Journeying to the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you. (i)(Quality: good)

[0:00] I draw your attention as the Lord may help this afternoon to the 10th chapter of the Book of Numbers and part of the 29th verse.

[0:21] The 10th chapter of the Book of Numbers, part of verse 29. We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it to you.

[0:42] Come thou with us and we will do thee good, for the Lord has spoken good concerning Israel.

[0:54] The 29th verse of the 10th chapter of the Book of Numbers. There are not many of our fellow peak creatures who can join with Moses in this word that he uttered on this occasion.

[1:27] Sovereignly few there are who can say, with truth and reality, we are journeying to the place which the Lord said, I will give it to you.

[1:54] Wonderful mercy to be in such a place and such a position.

[2:05] To have good, grounded hope and belief that we are on that journey.

[2:19] And of the destination to which we are day becoming, day becoming nearer is that place which the Lord said, I will give it to you.

[2:39] Lord Jesus, when he speaks to his disciples and he speaks to all his disciples the same wonderful truths.

[2:54] He says, I go to prepare a place for you.

[3:06] And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again to receive you unto myself.

[3:21] That was a word of greatest comfort to the disciples. And it is a word that has been the greatest comfort to those disciples who have followed in their steps.

[3:35] And have sought the Lord and have found mercy in his sight. And whose feet have been planted by his spirit in that well-trodden path.

[3:51] The end of which is heavenly glory. There are of course a great many who will readily and glibly use the words of Moses.

[4:12] Without any credential or warrant for such use. With whom the Lord means nothing and his word has no power.

[4:25] Who show by their practices and their fruits that they have not the fear of God in their hearts.

[4:38] And yet most readily will they claim to be on the way to heaven.

[4:50] You will want some very real and very special intimation from the Lord himself. That it will be well with you whilst life shall last.

[5:05] And well when he calls you to die. You want to know therefore that the place to which you hope to come.

[5:19] Is that glorious place which the Lord has said I will give it to you.

[5:31] There is a sense of course in one respect in which we can all say we are journeying. We are journeying through life every one of us.

[5:48] We can in the first part of this opening word of our text. We can all come in and all agree. Whether we always recognize it or not.

[6:01] We are all of us journeying. We are journeying through time. Every day brings us nearer to our end.

[6:13] And further from our beginning. And we know full well that there was a time perhaps with us when we had little thought or little concern as to what our destination would be.

[6:33] We went on gladly and lightly and glibly in the way that we were choosing. The way we wanted to go. Without any dread or fear.

[6:48] Without any desire to seek after the Lord. We are quite content to have this world as our goal.

[7:01] And its glories as our treasure. And having no respect or regard for that which is to come.

[7:13] We are journeying. It would be a wonderful thing if we, this truth, is impressed in a suitable and seasonable way upon our minds.

[7:28] That life is not forever. Life indeed is very brief in comparison with eternity.

[7:39] And we are all of us, each one of us, journeying on. To this, to some may of course, this may be one of the greatest trials and most alarming things, facts in their life.

[7:59] The fact that they are getting older and nearer to their end and have not yet to their own comfort or to their own satisfaction.

[8:12] Have established in their hearts and in their souls that they are the children of God.

[8:24] And each day seems to make it increasingly more weighty and solemn. And they wonder whether they will ever come to really taste of the rich mercy of their God.

[8:41] And know by His sealing in their hearts that they are His people.

[8:52] Well, if there is one or more than one of those kind here this afternoon, may the Lord be pleased. To testify of His grace.

[9:05] To confirm the inheritance. To reveal His love with power. To cleanse the guilty sinner from all sin.

[9:16] And to show the clear path to heaven and to Christ. That would be a brave day for such souls in the Lord's sanctuary.

[9:34] We are journeyin' to the place which the Lord said I will give it to you. There is this consideration that must be primarily prominent in our minds today.

[9:55] And that is in regard to the cause. The cause of God and the church of God. We are journeyin'. How important, my dear friend.

[10:06] When we think of God's church and people. Any particular cause. To see that there is there.

[10:18] Laid down very emphatically. And maintained with truth and vigor. This spirit. We are journeyin' to the place.

[10:32] Which God said I will give it to you. You see there are very many things. They are well founded and well established. But there is no aim.

[10:44] No objective. No purpose. We are so inclined to become satisfied with the formula of religion.

[10:57] And we are so wrapped up in this formula. We forget that the vital need is for power. I do believe we can say with truth in regard to this cause.

[11:19] Those that have begun it. They had in their minds and hearts a purpose and a desire. That they might journey to the place which the Lord had said I will give it to you.

[11:39] I have in my possession at home a little book that I very greatly treasure. It was written by a young person who was connected with the cause here in its early days.

[11:58] And there are many letters in this book which are addressed to a member of my church. Long since gone to the glory of heaven.

[12:10] But those letters are very precious and very striking. They show a spirit of real desire and a spirit of seeking to the glory of Christ.

[12:26] Seeking to know Christ. Seeking not just a nominal knowledge of Him. But seeking to live with Him.

[12:39] To walk with Him. To know the preciousness of His love and His presence. And what terrible fears and trials there were accompanying this journey.

[12:58] And yet I believe that is a symptom of the spirit of those who did set forth and set up this journey.

[13:16] Little cause of God. Little cause of God. For they had an object. A prayerful desire there was found among them.

[13:28] That this cause of God might move. God Lord. Christ Lord. And be brought to the place. God.

[13:39] Which the Lord says. To His people. I will give it to you. My dear friends. There may be many churches.

[13:50] They may claim to have great things. They may boast. Wonderful possessions. They may have great numbers. They may attract men.

[14:03] By almost every means. Yet they may have nothing of this. There is no place that the Lord has said to that church.

[14:15] I will give a church. His honor is not present. The outpouring of His grace is woefully absent.

[14:28] The people that follow such places and in such things. They are manifestly. They are not possessed by the spirit of the Lord.

[14:42] And the fear of God is not in their hearts. The people that are very little despised company. Separated from the world.

[14:54] They gather themselves together. More or less they are driven together. By circumstances. And by the Lord. And they.

[15:05] In harmony of the spirit. And in a bond of love. They humbly seek. That God may dwell within their midst. And that His truth might have three calls.

[15:19] And be glorified. And there you have a place. Where God's honor dwell. There you have a people. Who can say with Moses.

[15:32] We are journeying to the place. Which the Lord has said. I will give it to you. There are many things that we would observe.

[15:49] That they are important in their place. There are good foundations. Necessary for every church. There is no use thinking that we can form churches without any foundation.

[16:10] The outcome of such an idea would be undoubted confusion. And ultimate separation. And ultimate separation. But every church of Christ.

[16:23] Must have a foundation. And that must be a good foundation. Moses had a good foundation. When he spake this word. It was a word of great confidence. You notice. It was spoken to another. Who he did not apparently.

[16:34] As far as we can judge. He took no heed of Moses. Counsel. And invitation. Fell on deaf ears. But it was a wonderful word of confidence.

[16:49] On the part of Moses. We are journey to the place. Not even that we hope. on the card of Moses, we are journeying to the place.

[17:06] Not even that we hope we are journeying, nor that we expect to be journeying on to the place. We are journeying.

[17:17] It was a word of triumphant faith and confidence. And he had a good foundation for it. For the Lord has said, you will see the word in the third of Exodus, surely I will be with thee.

[17:39] Surely I will go before thee. And when the dear man of God had asked the Lord to make sure that his presence wouldn't go with him, the Lord God had said to him, my presence shall go with thee.

[18:00] That was the foundation, you see. God's word. God's promise. God's truth.

[18:14] Now, one of the great things, and we would look back and be thankful, we believe that our church, we do not boast of this.

[18:26] I do not want for one moment to boast of anything of the creature. I want to boast of my blessed Lord. What he has done, that's the great cause of boasting, and the only cause, aren't we?

[18:44] God's truth. But I would be thankful to believe that we have a good foundation. But do not let us lead on it, my friends, and leave it there alone.

[18:57] We need to journey from a good foundation. There's order, too, very needful. Very important in respect to many things is order in God's church.

[19:15] Some would have no order. And like in the days of the judges, they would have every man to do what seemed right in his own sight.

[19:27] But you know, as in the days of the judges, there was little unity and little prosperity in spiritual things.

[19:42] We do need order. It's not the all-essential thing. It's not to be made a great criterion. It is to be observed with reverence and with uprightness and consideration.

[19:58] But this is the great vital thing to ask this question. Are we journeying to a place that God has said, I will give up?

[20:16] When a church ceases to have such a purpose, and that when I mean when the people who constitute that church cease to have that purpose in their hearts and in their prayers, that they might be, there might be a continuing of God's favor, that there might be a progress under God's will into prosperity and fruitfulness and usefulness.

[20:57] When a church ceases to have this, then the decline and a woeful condition often enters.

[21:11] And disunity and discord prevail. Wonderful mercy, wonderful thing indeed, is to have real unity of the spirit.

[21:28] As we know today, there is a great talk from all sides about unity. It seems almost if these present-day professors have discovered a word that has never been heard of before and they are using it in all senses for all purposes, unity.

[21:53] Unity. And yet they manifest so clearly that they know nothing of that one essential unity which must first of all come from God and that bounds the hearts of real believers to the Lord and to one another in real spiritual union and affection and humble worship.

[22:22] so, the desire, therefore, we would extend to our friends here to the Lord's servant and his people that they might enter into this word in the spirit of it in days to come that they may see abundantly the proof of it in the fruits of the gospel, in the effects of God's grace being manifested in the vessels of mercy.

[22:59] We are journeying to the place. You see, oh, how often we feel, I feel myself, how often, how little is there achieved through the ministry of the gospel.

[23:17] It seems an endless round of services, but how much is there that heaven will record as being the work of God's glorious spirit.

[23:31] How many are called by grace? How much of the kingdom of Satan is being destroyed? how far is the kingdom of God being built up in the hearts and experiences of the world's people?

[23:52] But it's always and must be always the aim of those who stand on the walls of Zion. It's not to preach.

[24:04] There was a time in my own experience when I was thankful to have got through a service and to, without confusion, to have completed it.

[24:16] But it's not so now, my friends, my great concern and heart burning desire is that sinners might be brought to Christ.

[24:30] That souls might have the scales taken from their eyes to view the beauty and the glory of his person and his majesty.

[24:43] That souls might come under the convicting power of the spirit and be driven off every rock of refuge to find refuge in Christ the Lord.

[24:56] The only aim, only purpose, we are journeying to the place. of which the Lord said, I will give it to you.

[25:12] Then we come to the individual, personal experience and how important of a word this is. In that respect, we are journeying to the place of which the Lord said, I will give it to you.

[25:28] if you are one of these who are journeying, that means you have begun that journey. The Lord has begun it.

[25:40] You've had a beginning. It's not always we can trace our beginnings, but we can trace the measure in which we move in the course and in the direction that the Lord leads us.

[26:04] I think there are a great many people who are really true believers who are said of naught in their own feelings by one fact and that is this that they have not, cannot trace the hour or article of their beginning.

[26:31] and yet there are those wonderful and important things very clearly manifest. They know one thing, they have a desire to go in one direction.

[26:46] They know another and that is this, they ask the way to Zion with their faces that are warmed. And another thing is this, they know that they can never go back into the world or find their comfort and their goal and their pleasure there.

[27:08] They have to say I grew today. With thee I will go. Thy people shall be my people and thy God shall be thy God.

[27:20] You see there's direction. One of the most important things in making a journey is to be in the right direction. very easy to be in the wrong.

[27:39] The wise traveler will make sure that he is going in the right direction. Coming here this day, this morning, there's a little instrument in my car, somebody gave it to me, which is not essential, it's a part of the car, but it's a very useful at times.

[28:04] It's a compass. And I was not certain of the way. I came from an unusual district this morning, and I wasn't quite clear as to whether I was going in the right direction.

[28:20] and I glanced at this compass and I saw that it indicated I was going in the wrong. Now, you know, that compass is true. It always points in the one direction.

[28:35] And my dear friend, you'll want to be guided and pointed by the compass of God's holy word and by the direction and light of God's blessed spirit.

[28:47] you'll often ask yourself and the Lord whether you are making any progress and above all, whether you're in the right way, or it should.

[29:02] Oh, you'll say, what a wonderful thing if I could save for myself with journeying in the direction, with journeying to the place which the Lord said, I will give it to you.

[29:24] And then, you will be journeying then against a great deal that no doubt Moses did and there were all manner of oppositions and all manner of enemies as the word in the book of Numbers reveals to us.

[29:42] the enemy stirred up almost every kind of opposition, the enemy will. And our enemy knows best what kind of opposition to stir.

[29:59] He may not stir the same for you as for another. and indeed some oppositions would have been no opposition, no obstacles to you whereas they would be formidable mountains to others.

[30:18] you see, when Moses came through the wilderness with the children of Israel, Balaam was stirred up to a curse but Balaam had to bless.

[30:42] One of God's enemies had to bless the children of Israel. Israel, you cannot reverse God's blessing. No man can reverse God's blessing.

[30:57] When Noah came out of the ark and God blessed the sons of Noah and one of them committed a fornication, Noah did not curse that son but he cursed that son's posterity and have you ever thought of why?

[31:19] Because Noah knew that those whom God blessed could never be cursed. A wonderful mercy.

[31:32] You want to know that you're in that right way in that right path to be able to say we're a journey to the place.

[31:48] It's not just the actual journey, it's the place that you want and there are many places, you know, that Moses was brought to by the Lord, by the hand of God God.

[32:03] And so there are many places, spiritual places, to which the Lord brings his spiritual people. There are great places, there's the place of repentance.

[32:17] We may not be able to say we're journeying to this place, but we shall know if we are journeying at all that we shall come to it. Real repentance toward God.

[32:33] Real godly sorrow for sin. A place that needs not to be repented of. One of the certain places to which God will bring every spiritual child, every heir of heaven.

[32:54] It will be a place where you'll find your burdens will be loosed and your soul humbled and your heart softened and it will be one of the clear signs where it will compel you to journey on, to press on and to weary not with the journey until the Lord makes clear to your soul that you are one whom he has for all eternity loved with an ever-lustre love.

[33:42] We are journeying to the place. there are many places and one among them I would set forth as this this afternoon.

[33:58] It's the place of the Lord's special favor and where he shows his gracious presence.

[34:09] do you want to come where the Lord is? That's a great testing point for our religion. Is there one great thing that you seek after and want and need day and night when you come into the Lord's house and when you go out of it Lord let thy presence go with me.

[34:39] you know those who know what the Lord's presence is they know one thing also that always accompanies it they can sense when the Lord is absent or when the Lord has withdrawn himself turned his face from their soul and hidden is the light of his countenance I think one of our mercies must be this that the Lord does not leave us very long without sense of his departure you see the children of Israel had this they took the ark of God into the camp of Israel because they said let us take the camp let us take the ark the

[35:41] Philistines were getting the last trail with them and they thought well we'll put that right by taking the ark but you see the ark was only wood it was the glorious glory of the Lord God of Israel that the ark was a symbol of which was the essential salvation protection and deliverance of Israel and they lost time to this oh yes we can do the same we can say oh well I'm going to chapel I shall be alright there there'll be good ministry there'll be good hymns and so on but my dear friend this is all empty if the Lord is not with it and not in it if he leaves it unattended by his own gracious presence what an empty place it can be what is the place to me unless the master

[36:46] I can see we want him the Lord we do want him we do need him it's very wonderful to feel that he is with us it's a very blessed thing to have some sweet evidence in our own souls that he is near the hand that's the place we will journey to that place casting everything that opposes our journey on one side if only we can obtain a view of our Lord and a sense of his nearness and his presence my dear friend this will be an antidote for all the sicknesses and the wearisome things in this life it will be a cordial so wonderful and so sweet that will make your bitters to be veritable and make your trials to be like a veritable sanctuary of rest and make

[38:08] God's promise sweet it's a wonderful thing the Lord presents the journey to the place and that will make you and I very conscious of that any journey any excursion that will only take us further away from the Lord and hide his presence and sanction from our hearts and consciences there were those who came to a place when they had to say about that place surely the fear of God is not in this place and what did they do settle down there did they encamp there they got out of it as soon as they possibly could and put a distance between that place and themselves and that's what we shall have to do if we come to a people or a place or anything where we feel our conscience tells us and the word the very sense testifies to us that the fear of

[39:27] God is not in that place then we must turn our backs on and wipe the dust off our feet and turn another way for one great thing we must we must if the life of God is in our soul we must have and we must continue to enjoy and that is gracious presence of the Lord and all that it entails we are journeying to the place which the Lord says I will give it and then you may say last thing I will say this afternoon is this yes I feel a poor struggling soul that seems to be in the way and yet no further in it never seems to be making much progress feeling as if one can be easily trampled down and crushed with a moth and all the wave after wave of adversity seems to bear down and bid destruction

[40:43] I said look at this wonderful word it's a word to you as well as it was on the lips and words of Moses the place that I will give you I will give it the Lord will you know he will give this I was thinking yesterday you know in this striking event and there may be far more ahead than we can behold and understand Israel that little nation surrounded by its enemies takes two days to overthrow the might power military power of its enemies why have ever men asked the question why because undoubtedly the Lord God with whom there is no repentance whose promises are unfailing and never withdraw because he has said this is the place he said so to David he said so to Abraham moreover you look at it in the second book of Samuel

[41:53] I think it is moreover he says I will appoint a place for my people when God says it you know all the nations of the world cannot alter it and when he says to a poor sinner I will give you sinner I will give you my mercy I will give you my love I will give you to triumph over your enemy I will give you in spite of all hell surrounding you and hemming you in on every side I will give you that grace that will triumph in the end and over come all the death and the devil by precious living faith we journey to the place I will now endeavour to read to you the history of the church at Providence

[43:02] Chapel shore and by sea we desire to give thanks to God for his goodness toward us in that this cause of truth has been maintained even for the long space of 100 years as the Lord's servant mentioned this afternoon that 100 years is a long time but what is it to our God with whom a thousand years are but as one day about the year 1860 a few friends at Shoreham travelled to Brighton each Lord's Day to sit under the ministry of Mr.

[43:47] John Grace at the Tabernacle West Street or at Providence Church Street in 1866 services were commenced in a room at Mr.

[44:01] Wingfield's house in Ship Street Shoreham which street is parallel to John Street on the west side these few friends felt ready to go ahead with the purchase of a piece of land which was purchased from Samuel Coleman a market gardener it was brought in the names of Philip Payne Iron Munger Richard Blunden Draper Walter Richards Pilot James Payne Barge Man and Thomas Blanchard Eli Page and George Wickham who were dissenting ministers the trust the chapel shall be erected for the public worship of almighty God by the members of the congregation of protestant dissenters from the national episcopal church of England of the

[45:06] Calvinistic persuasion namely free and sovereign grace the chapel was opened by messers Coble and Hatton in June 1867 and apparently continued as an independent cause until 1882 on April 26 1882 Richard Blunden and seven others including his daughter Constance Jane Blunden were baptised at Salem Chapel Bond Street Brighton and were formed into a strict Baptist church in May of that year by Mr.

[45:58] Picknell of Red Hill in passing I would read just briefly three extracts from the booklet of Jane Constance Blunden I believe some of you are familiar in a measure with this booklet and Mr.

[46:19] Collier had cause to mention it this afternoon the extracts I have chosen are from her diary and they will be brief the first one is concerning her baptism as we have just said she was baptised with seven others in Bond Street Chapel Brighton concerning that we read dearest Lord my soul has abundant cause to extol thee its language is bid me in thy care confide keep me near thy wounded side from me never let me stir for thou knowest how soon I err thou dearest Lord hast permitted me to make an open confession of thy great name last

[47:24] Wednesday evening I was baptised with seven others at Bond Street Chapel Brighton by Mr. Funnell and thou was with me adored be thy holy name do grant dear Lord that I may adorn the doctrine of God my Saviour in all things and do dear Lord keep me near thyself thou knowest all my desire is to live near thee and then later in her life we find she has recorded these words it is a great mercy to have a place to go to where the good news of the gospel is faithfully proclaimed from sabbath to sabbath truly I have often found it good to be there and sweet have been the seasons when

[48:30] I have felt it to be indeed the house of God for verily I had rather have been a door keeper in the house of my God than I would spend one day in the tents of wickedness oh when thou city of my God shall I thy courts ascend where congregations ne'er break up and sabbaths have no end and then the following may she writes mr barbs has spoken most sweetly today from hebrews chapter 11 verses 25 and 6 and i felt while hearing him that i was among those who rather choose to suffer affliction with the people of

[49:35] God than to enjoy the pleasures so called of sin for a season indeed i do hope they are no longer pleasures to me nor can i find enjoyment in them no my very heart and soul cries out concerning god's dear children number with them may i be now and through eternity dear lord lift thou upon me the light of thy blessed countenance the dear lord was the dear girl was soon taken home at the early age of thirty five it was just down the street here where she collapsed making her way to the lord's house the place she loved to be found in but her lord gathered her unto himself now i must not stop concerning jane constance blunden a favoured person indeed but the lord had taken her oh to realise that as we by faith view our lord and saviour jesus christ that he has prepared for his people a habitation the baptistry was added in 1902 that is this baptising pool for when the chapel was built it was not here but having been formed into a strict baptist church there came the need of a baptistry i had hoped that one person would have been here today but hoeing to ill health she is unable to attend that is mrs hope who now resides in croydon she tells me she was the first person to be baptised here in the pool on august 27 1902 by mr emery the baptism was put off for a fortnight in order that the pool should be completed her name then was miss lily avery there may be some of you here now that can still remember her richard blunden that is the father of constance jane blunden passed away in 1950 in 1917 there was the occasion of the jubilee services held here when mr.

[52:39] f kirby of staple host preached the word now from 1925 until 1939 mr.

[52:51] tw funnel was the deacon and during this period an invitation was sent to mr. h dickinson to be pastor but he did not feel led to accept after the death of mr.

[53:08] funnel in 1939 mr. r. j. bennett who first came to shoreham in 1937 was asked to carry on the cause by mr.

[53:22] sawyer chairman of the trustees a mrs. reed and miss e. h. dunkley were now the only remaining members the latter passed away in 1940 mr.

[53:40] bennett was called to active service therefore mrs. reed carried the responsibility of the cause and a few friends were able to meet regularly for worship throughout the difficult years of the second world war through the kindness of mr.

[54:00] and mrs. e. wallace in the latter years of mrs. reed's life as they took her under their roof and cared for her until she passed away in june 1946 mr.

[54:20] r.j. bennett having been brought safely through the war was now back at shore and felt led to apply for membership worship it was through remarks made by mr.

[54:35] collier at bethel chapel luton that this step was taken and in the event he was baptized by the late mr.

[54:46] d. walter of skeins hill these succeeding years were years of gradual growth and the lord was pleased to build up both church and congregation in 1955 mr.

[55:12] f.j. bennett of peter borough whose ministration had been well received for several years was invited to the pastorate and commenced his labours on the 1st of january 1956 his loving spirit is showing this letter he sent to the church your kind and serious letter i have received in which is expressed your unanimous invitation for me to come among you as your pastor to serve you in the lord after much prayerful consideration and waiting upon the lord i feel it is a right step to take therefore i accept the invitation in the fear of the lord as from january the 1st 1956 although i am the least in my father's house my faith has been strengthened by some gracious answers to my poor petitions it is my prayerful desire that we may grow together in the love of god may the lord be merciful gracious in preserving us in union and love and blessing the word with power may they who constitute the church thrive on spiritual food the lord grant that others too may be constrained to cast in their lot with the people of god by the lord's gracious help i shall endeavour to keep the peace and abide by the doctrines of the word of god i pray to be kept humble in the fear of the lord i believe our hearts are bound together in the love of god may we always heed to the precept of timothy let brotherly love continue on sunday may march the 15th 1959 mr bennett preached what were to be his last sermons in the chapel from the words for surely there is an end and thine expectation shall not be cut off the following sabbath he collapsed in kilburn chapel pulpit and died a few hours later a large congregation including many townspeople met for the funeral service taken by mr stanley dells blessed are the dead which die in the lord from henceforth yea saith the spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them thear waiting upon God concerning the appointment of another pastor and at a week evening service of the previous November I was led to speak from the word arise and go to the south. Whilst I could not understand why I should have to preach from such a word the Lord blessed it to the friends and at a church meeting held in May 1963 the church members were unanimously in favour of sending an invitation to me to become their pastor.

[59:57] Just previous to this meeting Mr John Tyler preaching at Shoreham from Isaiah chapter 45 and verse 2 confirmed the exercise of the church.

[60:11] This was followed by another remarkable confirmation when Mr Clement Wood preached a fortnight later from the same text.

[60:22] I will go before them and make crooked places straight. I will break in pieces the gates of brass and cut in sunder the bars of iron.

[60:37] The Lord was pleased to undertake in this solemn matter and he applied the words unto me Arise and go.

[60:47] I was enabled to commence the pastorate here on January the 1st 1964 having therefore obtained help of God I continue unto this day.

[61:07] I desire to give thanks unto our God for supplying our every need both temporal and spiritual. There have been additions to the church and we are thankful that the numbers in the congregation are maintained.

[61:27] It is our prayerful desire that the Lord will bless the labors in the Sabbath school and that it may be that instead of the fathers shall come up the children.

[61:43] May the Lord be pleased to continue with us as has already been said this afternoon what is the house to me except the master I can see.

[62:00] Thank you friends. Thank you. Thank you.