Act on What You Know, Leave the Rest to God

Deuteronomy 29:29
Broadcast Featured Image

Moses tells the Israelites that the “secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and our children forever.” Pastor Colin highlights that God’s people are on the verge of entering the Promised Land, and Moses is delivering his final series of sermons, emphasising the importance of obedience to God’s laws.

Pastor Colin explains that life is a blend of unknowns and revealed truths. He highlights that faith involves accepting the mysteries kept hidden by God while standing firm on the promises that have been revealed. This acceptance helps believers navigate through life’s uncertainties and maintain their faith.

He provides seven secrets that belong to God, such as the future of our children, the reason for our suffering, and the manner of our death. For each secret, Pastor Colin juxtaposes it with a corresponding revealed promise from God, offering hope and guidance in the face of life’s unknowns.

Ultimately, Pastor Colin calls the congregation to live with trust in what God has revealed and to acknowledge the mysteries He has kept hidden. This profound balance enables believers to walk in faith and remain steadfast in their spiritual journey.

In conclusion, Pastor Colin reminds those who may feel lost or confused to come to Jesus, who can reveal the Father and provide rest for their souls. Through faith in Christ, believers can navigate life’s uncertainties with the assurance of God’s promises.

1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:01,780 Now will you turn with me please 2 00:00:01,780 –> 00:00:04,480 to Deuteronomy in chapter 29? 3 00:00:04,480 –> 00:00:06,760 We’re looking at just one verse today, 4 00:00:06,760 –> 00:00:10,500 Deuteronomy chapter 29, verse 29. 5 00:00:10,500 –> 00:00:12,800 If you don’t know this verse already, 6 00:00:12,800 –> 00:00:14,640 I hope that today will be a means 7 00:00:14,640 –> 00:00:18,980 of God sealing it into your heart and into your mind. 8 00:00:18,980 –> 00:00:21,540 Deuteronomy 29, 29. 9 00:00:21,540 –> 00:00:26,280 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, 10 00:00:26,320 –> 00:00:29,740 but the things revealed belong to us 11 00:00:29,740 –> 00:00:32,779 and to our children forever, 12 00:00:32,779 –> 00:00:37,779 that we may follow all the words of this law. 13 00:00:38,680 –> 00:00:40,599 Now if you have been with us during the series, 14 00:00:40,599 –> 00:00:43,160 you will have a sense of what’s happening in Deuteronomy. 15 00:00:43,160 –> 00:00:46,439 God’s people are on the verge of the promised land. 16 00:00:46,439 –> 00:00:49,540 And Moses is speaking to them for the last time. 17 00:00:49,540 –> 00:00:51,520 Here we are now coming towards the end 18 00:00:51,520 –> 00:00:53,400 of the book of Deuteronomy. 19 00:00:53,400 –> 00:00:56,520 And the book is really a series of sermons. 20 00:00:56,520 –> 00:00:58,759 And this is the last of the sermons. 21 00:00:58,759 –> 00:01:00,119 It’s not the last in our series, 22 00:01:00,119 –> 00:01:04,720 but it really is the last time Moses speaks to the people. 23 00:01:04,720 –> 00:01:06,440 And so, if you think about speaking 24 00:01:06,440 –> 00:01:07,680 to those you really love, 25 00:01:07,680 –> 00:01:12,320 those in whom you’ve invested your life all these years, 26 00:01:12,320 –> 00:01:14,720 and you’re speaking to them for the very last time, 27 00:01:14,720 –> 00:01:16,599 what would you say? 28 00:01:16,599 –> 00:01:17,480 What really matters? 29 00:01:17,480 –> 00:01:22,260 What is of greatest significance and of importance? 30 00:01:22,300 –> 00:01:24,500 And I think as we look at this last part 31 00:01:24,500 –> 00:01:26,820 of what Moses says to God’s people, 32 00:01:26,820 –> 00:01:29,540 a good title for the last sermon Moses preached 33 00:01:29,540 –> 00:01:31,739 would be 2 Ways to Live. 34 00:01:31,739 –> 00:01:33,500 Because really, his last message is this. 35 00:01:33,500 –> 00:01:36,139 You’re about to enter the Promised Land. 36 00:01:36,139 –> 00:01:38,059 He, of course, is not going to be with them. 37 00:01:38,059 –> 00:01:41,860 Moses is going to go and be at home with the Lord. 38 00:01:41,860 –> 00:01:45,019 But he’s saying when you enter the Promised Land, 39 00:01:45,019 –> 00:01:47,440 remember there are two ways to live. 40 00:01:47,440 –> 00:01:49,900 And if you glance back to chapter 28, 41 00:01:49,900 –> 00:01:51,620 you’ll see that this is really the main theme 42 00:01:51,760 –> 00:01:53,139 of his last sermon. 43 00:01:53,139 –> 00:01:55,239 From verse one he lists blessings 44 00:01:55,239 –> 00:01:57,239 that will follow obedience. 45 00:01:57,239 –> 00:02:00,540 Verse one, if you fully obey the Lord your God, 46 00:02:00,540 –> 00:02:01,959 you will be blessed in the city. 47 00:02:01,959 –> 00:02:03,860 You will be blessed in the country. 48 00:02:03,860 –> 00:02:06,059 You will be blessed in the fruit of your womb 49 00:02:06,059 –> 00:02:09,199 and so forth and so on, a long list of blessings. 50 00:02:09,199 –> 00:02:12,139 He’s talking about the national future here. 51 00:02:12,139 –> 00:02:15,199 And then if you take it up at verse 15 of chapter 28, 52 00:02:15,199 –> 00:02:19,039 Moses then lists curses that follow disobedience. 53 00:02:19,039 –> 00:02:22,360 Verse 15, however, if you do not obey the Lord your God, 54 00:02:22,360 –> 00:02:23,720 you will be cursed in the city. 55 00:02:23,720 –> 00:02:25,080 You will be cursed in the country. 56 00:02:25,080 –> 00:02:26,520 The basket and the kneading trough 57 00:02:26,520 –> 00:02:28,559 will be cursed and so forth and so on. 58 00:02:28,559 –> 00:02:29,479 So this is the theme 59 00:02:29,479 –> 00:02:31,759 and it’s developed over several chapters. 60 00:02:31,759 –> 00:02:34,639 Moses is saying, you’re going into a wonderful new land. 61 00:02:34,639 –> 00:02:36,199 There are two ways to live. 62 00:02:36,199 –> 00:02:39,399 There are two radically different consequences 63 00:02:39,399 –> 00:02:40,779 that come to the nation 64 00:02:40,779 –> 00:02:44,220 according to whether people follow God’s righteous path 65 00:02:44,220 –> 00:02:46,419 or rebel against it. 66 00:02:46,419 –> 00:02:48,479 There’s a path on which you’ll be blessed 67 00:02:48,479 –> 00:02:53,479 and there is a path on which you will experience judgment. 68 00:02:53,720 –> 00:02:55,479 Now picture yourself standing there 69 00:02:55,479 –> 00:02:57,899 listening to Moses’ last sermon 70 00:02:57,899 –> 00:03:01,320 and here you are on the verge of the promised land. 71 00:03:01,320 –> 00:03:03,160 And Moses says, now, when you go in, 72 00:03:03,160 –> 00:03:04,460 there’s two ways to live 73 00:03:04,460 –> 00:03:07,240 and two radically different experiences of life 74 00:03:07,240 –> 00:03:09,419 that come as a consequence. 75 00:03:09,419 –> 00:03:10,899 What would the question be in your mind? 76 00:03:10,899 –> 00:03:12,460 I know what I’d be asking. 77 00:03:12,460 –> 00:03:16,039 Moses, which one is it going to be? 78 00:03:16,039 –> 00:03:18,619 What’s the future for us? 79 00:03:18,619 –> 00:03:20,119 What’s the future for our children? 80 00:03:20,119 –> 00:03:23,740 What is the future for our grandchildren? 81 00:03:23,740 –> 00:03:26,399 What kind of world are they going to inherit? 82 00:03:26,399 –> 00:03:28,899 What’s it gonna be like in the next 10 years? 83 00:03:28,899 –> 00:03:31,860 Moses, tell us what is going to happen 84 00:03:31,860 –> 00:03:36,720 and here’s Moses’ answer in Deuteronomy 29 verse 29 he says, 85 00:03:36,720 –> 00:03:41,720 the secret things belong to the Lord our God, 86 00:03:42,139 –> 00:03:44,479 but the things revealed belong to us 87 00:03:44,539 –> 00:03:47,360 and to our children forever that we may follow 88 00:03:47,360 –> 00:03:50,520 all the words of this law. 89 00:03:51,899 –> 00:03:55,860 Now, I’ve chosen to focus on this single verse today 90 00:03:55,860 –> 00:03:59,039 because it has been so significant in my own life. 91 00:03:59,039 –> 00:04:01,539 Many of you will have found this scripture already. 92 00:04:01,539 –> 00:04:04,740 If you haven’t, I know that you will find it helpful 93 00:04:04,740 –> 00:04:09,740 for years to come if God earths it into your heart today. 94 00:04:10,220 –> 00:04:12,460 It is an easy verse to remember. 95 00:04:12,460 –> 00:04:16,220 Even the reference, Deuteronomy 29.29. 96 00:04:16,220 –> 00:04:19,799 Say it with me, Deuteronomy 29.29, okay? 97 00:04:19,799 –> 00:04:20,959 It sticks. 98 00:04:20,959 –> 00:04:22,000 It’s easy to remember. 99 00:04:22,000 –> 00:04:23,640 You’ll find it sticks with you. 100 00:04:23,640 –> 00:04:25,959 Deuteronomy 29.29. 101 00:04:25,959 –> 00:04:30,959 And the truth that it states is so simple, just two things. 102 00:04:30,980 –> 00:04:33,220 The secret things belong to the Lord. 103 00:04:34,079 –> 00:04:38,459 The things that are revealed belong to us. 104 00:04:38,459 –> 00:04:40,679 And if you think about it, the whole of life 105 00:04:40,700 –> 00:04:42,619 is really divided into two parts. 106 00:04:42,619 –> 00:04:44,679 There are things that God has kept secret 107 00:04:44,679 –> 00:04:47,100 that you do not know and you do not understand, 108 00:04:47,100 –> 00:04:49,160 and there are things that God has revealed 109 00:04:49,160 –> 00:04:52,260 and he has given them and trusted them to you. 110 00:04:53,640 –> 00:04:55,440 Now I want simply for us to ponder 111 00:04:55,440 –> 00:04:58,660 and then for most of the message to apply 112 00:04:58,660 –> 00:05:03,660 this very simple but powerfully liberating truth. 113 00:05:05,420 –> 00:05:09,959 God keeps some things secret. 114 00:05:11,239 –> 00:05:13,220 Now what that means is that as a Christian 115 00:05:13,220 –> 00:05:15,720 you should expect to face questions 116 00:05:15,720 –> 00:05:17,500 to which you have no answer. 117 00:05:18,440 –> 00:05:21,820 Don’t be afraid as a Christian to say I don’t know. 118 00:05:22,760 –> 00:05:25,519 It is not part of faith to pretend 119 00:05:25,519 –> 00:05:28,079 that you have an answer for every question, 120 00:05:29,160 –> 00:05:32,679 and faith bows before the mystery 121 00:05:32,679 –> 00:05:34,160 of what God has kept hidden. 122 00:05:34,160 –> 00:05:35,720 That’s part of what faith does. 123 00:05:35,720 –> 00:05:37,459 That’s why it’s faith and not sight. 124 00:05:37,500 –> 00:05:40,839 It bows before the mystery of what God has kept hidden. 125 00:05:41,799 –> 00:05:44,100 I’ve heard Christians on a number of occasions, 126 00:05:44,100 –> 00:05:45,980 both in the UK and here, 127 00:05:45,980 –> 00:05:50,660 talk about having a Deuteronomy 29, 29 file. 128 00:05:50,660 –> 00:05:52,059 Have you heard this phrase? 129 00:05:52,059 –> 00:05:53,260 It’s actually rather helpful. 130 00:05:53,260 –> 00:05:54,600 I’ve heard someone say 131 00:05:54,600 –> 00:05:57,059 when something that they can’t make any sense of 132 00:05:57,059 –> 00:05:59,140 happens in life they say well I’m going to put that 133 00:05:59,140 –> 00:06:02,959 in my Deuteronomy 29, 29 file. 134 00:06:02,959 –> 00:06:05,000 So I don’t know if they actually have a folder 135 00:06:05,000 –> 00:06:06,179 with these things written down, 136 00:06:06,200 –> 00:06:08,019 but that’s a great way to think of it. 137 00:06:08,019 –> 00:06:10,559 Because you are going to experience things in life, 138 00:06:10,559 –> 00:06:13,679 as I do, that we do not understand. 139 00:06:13,679 –> 00:06:16,019 And we’re not gonna understand them this side of heaven, 140 00:06:16,019 –> 00:06:17,079 so what do you do with them? 141 00:06:17,079 –> 00:06:21,859 You put them in your Deuteronomy 29, 29 file. 142 00:06:21,859 –> 00:06:25,399 The secret things belong to the Lord. 143 00:06:25,399 –> 00:06:28,679 Living by faith, this is very important to understand, 144 00:06:28,679 –> 00:06:32,820 living by faith means accepting the limits of revelation 145 00:06:32,899 –> 00:06:36,540 as well as affirming the reality of revelation. 146 00:06:36,540 –> 00:06:38,640 And normally, we put the emphasis on faith 147 00:06:38,640 –> 00:06:41,320 involves affirming what God has revealed 148 00:06:41,320 –> 00:06:43,019 and what He has made clear. 149 00:06:43,019 –> 00:06:46,019 But faith equally involves accepting 150 00:06:46,019 –> 00:06:49,820 the limits of revelation as well as affirming its reality. 151 00:06:49,820 –> 00:06:52,019 That is why we are walking by faith, 152 00:06:52,019 –> 00:06:54,339 Paul says, and not by sight. 153 00:06:55,140 –> 00:06:56,859 Now, notice what Moses says next. 154 00:06:56,859 –> 00:07:01,859 He says, the secret things belong to the Lord. 155 00:07:03,100 –> 00:07:04,160 This is wonderful. 156 00:07:05,540 –> 00:07:07,579 There will be things in your life 157 00:07:07,579 –> 00:07:10,100 that will make absolutely no sense to you. 158 00:07:10,980 –> 00:07:12,140 They will baffle you. 159 00:07:12,140 –> 00:07:14,059 You cannot work them out. 160 00:07:15,059 –> 00:07:17,700 And you might feel at that point 161 00:07:17,700 –> 00:07:20,920 like a kind of tendency to despair. 162 00:07:21,859 –> 00:07:24,000 You might feel like throwing up your hands 163 00:07:24,000 –> 00:07:25,739 and saying, life makes no sense, 164 00:07:25,739 –> 00:07:26,920 it is completely absurd. 165 00:07:26,920 –> 00:07:27,739 What’s the point? 166 00:07:27,739 –> 00:07:28,579 I give up. 167 00:07:28,579 –> 00:07:30,480 But that is not where Moses goes. 168 00:07:31,440 –> 00:07:33,760 He doesn’t say the secret things are there 169 00:07:33,760 –> 00:07:37,179 to frustrate you and lead you to despair. 170 00:07:37,179 –> 00:07:41,179 He says the secret things belong to the Lord. 171 00:07:42,079 –> 00:07:43,640 So there will be times in your life 172 00:07:43,640 –> 00:07:44,480 where you say, 173 00:07:44,480 –> 00:07:47,640 I can make absolutely no sense of this, 174 00:07:47,640 –> 00:07:49,480 but God knows, 175 00:07:49,480 –> 00:07:51,239 God knows. 176 00:07:51,239 –> 00:07:54,079 And the secret things belong to the Lord, 177 00:07:54,079 –> 00:07:56,440 and the Lord to whom they belong 178 00:07:56,440 –> 00:08:00,380 is my loving heavenly Father. 179 00:08:01,440 –> 00:08:03,420 The secret things belong to the Lord. 180 00:08:03,420 –> 00:08:06,200 Faith lives with unanswered questions. 181 00:08:07,279 –> 00:08:10,519 Grasp that, it will settle you 182 00:08:10,519 –> 00:08:13,380 in the unsettling things of life. 183 00:08:14,480 –> 00:08:16,119 But then Moses says something else here, 184 00:08:16,119 –> 00:08:17,779 he says the things revealed 185 00:08:17,779 –> 00:08:19,839 belong to us and to our children forever 186 00:08:19,839 –> 00:08:23,160 that we may follow the words of this law. 187 00:08:23,160 –> 00:08:24,000 So see what he’s saying? 188 00:08:24,000 –> 00:08:25,559 God keeps something secret 189 00:08:25,559 –> 00:08:26,920 and they belong to him 190 00:08:26,920 –> 00:08:28,279 but not everything is secret 191 00:08:28,660 –> 00:08:30,700 because God has revealed some things 192 00:08:30,700 –> 00:08:33,739 and they belong to us. 193 00:08:33,739 –> 00:08:35,840 So while it is true that faith bows 194 00:08:35,840 –> 00:08:38,960 before the mystery of what God has kept hidden 195 00:08:38,960 –> 00:08:40,599 we need to put alongside that 196 00:08:40,599 –> 00:08:43,039 that faith stands on the promise 197 00:08:43,039 –> 00:08:44,940 that Christ has revealed. 198 00:08:44,940 –> 00:08:47,520 These are really the two dimensions of faith, 199 00:08:47,520 –> 00:08:49,380 it bows before the mystery 200 00:08:49,380 –> 00:08:51,200 of what God has kept hidden 201 00:08:51,200 –> 00:08:53,419 and it stands on the promise 202 00:08:53,419 –> 00:08:55,900 of what God has revealed. 203 00:08:55,900 –> 00:08:57,239 And Moses says now, 204 00:08:57,340 –> 00:08:58,380 understand this, 205 00:08:58,380 –> 00:09:00,859 the revealed things they are given to you 206 00:09:00,859 –> 00:09:03,099 so that you’ll be able to follow the Lord 207 00:09:03,099 –> 00:09:05,539 even when you find yourself perplexed 208 00:09:05,539 –> 00:09:07,859 by the things you don’t understand. 209 00:09:07,859 –> 00:09:09,739 These revealed things, 210 00:09:09,739 –> 00:09:11,080 they belong to us 211 00:09:11,940 –> 00:09:14,000 and they belong to our children 212 00:09:14,000 –> 00:09:15,520 and they are given to you 213 00:09:15,520 –> 00:09:18,760 so that in this life where many things will perplex you, 214 00:09:18,760 –> 00:09:21,020 you will be able to stand firm 215 00:09:21,020 –> 00:09:24,359 even in the tough circumstances of life. 216 00:09:25,359 –> 00:09:28,219 So, this is a great verse of scripture 217 00:09:28,219 –> 00:09:29,760 that goes to the very foundation 218 00:09:29,760 –> 00:09:33,799 of what it means to live by faith in this world. 219 00:09:33,799 –> 00:09:35,440 It’s easy to find. 220 00:09:35,440 –> 00:09:37,979 It is easy to remember. 221 00:09:37,979 –> 00:09:40,719 It is profoundly helpful to apply. 222 00:09:42,200 –> 00:09:45,039 We live by faith and not by sight. 223 00:09:47,159 –> 00:09:48,820 There will be a day, folks, 224 00:09:48,820 –> 00:09:51,880 when our faith is turned to sight. 225 00:09:51,880 –> 00:09:54,320 There will be a day when you know 226 00:09:54,780 –> 00:09:57,700 even as now you are known. 227 00:09:57,700 –> 00:10:00,559 But that day is not yet. 228 00:10:00,559 –> 00:10:02,960 And until that day, what faith does 229 00:10:02,960 –> 00:10:04,900 is it bows before the mystery of what God 230 00:10:04,900 –> 00:10:08,119 has kept hidden and stands on the promise 231 00:10:08,119 –> 00:10:11,419 that God has revealed. 232 00:10:11,419 –> 00:10:14,359 Now, that’s the teaching. 233 00:10:14,359 –> 00:10:16,320 Let’s get to the application. 234 00:10:16,320 –> 00:10:19,419 12 minutes into the sermon and we’re on the application. 235 00:10:19,419 –> 00:10:20,460 You know why? 236 00:10:20,460 –> 00:10:23,940 I want to give you seven applications 237 00:10:24,700 –> 00:10:27,440 of this powerful truth that I think 238 00:10:27,440 –> 00:10:30,479 all of us will touch at some point 239 00:10:30,479 –> 00:10:34,260 in our life and in our experience. 240 00:10:34,260 –> 00:10:37,299 Seven secrets that belong to the Lord 241 00:10:37,299 –> 00:10:42,299 and then seven promises that are given to us. 242 00:10:42,400 –> 00:10:43,239 Well, here we go. 243 00:10:44,719 –> 00:10:49,719 Secret number one, the future of your children. 244 00:10:49,780 –> 00:10:54,679 Now, is there any parents who hasn’t wondered about this? 245 00:10:57,380 –> 00:10:59,000 What will happen to your children? 246 00:11:00,520 –> 00:11:01,520 Will they marry? 247 00:11:02,840 –> 00:11:05,159 What about your grandchildren? 248 00:11:05,159 –> 00:11:07,140 Will they be happy? 249 00:11:07,140 –> 00:11:08,299 Will they prosper? 250 00:11:09,760 –> 00:11:12,979 You ask that question, what kind of world 251 00:11:12,979 –> 00:11:15,640 will my grandchildren inherit? 252 00:11:15,640 –> 00:11:17,520 You ask that question. 253 00:11:18,359 –> 00:11:19,900 This was surely in the minds of those 254 00:11:19,900 –> 00:11:22,239 who were standing beside Moses when he’s telling them 255 00:11:22,239 –> 00:11:24,599 that there are two very different futures 256 00:11:24,599 –> 00:11:27,219 that may happen in the land. 257 00:11:28,500 –> 00:11:31,599 What’s the future for our children, your children? 258 00:11:32,799 –> 00:11:36,719 The secret things belong to the Lord. 259 00:11:39,260 –> 00:11:44,260 Secret number two, the reason for your suffering. 260 00:11:45,080 –> 00:11:50,080 All of us at some time in life will ask the question, why? 261 00:11:50,099 –> 00:11:53,659 You will come to some painful experience 262 00:11:53,659 –> 00:11:56,679 and for some of us, this is so acute, 263 00:11:57,679 –> 00:12:01,000 and you’re locked into this question. 264 00:12:01,000 –> 00:12:05,099 Why was I born into that family? 265 00:12:06,979 –> 00:12:10,059 Why did this illness come to me? 266 00:12:11,059 –> 00:12:17,559 Why did that awful event happen to my son or my daughter. 267 00:12:17,559 –> 00:12:21,640 And you ask the question and you ask it for years 268 00:12:21,640 –> 00:12:23,640 and you still have no answer. 269 00:12:23,640 –> 00:12:30,520 The secret things belong to the Lord. 270 00:12:31,840 –> 00:12:37,099 Secret number three, the manner of your death. 271 00:12:38,000 –> 00:12:41,640 Now I don’t know if you think about this once in a while, 272 00:12:41,640 –> 00:12:46,059 I promise you as you get older once in a while you will, 273 00:12:46,059 –> 00:12:47,640 how long will you live? 274 00:12:47,640 –> 00:12:53,719 Will you reach old age or will God take you 275 00:12:53,719 –> 00:12:55,219 while you are young? 276 00:12:55,219 –> 00:13:00,500 Will you die through an illness or will you die 277 00:13:00,500 –> 00:13:02,260 through an accident? 278 00:13:02,400 –> 00:13:06,359 Will you die with a sound mind? 279 00:13:06,359 –> 00:13:09,239 Some of us think about that perhaps quite a lot. 280 00:13:09,239 –> 00:13:12,559 And perhaps you ask the question, 281 00:13:12,559 –> 00:13:15,200 will I experience pain? 282 00:13:16,960 –> 00:13:21,320 The secret things belong to the Lord. 283 00:13:21,320 –> 00:13:23,700 Number four. 284 00:13:23,700 –> 00:13:27,440 The salvation of your loved ones. 285 00:13:27,440 –> 00:13:30,580 I’m thinking here about unbelieving neighbors, 286 00:13:30,580 –> 00:13:33,020 friends, or family members 287 00:13:33,020 –> 00:13:35,239 who do not yet know or love Christ 288 00:13:35,239 –> 00:13:37,780 and you pray for them and you love them 289 00:13:37,780 –> 00:13:40,940 and you share the gospel with them. 290 00:13:40,940 –> 00:13:43,380 I’m thinking today about someone 291 00:13:43,380 –> 00:13:47,419 that I have been praying for for over 20 years. 292 00:13:47,419 –> 00:13:50,059 He has no interest in God. 293 00:13:50,059 –> 00:13:52,020 He has no love for Christ. 294 00:13:53,200 –> 00:13:55,059 Will he be converted? 295 00:13:56,099 –> 00:13:57,659 I do not know. 296 00:13:57,659 –> 00:13:58,500 I don’t know. 297 00:13:59,320 –> 00:14:02,440 The secret things belong to the Lord. 298 00:14:04,739 –> 00:14:09,020 Number five, the events of tomorrow. 299 00:14:10,859 –> 00:14:15,859 Karan and I plan to fly to England tonight 300 00:14:16,419 –> 00:14:19,919 to arrive in Glasgow with a second flight tomorrow 301 00:14:19,919 –> 00:14:22,599 and then to get on a bus that will take us from Glasgow 302 00:14:22,599 –> 00:14:24,419 to the North of Scotland in Inverness 303 00:14:24,419 –> 00:14:26,099 where we get some days with my parents 304 00:14:26,380 –> 00:14:27,679 and then visiting hers. 305 00:14:28,659 –> 00:14:31,580 We got it all worked out, it’s about 14, 15 hours 306 00:14:31,580 –> 00:14:33,919 all together with the three legs of the journey. 307 00:14:33,919 –> 00:14:35,820 We’d done it many, many times before 308 00:14:35,820 –> 00:14:38,460 and we’re planned and ready to go. 309 00:14:40,539 –> 00:14:42,400 And every time I travel, 310 00:14:43,780 –> 00:14:47,299 I think about the words of James, 311 00:14:47,299 –> 00:14:51,299 listen, you who say today or tomorrow 312 00:14:51,299 –> 00:14:54,200 we will go to this or that city, 313 00:14:54,359 –> 00:14:58,200 you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. 314 00:14:59,340 –> 00:15:00,659 Or you don’t know what’s gonna happen 315 00:15:00,659 –> 00:15:04,820 for you tomorrow either, whatever you’ve got planned. 316 00:15:05,820 –> 00:15:08,659 The secret things belong to the Lord. 317 00:15:08,659 –> 00:15:12,400 Folks, this is life, this is reality. 318 00:15:12,400 –> 00:15:15,820 Number six, the outcome of your ministry. 319 00:15:17,979 –> 00:15:19,500 Now as you serve the Lord, 320 00:15:19,500 –> 00:15:22,700 as so many of us are engaged in ministry, 321 00:15:22,979 –> 00:15:25,260 you will have discovered, you don’t need me to tell you, 322 00:15:25,260 –> 00:15:27,419 that there are times when you find yourself 323 00:15:27,419 –> 00:15:28,900 asking this question. 324 00:15:28,900 –> 00:15:31,979 Am I doing anything of lasting value? 325 00:15:33,239 –> 00:15:35,099 You are praying, and you say, 326 00:15:35,099 –> 00:15:37,200 now, is this making any difference? 327 00:15:37,200 –> 00:15:40,400 Is there any Christian who hasn’t been there? 328 00:15:40,400 –> 00:15:43,020 You make sacrifices, and you wonder, 329 00:15:43,020 –> 00:15:45,599 well, does anybody even notice? 330 00:15:46,880 –> 00:15:49,260 It’s fascinating to me in Matthew, Chapter 25, 331 00:15:49,260 –> 00:15:51,940 when the Lord’s people are brought before him 332 00:15:52,020 –> 00:15:55,940 on the Day of Judgement, and they are surprised. 333 00:15:56,940 –> 00:15:59,580 They’re surprised by the outcome of their ministry. 334 00:15:59,580 –> 00:16:00,900 Remember, Jesus says to them, 335 00:16:00,900 –> 00:16:02,340 now, I was hungry, and you fed me, 336 00:16:02,340 –> 00:16:05,059 and I was in prison, and you visited me, 337 00:16:05,059 –> 00:16:07,780 and they’re saying when was that? 338 00:16:07,780 –> 00:16:09,000 When did we do these things? 339 00:16:09,000 –> 00:16:10,840 And Jesus says, well, as much as you did it 340 00:16:10,840 –> 00:16:12,320 to the least of these my brothers, 341 00:16:12,320 –> 00:16:14,419 you did it to me. 342 00:16:14,419 –> 00:16:16,400 The truth is 343 00:16:16,400 –> 00:16:19,640 that the last day will hold so many wonderful surprises 344 00:16:19,719 –> 00:16:23,799 because you don’t know the outcome of your own ministry. 345 00:16:23,799 –> 00:16:24,619 You don’t. 346 00:16:26,039 –> 00:16:29,200 The secret things belong to the Lord. 347 00:16:31,340 –> 00:16:32,960 Here’s number seven. 348 00:16:32,960 –> 00:16:35,940 The progress of your Christian life. 349 00:16:38,000 –> 00:16:39,960 If you are a Christian today, 350 00:16:39,960 –> 00:16:42,619 you will know what it is 351 00:16:42,619 –> 00:16:45,380 to be alarmed 352 00:16:45,380 –> 00:16:49,059 by your own lack of progress as a Christian. 353 00:16:50,140 –> 00:16:52,140 God, of course, is conforming you 354 00:16:52,140 –> 00:16:54,799 to the likeness of Jesus Christ. 355 00:16:56,099 –> 00:16:58,719 There is progress in sanctification, 356 00:16:58,719 –> 00:17:02,080 but the truth is that it’s not always obvious. 357 00:17:02,080 –> 00:17:04,339 If it is seen, and where it is seen, 358 00:17:04,339 –> 00:17:06,439 it’s more likely to be seen by other people 359 00:17:06,439 –> 00:17:08,520 before it is seen by you. 360 00:17:10,400 –> 00:17:14,560 The reality is that sin lies so deep within the best of us 361 00:17:15,540 –> 00:17:18,640 that we often find ourselves alarmed, and astonished, 362 00:17:18,699 –> 00:17:22,859 and even confounded when it breaks out in unexpected ways. 363 00:17:24,979 –> 00:17:26,000 You’ve experienced this. 364 00:17:26,000 –> 00:17:29,000 The sudden word, the cynical thought, 365 00:17:29,000 –> 00:17:33,160 the overwhelming impulse, and the unexpected failure. 366 00:17:34,140 –> 00:17:36,760 You say, where in the world did that come from? 367 00:17:36,760 –> 00:17:38,760 It came from within you. 368 00:17:40,219 –> 00:17:44,140 Peter says to Jesus, I’m ready to die with you, 369 00:17:45,979 –> 00:17:47,420 and you remember a few hours later 370 00:17:47,439 –> 00:17:49,380 Jesus is calling down curses, he’s blaspheming. 371 00:17:49,380 –> 00:17:51,959 He said, I never even knew the man. 372 00:17:51,959 –> 00:17:53,339 Where did that come from? 373 00:17:53,339 –> 00:17:54,579 Inside of him. 374 00:17:56,640 –> 00:18:00,520 You thought you were making progress, 375 00:18:00,520 –> 00:18:04,359 that you had left those things behind, 376 00:18:04,359 –> 00:18:07,160 but now the sin that you thought you had conquered, 377 00:18:07,160 –> 00:18:09,660 it’s back again and it’s staring you in the face. 378 00:18:09,660 –> 00:18:11,619 It’s almost as if it’s laughing at you, 379 00:18:11,619 –> 00:18:15,500 and you say, well now, have I made no progress? 380 00:18:15,520 –> 00:18:19,699 Will I ever be the person that God is calling me to be? 381 00:18:20,680 –> 00:18:23,420 If you are a Christian, you will know what it is 382 00:18:23,420 –> 00:18:26,920 to stare into the mystery of your own sin. 383 00:18:29,739 –> 00:18:32,260 The secret things belong to the Lord. 384 00:18:32,260 –> 00:18:33,819 That’s why it says in Psalm 19, 385 00:18:33,819 –> 00:18:36,979 who can understand his own errors? 386 00:18:36,979 –> 00:18:39,099 Isn’t that a great question? 387 00:18:39,099 –> 00:18:43,060 Is there anyone who really understands his own errors? 388 00:18:43,060 –> 00:18:45,359 Of course, you don’t. 389 00:18:45,520 –> 00:18:49,020 Secret things belong to the Lord. 390 00:18:51,280 –> 00:18:53,479 Now, folks, this is humbling truth today, isn’t it? 391 00:18:53,479 –> 00:18:56,560 There is a stillness among us as there ought to be. 392 00:18:56,560 –> 00:18:58,420 Because you start looking at life, 393 00:18:58,420 –> 00:19:01,800 what you see is that however powerful sometimes we may feel, 394 00:19:01,800 –> 00:19:04,640 the truth is that the vastness 395 00:19:04,640 –> 00:19:07,420 is of that which we do not know. 396 00:19:07,420 –> 00:19:10,140 The things God has kept secret. 397 00:19:10,140 –> 00:19:12,380 You don’t know the future of your children, 398 00:19:12,380 –> 00:19:14,040 or the reason for your suffering, 399 00:19:14,500 –> 00:19:15,359 or the manner of your death, 400 00:19:15,359 –> 00:19:17,619 or the salvation of your loved ones, 401 00:19:17,619 –> 00:19:20,040 or the events of tomorrow. 402 00:19:20,040 –> 00:19:22,500 You don’t know the outcome of your ministry. 403 00:19:22,500 –> 00:19:26,760 You don’t have a sure read on your own progress 404 00:19:26,760 –> 00:19:28,180 in the Christian life. 405 00:19:28,180 –> 00:19:30,979 And you say, well, now, with all this that I don’t know, 406 00:19:30,979 –> 00:19:32,180 how can I live? 407 00:19:33,979 –> 00:19:36,800 How can you navigate your way through a world 408 00:19:36,800 –> 00:19:39,300 where God has kept so much secret, 409 00:19:39,300 –> 00:19:41,359 where so many of the big things that you think, 410 00:19:41,359 –> 00:19:43,079 I really need to know these things, 411 00:19:43,079 –> 00:19:46,520 and yet God has said, I’m not going to tell them to you, 412 00:19:46,520 –> 00:19:47,599 they belong to me. 413 00:19:49,780 –> 00:19:51,939 Well, here’s the principle that’s right at the heart 414 00:19:51,939 –> 00:19:53,800 of this single verse that I’m trying 415 00:19:53,800 –> 00:19:55,199 to work into our hearts, 416 00:19:55,199 –> 00:19:58,560 and asking that God will seal in our minds. 417 00:19:59,739 –> 00:20:03,439 You live with what God has kept secret 418 00:20:04,780 –> 00:20:08,920 by trusting what God has revealed, that’s the principle. 419 00:20:10,400 –> 00:20:12,959 The reality is that whatever you turn in life, 420 00:20:12,959 –> 00:20:15,920 we’re surrounded by what we do not know 421 00:20:15,920 –> 00:20:17,300 and what we do not control. 422 00:20:18,560 –> 00:20:20,040 And you live 423 00:20:20,979 –> 00:20:24,199 with what God has kept secret 424 00:20:24,199 –> 00:20:27,400 by trusting what God has revealed, 425 00:20:27,400 –> 00:20:30,640 the secret things belong to the Lord. 426 00:20:30,640 –> 00:20:32,060 You’re not going to get them. 427 00:20:33,660 –> 00:20:36,400 But the things that are revealed belong to us 428 00:20:36,400 –> 00:20:38,040 so that we may be able to walk according 429 00:20:38,040 –> 00:20:40,140 to all of his laws, that’s the principle. 430 00:20:40,719 –> 00:20:43,119 So as we’ve been humbled 431 00:20:44,660 –> 00:20:47,339 by seven secrets that 432 00:20:48,239 –> 00:20:49,699 belong to the Lord, 433 00:20:50,920 –> 00:20:52,939 let me try and encourage you 434 00:20:53,979 –> 00:20:56,140 with seven promises that belong to us 435 00:20:56,140 –> 00:20:59,219 because the revealed things belong to us. 436 00:20:59,219 –> 00:21:01,280 Let’s think about how they tie together. 437 00:21:02,520 –> 00:21:05,579 What about the future of your children? 438 00:21:07,140 –> 00:21:09,380 I don’t know what the future 439 00:21:09,760 –> 00:21:13,380 will be for my children but I know this. 440 00:21:14,239 –> 00:21:18,939 God is faithful and as he has been faithful to me 441 00:21:18,939 –> 00:21:20,380 he will be faithful to them. 442 00:21:21,459 –> 00:21:23,859 Acts chapter two in verse 39, 443 00:21:23,859 –> 00:21:28,300 the promise is for you and for your children 444 00:21:28,300 –> 00:21:31,219 and for all whom the Lord our God will call. 445 00:21:31,219 –> 00:21:35,180 God is faithful and the same God who is faithful to you 446 00:21:35,180 –> 00:21:37,199 will be faithful to them. 447 00:21:38,160 –> 00:21:41,239 What about the reason for your suffering? 448 00:21:42,599 –> 00:21:45,520 I don’t know why some of the painful things 449 00:21:45,520 –> 00:21:47,560 that have happened in my life occurred 450 00:21:49,119 –> 00:21:53,739 but I know this that our present suffering 451 00:21:53,739 –> 00:21:57,459 is not worth comparing with the glory 452 00:21:57,459 –> 00:21:58,839 that will be revealed in us, 453 00:21:58,839 –> 00:22:01,000 that’s Romans chapter eight in verse 18 454 00:22:01,000 –> 00:22:03,359 and Paul says even more than that he says 455 00:22:03,359 –> 00:22:05,939 in fact our troubles are achieving for us 456 00:22:06,020 –> 00:22:09,660 an eternal weight of glory that far outweighs them all 457 00:22:09,660 –> 00:22:10,959 far outweighs them all. 458 00:22:12,300 –> 00:22:14,380 So I live with what God has kept secret 459 00:22:14,380 –> 00:22:17,640 by trusting what he has revealed. 460 00:22:19,260 –> 00:22:21,859 What about this business of the manner of your death? 461 00:22:22,979 –> 00:22:26,619 I don’t know how I will die 462 00:22:28,140 –> 00:22:32,699 but I know this to be away from the body 463 00:22:32,699 –> 00:22:35,339 is to be at home with the Lord. 464 00:22:35,339 –> 00:22:37,380 That’s worth an amen by the way, isn’t it? 465 00:22:37,380 –> 00:22:38,739 You believe that? 466 00:22:38,739 –> 00:22:41,060 And to be with the Lord I know this 467 00:22:41,060 –> 00:22:43,199 and believe this because he has revealed it 468 00:22:43,199 –> 00:22:45,939 is better by far. 469 00:22:45,939 –> 00:22:47,500 That’s Philippians chapter one, 470 00:22:48,339 –> 00:22:49,760 which is why Paul says 471 00:22:49,760 –> 00:22:54,760 for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. 472 00:22:55,420 –> 00:22:56,260 Really is. 473 00:22:57,839 –> 00:23:00,979 So there are so many things in life that I want to do 474 00:23:01,479 –> 00:23:05,660 but I’m not going to live in a craven fear of death 475 00:23:06,780 –> 00:23:08,739 because I stand on a promise. 476 00:23:10,300 –> 00:23:13,939 Number four, the salvation of our loved ones. 477 00:23:13,939 –> 00:23:15,939 Your unbelieving loved ones. 478 00:23:15,939 –> 00:23:18,140 How do you stand on the promise there? 479 00:23:20,099 –> 00:23:24,339 I don’t know if my unbelieving friends 480 00:23:24,339 –> 00:23:26,459 or loved ones will be saved 481 00:23:27,420 –> 00:23:28,819 but I know this, 482 00:23:30,020 –> 00:23:35,020 God saves people who are not looking to be saved. 483 00:23:35,260 –> 00:23:36,979 That’s my only hope. 484 00:23:36,979 –> 00:23:38,660 And let me give you the promise for that. 485 00:23:38,660 –> 00:23:41,500 It’s Isaiah chapter 65 in verse one, 486 00:23:41,500 –> 00:23:44,420 it has been a foundation of my prayers 487 00:23:44,420 –> 00:23:47,819 for unconverted loved ones for many many years. 488 00:23:47,819 –> 00:23:52,819 God says, I revealed myself to those who did not ask me 489 00:23:53,140 –> 00:23:56,420 and I was found by those who did not seek me. 490 00:23:56,579 –> 00:23:59,359 Are you praying for someone who is not seeking God? 491 00:24:00,239 –> 00:24:03,239 Are you burdened for someone who’s not asking of God, 492 00:24:03,239 –> 00:24:05,199 doesn’t pray at all, and you say, 493 00:24:05,199 –> 00:24:08,560 how will they be found if they’re never seeking God? 494 00:24:08,560 –> 00:24:11,599 Here’s the answer, they’ll be found by him seeking them. 495 00:24:11,599 –> 00:24:13,780 It is not the sheep that seek the shepherd, 496 00:24:13,780 –> 00:24:15,920 it is the shepherd who seeks the sheep. 497 00:24:15,920 –> 00:24:19,319 That’s the basis of hope, that’s the foundation of prayer, 498 00:24:19,319 –> 00:24:21,660 that’s the promise to hold on to. 499 00:24:22,800 –> 00:24:25,479 So when I pray for unbelieving friends and loved ones, 500 00:24:25,479 –> 00:24:28,660 I say to the Lord, you don’t need their permission 501 00:24:28,660 –> 00:24:30,939 to intercept their lives! 502 00:24:30,939 –> 00:24:32,660 They’ll never find their way to you, 503 00:24:32,660 –> 00:24:37,479 so Lord, please, in Your mercy, find your way to them! 504 00:24:39,180 –> 00:24:41,180 The secret things belong to the Lord 505 00:24:41,180 –> 00:24:45,099 but that revelation gives me a basis for hope 506 00:24:46,020 –> 00:24:49,979 and a sustenance for prayer. 507 00:24:51,520 –> 00:24:53,719 Number five, what about tomorrow? 508 00:24:53,719 –> 00:24:54,739 How do you live when you don’t know 509 00:24:54,800 –> 00:24:56,239 what’s gonna happen tomorrow? 510 00:24:57,920 –> 00:25:00,439 I don’t know what tomorrow holds 511 00:25:01,640 –> 00:25:04,359 but I do know who holds tomorrow 512 00:25:04,359 –> 00:25:06,780 and so do you if you’re in Jesus Christ. 513 00:25:07,699 –> 00:25:09,800 The future lies in the hands of God 514 00:25:09,800 –> 00:25:12,780 and he is my loving Heavenly Father. 515 00:25:12,780 –> 00:25:14,719 Do you remember how our Lord Jesus speaks 516 00:25:14,719 –> 00:25:16,479 about this in the Sermon on the Mount? 517 00:25:16,479 –> 00:25:19,680 He says, do not worry about your life 518 00:25:20,699 –> 00:25:22,239 and then He explains why. 519 00:25:22,239 –> 00:25:25,040 Why are you not to go through worrying about your life, 520 00:25:25,040 –> 00:25:26,959 worrying about tomorrow? 521 00:25:26,959 –> 00:25:27,780 And He says this. 522 00:25:27,780 –> 00:25:29,239 Look at the birds of the air. 523 00:25:30,160 –> 00:25:32,099 Your Heavenly Father feeds them. 524 00:25:32,099 –> 00:25:34,959 Now are you not much more valuable than they? 525 00:25:35,959 –> 00:25:38,520 So he says and here’s the conclusion, 526 00:25:38,520 –> 00:25:40,180 instead of worrying about tomorrow, 527 00:25:40,180 –> 00:25:42,260 He says here’s what you do. 528 00:25:42,260 –> 00:25:44,920 You seek first the kingdom of God 529 00:25:44,920 –> 00:25:47,520 and His righteousness 530 00:25:47,520 –> 00:25:49,400 and all these things will be added to you. 531 00:25:49,400 –> 00:25:51,680 Your Father knows what you need. 532 00:25:52,719 –> 00:25:54,479 So you see what our Lord Jesus is saying. 533 00:25:54,479 –> 00:25:57,400 Don’t live a life that is consumed by worry 534 00:25:58,680 –> 00:26:00,599 about things you cannot change, 535 00:26:00,599 –> 00:26:01,920 things you don’t control. 536 00:26:01,920 –> 00:26:03,400 Here’s what you should do. 537 00:26:03,400 –> 00:26:06,199 Live flat out for the kingdom of God. 538 00:26:06,199 –> 00:26:08,239 Go for righteousness today, 539 00:26:08,239 –> 00:26:11,400 pursue it every day of your life. 540 00:26:11,400 –> 00:26:13,680 And remember that tomorrow is in the hands of God 541 00:26:13,680 –> 00:26:16,760 who is your loving Heavenly Father. 542 00:26:18,760 –> 00:26:20,439 Number six. 543 00:26:20,599 –> 00:26:22,959 You see how this is applying to the whole of life? 544 00:26:22,959 –> 00:26:24,719 I mean, it goes everywhere. 545 00:26:24,719 –> 00:26:27,619 It’s one principle, it’s a principle to live by. 546 00:26:28,640 –> 00:26:32,439 What about this issue of the outcome of your ministry? 547 00:26:32,439 –> 00:26:33,540 You think about this. 548 00:26:34,640 –> 00:26:36,920 What is God going to do through our ministry? 549 00:26:38,260 –> 00:26:39,099 I don’t know. 550 00:26:40,060 –> 00:26:40,900 I don’t know. 551 00:26:42,939 –> 00:26:44,300 But I know this. 552 00:26:46,160 –> 00:26:48,459 God has said, let nothing move you, 553 00:26:49,459 –> 00:26:52,280 always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord 554 00:26:52,280 –> 00:26:54,640 because youknow that your labor in the Lord 555 00:26:54,640 –> 00:26:55,979 is not in vain. 556 00:26:55,979 –> 00:26:57,880 Not in vain. 557 00:27:00,060 –> 00:27:01,739 You know, in the presence of Jesus, 558 00:27:01,739 –> 00:27:03,819 you are going to learn about prayers 559 00:27:03,819 –> 00:27:06,359 you never knew had been answered. 560 00:27:07,699 –> 00:27:10,260 You are going to discover in the presence of Jesus 561 00:27:10,260 –> 00:27:13,800 deeds that you never knew had mattered. 562 00:27:14,859 –> 00:27:17,619 You’re going discover ways that God has used you 563 00:27:17,619 –> 00:27:20,319 that you had absolutely no awareness about 564 00:27:20,319 –> 00:27:22,479 during your entire lifetime. 565 00:27:23,939 –> 00:27:25,400 The outcome of your ministry. 566 00:27:26,420 –> 00:27:29,599 You stay strong in all the many questions 567 00:27:29,599 –> 00:27:33,859 that you have in the cut and thrust of ministry 568 00:27:33,859 –> 00:27:36,540 and you hold to this revealed promise 569 00:27:36,540 –> 00:27:41,079 that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 570 00:27:42,520 –> 00:27:43,619 And then here’s the last one, 571 00:27:43,619 –> 00:27:47,260 your progress in the Christian life. 572 00:27:48,140 –> 00:27:52,760 How are you to live in this reality 573 00:27:52,760 –> 00:27:54,939 where sometimes you see things in yourself 574 00:27:54,939 –> 00:27:57,739 that are so discouraging and you say, 575 00:27:57,739 –> 00:27:59,819 oh, is that still there? 576 00:28:03,660 –> 00:28:05,819 I know that I’m not what I used to be 577 00:28:07,540 –> 00:28:10,020 and I also know I’m not yet what I hope to be. 578 00:28:10,020 –> 00:28:12,439 Do you feel that too about your Christian life? 579 00:28:14,579 –> 00:28:16,819 Right now the work of the Holy Spirit 580 00:28:16,819 –> 00:28:21,119 it’s woven into all our battles with the flesh 581 00:28:22,520 –> 00:28:25,459 but here’s the promise that’s revealed to hold on to 582 00:28:25,459 –> 00:28:26,780 in all that we don’t know. 583 00:28:28,500 –> 00:28:33,500 Christ has said when he appears, we shall be like him. 584 00:28:34,300 –> 00:28:36,060 Feed your soul on that. 585 00:28:36,060 –> 00:28:38,119 In the middle of all your struggle with sin, 586 00:28:38,119 –> 00:28:42,319 in the middle of all your battles with temptation, 587 00:28:42,359 –> 00:28:47,099 when he appears we shall be like him. 588 00:28:48,260 –> 00:28:50,920 Seven secrets that belong to the Lord. 589 00:28:51,819 –> 00:28:54,880 Seven promises that belong to us. 590 00:28:55,739 –> 00:29:00,619 Faith bows before the mystery of what God has kept secret 591 00:29:00,619 –> 00:29:05,619 and faith stands in the strength of what God has revealed. 592 00:29:06,280 –> 00:29:11,000 You see that even in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. 593 00:29:13,479 –> 00:29:18,380 What’s happening when on the cross he says my God, 594 00:29:19,839 –> 00:29:23,359 my God why have you forsaken me? 595 00:29:25,280 –> 00:29:30,280 He’s staring into the mystery of what God has kept secret 596 00:29:30,640 –> 00:29:32,920 of what God has kept secret. 597 00:29:35,079 –> 00:29:37,959 And what’s he doing when he says on the cross 598 00:29:37,959 –> 00:29:42,760 father into your hands I commit my spirit. 599 00:29:42,760 –> 00:29:47,760 He’s trusting in the promise that the Father has revealed. 600 00:29:51,459 –> 00:29:53,160 That’s what he’s calling us to do. 601 00:29:54,119 –> 00:29:56,520 He’s going to walk with us in it. 602 00:29:56,540 –> 00:30:01,540 He’s saying the secret things belong to the Lord. 603 00:30:03,000 –> 00:30:06,839 So trust Him in what he has kept hidden, 604 00:30:08,680 –> 00:30:11,079 and the revealed things, they belong to you. 605 00:30:11,079 –> 00:30:13,719 They’re yours to enable you to stand today, 606 00:30:13,719 –> 00:30:17,880 this week and to follow after him 607 00:30:19,239 –> 00:30:20,800 in all that he calls you to do. 608 00:30:21,900 –> 00:30:24,199 And my very last word is simply this. 609 00:30:24,199 –> 00:30:25,979 It’s, it’s on my heart that there may 610 00:30:26,800 –> 00:30:31,459 be someone here today and you just come into the church 611 00:30:31,459 –> 00:30:34,199 and you’re just plain confused. 612 00:30:35,660 –> 00:30:38,079 And you’ve seen that life is empty. 613 00:30:39,199 –> 00:30:42,579 You don’t know God, God seems to be distant from you. 614 00:30:44,359 –> 00:30:47,219 You’d like to find him, but you don’t know where to look. 615 00:30:48,500 –> 00:30:51,099 You’d like to have faith, like other people around you 616 00:30:51,099 –> 00:30:53,780 seem to have faith, but you don’t know where to begin. 617 00:30:56,359 –> 00:30:59,060 Listen to these words of Jesus in this last moment. 618 00:30:59,959 –> 00:31:02,239 He said this, Matthew 11. 619 00:31:03,420 –> 00:31:08,420 “‘No one knows the father except the son 620 00:31:10,079 –> 00:31:14,859 and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’ 621 00:31:14,859 –> 00:31:16,020 That’s what Jesus said. 622 00:31:17,020 –> 00:31:19,160 So here you are and you say, well, I don’t know God, 623 00:31:19,160 –> 00:31:21,040 I don’t know where to find him, where do I begin? 624 00:31:21,040 –> 00:31:23,699 Jesus says, well, you’re not unusual, 625 00:31:23,699 –> 00:31:27,420 no one knows the father, you can’t find the father. 626 00:31:29,239 –> 00:31:31,400 But Jesus says, there’s only one who knows the father. 627 00:31:31,400 –> 00:31:35,900 He says, I know the father and I can reveal the father 628 00:31:37,640 –> 00:31:40,060 to those to whom I choose to reveal him, 629 00:31:40,060 –> 00:31:41,699 that’s hope for you there. 630 00:31:42,900 –> 00:31:44,719 You see, that is why Jesus says, 631 00:31:44,719 –> 00:31:47,479 I am the way and the truth and the life. 632 00:31:47,479 –> 00:31:50,859 No one comes to the father except by me. 633 00:31:51,380 –> 00:31:55,140 And so in the very next verse, he says in Matthew, 634 00:31:55,140 –> 00:31:57,060 come to me, come to me. 635 00:31:57,060 –> 00:31:59,020 Jesus says this. 636 00:31:59,020 –> 00:32:01,420 You should hear Jesus who’s risen from the dead 637 00:32:01,420 –> 00:32:04,079 saying this to you today. 638 00:32:04,079 –> 00:32:05,579 You don’t know God by yourself, 639 00:32:05,579 –> 00:32:07,560 you can’t know God by yourself, 640 00:32:07,560 –> 00:32:10,819 but Jesus is saying, I do, the son of God knows the father 641 00:32:10,819 –> 00:32:13,300 and he says, now you come to me. 642 00:32:13,300 –> 00:32:15,099 You come to me all you who are weary 643 00:32:15,099 –> 00:32:16,939 and all you who are heavy laden. 644 00:32:16,939 –> 00:32:21,760 You come with all your unanswered questions to Jesus Christ, 645 00:32:21,760 –> 00:32:24,560 the son of God who died and rose again. 646 00:32:25,380 –> 00:32:27,619 And you come with all your unanswered questions 647 00:32:27,619 –> 00:32:30,020 all that’s the secret to you, 648 00:32:30,020 –> 00:32:33,119 all that you do not understand. 649 00:32:34,459 –> 00:32:37,660 And you believe the promise that he has revealed right here. 650 00:32:39,459 –> 00:32:44,459 He says to you, come to me and I will give you rest. 651 00:32:47,420 –> 00:32:50,420 Rest for your soul. 652 00:32:50,420 –> 00:32:52,099 Jesus Christ says that to you. 653 00:32:53,319 –> 00:32:55,420 And in everything that you do not know 654 00:32:56,500 –> 00:33:00,579 that is a promise that today you can believe. 655 00:33:00,579 –> 00:33:02,099 Let’s pray together, shall we? 656 00:33:03,819 –> 00:33:07,140 Dear father in heaven, we come to you right now 657 00:33:07,140 –> 00:33:09,520 through your son, Jesus Christ. 658 00:33:11,260 –> 00:33:15,780 And we thank you that through him, we may come to you. 659 00:33:17,000 –> 00:33:19,199 In everything that we don’t know 660 00:33:19,199 –> 00:33:21,060 and in all that we don’t understand 661 00:33:21,060 –> 00:33:23,780 and among us right now, that’s massive. 662 00:33:25,060 –> 00:33:27,380 We come on the basis of your promise 663 00:33:29,079 –> 00:33:31,780 and we come on the basis of your invitation. 664 00:33:33,819 –> 00:33:36,560 And we draw near to you with a faith 665 00:33:36,560 –> 00:33:39,660 that bows before the mystery of what you have kept secret 666 00:33:41,420 –> 00:33:46,420 and stands on the promise that you have revealed. 667 00:33:46,660 –> 00:33:49,739 So help us, oh God, in Jesus’ name, 668 00:33:49,739 –> 00:33:51,979 and everyone said, amen.

Details

Sermon Series
Date
Primary Audience

Monthly Offer

Get 3 of this beautiful journalling copy of John’s Gospel and a bookmark, all for FREE, when you set up a monthly gift of at least £5, or a one-off gift of at least £50 …

Donate

Colin Smith

Trustee / Founder and Teaching Pastor

Colin Smith is the Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He has authored a number of books, including Heaven, How I Got Here and Heaven, So Near – So Far. Colin is the Founder and Teaching Pastor for Open the Bible. Follow him on X formerly Twitter.

Linked resources

Sermons on Deuteronomy You already have faith, so what’s it going to take for you to become a man or a woman on a mission? You have been shaped by faith and the tendencies and fears of your parents. But now God is calling you. It’s your moment of opportunity. You need to be ready.

Colin Smith

Search

Search

Header Submit Search