what he's saying here in verse 00:52:02.380 --> 00:52:04.079 12 is it's something that he has 00:52:04.079 --> 00:52:05.900 entrusted to Christ, something that 00:52:05.900 --> 00:52:07.280 Christ is going to look after. 00:52:08.039 --> 00:52:09.340 It's not Timothy who's looking after 00:52:09.340 --> 00:52:10.739 it here, it's Christ who's looking 00:52:10.739 --> 00:52:12.639 after what he says here in verse 12. 00:52:12.699 --> 00:52:15.019 It's literally in the Greek text of 00:52:15.019 --> 00:52:17.059 all it says is he's able to guard the 00:52:17.059 --> 00:52:17.579 deposit. 00:52:18.679 --> 00:52:19.559 My deposit. 00:52:20.860 --> 00:52:22.019 And what is this deposit? 00:52:22.179 --> 00:52:24.079 Well, I believe it's better taking it 00:52:24.079 --> 00:52:27.079 as Paul speaking about entrusting 00:52:27.079 --> 00:52:29.920 himself, his life, his apostleship, 00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:31.699 his present, his future. 00:52:32.079 --> 00:52:33.659 After all, he's talking here about 00:52:33.659 --> 00:52:34.719 death being imminent. 00:52:35.400 --> 00:52:37.420 He's not far away from the end of his 00:52:37.420 --> 00:52:38.380 course in this life. 00:52:39.059 --> 00:52:40.960 And he's encouraging Timothy to 00:52:40.960 --> 00:52:44.099 continue to trust in this God and to 00:52:44.099 --> 00:52:46.219 continue to entrust himself to Jesus 00:52:46.219 --> 00:52:48.519 because he says, I know whom I have 00:52:48.519 --> 00:52:51.099 believed and I am convinced that he 00:52:51.799 --> 00:52:55.460 is able to guard, to keep until that 00:52:55.460 --> 00:52:59.460 day what I have entrusted to him, what I 00:52:59.460 --> 00:53:03.539 have given over to him to be secure in 00:53:03.539 --> 00:53:03.719 him. 00:53:03.779 --> 00:53:05.699 In other words, it's Paul's own, if you 00:53:05.699 --> 00:53:07.860 take it that way, he means his own life. 00:53:08.259 --> 00:53:09.279 He means his person. 00:53:10.200 --> 00:53:12.280 That's what he's deposited in Christ's 00:53:12.280 --> 00:53:12.740 hands. 00:53:13.620 --> 00:53:15.820 And so that's really, in a sense, what 00:53:15.820 --> 00:53:18.320 fits in with many references in the 00:53:18.320 --> 00:53:19.900 Bible to God being a refuge. 00:53:21.160 --> 00:53:25.080 And 1 Peter, for example, chapter 4, which 00:53:25.080 --> 00:53:27.360 is a letter really, as you know, that's 00:53:27.360 --> 00:53:29.820 written largely to suffering Christians, 00:53:30.360 --> 00:53:31.480 persecuted Christians. 00:53:32.040 --> 00:53:33.700 In chapter 4, the last verse there, he 00:53:33.700 --> 00:53:36.580 says, therefore, let those who suffer 00:53:36.579 --> 00:53:40.079 according to God's will entrust their 00:53:40.079 --> 00:53:42.579 souls to a faithful creator while 00:53:43.239 --> 00:53:43.779 doing good. 00:53:43.819 --> 00:53:45.659 He's talking about entrusting themselves 00:53:45.659 --> 00:53:47.880 to this living Savior. 00:53:49.139 --> 00:53:51.340 And that's how we're taking these words 00:53:51.340 --> 00:53:53.259 of Paul to Timothy as well. 00:53:53.360 --> 00:53:56.440 I am convinced, I am persuaded, I am 00:53:56.440 --> 00:53:59.159 fully convinced that he is able to guard, 00:53:59.159 --> 00:54:01.980 to look after everything that I've placed 00:54:01.980 --> 00:54:05.760 in his hand, including myself, until 00:54:05.760 --> 00:54:07.219 that day. 00:54:08.420 --> 00:54:11.219 So really, your faith, your living 00:54:11.219 --> 00:54:14.940 relationship with Jesus is not just, of 00:54:14.940 --> 00:54:17.679 course, a formal assent to his truth. 00:54:18.760 --> 00:54:21.639 It is, as we said, knowing Jesus in a 00:54:21.639 --> 00:54:22.719 personal relationship. 00:54:23.099 --> 00:54:25.179 But it's also in the actings of your 00:54:25.179 --> 00:54:25.820 faith. 00:54:25.940 --> 00:54:27.480 And it's not just once and for all. 00:54:27.940 --> 00:54:29.760 It's really on an everyday, ongoing 00:54:29.760 --> 00:54:30.260 basis. 00:54:30.500 --> 00:54:33.080 It's entrusting yourself to Jesus. 00:54:34.600 --> 00:54:36.260 Isn't that how you begin every day? 00:54:37.120 --> 00:54:39.180 That you actually pray, Lord, please 00:54:39.180 --> 00:54:40.680 look after my life again. 00:54:41.040 --> 00:54:43.340 I'm placing myself in your hands. 00:54:44.100 --> 00:54:46.020 And as I place myself in your hands, 00:54:46.140 --> 00:54:48.280 Lord, whatever happens on this day, 00:54:49.160 --> 00:54:50.140 look after me. 00:54:50.700 --> 00:54:51.220 Guard me. 00:54:51.380 --> 00:54:51.880 Keep me. 00:54:53.700 --> 00:54:55.140 Be my guard. 00:54:55.920 --> 00:54:56.700 My guardian. 00:54:56.699 --> 00:55:02.059 Be the one who looks after me as I 00:55:02.059 --> 00:55:03.559 entrust myself to you. 00:55:05.159 --> 00:55:07.639 Entrustman to a person. 00:55:08.739 --> 00:55:10.460 And there's the question again for 00:55:10.460 --> 00:55:11.480 yourself and for myself. 00:55:11.639 --> 00:55:14.399 Is that how you find your own life? 00:55:15.879 --> 00:55:16.799 You know the gospel. 00:55:16.960 --> 00:55:17.639 You know the Bible. 00:55:18.500 --> 00:55:19.980 You know the message of the gospel. 00:55:20.439 --> 00:55:22.619 You know other Christians in this place 00:55:22.619 --> 00:55:23.579 tonight and elsewhere. 00:55:23.579 --> 00:55:27.980 But here is the question following on 00:55:27.980 --> 00:55:30.199 from do you know him yourself, 00:55:30.319 --> 00:55:31.039 for yourself? 00:55:31.840 --> 00:55:34.639 Have you entrusted your life to him? 00:55:35.679 --> 00:55:37.559 Have you given over your life 00:55:37.559 --> 00:55:40.779 to this Jesus to be your Lord 00:55:40.779 --> 00:55:43.059 as well as your Savior? 00:55:44.539 --> 00:55:46.519 Have you deposited, if you like, 00:55:46.579 --> 00:55:48.099 to use the words of the apostle here, 00:55:48.420 --> 00:55:49.960 this deposit, my deposit? 00:55:49.960 --> 00:55:53.260 I have entrusted my deposit to him. 00:55:53.960 --> 00:55:57.659 Have you deposited your own life 00:55:57.659 --> 00:56:00.059 into the hands of Jesus? 00:56:01.480 --> 00:56:03.159 There are few questions 00:56:03.159 --> 00:56:06.780 as important as that in your life. 00:56:09.699 --> 00:56:10.900 This is why, friends, 00:56:11.000 --> 00:56:12.300 God has given us the gospel. 00:56:14.039 --> 00:56:15.240 Not so that we would have 00:56:15.240 --> 00:56:16.900 a mere intellectual knowledge 00:56:16.900 --> 00:56:18.700 of who Jesus is 00:56:18.700 --> 00:56:19.940 and what Jesus has done. 00:56:20.500 --> 00:56:21.860 Wonderful though that is. 00:56:23.940 --> 00:56:24.800 It's so that 00:56:24.800 --> 00:56:26.559 we will be persuaded 00:56:26.559 --> 00:56:29.360 that we need this Jesus 00:56:29.360 --> 00:56:32.180 as our own personal Savior. 00:56:33.019 --> 00:56:35.200 And that knowing that we need this Jesus 00:56:35.200 --> 00:56:36.460 by the grace of God, 00:56:36.519 --> 00:56:37.720 by the power of his Spirit, 00:56:38.280 --> 00:56:40.380 we will deposit our lives 00:56:40.380 --> 00:56:41.240 into his hand. 00:56:41.239 --> 00:56:44.539 We will entrust ourselves to him 00:56:44.539 --> 00:56:46.419 to look after us 00:56:46.419 --> 00:56:47.739 all the way through life 00:56:47.739 --> 00:56:50.459 and into eternity itself. 00:56:50.639 --> 00:56:51.679 And let me say to the young folks 00:56:51.679 --> 00:56:52.219 here tonight, 00:56:53.519 --> 00:56:57.039 you don't think of yourself 00:56:57.039 --> 00:56:58.459 as too young to do this. 00:56:59.319 --> 00:57:00.339 I don't know if you've still 00:57:00.339 --> 00:57:01.259 got a bank account. 00:57:02.179 --> 00:57:03.419 Some of you probably have. 00:57:04.719 --> 00:57:05.619 But if you have, 00:57:05.679 --> 00:57:06.319 you know what you do 00:57:06.319 --> 00:57:08.919 when you have a savings account. 00:57:09.039 --> 00:57:10.719 You deposit some money in that. 00:57:11.319 --> 00:57:12.559 And you expect the bank 00:57:12.559 --> 00:57:13.799 to look after it for you 00:57:13.799 --> 00:57:15.239 and not lose your money. 00:57:15.980 --> 00:57:17.059 Then you can withdraw it 00:57:17.059 --> 00:57:17.759 whenever you want. 00:57:17.839 --> 00:57:18.299 You can go 00:57:18.299 --> 00:57:19.959 and take some money out of it. 00:57:20.019 --> 00:57:21.359 But you've left it in the bank. 00:57:21.779 --> 00:57:22.500 You've put it there. 00:57:22.579 --> 00:57:23.919 You've deposited it there 00:57:23.919 --> 00:57:25.419 for safekeeping. 00:57:26.839 --> 00:57:27.919 That's what Paul is saying 00:57:27.919 --> 00:57:28.559 about himself. 00:57:29.139 --> 00:57:29.980 He has put himself 00:57:29.980 --> 00:57:31.199 in the hands of Jesus 00:57:31.199 --> 00:57:32.319 for safekeeping. 00:57:32.819 --> 00:57:33.939 And what he's saying is 00:57:33.939 --> 00:57:35.259 when you do that, 00:57:35.319 --> 00:57:36.619 your life is safe. 00:57:37.099 --> 00:57:38.299 You can't guarantee 00:57:38.299 --> 00:57:39.819 whether you're young or old 00:57:39.820 --> 00:57:40.720 in this life. 00:57:40.800 --> 00:57:42.039 You can't guarantee 00:57:42.039 --> 00:57:44.340 that everything will turn out well 00:57:44.340 --> 00:57:46.740 just by hoping for the best. 00:57:48.180 --> 00:57:49.120 Paul is saying here 00:57:49.120 --> 00:57:51.960 he's able to guard this deposit 00:57:51.960 --> 00:57:53.960 until that day. 00:57:54.640 --> 00:57:56.180 What I have entrusted to him, 00:57:56.660 --> 00:57:57.960 he's going to look after it 00:57:57.960 --> 00:57:59.039 until that day. 00:57:59.120 --> 00:57:59.860 And by that he means 00:57:59.860 --> 00:58:01.280 the day of Christ's return. 00:58:02.220 --> 00:58:03.080 The day of judgment. 00:58:03.220 --> 00:58:03.920 The day when Jesus 00:58:03.920 --> 00:58:05.600 comes back to this world. 00:58:05.599 --> 00:58:10.480 What a momentous day 00:58:10.480 --> 00:58:11.339 that's going to be. 00:58:13.319 --> 00:58:14.219 We must all, 00:58:14.400 --> 00:58:16.319 as Paul says to the Corinthians 00:58:16.319 --> 00:58:17.400 in his second epistle, 00:58:17.639 --> 00:58:18.940 we must all appear 00:58:18.940 --> 00:58:21.299 before the judgment seat 00:58:21.299 --> 00:58:21.880 of Christ 00:58:21.880 --> 00:58:23.679 that we may all receive 00:58:23.679 --> 00:58:24.960 the things done in this body 00:58:24.960 --> 00:58:26.679 whether good or evil. 00:58:28.079 --> 00:58:29.420 Paul doesn't need to be afraid 00:58:29.420 --> 00:58:31.019 that somehow or other things 00:58:31.019 --> 00:58:32.219 are not going to turn out well 00:58:32.219 --> 00:58:33.219 for him on that day 00:58:33.219 --> 00:58:34.919 because he has entrusted 00:58:34.919 --> 00:58:36.079 his life to Jesus, 00:58:36.459 --> 00:58:37.659 because Jesus is looking 00:58:37.659 --> 00:58:38.519 after it for him, 00:58:38.899 --> 00:58:39.799 because he's put himself 00:58:39.799 --> 00:58:40.980 in the hands of Christ, 00:58:41.259 --> 00:58:41.919 because that's where 00:58:41.919 --> 00:58:43.980 the deposit of his life is. 00:58:44.480 --> 00:58:45.419 He is safe. 00:58:46.799 --> 00:58:47.839 Nothing's going to actually 00:58:47.839 --> 00:58:48.699 change that. 00:58:49.480 --> 00:58:50.959 The only way that can change 00:58:50.959 --> 00:58:52.959 is somehow or other 00:58:52.959 --> 00:58:53.819 God the Father 00:58:53.819 --> 00:58:54.859 finds something wrong 00:58:54.859 --> 00:58:55.379 with Jesus. 00:58:56.379 --> 00:58:57.619 And that's never going to happen. 00:58:59.239 --> 00:58:59.899 And there's your 00:58:59.899 --> 00:59:01.939 wonderful assurance tonight 00:59:01.940 --> 00:59:03.360 that however weak 00:59:03.360 --> 00:59:03.900 you might say 00:59:03.900 --> 00:59:04.900 your own faith is 00:59:04.900 --> 00:59:05.760 and however many times 00:59:05.760 --> 00:59:07.260 you fail the Lord, 00:59:07.380 --> 00:59:08.159 however many times 00:59:08.159 --> 00:59:10.179 you know that you've not 00:59:10.179 --> 00:59:11.260 been as you should be, 00:59:11.360 --> 00:59:11.940 you've not done 00:59:11.940 --> 00:59:12.960 what you should have done, 00:59:13.260 --> 00:59:14.200 or you've done things 00:59:14.200 --> 00:59:15.099 you shouldn't have done, 00:59:15.179 --> 00:59:15.740 you're conscious 00:59:15.740 --> 00:59:17.679 that you sin against God 00:59:17.679 --> 00:59:18.400 every day, 00:59:18.460 --> 00:59:19.519 that you need his forgiveness, 00:59:20.019 --> 00:59:21.559 all of that is there. 00:59:22.860 --> 00:59:23.920 But if you've entrusted 00:59:23.920 --> 00:59:25.059 your life to Christ, 00:59:25.559 --> 00:59:26.300 he's looking after 00:59:26.300 --> 00:59:27.240 everything for you. 00:59:28.900 --> 00:59:30.220 Your life is secure. 00:59:30.219 --> 00:59:32.779 you've made your deposit. 00:59:33.919 --> 00:59:35.480 You've deposited yourself 00:59:35.480 --> 00:59:37.939 into his hands. 00:59:39.439 --> 00:59:40.039 Now is that 00:59:40.039 --> 00:59:41.980 your outlook tonight? 00:59:43.259 --> 00:59:44.799 Is that how your life 00:59:44.799 --> 00:59:46.019 is situated? 00:59:47.359 --> 00:59:48.759 Is that what's 00:59:48.759 --> 00:59:50.480 underneath your present 00:59:50.480 --> 00:59:51.359 and your future? 00:59:52.359 --> 00:59:54.519 It's Jesus himself. 00:59:54.519 --> 00:59:58.320 F.B. Meyer, 00:59:58.480 --> 01:00:00.320 who was a Baptist minister 01:00:00.320 --> 01:00:00.920 in England 01:00:00.920 --> 01:00:03.920 from the mid-1800s, 01:00:03.960 --> 01:00:04.500 he died, I think, 01:00:04.519 --> 01:00:06.099 in 1929. 01:00:06.940 --> 01:00:07.840 But in his writings, 01:00:08.000 --> 01:00:09.460 he gives the following 01:00:09.460 --> 01:00:11.059 account of two Germans 01:00:11.059 --> 01:00:12.699 who wanted to climb 01:00:12.699 --> 01:00:13.860 the Matterhorn, 01:00:13.940 --> 01:00:14.159 and you know 01:00:14.159 --> 01:00:15.059 the Matterhorn mountain 01:00:15.059 --> 01:00:15.440 itself, 01:00:15.519 --> 01:00:16.259 one of the big mountains 01:00:16.259 --> 01:00:16.719 in Europe, 01:00:17.420 --> 01:00:19.619 a very steep mountain, 01:00:19.739 --> 01:00:20.900 very icy in parts of it. 01:00:20.900 --> 01:00:21.059 Well, 01:00:21.780 --> 01:00:23.079 there were two Germans 01:00:23.079 --> 01:00:24.039 who wanted to climb 01:00:24.039 --> 01:00:24.619 the Matterhorn, 01:00:24.700 --> 01:00:25.820 so they hired 01:00:25.820 --> 01:00:27.119 three guides, 01:00:28.220 --> 01:00:29.099 and the three guides 01:00:29.099 --> 01:00:29.700 would take them, 01:00:29.980 --> 01:00:30.320 they hoped, 01:00:30.420 --> 01:00:31.960 safely up the Matterhorn 01:00:31.960 --> 01:00:32.740 as far as they could 01:00:32.740 --> 01:00:33.160 at least. 01:00:34.220 --> 01:00:34.720 And very soon, 01:00:34.800 --> 01:00:35.780 they reached the steepest 01:00:35.780 --> 01:00:37.000 and the most slippery 01:00:37.000 --> 01:00:38.880 part of that mountain, 01:00:39.360 --> 01:00:40.160 and they had roped 01:00:40.160 --> 01:00:40.980 themselves together 01:00:40.980 --> 01:00:41.960 in this order. 01:00:42.059 --> 01:00:42.559 First of all, 01:00:42.720 --> 01:00:43.700 a guide went ahead, 01:00:43.940 --> 01:00:44.599 then a traveler, 01:00:44.980 --> 01:00:45.800 then a guide, 01:00:46.160 --> 01:00:46.800 then a traveler, 01:00:46.800 --> 01:00:48.880 and then a third guide 01:00:48.880 --> 01:00:50.039 at the end, 01:00:50.280 --> 01:00:50.760 at the rear. 01:00:51.480 --> 01:00:52.360 As they went up the mountain, 01:00:53.120 --> 01:00:54.940 the one bringing up the rear, 01:00:55.060 --> 01:00:55.880 there the last man, 01:00:56.100 --> 01:00:57.500 actually lost his footing 01:00:57.500 --> 01:00:58.620 and slipped. 01:00:59.560 --> 01:01:00.920 But he was able to hang on 01:01:00.920 --> 01:01:01.980 because the others had 01:01:01.980 --> 01:01:04.060 little toe holes in the ice 01:01:04.060 --> 01:01:04.920 that they were climbing up 01:01:04.920 --> 01:01:05.600 the ice wall. 01:01:06.120 --> 01:01:07.580 They had toe holes in the ice, 01:01:07.860 --> 01:01:08.880 so they were able to 01:01:08.880 --> 01:01:10.320 hold tight 01:01:10.320 --> 01:01:11.539 the weight of this man 01:01:11.539 --> 01:01:13.260 until he regained his footing. 01:01:14.580 --> 01:01:15.620 But then there came a moment 01:01:15.619 --> 01:01:18.339 when those ahead of that man 01:01:18.339 --> 01:01:20.000 also lost their footing. 01:01:21.400 --> 01:01:23.019 And they pulled down 01:01:23.019 --> 01:01:23.980 everyone ahead of them 01:01:23.980 --> 01:01:24.980 except the guide 01:01:24.980 --> 01:01:25.539 who was going 01:01:25.539 --> 01:01:26.739 at the head 01:01:26.739 --> 01:01:28.759 of the procession, 01:01:28.799 --> 01:01:29.420 of the climb. 01:01:30.799 --> 01:01:33.619 And he stood firm 01:01:33.619 --> 01:01:35.339 because he had driven 01:01:35.339 --> 01:01:37.059 his spike 01:01:37.059 --> 01:01:38.679 deep into the ice. 01:01:40.339 --> 01:01:41.199 And so all of those 01:01:41.199 --> 01:01:42.179 who were coming after him 01:01:42.179 --> 01:01:43.900 were depending on that 01:01:43.900 --> 01:01:44.759 spike holding, 01:01:44.880 --> 01:01:45.440 which it did. 01:01:45.619 --> 01:01:47.420 And they were able again 01:01:47.420 --> 01:01:48.539 to regain their footing 01:01:48.539 --> 01:01:50.380 because this one guide, 01:01:50.460 --> 01:01:51.539 the guide at the front, 01:01:52.059 --> 01:01:53.199 had the spike deep 01:01:53.199 --> 01:01:54.539 in the ice 01:01:54.539 --> 01:01:56.079 and was able to hold 01:01:56.079 --> 01:01:56.739 things steady 01:01:56.739 --> 01:01:57.739 until they recovered. 01:01:59.119 --> 01:01:59.859 And this is what 01:01:59.859 --> 01:02:00.779 F.B. Meyer said, 01:02:00.780 --> 01:02:05.120 I am like one of those men 01:02:05.120 --> 01:02:05.660 who slipped. 01:02:05.660 --> 01:02:08.040 But thank God 01:02:08.040 --> 01:02:09.600 I am bound 01:02:09.600 --> 01:02:11.420 in a living partnership 01:02:11.420 --> 01:02:12.200 to Christ. 01:02:13.060 --> 01:02:14.200 And because 01:02:14.200 --> 01:02:15.280 he stands, 01:02:16.120 --> 01:02:17.580 I will never 01:02:17.580 --> 01:02:18.700 perish. 01:02:20.240 --> 01:02:21.060 May God bless 01:02:21.060 --> 01:02:21.920 his word to us. 01:02:22.040 --> 01:02:22.300 Let's 01:02:22.300 --> 01:02:24.460 sing to his praise 01:02:24.460 --> 01:02:25.580 in Psalm 73. 01:02:25.579 --> 01:02:29.980 Psalm 73, 01:02:30.119 --> 01:02:30.960 page 316, 01:02:31.960 --> 01:02:35.559 verses 23 to 26. 01:02:36.039 --> 01:02:36.500 Nevertheless, 01:02:36.920 --> 01:02:37.460 continually, 01:02:38.299 --> 01:02:38.759 O Lord, 01:02:38.840 --> 01:02:39.779 I am with thee. 01:02:40.500 --> 01:02:41.360 Thou dost me hold 01:02:41.360 --> 01:02:42.480 by my right hand 01:02:42.480 --> 01:02:42.920 and still 01:02:42.920 --> 01:02:43.819 upholdest me. 01:02:44.579 --> 01:02:45.519 Thou with thy counsel 01:02:45.519 --> 01:02:46.319 while I live 01:02:46.319 --> 01:02:47.119 will me conduct 01:02:47.119 --> 01:02:47.759 and guide 01:02:47.759 --> 01:02:49.500 and to thy glory 01:02:49.500 --> 01:02:50.039 afterward 01:02:50.039 --> 01:02:50.880 receive me 01:02:50.880 --> 01:02:52.360 to abide. 01:02:52.360 --> 01:02:54.579 So 23 to 26 01:02:54.579 --> 01:02:56.039 of Psalm 73. 01:02:56.039 --> 01:02:56.120 Psalm 73. 01:02:56.119 --> 01:03:26.099 Psalm 73. 01:03:26.099 --> 01:03:30.639 Thou dost me hold 01:03:30.639 --> 01:03:35.159 by my right hand 01:03:35.159 --> 01:03:42.099 and still upholdest me. 01:03:42.099 --> 01:03:47.980 Thou with thy counsel 01:03:47.980 --> 01:03:51.860 while I live 01:03:51.860 --> 01:03:56.400 will be conduct 01:03:56.400 --> 01:03:58.860 and guide 01:03:58.860 --> 01:04:03.920 and to thy glory 01:04:03.920 --> 01:04:06.860 afterward 01:04:06.860 --> 01:04:13.160 and to thy glory 01:04:13.160 --> 01:04:14.920 afterward 01:04:14.920 --> 01:04:19.860 receive me 01:04:19.860 --> 01:04:20.860 whom I desire 01:04:20.860 --> 01:04:22.860 to abide. 01:04:22.860 --> 01:04:25.860 Thou have 01:04:25.860 --> 01:04:26.860 have 01:04:26.860 --> 01:04:27.860 died 01:04:27.860 --> 01:04:31.860 in the heaven's 01:04:31.860 --> 01:04:32.860 night 01:04:32.860 --> 01:04:34.860 but thee, 01:04:34.860 --> 01:04:37.860 O Lord, 01:04:37.860 --> 01:04:40.860 our Lord, 01:04:40.860 --> 01:04:44.860 and in the air 01:04:44.860 --> 01:04:45.860 whom I desire 01:04:45.860 --> 01:04:48.860 whom I desire 01:04:48.860 --> 01:04:49.860 whom I desire 01:04:49.860 --> 01:04:51.860 and in the air 01:04:51.860 --> 01:04:55.860 whom I desire 01:04:55.860 --> 01:04:57.860 whom I desire 01:04:57.860 --> 01:05:00.860 besides thee 01:05:00.860 --> 01:05:04.860 there is none. 01:05:04.860 --> 01:05:05.860 my flesh 01:05:05.860 --> 01:05:09.860 and heart 01:05:09.860 --> 01:05:10.860 doth 01:05:10.860 --> 01:05:11.860 faint 01:05:11.860 --> 01:05:13.860 and fail 01:05:13.860 --> 01:05:14.860 but 01:05:14.860 --> 01:05:15.860 what 01:05:15.860 --> 01:05:17.860 doth 01:05:17.860 --> 01:05:18.860 fail 01:05:18.860 --> 01:05:19.860 me 01:05:19.860 --> 01:05:20.860 never 01:05:20.860 --> 01:05:21.860 for 01:05:21.860 --> 01:05:22.860 God 01:05:22.860 --> 01:05:23.860 for 01:05:23.860 --> 01:05:24.860 love 01:05:24.860 --> 01:05:25.860 my heart 01:05:25.860 --> 01:05:27.860 God 01:05:27.860 --> 01:05:28.860 is 01:05:28.860 --> 01:05:29.860 the 01:05:29.860 --> 01:05:30.860 strength 01:05:30.860 --> 01:05:31.860 and 01:05:31.860 --> 01:05:32.860 love 01:05:32.860 --> 01:05:34.860 my heart 01:05:34.860 --> 01:05:35.860 God 01:05:35.860 --> 01:05:36.860 is 01:05:36.860 --> 01:05:37.860 the 01:05:37.860 --> 01:05:38.860 strength 01:05:38.860 --> 01:05:39.860 and 01:05:39.860 --> 01:05:40.860 portion 01:05:40.860 --> 01:05:42.860 for 01:05:42.860 --> 01:05:44.860 heaven. 01:05:44.860 --> 01:05:45.860 forever 01:05:45.860 --> 01:05:49.860 I'll go to the main door after the benediction. 01:05:49.860 --> 01:05:52.860 the benediction. 01:05:52.860 --> 01:05:56.860 Lord, our gracious God, we pray that you would bless your word to us once again. 01:05:56.860 --> 01:06:02.860 We ask also that you would bless to us the preparation made for us for our bodily needs of the fellowship. 01:06:02.860 --> 01:06:03.860 We thank you for that food prepared. 01:06:03.860 --> 01:06:15.860 We pray that you would bless Jackie as he gives an account of his own spiritual experience and his testimony to your grace in his life. 01:06:15.860 --> 01:06:20.860 And we ask that you would uphold him and bless Scott too as he leads the meeting. 01:06:20.860 --> 01:06:30.860 And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you now and evermore. Amen. 01:06:30.860 --> 01:06:32.860 Thank you.