Well I want to look at a couple
of verses from Genesis 26 this morning. When we look at the small number
of us here and I know that back at home where they're meeting
in Wellinggarden City because of holidays there are very very
few there about similar sorts of numbers and this seems to
be the days in which we live and yet all around don't we keep
hearing about seemingly thriving churches compared with what to
them seems like such a sorry state that we're in. What has
God said to his true gospel-believing people in these days? He said
that we're in a wilderness. We're in a wilderness separation
from this world around us. Revelation 12, God took the woman,
the woman is the church in Revelation 12, God took the woman and he
took her out of the way of Satan's persecutions and he put her in
a wilderness separation from the world. Satan knows that if
he can get the world into the hearts of the people of God,
he's won, he's got them. They've gone, they've walked
out on Christ, they've walked out on the truth of the gospel
of grace, they've gone over to him. We live in this world, but
we must not, as the people of God, be of this world. Yes, we
enjoy things in the world, but it mustn't be our hope and our
desire and our ambition, the things of this world. No, we're
in a wilderness separation. And it says in Revelation 12
that God feeds his people there. I alluded to that in my last
prayer. God feeds his people. And this is why I find when I
was doing my revelation studies a couple of years ago I was just
staggered to see the way in which for these very days it seems
like it's the last twenty five or thirty years that the true
church has gone into this state there were churches thirty years
ago I could recommend to you to go to throughout this capital
city up and down this land today You can count them on the fingers
of one hand, literally, you really can. It is like that. But for
these very times, isn't it amazing how we've all got the internet
now. and we can all listen. You can go home, you can listen.
I know we're encouraged by Don Faulkner encouraged when he was
here earlier for the conference this year encouraged not to become
like a sort of an internet preaching junkie where you just spend all
your time just going from one sermon to another but to get
fully involved in your own church and that's absolutely right that's
what we're going to see this morning but nevertheless in these
days God has blessed his people with the internet with good good
solid preaching that you didn't used to be able to get you'd
go to one church and if if the preacher wasn't very good you'd
be thinking for weeks and months and years on end oh dear I wish
somebody would you'd look forward to the time when you had a visiting
preacher that you knew would bring a gospel message but not
so now we've got we've got this wonderful resource that God has
given us we're a little flock Jesus said, fear not, little
flock. He didn't say, fear not, massive
great numbers of people, no. Don't be put off, don't be alarmed
by the fact that we're small in number. What did he say? He
said, broad is the way that leads to destruction, narrow is the
way that leads to life, and few there be that go in there at.
Few rather than many. Isaac at Beersheba in Genesis
chapter 26 is a picture of gospel principles, of God's gracious
dealings with elect sinners. Because all scripture points
us to Christ, doesn't it? Jesus said to the Pharisees,
ye search the scriptures, for in them ye think, rightly, that
you have eternal life. You do! If you want to know about
eternal life, this is the book that will tell you. This is the
Word of God. the word who was in the beginning
with God who was God this is the manifestation of God to us
and he has come down from heaven don't we need to listen to him
he speaks to us he gives us his word and what is his word he
says these are they that speak of me all of them you look for
Christ there was that story of somebody a young man trying to
learn to preach and there was an old preacher there and at
the end of the sermon the young man said to the old man did you
like my sermon sir and he said no I didn't I'm afraid young
man oh why not well there was no Christ in it and the young
man said well there was no Christ in the text sir the old man said
oh Dear boy, there's Christ in every text. He said just like
in every village in England, you'll find a signpost pointing
to London. He said you go to the scriptures
and you find that signpost to Christ and get on that road and
preach Christ wherever you find him. You will find him in every
place in the scriptures. And so that's what we always
seek to do. So here in Genesis 26, this account
of Isaac from verse 17 of chapter 26 down to verse 25. We see things that teach us lessons
about the church in our day. Isaac, first of all, is seeking
to live at peace with those around about him. You know, they're
arguing about wells and, you know, it's a very important thing
in the dry land. and you've got your income is
based on your cattle and your sheep and they need water and
in that dry and dusty land it didn't rain you had to dig for
it you had to dig down to the water table and find it and they
kept digging wells and their enemies didn't like that and
their enemies would come and fill their wells in and Isaac's
trying to live at peace with those around about him he's just
trying to live at peace Romans 12 tells us as believers you
know what should we do living you know witnessing here in this
building in this place here if it be possible says Paul Romans
12 18 as much as lieth in you as much as you've got anything
to do with it live peaceably with all men oh some will take
offense some will take the offense of the cross they will be offended
what's the offense of the cross that a man called Jesus should
die for all people that want to accept him no that's not offensive
I'll tell you what is offensive that Christ should come and die
for his people that he should die for the people the father
gave to him he should come to redeem the elect that God the
father put in him before the beginning of time oh oh don't
like that doctrine oh we're not having that being preached here
you see that's the offense of the cross and people will take
offense of that but we should seek as much as lies in us to
live peaceably with all men. With all men. Isaac desired peace
and access to the water that Abraham had found. We read about
it in chapter 22 he kept finding and digging wells and in this
thing about wells is there not an allusion to the living water
of the gospel. Did you note when we read about
Abraham he dug a well of springing water. It wasn't stagnant water. When you I remember as a little
lad the village I grew up in up in the north of England and
there was a little little footpath and by the side of it whenever
it had been raining hard there was a spring and we used to do
all sorts of things to try to dam up this spring you couldn't
stop it this thing just used to squirt out of the ground like
a fountain just naturally just down the side of this line it
would squirt out of the ground and that's what Abraham found
a springing well and Jesus said he that believeth on me as the
scripture has said out of his belly out of his innermost being
shall flow rivers of living water. Why? Because the Holy Spirit
has come and put them there and given life and given light. But
that truth is always opposed by the world. Satan has blinded
people's minds. It tells us that, 2 Corinthians
4 verse 4, Satan, the god of this world, has blinded the minds
of those that don't believe. They can't see it. They can't
see it. You know, of all of the senses,
it's not the one that most of us, I would say, value most is
our sight, and to lose your sight, and you feel intense pity for
any that have lost their sight, or have never had sight, and
you long to help them in whatever way you can. And it's such a
picture of spiritual light and spiritual sight, but Satan has
blinded people's minds. So that what you can see, if
you're a believer, you and I can see things, we can see things.
But Satan has blinded, it doesn't matter how clever they are. You
know, the so-called scientific community that cannot see the
truth of the God who has made and upholds all things. They're
blind. Satan has blinded their minds. I don't care how clever
they are, Satan's blinded their minds. But by faith, we understand
that the worlds were made by the living God. So anyway, Isaac
keeps moving. he's trying to live at peace,
he digs a well, the enemies come, they fight over it, one of them's
called Esek because they strove with him they're always arguing
about his herdsmen and their herdsmen over the access to the
water finding water at old wells but then strife with the philistines
about it there's almost a dog in a manger attitude by these
philistines the thing that they, they don't just want the water,
they don't want Isaac's cattle and herds to have access to the
water. And is that not so much like
much religious opposition to the true gospel? They don't want,
you know, I especially I especially have problems with these that
are so strong on legalism and the law and they sound as though
they're preaching graciously the gospel but in actual fact
you dig down and you discover that they're seeking to bring
men and women under bondage, under the bondage of the law
and they don't want those who are preaching the truth to preach
the gospel of sovereign grace so anyway when we get down to
verse twenty three we see that Isaac having finally found peace
at Rehoboth he then went up from there to Beersheba and Beersheba
was where we looked in Genesis twenty one when we were reading
earlier where Abraham and Abimelech the Philistine made a peace treaty
together and Abraham had there called upon the name of the Lord
and it was from there when you go into chapter 22 of Genesis
the very next thing we read about is God telling Abraham to take
Isaac You know when you read your Bible it says his only son
Isaac and you sort of think hold on a minute he didn't have an
only son he'd already got Ishmael so why does it say his only son
well if you look son is in italics Isaac was his only Isaac his
only Isaac his only child of promise for in Isaac shall the
seed be he was to take his only Isaac up onto Mount Moriah And
you know we think that the place where Abraham was to take Isaac
to sacrifice him, you see God had told Abraham about sacrifice. God had told Abraham and Abraham
knew that his relationship with God was dependent upon sacrifice. There must be sacrifice. He knew
that to be right with God the offended law of God must be satisfied. that the thing that would satisfy
it would be death for the soul that sins it shall die and in
Genesis 15 you have the promise made to Abraham that he's going
to make of him a great nation and his seed are going to be
just like the stars of the heavens and the sand of the seashore
you know that doesn't mean a numerical equivalence That's ridiculous. What it does mean is this. You
read it. Every time you read it, look for this. It's the fact
that just as you can't number the stars, and just as you can't
number the grains of sand on the seashore, utterly impossible,
you cannot number that multitude that God has given the Father
to Christ before the beginning of time. Abraham knew about this
and that it was to be achieved, it was to be accomplished on
the basis of sacrifice. And in Genesis 15, Abraham says,
because that's the chapter where Abraham believed God and God
counted it, credited it, imputed it to him for righteousness.
And in that same chapter, Abraham says, how shall I know, how do
I know of a certainty that these things shall be? You might ask
a similar question. How do I know of a certainty?
that when I come to die God is going to take me to eternal glory
and not charge my sins to my account. How do I know that?
Well God gave Abraham a task to do and in it was a vision.
He was to take some animals for sacrifice and animals of various
types and he was to divide them in two and set them down in the
way that we believe that heathen peoples would make a covenant
it was almost like to say well look here's an animal this is
going to be the symbol this is going to be the symbol of our
covenant together and this animal's killed and it's almost like it's
saying if either of us breaks this covenant you're going to
end up like this this animal that's been killed as the token
of it but God said kill these animals and set the pieces down
either side and there's a gap down the middle and there's Abraham
and his hands are stained with the blood of the animals which
is a shocking thing I mean, I know they kill their animals all the
time, but even so, you know, there's a living thing, he's
taken its life away, he's killed it, his hands are covered in
blood. And a great horror, it says, came upon him. A vision
of great horror came upon him, because what did he see? He saw
what it was pointing to. I am sure he saw, I'm sure God
showed him that it was pointing symbolically to the One who would
come, the Son who would come, the Son of God who would come,
the Redeemer who would come, and in His being sacrificed for
the sins of His people. That's how Abraham's seed would
be made right with God and in that thing there he saw a vision
of God and the vision was the smoking fiery furnace and in
the way in which God appeared to the Israelites when they came
out of Egypt in Sinai he went with them and there was a pillar
of cloud by day and the fire by night and this oven with the
burning furnace in it and the smoke was symbolical of God being
in the midst of that covenant. Abraham knew all about sacrifice. Abraham knew that. Abraham knew
that when he was told to take Isaac, his only Isaac, He's only
one in whom the promise was given. Take him to Mount Moriah, which
we believe is where Jerusalem today is. We believe that where,
well I do anyway, I'm sure the sovereign God would have arranged
it that that place where Abraham was to take his only Isaac was
the place where our Lord Jesus Christ was taken and was crucified
and was nailed to that cross of wood. In this place, In this
place, in Beersheba all these things happen. That's where Abraham
was told to go to Mount Moriah and take Isaac. In this place
that Isaac came back to many years later it must have been
reminiscent to him of gospel messages because surely Abraham
taught his son the gospel We read about Abraham that God preached
the gospel to Abraham in the New Testament. He preached it
in Genesis 15, that's how he preached the gospel to Abraham.
Do you think Abraham remained quiet about it? Of course he
told his son, of course he did. His sons, he told Ishmael but
Ishmael rejected it, Ishmael mocked. Ishmael would have nothing
to do with it but Isaac believed it because he was the child of
promise. God appeared we read in verse
24 of chapter 6 here comes Isaac back to Beersheba and God appeared
to him there in the same night and said I am the God of life
of Abraham thy father Fear not for I am with thee and will bless
thee and will multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake
I've promised him therefore it's going to happen God appeared
to Isaac there who appeared We read in the scriptures God saying
no man shall see me and live. He said that to Moses, Exodus
33 verse 20. No man shall see me and live. John chapter 1 verse 18. No man
has seen God at any time. No man, no man has seen God at
any time. So why do we keep reading about
men and women seeing God in the scriptures? Because Verse 18
of John 1 tells us, the only begotten son, which is in the
bosom of the father, he hath declared him. How have we seen
God? Philip said to Jesus, John 14,
Philip, show us the father and that will suffice us. Philip,
Philip, have I been so long with you? And you have not seen me. He that has seen me has seen
the father, for I am the father of one. words what words what
truth to have declared to have revealed to our fallen nature
it was Christ that appeared because going on from that passage which
talks about Satan blinding the minds of those that don't believe
in verse 6 it says but God who said let light shine out of the
darkness at creation let there be light and there was light
and it was good hath shined in our hearts to give us the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. If you would see the glory of
God, if you, sentient beings as we are, thinking beings, unique,
you know, we're just animals. No we're not, we're made in the
image of God with minds to think, with spirits to sense the spiritual. If you would sense the living
God, look in the face of Jesus Christ, for there you see the
glory of God. All of these blessings are promised
in chapter 26 to Isaac He says, I'm the God of Abraham
thy father. I will bless thee. I am with
you. I will multiply your seed. Why? Because I made a promise
to Abraham. Blessings promised for Abraham's
sake. Isaac would have clearly remembered
God's dealings with Abraham. He would have remembered it all.
The covenant basis, the account of Genesis 15 that I just mentioned
earlier with the sacrifices, the righteousness that was promised
to the seed the seed little s seeds as of many via the seed capital
s the one seed the lord jesus christ in whom all the seeds
are placed in covenant union and it's illustrated in animal
sacrifice and in fire and smoke and all those pieces and it satisfies
it shows what satisfies the offended law and justice of God and that
is all that Christ is and all that he would do. Almost all
things, says Hebrews 9.22, almost all things by the law are by
the law purged with blood and without the shedding of blood
there is no remission. The blood Abraham taught Isaac
to look to was that of Christ. He said look to blood, the blood
of Christ, the one who is coming. The animals were just pictures.
They were just prototypes. They were just patterns. They
were just plans. They weren't the real thing.
you design a garden or something like that, what do you do? You
draw a sketch, well the sketch you know from the sketch how
it's going to be done but the sketch isn't the garden is it?
In the same way the animal sacrifices did nothing other than point
to that which did do the job which was what Christ would come
and what he would do Because Jesus said, well he said to the
Pharisees and the Jews in John 8, 56, he said, you go on about
being the children of Abraham, you Jews, you go on about being
Abraham's seed, your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he
saw it and was glad. When did Abraham see Christ's
day? Genesis 15, the sacrifice of those animals. Mount Moriah,
when he took Isaac, he's only Isaac there. He was convinced.
Was this the one? God said he'd give me a seed
and here he is. He's a child of miracle. He couldn't
have been born naturally. Here he is. And I've got to sacrifice.
Surely, surely he's going to come back from the dead having
redeemed, having satisfied the law. No, it wasn't Isaac. It
was the one that it pointed to, the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you
seen him by faith? Have you? Have you looked by
faith, which is the gift of God, to the faith of Jesus Christ? That's why I like the translation
of the King James Version because in the epistles so often it says
faith of Jesus Christ and that's a million miles from faith in
because faith in is something you do or at least you can interpret
it that way but God gives you faith to see what Christ faithfully
accomplished when he accomplished the redemption of his people.
When you believe the gospel things change don't they? new creation
new creature all things have changed all things have become
new nothing stays the same what I want to do is to look at what
happened to Isaac and his people at Beersheba as a result these
people were aware vividly aware of the gospel of God's grace
you know when it says at Beersheba The Lord appeared to him and
said, I'm the God of your father Abraham. I'm the God of that
covenant salvation that I revealed to Abraham. I'm your God too
and all the people with you. Don't be afraid. For that which
would terrify you naturally, I am with you. This God is with
you. I will bless you. I will multiply
your seed. I'm going to save all of my people.
I've promised it to Abraham and I'm going to do it. He saw the
gospel there. He saw the truth of the gospel
of God's grace. He knew that. He knew that vividly. Why does God again, later in
the Old Testament, He always calls himself, I am the God of
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. I am that God. I am that same
covenant God of salvation. And in response to it, in response
to the knowledge of salvation accomplished, of having a good
hope of eternal life, Isaac did, well, four things happened. They're
in verse 25. He built an altar there. He called upon the name
of the Lord. He pitched his tent there and
Isaac's servants digged a well. Isaac built an altar there. How was Isaac and his household
to remain in a right relationship with the one true God whom he
had seen? God appeared to him. How was
he to remain in a right relationship with the one true God whom he
had seen? Was it by moral reformation? Was it by turning over a new
leaf and committing to not commit any more sins, you know, We won't
do this anymore. You often read of the Israelites
when God challenges them with his demands, with his law demands. And they say, oh we're going
to do this, yeah no problem. You know in Joshua's day they
all said, yes we're going to do all of this. And they had
no idea how fundamentally weak they were. They had no idea how
incapable they were in the flesh, as you and I all are. As Peter
said to the council of Jerusalem when they were talking about
the burdens that should be put on the Gentile believers. And
Peter said, come on, let's be honest. Let's, let's tell them
that our fathers could never keep this law any more than we
ourselves could. Let's not kid ourselves. We couldn't
keep it. They can't keep it. So let's
not put burdens on them that would be hypocritical. We know
that we can't in the flesh. We know. So if Isaac and Abraham
before him, yet they would have failed again and again and again.
How are they going to be right with God? How are they going
to remain in a right relationship with God? Substitutionary atonement
alone. That's the only way. That's the
only way you and I remain in a right relationship with God.
before Sinai, and this was 400 plus years before Sinai, before
any law was given. In fact, the whole of the instructions
for temple worship given with the law, what were they for?
They were to deal with man's inability to keep it, wasn't
it? You look at the law, it says what God requires, and then it
says, and this is how you deal with the fact that you can't
keep it, because it's all pointing to substitutionary atonement
in the animal sacrifices, the Levitical sacrifices. It's all
to do with man's inability to keep that law, and Isaac knew
this. He knew this. He'd been, what more graphic
illustration could he have had than that which happened to himself
by being taken by his father at God's command at Mount Moriah
and he saw the knife and he was bound, he was a strapping lad
I'm sure he was you know Abraham's an old man Isaac must have submitted
willingly by faith knowing that he would rise from the dead and
he's lying there on the altar of wood with cords tying him
up and he sees his father Abraham with the knife and he hears the
voice leave the lad alone God will provide himself a sacrifice
and he looks and in the thornbush is a ram caught by its horns
for God did provide himself. No, not Isaac, another one in
his place, a substitute. And Isaac had been tied with
rope and laid on wood on an altar that had been built and the altar
was central to the worship of God. There isn't an altar in
this church, there's a table, a communion table. True churches
don't have altars. I'm not saying there are no true
believers in churches that do, but they need to realize the
error of their ways. There are no altars physically
in the church of the living God. But do we have an altar? Yes,
we do. Hebrews 13 verse 10. We have
an altar. See, Isaac built an altar. We
have an altar. whereof they have no right to
eat which serve the tabernacle. They who go through a legalistic
form of liturgy and trying to maintain the pictures of the
Old Testament they have no right to eat of the altar that we eat
at. What's the altar that we eat
at? It's the altar of Christ crucified. Christ and him crucified. As Christ is preached We gather
round not a physical altar, but one that's seen by faith. If
we would meet with God, it must be around an altar where the
price was paid for our sin, and that's the cross of Calvary,
where justice was satisfied. We don't cling in an idolatrous
manner to the bits of wood that were the cross. You know if somebody
could prove beyond question that they had a piece of wood that
was from the cross of Calvary and I had anything to do with
what should happen to it, do you know what I'd do with it?
I've got a nice chimineer at home and I've got a great big
pile of wood and I'd burn it just like any other piece of
wood on that chimineer. Do you know why? Because people
will make an idol of it and that detracts from the truth of Christ. Absolutely true. Just as Hezekiah
did with the brazen serpent that they found after all those years
of it being lost. Oh, what a wonderful thing, the
people had to look to that and they were cured of their snake
bites. Oh, we better put that in a cage and charge people to
come and look at it. No, Hezekiah ground it to powder.
because he said they'll make an idol out of it no it's not
the wooden cross it's not the old rugged cross that we cling
to it's what Christ did there it's what he accomplished there
he satisfied justice there for the soul that sins it shall die
and he died in the place of his people he made peace in the blood
of his cross and so We preach, Christ crucified. That's it,
nothing else. I was determined, said Paul,
to know nothing else among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Is that what happens here? I
trust it is. And we pray that it is and that Harry will be
given the messages week by week and that anybody who comes and
preaches here lifts up the Lord Jesus Christ in his saving mercy
and grace. Because without this altar, And
that's the altar that we have. Without this altar there is no
worship. I don't care how fancy your liturgy
is, how elaborate your building is, how impressive your music
is, without this altar there is no worship and there is no
acceptance. Where are the people of God accepted?
In the Beloved. Nowhere else. In the Beloved.
It must be heard by Christ's sheep every time we meet. That's
it. You know just as the priest in
the Old Testament had bells round the trimmings of his robes and
the people as he went into the Holy of Holies would listen for
that bell to sound. Is he accepted? Well we need
to listen for those bells don't we? Gospel, there used to be
a hymn book called Gospel Bells I think it was, something like
that. And it was alluding to that idea that we must hear the
sound of Christ crucified. So secondly he built in an altar
then he called upon the name of the Lord. He called upon the
name, they worshipped God together. He called upon the name of the
Lord. Do you know right from the beginning, after the fall,
we read in Genesis 4.26 about Seth. You know there was Cain
and there was Abel then there was Seth when Cain killed Abel
there was Seth and Seth was of that righteous line that had
been taught the gospel by Adam and Eve and and others didn't
Cain didn't Cain didn't believe it Cain went his own way did
his own thing but Seth it says in his day men began to call
upon the name of the Lord they called upon God for salvation
Psalm 116 verse 13 I will take up the cup of salvation and call
upon the name of the Lord that's what the Psalmist says that's
what we do take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the
Lord. Lord, make this a blessing to me. Make me know in my heart
and in my soul the truth and the blessing of this salvation
that has been accomplished. Romans 10, 13. Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Ah, but you preach
election. Won't your preaching of election
keep sinners out of the kingdom of God? Won't it frighten them
off? They won't come and they won't believe. Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Does whosoever
include you? Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 2 unto
the church of God which is at Corinth with all that in every
place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. In our worship
we call upon him. Who are the true circumcision?
Paul tells us in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 3. You see
the Jews, the circumcision as it says in scripture, they thought
that they were the only right people of God by physical natural
descent. But Paul says no no, we writing
to believers, gospel believers, gentile gospel believers at Philippi.
He says we are the true circumcision because what do we do? We worship
God in the spirit, we rejoice in Christ Jesus and we have no
confidence in the flesh. That's a summary of what it is
to call upon the name of the Lord. We call upon the name of
the Lord. He alone is our confidence for
salvation. We have no other plea before
the throne of God than that which Christ has accomplished. That
is Christ-centered worship. You know where Isaac came back
to Beersheba, the Lord appeared to him. He built an altar there.
He called upon the name of the Lord. That's what happens here. That should happen here. Don't
look at the numbers. Don't be discouraged by numbers.
It's, you know, never was more true than it is of the church
in our day. It's quality, not quantity that matters. It really
is. There are those that say, I couldn't
go there. There's just not enough people. So there's no activity
for my children. Well, that brings me to the next
point. What did he do? He pitched his tent there at
Beersheba. He pitched his tent there. What
does that mean? He centered his life around the
worship of God in Christ. He settled where God had appeared
to him. I've seen so many professed believers
fly in the face of this. It's what Don Faulkner was trying
to say to us at the conference in his last message about the
local church. Where are you going to live?
And I ask anybody out there, because this is going to go on
to sermon audio and people will listen to it, where are you going
to live? Oh I must find a house that's near a good school for
the kids to go to. That's the overriding thing and
I'm afraid there's no churches there but they've just got to
go to this school. Or are you going to live where
your kids will be brought up to hear the gracious gospel of
salvation in Christ faithfully preached week by week? Are you
going to go where your job takes you or where God appears to you? I can tell you, I speak from
experience, many, many, many, many years ago, many years ago,
we determined that having heard the truth of the gospel of grace,
we would go where God led us, to where the gospel was being
preached. And I can honestly say, there is nothing of kind
of give me a pat on the back, because it was all of the grace
of God, but honestly, I remember a friend in America speaking
to Christine, when we were launching out from a church that had a
really good vibrant social life for our boys and oh you're going
to cut them off and you're going out into a wilderness but there
was no gospel there there was no true gospel but there was
a true gospel at the time in Wellingarden city and Bill Clark
was preaching it and we determined that we'd find a way of moving
there And I remember this friend in America saying to Christine,
he said, I'm telling you, it must look like you're stepping
out into the unknown at the moment, but he said, I'm convinced that
God will bless you. And honestly, I cannot deny it,
how God has blessed us, how God has blessed us in our family.
No, you pitch your tent where the gospel is. You pitch your
tent where the Lord appears. You pitch your tent where the
altar is. You pitch your tent where people
call upon the name of the Lord. Seek first His kingdom and His
righteousness and all these other needful things will be added
to you. Yes, I know there are isolated
believers. What do they do in these days?
In these days as I said earlier on the internet wonderful it's
made for the situation isn't it we're hoping back home soon
to be able as lots of our American friends do, to broadcast our
morning service live on the internet so that the ones and twos that
don't have a local church like you have here can tune in at
that time and meet with us and we can be conscious of the fact
that it's not just the handful in our conservatory but that
there's a lot of people out there. Some of you met Patrick from
Sweden from Stockholm at the conference. He's very keen to
do that on a Sunday morning to join with us and that's what
we intend to do. And then finally pitched his
tent there and Isaac's servants dug a well. You might accuse
me of over spiritualizing this point but this is talking about
practical support and commitment to a pastor who is seeking to
dig for spiritual water making it practical, providing support
and encouragement. Playing the parts of a diverse
body, because you know in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul tells them about there
are different gifts in the church. Not everybody is a preacher,
not everybody can do this, that or the other, but you've all
got a part to play. The different parts in the diverse
body. As they dug the well, there'd
be some there that needed to shore up the walls to stop the
spoil from slipping back down into the hole that they'd just
dug. There would be others who would be taking the spoil away.
You can apply it to the day in which we live, whatever it takes.
Above all, being committed to the worship of God, to the proclamation
of the gospel, to the encouragement of the saints, to the use of
the resources God has given us. Do you have an altar here? I
believe you do. Do you call on the name of the
God of salvation here? I believe you do. Is your life
bound up in the life of the people here? I believe it is. Are you
determined to put your efforts into digging that well of spiritual
water that there might be a witness to the grace of God here? You
know Joshua said to the people, Joshua 24, he said, choose you
this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we
will serve the Lord with God's help. That's what we as believers
should determine to do to serve the Lord. Amen.