3:51 our first song. When morning gills the skies, our heart awaking Christ, may Jesus Christ be praised. Alike at work and prayer to Jesus I repare. May Jesus Christ be praised. [Music] 4:14 When morning gills the skies, my heart awakening cries, may Jesus Christ be praised, a light at work and prayer. To Jesus I repare. May Jesus 4:32 Christ be praised. To thee my God above I cry with glowing love. May Jesus Christ be praised. The fairest graces 4:49 pray in hearts that ever sing. May Jesus Christ be brave. A sadness fill my mind. A solless here I 5:05 find. May Jesus Christ be praised. All faiths my earthly bliss. My comfort still is this. May Jesus Christ be praised. Well, evil thoughts more. 5:26 With this I shield my breath. May Jesus Christ be praised. The bars of darkness pure. When this sweet joy they hear, may Jesus Christ be praised. 5:46 When sleeper bond denies my silent spirit eyes, may Jesus Christ be praised. The night becomes as day when from the heart we say. May Jesus 6:04 Christ be pray only sing. Be this why life is mine. My canical divine. May Jesus Christ be praised. Be this the 6:20 eternal song through all the ages long. May Jesus Christ be praised. Please be seated. [Music] 6:39 Praise is rising. Eyes are turning to you. We turn to you. Hope is stiring. 7:00 Hearts are yearning for you. We long for you. Cuz when we see you, we find strength to face the day. In your presence, all our fears are 7:23 washed away. Wash away. Hosana. Hosana. You are the God who saves us, worthy of 7:42 all our praises. Hosana. Hosana. Come out your way among us. We welcome 7:58 you here, Lord Jesus. Hear the sound of hearts returning to you. We turn to you 8:18 [Music] in your kingom. Broken lives are made new. You make us new. 8:35 Cuz when we see you, we find strength to face the day. In your presence, all our fears are washed away. Washed away. Hosana. 8:58 Hosana. You are the God who saves us. Worthy of all our praises. Hosana. Hosanana, come have your way among us. We welcome 9:21 you here, Lord Jesus. [Music] As when we see you, we find strength to face the day. in your presence. All our fears are 9:43 washed away. Cuz when we see you, Cuz when we see you, we find strength to face the days. In your presence, all our fears are washed away. 10:02 Washed away. Hosana. Hosana. You are the God who saves us. Worthy of 10:18 all our praises. Hosana. Hosana. Come your way among us. We welcome you here, Lord Jesus. 10:37 [Music] Great and mighty is the Lord our God. Great and mighty is he. Great and mighty is the Lord our God. 10:54 Great and mighty is he. Great and mighty is the Lord our God. Great and mighty is he. Lift your battle. Let the anthems ring. Praises to our king. 11:13 Great and mighty is the Lord our God. Great and mighty is he. From the top again. Sing. Great and mighty is the Lord our God. Great and mighty is he. Great and mighty is the Lord our God. 11:32 Great and mighty is he. Lift your battle. Let the anthems ring. Praises to our king. Great and mighty is the Lord our God. Great and mighty is he. Great and mighty 11:50 only. Great and mighty is the Lord our God. Great and mighty is thee. >> Jesus Christ, I think upon your sacrifice. You became nothing, poured out to death. 12:10 Many times I wondered at your gift of life. And I'm in that place once again. Once again, I look upon the cross where you died. I'm humbled by your mercy and I'm broken inside. Lord, I thank you. 12:27 [Music] Jesus Christ, 12:44 I think upon your sacrifice, you became nothing, put up to death. Many times I've wondered at your gift of life. And 13:01 I'm in that place once again. I'm in that place once again. Once again I look upon the cross where you died. 13:20 I'm humbled by your mercy and I'm broken inside. Once again I thank you. Once again I pour out my life. Now you are 13:43 exalted to the highest place. King of the heavens, where one day I'll bow. But for now, I marvel at the saving grace. I'm full 14:01 of praise once again. I'm full of praise. Once again, [Music] once again, I look upon the cross where you die. 14:19 I'm humbled by your mercy and I'm broken inside. Once again, I thank you. Once again, I pour out my life. Thank you for the Thank you for the 14:40 cross. Thank you for the cross. Thank you for the cross, my friend. Thank you for the cross. Thank you for the cross. 14:58 Thank you for the cross, my friend. Once again, I look upon the cross where you die. I'm humbled by your mercy and I'm a broken inside. 15:18 Once again, I thank you. Once again, I pour out my life. Grace unmeasured 15:45 and free knew me from eternity. Call me out before my birth. Bring your glory on this earth. Grace amazing, pure and deep, saw me in 16:13 my misery. Took my curse and owned my blame so I could bear your rightous name. Praise paid for my sins, brought me to life. 16:38 Grace close me with power to do what is right. Grace, lead me to heaven where I see your face. 16:58 ever cease to thank you for your grace. [Music] Grace abounding 17:16 strong and true makes me long to be like you. turns me from my selfish pride to love the cross on which you die. 17:34 [Music] Praise unending all my days. Give me strength to run this race. And my ears on earth are true. Praise 17:53 will all belong to you. Grace [Music] paid for my sins, brought me to life. Grace clothe me with power to do what is 18:16 right. Gra lead me to heaven where I see your face. Never cease to thank you for your grace. 18:36 [Applause] [Music] paid for my sins, brought me to life. 18:53 Gra me with power to do what is right. Gra lead me to heaven where I'll see your face. 19:13 Never cease to thank you for your grace. [Music] Give thanks with a grateful heart. 19:32 And now let the weak say I am strong. Let the poor say I am rich. Because of what the Lord has done for us. Let's join and sing. >> Give thanks 19:47 with a grateful heart. Give thanks [Music] to the holy one. Give thanks because he's given 20:03 Jesus Christ his son. Give thanks with a grateful heart. Give thanks [Music] 20:20 to the holy one. give thanks because he's given Jesus Christ his son. And now 20:39 let the weak say I am strong. Let the poor say I am brave. because of what the Lord has done 20:59 for us. And now let the weak say I am strong. Let the poor sing, I am rich. 21:17 because of what the Lord has done for us. Give them great 21:43 is the Lord and most worthy of praise in the city of our God. Holy day, the joy of the whole earth. 22:08 Praise is the Lord in whom we have the victory. He aids us against the enemy. We bow down on our knees. 22:30 [Music] And Lord, we want to lift your name on high. And Lord, we want to thank you for the works you've done in our lives. And 22:49 Lord, we trust in your unfailing love. For you alone are God eternal throughout earth and heaven above. Great 23:11 is the Lord and most worthy of praise. In the city of our God, the holy place, the joy of the whole earth. [Music] 23:35 Great is the Lord in whom we have the victory. He aids us against the enemy. [Music] 23:51 We bow down on our knees. Shall we all stand and sing? And Lord, we want to lift. And Lord, we want to lift your name on high. And Lord, we want to thank you for the 24:11 works you've done in our lives. And Lord, we trust in your unfailing love. For you alone are God, eternal throughout earth and heaven above. 24:30 And Lord, we want to lift your name. Holy voices. And Lord, we want to lift your name on high. Lord, we want to thank you for the works you've done in our lives. And Lord, we 24:48 trust in your unfailing love. For you alone are God eternal throughout earth and heaven above. for you alone. 25:04 For you alone are God eternal throughout earth and heaven above. [Music] Dear brothers and sisters, let's bow our 25:44 heads in prayer. As we just sang, we want to lift our Lord's name and remember that is what the Holy Spirit want to do in our midst to glorify the Lord. Let our whole being open to the Holy 26:02 Spirit that the Lord may be exalted in our thoughts, in our minds. And let's come to the throne of grace with boldness, with gratitude, with faith. I'd like to read a few words from Psalm 26:19 103. The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness. He will not always thrive with us, nor 26:39 will he keep his anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his loving kindness 26:59 toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far he has removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. 27:17 For he himself know knows our frame. He's mindful that we are but dust. As for man, his days are like grass, as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. But when the wind has passed over it, it is no more. And its place acknowledged 27:35 it no longer. But the loving kindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him and his righteousness to children's children. Brothers and sisters, let's not be silent this morning. 27:53 Let's thank the Lord because he has not done according to what we deserve. He has dealt with us mercifully, kindly, and even this morning, we can draw near to him. Open your mouth, Father. We thank you and praise you. Thank you, 28:09 Father, for your great love. Thank you, Father, for your compassion. Thank you for redeeming us, Lord. Thank you for forgiving all our iniquities, Lord, and clothing us, Father, with your righteousness. Thank you. Thank you, 28:20 Lord Jesus, for your great sacrifice, Lord. Thank you for pouring out your precious blood to redeem us, Lord. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Thank you for giving us your word. Thank you, Lord, for sustaining 28:31 us, Lord. Thank you for giving us grace all these days, Lord. Thank you for gathering us together, Lord. Thank you for your presence, Lord. We believe you have a plan for each one of us, Lord. Even this morning, Lord, we look up to 28:42 you, Lord, with faith. Lord, we want to praise you and thank you, Lord. You are a God worthy to be praised and to be exalted. You are the King of Kings. You are the Lord of Lord. We praise you and bless you. We give you all glory and 28:53 honor. Lord, you're worthy. You alone are worthy, Lord. Let your name alone be exalted and glorified, Lord. And even this morning, Lord, we look up to you for a word from heaven, Lord. We pray, Father, that you anoint your servant as 29:04 we bring forth your word. We pray that Lord, you give us all a listening ear, Lord. Lord Jesus, we pray that Lord, we believe your word has power, power power to change. So we ask you Lord to give us that bread of heaven Lord this morning 29:16 Lord give us a word from above Lord this morning Lord we come with faith and we pray that Lord you will give us a word of encouragement Lord you will sustain the weary Lord and you will encourage the fainthearted we trust you thank you 29:29 Lord that you are able to do much more beyond we can ask or think. So we give you all glory and honor. Thank you father in Jesus precious and mighty name we pray. Amen. Please take your seat brothers and sisters. Let's take a look 29:41 at our memory verses. So, we had a command last week. Please repeat after me. Colossians 4:2. Devote yourself to prayer 29:58 with an attitude of thanksgiving. And for this Sunday, we have a promise from Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 2:8, by grace you have been saved, 30:18 through faith, and it is the gift of God. Let's repeat it again. Ephesians chapter 2:8. By grace you have been saved through faith and it is the gift of God. Amen. 30:37 And this morning we are very glad that we can hear God's word from dear brother Suresh. Brother Suresh over to you. Good morning brothers and sisters. 31:03 So the Lord has been leading me to think about u intercession or standing in the gap. Standing in the gap between God and man. So this phrase stand in the gap is taken from Ezekiel chapter 22 and verse 30. We 31:20 can look at it says I searched for a man among them. Ezekiel 22:30 I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before me for the land 31:38 so that I would not destroy it but I found no one. I was thinking about what we heard from and uh about brother Ian last Sunday. I remember brother U had written a song for brother Ian's birthday some years 31:56 back and it said of one man I have a need who will stand and mend the walls and he sought him and he found him one who said Lord here I am oh what rejoicing was there that day 32:15 brother Ian was a man like that and I believe the Lord is searching for such men and women who can stand in the gap who make themselves available to intercede, to pray, and to do what they can and to trust that God will meet the 32:31 needs. Those who see a need in the church and have a burden and and we see our own weakness, but we make ourselves available and we trust that God will step in to meet that need. That's the burden on my heart today. 32:51 Firstly, that we should recognize such men and women and recognize when God is acting and receive help from them. And also that we seek for grace to be such such a man or a woman ourselves as we try and follow in the footsteps of of 33:08 Jesus. In Hebrews chapter 7 verse 25, it says about Jesus. He is able to save forever those who 33:34 draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them. He's able to save those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them. Intercede 33:51 means to go between and God is calling us to follow in the footsteps of Jesus in this area also. We go between the weakness of men and the mercy of God. Between the weakness of men and the 34:09 grace and the power of God. In Hebrews chapter 2:1 17 it says Jesus was made weak. He was made weak like his brethren in 34:27 all things so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the things pertaining to God. And we also know it says about Jesus that he was tempted in all things just as we are so that we can sympathize uh so that he can sympathize with our 34:46 weakness. So if Jesus was tempted in all things, it's great encouragement for us because we know that we are also tempted and recognizing our weakness is the first step and the next step is trusting in God. 35:04 And as we heard so clearly from brother Ian and after that from brother John last Sunday, who is adequate for these things or 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 5 and 6. Not that we are adequate 35:23 in ourselves to consider ourselves uh to to consider any anything as coming from ourselves but our adequacy is from God who made us adequate as servants by the power of his holy spirit. Brothers and sisters, uh we we need that 35:42 faith that even though we are weak, there is a God who shared in our weakness, who walked where we walked, understands us, sympathizes with us, was tempted in all things as we are, and he found his 36:00 adequacy in God. He reached out and found the grace of God to help him and strengthen him. and and he's calling us to follow in his footsteps. And uh it says uh 2 Corinthians 3 5 and 36:18 6 uh it says that this this power this adequacy is of the spirit for the letter kills but the spirit gives life. So it's the Holy Spirit's power that we are we are counting on 36:38 and uh it's very good and it's essential. It's part of the same process as I see it for us to recognize this grace when God gives it to others. I remember brother Ian saying this many many times. Recognize the grace that God has given 36:54 to others. U we can look at Romans 12 and verse three. We know this verse. Paul is saying, "For through the grace given to me, 37:12 I say to everyone among you, not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith." So 37:31 what is it that stops us from having sound judgment? It's because we have high thoughts of ourselves. We think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. And so we don't have sound judgment. We 37:47 fail to recognize and value that God has allotted a measure of faith to some other brother or sister. And uh Paul goes on to say in the verse after that that 38:05 we are all members of one body in Christ, members of one another. We all don't have the same function. We're different from each other. But because I have high thoughts in my heart, I I will most likely not say this with my my lips, but in my 38:22 heart I'm saying, Lord, you can't use this person because he's not like me. And brother, God can use him. God will use him because he's humble. And if I humble myself, I can recognize that God has alloceded a measure of faith and 38:41 he's given grace to this brother. And then I can also play my part in building up the body of Christ. I I I notice that the Apostle Paul says that I say to everyone among you. So if we recognize the grace that Apostle Paul 39:00 had, which we I'm sure we would, then he's saying to every one of us not to think highly of ourselves, but to have sound judgment and recognize the grace that's that's given to others. 39:16 We can see an example of this in Peter. We can look at Galatians chapter 2. Galatians chapter 2:es 8 and 9. Paul says 39:42 that the same God who worked effectively for Peter in his ministry to the uh to the Jews also worked for me in my ministry to the Gentiles. They were very different from each other, but God had a plan and a purpose for them. 39:59 And it says, "Recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Peter and John, Sephus is just another name for Peter, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me the right hand of fellowship so that we might go to the Gentiles." 40:17 So Paul says that Peter, James, and John, they said, "Go ahead, brother. We are with you. We're praying for you. We're strongly supporting you." and and we recognize in the in you know the acts of the apostles and and in the history of 40:35 the church that Peter takes a smaller part and Paul becomes more significant and we know that Peter himself rejoiced in this. Um, we can look at 2 Peter chapter 3 15 and 16. No, this is this is how I read this. 41:02 Peter is saying let me read verse 15 as is first. He says, "Just as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in some of them of 41:21 these things, in which are things, some things that are hard to understand, which the unaught and unstable distort, as they also do the rest of the scriptures to their own destruction." So Peter is saying you better listen to 41:37 this beloved brother Paul. You listen to him. I know some of the things he says are not easy to understand but take them seriously. Don't destroy it. Uh don't I mean distort it. Some people do that and you'll destroy yourselves. 41:51 Recognize the grace that is given to him. And see, Peter could have easily said, "Who who is this Paul? Where does he come from? I don't know him. He wasn't with us." No, we 12 disciples. We spent 3 years. We walked with Jesus. We saw his 42:10 miracles. But Peter didn't say that. He had sound judgment. He discerned the grace and he discerned the voice of God backing the Apostle Paul. See we we can see that Paul 42:31 about himself you know says something else. Paul says uh in in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 5 he says who is Paul who is Apollos we are just servants through whom you believed even as the Lord gave or appointed. 42:50 So brothers and sisters, you see the big difference in the perspective. Peter is saying, "You better listen to Paul because it's not his own bright ideas and wisdom that he's talking about. He's didn't bring this from, you know, galial 43:01 school. This is the wisdom that God has given him. Listen to him. I've written you know first Peter, second Peter. I'm going to stop now. You listen to Paul. Recognize the grace." And Paul says, "Who is Paul? Who is Apollos? 43:19 We are just servants but God has appointed us. And one of the translations says it was the Lord who did it all. It was the Lord who did it all. Yeah. I I was thinking about the mount of transfiguration. 43:36 It's it's in three different gospels. We can look at it in u Matthew chapter 17. It's from the beginning of the chapter. They, you know, really had glorious 44:02 supernatural time. Moses and Elijah, great men of God. They were there. I I felt in some ways it was like our second meeting last Sunday or even the first meeting and the second meeting together. You know, it was like brother 44:18 was in person with us. We heard his voice on on in the message. We heard about him in many ways and uh I I felt I think many of us may have felt like Peter let's let's make a tent. Let's stay here. But no, the Lord spoke to my heart 44:37 through brother John. And see this is not a brother fan club. See, don't misunderstand me. I'm a big fan. But that's not why we are here. This is not even a Jesus fan club. The question is, am I paying attention 44:59 to what brother is saying? Am I taking that to heart? Can I hear the voice of Jesus speaking through him? This is my beloved son. Listen to him. It's not enough to just admire brother Ian. It's not enough to just admire 45:18 Jesus. No. Have faith to follow him as he followed Jesus. Be a broken man. Lay down your life for the brothers and sisters in the church. Anoint the body of Jesus. That was his message. And it says in Matthew 17, even as they 45:37 heard this voice, they fell on their faces. They were terrified. Oh, who is adequate for these things? And here's the message of hope for for 45:54 me and for you. Verse 7 it says Jesus came to them and touched them and said get up and do not be afraid. I'm here. I will do this. I will show 46:11 you. I will help you. I will lead you. But I think that Peter remembered this voice and in his heart he would have said, "Oh, this is the Lord speaking. He's 46:29 speaking through brother Paul, but it's his voice and I should listen to him. I think I'll stop talking now." You listen to brother Paul. I need that sound judgment, brothers and sisters, to stick to my boundary, to 46:47 play my part. I think it's helpful for us to think about some examples uh from the Old Testament who stood in the gap. We can think about Melky's deck. You can 47:05 turn with me to Genesis chapter 14. Yeah, 47:31 this is verse 17 onwards. So before Abraham, this is after Abraham returned from his victory over the kings of uh or the kings uh the king of Sodom 47:50 and the other kings who were with him. It says Melkisedc who was the king of Salem brought out bread and wine and it says he was a priest of God most high. So he was a king 48:08 but he personally went he personally went and he brought bread and wine and he spoke to Abraham few few things and then he disappeared and uh 48:29 he recognized that Abraham was fighting the Lord's battles that this battle that he had on was something that the Lord had stood with him and helped him and uh he gave him the right word to save him from his greed and from his 48:46 pride. He reminded him that God is the possessor of heaven and earth. Read verse 19. He blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abraham of God most high." Possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be God most high who has 49:03 delivered your enemies into your hand. God is the possessor of heaven and earth. You also belong to him and he is the one who has given you this victory and I just want to bless him. And I know you're hungry, you're tired, 49:20 you just returned from a war. You know, here's some some bread and wine for you. Yeah. In in in Hebrews chapter 7, it it talks about Jesus being a high priest to us according to the order of Melkisedc. We can look at Hebrews chapter 7 and 49:38 verse two. According to the order or or you can say like in the same manner or in the same pattern. Hebrews chapter 7:2 50:01 it says Melkisedc was first of all by the translation of his name. So Melkisedc what does that mean? It means king of righteousness. And then because he was the king of Salem. Okay I think that later became Jerusalem. 50:19 Salem means peace. So therefore he's the king of peace. The king of righteousness. The king of peace. Jesus is a high priest according to the pattern according to the order of Melkisedc. We see very clearly a picture of of Jesus there 50:36 and uh I see an example that we can follow in Melkisedc. See firstly he saw and he met a physical need. Abraham and his men were tired and hungry. And we see Jesus doing this again and again in his life. No he fed the 5,000. He said, "They've come here 50:55 for 3 days. They don't have food. Feed them." And he made a way. There's a place in in Mark where he said, "Come aside and rest a while." Because they had no, you know, time to eat and they were just Jesus was sensitive to these 51:10 things and he met physical needs. We know that when he saw the disciples feet was dirty, he took the towel and he washed their feet. He saw the gap and he did what he could. And he's our example. And you know to bring food and wine was 51:29 not difficult for mec. But he saw that there was a spiritual gap or a spiritual danger and he acknowledged and you know brought father god into the situation. He said he's the possessor of heaven and earth. Not something that Abraham didn't 51:48 know. No one knows but he needed to be reminded of that God is the possessor of heaven and earth. You are Abraham of this mighty God and he is the one who has delivered your enemies into your hand 52:06 and he saved Abraham from the danger of pride. Yeah, there's an excellent book uh a biography that I read. I, you know, I thank God that I read it as a young Christian and I've read it, you know, many times after that. It's a book 52:26 called Ree Howell's Intercessor. I definitely encourage, you know, every serious Christian to read it. It's it's it's got some, you know, uh, yeah, it's it's not like reading comics or something like that. It's got some 52:44 some English words in it. You look up a dictionary and read it slowly. It will really help you. it will really help you. What a wonderful man of God Ree Howells was. And uh in this book the author describes intercession you know 52:57 this going in between God and man. He describes it as involving three things. He says there is identification which means I put myself in the place of the person I want to help. 53:13 I understand their situation. I recognize that I am not different from them. That those weaknesses, those dangers, oh, it could be me. And uh secondly, I have a burden. I cry 53:33 out in prayer to the Lord. I cry out like I would cry out for myself or for a member of my own family. Identification, agony or a burden. And thirdly, there's authority or we can say grace. Grace is power. You know, when God has 53:49 given you that power, then you have authority. There's grace to play a specific part. God gives me a part to play. And it is in his plan of deliverance. As we heard, the Lord is the one who does it all. And maybe I just have to pray. Maybe I 54:07 have to pray for a long time. or maybe there's a word of encouragement or a word of warning or a word of advice or some or some physical help or some combination you know but in doing all these things I I stay within my boundary 54:23 and I act in full dependence on the lord and it's prayer that is you know and his power that is carrying me through and and I not only depend on the lord I depend on others because he's provided us with the body and I recognize the 54:37 grace that he's given given to them. And when I do this, brothers and sisters, I can have confidence, spiritual authority that God will accomplish his plan or purpose. And uh yeah, as we heard from brother last Sunday, Mary did what she could, 54:55 God did the rest. No, while everybody was looking at her and saying, "Oh, what a waste." The fragrance of what she did has spread throughout the earth will continue for all eternity. What Melkisedc did, you know, serves as 55:11 an example and a lesson for us for all time now and to come. What a wonderful privilege this is, brothers and sisters. God is calling us to take baby steps. He's not saying anything complicated. You do what you 55:28 can. She did what she could. I want to talk about an example. uh from a woman. This is uh from 1st Samuel chapter 25. Her name is Abigail. 56:05 1st Samuel chapter 25. We can see a good example there and a bad example there. So we can look at the bad example first. There was a foolish man. His name was 56:27 Nabal which means fool. He said in verse 10 when David's s servants came to him. So this is this is a situation. David was you know running away from Saul. He had a group of people who were joining him 56:45 and uh Nabal was somebody who owned property in that area and David and his men chose you know not to trouble them in any way. And the servant of Nabal says that they acted like protection for us. They were they were like a wall 57:03 against our enemies. And uh David sent men to Nabal. It was a you know the time of sharing which is the time it's sort of a party time you know you sort of gathering gathering the fruits of of your labor. 57:21 He was a rich man. See if you just look at it from a worldly lens and I say this because we all have these tendencies and it's you can understand what Nabal is saying or how he is feeling. You know if if we look at the sort of 57:39 people who had joined with David you can quickly look at that first Samuel chapter 22 and verse two. Everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, everyone who was discontented gathered to him. He became 57:59 captain over them. Now there were about 400 men with him. So Nabal is saying who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are breaking away from his master. Shall I take my bread, my water, my meat that I have 58:17 slaughtered for my sharers and give it to men whose origin I do not know. See there there's some you know it it looks like these people are like mafia no bundas rowdies asking for protection money. Why should I give my hard-earned 58:35 money to these people? But what is the big mistake that Nabal was making? He was a fool. He was a fool because this man David who you despise 58:51 is a man after God's own heart and God has anointed him. In your opinion, it's not relatively important. And and we see that 59:08 God uh gave discernment to Abigail and you know she had a totally different point of view. I was specially challenged by so so we know the story. The story is that you know Abigail one of the servants 59:26 said they're in trouble. He didn't know what to do. He knew that Abigail had discernment. Again we see that there was a part that he played no and I believe God enabled him to play that part and he went and told Abigail and Abigail acted 59:41 quickly. Verse 18 onwards she took some food. It was like a banquet you know sheep and wine and bread. Uh this is 1st Samuel 25:18. And she said you go before me give the 59:59 gift. And then she came behind And she fell at his feet and she said, "It's my fault. It's my fault. I wasn't there. I didn't hear about it. What this man Nabal says is not very important now. I should have I should have been 1:00:18 there. I should have done something about it." See, her perspective about David was so different. And this phrase especially, you know, challenged me and encouraged me. It's uh 1st Samuel 28. In the middle of that verse, it says, 1:00:35 "My Lord is fighting the battles of the Lord. And evil will not be found in you all your days." I know that God is on your side. There's no way you could have killed Goliath. There's no way you could have done what you've done without the 1:00:51 Lord being on your side. Recognize that God has given you grace and I also want to be on your side. But evil should not be found in you all your days because you're fighting the battles of the Lord. Yeah. 1:01:10 You know, she met a physical need. She brought food for them. I have no doubt that she was praying with a great burden. Doesn't say that. But you know, under the circumstances, see David was in a great spiritual danger. 1:01:22 If you just look at the facts and think about it, no, he firstly he was, you know, in danger of avenging himself. He he was very clear, I plan to wipe out all of Nabal's men. So what happens after he does that? He wipes out all of Nabal's men. Then Nabal 1:01:40 is a rich man. He has all this property. What happens to that? Abigail is a beautiful woman. She's his wife. What happens to her? So revenge, greed, lust. Abra David is not yet you know become king. The entire direction of his life you know might 1:01:57 have been very different but Abigail was a wise woman. She spoke to him about the will of God. She said you don't want to have regret later that you took things into your own hands and she humbled herself. She took the blame 1:02:15 and she, you know, introduced God into the situation and she gave David God's point of view. I I looked at the meaning of the of the name Abigail. It means my father's joy, 1:02:33 the joy of my father. And once again, I see a glorious picture of Jesus. You know, it's like God was saying, "This is my daughter in whom I am well pleased." I was reminded of John 15:10. If you keep my commandments, you'll abide in my 1:02:51 love. The things that I have spoken to you is so that my joy may be in you, your joy may be made full. No, don't do something foolish that you'll regret. Yeah. I I know some Sundays back I shared about David's son Chile whose 1:03:08 name means the perfect image of his father. He was the only son who didn't give any trouble to David and we don't have any explanation for that except the influence of a godly mother. That's the only explanation we have. She was a 1:03:24 woman who had discernment who sought the will of God the glory of God. Sisters, may the Lord give you hope and encouragement. You can be a godly influence in the lives of your husband and your children. God can make you an 1:03:37 intercessor through his Holy Spirit. I want to look at another example. This is for brothers. We can look at it from a you know workplace interactions perspective. This is the story again. I I I'm sure you 1:03:55 know it. 2 Kings chapter 5. So there was Nan was the captain of the army. You can think about him as you 1:04:14 know MD CEO or your boss or your team leader uh you know successful man. He knew how to get results but he was a leper. And leprosy is a picture for us in the 1:04:31 Bible of you know a lack of spiritual sensitivity right some area where he's unrighteous or uh we can also think of it as some senior brother you know maybe older than you or otherwise capable brother in the in the church 1:04:50 you have a working relationship maybe you're on the same team together but there's a problem there's some lack of spiritual ual sensitivity. There's some hardness, some unrighteousness. And you don't know what to do. If you 1:05:07 speak, you know, it won't make any difference. You don't have faith for that. But there was a small servant girl. We don't know her name. She had a burden. She had faith. She spoke to Naman's wife. Naman's wife spoke to him. 1:05:26 She said, "If you speak to this prophet, this man of God, he can help you." So she had a part to play. She played it. Praise God. So Nan says, he goes to the king. He says, "This is what my servant girl is saying." And you know, he's he's a big man. So 1:05:45 the king says, "Okay, we'll send a message to the king of Israel." King of Israel doesn't know what to do. He's terrified. And Elijah says, "Let him let him know that there is a God in Israel. Tell him to come to me." And uh Nam is a proud man. 1:06:03 So Elijah doesn't talk to him personally. He sends a messenger and uh so I mean just thinking about our like team dynamic situation, right? So he speaks to a man of God, somebody in authority, some wise man, maybe one of 1:06:18 the elders, and they give him a solution, but he has to humble himself. No, he has to expose his weakness to go down in humility, in obedience. And see, we don't know, we don't even have the names of these servants, but I think 1:06:37 they had a genuine concern and regard for their boss, you know? And before they spoke to him, they would have said like they would have prayed and uh no, he's already angry. He's really angry. Just imagining. But God put a burden in 1:06:56 their heart to intercede. No, they would have said, "Boss, can we go have a tea? Can cool down? Team is sitting there. Somebody has to speak. Now if if this prophet said go and do 30 1:07:15 pull-ups, go f kill 50 men and come. Okay? Or if he said you know you finish that difficult project in 10 days deadline, you would have done it. You would have taken the challenge. We know you. It's not some difficult thing. 1:07:34 He's saying apologize. He's saying forgive. He's saying confess, forsake that sin. Come on, boss. Come on, bro. You can do it. Just humble yourself. This has challenged me. I was thinking 1:07:53 about, we can look at Job chapter 33, brothers. There is a description there about Ilhoo talking about how God deals with men in different ways to win them over. Job chapter 33, 1:08:13 we recognize that God has worked in our life in these ways as well. Verse 16, sometimes he opens the ears of men and seals their instruction. If you look at other translations, it says it he terrifies them with warnings 1:08:30 that he may turn a man aside from his conduct and keep a man from pride. God has done this in our life sometimes where he terrifies us with warnings that he may you know turn us from our pride. Then it goes on verse 19 it says 1:08:46 sometimes the Lord in his mercy I'm paraphrasing may give you a physical sickness or just a spiritual heaviness. You lose your appetite. You don't feel like eating. You come into unrest. God in his mercy is acting in someone's 1:09:01 life. In verse 23, if then there is an angel, a messenger or a mediator for him, one out of a thousand, there are not many brothers and sisters who see this and do this to remind a man what is right for him. 1:09:21 Remind a man what is right for him. That's what Melkisedc did. That's what Abigail did. That's what the servants of Naman did. Then let God be gracious to him and say, "Deliver him from going to the pit." Verse 24. For I have found 1:09:34 somebody who will pray for him. And verse 25 says, "Let his flesh become fresher than in youth. Let him have baby skin once again. Let him have a sensitive conscience." Verse 26, he will pray to God and God will accept him that he may 1:09:53 see his face in joy that he may restore his righteousness to man. That's what happened to Naman. His flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child. It says spiritually speaking, his hardness was gone. His conscience became 1:10:06 sensitive. He humbled himself like a little child to listen. Oh, what a wonderful ministry that is, brothers. What a glorious picture. I Let's open ourselves to the working of God. Let's be hungry and available to 1:10:26 play our part. I recently heard uh the live version of Keith Green's song. We sang it last week. Oh Lord, you're beautiful. Your face is all I seek. And he says, I wrote a letter to God. I didn't know 1:10:46 where to put it. I kept it in my Bible. He said, 'Lord, I want baby skin on my heart once more. I've become hard. I've become calloused. And he sat up till 2:00 at night and he wrote the song that we sing and that 1:11:01 blesses us today. And see, I can't write songs like brother, you know, Keith Green can, but each of us have a part to play. We see the need. We do what we can. We see our own weakness. And and we trust that God will, you 1:11:21 know, do his great work. I I want to close with this. It's a picture of our armor bearer in the Old Testament. We can look at it when we have a burden to pray for others. We can 1:11:39 look at this in 1st Samuel chapter 14. First Samuel 14. 1:12:04 Yeah. Verses six and seven. So this is something that Sunil Punan shared that challenged me. Um so the armor bearer of of Jonathan, you know, Jonathan had a measure of faith. God put it in his heart. He said, "Let's 1:12:23 cross over. God doesn't need many people to win the battle. Let's let's let's go." And the armor bearer said, you know, if you want to fight the battles of the Lord, verse 17, this 1st Samuel 14:17, I am with you. You do all that is 1:12:37 in your heart. I will play my part. And uh I want to correlate this with Ephesians chapter 6. We know this these verses where it talks about taking up the armor of God. And if we look at Ephesians chapter 6, 1:12:58 we recognize that soon after he says, "Take up the armor of God." Verse 18 says, "With all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the spirit and with all perseverance be on the alert for all the saints." 1:13:17 So there's a close connection between taking up the armor of God. That means I take up the armor of God not just for myself but for my brother as well and I pray for him. I pray for him meaningfully. I I I see is there a gap? Is the belt of 1:13:33 truth become loose? Is he not taking the truth? Does he does he not love the truth seriously? Is the belt breastplate of righteousness falling off? Is he not guarding his heart? Is he not being righteous? Um has he backsliden? Has he taken off 1:13:48 the helmet of salvation? And you know for for many these items of clothing may be in place but all of us all of us can benefit from somebody giving us faith the shield of faith or the word of God which is the sword of 1:14:07 the Holy Spirit. It's difficult for us to carry these things all around all the time. And this is you know what the Lord is saying we can do. Impart faith, give the right word at the right time. 1:14:25 And when you see a brother like this, you pray for him, strongly support him, extend to him the hand of fellowship. Yeah. Brothers and sisters, if if we look at Ephesians 6, you you it's it's very good 1:14:44 that we read it along with Isaiah 59. So, I'll close with that. Isaiah 59. It's a picture of Jesus, a prophetic picture of Jesus in the Old Testament. It says, "The Lord saw." Isaiah 59:16, 1:15:03 "The Lord saw that there was no man. He was astonished that there was no one to intercede. Then his own arm brought salvation to him. His righteousness upheld him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate." Isaiah 59:16,1718. 1:15:18 He put on the helmet of salvation on his head. He put on garments of vengeance for clothing. He wrapped himself with zeal as a mantle. This is the Lord Jesus who stepped up to intercede for us. And 1:15:34 and in verse 20 and 21 he says that for those who turn from their transgressions Jesus our redeemer will come. And he says the same spirit which is upon me and the words which the Lord put 1:15:52 in my mouth I will put in your mouth. If I have that faith and I want to turn from my selfish way of thinking and I want to turn from my high thoughts and I want to turn from seeking my own and recognize the grace that God has given, 1:16:08 then Jesus has said that his spirit and his words will be in my heart and in my mouth to strengthen me. Amen. We'll we'll have a song and then we'll hear from brother Polo. Let's sing the song. Let me be a little 1:17:17 kinder. Let me be a little blinder to the falls of those around me. Let me be when I am weary, just a little bit more cheery. I think a little more of others and a little less of me. Let me be a little meaker with a brother 1:17:40 who is weaker. Let me think more of my neighbor and a little less of me. [Music] Join and sing. Brothers, [Music] 1:17:59 let me be a little kinder. Let me be a little blinded to the falls of those around me. Let me praise a little more. Let me be when I am weary just a little 1:18:15 bit more cheery. A little more of others and a little less of me. Let me be a little braver when temptation spits me waver. Let me strive a little harder to be all that I could 1:18:33 be. Let me be a little weaker with a brother who is weaker. Let me think more of my neighbor and a little less of me. Let me be a little nearer. Let me speak 1:18:50 a little clearer of the one who came to love me, who died to set me free. Let me be when I'm weary, just a little bit more jury. Let me think more of my 1:19:06 neighbor and a little less of me. Let me climb a little higher. Let me think. Let me climb a little higher in every word and deed. Let's sing verse four once again. Let me 1:19:25 climb a little higher. Let me think a little purer. Let me help all those around me who are so much in need. Let me be a little closer to a brother who is a loser. Let me climb a more, little higher in every word and deed. 1:19:42 Let me climb a little higher. Let me think a little purer. Let me help all those around me who are so much in need. Let me be a little closer to a brother who's a loser. Let me climb a little 1:20:01 higher in every word and deed. [Music] [Music] Thank you brothers for the wonderful 1:20:31 song. I want to say amen to that. And I was encouraged from what I heard this morning. You know we brother started off with saying standing at the gap from Ezekiel 20 to30 and this is what came to me. It's not a 1:20:49 nice thing to do but it's it's a very important thing because God says otherwise they'll be destroyed. Who would stand at the cap so that I would not destroy them? So it's a it's an important calling for all of us and I 1:21:06 want to take it seriously. And we heard about brother Ian, how he would stand at the gap. And I remember from my own life in in a time where I was so down and discouraged and thinking of was completely away from the Lord and 1:21:25 uh thinking there's no hope in my life and to brother Ian opened up and could see how he stood at the gap, how he showed God's mercy. And uh when I came out you know I remember vividly I started my bike he came running and said John go with your 1:21:44 left lifted up I went straight and had a biryani you know that's that's the impact that he could have a man who can stand at the gap is uh condemning myself self condemning and went and had a nice biryani 1:22:01 now we we see in Ephesians 23 and 14 how Jesus stood at the gap app and turn there. Ephesians 2 verse 13 and 14. Two verses talks about how Jesus reconciled us to 1:22:20 God. Verse 13. Now in Christ Jesus, you who were formally were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Have been far off. The gap was so much Jesus Christ like we hear about the 1:22:38 cross on arm of the cross brought me near to God. That that was one of one of the thing that the cross did brought me near to God. Otherwise I would have never been able to come near God. Jesus Christ took that place, stood at the gap. 1:22:58 And not just that, our next verse, how he brought, you know, two groups, two people together. How he brought us together. How he brought two groups together, broke down the dividing wall. He brought me close to God and he 1:23:17 brought us close to each other, breaking the dividing wall. And this is what he did on the cross. And Paul said that we have this ministry the ministry of reconciliation. And Paul gave gives a role for that and gives describes about the 1:23:34 responsibility. Like we all you know when we go to a job we are given a role and a responsibility. 2 Corinthians 5 Paul talks about a role and a responsibility in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. meditate and thinking of this I want to 1:23:53 look at this verse in connection of what you've been hearing verse 20 therefore we are the ambassadors for Christ the ambassadors of Christ ambassadors for Christ that's the role Paul is saying we are the ambassadors of Christ and what's the 1:24:12 responsibility so that we can bring people to be reconciled to God the last part of the verse we beg you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God. That's the responsibility. Now Paul is saying know the ambassadors of Christ and bring people to God be 1:24:30 reconciled to God. And just like how Jesus reconciled us to God and reconciled us to one another. I can I can be an ambassador of Christ. What should I do as an ambassador of Christ? Should do my part and bring people to God and say be reconciled to 1:24:50 God. It should start at home. I feel it should start at my own home, in my own life and at my home and in the church. Bring people to God. If at home if a wife or a husband is offended with someone or with God, I should be an ambassador of Christ and 1:25:07 say be reconciled to God. Don't go to bed without reconciling with God. I should be an ambassador. And as ambassadors we have embassies and ambassadors they can be of one of the two. They can either be a good ambassador bringing that country you 1:25:26 know in good relationship with our country or they can just spoil everything. One tweet can just put a bad name for the whole country. Recently something of of that sort happened and same thing came to me. I can either be an ambassador of Christ and bring 1:25:45 people close to God and bring people close to one another and do a ministry of reconciliation or I can widen the gap by being a stumbling block. And that's the challenge to me. Lord, I want to be an ambassador of Christ. I 1:26:04 don't want to be a stumbling block at home for my children to be reconciled to God. They seeing my life day in day out. Yes, they are young. But Lord, I should be an ambassador of Christ so that they will be reconciled to you. They will 1:26:17 come to you. They will be restored to you. I want I want to be an ambassador for Christ to my wife so that seeing my life she'll be reconciled to God. I want to be an ambassador of Christ to the children in the church or the young 1:26:31 people in the church or the teens in the church so that seeing my life they can be reconciled to God. I can either be an ambassador or be in stumbling block. We read that about stumbling block. I want to close with reading those verses about the stumbling 1:26:47 block. Read that in couple of places. I want to turn to Matthew 18. talking about the little ones. 1:27:13 Whoever verse six, whoever causes one of the little ones who believe in me to stumble if I am a stumbling block, the Bible is saying, "What should I do? How can I be not a stumbling block?" It says it's better for him to have a heavy milestone 1:27:31 hunger on his neck and be drowned in the depth of the sea instead of being a a stumbling block. We heard in this church many times Jesus is saying in other words go and commit suicide. We have heard this and this is what came to me. 1:27:46 How can I be not a stumbling block? I don't need to go and commit suicide and end my life. All I need to do is put myself to death or you know put a huge stone around this self. Self which wants to judge others. Self which wants to 1:28:05 condemn others. Self which wants to pay back repay. Self which wants to seek honor. Self which wants to speak evil of other person. Already a person has something against somebody and they come to me. Oh, there is a gap. I want to put few 1:28:23 more things about the other person and widen the gap. And that's the self. And put that self to death. Don't be a stumbling block. Be an ambassador. Do a ministry of reconciliation. Put this self to death. Self which says that I can do this help. 1:28:44 you know this person has come to me and I'm going to reconcile this person to God and reconcile this person to one another. The self which says you know what you can do with your own strength. Put that self to death so you can be an 1:28:56 ambassador not be a stumbling block. May God help me and each of us to be an ambassador for Christ. Do the ministry of reconciliation closing down the gap and not widen the gap. May God help us. Amen. going to invite Charles to come in close. 1:29:26 I think the last song what we sang now sums up all that we heard today. I wish we could go through that song again and make it our prayer through this week 1:29:43 and see how it'll change our life and perspective. This verse what u Suresh read in Ezekiel 22:30 it is not speaking about the physical 1:29:58 wall of a of a country that God is looking for someone to stand in the breach. It is I read in the living Bible. It reads there. I looked in vain for anyone who would build again the wall of 1:30:18 righteousness that guards the land. It is the wall of righteousness. It was broken the morality and the ethics of that city. righteousness, 1:30:36 that wall that guards the land, that was broken, and God is asking who could stand in the gap and defend the city from my just attacks. But sorry to say, the Lord says, I found none. 1:30:56 We we read in scripture various instances where um men of God pleaded with God interceded for various things. For instance, we read about Abraham. 1:31:16 When Abraham came to know that God is going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, he pleaded with God. He said, "Lord, please will not the God of justice, the the God of the whole world do justice?" And he 1:31:35 said, "If there is if there are 50 people, Lord, will you save that place?" The Lord said, "Okay." There was no there were no 50 people. He came down to 45, 40, 30, 20, 10. 1:31:54 Six times he pleaded with God. But there was there were no people, 10 people. Only Lot and his two daughters. Only three of them were there and the Lord rescued them. And then we read about 1:32:11 Moses also. When the Israelis saw that Moses had been to the on top of the mount si he didn't come then they thought that something happened probably he is dead 1:32:30 then they asked Aaron to make some god for them and Aaron made some golden calf and then they started worshiping that idol Then the wrath of God burnt against them. And the Lord said, "I will destroy 1:32:47 this people, these obstinate people. And I will make I will raise a new generation from you, Moses. You be the next 1:33:04 what to say Noah kind of sort of through you I will raise a nation and but Moses said nothing doing Lord I don't want that honor I want you to please have mercy on them your people you brought them up and Lord 1:33:22 please help them if you don't do that what Will the others think other nations they will think that you were able to bring them out of Egypt but you are not able to sustain them and your name will be you know tarnished 1:33:42 so please if you don't do that please blot out my name from the book of life he says he risked his life the same thing Paul also did we read about that in Paul Um, in Romans 9, Paul says, "I 1:34:00 have such a grief in my heart for my people, Israelis, that they would be saved. But if God could save them at the cost of my life, I'm willing to be banished 1:34:17 and my life, my name can be rubbed off from the book of life. If only God saves Israel. So that is Paul's concern. And Paul's letters you see so many times he says he begins with 1:34:36 prayer. He says dear so and so church so and so I have been praying for you. And he says to Timothy he says to Titus ever since and Colossians ever since I heard about you I have been praying for you day and night. He says and he prayed for 1:34:54 them and not only he prayed for them he requested them also to pray for him because he knew that he was not just one lone spiritual giant but he also needed the prayers of other people. So he requested that them also to pray for him 1:35:13 so that God will give utterance to him to speak the right words at the right time so that people can be encouraged and churches can be built up and u we read in Romans 15:1 those uh of us who 1:35:32 are strong should bear the burden of those who are weak. Even in Galatians 6 uh 2 also it says bear one another's burdens and uh we read in Romans 8:26 and 34 1:35:48 also there the Holy Spirit himself intercedes for us just imagine it's not the Lord telling and asking I didn't find anybody because 1:36:05 he didn't find anybody ready. No, he himself is interceding. The Holy Spirit in Romans 8:26 says he intercedes for us. He prays for us because he knows our weaknesses and he 1:36:23 prays for us in in ways in words which we cannot utter with um with a burden. He prays for us. And then in 34 34th verse we read Jesus also intercedes 1:36:43 for us. And then it says in verse 31 if God be for us who can be against us. So the father son and the holy spirit they are for us and with us against sin and 1:37:00 against the flesh and against the devil. So if God is for us, who can be against us? Let's close in prayer. So father in heaven, we thank you for 1:37:19 this morning and for this wonderful word that you gave us today that we can stand in the gap. We can prevent calamity from coming that we can save one another and help 1:37:37 bless one another. Lord we want to thank you for the examples that you have given to us. Not only that Lord, you have come down to help us. You have given us the Holy Spirit as a comforter in our hearts to comfort us, encourage and strengthen 1:37:56 us. And that you are there at the right hand of the father interceding for us. What a security that we have. Dear father, help us, help me, each one of us to bear one another's burdens and fulfill the law of Christ. Father, thank 1:38:15 you that you will do that. For we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, we will have uh the book of the month and also the announcements. Presenting 1:38:51 the book of this month, Aur heavenly home by brother Zach Punan. God wants the days of each Christian home to be like the days of heaven upon 1:39:10 earth. This book contains the transcripts of the messages brother Zach preached at the weddings of his four sons. It addresses topics such as how to have a heavenly home on earth, how to make the right choices in your 1:39:32 marriage, how to have a marriage like a garden, how to make your home a sanctuary for God. May this book challenge many married couples to raise the standard of their 1:39:51 own married lives to God's standard. [Music]
