[0:00] As we turn to Ephesians chapter 1, I'd like us just to think for a little while today about this verse 13 that we read.
[0:10] In whom he also trusted, after that he heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that he believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
[0:25] Those of you with the authorised version will know that the word trusted is in italics. That means that it wasn't there in the original Greek. The word trusted wasn't there in verse 13, but it's inserted by the translators in order to sort of chime in with what's there in verse 12.
[0:43] Verse 13 is set in the context of verses 12 to 40. So we read that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye also, and it would be blank in the original, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
[1:03] In whom also after that he believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
[1:17] So this is the setting of the light, these verses in which this verse 13 and 12. So the word trusted, it's not in the original, but it applies directly in the circumstance, in the context.
[1:28] Because the reference at verse 12 is to those who trusted before these Ephesian believers, and then they themselves trusted in the same gospel, the same God, in which Paul and the other apostles did.
[1:41] So we could say that from verses 12 to 13, there's this kind of rolling application, we might say. First of all, in the original context, the apostle is writing, himself and his colleagues, writing to the Ephesians.
[1:57] Ephesus, of course, on the western extremity of what is now Turkey, the major city of the Roman province of Asia Minor there. And he is writing, if we might say, from the apostles, from himself as an apostle, to the converts.
[2:12] Apostles come first, the converts come afterwards. Fine, there's the seniority, there's the juniority. But also, some would take it that in the context, he's also writing about those who, having received the Messiah of Israel, talking at verse 11, about the inheritance, having obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him, who work with all things, after the counsel of his own will.
[2:39] When he talks about inheritance, for an Israelite, a Jew, the inheritance, is entering into the inheritance of Abraham and the fathers, and all the promises of the Messiah, the fulfillment, the covenant, all that they are entering into.
[2:54] And in one sense, of course, all the first Christians were Jews. All the apostles were Jews. All those whom Jesus taught were the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
[3:06] So the gospel begins in a Jewish context. And from that, it then spreads out to the rest of the Gentile world. So you could also say that Paul is not simply referring to apostles and then converts, but also you could say he's talking in the context of it being to the Jew first, that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ, we, the Jewish believers, entering into our Israelite inheritance, but now you also, in whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, after you believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
[3:46] Now, remember the Acts of the Apostles. Remember when Peter was going to Cornelius' house, and when the Jewish brethren that went with him were just amazed that after Peter spoke the gospel to Cornelius and his friends, God sent the Holy Ghost upon these Gentiles, upon this Roman centurion and his colleagues, total Gentiles, not Israelites, not Jews, but God poured out his spirit upon them.
[4:11] And then Peter said, logically enough, God's already given them the spirit. Who are we to withhold baptism from them? The symbol of that spirit. So, you know, we've got to accept that God is bringing in Gentiles too.
[4:25] Now, this was a contentious issue at one stage in the early church. We read about that in Acts 15 and so on. But here now, for emphasis, Paul is rejoicing in the fact that Israelite believers, Jews believe first, but the message then comes on out to Gentiles as well.
[4:44] So there's this kind of rolling application. Think, okay, but that's thousands of years ago. Not too many mixes of Jews and Gentiles here. Not too many apostles amongst us. What's the relevance for us?
[4:55] Because you can see that this application is not just in its original context. It also applies in the present context. It applies where you have a seniority of believers and a juniority of those who come after them.
[5:13] All of us have heard the gospel from those who believed it before us. It doesn't matter what generation we are in. It doesn't matter what situation or what geographical place we are in.
[5:27] Whenever we hear the gospel, whether for the first time, the second time, or whatever, as we hear it new or as we hear it on our mother's knee or whatever, we hear it from those who believed it first.
[5:40] They believed it and received it and pass it on. And some of those they pass it on to will accept them and believe it and some of them won't. But none of us receive the gospel from pagans.
[5:52] None of us receive the gospel from unbelievers. Now I know that some of you will be thinking, ah, yes, well, my parents or my grandparents are very godly people. They always did the books.
[6:02] I heard the worship of the Lord. I heard the Bible read. I never professed faith. All that may well be the case. But you and I both know that there is many a soul in glory now who perhaps never actually professed with their lips because perhaps they never got the outward strength of their inward heart was the Lord and their life professed who it was that they loved and served.
[6:28] I'm not saying it's ideal that people don't profess faith. It's not. They should be ideally. But we all know the culture and the situation of a former age. And sometimes people felt unworthy.
[6:41] We are all unworthy. But when we heard the gospel, we heard it from those who had received it first. There was a seniority of believers from whom those of us who were then junior heard it that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye also trusted, whoever comes next in the generations.
[7:05] And part of the wonderful thing about the generations of the Lord's family is that somebody can be a child of God an infant in Christ and yet they can be up in their 80s in years.
[7:17] And they may hear the gospel from somebody young enough to be their grandchild who yet may have been a lot more senior in the faith than them. It's part of the wonderful riches and diversity of God's family.
[7:29] We're brothers and sisters in Christ but also mothers and fathers and grandfathers and children and grandchildren. And it's all mixed in together because the seniority of faith isn't necessarily reflected in the seniority of years.
[7:43] And here it is. There's those who come first that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth.
[7:56] Notice it's not after you heard what we said, after you heard our fantastic words and what our personality conveyed, the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
[8:07] Paul is simply, and the apostles are simply, and believers in each generation are simply, the channels, the pipe through which the water flows, the means by which God communicates his grace to others.
[8:21] So we see these verses 12 and 13 here. There's the application, the apostles to the converts, the Jews to the Gentiles, mature believers to seekers and young believers, those coming after.
[8:34] We all begin as junior seeking non-believers. We become believers by the grace of God if we do. And then by the grace of God, we are enabled to grow and mature and pass on that same gospel to others.
[8:51] Sometimes we do most of our passing on when we're in the first flush of enthusiasm, and then maybe our love grows a little colder as we go through more difficult times in our faith. All of that may be part of the journey.
[9:03] But the fact of the matter is, we can only pass on that which we have first received. And one of the reasons we receive it in the first place is not so we can hide it away, like a miser with his gold in a little chest, but rather so we can spread it to others, so that we can distribute to the needs of others.
[9:22] That we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth. Now, notice also what it says here in this verse 13.
[9:36] After that ye heard the word of truth. God is quite unequivocal that his word is truth. And that's how he describes it time and time again, not just here in Ephesians, but if we were to go to 1 Corinthians 1, verse 21.
[9:53] Remember what Paul writes, after living the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Now, it doesn't simply mean, so somebody gets up a throat and he opens his mouth, well that's preaching.
[10:08] It's the content of what is preached. Some translations put it by the foolishness of what was preached to enable people to believe. The gospel is foolishness to the Greeks and a stumbling block to the Jews.
[10:22] And so, it's the foolishness of, what is preached? The foolishness of preaching to the world is the wisdom of God as he translates it to us, as he gives it to us.
[10:35] This word of truth, 2 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 15, of course, this is what we read. Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
[10:50] Now, the word of truth, despite the fact that it is infallible and perfect, it does need to be divided up. It does need to be broken down. And that was Timothy's job.
[11:01] That's the job of those who are appointed to preach. Because it's all very well to say to somebody, right, here's a Bible, read it. That's great, and it may be true, but it's a wee bit kind of daunting.
[11:13] And so, we do need to break it down. We can only take it a portion at a time. I've quoted in the past, and I'll quote again, one of the few things that I actually have in agreement with Archbishop Desmond Tutu is that he once famously said, there's only one way to eat an elephant, one mouthful at a time.
[11:35] And the same is true with the word of God. We break it down into bite-sized portions. A little child cannot perhaps memorize everything from Genesis to Revelation.
[11:46] But they may perhaps be able to learn the Lord's Prayer. Or they may be able perhaps to memorize a nugget of a verse here and there. 1 Corinthians chapter 13 is a wonderful thing for people to drink in how God's love is, how love is meant to be.
[12:04] But that doesn't mean so somebody said, well, now tell me what's in all the other 15 chapters in 1 Corinthians. Well, they might struggle. We have to break it down. The most wonderful food in all the world can only be consumed one mouthful at a time.
[12:18] What were you always told in your little child? Chew each mouthful properly. Make sure you chew it properly before you swallow. And that's what we should be doing with God's love.
[12:29] Not just gulping it down like, that's a chapter running on to the next bit. No. Chew it. Take time over it. Meditate upon it. This word of truth.
[12:40] Rightly dividing the word of truth because it is truth. James chapter 1 again, verse 18 likewise. Of his own will he begat us with the word of truth.
[12:52] That we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. That people should be able to see your changes in us. And that that likewise should encourage others.
[13:03] Because they say, well, if it can happen to him, it can happen to anyone. If it can be true for him, well, sure it can be true for any one of us. One reason why the Lord takes such earthen vessels as we are.
[13:15] We think, there's nothing in me, Lord. Why should you want me? Why should you choose me? There's no reason on earth why the Lord should choose me. That may be precisely why the Lord has chosen you.
[13:27] So that others would look and say, well, there's nothing in it. There's nothing in her. If the Lord can choose and take everything and work in such a person as that, well, maybe there's hope for me. Because if we were all super shining saints, people would look and say, yeah, well, I can see why they're going to glory.
[13:42] I can see why the Lord would choose them. He's never going to choose the likes of me. So the super shining saints, they'll be in glory, yes, but the vast majority of those there won't be those who shine with the purity of their walk and their witness here upon earth.
[13:57] They will be earthen vessels like you and me, saved by grace, redeemed by the blood of Christ. And others will look and think, James, there's nothing in that. This is why the grace of God is so wonderful.
[14:11] It causes others not to glorify us, but to think, well, there's nothing else to conclude except that God's grace must have worked in that. Colossians chapter one, verse five, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven would all be heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.
[14:28] This is not just relativity. It's not, this is my truth, tell you yours. This is the truth, the word of truth. God speaks the truth to his people.
[14:40] But why do we hold back so often? Well, you know, as well as I do, one reason people so often hold back from the Lord is because they're waiting for that fantastic, magical experience.
[14:51] They're waiting for Damascus Road, or they're waiting for the Holy Spirit to hit them with a bolt of lightning, or to pick them up and throw them across the room and say, wow, I'm baptized with the Spirit now.
[15:02] Now I can believe. Now I've seen something with the power and the glory and the wonder and the amazing, fantastic spiritual fireworks of the Lord. Now I can believe.
[15:13] But unless I've had that, oh, well, maybe I can't possibly think of myself as a Christian. I'm waiting for that magic moment to happen. That's not what we read in the Bible, is it?
[15:25] This is what we read here. In whom you also trusted. After that ye heard the word of truth, after you heard it, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit cross.
[15:46] Now God doesn't pour out his spirit on those who have not believed. Cornelius and his friends were there, desperate to hear the word of truth.
[15:57] And they heard it and received it and believed it right away. God, they had been primed by God. They had it well prepped. They were, in a modern vulgar phrase, gagging for it, desperate to hear the word of truth that Peter would proclaim to them.
[16:13] And as soon as they got it, they grabbed it and lapped it up. And God poured out his spirit upon them. But we have to believe. We have to take that step of faith.
[16:24] Faith, what is faith? Hebrews 11 verse 1, faith is the substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen. You take that step in the dark and you trust and you believe that God is there to catch you if you fall.
[16:42] You can't see him. Whom, having not seen you love, you've never set eyes physically on Christ. But you believe. Faith is the substance of things hoped for.
[16:54] The evidence of things not seen. You take it on trust. You take it on faith. After that you believed that you were prepared to take God while there was nothing to put your hand on, nothing to see, nothing to lay hold upon tangibly.
[17:11] You just took it on trust. You just took it on faith. And that's the kind of love the Lord says he's looking for. The people who will love him while as far as they're concerned, he's got nothing to offer them.
[17:25] You see, if the Lord had fixed it such that some people try and proclaim this kind of so-called health and wealth and prosperity gospel, if you trust in the Lord, he'll fill your bank account, he'll give you great big cars, few thousands, and he'll make your life so rich and full, and you'll be so blessed in this world.
[17:43] Yeah, but we're not talking just about this world. Jesus said of those who set their sights and their hopes and their fortunes in this world, he said they already have the reward.
[17:54] We're looking for something much better and more lasting than that. But it's not built on the foundations of earth, it's built on the foundations of heaven. And the Lord desires that we, who are enabled by grace to love him, when he seems to have nothing, will be those who he will in the fullness of time make worthy to receive all things.
[18:18] Because we know, he knows, that we won't then be dazzled by this gold on the streets of Jerusalem and by the precious stones that may be the foundations, and we won't be wowed by all the surroundings of glory.
[18:30] The Lamb is all the glory of Emmanuel's land. It's like those who fall in love when they are paupers, and then they become princes and princesses with all the riches and glory of all their palaces.
[18:42] But that's not what caused them to fall in love. It was the love itself they had for each other. Christ wants that kind of love from us, that kind of faith. Faith, hope, and love, always going hand in hand, like 1 Corinthians 13 tells us.
[18:57] After that he believed, you were sealed with that holy spirit of promise. You've got to believe first.
[19:09] And the spirit is promised. That's what spirit of promise means. It means a spirit which God does promise to us. He says that if you believe in my son, I will pour out my spirit upon you.
[19:22] And Peter says the same thing, remember, to the people in the Acts of the Apostles of the days of Pentecost, in Acts chapter 2, verses 38 and 39. And he said, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
[19:35] Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
[19:46] So you've got to believe in Christ Jesus. You've got to believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. You've got to repent of your sins, including the most subtle and most devastating sin of all, which is the sin of unbelief.
[20:01] You've got to repent and believe. Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, for the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
[20:19] It is a spirit of promise because it is a spirit that is promised. It is promised when we believe. After that ye believed, you see, so often, we're putting it the wrong way around.
[20:32] We're waiting for God to give us some kind of outpouring of blessing and proof so that then we can say, okay, now God has set his bolt of lightning. It has lit the way ahead.
[20:44] I can see where to plant my feet. I can see the way that I can walk. I can see Jesus now ahead of me. Now I can believe. Well, that's not belief. That's not faith.
[20:55] That's walking by sight, isn't it? And the Lord says in his word, we walk by faith, not by sight. He wants us to trust in him when it's still the dark that you're walking into.
[21:08] He wants us to put our hand in his hand when we cannot see where he's going to lead us. He wants us to believe that what he has for us is for the very best and most blessed future that we could ever hope for when we cannot see even a hint of that.
[21:26] that's the kind of faith he is looking for. After that you put that kind of faith into practice, after that you believe, you are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, the earnest until the redemption of the purchased possession.
[21:50] This is what we read again. Romans 8, verses 15 and 16. This spirit that we then receive, this underlines to us that we are his.
[22:00] Romans 8, verse 15. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The spirit itself bear witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.
[22:16] That's where we get this level of assurance that so many people are waiting for before they will actually put their trust in Christ. Now assurance is not the root of our faith.
[22:31] It is the fruit, not the root. You put your trust in Christ first. You believe first. Then you get the sealing of God's spirit.
[22:41] Then you get the assurance and the spirit bearing witness in your heart to go to the children of God. Verse 5 of Romans 5. Hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.
[22:54] Not because we're such nice, loving, cuddly people. But it is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. The Lord gives us his spirit.
[23:05] He announces us with his spirit. He bears witness with his spirit that we are his children and we are thereby assured and enabled to love him more and more in return as we ought to do.
[23:22] Romans 8.23 says, Not only they, but ourselves also which have the first fruits of the spirit. This little taste, this earnest of our inheritance. even we, we ourselves drawn within ourselves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body.
[23:39] In other words, there's more to come. The taster, the little aperitif just gives you an appetite for more and more that is to come. This Holy Spirit, even those anointed most with the spirit in this world, only have a taste of it.
[23:56] The earnest, the pledge, the down payment of our inheritance. until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory.
[24:06] Now his purchased possession, that's us, that's the Lord's people. He has purchased them, bought and paid for with his own precious blood. He owns us. It's wonderful to be owned by the Lord.
[24:18] This is one reason why when Paul is writing, you know, some of his letters, he writes, when he writes Paul, the servant of Jesus Christ, the word we have, servant, it literally means slave. Dulos is the Greek word.
[24:28] It means slave. Now a slave is owned by his master. He's not just an employee who gets his pay at the end of the day and that's the business done and there's no more relation between them. A slave is owned by his master.
[24:41] Oh, that's terrible. Oh, that's dreadful. But a slave being owned by his master means not simply his master's property, but he's part of the family. He belongs in the family.
[24:54] He belongs with the master's own biological children and quite often when a slave was faithful and beloved of the family, he would be formally adopted.
[25:06] Now this is exactly what the Lord desires to do with us, to send into our hearts the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. But that is after you have believed.
[25:19] I cannot stress that enough. In whom also after that you believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. Don't make a mistake of thinking, oh, I want to, I want to, but you know, I just got to wait to be zapped from heaven.
[25:35] I got to wait for the Holy Ghost to be poured out on me. I got to wait for my Damascus road. No, you don't. You received the word of truth. God's word is truth.
[25:46] Jesus prayed for his disciples. John 17 at verse 17 sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. You see, we are so used nowadays to truth being relative, to it being whatever you want it to be, and to it being sort of a wee bit shady as well.
[26:06] You say that's true, but how do I know? We have to relearn belief in truth because we're so used to the world and its lies.
[26:19] It's after you believe, then you receive. First you believe, then you receive. This taster of an inheritance which is what the spirit is, the down payment, the deposit.
[26:30] And we're so used to being ripped off in this world. Whether you're buying a car or buying a house or entering into any kind of transaction, you look for all the loopholes whereby you might be ripped off.
[26:43] You read all the small print, you think, what are they really going to do when I've paid my money? Are they just going to walk away and take my money? Are they actually going to rip me off? Are they actually going to take me for a fool?
[26:54] And we're so used to being badly treated. We're so used to being lied to. We're so used to the values of this world for whatever you can get away with. It's okay. You can enrich yourself at somebody else's expense by lying to them or by stealing from them.
[27:10] Well, that's okay. We are so used to being betrayed, so used to being lied to by the world and by its representatives. We have to unlearn that mistrust.
[27:23] We have to unlearn the spirit of denial and of suspicion and we have to relearn a belief in objective, absolute truth.
[27:39] The world will tell you there is no such thing, but like so much of the world, they are lying. Truth is not relative. Truth is not whatever you want it to be.
[27:51] Truth is Jesus Christ who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. When he prayed for his disciples, when he prayed, sanctify them through my truth, thy word is truth.
[28:05] He was referring to God's word of truth, the gospel. What James refers to, what Peter refers to, what Ephesians is referring to here, in whom he also trusted after that he heard the word of truth.
[28:19] We have to relearn our belief in truth itself, objective reality. We have to recognize the honest, faithful, true God who does not lie, who cannot lie, because he is truth itself.
[28:44] And we might say, oh yeah, God can do anything, but there are some things God cannot do. He cannot deny himself and he cannot be untrue because he is truth itself.
[28:57] The Lord cannot lie. Now this fact, earnest of our inheritance, the redemption of the purchased possession, the praise of his glory, and all that we find in these verses, you know, this earnest of our inheritance, it doesn't say, oh, here's your down payment and it stays like that.
[29:17] It's almost like a deposit that you put in a bank that gradually grows a little bit more interest, well, in the days when the banks used to pay interest, but it grows a little bit more interest and the little nest there gets bigger and bigger.
[29:28] And as you get nearer to glory, it ripens and you and I, we ripen for glory the nearer we get to it. And this is good news.
[29:48] It is good news for all different levels of individual souls. It is good news for the seeker and for the person who is as yet an unbeliever because our tendency is, as I've said, to wait until something zaps us from heaven and say, well, until that happens, until God says I'm good enough, there's no way I can believe.
[30:12] You are called upon to believe. As Paul said to the Athenians, God may have turned a blind eye to half the paganism in the world in former times, but now commanded all men everywhere to repent.
[30:26] You're commanded to believe, you're given the word of truth in which to believe. After you have believed, you receive the spirit of promise.
[30:37] God promises it, that's why it's called the spirit of promise, because it is promised after that you have believed. You might say, oh, I can't actually believe that God's going to do that for me.
[30:49] I don't think I receive his spirit, I don't think I'll be changed, I just don't believe that, and that is your problem right there, you don't believe it. But until such time as you're prepared to put your trust in Christ, and to step out into the dark, walking not by sight, walking by faith, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, it isn't going to happen until you first believe, and you must repent, as Peter said, of all your sins, you must repent most especially of that most fatal sin of all, the sin of unbelief.
[31:32] after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom after that ye believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
[31:42] That is good news for you, because it means if it hasn't happened yet, if you haven't been anointed with the Spirit from heaven yet, if you haven't been zapped with a bolt of lightning, not that I think that's going to happen even after you believe, but even so, if you're waiting to be anointed by the Spirit, you can be encouraged, you can be encouraged, because there's a it hasn't happened yet, and the reason you haven't got the assurance yet, is because you haven't taken the step of faith yet, you haven't believed yet, so that means there's still opportunity, that means there's a reason and an explanation why you haven't seen the earth shifting around you, why you haven't felt the anointing of God's Spirit, why all these things you're waiting for haven't happened, because you've been getting it the wrong way around.
[32:30] It's like saying, well here's the ignition key, and here I am sitting in the car, I've got the key, I've got the car, why is nothing happening? You have to put the key into the ignition and turn it, and do all the other things that the car requires to be done.
[32:46] You've got to take the faith and put it into practice, so you can be encouraged. If this is the stage that you're at, unbeliever as yet, seeker after Christ, be encouraged, because this is good news, this is why there's been no anointing of the spirit yet, because you've got to believe first, you've got enough, you've got enough to lay hold on, you've got his word of truth, and you've got to receive it and believe it and act upon it, and a little child can do that.
[33:21] You don't have to learn some special ability or the ultimate sight chapters in Greek and Hebrew before you do it, a little child can do that, get it and put it into practice, believe, and then you will receive.
[33:34] And for the one who is already a believer, I think, well, I believe, I know I actually had the master's role, you know, like Paul, but yes, I'm conscious of the Lord working in my life, it's quiet and it's humble and I wouldn't say there's been any spectacular fireworks, no, of course there isn't, as I keep saying time and time again, the Bible is full of the saints of the Lord, from Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is full of the saints of the Lord and the New Testament is full of his apostles and followers and saints and how many have had the master's role?
[34:08] One. Why do we focus upon the one exception? I say, this is how it's going to be for everybody. No, nine times out of ten, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the Lord works quietly through his spirit with which he anoints his people.
[34:28] As Isaiah says, the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven and watereth the earth that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be it poured forth out of my mouth.
[34:41] It shall not return unto me void, it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the favor to I sent it. Now when the rain comes down and the snow from heaven, we don't think, oh yeah, this is the spirit, zap, pow, no, we're used to it, we're used to seeing these things at work, and when God anoints with his spirit, he often does it gently, and he does it tenderly, and he does it in a way that we've seen working in others, he just never expected it to be thus, and if you know God's spirit has been working in you quietly and gently in the past, then you can know he's going to continue, if you are a believer, this is good news, because as the unbeliever and seeker after God can be encouraged, so you believer can be strengthened in this good news, because it is after that he believed, and you have believed, and the spirit of promise is assured, you can go on knowing that he has begun the good work and you will complete it until the day of
[35:44] Jesus Christ, you will keep on doing it, seeker be encouraged, believer be strengthened, and what about those who are if not long in the truth, then long in the faith, those who are now fathers in God, mothers in Israel, saints of the Lord, not by their own reckoning, but by everybody else's reckoning, what must we say, the unbeliever is to be encouraged, if the believer is to be strengthened, saint of the Lord, be patient, we know what it is you're waiting for, you know what it is you're waiting for, and you know it will come, just as the spirit anointed you long ago, and continues to grow and work in your life, and in your heart, know that God is ripening his people for salvation, he is ripening them for heaven, this earnest, this deposit and down payment, this investment of his spirit only increases the nearer you get to home, you can't see it happening, you know, one of the infuriating things about summer,
[36:51] I find, is you cut the grass, and then ten days later, there it is, spread it up again, you could watch it with binoculars, and you wouldn't see it grow, but one day you turn around and there it is, springing up, desperate to be cut again, well, if that's the case with the weeds and grass of the earth, it is so much more the case with the planting of God's seed of grace, it springs up quietly, tenderly, silently, you don't see it, you don't notice it, but one day you turn around and you know that it's been happening, and that's what it's like with the Lord, with his grace, you can't see the physical, actual growing going on in your life, but others can see it, and you know that it's been happening, and it's been ripening, and as with little children, you know, if you're a parent or a grandparent, and you know, don't be in too much of a hurry for the babyhood and the infancy and the nappy stages to be over, I know when you're in the midst of broken nights and hassle and endless dirty nappies and changes of clothing and puking up on your shoulder and things when really you wish they would just grow up and you're going to the next stage, don't wish it away, it'll come soon enough, as we all know, don't go wishing away your opportunity to live and serve for the
[38:14] Lord here, because once these few years of struggle and life and this day with tears are over, they won't come back again, we'll be serving the Lord in a different context, we'll be glorifying his name in perfection, but these years will never come again, don't wish them away just yet, I know it's painful, I know it's difficult in this world, we're longing to be home, but don't wish it away, because it'll come.
[38:40] The ferry that we have there at Parvort isn't perhaps the best example, but all of you I'm sure have travelled the ferry from other boat to Stornway and you know that as you're chugging out of Loch Broome and you see the hills quite close beside you, and then you move out into the open water, and where you're going it's just a blue line on the horizon, and you can't see it clearly, and the sea just seems to go on and on, if it's rough weather, well it seems to go on intangibly, but then the blue line becomes a bit thicker, and then you begin to make out, you can see point coming out into the right hand side, and the water, and the hills are a bit clearer, and then they're a bit bigger, and then they're no longer blue, then they're going to get a bit brownish and greenish, and before you know it, you're coming into the bay, of Storway Harbour, and everything's getting closer, and everything's getting nearer, and everything's becoming more clear, to begin with it was just a distant line in the distance, and that's where it's like for glory, it's just like a distant line that seems so far away, but all the time you're getting nearer, and all the time your inheritance is coming closer, and you're seeing a different perspective, and nearer that you draw to shore, as the coast eye folds into view, more and more of your voyage is complete, and the earnest becomes more and more the reality, so that when our time comes, we are well ripened, and well ready to step off the gangplank, into a brand new land, and a brand new life, in whom he also trusted, after that he heard the word of truth, and this is God's word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, salvation, in whom, also after that he believed, you were sealed with that Holy
[40:24] Spirit of promise, that you're seeking, be encouraged, if you're a believer, be strengthened, if you're a long-standing saint of the Lord, be patient, but either way, this is a word for each of us, this is a word for everyone, this is God's infallible truth, promise, you're facing.
[40:45] Thank you. Thank you.