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Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Now this evening shall we read the 17th chapter of John.
[00:00:10] The 17th chapter of John.
[00:00:20] From verse one.
[00:00:23] These things spake Jesus.
[00:00:26] And lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, father, the hour has come.
[00:00:33] Glorify thy Son. That the Son may glorify thee even as Thou gavest Him authority over all flesh.
[00:00:42] That to all whom Thou hast given him he should give eternal life.
[00:00:49] And this is life eternal.
[00:00:53] That they should know Thee, the only true God.
[00:00:57] And him whom Thou didst send, even Jesus Christ.
[00:01:03] I glorify thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given me to do.
[00:01:11] And now, Father, glorify Thou me with thine own self.
[00:01:18] With the glory which I had with Thee before the world was I manifested Thy name unto the men whom Thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me, and they have kept Thy word.
[00:01:36] Now they know that all things whatsoever Thou hast given me are from Thee. For for the words which Thou gavest me I have given unto them. And they received them. And knew of a truth that I came forth from Thee. And they believed that Thou didst send me.
[00:01:56] I pray for them.
[00:01:59] I pray not for the world, but for those whom Thou hast given me. For they are Thine, and all things that are mine are thine, and thine are mine. And I am glorified in them.
[00:02:15] And I am no more in the world. And these are in the world. And I come to Thee, Holy Father. Keep them in Thy name which Thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are.
[00:02:32] While I was with them, I kept them in Thy name, which Thou hast given me.
[00:02:38] And I guarded them, and not one of them perished, but the Son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
[00:02:46] But now I come to Thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves.
[00:02:55] I have given them Thy word.
[00:02:58] And the world hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. World.
[00:03:05] I pray not that Thou shouldest take them from the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the Evil One.
[00:03:12] They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
[00:03:17] Sanctify them in the truth.
[00:03:20] Thy word is true, as Thou didst send me into the world. Even so sent I them into the world.
[00:03:31] And for their sakes I sanctify myself. That they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
[00:03:39] Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on me through their Word that they may all be one, even as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that Thou didst send me.
[00:04:05] And the glory which Thou hast given me I have given unto them, that they may be one, even as we are one, I in them and Thou in me, that they may be perfected into one, that the world may know that Thou didst send me and lovest them even as Thou lovest me.
[00:04:28] Father, I desire that they also whom Thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which Thou hast given me.
[00:04:40] For Thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world knew thee not, but I knew Thee.
[00:04:50] And these knew that Thou didst send me. And I made known unto them thy name, and will make it known that the love wherewith Thou lovest me may be in them and I in them.
[00:05:10] Just a word of prayer, Lord. Now as we turn to this study, we do so in faith.
[00:05:17] We thank Thee for those words. Life is given through Thy name.
[00:05:22] And we're looking to Thee. That every one of us, Lord, in this little time may know just that life given us through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We need life, Lord.
[00:05:35] More life.
[00:05:37] A fresh discovery of the power of Thy life.
[00:05:41] O beloved Lord, then meet us in this little time. We abide by faith. Under the anointing that is on the head, our Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:05:50] Grant, Lord, that we shall hear thy voice and receive from thee. We ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
[00:06:03] You will remember that last week we were speaking about the danger, in fact the last two weeks, the danger of getting uncovered or becoming uncovered. We looked at a number of things that were just representative of very many other things through which by which we can get ourselves uncovered. Now, I'm sorry for any who have not been with us in previous times to launch, as it were, into the deep end of this matter. But I'm sure the Lord will help and you can always listen to the tape. But there were a number of things that we just mentioned in the last two weeks that represent very many more things, ways in which we can get uncovered. I just remind you of them. Not walking in the light, not forgiving one another.
[00:07:03] Not loving one another. An untamed tongue.
[00:07:09] Pride.
[00:07:12] No fear of the Lord.
[00:07:15] Taking the name of the Lord in vain.
[00:07:19] Presumptuous claim.
[00:07:23] Calling Satan names.
[00:07:27] Not heeding and obeying the anointing.
[00:07:32] Habitual and willful sin.
[00:07:35] Disobedience Whether in general, not keeping his commandments, or in particular his will for me.
[00:07:44] And lastly, setting aside divine order, whether in church or home, family relationships, business and work, or in society, or in our personal relationship to the Lord, there is divine order.
[00:08:03] And if we set it aside, we uncover ourselves. Now, this list of things which we've dealt with in the last two weeks represents multitudinous ways in which you and I can get ourselves uncovered and the ways in which the enemy seeks to entice us away from our position of absolute safety and security in the Lord Jesus. The devil knows only too well that in him we are absolutely safe.
[00:08:37] Our life is hid with Christ in God. Satan knows that he cannot touch us, he cannot harm us, he cannot get at us whilst we're in Christ.
[00:08:48] Therefore he's got to get us out of Christ. He's got to entice us to leave our position. He's got to get us to uncover ourselves so that he can waylay us.
[00:09:02] Well, there was very, very much that we could have said more last week, but I just want to underline one point that we hardly touched last week. We have for the most part talked about the danger of the individual believer getting uncovered.
[00:09:22] But let us say this evening, and say it with great emphasis, that it is just as possible for companies of believers, churches and works to get uncovered.
[00:09:42] Now, you may wonder quite how a whole company of believers could get uncovered, but it is quite possible.
[00:09:52] And sometimes those inexplicable times of heaviness, darkness, insinuation, shadow are because unwittingly there's been an uncovering, a corporate uncovering.
[00:10:12] There are so many ways again in which this can happen. But in fact, basically it is quite the same as the ways in which an individual gets uncovered. For instance, take this matter of not loving one another.
[00:10:29] Oh, it's perfectly possible in a company to get to such a pitch where there is no real love, where there's absolute division and an againstness and the whole company is uncovered before God. Now, it takes two to make division.
[00:10:48] It takes two to make division.
[00:10:51] You cannot be divided from someone who will not be divided.
[00:10:55] You withdraw. That's all. You know the divisiveness. It takes two to make a division where you get people absolutely up against each other, all taking sides, all fighting, all seeking to influence one or other. Then you get a corporate uncovering. I know of work after work which is founded and broken, church after church believer that have simply broken up on that one simple level.
[00:11:27] Then again, another thing that I could mention would be no fear of the Lord. Oh, what a need there is in all these house meetings all over the country for a new awareness of the presence of the Lord. In the very places where there has been such an awareness of the presence of the Lord and such an experience of the presence of the Lord, there is all the danger of there not being any fear of the Lord.
[00:11:57] I have seen, I've been in some companies where people almost put their feet up at the Lord's table.
[00:12:05] I remember in one particular group I went, I was horrified to see people slovenly sitting around with their feet up. You see, the idea was this is a kind of house meeting. This, this is a home meeting. We're just here to learn. But you knew there was no fear of the Lord.
[00:12:25] We wouldn't even dream of meeting royalty quite like that.
[00:12:31] And we're here to remember what the Lord Jesus did for us. No lounging for him when he sacrificed himself on the cross.
[00:12:41] No sitting there with his feet up when he gave his body and blood for us.
[00:12:48] No fear of the Lord.
[00:12:51] Again and again, that kind of thing results in uncovering. And the whole work unwittingly gets waylaid by the enemy. Deception, delusion comes in because there's first been uncovering through no fear of the Lord. Or there are many other ways. I could mention presumptuous claim.
[00:13:13] You can almost be certain that if a group or a company make a presumptuous claim, they can get uncovered. You know the kind we, we are it, we are something. Come to us, we've got it now. Once that is corporately claimed in that kind of way, there's an uncovering and you can be almost certain the thing will be knocked to pieces.
[00:13:35] Knocked to pieces because of presumption, presumptuous claim. It's not that we. When God is at work, what can we do? We can't deny that the Lord's at work amongst us. We can't say that the Lord is not doing something perhaps singular or unique. I think of some works where the Lord is doing a singular and unique work. It's no good the folks there saying, it's not unique, it's not singular. This is quite normal when it isn't.
[00:14:01] But it's the way it's said to give the glory to God and say, well, we don't quite understand, we're the stupidest crowd in the world. But God is doing something amongst us and with us that's different. But to say we are something, come to us, we'll tell you everything. If you want any instruction or help. We'll put you right.
[00:14:21] You can be perfectly sure that before long it'll be knocked to pieces. We've got a great deliverance ministry here. Boom. Anyone to us, we'll deliver them all.
[00:14:31] And what happens? You find again and again after a few years, they're shot to pieces.
[00:14:36] The very work which claims such big things, shot to pieces.
[00:14:42] We're going into enemy territory, we're going to give it to the enemy.
[00:14:48] And what happens a few years afterwards?
[00:14:50] They disappeared in the storm.
[00:14:55] Can't find a trace of them.
[00:14:58] Presumptuous claims.
[00:15:00] Or again, I could mention, not heeding and obeying the anointing.
[00:15:06] Oh, it's perfectly possible corporately to know that inner voice speaking to a company about a particular thing or another, that danger, dangers there, and not to heed it.
[00:15:22] And if that's not heeded, uncovering results corporately. Now we've learned this bitterly, bitterly, at least on two occasions in our history, we have learned that we have corporately got uncovered because there was a warning voice or bell, if you like, in our spirit, ringing in many of our spirits, but we were pushing it down, suppressing it, feeling that it was something else, making excuses not to obey, to heed and obey the anointing. Better not to touch a thing if you've got doubt about it. Better not to get involved with something if you have a question, than to go in with that inner alarm bell ringing because you get uncovered.
[00:16:10] As ye are taught by him, it says in 1 John 2:27, as ye are taught by him, the anointing, so ye abide in him.
[00:16:22] So you go out from abiding.
[00:16:24] And then again, disobedience. Oh, how perfectly possible it is for a company to be disobedient. God is calling for a fresh step forward. God is calling for some new expression, as it were, of his power and glory. And a company teeters on the brink of wondering, wondering, wondering, should we, shouldn't we, should we, shouldn't we, should we, shouldn't we always get those who sort of say, oh, no, the reasons for not going forward. Disobedience in a company. Oh, I think of works which are now nothing, absolutely nothing, that at one time the glory of the Lord filled the whole company, where you knew that the Lord was powerfully and mightily put present.
[00:17:11] And now it's gone.
[00:17:14] And you can almost trace it at a point when God sought to take that company onward, onward with himself. And they refused, faltered. It has been a most interesting study to me to see that God often speaks twice on the same thing isn't that interesting?
[00:17:35] I think of a particular work known to me where 20 years previously the very same message came 20 years later the same message came and was rejected and the whole work founded.
[00:17:49] I think of another place where I once went and spoke and I thought as I was there I've never heard so much noise in all my life all the noise and it wasn't a joyful noise either and then I felt the more I watched it was in Europe the more I watched the more I felt inwardly there's something wrong here. There's something wrong. This company somewhere has lost the way and yet I felt they'd been on the way.
[00:18:23] Now you go into some works where you've never felt they've been on the way corporately in their great blessed. But this company's been on the way.
[00:18:32] Well after all this noise they quietened down. Finally I was asked to speak and I spoke and I believe the Lord was there. Afterwards the brother came up to me, was pastor and he said brother, he didn't speak a word of England. He said, brother he said, I've had such a strange experience this evening I've been listening to you and it's as if you disappeared and I've gone back to 1938 when we heard almost word for word this message Now I'd been speaking of Christ as our life corporately Really I said and then I thought ah, my feeling that sense I had in the time of putting where.
[00:19:20] Oh, I became. I didn't say anything too much but I just said to the bubba, well I'm very interested what he said it was a high water mark, it was simply tremendous. He said you wouldn't know him. Oh, I said, why? Oh he said he was a Chinese.
[00:19:38] A Chinese. I said I thought to myself very quickly there can't have been too many Chinese preachers wandering round this part of Europe.
[00:19:47] Yes, he only had one night here in the capital city and he came here really? I said yes, but you wouldn't know him, he's not a known man.
[00:19:56] I said it wasn't watchmanly, was it? And he's. He, of course he had not. He couldn't speak English so of course at that time the normal Christian life was. The normal Christian life was not in this particular language he was only in English and his mouth topped up. He said why, good gracious me, yes. He said he came with a certain missionary here.
[00:20:19] That was the explanation all those years later God sent me back and I didn't even know the history with the same message twice. God in his mercy. God never judges a work or a company before he speaks to it at least twice.
[00:20:39] That work is nothing today. That was about 10 years ago, seven, eight years ago. It's absolutely nothing.
[00:20:48] God speaks to us as he says in his word. See that you don't harden your heart today. If you will hear my voice, says the Lord, don't harden your heart of the people did at the waters of the but anyway, that's how uncovering comes corporately. And another point we could just make on this matter of corporate uncovering is in this matter of setting aside of divine order. Oh, how easy it is to set aside divine order just to override someone or someone's ministry or function where they've been placed in the body. Just set it aside as. As if it's not there.
[00:21:32] In this way we uncover ourselves. I remember some years ago, particular sister walked into this place in a morning. No one was here with another sister. They saw a mirror hanging on the wall and they thought to themselves, that mirror shouldn't be there. So they took it down and put it up over the Lord's treasury and took down a picture over the Lord's treasury or notice board and put it up over the chair and left a little notice which simply said by order of Mrs. So and so.
[00:22:07] It was of course a declaration of war.
[00:22:11] So we didn't do anything at all.
[00:22:14] We just left it exactly as it was whilst we prayed about it and got from the war. You shall reverse it.
[00:22:21] And then together we reversed it. That sister died later, some years later, but it was the beginning of uncovering.
[00:22:34] Now you cannot do those kind of things and get away with it, not on church ground.
[00:22:41] You may get away with murder in a congregation, but you will not get away if there is any expression of the church at all.
[00:22:50] Because you come face to face with the living God and you've come face to face with divine order and government.
[00:22:57] However weak the people may be, however fragile and frail they may appear, however sometimes stupid and dim. The fact is it's divine order and we have to be very, very careful of divine order.
[00:23:15] Well now those are things we could go on talking about and talking about. But I want to go on to the subject this evening. I wanted to say that more to add to last week on the corporate side. We've only to look around tonight to see the tragic evidence of this uncovering in so many companies and groups of believers that began in the right way and somehow or other have completed founder.
[00:23:46] Here is the evidence for this terrible death.
[00:23:50] Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
[00:23:55] Let them that think they stand, take heed lest they fall how to Get Back Under Covering when we have become uncovered, when we begin to see the many ways in which we can get uncovered, how real the danger is and just how much evidence there is of it on all sides, what a precious and wonderful thing the intercession of the Lord Jesus really is.
[00:24:43] I don't suppose anyone who thinks he stands feels any need of the intercession of the Lord Jesus.
[00:24:51] But once you begin to realize the dangers that lurk, once you begin to realize just what the enemy's devices and designs are, how wonderfully precious the intercession of the Lord Jesus. I'm here tonight because of the intercession of the Lord Jesus.
[00:25:10] You are too.
[00:25:12] You may not know it, but you are.
[00:25:15] That's how wonderful and precious the intercessory ministry of the Lord Jesus is. He, more than any other, sees the danger, knows our fragility, our frailty, our weakness, and prays for us.
[00:25:34] Now we know that the Lord Jesus doesn't spend all his intercession at the right hand of the Father praying for us as individual or just that we might be covered. We know that.
[00:25:49] We know that the intercessory ministry of the Lord Jesus reaches right back before times eternal and onto the ages to come.
[00:25:59] He is praying for the fulfillment of the purpose of God. He is praying for the preparation of the bride. He is waiting, reminding the Father that his work is finished, that his triumph is complete till every enemy has been made the footstool of his feet. We know that the intercessory ministry of the Lord Jesus is far bigger and far more comprehensive than just praying for our covering.
[00:26:26] But he did pray for Peter personally.
[00:26:30] And how lovely that was. I hope you all noticed it last week in Luke 22, 31 and 32, that when he said, satan hath desired or obtained you by request, in the Greek it is plural, you all. And you will see in your new English Bible and your Phillips version that it says, you all sat Satan has obtained you all 11 of you, all of you he's obtained by request. And then he turned to Peter and said, I have prayed for thee singular, that your faith fail not now. It is quite clear to me that the Lord Jesus prayed for every one of the 11.
[00:27:12] But what a wonderful word it was to Peter, who was to be the one who fell so deep, terribly the leader of the 12 who fell, perhaps the most devastating, that the Lord Jesus gave Him this word.
[00:27:30] But I have prayed for thee.
[00:27:35] Now if we turn and look at a few scriptures very briefly. Romans chapter 8, Romans 8:33.
[00:27:49] Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth.
[00:27:59] It is Christ Jesus that died, yea, rather that was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us, who shall separate us from the love of Christ, who also maketh intercession for us. Turn over to Hebrews, chapter 7, verse 25.
[00:28:29] Wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost them draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession. Now will you see the emphasis here is on to the uttermost he is able to say to the uttermost, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession. However terrible the circumstances, however complex the background, however difficult the temperament or constitution of the person, he can say to the uttermost, seeing he ever liveth to make intercess.
[00:29:07] He got Mary Magdalene out of the fix, out of all that background of evil that was right in the woman.
[00:29:15] He got it out of others, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession. Now if God can do this in the first century, can't he do it in the twentieth? Is the twentieth century more than the first? For God is God's power less able?
[00:29:34] See verse 24. But he, because he abideth forever, hath his priesthood unchangeable.
[00:29:44] So the priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ that was able to get these folks in the first century through is exactly the same today.
[00:29:55] Exactly the same today.
[00:29:58] He ever lives to make intercession for them.
[00:30:02] Who shall lay anything to the charge of God in anything to the charge of God's elect. Who is he that condemneth or accuseth Christ maketh intercession for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
[00:30:28] Now look at another wonderful scripture, Hebrews chapter 9, verse 24.
[00:30:36] For Christ entered not into a holy place made with hands like in pattern to the true, but into heaven itself.
[00:30:44] Now to appear before the face of God for us.
[00:30:48] Now isn't that wonderful that little ways for us he appears before the face of God for us.
[00:30:59] Let it sink into you before ever we can talk about how to get recovered when we've got uncovered, we've got to understand what the Lord Jesus is doing, understand what lies behind all this.
[00:31:13] Then again, turn back to Hebrews, chapter 4, verse 14 and 15.
[00:31:22] Having then a great high priest who hath passed through the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God. Let us hold fast our confession, for we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Oh, how often we are tempted to believe that he can't be.
[00:31:43] We haven't got a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one that hath been in all points tempted, like as we are, yet without sin.
[00:31:56] Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.
[00:32:07] Why does it say we might receive mercy if it's not the fact that somehow or other, in all our frailty and weakness, we've got ourselves uncovered?
[00:32:21] Don't stay away from the throne of grace because of that.
[00:32:25] Go before the throne of grace that you may receive mercy. And grace to help in time of need. Mercy to cover the failure. Grace to. To get through.
[00:32:37] Isn't that wonderful?
[00:32:39] That's the intercessory ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. Touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Peter, I prayed for you. Touched with the feeling of our infirmities. As if Peter's own heart beat in the heart of the Lord Jesus. As if he knew from the inside the frailty and weakness of his dear disciple Peter. As if somehow he knew the inside, the depths of which he was capable. As if he knew how he walked on a tightrope.
[00:33:08] He was touched with the feeling of his infirmities. He knew what was in Peter. He knows what's in you. He knows from the inside. Dear friend, don't ever forget this. The Lord Jesus isn't just up there. He's in here.
[00:33:20] He sees us from the inside.
[00:33:23] He sees us. He understands the inner workings of our minds, our imaginations, our conceptions, the motive forces that govern us. He knows us from the inside.
[00:33:35] Touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
[00:33:38] Not judging, but interceding.
[00:33:43] Peter, I pray for you. Oh, wouldn't it have been easy for the Lord to say to Peter, Peter, you're a hopeless, empty tin can.
[00:33:53] Just a windbag that's all, full of big words.
[00:33:59] And in my hour of need, you're going to let me down.
[00:34:03] What kind of disciple are you?
[00:34:05] You're just a rat bag.
[00:34:08] The sooner you know it, the better.
[00:34:12] Then when you've discovered it, perhaps you'll get converted and I'll receive you back.
[00:34:18] No. Not a single one word. The Lord was absolutely true. Simon. Simon. Satan hath obtained thee by asking that he may sift Thee as wheat.
[00:34:30] But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not when thou art converted.
[00:34:38] What faith? Where is the faith in Peter? No, where is the faith in the Son of God?
[00:34:46] The Lord has faith, absolute faith concerning Peter. He's going to come through. He's prayed for him.
[00:34:54] He's going to come through. The Lord Jesus can say justice of you and me tonight as he looks at us.
[00:35:00] Oh, you don't understand how the enemy wants you, how he seeks, like a roaring lion whom he may devour.
[00:35:09] But I prayed for you.
[00:35:11] I know you. I know your circumstances. I know the complexity of your nature.
[00:35:16] I love you.
[00:35:21] Well, I say there's something absolutely wonderful here. For Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever the same Jesus yesterday who said, I prayed for Thee, Peter, that thy faith failed not is the same Lord Jesus tonight.
[00:35:37] He knows you so well.
[00:35:39] He knows us so well. He knows our corporate aspirations, the longing of our hearts corporately. He knows where we want to go and what we want to do.
[00:35:53] Well, I think it is in the high priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ in John 17, which we read last week and this week that we see the most blessed intimation of this intercessory ministry of the Lord Jesus concerning covering.
[00:36:15] Now, you may not have noticed it, but just look at these verses, will you?
[00:36:21] First of all, I want you to notice these verses. Verse 6.
[00:36:27] I manifested thy name unto them. What a word. Wonderful phrase. I manifested thy name. Now we all know that this title or this term, the name of the Lord means covering doesn't only mean authority, it means covering. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it and is safe.
[00:36:50] The name of the Lord we know. I manifested thy name unto them. Now look in verse 11, last part.
[00:37:03] Keep Holy Father, keep them in Thy name which Thou hast given me. Now this name, thy name which Thou hast given me, what is that name? Jesus?
[00:37:16] Thy name which Thou hast given me.
[00:37:21] Keep them in Thy name.
[00:37:23] Keep them in Thy name.
[00:37:25] Now what did the Lord Jesus just mean by what does it mean to be kept in the name?
[00:37:30] It means kept in all that the name stands for.
[00:37:34] Kept in the person of the Lord Jesus. Kept abiding in Him, Kept hidden in Him.
[00:37:42] Kept where God has put us in the Lord Jesus.
[00:37:49] Keep them in Thy name. Then look at verse 12.
[00:37:55] While I was with them, I kept them in Thy name. If the Lord Jesus could keep those 11 hopeless disciples without the Holy Spirit even in them, don't you think you're a Subject for his keeping power.
[00:38:15] Don't you think he can keep you?
[00:38:18] I suppose those 11 were just like us.
[00:38:21] Sometimes we can even take a superior position about them and feel they were worse than us. We think, well, if we'd been with the Lord for those three years, we would have reacted quite like that, surely.
[00:38:33] But if the Lord could have kept them, he said after three years of their failure, their inability to reach the level of understanding and revelation, he said, I've kept them in Thy name. Here I am at the end of three years, I've still got them, except the Son of perdition, the only one who was lucky. But the 11 I've kept in Thy name guarded. He covered them. What was he doing sometimes when he prayed, if he wasn't praying also for their covering, he kept them nights of prayer that he might keep them in his name.
[00:39:14] Then I want you to notice in verse 12, another little word.
[00:39:21] I guarded them and not one of them perished. Isn't that lovely? I guarded them and not one of them perish.
[00:39:33] And then again, I want you to notice in verse 15.
[00:39:39] I pray not that thou shouldest take them from the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil one.
[00:39:46] This is the prayer the Lord Jesus taught us to pray. I mean, it's the pattern prayer. We should never forget this.
[00:39:53] Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from.
[00:39:57] From the evil One.
[00:40:00] That thou shouldest keep them from the evil one.
[00:40:07] Now here we've got an intimation of something. We have an intimation of the kind of prayer that the Lord Jesus is praying for us now.
[00:40:15] For. If you look in verse 20, he says, neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on me through their word. That's you and me.
[00:40:26] So we know that our Lord Jesus at the right hand of God the Father, is praying like this. I've manifested my name to them, Holy Father. Keep them in Thy name which Thou hast given me.
[00:40:45] You see, in verse 26, I made known unto them thy name and will make it known. Isn't that wonderful?
[00:40:54] Not only all that he'd given to them, but he was going to make it known through the Spirit. He was thinking, of course, of the Acts. When for the first time, these dear old disciples, so dim, so failing, suddenly saw what the name of the Lord meant. They went everywhere doing all things in the name of the Lord Jesus. They turned the world upside down, down by the name of the Lord Jesus.
[00:41:17] They knew it meant both covering and authority.
[00:41:21] Oh, how wonderful that is. He prays Tonight I guard them. I guard them, and not one of them shall perish.
[00:41:32] I say all that is so wonderful. But there's one other point we ought to look at in this prayer, and it's the question of unity, our unity with the Father and with the Son, and now unity with one another. Look at verse 11.
[00:41:46] And I am no more in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to thee, Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one even as we.
[00:42:00] Even as we.
[00:42:02] Now look again at verse 20.
[00:42:05] Well, we've read that about praise for those that believe on me through their word. Verse 21. That they may all be one, even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that Thou didst send me.
[00:42:19] Then again, verse 22. That they may be one even as we are 1. Verse 23. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one, that the world may know that thou didst send me and lovest them even as thou lovest.
[00:42:35] You see, the prayer of the Lord Jesus is over. This question of keeping us abiding in reality, in the Father and in the Son, by the Spirit, and therefore in unity with one another.
[00:42:49] Anything that divides, anything that destroys that unity, anything that injures the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, it's a plague.
[00:43:01] It will cause uncovering. So the Lord Jesus prays that we may be one, that we may be kept in that unity, and that it may be the same, exactly the same as the unity between the Father and the Son.
[00:43:16] We may be kept together, as it were, in the bundle of life.
[00:43:20] How serious. Then you begin to understand what it means in 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 30. For this course, some are sick, some are weak, and some have fallen asleep, have died.
[00:43:34] Why? Because they've eaten judgment to themselves. Not discerning the Lord's body.
[00:43:42] Here it is.
[00:43:44] The Lord's body is not just a physical thing. The Lord's body is that great spiritual, eternal reality of which you and I, by the grace of God are part.
[00:43:56] We've been joined to the Lord in the one Spirit.
[00:44:00] Therefore, because we are one with him, we're one with one another.
[00:44:04] So the easiest way for the enemy to get us uncovered is to destroy that union. And the Lord Jesus prays for it.
[00:44:12] Oh, if that's so, what intercession the Lord Jesus must be engaged in this evening to keep us in the unity of a spirit?
[00:44:30] Well, may I go on and say something more about all this.
[00:44:36] The basis for such intercession is unshakably sure.
[00:44:44] In the offering of himself once for all, he has made provision for every single one of us to be covered, to stay covered, and to get recovered when we become uncovered.
[00:45:08] Now let me just say that again, the basis for this intercession ministry of the Lord Jesus is absolutely unshakable.
[00:45:18] Sure.
[00:45:20] What is it? Does it depend on your zeal and my zeal? Does it depend on your devotion and my devotion? No. It is founded upon his own finished work, what he has done in the offering of himself once for all.
[00:45:39] And he has made provision to the sacrifice of himself once for all time that every single one of us, from the dimmest child of God in the whole world to the most spiritually intelligent, he has made provision for every single one of us, young and old in the Lord that we might stay covered and if anything should happen, get back under covering.
[00:46:07] Let me just read to you two scriptures, for instance, in Hebrews chapter 10, Hebrews 10, 12, 14.
[00:46:18] But he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God, henceforth expecting till his enemies be made the footstool of his feet.
[00:46:31] For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.
[00:46:38] All the provisions there, not only for our salvation, but for our sanctification for our being presented before God without spot.
[00:46:47] Turn back to Hebrews 7 and verse 26 and 27. For such a high priest became us holy, guileless, undefiled, separate from sinners, made higher than the heavens, who needeth not daily, like those high priests who offer up sacrifices first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people. For this he did once for all when he offered up himself. Now verse 25 says, Seeing he is able to wherefore also he is able to say to the utmost those that draw near unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth, to make intercession.
[00:47:28] He has. The basis of this intercession is that he has offered up himself once for all.
[00:47:37] You remember, in one of the first or second studies in this series on covering, we spoke of the fivefold offering of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we find it in Leviticus and the first seven chapters.
[00:47:51] There we find that in the old economy there was a sevenfold offering. The burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. Every single part of the believer's life was covered by that fivefold offering, whether it was worship or Service, or whether it was humanity, or whether it was fellowship and communion, or whether it was sin wittingly committed or unwittingly committed, every single part was covered by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:48:32] Covered.
[00:48:34] The Lord Jesus would keep us from falling, it says in Jude 20.
[00:48:42] Keep us from falling. Listen to it in the Amplified.
[00:48:46] This is how the Amplified puts it, Jude and verse 24.
[00:48:53] Now, to him who is able to keep you without stumbling or slipping or falling, and to present you unblemished, blameless and faultless before the presence of his glory with unspeakable ecstatic delight, in triumphant joy and exaltation to the one only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might and dominion, power and authority, before all time and now and forever, unto all the ages of eternity. Amen.
[00:49:42] Oh, for the Lord Jesus to be able to present us before His Father's face with ecstatic delight, unspeakable and ecstatic delight. Even the Lord Himself, speechless because he's got us there.
[00:49:59] Well, if he's speechless, we shall be.
[00:50:02] We shall stand there dumbfounded.
[00:50:09] Just the very thought that finally he's got us there faultless, without spot or blemish.
[00:50:18] How can the Lord Jesus get you and I there without spot or blemish?
[00:50:25] Have we not all got spots and blemishes?
[00:50:29] The only way he can do it is through the sacrifice of Himself once for all. He has not only saved us to the uttermost, but he has sanctified us.
[00:50:41] Oh, that we would go in by the Spirit and possess what is ours, that we would take what is ours. That he might have that accept ecstatic unspeakable joy of finally bringing us before His Father's face.
[00:50:57] Oh, I.
[00:50:58] I find it so wonderful.
[00:51:01] Just the very thought of it.
[00:51:03] How the Lord could get such a vile creature as I, so difficult, so rebellious, such unlikely material, into His Father's presence and present me, think of that, presenting me. Why should he present you or me?
[00:51:23] Are we so presentable?
[00:51:26] Why we would shrivel up in the presence of His Father, when the glory of God were to appear before us. But oh no, not through his sacrifice.
[00:51:37] There's covering, covering and vision that we may be changed into the same image from glory to glory.
[00:51:50] Now you see, I think the Apostle Paul had many faults. Now there are people who think that the Apostle Paul had no failings or faults. But I think that in the book of Acts, when you take your rose colored spectacles off, you see that he's there, warts and all.
[00:52:07] It's not One of these beautifully touched up photographs.
[00:52:11] The Apostle Paul is there. And when you read his letters, the apostle is simply marvellous. He's so much himself that he gives the game away every time.
[00:52:20] Again and again we find him saying, are you pushing into boasting? I shouldn't have done it. I mean, we would say now, a godly person wouldn't write like that.
[00:52:29] Cut all that out.
[00:52:31] Like to talk like that.
[00:52:34] Then he's talking about having such a bad time because he's written a letter rebuking them. And then he spent sleepless nights because he thought he'd done the wrong thing till he got back a letter saying it had humbled the whole lot of them. And then he was glad.
[00:52:47] Little did he know that it was all scripture. If the dear old parcel had known that it was all scripture and going to be read by countless saints down through the age, he would have cut out half of what he'd written.
[00:52:57] Got so self conscious. Cut that out, cut that out, cut that out. Can't have them all talking, reading, all that kind of thing. That's too private.
[00:53:06] He put himself on the page.
[00:53:09] He put himself on the page.
[00:53:12] But you know what he said in his last letter in 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 7, he said, I finished the course.
[00:53:21] Now, for any man like that to be able to say, I have finished the course, I haven't gone off the course, by the grace of God, I finished the course.
[00:53:33] Oh, the believers we know that have gone off the course, haven't we all gone on, had to be put back. The apostle could say at the end, I finished the course. I'm absolutely on the board, exactly where I should have been by the grace of God. He didn't think, this is the great Apostle Paul, I've done more witness.
[00:53:58] Oh, no, he said, I've kept the faith.
[00:54:02] I finished the court, I fought the fight henceforth.
[00:54:09] What a wonderful position to get to. He only in the previous letter said he was the chief of all sinners. Now, now, if the chief of all sinners can finish the course, what about you and me?
[00:54:25] I think the apostle got his faith well and truly focused and centered in the Lord Jesus Christ himself, as the one who not only offered up himself for him, but was interceding for him. He was keeping him on course like one of those wonderful compasses that immediately tell the slightest degree of moving away.
[00:54:55] So the Lord Jesus can keep us absolutely on court.
[00:55:02] Well, I think, therefore we have two unshakably sure things, the finished work of Christ through which we can be Saved to the uttermost and the Lord Jesus Christ as intercessor, mediator and advocate. Remember, the apostle John says in John 2:1 2, if any man sin, we have an advocate with God, with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous, and He. He is the propitiation for our sins. Two things. He is both advocate and sacrifice.
[00:55:41] We've got these two unshakably sure things.
[00:55:48] How wonderful that is. No wonder the Apostle Paul said, who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
[00:55:55] And then he goes on to a great list.
[00:55:58] He. He says, I am persuaded that neither height, nor depth, nor this, nor that, nor the other, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. It's in him.
[00:56:14] Whilst we're there, nothing can separate us.
[00:56:20] We're in the place of absolute safety.
[00:56:25] Nevertheless, although there is no need whatsoever for us to get uncovered, and indeed every encouragement not to, the sad fact is that most of us do get uncovered sometime or another.
[00:56:40] And so do most companies of God's children.
[00:56:44] What should we do when we know that we've got uncovered? The moment we become aware that we've got uncovered, what should we do?
[00:56:59] We must learn to take immediate action.
[00:57:05] Now, when I say immediate action, I mean it immediate.
[00:57:12] The moment you become aware that you've got uncovered, don't for leave it for minutes, let alone days.
[00:57:25] You have no idea the danger you're in while you're uncovered.
[00:57:35] The moment you know that you are uncovered, take immediate action.
[00:57:40] Never leave such a condition, not even for minutes.
[00:57:44] Why do I say that?
[00:57:46] Because it only takes Satan a minute to deceive.
[00:57:54] That's why your salvation took place.
[00:58:01] For many of us, in a minute, suddenly, light, dawn.
[00:58:10] Suddenly we saw.
[00:58:12] Suddenly the things of God lived to us.
[00:58:15] One moment we were dead, next moment we were alive.
[00:58:21] Spiritual things are like that.
[00:58:24] When you've got uncovered, don't leave it now. Don't all start getting into an introspective state sort of saying, now, oh dear, dear, dear. I'm sure I'd left it for weeks and weeks and weeks, months.
[00:58:38] Now listen, get this quite clear. When you become aware the Holy Spirit is the most wonderful person, he is not the accuser, as many believers think. He is the advocate and the advocate within. He is the one who comes alongside the paraclete, the counselor, the comforter. The moment he knows that you are uncovered, you will hear that gracious voice of the Spirit of God just saying, get back, get back, get back. He never says you're uncovered. He says, get back, get back.
[00:59:12] Something's gone wrong. Something's gone wrong. Oh, the gracious ministry. As soon as you know that, don't say, well, I'll go and see brother so and so tonight. Or I'll have a time of prayer tonight, or well, I'll be seeing so and so next week. I'll do it. No, don't leave it. Once the Holy Spirit is speaking to your heart about this matter, take immediate action.
[00:59:40] Get under covering straight away. Now, how do you do it? If you've got a pencil, four things that you may like to note down somewhere so that you'll always know what to do.
[00:59:52] Remember, there's just these four basic things. The first, recognize that you are uncovered.
[01:00:03] Now this may seem so utterly simple, but you know, many people have a terrible battle over this.
[01:00:09] All the excuses people make. They say, well, you know, I was pushed into it.
[01:00:14] I mean, really, people say, you know, it's my circumstances.
[01:00:20] Or they will not just simply say, I've got uncovered.
[01:00:25] We all get uncovered. I get uncovered. We all get uncovered.
[01:00:30] We don't need to. We're encouraged not to, but the sad fact is we do.
[01:00:37] You must recognize the fact.
[01:00:40] Recognize that you are uncovered. The need is for un, absolute and strict honesty with yourself. Now, if you do not have this strict honesty with yourself, you cannot get back under covering.
[01:00:56] So always reckon. Oh, I can think of case after case of folks in my own experience going back over a few years now where something's happened. And you know, those dear folks just can't recognize it. They just can't simply say I got uncovered. On that point, I think of that sister who died would not. I remember when she was so ill, she asked me and some of the other brothers come and lay hands. We went in fear and trembling. We knew that to lay hands on that sister in that condition would work the opposite way and would bring death, not life.
[01:01:36] But what could we do?
[01:01:39] We went, we prayed so much about it beforehand. We said to her, have you anything to confess?
[01:01:46] And she looked straight at us and said nothing at all.
[01:01:51] Then we knew that the sentence was confirmed. We laid hand and I think it was a week or so later she passed. Every time we prayed for that dear sister, a new attack came.
[01:02:12] Now the fact of the matter is that we must recognize. It's so simple to say when you think of it, I've got myself uncovered. I said something I shouldn't have said. I did something I shouldn't them done.
[01:02:29] It's as simple as that.
[01:02:32] Walk in the light as God is in the light. Don't reduce it to grayness, to twilight, to the in between dusk. Don't sort of put out a great smokescreen of excuses. Well, you know, I was pushed into it. So and so was saying so and so to me. And so and so poured this story into my ear and I was pushed into it. You can make excuses, excuse after excuse. The fact is, you've got uncovered.
[01:02:56] Don't make excuses. Recognize the fact.
[01:03:01] Walk in the light as God is in the light. What does that mean? Just come out into the light. When you come out into the light, you see things as they really are.
[01:03:09] When you're groping around in the dark, you can't see things as they are. But when you come out into the light, you see it as it really is. Suddenly you see, you know, if you go into a dark that you don't know well, you don't know where anything is. You're groping around, finding what's that now. And then there's something else. Put on a light and suddenly you see, oh yes, there's a table there, there's a chair there, there's a plant. Stand there, and so on and so forth.
[01:03:34] You see it when the light's on.
[01:03:37] Walk in the light as God is in the light.
[01:03:42] And in this matter, this is all this one point of recognition, recognizing that you're uncovered. Confess clearly and concisely.
[01:03:51] Be absolutely clear and concise. If you've said something, retract the very words that you said.
[01:04:00] Don't try to make out that you didn't say it. Just simply retract the very words that you used.
[01:04:09] If you've taken a position against something, retract.
[01:04:14] That is repentance.
[01:04:16] Repent.
[01:04:19] Some people think repentance is only for those who are not saved. It isn't.
[01:04:25] When we've got into trouble, we have to repent. Otherwise we'll get back into the same trouble again and again and again.
[01:04:32] We have to see it for what it is and call it by its name.
[01:04:37] I done so.
[01:04:39] Please forgive me, I've been stupid.
[01:04:46] The Holy Spirit, as I've already said I'd advocate within, will give us the understanding and the help we need in this matter.
[01:04:53] Some may say, well, I'm not quite sure. I know I've got uncovered, but I don't know how. You ask the Holy Spirit, you'll find, without accusing you, he will bring to your memory the exact point at which uncovering him. The Holy Spirit is the one who guards us.
[01:05:13] His job is to keep us covered.
[01:05:15] His whole job is to keep us In Christ, Abiding in Christ.
[01:05:19] Now the Holy Spirit knows exactly where uncovering came. And he'll give you his help and understanding if you'll only be honest. He will just say to you, no, it was so and so, and it'll click.
[01:05:32] We've got a spirit in us. The Holy Spirit is in our spirit. And when it happens, you say, that's it. That's it. I knew it. That's it.
[01:05:41] If you've not had an experience like that, of course, maybe you're not quite so bad as I am for falling, but I mean, when you've had an experience like that, you know it. Oh. Something inside you says, ah, how stupid of me. Of course, that's it.
[01:05:54] And your whole being is flooded with light.
[01:05:58] You're back and you know it.
[01:06:05] By faith, retake your divinely given position in Christ.
[01:06:12] First, recognize that you are uncovered. Secondly, by faith, retake your devotion. Divinely given position in Christ. Don't just confess and say, well, now that's all done, say, lord, I take my position again in thy son. I take my place in him.
[01:06:33] No matter what the accuser roar, as it says in one of our hymns, however much he says, your case is hopeless and God will not hear you or listen to you.
[01:06:45] By faith, we take the place which is yours through the finished work of Christ and the grace of God. Remember that place in God's Son was given you through his finished work, not because of anything in you.
[01:07:00] God didn't say, oh, you know, I rather like so and so.
[01:07:05] So and so's ought to be rather sweet and decent.
[01:07:10] So I think I should extend my saving grace to.
[01:07:15] He didn't save you on that basis. He saved you as a worthless rebel, a bankrupt. He saved you.
[01:07:23] Now, the only way you can retake that position is not saying, now, Lord, I'm all polished up now. You know, I'm really something now. I'll go out on the house to house on Wednesdays and I'll go out fishing on Sundays, Lord. And I'll. And I'll. I'll spend an hour or two in prayer. I'll join that intercessor's business. And what else can I do, Lord? Well, of course, if you really want me, Lord, I'll offer myself a service somewhere.
[01:07:48] I'll go cleaning on Friday evenings, Lord, as well. I never did like that. And I might even do stewarding, Lord. I mean, don't think all those things may be right, but don't.
[01:08:02] They may be right, but don't think for a single moment they that's the basis for taking your position again in the Lord Jesus.
[01:08:08] If you make that the basis you are on the basis of works.
[01:08:14] And then you'll have an evil conscience all the time. Satan will come and say, you're not doing good enough. You're not doing good enough. He'll drive you. And you'll think it's the Lord that's driving you. You're not up to scratch.
[01:08:27] That's not your basis. Your basis is the Lord. The Lord Jesus died for you. Your basis is that he laid down his life for you.
[01:08:36] Your basis is that he sacrificed himself.
[01:08:41] That's your basis. When you come, you say, father, I've got uncovered. Forgive me, Lord. Here is the reason. This is what I did, Lord, forgive me. Cleanse me, Lord. Now, by faith, I take my place in your son again through your grace, through his blood, through his finished work, I hide myself, Father, in him.
[01:09:02] You're back again to use the name of the Lord.
[01:09:10] Now the third thing is, put right whatever is wrong, no matter what the cost. Now, this is where most people stumble.
[01:09:19] Put right whatever is wrong, Wrong, no matter what the cost. Sometimes this is very costly to our pride, especially when it involves others or the whole church.
[01:09:35] But there is no back door to covering.
[01:09:41] Now listen carefully to that. There is no back door to covering. There is. There's an if.
[01:09:49] If we walk in the light, as God is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanseth us from all sin.
[01:10:00] We've got to walk in the light.
[01:10:03] Now, this sometimes involves us in putting something right. Now, some people say, but is that really necessary? I mean, after all the finished work of Jesus, Jesus Christ has dealt with it.
[01:10:16] You will never learn your lesson till you're prepared to humble yourself.
[01:10:23] If you've said something or done something, one of these things we've talked about, ways in which you've got uncovered. You'll never learn your lesson. If you say, I put it right with the Lord, Put it right with the Lord.
[01:10:36] Sooner or later you'll fall again on the same thing because it's not being put on, not really.
[01:10:45] You've got to go and say, lord, to whoever it is, I'm very sorry, Lord, give me the grace. I'll go.
[01:10:54] I'll just put this right. Now, when you've done that, it's hard, but it's burnt into you.
[01:11:03] Something is written indelibly in your spirit.
[01:11:07] You think twice again before you ever go through that experience again. Oh, I couldn't bear to do that again. Have to go to someone else.
[01:11:14] But you see, it's just like little children.
[01:11:17] I mean, I know there's not much discipline these days, but this is how we were taught when we were young.
[01:11:22] We were told that if we did so and so, we'd have to do so and so. And if we had good parents, they stuck to it and we had to do it.
[01:11:32] And then when we. Oh, the agonies we used to go through as kids. I remember I wrote a letter to a particular person down the road about their son who I disliked very much. And I had to go. My father said that unless I went and actually apologize.
[01:11:49] Oh, dear, dearest people, I went through agonies. Of course, they thought it terribly funny, that family. I found out years afterwards.
[01:11:58] But when they open the door, the severity of it all. How he was Dutch. The way he looked at me, you know. And in I went, trembling. And he took me into his study. Didn't help.
[01:12:11] Didn't take me into the lounge room. Then he took me into the study and listened to it all. And he said, you know, this kind of thing causes wars.
[01:12:23] Oh, I. I never. But, you know, I never wrote a letter like that again in my life.
[01:12:28] It wasn't that I wasn't tempted to write a letter, oh, two or three times. I could have sat down with great ease and written just the same kind of letter. But I couldn't go through all that again.
[01:12:37] Oh, the humility of it. The humiliation of it. The sort of being broken down of it all. No, that's how we learn. We learn it doesn't pay.
[01:12:51] So put right whatever is wrong. Remember there's no back door to covering. And lastly, learn the lesson.
[01:13:00] When we've got uncovered, there is always a cause.
[01:13:05] No one slides.
[01:13:08] Doesn't just happen.
[01:13:10] We are absolutely safe in Christ unless we've got uncovered.
[01:13:18] So we must learn the lesson. What is the cause?
[01:13:22] Some people of all the time realizing, oh, this has happened now, Lord, just forgive me and cleanse me. And the same thing happens again and again and again and again because they will not learn the lesson.
[01:13:37] Now, the Bible has some very harsh words to say about fool.
[01:13:41] And it says the fool is someone who will not perceive instruction.
[01:13:48] A fool is not someone who makes a mistake.
[01:13:52] A fool is someone who makes the same mistake again and again and again.
[01:13:58] That's what the Bible says.
[01:14:01] Now, the basis of that folly is the inability to learn.
[01:14:10] Or if you like, an unteachable spirit.
[01:14:16] I'm not going to listen to that.
[01:14:19] I know it anyway.
[01:14:22] But you don't.
[01:14:24] You can't teach anyone unless they're ready to say yes. All right, you're wrong there.
[01:14:31] All right.
[01:14:32] How should I have done it?
[01:14:35] Learn the lesson.
[01:14:37] It's much better to learn how to stay covered at all times than to have to continually get back under cover.
[01:14:45] Therefore, we must learn the lesson. Why have I got uncovered? Let me learn the lesson. I won't do it again.
[01:14:52] That's the way of progress.
[01:14:56] Those who refuse do listen to this last little word. Those who refuse either to recognize that they have become uncovered or learn the lesson invariably go off course.
[01:15:12] I can say that quite dogmatically. They invariably go off course because they will not recognize the point of departure. So. So they're off without any possibility of the Lord bringing them back. A deviation has started.
[01:15:31] Oh, we want to be those who have learned how to stay in Christ at all times, to abide in him when we have become uncovered.
[01:15:46] We want to be those who love that we must take immediate action not to stay in a condition of tremendous danger one moment longer than our having become aware of it.
[01:16:00] Everything is in Christ.
[01:16:03] All the fullness, all the provision, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, all the grace, all the power is for stronghold, strong tower, rock of defense, refuge, temple and sanctuary. Covered hiding place. Oh, that we could learn what it is to stay in the place where God has put us. Absolutely. So may God teach us this simple lesson. If you were expecting something more important involved, it's not. These spiritual things are very simple.
[01:16:44] Recognize that you're uncovered.
[01:16:47] Retake your position by faith in Christ.
[01:16:51] Put right whatever is wrong, whatever the cost, and learn the lesson.
[01:16:59] Shall we pray now? Lord, we pray that thou art indeed.
[01:17:06] Teach us this lesson. Write it on our hearts. Lord, all of us in one way or another, need this message.
[01:17:16] We need, Lord, to know how to take immediate action.
[01:17:20] Oh, write it, Lord, in practical terms, in every one of our lives, where there is any uncovering, Lord, here tonight we pray that we may know what to do.
[01:17:32] And Lord, may every one of us who is covered learn how to stay covered.
[01:17:38] May we know what it is to have our life hid with Christ.
[01:17:44] Indeed, we ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus.
[01:17:48] Amen.
