Have Faith in God

[0:01] Well, if we could, this morning, with the Lord's help and the Lord's guidance, we could turn back to that portion of Scripture that we read. The Gospel according to Mark, chapter 11, page 1022.

[0:18] Mark, chapter 11, and if we read again at verse 20. Mark 11 at verse 20. As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.

[0:34] And Peter remembered and said to him, Rabbi, look, the fig tree that you cursed has withered. And Jesus answered them, Have faith in God.

[0:48] Have faith in God. If there was one statement I wanted you to take home with you this morning and cherish in your hearts, it would be these precious words from Jesus.

[1:12] Have faith in God. If you remember anything from this service today, remember what Jesus is saying to you. Have faith in God.

[1:25] I don't know if you ever think that when you come to church and you read the Bible and when you listen to a sermon, I don't know if you ever think that it is actually Jesus who is speaking to you.

[1:41] It's not me that's speaking to you. I'm just the messenger. I'm just the voice piece. I'm just the herald of the king. And so every time you read the Bible, whether in church or at home or someone is preaching God's word to you, Jesus is speaking to you.

[2:00] He has spoken to you many times before in your life. He has addressed you in the past through various passages from his word. He has made himself known to you through different experiences that you've gone through in your life.

[2:14] He has vocalized himself before you by means of many preachers and many ministers before me. My friend, Jesus has spoken to you again and again and again.

[2:28] And Jesus is speaking to you again today. And what Jesus is saying to you through his word and through his servant is have faith in God.

[2:42] Have faith in God. Now, the reason Jesus urges you to have faith in God is because of his love for a lost and sinful world.

[2:55] And because of his love, he provided salvation through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. And by faith in his finished work, we are promised eternal life.

[3:06] But Jesus is urging you to have faith in God in this passage. Because at this point in time, he is only days away from going to the cross.

[3:21] Because as we saw last Sunday, the events of Jesus entering Jerusalem on a colt, it all took place on a Sunday afternoon. It's the day in which our calendar calls Palm Sunday.

[3:34] And it was the beginning of what many call Passion Week. And it was an important week because it was the final week in the life of Jesus and his ministry.

[3:46] And from one Sunday to the next Sunday, everything would change. And everything would change not only in the experience of Jesus, but also in the experience of the entire world.

[3:58] Because the events of that one week would bring salvation to a fallen world. But as we read earlier at the beginning of the chapter, Jesus, he's entering Jerusalem riding on a colt, on a donkey.

[4:15] And he's there with all these traveling pilgrims who are going towards Jerusalem for the festival of Passover. And the presence of the colt was not only to display Jesus' humility, but it was also to display his royalty.

[4:33] Because the colt affirmed to all these traveling pilgrims that Jesus was the Messiah. And we're told that some went ahead of him and some went behind him.

[4:44] That's what it says in verse 9. And they were all singing Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David.

[4:56] Hosanna in the highest. But even though all the crowds could recognize who Jesus is from Scripture, from the Bible. And although they could see that Jesus is the promised Messiah riding into Jerusalem on a colt.

[5:12] And even though they were singing about the fact that Jesus is the Savior. And they were acknowledging that Jesus is the King of his kingdom. The sad reality was about them.

[5:24] Is that despite their knowledge of Jesus. They didn't do anything about it. They didn't do anything about it. In other words, they didn't have faith in God.

[5:40] They didn't have faith in God. Because on Sunday afternoon, this crowd, they were singing Hosanna. But by Friday morning, they were all chanting crucify him.

[5:53] Crucify him. And the reason that there was such a change from Sunday to Friday. Is because they didn't have faith in God. But in this passage, as we've moved on now.

[6:07] In this passage, Jesus is going to show us what it means to have faith in God. And Jesus is going to show us by cursing religion.

[6:19] By challenging restriction. And by emphasizing that commitment is required. And they're the three headings that I'd like us to use this morning.

[6:30] Cursing religion. Challenging restriction. And commitment required. Cursing religion. Challenging restriction. And commitment required.

[6:41] So let's look firstly at cursing religion. Look with me at verse 12. It says, And so when Mark begins this new section.

[7:15] He tells us that it's the next day. It's the day after Jesus entered into Jerusalem riding on a colt. It's the day after Palm Sunday. Which means that it's now Monday morning.

[7:28] And Jesus and his disciples, they're again traveling from Bethany into Jerusalem. Which is about a two mile journey. And they had, it says that they had returned to Bethany on the Sunday after they'd been to the temple.

[7:43] But now on Monday morning, Jesus and his disciples, they're again going towards Jerusalem. They'd stayed at Bethany. Probably in the house of Mary, Martha and Lazarus.

[7:53] The Lazarus who had been raised from the dead. But as Jesus and his disciples leave the village of Bethany, they arrive at the village of Bethphage. Now we know it was the village of Bethphage because we were told in verse 1.

[8:09] That when the disciples drew near to Jerusalem, they passed through Bethphage and Bethany. But the other reason we know why the disciples went at the village of Bethphage is because the name Bethphage means house of unripe figs.

[8:29] And as you can imagine, Bethphage was a place that was famous for its fig trees. Which certainly sets the context for what Jesus is going to do next to this fig tree.

[8:41] But before we get to that, Mark first of all gives to us this little detail as to why Jesus approaches the fig tree in the first place.

[8:52] And the simple reason that Jesus comes to this fig tree is because he was hungry. Jesus wanted something to eat. And so he approached a fig tree in search of food.

[9:04] And I just want to linger at that point for a moment. Because it can be so easy for us just to pass over Mark's statement about Jesus.

[9:15] Where he says he was hungry. He was hungry. Because by making such a statement, Mark was reaffirming to us that this Jesus, he is both God and man.

[9:29] Where at one level, Jesus is so unlike us because he is God. But on another level, he's saying that Jesus is just like us.

[9:41] Because Jesus experienced not only hunger, he also experienced thirst and pain and heartache and sorrow and tiredness and weariness.

[9:51] And these little notes that are relayed to us all over the Gospels, they ought to teach us about the condescension of Christ. They ought to teach us about his humiliation by becoming man.

[10:08] Because in the person of Jesus Christ, we have the God of all glory. The God of all glory who is without beginning and without end. He is the King of heaven, in whom the angels veil their faces, crying, Holy, Holy, Holy.

[10:25] And he's the one who made all things in this world, both visible and invisible. And yet this same Jesus, he took to himself our fallen nature.

[10:37] So that he could experience all the ailments and all the weaknesses that we go through in life. Jesus took to himself our nature so that he could become so like us in every way, yet without sin.

[10:56] And you know, my friend, these expressions which describe to us the humanness of Jesus, they ought to remind us that this glorious Savior is not only one who's able to cleanse us from all our sin, but out of his great love for us.

[11:15] He entered into our experience so that he was able to sympathize with all our weaknesses. And because he became man, he's able to enter into our experience of grief and sorrow because he is able to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows.

[11:33] He's able to enter into our experience of illness and infirmities because he was touched with a feeling of our infirmities. He's able to enter into our experience of trial and temptation because he was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

[11:51] My friend, this Jesus, who is presented to us in this glorious gospel, he underwent all the sufferings which the human body is able to experience.

[12:02] And he did it out of love for us. He became like us because he loves us. He tasted pain. He experienced weakness.

[12:12] He encountered weariness. He endured hunger and thirst. He knew even sorrow. And he even entered into death itself. But the wonder of all this is that it was because Jesus became so like us that the Bible urges us, every one of us, to go to that throne of grace, to come boldly to the throne of grace, to his throne where he sits.

[12:46] Because upon that throne sits not some distant deity, not some king who doesn't understand us, but one who was so like us and one who understands everything about us, which is the very reason we are to come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

[13:12] My friend, it's because Jesus was so like us, and he's still so like us, that we're able to bring all our burdens to him. It's because Jesus is so like us that we're able to pour out our heart before him.

[13:27] It's because Jesus is so like us that we ought to see that he is the savior and friend that all poor, aching, groaning, worried, sorrowing, burdened sinners require.

[13:44] He's the one we need. My friend, Jesus is the savior and friend. We all need to come to him. So you make sure today that you come to him and pour out your heart before him because he understands.

[14:04] He understands. But you know what Jesus couldn't understand is that this fig tree in Bethphage, it had leaves but no fruit.

[14:19] And Mark tells us that the reason the fig tree didn't have figs was because it was not the season for figs. But the reason Jesus couldn't understand why the fig tree didn't have figs was because it was full of leaves.

[14:35] And the fact that there were leaves but no figs, it's stressed by Mark because he mentions the leaves twice in verse 13. It says in verse 13, and seen in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it.

[14:51] When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves for it was not the season for figs. And so when a fig tree was full of leaf, full of leaves, it was a sign that the tree was ripe with fruit.

[15:07] But this particular tree, although it was full of leaves, it had no fruit. And so by going by all outward appearances, the tree looked promising but offered no fruit.

[15:20] It had the perfect outward appearance. It looked like a tree that was in full bloom. It looked like it was full of fruit. But the reality was it was barren. It was fruitless.

[15:32] It was empty. And Jesus' response to the barren fig tree is to curse it. It says in verse 14, and he said to it, may no one ever eat fruit from you again.

[15:46] And his disciples heard it. And we might be tempted to think that Jesus was being a bit irrational there. He was overreacting just because he was hungry and he didn't get any food or fruit from this fig tree.

[16:00] But Jesus' actions towards the fig tree, they were meant to be symbolic of the nation of Israel and the corruption of the temple.

[16:13] And what's interesting is that the prophets, they often used the fig tree for an illustration of judgment. Because what displeased the Lord is that the Israelites, they often displayed all the outward forms of religion, yet their hearts were far from him.

[16:32] And Jesus, he's already condemned the Pharisees back in chapter 7 when he said to them, well, this people, they honour me with their lips, but their hearts, they're far from me. Their hearts are far from me.

[16:44] And so by cursing the fig tree, Jesus was symbolically cursing the religion of Israel. He was cursing their outward forms and empty hearts.

[16:55] And we'll consider what Jesus means by this and the curse of the fig tree in relation to the judgment of the temple. We'll consider that in a moment.

[17:05] But I just want to highlight that being like this fig tree is certainly a curse. Because if all you care about is your outward forms of religion on a Sunday morning, then you are cursed.

[17:24] If all you care about coming into this building is how you look and how you dress and what you say and how you act, then you're under a curse. You're not free in Christ.

[17:36] You are in bondage to your religion. Because if all that's on your mind coming to church on a Sunday morning is, well, what will other people see of me? And making sure that you look the part and act in accordance with etiquette and decorum, then your heart is empty.

[17:55] If all you care about is ensuring that your children go to Sunday school and that they're brought up the way that you were brought up and that you take them because it's the right thing to do, then you're just like the Israelites.

[18:10] You honor God with your lips, but your heart is far from Him. But my friend, we need to come to church just like Jesus came to the fig tree, hungry.

[18:24] We need to be coming to church hungering and thirsting after righteousness. We need to be coming longing to taste and see that God is good. We need to be coming to church not concerned with outward appearances before others, but the condition of our heart before God.

[18:42] Yes, let's be biblical in all that we do in here, but let's not become so obsessed with religion that we lose sight of the beauty of having a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

[18:56] And that's what the Israelites had missed completely. They were so obsessed with their outward forms of religion that they couldn't see the wonder and glory of Jesus. And the result was they were barren and fruitless.

[19:13] And fruit, it was the distinction between those who honored God with their lips by religion and those who worshiped Him in their heart. Jesus says elsewhere, every tree is known by its fruit.

[19:31] He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. Which means, my friend, that your religion won't save you no matter how earnest you are.

[19:44] You need to be in a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God. But what we see here is that Jesus, He didn't let this go. He didn't let it go by without saying anything.

[19:57] Because in the act of cursing the fig tree, Jesus not only cursed religion as the way of salvation, but He also exercised judgment against the temple.

[20:08] And we can see that in the second section, when Jesus goes into the temple, He goes in and He challenges restriction. And so we've seen cursing religion, but secondly, let's see that Jesus is challenging restriction.

[20:24] Look at verse 15. And they came to Jerusalem and He entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple.

[20:35] And He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And He would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And He was teaching them and saying to them, Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations?

[20:52] But you have made it a den of robber. And so when Jesus and His disciples, when they arrived in Jerusalem on that Monday morning, Mark wants us to see that the leafy fig tree, with all its promise of fruit, it was as deceptive as the temple.

[21:12] Because when Jesus arrived at the temple, it was full of people. There were crowds which had come from all over the nation to worship in the temple for the week-long festival of Passover.

[21:26] And so the temple was crowded with people. It was awash with people from every part of the nation. But the problem was, the temple was full of leaves like the fig tree, but barren of fruit.

[21:43] And it was barren because no one recognized Jesus. They had all been with Him as He entered into Jerusalem, riding on this colt the day before, but no one takes any notice of Him.

[21:54] They were singing Hosanna to Jesus on Sunday, but they had no thought of Him on Monday. And there are many people like that. They sing to Jesus on Sunday, but they ignore Him on Monday.

[22:07] They acknowledge Jesus as King and Messiah on Sunday, but disregard Him on Monday. But Jesus doesn't let the crowds disregard Him any longer because He begins to drive out all the temple merchants and overturn all the tables of the money changers.

[22:27] Now, we must understand that Jesus wasn't condemning the merchants and the money changers for buying and selling in the temple. It was common practice to have the merchants and money changers at the temple.

[22:42] But instead of a worshiper taking the reason why the money changers and the merchants were there was because instead of a worshiper taking an animal from their own home, then having to travel all the way to Jerusalem and offer it as a sacrifice at the temple during the festival of Passover, well, the easier option would be just to buy an animal at the temple in the outer court.

[23:10] And so when a traveling pilgrim would arrive at the temple in Jerusalem, they would first of all go to the money changers and they would change their money to the temple currency because temple currency was the only currency which was accepted for temple tax.

[23:30] And then the temple currency could also be used to purchase an animal for sacrifice. But the problem was and the problem which Jesus had with the merchants and the money changers is for that week-long festival of Passover they would exploit the people.

[23:49] The money changers would inflate the exchange rate of the temple currency, they would increase the temple tax and the merchants would hike up all the prices of the animals for sacrifices.

[24:02] In other words, they were conning the people and lining their pockets at the same time. And Jesus was angry because God's house had become a place of deception and extortion.

[24:15] But what really upset Jesus was that all the stalls which had been set up in the temple, they'd been set up in the area of the temple court which was for the Gentiles.

[24:28] And as you know, the Gentiles were not Jews. They were the outsiders. They were the irreligious. And with all the stalls for the Jewish worshippers set up in the Gentile area of the temple, it put up a barrier to the Gentiles who wanted to come and worship the Lord.

[24:50] And it stopped the Gentiles from coming to the temple. And so the issue which Jesus had with the merchants and the money changers is that they were not only exploiting the Jews who came to the temple.

[25:03] They were also making their religion fruitless because they were keeping it to themselves. They had made it all about their form and practice instead of seeing the bigger picture.

[25:20] A picture which had been given long ago to Abraham that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

[25:33] And that was also the great vision of this Psalm 100, that missionary Psalm that all people who dwell upon the earth would sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.

[25:47] And this is why Jesus stands up and he quotes words from Isaiah the prophet and he says my house my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations but you have made it a den of thieves.

[26:05] And the thing about a den of thieves is that it's only thieves who are allowed into the den. It's only those who are in the group who have access and that's what's going on here because those in the temple were only concerned about their own people and their own worshippers and their own pockets and they were putting up barriers to keep the outsiders outside.

[26:31] They were so obsessed with their religion that they had lost sight of the mission to reach the nations of the world. They were so caught up with their outward forms and fashions that they have forgotten that the problem of mankind is the problem of the heart and with this Jesus he curses religion and he challenges restriction and Jesus is still doing it.

[26:59] He's still doing it. He's still cursing religion and he's still challenging restriction because we have to ask ourselves I have to ask myself do we put up barriers that keep people from church?

[27:15] Do we make church a matter of outward form that we keep people from coming? Do we make church so cold and clinical that we lose sight of its purpose?

[27:27] The purpose to warm our heart under the sound of the gospel and there's such a danger in putting restrictions and expectations upon people when they come to church that we can put up barriers towards them because they don't fit out criteria for church.

[27:44] They don't look like they should be in church. Or if someone came in and they'd never been to church before or they hadn't been for a while wouldn't it be better if we made the effort to warmly welcome them instead of talking about them?

[28:00] Wouldn't it be better if we made the conscious effort maybe to sit beside them and speak to them rather than wondering who they are and who they're connected to and why they're here?

[28:11] they're here because this is the Lord's house. This isn't our house. This isn't our house and it isn't governed by our rules and what we like and what we want.

[28:27] This is the Lord's house. This isn't our territory to guard and watch who goes in and who goes out. This is the Lord's house and everyone is welcome.

[28:38] Everyone is welcome. This is a house of prayer for all nations. It's a house of prayer for all the people in our community and beyond. And when anyone comes through those doors, we want to make them welcome and we want them to know that they're welcome.

[28:56] We want them to know that this is a place for everyone. This is the place for every man, woman, boy and girl in this community. community. And this place is a place for everyone to enjoy coming to.

[29:12] And I know that most people don't associate the words enjoy and church in the same sentence. But that's what church should be.

[29:24] It should be a place we enjoy coming to. Not because we're being entertained, but because this is the place where God's presence is known and experienced.

[29:36] This is the place where Christ is heralded and preached. And this is the place where the people of this community love to come and worship. My friend, this place is for you.

[29:49] This place is for you. It's the Lord's house. But it's also a place which you should feel at home. And I hope you do feel at home here.

[30:00] because this place is for you. And so we've seen Jesus challenging restriction and cursing religion, but thirdly and finally, we see that Jesus is emphasizing that commitment is required.

[30:20] Commitment required. Look at verse 20. As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, Rabbi, look, the fig tree that you cursed has withered.

[30:34] And Jesus answered them, have faith in God. And so what we read here in these verses is that on Tuesday morning, Jesus and his disciples were again walking towards Jerusalem from Bethany.

[30:50] and as they again passed through the village of Bethphage, Peter noticed the fig tree which Jesus had cursed the day before. Peter had heard Jesus curse the fig tree, but it was only when he saw the fig tree withered from its roots that he remembered what Jesus had said.

[31:09] But what caught Peter's attention about this fig tree and what should catch our attention is that the fig tree was withered from its roots.

[31:21] And this ought to catch our attention because the first sign of deadness in a tree is often displayed by the leaves and not the roots. Therefore, the reason the fig tree was withered from the roots, it explains why the tree was fruitless.

[31:39] It was because the roots had a false foundation. And as we said earlier, Jesus' actions of cursing the fig tree, they were symbolic of the temple, in which Jesus was cursing the religion of the temple, and he was challenging the restrictions of the temple.

[31:59] But now as Peter draws attention to the fig tree which had been withered up from the roots, Jesus takes the opportunity to stress to the disciples, that commitment is required.

[32:12] But it's not commitment to the temple that's required because the foundation of the temple, he says, is false. The roots of the temple, they're withered. The outward religion of the temple is cursed.

[32:26] And all the external works of righteousness being carried out in the temple, they are restrictive. And Jesus says that the object of your faith is not to be the temple or religion or works, but God.

[32:40] God is the object of your faith. He says, have faith in God. Have faith in God. And as I said earlier, if there's a statement I want you to take home with you today and cherish in your heart, it's those precious words from Jesus.

[32:58] Have faith in God. Because the object of your faith is not to be church or religion or your works or your baptism or your godly heritage or your church attendance or your Bible knowledge, the object of your faith must be Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone.

[33:23] But maybe in your mind you're thinking, I already have faith in God. God. I believe in God. I believe in the existence of God.

[33:36] I believe what the Bible says about God. I believe that Jesus is God's son. I believe that Jesus died upon the cross to save sinners. I believe that Jesus rose again from the dead.

[33:48] I believe that Jesus is in heaven right now and I believe that one day Jesus will return to judge the world. I believe all that. And maybe you're saying I have faith in God.

[34:02] But that's not what Jesus is talking about. Jesus isn't talking about intellectual assent to the things of the Bible. He's not talking about head knowledge.

[34:16] Anyone can have head knowledge. Anyone can have intellectual assent to the things of God and still end up in hell. Because the Bible reminds us that even the devils of hell believe in God.

[34:32] And so when Jesus says have faith in God, he means you need to be committed. You need to be committed. Yes, my friend, you believe in God, but you're not committed.

[34:48] You're not committed. Because if you were committed, then that would be evidenced in your life. There would be fruit from your commitment. But the simple reason you're not a committed Christian today is because you haven't committed your life to following Jesus Christ.

[35:08] And Jesus says that in order to become a Christian, commitment is required. Commitment is required because he says in verses 22 and 23, Jesus answered them, have faith in God.

[35:21] Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be taken up and thrown into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.

[35:36] Now we have to understand that Jesus isn't speaking literally. He's not saying that if we have enough faith in our heart, then we can say to Ben Barvis, go into the Atlantic.

[35:47] No, the point which Jesus is making is that if you believe without doubting, if you believe that what you are saying to God, when you're praying to him, if you believe it can actually happen in your life, then it will.

[36:08] It will. Which means that if you commit yourself to following Jesus Christ, then you're a Christian. And there was one commentator who said faith believes enough to ask.

[36:26] Faith believes enough to ask. And it's Jesus who says you do not have because you do not ask. You do not have because you do not ask.

[36:42] And my friend, the promise of God to you today and how I long for you to take this promise to yourself. The promise is ask and you will receive.

[36:56] Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you because everyone who asks, everyone who asks, receives.

[37:08] The one who seeks, finds. The one who knocks, the door will be opened. And that's also the promise that Jesus is issuing to us here.

[37:18] In verse 24 he says, Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.

[37:31] Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours. Now I want to illustrate what Jesus means here from my own experience.

[37:45] Because when I was seeking the Lord, when I saw my need of Jesus and I wanted to become a Christian, I didn't know what to pray. I didn't even know how to pray.

[37:58] But because of my mother's influence, I knew that Psalm 51 was important. And so I read Psalm 51, read it through, and I stalked at the words of verse 10.

[38:10] Create a clean heart, Lord renew, a right spirit me within. Create a clean heart, Lord renew, a right spirit me within.

[38:23] And you know, I would pray that prayer day in and day out. Praying it all the time, praying it for weeks, all the time, create a clean heart, Lord renew, a right spirit me within.

[38:34] But after a while of asking the Lord to create within me a clean heart and to put his spirit in me, I realized that I have to believe that what I'm asking is actually taking place.

[38:50] I have to believe that what I'm asking has been answered. I have to believe that if the Lord promises he will answer my prayer when I ask, then he has.

[39:02] And I have to commit my life to following him and keep going. And that's what Jesus is saying here. I tell you whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.

[39:18] You have to believe what you believe. You have to commit to what you believe. You have to have faith in God. Because the Bible says that without faith, without committing yourself to God, it is impossible to please him.

[39:34] Because he who comes to God must first of all believe who he is. But he's also a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

[39:46] Those who ask, receive. And so my friend, what you need to do today, and I know you all need to do it, and you all know you need to do it, to do it, why else are you here?

[40:04] Why do you keep coming to church on a Sunday morning? You know you need to change your experience and your life and your heart. You know you need to come to Christ. You know that.

[40:18] What you need to do today is commit yourself to following Jesus Christ. because Jesus today, he has been cursing religion, he has been challenging restriction, and he's saying to us that commitment, commitment is what's required.

[40:39] Commitment is required. And I long for the day when all of you, all of you will say like the hymn writer said, I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.

[41:00] The cross before me, the world behind me, no turning back, no turning back. Have faith in God.

[41:15] May the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Let us pray. O Lord our gracious God, we give thanks to Thee today, that Jesus is one who is willing to speak to us.

[41:28] And we do pray, O Lord, that he would speak to our heart, that we would open ourselves up to him, that we would embrace him because he is freely offered to us, that we would not walk away from here without him.

[41:42] We would not put off what has been confronted in our experience for so long. We would not put it off any longer, but commit ourselves to Jesus. As the psalmist said, delight thyself in God, he'll give thine heart's desire to thee.

[41:59] Thy way to God, commit him trust, yet bring to pass shall he. O Lord, help us, we pray thee, to step out as Peter stepped out, that if we want to walk on water, we've got to get out of the boat.

[42:14] O Lord, do us good, then we pray. Bless us, keep us in the week that lies ahead, and go before us for Jesus' sake. Amen. I shall conclude by singing in Psalm 51.

[42:35] Psalm 51, page 281, the Scottish Psalter. Psalm 51, singing from verse 7 down to the verse marked 13.

[42:51] Do thou with hyssop sprinkle me, I shall be cleansed so, yea, wash thou me, and then I shall be whiter than the snow. Of gladness and of joyfulness, make me to hear the voice, that so these very bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

[43:07] All mine iniquities blot out, thy face hide from my sin, create a clean heart, Lord renew, a right spirit me within. Down to the verse marked 13 of Psalm 51, to God's praise.

[43:20] Do thou with hyssop sprinkle me, I shall be cleansed so, yea, wash thou me, and then I shall be whiter than the snow.

[43:55] Of gladness and of joyfulness make me to hear the voice that sowed these very bones which thou hast broken broken Mary choice.

[44:31] All mine iniquities brought out thy face hide from my sin, create a heart, clean heart, Lord, renew, Lord, renew, arise, spread me with them, cast me not from thy sight nor take, thy holy spirit away, restore me thy salvation's joy, with thy whisper me stay, then well

[45:45] I teach thy ways unto those that transgressor speak, and those that sinners shall then be turned unto thee.

[46:20] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, now and forevermore. Amen.