1 00:00:01,180 --> 00:00:04,080 Romans 8, 18, put your finger in that 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:05,240 while we pray. 3 00:00:05,560 --> 00:00:08,280 Dear Father in heaven, we are utterly cast 4 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:10,140 on you that as we read your word 5 00:00:10,140 --> 00:00:14,800 and just think through these few verses that 6 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:19,520 you would encourage us, teach us, touch us. 7 00:00:21,730 --> 00:00:23,710 We know that you're with us. 8 00:00:25,130 --> 00:00:28,810 Open our eyes now to something more of 9 00:00:28,810 --> 00:00:30,570 the glory of yourself in the word. 10 00:00:32,470 --> 00:00:35,650 We pray for Peter as he travels back 11 00:00:35,650 --> 00:00:37,910 home or at least towards that funeral he 12 00:00:37,910 --> 00:00:39,910 must go to in England. 13 00:00:41,310 --> 00:00:44,210 Lord would you help him, travelling through the 14 00:00:44,210 --> 00:00:46,370 night and then on through the day and 15 00:00:46,370 --> 00:00:48,870 up home later on this evening. 16 00:00:50,190 --> 00:00:52,930 Encourage and refresh and use him we pray 17 00:00:52,930 --> 00:00:53,310 this day. 18 00:00:54,730 --> 00:00:56,210 Thank you for all that he means to 19 00:00:56,210 --> 00:01:00,630 us, his steadiness, his wisdom, his love of 20 00:01:00,630 --> 00:01:01,050 your word. 21 00:01:03,010 --> 00:01:04,690 Lord you know how we wish that he 22 00:01:04,690 --> 00:01:06,970 were here to share with us on this 23 00:01:06,970 --> 00:01:07,450 last morning. 24 00:01:07,570 --> 00:01:09,150 We would want to generously pray. 25 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:14,440 Lord touch us again we pray through these 26 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:14,780 scriptures. 27 00:01:14,780 --> 00:01:23,060 Verse 18, for I reckon that the sufferings 28 00:01:23,060 --> 00:01:24,800 of this present time, I haven't even got 29 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:27,640 my new international version, I'm reading from the 30 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:30,820 old revised version of 1881 which I normally 31 00:01:30,820 --> 00:01:32,160 use for study. 32 00:01:33,320 --> 00:01:35,660 I reckon that the sufferings of this present 33 00:01:35,660 --> 00:01:40,340 time are not worthy to be compared with 34 00:01:40,340 --> 00:01:42,540 the glory which shall be revealed to us. 35 00:01:43,580 --> 00:01:48,140 For the earnest expectation of the creation waited 36 00:01:48,140 --> 00:01:50,180 for the revealing of the sons of God. 37 00:01:51,740 --> 00:01:55,100 For the creation was subjected to vanity, not 38 00:01:55,100 --> 00:01:58,120 of its own will, but by reason of 39 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:02,000 him who subjected it, in hope that the 40 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:05,720 creation itself also shall be delivered from the 41 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:09,300 bondage of corruption unto the liberty of the 42 00:02:09,300 --> 00:02:10,740 glory of the children of God. 43 00:02:13,340 --> 00:02:18,120 For we know that the whole creation groaneth 44 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:23,660 and travaileth in pain together until now, and 45 00:02:23,660 --> 00:02:26,460 not only so, but ourselves also, which have 46 00:02:26,460 --> 00:02:28,760 the first fruits of the spirit, even we 47 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:33,540 ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, 48 00:02:34,380 --> 00:02:36,060 to wit, the redemption of our body. 49 00:02:37,620 --> 00:02:42,160 For by hope were we saved, but hope 50 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:43,640 that is seen is not hope. 51 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:46,620 For who hopeth for that which is seen? 52 00:02:47,740 --> 00:02:49,500 But if we hope for that which we 53 00:02:49,500 --> 00:02:52,900 see not, then do we with patience wait 54 00:02:52,900 --> 00:02:53,280 for it. 55 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:58,120 And in like manner the spirit also helpeth 56 00:02:58,120 --> 00:02:59,020 our infirmity. 57 00:03:01,340 --> 00:03:03,320 For we know not how to pray as 58 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:08,640 we ought, but the spirit himself maketh intercession 59 00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:12,760 for us, with groanings which cannot be uttered. 60 00:03:13,660 --> 00:03:16,620 And he that searcheth for hearts knoweth what 61 00:03:16,620 --> 00:03:18,820 is the mind of the spirit, because he 62 00:03:18,820 --> 00:03:21,240 maketh intercession for the saints according to the 63 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:21,820 will of God. 64 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:24,820 And we know that to them that love 65 00:03:24,820 --> 00:03:29,960 God all things work together for good, even 66 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:32,220 to them that are called according to his 67 00:03:32,220 --> 00:03:32,600 purpose. 68 00:03:33,580 --> 00:03:38,980 For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to 69 00:03:38,980 --> 00:03:41,360 be conformed to the image of his Son, 70 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:45,000 so that he might be the firstborn among 71 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:45,720 many brethren. 72 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:49,800 And whom he foreordained, them he also called. 73 00:03:51,220 --> 00:03:53,840 Whom he called, them he also justified. 74 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:57,880 And whom he justified, them he also glorified. 75 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:00,340 We'll stop there. 76 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:02,700 It's a chapter of tremendous encouragement, Romans chapter 77 00:04:02,700 --> 00:04:02,920 8. 78 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:09,260 It's come after Paul's wrestling with the reality 79 00:04:09,260 --> 00:04:12,860 of sin in chapter 7. 80 00:04:14,780 --> 00:04:16,760 And now in chapter 8 the Holy Spirit 81 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:18,060 comes to the rescue. 82 00:04:19,959 --> 00:04:22,980 And he helps us deal with our flesh 83 00:04:22,980 --> 00:04:24,680 there in the early verses of chapter 8. 84 00:04:25,580 --> 00:04:28,780 The Holy Spirit assures us of our salvation 85 00:04:28,780 --> 00:04:30,180 as children of God. 86 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:32,700 Chapter of great encouragement. 87 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:34,980 He assures us of coming glory. 88 00:04:36,020 --> 00:04:37,180 And in the verses that we've read, the 89 00:04:37,180 --> 00:04:39,880 Holy Spirit helps us with our praying. 90 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:46,060 Now it's good to step back from all 91 00:04:46,060 --> 00:04:48,500 that you're involved with and just think, what 92 00:04:48,500 --> 00:04:50,860 are God's ultimate objectives for my life? 93 00:04:52,940 --> 00:04:54,160 We're coming to the end of the conference. 94 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:58,840 People are beginning to think that perhaps they 95 00:04:58,840 --> 00:05:02,160 might be, maybe a little bit weary of 96 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:02,580 meetings. 97 00:05:05,940 --> 00:05:07,460 The thought does sometimes, you know. 98 00:05:10,280 --> 00:05:13,120 They have eaten just about enough cornflakes for 99 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:14,580 this September 1985. 100 00:05:17,930 --> 00:05:20,850 If they have to eat any more slabs 101 00:05:20,850 --> 00:05:22,690 of Belgian brown bread. 102 00:05:26,270 --> 00:05:30,570 Some people, you know, after a conference, they 103 00:05:30,570 --> 00:05:33,150 stand up tall and they look down and 104 00:05:33,150 --> 00:05:34,470 they've lost sight of their feet. 105 00:05:34,470 --> 00:05:41,830 As the outer man has far from wasting 106 00:05:41,830 --> 00:05:47,790 away, as Scripture said it would, been increasing. 107 00:05:48,070 --> 00:05:49,650 And they wonder whether it's the inner man 108 00:05:49,650 --> 00:05:50,750 that's been wasting away. 109 00:05:54,260 --> 00:05:56,500 And yet within a few weeks you'll be 110 00:05:56,500 --> 00:06:00,860 launching out on your teams, not seeing very 111 00:06:00,860 --> 00:06:01,520 far ahead. 112 00:06:03,060 --> 00:06:04,800 Putting your hand in the hand of God 113 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:06,060 and going in faith. 114 00:06:07,020 --> 00:06:08,700 I remember as if it were yesterday, my 115 00:06:08,700 --> 00:06:10,200 beginning on the year program. 116 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:12,460 I was an odd case as usual. 117 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:14,720 And I set off at six in the 118 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:14,980 morning. 119 00:06:15,220 --> 00:06:16,780 I went to George Verwer's house. 120 00:06:16,900 --> 00:06:18,940 I picked up his five-year-old son 121 00:06:18,940 --> 00:06:24,050 to take him from Bromley in South London 122 00:06:24,050 --> 00:06:26,390 to Lahore in Pakistan. 123 00:06:28,210 --> 00:06:30,390 Where I would meet with George who would 124 00:06:30,390 --> 00:06:31,470 relieve me of him. 125 00:06:34,610 --> 00:06:38,330 Peter Conlon was travelling the same trip with 126 00:06:38,330 --> 00:06:40,050 Benjamin Verwer who was seven. 127 00:06:41,190 --> 00:06:45,270 We had the most extraordinary adventures on the 128 00:06:45,270 --> 00:06:45,530 way. 129 00:06:46,270 --> 00:06:48,470 We lost both boys in a petrol station 130 00:06:48,470 --> 00:06:49,130 in Afghanistan. 131 00:06:49,590 --> 00:06:56,660 We were trying to cross a border. 132 00:06:58,420 --> 00:07:00,820 Truck loaded up with stuff that we didn't 133 00:07:00,820 --> 00:07:01,560 know what was in it. 134 00:07:03,100 --> 00:07:05,620 There was a huge chest. 135 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:11,570 We never looked inside it. 136 00:07:11,650 --> 00:07:14,330 We were simply driving it out to India. 137 00:07:15,050 --> 00:07:16,550 We came to a border post. 138 00:07:17,370 --> 00:07:23,940 I forget now whether it was... 139 00:07:23,940 --> 00:07:26,320 The customs officer said, what is it? 140 00:07:32,570 --> 00:07:34,930 He said, what is it really? 141 00:07:37,220 --> 00:07:38,040 Personal stuff? 142 00:07:39,140 --> 00:07:40,200 So he said, open it. 143 00:07:41,500 --> 00:07:44,960 There we were, Peter Conlon, myself and two 144 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:47,500 others and these two little boys, one five 145 00:07:47,500 --> 00:07:48,120 and one seven. 146 00:07:49,140 --> 00:07:52,200 When we opened this great box up at 147 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:58,140 his inquiry, absolutely full of ladies' underwear. 148 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:12,440 This was Charlie clothes being sent out to 149 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:15,940 equip half the teams in India. 150 00:08:18,910 --> 00:08:20,650 And the customs officer looked at me and 151 00:08:20,650 --> 00:08:22,010 said, personal clothes? 152 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:34,400 And I gave him my last Mars bar 153 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:38,280 and he waved us through the customs post. 154 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:42,840 I've been saving these Mars bars for the 155 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:43,580 next two years. 156 00:08:44,660 --> 00:08:47,260 Lost them all getting ladies' Charlie into India. 157 00:08:49,340 --> 00:08:50,360 You know, you don't know what... 158 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:51,100 I don't know how I got on to 159 00:08:51,100 --> 00:08:51,480 that story. 160 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:52,520 But this is the crisis. 161 00:08:52,700 --> 00:08:54,840 You don't know what you're getting into. 162 00:08:55,140 --> 00:08:56,840 And I want to just remind you of 163 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:59,860 some of the assurances that we have here 164 00:08:59,860 --> 00:09:01,120 in this chapter. 165 00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:02,480 The first is this. 166 00:09:02,860 --> 00:09:07,920 That God's great goal, the outside frame of 167 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:08,720 the jigsaw puzzle. 168 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:10,180 Do you remember that from the first day? 169 00:09:11,900 --> 00:09:15,000 Is in verse twenty-nine, to make you 170 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:18,640 be conformed to the image of his son. 171 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:22,540 His goal for you this year, he could 172 00:09:22,540 --> 00:09:24,980 just as well accomplish if you stayed back 173 00:09:24,980 --> 00:09:27,880 home, working as a porter in a hospital. 174 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:31,240 Or if you were back in college, or 175 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:32,660 if you were in Bible school, or if 176 00:09:32,660 --> 00:09:33,500 you were working in a factory. 177 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:35,960 He could just as well accomplish it, as 178 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:36,700 if you go. 179 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:38,020 It's his goal. 180 00:09:38,860 --> 00:09:42,160 His goal for you is not mass evangelism. 181 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:45,220 It's not missionary exposure alone. 182 00:09:46,260 --> 00:09:47,520 It's not just travel. 183 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:52,280 Through it all, he wants to, with your 184 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:56,320 cooperation, deeply change your character. 185 00:09:57,760 --> 00:09:59,560 He wants us to be sons and daughters 186 00:09:59,560 --> 00:10:01,120 like him. 187 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:07,840 When the Queen of England, as she now 188 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:12,080 is, in 1952, was out in Africa. 189 00:10:12,260 --> 00:10:13,140 She was not yet Queen. 190 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:17,580 Her father, George VI, had gone through the 191 00:10:17,580 --> 00:10:17,860 war. 192 00:10:18,260 --> 00:10:21,280 And then, he was always ill with cancer. 193 00:10:21,900 --> 00:10:23,260 And in 1952, he died. 194 00:10:25,830 --> 00:10:29,190 And the Princess Elizabeth was out in Kenya, 195 00:10:29,310 --> 00:10:30,370 or Tanzania, somewhere. 196 00:10:31,690 --> 00:10:35,030 In a game park, by a watering hole. 197 00:10:35,170 --> 00:10:37,050 And there were elephants and hippopotamuses. 198 00:10:37,050 --> 00:10:37,970 And there was mud. 199 00:10:38,210 --> 00:10:39,370 And there were monkeys. 200 00:10:40,290 --> 00:10:45,070 It was a real muddy, ordinary human, down 201 00:10:45,070 --> 00:10:45,650 -to-earth scene. 202 00:10:46,670 --> 00:10:49,270 And someone arrived, who'd come from London. 203 00:10:51,150 --> 00:10:53,130 And they went up to the Princess, and 204 00:10:53,130 --> 00:10:53,810 they knelt down. 205 00:10:54,550 --> 00:10:55,850 And they said, Your Majesty. 206 00:10:56,690 --> 00:10:58,310 And she knew at the moment that she 207 00:10:58,310 --> 00:10:59,930 was addressed, Your Majesty. 208 00:11:00,790 --> 00:11:03,790 She knew that her dear father had died. 209 00:11:04,490 --> 00:11:06,850 And that she was now the Queen. 210 00:11:08,250 --> 00:11:11,190 Now, humanly, she was dressed in gumboots. 211 00:11:13,290 --> 00:11:14,250 Safari clothes. 212 00:11:15,170 --> 00:11:16,550 Mosquitoes were biting her. 213 00:11:17,850 --> 00:11:19,770 She probably had a bit of diarrhoea. 214 00:11:20,130 --> 00:11:21,590 She was out on one of these tours. 215 00:11:22,410 --> 00:11:24,010 And yet, she was Majesty. 216 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:27,420 She had a long way to go from 217 00:11:27,420 --> 00:11:29,100 that muddy hole in Africa. 218 00:11:29,560 --> 00:11:31,600 Until she eventually sat on the throne in 219 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:32,360 Westminster Abbey. 220 00:11:34,460 --> 00:11:35,800 We have got a long way to go. 221 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:39,720 We've been promised that if we are faithful, 222 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:41,680 we will one day reign with Him. 223 00:11:42,540 --> 00:11:45,300 God's goal for us is exceedingly high and 224 00:11:45,300 --> 00:11:45,740 glorious. 225 00:11:48,980 --> 00:11:51,920 And yet, He addresses us now with the 226 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:56,000 status of being Prince, Princess, if you like, 227 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:58,400 sons and daughters of the Living God. 228 00:11:59,580 --> 00:12:01,360 But His goal is that we become like 229 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:01,980 Him in character. 230 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:03,580 And then we read of the help of 231 00:12:03,580 --> 00:12:05,660 the Holy Spirit, verses 26 and 27. 232 00:12:05,660 --> 00:12:09,920 And I like this because, you know, you 233 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:13,240 may, in going home, really wonder about how 234 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:14,460 many prayer partners you have. 235 00:12:15,820 --> 00:12:18,420 You read in these verses of two people 236 00:12:18,420 --> 00:12:20,180 who have signed up as your prayer partner 237 00:12:20,180 --> 00:12:21,080 already. 238 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:24,720 There is Jesus in heaven who is praying 239 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:25,160 for you. 240 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:27,120 And there is the Holy Spirit within you 241 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:28,280 who is praying for you. 242 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:30,220 So your list, at least, has two great 243 00:12:30,220 --> 00:12:32,040 prayer partners on it. 244 00:12:34,060 --> 00:12:36,840 And these two prayer partners are rather unlike 245 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:39,340 the rest of your prayer partners. 246 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:41,660 They are certainly faithful, they know exactly how 247 00:12:41,660 --> 00:12:42,280 to pray for you. 248 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:45,580 In like manner, the Spirit helps us in 249 00:12:45,580 --> 00:12:46,380 our infirmity. 250 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:48,960 You've got two problems. 251 00:12:49,820 --> 00:12:52,220 And the Holy Spirit will help you in 252 00:12:52,220 --> 00:12:52,500 both. 253 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:55,980 You are weak and you are ignorant. 254 00:12:56,840 --> 00:12:59,480 We have infirmity and we don't know how 255 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:00,500 to pray as we ought. 256 00:13:01,780 --> 00:13:04,600 The filling and the inspiration and the leading 257 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:06,940 of the Holy Spirit is as essential to 258 00:13:06,940 --> 00:13:10,080 our salvation as Christ's death on the cross. 259 00:13:12,980 --> 00:13:15,160 Salvation in the ultimate sense of bringing us 260 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:18,080 right through to glory, prepared to be with 261 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:19,020 God for eternity. 262 00:13:20,300 --> 00:13:23,160 We have a weakness in our prayer. 263 00:13:23,700 --> 00:13:24,260 Isn't that true? 264 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:26,100 Don't you sometimes feel, you know, you wish 265 00:13:26,100 --> 00:13:27,840 that you knew more of prayer? 266 00:13:28,380 --> 00:13:29,680 You were more faithful in prayer? 267 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:31,260 You knew more how to pray? 268 00:13:31,260 --> 00:13:32,740 There was more discipline? 269 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:37,260 And yet how many of you have known 270 00:13:37,260 --> 00:13:39,960 what it is to get a hold of 271 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:41,520 yourself and to go and pray and as 272 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:44,040 you begin to pray, somehow God... 273 00:13:46,380 --> 00:13:48,640 And that which was, you know, a cold 274 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:52,460 start of a vehicle in the morning, suddenly, 275 00:13:52,460 --> 00:13:54,060 the engine begins to go. 276 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:55,380 Have you known that? 277 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:00,360 You bring your unruly heart, it runs around 278 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:02,760 like a puppy dog, you bring it with 279 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:05,860 discipline before God and you set yourself to 280 00:14:05,860 --> 00:14:08,440 pray and then the Holy Spirit begins to 281 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:09,840 ignite the afterburners. 282 00:14:11,180 --> 00:14:12,860 I've mixed my metaphors but you understand what 283 00:14:12,860 --> 00:14:14,780 I'm talking about. 284 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:17,320 He helps us in our weakness. 285 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:21,460 He seems to pick up the heavy end 286 00:14:21,460 --> 00:14:23,940 of the load but also he helps us 287 00:14:23,940 --> 00:14:24,720 in our ignorance. 288 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:26,700 We don't know how to pray, do we, 289 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:27,160 so often? 290 00:14:27,860 --> 00:14:28,740 Even for ourselves. 291 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:30,600 We're so like children. 292 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:34,640 I remember it was yesterday, my oldest girl's 293 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:35,420 birthday. 294 00:14:36,540 --> 00:14:38,600 She was 11 back in England. 295 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:40,920 I can remember when she was a kid 296 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:42,400 and she would call out in the night 297 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:44,960 and I remember going through one night and 298 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:46,300 she was sitting up about 2 o'clock 299 00:14:46,300 --> 00:14:49,700 in the morning, this little girl, Alison, and, 300 00:14:49,700 --> 00:14:52,440 Daddy, I want an apple. 301 00:14:54,920 --> 00:14:56,280 It's the middle of the night, you can't 302 00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:58,640 have an apple. 303 00:14:58,860 --> 00:15:00,480 I want you to read me a story 304 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:00,720 then. 305 00:15:01,460 --> 00:15:02,720 A nice story about Jesus. 306 00:15:05,710 --> 00:15:06,830 Right round the little thing. 307 00:15:08,370 --> 00:15:10,170 I said, look, it's not time for stories 308 00:15:10,170 --> 00:15:10,770 in the middle of the night. 309 00:15:10,810 --> 00:15:11,410 You should be sleeping. 310 00:15:11,510 --> 00:15:12,630 Well, I want a fizzy drink then. 311 00:15:14,820 --> 00:15:15,940 I said, I'm not giving you a fizzy 312 00:15:15,940 --> 00:15:16,180 drink. 313 00:15:16,260 --> 00:15:17,280 You'll have to get up later in the 314 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:17,720 night, won't you? 315 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:19,160 Well, let's go for a walk in the 316 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:19,640 park then. 317 00:15:21,770 --> 00:15:25,690 She didn't know what she wanted except company. 318 00:15:26,970 --> 00:15:29,970 She'd woken up, she wanted Dad around doing 319 00:15:29,970 --> 00:15:31,550 the kind of things that little girls get 320 00:15:31,550 --> 00:15:32,310 dads to do. 321 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:36,040 We're like that in our prayers too, aren't 322 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:36,840 we? 323 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:38,320 As you pray for yourself. 324 00:15:39,580 --> 00:15:41,600 Most of us don't really know how we 325 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:42,760 ought to pray for ourselves. 326 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:46,660 We perhaps don't fully recognise, even at the 327 00:15:46,660 --> 00:15:48,320 end of this conference, what our real needs 328 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:48,540 are. 329 00:15:51,860 --> 00:15:56,340 Maybe, you know, we're battling with problems of 330 00:15:56,340 --> 00:16:01,240 spiritual dryness or disillusion or difficulty and we 331 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:04,140 half recognise it and then we don't. 332 00:16:05,220 --> 00:16:06,580 The vision is not clear. 333 00:16:07,860 --> 00:16:12,780 And the Holy Spirit within knows exactly how 334 00:16:12,780 --> 00:16:13,980 you should be prayed for. 335 00:16:14,580 --> 00:16:16,480 And however you may pray for yourself, He 336 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:19,780 is also praying as your best prayer partner 337 00:16:19,780 --> 00:16:22,620 for you according to your real need. 338 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:24,560 It's remarkable, isn't it? 339 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:28,580 The Lord will pray Himself for us. 340 00:16:29,340 --> 00:16:31,820 In Luke chapter 10, the disciples were sent 341 00:16:31,820 --> 00:16:32,840 out on campaign. 342 00:16:33,300 --> 00:16:34,660 They were sent out in pairs. 343 00:16:34,660 --> 00:16:37,440 They were sent out to preach the Gospel. 344 00:16:38,020 --> 00:16:39,980 They were sent out in simplicity, with very 345 00:16:39,980 --> 00:16:42,840 little in the way of food, clothing. 346 00:16:43,580 --> 00:16:46,120 They were sent out with authority over the 347 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:47,600 forces of the evil one. 348 00:16:47,700 --> 00:16:51,020 But they were not, in Luke 10, told 349 00:16:51,020 --> 00:16:54,200 anything of the Holy Spirit going with them. 350 00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:59,740 But now the Lord commissions us, sends us 351 00:16:59,740 --> 00:17:02,640 out with the Holy Spirit dwelling within us 352 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:05,520 to pray for us, working in each of 353 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:05,780 us. 354 00:17:05,780 --> 00:17:09,780 And He prays for accuracy, with accuracy for 355 00:17:09,780 --> 00:17:10,040 us. 356 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:13,700 How do you feel with this idea? 357 00:17:14,540 --> 00:17:21,960 That God knows exactly your life, the needs 358 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:24,660 of your life, how vulnerable you may be 359 00:17:24,660 --> 00:17:26,280 at the moment to certain pressures. 360 00:17:28,580 --> 00:17:30,980 He knows precisely what's coming up. 361 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:33,920 Some of you may be going home, those 362 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:36,760 of you Europeans, and maybe you're going to 363 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:42,100 walk into a real buzzing hornet's swarm at 364 00:17:42,100 --> 00:17:42,360 home. 365 00:17:42,500 --> 00:17:43,840 People are going to say things that are 366 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:45,900 going to really hurt you or upset you. 367 00:17:46,980 --> 00:17:48,760 There may be troubles coming in your church 368 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:50,820 and you're going to find that very difficult 369 00:17:50,820 --> 00:17:51,360 to cope with. 370 00:17:52,420 --> 00:17:54,160 Maybe there are going to be disappointments, even 371 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:56,040 bereavements, that you're going to have to face 372 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:56,940 in the weeks ahead. 373 00:17:57,360 --> 00:18:00,560 And the Lord Himself knows and He prays 374 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:02,280 for you before you get there. 375 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:06,420 The non-Christian, the person who doesn't know 376 00:18:06,420 --> 00:18:10,460 God at all, they are frightened by the 377 00:18:10,460 --> 00:18:12,020 idea that God knows them. 378 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,000 You can see that in an evangelistic meeting, 379 00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:18,360 when you tell people and you enforce it 380 00:18:18,360 --> 00:18:20,440 that God knows their heart, He knows their 381 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:21,560 lusts and their jealousies. 382 00:18:21,980 --> 00:18:23,660 He knows the way they seek to hurt 383 00:18:23,660 --> 00:18:24,020 people. 384 00:18:25,420 --> 00:18:27,860 He knows the critical spirit that they have. 385 00:18:28,180 --> 00:18:29,720 People will go white at the thought that 386 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:30,960 God knows them. 387 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,840 But for the Christian, that same truth is 388 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:35,820 immensely encouraging. 389 00:18:36,660 --> 00:18:37,440 That God knows us. 390 00:18:38,140 --> 00:18:39,020 He accepts us. 391 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:41,480 We are accepted in His beloved Son. 392 00:18:42,300 --> 00:18:44,840 And He prays for us with absolute accuracy. 393 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:47,000 And He prays for us according to God's 394 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:47,200 will. 395 00:18:49,460 --> 00:18:50,920 I wonder what problems you're going to face 396 00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:51,860 in the year ahead. 397 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:57,350 When I finally got out to India, managed 398 00:18:57,350 --> 00:18:58,850 to get the boy to his father and 399 00:18:58,850 --> 00:19:02,250 then left him and carried on, the single 400 00:19:02,250 --> 00:19:04,350 biggest thing I think that I faced over 401 00:19:04,350 --> 00:19:07,450 those three years was loneliness. 402 00:19:09,110 --> 00:19:11,790 I would never have anticipated it. 403 00:19:13,170 --> 00:19:14,830 I'm not normally a lonely person. 404 00:19:17,090 --> 00:19:18,570 I was the only Westerner on a team. 405 00:19:19,330 --> 00:19:21,530 The only white face I ever saw was 406 00:19:21,530 --> 00:19:23,390 my own in the shaving mirror in the 407 00:19:23,390 --> 00:19:23,610 morning. 408 00:19:25,770 --> 00:19:27,370 And then when my shaving mirror broke, I 409 00:19:27,370 --> 00:19:28,670 didn't have anybody. 410 00:19:29,290 --> 00:19:34,650 Some of the chaps couldn't speak much English. 411 00:19:35,350 --> 00:19:36,930 I come straight from a college where my 412 00:19:36,930 --> 00:19:38,650 mind, I suppose, was as tuned as it 413 00:19:38,650 --> 00:19:39,110 ever will be. 414 00:19:41,610 --> 00:19:44,090 I was deeply lonely at times. 415 00:19:45,610 --> 00:19:47,210 Lonely for people I could joke with, with 416 00:19:47,210 --> 00:19:48,890 my own kind of humour. 417 00:19:49,050 --> 00:19:50,490 Lonely for people who could understand me. 418 00:19:50,570 --> 00:19:51,590 Letters weren't getting through. 419 00:19:53,190 --> 00:19:55,690 I was sick as well, dysentery on and 420 00:19:55,690 --> 00:19:56,450 off for two years. 421 00:19:58,290 --> 00:19:58,930 Deeply lonely. 422 00:19:59,530 --> 00:20:01,070 And yet I tell you, it was at 423 00:20:01,070 --> 00:20:04,650 that time, looking back now, I am so 424 00:20:04,650 --> 00:20:06,750 grateful to God, because it was at that 425 00:20:06,750 --> 00:20:10,490 time that He drew near. 426 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:16,520 God the Holy Spirit, praying for me day 427 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:19,720 by day, knowing about my weakness, knowing that 428 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:21,420 I didn't even know how to pray for 429 00:20:21,420 --> 00:20:23,300 myself, He drew near. 430 00:20:24,260 --> 00:20:26,260 Made Himself more real. 431 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:28,620 He prayed for me through all that. 432 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:30,940 For some it may be loss of privacy 433 00:20:30,940 --> 00:20:31,620 this coming year. 434 00:20:32,260 --> 00:20:33,480 I guess you won't be too lonely on 435 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:36,480 the ships, there's people everywhere you turn. 436 00:20:37,220 --> 00:20:39,380 Maybe you just get fed up with living 437 00:20:39,380 --> 00:20:41,900 in a tiny little cabin, four people squashed 438 00:20:41,900 --> 00:20:44,460 into a shoebox, and you can't get off 439 00:20:44,460 --> 00:20:44,800 the ship. 440 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:45,540 I mean, it's water. 441 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:48,540 Loss of privacy. 442 00:20:49,100 --> 00:20:50,320 And that may be a real pressure. 443 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:54,000 Cultural shock and adaptation involved in that. 444 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:55,300 Or maybe you're going to be on a 445 00:20:55,300 --> 00:20:58,440 team with a difficult person. 446 00:20:59,380 --> 00:21:02,240 What Joyce Landorff calls an irregular person. 447 00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:05,220 It's a kind phrase, isn't it? 448 00:21:05,580 --> 00:21:06,560 Irregular person. 449 00:21:07,780 --> 00:21:08,840 And maybe you're going to have to be 450 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:10,100 in a cabin or on a team for 451 00:21:10,100 --> 00:21:12,260 the coming year with an irregular person. 452 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:14,800 Now, the Lord knows. 453 00:21:16,260 --> 00:21:18,340 And He's already been speaking to you and 454 00:21:18,340 --> 00:21:19,160 preparing you. 455 00:21:20,260 --> 00:21:21,820 Have you been listening to His word as 456 00:21:21,820 --> 00:21:23,080 He's been preparing you for this? 457 00:21:23,820 --> 00:21:25,980 Or maybe there will be denominational pressures for 458 00:21:25,980 --> 00:21:26,100 you. 459 00:21:26,360 --> 00:21:27,840 You know, you come from a particular background 460 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:30,860 and you find that everyone else is rather 461 00:21:30,860 --> 00:21:31,360 different. 462 00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:34,880 And you find yourself under a subtle kind 463 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:36,660 of intimidation. 464 00:21:37,740 --> 00:21:40,280 I remember watching a girl from the Hebrides, 465 00:21:41,120 --> 00:21:43,320 who come from the wee free kirk of 466 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:47,660 Scotland, sitting in a meeting at an August 467 00:21:47,660 --> 00:21:48,760 conference some years ago. 468 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:52,240 Now, the August conference is often very British 469 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:52,840 in flavour. 470 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:55,100 Much more so than the June conference. 471 00:21:55,740 --> 00:21:58,460 Being British and nowadays, it tends to be 472 00:21:58,460 --> 00:22:00,380 much more charismatic in flavour. 473 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:05,460 And there were people around who were expressing 474 00:22:05,460 --> 00:22:07,840 themselves in worship in ways that she was, 475 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:10,000 I could see, utterly unused to. 476 00:22:11,790 --> 00:22:14,750 There were arms aloft and people were swaying 477 00:22:14,750 --> 00:22:15,110 and moving. 478 00:22:15,230 --> 00:22:16,210 It was almost like the back of the 479 00:22:16,210 --> 00:22:17,370 Manchester United football. 480 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:21,520 And she was sort of sitting on her 481 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:24,060 hands, lest they, you know, do anything naughty. 482 00:22:24,740 --> 00:22:28,860 And the pressure on her, of that. 483 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:30,700 Some folk really feel that. 484 00:22:31,180 --> 00:22:33,300 And whatever it may be, God knows our 485 00:22:33,300 --> 00:22:33,580 hearts. 486 00:22:33,660 --> 00:22:36,620 And we read here that He makes intercession 487 00:22:36,620 --> 00:22:38,380 for the saints according to the will of 488 00:22:38,380 --> 00:22:38,640 God. 489 00:22:40,220 --> 00:22:42,880 He that searches the hearts knoweth what is 490 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:43,860 the mind of the spirit. 491 00:22:44,620 --> 00:22:45,240 He knows. 492 00:22:47,330 --> 00:22:48,670 Knows what you're going to go through on 493 00:22:48,670 --> 00:22:49,030 your own. 494 00:22:49,030 --> 00:22:51,410 You saw that film, Chariots of Fire. 495 00:22:52,190 --> 00:22:52,710 Many of you. 496 00:22:54,330 --> 00:23:00,250 That brilliant athlete who played rugby for Scotland 497 00:23:00,250 --> 00:23:02,090 and then ran for Britain in the Olympics 498 00:23:02,090 --> 00:23:05,990 in 1924, eventually died in a Japanese prison 499 00:23:05,990 --> 00:23:07,050 of war camp in China. 500 00:23:08,050 --> 00:23:09,030 But he... 501 00:23:09,970 --> 00:23:12,630 The secret of his power on the athletics 502 00:23:12,630 --> 00:23:15,310 track or the sports field were those long, 503 00:23:15,590 --> 00:23:18,090 lonely, training runs on the hills of his 504 00:23:18,090 --> 00:23:18,810 native Scotland. 505 00:23:19,890 --> 00:23:21,430 When nobody saw him, when the rain was 506 00:23:21,430 --> 00:23:23,650 pouring down and he was just pounding on 507 00:23:23,650 --> 00:23:23,830 them. 508 00:23:25,510 --> 00:23:28,210 God will know about those kind of lonely 509 00:23:28,210 --> 00:23:29,910 disciplines that you may go through. 510 00:23:30,770 --> 00:23:31,510 He prays for you. 511 00:23:31,750 --> 00:23:32,530 He draws near. 512 00:23:32,830 --> 00:23:35,030 You have a prayer partner that is better 513 00:23:35,030 --> 00:23:38,030 than any other possibly could be. 514 00:23:38,850 --> 00:23:42,510 And I want you to draw near to 515 00:23:42,510 --> 00:23:44,530 such a God during this year. 516 00:23:46,030 --> 00:23:47,830 Some of you may even already in your 517 00:23:47,830 --> 00:23:51,390 opening months in OM have started to think 518 00:23:51,390 --> 00:23:53,870 about certain emotional involvements. 519 00:23:55,450 --> 00:23:58,410 Allow your soul to be drawn closer to 520 00:23:58,410 --> 00:23:59,870 God this year. 521 00:24:01,070 --> 00:24:02,850 Because that's God's great goal that you may 522 00:24:02,850 --> 00:24:04,710 be conformed to His image. 523 00:24:06,250 --> 00:24:08,130 The Lord had prayed for Peter. 524 00:24:09,110 --> 00:24:10,570 I've said this before here. 525 00:24:10,750 --> 00:24:12,190 It's one of the things that struck me 526 00:24:12,190 --> 00:24:12,670 very deeply. 527 00:24:13,090 --> 00:24:14,490 Peter and Paul were different, weren't they? 528 00:24:15,490 --> 00:24:16,010 Psychologically. 529 00:24:17,310 --> 00:24:19,550 Paul was the kind of character who would 530 00:24:19,550 --> 00:24:22,850 stand up in front of Nero, that vicious 531 00:24:22,850 --> 00:24:26,630 Roman Emperor, and chained though he was, say, 532 00:24:26,770 --> 00:24:29,010 Nero, I wish with all my heart that 533 00:24:29,010 --> 00:24:31,650 you were as I am, apart from these 534 00:24:31,650 --> 00:24:32,030 chains. 535 00:24:33,530 --> 00:24:35,190 That you are a converted man. 536 00:24:35,470 --> 00:24:37,090 And he would say that without any disciples 537 00:24:37,090 --> 00:24:39,410 around, egging him on and clapping, I'll give 538 00:24:39,410 --> 00:24:40,010 it to him, Paul. 539 00:24:42,860 --> 00:24:43,500 Peter was different. 540 00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:46,300 You stood Peter up in front of a 541 00:24:46,300 --> 00:24:49,940 hostile crowd and Peter's particular psychological makeup tended 542 00:24:49,940 --> 00:24:50,420 to crumble. 543 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:53,660 Even a little girl could blow him over. 544 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:55,580 They were different. 545 00:24:55,980 --> 00:24:58,000 We find Peter crumbling in Galatians 2. 546 00:24:58,360 --> 00:25:00,540 We find him, same in the Gospels. 547 00:25:00,540 --> 00:25:03,200 Same Peter, different psychological makeup. 548 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:06,980 And the Lord said to Peter, I've prayed 549 00:25:06,980 --> 00:25:10,180 for you, that your faith fail not. 550 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:13,520 You're going to come under great temptation this 551 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:13,780 night. 552 00:25:15,380 --> 00:25:17,240 Tomorrow before the cock crows you will have 553 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:18,620 denied me three times, Peter. 554 00:25:20,770 --> 00:25:21,230 Not true. 555 00:25:23,660 --> 00:25:24,940 I've already seen it coming. 556 00:25:25,260 --> 00:25:26,860 I've seen this chink in your armour. 557 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:30,820 Peter, I'm telling you this, out of love, 558 00:25:30,900 --> 00:25:31,460 not critically. 559 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:33,960 I've already been praying for you. 560 00:25:34,660 --> 00:25:37,120 The Lord took time out to pray for 561 00:25:37,120 --> 00:25:39,780 his friends because he saw their weakness. 562 00:25:41,180 --> 00:25:42,560 Prayed for them before the crisis came. 563 00:25:43,580 --> 00:25:45,820 I imagine that when it did come and 564 00:25:45,820 --> 00:25:48,120 Peter was out in the streets weeping bitterly, 565 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:50,840 having let the Lord down, eventually when he 566 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:52,600 began to come to his senses, he remembered 567 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:53,800 that the Lord had in fact spoken. 568 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:55,780 Had assured him of prayer. 569 00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:58,440 That his faith was not doomed to failure. 570 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:01,040 That he'd even been offered before the crisis 571 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:03,540 that ministry of strengthening his brethren. 572 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:07,320 That out of weakness would come that strength. 573 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:10,520 So that Peter, perhaps more than any of 574 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:12,540 the other apostles in the early church, was 575 00:26:12,540 --> 00:26:15,220 able to draw alongside those who felt themselves 576 00:26:15,220 --> 00:26:15,900 to be failures. 577 00:26:17,500 --> 00:26:22,140 John Mark also quit and ran away when 578 00:26:22,140 --> 00:26:24,400 he'd been called out on a missionary journey. 579 00:26:25,260 --> 00:26:27,180 Chapter 13 of Acts, you remember, he only 580 00:26:27,180 --> 00:26:28,100 lasted five verses. 581 00:26:29,420 --> 00:26:30,280 Ran off back home. 582 00:26:31,060 --> 00:26:33,460 And yet it was Peter, we understand, who 583 00:26:33,460 --> 00:26:34,920 ministered to him. 584 00:26:34,980 --> 00:26:36,280 He strengthened his brethren. 585 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:39,220 The Lord was using Peter. 586 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:40,740 Had prayed for Peter. 587 00:26:40,940 --> 00:26:42,020 Watched over Peter. 588 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:44,380 Understood his psychological needs. 589 00:26:44,700 --> 00:26:46,440 Ministered to him at that point of need. 590 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:49,720 What a great prayer partner the Lord was. 591 00:26:50,580 --> 00:26:53,680 Then we read in verse 28 that the 592 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:56,780 Spirit helps us in all our circumstances. 593 00:26:57,840 --> 00:26:59,740 We know that to them that love God 594 00:26:59,740 --> 00:27:02,760 all things work together for good. 595 00:27:03,980 --> 00:27:05,640 To those that are called according to his 596 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:06,000 purpose. 597 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:09,720 Sometimes we imagine that with the guidance of 598 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:13,000 the Lord things will automatically go more smoothly. 599 00:27:15,250 --> 00:27:17,610 If only God guides us, then everything will 600 00:27:17,610 --> 00:27:17,990 be well. 601 00:27:19,190 --> 00:27:20,470 Friends, that is not true. 602 00:27:21,310 --> 00:27:22,210 It's not biblical. 603 00:27:22,210 --> 00:27:23,990 It's a silly idea. 604 00:27:24,610 --> 00:27:26,210 It's not worthy of you as a Christian. 605 00:27:27,610 --> 00:27:28,990 The Bible doesn't bear that out. 606 00:27:30,210 --> 00:27:34,150 God's people were led in the wilderness sometimes 607 00:27:34,150 --> 00:27:35,350 into war. 608 00:27:36,110 --> 00:27:38,530 Into the Amalekites attacking them. 609 00:27:39,630 --> 00:27:41,910 In following the guidance of God they came 610 00:27:41,910 --> 00:27:44,290 into some greater difficulties than they would otherwise 611 00:27:44,290 --> 00:27:44,750 have been in. 612 00:27:45,690 --> 00:27:47,930 The Apostle Paul was guided all around the 613 00:27:47,930 --> 00:27:48,410 Mediterranean. 614 00:27:48,910 --> 00:27:53,570 Guided into riots, into imprisonments, into arrest and 615 00:27:53,570 --> 00:27:55,230 trouble of one sort and another. 616 00:27:56,350 --> 00:27:59,330 Difficulty in your life is not necessarily a 617 00:27:59,330 --> 00:28:01,670 sign that you've somehow got away from the 618 00:28:01,670 --> 00:28:02,450 guidance of God. 619 00:28:03,650 --> 00:28:06,190 God may well have led you into difficulties 620 00:28:06,190 --> 00:28:09,150 but his purpose is that these things will 621 00:28:09,150 --> 00:28:11,350 work together for good. 622 00:28:12,150 --> 00:28:14,370 Think of Daniel chapter 3. 623 00:28:17,050 --> 00:28:19,430 Daniel's three prayer partners, if you like. 624 00:28:19,910 --> 00:28:21,430 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. 625 00:28:23,090 --> 00:28:24,930 And they told Nebuchadnezzar, no we will not 626 00:28:24,930 --> 00:28:26,790 worship this idol that you've set up. 627 00:28:28,010 --> 00:28:29,950 And you may heat the furnace up as 628 00:28:29,950 --> 00:28:31,110 high as you like. 629 00:28:31,670 --> 00:28:34,450 We will not bow down and worship your 630 00:28:34,450 --> 00:28:35,790 great golden monster. 631 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:40,140 And Nebuchadnezzar said, I will throw you into 632 00:28:40,140 --> 00:28:40,480 the furnace. 633 00:28:41,660 --> 00:28:42,900 And they said, well you do what you 634 00:28:42,900 --> 00:28:44,080 feel you have to. 635 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:48,500 And so the three men were tossed into 636 00:28:48,500 --> 00:28:52,860 the furnace, bound, says Daniel chapter 3. 637 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:57,800 They bound them hand and foot and threw 638 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:01,480 them like rag dolls into this blazing furnace. 639 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:04,280 And then Nebuchadnezzar watched. 640 00:29:06,910 --> 00:29:08,210 He saw four men in there. 641 00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:14,320 There'd been a man in there already, waiting 642 00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:16,540 for them to arrive. 643 00:29:17,500 --> 00:29:18,060 He met them. 644 00:29:20,670 --> 00:29:22,710 And the four of them walked up and 645 00:29:22,710 --> 00:29:25,690 down inside that furnace and had fellowship together. 646 00:29:27,210 --> 00:29:29,430 And the only thing that the flames did 647 00:29:29,430 --> 00:29:33,550 was to make those three bound men a 648 00:29:33,550 --> 00:29:35,350 bit more like the one man who was 649 00:29:35,350 --> 00:29:35,690 free. 650 00:29:36,570 --> 00:29:39,690 The flames burnt off that which was tying 651 00:29:39,690 --> 00:29:40,890 them and holding them. 652 00:29:42,710 --> 00:29:45,110 They met the Lord there, in the fire. 653 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:49,600 Nebuchadnezzar was utterly astonished. 654 00:29:50,140 --> 00:29:54,000 In fact, seeing that process of change was 655 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:57,380 one major step on the road to Nebuchadnezzar's 656 00:29:57,380 --> 00:29:58,360 own conversion. 657 00:30:00,340 --> 00:30:02,300 Eventually he seems to have become a God 658 00:30:02,300 --> 00:30:03,680 -fearing believer. 659 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:06,640 Now you may well feel that you've been 660 00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:09,120 thrown into some pretty fiery situations. 661 00:30:10,380 --> 00:30:11,580 You'll meet the Lord there. 662 00:30:13,950 --> 00:30:14,770 He's there waiting. 663 00:30:16,210 --> 00:30:18,130 And his purpose is that you might become 664 00:30:18,130 --> 00:30:18,890 like him. 665 00:30:19,950 --> 00:30:20,310 Freer. 666 00:30:21,310 --> 00:30:22,730 Able to have fellowship with him. 667 00:30:23,390 --> 00:30:25,170 That's the way God is. 668 00:30:25,310 --> 00:30:28,430 All these things will work together for the 669 00:30:28,430 --> 00:30:28,670 good. 670 00:30:29,930 --> 00:30:31,110 For those that love him. 671 00:30:32,070 --> 00:30:35,430 God's great majestic purpose for you is that 672 00:30:35,430 --> 00:30:36,170 you become like him. 673 00:30:36,230 --> 00:30:39,730 No longer are you like prisoners trudging around 674 00:30:39,730 --> 00:30:41,870 in a prison yard, head down, you know. 675 00:30:43,170 --> 00:30:47,530 Ephesians chapter 2, you walked according to the 676 00:30:47,530 --> 00:30:52,430 course of the prince of this age, imprisoned 677 00:30:52,430 --> 00:30:53,190 in death. 678 00:30:54,950 --> 00:30:56,330 But you have been made alive. 679 00:30:56,510 --> 00:30:57,310 You've been set free. 680 00:30:57,490 --> 00:30:59,550 God has called you up out of that 681 00:30:59,550 --> 00:31:02,350 prison, foreordained you to be sons and daughters, 682 00:31:03,850 --> 00:31:06,270 to live like him, to love like him, 683 00:31:06,450 --> 00:31:07,690 to care like him. 684 00:31:08,870 --> 00:31:10,330 And just like the Lord, you need to 685 00:31:10,330 --> 00:31:12,330 concentrate, I think perhaps in these early months, 686 00:31:12,690 --> 00:31:15,270 so important for you, on how, with all 687 00:31:15,270 --> 00:31:17,410 the pressures and the crowds, did the Lord 688 00:31:17,410 --> 00:31:22,130 stay fresh and alive in spirit? 689 00:31:23,090 --> 00:31:24,790 Yes, we know he's God, but he also 690 00:31:24,790 --> 00:31:29,870 will tell us some of the secrets of 691 00:31:29,870 --> 00:31:31,730 his own service of the Father. 692 00:31:32,610 --> 00:31:34,250 Look in John chapter 4 for one good 693 00:31:34,250 --> 00:31:34,450 one. 694 00:31:35,890 --> 00:31:37,610 We need to learn in these early days 695 00:31:38,350 --> 00:31:40,230 how to walk with him. 696 00:31:41,730 --> 00:31:44,010 Sure he may lead us into difficulties, unexpected 697 00:31:44,010 --> 00:31:44,490 pressures. 698 00:31:45,270 --> 00:31:46,830 He assures us from the outset that we're 699 00:31:46,830 --> 00:31:47,270 his children. 700 00:31:47,790 --> 00:31:48,790 He's going to pray for us. 701 00:31:48,790 --> 00:31:51,890 We need to learn how to drink that 702 00:31:51,890 --> 00:31:53,650 living water, to draw it up from the 703 00:31:53,650 --> 00:31:55,850 wells of salvation, as Isaiah 12 says. 704 00:31:57,190 --> 00:31:59,610 As we go, as we go with him, 705 00:32:00,310 --> 00:32:02,650 as he meets us, we become like him. 706 00:32:03,830 --> 00:32:05,670 He has set his heart on it. 707 00:32:07,210 --> 00:32:09,270 He's paid a mighty big price for you. 708 00:32:10,030 --> 00:32:12,590 He's not going to let you be damaged, 709 00:32:13,750 --> 00:32:15,050 broken on the way. 710 00:32:16,010 --> 00:32:20,030 In fact, the problems that the Lord will 711 00:32:20,030 --> 00:32:22,450 have to deal with in this coming year 712 00:32:22,450 --> 00:32:25,490 in your life are nothing compared with the 713 00:32:25,490 --> 00:32:28,410 problem he has already dealt with in dying 714 00:32:28,410 --> 00:32:29,330 for you on the cross. 715 00:32:31,230 --> 00:32:33,670 If you want to think of cycling over 716 00:32:33,670 --> 00:32:35,150 a great hill to a village on the 717 00:32:35,150 --> 00:32:37,190 other side, the difficult bit is going up 718 00:32:37,190 --> 00:32:38,070 the hill, isn't it? 719 00:32:38,690 --> 00:32:39,790 Then you can coast down. 720 00:32:41,050 --> 00:32:46,250 In seeing you won into his kingdom and 721 00:32:46,250 --> 00:32:48,730 transformed so that you're ready for glory, Christ 722 00:32:48,730 --> 00:32:52,050 has already done the hard part in dying 723 00:32:52,050 --> 00:32:54,570 for you on the cross, knowing what you 724 00:32:54,570 --> 00:32:57,950 were like, giving himself in order that you 725 00:32:57,950 --> 00:32:58,630 might be his. 726 00:32:59,570 --> 00:33:02,450 Dealing with you now, encouraging you, training you, 727 00:33:02,610 --> 00:33:03,890 teaching you, that's the easy part. 728 00:33:03,990 --> 00:33:05,410 That's cycling down the other side of the 729 00:33:05,410 --> 00:33:06,010 hill for him. 730 00:33:07,110 --> 00:33:08,270 He's committed himself to you. 731 00:33:08,270 --> 00:33:09,530 What great verses. 732 00:33:09,630 --> 00:33:13,810 Let's just read again from verse 26 and 733 00:33:13,810 --> 00:33:14,410 then we'll close. 734 00:33:15,970 --> 00:33:20,210 In like manner, the Spirit also helps our 735 00:33:20,210 --> 00:33:20,870 infirmity. 736 00:33:22,070 --> 00:33:24,010 We know not how to pray as we 737 00:33:24,010 --> 00:33:28,310 ought, but the Spirit himself makes intercession for 738 00:33:28,310 --> 00:33:30,070 us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 739 00:33:30,090 --> 00:33:31,890 That's the third groaning that we've looked at 740 00:33:31,890 --> 00:33:32,690 in these verses. 741 00:33:32,810 --> 00:33:36,910 The creation groans, and then we groan, and 742 00:33:36,910 --> 00:33:39,350 now the Spirit groans, groanings which cannot be 743 00:33:39,350 --> 00:33:39,810 uttered. 744 00:33:40,710 --> 00:33:43,250 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what 745 00:33:43,250 --> 00:33:45,030 is the mind of the Spirit, because he 746 00:33:45,030 --> 00:33:47,650 makes intercession for the saints according to the 747 00:33:47,650 --> 00:33:48,110 will of God. 748 00:33:49,410 --> 00:33:52,290 And we know that to them that love 749 00:33:52,290 --> 00:33:56,050 God all things work together for good, even 750 00:33:56,050 --> 00:33:57,630 to them that are called according to his 751 00:33:57,630 --> 00:34:00,810 purpose, for whom he foreknew he also foreordained 752 00:34:00,810 --> 00:34:03,670 to be conformed to the image of his 753 00:34:03,670 --> 00:34:06,750 Son, that he might be the firstborn among 754 00:34:06,750 --> 00:34:10,489 many brethren, great family likenesses, is going to 755 00:34:10,489 --> 00:34:10,810 appear. 756 00:34:12,070 --> 00:34:13,949 And whom he foreordained, them he also called. 757 00:34:14,690 --> 00:34:16,449 And whom he called, them he also justified. 758 00:34:16,650 --> 00:34:19,510 And whom he justified, them he also glorified. 759 00:34:20,130 --> 00:34:22,409 What then shall we say to these things? 760 00:34:23,590 --> 00:34:26,909 If God is for us, who is against 761 00:34:26,909 --> 00:34:27,210 us? 762 00:34:28,270 --> 00:34:31,230 He that spared not his own Son but 763 00:34:31,230 --> 00:34:33,810 delivered him up for us all, how shall 764 00:34:33,810 --> 00:34:36,870 he not also with him freely give us 765 00:34:36,870 --> 00:34:37,310 all things? 766 00:34:38,230 --> 00:34:40,929 God has given you Christ, his own Son, 767 00:34:41,550 --> 00:34:43,610 is he going to now hold anything back 768 00:34:43,610 --> 00:34:44,030 from you? 769 00:34:46,380 --> 00:34:48,520 Who shall lay anything to the charge of 770 00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:49,080 God's elect? 771 00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:51,760 It is God that justifies. 772 00:34:52,580 --> 00:34:55,320 The judge himself has determined that you be 773 00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:55,800 justified. 774 00:34:57,440 --> 00:34:59,640 What counsel for the prosecution is going to 775 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:00,300 get past him? 776 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:03,340 Who is he that shall condemn? 777 00:35:03,340 --> 00:35:05,640 Why the judge himself has already declared you 778 00:35:05,640 --> 00:35:06,180 not guilty. 779 00:35:06,940 --> 00:35:08,800 Who then has the right to condemn? 780 00:35:10,660 --> 00:35:14,040 Is Christ Jesus that died, yea rather that 781 00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:16,080 was raised from the dead, who is at 782 00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:18,320 the right hand of God who also makes 783 00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:19,480 intercession for us? 784 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:20,140 There you have it again. 785 00:35:20,980 --> 00:35:22,940 Who shall separate us from the love of 786 00:35:22,940 --> 00:35:23,220 Christ? 787 00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:28,580 All three persons of the Godhead combining in 788 00:35:28,580 --> 00:35:32,120 order to bring you through to glory, made 789 00:35:32,120 --> 00:35:32,860 ready for heaven. 790 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:36,440 Who is going to prevent that great purpose? 791 00:35:37,060 --> 00:35:38,760 Who shall separate us from the love of 792 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:39,080 Christ? 793 00:35:39,660 --> 00:35:45,960 Shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, these things 794 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:48,620 are not being mentioned friends as some sort 795 00:35:48,620 --> 00:35:50,420 of trivial theory that well you merely read 796 00:35:50,420 --> 00:35:51,880 about them in Christian books. 797 00:35:52,900 --> 00:35:55,420 This may well be your present experience within 798 00:35:55,420 --> 00:35:56,100 a few months. 799 00:35:57,300 --> 00:36:07,240 Tribulation, anguish, persecution, famine, nakedness, or peril, or 800 00:36:07,240 --> 00:36:09,240 sword even as it is written for thy 801 00:36:09,240 --> 00:36:11,780 sake we are killed all day long, we 802 00:36:11,780 --> 00:36:13,180 are counted as sheep for the slaughter. 803 00:36:13,980 --> 00:36:15,560 Nay in all these things we are more 804 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:18,320 than conquerors through him that loved us. 805 00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:22,040 For I am persuaded that neither death nor 806 00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:25,320 life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present, 807 00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:30,160 nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, 808 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:32,080 nor depth, nor any other creature shall be 809 00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:36,420 able to separate us from the love of 810 00:36:36,420 --> 00:36:39,440 God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 811 00:36:41,940 --> 00:36:48,960 Oh God your word is unbreakable, stronger than 812 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:53,480 the strongest granite, lasting for eternity. 813 00:36:55,500 --> 00:36:59,180 Governments may change, movements may come and go, 814 00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:07,360 churches may even fade, certainly vehicles, bodies may 815 00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:07,900 break down. 816 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:11,680 We thank you for your unbreakable word of 817 00:37:11,680 --> 00:37:13,760 assurance of your love and your care and 818 00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:14,160 your prayer. 819 00:37:16,900 --> 00:37:18,400 Lord we are glad at the end of 820 00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:21,480 this conference not to commit ourselves but to 821 00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:24,460 know that we are already committed into the 822 00:37:24,460 --> 00:37:27,100 hands of such a God, such a shepherd. 823 00:37:28,540 --> 00:37:30,420 We do thank you together now.