2:50 Let's sing a first song. Praise. Praise to the Lord. That's all cleansing. Praise 3:19 [music] praise to [singing] the Lord. [music] Praise. [singing] Praise to the Lord. [music] For he is [singing] good and merciful. 3:40 [music] His love is great. He's so wonderful. [singing and music] My Lord. Let's sing that again from the top. Praise. [music] Praise to [singing] the Lord. >> [music] >> Praise, 4:03 praise to the Lord, [music and singing] for he [singing and music] is good and merciful. His [music and singing] love is great. He so wonderful. My Lord, [music and singing] in the battles, Lord, 4:24 >> in the battles, [singing] Lord, >> you are my [music] peace. >> When [singing] I'm broken, Lord, >> when I'm broken, >> you are my strength. [music and singing] You're my strength. You're my love. [singing and music] 4:43 You're my life. You're my joy and my song in the night. How I [singing] marvel at your [music] mercy. And I say, "Praise, [music] praise to [singing] the Lord. 5:09 Praise, [music] praise [singing] to the Lord. For [singing] he is good and [music] merciful. His love [singing] is great. He is so wonderful, my Lord. [music] 5:29 For you are good. For you [singing] are good and merciful. Your love [music and singing] is great. You're so wonderful, my Lord. [music and singing] Please be seated dear brothers and sisters. [music] 6:02 [music] >> Praise him [singing] you heavens and all that's above. Praise him [music and singing] you angels and heavenly host. Let the [singing] whole earth praise [music] him. [singing] Praise him. The sun, [music] moon, and 6:24 bright shining stars. Praise him. [singing] You heavens and waters and skies. [music] Let [singing] the whole earth praise [music and singing] him. Great [singing] in [music] 6:42 power. Great [singing] in [music] glory. Great [singing] in mercy. King [music] of [singing] heaven. 6:58 Great [music] in battle. [singing] Great in wonder. [music] Great in [singing] heaven. King [music] [singing] over all the earth. 7:18 Let's take it from the top. [music] Praise him you heavens [singing] and all that's above. [music] Praise him you angels and heavenly host. Let [music and singing] the whole earth praise 7:35 [music and singing] him. Praise in the [singing] sun, moon and bright shining stars. Praising new [music and singing] heavens and waters and skies. Let the whole 7:51 [music and singing] earth praise him. Great [music and singing] in power. Great [singing] in [music] glory. Great [singing] in mercy, [music] 8:10 king [singing] of heaven. [music] Great in battle. [music] Great [singing] in wonder. [music] Great in heaven. King [music] 8:30 over all [singing] the earth. Oh, [music] God [music and singing] of glory, we 8:56 exalt your name. You reign [singing and music] in majesty. We lift our hearts to you. We will [singing] worship, [music] praise and magnify your holy 9:16 [singing and music] name. In pestous splendor, >> you [music] reign in [singing] glory. Eternal King, you reign forever. Your word [singing and music] is mighty, 9:35 reducing captives. Your love [music and singing] is gracious. You are my God. Let's do that again from the top. God [music and singing] of glory, we exalt your name. [music] 9:53 You reign in majesty. [music and singing] We lift our hearts to you. We [singing] will worship, praise and magnify [music] your holy [singing] name. 10:09 >> Holy voices in purest splendor. >> You reign in [music] glory. [singing] Glory. >> Eternal king. >> Eternal king. [singing] You reign forever. Your word is mighty. 10:28 Releasing captives. [music and singing] Your love is gracious. You [singing] are my God. >> Sing the next song. No other name but the name of Jesus. >> [music] 10:53 >> No [singing] other name but the name of Jesus. [music] No other [singing] name but the name [music] of the Lord. No [singing] other name but the [music] 11:11 name of Jesus is worthy of [singing and music] glory and worthy of honor and worthy [singing] of [music] power and all praise. 11:30 [music] His name is exalted [singing] far above the earth. [music] His name [singing] is high above the heavens. [music] His [singing] name is exalted 11:49 far above the earth. [music] Give glory and honor [singing] and praise unto his name. name. No [music and singing] other name but the name of Jesus. [singing and music] 12:07 No other name but the name of the Lord. [music and singing] No other name but the name of [singing and music] Jesus is worthy of glory and worthy of 12:28 [music and singing] honor and worthy of power and all praise. You're worthy of glory. >> [music] >> You're worthy [singing] of glory and worthy [music] of honor and worthy [singing] 12:45 of power and all praise. [music] [music] >> [music] 13:12 >> Glory, [music and singing] honor, power belong to you Lord. [music] Blessing, praisees, [music] wisdom and strength [singing] are yours. 13:31 We cry [music] holy Lord. You [singing] are holy. [music] Only [singing] you [music] will we praise and [singing] adore. [music] We [singing] cry worthy 13:53 Lord. [music] You are worthy [singing] forever [singing] and ever. Forever and ever [music] more. Let's listen again from the top. [music] Glory, [singing] 14:17 honor, [music] power belongs to you, Lord. [music] Blessing [singing] praisees, wisdom and strength [music and singing] are yours. We cry holy, 14:37 [singing and music] Lord. You are holy. Only [singing and music] you will be praised and [music and singing] adore. We [music and singing] cry worthy 14:56 Lord. You [music] are [singing] worthy forever [music and singing] and ever. Forever and ever. Oh, forever and ever. [music] Forever [singing] 15:13 and ever. Forever and ever [music] more. It's in Christ alone. My hope is found. >> [music] 15:49 [music] >> In Christ alone my hope is [music and singing] found. He is my light, my strength, my song, [music] his [singing] stone. His sword and crown fall through the fiercest 16:09 [music and singing] round and strong. What heights of love, [singing] what dance of [music] peace, when fears are still, when striving sequ [music] [music and singing] [music] 16:39 took [singing] on flesh, fullness of God in [music] helpless faith. His gift [singing] of love and righteousness [music] gone by the ones he gave to [singing] 16:55 save. Till on that [music] cross as Jesus [singing] died, the wrath of God was [music] satisfied. For every [singing] sin on him [music] was laid. 17:12 Here in the death of Christ I live. [music] There [music] in the ground his body 17:33 [singing] lay, light of the world by darkness lay. [music] Then bursting forth in glorious day. Up from the grave he rose again. >> [singing and music] 17:51 >> And as he stands in victory, since [music] Christ [singing] has lost his me, for I [singing] am his and [music] he is mine, born with the precious blood [singing and music] 18:09 of Christ. No guilt in life, no fear in death. [music] This is the hour of [singing] Christ in me. From life's [music] first 18:25 cry to final [singing] bread. Jesus commands my destiny. [music] No power of [singing] hell. No seam of [music] man can [singing] ever 18:42 be from his [music] hand till he returns. or calls me home. You're [music and singing] in the power of Christ has done. [music] 19:10 Oh Lord our Lord, how [music and singing] excellent your name is. How excellent [singing] [music] your aim in all the earth. Glory fills the heavens [singing] 19:30 beyond [music] the father's star. How excellent your name [music and singing] in all the earth. When I [singing and music] think about the heavens, the moon, [singing] and all the stars, 19:49 [music] I wonder what you ever [singing] saw in me. But you [music and singing] took me and you loved me and you've given me your crown. And now I [singing] praise [music] your 20:07 name eternally. >> [music] >> Oh Lord our [singing] Lord, how excellent [music] your name [singing] is. How excellent your name in all the earth. 20:26 [singing and music] Your glory fills the heavens beyond [music and singing] the father's star. How excellent your name [singing] in all the earth. Let's repeat that again. Oh [music] Lord, [singing] 20:45 our Lord, how excellent your name is. How excellent [singing and music] your name in all the earth. >> [music] >> Your glory [singing] fills the heavens 21:03 beyond the father's star. [music] How [singing] excellent your name in all the earth. [music] Let's all start up and sing the last song. King of Kings, Majesty, King of Kings, [music] 21:35 Majesty, [music] God [singing] of heaven, living in [music] me. Gentle [singing] savior, closest friend, 21:55 strong [singing and music] deliverer, beginning and end. [music] All within [singing] me falls at [music] your throne. Your majesty [singing] [music] I can but bow [singing] 22:18 I [music] lay my own for [singing] you now in royal ro [music] I don't deserve [singing] I live to serve [music] 22:37 your [singing] majesty Sing. [music] Earth [singing] and heaven [music] worship you. Love [music] 22:54 [singing] eternal, faithful and [music] true. bought the nations. [music] Ransom [singing] souls, brought the [music] sinner 23:12 near to your throne. All [music and singing] within me cries out in praise. Your majesty [music and singing] I can but 23:31 I >> [singing] >> lay my own [music] before you now in royal ro [singing] [music] I don't deserve I [singing] live to serve [music] yourst 23:51 mercy. >> Let's sing the chorus again. All your voices. Your [singing] majesty I can but bow. [singing and music] I lay my all before [singing] you now. 24:11 In royal [music] robes I don't [singing] deserve. [music] I live to serve your [singing] majesty. [music] Let's bow our heads in prayer. 25:01 Let's cast all our cares and distractions, worries away from our mind and hearts. As we come into the presence of our redeemer, 25:18 our father of heaven and earth and the Lord of heaven and earth, Lord Jesus, let's come with reverence. Let's come with gratefulness in our hearts. It's good to quieten our spirits and 25:43 minds while at his presence. It's our duty and obligation 26:07 to have reverence before his presence, before his throne. It's such a joy that he is on the throne. He is seated on the throne. Even though we see so much confusion and 26:24 chaos around us, what a hope Job had. It says in Job 19:25, "As for me, I know that my redeemer lives." What a hope we can have 26:49 to be sensitive to the fact that my loving redeemer is on the throne. And he says, "And that he will stand upon the earth at last. I know that after this body has decayed, 27:08 this body shall see God. Then he will be on my side. Yes, I shall see him not as a stranger but as a friend. What a glorious hope. Oh, praise the Lord. What a glorious 27:26 hope we have. Even Job had. Let's come to his presence. We'll be able to say that all that thrills my soul is Jesus. Nothing else brothers and sisters. Nothing else. 27:46 He is our joy because he humbled himself and he came to redeem us and he took the punishment. He suffered. He gave up all his rights 28:02 to love us and redeem us. Give us salvation. All glory and praise to him. That's why God exalted him and made him be seated at the highest place where every tongue shall confess, every 28:19 knee shall bow. Let's do that, brothers and sisters. Let it let us give him praise and thanks. Lord Jesus, thank you. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord worthy of all praise and honor. We praise you. Praise you. Thank you. 28:37 Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Thank you, Father. Thank you for your love and compassion. Thank you. Right now, you're on the throne. You're always on the throne. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for your love and care and concern. Thank 28:52 you for the opportunity we can come together again, Lord. Yes, Lord. We can praise you and thank you, Lord. You are worthy of all praise and honor and glory. Yes Lord. >> Dear father, we thank you. Thank you 29:10 father. You are a good father. Yes Lord. Thank you Jesus for introducing us to heavenly father. Only you can do that. You can break that seal Lord Jesus. Thank you. Thank you Lord. We come before you Lord. Your presence 29:27 is what we require. That's a that's the only thing Lord matters to us that only can bring us into presence of God and that only can help us to hear God and Lord see the Lord more clearly Lord help 29:45 us Lord anoint your servant Lord as we hear word pierce our ears and heart Lord so that we'll be able to recognize your voice we'll be able to see you more clearly Lord help us Lord. Anoint your servant. Bring the word from heaven with 30:02 utterance. Lord, thank you Lord. Thank you. Thank you. We come to you Lord with great expectation. Lord, refresh us. Bless our time and Lord. Bless our time of fellowship. Build us Lord so that our hearts will be knit together to serve 30:20 you and live for you. Lord, we commit this day into hand, this time into your hand. Lord, we expect you to do great things in our hearts and through our hearts. We commit ourselves, Lord, ask you and trust you in Jesus name. Amen. 30:36 Please be seated, brothers and sisters. We look into our memory verse. Yeah. Last week we had a promise, wonderful promise. And we don't have to fear when we read this promise. The Lord says this uh please 30:55 repeat after me that Deuteronomy 30:1 this commandment is not too difficult for you nor is it out of reach. 31:14 The Lord says that so we can be assured that the Lord will help us because we don't trust in ourselves. We come trusting him. He will make it easy for us. He wants to help us. This week we have a command from Psalm 66. Please 31:32 repeat after me. Psalm 66 verse 18. If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear. >> Yeah. [clears throat] 31:50 Let's repeat that again. Psalm 66:18. >> If I regard wickedness in my heart, >> the Lord will not hear. >> Yeah. It's privilege to hear God's word from brother Charles. Brother Charles, 32:09 over to you. Would you turn your Bibles with me to 32:34 Jeremiah chapter 8? Jeremiah chapter 8. This morning I would especially like to give a word of encouragement to all those who feel 32:51 that 2025 was not a good year for you. That you bungled up here, you stumbled here, you failed there, you let down the Lord here. 33:06 And you may feel the Lord is too far away from you and the Lord has forsaken you and the Lord loves you no more. If you are having that kind of feeling and think that even 2026 is 33:26 going to be similar, I have a word of encouragement. Hope for the hopeless. So brothers and sisters, be encouraged because we serve a God who is God of hope. 33:44 He's not a policeman all the time trying to catch us and whack us and punish us. He's a loving father. And you remember when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, 34:03 the Lord didn't wait on the throne for Adam to come to him and acknowledge his sin. He came down from heaven and to earth to the Garden of Eden and asked him, "Where are you, 34:23 Adam? This is our God. He comes after us. Even we read in John 3:16 that we the well-known verse we all know. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should 34:41 not perish but have eternal life. [snorts] And this God loved the world so much so even when the world was sunk in deep deprivation 34:59 and sin. Yet he loved us to an extent that he came down in our place to die and to redeem us. We all know verse 16 of John 3. But how many of us know verse 17? 35:19 Verse 17 says, "Jesus didn't come to judge the world, but he came to save. He came to seek and to save that which was lost." So if God had to 35:36 deal with us based upon our performance, none of us would be able to stand before him and none of us would have any righteousness of our own because all our human righteousness the 35:53 Bible says is like filthy rags. And we read in this chapter verse Jeremiah chapter 8 verse 20. 36:10 This may be the cry of [snorts] some of us sitting here. It says here harvest is passed, summer is ended and we are not saved. 36:28 See, summer and harvest are very important for an agriculturist. And after the summer is over and the harvest is gathered, what comes next is winter. 36:44 And you know in winter it's very chill and you can't do anything much because they lived at a time where electric motors were not invented, electricity was not invented. 37:01 They depended solely on natural rain from heaven. And that was once in a year. And after the rain was over and the harvest was gathered, then they had to wait for the next year to 37:19 sew and reap. But here it says the harvest is passed and summer is ended. We are not saved. And what is the reason why they were not saved? 37:34 God is not unjust to punish people. He is not unjust to deal with them. But we bring upon ourselves the consequences of our decision. 37:53 We take wrong decisions. We make wrong choices and we reap the consequences of it. And the reason why they say this is you just go back to the 38:12 verse above that. Why have they provoked me with their graven images with foreign idols? See this is the first commandment the Lord gave to Moses on Mount Si 38:30 that thou shalt have no other gods besides me. I am the Lord your God. There is none before me. There is none after me. So thou shalt not make any graven images 38:46 of wood or stone or metal or clay or anything like that and worship them or bow down before them. That was forbidden. But you read 39:04 time and time again in the Old Testament, the people of God went astray. Even within a short period of 40 days, when Moses went up to Mount Si to meet with God and to 39:23 get instructions from the Lord and also to get the ten commandments, it took him 40 days. God was giving him instruction and he was taking down all that God was telling him. One of which was the ten commandments. 39:42 And within 40 days they thought that something happened to this Moses. Maybe God must have been angry and struck him dead. And uh they said to Aaron, you make us a god. We don't know what happened to this 40:01 man and Aaron also spineless man that he was and even Miriam for that matter his sister she also didn't object to that they both collided 40:17 and they asked the people to bring their gold and they brought their gold and he put into the fire and made an image of a a animal, a calf, 40:34 and he said, "This is your God." And he called them, "This is Jehovah, your God." And they started worshiping. Before that, they had a feast. They were dancing and they were doing all immoral 40:51 things. And then the Lord sent Moses down. You go and see what you people are doing there. the people you brought out from the land of Egypt. God has disowned them and told them it's the people you brought them. 41:11 Then Moses had to intercede for them and tell it back to the Lord and say, "Lord, it is you who brought them, not I. If your presence don't go with us, we will not go from here." But the Lord said, "No, I will send you an angel 41:30 before you. He will lead you." But the Lord Moses said, "Nothing doing, Lord. If you're sending an angel, we are not going. If your presence doesn't go with us, don't take us from here." 41:47 And within 40 days they became idol worshipper. This is not the first time you read later on until you come to Malachi. They were worshiping the Lord for some time and God blessed them and everything 42:07 was going well. They enjoyed it and the next generation came and the next generation fell into uh idolatry and provoked the Lord. Then he sent judges 42:24 and then he sent kings and prophets uh to bring them back on the right track. But it was a roller coaster ride. Sometimes they were okay. Then next generation they were not okay. Then 42:43 another prophet came. He brought them back on track and then they were okay. After this prophet died. Then again they went back to idolatry. Idolatry is something that provokes God. It is something like uh husband and wife 43:01 relationship. The Lord said Israel is my wife. That kind of a relationship God had with Israel. And when Israel went and played the harlot with other gods, 43:15 he had to be very strict with them. And no loving and sane husband will tolerate that kind of immorality in his wife. So the Lord looked at it 43:34 that way and that is the reason why they were forsaken. They were in verse 22 we read is there no bomb in Gilead? 43:51 There was bomb in Gilead. Is there no physician there? There was the physician there. Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored? It's all because of disobedience. 44:08 disobedience and disobedience. It says a little back in verse four, the Lord says, "You shall say to them, thus says the Lord, 44:25 do men fall and not get up again?" You think you have fallen and you think there is no hope. The Bible says, "Do they fall and not get up again?" How 44:43 many of us when we step on a banana peel and we go crashing down on the road, lie down there wondering what I should do, which I should obey. 45:03 We have a reflex in our body, sudden reflex to just get up immediately and dust off and see if anybody is looking here and there and then we 45:20 quickly get up and behave as if I never fell. But it says here, do they fall and not get up? Does one turn away and not repent? Why then has this people Jerusalem 45:40 turned away in continual apostasy? Apostasy is backsliding and they hold fast to deceit. They refuse to return. Verse seven, it says, "Even the stalk in 45:57 the sky knows her season, and the turtle dove and the swift and the thrush observe the time of their immigration uh I mean migration, but my people do 46:13 not know the ordinance of the Lord." See this is a sad response from God's heart that why our people, my people have no sense for the things of God. 46:29 Even a bird in the sky, various birds, they know their season. At a particular season, they leave their comfort zone and then fly hundreds and thousands of miles away to another place 46:46 where there is not much winter. You know some pe some of the birds come to India also in some places like you go to Mysore there are migratory birds. You go to Manda there are some migratory birds and other places also in Karnataka 47:04 itself and all over the world birds migrate because of their safety and they go they make make their nest they lay their egg and they rear them up and they come together 47:22 flying back to another place where there is warmth. So if they know the seasons, how is that my people do not know the ordinance of God? 47:41 This is very serious. Dear brothers and sisters, if we go continually on in disobedience, the Lord will say, "He will not give up on you, but he is grieved. 48:00 He's grieved. His love is quenched because of your disobedience." And he says the consequence you can read about that in Haggi 16. He is the third last book in the Old 48:20 Testament. He 16 it says five last verse consider your ways. We saw that the other day consider your 48:37 ways. The Lord is telling, "Examine yourself. Where are you? Consider your ways. You have sown much but harvest little." Why is that? If you sow one grain of 48:53 seed, you get hundreds [snorts] of seeds at the harvest time. But the Lord says you have sown much but harvest very little and you eat 49:12 and there is not enough to be satisfied. You eat and eat and eat but still you are hungry and you drink and drink and drink you're still thirsty and you put on clothing. See most of us have come with some warm 49:29 clothing today because of the cold. And it says you keep on wearing one after another, one after another to keep yourself warm, but you still don't feel warm enough. And he who earns 49:47 keeps earning only to put into a purse with holes. That means all that you earn goes down the drain like as if your your pockets are full of holes. 50:04 This is the consequence of disobedience. I want you to go home and read Deuteronomy chapter 28 where the Lord pronounces blessings on those who obey and curses on those who disobey. 50:24 There are tremendous promises there where the Lord says if you keep my commandments and obey them these things will happen to you. You will be blessed in the city. You'll be blessed outside the city. Your barns will overflow. Your WS will overflow. 50:41 Your cattle will be fruitful. And you will have enough and more to spare. And not only that, he said these blessings will come upon you and these 50:58 blessings will overtake you. He said, boy, that is something to think about. blessings overtaking you until you say, "Lord, I can't hold anymore." So that is the 51:21 consequence of blessing, the result of obedience. But later on you see the consequence of disobedience. There are so many things written on that that among one of the things it says 51:39 curses will overtake you. Which one of us loves that? We all want blessings to overtake us. [snorts] None of us wants any curse, 51:56 any mishap to happen to us. But the Bible says, "Those who honor me, them will I honor." And if you neglect God's word and his commandments and you obey when it is convenient 52:14 and you don't obey when it is inconvenient, if the weather is like this, some people feel like, you know, pulling the rug over them and sleep for some more time. 52:31 I also was tempted this morning. But I I I have a mission to do. I have a work to do. And you also you got up this morning despite inclement weather. You 52:49 came to the meeting and some may be still sleeping. Oh, it's okay. Next week I'll go. So this is not the attitude that the Lord wants from us. Paul said to Timothy, "In season and out of season, preach the gospel." That 53:09 means obey the Lord when it is convenient and even when it is inconvenient. And we read one very fantastic verse in Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 1. This is the Lord speaking to 53:30 backsliden people. He's talking to them. He's not giving up on them, by the way, because they sinned and he said, "Okay, I've had enough of you. That's all. No more. Don't come to me anymore." God is 53:49 not a God like that. Our God is gracious. And Ephesians, it says, "The Lord who is rich in mercy, even though he is rich in everything else, gold, silver, precious stones, and you name it, 54:07 the earth belongs to the Lord and everything that it contains," says Psalm 24. And everything, not only upon this earth, but in the universe, all the planets and stars that you see, he owns them. And 54:25 he says who is rich in mercy. He says despite your sinfulness, despite your disobedience, he says come 54:41 now. Let us reason together. God is calling for a for a meeting. He says, "Get out from here." He never says that I've had enough of you and no more chance. You have crossed the line. 54:58 No, the Lord says come now, let's reason together. Let's sit down and discuss, says the Lord. Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they'll be like wool. You see crimson 55:18 and scarlet these are deep red colors which symbolize immorality in people. So he says even if you have committed such sins, 55:37 even if it is as scarlet your sin and like crimson they will be white as snow. I will make sure that they are all washed clean and become like snow white 55:53 and they will also become like ool. And if only you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you'll be devoured by the sword. 56:12 Truly, the mouth of the Lord has spoken. The Lord is not angry with you always. He wants to be compassionate to each one of us. We have all of us in the past we have blown up numerous 56:30 opportunities. We cannot count. Every day we sinned and we wondered whether there is any hope for us. 56:47 Will God ever accept me? We have had some people come to us and ask brother is there any hope for me because of their sin continued sin and because of their 57:05 little psychological problem. They come and ask is there any hope for me? We tell them, "Brother or sister, so long as there is breath in your nostril, there is hope. Don't give up. Come to the Lord." 57:24 He never says to anybody, even to Judas on the last day of his betrayal. Jesus gave him the choice choicest morsel. The first morsel that the host gives to somebody 57:42 means that person is the chief guest. That is the meaning of that giving morsel to somebody in the meal. And he even called him friend when he came to betray him. But that didn't make any difference to Judas. The Lord loves you, my dear brother and 58:05 sister. However much you have suffered or sinned in 2025, don't lose heart. The Lord wants to be gracious to you. 58:23 The Lord loves you. And Hosia. We read in Hosia. Hosia comes after Daniel, after Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, 58:42 and Hosea. In Hosea, we read chapter 11:E8. Chapter 11 verse8 we read in Hosea when you have the time you go through that book you read in 59:02 Hosia that the world or the nation Ephraim comes so often the name Ephraim comes numerous times God speaks to Ephraim Ephraim he says to 59:21 them, tells them about their sin, about their coldness towards the Lord, about their apathy, and he warns them, he tells them, he invites them, he calls them to repentance 59:38 so many times that ultimately if it was somebody else in God's place, he would have said, "Get out of me. you workers of iniquity. But he didn't say that. No, despite all 59:56 their shortcomings and failures, the Lord says in chapter 11 verse 8, he says, "How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? 1:00:17 How can I make you like Adma? How can I treat you like Zeboim? My heart is turned over within me. Just think about that verse. The Lord is talking to a nation who is 100% against 1:00:37 God, disobeyed every now and then. And in spite of God's mercies, they experienced again they went back to idolatry and sin of various kinds 1:00:56 and left the Lord the fountain of life. [snorts] They sinned so much so that the Lord should have given up on them. But he says, "How can I give you up, oh Ephraim? 1:01:13 How can I surrender you? How can I make you like Adma and Zeboim? Adma and Zeboim were the two cities in the valley of Sidim where 1:01:31 they were burnt up along with Sodom and Gomorrah. So he is telling them, can I make you like Sodom and Gomorrah? How can I treat you like Zaboim or Adma? I don't want to treat you like them. My heart is turned over within me and my 1:01:54 compassions are kindled. This is the heart of God. My dear brother and sister, don't think that you are kept on the shelf, you are done with. No, the Lord says, "I will not do that." 1:02:13 But there is a condition. The Lord says in Jeremiah 3:18, he says, "Only acknowledge your iniquity." That's all the Lord wants from us. Just come to him and acknowledge 1:02:30 your iniquity. Tell him, "Lord, I have messed up in the past over and over and over again despite experiencing your mercy, graciousness, 1:02:48 goodness towards me. Lord, I slipped up. I have hurt you. I have grieved you. Lord have mercy upon me. 1:03:06 And in the same chapter verse 14, the Lord says, "Return to me, oh faithless sons, declares the Lord, I am a master to you, and I will take you one from a city and two from a family 1:03:23 and will bring you to Zion." Zion is heavenly Jerusalem. Not this earthly Jerusalem you see in Israel. God is talking when he whenever he sees about speaks about Jerusalem, he's not speaking about this earthly 1:03:40 Jerusalem. He's speaking about Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem. That is our place. And then verse 15, the Lord says, "Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart who will feed you on knowledge and 1:03:58 understanding." Our God is such gracious God. His mercies never end. You know there is a psalm Psalm 136. You go home and read that also. Psalm 1:04:18 136. In every verse in that psalm, every verse ends with this statement saying, "His mercies endure forever or his loving kindness endures forever." every 1:04:37 verse. You don't find any psalm like that in the entire Bible where it says after every uh thing statement in that verse it concludes every verse saying his mercies 1:04:56 never end his loving kindness is everlasting. So if God is such a God, let us see the heart of Jesus. How he was when he came to earth. Let's turn to Matthew 12. Matthew's gospel chapter 12 1:05:15 verse 20. Matthew's gospel chapter 12 verse 20. This is speaking about Jesus. In the old covenant, the Lord promised Jesus and he says about Jesus that Jesus 1:05:33 will I in verse 20 Jesus will not break off a battered reed. You know what a battered reed is in the field. You see so many reeds of wheat and jaw and raggi 1:05:51 and all those crops. And one of which is broken or battered and it is dangling. And we what we would do we would just you know 1:06:08 pull them off and throw it off. But it says a battered re he will not break off. He will put it back and maybe he will sort of bandage it. And it says a smoldering wick he will not put out. You see in olden days we all used to 1:06:27 have lamps and candles. Um and when there was a little um wind or storm, you know, it would struggle to remain a flame, but sometimes it would go off and then 1:06:47 afterwards it would smolder like smoke would come out of that. But it says the smoldering wick he will not put out if it is you see a lamp wavering because of the breeze he will 1:07:03 like you know we used to have glass uh container over the lamp so that you know it'll not be blown off by the wind or breeze. It says he will not put out a smoldering 1:07:22 wick until he leads justice to victory and in his name the Gentiles will hope. So what is the Lord trying to say here? I am like that. 1:07:39 I was like that in the old covenant. I am the same. I will not change. He says in Malachi and it is the same Lord who came in flesh and blood as Jesus Christ. He is the one who is telling this 1:07:58 this that I will not break a battered reed and quench a put out a smoldering wick. Then the Lord is so good and he says 1:08:16 he knows in this world we have to do with two types of people. Every man and every woman have to do it with two types of people. One is the Lord 1:08:34 and another is the evil one. Jesus taught us to pray, "Our Father, who is in heaven, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." So, every man's battle on this earth is 1:08:53 between God and Satan. And these two are what to say are trying to get us. But the Lord Jesus came to defeat Satan. 1:09:11 For this reason, the son of God appeared that he might destroy the works of the devil. John says Jesus came and destroyed him on the cross. He took away his power and authority and 1:09:27 the keys of life and death which until then Satan had it. And now Jesus says in Revelation chapter 1, he says, "I have the keys of life and death. When I open, nobody can close. When I close, nobody 1:09:46 can open. The key is with the Lord. The Lord Jesus said, "The thief comes but to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly." 1:10:05 John 10:10. Jesus came in order to give us not just life to, you know, carry on. No, he said, "I have come to give you life in abundance. But the thief comes only to steal, kill, 1:10:23 and destroy you. But Jesus will not let that happen to you. And the Lord promised Abraham that he will give him descendants like the stars of heaven. 1:10:42 And you know how long it took when God promised that to Abraham, he was 75. And the next 12 years he waited waited waited and then nothing happened. Then he probably thought God had has forgotten his promise. And then Sarah 1:11:02 gives a suggestion his wife take Hagar and get a child and he listens to her and Ishmael is born in disobedience to God. the cause 1:11:21 of the world ever since. And then after another 13 years, the Lord gives the promised seed Isaac and in whom all the nations will be blessed. He said, "And 1:11:41 today all the believers who have repented and are born again and following Jesus wholeheartedly are the true Israel. Are the sons of Isaac or sons of Jacob, Israel, 1:12:00 not sons of Adam, I mean Abraham." So God promised but it took time and meanwhile he made so many plans which didn't work out but God had 1:12:19 promised and prom faithful is he who promised and he will do it and finally he gave and he said in your son Isaac your descendants will be blessed. that Abraham had lot of opportunity to 1:12:37 doubt and distrust God's promises. But it says in Romans 4:18, he says that in hope against hope, Abraham 1:12:54 believed and became a father of many nations. And in hope we are also saved. And we look forward to what God has promised us. It says in 1 1:13:12 Corinthians 15:19 concerning resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:19 Corinthians 15:19 he says Paul says here 1:13:37 concerning those who had little doubt about what will happen after we die no he's giving them the hope of eternity. See, we are not creatures of birth. We are born here, live here for some 1:13:56 time and after 70, 80, 90 years, we say goodbye to this world and go into one of these two places. And here it says, "If we have hoped," verse 19, 1 Corinthians 15:19, "If we 1:14:12 have hope in Christ, in this life only, only in this life, if we have hope, we are of all men most miserable, pied. That means we also live like the heathen 1:14:30 who have no hope. They amass wealth and build properties and buy lands and all that and when their time comes they leave everything not one thread they can take upon their back. But we are not like that. 1:14:48 We have a hope and we rejoice in hope and persevere in tribulation and we are devoted in prayer. And one 1:15:09 last word I would like to share and close that it says in Titus 1 2 Titus 1:2 Titus comes after second um Timothy 1:15:28 Titus 2 it says says the hope of eternal life which God who cannot lie promised long ages ago. The hope that you and I are called to or have is the hope of eternal 1:15:47 life not life in this world here. Everybody has life and they live like they want and then they die and they don't have any hope. But God has given us a hope in the hope of eternal life which God who cannot lie 1:16:06 promised long ages ago. And chapter 2:E3 it says in the same book, same chapter I mean same letter looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God 1:16:24 and Savior Jesus Christ. So since we have been called to this hope of seeing him as he is, let us hold fast the confession of our faith without wavering. Faithful is he who 1:16:44 promised and he will do it. And finally John says when Jesus appears we shall be like him. We will all be changed and transformed into the likeness of Jesus. 1:17:02 And when he comes, we will be changed and become like him. And he who has this hope of seeing him as he is and being transformed into him, his image, what will he do? 1:17:22 It says in 1 John 3:3, he will also keep on cleansing himself every day from all known sins and purifies himself just like he is pure. 1:17:41 So that when he comes he will be happy to see us. We will be happy to see him and not run away from his presence. This is our hope. This is our calling. And dear brother, sister, be encouraged. 1:18:00 I'm not saying that you should continue in sin so that grace may abound. That's a wrong concept and wrong interpretation of that verse. The more you sin, the more grace abounds. Means the more you see sin in yourself and you cry out to God, the 1:18:19 more grace he gives so that you will be able to overcome that sin and be more than conqueror. That is God's will for you and me. Shall we bow our heads in prayer? Our 1:18:38 father in heaven, we thank you that you don't deal with us according to what we deserve. Lord, we thank you that you are mindful of us, that we are made out of dust 1:18:55 and you handle us accordingly. Lord Jesus, we pray for all the brothers and sisters. Those who are discouraged, depressed because of the way things have gone with them in the past year. We pray 1:19:13 that you will renew their hope, that you will encourage them and strengthen them, that they will come back to you in repentance and give their lives surrender to you. So that Lord, you can accomplish in and through them what you have planned 1:19:32 before you chose them. We trust you Lord because you are trustworthy. We thank you. You will do it for Jesus' sake. Amen. Amen. We'll sing a song and then we will 1:19:50 hear Sur We'll sing the song. Christ the solid 1:20:35 rock I stand. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but I wholly lean on Jesus' [music] name. On Christ the solid [singing and music] 1:20:59 rock I stand. All other ground [music] is sinking sand. [singing] All other ground is [music] sinking sand. My [singing] hope is built on nothing 1:21:19 [music] less than Jesus blood [singing] and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest [music] frame, but [singing] holy lean on Jesus name. On Christ the [singing and music] solid 1:21:39 rock I stand. All other [music] ground is [singing] sinking sand. All other [music] ground is sinking sand. [singing] [music] When darkness seems to hide his 1:21:57 face, I rest on his [music and singing] unchanging grace. In every high and [singing] stormy [music] gale, my anchor holds within the [music and singing] wind. 1:22:13 On Christ the solid rock I stand. [music and singing] All other ground is sinking sand. [music and singing] And all of the ground is sinking sand. [music] 1:22:31 Both his [singing] covenant and his blood support me in [singing] the willing [music] all around my soul gives way. He then [music and singing] is all my hope and stay. 1:22:50 On Christ the solid [music] rock I stand. [singing] All other ground is sinking [music] sand. All other [singing] ground is sinking sand. When he shall come [singing] with 1:23:11 [music] trumpet sound. Oh may I then in him be found. Rest in [music and singing] his rightousness alone, faultless to stand before [music] the throne. 1:23:28 On Christ [singing] the solid rock I [music] stand. All [singing] other ground is sinking sand. All other ground [music and singing] is sinking sand. Praise the Lord, brothers and sisters. 1:24:05 What a wonderful word. It's a word that really came to my own heart. I feel like my heart is welling welling up. You know like the psalmist says my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Uh 1:24:20 yeah and uh brothers and sisters this is the word that came to me primarily no that today I have heard something and and this is a word of salvation for 1:24:36 me that there is hope for me. See the right state of mind for me if I am pressing on to know the Lord is for me to see my own need on one hand in clarity as Paul saw it. He said, "I'm the chief of sinners." 1:24:56 And at the same time to see with with great clarity that the Lord has come for people like me, and there is hope for me. And no one no matter what my present condition is, if I hold on to Jesus and trust in him and receive his word, I can 1:25:13 be like him. I can be transformed into his image. These words came up. When he comes with trumpet sound, in him I will be found dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before his throne. And between now and then, he will 1:25:29 transform me in into his image. And this is the heart of the Lord. And I can either harden my heart or I can take his word and allow it to work inside of me. I I want to look at Hebrews 1:25:47 chapter 6. Verse 18 [clears throat] it says by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie. We who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. What are the two 1:26:06 unchangeable things? If you if you if you read that passage it says God has said if God has said that is enough but no beyond that he has promised with a great oath. He promised by himself because there is no one greater by whom 1:26:21 he could promise. So God who has said and God who has promised has set this hope before us and the hope is that we can enter within the veil that we can be holy where Jesus has entered as a forerunner. verse 20, Hebrews 6:20, Jesus has entered as a 1:26:40 forerunner for us that we can become like him. That is the hope. And it says those who have in these two things in which is it it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement. You know, this we who have taken refuge 1:26:59 was reminding me of of Martin Luther. Martin Luther lived in the 15th century. uh he he's a great man of God. Uh for those of you who have never you know read about him, I want to point you to a hymn that he wrote. 1:27:18 uh he is a man who brought the Christian world back to justification by faith and he stood for it and he you know stood against all opposition and the entire you know Christian world at that time so-called Christian world at that time 1:27:31 was was opposed to him and he said justification is by faith I'm clothed in his righteousness alone faultless to stand before his throne and I have strong encouragement that I will be transformed to become like him we heard 1:27:46 about you know the our enemy me the devil and and this song the song that says a mighty fortress is our God. It it talks about that battle and how we can you know play our part in that battle. A mighty fortress is our God. A bulwak 1:28:03 balwok is like this solid you know wall. It's like you can think of it as a as a thick wall behind which we can hide. You know even if cannonballs come or arrows come nothing is going to touch us. uh our helper he amid the flood of 1:28:19 mortal ills prevailing for still our ancient foe do seek to work us wo our ancient foe is trying to do harm to us his craft and power are great armed with cruel hate on earth is not his equal did we in our own strength confide our 1:28:36 striving would be losing that is why we feel hopeless brothers and sisters when we see the flood of evil that surrounds us in this world that Satan has unloosed and uh his his craft and his power are great. Yes, if we in our own strength 1:28:53 confided, our striving would be losing. Were not the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing? Uh do you ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he. From age to age, the same. And he must win the battle. And and it says, you know, the prince of 1:29:11 darkness, I'm not reading through the whole thing. It says, "The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure, for his doom is sure. One little word shall fail him." See the word God, Jesus backs up his word. When he sent 1:29:31 Jesus, he said, "This is my word made flesh." And every word that is spoken to us through the power of the Holy Spirit can stand against the forces of darkness can stand against the forces of hell. So we don't have to tremble. We don't have 1:29:44 to be afraid. Yeah. He says, "Let goods and kindred go. This mortal life also this body they may kill. God's truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever." And and what challenges me about this Martin Luther is is a story about him 1:30:01 and his wife. You you may have heard it. It says that there were times in Martin Luther's life and he was so discouraged and so depressed and he went around so gloomy and his wife wanted to encourage him. Her name was Katherina Luther 1:30:15 and she wore these black morning dresses. they had you know significant different dresses that they would wear for funerals in those days and uh you know he was really discouraged whatever she said she he wasn't listening then 1:30:28 she wore this funeral dress and came and he said what happened who died I didn't hear said no god died you didn't hear no that's why you must be acting like this you know you've been discouraged for so many days god died then he you know he 1:30:42 understood that he cheered up this is the same man who stood Oh, you know, and who wrote these words that I just read to you, Martin Luther. And he also needed encouragement. We need encouragement, brothers and sisters. But the the the answer is 1:30:56 simple. We take the word of God to heart. And one little word, the word that we receive today, if I don't harden my heart, I receive it. You know, God will give me grace to keep that commandment. I thought of the two memory 1:31:09 verses that that we shared. I want to close with this. Um, you know, we can look at it. Deuteronomy 30:1, uh, Deuteronomy 30:11 says, "This commandment, uh, 1:31:28 this commandment which I command you is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach." If you read that verse, the whole verse, and one of my children pointed this out to me, it says, "This commandment which I command you today," 1:31:43 so it's not some general commandment. But it's the word of God that we heard today. And every day, you know, God in his mercy will speak his command, his word to us that can stand against the forces of Satan. This commandment which I command to you 1:31:58 today is not difficult. It is not out of reach. And we go on and read this passage, you know, and and we know that like it says, don't say it is in heaven who will go up to heaven. Don't say it is beyond the sea. The same thing is in 1:32:12 the New Testament. We can turn there. Romans chapter 6 uh no chapter 10 sorry chapter 10 verse uh 6 to8 1:32:30 the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows. Do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven who will descend into abbis and says Jesus. Jesus has descended into the abyss for us and won the victory. He has come down from 1:32:45 heaven for us. And Jesus is near us. Jesus is the word made flesh. He is standing by our side. And and therefore the commandments of God have a force and have a power. And this is the faith that we have that Jesus is the same 1:33:01 yesterday, today and forever will stand with us. And and and you know the danger that we heard even today is that that we harden our hearts and and we hold on to sin and we say it is hopeless and that's just an excuse for us to hold on to some 1:33:16 sin. And brothers and sisters, we can examine our heart and take it seriously. I I thought of the other memory verse that we read today. That's next week's verse. Psalm 66. We can look at it quickly. Psalm 66:E8 The memory verse is if I regard 1:33:37 wickedness in my heart the Lord will not hear. That is true. If I hold on to idols, if I spurn the word of the Lord, if I reject it, if I harden my heart, the Lord will not hear. But look at the verse before that and look at the verse 1:33:49 after that. It says, "Come and hear. I will tell of all that he has done for me. I cried with to him with my mouth and he was extolled with my tongue. If I regard wickedness, the Lord will not hear. But verse 19, certainly he has 1:34:03 heard. He has given heard heed to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be the Lord who has not turned away my prayer nor his loving kindness for me. Brothers and sisters, this is this is the Lord who we serve. All of us can testify that he has 1:34:17 heard our prayer. All of us can testify that we are here today because of his mercy and his loving kindness endures. So let's say Lord I don't want to hold on to any wickedness especially unbelief. Lord let it be far from me. 1:34:31 Let it be be gone from me because you are near and you've spoken to me today. Amen. Brothers and sisters, uh we'll have the announcements. Presenting the book of this month, 1:35:02 Needed Men of God by Brother Zack Ponen. Throughout the centuries, the men and women whom God's been able 1:35:18 to use to route the forces of darkness, to make a lasting impact upon the heathen for [music] his name, and to establish a testimony for his glory, have always been [music] few in number. The blessings of God are received by 1:35:36 many, but the working remnant that labors together with God has always [music] been a small group. Out of Gideon's army [music] of 32,000, God could use only 300. The proportion has [music] been about 1:35:55 the same throughout church history. Few are willing to pay the price of [music] being part of that remnant. The eyes of the Lord are running [music] to and fro throughout our land today looking for such men. 1:36:13 Men of spiritual caliber whom God can use [music] to glorify his great name where it is at present being reproached. May this book help you [music] to become such a man. [music] 1:36:32 we pray. Make us go [music]
