The Blind Man

[0:00] It's a great joy to be with you in Barvis this morning. I have been with you before, but it goes back a few years when I was here in your midweek service and sharing in the hall, and that was a great delight.

[0:12] But it's lovely to be with you in the sanctuary today and to share in your morning service. Thank you, Reverend Campbell, for your warm welcome and for the opportunity to be here. We thank God for all who partner with us in the gospel and encourage us as we seek to serve the Lord in these days of opportunity.

[0:28] As you leave this morning, you'll find some literature. Please do help yourself to it. This morning, there is our Breakthrough magazine, which is our quarterly news, and there are quite a number of copies there.

[0:41] Please take a copy with you as you leave this morning. Also, there is a prayer booklet there that I recommend to you. It covers the countries that we work in and the different missionaries that we are supporting across Eastern Europe and helping gives you some prayer points and prayer guides.

[0:58] It's a little prayer booklet there. Feel free to take that. There's also a bookmark as well. And please help yourself to the literature that's available there this morning. Just to mention, there are a couple of books. Just mention this book here that's just hot off the press.

[1:13] The Vision Lives On. This is really about the ministry in the country of Macedonia. Macedonia, we read of it in the Acts of the Apostles and they call from Macedonia to come over and help us.

[1:26] Well, that call is still relevant and very real today for that nation. Macedonia has a population of probably about two and a half million, but it's reckoned that there are probably only about 2,000 evangelical believers in the country of Macedonia today.

[1:41] Dr. Ivan Grosdanoff, who is a professor of chemistry in Sofia there, Skopje in Macedonia, has been gifted by God to produce a lot of Christian literature.

[1:54] And this book is about Macedonia and then focusing on the Grosdanoff family and how the Lord has been helping them. The Vision Lives On. And that book is £3.

[2:05] And then this book, Peter Dynamite. This is the testimony of the founder of our mission. He's really Peter Dynamite, but they called him Peter Dynamite because he was so dynamic.

[2:18] And this is his story of how he came to feed from Belarus, was sent to America at 14 to work and provide food for his family in Belarus and found the Lord and started the work of Slavic Gospel Association.

[2:31] It's an amazing account. That book is £3, but the two books are £5. Now, we're not going to worry about money today. You can pass it on later, maybe, to some of the doormen.

[2:42] If you put in an envelope, mark it book money. Or you can ring up the office and pay by credit card and you'll find the office number and our literature. Don't worry about that. You take the books, enjoy reading them, and if you never pay for them, that's all right.

[2:58] You can live with your conscience. But you're welcome to them. So, please, I encourage you to take them and may they bless your heart as you read them at this time. Slavic Gospel Association, we've shared in this church many times, and I just want to bring some updates on the ministry as we continue to reach out into Eastern Europe and also into Central Asia in these days of opportunity.

[3:22] Of course, we're not a sending agency. We don't send missionaries to Eastern Europe or Central Asia, but we equip God's people to reach their own nation with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[3:35] And so, there are four core ministries that we serve the Lord through. There is our biblical leadership training, our leadership support, our Christian literature, and the crisis response.

[3:47] This here is training gospel leaders. You'll find this leaflet on the table. This is all about our mission schools, our Bible schools, where we teach and train a new generation of Christian workers in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

[4:00] We thank God that there are currently around 350 students in training right now in our different schools. Thousands have graduated over the years and are serving the Lord, and we praise the Lord for that.

[4:14] But we thank God for the current groups. The new group started in Moldova. They're in January. That's the 12th group of students to commence the training in Moldova. Also, there's a new development with our teaching in Romania, and that's amongst the Roma people, or maybe we better know them as the Gypsy people.

[4:33] The Lord is doing a great work amongst these people. The Lord's saving them. The Lord is changing them. They're a very different type of people.

[4:43] Their culture is different. Their way of life, their outlook, they are so different. But God is really working amongst them as the gospel is presented to them.

[4:54] So much so that their testimony is wonderful. What is happening is that the policemen, they can't understand what's happening to the Roma people. You see, Roma people generally live by stealing.

[5:06] Young girls have babies at 13, and life is very complicated. And so these Roma people, when they get converted, they're not stealing anymore. They're going to the town hall.

[5:17] They're registering for marriage. They're getting their lives sorted out. And the policemen, they can't understand. And they're coming to the preachers of the gospel, and they're saying, Please tell us, what have you done to these people?

[5:28] Because they're not stealing anymore. Isn't it wonderful, friends, that 2 Corinthians 5.17 is still real today? If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. The old is gone, and the new has come.

[5:41] And God has changed the lives of these Roma people. And the population in Romania is changing very, very quickly. When I was there in January, friends were sharing with me of what was happening.

[5:52] There is huge emigration of Romanians coming to Western countries, like Spain and Italy and France, Germany, Austria, UK. And with the huge emigration of Romanians leaving the country, and the large families that the Roma people have, they reckon that by 2020, the population in Romania will be 50% Romanian, 50% Roma.

[6:18] And so there's a tremendous need to reach the Roma people, but also to train them and equip them for service. And so we're now involved in the Roma School of Theology in Romania.

[6:29] It's the only school of its kind that I'm aware of. There are almost 50 students in the school, and amongst the students there are three kings. It's not every day we have kings in our Bible school, but each clan of Roma people have a king.

[6:44] And the king has a lot of influence on the clan, and God has saved three of the kings, and they're there in the mission school along with other Roma people. And we thank God for this opportunity of training a generation of Roma people to serve God, to pastor their churches, to evangelize.

[7:01] And this has got great potential. There are many of the Roma people in the school that are illiterate, and so we'd ask your prayers for us, that we'll be able to teach and communicate at a level that they can understand, and that will be a blessing to them as they go out to serve the Lord.

[7:20] And so there is our Bible schools, and that ministry continues, and we thank God for it. Of course, whenever our students, they come to the end of the course, they graduate, they move out to serve the Lord, and this is where our next ministry, the second ministry comes into place, and that is our leadership support.

[7:41] And this is where we help to finance the gospel workers as they move out into villages to plant churches into very poor, poor circumstances. And it's a joy to do that, and the Lord is helping us to support around 130 of these missionaries, church planters, as they are actively serving the Lord.

[8:00] I want to tell you about one of them this morning. I'd love to tell you about all 130, but we'd be here for a very long time, and maybe you just wouldn't be prepared to miss your Sunday lunch.

[8:12] But when I was in Moldova on my last visit, I met Peter Magna. Peter Magna, he was in the school. I remember teaching him. He sat in the front row at the right-hand side. He was a very dedicated student.

[8:22] And Peter graduated and went out to serve the Lord. He went out to a village called Chuchuyen. I'd never been in the village until my last visit to Moldova. It's a very, very isolated community.

[8:34] We traveled through fields. We were miles and miles away from tarmac and from concrete. We were going through the tops of fields, the bottoms of fields, the middle of fields. And as we were driving along, we were going out for the Sunday morning service at 9 a.m.

[8:49] And I was wondering, will there be anybody in this church? Could there be anybody living even in this village? And what a surprise I got when we arrived.

[9:00] And I could see the people gathering to the house of God. They were coming from all the different directions, walking to God's house. And what a thrill that Sunday morning to see that building packed to capacity.

[9:14] It's not a large building, but it was full with people out in the vestibule, the hallway. And then after the service, I discovered there were chairs and benches outside to accommodate the overflow of people.

[9:26] When I was standing in the church speaking, I could see there was a huge crack on the left wall, many cracks along the wall.

[9:36] It was after the service that Peter informed us that the building's about to collapse. He didn't tell us that before the service. And so they need a new building, and he brought us up to a plot of ground that was given to them.

[9:49] And we were glad to send out funds. We have a project called Houses of Prayer, and we were glad to send out funds for this project, investing in stones that speak.

[10:01] And so they already started to build a new building, and they hoped to have it opened before the end of this year. But Peter's not just interested in Chuchu Yen. Let me tell you about his ministry beyond that.

[10:13] He's reaching into other villages where there are no evangelical churches, and he longs to see churches planted in these communities. One of the villages that Peter has been serving in is the village of Gili Chen, which is just over the hill from Chuchu Yen.

[10:29] And we must remember that in Moldova, 94% of the population consider themselves to be Orthodox. And so when you have an Orthodox church, which you have in practically every village, you will have an Orthodox priest.

[10:42] And the priest is very angry with these gospel preachers coming into the village. He doesn't want them coming in. He calls them sheep stealers.

[10:53] He also calls them repenters. Well, that's a good biblical term, isn't it? But Peter went into the village and began to evangelize. And the priest was so angry that he orchestrated violence.

[11:06] He got a mob of men to go with chains and with whips to beat up Peter and to drive him out of the village. And so the mob came with their chains and whips and they approached Peter. And as they came, Peter went out to them with the word of God in his hand.

[11:20] And he said, men, he said, you've come to fight against me. But remember, it's not me you're fighting against. You're fighting against Almighty God. You know, God wonderfully stepped in and the mob stepped back.

[11:36] And Peter continued his ministry in the village of Gillychen. You know, friends, it's thrilling today that there is a little house of prayer in that village for the new converts to worship in. Peter shared with me when I was there, he said, you know, during the summer we had a children's outreach, like a children's mission for a week.

[11:57] He said 300 children came to hear the gospel in the village of Gillychen. He said amongst the 300 children were the Orthodox priest children.

[12:08] They heard what was happening to the evangelical church. The children, they escaped out of the house and they came down and they sat and they listened to the gospel. You know, the Lord can save those children and the Lord can save that priest who wanted to drive Peter out of the village for God is able to do great and mighty things.

[12:26] When I was leaving, Peter, he said, please pray. He said, I'll be going into six villages with my young people to evangelize and to reach these communities with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[12:37] You know, as Peter was sharing that with me, I was thrilled to hear it. And I thought to myself, if God grants him blessing and souls get converted and churches are planted in those villages, we'll be thrilled as a mission to send out money to erect houses of prayer in those villages where people have got converted.

[12:55] Peter is just one that we're seeking to help through our leadership support. And we thank God for what the Lord is doing through our students as they go out to serve the Lord and to minister God's word at this time.

[13:08] But of course, we became cootly aware of another problem with our evangelists and missionaries and that was transport. Because there are buses, but the problem is that the old buses, sometimes they start, but they stop very quickly and more often they don't start at all.

[13:23] And the pastors, church planters, were missing church services. It was very difficult for them to get from each church. And so a few years ago, we launched this project called Getting Men Moving, providing motorbikes for gospel workers.

[13:38] And we're thrilled that to date, God has helped us to provide around 40 motorbikes for different workers. Now, these are imports from China. They're not the fastest motorbikes.

[13:51] But let me assure you that the roads in Moldova, with the roads in Moldova, you don't need a fast motorbike because if you had a fast one, you wouldn't be on the road. You'd be somewhere else. What you need is a strong motorbike.

[14:03] These little motorbikes are built very, very strongly. And so the gospel workers are going from village to village and it's a great blessing to help them with their transport. I think of one brother, we call him fondly, Big Ivan or Big John.

[14:18] John's a graduate from our mission school. If John met you, he would embrace you and you would feel the impact of it for a week. But John has got a motorbike and when John got his motorbike, he said, you know, this motorbike has become my legs.

[14:30] And then he said this, I can go further now. I can go where there are no churches yet. Friends, that's the reason why we're providing motorbikes, that every community in Moldova will have the opportunity of hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[14:47] That these men will be able to go where they could never go before. And as the serval Lord, we're glad to provide for them and to help them in this practical way.

[14:58] Our third ministry, Christian literature. Great need for good theological material in former communist countries. These are countries where God's people scarcely could have the word of God in the days of communism.

[15:11] They need good material because there's a lot of Western influence sweeping in. I mentioned Dr. Ivan Grostana, the book, The Vision Lives On, in Macedonia.

[15:22] You know, in Macedonia, there are only 100 Christian titles. You take our country, you walk into bookshops, there are thousands of Christian titles in the English language.

[15:33] In Macedonia, they have just 100 Christian titles and Ivan Grostana has, with the Lord's help, has produced 70 of the 100. You can see how God is using this man in Macedonia.

[15:46] We've been supporting him in his ministry over years as he has been providing good material for the country of Macedonia. He, some years ago, we helped him with producing the New Testament in the Macedonia language.

[15:59] Isn't it amazing? Macedonia was the last country to have God's word in Europe. And yet, in the Acts of the Apostles, the cry was to come over and to help us. And literature is very important.

[16:10] And then, I want to finish off just with our final ministry crisis response. crisis response ministry is where we help the widows, the orphans, the vulnerable, the refugees, the displaced people.

[16:25] Seek to minister to them. One of those countries that's suffered so much is the country of Ukraine. It's deeply on our hearts. We don't hear it in the media much now, but that doesn't mean that everything's resolved in Ukraine.

[16:39] Ukraine has suffered so much in this war. Almost 20,000 have been killed. Today, there are at least one and a half million displaced people in Ukraine.

[16:51] We as a mission, with God's help, have been sending out substantial funds to provide soup kitchens. That Christians will set up soup kitchens and provide for these refugees and displaced people and share the gospel with them.

[17:06] But one other ministry that we've got involved in recently is in Moldova. It's medical evangelistic ministry. In the country of Moldova, you have to pay for your medical health.

[17:18] So to go to the doctor, you have to pay. Now, the problem is in Moldova, the people are very, very poor and many people are dying of blood pressure because they can't pay to go to the doctor to have their blood pressure checked.

[17:33] Even a simple health check like that, people cannot afford it. And so, a number of Christian doctors in Moldova felt called of God to start up this ministry and nurses as well.

[17:46] They will go into a village and if there's a church there, they will turn part of the church into a health clinic, a health centre and they will attend to the people and share the gospel with them.

[17:57] Or they'll go into a cultural hall and set up a health centre and this is a great ministry. My friends, this is practical Christianity. This is showing the love of Christ. This is reaching out into a very needy community and God is using this, friends, because the Orthodox Church is so opposed to the Evangelical Church.

[18:17] But when the Evangelical believers go into a village and the people see them coming to help them with their medical needs, barriers just fall down immediately and people's hearts are open to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[18:32] And that's a mission just at the end of the year. We've committed ourselves to fund this programme and to see it going from strength to strength. Peter Mahalchuk, who heads it up, he has said, hundreds of lives have been saved physically but he also went on to say hundreds have been changed spiritually.

[18:52] And so this is our ministry, friends. Dear brother, some years ago he said, in Eastern Europe, he said to the mission, he said to SGA, he said, give us the tools and we will do the work.

[19:08] And friends, it's a mission, that's what we're seeking to do. We're seeking to give them the tools and then God takes these people and God uses them in reaching their communities with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[19:22] Thank you for your partnership in this ministry. Please take the free literature with you. You can read more about our projects as we serve the Lord. I remember being in Moldova and walking up the street of the second largest city in that country and I saw a lady sitting on the sidewalk.

[19:41] She was sitting on the concrete. She was wearing a headscarf and she had dark glasses on and in her hand she held a message written on a piece of card and the words were these, in the name of Jesus Christ, help me.

[19:59] That lady was blind. That lady was brought out there every day by relatives or friends and there she sat on that concrete pathway. She was hoping that somebody would help her.

[20:13] She was hoping that someone would give her some money that she might be able to survive. That dear woman, she was blind and she seemed forsaken. Just like the blind man that we read about here in John chapter 9, he too was sitting on the wayside.

[20:32] He was sitting there as the crowds were passing by. Probably every day he was taken out by friends or someone who led him out and sat him down that he might beg, that he might get money, that he might be able to survive.

[20:48] Yet unknown to this man, this day was going to be so different to all the other days. On this particular day, someone special was going to pass by.

[21:00] His name was Jesus. Something wonderful was going to happen to this blind man. And here with the Lord Jesus on his earthly ministry, he's moving from place to place.

[21:13] People were thronging the way, but we read here in verse 1, it tells us that Jesus saw a man. While there were the crowds, Jesus saw an individual.

[21:27] And you know, dear friends, the Lord sees us. Not as a congregation, the Lord sees us as individuals and he sees our needs and he knows all about us. The Lord comes and he ministers to us in our different needs.

[21:42] Jesus passed by and he saw a man. He wasn't indifferent, but he stopped and he ministered to this man. I want us to see, first of all, this morning, the spiritual condition, the human condition, which we want to see, the spiritual condition.

[21:58] Because here in verse 1, the word of God says that a man was blind from birth. Now, whenever we think of this condition, I want us to see it as a miserable condition.

[22:09] He was blind. In those days, there was no social help available for those who are blind or with impaired sight. We're thankful for all that's available for people today and how gifted blind people are and how the Lord wonderfully helps them and we're very, very grateful for that.

[22:28] But in the days of the Lord Jesus Christ, it was very, very different. Because if you were born blind, you were not only blind, but you were destined to be a beggar.

[22:40] We find that in the word of God here in verse 8. We find that the people that said, Is this not he who sat and begged? You see, this man was not only blind, but he was also a beggar.

[22:58] This man was indeed in a miserable condition. Whenever we spiritualize this condition, we discover how miserable it is. People are blind spiritually.

[23:08] The God of this world, the word of God tells us, has blinded. The minds have veiled these people who are perishing. They cannot see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ.

[23:22] And these people who are blind spiritually, they're controlled by Satan that he effectively shields them from the light of the glorious gospel of Christ.

[23:33] You see, friends, they are spiritually blind. And as a result of being spiritually blind, they are spiritual beggars. They're begging from the world.

[23:44] They're living for its pleasure. They're enslaved by sin's pleasure. My friends, they're in bondage to Satan. We read here in John chapter 8 and verse 34, it speaks here about those who serve sin.

[23:59] They're the servants of sin. They're in bondage. You know, sometimes the world will look at the Christian and they consider the Christian to be in bondage.

[24:10] But friends, isn't it wonderful today, the liberty that we have in Jesus Christ? And there in John 8 and verse 36, the word of God says that whom the Son sets free, He is free indeed.

[24:25] Ah, the world will look at us. They will think of those poor people who have to go to church on a Sunday morning. They have to go to church on a Sunday night. They have to come to church during the week and they have to live their lives by rules and regulations.

[24:40] The world will look at the church and they think that we are in a bondage. But friends, isn't it wonderful today that whom the Son sets free, we are free indeed.

[24:52] The Lord has brought us out of bondage. The Lord has brought us out of enslavement. The Lord has brought us into a great place with Himself in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

[25:05] My friends, the Lord, He delivers us. He changes us. He brings us into a great place with Himself. But for those who are blind spiritually, it is indeed a miserable condition.

[25:20] But it's also an original condition. Because here in verse 1 we read, a man blind from birth. You see, the human race has also a condition that's from birth and that condition is sin.

[25:34] Romans chapter 5 verse 12, wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin. And so death hath passed upon all men for it all have sinned.

[25:47] The psalmist David, he realized this original condition. Because in Psalm 61 he said, Surely I was sinful at birth. Sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

[26:01] You see, my friends, not only is it a miserable condition but it's an original condition. Sin is very real. Society may differ. Socially, man may differ.

[26:13] But not spiritually. But you know, friends, not only a miserable condition, an original condition, but it's a universal condition. Because in Romans 3, 23, the word of God says, For all have sinned and have fallen short of God's standard.

[26:31] This is the condition of man. There is spiritual blindness. But my friends, as we think of a world in spiritual blindness, on this Missionary Sunday, my dear friends, we think that there is hope and this is what world mission is all about.

[26:48] There is hope today. We think of this man that we read about. We find there in verse 11, he could say, A man called Jesus anointed my eyes and I came seeing.

[27:01] My friends, that's the hope for the world. That's the hope for the nations. There is a man called Jesus. You know, friends, for many of us this morning, this is our testimony. There's a man called Jesus.

[27:12] He touched me. He made me see. What a wonderful Savior we have in Jesus Christ. A man called Jesus.

[27:23] In verse 25, this man, he testified, he said, one thing I know that whereas I was blind, now I see. Isn't that a wonderful thing, friends? When we spiritualize it.

[27:35] Oh, friends, in this church, we can say, when once I was blind, but now I see. And oh, as we think of world mission, we seek to present Jesus.

[27:48] The sinner needs more than better environment or better living conditions. He needs spiritual sight. You see, my friends, there's the spiritual condition, but then secondly, there's the Savior's compassion.

[28:02] Now, it doesn't tell us here in this portion of Scripture that Jesus had compassion on the man. But as I read verse 6 and 7, I discover something there.

[28:14] I see that Jesus did something about the situation. You see, my friends, compassion always motivates us into action. If we have compassion, then we will have action and we will be serving the Lord.

[28:30] And here the Lord Jesus, he goes to help the men. He told them what to do and his sight was restored because Jesus felt for this man.

[28:41] Jesus is one with compassion. The Bible tells us so often when Jesus saw different needs, he feels real pain. Jesus was moved by physical needs of the sick and the lame and the blind and he healed them.

[28:55] Jesus was touched by material needs, people fainting with hunger and he fed them. Jesus was touched by spiritual needs, he saw them as sheep without a shepherd.

[29:08] You know, the words moved with compassion literally means to have one's inner being stirred. It's stronger than sympathy. It's something that motivates us into action.

[29:19] the Savior's compassion. You know, there's a compassion to be emulated. Ah, the church needs a compassion. A compassion that will move us into action.

[29:35] That we might reach out into our communities, reach out where God has pleased us to be effective. A compassion. Ah, you remember the Samaritan, the Good Samaritan in Luke 10.

[29:47] You remember the man lying on the roadside and the priest passed by, the Levite passed by, and then the Good Samaritan came and he went over and he helped him and we read in Luke 10 verse 33, what does it say?

[29:58] It says, he had compassion on him. Compassion. Not only the spiritual condition and the Savior's compassion, but we also find here this evening, this morning, the saint's challenge.

[30:15] challenge. We find the saints' challenge or the church's challenge in verse 4. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is dead.

[30:27] Night is coming when no one can work. Jesus said in verse 5, as long as I'm in the world, I am the light of the world. It means as long as I'm in the world, but the Lord Jesus is no longer in the world, he has gone back to glory.

[30:42] And then in the Sermon on the Mount, you remember Jesus said, you are the light of the world. Oh yes, the Lord said, as long as I'm in the world, I'm the light of the world.

[30:52] But then he said, you are the light of the world. And here the Lord says, we must work the works of him who sent me while it is day.

[31:05] We must. We must. Friends, I find a divine compulsion here for the church's challenge, a divine compulsion. We must.

[31:17] You know, when Jesus was here on earth, he said he must do the works of him who sent him. I must go about my father's business. I must preach in other cities also.

[31:28] If there was ever a time for this compulsion, surely it is now. I must work. Ah, friends, there's a work for all of God's people.

[31:43] God saves us that we might serve him. And here the Lord says the divine compulsion is we must work the works of him that sent us.

[31:55] We must. Maybe today you think, but what can I really do for God? There's a community that's hostile. We're finding that people are not interested in God.

[32:05] They don't want to hear about God and we're living in a country that's trying to push God out of the situation completely. It's true, friends, we're living in dark days in our nation.

[32:21] But yet God says we must work the works of him that sent us. Maybe you think, but what can I really do for God? What impact could I have on the situation that I'm in?

[32:32] It's so dark. The story is told of a little boy who was out one summer's morning, very hot, sunny morning, walking along the beach and many starfish had been swept up on the beach and they were dying.

[32:46] Thousands of them, thousands of them were dying. As the young boy walked along the beach that morning, he would pick up a starfish and throw it into the water. Starfish that were still alive.

[32:57] walking his dog that morning was an elderly gentleman and he watched the young boy and he thought, what a waste of time. He's not really making an impact on the situation and so he approached the young boy and he said, young boy, you should just go home.

[33:14] Look at the situation. Look at the thousands of starfish. You're making no impact on the situation. The young boy reached down and he picked up a starfish and he threw it into the water and then he turned to the gentleman and he said, sir, it will make a difference to that one.

[33:35] Friends, one soul, the Bible tells us, is worth more than the whole world. For what shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his soul? One soul is worth more than this entire world.

[33:50] And friends, if God should take our lives and make us instruments and use us to reach one's soul, my friends, the word of God tells me a soul will be saved from death. It will make a difference to that one.

[34:05] You see, friends, we must work the works. There's a divine compulsion. But there's the dark crisis. The night is coming when no man can work. You know, as Jesus said, these words, darkness was coming over Jerusalem, it was evening time.

[34:22] But also the darkness of the cross was before him. Jesus said, the night is coming when no man can work.

[34:35] You know, we have just got one life to live. And it's only what we do with this one life for eternity that's going to last. Whenever I was in my twenties, I considered those in their fifties to be ancient.

[34:51] future. But you know, whenever you reach that age, you change your mind and all of that and you think it's all right. It's a fine age to be at.

[35:02] It's okay. But you know, friends, there's one thing I'm so aware of and I think of it so often, and that is that this one life of mine is passing so quickly. The night is coming.

[35:13] My time for serving God will soon be over and then it's going to be eternity. And it's what I've done for God is going to last through into eternity.

[35:27] The night is coming when no man can work. Friends, may we live this one life for God. May we serve God with all that we can, friends.

[35:43] It's not about ability. It's all about availability. I remember a dear missionary, the late Molly Harvey. She's with the Lord today.

[35:55] She was from Northern Ireland and she heard the call of God to go to Brazil and to be a missionary. She had to go before a panel of doctors because she was going to work for God in the Amazon.

[36:07] This was many years ago. And so she went before the doctors and the doctors said to her we're sorry but you cannot go to the Amazon in Brazil. Your heart is weak and you'll never survive.

[36:21] But Molly Harvey at the call of God and she said I'm going to Brazil and I'm going to serve God in the Amazon and off she went. And she served God for almost 40 years. Sometimes she would say of the amusement, she said, you know, the doctors in the hospital who told me not to go, they're all dead and I'm still alive.

[36:40] I met her when she was 91. She was just a little woman up to about here on me. But there's something that lady would say, you know friends I think of it almost every day and this is what she would say, don't count your years but make your years count.

[36:58] may that be true for all of us. That when we stand before the Lord we might hear those words well done thou good and faithful servant.

[37:17] May God bless you. May the Lord help us in our walk and our service for God. Spiritual blindness but there's one called Jesus who's still changing lives.

[37:37] The church's challenge is we must work the works of him that sent us while it's day. The night is coming when no man can work.

[37:49] Let's bow in prayer. Dear God and Father we commit thy word to thee and to the power of the Holy Spirit and we pray Lord that you will help us to be blessed and encouraged through your word.

[38:10] Help us oh God to live this one life for you and for the extension of your kingdom and Lord may we always be available for you to use.

[38:21] Bless this congregation bless the minister of this church bless the witness Lord and continue your gracious hand upon us in Jesus name Amen Can we turn to Psalm 34 page 246 Psalm 34 singing singing together down to the verse 9 God will I bless all times his praise my mouth shall still express my soul shall boast in God the meek shall hear with joyfulness Psalm 34 page 246 singing down to verse 9 God God will like this all times his praise my mind shall still express my soul shall boast in thought the he shall hear with joyfulness and so the

[39:37] Lord with me let us and sought his name together I saw the Lord hear how did come all fears deliver they looked to him and lighten were not shame made were their faces this poor man cried caught hurt and sick him from all his distresses the angel of the

[40:39] Lord encounter and round encompassing all those about that do him who are to him fear are him deliverer for taste and seed that God is good who trusted him is blessed his blessed fear God his saints not that him fear shall be with want to rest may the grace of the

[41:40] Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all until he comes or he calls to us amen