0:00 of you. Shall we all stand as we sing to him? Bless his name together. Come people of the risen king who delight to bring him praise. Come all and tune your hearts to sing to the morning star of praise. Let's sing to him. Rejoice. Let 0:14 every tongue rejoice. One heart and one voice. [Music] Come people of the risen king who 0:36 delight to bring him praise. Come all into your hearts to sing to the morning star of grace. From the shifting shadows of the earth, 0:54 we will lift our eyes to him. Where steady arms of mercy reach together, children rejoice, rejoice, rejoice. 1:13 Let every tongue rejoice. One heart, one voice. Oh church of Christ, rejoice. Come those whose joy is God's own son 1:36 and those weeping through the night. found those who tell all battles won and those struggling in the fight. For his perfect love will never change 1:55 and his mercies never cease. But follow us through all our days with the certain hope of peace. Rejoice with us. Rejoice, [Music] rejoice, 2:13 oh every time rejoice. One heart, one voice. Oh church of Christ, rejoice. Come young and old from every land. Come 2:35 young and old from every land, men and women of the faith. And come those truthful or empty hands by the riches of his grace 2:53 over all the world. His people sing. Surely, surely we are more the truth that Christ to every age. Our 3:07 God is all in all and will rejoice. Rejoice. Let every tongue rejoice. [Music] 3:25 Oh church of Christ, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice. Let every tongue rejoice. One heart, one voice. 3:43 Oh church of Christ, rejoice. May be seated, please. Oh, he's great in power, great in glory, 4:03 great in mercy, our king. Let's heaven and sing of heaven great in battle great in wonderers 4:20 great in heaven. He is here over all the earth with us. Sing with him. Praise him you heavens 4:40 and all that's above. Praise him you angels and heavenly host. Let the all of people praise him. Praise him the sun, moon and bright 4:58 shining stars. Praise him you heavens and waters and skies. And the fuller praise him great in power 5:18 in glory. Oh great in mercy. King of heaven. Great in battle, 5:35 great in wonderers, great in heaven, king over all the earth. 5:50 [Music] So I will praise you, oh Lord, with all my heart. And I will tell of all your wonderers. 6:06 I will dance. I will sing and rejoice in you and give praise to your glorious. Again, let's come and sing. I will praise you, oh Lord, with all my heart. 6:21 And I will tell of all your wonderers. I will dance. I will sing and rejoice in you and give praise to your glorious name. We sing. Hosana. 6:40 Hosana. Hosana to the king. Hosana. Hosana. Hosana to the king. I praise you, oh Lord. I 6:59 will praise you, oh Lord, with all my heart. I will tell of all your wonderers. I will dance. I will sing and rejoice in you and give praise to your glorious 7:18 name. Hosana. Hosana. Hosana to the king. Hosana. Hosana. Hosana 7:38 to the king. Again, hosana. Hosana. [Music] Hosana to the king. Hosana 7:54 sing. Hosana. Hosana to the king. Lord save us. Hosana. And it is our love rising from our hearts. Everything within us cries, I 8:14 love you, Lord. Let's join in and sing. We are here to praise you and lift our hearts and sing. Give you the best that we can bring. Yes, we are here to praise 8:33 you. We lift our hearts and sing. Join with us, brothers and sisters. We are here to give you 8:50 the best that we can bring. And it is our love rising from our hearts. Everything within 9:13 us cries. I love you, Lord. I love you, Lord. We should sing. We're here to praise you. We are here to praise you. Lift our hearts and sing. Lift our 9:31 hearts and sing. We are here to give. give you the rest that we can bring. And it is our love. 9:50 And it is our love rising from our hearts. Everything within us rise. He's a father. I'm a father. 10:10 I'm a father. Oh, help us now to give you pleasure and delight. [Music] 10:29 Heart and mind and will and sing. I love you, Lord. We all stand as we continue to sing, thinking about him. We are a moment, but 10:49 he is forever. Lord of the ages, God before time. We are a vapor, but he is eternal. Love everlasting, reigning on high. High is praises, honor, and glory. Let's call to mind his faithfulness, his love for us. Bless his name together. Highest 11:07 praises, honor, and glory be unto your name. We are a moment, but you are forever, Lord of the ages. Your God before time. 11:25 We are of labor, but you are eternal. of everlasting, reigning on high. Holy, holy, 11:44 Lord God Almighty. Worthy is the lamb who was highest. Praisees, honor, and glory be unto your name. Be unto 12:03 your name. Be unto your name. Be unto your name. For we are the broken. But you are the healer. 12:20 Jesus redeemer. You're mighty to save. You are the love song. We will sing forever bowing before you and blessing your 12:38 name. Holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. Worthy is the lamb who was saved. 12:54 Highest praise is honor and glory be unto your name. Holy, holy 13:10 Lord God Almighty. He is the lamb who was slain. Highest praise is honor and glory be unto 13:29 your name and your name. Be unto your name and your name. unto your name as we sing. Worthy, 13:51 oh worthy are you, Lord. You're worthy to be thanked and praised and worshiped and adored. Worthy, 14:08 oh worthy are you Lord. Worthy to be thanked and praised and worshiped and adored. Singing hallelujah. Singing hallelu to the lamb upon the throne. 14:30 We worship and adore you. Make your glory known. Hallelujah. [Music] Glory to the king. 14:46 You're more than a coner. You're Lord of everything. It again. Worthy. Oh, worthy. Worthy. 15:01 So worthy are you Lord, worthy to be thanked and praised and worshiped and adored. Worthy, 15:18 oh worthy are you, Lord. You're worthy to be thanked and praised and worshiped and adored. Hallelujah to the lamb upon the singing. Hallelu [Music] 15:36 to the lamb upon the throne. We worship and adore you. Make you glory known. Hallelu. [Applause] 15:53 Glory to the king. You're more than a conqueror. You are Lord of every holy. 16:14 Sing with us. Holy Lord God Almighty. Lord God Almighty. Holy, holy, holy. We stand in all of you. We stand 16:38 in all of you. Behold the Lord upon his throne. Behold the Lord upon his throne. His face is shining 16:56 like the sun with eyes blazing fire and feet glowing bronze. His voice like mighty waters rule. The first, the last, the living one. 17:15 The first, the last, the living one down his life for all the world. Behold, he now lives 17:34 forever more. And he holds the keys of death and hell. Holy, holy. Join with us. 17:54 Lord God Almighty, holy, [Music] holy. We bow 18:11 before your throne. Let our praises ever ring. So let our praisees ever rain to Jesus Christ our glorious 18:30 king. For heaven and earth is found as we cry. Worthy is the son of God. Holy 18:50 we sing. Holy, Lord God Almighty, holy, holy, 19:10 we fall down at your feet. Holy, holy, holy. The voices, holy, holy Lord God 19:30 Almighty, holy, holy, we stand in all you. We stand in all of you. 19:49 Sunday school children can go to Sunday school now. Shall we bow our heads in prayer? 20:19 [Music] As we come before his presence, let's quieten our spirits. Focus your attention on him. Think about 20:37 him. We stand in awe of him who sits on the throne before whom one day the heavens and the earth 20:54 will flee. Every tongue, every tribe, every nation will bow down before him one day. and confess he is the king of kings and the lord of 21:14 lords from everlasting to everlasting your God 21:32 as the nations rise and fall your sovereignty remains Lord Jesus, the radiance of God, glory of the father in us, you are high and lifted up, king of 21:50 kings and lord of lords, holy anointed one, Jesus, exalted one, the first and the last, the beginning and the ending. 22:08 There's no one like unto him in heaven or on earth. All angels fall prostrate before him and worship him. Let's do that this morning. Brothers and sisters, recognize who he is 22:27 and recognize the frailty of our life, the shortness of our life. Let's bow before him and worship him and give him the glory that's due unto him. Lift up your voices, brothers and 22:46 sisters. Shout praises unto him for the one who is on the throne. Our father, we thank you, your holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty. We bless your holy name this morning. You were and you are and 23:05 you are going to come one day to snatch your church away from this world. We want to bless you our heavenly father for loving us enough to send Jesus to die for us. Thank you for cleansing us and for not counting our trespasses Lord 23:23 for washing us and cleansing us and making us your children. We bless you Lord for giving us to one another for your church. We worship your majesty. We bow down before you in adoration and thanksgiving and praise. Even this 23:39 morning, Lord, as we come before your presence, we look up to you for a word from your throne. That you will anoint those who minister your word. That you will fill us with your Holy Spirit. That you will give us a listening ear. That 23:53 you will speak to us. That none will go from here discouraged or empty. that you will bless everyone who has come with hunger and thirst. Lord Jesus, we worship you and praise you in Jesus 24:08 name. Amen. Amen. Please be seated. Let's look at our memory verse of last week's and learn a new one this week. Last week's memory verse was from Matthew 18:20. 24:26 A very familiar verse. Let's all say it together loudly. Is it there on the screen? For where two or three have gathered together in my name, I am there in their 24:43 midst. Matthew 18:20. Shall we say it together without looking at the screen? Where two or three have gathered together in my name, there I am in their midst. Matthew 18:20. And today's a small verse from Galatians 6:2. 25:02 Let's say it together loudly. Bear one another's burdens and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. Let's say that again. Bear one another's burdens and be thereby fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2. 25:21 Now, I request Brother Ian Robson to come up and minister the word of God to us. I want to share with you this morning 25:43 something that's very important as to how we finish our life on this earth. I want you to look at Hebrews in chapter 3. Hebrews chapter 3. 26:04 Hebrews is a book that we would do well to study and meditate on because the whole Christian life is written here. The book of Hebrews was written for the Hebrew 26:21 Christians. Those who from among Judaism found the Messiah Jesus Christ to be the son of God. Many truths here that we read would help us to live the life that God has called 26:38 us to live on this earth and also help us to finish our life on this earth in the way we should finish. And that's what I want to share with you this morning in Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 14. 26:57 It says there we have become partakers of Christ if I want you to notice that if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end. 27:15 And if you go back a little further, a few verses above, we read in verse six, it says, "Christ was faithful as a son over his house, whose house we are." If there again, we have that word. 27:33 If we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end. Notice it there both in verse six and verse 14. Until the end. That means how 27:53 we finish. We've heard in this church that's more important than how we began. We can begin well but we don't finish well. Basically because what it says here, we don't have that confidence. We don't hold fast our confidence, the boast of 28:12 our hope firm until the end. Oh, in verse 14, we don't hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end. And that's what I want that we think about this morning. The beginning of our assurance, firm 28:31 until the end. holding fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end. What does that mean? What was how did we begin? You and I, we have come become part of the family of God. We are born again and we know that Jesus 28:50 has forgiven our sins. We have been cleansed in the blood of Jesus. We have surrendered our lives to him. We have invited him into our lives. We have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. How did that all that begin? 29:07 Just think about think about your life. Let's think about my life. How did it how did we begin? It's by faith, isn't it? And that's there in Hebrews 11 and verse one says, "Faith, faith is the assurance of things hoped 29:23 for, the conviction of things not seen." And that's how you and I began. And that's how we are to end. If I'm to end my life well, I'm to remain in faith until the end. I am to 29:40 have this firm assurance, the beginning of our assurance. I hold it firm until the end. And if you and I live that life, we will finish our life well. We not just begin well and not do many things for God, but we will end our 29:57 lives well. And that's something that speaks to my own heart. I want to end my life well. We saw in Pilgrim's Progress, you know, that right at the very gates of heaven, there was a road that led to the city of destruction. 30:16 So till I finish, till I breast the tape, then I know I've done, then I know that I fought the good fight of faith. So I want you to think about that, my brothers and sisters. How is it today? Are we on that path? Are we continuing 30:35 in faith? Do I want to finish my life well or do I am satisfied with a good testimony that I have in the church? The brothers and sisters think well of me. I'm a humble brother. You're a humble sister. You're a man of faith or a woman of faith. 30:54 Does not really matter. It's how I'm going to I'm going to finish. And so the beginning of our assurance begins with faith. And I have to make sure that I hold fast to the beginning of that assurance. In Hebrews chapter 10 verse 31:11 22 it talks there it says there let us draw near with a sincere heart in the full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 31:28 This is how we begin. We draw near with a sincere heart with full assurance of faith. having our hearts sprinkled clean. It says from an evil conscience that I can keep a good conscience before 31:47 God and before man that I have a new beginning and I begin by faith and our bodies washed with pure water. Just like we shower every day, we have a bath every day. Every day I need my body to be washed with pure water. 32:05 Every day I need my mind to be cleansed and washed. And whenever we have opportunity, we wash one another's feet. We come together like this to wash one another's feet so that we remain in faith. This is how we begin. But this is how also we 32:21 are to end. And we must never lose this assurance till we finish. You saw in pilgrims progress when brother Zach so powerfully shared with us. We saw 32:39 what happened to Christian pilgrim who became a Christian and the life the path that he he trod how along the way he lost the scroll and then he suddenly discovered 32:58 good thing he discovered it he had to go back and the scroll is God's word that helps us to keep ourselves in in faith This assurance we get from God's word, not just by coming to the meetings. We can come to all the meetings of the 33:13 church. But if I don't have God's word in my heart, I will not have that assurance. If I don't have God's word, if I don't study it, meditate on it, I will not get faith in my heart. Because faith comes from hearing and hearing the word 33:30 concerning Christ. That's how I get faith. That's how I keep myself in faith, not by coming to the meetings. Faith does not come from coming to the meetings. That's good if we come to the meetings and we should not neglect that. 33:43 But faith comes from hearing and hearing the word concerning Christ. I come to the meetings, I hear the word concerning Christ. Praise the Lord. But how about Monday to Saturday? Is my life centered about on Sunday? I tell you my 34:00 brothers and sisters, if my life is only centered on the Sunday meeting or Wednesday meeting, one more meeting or you can add as many meetings as you want. And it's not centered in God's word, in hearing God speak to us. I pray, give us 34:19 this day our daily bread. I'm not just thinking about the food on my table. I want a word from God's mouth whereby Jesus said man cannot live by bread alone but but by every word that proceeds from the father's mouth and do 34:34 I get that word that's the only way I can keep my faith that's the only way I can finish daily if I live every day hearing that word from God's mouth that keeps me in faith that helps me to keep 34:53 the beginning of my assurance firm until the end, then I'll finish well. In the Living Bible, it paraphrases Hebrews 11 uh 3:14. It says, "If we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as we did when we first became Christians, we will 35:10 share in all that belongs to Christ." So, it's so important and I feel that many of us don't progress because we don't have that assurance. We don't have the assurance that I've been forgiven. No matter what kind of life you lived, no matter how much how 35:27 badly you messed up, but if you repented and you come to Christ and receive the forgiveness of sins by faith and be cleansed in the blood of Jesus and you have a new beginning and you believe God's word that if any man is in Christ, 35:42 he's a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, new things have come. You believe that? Not just when you come to Christ, not just the day you're born again, but all through your life, old things have passed away, new 35:55 things have come to hold on to that assurance. And when the devil reminds you of certain sins that you've committed in the past that you've repented of that you can say like Martin Luther said when the devil reminded him of all his 36:10 sins and he says that all there's more Satan right across it. The blood of Jesus cleanses me from all sin. The devil vanished like that. But the thing is we allow the devil to sit on our heads when he reminds us of something 36:25 some slip up some mistake we made in the past some sin and we can be plagued with that that even you know when when you grow old and you you age was talking to somebody that you can be plagued with the remembrance of certain 36:44 sins and how you have failed in the past but to believe that if you have repented repented. You've been forgiven. It's canceled. The debt has been cancelled. That's the assurance we are to have. That's what God God's word says. 37:01 Colossians, I'd like you to turn to that word in Colossians 2 verse 13. says, "When you were dead," Colossians 2:13, "When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made your life together 37:16 with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled out the certificate of debt, consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us, and he's taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." And when 37:35 he when Jesus did that, it says he disarmed the rulers and authorities. He made a public display of them having triumphed over them through him or through the cross. And that's what Jesus did on the cross. He cancelled my debt. 37:50 How great a debt it could have been. He canled it. And when the devil reminds you and reminds me of certain sins you've committed in the past that we can say to him, the blood of Jesus has cleansed me. I don't need to let him get onto my 38:06 back. I don't let him get a place and let him sit on my head. I can say to him, "Be gone." Satan, you were defeated on the cross of Calvary. Jesus is finished. You marched naked. You thought you stripped Jesus naked, but it's you 38:20 who are marched naked because Jesus took my place. He cancelled the certificate of death. That's the assurance my brothers and sisters we are to have not just in the beginning of our Christian life but all through till the end. And 38:35 the reason I believe some of us do not progress is because we don't have that assurance. We had it at one time but like Christian we lose it along the way through carelessness through preoccupation with the things of the world through 38:54 worry and anxiety we lose that assurance and if we continue that way we'll we'll never finish it well in Colossians 2:15 which we just read it says in this way he took away Satan's power to accuse you 39:12 of sin. That's the Living Bible. In this way, God took away Satan's power to accuse you of sin. And God openly displayed to the whole world Christ's triumph at the cross where your sins were all taken away. And I want you, my brothers and 39:30 sisters, to preserve that assurance in your heart. I guarantee you, you'll finish. You'll finish well. Hebrews chapter 8 10 to12 the words that we have heard often in this church God says here how much do we hold on to this 39:48 he says this is the covenant I'll make with the house of Israel that's with the church after those days says the lord I'll put my laws into their minds I'll write them on their hearts I will be their god and they shall be my people shall not teach 40:03 everyone his fellow citizen and everyone his brother saying know the Lord for all will know me from the least to the greatest of them for I will be merciful to their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more. Do we hold on to that 40:22 or just when we are born again? We began well, we have the assurance there, but then we lose that. We don't believe what God says. I'll remember your sins no more. I hope every one of you here who has 40:41 come into the family of God, was born again, been washed in the blood of Jesus, received the Holy Spirit, has this assurance. I will remember your sins and iniquities no more. This is the covenant. That's why I said if you read 40:56 the book of Hebrews, you will never get discouraged. It will always pump adrenaline into your spirit. And that is the way we are to live with that assurance that God will not remember my sins and iniquities anymore. 41:15 So I should not remember the sins and the mistakes and the failures of others anymore. Also Jesus said if you forgive others if you don't forgive others neither will my heavenly father forgive you. And he says you have to be perfect as my 41:32 heavenly father is perfect. Perfect in forgiving others. Jesus has made that possible. Perfect in releasing others from their debt as much as I have been released and I have been released from a greater debt than anybody else owes me. I hope you 41:50 recognize that that we can forgive others. That I choose not to remember the sins and the failures of others because God chooses not to remember my sins and my failures and my foolishness. How much more you and me 42:10 and we hold it against others and we have our hands secretly on somebody's throat and we keep thinking of that sin that somebody committed against thinking of that failure of that whatever it is then we will never 42:28 preserve our assurance till the end to have the assurance that we've been baptized in the Holy Spirit Have you lost that? And we asked some, you know, have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit? I think so. 42:47 I'm not sure. I've been asking. Few I've come across as yes, I've been baptized. I know I've been baptized. I have the assurance that God has given me the Holy Spirit. That's the assurance I should have till right to the end. How did I get that assurance? 43:03 By faith. The Galatians at one time they got it by faith. But Paul had to say to them. He said, "How did you begin? You were you you were running well. Who has hindered you?" They began well. They began by the spirit. But along the way, they decided 43:20 to live by the letter. They decided it to choose this path, the harder path of being legalists, of seeing God's command of just wanting to obey God's commandments, living by rules and regulations and forgetting that it's the 43:36 Holy Spirit who fulfills the requirement of the law in our hearts. Romans chapter 8, the requirement of the law is fulfilled in your heart and mine through the power of the Holy Spirit. Not by me struggling and striving trying to keep 43:50 God's commandments trying to live a good life. If I open my life to the Holy Spirit, not just when I asked him to baptize me, and I know he baptized me, but all every day open my life to the Holy Spirit, the requirement of the law 44:04 will be fulfilled in your heart and mine, my brothers and sisters. This is the assurance that we are to have and preserve until the end. beginning of our assurance through faith and every day through faith I open my life to the Holy Spirit. Every day I 44:21 pray, Lord Jesus, fill me with the Holy Spirit. There are going to be situations. There are going to be temptations and trials today that I cannot handle on my own. But I know that you'll give me the power of the Holy Spirit. Do you have that assurance? Do 44:33 you pray such a prayer? I do. I ask him every day to fill me with the Holy Spirit because I know I cannot manage on my own. And that's how some of us lose that assurance. Assurance that God loves us just as much as he loved Jesus. You 44:51 believe that? You believe now when I remind you. But what about in that situation? And you think God is punishing me. Oh, because I did this or because some sin I committed 10 years ago and that's why I'm suffering today. God is 45:08 punishing me. I often tell people, God doesn't punish. He's my father. He doesn't punish. He disciplines. To believe that God loves you and loves me just as much as he loved Jesus. As he is, so are we in the world. 45:27 to believe that in our hearts, my brothers and sisters, not just in our minds. That is the full assurance of faith. And we are called to draw near to God with that full assurance of faith. Not just on Sunday mornings, 45:43 but every day. The full assurance of faith that my sins have been forgiven. I've been God does not remember my sins anymore. that I receive the power of the Holy Spirit that God loves me as much as he loved Jesus to maintain that preserve 46:00 that firm until the end. Then we can finish well and then look at Colossians in chapter 2. Colossians 2 and verse two, Paul says there 46:21 is, I pray that your hearts will be encouraged having been knit together in love and attaining to all the wealth, listen to this, to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding resulting in a true knowledge of God's 46:39 mystery that is Christ in himself in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. We can have a firm assurance of faith that we can hold on to. And I want you 46:58 to see that we can have a wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, understanding God's ways. a wealth attaining it says to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of 47:17 understanding resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery that is Christ himself in other words I get to know Jesus better every day there's a wealth my brothers and sisters that we are called to attain to 47:36 that I can live and walk as Jesus lived I can become spiritually wealthy. It says in another version it says may your spiritual experience become richer as you see more and more fully God's 47:54 great secret Christ himself. That way I can become richer. I don't have to live a beggy life. I can live as a king. You can live as a queen. We are called. That's what we are made. We are kings and priests. But we live like 48:12 beggars on this earth because we have not attained to that wealth that comes from a full it says there from the full assurance of understanding of what we you and I have in Christ to have that assurance and become wealthy. 48:31 And it says in in Colossians in 2:1 in this run, it is in him and in him alone that men will find all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In him and him alone, I will find all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Do we believe that? 48:51 That whatever I have to do in this one life on the earth that I can get all the wisdom and knowledge that I need through Jesus Christ. Whether it's your job, whatever you're doing, whether in bringing up your children, whether in 49:08 living with your life partner, I can get wisdom and knowledge to live in an understanding way with my life partner. This is the wealth. There's so much my brothers and sisters that we have not seen because we don't have that firm 49:25 assurance of faith. We can have a wealth of knowledge that comes from knowing Jesus and knowing him not just casually once a week but knowing him every day that in every situation I can get wisdom. I can get knowledge and that's 49:44 what it says that in him and him alone do I believe that oh I think I'm a self-made man. I've got experience. I've got ability. I can do this well. I know what to do. So I know how to bring up my children. And we boast about so many things. It 50:00 says, "Let him who boast boast in the Lord." And if I've received grace and ability to do my job well or to be able to bless others, it's only because of God's grace. It's only because of Jesus. Let me never forget that. 50:16 The full assurance of understanding that makes me wealthy, spiritually wealthy. God wants that for every one of us listening this morning, my brothers and sisters, that you and I can become spiritually wealthy. That I can see that it's only in him and 50:34 in him alone is all wisdom and knowledge. I can get wisdom to bring up my children well, to live with my partner well, to do my job well, to have a good relationship and good fellowship with the brothers and sisters. It's not by visiting one another. It's 50:52 good if we can do that, but it's in him and in Christ alone that we get all wisdom and knowledge and to recognize that my father runs this universe. That's the God I believe and he's in charge. He loves me as he loves Jesus. 51:11 Like I said, just know it's not like the person, you know, with the sticker behind the sky. I don't know if you've seen it. The car that I've seen many times the back on on the windscreen on the back screen is my boss is a Jewish carpenter. 51:27 Is your boss a Jewish carpenter? I feel sorry for him because his boss closed shop long ago. Hope you recognize that. And if if he wants that to be true, then he must go back to 25 AD 51:46 and live in Nazareth, then when he goes to that shop, he sees a sign there, closed down. What will happen to him? My boss is not a Jewish carpenter. My boss is my dad in heaven. I hope he's 52:04 your boss, too. I have no doubt about it. He runs the universe. He's in charge of everything. Everything means everything. Not just the hairs on my head are numbered. But he reads Psalm 139. It's so blessed. I was reading it 52:19 the other day that even the very thoughts I think before I can think about it, he knows it. He knows when I sit down, when I stand up. Do you believe that? Psalm 139. He knows when I sit down, when I stand up. He knows my thoughts 52:34 from afar. He knows the words I'm going to speak even before I speak it. That's my father in heaven, not my boss. My boss is my father. He's in charge of everything. I have no doubt about it, my brothers and sisters. And when I believe that and when I have 52:51 that firm assurance, whatever may happen in sickness or in health, in whatever may happen, if I have less or more, my boss, my father is in charge. I hope you will have that that assurance 53:11 and you'll hold it firm until the end. And then I want you to look at Hebrews chapter 6. Hebrews chapter 6 11 it says there we desire that each one of you Hebrews 6:11 53:31 you know before that it says God is not unjustice so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown towards his name and having ministered and in still ministering to the saints and we desire that each one of you show the 53:44 same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end. You see those words again and again four times in the book of Hebrews until the end. Until the end. The full assurance of hope until the end. So that you will not 54:01 be sluggish but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. He says that we desire each one of you show the same diligence. What diligence? just as you minister to the saints, you know, praise God for those who 54:20 minister to the saints. And he says, just as you've been so diligent and in some way or or the other, each of us wants to minister to the saints, the brothers and sisters, we want to help them. We want to bless them. The same 54:33 diligence he says you're showing there. He says you show the same diligence to realize the full assurance of hope until the end. In other words, we must never slack off the full assurance of hope. John says if we have this hope 54:51 within us, we will purify ourselves as he is pure. We don't slack off there. When the going get tough, we don't slack often think you know like David said at one time he said in vain I have purified my heart. He looked around he saw people with no 55:09 trouble. He says they they have no trouble in this life. They are fat. They and uh they are wealthy and and he says in vain I purified my heart. But he says until I went Psalm 72 I think it is until I went into the sanctuary of God then I saw therein end. 55:29 So sometimes we may think like that and we can lose that assurance. We can get slack. It says that we're not to be sluggish. You know sluggish is a result of indifference. Sluggishness, laziness, 55:46 carelessness. We are not to be sluggish, it says, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. This race is not for those who want to drag their feet. We have to run, my brothers and sisters, not drag our feet. We are to 56:04 run looking unto Jesus. It says in Hebrews 12 verse 1 and two, and we are to imitate those who through faith and patience inherited the promises. But I want you to see something. And I don't know if you noticed this 56:20 before between Hebrews 6, uh, chapter 6 and verse 6, sorry, Hebrews 3, what we started with, Hebrews 3 and verse 6 and Hebrews 3 and verse 14. There's something there sandwiched 56:39 between what we read about holding fast our confidence in the boast of our hope until the end. Firm until the end. verse 6 and verse 14. We have become partakers of Christ if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end. 56:55 There is something very important there. I want you to look at it. He says there verse 7 just as the Holy Spirit says today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me 57:12 and so on. They saw your father saw my works for 40 years. God says is angry with this generation. They go astray in their hearts. That's where we begin to lose that assurance in our hearts. That's where we go astray. They did not know my ways. So 57:32 I swore in my ro they shall not enter my rest. Take care, brethren, brethren, brothers and and sisters, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one 57:48 another day after day as long as it is still called today so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. And then we read that word. If for we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our 58:06 assurance firm until the end. Two phrases there. Take care and today. Today and take care. I want you to 58:23 remember that today if you hear his voice don't harden your heart. Today does not mean just Sunday my brother sister. Today means Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. And when you come back next Sunday, you 58:42 can say yes. Every day I heard his voice. I didn't harden my heart and I take care take care brethren that there not be in any one of you no matter how long we've been in the church in any one of you an evil 59:01 unbelieving heart in falling away from the living God but encourage one another and that's what we are to do encourage one another day after day we don't have meetings every day but we live with our partners ers every day 59:17 we meet somebody maybe a brother or sister every day but at least those of us who are families every day I can encourage my partner so that you don't get hardened by the deceitfulness of sin today if you hear his voice don't harden 59:37 your heart and take care that there's not in any one of us an evil unbelieving heart and the way to get rid of that is to encourage one another every day and then we will hold fast the beginning 59:55 of our assurance firm until the end. May God give us grace that you and I will finish well. Amen. Shall we sing a song? But I know whom I 1:00:20 have believed and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. Come brothers. [Music] 1:01:51 [Music] Let's let's just sing the chorus and uh we'll come back and learn the verse someday. But I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able 1:02:11 to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. once again. But I know whom I have believed and am persuaded 1:02:29 that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. Sometimes we want 1:03:01 like this what if I don't hold fast till the end what happens of me you know we need to understand how it all began man. And who started it? I didn't start it. 1:03:20 You didn't start it. The Bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. When Adam sinned, God didn't sit there on the throne and wait for Adam to come. He came after Adam and said, "Where are you?" 1:03:37 And even today, he comes after us. The Bible says Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. You know we were all lost but Jesus came to seek for us and he who has begun a good work in us. 1:03:56 It is he who is going to complete it. Jesus said in John 15 verse 16, he said, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and 1:04:14 bear fruit that your fruit should remain." See, we read here that we didn't, none of us chose Christ. None of us went after him. The Bible is very clear that no one seeks after God. No one seeks after God. 1:04:40 Maybe we can see that in Romans 3:10 as it is written, there is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands and there is none who seeks for God. There is none who does good and not even one. 1:04:58 So when we look at these verses, we realize that it is not in our hands. It is he who began this work in us and he will complete it. And it is he who works within us to will and to do of his 1:05:18 good pleasure. We read in Isaiah Isaiah 46 verses 3 and 4. It says, "Listen to me, oh house of Jacob and all the remnant of 1:05:36 the house of Israel. You who have been born by me from birth and have been carried from the womb, even to your old age, I shall be the same. And even to your graing years, I shall bear you. And I 1:05:54 have done it. And I shall carry you, and I shall bear you, and I shall deliver you. You saw that from our birth to death, God promises to be with us. And he says from your womb I have carried you and even to your gray 1:06:14 hair or in other words into bracket even when you go to the grave I am there I have I shall be with you. I shall bear you. It is he who promised us I will never 1:06:33 leave you nor forsake you. When God says I will never leave you, nobody can snatch you out of God's hand and his grip is so good that even if I wrigle, I will not. But if I tell him, 1:06:52 Lord, I want to go, then he will not do anything against your will. He can let you go. You can jump out of his hand because Jesus said, "Nobody can snatch my sheep out of my hand and they are in my father's hand." But if you want to jump out of God's 1:07:11 hand, the father of the prodigal son didn't hold him back, didn't tie him to a chain and, you know, kept him at home. He said, "Okay." He gave him his share and sent him off. You want to jump off, jump out of God's hand? 1:07:29 God will not hold you against your will. We read of of certain people in Ephesians 4:14 that there are some people who are like 1:07:46 children all the time. They are tossed hither and thither by every wind of doctrine. Somebody comes and tells about this doctrine, they say, "Yes, brother." Somebody says about something else, they say yes brother. Somebody comes and lays 1:08:02 their hands on them, they fall this way. Another group falls this way, they will fall that way. So thousand may fall on your left hand side and 10,000 on your right hand side. If your faith is anchored in the Lord, you 1:08:20 shall not be moved. Like Psalm 125, I think it says, "Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion. It shall not be shaken. It's firm." It's been there for ages and millenniums. You shall be like that. He who trusts in 1:08:38 the Lord shall be strong and do exploits. Don't be like small children tossed away here and there by every wind of doctrine. Be strong and be convicted in your convictions and based on God's word. If you hold fast to the confession 1:08:57 of your hope, what happens? Read uh Romans 15 verse 13. It says it's a lovely verse. I want you to remember this verse. How how you are filled with joy and peace. 1:09:16 You want your life to be filled with joy and peace. This is the secret. Romans 15:13, it says, "Now may the Lord or the God of hope fill you with all joy, with all joy and peace in believing 1:09:35 that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." How do you get hope? How do you get peace? How do you get joy? Like it says, it's by believing. Believing what? They believed his word 1:09:53 and sang his praises. You believe God's word and that assurance comes into your heart and you will not let go of it. You will hold on to it through thick and thin. You know the Bible is very clear. 1:10:12 Job said he lived in the old covenant and he said I have treasured his word in my heart in my heart and I desire them more than my necessary food. He said in the old covenant even when the Bible was not written probably he heard God speaking 1:10:30 to him and those words were so precious to him he had lot of wealth silver gold cattle camels the donkeys so much of wealth and he was probably in those days the richest man on earth and he said I 1:10:47 have treasured God's word and I esteem it more than my necessary food. You know what he says when he's going through all these things? He says, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him." That means 1:11:03 even if God kills me, I will still die trusting him. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they said even if our God doesn't deliver us from this fire, we will still not bow down to this idol. You see, they were the ones who held 1:11:22 fast to the hope of their confession to what they believed. Sometimes we come to the end of our life and we wonder, Lord, what's going to happen to me? You know, it happened to 1:11:41 Paul. You turn with me to Acts, Acts 27. Acts 27 and verse 20. You know this uh 1:12:01 incident here where Paul almost on his last journey to Rome. He was going to present his case before Caesar. And there he, you know, boards a ship to go to Rome and the ship meets with the 1:12:19 um tempest and it is tossed about and it is wrecked. And it says in verse 20, "And since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and no small storm was 1:12:37 assailing us, from then on all hope of or being saved was gradually abandoned." You see so Paul came to a place where all hope of being alive was totally abandoned because number of days they didn't see the sun nor the stars. They 1:12:57 were as it were in a in a under a cloud and it is a cloudy gloomy uh time days together they thought everything is finished. But you know what happened? An angel comes and speaks to him in the 1:13:15 night. Verse 24, it says, "Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar, and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you." And because of that, in verse 25, he says, and encourages those other passengers with 1:13:34 him, there were about 270 or something. He says, "Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told." You see, the scripture was not written that time, the full scripture. Only old 1:13:52 covenant was there. But an angel of God comes and speaks to him in the night and he latches on to that word of the angel and he says, "I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told. Do you believe like that? We have 1:14:10 innumerable promises and words given in the Bible. Do we claim them and hold fast to them and say I I I will I believe I it will turn out to be exactly as I have been told. God 1:14:29 speaks to you sometimes. See, these are all general general promises. But sometimes God specifically gives you some promises and he speaks to you in your heart or maybe when you are meditating or having your devotion, God speaks to you through 1:14:47 a word and it comes very personally to you and that is the word of Rema. That is a particular word that God gives you in your tough time, your situation. And you latch on to that, hold on to that and see that it comes to pass. And it 1:15:06 will because God is not a liar. He has promised and he will do it. And God is faithful. Hold fast to those words. One more place I was thinking where Paul almost came to the end of 1:15:25 himself in in verse 8 of 2 Corinthians 1. 2 Corinthians 1:8 it says, "For we do 1:15:44 not want you to be unaware, brethren, for our affliction which came to us in Asia that we were burdened excessively beyond our strength so that we despared even of life." In another translation it says we gave up all our hope of living. 1:16:03 We thought we were going to die but indeed we had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead or in God who cannot lie. You know there are certain 1:16:21 certain things that are we say all things are possible with God but you know the Bible says there are certain things that are not possible with God. For instance, it is impossible, it says, for God to lie. There are certain impossibilities for 1:16:39 God. It is impossible for him to lie. And it says here that we should not trust in ourselves. But trust in God who raises the dead. If God has promised you something, he will definitely do it. He's not like man to go back on his word. 1:16:57 Believe that, brothers and sisters. Even if you come to the end of your tether, like somebody said, when you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on there, don't give up because God is for you. 1:17:14 Jesus said in Hebrews 13:5, I think, I will never leave you nor forsake you. I will in some translation it says three times I'll never never never leave you nor forsake you. Let us be honest with 1:17:32 God and say Lord my faith is like that father of that boy said Lord I believe help my unbelief. If you go to him with that attitude he will never say no you don't have enough faith. Even when we don't have enough faith he 1:17:49 will not leave you. It says in Timothy, "Brothers and sisters, God loves you enough to die for you. Even when we didn't deserve it, he loved 1:18:08 us and died for us. Sent Jesus to die for us." How much more? I want to end with this one last word. Make this your confession. And whenever you feel overwhelmed, 1:18:26 remember this verse in 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 18. Always remember this verse. 2 Timothy 4:18. You can confess it 1:18:46 often to yourself and whenever you face difficult situations. The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. I'll read that again. The Lord will 1:19:05 deliver me. Or shall we say it together all of us? The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be the 1:19:21 glory forever and ever. Amen. Amen. And may I request brother We were thinking about how the Lord 1:19:46 wants to build our assurance um that the assurance that we had at the beginning of our Christian walk that the same may be strong at the at our finish to lead our assurance firm to the end. 1:20:04 The Lord has not called us that our faith should be standing on the rickety bridge of my own, you know, power of positive thinking or on my my own psychological mind trip mind tricks. I'm trying to convince myself that all things will work out 1:20:21 well. He hasn't called us to that. He has called us to an experiential founding on uh on his word on knowing God as my father not based on the words that I hear from this pulpit but words 1:20:40 that I've experienced in the circumstances of my life. I was thinking my faith is not founded on my own feelings but on the foundation of his faithfulness. My God is a faithful God. He is my father. He will take me to the 1:20:58 end. Um I was thinking of uh um you know in um in Luke chapter 15 the the prodigal son he took his way back. He started on the way back you know he came to his senses 1:21:17 basically because he knew that I will get up and go to my father. He wasn't going back to his brother or anyone else. He knew his father. In Luke 15:18, we say we see that I will get up and go to my father. No matter where I'm stuck, 1:21:35 he's my father. I can go back to him. I was thinking about in uh Luke chapter 15 there we have the circumstances of Luke chapter 11 I have this person where uh there's a situation where somebody came needy to a person 1:21:54 that he did have this person didn't have anything to offer to him uh neighbor he he came and he didn't have anything his ladder was empty he didn't have anything to give But he knew if I go to my friend and in our circumstance if I go to my father he 1:22:13 will give me he will give even if it's late even if there's nothing even if he's in bed my lord will give me we heard about the circum the shipwreck in which pet uh in which um Paul was stuck and we know that shipwreck it it that 1:22:32 that storm was not to a shipwreck it wasn't going to a shipwreck back. It was so that our faith could be built in that circumstances. It's so that we can see this glorious Lord who through the storm is building something in my life. God 1:22:51 doesn't take me through a fire to to just see how I'm going to squirm there in the fire. He takes it because he wants to refine something in me. He wants to build something in me. He wants me to have something to give to others 1:23:06 so that when a weary one comes to me, I have something to offer them. I have real bread. I have experiences to build up the faith of the weary one. It's not that uh my God wants to make the reality of this word experiential in my life. So 1:23:25 that I I'm not talking about theory. I'm talking about practical uh experience of this living God who will not let me go, who will not leave me alone in my circumstances. Uh I want my faith to be built up on this word. 1:23:45 There was one circumstance that I've been seeing in my own life. There's outside my bedroom window, there's a nest. It's on the second floor. And in that nest few few weeks ago, few months ago, uh two kites they the kites laid 1:24:01 their eggs in the nest for a long time the nest the eggs were just lying there. the mother is on the nest uh just sitting there and after some time you know I seeing day after day after day mother's not budging out of that and 1:24:16 thought came is this egg still born is nothing going to come out of this but God's word you know when I'm seeing the parallel you know God's word that is written in our hearts is it like going to be stillborn no god's word has life 1:24:31 in it and truly just like that one day that egg hatched uh and you know a scraggly chick came out of it. God's word is powerful and true. It will come to pass. I don't have to to you know doubt on uh it God's faithfulness is 1:24:49 true. The word will come to pass and the chick started to grow. beginning they were like a you know like a a ball of feathers and you think that up high in this tree three three stories above the ground maybe this uh chick will fall 1:25:06 down or it's feeling claustrophobic in its nest but God has his growth you know all day long the chick is doing nothing but eat what the mother provides and the word that God provides us that's sufficient that's sufficient to build us 1:25:22 up uh for our not just for our spiritual needs but even for our our physical needs. And and as I can see those chicks are growing that scraggly ball of feathers have become like you know the sleek feathers of the mother eagle and 1:25:38 one day this bird is going to be soaring in the air. God wants to take us through tough circumstances but he's a father. He knows how to tighten those, you know, the dials of our situations so that what comes out is is his work, his 1:25:56 faithfulness, his transformation and his growth. I was thinking of this uh this hymn, how firm a foundation ye saints of the Lord is laid for your faith in his excellent word. God has his word for us which is sufficient and you know if we 1:26:13 just trust it and obey it as knowing that this is words from our father then truly we will grow in him. I was thinking of the last vers last verse of that uh uh that hymn. It says, "The soul that on Jesus has leaned for reap 1:26:30 repose. I will not I will not desert to its foes." John 6:37. He comes to me and he who comes to me I will certainly not cast out. That soul that all hell shall endeavor to shake. I will never no never 1:26:47 no never forsake. We have such a God. We have such a father that he will not let us go in the tight times. And we'll know that those tight times are simply to build up our assurance and to build up our faith that he will be there till the 1:27:03 end. Amen.
