Acts

[0:00] By the Holy Spirit, let us continue our meditation in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter the 20th, verse the 32nd.

[0:16] The Acts 20, 32. And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his race, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

[0:53] You will know, beloved friends, that this is a word that falls in a very special category.

[1:05] Which is well laid by the Holy Ghost in their souls.

[1:42] Let me just give you a resume of the concept delivered to this congregation or a section of it in the divine service this afternoon.

[1:58] The Apostle Paul had completed his term of labor for three years in the idolatrous city of Ephesus.

[2:13] And his powerful and unctuous ministry had been resultant in the calling out of darkness into marvelous light of the Lord's eternally chosen people in that city.

[2:34] And the time had now come because this was his special function in the church.

[2:44] To be the wise master builder and the spiritual father and to enunciate all the fundamental truths laying the foundation both ministerially and wherever God sent him.

[3:04] And so he would pass on, not remain as they would have loved for him to remain.

[3:17] For you find in the last verse they all wept sore. They accompanied him unto the ship.

[3:34] And they all wept sore and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him. Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake that they should see his face no more.

[3:50] They would love to have retained the Apostle Paul to the end of his days. But the Lord had this wonderful work for him to accomplish.

[4:05] Now what was he to do with this infant church of Christ in this dangerous city?

[4:17] Well, there is only one course. The Holy Ghost always directs us and gives grace and love and faith to do this.

[4:36] He commended them to God and to the word of his grace. And did so in a most filial manner.

[4:53] As being essentially united together in the mystical body of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[5:05] That is inseparable. The union is divine, heavenly, and everlasting.

[5:17] Although they would see his face no more. And this made them weep sorely. There was a union formed by God.

[5:28] An eternal union that made them inseparable. All around the throne in heaven in eternal glory.

[5:42] I feel when my soul is indulged by the Lord. And his love is shed abroad in my heart. Such a wonderful sense of that with my own beloved flock and with others.

[5:58] I feel, well, here we are. We are one. We are united. And we enjoy in Christ a union that is eternal, heavenly.

[6:13] Presently, we shall all be in glory together. And they will be, many of them, my crown of rejoicing in the day of Christ.

[6:24] Now what a wonderful thing this is. But, for love's sake, and also in recognition of the many perils and dangers that are referred to in the paragraph, that is this paragraph, there was this one thing that was according to the mind and will of God and to his glory and the infallible teaching and grace of the Spirit, that he should commend them to God.

[7:08] They were already there, but this is an act of faith and of love and in glorious hope. He commended them to God. And I do not intend, obviously, to cover the ground of the afternoon, divine service again.

[7:29] But if I just make this very brief reference. The people of God know the beginning of this exercise of faith.

[7:41] Immediately, they know, having been born again, and having been brought into trouble and concern about their immortal soul and its safety, and realizing to some degree that it is immortal, and then knowing the Lord Jesus, I proposed a question to the friends assembled.

[8:15] I said to them, What is the first act of faith? I know that this may be phrased in various forms of sacred terminology, but surely the first act of faith is you commit.

[8:36] Your soul, your body, body, soul, and spirit, your life, your all, your dear ones, eternity, time, grace, providence, you commit it all into his blessed hands.

[8:56] Am I speaking the truth? Your ministry, your pastorate, your sacred office, your strength, your health, your family, everything, you just commit it to God.

[9:12] And that is the beginning of it, and then it goes on all through your days. You're committing everything to God. Your way, in providence, for the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.

[9:29] You commit it all to God. Your sorrows, your trials, your afflictions, your joys, everything, and you commit it into the hand of God.

[9:42] But I especially made reference to the fact that this word commend, this Greek word, is the same used by the Lord Jesus himself at the ninth hour when he cried with a loud voice and said, Father, into thy hand I commend my spirit.

[10:07] And having said thus, he gave up the ghost. So do you not think you're indulged to be favored to do the same thing in your measure that Christ did?

[10:17] Think of it in that light. To be favored under divine grace and by the heavenly influences of the Spirit to do the very same thing in principle that our blessed Savior did.

[10:40] To commend, he commended his Spirit into the hand of his Father. And this in a special way, and I think probably this was the method used by the Holy Ghost to lead me to this scripture today, the pastor and his flock, your late beloved pastor.

[11:04] And in his terminal days, and undoubtedly all through his unctuous ministry, he commended you to God.

[11:22] And it is also a very beautiful word for parents to commend their dear families in the ramifications thereof, children, children's children, and their children, and so on, to commend them to God.

[11:42] And also for a godly husband, he commends his wife, the wife, her husband, the brother, the sister, and so on. In fact, everything that concerns you, you'll commend by the grace of God to God.

[11:59] Your nation. And I just made the point, and I would like to reiterate it, that the word commend infers that what is commended, the person or the matter, is something that is precious, very valuable.

[12:20] And you see here, very precious, those dear souls of Ephesus, they were very precious, his own spiritual sons and daughters, and being very precious, he commends them to God.

[12:41] So this is a very sacred word, indeed, and it is a holy principle of the glorious gospel of our blessed Lord, a principle divine of the kingdom, you commend.

[13:01] And undoubtedly, when we come to the terminal moments of our journey, long before that, but actually, when we come to that moment in time, this is, as we have said, the last triumphant act of faith, to take your immortal soul and put it into the hands of God.

[13:36] Now you can see the exquisite beauty and the wonder of this so divine and precious a subject.

[13:48] It is a secret known only by those who fear God. It's a very precious secret. So just for a moment, if you come back to me and say, now I have problems, I have difficulties, I'm lonely, I'm afflicted, I'm a widow, I'm a widower, yes, my loving heart goes out to you.

[14:11] But here is a word for you to commit it and to commend those you love into the hand of God.

[14:23] There it is. Everything into the hand of God. It's already there. But this is the sweet indulgence that he gives us.

[14:33] So tonight we shall further by his spirit and grace dilate and work out together this subject, although it will take a lifetime to work it out, the spirit of God working in us.

[14:57] And so I want immediately to pass to the next section. And now brethren, I commend you to God.

[15:09] And just this, what is the atmosphere and the spirit and the motivation of the subject?

[15:22] Everlasting love. The whole atmosphere of this is is ineffable love.

[15:34] You see? And now brethren, full of love. Oh, what a pure, holy, bright atmosphere this is.

[15:48] I commend you to God. God. It is right that I should say this before his majesty, that if we were enabled to preach to this word to the end of our days, we should only be on the fringe of all the glorious fullness contained in it.

[16:16] God, you think of God, your knowledge of God. How little do we know of God? But I believe there are those things, according to the revelation of the Spirit and one's own experience of the same, that we may to his glory and profitably enunciate before you in this divine service this evening.

[16:47] So he says, I commend you to God, to that glorious, infinite, majestic being of God.

[17:05] When you think of his glory and majesty, you may feel in your soul such a sense of trembling, being a poor, weak, worthless, unworthy worm in your own estimation.

[17:26] And yet you see, if the Lord has made you his child, oh, how precious you are to him. But I just want to remind the friends of this.

[17:38] I commend you to God. God, let us bless God that his son came to reveal to us his nature and essence.

[17:54] And what is it? Love. And we should never have known, we never could have known, apart from the incarnation of Christ, the coming of the Son of God, in his assumption of sacred holy humanity, into indiscible union with his divine person.

[18:19] We could have never known God, apart from this. He came to reveal him. He came to obey him as his servant.

[18:33] he came to accomplish his priestly work of atonement, to make that atonement for the sins of his people.

[18:44] But he revealed to us the nature and essence of this God, God, love. Isn't it wonderful?

[18:57] God is love. So what is this? I commend you to God.

[19:10] I shall speak in simplicity, but the simplicity will be profundity.

[19:25] Now, he will then commend you to God, to the Father. He will commend you to the boundless, everlasting, sovereign, divine, ineffable love of the Father.

[19:52] That's a wonderful thing, isn't it? What will you do when you have to leave all below and see your weeping wife or husband, perhaps, at the bedside?

[20:08] Whatever will you do when it is father and mother and you see your weeping children at the bedside?

[20:21] Maybe. I commend you to God, to God the father, to his everlasting love, to his wings.

[20:38] This is the word, it is an epitome of it really. Dear Ruth, completely stripped and bereaved, in Moab, and that dear soul was favored to know the Lord Christ, and she knew the secret under whose wings thou art come to trust.

[21:09] I commend you to God, to this God of love, and you'll know what it is to be under his wings. Oh, you'll say, yes, I can die happily, they'll be safe there.

[21:27] My dear, very dear grandmother in London, in the great city, died when she was about 36, of carcinoma, and there were six children, little children.

[21:54] The Lord so blessed her that she was enabled to commend them, commend them to God, and to die in perfect peace.

[22:08] Now, you mothers, you would realize that if you've got six children, we'll say under 12, you would say, well, however could I leave them, whatever will they do, I commend you to God, the God of love, to those precious wings, those feathers, the shadow of his wings, things, oh, the wonder of it, I can die happily and peacefully, oh, this father, what a father, what a father, father, they'll never want, no, he will supply all their need, they will never suffer hunger, they will never be forsaken, they will never be left comfortless,

[23:17] I will come to you, they will not feel their orphans, I commend you to God, beautiful isn't it, say there's everything there, whatever question comes up in your mind, I commend you to God, this answers everything, your God, their God, I commend you to God, God, this great God, the shelter, the covert, his love, his faithfulness, his kindness, I commend you to God, and we may speak of it too in this profound yet simple way,

[24:18] I commend you to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, all this dear Savior, his grace, all sufficient, the grace of God is the most delightful theme, it means the unmerited divine, divine, loving, favor of God manifested in his son to us, and especially in his son to die for our sins at Calvary, all this grace, and his grace that is all sufficient, I commend you to the God of all grace, the God of all grace, grace, beautiful word that isn't it, you need the grace of love, of wisdom, of patience, of endurance, the God of all grace,

[25:30] I commend you to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to this dear Savior, and I commend you to you to the infinite kindness, and the indwelling, and the heavenly influences, and divine teaching, gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost, I commend you to God, to the Spirit, and there's so much more, I commend you to God, that is, take for instance, the office characters of the Lord Jesus that he fills in the covenant of grace, there he is, a father, the heavenly father, dear friends, what a word that is to us, sometimes, it is to me, your father know it, your father, it's so sweet, your father, you come into painful things, you may be afflicted, troubled, bewildered, perplexed, your heart, maybe sore pain, within you, you may, as I prayed, be like

[27:15] Jehoshaphat, neither know we what to do, I do not want to make it a trite saying, but it is very true, you may wonder where the scene will end, your father, your father, know it, he knows, he loves, he cares, what a father, watching over you, like as a father, listen to the inspired language, like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him, for he knoweth our frame, being the architect of it, he remembereth that we are dashed, what a father,

[28:16] I commend you to God, to this father, and what a friend he is, been singing about this, what a friend, when did you first feel that he was your friend, I have observed those who have known affliction from a very early age, and yet have known in their childhood the wonderful compensation afforded by this holy knowledge, that the Lord Jesus is their friend, what a friend, I commend you to

[29:16] God, to this friend, listen to this of the prophet, for this is as the waters of Noah unto me, for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee, for the mountain shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness, my kindness, shall not depart from thee, thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy upon thee, this will break your heart, this will melt your spirit, he says, my kindness shall not depart from thee,

[30:22] I commend you to this God, this friend, this dear friend, the hymn says, on whom my hopes of heaven depend, this dear friend, the earth and the experience of the human race in passing through time is one of flux, everything changes, constantly changes, it's a process of change, change and decay, in all around I say, now, oh thou that changes not, abide with me, I commend you to this God, what a friend, he never changes, and what a holy bridegroom is the

[31:26] Lord Jesus, I commend you to this precious holy bridegroom, I commend you to God, to this husband, for thy maker is thy husband, the Lord of hosts is his name, and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so thy God rejoiceth over thee, I commend you to God, for you are betrothed unto him in righteousness, I commend you to God, now you can see the dimensions of the subject, and then, think of the divine perfections, I commend you to

[32:26] God, to this faithful one, who rejoices over thee with singing, and rests in his love, he is faithful, I commend you to God, it's a beautiful subject, so think of his divine faithfulness, sometimes, in my own pulpit, I pause to adore the Trinity, for the faithfulness of God to me and my flock, I just adore the Trinity, praise and adore, for this divine faithfulness, has he ever failed you friend, have you ever been in trouble and the

[33:27] Lord refused to hear your cry, has he ever forsaken you, that he's completely forsaken you, has he ever let you sink in despondency or fear or trouble, never, think of his faithfulness, how this strengthens us to go on in the ministry, over the many years, God is faithful, see, I commend you to God, and think then of his loving kindness, his loving kindness, the hymn says, number nine, oh how great, I commend you to God, loving kindness, and listen to this, surely, says

[34:28] David, the good shepherd as he was, and the shepherd, the shepherd king of Israel and Judah, but he knew the Lord as his shepherd, I commend you to this shepherd, but listen to him, he says, surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me, follow, that word follow means attend, it's the bride of Christ with her bridal attendants, and those bridal attendants are goodness and mercy, surely goodness and mercy shall attend me, follow me, all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever,

[35:38] I commend you to God, to his goodness, to his mercy, to his boundless love, and listen to his compassion, man, the poor man fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, wounded him, left him half dead, the priest and the Levi passed by on the other side, but the good Samaritan came where he was, oh, the compassion of this friend, poured in the oil and the wine, oh, the wonderful soothing of the oil, and the wine possibly stands for an antiseptic to cleanse the wound, as well as to revive the patient and bound up his wounds, did everything for him,

[37:00] I commend you to God, to his compassion, his infinite compassion, man, friends, you can see that the subject is divine and the dimensions are eternal, I commend you to God, and then he goes on, unto the word of his grace, or his gracious word, this obviously, when you look at the term word, you may think of the Lord Jesus himself, but I believe here that the special reference is to his word, that is, his infallible inspired word, let us begin there, we believe doctrinally in the verbal and plenary inspiration of the scriptures, oh, precious

[38:20] Bible, what a treasure, his word, word, I notice in the homes of the people of God, I notice sometimes in a vestry that there's a text hanging there, maybe over the bed, in the vestry, in the dining room, there's a text, I suppose it stands for something that's very precious to you, that God has spoken to you, but there it is, and I suppose that sometimes you derive much comfort from that, now the Lord is continually speaking his word into our hearts, so let us make this beginning, you will I am sure conquer in this doctrine of the plenary and verbal inspiration of the scriptures, and you will love the authorised version, now then, what a treasure we have in the holy bible, if you go behind the iron curtain, you will find that there's no liberty there, we don't prize the holy bible as we should, you will find that the longer you live, it will be just one book for you, and that is the bible, one book,

[40:09] I'm not speaking obviously against gracious memoirs, and so on, and the works of the puritans, but you'll find that it's this, the word of God, there's everything there, holy spirit, apply it, speak it, it's all there, now let us go a little further, I understand our apostle to infer here, the sacred ordinance of the ministry of the gospel of redemption by God ordained men, pastors and itinerant ministers, because as we have often said, this is Christ's ascension gift to the church, the ministry of the gospel,

[41:12] I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, that is the Lord's holy ordinance, and I want just to put this to the friends tonight, is there anything on the earth like it?

[41:34] Take the house of God away, take the ministry of the spirit away, what will there be left in this world? I know that you would say, well, the Bible, that's perfectly true, I understand what you mean, but take now all the divine services and the sanctuary and the ministry, take it all away, what would there be left in this world for you, my friend?

[42:05] I know that your God could still come, but this is his divine and holy ordinance, and it is his sacred pleasure consequently to crown it, to bless it, to use it, as the medium for divine blessing, the principal medium.

[42:31] Now I understand him to mean then chiefly, if I may so say at this stage, rather the pastoral care of precious souls.

[42:47] Now let not our dear brethren whose feet are made beautiful upon the mountains where the Lord directs them to preach, let them not be discouraged, but he seems to commend them to the word of his grace, a pastoral ministry, and a pastoral care and love.

[43:10] This is evident from his charge to the elders. So he commends them to the word of his grace, to, shall I say, a stated spiritual and holy ghost endued living faithful ministry, a pastoral ministry, to care for those souls.

[43:43] It is congruous with the whole spirit of the subject. The charges, take he therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church of God.

[44:04] not entertain them, but feed them. And he gives an especial word to show the value of the church of God to himself and how this will enhance our understanding of the precious value of their immortal souls, he says, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

[44:35] You couldn't have anything more precious, could you? Now feed them. I've purchased them with my blood. Feed them. So I commend you to God and to the word of his grace.

[44:51] to this blessed word, this word that shall illuminate you and wound you and heal you and strip you and clothe you and pull down and build up.

[45:12] This word that shall be light to your path, this word that shall fill you with understanding and that shall enrich and satisfy your soul.

[45:29] I commend you to God and to the word of his grace. You enjoyed this year for over 50 years with your dear pastor.

[45:45] And I know how you respond this evening in gratitude to the Lord for what you were favoured with. What a blessing it was.

[45:58] I commend you to God and to the word of his grace. Now there's everything in this word you see. And I shall in this last section I shall devote myself to the efficacy of this word by the spirit that is named in the terminal part of the text which is able to build you up.

[46:30] That's the first thing. I would understand this two ways. The first is we have referred to the apostle Paul our own apostle how that he was the wise master builder and it was given to him to enunciate all the cardinal principles of our most holy faith and ministerially to lay the foundation.

[47:05] And what was the foundation Jesus Christ and him crucified. The incarnation of the Son of God.

[47:20] His suffering sure to ship the perfection of his obedience to the moral law the drinking of the curse and his voluntary and vicarious and sacrificial and expiatory death on the cross.

[47:48] The opening of the precious fountain of purgation, his wondrous victory, his resurrection on the third day for he condescended to be buried.

[48:03] There's no sting or terror in death and the grave for the people of God and his love, dying love, takes away the fear of death.

[48:15] This you have witnessed with your loved ones. This you have felt and do feel in your souls. His glorious victory, his ascension to heaven and session at the right hand of God.

[48:34] Now, to build you up where this foundation is well laid and the spirit uses this in the souls of the people, that ministry that exhausts Christ, then there is building.

[48:54] there is no building without the laying of the good foundation. It is not for me really to say very much about this, but I have found in the blessed exercise of the preaching of the gospel over many years, that the spirit has led me in this specific way, to seek first, first of all, to lay the foundation.

[49:34] And if there are three divine services on the Lord's day, let us spend the whole of the forenoon in laying the foundation, then we can build on it, if the Holy Ghost helps us.

[49:47] that's the vital thing. And so here is a building, as the Lord favours his people with blessings, and they grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, that is, because also they have a deeper knowledge of their own depravity of nature, and the wickedness of their heart, and so on, and they're led then to realize more of the preciousness of the Lord Jesus, and those cardinal truths, those holy doctrines, are unfolded to them by the Spirit through the ministry, often they're built up.

[50:41] I also see another facet of this, which is able to build you up. In this way, take a sick patient, they're debilitated, they're very weak and frail, they have been perhaps not discharged fully, but initially from the hospital, and there they are, poor and frail and weak.

[51:23] Now they need building up. The consultant may say what you need is to go to a farm and have some eggs and milk and butter and meat and so on, build you up.

[51:43] Now that's just what the gospel is, which is able to build you up. There's all the protein here, there's the meat, the strong meat, and the milk, there's everything, it's all in the gospel, to build you up, and also to get the sunshine and the fresh air.

[52:11] Now what about the sun of righteousness irradiating you, and to breathe in comparatively, not so much now as it was 50 years ago, but you came down from London, the fogs and so on, into the countryside, the beautiful pure air, now you think of it.

[52:33] And this is when the Lord comes, the pure atmosphere of heaven, and you breathe it in, and the sun of righteousness shines upon you, and you have this rich fare, this delicious fare, look, builds you up, and presently you say, look, look at the difference in this soul, look how they've been nourished, and they're restored to health and energy and strength, which is able to build you up.

[53:08] I have used a simple illustration, but a very graphic one, and I want just to say for a moment on that further, when you think of it, there is the table of the gospel, and the Lord sends his ministers, and the table is spread by the Spirit.

[53:35] There's everything there. The bread of life, the water of life, the precious shed, vital blood of the Son of Man, his broken body, blood, the milk, the honey, the wine, it's all there.

[53:59] And what does the Lord say? I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with bread. One time that I shall, or we shall never forget, of your late dear pastor, at Hawthorst, when he preached on the poor, have the gospel preached to them.

[54:23] We've been speaking about it today, we have several times. Now look at it, it's all there, it says I will abundantly bless her provision, which is able to build you up.

[54:37] You were like a wreck, you were a wreck, and look how the Lord has built you up. You're happy, you're favoured, the Lord has strengthened you and enriched you, build you up.

[54:54] But let me just develop this a little further. There's the table, there's the provision. What is needed, what is the counterpart?

[55:08] A good appetite and thirst, hunger and thirst after righteousness. That is what is needed. God's And when you think of, shall I say, the condiments that make this piquant, that is that stimulates your appetite, think of the condiments of faith and love.

[55:39] Put a sharp edge on your appetite. sight. No. The Lord gives to his dear people what we speak of as the pallet of faith.

[55:57] And this is one of the expressions of faith, living faith, a living faith, a pallet, so that you have the taste buds of faith.

[56:11] And when you begin to smell that delicious fear, and you're hungry and thirsty, and then come to the time to partake of it, and the dear Lord comes to you and says, eat, O friends, drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved, and you begin to partake of it, which is able to build you up.

[56:45] And you know what happens after it is digested, it is assimilated, which is one of the most wonderful processes in the human body, to assimilate.

[57:00] What does it mean? it means that you digest food, and there is a process whereby it is built up into the very substance of your body.

[57:17] And that's just what the gospel is. When you partake by faith, this that you partake of becomes the very substance of your immortal soul, and you grow up unto eternal life, which he is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified.

[57:46] Just a few minutes, and I must come to the amen. Now, their title is beautiful. people, it is highly desirable, and you will long and pray for it to be one of the sanctified ones.

[58:11] And let me just remind you of sanctification and the two particular aspects of it. what is it?

[58:25] It stands for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that is in your soul, dwells in you, from the time he regenerates you.

[58:40] And the first part of sanctification is this, he is preparing the chamber of your breast. What for?

[58:51] what is the answer? You who are deeply taught will know. He prepares the chamber of your breast.

[59:06] What is the answer? For the personal advent of Christ. That's it. It is expressed in that beautiful language in the hymn, we bow as sinners at thy feet, and bid thee welcome to our hearts, because the Holy Ghost has sanctified us.

[59:31] He's prepared the room. Awake, O north wind, and come thou south, and blow upon my garden, that the spices may flow out.

[59:45] And what is that for? the spices which are all the fruits, and the virtues, graces of the Spirit, when they flow out, what is it for?

[60:02] Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits. sanctification. Amen. Now there you are.

[60:15] Now there's an, and what is that for? This sanctification. It is as we have named and tabulated it, first for the personal advent of Christ, and then to make us fruitful and useful in the church of God below.

[60:37] And what's the other part of sanctification? Really it is a corporate whole. But this is the other aspect of it.

[60:50] To fit us, to be like Christ, to fit us for heaven. That's sanctification. It really means to fit one for sacred use and service.

[61:07] how blessed isn't it? Now these are the sanctified ones. And to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified, that is to reveal it to you that you have this inheritance among all them that are sanctified.

[61:33] The gospel discovers it to you. very amazing term this inheritance. It means this simply that you have a title to something and upon the death of the testator you inherit.

[61:59] It becomes yours. that you have a title to it and the title is the forgiveness of sin.

[62:12] Now having this title you will inherit and immediately you begin to know the Lord, the Lord Jesus, immediately you will begin to know an inheritance.

[62:32] It is not a matter of waiting until you die. It begins here. What will you inherit? it, holy peace, heavenly joy, glory, commenced in you, rest, and the presence and indwelling of the Lord, you will begin to inherit.

[63:01] all the wonder of this. And then the consummate glory to inherit everlasting life, felicity, glory, transcendent glory, and the very likeness of Christ.

[63:28] Blessed be God. the collection will be taken, dear friends, for the Mance Building Fund.

[63:40] Thank you. to the Stephen Supplement.

[64:03] Tune for Justin, number three. Number 22 for the Thank you.

[64:43] Thank you.

[65:13] Thank you. Thank you.

[65:45] Thank you. Thank you.

[66:45] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[66:57] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[67:09] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[67:21] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[67:33] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[67:45] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[67:57] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[68:09] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Blessed be thy holy name.

[68:21] O Lord God, forever and ever. We thank thee for the good savour of thine ointments. Thy name is as ointment poured forth.

[68:36] Therefore do the virgins love thee. We bless thee for thy sacred presence in this sanctuary.

[68:51] We pray for thy abiding presence. Abide with us, for it is toward evening and the days far spent.

[69:02] Dear Lord Jesus, discover thy matchless beauty to us continually, that we may behold the beauty of the Lord, and grant to us many sweet foretastes of heaven.

[69:29] We affectionately commend to thee thy dear servants with us, and all members of the church and congregation, dear kind friends also who have joined us.

[69:47] And we pray for the dear friends in the anticipated settlement of their ministry. And also that thy goodness, yea, all thy goodness may pass before them.

[70:05] Amen. Grant us pardon and peace and protection and thy sweet love.

[70:20] The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all.

[70:34] Amen. Amen.