Well, please stand with me if you have your Bibles. 2 Kings, chapter 2. This morning, we considered the blessing that Elisha received from God, a double portion of Elijah's spirit. This was given to equip Elisha for the task that he had been given from God. Now, children, you may not know what the word equip means. Do you know what the word equip means? Well, what it means is to be prepared or to prepare someone for something that is going to happen. If Lizzie was going to play rugby, if she was in Heels, would she be equipped to play rugby? No. What would she need? She would need rugby boots, as would Harry, and with George, and even Freddy, who I suspect might be quite good at rugby in his time. It's equipment, you are equipped with what you need, you have it. Well, Elisha was equipped with what he needed. He was given the miraculous powers from God and he was given a faithful and bold spirit. We're not really gonna talk about the miracles all that much this afternoon because we're applying it to ourselves and they are something that has passed. So we're gonna focus on the faithful and bold spirit. we should be considering how we can seek for ourselves this empowering spirit of God as Christians. Now, if you're not a Christian, you need to repent and believe in Jesus, and by faith in him, God will give you his Holy Spirit. But as believers, we are aware that we often quench the spirit. and we are aware that we seem to need fresh flows of the Spirit, which we do to equip us to live better lives for God. So, we have three points. Our first is determination for blessing. Determination for blessing. You might have wondered, we haven't really looked at the first verses of this passage yet. They're interesting, aren't they? One thing that happens, which I'm not gonna focus on very much, but I'll just make a comment in passing in case you were curious about it. One thing that happens is that these sons of the prophets, which is, it's rather a basic way of putting it, but I will put it this way, basically prophet school. These sons of the prophets often say to Elisha, they do it, at least twice, maybe three times, do you know that God is gonna take Elijah away from you? Clearly this had got about. Maybe Elisha had told them, maybe God had told these prophets. Who knows? Somehow they know that Elijah is gonna be taken away from Elisha and they keep asking him. And Elisha keeps saying, yes I know, be quiet. The only thing I'm gonna say about that, because I'm not gonna focus on it, there's so much in this passage, the only thing I'm gonna say is, Elisha was a prophet of God, and he knew when to keep his mouth shut. He knew when to be quiet, and when to tell other people to be quiet, and he knew when to speak the words of the Lord. And we need to be looking for that in teachers and ministers of the gospel, those who know when to speak and when not to speak, which requires knowing what the Bible says. If you don't know what the Bible says, then how can you know what it doesn't say? And of course, that applies to individual believers. You should be seeking to know when to be quiet and when to speak. And often it's a wisdom call, but we seek that wisdom from God, and Elisha clearly had some of that wisdom. But the other thing that happens in these opening verses is that Elijah keeps saying to Elisha, look, verse two, please stay here for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel, or please stay here when they get to Bethel for the Lord has sent me as far as Gilgal. Please stay here for the Lord has sent me, he does it, three times, doesn't he? See, in verse two, he does it once, and then in verse four, he does it again, and then in verse six, he does it again. Why is Elijah telling Elisha, stay here, I'm gonna go? Now Elijah presumably knows he's gonna be taken up as well. The passage doesn't say it, but if the sons of the prophets know it, if Elisha knows it, then Elijah almost certainly knows it, doesn't he? So why does he want Elijah to stay? Who knows? But what we see from Elijah is that he is determined not to leave Elijah. He is determined to stay with him. Why is he determined for this? Well, two points. He wanted Elijah's presence, Elijah's knowledge, Elijah's wisdom. He wanted the word of God, which was most clearly concentrated in Elijah. It wasn't watered down. No, it was found here and there. I'm sure the sons of the prophets had some of the word of God, but Elijah had the hot off the press stuff, didn't they? He was most filled with the word of God. Elisha wanted that and he wanted to see the power of God which God had displayed in Elijah. He had great respect for his teacher. So he wanted Elijah's presence and we must be like this too. Seeking the company of the people of God. Being in the place where God displays his power. Where is that? Primarily the church. and being amongst those who have wisdom from God. So he wanted Elijah's presence and his knowledge and wisdom, the word of God, which is why he stuck to him, but also, secondly, he wanted, more significantly, the blessing of God. The blessing of God. I'm calling this double portion the blessing of God. Now, Blessing from a great character in the Bible to people who come after them is usually found in coming at the end of people's lives. Throw your mind back in the Bible to Genesis. Now, who was the first patriarch? Abraham. And then you have Isaac. Now what is the great story with Isaac in it, with his two sons? It is of Jacob stealing the blessing from Elijah, stealing the blessing from Elijah, stealing the blessing from his brother, who was Esau. I also get Esau and Cain mixed up. Jacob stealing the blessing from his brother Esau. He walked in, didn't he? His mother was sneaky too. She put hairy things on his skin because his brother was hairy and made him smell of the fields. And he brought in some goat for him, I believe it was. But when did all that happen? Why was he able to do that? Because Isaac was blind. Because he was very old and he was gonna die very soon. And he did, he died almost immediately afterwards, because you remember, Jacob had a bit of a time of grace where Esau didn't cut him down because he was mourning for his father. So the blessing came at the end. We see that with Isaac. We see it with Jacob, right at the end of his life, he blesses, or it's called blessing, but sometimes, depending on which son, curses his 12 sons, doesn't he? But Judah particularly gets blessing, and so does Joseph, right at the end of his life. And we see it with Moses. Moses blesses Israel just before he dies. God has told him he's gonna die, he blesses Israel, then he goes to die. See, blessing comes at the end. And so, Elisha knows Elijah's gonna be taken. So what does he think's coming? Well, he's probably hoping, I'm gonna get some blessing. Not riches and honour, but blessing to equip him for the task ahead. This is similar to King Solomon, isn't it? Remember what happened with King Solomon? God came to him and said, I will grant you anything. And he said wisdom. He could have said riches or honour or glory. He said wisdom. That was a good choice. Elisha doesn't say riches or honour, he says, please give me a double portion of your spirit. And we know that was so he could be a good prophet for God. So Elisha, he would not be turned aside from receiving this blessing. Not for anything. He knew he needed it and he sought it diligently. We see this in Jacob, don't we? What did he do? He wrestled with God and he would not let go of the man who was in human form but was representing God until he blessed him. I will not let you go until you bless me, he said. What is the blessing we need as Christians? What is it? We need the blessing of God's spirit continually. We need God to uphold us and keep us. We need the strength to do all that God has in his will for us to do. We need the wisdom of Christ. We need a heart to sing God's praise. Do you seek this blessing diligently? We need faithfulness and boldness Do you know that God's blessing is so essential for you that you must have it? Or are you laissez-faire about it? It's a French phrase, laissez-faire. Laissez means let, faire means do. Just let do, oh, it's okay. I might get it, might not get it. Or are you fixed on the blessing of God? I need this blessing. I need God to uphold me, to equip me for what is to come. We must not allow anything to turn us aside from seeking this blessing. Do not become too obsessed with the idea of receiving it once or twice. Speaking to Joe this morning, he made a very good comment. He was saying, somebody once asked him, have you received the second blessing yet? And he said, the second blessing? Oh, I'm at thousands and counting. And he's right. People focus on, well, we need this one blessing, this, you know, overpowering the Holy Spirit where I do this or that. No, we're blessed continually. We've gotta seek God's blessing all the time so that we can grow and so that we can live a life for the honour of God. So, determination for blessing. Secondly, how does Elisha receive the blessing slash grace? How does Elisha receive the blessing slash grace? I'm using the word grace so that we don't get confused. I'm not talking about the second blessing, which some churches talk about, as I just clarified before. So that's why I've got grace in there. Really, what we're talking about is grace. Well, let's look at verse seven. Because if we know how he got it, and maybe we can find out how we can get it. Verse seven, 50 men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them as they were both standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took off his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water and the water was parted to one side and the other till the two of them could go over on dry ground. Have you got that in your mind's eye? This is a great river, and it parts like that so that there's dry ground in the middle. Obviously a miracle. This does not happen naturally. I'm sure somebody's tried to explain it naturally, but that's manifest silliness. It's obviously a miracle. And they both cross on dry ground. Now, remember, It was at the Red Sea, wasn't it? As well as at the Jordan before that the two sides were parted and they walked through on dry ground and then Egypt's armies, Egypt's horsemen and chariots were washed away by the sea. They must have been thinking about that. You would have thought that would what be coming to mind as they crossed the Jordan. And then we see Verse nine, when they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, ask whatever you want, basically. And Elisha said, let a double portion of your spirit be on me. And Elijah said, you have asked a hard thing. Yet if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you. But if you do not see me, it shall not be so. This is an if, then statement. If this happens, then this will happen. If you see me when I'm taken, then you receive your double portion. If you see me, then you will receive this grace from God. If, then. And then what happens? Well, as they went on, chariots of firing horses separated the two of them. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine, children, can you imagine that? Chariots and horsemen that are on fire. Maybe they could feel the heat separating between them. It must have been terrifying. Was there the thunder of the chariot horses? Was there the heat that they could feel? Did it blind their eyes? Who knows, but it was awesome in a proper sense of the word, not in the flippant rubbish sense of the word. filled them with awe. And Elijah is taken up by a whirlwind into heaven. By seeing Elijah being taken up, Elisha receives the blessing. So we have the answer to our question, how did he receive this grace, this blessing? By seeing Elijah being taken up to heaven. What do we learn from this? God ordains means by which we receive his blessing and grace. What are means? Means are things that you put in place to achieve an end. Means are things that you put in place to achieve an end. People talk about means when they talk about ethics. They say, well, yes, I know I killed that man in the war, but it was a means to a good end of peace. It was a means to an end. Well, God ordains means. In seeing his master taken up into heaven and in seeing the horses and chariots, Elisha is equipped by God with power from the Spirit, double that of Elijah. In terms of miracles, yes, but even more so in terms of faithfulness and boldness, being equipped for the task. He sees his master honoured by God. Do you know, there were many who wanted to see Elijah six feet under in the ground, or better still, eaten by the dogs is what Jezebel wanted. But here he is, Elijah is seeing him ascending to heaven, to the courts of the most high God. Do you know what this shows? It shows that God is sovereign. he is able to protect his servants. And Elisha sees these horses and chariots of fire and horsemen of fire. As we said before, in coming over the split river, he was probably reminded of the Red Sea when it was parted and the Egyptians were then swept away. And in Moses' song about God's victory there, he repeats, about Pharaoh's horses and chariots and riders being washed away. This is a theme. He keeps saying it. Well, he says it a number of times. The chariots have been washed away. The riders washed into the sea. They have been destroyed. Egypt was God's enemy in the Exodus, and he washed away their armies. But what's happened to God's army? God's horses and chariots of fire? Have they died? Have they been washed away? Have they been defeated? No, Elisha sees them here and now. This is God proclaiming his victory. God showing to Elisha that his army is very well intact and fearsome. I don't know if you've ever heard on the news I can't remember exactly when I heard it last, but you can see it in history and you do hear it on the news sometimes. Let me just give an example that may not be true, but something like this, you know, China have been doing military exercises near Hong Kong or in Hong Kong. You hear something like that. And then that tells you often, this great nation are doing military exercises. They're not making war, but they're doing military exercises off the coast of this other nation or near their land. And what they're really doing is intimidating them. Look at how many tanks we've got. Look at how our technology is coming along. Look at these bomber ships that we have. You see, you show them your armies so that they will then be fearful and think, oh dear, These people are powerful, but what is God doing? He is showing Elisha his army. And it's not an army of flesh and blood, it's an army of fire. In fact, from here on, Elisha sees this army at least once more, probably twice more, and perhaps this army surrounds him all the time. I don't know if you've ever thought about that before. So we have these horses and chariots, which are not said to go into heaven, so presumably they are still on earth. And then, look in 2 Kings chapter six, this is a famous passage, I'm sure you remember it. Elisha keeps telling the king of Israel, the king of, yeah, the king of Israel, he keeps telling him where the king of Syria, who is his enemy, is going to go and where he's going to send his men. And so the king of Syria is like, I have a traitor in my midst. And one of his counsellors says, no, no, no, it's just this prophet, Elisha, who keeps telling the king of Israel, where are you going to go? Where are you going to set your ambushes? Where are you going to do this? And so this king says, right, do you know where he lives? And so they go with his army to where Elisha lives. And then if you look in verse 14, so he, the king of Syria, sent their horses and chariots in a great army and they came by night and surrounded the city. When the servant of the man of God, man of God is Elisha, when the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city, and the servant said, alas, my master, what shall we do? He said, do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Then Elisha prayed and said, oh Lord, please open his eyes that he may see. So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all round Elisha. That's curious, isn't it? So we have Elijah ascending to heaven, and we're not told these flaming horses and chariots ever leave the earth. And then we see an army coming to attack Elisha, And these flaming horses and chariots still surround him. Okay, you might say, perhaps they came back. Perhaps they did. I'm not being dogmatic about this, but it's just an interesting coincidence, if not. 2 Kings chapter 13 as well. Elijah is soon to die. Verse 14. Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash king of Israel went down to him, so he goes down to see Elisha, and wept before him crying, my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen. Which is the same phrase, it doesn't include fire, but it's the same phrase as before, without the fire in there. Did he see them as Elisha was dying? It would seem at least possible, perhaps probable. But either way, whether this army was always with Elisha or it just appeared when he needed it, he was emboldened by this display of the power of God. And this army actually never does anything specific unless When the king of Syria comes with his army, Elijah asks God to strike the king of Syria and his army with blindness. That doesn't seem to be the army that does that, a fire. It seems to be God directly. But he is emboldened by this army, a fire from God. So through seeing Elijah ascend and through seeing the armies, Elijah is equipped with this army's help and with boldness and confidence in the service of God. What are all the kings of the world compared to my God who has an army of fire? Remember, Elisha had to see Elijah going to heaven if he was to receive this spirit of boldness and faithfulness. Could God have given him it without him seeing Elijah? Does God have the power to do that? Yes, but God chooses ways in which to give his blessing and grace to his people. He ordains means. Elisha saw this event and God channeled God's own spirit to Elisha, making him ready for this task through this experience. Elisha sees God's power to protect, embolden, have victory over the wicked, and he is made ready for his mission. So third point, how the disciples received this blessing grace from Jesus. We've seen that we must have a determination for blessing. We've asked how Elisha got this blessing. Now we're asking, getting closer to us, not quite there yet, how the disciples received blessing grace from Jesus in Acts 1, where Jesus ascended. The blessing I'm speaking of here is the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus gives to his disciples on the day of Pentecost. We looked through Acts 1, didn't we? And then a bit through Acts 2, and we saw that Jesus says to them, before he ascends, I will give you my spirit once I have gone up to heaven. And then they receive that spirit with tongues of fire on their heads and they're filled with the Holy Spirit and with boldness to do the Lord's will. There are great parallels between Elijah's ascension and Jesus' ascension in that they both seem to do it in the same way, except without the whirlwind. Have you considered what ascension is? It's kind of a floating up into heaven, something completely that defies the laws of nature, but which of course God has the power to do. Jesus tells his disciples that when he goes, they shall receive power from the Holy Spirit Now, you may ask, is this not just the Holy Spirit to convert them for the first time? We know that isn't the case, because in the end of John's Gospel, Jesus breathes on them His Holy Spirit then. They already have the Holy Spirit, so why do they need Him again? Well, it's not because they don't have Him, but this giving of the Holy Spirit is a equipping of them for a certain task, the new covenant task of building the kingdom of God. Being equipped with boldness and faithfulness and everything they need to do the work of God. They have not just seen Jesus ascend, They have seen his life, his death, and his resurrection, and they believe. But we are particularly focusing on the ascension here. Jesus' ascension shows that he has won the right to send the power of the Spirit upon his people, because it is a demonstration of victory. What did he do? He descended in becoming a man completed his work, and what is the sign of completion? Yes, resurrection, but also ascension, that he is accepted back into the courts of heaven as the conquering king. We noted before how the Exodus was probably in the mind of Elisha, remember, when they separated the waters, the chariots and the horsemen being washed away, while Jesus had completed his work of dying for the people of God. so that they could be set free, like the people of Israel were set free from Egypt, God's people can be set free from sin, death, and the devil. He had risen in victory over the grave. The devil, death, and sin are all defeated, just like the horses and chariots of Pharaoh. And these believing disciples saw Jesus ascend. And when present at that wonderful glorification of the Saviour, they were promised that they shall receive the Spirit of God in equipping them, remember that word, equipping them for their mission. Now, I'm not suggesting that they received the Spirit in this way purely because they were present at the ascension, but nevertheless, a necessary condition to be an apostle was to have seen the risen Lord Jesus. What does Hebrews 1 say? In these last days, God has spoken by his Son. God speaking and empowering for spiritual tasks cannot be separated in this age. His speaking and His giving of the Holy Spirit always come in one, like one of those three-fold cords, or we'll say two-fold cords. You know, they're wrapped together. If you unwrap them, they're weak. Not that the Holy Spirit is weak, but God has ordained that this would happen together. Of course, the Spirit could have done it another way, but He ordained the Word. So take from the rope illustration that it's all intertwined. It's all intertwined, the Spirit and the Word, the Word and the Spirit, it comes together. In short, if you haven't understood what I've just said, which I understand you may not have, these disciples were given the Holy Spirit in this special way to make them ready for their task. And they were given the Holy Spirit through their knowing of the Lord Jesus. through their seeking knowledge of Him and His victory, His ascension, and they were properly made ready. Wow, they were remarkable witnesses for Jesus. They spoke with boldness, didn't they? We looked at how the leaders were saying to them, you better not speak in the name of Jesus or else, and many of them were martyred, and they said, how can we not speak? God has told us to, you're telling us not to. Are we gonna listen to you? Of course not. They spoke with boldness. They knew, like Elisha, that God was in power, that God is sovereign, and that the Lord Jesus has already won the victory. Christian, the Lord Jesus has won the victory. You need not fear anything of this world. He's one risen from the dead, and He ascended, and He didn't get sent back down saying, you haven't finished yet. He's done it. He's done it. We can have the confidence of the apostles and say to anyone or anything, any suffering, any person, we can say to them, am I going to listen to you and forsake my Saviour? God has told me and we are already victorious in Him. The apostles act As if there is an army of flaming horses and chariots surrounding them, don't they? It's like they think they're immune. They're not immune from suffering, but they know God is one. And they know he will bring them through. He will keep them in the faith and they have an eternity of joy to look forward to. They had better than an army of flaming horses and chariots. They had the Holy Spirit of God in their hearts, burning with a hot flame, blazing brightly. Look at Acts 7, just a few verses. Verse 54, this is Stephen, he's preached a big sermon, and the Jews have been listening to him. And this is what it says, now when they heard these things, he's just been preaching Christ, they were enraged. And they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid their garments down at the feet of a young man called Saul. How we need this boldness. Being stoned, he looks up to heaven and he sees the Lord Jesus. How we need this faithfulness. Our God lights this fire within the hearts of his people. Unworthy vessels. We are weak. God is strong. We pray that God would grant us this strength, that we may see our Saviour spiritually reigning on high and be able to live a life for His glory. And so we come to our last section, how can we receive this grace? How can we receive this grace? I hope you're keyed up to receive it, but how? Well, like with Elisha and like with the apostles, God has ordained means whereby we can receive this equipping spirit of grace. We, like the disciples, as Christians, we already have the Holy Spirit in every single believer. But we receive this grace and power of the Holy Spirit in a further way to live a life for the sake of God by hearing the truth of the Bible about Jesus Christ. What does 2 Timothy 3, 16 say? It says, for the scriptures, I should turn that. 2 Timothy 3, verse 16. You'll definitely know the passage. I thought I knew it as well. All scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. The word is sufficient for the man of God. Now, man of God here actually is talking about ministers, but if it's enough to equip the minister for every good work, how much more so for us in day-to-day life. If there is a true man or woman of God, then they have the Spirit already. And the Word of God is enough to equip them for their life of service, so long as they come to it in humility. Now, let me illustrate this. Let me illustrate this. We can think of the Holy Spirit as a fire which burns in each Christian, okay? Every Christian has the Holy Spirit. Think of the Holy Spirit as a fire which burns in each Christian. But it burns to different degrees. What does a fire need to burn? Two things. Let's not get super technical. Two things. Fuel and oxygen. No oxygen, no fire. You turn off your love burners, oxygen, draft supply, The smoke starts coming in the room. And if you haven't got fuel, obviously it's not going to burn. We need to be consciously and earnestly throwing fuel onto the metaphorical fire of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds, and we need to make sure that there is a constant supply of oxygen. What is the fuel in our analogy? The fuel is the scriptures insofar as they speak of the Lord Jesus Christ. Particularly today we're thinking of his victory over all his enemies, his glorious ascension to sit at the right hand of God. We must throw this fuel of the knowledge of Jesus onto the fire in our hearts. If you cut off your feeding at the Word of God, the fire of the Holy Spirit will practically go out. Now it's impossible for believers to be lost, but it can dwindle down, can't it? Have you not seen that? can dwindle right down until you wonder if they're a Christian or not anymore. If God has them in his hand, he will not let them go. But we want our fire to be blazing. Let us throw the fuel of knowledge of Jesus Christ, true knowledge, loving knowledge, not mere legalism. Oh, I know this, this, this, this, and this, aren't I great? No, an experiential knowledge, a seeking to love him more, to know more about what he has done for us. People pit those two things. Well, you're about knowing about the things in the Bible about Jesus. I just love him. Nonsense. If you love him, you want to know more. What marriage partner says truthfully, I love my wife, and then has absolutely no interest whatsoever in anything to do with his wife? That's nonsense, isn't it? because he would want to know, because he loves. So we are with Christ and with God. We must do this each day in our own meditations, be meditating upon the things of the Lord. But our own meditations, while important, do not think they are not important. They are very important. But while important, are not substantial enough. They're like quick-burning pallet wood you get from Regency Mill. You chuck it on the fire, it creates a great flame. It doesn't burn that hot, but it's good. It'll keep it going, you know? Quick burning pallet wood. The gathering of God's people, the preaching of the word of God, the Lord's supper, baptism, the prayers of singing and gathered worship. These are more like coal and good long burning logs that burn hotter and they burn longer. and they heat the house of your body or your soul more completely. We need them both. We need them both, but we recognise one is more important. But you said you also need oxygen. And we also need oxygen. Without it, a fire will die. Bo is telling me, she's reading in the news, that wildfires in Los Angeles are consuming even perhaps the Hollywood sign on the hill. They're just spreading. Well, like wildfires, because they are wildfires. How is it that they spread so much? I don't know if you've ever seen that sort of thing. It's quite remarkable sometimes if you've ever lit a big bonfire at your house in your garden, and then you start panicking. Why? Because the wind comes and it blows it and it just starts going all over the place. You need the air, the oxygen. What is our oxygen? It is humility and prayerfulness. A cold legalism of knowing stuff will get you nowhere. We must come to the word with humility and prayerfulness. The Holy Spirit, that fire within us, The hotter he burns, the greater our ability to live a holy and well-equipped life for God, faithful and bold. But we need oxygen, we need humility. What did Jesus say? Unless you become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Now of course, let me qualify, this illustration is limited. because we need the power of the Holy Spirit to put the fuel on the fire and to have humility. But the Bible gives us our perspective and we're to see it like that. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Not because God isn't doing it, but because if God is doing it, then that's what you'll be doing. So this is a fair perspective. Take the illustration, don't qualify it out of any meaning. We must be throwing on logs and coal and pallet wood but also receiving the oxygen of humility and prayerfulness. So as we close, do you want to know how to be more holy? How to shake off particular sins which so easily ensnare us? It is by the power of the Holy Spirit through humble receiving of God's word. Do you want to know how you can persevere in trials if your children just don't come to the faith? if your parents remain unstirred by the Saviour, if you get bullied and persecuted for being a Christian at school or in the workplace or wherever it may be, if you get that diagnosis, if you never find a marriage partner and remain single for all of your life, if you feel you can't face the future, if the wicked seem to prosper and we dwindle, if this church does not turn out how we want, where do we find the boldness and the faithfulness to persevere? We return to the Saviour, we remember His victory, and we say with the Apostle Paul, where, O death, is thy sting? Where, O grave, is thy victory? Jesus Christ was faithful and bold to the end. And through knowing more of him in love and humility and prayerfulness, we shall receive greater measures of his spirit. And we shall be fanned, the flame in our hearts shall be fanned into a mighty flame if we devote ourselves to these means of grace. Amen. Let us sing our fourth hymn, 832.