This sermon reflects on the enduring love and faithfulness of God throughout history, emphasizing the reliability of His promises and the eternal nature of His Word. It acknowledges the transformative power of God's presence and the importance of seeking peace and comfort in times of trouble. The sermon also delves into the profound impact of the Holy Spirit in guiding believers and the significance of prayer in aligning with God's will.

Lord, we are evidence of the wonderful hymn that we have sung. We know it's two centuries old, but your love is longer than that, longer than that, older than that. We're the proof that Jesus thou art all compassion and pure unbounded love thou art. When there was no arm long enough and no arm strong enough to lift us, we thank you that your arm reached us. As the old hymn says, from sinking sands he lifted me, with tender hands he lifted me, from shades of night to days of light, O praise his name he lifted me. How blessed we are to be here tonight. What if thy form we cannot see, we know and feel that thou art here. We're never sure when we come here who will be here except yourself. Circumstances often hinder our best desires, but we thank you that you never break your promises, you've no reason to. We thank you for your amazing track record, if we dare use that phrase, that never in the history of the world have you failed to keep a promise. You've never let your people down, whether they were individuals in prison or a million coming out of Egypt, wandering through the wilderness. You led them by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. We thank you for the pillar of fire you've given us your holy word. A servant of yours in the old testament said your word is like a fire that burns in my bones. We thank you for this book, we know it's not of human construction, we know there's no alternative to Jesus Christ, we know there's no alternative to your word. It's not a book of imagination, it's a book of inspiration and revelation. Holy men of God, some wore very poor clothing, some were shepherds, some were kings, some were colossal intellects like the apostle Paul, others were very ordinary men, but they wrote under divine inspiration, never dreaming that two thousand years after, men and women all over the world would be reading their writings. I think just now of the day when Voltaire, a contemporary of Wesley, said that within a hundred years from the day he said it, the bible would not be found except in museums. Now he's buried and gone to ashes. And we thank you your word is indeed a mighty fortress. Change and decay in all around we see, but we thank you your word is incorruptible. You've already guaranteed it, thy word oh God is forever and ever. Just like your kingdom is an eternal kingdom. Just as our king cannot abdicate, his kingdom cannot be destroyed, he cannot be overthrown, he cannot die. We thank you tonight that the head that once was crowned with thorns is crowned with glory now. The cheek that once was smitten, the face from which the hair was pulled, the face into which some ungodly rascal spit, that face is shining in eternity brighter than a noonday sun. We think of the revelation that Isaiah had, centuries before Jesus came, when he said he saw him in all his majesty, in all his glory, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Even the cherubims used their wings to fell to the blazing glory of the king on his throne. We come to worship you tonight. We come to hear your voice through your word, through the simple expression of the preacher. We would be still and know about God. We come from a world of turmoil. Speak peace in this meeting, particularly to any heart excessively troubled. Speak a word of comfort to that person who's been wounded and grieved. We thank you there is a balm in Gilead. There is a physician there, beyond all human physicians, a miracle working God. Whether you work visibly or invisibly, we care not. Again, we thank you for this word, which is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. We've sung, finish then thy new creation. May this service help to finish that new creation in us. You have begun a good work in us. You know we won't give us up. We may stumble and stagger. At times, maybe we rest too long. Maybe times we rush too quickly. But we bless you for the Holy Spirit who's given to us, to be our guide. Open your word, we pray. And open our eyes. And then open our mouths to tell what great things God has done for us. We give you praise in Jesus' name. All right, we're going to look at the gospel as recorded by John in one of the best-known chapters, chapter 17. Since I only live inside my own personality, I don't know how you think. I guess there are some things which are very common to us. And one to me is that how often I read the word of God and suddenly it explodes. I wonder why it didn't explode 50 years ago. I was too dull. Well, the fact was I knew so much then that nobody could teach me, you see. But a lot of that story, I've put it in my head, so I've got it in a nutshell, you see. It would be correct to say that this 17th chapter actually begins in the 13th chapter. In this 13th chapter of the gospel, this same gospel, we move into a new dimension. Jesus is speaking particularly through his disciples. Now, before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. Now, then there's a gap, actually, and we could really pick up the story here in this 17th chapter. I say the 13th chapter is an introduction to the 17th. I was reading that story in the 46th of Ezekiel today. You remember the man with the measuring line? There's a river of water, take it as a type of the Holy Spirit. He measures a thousand cubits and there's waters to the ankles. He measures another thousand and there's water to the knees. I take that to mean this, or it's my interpretation, the river is a type of the Holy Spirit. If we've water to our ankles, we must be walking in the Spirit. We can't walk in the Spirit very long before we get to our knees and start praying in the Spirit. That is, praying with the wisdom of the Spirit and the authority of the Spirit. Then the next measuring line, he measures a thousand cubits and it's water to the loins. Now, if you've been a wrestler, you know that the strength is all here in the loins. Remember when Jacob wrestled with the Lord, what did he get for wrestling? You may say, I want to pray life. You really do? Really sincerely want to pray life? You mean you'd like the Lord to cripple you so you have to pray? What did Jacob get? The Lord touched him where he was too strong. He hung on to the angel. The angel hung on to him. But then he wrestled until the angel touched him in the hollow of his thigh, where he was strongest. And ever after that, he dragged a withered leg. I'm not saying this is the right thing to do, but I do know people who have actually ruined their physical lives.