1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:04,580 Well, please keep your Bibles open at Psalm 73 2 00:00:05,500 –> 00:00:07,420 as we continue through this marvelous 3 00:00:07,420 –> 00:00:09,700 personal story together. 4 00:00:09,700 –> 00:00:13,180 It’s really the testimony of a man called Asaph, 5 00:00:13,180 –> 00:00:15,620 and remember he was a good man. 6 00:00:15,620 –> 00:00:17,400 He was a mature believer. 7 00:00:17,400 –> 00:00:19,959 In fact, he was in full-time ministry. 8 00:00:19,959 –> 00:00:21,260 He was a Levite 9 00:00:21,260 –> 00:00:25,820 and he had been called to minister before the ark of God. 10 00:00:25,820 –> 00:00:28,959 But as we saw last time he came to a place in his life 11 00:00:28,959 –> 00:00:32,279 where he was facing some major problems. 12 00:00:32,279 –> 00:00:36,400 He couldn’t make sense of what God was doing in the world. 13 00:00:36,400 –> 00:00:38,560 He couldn’t make sense of what God was doing 14 00:00:38,560 –> 00:00:39,560 in his own life, 15 00:00:39,560 –> 00:00:42,139 and therefore he’d come to the conclusion 16 00:00:42,139 –> 00:00:44,599 that he could no longer see the point 17 00:00:44,599 –> 00:00:47,980 in continuing to pursue a godly life. 18 00:00:47,980 –> 00:00:50,480 And looking back on this crisis, 19 00:00:50,480 –> 00:00:53,759 he writes this Psalm under the inspiration of the spirit 20 00:00:53,759 –> 00:00:57,380 and he shares with other believers with us today his story. 21 00:00:57,500 –> 00:01:01,779 He’s saying to us, I almost gave up. 22 00:01:01,779 –> 00:01:05,160 If I had followed where my mind and my heart was going 23 00:01:05,160 –> 00:01:07,820 at that particularly dark time of my life, 24 00:01:07,820 –> 00:01:10,860 I have to tell you, I would have let everybody down. 25 00:01:10,860 –> 00:01:15,860 I would have betrayed your children. 26 00:01:16,139 –> 00:01:17,419 That’s what he says, 27 00:01:17,419 –> 00:01:21,139 and that’s where we got to last time in verse 15. 28 00:01:21,139 –> 00:01:22,860 Now the marvelous thing, as we’ve seen already, 29 00:01:22,860 –> 00:01:25,059 is that God turned this man around. 30 00:01:25,059 –> 00:01:27,500 God brought Asaph through this crisis, 31 00:01:27,500 –> 00:01:30,779 and he’s able to do the same thing for you. 32 00:01:30,779 –> 00:01:34,699 We’ve been seeing that Asaph made a five-point turn, 33 00:01:34,699 –> 00:01:39,019 and we’re coming to the second point of that this morning. 34 00:01:39,019 –> 00:01:40,400 Last week, we saw, remember, 35 00:01:40,400 –> 00:01:45,019 that the turn began for this man when he made a decision, 36 00:01:45,019 –> 00:01:47,099 and that decision was to be loyal 37 00:01:47,099 –> 00:01:48,720 to the Lord and his people. 38 00:01:48,720 –> 00:01:52,000 I will not betray your children. 39 00:01:52,000 –> 00:01:53,500 That was his decision, 40 00:01:53,500 –> 00:01:55,860 and when he stopped dead in his tracks, 41 00:01:55,860 –> 00:01:58,419 he would no longer follow what his mind was taking him. 42 00:01:58,419 –> 00:02:01,540 He committed himself to loyalty to God and to his people. 43 00:02:01,540 –> 00:02:03,779 That’s where the change began, 44 00:02:03,779 –> 00:02:05,059 and we learned last week 45 00:02:05,059 –> 00:02:08,740 that really the first step in turning your life around 46 00:02:08,740 –> 00:02:13,179 is not finding an answer to your questions. 47 00:02:13,179 –> 00:02:14,419 God often calls us to live 48 00:02:14,419 –> 00:02:17,100 without answers to our questions. 49 00:02:17,100 –> 00:02:19,479 The first step is not finding an answer to your questions. 50 00:02:19,539 –> 00:02:22,639 The first step is to make a decision, 51 00:02:23,600 –> 00:02:28,399 and that’s why we pictured our friend Asaph, 52 00:02:28,399 –> 00:02:32,520 who we met last time, holding a stop sign 53 00:02:32,520 –> 00:02:35,600 because that word stop really summed up 54 00:02:35,600 –> 00:02:39,160 in one word the whole of last week’s message. 55 00:02:39,160 –> 00:02:41,860 Turning your life around begins when you stop, 56 00:02:41,860 –> 00:02:43,679 you make a decision. 57 00:02:43,679 –> 00:02:47,440 I will not betray the Lord. 58 00:02:47,520 –> 00:02:51,880 Now, today’s message is also summed up in one word, 59 00:02:51,880 –> 00:02:54,000 and I want to keep this nice and easy so we can remember. 60 00:02:54,000 –> 00:02:56,160 Stop was last week. 61 00:02:56,160 –> 00:03:00,600 One word for this week, think, think. 62 00:03:00,600 –> 00:03:03,679 Now, let’s look at verse 16 as we move forward together. 63 00:03:04,979 –> 00:03:09,360 When I tried to understand all this, he says, 64 00:03:09,360 –> 00:03:11,800 that’s all the problem and all the questions 65 00:03:11,800 –> 00:03:16,800 that were going on in his mind, it was oppressive to me. 66 00:03:18,000 –> 00:03:21,919 I looked at these problems in my life, 67 00:03:23,399 –> 00:03:26,240 I looked at the problems in the world, 68 00:03:27,300 –> 00:03:31,279 and my mind went round and round and round 69 00:03:31,279 –> 00:03:34,619 and round and round, I was awake at night. 70 00:03:35,559 –> 00:03:38,080 Why is this happening, I was saying to myself. 71 00:03:38,080 –> 00:03:40,559 It was oppressive to me, I couldn’t break free from it. 72 00:03:40,559 –> 00:03:43,460 I just couldn’t get out, oppressive. 73 00:03:44,300 –> 00:03:49,220 It’s a terrible thing when your mind is confused. 74 00:03:50,100 –> 00:03:52,899 Goes round and round and round in circles. 75 00:03:55,479 –> 00:03:59,259 And the second step in Asaph’s recovery, 76 00:03:59,259 –> 00:04:01,580 the second point of his turn, 77 00:04:03,339 –> 00:04:08,339 was that God straightened out the confused thinking 78 00:04:08,740 –> 00:04:11,559 that reined in this man’s mind. 79 00:04:11,559 –> 00:04:14,460 Stop, think. 80 00:04:16,179 –> 00:04:17,220 Now how’s that gonna happen? 81 00:04:17,220 –> 00:04:20,519 How does confused thinking that sometimes 82 00:04:20,519 –> 00:04:24,279 reigns in our minds get straightened out? 83 00:04:24,279 –> 00:04:27,279 I was helped and intrigued by a comment 84 00:04:27,279 –> 00:04:28,940 of Doctor Martyn Lloyd-Jones on this. 85 00:04:28,940 –> 00:04:33,200 He points out that some Christians 86 00:04:33,200 –> 00:04:37,220 have one, simple answer for everything. 87 00:04:37,220 –> 00:04:39,160 Didn’t matter what problem you present to them, 88 00:04:39,160 –> 00:04:41,540 they’ve got one-line answer for everything. 89 00:04:41,540 –> 00:04:43,500 They’ll just tell you, and you know what they’re gonna say 90 00:04:43,500 –> 00:04:45,279 before they say it, just pray about it. 91 00:04:45,279 –> 00:04:46,119 Just pray about it. 92 00:04:46,119 –> 00:04:48,619 Just pray about it, that’s the answer for everything. 93 00:04:49,820 –> 00:04:52,839 Lloyd-Jones points out, surely rightly. 94 00:04:53,920 –> 00:04:56,399 It’s not easy to pray when your mind is confused. 95 00:04:58,359 –> 00:05:01,640 If you can’t think straight, you can’t pray straight. 96 00:05:03,920 –> 00:05:05,700 So frankly, when someone says to you 97 00:05:05,700 –> 00:05:07,700 or says to me at a point where we’re really confused, 98 00:05:07,700 –> 00:05:09,440 hey just pray about it, it’s not a lot of help. 99 00:05:09,440 –> 00:05:10,980 And you know that, and so do I. 100 00:05:12,140 –> 00:05:15,899 Well, Asaph’s going to tell us 101 00:05:15,899 –> 00:05:18,959 what did turn his thinking around. 102 00:05:18,959 –> 00:05:20,380 What did bring him to the place 103 00:05:20,380 –> 00:05:25,359 where he could pray meaningfully, and clearly. 104 00:05:26,579 –> 00:05:28,820 I’ve got to tell you, I found this so practical, 105 00:05:28,820 –> 00:05:32,420 so helpful in my own life and experience in my prayer 106 00:05:32,420 –> 00:05:36,119 in coming to this today, is that God will use this 107 00:05:36,119 –> 00:05:38,859 to bring help and encouragement 108 00:05:38,880 –> 00:05:42,579 in the straightening out of confused thinking 109 00:05:42,579 –> 00:05:45,059 in our minds and in our hearts today. 110 00:05:46,380 –> 00:05:47,679 Look at what Asaph says. 111 00:05:49,019 –> 00:05:52,200 When I tried to understand all this, 112 00:05:53,260 –> 00:05:55,600 it was oppressive to me 113 00:05:56,820 –> 00:06:01,640 til I entered the sanctuary of God. 114 00:06:03,779 –> 00:06:07,019 Now Asaph lived at the time of David. 115 00:06:07,100 –> 00:06:09,799 The sanctuary, of course, was the place of worship 116 00:06:09,799 –> 00:06:12,399 at that time, remember the temple was not built 117 00:06:12,399 –> 00:06:17,299 until the days of Solomon and Asaph’s before that time. 118 00:06:17,299 –> 00:06:20,940 The sanctuary was where David put the ark of the covenant. 119 00:06:20,940 –> 00:06:22,579 The ark of the covenant was, of course, 120 00:06:22,579 –> 00:06:25,799 a large wooden box that was carried on poles, 121 00:06:25,799 –> 00:06:30,799 and by the time of David, it was nearly 500 years old. 122 00:06:32,820 –> 00:06:34,880 The significance of the ark of the covenant, 123 00:06:34,880 –> 00:06:36,320 which, of course, had been constructed 124 00:06:36,359 –> 00:06:37,899 in the time of Moses when the people were 125 00:06:37,899 –> 00:06:39,920 in the wilderness, was that this 126 00:06:39,920 –> 00:06:43,799 was where God had said he would meet with his people. 127 00:06:43,799 –> 00:06:46,500 So when God’s people were traveling in the wilderness, 128 00:06:46,500 –> 00:06:49,040 now nearly 500 years previously, 129 00:06:49,040 –> 00:06:51,799 by the time of Asaph, they carried the ark with them. 130 00:06:51,799 –> 00:06:53,299 When they came into the promised land, 131 00:06:53,299 –> 00:06:54,640 they carried the ark with them. 132 00:06:54,640 –> 00:06:56,760 They came to meet with God when they were 133 00:06:56,760 –> 00:07:00,640 in the promised land at the place where David put the ark 134 00:07:00,640 –> 00:07:02,579 that was in this tent-like structure 135 00:07:02,579 –> 00:07:05,519 called the sanctuary in Jerusalem. 136 00:07:06,459 –> 00:07:07,859 Of course, nobody ever saw the ark. 137 00:07:07,859 –> 00:07:10,880 You remember that, it was kept behind a curtain, 138 00:07:10,880 –> 00:07:12,980 so Asaph didn’t actually see it 139 00:07:12,980 –> 00:07:16,480 even although he was called to minister in front of it. 140 00:07:16,480 –> 00:07:18,899 But the point is that when he went into the sanctuary, 141 00:07:18,899 –> 00:07:21,179 the sanctuary was the place where the ark was. 142 00:07:21,179 –> 00:07:22,420 He knew it was there. 143 00:07:22,420 –> 00:07:24,239 The ark was behind the curtain. 144 00:07:24,239 –> 00:07:26,940 Actually, that’s God teaching us in pictures again 145 00:07:26,940 –> 00:07:28,179 because we draw near to God. 146 00:07:28,179 –> 00:07:31,299 We don’t see him, but we know that he’s there, 147 00:07:31,959 –> 00:07:35,059 and God was teaching his people 148 00:07:35,059 –> 00:07:38,220 that they could be sure and confident of his presence 149 00:07:38,220 –> 00:07:39,519 even when they couldn’t see him 150 00:07:39,519 –> 00:07:41,540 with this imagery of the ark 151 00:07:41,540 –> 00:07:43,579 where his presence was promised 152 00:07:43,579 –> 00:07:46,359 that was hidden behind the curtain. 153 00:07:47,600 –> 00:07:50,619 And of course that old ark could tell a few stories 154 00:07:50,619 –> 00:07:52,160 from the last 500 years, 155 00:07:53,420 –> 00:07:55,839 constructed in the wilderness, 156 00:07:55,839 –> 00:07:57,500 carried onto the field of battle, 157 00:07:57,500 –> 00:07:59,420 captured once by God’s enemies 158 00:07:59,420 –> 00:08:00,779 who were absolutely terrified 159 00:08:00,799 –> 00:08:03,660 when they saw what happened, when they got hold of it, 160 00:08:03,660 –> 00:08:07,220 abandoned on a farm during the lean years of Saul. 161 00:08:07,220 –> 00:08:09,220 Now, it had been brought back to Jerusalem 162 00:08:09,220 –> 00:08:10,519 and placed in the sanctuary. 163 00:08:10,519 –> 00:08:13,359 It was a box, but it contained three things. 164 00:08:13,359 –> 00:08:16,140 You know what was in the ark of the covenant? 165 00:08:16,140 –> 00:08:18,339 The tablets of stone on which God 166 00:08:18,339 –> 00:08:21,140 had written the Ten Commandments by his own finger, 167 00:08:21,140 –> 00:08:25,000 a golden pot that was filled with manna, 168 00:08:25,000 –> 00:08:29,619 a great reminder of how God provided for his people 169 00:08:29,619 –> 00:08:30,899 and brought them through the driest 170 00:08:30,899 –> 00:08:33,659 and deadest of times in the wilderness, 171 00:08:33,659 –> 00:08:35,039 Aaron’s rod that budded, 172 00:08:35,039 –> 00:08:38,200 a reminder that God is the God of miracles 173 00:08:38,200 –> 00:08:39,760 and that God has opened a way through 174 00:08:39,760 –> 00:08:42,260 the high priest for us to come to peace with him. 175 00:08:43,400 –> 00:08:46,280 The ark, in other words, told the story 176 00:08:46,280 –> 00:08:49,260 of the promises, the provision and the presence of God 177 00:08:49,260 –> 00:08:52,299 for his people through the centuries 178 00:08:52,299 –> 00:08:55,780 in every circumstance of life. 179 00:08:55,940 –> 00:08:59,739 Now there’s something very important 180 00:08:59,739 –> 00:09:00,840 for us to grasp here. 181 00:09:02,020 –> 00:09:03,419 Asaph’s confused. 182 00:09:05,340 –> 00:09:07,940 He’s got all kinds of unanswered questions 183 00:09:07,940 –> 00:09:09,239 that are running through his mind. 184 00:09:09,239 –> 00:09:10,900 Things are going wrong in his life. 185 00:09:10,900 –> 00:09:14,020 His mind needs to be straightened out 186 00:09:14,020 –> 00:09:17,780 by the truth and he’s telling us 187 00:09:18,700 –> 00:09:23,460 that’s what happened when I came into the sanctuary. 188 00:09:26,780 –> 00:09:31,780 Coming to worship is not escaping from your problems. 189 00:09:35,479 –> 00:09:37,559 It’s coming into an environment 190 00:09:37,559 –> 00:09:39,880 where you are faced with God’s truth 191 00:09:39,880 –> 00:09:41,700 in such a way that you’ll be strengthened 192 00:09:41,700 –> 00:09:44,219 to face your problems. 193 00:09:46,479 –> 00:09:49,859 Coming to worship is not like going to the cinema 194 00:09:49,859 –> 00:09:53,840 where you get about two hours relief 195 00:09:53,840 –> 00:09:56,840 by being drawn into a temporary kind of world 196 00:09:56,840 –> 00:09:59,159 and then you have to go back to reality again. 197 00:10:00,840 –> 00:10:04,640 No, coming to worship is coming into the place 198 00:10:04,640 –> 00:10:07,640 where your thinking is changed in such a way 199 00:10:07,640 –> 00:10:09,119 that you can go out to face the world 200 00:10:09,119 –> 00:10:11,520 in a way that you couldn’t have done so before. 201 00:10:12,440 –> 00:10:13,900 Now of course, there are a lot of folks 202 00:10:13,900 –> 00:10:15,799 who have the idea that Christianity 203 00:10:15,799 –> 00:10:17,380 is really just about aesthetics. 204 00:10:17,380 –> 00:10:20,700 That it’s about a kind of emotional crutch. 205 00:10:20,700 –> 00:10:23,419 This is why Karl Marx said 206 00:10:23,419 –> 00:10:26,020 that religion is what? 207 00:10:26,020 –> 00:10:28,260 The opiate of the people. 208 00:10:28,260 –> 00:10:30,299 And frankly, in many cases, he was right. 209 00:10:30,299 –> 00:10:33,299 That’s how many people use Christianity. 210 00:10:33,299 –> 00:10:35,419 They’ve never really understood what it is. 211 00:10:36,659 –> 00:10:39,679 But we do not come to worship for some kind of opiate. 212 00:10:41,919 –> 00:10:43,400 We’re doing what Asaph does. 213 00:10:43,400 –> 00:10:44,919 We come into the sanctuary. 214 00:10:44,919 –> 00:10:45,979 We come into the place 215 00:10:45,979 –> 00:10:48,219 where we find the presence of God 216 00:10:49,080 –> 00:10:53,080 in order to find strength to face the realities of life 217 00:10:53,080 –> 00:10:57,239 as our confused thinking gets straightened out by his truth. 218 00:10:59,820 –> 00:11:01,659 Now let’s see how that happened for Asaph. 219 00:11:01,659 –> 00:11:03,280 It’s a wonderful story. 220 00:11:04,520 –> 00:11:05,840 Here’s the first thing. 221 00:11:05,840 –> 00:11:07,780 As he came into the sanctuary, 222 00:11:07,780 –> 00:11:10,640 what he was doing, of course, was remembering God’s truth. 223 00:11:10,640 –> 00:11:13,020 That is the significance of the arc. 224 00:11:13,799 –> 00:11:17,900 The arc was the reminder that God had been 225 00:11:17,900 –> 00:11:22,140 walking with his people for 500 years 226 00:11:22,140 –> 00:11:23,479 and in fact, more than that, 227 00:11:23,479 –> 00:11:25,359 before the time of the arc as well. 228 00:11:27,280 –> 00:11:29,940 Here’s Asaph, and he’s so consumed 229 00:11:29,940 –> 00:11:32,080 with these burning questions of what’s going on 230 00:11:32,080 –> 00:11:33,979 in his own life, he comes into the sanctuary. 231 00:11:33,979 –> 00:11:36,500 He sees he’s part of something much bigger. 232 00:11:36,500 –> 00:11:40,159 God has brought his people through the wilderness. 233 00:11:41,119 –> 00:11:44,440 God has kept his people alive in the desert. 234 00:11:45,739 –> 00:11:48,539 God brought his people into the land of Canaan 235 00:11:48,539 –> 00:11:51,500 and overcame powerful enemies. 236 00:11:52,479 –> 00:11:53,679 He has kept his people. 237 00:11:53,679 –> 00:11:54,520 He has protected his people. 238 00:11:54,520 –> 00:11:55,859 He has guided his people. 239 00:11:55,859 –> 00:11:57,000 He has preserved his people. 240 00:11:57,000 –> 00:11:58,440 He has sustained his people 241 00:11:58,440 –> 00:12:01,000 from generation to generation. 242 00:12:02,719 –> 00:12:04,419 And now Asaph 243 00:12:05,559 –> 00:12:10,059 comes near to the same arc of God. 244 00:12:11,159 –> 00:12:13,880 And he takes his place as a worshiper 245 00:12:13,880 –> 00:12:17,159 in this great line of succession. 246 00:12:18,380 –> 00:12:20,159 And he remembers that this God, 247 00:12:21,080 –> 00:12:25,599 this God, is now with him. 248 00:12:28,119 –> 00:12:29,280 That’s life-changing. 249 00:12:33,000 –> 00:12:34,119 I want to read a few lines 250 00:12:34,119 –> 00:12:38,200 from one of my very favorite authors, James Denny. 251 00:12:39,200 –> 00:12:40,419 He says this, 252 00:12:41,640 –> 00:12:46,640 we need the common faith to sustain our individual faith, 253 00:12:49,479 –> 00:12:52,400 we need to the consciousness of the children of God 254 00:12:52,400 –> 00:12:56,900 in all ages to fortify our wavering belief. 255 00:12:58,440 –> 00:13:02,080 And then he says, to be at home in the church 256 00:13:02,080 –> 00:13:05,859 is to absorb this strength unconsciously. 257 00:13:06,700 –> 00:13:08,080 And I love this next bit, 258 00:13:08,200 –> 00:13:10,260 it is to be delivered 259 00:13:10,260 –> 00:13:13,099 from the shallows and the miseries 260 00:13:13,099 –> 00:13:16,539 of a too narrow experience 261 00:13:16,539 –> 00:13:18,659 and to be set afloat 262 00:13:18,659 –> 00:13:21,179 on the broad stream of Christian conviction 263 00:13:21,179 –> 00:13:22,859 which gathers impetus and volume 264 00:13:22,859 –> 00:13:25,299 with every generation the saints survive. 265 00:13:29,179 –> 00:13:33,900 See, there’s not just your faith, there’s our faith. 266 00:13:34,460 –> 00:13:39,460 There’s not just your experience, there’s our experience. 267 00:13:40,979 –> 00:13:44,080 There’s not just your testimony, there’s our testimony 268 00:13:44,080 –> 00:13:45,880 and not just our testimony here 269 00:13:45,880 –> 00:13:47,700 in this little capsule of time 270 00:13:47,700 –> 00:13:49,940 but our testimony as part of the testimony 271 00:13:49,940 –> 00:13:51,880 of the whole church of Jesus Christ 272 00:13:51,880 –> 00:13:54,979 that’s now been going for 2,000 years. 273 00:13:57,059 –> 00:13:58,500 You know it’s a great blessing 274 00:13:58,500 –> 00:14:00,479 to be part of the body of Christ. 275 00:14:00,679 –> 00:14:04,979 There is nothing in your life 276 00:14:04,979 –> 00:14:07,380 that God’s people have not faced before. 277 00:14:08,460 –> 00:14:10,500 There are no questions in your mind 278 00:14:10,500 –> 00:14:12,000 that have not been asked before. 279 00:14:12,000 –> 00:14:15,200 People have lived and died on the promises of God 280 00:14:15,200 –> 00:14:17,359 for 2,000 years. 281 00:14:19,140 –> 00:14:22,239 No testing says the Apostle Paul has come to you 282 00:14:22,239 –> 00:14:26,640 except that which is common to man. 283 00:14:27,640 –> 00:14:31,880 There’s nothing unique about your pain or mine. 284 00:14:33,359 –> 00:14:36,780 To be delivered from the shallows and the miseries 285 00:14:36,780 –> 00:14:39,919 of two narrow inexperiences, Denny, 286 00:14:39,919 –> 00:14:43,940 and to be set afloat on the broad stream 287 00:14:43,940 –> 00:14:45,539 of Christian conviction, 288 00:14:45,539 –> 00:14:48,179 that’s what happens when we gather together in worship, 289 00:14:48,179 –> 00:14:51,039 when the church on earth joins with a church in Heaven, 290 00:14:51,039 –> 00:14:53,960 and I see coming out of my little world 291 00:14:53,960 –> 00:14:56,580 that I’m actually part of something far bigger 292 00:14:56,580 –> 00:14:59,260 that is in the hand of God. 293 00:15:01,119 –> 00:15:02,299 Remember God’s truth. 294 00:15:04,919 –> 00:15:06,380 Here’s the second thing that happened 295 00:15:06,380 –> 00:15:07,979 when he came into the sanctuary. 296 00:15:08,880 –> 00:15:10,919 What would you expect him to find in the sanctuary? 297 00:15:10,919 –> 00:15:14,760 Well, the ark and people. 298 00:15:17,520 –> 00:15:19,880 Meet with God’s people. 299 00:15:19,880 –> 00:15:21,760 Remember God’s truth, meet with God’s people. 300 00:15:21,760 –> 00:15:23,599 That’ll straighten your thinking out. 301 00:15:24,799 –> 00:15:28,960 The encouragement of God’s people 302 00:15:31,059 –> 00:15:36,059 is one of the great means that God uses 303 00:15:36,080 –> 00:15:39,460 to strengthen us when we feel like giving up. 304 00:15:41,940 –> 00:15:44,520 By the way, that is why you should never withdraw 305 00:15:44,520 –> 00:15:47,400 from God’s people when you’re discouraged. 306 00:15:48,580 –> 00:15:49,960 See, when we become discouraged, 307 00:15:49,960 –> 00:15:51,479 there is a certain impetus to say hey, 308 00:15:51,479 –> 00:15:53,380 I’ll just stay home, I’m not gonna come to worship. 309 00:15:53,659 –> 00:15:55,179 I’ll just withdraw. 310 00:15:57,020 –> 00:16:01,000 Isolation is your greatest danger when you’re discouraged. 311 00:16:01,000 –> 00:16:03,640 You need others around you, we all do. 312 00:16:06,380 –> 00:16:07,460 Asaph does the right thing. 313 00:16:07,460 –> 00:16:09,919 He not only goes to a sanctuary where he finds 314 00:16:09,919 –> 00:16:13,020 the presence of the ark that speaks to him 315 00:16:13,020 –> 00:16:15,280 of God’s faithfulness over generations. 316 00:16:15,280 –> 00:16:18,359 He comes to the place where he’s going to meet with others 317 00:16:18,359 –> 00:16:22,020 who share the same faith and are able to encourage 318 00:16:22,020 –> 00:16:24,039 and strengthen one another in God. 319 00:16:25,960 –> 00:16:28,280 God will use his people to bring strength 320 00:16:28,280 –> 00:16:32,820 and encouragement to you and sometimes that will happen 321 00:16:32,820 –> 00:16:36,000 in the most unexpected of ways. 322 00:16:38,460 –> 00:16:39,760 Let me speak personally. 323 00:16:41,799 –> 00:16:46,340 Let me tell you how God blessed me last Sunday. 324 00:16:47,299 –> 00:16:53,039 Yeah, Dick Bender. 325 00:16:56,039 –> 00:16:57,880 Dick’s one of our senior members. 326 00:17:00,020 –> 00:17:02,979 He’s been through very extensive surgery. 327 00:17:04,619 –> 00:17:06,500 He’s a man of extraordinary courage. 328 00:17:08,680 –> 00:17:11,079 Last Sunday, we had just finished the third service, 329 00:17:11,079 –> 00:17:12,800 I had my coat on, 330 00:17:12,800 –> 00:17:15,500 was about to head out through the main entrance there, 331 00:17:16,219 –> 00:17:17,839 got to the front door of the church, 332 00:17:17,839 –> 00:17:22,180 and Dick was there with his stick, about to leave. 333 00:17:24,140 –> 00:17:25,979 I hadn’t seen him or spoken to him for quite a while, 334 00:17:25,979 –> 00:17:28,500 I said how good it was to see him at church 335 00:17:28,500 –> 00:17:30,640 after all that he’d been through, 336 00:17:30,640 –> 00:17:32,640 and he made some comment about, 337 00:17:32,640 –> 00:17:34,520 just keep pressing on. 338 00:17:36,380 –> 00:17:37,819 I held the door for him. 339 00:17:39,300 –> 00:17:40,219 Said good-bye, 340 00:17:41,180 –> 00:17:42,479 walked across the car park. 341 00:17:43,099 –> 00:17:46,500 And here’s what I was thinking, 342 00:17:49,660 –> 00:17:51,339 if he can do what he’s doing 343 00:17:51,339 –> 00:17:53,359 after all that he’s been through, 344 00:17:54,280 –> 00:17:56,579 what in the world do I have to complain about? 345 00:17:58,880 –> 00:18:03,000 Actually I think God was speaking to me through Dick, 346 00:18:04,660 –> 00:18:06,119 and he knew nothing about it. 347 00:18:08,339 –> 00:18:11,760 The truth is I’ve thought about him four or five times 348 00:18:11,780 –> 00:18:12,959 in the last week. 349 00:18:14,479 –> 00:18:16,459 I thank God for his testimony. 350 00:18:18,099 –> 00:18:19,239 And I’ve drawn encouragement 351 00:18:19,239 –> 00:18:20,520 from the example of a man 352 00:18:20,520 –> 00:18:21,979 who just keeps struggling on, 353 00:18:21,979 –> 00:18:23,579 who wants to be here in worship 354 00:18:23,579 –> 00:18:25,160 despite great difficulties. 355 00:18:25,160 –> 00:18:27,839 He loves Christ and he just keeps pressing on. 356 00:18:31,459 –> 00:18:32,739 So I’ll tell you, 357 00:18:32,739 –> 00:18:35,760 I’m really glad that Dick made the effort 358 00:18:35,760 –> 00:18:37,040 to come to church last Sunday. 359 00:18:37,040 –> 00:18:38,699 I don’t know what it did for him, 360 00:18:40,060 –> 00:18:41,560 but I know what he did for me. 361 00:18:41,780 –> 00:18:44,979 Of course, he wouldn’t have known 362 00:18:44,979 –> 00:18:46,020 anything about it. 363 00:18:49,819 –> 00:18:50,959 Except that I phoned him, 364 00:18:50,959 –> 00:18:54,079 I said Dick, I want you to know 365 00:18:54,079 –> 00:18:57,479 that just seeing you at church last Sunday 366 00:18:57,479 –> 00:18:58,819 was a blessing to me. 367 00:18:58,819 –> 00:18:59,939 And then I asked him of course 368 00:18:59,939 –> 00:19:02,380 if it would be okay if I said that this morning. 369 00:19:04,660 –> 00:19:05,939 And in true style he said, 370 00:19:05,939 –> 00:19:08,380 now you can use my name, 371 00:19:09,140 –> 00:19:12,339 just don’t go too much on the heroics. 372 00:19:12,339 –> 00:19:17,339 See, I see a single mother 373 00:19:19,719 –> 00:19:21,959 struggling to bring up her children in the faith 374 00:19:21,959 –> 00:19:24,760 and I’m encouraged without anything being said. 375 00:19:27,500 –> 00:19:30,420 I see someone with a child who’s seriously ill 376 00:19:30,420 –> 00:19:33,420 and they’re trusting the Lord in their difficulties, 377 00:19:33,420 –> 00:19:34,660 it inspires me. 378 00:19:34,760 –> 00:19:38,000 I see someone who’s experienced great loss 379 00:19:38,000 –> 00:19:41,099 and they’re struggling to hold back the tears 380 00:19:41,099 –> 00:19:42,540 but they’re trying to sing 381 00:19:42,540 –> 00:19:44,479 because they want to affirm their faith in God 382 00:19:44,479 –> 00:19:46,280 and I’m strengthened. 383 00:19:49,319 –> 00:19:52,319 Let me say this also to some of our older people. 384 00:19:52,319 –> 00:19:55,520 You don’t know what ministry you have 385 00:19:55,520 –> 00:20:00,199 just by your presence, by your smile, 386 00:20:01,140 –> 00:20:05,160 by the fact that despite all that you have gone through, 387 00:20:05,160 –> 00:20:07,619 you did not give up. 388 00:20:10,560 –> 00:20:13,699 Our pastors meet for prayer every Wednesday. 389 00:20:14,760 –> 00:20:17,119 Every week we receive a list of folks 390 00:20:17,119 –> 00:20:18,699 who are in hospital, confined to home, 391 00:20:18,699 –> 00:20:21,560 or enduring some other significant difficulty. 392 00:20:21,560 –> 00:20:24,180 It all was printed on a green sheet of paper 393 00:20:24,180 –> 00:20:26,859 so of course we call it the Green Sheet. 394 00:20:27,760 –> 00:20:28,739 I’ll tell you some of the names 395 00:20:28,959 –> 00:20:31,060 on the Green Sheet are an inspiration. 396 00:20:32,359 –> 00:20:36,579 All you can do is thank God for some of those folks 397 00:20:36,579 –> 00:20:39,280 and pray that you would have grace to be like them. 398 00:20:41,359 –> 00:20:45,020 Don’t ever underestimate 399 00:20:45,020 –> 00:20:49,060 the importance of your staying the course. 400 00:20:50,000 –> 00:20:53,900 You are showing the rest of us 401 00:20:53,900 –> 00:20:55,979 what it means to persevere. 402 00:20:56,880 –> 00:21:01,859 And your faith in these difficulties 403 00:21:02,619 –> 00:21:05,520 is part of our testimony to God’s grace 404 00:21:05,520 –> 00:21:08,439 and the whole body draws strength from it. 405 00:21:10,520 –> 00:21:12,520 Now you see when Esau came to worship, 406 00:21:12,520 –> 00:21:14,280 he says I come into the sanctuary 407 00:21:14,280 –> 00:21:15,959 and here’s what God did for me. 408 00:21:15,959 –> 00:21:18,800 It’s straightened out my thinking, and at how? 409 00:21:18,800 –> 00:21:21,760 Because it’s here that I’m reminded of God’s truth 410 00:21:21,760 –> 00:21:24,260 and it’s here that I meet with God’s people. 411 00:21:26,520 –> 00:21:31,520 There will be a thousand ways in which God speaks 412 00:21:34,199 –> 00:21:38,699 from one member of the body to another today 413 00:21:40,020 –> 00:21:42,359 and most of them you may know nothing about, 414 00:21:44,040 –> 00:21:47,459 only God himself knows the full extent of ministry 415 00:21:47,459 –> 00:21:52,260 that goes on as the body gathers. 416 00:21:52,739 –> 00:21:56,319 I entered the sanctuary of God. 417 00:21:58,619 –> 00:22:00,000 Isn’t that a wonderful thing? 418 00:22:04,060 –> 00:22:09,060 Second, I understood their final destiny. 419 00:22:11,260 –> 00:22:15,439 Now, not only, you see, does he remember God’s truth 420 00:22:15,439 –> 00:22:19,079 and meet with God’s people, but he, in the sanctuary, 421 00:22:19,239 –> 00:22:22,239 reconsiders ultimate outcomes. 422 00:22:23,560 –> 00:22:26,920 I understood their final destiny. 423 00:22:28,319 –> 00:22:30,180 Now, of course, Asaph is talking 424 00:22:30,180 –> 00:22:32,900 about the final destiny of the wicked. 425 00:22:32,900 –> 00:22:35,699 Remember that this whole problem began in verse three 426 00:22:35,699 –> 00:22:40,060 when he was raising the question of why the wicked prosper. 427 00:22:40,060 –> 00:22:43,819 And Asaph uses two pictures here 428 00:22:43,819 –> 00:22:45,900 that it seems perhaps God brought to his mind 429 00:22:45,900 –> 00:22:47,219 when he was in the sanctuary. 430 00:22:47,219 –> 00:22:49,619 God does speak to us in wonderful ways, 431 00:22:49,619 –> 00:22:51,699 and he gives us two pictures that describe 432 00:22:51,699 –> 00:22:55,300 the ultimate outcome of the wicked. 433 00:22:55,300 –> 00:22:58,400 The first is a picture of walking on ice. 434 00:22:59,939 –> 00:23:01,260 Look at verse 18. 435 00:23:01,260 –> 00:23:05,660 Surely you place them on slippery ground. 436 00:23:05,660 –> 00:23:07,180 He’s talking about the wicked. 437 00:23:08,439 –> 00:23:10,819 Now, why has God placed the wicked 438 00:23:10,819 –> 00:23:14,239 or how has God placed the wicked on slippery ground? 439 00:23:14,239 –> 00:23:18,359 The answer is God has placed the wicked 440 00:23:18,359 –> 00:23:22,099 on slippery ground by prospering them, 441 00:23:22,099 –> 00:23:23,819 which is, of course, the whole point of the psalm. 442 00:23:23,819 –> 00:23:24,979 That’s why we started. 443 00:23:26,420 –> 00:23:29,719 Prosperity is a great blessing, 444 00:23:29,719 –> 00:23:33,000 but it is slippery ground. 445 00:23:34,959 –> 00:23:37,219 The problem with prosperity and especially 446 00:23:37,219 –> 00:23:40,160 the prosperity of the wicked is that a man 447 00:23:40,160 –> 00:23:43,459 or woman without faith in God, who prospers, 448 00:23:43,459 –> 00:23:46,560 will usually become blind to reality. 449 00:23:47,619 –> 00:23:51,060 His money will make him feel secure, 450 00:23:51,060 –> 00:23:52,939 and that is a slippery place. 451 00:23:53,939 –> 00:23:55,579 Remember the words of Jesus about the man 452 00:23:55,579 –> 00:23:58,160 who amassed great wealth and then had 453 00:23:58,160 –> 00:24:00,239 marvelous plans for all that he was going to do 454 00:24:00,239 –> 00:24:02,099 in the future, and God said to him, 455 00:24:02,099 –> 00:24:04,339 you fool, the strongest of words, 456 00:24:04,339 –> 00:24:06,619 you fool, God said, don’t you know that 457 00:24:06,619 –> 00:24:08,760 tonight your soul will be required of you. 458 00:24:09,619 –> 00:24:14,619 Now, if prosperity is a slippery place 459 00:24:15,140 –> 00:24:18,119 for the wicked, we’d better take note 460 00:24:18,119 –> 00:24:21,079 and realize that it must be a slippery place 461 00:24:21,079 –> 00:24:23,300 also therefore for the righteous. 462 00:24:24,640 –> 00:24:29,459 If God has given you money, be thankful, 463 00:24:30,739 –> 00:24:33,599 but also be careful. 464 00:24:33,599 –> 00:24:35,760 Be thankful, be careful. 465 00:24:36,760 –> 00:24:41,760 It’s like walking on ice, it really is. 466 00:24:45,400 –> 00:24:50,140 Pride can easily come in when God prospers you 467 00:24:50,140 –> 00:24:54,520 and pride comes before a fall. 468 00:24:57,640 –> 00:24:59,280 It’s like walking on ice you see. 469 00:25:00,819 –> 00:25:04,439 It’s a slippery, be thankful, 470 00:25:05,319 –> 00:25:06,119 be careful. 471 00:25:08,199 –> 00:25:10,060 See, that’s why Paul says to Timothy, 472 00:25:10,060 –> 00:25:12,000 and notice the strength of this language 473 00:25:12,000 –> 00:25:13,920 in the New Testament. 474 00:25:13,920 –> 00:25:16,339 This is the apostle speaking to a young pastor 475 00:25:17,800 –> 00:25:21,439 and he says, command those who are rich 476 00:25:21,439 –> 00:25:24,520 in the present world not to be, what? 477 00:25:24,520 –> 00:25:25,359 Arrogant. 478 00:25:26,579 –> 00:25:28,239 He’s talking about believers here. 479 00:25:29,260 –> 00:25:31,680 The danger for the believer who has prospered 480 00:25:31,680 –> 00:25:32,500 is what? 481 00:25:32,500 –> 00:25:33,839 That he’ll become arrogant. 482 00:25:34,180 –> 00:25:37,140 Paul says to Timothy who’s just a young pastor, 483 00:25:37,140 –> 00:25:38,660 I’ve often wondered how in all the world 484 00:25:38,660 –> 00:25:39,979 was Timothy supposed to do this? 485 00:25:39,979 –> 00:25:42,459 Command those who are rich? 486 00:25:42,459 –> 00:25:43,660 That’s what the apostle says. 487 00:25:43,660 –> 00:25:46,180 Command those who are rich in the present world 488 00:25:46,180 –> 00:25:48,400 not to be arrogant or to put their hope in wealth 489 00:25:48,400 –> 00:25:51,300 which is so uncertain but to put their hope in God. 490 00:25:52,579 –> 00:25:55,000 Thank God for those who give us a model of that. 491 00:25:55,900 –> 00:25:58,780 Who provides richly, us richly, 492 00:25:58,780 –> 00:26:03,119 with everything for our enjoyment. 493 00:26:03,140 –> 00:26:06,000 So he says I’m thinking about the destiny of the wicked 494 00:26:06,000 –> 00:26:09,260 and I see that it’s like walking on ice. 495 00:26:10,780 –> 00:26:12,459 They’re going to fall over to their ruin 496 00:26:12,459 –> 00:26:14,680 and secondly he says in verse 20 497 00:26:14,680 –> 00:26:16,959 it’s like waking from a dream. 498 00:26:16,959 –> 00:26:20,520 As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise O Lord 499 00:26:20,520 –> 00:26:23,780 you will despise them as fantasies. 500 00:26:25,040 –> 00:26:28,420 Now it was Augustine, a great Christian writer 501 00:26:28,420 –> 00:26:33,420 who speaks about a beggar who has a dream. 502 00:26:34,380 –> 00:26:35,619 He doesn’t expand on it, 503 00:26:35,619 –> 00:26:37,859 let me try and paint the picture for you. 504 00:26:39,219 –> 00:26:43,119 In the dream, the beggar wins the lottery. 505 00:26:45,079 –> 00:26:48,020 50 million dollars. 506 00:26:50,599 –> 00:26:54,420 Then his dream he sees the home he will buy. 507 00:26:55,719 –> 00:26:58,119 He sees the car he will drive. 508 00:26:58,660 –> 00:27:01,540 He sees snowmobiles in winter, 509 00:27:01,540 –> 00:27:03,000 jet skis in summer. 510 00:27:03,000 –> 00:27:06,739 He sees himself flying first class around the world, 511 00:27:06,739 –> 00:27:09,060 the Taj Mahal, all the wonders of the world 512 00:27:09,060 –> 00:27:10,000 and all the rest of it. 513 00:27:10,000 –> 00:27:11,979 He sees himself cruising the Caribbean, 514 00:27:11,979 –> 00:27:15,099 he’s dining in the finest of the world’s restaurants, 515 00:27:15,099 –> 00:27:17,339 but when he wakes up to his horror, 516 00:27:17,339 –> 00:27:19,640 he realizes it was only a dream. 517 00:27:21,020 –> 00:27:22,839 The reality is he’s a beggar. 518 00:27:25,619 –> 00:27:26,500 He’s a beggar. 519 00:27:27,260 –> 00:27:32,260 Now, Asaph’s saying, I realized that is 520 00:27:32,939 –> 00:27:34,140 the destiny of the wicked. 521 00:27:34,140 –> 00:27:36,020 It’s a terrible thing to contemplate. 522 00:27:37,060 –> 00:27:40,000 Thinking that they have everything, 523 00:27:40,000 –> 00:27:44,520 living the dream, they wake up and find 524 00:27:44,520 –> 00:27:47,619 they have nothing, to their horror. 525 00:27:51,300 –> 00:27:53,260 See, as Lewis puts it this way, 526 00:27:53,260 –> 00:27:55,380 he says it is to be left utterly 527 00:27:55,400 –> 00:27:58,119 and absolutely outside, repelled, 528 00:27:58,119 –> 00:28:03,119 exiled, estranged, finally and unspeakably ignored. 529 00:28:07,579 –> 00:28:09,260 Now you see, Asaph’s saying, I came 530 00:28:09,260 –> 00:28:12,579 into the sanctuary, and that’s where 531 00:28:12,579 –> 00:28:14,579 God straightened my thinking out 532 00:28:14,579 –> 00:28:16,780 so that I was able to face life. 533 00:28:17,939 –> 00:28:19,839 It happened as I remembered the truth, 534 00:28:19,839 –> 00:28:20,900 that’s what the Ark’s all about, 535 00:28:20,900 –> 00:28:22,780 is I met with God’s people, 536 00:28:23,699 –> 00:28:27,880 and as I contemplated ultimate outcomes, 537 00:28:29,260 –> 00:28:31,260 it began to change my whole perspective. 538 00:28:31,260 –> 00:28:33,380 I began to say to myself, if that’s the end 539 00:28:33,380 –> 00:28:36,060 of the wicked, why in all the world am I envying them? 540 00:28:39,380 –> 00:28:41,459 And then, of course, he contemplated 541 00:28:41,459 –> 00:28:43,099 not only the destiny of the wicked, 542 00:28:43,099 –> 00:28:45,339 but the destiny of the righteous. 543 00:28:45,339 –> 00:28:47,060 Look at verse 24. 544 00:28:47,060 –> 00:28:48,900 You guid me with your counsel, 545 00:28:48,979 –> 00:28:53,979 and afterward, you will take me to glory. 546 00:28:55,020 –> 00:28:56,859 Now, one of the commentators here points out 547 00:28:56,859 –> 00:28:58,339 that there’s an interesting parallel 548 00:28:58,339 –> 00:29:02,000 between verse 17 and verse 24. 549 00:29:02,000 –> 00:29:03,540 If you look at verse 17, 550 00:29:03,540 –> 00:29:06,719 then I understood their final destiny. 551 00:29:07,939 –> 00:29:10,760 Now, the word translated, final destiny, 552 00:29:10,760 –> 00:29:14,719 literally means their afterword. 553 00:29:14,719 –> 00:29:16,199 Their afterword. 554 00:29:17,020 –> 00:29:19,859 I understood the afterword of the wicked, 555 00:29:19,859 –> 00:29:20,979 and the afterword of the wicked 556 00:29:20,979 –> 00:29:22,599 is that they fall over and they’re ruined, 557 00:29:22,599 –> 00:29:24,699 and they wake up and they’re disappointed. 558 00:29:26,520 –> 00:29:28,719 Now, what about the afterword of the righteous? 559 00:29:28,719 –> 00:29:30,199 Well, it’s in verse 24, 560 00:29:30,199 –> 00:29:32,359 and translated with precisely that term. 561 00:29:32,359 –> 00:29:36,520 You guide me with your counsel and afterward, 562 00:29:36,520 –> 00:29:40,619 you see the parallel, you will take me into glory. 563 00:29:40,619 –> 00:29:42,119 This is one of the greatest verses 564 00:29:42,119 –> 00:29:43,339 in the whole of the Bible. 565 00:29:43,339 –> 00:29:45,079 It describes the whole Christian life. 566 00:29:45,079 –> 00:29:46,380 You guide me with your counsel, 567 00:29:46,380 –> 00:29:47,760 that’s what God does for us now, 568 00:29:47,760 –> 00:29:52,239 and afterward, you will take me into glory. 569 00:29:54,239 –> 00:29:55,260 What a statement. 570 00:29:55,260 –> 00:29:59,599 You will take me into glory. 571 00:30:04,060 –> 00:30:05,219 You never know what’s gonna happen 572 00:30:05,219 –> 00:30:06,619 when the phone rings, right? 573 00:30:08,660 –> 00:30:13,099 Some years ago, I was sitting at my desk in London, 574 00:30:13,099 –> 00:30:14,040 and the phone rang. 575 00:30:15,839 –> 00:30:18,680 Hello said this voice I’d never heard before. 576 00:30:18,680 –> 00:30:21,839 My name is John, John White. 577 00:30:21,839 –> 00:30:23,579 You don’t know me? 578 00:30:23,579 –> 00:30:25,119 We’ve never met before. 579 00:30:26,339 –> 00:30:28,160 But my wife and I are going to Israel, 580 00:30:28,160 –> 00:30:30,160 and we wonder if you would like to come. 581 00:30:31,140 –> 00:30:33,219 Sales call. 582 00:30:36,219 –> 00:30:37,319 He continued, though. 583 00:30:39,359 –> 00:30:41,339 We’d like to take you, he said, 584 00:30:41,339 –> 00:30:43,560 my wife and I, if you’d like to come. 585 00:30:44,540 –> 00:30:46,920 Sorry, could you say that again? 586 00:30:49,880 –> 00:30:52,000 Well, John and Rosemary belonged to a church 587 00:30:52,000 –> 00:30:53,219 in another part of the country. 588 00:30:53,219 –> 00:30:55,219 I’d never met them before. 589 00:30:55,219 –> 00:30:58,160 They had a great love for Israel, 590 00:30:58,160 –> 00:31:00,339 and they had a great love for the preaching of the Word. 591 00:31:00,339 –> 00:31:01,880 They had apparently been encouraged, 592 00:31:01,880 –> 00:31:04,239 unknown to me, by the ministry. 593 00:31:04,239 –> 00:31:06,920 And they wanted to give to Karen and to myself 594 00:31:06,920 –> 00:31:10,020 the opportunity of seeing the land where Jesus walked. 595 00:31:11,640 –> 00:31:13,439 We’ll make all the arrangements, they said. 596 00:31:13,439 –> 00:31:14,780 You’ll just meet us at the airport. 597 00:31:14,780 –> 00:31:17,459 If you’d like to come, we’ll take you with us. 598 00:31:19,260 –> 00:31:21,359 You can just sit at the end of the phone. 599 00:31:21,359 –> 00:31:23,119 So I’d never met this guy. 600 00:31:23,119 –> 00:31:24,920 I’d never spoken to this guy before. 601 00:31:25,939 –> 00:31:28,599 Doesn’t happen every day, by the way. 602 00:31:28,599 –> 00:31:29,599 But it happened. 603 00:31:32,060 –> 00:31:34,239 Well, John and Rosemary were experienced travelers. 604 00:31:34,239 –> 00:31:36,040 They’d been to Israel several times before. 605 00:31:36,040 –> 00:31:37,599 They knew their way around the country. 606 00:31:37,599 –> 00:31:39,900 They took us to Israel. 607 00:31:41,380 –> 00:31:43,400 They paid for our trip. 608 00:31:44,000 –> 00:31:45,579 And we traveled in their company, 609 00:31:45,579 –> 00:31:49,099 and they have become dear, dear friends to this day. 610 00:31:51,439 –> 00:31:52,719 They took us to Israel. 611 00:31:56,400 –> 00:31:58,479 Now, says Asaph, looking up, as it were, 612 00:31:58,479 –> 00:32:01,239 by faith into the face of God, he says, 613 00:32:01,239 –> 00:32:05,920 you take me to glory. 614 00:32:09,719 –> 00:32:12,920 That means you pay the price of getting me there. 615 00:32:14,119 –> 00:32:19,119 That means that I travel in your company. 616 00:32:21,400 –> 00:32:24,839 That means you are with me every step of the way. 617 00:32:26,199 –> 00:32:29,479 That means, when I get to crossing the border 618 00:32:29,479 –> 00:32:32,119 with all its hazards and with all its fears, 619 00:32:32,119 –> 00:32:35,520 you take me into glory. 620 00:32:37,280 –> 00:32:38,119 That’s the future, 621 00:32:38,160 –> 00:32:42,880 and when he takes you into glory he’s taking you 622 00:32:42,880 –> 00:32:47,459 into the place with which he is supremely familiar already, 623 00:32:47,459 –> 00:32:51,859 and he will spend eternity showing you its delights, 624 00:32:51,859 –> 00:32:55,640 to his joy and to yours. 625 00:32:57,239 –> 00:32:58,479 You take me into glory. 626 00:33:01,599 –> 00:33:03,719 You get your eyes focused on that destiny, 627 00:33:03,719 –> 00:33:05,680 the whole of life begins to look somewhat different. 628 00:33:09,079 –> 00:33:12,800 Remember God’s truth, meet with God’s people, 629 00:33:14,239 –> 00:33:16,140 consider ultimate outcomes. 630 00:33:20,079 –> 00:33:22,239 When I tried to understand all this, 631 00:33:22,239 –> 00:33:27,239 it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary. 632 00:33:29,579 –> 00:33:31,680 Then I understood their final destiny. 633 00:33:36,119 –> 00:33:37,880 So to wrap it up here’s where we’ve come. 634 00:33:37,900 –> 00:33:39,540 I remember it’s a five-point turn 635 00:33:39,540 –> 00:33:42,359 and there’s more to follow, 636 00:33:42,359 –> 00:33:45,359 we’re at the second point of a five-point turn. 637 00:33:46,359 –> 00:33:48,599 But boy, Esau’s already well on the way. 638 00:33:49,599 –> 00:33:51,000 And this is what he wants us to know. 639 00:33:51,000 –> 00:33:54,439 Let me tell you my story, he says. 640 00:33:55,680 –> 00:33:58,599 I was facing these problems, my mind was confused, 641 00:33:58,599 –> 00:34:00,420 I’m going round and round and round. 642 00:34:00,420 –> 00:34:02,439 I almost gave up. 643 00:34:05,500 –> 00:34:06,959 I couldn’t even see the point 644 00:34:07,000 –> 00:34:11,120 of continuing to pursue a Godly life at that time. 645 00:34:12,800 –> 00:34:17,639 I had to stop, and I had to think, 646 00:34:19,979 –> 00:34:22,060 and I found I couldn’t do it on my own. 647 00:34:24,540 –> 00:34:26,540 It was oppressive to me. 648 00:34:26,540 –> 00:34:30,520 I got nowhere until I entered the Sanctuary of God. 649 00:34:32,659 –> 00:34:34,260 And I remembered God’s truth. 650 00:34:34,959 –> 00:34:36,840 I met with God’s people. 651 00:34:38,899 –> 00:34:41,340 It changed the way I was thinking 652 00:34:41,340 –> 00:34:44,260 and that’s where God opened my mind 653 00:34:44,260 –> 00:34:46,919 and I saw the afterward of the wicked 654 00:34:48,540 –> 00:34:50,179 and the afterward of the Godly. 655 00:34:52,260 –> 00:34:55,620 I think to myself I actually thought it wasn’t worth it. 656 00:34:59,360 –> 00:35:01,020 It changed my whole perspective. 657 00:35:01,020 –> 00:35:03,260 It got my thinking straight. 658 00:35:05,199 –> 00:35:07,800 It made it possible for me to go out in the world 659 00:35:07,800 –> 00:35:09,699 and to face the realities of life. 660 00:35:12,820 –> 00:35:17,639 Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 661 00:35:18,780 –> 00:35:19,840 Let’s pray together. 662 00:35:25,300 –> 00:35:27,620 Father, some of us want to confess right now 663 00:35:27,620 –> 00:35:30,959 the endless cycles of confused thinking 664 00:35:31,939 –> 00:35:34,879 that have not been permeated with faith. 665 00:35:40,439 –> 00:35:44,199 We have been with Asaph when he says, 666 00:35:44,199 –> 00:35:45,919 it was oppressive to me. 667 00:35:51,719 –> 00:35:53,360 So thank you for the great privilege 668 00:35:53,360 –> 00:35:57,379 of coming into your presence as the body of Christ. 669 00:36:01,679 –> 00:36:03,780 Thank you for the truth that our little lives 670 00:36:03,780 –> 00:36:07,820 are part of your work for the ages. 671 00:36:07,820 –> 00:36:09,360 And even our little church 672 00:36:10,780 –> 00:36:14,060 is part of the great company of your people 673 00:36:14,060 –> 00:36:15,379 throughout history. 674 00:36:16,540 –> 00:36:18,560 Most of whom are already in your presence. 675 00:36:24,139 –> 00:36:26,080 Fill our minds with your truth. 676 00:36:27,080 –> 00:36:30,120 Encourage our hearts through your people. 677 00:36:30,120 –> 00:36:33,439 Let us even today in our words minister to one another. 678 00:36:39,100 –> 00:36:41,840 Fix our eyes on our destiny 679 00:36:42,979 –> 00:36:44,979 that we may not be those who give up. 680 00:36:47,000 –> 00:36:49,399 But rather those who learn with all the Church of God 681 00:36:49,399 –> 00:36:54,399 to persevere until you take over. 682 00:36:56,219 –> 00:36:58,939 And to take us to glory. 683 00:37:01,260 –> 00:37:03,239 So we ask it in Jesus name. 684 00:37:05,000 –> 00:37:05,820 Amen.