Blow The Trumpet in Zion #2 - The Church

[00:00:00] If you would turn with me to the letter of the apostle Paul to the Ephesians. [00:00:12] And I would like to read some verses from the 6th chapter. [00:00:23] Ephesians, the ephesian letter and the 6th chapter from verse ten. [00:00:33] Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. [00:00:50] For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the hosts of wicked spirits in the heavenly places. Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day. And having done all to stand, stand, therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, withal taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, with all prayer and supplication, praying at all seasons in the spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints, and on my behalf, that utterance may be given unto me in opening my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. [00:02:25] Shall we bow just once more in prayer? Father, thank you for the anointing that you have given us. We just want to recognize that. We want to recognize, Lord, that without that anointing, grace and power. Power. What I say and what we hear will not go into eternity. But, beloved Lord, you have specifically provided an anointing for our time together. And into that anointing for both my speaking and our hearing. We stand by faith, Lord. May it be the experience of every one of us that we meet with you in this last time together, this day. Hear us, O Lord. We give ourselves over to you with praise and thanksgiving for all that you will do in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. [00:03:26] I think it is not only in connection with Israel and the jewish people that we need to blow the trumpet in Zion. [00:03:36] I think there is a very real need to blow the trumpet in that Zion, of which the hebrew letter speaks when it says, we have all come to Mount Zion, to the church of the firstborn, it says, and so on. [00:03:57] I think there is a spiritual Zion too. [00:04:00] And it is true that if there is confusion and turmoil in Israel, it seems to me that there is confusion and turmoil in the church of God. I'm not talking about the institutional or the traditional, but I'm talking about the true church of God, the body of our Lord Jesus. Really, has there been quite so much confusion and turmoil as there is at this present time? [00:04:41] What is wonderful is that there are certain things upon which all of us can stand when we are called to be intercessors. [00:04:53] For the Lord Jesus has given us a specific promise. [00:04:59] That declaration, that promise of his, cannot fail. [00:05:05] You will find it in Matthew's gospel, chapter 16 and verse 18. Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Unto you I have given the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. What a tremendous responsibility, what a tremendous privilege belongs to us as the redeemed people of the Lord. We are priests, we are kings unto the Lord. And he has given us this tremendous revelation concerning his heart and his mind. [00:06:04] And in this revelation of his heart and his mind he has told us upon this rock, that is the massif rock, of what he is and what he has done, he will build his church. Not my church necessarily. Not your church, his church. Whatever he means by his church, he is going to build it. And if all hell comes out against it, it will not matter. He will complete it. [00:06:40] I have no doubt about this. Just as I have no doubt that Israel is going to be saved, that the Jewish. That the Holy Spirit is going to do a tremendous work amongst the jewish people bringing back the natural branches into their own olive tree. I also feel that there has to be their own olive tree to come back into if the present mess continues and the present apostasy and all the rest that goes by the name of church. If it goes, there won't be an olive tree for the jewish people. The natural branch is to be grafted back into. But blessed be the name of the Lord. He has already given us a simple categoric declaration. Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. [00:07:44] I find it very interesting when we come to the book of Revelation. Some Christians are frightened to death at the book of Revelation. First they find it very complex. They feel they almost. They read different books on it and that confuses them even more. They get clear with one book and then they read another and it confuses them. And then they read another, and it confuses them more. And then they read yet another, and it confuses them more. And in the end, you put an ice pack on your head and go back to reading the word itself for relief. [00:08:17] There are so many different interpretations of the book of Revelation, but there is one thing upon which I think all of us can be agreed. Right at the beginning of this book, after we see the Lord Jesus, the risen, glorified, ascended Messiah in the midst of seven churches, selected to represent the whole church of God, the redeemed on earth, in time and in place, suddenly, the apostle is given another vision. He sees into heaven. He sees the throne of God. He sees the one that sits upon the throne of God. And then there is a cry that goes right through the whole heavens. Who is worthy to take this scroll sealed with seven seals and break them? Now, probably for most people, they wouldn't understand the scroll sealed with seven seals. But for John, it was absolutely clear, for it was the normal thing in the jewish circles of his day, that when an inheritance was made, when a testament was left, someone, as it were, made over to somebody else, everything that belonged to them, their property, their wealth, their money, everything, they wrote it all down. If they couldn't write, a scribe would do it. And then they attached their signature to it. And then there were seven seals put on it so that if one was meddled with, if it was only one seal on it, someone could get in and change it. But with seven seals, typical jewish seven seals, it would be quite impossible to get in and meddle with the testament or the inheritance. So John was absolutely clear that when he saw in the hand of him that sat on the throne, this scroll with the seven seals, he knew it was to do with the inheritance of God. He knew it was to do, if you want to put it another way, with the will of God, if you want to put it yet another way, it was to do with the eternal purpose of God. Who could fulfill it? Who could secure it? Who would inherit it? And when this voice cried out, who is worthy to take this, this eternal purpose of God and realize it? Who is worthy to take this inheritance of God and inherit it? There wasn't a sound. [00:11:10] John understood the significance of it so greatly, he burst into tears. [00:11:16] No one moved in heaven, on earth or under the earth. [00:11:22] There was no one worthy to do it. [00:11:27] Suddenly, an elder came and put his arm around John and said, don't cry. Look, the lion who is of the tribe of Judah has overcome and he has taken the scroll, and he is going to break the seal. [00:11:51] And John, looking, saw a little lamb as it had been slain in the midst of the throne. It was the Lord Jesus. [00:12:04] It was the Messiah. It is a most marvelous picture. A marvelous picture for John, of course, being jewish, it was tremendous. The lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to the davidic throne, the fulfillment of all the prophecies. He, the lion of the tribe of Judah. Maybe he thought, well, where is this lion? Where is this great lion? Why isn't he roaring? And then suddenly he sees a little lamb, a tiny yearling, so small, so dimutive, so as it had been slain. [00:12:53] And this little lamb took the scroll and broke open the seal. [00:13:01] And then a most amazing thing. Suddenly the whole universe was filled with song and filled with worship. [00:13:16] Countless multitudes singing worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive glory and honor and riches and everything else. And then he watched as all these myriads and myriads of angels prostrated themselves before the Lord. And then the 24 elders, the elders representing all those from the old covenant and all from the new covenant, they fell on their faces before. What a picture. [00:13:52] What a picture. [00:13:56] You know, it's an amazing thing that the Bible, the Bible is actually the revelation of this eternal purpose. Many Christians think that the real message of the Bible is salvation. But actually tremendously important, as our salvation is essential, as it is so great and full as it is, our salvation is only a means to an end. Our salvation is the means by which God has placed us back into his eternal purpose, the very purpose he first originally had in his heart when he created the universe, the very purpose he first had in his heart and mind when he created Adam and Eve, the very purpose he had in his heart when Adam and Eve fell. And he persevered and endured, the very purpose he had when our Lord Jesus came into this earth. So it is a tremendous thing that we have. The Bible begins with a and ends with a wedding. And these two weddings correspond precisely, accurately and minutely. In the beginning, you have a wedding between two human beings, and it is only for time. But we are told in Ephesians, chapter five, this marvelous letter of the Ephesians, that this marriage, this wedding is only symbolic of something that God has longed for, for his redeemed and himself. When you come to the end of the Bible, you have a wedding. And that wedding is between the lamb and the wife of the lamb, and it is forever. Now, I dont know whether youre following me, and you wonder, why is he talking about all this, I mean, arent we here to hear about Israel? Well, it might be very good if we balance some of our nutcases just a little on this matter and sort of expand our understanding just a little. Here is something for you to think about. There's no mention of Israel in the first three chapters of the Bible and no mention of Israel in the last three chapters of the Bible. But you will find Israel all the way through the rest of the Bible from there to the end. Isn't that interesting? Now, if you look at the center of your Bible, you will find another wedding. It is in the song of songs. Now, I'm not going to go into all this. I talked about it in one or two of the places when we went round on this trip. All I want to get over to you is God has a tremendous purpose. [00:16:53] This purpose you will find described in the Ephesians letter, and it is all to do with the church. When God chose the jewish people, he chose the church, if you understand what I'm getting at. For in God's heart and mind, Israel was his church, his bride, and in a marvelous way, you who have been saved by the grace of God have become fellow heirs, fellow members and fellow partakers. With them, you understand something that was hid from generations before, was revealed to his apostles and his prophets. What was it that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members and fellow partakers, as it says, that is in Ephesians chapter three. But if you look at Colossians chapter one and verse 26 27, he says that you might understand what is the glory, the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ or messiah? In you all the hope of glory. [00:18:18] It is a tremendous thing we have now, dear folks, do you not find it interesting that in this most extraordinary revelation of God's eternal purpose, of what is really in his heart and mind for mankind, why he created us, what he has as a goal, why he persevered with us, why the Lord Jesus came to save us, and why the Holy Spirit has been poured out with this work to do. Do you not think it is extraordinary the way the apostle Paul ends this ephesian letter? [00:19:03] All theologians or Bible expositors agree that the ephesian letter is the high water mark of revelation in the New Testament, that here we have come to the heart of God. Here we understand what his eternal purpose is. You've got it most beautifully expressed in Ephesians chapter three and verse eleven. According to his eternal purpose, which he purposed in Messiah Jesus our Lord. Or another rendering is according to his eternal purpose, which he secured in Messiah Jesus our Lord. Dear friends, do you not find it interesting the way he ends? He doesn't say, finally, let us have convocations and conferences for the deepening of spiritual life, because that's how we've got to get this message over to people and we need to teach them. Of course, teaching is very important, we all know that. But that's not how he ends, nor does he end. Dear friends, finally, let's get out into the streets and into the towns and preach the gospel everywhere. That's absolutely essential. It is the commission that has been given to us as the church of God. It's not how he ends, nor does he say, dear friends, I think we should have get togethers, coming togethers, rallies, where we can understand the person and work of the Holy Spirit and where there can be a real experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. [00:20:37] We know that it is essential to experience the work of the Holy Spirit in all its fullness, both his anointing and his indwelling. But thats not how he ends. This is how he ends. Listen carefully to me. Im going to paraphrase it in my own words. [00:20:55] If you do not learn how to stand in the revealed purpose of and will of God, you will lose everything. [00:21:08] The enemy will come in and you will be saved and not saved. [00:21:14] You will be freed and bound. [00:21:18] You will be pure, cleansed and impure. [00:21:24] You will be spiritual, but not you will be calmer. [00:21:32] If you do not learn how to stand in God's revealed purpose and will, the enemy will come in like a flood and will take everything from you. And you will become people that are in prison houses, people that are in dungeons, people who are supposed to see, but they're blind. People who are subject to satanic and demonic activity instead of being filled and anointed by the Holy Spirit. [00:22:05] Have I gone too far? [00:22:08] I don't think so. If you read carefully, the apostle says that. [00:22:14] Let me now quote exactly what he says. Finally, be strong in the Lord. [00:22:22] In the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of. What's armor for? What is armor for? It's not for going to parties. [00:22:38] What is armor for? Fancy dress? No, what is armor for? War. [00:22:47] It is for warfare. [00:22:50] You don't go to bed in armor. [00:22:54] You dont go to the office in armor. [00:22:58] The only time you have to put armor wrong is when theres a war put on the whole armor of God. That ye may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil. Wiles cunning devices of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood. [00:23:23] God deliver us from wrestling with flesh and blood. Everywhere I go I find believers wrestling with other believers, flesh and blood, wrestling with flesh and blood, countering philosophy with philosophy, ideas with ideas, scripture with scripture, doctrine with doctrine. It is a mistake. [00:23:47] This is a spiritual war. We are not wrestling with flesh and blood, but with what lies behind flesh and blood. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against hosts of wicked spirits in the heavenly places, wherefore take up the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day. So there is an evil day. There are wiles of the devil. There is an evil day when it seems as if God allows Satan to have his way completely with his work, when everything goes wrong, when everything breaks down, when everything seems to be a contradiction to the purpose of God and to the word of God. But we are told to withstand in the evil day. And having done all to stand. Isn't this an extraordinary war? You don't go forward, you don't go backwards, you don't go to the side, to the left, you don't go to the right, you don't even go up and you don't go down. You stand and you stand and you withstand and you stand. [00:25:06] And if you learn how to stand, the enemy's defeated. [00:25:14] Isn't it amazing that we don't see this? [00:25:17] I mean, we all give lip service to it, of course. I mean, who doesn't? Every believer believes, you know, of course you stand in the Lord, of course. [00:25:27] But I mean, isn't it extraordinary that when it comes to it, we all get into a tizzy, we do war dances, scream and shout at one another, oh, accusations at one another, when in actual fact what we really have to do is to stand in the revealed purpose of God for his church. [00:25:56] It is interesting when you go on here and you see that you have the word of God in prayer. And in this connection, the word of God is to be used in prayer. It is not just for instruction. [00:26:10] It is the sword of the spirit. [00:26:15] Actually, this is the sword that the roman soldier used to finish off the enemy. [00:26:25] So it is the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. Oh, to know the word of God like this. Oh, to have the word of God in our hands. Oh, that we knew how to deal with some of these situations that are plaguing the church of God and the people of God. [00:26:43] Dear friends I find this quite extraordinary. [00:26:48] Come back again to this word. Upon this rock, I will build my church. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Just wait. Just wait. If we look at church history haven't the gates of hell prevailed against the church again and again and again? Hasn't the church been taken over by the world? Hasn't the church become actually as dark as the world? Hasn't it become as dead as the world? Isn't it true what I'm saying? Have there not been times when the church itself has been the greatest persecutor of the children of God, of the redeemed? Has it not? Sometimes representing Christ massacred and murdered. I always find that beautiful city of Salzburg such a pain to go to because I know that there is only one fountain in the whole of that beautiful city in which anabaptists were not drowned with their wives and children chained in sin sacks. [00:27:50] Don't tell me that this church has always been glorious. Wonderful. Oh, then we get another doctrine. You see, we get the doctrine of the invisible. And that is that somewhere, whilst down here in the unseen everything is dreadful. Somewhere there, in the sort of. Never, never. Somewhere out there in the ether, in the spiritual God is building his church. [00:28:21] Well, just wait. [00:28:23] Wouldn't it be strange if we accepted the same doctrine with conversion? [00:28:29] And we said, well, don't look for any fruit in the person saved. It's up there. [00:28:39] Came from heaven. They're going to heaven. We don't expect to see anything down here. [00:28:47] But, of course, we know immediately a person saved because there's something in them. I remember a fellow. [00:28:55] I shouldn't tell you this but a certain conference, the dear sister got on to me and said, this man's unsaved. He's coming to this conference which was filled with the most godly people you can imagine. [00:29:09] So unworldly they hardly knew what a television looked like. [00:29:15] And I thought. And then she said, he's a rugby player. A rugby player. Oh, my God. What is going to happen with this fellow when he gets amongst the people? She said, I want you to talk with him. No, I will not. I said, you bought him, you can look after him. [00:29:35] I'm not going to do that dirty work. I said, you know, I mean, I felt so sorry for this poor fellow. [00:29:42] Well, he came to the meetings. He sat in the meetings. He had, by the way, he had a chin like an anvil. [00:29:49] He was from Chile. [00:29:52] And I've never forgotten I said, if he asks me, I will tell him. I will explain things, but not unless he does. [00:30:01] Then one day he walked in. I took one look at his face. Even that Anvil chin was glowing with some kind of glory. And I knew the moment I saw him, the man is saved. [00:30:18] Something has happened to him in this conference, and it had. I went up to him, I said, what's happened to you? He said, how do you know? I said, well, you've only got to look at you. I can see it in your face. Yes, in my bedroom. He said, I've given my heart to the Lord. And, you know, it is an amazing thing. Now, if we expect to see something in the lives of those who are saved, shouldn't we expect to see some manifestation of the church even in all its problem and difficulty? I mean, people are always looking for the perfect church. It was DL Moody who said, well, when you find it, it won't be perfect anymore. But, I mean, the fact that everybody's looking for the perfect church, they have this ideal, this wonderful thing, you know, perfect, perfect unit, perfect purity, sound doctrine. Everything's wonderful about it. My dear friends, just suppose we could get a church like that. I mean, if we could. If Ken and Jeff and I could sort of put you all through a kind of investigative committee and we could sort you all out until finally we got about 40 of you that were pure and perfect. I mean, the rest of you would have to leave. You see, we'd say, go off elsewhere. We have got our perfect church now. We have got the 30, the 40 that are absolutely perfect. They are pure and doctrine sound in every way otherworldly, devoted to the Lord Jesus. And. And then one of these wonderful times we had two or three years when we all sat there with our shining faces and praised the Lord and sang our hymns and studied the word. And then one day someone prayed in our little time of prayer. Oh, Lord, how we pray for the people around us in this town, save them. And the Lord heard, and certainly the Lord saved, shall we say, 200? And from being 40, we became 240. And suddenly we found we had tax swindlers and pimps and prostitutes and drug, drug cases and alcoholics. And suddenly our perfect church was no longer perfect. [00:32:34] Don't tell me. Oh, but if they're saved, they'll be. No, I have been long enough in the Lord's work and had enough to do with some of the problems of human life to know that when a drunk addict gets saved, it's a process of deliverance. [00:32:54] And all the problems you sometimes have to put same with the alcoholic until they're finally through. Oh, it's wonderful when someone comes through. On this trip, I have met two of our boys who were drug cases, both of them now leaders in the work of the Lord in different parts of the country. But all the problems we had with them, the complexes they had, the backwards and forwards, the way we had to pray them through. My dear friends, if God were to start saving people into our perfect little elite overcoming group, we would suddenly become imperfect. Now, let me tell you something. The church on earth, by its very nature is imperfect. [00:33:37] If God is really saving people and adding to the church, it has to be imperfect. It's a kind of, oh, well, I don't know how to. Like a builder's yard. It's one big mess. [00:33:52] It doesn't look so wonderful because God is doing something. Now, I don't want to get caught on side things here, or I want to come back to this. You see, you and I have to learn how to pray. [00:34:11] If you and I do not learn how to discern the will of God and how to hear the Holy Spirit. Spirit, in giving us the word of God, applying the word of God to our situations, then we cannot stand within that revealed will of God, using the sword of the Spirit, and see his purpose fulfilled. [00:34:43] Do you not think it is wonderful that in this book of revelation, in which we saw our Lord standing in the midst of these seven churches, representing the whole church of God on earth, and speaking to each church? And basically there were two things that he said to each church, which are the same to him that overcomes, not to them, but to him that overcomes. And secondly, he that has an ear, let him hear what the spirit is saying. In other words, there can be no overcoming without hearing what the Lord is saying and standing in it. [00:35:23] You understand, I say that it is very interesting that when you come to the book of revelation, chapter 19, right in the midst of all this thing about Antichrist, about beasts, about the dragon, and I don't know what else, we certainly hear this great hallelujah chorus. Hallelujah for the Lord God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, for the marriage. Supper of the lamb is come, and the bride hath made herself ready. [00:36:09] In other words, here in this very book that some believers are so afraid of, we discover that the purpose of God is fulfilled. [00:36:21] Now, dear friends, I do not believe that there is going to be a universal restoration of the church, as some of my brethren believe. [00:36:34] There are those who believe that everyone is going to leave all their denominations and all their various groupings and all come to together at the end and the whole thing's going to be wonderful, worldwide, tremendous power. And no, not if I understand the Bible. I understand that every age has begun with everybody and ended with a remnant. And I understand that in the end the love of the many will wax cold, but there is still the love of the few, of the minority, if you like. And I also find this amazing thing that the apostle Paul speaking about the coming of the Lord Jesus and the very last phase has put on the breastplate of faith and love. So it is entirely possible for our love to grow more and more. Why should we throw in the glove and say, oh, the love of most people is going to become cold in the last days? Why not be amongst those whose love goes more and more for the Lord? Why not be amongst those who see, who do exploits for the Lord? Why not be amongst those who are part of the bride that make herself ready for the coming of the Lord? Why not be amongst those who have overcoming faith, enduring faith. Why just be defeatist? Because we know a day is coming when no man can work well, we know that the Antichrist will come. We're very near to it. We know that there will be much persecution and much problem. Why be defeatist right in the midst of all of this? The Lord is going to fulfill his purpose. Well then, let's get on with the job. [00:38:12] Why throw in the glove? [00:38:15] Are you surprised that the enemy is coming in like a blood? Are you surprised that there's so much deception? Are you surprised that there's so much apostasy? Why we should expect it? What's wrong with this? [00:38:31] And why should we not stand for the complete and absolute fulfillment of the purpose of God for his church? If the apostle Paul prophetically said that natural branches will be grafted into their own olive tree, then there has to be their own olive tree for them to be grafted into. [00:38:57] Is it not so? Yes, of course. [00:39:00] And weve got a job to do. [00:39:06] So, my dear friends, dont be discouraged. [00:39:12] We need to be encouraged. [00:39:19] Do you remember pilgrims progress? [00:39:22] Do you remember that extraordinary picture of the enemy? If I remember it rightly, pouring water upon the flame. And do you remember on the other side, the Holy Spirit or the angel putting in oil? Remember. I think it's something like that. Do you remember, dear friends, it's strange how we all believe the enemy is more powerful than the Holy Spirit. He is not. [00:39:51] He is not. Now its a very strange thing that people always imagine that Satan, God is here, Satan is there. [00:40:02] God is almighty. Satan is almighty. God is everywhere at once. Satan is everywhere at once. [00:40:09] You understand? [00:40:10] Then they think these two are having a battle. Its a question of whos going to win. Well, we hope that the Lord is going to win. We believe our bibles. We say, yes, yes, the Lord is going to win. [00:40:23] The fact of the matter is, I always remind myself, and I must be careful because I don't want to in any way devalue the person of Satan. But I must tell you this, he is a created being. [00:40:34] It may be a problem to you that God created him, but he is a created being. This means he has an intelligence which might be greater than all of ours together, which may not be so much, but still, I mean, we put all our intelligence together and his intelligence may be greater than all of our intelligence put together, but my dear friends, he still has limited intelligence. [00:41:03] Satan is dependent upon a whole network of demonic spirits, a kind of intelligence security service he has who watch everyone and note everything about everyone. They know the weaknesses. And Satan, he doesnt know everything. [00:41:22] Its amazing what Satan picks up in prayer meetings. [00:41:27] And as ive always said, he reads the Bible. [00:41:31] You may think that very strange, but he does. [00:41:34] And furthermore, he doesnt believe in liberal theology because he fathered it. [00:41:44] He believes in this book. Then you say to me, well, if he believes it, that this book is true, why does he bother? Because of pride. [00:41:52] If you've ever met a proud person, you know just what I'm talking about. Blinkered, aren't they? Totally blinkered. When you meet a proud person, they absolutely obstinately believe that they are going to get their way because it's them. [00:42:09] This is Satan. Well, I won't stay here with this. Dear friends, there are one or two things that are on my heart that I just want to pass on to you. I believe that this must all be something to do with prayer today. If we're going to stand together for the purpose of the Lord to be fulfilled, then these things we have to stand. [00:42:38] The first thing I would put down as a great danger in our present situation. Now, I want to be absolutely clear on this. I'm not getting at any particular wave or blessing that everybody is thinking about. [00:42:53] That's not what I'm getting at at all. I have seen a whole number of things now in the time I've been a believer for a whole generation. [00:43:04] And these things reappear again and again. So I am just noting down certain things. The greatest need at the present time is Christ centeredness. [00:43:16] I have no doubt about it at all. [00:43:20] It says in Colossians chapter one and verse 18 that in all things he that is the Lord Jesus might have the preeminence. Do you not think it is extraordinary that two or three times in the last book of the Bible, Jesus says, I am the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end? [00:43:45] Do you not think that it is very interesting that he emphasizes the fact that if. If he is not given the place the father has given him in the church, in the work of the Lord, in our lives, in our families, then they will go astray, whether it's the church or whether it's our family or whether it's us. Personally, if anyone asks me if the enemy is going to be so powerful in the last day, how can I go right through as an overcomer, I will unheard hesitatingly answer you very simply. Give the Lord Jesus the place God has given him in your life, and you cannot go wrong. [00:44:29] You cannot go wrong. If you give the Lord Jesus the place in your life that God has given him, then there will be a warning bell that will ring through your whole heart, through your spirit, so loud when you start to go to the left or to the right, or whether you're in danger of deception, it will ring so loud that you will know something's wrong. Isn't it interesting that origin determines destiny? [00:45:04] If something begins with the Lord Jesus, it will end in glory. [00:45:12] If it begins on this earth, it will end with this earth. Listen. [00:45:20] That which is born of the flesh is flesh. It may be highly intelligent, it may be gloriously theological, it may be full of zeal, it may have all. It may be christianized flesh, but if it's flesh, it is flesh, and it will never go beyond the realm of flesh. That which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said you must be born again. It's origin that determines destiny. But, you know, in the work of the law, we bring in all kinds of things. How appalled I was some years ago to find in the state, certainly christian organizations that had brought in unsaved secular fundraising firms to raise the money. [00:46:14] No wonder they all got into a mess. [00:46:21] You start using psychological methods, you start using psychological manipulation, the end is always the same. Division, darkness and corruption. [00:46:40] You and I have to learn that origin determines destiny. That's why you have the wonderful 87th psalm that speaks of all those born in Jerusalem and then speaks of those who are actually of Egypt or Rahab, it says, or Babylon or Philistia or anywhere else. When the Lord counts up the people, he will say, this one and that one was born in Jerusalem. In other words, if you're born again, you're registered in Jerusalem. That's your origin. Even if you were born here in Britain, as far as God is concerned, you're registered in the new Jerusalem, the Jerusalem which is above. That's your origin. If that's your origin, your destiny's glory. [00:47:25] Isn't that marvelous? Let me go further. If your origin is in the Lord Jesus by the Holy Spirit, then your destiny is to be made like the Lord Jesus. [00:47:40] Well, I mustn't spend any more on this. But don't you see what has happened in this glorious working renewing of the Holy Spirit that came almost now what is it? Nearly a generation ago many people began to wake up to the person and work of the Holy Spirit because they had hardly ever heard of the Holy Spirit. It was almost as if there were only two persons in the Godhead, Father and son. The Holy Spirit was an it, an agency, a thing, almost just a power. Do you understand? And then suddenly we began to wake up. But now the pendulum has swung so far that it's almost as if we talk about the Holy Spirit in the place of the Lord Jesus. But the Holy Spirit came. Listen. To lead us into all truth. He came to take of the things of the Lord Jesus and make them a living, relevant, practical reality to us and inner. It is the work of the Holy Spirit not to speak of himself, but to glorify the Lord Jesus. By the Holy Spirit, the Father and the Son come to dwell in a human being. It is by the Holy Spirit that you know repentance. It's by the Holy Spirit you know conviction. It is by the Holy Spirit that you are born again. It is by the Holy Spirit, spirit that you get the gift of living faith. It is through the Holy Spirit that you're changed stage by stage, step by step into the likeness of the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the key to everything, but he does not draw attention to himself. Now of course I'm not saying that we don't have to understand the Holy Spirit or the person and work of the Holy Spirit, but what I'm just saying is this, we have now swung so far. People actually came to me and said things like we've got the spirit, we don't need the Bible. [00:49:44] What in the world has happened to us if we think, because we think we have the author of the Bible, the Holy Spirit, we don't need the Bible. [00:49:57] How in the world can we judge? If you say, I have lived my whole life. Listen, who said the spirit told me this? The spirit led me to do this and it's absolute nonsense. It is perfectly clear to the rest of us. The spirit has said nothing to them whatsoever. [00:50:15] I have also met people who have been truly led of the spirit of the Lord. [00:50:22] It is by the book. [00:50:25] And that leads me to the next thing. And that is here is the second thing that we need to pray for. Stand into the word of God as the only authority and criterion in the life of the church and the believer. Dear friends, if you and I unwittingly move away from the foundation of the word of God, we lose our moorings. When a ship is somehow separated from its moorings, it will be carried by any current and in the end will be shipwrecked, isn't it? So now you and I need to take very real heed of this matter of the word of God because it seems to me that there are so few real Bible studies. [00:51:23] Now, as soon as I say this, people come to me and say, well, we don't want to go back to those dead Bible studies we used to have. They were so boring. I quite agree. I mean, some of those Bible studies were as did as the dodo. [00:51:39] I understand people saying, we don't want to have all that, but why can't we have living Bible studies? [00:51:46] Why can't we have the kind of Bible studies that absolutely change our lives, change the directions of our lives? How few people are really under the government of the word of God? Most of us want to find in the word pigs to put ideas on things, to justify what we now believe should be. So, in other words, we try to make the Bible contemporary. The Bible is contemporary. When God makes this book live, there is nothing that is not contemporary in it. It is absolutely alive. This word of God is living and active and sharper than a two edged sword dividing between soul and spirit. When this word of God gets into a human being and you're really under its government, it creates things in you. It actually brings you to the origin in the Lord Jesus. And it means that something is in you which is released through the Holy Spirit. It is the word of God being released in you. It is absolutely marvelous. [00:52:58] There is the greatest need at the present time for a division between soul and spirit. [00:53:07] And the only way that division can ever come is by the Holy Spirit taking the word of God into our beings so that we know what is myself, and I know what is the Lord. I know what he is doing in me, and I know what is just myself. [00:53:23] Dear friends, I cant stay because of time on all of this. But dear folks, this is so important. [00:53:32] Let me read to you this marvelous word. You know it all. You don't almost need to turn to it. I'll read it to you. For some of you, you've known it from childhood. Listen, all scripture inspired of God is profitable for teaching reproof, correction, for instruction which is in righteousness. Listen. That the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work. [00:54:08] Dont you think we should revise that? [00:54:11] Dont you think we should say, oh, no, no, no, this isnt so. Its not the word of God. This is the Spirit. [00:54:17] It is the Holy Spirit that furnishes us complete, completely unto every. The word says it is the word of God. [00:54:26] So the Holy Spirit takes the word of God and reveals it to us. And then when it's revealed, oh, the spirit of wisdom and revelation. Isn't it amazing? I know the first time I ever saw what the cross was, it bowled me over. I remember the first time I ever saw what the church was. I couldn't speak about it for a whole year. I saw for the first time what the church was. How did it come to me? It didn't come through some ecstatic mountain top thing. Actually, I was walking through the high street in Richmond when it suddenly dawned on me. They must have thought I was mad, for I stopped for a few moments. I could something happen to my. I actually saw something. And the amazing thing is that when the Holy Spirit takes the word of God and reveals it, it's yours. [00:55:14] It has become yours. It has become yours in a way that it can never be anybody else's. It's yours. The word has become flesh and blood in you. It has actually come into you to dwell. It's not mental, theological study, academic up here. It is something that the Holy Spirit takes from the book and reveals it. And when it is revealed, it is powerful. [00:55:40] Have you ever known an alcoholic delivered by a word from Shakespeare? [00:55:46] Have you ever heard of a word from Goethe delivering a drug addict? Certainly. You've never done. You've never even heard a word from the taming of the shrew that healed a broken marriage. But take this book, and once the Holy Spirit gets it into a human being and into their actual life, into their very being, something happens. Dear friends, this was the reformation. [00:56:12] We are in danger of just throwing it all away, as if just because there have been such dead, dusty, dry, academic bible studies. We can do without it. [00:56:25] What we want is only the spirit. Dear friends, where are we going? [00:56:32] I say the enemy comes in like a flood when you have this kind of idea or listen to this. I ought to get this from the. From the Niv. I want to read this to you. Just listen to it. I'll read it in the NIv because it brings it home in the more modern version. Some people say to me, I wish you'd read the Niv and not your old version. But I'm used to my old version. [00:56:59] Listen to this. [00:57:02] I give you this charge. Preach the word. Be prepared in season and out of season. Correct. Rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. Isn't that interesting? [00:57:42] My dear friends, Paul said, preach the word. [00:57:54] Preach the word. [00:57:59] And I'd like to say a third thing. [00:58:03] I think there is a very great danger that we are breeding a generation of believers who want sensations and not experience. Now, please understand what I'm saying. [00:58:21] They want sensations and not experience. [00:58:28] I will explain. [00:58:30] I am all for ecstasies. [00:58:34] If you can have an ecstasy, I think it's a wonderful thing to be caught up to the third heaven. I wouldn't deny such an experience for anybody. Go for it. [00:58:47] In this sad, troubled world were in, the more the Lord touches us and we walk on air, the more wonderful. But let me tell you this, you wont walk on air for very long, so enjoy the ecstasy while you have it. [00:59:09] What we need is experience. [00:59:12] And I want to tell you something. Real experience of the Lord Jesus costs everything. [00:59:21] Sensations cost nothing. [00:59:27] You can go into a meeting, you can get all excited. You go and all the rest of it, you go out. You may feel better for it, but it will not last. [00:59:38] But real experience of the Holy Spirit of the Lord. This is life changing. [00:59:46] You will never be the same again. When you discover the Lord Jesus, when you get to know him, when you can talk with him, really talk with him, when you can almost know what he's thinking, that's real experience of the Lord. Now, I'm afraid that we are breeding a whole generation of those who are not interested in anything that is costly. They're not interested in the fellowship of his sufferings. They're not interested in the kind of word. Through many tribulations, we enter into the kingdom of God. Folks just want to be living in a kind of glory hole, you know, up here, just sort of. Everything's wonderful. I remember when I was in the chaplain's barge, the greatest number of backsliders living in grossest depravity and sin were the salvation army and the Pentecostals. [01:00:47] And those who were the most enduring strangely came from the brethren. [01:00:58] And I used to ponder and ponder and ponder why this was so, until I realized that really it is a question of being founded in the word. If you're founded in the word, you go through. I'm not talking about academic up here. I'm talking about in here. When your roots are in the Lord, when your feet are solidly in through the word of God, you will go through. [01:01:23] But if you're living in a kind of hyped up atmosphere all the time, you will not last when the storms come. [01:01:35] Now, those of you who are Pentecostals, please forgive me. Don't all write at once. [01:01:43] I am also, as you know, a charismatic. So I don't have any problem here with this thing. I'm not getting at you. I'm just trying to say something. I think we can be breeding a whole hyped up atmosphere where we go for sensation after sensation. My dear friends, I don't want to attack anything or anybody, but when, some years ago, I was in a meeting where we were told, do you have purple in your hands? If you do, you have a certain gift. Do you have itching round your lips? You are a speaker. Do you have itching here? Then you're going to be an intercessor. My dear friends, what in the world are we doing? [01:02:24] What in the world are we doing? [01:02:30] I call that sensation. [01:02:33] I don't call that experience. [01:02:38] And furthermore, all these beloved people who have thus been gifted, I found out later that in the work of the Lord, and I travel all over the world, theyre square pegs in round holes. [01:02:51] They think theyve got certain gifts, and everybody else knows they havent. [01:02:58] So the enemy has flung a spanner in the works. [01:03:05] I say, this does not originate with the spirit of God. It does not originate with the whole, with the, the Lord Jesus. It's something that's come from the flesh. [01:03:15] And because of that, you will have a whole train of problem coming out of it. [01:03:25] Physical or psychological sensations are not necessarily the spirit of the Lord. Now, don't get me wrong. [01:03:35] There is no doubt that when the Holy Spirit touches a person, you may weep. There's no doubt that when the Holy Spirit touches the boat, you may laugh. There's no doubt that when the Holy Spirit touches the boat, you may fall flat on your face. Most people fall on their back. I don't know why, but in the Bible you fall on your face normally. Maybe people don't want to spoil their faces. [01:03:56] We're all much more conscious today of our cosmetic looks. So maybe it's that, I have no idea. But all I know, all I know is this, that when the Holy Spirit works, anything can happen. And to say that there will not be any physical or mental sensations would be absolute nonsense. [01:04:17] I have seen some people born of God and go on with the Lord, and now they're serving the Lord. [01:04:24] When they got saved, they didn't shed a tear. I couldn't see a single tremble on their lips. They were mostly english. They were absolute. They were absolutely firm as a part. They went on with the Lord. And I've seen other people burst into tears and weep and weep and weep. [01:04:49] People are very different. [01:04:53] But physical and psychological sensations are by no means to be acquainted with the work of the Holy Spirit. You can have it all, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with the Holy Spirit and can lead you into a whole false way in your life. [01:05:19] Then there is a force thing. If you're still with me, I must watch time. [01:05:28] There is a fourth thing, a discerning spirit. [01:05:32] I believe that our greatest need as we go into the last phase of world history is to have a discerning spirit. [01:05:43] Did not the Lord Jesus say, take heed. Take heed. Take heed. Take heed to yourselves. Take heed that no man lead you astray? Is it not interesting that in connection with the last phase of world history, the emphasis of the Lord Jesus was not on the events and what follows what primarily, nor even upon the details of those events. His emphasis was on taking heed. [01:06:14] Why did he say, take heed? [01:06:20] Do you not think it is interesting that in the first letter of John, chapter four, verse one, it tells us to test the spirits? [01:06:31] Do you not think that if the word of God tells us to prove all things hold fast, that which is good, abstain from all that is evil? Do you not think that it means that we should do precisely what it says? [01:06:56] I think there's a tremendous need for a discerning spirit. [01:07:06] Now, some people will immediately say, oh, well, you see, that means your mind will stop you from ever coming into any real experience of the Lord. Just wait. [01:07:18] First of all, in one corinthians, and I think its chapter two. You will read this extraordinary little word. He that is spiritual judgeth all things. [01:07:36] Isn't that interesting? And then it goes on saying, he is judged of no man, but he that is spiritual. This doesn't mean you have a critical spirit. It doesn't mean you have a judgmental spirit. It means that if you're spiritual, you won't swallow anything or everything. [01:07:55] Anyone who swallows anything in the last phase of world history is stupid. [01:08:03] Ill say it again. [01:08:07] I dont want to upset anybody, but ill say it again. Anyone who swallows everything in christian meetings in the last phase of world history is stupid. [01:08:23] We need spiritually intelligent believers. [01:08:27] We have a terrible dearth of spiritually intelligent believers. [01:08:39] People just swallow anything. What's wrong with them all? [01:08:44] We're not supposed to swallow anything. [01:08:47] Well, I don't know. I must be careful, otherwise my time will have gone. I want to get to one last point before I sit down and have finally delivered the burden and can go back to Jerusalem. [01:09:06] Wouldn't it be a strange thing because there are people like this, they eat anything. [01:09:13] I mean, I've been terribly interested in these latest things. I shouldn't say this year, but I mean, I've been terribly interested since I've been here in Britain, listening to people like Professor Sir Bernard Tomlinson telling us on no account to eat hamburgers. [01:09:31] I had no idea what was in a hamburger. I was so shocked when I heard what was in hamburgers. I'm waiting to get back to Jerusalem to tell some of the boys there. I mean, they love hamburgers now I know what in them. I'm just so absolutely horrified. [01:09:53] Do you know what the meaning, the spiritual significance of the kosher law is? [01:09:59] Spiritual meaning? It is this. What you eat becomes you. [01:10:08] You eat carium, it will become you. [01:10:16] Let me put it another way. You read pornography, you will become pornographic. [01:10:22] You read erotic things, you will become erotic. [01:10:29] What you feed on becomes you. [01:10:33] Dear friends, most of us, as we grow up, become a little more discerning. Since the United States has passed a law that every single thing in food has to now be printed on the outside. All the manufacturers of food in the United States have been printing everything on the outside in the tiniest print you've ever seen. [01:10:55] And you see these old ladies in super sauce with magnifying glasses, looking up and down, because the whole of America has now become so conscious of food health. [01:11:08] Now everybody begins to understand that you cannot swallow anything or everything. There are things that are added to your food. I mustn't go into. I don't want to put fear amongst you all about your food. I'm not. I'm going to use it as an illustration. But spiritually, if you go into any meeting, open your mouth wide and go take everything in, you are going to be in trouble. [01:11:31] We need a discerning spirit. [01:11:35] What is of God, take what is none of God. Reject. [01:11:41] Try the spirit, whether they be of God. [01:11:50] And that brings me to my last point, and my last point is very simple. It is all to do with the spirit and the cross. [01:12:02] If you have the spirit without the cross, you will begin in the spirit and end in the flesh. [01:12:12] And when you have the cross without the spirit, you will end up dead. [01:12:24] You and I need the cross and the spirit. [01:12:30] Sadly, in the renewing. Some generation ago now that came to the whole world, there was, in many ways an absence of any emphasis upon what was for the Lord Jesus his central message. If any man come after me, let him deny himself, give up all rights to himself, take up his cross and follow me. [01:13:00] Whosoever would save his life, the same shall lose it. And he that loseth his life, his self life, for my sake and the gospels, the same shall find it. It is a law with God that when you let go of your self life, you find it in a new fulfilment. [01:13:26] And when you hold on to your self life and fight for it, you lose it in the process. [01:13:37] I have met, through my christian life and ministry, thousands of embittered, narrow minded and lifeless believers. [01:13:49] And I have found that all of them, almost without exception, have held on to their self life because they think they can manage it better than God. [01:14:03] They become joyless, embittered people. [01:14:13] I have also met thousands of people, believers whose hearts and mouths are filled with genuine laughter, full of joy, full of life and full of the fragrance of the Lord. People, that I could say the beauty of the Lord our God is upon them. I have found every one of them has let go of their self life. [01:14:44] Dear friends, this, this tremendous need to know the power and the work of the Holy Spirit, it is paramount. There's no question about it. You know where I stand, all of you on this matter. I mean, there's no need to even say anymore. But the enabling to lay down your life can only come from the Holy Spirit. [01:15:14] For most of us, the deepest instinct in our being is self preservation. We cannot let go of ourselves. We hug ourselves, we pamper ourselves, even when we deride ourselves in this kind of false modesty. It is only another form of protecting ourselves. [01:15:35] When we are free from ourselves, the Holy Spirit can reveal the Lord Jesus in us. And through us, it becomes something so wonderful and so glorious. No work is safe without the cross, even the work of the Holy Spirit. [01:15:57] You can have a tremendous experience of the Holy Spirit. And 20 years on, the whole thing has died. [01:16:07] The only way that that work of the Holy Spirit in your life will become a permanent, ongoing, progressive experience, deeper and deeper, fuller and fuller, changed from glory into glory by the spirit. The only way that can happen is when you let go of your self life. Let me tell you, that self life of yours and mine is the problem. [01:16:35] Well, I must finish, but I always return to the Old Testament for this. Do you remember when Moses was being sent to pharaoh? And the Lord said to him, all of a sudden, when he said, I can't go, I can't go, I stammer. [01:16:49] And the lord said to him, after a while, he actually, Lord humoured him and said, take Aaron with you. Aaron can do the talking, you can do the acting. [01:17:02] From then on, it was Moses who did all the talking. Isn't that interesting? And the Lord knows how to deal with this. You see, they're only going to have an argument with Moses at that point. No point. [01:17:12] But then the Lord said to him, what's that in your hands? All this? [01:17:17] It's my world. [01:17:20] And what's that? Well, I'm a shepherd. You know that, boy. Oh. So what do you do with this one? Well, I mean, I whack the sheet now and again, beat off wolves and other creatures, jackals, hyenas. Oh. [01:17:40] Throw it on the ground. Oh, my God, Lord. Yes, on the ground. Throw it down on the ground. [01:17:48] And instantly, the rod became a viper. [01:17:56] Moses had no idea that the rod he'd held in his hand, hugged to himself, whacked sheep with, slept beside his head in his little tent was a viper. [01:18:08] Furthermore, he had lived for 40 years in the desert. He knew very well that this was one of the most poisonous of all the snakes of the desert. He must have fled from it. And the Lord said, moses, come back here. [01:18:22] Pick it up. [01:18:25] No, pick it by the tail. [01:18:31] Now, if the Lord had said, pick the viper up by the head, that would have made sense. But everybody who knows anything about the desert knows. You don't pick a viper up by the tail, you're a dead person. If you pick a viper up by the tail, it curls around, it's got you. [01:18:49] What in the world was the Lord saying? This was the rod that the Lord was going to use in Moses hand before pharaoh. This was the rod that he lifted over the Red Sea when it parted. This was the rod that brought water out of the rock. This rod that was the symbol of Moses life, the symbol of his ministry, of his work. He didn't even know there was a viper in it. Would to God. All christian workers understood this. [01:19:23] Within our self life, there is a viper, the very point of the serpent. And it's only when you lay down your life that for the first time, you realize what a poisonous thing there is in your self life. How it will assassinate others with words, how it's full of jealousy, how it's full of bitterness, how it wants to be self fulfilled. It's only when we throw it down, suddenly we see what it really is. [01:19:55] Then when we really see what our self life is like, we don't ever. We want to become a nun and a monk, separated from ever, from self life, or anything to do with it. But then the Lord says, take it up by the tail. That requires faith. Then you discover your self life in a new way. [01:20:19] Then, and only then, can it become the vehicle for the Lord to reveal himself and do his mighty works. So, dear child of God, I could go on and on, as you can see, as usual did. My brother here is going to put his hands up when it comes to near the end of the tape. But I will save him from having to do it by finishing myself. Let me say, no work of the Lord is safe when there is an uncrucified self life, and only the Holy Spirit can enable us to. Why is this message missing? [01:21:02] How well I remember when the Book of watchman knees came out, the spiritual man, it was banned from a whole number of charismatic bookstores. And then it was followed by the latent power of the soul and the Niddy de war. Dance on that. [01:21:16] And then it was followed by yet another book, the release of the Spirit. And they got even more upset. I'm not going to mention any names, but every one of those american centers that banned that book, those were the brethren that have been in such serious trouble. [01:21:33] It was the very message they needed. [01:21:38] You need it. I need it. We all need it. [01:21:42] Dear friends, only the Lord can preserve us. Don't think the early church was perfect. There were people who talked about the deep things of Satan. [01:21:55] Unbelievable, isn't it? [01:21:58] There were others who threw their weight around. Even banned John the apostle from coming to the church. Amazing, isn't it? [01:22:11] So many, many things. [01:22:15] May the Lord help us. [01:22:17] We are living in days when we need to put on the whole armor of God. [01:22:26] Satan has declared war. [01:22:30] He is out to destroy the work of the Lord. He is going to fail. [01:22:36] Blessed be the name of the Lord. The Lord is going to fulfill his purpose no matter what comes against the Lord. And I only want to be with the Lord, dont you? [01:22:49] I want to be in whatever group or company God will by his holy spirit, energize and empower, stand with him in the last days, right through to the fulfilling, to the fulfillment of the purpose of God. May he do it. May he preserve every single one of you from deception, every one of you from seduction, every one of you from doctrines of demons. [01:23:23] May the good Lord keep us all. [01:23:27] He has given us an anointing by which we can know what is of him and what is not. [01:23:36] Let us pray that God make us sensitive, aware and alive to him. [01:23:47] Lets pray. Shall we? I pray. [01:23:50] Beloved Lord, we just want very simply to ask. Oh. O dear Lord, visit us. We are a poor people. We see on all sides so much confusion and so much turmoil. We also see many, Lord, who are finding you, young ones coming to know you, especially in some parts of the world, in Africa, South America and Asia and China, mainland. Lord, our cry together, Lord, preserve us from every work of darkness. [01:24:26] Make us people, Lord, who know you, people who can do exploits. People who will know something, Lord, about standing in you and standing until your purpose is fulfilled. Whether it is in our fellowship, an assembly, or whether it is, Lord, in the work youve given us to do, or whether it is in our homes or whether it is in our personal lives. Lord, hear us in this, our prayer. And o dear Lord, will you grant that we shall be enabled by your holy spirit to be true intercessors in these days that lie ahead both for Israel and the jewish people and for the church. For, beloved Lord, we believe that you will do it. We remember that wonderful word in the book of revelation where it says, dear Lord, where you have given it to us in those days. The mystery shall be completed as it was given to his holy apostles and prophets. Beloved Lord, may it be so. May we be in it. We pray for we ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.