[0:00] Let's get right into the Word of God. 1 Chronicles chapter 22. Let's put it in context. Okay, so David's great sin recorded for us of where he numbered and did the census of the people of Israel.
[0:15] Really just a sin of pride. It's the only sin of David written down for us in the book of 1 Chronicles. But yet it is a sin of great tragedy in which a multitude of people die.
[0:28] 70,000 people die. But it also is a sin that displays the grace and the mercy of God. God declared judgment for David's sin.
[0:39] But after the declaration of judgment, there is also a declared means and path for redemption. So there is the angel of the Lord stopping over the threshing floor of Ornan or Arunah, depending on if you're reading from 1 Chronicles or 2 Samuel.
[0:56] So there is this opportunity for redemption. So David goes and he buys the hill, which is Temple Mount.
[1:07] Later on in history, he buys the threshing floor of Ornan, the Jebusite, and he builds an altar there, and he offers a sacrifice. God answers by fire. He redeems that time.
[1:19] He forgives it. The redemption happens historically. We saw that last time. So we're really still chronologically in context there, right? So not all the time when we're open to writings of history are we reading chronologically.
[1:31] But what precedes that here in the 22nd chapter is immediately following that incident. Much of this really probably takes place right there on that site still, when the angel of the Lord is there and he's manifested his judgment, but also God speaks and declares the path of redemption, and then God answers by fire and accepts the sacrifice of David.
[1:52] I mean, wow, what a merciful time. Then we see this here in verse 1 of chapter 22. Then David said, This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.
[2:07] So David gave orders together to the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, and he set stone cutters to hew out stones to build the house of God. And David prepared large quantities of iron to make the nails for the doors of the gates and for the clamps, and more bronze than could be weighed, and timbers of cedar logs beyond number for the Sidonians and the Tyrrhenians, and brought large quantities of cedar timber to David.
[2:31] And David said, My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord shall be exceedingly magnificent, famous, and glorious through all lands. Therefore now I will make preparation for it.
[2:44] So David made ample preparations before his death. Just so you know in context, starting here from chapter 22 until the end of the book of 1 Chronicles, which is chapter 29, are the preparations that David makes for the building of the temple.
[3:01] Okay, so it's not just this one chapter. And this is really, we're entering into the things that are unique in 1 Chronicles. Okay, we're told in the writings of 2 Samuel that David prepared, but here we're told what preparations he made.
[3:16] It is here in context, I know I kind of interrupted my reading, that we see the division of the Levites, we see the division of the priests, we see the expectations of each one, who is to play what instruments, who is to be the doorkeepers.
[3:28] Why is all that listed? Because this is part of the preparations David made for the building of the temple. God is a God of order, right? Part of what David did is he set everything in line.
[3:39] Okay, so now let's go. Starting in verse 6. Then he called for his son Solomon and charged him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel. And David said to Solomon, my son, I had intended to build a house to the name of the Lord my God, but the word of the Lord came to me saying, you have shed much blood and have waged great wars.
[3:59] You shall not build a house to my name because you have shed so much blood on the earth before me. Behold, a son will be born to you who shall be a man of rest.
[4:09] And I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side for his name shall be Solomon, which literally means peace. And I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days.
[4:20] He shall build a house for my name and he shall be my son and I will be his father and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever. Now, my son, the Lord be with you and you may be successful, that you may be successful and build the house of the Lord your God, just as he has spoken concerning you.
[4:38] Only the Lord give you discretion and understanding and give you charge over Israel so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God. Then you will prosper. If you're careful to observe the statutes and ordinances which the Lord commanded Moses concerning Israel, be strong and courageous.
[4:55] Do not fear nor be dismayed. Now behold, with great pains, I have prepared for the house of the Lord 100,000 talents of gold and one million talents of silver and bronze and iron beyond weight for they are in great quantity, also timber and stone I have prepared and you may add to them.
[5:18] Moreover, there are many workmen with you, stone cutters and masons of stone and carpenters and all men who are skillful in every kind of work of the gold, the silver and the bronze, the iron, there is no limit.
[5:29] Arise and work and may the Lord be with you. David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon saying, Is not the Lord your God with you? And has he not given you rest on every side?
[5:42] For he has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand and the land is subdued before the Lord and before his people. Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God. Arise therefore and build the sanctuary of the Lord God so that you may bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God into the house that is to be built for the name of the Lord.
[6:06] I want you to see this evening laying a foundation for future generations. How he lay a foundation for future generations. David is doing so much more than just making preparations for the building of the temple.
[6:18] Really he is laying a foundation for the generations to come and it is this repeated refrain which we find throughout scripture that the people of God ought to look beyond themselves, look beyond their lives and to lay a foundation.
[6:32] Paul would say no other foundation I lay than that which has already been laid which is Jesus Christ, right? They are laying a foundation for other generations to build upon. The author of the book of Hebrews tells us that we stand on the shoulders literally of the saints who went before us.
[6:49] There is this foundational element of faith that is consistent both in the Old Testament and even in the New Testament. And in our day and time the calling of believers is to lay a foundation for the generations which are coming after them.
[7:05] We are told today if we look in what we call current church history even along our own denominational lines that what they refer to as the pipeline of pastors is drying up.
[7:19] That there are not many pastors arising. That there are not many people entering the call or answering the call to the ministry anymore and really it seems to be this great divide that we don't have these elements and pastors aren't number one pastors don't ever retire.
[7:36] You need to understand that, right? They just don't retire. It's not like you reach a retirement age. I've never met a pastor that retired. I've met pastors that retired from churches but pastors never retire and that's just one of the things that you understand.
[7:50] You just get into it. But you also understand that more people are called to stay longer and longer and longer because there's just no one behind them anymore and really what has happened is it falls upon us as pastors and it falls upon us as churches that we're not doing the biblical mandate of laying a foundation for others to build upon and we're not doing the thing which scripture calls us to do.
[8:12] We're not looking to future generations because unfortunately too often we're just focusing on our own time and our time keeps us busy enough. But here what David is doing is he's looking beyond the extent of his own life.
[8:25] He's laying this foundation and he's laying a foundation not only for Solomon but he's laying a foundation that is so certain so sure that now after the Babylonian captivity after the nation of Israel was called out that 70 years 70 plus years of captivity and after this small remnant came back and they're trying to redefine who they are as the people of God they know that true worship in their time is based upon this foundation David that's why we have so many details given to us here.
[8:57] This is why we have so many details given to us from this chapter until the end of the book through chapter 29 is because they needed to know well who's supposed to be leading music who's supposed to be keeping the gates or the doors of the temple who's supposed to be playing what instruments right what people group are supposed to be doing that that was already there and if it had not been there if it had not been so meticulously cared for by someone else then the worship would have faltered and failed but yet now we go into this time where the generations beyond much beyond David not just Solomon but the generations beyond David know how they ought to worship how they ought to approach the Lord God not just with sacrifices but also with praise with adoration and with worship and with celebration even to the extent of what instruments are supposed to be used that's what we find in all these preparations so what does it look like to lay a foundation for future generations number one there has to be a conviction there has to be a conviction the individual who's laying the foundation or the church or the people that are laying the foundation have to have a conviction look at what it says then David said that is immediately following the building of this altar and laying on the sacrifice of the altar calling out to God
[10:17] David didn't burn the wood right he laid it there much like Elijah on Mount Carmel and he laid it there and he called out to God and it says and God answered by fire fire came out of heaven and consumed this sacrifice so now there's an acceptable sacrifice and remember that David could not go to the altar which was at Gibeon because of the fear of the Lord so he could not approach the altar that was the official altar that was at the high place at Gibeon because he feared the Lord because of his own sin so God met him where he was at he met him there on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite and he built this altar and he laid a sacrifice there that which God told him to do right the sacrifice all this plan of redemption and forgiveness this is God's idea right he told him to do that don't miss that David didn't say oh I bet God will be pleased with this maybe I should do that no the Lord declared to David do this that's pretty cool we serve a God who is not a God of confusion right many if not every well let's just go ahead and say every other world religion by the way has a God that is a God of disorder and confusion in which the people hope they can please him
[11:29] Christianity alone worships a God who has declared what we ought to do to be pleasing in his sight and we don't have to say I hope he accepts this because he declares to us he will accept this in our covenant of grace and mercy it is to come through Jesus Christ his son and we will be saved so it is there's the acceptable sacrifice so anyways after this it says then David said after all that this is the house of the Lord God and this is the altar of the burnt offering of Israel it's astounding right because in his ease David was thinking while he was sitting in his house of cedar David said to himself I want to build a house for the Lord in his ease David sought to build the Lord a house but in his brokenness and in his misery and in his suffering he discovered the house of the Lord he came to a point where he was no longer comfortable because of his sin because of his rebellion and now God meets him where he's at and he says this is the house of the Lord here is a moment of conviction conviction is born out of this season of brokenness and it is born out of the season of God manifesting himself
[12:50] God manifested his judgment God declared his word and God manifest his forgiveness by accepting the sacrifice so out of this manifestation of the Lord God came the conviction this is the house of the Lord and this is the altar it is one of the great displays of grace and mercy it is a display of forgiveness and that leads to this conviction make no mistake about it convictions move men opinions move minds you can have an opinion about something and it may change the way you think but the moment you are convicted of something it will change what you do so if there is something you profess that does not change what you do then you may have a grand opinion but you are not holding to a deep conviction conviction moves the person
[13:51] I have an opinion about a lot of things but I don't base my life on opinions because the reality is that I am a feeble human being and my opinion could be wrong there are a certain number of things that I am convicted of and based upon those convictions I have staked my life because convictions move us we can change our opinions I've changed my opinion about any number of things when I was growing up I was a very picky eater there were things I didn't like there were things that I said just a few years ago there were things I said I would never eat that now almost I'd say about four times a week I eat broccoli or cauliflower which to me sounded awful a few years ago and I like them now keep in mind that most of the time your pastor's wife will take my broccoli and put it in a little bit of bacon grease and everything's better with bacon grease and you know cook it just right but I eat all kinds of stuff that I used to never eat because they were opinions I had people tell me oh I'd never do that I'd never eat that I'd never eat that I be careful I used to say that too because there are opinions right opinions can be changed but convictions cannot to change the conviction you have to change
[15:00] David came to a moment of conviction we will not do anything until we come to this moment of conviction he says this is the house of the Lord this is the altar for burnt offerings for Israel and based upon that conviction this is he does everything that follows to the end of the book since this is the house of the Lord let me get the masons and the stone cutters and the craftsmen and the timber hewers since this is the house of the Lord let us get the Levites in order since this is the house of the Lord let me assign who should play which musical instruments since this is the house of the Lord let me declare everything that should be done it is conviction and until men and women believers live with an attitude of conviction they will never lay a foundation for the generations that come after them because we don't want to impose our opinions on someone else but we should have no problem whatsoever sharing our convictions with someone else I don't want people to live according to my opinions but if I am convicted that Jesus Christ is the only way and if I am convicted of the reality that the church is of utmost importance and if I am convicted that the word of God is absolutely true then I need to lay a foundation that others beyond me would be able to accept those as well see the difference there has to be a conviction number two if there is a conviction it must be followed up with the second thing and that is a concern it is impossible to have a godly concern without a godly conviction but it is very impractical to have a conviction but not have a concern convictions lead to concerns and the concern of David is stated in one word in verse five my son
[17:12] Solomon is young and inexperienced David was convicted of the reality that the place in which he was standing was the house of God but his concern was Solomon is not ready now we don't know the exact age of Solomon at this time most Bible translators and scholars and historians will tell you that Solomon is somewhere between the age of 20 and 30 some will say that he's as young as 14 or 15 I believe he's more 24 25 somewhere in that range so he's somewhere between 20 and 30 still young and inexperienced because he's grown up in the courtroom of the king right he hasn't fought the battles that David's fault he hasn't had this hardened life he hasn't seen things he's he's had a life of pretty ease and pleasure he hasn't hid out in the in the caves and and went all these valleys on his run for his life but yet David's concern is is that Solomon is not prepared for the task that is ahead of him because the task that is ahead of him is a task of utmost importance because look at what he says he says he is inexperienced and the house that is to be built for the
[18:15] Lord shall be exceedingly magnificent he says I am concerned that what Solomon is capable of doing is insufficient for what it ought to be I am concerned to the point that if I don't do something in advance and I just leave it to Solomon then Solomon's going to build a house that does not rightly and accurately reflect the glory of God that I now see and how could he David had seen God answer in ways that Solomon had not David had seen God keep him in areas and seasons that Solomon would never experience David had seen the splendor of God on display in moments of want in moments of ease and in moments of difficulty and David knew the glory of the Lord
[19:17] God because of the life that led to this moment of conviction and his concern was is that the house that Solomon would build would be insignificant and insufficient because he says that it shall be exceedingly magnificent famous and glorious throughout all the lands David rightly understood that any structure that was to be erected and raised that would testify to the glory of God should be a glorious testimony to him throughout all the lands that is people should look at it and say wow look at that what God must they serve you understand many of you have heard this from me before I am convinced I don't I use I step it down it's a little bit higher than opinion it's a little bit lower than a conviction I am convinced that the church building ought to be the prettiest most well maintained grounds in all of the community and the reason I'm convinced of that is because I believe that the first testimony that the world has as to the reflection of who we see God as being is our building it is the biggest billboard that we put out there right it is the biggest display that we tell the world this is what we think and that was a matter of conviction for my mentor it was well beyond being convinced he was convicted of it so when I was very young in the faith as very new believer
[20:50] Carrie and I were custodians we cleaned the church Carrie did it and I did it with her for 17 years Carrie cleaned the church but he was so convicted of it that he told us he shared that with us and he said this is what I expect and our kids could tell you to this day our kids could take because they were down there with us a lot of times we were cleaning the church so the first position I ever held in church was six months after I came in Christ I was an adult Sunday school teacher the very next position that I had don't ask me why they asked me to do that but they did I was the only one gullible enough to say sure I'll do it but anyway so I was an adult Sunday school teacher very next one I heard held was a co-custodian scrub and toilets it was wonderful did it for 17 years so it's okay nothing wrong with serving in a church but our kids could tell you to this day how their mother would vacuum that sanctuary we couldn't nobody could go in there and she vacuumed her way out so that nobody there were no footprints on the carpet until the pastor walked into the building for the first time now after so many years I became the pastor so I'd walk in the back door and I never I wouldn't walk across I was like I'm not going in there yet I'm gonna let somebody else go first right not gonna be my footprint but it was just a matter it became a matter of conviction right that that we are testifying and this is the concern of
[22:13] David that he's expressing as he declares the youthfulness of Solomon and he says I'm afraid that he's not going to do it justice so the conviction so strong that he wants this structure built and he wants it to testify the glory of God that now he says I'm gonna do whatever I need to and concern leads to action so he gets the strangers these are the non-Israelite people that are living among them these are the people that are originally from the land of Canaan the original inhabitants of the Canaan land who God had declared in the book of Deuteronomy that they could be laborers to the nation of Israel they were not to enslave their own people remember that right they were not to put under forced labor their own people but those other people that lived in their land they could be put under consigned forced labor so they did one of the things that Solomon did that is wrong later on by the way is he did consign to forced labor some of his own people that's kind of what led to the division of the kingdom during Rehoboam's time but anyway we digress we get a little bit ahead of ourselves but
[23:17] David says okay so I'm so concerned he starts getting the non-Israelite people that are craftsmen that can do a good work and he gets stone cutters and masons and he starts making preparations right has stone stacked up he said I can't build it but I want him to do it he starts bringing timbers in from the Sidonians and Tyrenians and they're there and he starts getting all the iron so that they can make nails and all these clamps and everything to hold everything by the way one commentator rightly said iron that's one metal that we never found in the tabernacle but we find in the temple it's pretty cool right so he starts doing that and he starts laying up gold and starts laying up silver the gold by the way that mount if you take that equivalent of 100,000 talents of gold that is 3,750 tons of gold if you do the math it's been rightly said that the tabernacle was built with the spoils of the Egyptians remember when they were leaving during the Passover God told the people of Israel to ask for spoils from the Egyptians and they asked and they got the earrings and said why did they need that it's because when they got out there in the wilderness God gave them all these details of building this gold plated altar and the Ark of the
[24:22] Covenant well what are you going to build that with if you're out there well you just looted the Egyptians when you left so you have all this stuff the temple is built with the spoils of David's wars it's all this material that David has been a man of war man of bloodshed but it hasn't been for naught right all the things there so if you go a little further you see how much silver there's there and his bronze beyond weight all these things that are there so he's so concerned he's laying up these things that the the question we ask ourself okay if we are convicted of gospel biblical truths how much concern do we have that we're doing something about it so that others can continue to build as we've been told to build what are we doing to prepare them for the very thing that they will be insufficient to do what are we pouring in to the people who are going to come after us so that they will be able to do something they are not prepared to do I look back in my life I mean I was 26 when I started pastoring but I was right before I turned 21 when I became a believer but for those five years five plus years there were people pouring into me preparing me to do what I was not qualified to do and so we understand that they were concerned there's conviction there's concern number three that concerned is followed with a charge charge or a call look at what it says then he called for his son Solomon and charged him one commentary said there were three charges in this passage the charge to the craftsman the charge to Solomon and the charge to the leaders really it's just one great charge then he called for his son
[26:19] Solomon and charged him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel now Solomon is young and inexperienced and he's not that's the concern of David but that didn't keep him from giving Solomon the charge we noticed this and this is something we don't do much anymore Solomon is not ready to do it David is concerned about that but David calls Solomon and charges him to do something that he cannot do on his own he charges him to do something that he is not prepared to do I think sometimes in our reservation reservation one of the things that we fail to do as believers is we don't charge the generations coming after us to do that which they cannot do well we don't want to overburden them or overload them and listen to me the moment we accept Christ and we become a believer we are overburdened and overloaded because we are called to be great commission missionaries and that's more than impossible for us right we shouldn't be scared to ask people to do something that they can't do to give them a charge to say here's the calling one thing that we've noticed is that people will always rise up to the level of the charge give weak charges give weak callings you get weak responses lay out a difficult task lay out a difficult charge call people to do that which they cannot do on themselves and it's astounding you see them do it in the power of Christ through the hope of the gospel he calls Solomon and says build the house he says now I've prepared for you I'm laid up for you here's all this silver here's all this gold here's the stone cutters here's the timber you add whatever timber you think you need to here's the means to get the timber here's the Sidonians and
[28:20] Tyrenians in our day and time we say here's their number right here's everything that you you need to get the job done I'm going to get you started but son I can't build it for you Jesus did that right the great commission is really just a great charge Jesus said I've laid the foundation now go build it you ever think about that you know to Peter said upon this profession I will build my church he's building the church but who's he building the church through his people that's an impossible task it is impossible I can testify as a pastor I can testify as a believer it is impossible for any man to build a church and I am scared to death anytime I meet an individual who likes to talk about their church or my church and I'm building a church and and nothing that man builds is going to be the church so we have to be careful there but it's an impossible task the very calling of following Christ is an impossible charge is given to us to labor in the field that is why for harvest we don't lead anyone to salvation we proclaim the Savior and see people respond to the Savior it is the Spirit who is drawing any man we don't save anyone let's go get some people saved we don't do that because the Bible tells us very clearly you can't pay the price of your own redemption let alone the redemption of your brother we can't save anyone but we're called and charged to declare Jesus
[29:55] Christ to a watching and waiting world trusting that people are going to be saved and that's an impossible task and this is exactly what David does he's so convicted that this is the house of the Lord God he's so concerned that he begins to make preparations and then he gives Solomon this charge that he knows Solomon is not ready to do but he does it over and over again he says son build the house and he tells him to to build it in a magnificent stature but then he tells him though to remain faithful to stay true he says I've laid all this up but then David goes a little bit further in verse 17 says David also commanded and that's another charge or the same charge really all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon saying is not the Lord your God with you and has he not given you rest on every side for he has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand and the land is subdued before the Lord and before his servants here's the charge now set your heart and your soul to seek the
[30:57] Lord your God what is he doing he's given a charge in light of what God has already done he's giving you the opportunity to do it now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God arise therefore and build the sanctuary of the Lord God it is this consistent charge this charge it is not only given to Solomon but it's also given to every one of the leaders it is laying the foundation for the generations that will come that they would do exactly what God wants to be done so there's conviction there's concern there's charge fourth and finally there's consistency scripture is oh so consistent it's glorious in its consistency we see a hint of this consistency there in verse 13 then you will prosper he says if you are careful to observe the statues and ordinances which the Lord commanded Moses concerning Israel now here it is look at this be strong and courageous do not fear nor be dismayed you ought to stand up and take notice of that because after giving the charge of something that Solomon can't do son build the house and after he calls the leaders to himself and gives them a charge of something they can't do set your soul and your heart to seek the Lord and build the house he gives this impossible charge but he backs this impossible charge up with this biblical consistency be strong and courageous
[32:44] Moses looks at Joshua and says what be strong and courageous Joshua looks at those who are after him immediately before his death and he says what be strong and courageous Jesus when he calls his disciples to him in Mount Olivet and he gives the Great Commission he tells him the same thing lo I'm with you always even until the end of the age what does that be strong and courageous understand that the charge I'm giving you is impossible understand that the calling that you're responding to cannot be accomplished in your own works or by your own efforts and more than likely each and every one of us are insufficient to do it even justice even with the preparations that are laid up before us but the charge is met with the consistency of scripture be strong and courageous there is this admonition not to be strong in our own flesh but to be strong in faithfulness and obedience because as David gives this charge to Solomon he encourages him that he may keep the law of the Lord his God and then he will prosper right to be consistent in his obedience to be consistent in his faithfulness and to be strong in it to be courageous it is this wonderful consistency that scripture continues to resonate from beginning to end what have we been looking at what is Paul telling Timothy at the end of his life be strong and courageous right over and over again we go away to the book of revelations and the same thing is there
[34:19] John is writing to the letter to the seven churches on the Isle of Patmos and what is he telling but to him who overcomes what is that be strong and courageous you're going to have to endure it's not always going to be easy it's going to be difficult scriptures never promised it easy not not from Genesis Revelation it was never told that the calling that God has upon the individual's life is going to be easily accomplished that calling is always followed by the admonition to be strong and courageous it's going to take strength it's going to take courage it's going to take perseverance and endurance that wonderful word that we find in scripture but it's exactly what needs to be heard from the generation to generation to generation to generation to generation to generation it's what needs to be told over and over and over again very early in ministry I was ready to give up and I'm so thankful I had people I could call and I had pastors look at me tell me just be strong and courageous I went through a very difficult season about five years ago that's actually last week marked five years to the day in which my mentor took his own life and I got to call and I had to go talk to his wife and tell his wife and then I had to preach the funeral and I remember on the day of the funeral I was so broken I was I didn't even know what I was going to preach I didn't know how I was going to do it I was it was the funeral day and I was driving in my bus I was still driving a bus route that time and I remember exactly where I was at to this day and
[35:52] Lord just kept speaking to me the bus was empty by the way at that time I was going to my first pickup and the Lord started giving me the the funeral I mean not many times that pastors wake up the day of the funeral not know what they're going to preach yet you know but this was this mentor friend of mine had told me that I would preach the large crowds the largest crowd I've ever preached to in one setting was his funeral I know it to this day is the largest one I've ever probably be the largest one I will ever preach to but it was the last thing to happen some of you know you know the story is the last thing to happen before COVID shut everything down it was the last big gathering but I remember I knew exactly what I was supposed to preach I knew exactly what I was supposed to do I knew my text I knew all that but I was still broken and I called a preacher friend of mine and I said he called me actually he called me or after I got off the bus he was just checking on me he knew what was going on I just told him I said brother I don't know I don't know how I'm going to do this I don't know how I'm going to do this and he looked at me and he said that's why God's giving you big shoulders what is he saying be strong and courageous he said God gave you broad shoulders so you can handle it and I just go do it
[36:54] I didn't really need to hear that I didn't I mean I needed to hear that I didn't want to hear that man I'm so thankful that he told me that you know later I've looked at Carrie and said I wish my shoulders weren't so large sometimes it was difficult days there's other people that walk through them to and some of you've walked through all those but I needed someone to look at me the way David looked at Solomon just said be strong and courageous it's not going to be easy just do it you know that's not a charge that we give to generations that come after us too often we want to tell him it'll be okay we want to tell him everything's gonna be all right sometimes it's not all right sometimes it's just not and the calling of that moment is the same consistency that scripture gives us be strong and courageous do what you've been called to do and lay a foundation for the ones who are coming after you so that they can do what God's calling them to do let's pray father I thank you so much for this day I thank you for your word I thank you for your grace and your mercy because father we need it so desperately there are times when life is not easy there are times and it's very difficult there are times when we're faced with things that we don't understand but God we want to be those who lay a foundation for the ones who are following us foundation of Jesus
[38:30] Christ laying aside with deep conviction and great concern that they would walk faithfully Lord we know that we lay that foundation by how we live our lives so help us to be those who live our lives that way so as we're told in the book of Hebrews others can stand on our shoulders and keep carrying on the work which you are doing in us because it's not our work but it's yours let us look beyond the small time of our life and let us look to eternity to be those who are looking to the king of kings and lord of lords to your harvest to your work and to your labor and may we call others to join us in it for the glory of the king be with us as we leave here may your name be magnified and may you be glorified we ask it in Christ's name amen thank you