In this sermon, the speaker begins by expressing gratitude for being at Brevin Baptist Church and shares what God has been doing and will continue to do. He reads a few verses from Mark's Gospel chapter 13, emphasizing the importance of being watchful for the return of the master of the house. The speaker then tells a story about an old farmer trying to drive a cow, but it keeps running past the gates into the field. The farmer asks a motorist for help, but when the motorist honks the horn, the cow jumps over the hedge and breaks it. The speaker uses this story to illustrate the importance of being attentive and not making assumptions. The sermon also touches on the challenges faced by the church and the need to face them with love and unity. The speaker mentions the difficulties faced by the assembly and shares a personal experience of a pastor dealing with challenging decisions. The sermon concludes with a reminder that the work of the Lord is bigger than any individual and that it is important to face challenges and be prepared for the return of the Lord.

I've spent four-and-a-half years, almost five now, down the Amazon, and God has worked, has blessed their efforts. I know it's been a hard and difficult and trying time for us. I feel that Tom is getting more to do than maybe he should, because my idea about missionary work has always been different from most people. I can see it easily like this. When Paul went out, he certainly didn't go alone. It's just the doctor Luke with him, who stayed with him right through the whole journey. And Timothy, and Silas, and a few others, Dr. Thornton and some others, and there was a whole team to do the job. And I'm sure this is how it should be done. You need a team. Tom would need some to help him to do work with bold huts and bold pretzels, some to write letters, some to do lots of things. There's a team work to be done there, and a good man and his wife are holding out on their own. It's much easier to stay at home, make more money. But perhaps it is because they feel that the Lord wants them, and has sent them there. Now, this is frank offering night in our Bible class. I spend more hours than you think digging out the food for you. And once a year we say, thank you for the Lord, in a tangible way. And the office-bearers in this place allow me to do what I like with the offerings. Last year I gave it to our Sunday school. Sometimes I give it to the orphan. Tonight I'm giving it to the doctor and his wife. I don't only want it to be a frank offering night. I want it to be a special offering for the work. John the Ambulance. You don't know exactly just how hard push the doctor is at times. He's got about 50,000 people scattered over a great area of land. Tells me that sometimes a fellow coming to see him has come for 30 days through the forest, through the rivers, through the swamps, looking for the doctor. He's not in any good state when he arrives, remember. The job's bigger than I could tell you. It's bigger than the doctor would want to tell you. But I think you know that we need to approach things at times. The doctor's going away in a short time and we won't see him maybe for the next five years. And the Lord may well have come. This may be the last time. And it would be to do with the work of the Lord. I feel that there's a crowd here leaving out the old age pensioners on the one side and leaving out the young people going to school and the newlyweds. They've got no money. She knows all about it. There's a crowd in the middle somewhere. And I'm sure somebody over there has got a five pound note apiece. You'd never miss it. I don't think that's good news to Lord, of course. I think you should really stick it up for Christmas. Try it and see now. Stick it up for Christmas. There was a young student there coming and giving her daddy a couple of pounds. She saved it up for Christmas. I wonder how the Lord would measure it all. This fellow came to me tonight and gave me twelve bucks. He was part of the business. I mean business. Tom and Ethel both came prepared to speak tonight. And we had this conference in there. Ethel was in the chair. Tom said she was the boss. But we had noticed that Tom was speaking at this meeting. And Ethel was coming to watch my service. And I heard from someone, I don't want to say who it was, that there was a whole week of meetings at Cook Hill recently and that Ethel was the best preacher all week. She was Tom's jealous, but it doesn't matter. So I said, she being the better preacher, we would keep her to watch my service. So I'll be here, and the rich and two sisters, and Ethel at the watch my service. Great joy for us to have Tom. He's a great character. May the Lord bless him. Come to speak to you now. I think it's very difficult knowing just what to say after Mr. Mullins paints a picture like only he can. I was reminded there, as I sat, of a story told of an old farmer who was trying to drive a cow down a road. And every time it came to the gates into the field, it kept running past. And a motorist was there. And he stopped the motorist and he said, would you sit here in your chair? So now bring that cow down to the gate. I want you to toot your horn. And it will run in. So he went and got the old car again and started off. When he came to the gate where the car was supposed to go through, he gave the signal and the motorist tooted the horn. And the old car jumped over the hedge and fell down and broke it on the other side. The farmer, being very angry, rushed up to the motorist and he gave off. When he had paused for breath, the motorist said, but didn't you tell me to do that? Ah, you see, it was an awful big toot for such a weak cow. Seriously, it's a pleasure to be and a privilege to be here in Bergen Baptist Church once more and to share with you something of what God has been doing and what we believe God is going to continue to do. Could I read just a few verses? They're found in Mark's Gospel, chapter 13, verse 34. The Son of Man is as a man taking up our journey to let this house and give authority to his servants and to every man his work and commanded the porter to watch. Watch me, therefore, for ye know not when the master of the house cometh at even or at midnight or at the cock crowing or at once lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say unto all. Watch. I think in many ways we have in these few verses a picture of missionary work today. Some people are inclined to think that missionary work is a rather romantic idea of one or two people going into the far-flung corners of the world and preaching the gospel and that's the end of it. But I would agree with Mr. Mullen that missionary work is something different. It's a teamwork. These words have been coming to me time and again in connection with missionary work today. To every man his work. You know, everyone can't just go out on a tour up the Amazon River I believe that God has for every one of us a work. And first of all, I would say that in this picture of these verses as a picture of missionary work we would see the master's preparation. You know, this noble man, he was going away for a long-ish time and he wanted to leave someone to continue with the work that he had in hand. And I think as he prepared for this journey he began to select ones and twos here and there to continue with the work while he was away. I'm sure he went down to the slave market would look around the slave market and here he would pick one and there he would pick another and he'd bring them into his household and array them in the dress of his household. He made preparation by choosing people. You know, when the master was going away and he's away now, I believe he has made preparation. I believe he has chosen out of this world the ones and the twos to continue his work. And we who are Christians are part of the master's plan. But not only have we the master's preparation preparing the way and choosing out the people, we also have the master's delegation. I think as the master was going away he would point to one and say I want you to look after the garden. To another he would say I want you to be responsible for the kitchen. I want you to work in the fields. I want you to look after the business side of my affairs. He really didn't give them authority and these words to every man who works. You know, each one had a different part to play in the master's great plan. And I believe that's the way it is in missionary work today. Each one, each member of the Church of God has a part to play in the master's work. I can't do your work. You can't do my work. And God doesn't ask us to. God just asks us to do the work that he gives us to do. You may be wondering what our work is out in the field in Brazil. Well, as Mr. Moan said, for the last five years we've been working on the rehospices of the Afri Gospel Mission. I'm sure they've been known to most of you. A small interdenominational mission founded in 1937 when Mr. and Mrs. McComb with Molly Harvey went up into the Afri territory of Brazil for the first time with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, the Afri territory is something approximately the size of Ireland. It's right in the interior of Brazil. The climate and the isolation and the disease has earned it the name among the Brazilians as the Green Hell. And very few Brazilians want to know anything about this Green Hell. But it was into this place that God led Mr. and Mrs. McComb and then prospered that mission. Today there are, well, there are 19 missionaries working either in Afri or along the Amazon Valley scattered over a vast area. While we were in Rio Branco the governor of the Afri territory, we were there trying to learn the language, the governor of the Afri territory invited us to go to a town called Caruacá to do medical work. We wondered if this was our work that the Master had for us. You know we realized that the medical work would take a lot of time and take a lot of energy. And after all, we had come out to preach the Gospel. That's what we should be concentrating on. And as we sought God's faith, and asked God what his work would be for us he spoke to us through a verse in Luke's Gospel chapter 10. Heal the sick that are therein and say unto them the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. Now God brought us to see that our work was to be a twofold work. It was to be a work of healing and a work of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ as well. I would stress the emphasis to every man his work. You know some might be tempted to say, well that exempts me from ever being a missionary. I can't I'm not a doctor, I'm not a nurse. If God has a job for you on the mission field, you have the qualifications that God wants for that job. But as we sought God's faith, what it was for us it became clear that it was medical work and missionary work. Do you remember the story of the ten lepers? It taught us that Jesus Christ wasn't only interested in men's souls. He was, thank God. But he was interested in men as men. He healed ten lepers yet only one returned to give thanks. And so we went in to Tarawahtar because we felt it was God's will for us to go. The first six months were spent doing exclusively medical work and getting to know the people. The medical work there and that was a very little part of our task was pretty time consumed. Mr. Mullins said there were some 50,000 people depending on our town as the nearest point of help when they were ill. Our town itself has a population of about 3,000 but scattered throughout the forest at vast distances are another 30,000 people and then the neighboring town 18 hours away by foot where there are no roads there at all by foot or by river or by airplane they have another 20,000 scattered throughout there earlier. These 50,000 people were depending on Tarawahtar as the nearest place they could find if illness came. Some of them have come a long way I remember that man who journeyed for 30 days in a canoe just to reach somewhere where he could have treatment. I remember one woman who walked for 10 days through the forest had some treatment and then set out to walk 10 days home again. If you're tempted to complain, if you happen to wait in the doctor's surgery think of those who have to wait for days, yes for weeks, before they could even reach anywhere where they might find some help. The hospital in Tarawahtar was a pretty primitive affair this crude wooden building there's only 16 beds and 6 cots When we went there there were no instruments in the hospital the previous doctor who had left 6 years before had stolen them all At times there were no sheets even to go on the bed and should the night get chilly well there were no blankets for the patients and on more than one occasion we had to dip into the barrel and those blankets that the ladies had knitted here were sent down to the hospital and there they were used to bring comfort to those who had so little At times there wasn't even food in the hospital to feed the patients on more than one occasion you had to send food down because the child was crying with hunger and there was nothing for it to eat There's no such thing as a National Health Service There's no such thing as National Assistance There's no such thing as Social Services The people who really suffer and suffer a lot One man I remember was blocked for 22 days having been bitten by a poisonous snake and his arm was in a terrible state The doctor who had the arm amputated that man smiled even though he was left a cripple He said, I haven't felt so comfortable for three weeks You see that was part of our work, the medical work, and the service acceptance with the people But there was another side The Lord's word to us wasn't only to heal the sick but it was also to say unto them The Kingdom of God has come nigh unto you The spiritual side of the work began in a very small way After about six months when we were in Tawakkar Air Force together with Audrey Maxwell they began a women's meeting and the women folks they went around the houses inviting the women to come along The women folks said yes, we'll come but what sort of a religion is this that we couldn't bring our husbands So the women's meeting became a general meeting Then they began children's meeting and while with 50% of the population of Brazil under 15 years of age there was no problem with getting children for a children's meeting Then when Victor Maxwell was up with us we were still travelling with the rail placed up as far as the language was concerned we felt that the Lord's time had come to begin some gospel meetings general gospel meetings and so for a week every night Victor preached the gospel of Jesus Christ in a little house that had been extended to make it into a church right from the word go the Lord blessed the very first night two or three accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and the Lord continued to bless over the course of that first year we were able then to start a prayer meeting during the week for the believers we were able to gather the believers together on a Sunday morning at 8 o'clock there we start off with the breaking of bread service then we have a teaching service afterwards to try and teach them more of the word of God then in the evening there's the gospel service during the week there's a children's meeting another meeting a gospel meeting it was the women's meeting but it's rapidly developed into a general meeting there's also the prayer meeting when the believers who have learned to pray really pour their hearts out in prayer to God there's one prayer meeting in my life that stands out above all others and it was in that little little church in Tarawatha Ethel and I were feeling very despondent and downcast some people think that missionaries are super saints they've got a gold plated pillow on their heads and they're quite immune to feelings of despondency or homesickness so both of us were homesick both of us were fed up with the heat both of us were disappointed because some who had professed faith were no longer walking with the Lord we were just longing to get away from it all it was prayer meeting night we didn't want to go but we were the missionaries therefore we had to go during the course of this prayer meeting a dear Brazilian woman who had come to know the Lord she had come in to visit the town she had walked through the forest and she took the opportunity to really meet and have fellowship with the saints and as that woman got up in the prayer meeting and poured her heart out to God in praise and worship and thanksgiving forever having sent missionaries to tell her of Jesus Christ it was as though the Lord himself stepped into the meeting and lifted it to a new height as I say God blessed the meetings there in the first year we were to extend the little church three times and when we left it was capable of seating 170 people and in the loosened letter from Victor Maxwell he says we have to extend it yet again for it hasn't room to put all the people that want to come to the meetings you see in Brazil there in the interior, not so much in the big cities, but in the interior there's a real hunger for the word of God the people are nominally Roman Catholics but their religion means nothing to them, they have a hunger in their heart for something real, but when they hear of Jesus Christ, oh they know of him as the son of Mary but when they hear of him as the saviour who can save them and give them the assurance of eternal life so many of them want this saviour as their saviour just before we left it was a privilege of seeing a small church founded with over 50 members and there it is today to the glory of God time doesn't permit me to tell of all or even a few of those who have come to know the Lord but when we see such things as a mother of eight wading waist deep through flood water just to be at the morning service it makes one wonder at what sort of Christians we are just since we came home we heard of an old man, 83 years of age he was only one leg the other had to be amputated because of snakebite, and yet this old man who was 82 years of age found the saviour and then was baptised and became a member of the church and on his one leg and crutch he hobbled through two and a half feet of flood water with a fair pair of trousers under his arm to change in the little room at the back of the church just to be at the morning service to remember the Lord and to learn more of Jesus Christ it really thrills one's heart to see an old man of 84 years of age who all his life had been worshipping images and saints to see him praying for hours over his bible to learn more of this salvation that he had found at the eventide of his life then when he comes and says I want another bible because I've been telling an old friend of mine up there about this salvation and I want him to read about it for himself my it makes one realise that God is in this thing I think our most dramatic experience in Tarawa-ka was with a young lad of 16 years of age he came into town having lived 10 days up river enjoying a party with a lot of drinks taken this lad had been involved in a fight and had been nice in the church and he had been very old for days and even 6 months after the accident or the incident this young lad wasn't feeling well and he came down to Tarawa-ka for 10 days journey to see if he could find some help for his health it was obvious that one of his lungs wasn't functioning properly we did the best we could for him but a few weeks later he became more ill but during this interval he had started attending the services at the church and after listening to the gospel for probably 2 or 3 times at the most this young fellow waited behind and he said he wanted to be a Christian we pointed him to the Lord and that night he accepted Jesus Christ as his Saviour and over the next few weeks while he was still in town awaiting our under treatment he began to attend the meetings and show a tremendous interest he began to ask questions wanted to learn more there's no x-ray machine in the hospital one's very much in the dark at times because there's no laboratory this young lad took very ill on a Sunday and they sent for us, we put him into the hospital and in spite of all we could do for him his condition was getting worse I remember well on the Thursday morning going in as I looked into the ward very late it was obvious that the lad was nearing the end of his earthly journey at 16 years of age I went over to the side of his bed and I said to him Erasmus how are you? he just said still so I looked at him I said tell me Erasmus are you afraid? that young fellow smiled weakly and said no sir I'm not afraid I was able to tell him that the Jesus Christ that he had accepted as his own personal saviour was the Jesus Christ who had promised never to leave him and never forsake him and that Jesus would always be beside him he nodded his head and I had to leave but one time when I went back the Roman Catholic nurse told me what happened she said at midday Erasmus asked for a drink she says there I brought him a glass of water and reached it to him he just looked up to the ceiling and said alright I'm coming he went to be with the master that he had found so recently you know it was an easy thing to take the funeral service the next day it was an easy thing to face those people and tell them that this young fellow had gone into eternity with the sure and certain hope that he would be with Jesus who was his saviour and after that funeral service a man who was visiting in the town came along to our house he said could you tell me a bible? we told him a bible he disappeared and three months later at the end of one of the services in the church a man came up to me and he said I want to be a Christian tonight and I asked him I said have you ever been in services before? he said I was in town the time that young man died he said I'm the man that bought the bible he said I have been reading it every day since and I know that this is the truth he said now I want it for myself that is what God has been doing do you know I would underline again to every man his worth this is a master's delegation one may chant it was given to us the privilege to go into that place and chant the feast it was given to others the privilege to water with their prayers and I know that many here in this meeting have watered that feed with their prayers and many others throughout the country tonight we can come together and rejoice and give God the glory for while one may chant and another may water only God can give the increase master's preparation the master's delegation to every man his worth you have your worth I have my worth then we have the master's exhortation he said watch me therefore less coming suddenly he finds he is sleeping you know what the master was saying every one of you have got a job to do don't lie down on the job don't go to sleep at your work do the job that I have given you God has given to us the job of going back to Brazil to continue the work that was started in Carvata I believe that God has given to many people here the job of praying the Lord of the harvest to force more laborers into his harvest it may be that God has given to some of you the job of going but the great need in Brazil today is the need for more missionaries, more people to tell of Jesus Christ we get more invitations to have meetings in homes than we can possibly accept the people want to hear I wonder what God has given you to do let's all take to heart the master's exhortation don't lie down on the job we would value your prayers as we go back you know it's very possible for a missionary on the mission field to lie down on the job, to take it easy not to do what we ought to be doing we value your prayers it's very easy for a Christian at home not to pray as they ought to pray to lie down on the job let's take to heart the master's exhortation don't lie down on the job and then when he comes we'll meet him and praise him may we all hear those words from Biblis faithful I'm sure that all of us here will take Tom and his dear wife to heart more than we've ever done before and I can stand before the Lord here tonight and say that their names have been mentioned every day and that doesn't mean only Sunday that means Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday by me if I've done nothing else I've prayed faithfully for all who have gone from this place you know I'm into my 19th year here you would hardly believe that so that you know that when I came here both Tom and Ethel were young folks the joy of watching them growing up and the Lord equipped them then for the job many times Tom and I talked over a little problem and eventually a mix was reached he needs no repair that's one thing that's sure you should make a date with the Lord now don't break it pray for them every day, that's most important it isn't all mixed, crazy no it's remembering faithfully for the Lord it's monitor on the Lord's work you see to it that they get what they need we're turning to 1 Peter just now and we're at the 4th chapter please 1 Peter chapter 4 and I think the Lord has worked it out very carefully indeed as he always does it's provision in timing when the Lord's on the job that we should be looking at 4 verses this evening 1 Peter chapter 4 verses 8, 9, 10, 11 and we'll read them through together Peter is writing to these saints in these assemblies and they're not just assemblies scattered throughout Asia and he's saying to them and above all things have self and charity among yourselves for charity shall cover the multitude of things use hospitality one to another without grudging as every man hath received the gift even to minister the same one to another a good steward of the manifold grace of God if any man speak let him speak of the oracles of God if any man minister let him do it out of the ability which God gives that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom be praise and to many forever and ever amen Peter is underlining several things here that people in assemblies need to attend to and he's underlining these things that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ just trying to get the assembly into tuning with God and that God in all these things that he underlines may be glorified through Jesus Christ you see he's underlining things like charity that's what it says and above all things look stop just there somebody came to argue with me once and said there were contradictions in this book and I said I've never found one yet and this chap said well you remember Peter saying above all things how fervent love the word is that's the old Greek word and it's the word love how fervent love among yourself I said yes I remember that he said Peter put love above all things would you remember when Paul was writing in Ephesians have a look at that that's Ephesians chapter 6 that Paul said verse 13 therefore to come to you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand and therefore having your loins dressed about with truth having on the breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace above all looking to see the face he said it seems that Paul thinks faith should be above all and that Peter thinks love should be above all and surely that's the contribution and then he turned to a narration and it's Thessalonians first Thessalonians and watch this one very carefully and it's chapter 5 Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians chapter 5 and speaking to these Thessalonian converts he said on both sides you are all children of light and the children of the day you are not of the night nor of darkness therefore let us not think as do others but let us watch and be sober so that it sleeps in the night and so that the drunken are drunken in the night but let us who are of the day be sober putting on the dress of faith and love and put on helmets the helmet of salvation because you think that faith tends to it and above faith and above love is placing this for the helmet is above all I said I don't see any contradictions I think because you're spiritually blind you think there are contradictions I said you know if you look the passage in Peter very carefully you will find this now look at it again 1st Peter 4 Peter's talking to believers in assemblies and he's saying above all things have servant shall it be for what's the good among themselves and it's the same in the next verse as every man hath received a good even so minister to it watch it one to another and it's the same in the passage right through this evening you know these are saints in an assemblies is what they are of the thing that should be above everything else in the assemblies is heaven above among ourselves there is no trouble I said in Paul's talking you know he's talking about the soldier at the warfare for God because you know when you could change you're not only a saint and should be in the assembly other you're a soldier in the battle and the thing for the soldier is truth above all he's talking about armor he's not talking about saints in the assemblies he's talking about the armor for the warrior on the battlefield he put on the whole armor and he says above all the shield of faith and of course when we go to first Thessalonians chapter 5 it's not so much the saint as it's the son it's the child of God the children of the God yes we're the sons of God and the moment you become a son of God you can begin to go return to God's reminders he used to stop and say return that is your salvation to serve the living and true God he said to serve that your occupation to work for his son from heaven that's your expectation for every child in your family and it's the hope and it's the grace of God and the last chance is above all when it's the saint in the assembly it is God that is above all when it's the soldier in the battle it is faith that is above all when it's the son in the family it is faith that is above all and it was just a spiritual blindness that made him think that there were contradictions but let's get back to Christ Peter now I want you to watch this very carefully he said above all things have seven love among yourselves so now shall cover the multitude of things you know the assembly sometimes meets with difficulty you know when I was the pastor of the older he came to me one morning we were having group meetings at the time and crowded out and the deacons were having quite a job getting people seats like we have here sometimes and she said I don't like the way the deacons put men into the seats what are they doing on there he said so and so he just nods his head his eyes stops and turns and you go on like a car into the bar you know I felt like saying to her you know if you had a little bit of fervent love for the deacons you would find less fault cause even if it was a little bit rude in his manner which might well have been she could have covered it with love that's what Peter thought of and that was quite a shame to me he said you know Mr. Stone thought this was a maternity thing well I don't like the way he says our father he just says our father we come to thee and our father we are laying our wants before thee and our father I'm disturbed you've used the word our father all the time well you see he might be a little bit timid or he might be nervous and this is the only way the poor fellow could really pray and while he was allowed to pray our father he could get on with it but if the man that had come to me had had a little bit of love for the fellow that was praying he wouldn't have found so many faults he would have covered them with love it's a great little message for an assembly and I tell you if we had a little bit more of fervent love among ourselves it would be less trouble with these so called faults you could cover them it's not talking about covering things there are little things in the assembly where you could everybody criticizes me for showing them well I show them that's right one of our dear members had a little boy with her the other morning he just swore the fire and when he went home he said mommy the priest didn't show too much this morning it gets a bit bigger after each speech yes well you know a little bit of fervent love would cover up a whole lot of things wouldn't it you know William Gilbert who was one of the great characters the Lord prayed I met him one Sunday afternoon just after the morning meeting I used to go to the morning meeting with him and he said to me I have a rare time this morning I said what happened he said they come down the road with old Alex Shaw do you know Alex Shaw I said yes oh well he said you know he began evil speaking and backbiting against George Matthews you know who George Matthews is he said he tore old George to pieces he said I walked down the whole road and I listened and I said I wish to know just let him live on and he said the more hope I gave him the more he gave George Matthews he said I made sure that when I was leaving the morning meeting I would walk home with George Matthews and he said I hadn't gone to any other he started on Alex Shaw and he said did you give Alex Shaw as much as Alex Shaw did you then and I let him go on till I was happy with it and I said George you know all that you have said about Alex coming up the road yes well he said that a bit you can burn the door down and I said I will burn the door down if there was just a little bit more of real servant love in the assembly so we could cover it up quite well no better ever trying to cover scarlet fence we have taught how to deal with that Paul said put that man out from among you there is no question this is in the assembly when people want to assemble to love one another that God may be glorified and they may be left out or some fellow may not walk where they do walk or do this where they do this how they love them we have a whole lot of trouble I would have less trouble in this assembly if the loved one had done it properly I wouldn't need the standing between them they could cover it and then he comes from charity to help totality did you notice that it's a huge host totality one to another without grudging and the word grudging there is an old Greek word and it could be without murmuring and I think it has the sense of this word without murmuring and without grudging I think I told you about having my tea one afternoon with a lady in a great big fashionable lounge and we were sitting together it was going very well when we got up and there was another lady coming up and she said let me look at it she made me look at it I couldn't get her in at first she said look at your mother and then she went to the door and she said oh hello lady the hypocrite god hypocrite yes all right that's it you get that sort of thing you know don't you you get that continual you know I was in a big home one evening where there were about a dozen different geeks who had been all up this was in the far away and one of the geeks said let's talk about experiences in homes we've all lived in different homes we must have all had different experiences well I've had some experiences I can tell you I went to have a mission once in the heart of the country and I'm not telling you where it is it's rather a story but an old farmer kept me and he put me into a big room almost as big as our annex it was in the hottest winter all the coldest weather you could ever think about no power none whatsoever I had to get the big coat on every morning and the muffler and I had to walk round and round the room keeping myself warm he talked about studying he could hardly breathe never mind studying and I remember going to Glasgow and they put me into a hotel with the three boys of the trio, the four of us and there wasn't a wee bit of a pocket on the bed no clothes at all so I had an old I didn't care too much about whether I slept in the suit or not the ceiling was my good suit on and bed and the other boy in the plane who was quite a lad you'll see him here one of these days he said to me I'm not going to freeze here so there was a beautiful Persian carpet on the floor and he gestured the bed and he took it off the floor every night, doubled it up twice oh he was doing fine the other two boys had to sleep together and I can remember seeing some Scot with a he was trembling, he was shivering with cold he was trying to be nice, he said it's a bit at the end of your ignorance this is what you call hospitality now one of the fellows at the car for a while he told this fellow he went to preach to the church for two weeks he went to preach for three weeks he said you know the food they serve is absolutely wonderful morning, night and midnight is fed on the very bed and I said to myself well you landed here alright, you're alright here he said I was in the home one week after the three weeks when I got a bill from the two people for twelve pound a week just in time for your food and he sent it off the next morning this is what you call hospitality see what people mean we need to have a little bit of love among ourselves in the assembly and we need to have a bit of hope to tell it the truth and then he said something that Tom was underlining and I was very glad he did so every man is rich and he is rich says every man of every man heart receives the gift you know there's no use you saying that you have no gift may well be that you are not a gifted teacher and you couldn't do what I'm doing every week for nineteen years and God's not accepting you too if he didn't give you the gift, I'm responsible for the gifts he gives me and may be that you couldn't do nor I couldn't do what God is doing or others do and that God hasn't gifted you and sent you is not our thing but there's no doubt that there's something you can do you can't tell me that you're in the body of Christ and there's nothing for you to do there are no paralysed men built in the body of Christ that I know of and that little thing may be an insignificant little thing but there are times when I need it and it takes off and God has gifted you to do something or you may be just one of the helpers in the body of Christ maybe there's a way that you can help we were talking about Esther she makes these clothes for the little girls that pass herself and probably taking some with them at this time I know she's got a lot ready very much and what they've been used to the Lord this is you know there can be a great pleasure to the children in the house and if it talks them to the meeting of the gospel I wonder what you're doing for the church of Jesus Christ I wonder what they're doing you know there is not only this charity and this hospitality and this ministry but I want you to get the hold of this I want you to get that there's a responsibility on the children you know when the Lord gave out the talent he didn't give them all out the same he gave one man five he's got five he gave another man two he gave another man one now they hadn't all the same ability no, no, no, no all of them had the same responsibility but that's the work of what God gave them God gave Peter who wrote this is for sure, he made him an apostle and he was the great apostle to the Jews yes, but he was also a prophet in the New Testament church, many times he preached before the New Testament was formed of course he was a great evangelist three thousand were saved at the day of Pentecost now I'll tell you this he was one of the great pastors of the flock Jesus said to him save my sheep, save my land I'll tell you this the man that reads these two letters of his personally will know without the shadow of a doubt he was a great preacher in the church because of all these talents that the Lord gave him how did he be responsible for every one of them how did the man agree that the Lord only gave him one thing where was he responsible, you know oh, you're a steward of the man I say, grace of God because if you have any ability at all, it comes from the grace of God look, I want you to get this into your mind into this charity and hospitality and ministry and responsibility now I want you to get this a bit, what's this if any man speaks, let him speak of the oracles of God do you know that's what you call a sanitary you know what speaking of the oracles of God means it means speaking of the mouthpiece of God that's what it means that's why I try to tell all the young fellows when they're preaching to preach the word for any church preach the word and I was so pleased to see Tom take that little readings of that bit by bit through that whole thing of preaching the word learn to do it you have no authority beyond it James McKendry took me aside when I was a young fellow said, will you go out preaching I said, yes he said, I'll show you how to preach always have this before you a picture on the wall and the whole structure of the picture the picture itself that should be the word of God coming from you and the theme on the picture look at that little if possible that's your word and if we would only learn to preach the word and have very little of our own around us maybe people would think that sometimes the flame is that big with our own importance that the truth is not seen let's say this is authority and he said this he said, if any man let him speak as the oracles of God if any man ministers let him do it out of an ability which God gives us and this word minister is another special one, it's a Greek word and you can look it up when you go home in a Greek lexicon and it means to serve it means to serve, that's what it means it's not talking about preaching, he's been talking about preaching already when he says if any man speaks and he was very careful to say if any man, he doesn't say every man should speak because God has given gifts to men but he says, if any man minister let him do it out of the ability which God gives us you know we get lots of things done at this church that we we must know about I think I told you once about coming in here in the afternoon, once three o'clock in the afternoon, and I hope nobody gets excited about this I pardon Mr. Carson our treasurer, down on his knees and the coat off and the sweat blinding and he was putting in a bit of a new thought, and I was squinting him I said you know you'll get no credit for it but then he sees it looks up says I'm not doing it for free any iron made for this place is good luck, you see we're painters who do painting sometimes we've got electricians who do the electric wiring there's lots of bars, we've got a priestess who does typing yes there's lots of things to be done you know that's what we were talking about the master has given the only man his work he'll do it in the blob and you want to do it? you cannot do it God's given you I don't know why men have I want you to get this it's a bad passage isn't it, but isn't he a great preacher talking about charity among yourselves talking about hospitality talking about gifted ministry talking about the responsibility of children talking about authority speaking of the talking about this ability to do things for God he says you know let love and this hospitality and this ministry and this authority and this ability let it work in the assembly of the glory of God lovely little portion going on to a mighty person next week I want you to think about it, verse 12 beloved think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you and we're going into this fiery trial which is to try you next week I've lost the hint, what is it 647 please 647 647 oh what fellowship oh what joy is mine resting in the everlasting arm of part of in thy shield and with thy blessing for thy holy name's sake Amen