Elisha Series

And if you'd like to take your Bibles, if you have them and turn to 2 kings chapter 13, our reading is going to be from verse 10 to to 21. Let's hear the word of the lord together. In the 37th year of Joash, King of Judah, Jehovahash, son of Jehovah has, became king of Israel in Samaria. And he reigned for 16 years. He did evil in the eyes of the lord and did not turn away from any of the sins of Geribouin, son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.

He continued in them. As for the other events of the reign of Jehovahash, all he did and his achievements, including his war against Amaziah, King of Judah, Are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? Jehovahash rested with his ancestors, and Jeremiah succeeded him on the throne. Jehovahash was buried in Samaria and with the king of the kings of Israel. Now Elijah had been suffering from the illness from which he died.

Jehovahash, King of Israel, went down to see him and wept over him. My father, my father, he cried. The chariots and horsemen of Israel. Elijah said, get a bow and some arrows. And he did so.

Take the bow in your hands, he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king's hands. Open the east window, he said, and he opened it. Shoot, Elijah said, and he shot. The Lord's arrow of victory.

The lot the arrow of victory over Aram, Elijah declared. You will com you will completely destroy the Arabines at Afic. Then he said, Take the arrows, and the king took them. Elijah told him, strike the ground. He struck it 3 times and stopped.

The man of God was angry at him and said, you should have struck the ground 5 or 6 times. Then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it, but now you will defeat it only 3 times. Elijah died. And was buried. Now Marbout Marbout raiders used to enter the country every spring.

Once, while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly, they saw a band of raiders. So they threw the man's body into Elijah's tomb. When the body touched Elijah's bones, the man came to life. And stood up on his feet. I can't wait for this story.

So Pete's gonna come and preach now. Well, you'll have to wait. Fantastic morning to meet together. Lovely sunny day, but I'm inviting you to come to 2 funerals. So I'm glad there's a there's a good turnout, but we're going to a funeral.

Here's the first funeral, dearly beloved. We are gathered here to pay our respects, to Jehovahash, and we're here to bury his body. How do you summarize a life? How do you summarize the life of a king? A king for 16 years?

How do you summarize the life of Jehovahash. I saw many of you have your stories. But allow me to read what is written in 2 kings about this man that we're gathered to pay our respects to. 2 kings 13 verse 10, in the thirteenth 30 seventh year of Joe Ash You have to I have to read this like they did at Prince Phillips's funeral. In the 30 seventh year of Joash, King of Judah, Johohash, son of Jehovah Has, became king of Israel in Sumaria.

And he reigned 16 years. He did evil in the eyes of the lord and did not turn away from any of the sins of Geraboham, son of Nemat. Which he had caused Israel to commit, he continued in them. And as for the other events of the reign of Jehovahash, All he did and his achievements, including the war against Amaziah, King of Judah. Are they not written in the book of animals of the king of Israel?

Jehovahos rested with his ancestors and Gerabome succeeded him on the throne. Funeral number 1, done and dusted. Funeral number 2, because it's such a lovely day. Let's get 2 in. Deally beloved.

We are gathered here at the funeral to pay our respects to Elisha and to bury his body. How do you summarize the life of any man? How do you summarize the life of Elijah? Well, we need more than a couple of paragraphs. We need 13 chapters.

To summarize his life, chapters that record how wonderfully faithful he was to the people of God and to God right until his death day. From the day that Elijah called him from his farm, from the day that he left plowing Elisha stepped out and followed Elijah in faith for his life. He didn't know what was going to happen. From that day, he became the trainee and the assistant of the despised and the rejected and the hunted Elijah. From that day to this day, his funeral There are many, many, many stories about how Elijah traveled around with the Word of God.

And helped rich and poor and well known and unknown and powerful and weak people with the Word of God. He had a varied and full life encouraging people to be faithful to God even to our generation. 2 funerals. 2 funerals, 2 burials. Verse 13, Johohash was buried in Sumaria with the kings of Israel.

King Jeohash We've had his funeral, he's dead and buried, and that's it. There is nothing more to say about this bloke, That's it. He's mourned for a day and largely forgotten. His son takes over and forgets him. Nothing more to say.

Dead and buried. Done his funeral. We've done his eulogy. That's it. Verse 20, Elijah died and was buried.

Elijah is dead and buried. Except that he isn't. Even in death this man is influencing and impacting life. And there's this wonderful story in 20 and 21, where a dead man is bunged into the tomb because they want to the people burying him wanna get away from these marauders, a dead man is thrown into Elijah's tomb. And as soon as the dead man touches the bones of Elijah, resurrection.

It's amazing story. Elisha's life and words are still active. They're still bringing life to people after his death. Elisha's influence is not dead and buried like the kings. The plough boy speaks, the king is silent.

2 funerals 1 turns into a resurrection. 2 funerals. But 1 story to talk about when you've done the funeral and you go and have your tea and sandwiches. There's only 1 story actually in the 16 years rule of king Jehovahash, is worth talking about, and it really disses him. There are hundreds of stories to talk about Elijah, but this 1 story fits both these men and summarizes exactly what they lived for.

So let's look at the story. When Jehovahash and Elijah met before their funerals, 1 man starting out in responsibility, lots of potential there. 16 years of life left, although he didn't know that, he probably thought they'd be longer, but he's starting out King, Jeohash. The other man, leaving the world on his deathbed after years and years and years of faithful service. Much longer than 16 years, Probably, the bloke lived to about a hundred and 10.

He was an old man. Elijah now, he's on his deathbed, and this is where the story begins. He's on his deathbed and the king visits him. Now, you gotta get it, that Elijah had spent his life traveling the the length and the breadth of the land and over the borders, and now he could no longer do that. He couldn't travel around anymore.

However, still the zeal of the Lord is burning undiminished as he's on his deathbed. A hundred and 10 years old. Even with his last breath, he's talking about extending the kingdom as you'll see in a minute in the story. In the parable that he gives to the king. He's he's he's still even though he can't do what he had done, he still does what he could.

He can't travel around the world anymore. He's confined to illness sickness on his deathbed, but he still does on his deathbed what he could. And it's more than all the 16 years put together of the king. So he receives people in his weakness and in his illness. And he ministers to them, preaches to them, counsels them.

And the king knew this, and so the king comes to Elijah's deathbed. Llyager hasn't lost his purpose, hadn't lost his passion in his old age. He receives the king. Jehovahash then. Just become king, and so this sounds good.

This is a really good sign. Jehovahash, the king is seeking Elijah's counsel. What an opportunity to learn? What an opportunity to give his 16 years to the lessons that he could learn from Elijah. What an opportunity?

Verse 14 then? Now Elijah had been suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehovahash King of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. My father my father, he cried. The chariots and horsemen of Israel.

The king seems to have great respect for Elijah at this time. He regarded Elijah as the security, really. Or really the chief security guard of the entire nation. My father my father, the the the chariots and the horsemen of Israel. Those that would protect the kingdom.

And so now the king is really worried because Elijah's going. Perhaps all of the the protection that that that this kingdom is known under Elijah. Perhaps, that's the end of it. And he's just starting his rule. And so now what's gonna happen?

So he's really concerned about what's going on. Because God had always been faithful to Israel because of Elijah and his little tiny band of brothers. A small remnant, a small faithful group of people because of that small group of people out of the millions of people in Israel, God had been faithful to Israel. Now the leader of that group's gonna die, and perhaps they'll disband, and perhaps the protection over my new kingdom is gonna go. And even though the king is clearly an unbeliever, he realized that Elijah played a part here in the kingdom.

That light was about to be extinguished. The blessing Elijah brought was about to go. And even though as we'll see that Jehovahesh was not prepared to step up and be the man and learn the lesson from Elisha and take over Elijah's job as a leader. Jehovahish knew that actually, he was gonna lose something when Elijah went. He wasn't prepared to be the It's a bit like, you know, years ago and you you sometimes get it when you go around old cathedrals and things like that.

You have a chapel or some of those old manors, you know, where rich people live. They've built a little chapel or a little church building, and they stick a priest or a monk in it to do the prayers while the king does the other important stuff. It's like a sort of superstitious religion, isn't it? Oh, the priest's job is to do that. My job as a king is to get on with everything else.

And so Jehovahish doesn't want to take on this job. Let the priest, let the prophet, let the Elijah do that job. It's very interesting. And here's a lesson here, I think. That unbelievers sometimes come to see that Christians are a real blessing to the nation.

And even though they don't believe, They know that when the Christian goes, something will go. And it's very interesting to see that some top atheists are saying that. I even read about Richard Dorkings, the mister atheist and hater of the church himself. You know, who's made money out of God because he doesn't believe God exists and and and he's constantly having a go. He said not so long ago that we're missing something by not having the authorized version of the bible taught our kids.

We're missing something in in the traditional church service that brings something to our nation. Matthew Paris, an atheist writes about the gospel, the actual message of the bible. Is the thing that Africa needs to keep itself stable. Atheists have been saying, we have no words and no language to deal with pandemic. You have to go back to Christianity to get those words and that language.

Even unbelievers, Who at 1 time perhaps mocked, Elijah was mocked when he started out. Remember? Go up your baldie? He was mocked and laughed at during his life. Now, sometimes unbelievers weep at the loss of the of the influence of God and church.

And Christianity and Jesus. It's interesting, isn't it? How that happens? Mary White House was probably more mocked than many, many people back in the seventies and eighties. She was hounded by the BBC, totally mocked.

You old fashioned, horrible old lady. We live in the permissive society. We're allowed to do anything we like. Now, wouldn't we have liked her influence a bit stronger? As nearly everyone from the seventies falls into some kind of perversion that they've been found out that they're doing.

Isn't it interesting? So here he is, verse 14, my father my father, he cried, the chariots and the horsemen of Israel, Elijah, the chief security of the kingdom, the best defense. Who's gonna pray for us? No. So, what does Elijah do?

On his deathbed remember, Elijah tries to bring the king to faith in God. In light, and this is the story. Elijah tries to show Jehovah that God can carry on the work through him, the king, if only he'd let him. Just because Elijah is dying doesn't mean to say God is dying. Just because Elijah is leaving doesn't mean to say God is going to leave.

If God could use a plowboy, can he use a king? If you would trust Jehovahash in God, you could be part of the chariots and the horses of Israel. You could You don't know, but you've only got 16 years left, but you could make them count. So that we don't just have to read some bizarre bland thing at your funeral. You don't have to leave the work to others.

You can do the work of God. And so the parable. Here's the parable. Look at verse 15 to 17. Elijah said, here he is on his deathbed.

See how he takes over it, but it's absolutely brilliant. Elijah said, I don't know how he said it. He might have just breathe it out. I'm gonna get a bow and some and some arrows. And the king did so.

Take the bow in your hands. He said to the king of Israel, and when he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king's hands. Open the east window, he said, and he opened it, shoot Elisha said, and he shot the Lord's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram or that's Syria. Elisha declared, you will completely destroy the Aramians at AFek. In that battle, you're gonna win that battle.

Because you find that arrow. Now, what we got here, right, is an enacted parable, a sort of role play. To help the simple king learn. It's what you do with kids, and this is what Elijah is doing. I don't know whether his mind had gone back to Sunday school lessons, but he's really doing a Sunday school lesson here.

It's wonderful. Let me take you through it. Yeah. The whole thing's explained in verse 17. The Lord's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram.

So this is not just defense now of Israel, oh, the chariots and the horsemen. This is now attack. This is actually taking the kingdom further. This is actually being about God's kingdom work. Yeah?

And firing the arrows out the east window, that's exactly where Aram is or Syria is. And it's where the king of Aram had come in and taken away some of the kingdom of Israel. He'd won the battles there at the east. So you get the picture, don't you? And Elijah walks him right when we do Sunday school kids, walks the king through everything.

Verse 16, take hold Take the bow in your hands. Yep. That's it. He said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the kit.

This is this is the same as when you're learning tennis, not that I ever have. But you go to a tennis coach, And that that take up the No. The racket, you hold the long bit. Yeah. Now, when you stand, you know, get your legs ready and twist your arm and make sure the racket is let me let me help you.

And the the tennis coach comes alongside and he puts his or like when you're doing golf not that I've ever done that, is that I I'm not sure how you do it, but I know you go like this with your feet a lot. And and get that thing in your hand and and then you look and look at the ball and look at the thing. No. No. No.

No. You don't just swipe, you get it right up and get that. Yep. That's what's going on here. I mean, it also conveys the sense of of of blessing and of that I'm laying hands on you.

You get that in the new testament when people have job. I can't put that thing on. They they they lay hands on you for for you to in order to be able to to carry on a job, it's a sort of an anointing So Elijah is saying, although I am the defense of Israel, and are gonna be taken out of the picture just so you be the man. I'm training you. You be the leader.

You be the king, man up to your responsibilities. You've got 16 years left. Do something with your life. Here's a great opportunity for you to trust in God. Yeah?

If you take on Syria in God's name, God will extend the kingdom. You've got 16 years left. Go for it, man, do something. Weeping over my departure is not good enough. You need to stand firm in faith in God.

You need to stand up and take on the position and responsibilities that God has given you. Don't take the least line of resistance. Don't leave it to someone else. Even though I am taken out of this world, God hasn't finished with his project kingdom, have confidence in God and go for it. You must start taking your responsibilities and the gifts that I've given you.

Seriously. That's the parable. Do you get it? Do you get it? It's not that hard, is it really?

Okay. Now the testing. That's the parable in the lesson. So now the golf bloke says, okay. And have you ever hit that hit that ball and see if you can get it up whatever it is that 1, that hole over there.

What a stupid game golf is? Get that white ball into that brown hole over that green grass over there. Yeah? Right. Now you see if you can do an ace.

I've taught you. Yep. Blah. That's what the king does. Basically, he goes underarm.

Let's do the test. Verse 18, here's the test then. Then he, that's Elijah said, take the arrows, the rest in the quiver, and the king took them. Elisha told him, strike the ground. I think it doesn't mean just hitting it with an arrow.

I think it means firing them. Strike the ground, He struck it 3 times and stopped. So I take it that there were number arrows, 6 arrows left, in his sheath of arrows, and he fired 3 of them, and then stopped. So here's the test to see whether the king had really understood and wanted to grow in his faith. The arrows remember a symbolic of victory.

He absolutely knew that, and he half heartedly fired 3. And not the rest of them. Half heartedly fired 3 arrows. He didn't want the job He didn't want to take up the responsibilities. He didn't want the exhaustion and the arm make of firing the rest.

Perhaps he only fired 3 just to please a dying old man. So verse 19, he failed the test. The man of God was angry with him and said, you should have struck the ground 5 or 6 times then you would have defeated Aram or syria and completely destroyed it. But now, you will only defeat it 3 times. The king had failed with his minimalism, and elisha is angry and disgusted.

The anger of Elijah may well have been the thing that killed him, because he dies immediately after this. Elijah, is angry at this halfhearted response. Elijah, you see, had more life in his dying body and in his dead bones that this king had for the next 16 years of his life. Because Elijah was doing stuff for God and this bloke was messing around. So Elijah had designed this test and the king had completely failed.

It's interesting. When you go to the new testament, you find the great chapter on faith in Hebrews chapter 11 and it's by faith, by faith, by faith. Well, in verse 34, it's by faith. People quenched the fire the the fury of the flames, Anderson, escaped the edge of the sword whose weakness was turned to strength and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Do you see that?

By faith, there were people in the bible who had their weakness strength and became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies that could not be said of king Jehovahash. He stayed in his weakness. His faith never grew. He wasn't wholehearted, He wanted someone else to do it. So the king showed a lack of commitment, a lack of interest, and he blew totally his opportunity for the next 16 years so that when you stand up at his funeral, there's very little to say that is worthwhile saying.

And the only story you can think of when you're eating a cucumber sandwich and talking about Jehovahash is what a failed opportunity that man had. So this leads me to my second point. This is where we're landing it. How many arrows will you fire? How many arrows are you gonna fire?

Just as Elijah symbolically conveyed the passing on of his own spirit and his own power by laying hands on the king's hands, Just as Elijah did that symbolically, so God today assures us of resources from heaven that we can carry out our our spiritual responsibilities, and you've no idea how long left you've got. Jesus sent his holy spirit to build the kingdom of God, didn't he? Jesus said to his disciples, right at the beginning of acts of the apostles. Acts chapter 1, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judeir and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. You will receive power to take the message out, to spread the kingdom.

Will you do it? Right at the end of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus says, all authority in heaven on an earth has been given me Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always to the very end of the age. I'll be with you. I, the resurrected, powerful 1 that speaks beyond the grave, because I've bust open the grave.

I will put my hands upon you. I commission you to go and spread the kingdom. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 16, I will build my church. And the gates of Hayes, the gates of hell itself will not overcome it. We'll be busting into areas where the defenses of Satan are up and knocking them down, and building the church and extending the kingdom.

They're the promises. That's what God can do with your life, with you. You can be about that. You can be firing arrows extending the kingdom. And when you run out, you might guess what?

You'll find more arrows there. Just keep going. Fireing your arrows, extending the kingdom. You can do it. My holy spirit with with is with you.

I am with you. You're about the father's business. You're building the church, extending the kingdom. But the problem is, along with those promises and those lessons that we know so well comes the temptation. God never sends temptation, but it comes the temptation from the devil or from our our flesh or from the world or from ourselves.

And that's where faith is tested. Do you believe that Jesus will build his church and even use you in building his church. Do you believe that? Do you believe that you are commissioned? Do you believe that he's given you a whole bag of arrows?

Jesus calls us to be about building And we don't know how many years we've got left. 16 years, some of us, that's tops. 16 years, genuinely, I thought last night I had died, I was gonna die. I won't go into all the gory details. But I woke up in the middle of the night and it was pretty horrible.

And I'm preaching this sermon. Am I going to use the arrows In the few years I've got left, what about you? Don't worry about me, what about you? Build the church. It is needful therefore for every single 1 of us to work at full strength to grow our faith, to push ourselves, to build our muscles.

Some during lockdown have done all that running and you know, you started out and you went half around the block and then you went the hole around the block and now you're running 5000000 miles a day. And you're also super fit. Well, why do that with the body when you could do that with your spirit? Where's the muscles? The Lord has picked you out of all of the universe, to be his child And in your next few years of life, to stretch yourself.

William Carey. You know this, I'm sure. The nineteenth century missionary to India. We've been praying for India. Boy, did he do some good in India?

Just this 1 man. I think it was 40 years before he saw convert. He worked and worked believing in God, and then he saw a Hindu converted. 28 years, I think he's he was doing translating the the bible into the main Indian language. And he finished it and he was just about to be published all his work and it it was printed.

And right When he had literally the day finished it, his factory went up and it all burnt down and everything was gone. And what did he do? He took out another arrow and started again. The very day it burned down, and all his 28 years of work had gone. I think it's something like that.

You'll have to look up the details. The very day started again because he was about the kingdom. He said this. Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God. Will we get that as a motto?

Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God. King Josiah was not wanting to do that, but Elijah was right in front of him doing it. Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God. And all we have to James says, doesn't he in the bible? James chapter 1, you don't have because you don't ask All we have to do is ask.

Do we expect little from God and ask little therefore and therefore receive little in our life. Are we content with little, little faith little knowledge, little depth of insight into the word of God, little growth, little fruitfulness, in our spiritual life, little joy. We're happy in our grumpy moaning depression, little peace, little assurance, Are we not growing? Are we gonna stay put? Let's not be like King Jeoash, limited vision, feeble efforts, failing in spiritual victories, a squandered opportunity.

Expect great things from God, attempt great things for him. We're coming out of lockdown, brothers and sisters is a joy to be back. Let's get big Hasn't the year taught us something about death and missed opportunities and what is life about? Hasn't the Lord shown us? It's about building the kingdom.

There really isn't anything else that is more important. Hasn't that has that year been wasted? Are we gonna come out of lockdown? For of the vigor serving God's people, committed, firing arrows. Yeah?

Spurgeon. Love the bloke, don't you? Dead but lives. Yeah. Amazing.

Paster came up to him, depressed. He hadn't seen a convert for 3 months in his preaching ministry, 3 months. And he said to spurgeon, oh, I don't know. I haven't seen anyone converted for 3 months, but she says, what what? You're talking about man.

Basically, he went like this. Something like this. In Victorian, of course. What are you talking about, man? What are you talking about?

Did you genuinely expect to see someone converted every time you stand up? And the most said, no. No. Cross not. He said, that's your problem then, isn't it?

Expect great things from God. A tenth great things for him. Isn't there someone here that needs to be converted? You've got 16 years of your life left. Maybe if you've only lived 16 years, you're halfway through.

What are you gonna live for? Well, give your life to Christ and do something so that when I stand up at your funeral because I'm going on to a hundred and 10, because it's my mom's birthday tomorrow and she's in her nineties so watch it. I'm gonna stand up at your 32 year old funeral and say, she, he well, they did a few good things, you know, yeah, they're buried with their fathers in, you know, the cemetery up the road and the that's it. And then as we're having cake cake and biscuits, have you got any stories about him or her? Mist opportunity ways to flip in life.

They made a bit of money and that was it. Expect great things. Perhaps we get little because we don't expect. Here's my third point. I must move on.

Post script. Versus 20 and 21, isn't it? Wonderful. Now, Mobile raiders used to sorry, verse 20, Elijah died and was buried. The end of him, isn't it?

No. That's the end of the king. Oh, no. We've got a postscript. This is amazing.

We just bury the plug. Now, Moab raiders used to enter the country every spring. Once, while the Israelites were burying a man dead. Yeah. Suddenly, they saw a band of raiders.

So they didn't know what to do, obviously. So they threw the man's body in Elijah's tomb. When the body touched Elijah's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet. That gave him a jump, didn't it? I mean, I guess they weren't running away from the marauders and the raiders anymore.

They were running away from this man who's just come alive. Whoa. Here is Elijah. He honors God right up to his death and God honors Elijah after death. That's what he does.

He lives on. Jeohash didn't. The life of Elijah, of course, prefigures the lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus gave his life for the kingdom, so the church would grow so that he could build the church when he died on the cross in Matthew chapter 27 and verse 52, we're told as he died and the night came in the middle of the day, the rocks burst open, and the dead, the holy came running out. It's exactly the same here because Elijah prefigures Christ.

There's life in the man's death. And there's more life in the man's death than there is in the 16 years of life in Joash. Jesus, who died on the cross to rescue us. Who's the 1 that God exalts, the 1 that goes to the death serving the kingdom, and it exalted him to the highest place He raised him to life again, and Jesus rules. God is the 1 that looks at your funeral and says, these are the real stories that need to be told.

Did he or she have faith like Christ So here's my fourth point and then we're over. Your legacy. What's your legacy? What is your legacy? Is it gonna look like Jesus Christ?

We're being made in the image of Christ. We should have more faith, not less, It's a dreadful thing when you have old people in Christ to become bitter and mownie And at their deathbed, you you go to see them and you think, oh, goodness. Why don't you die now? That's what most pastors think. I of course would not think like that.

I'm only telling you what I've heard from pastors conferences. Instead of oh my goodness, here's a saint going. My father my father, you taught me well. Would you would you leave me a blessing? Put your hand on my hand?

Would you encourage me? I want a life like yours because it was like Christ's who gave himself for the church to have a Christlike life. So are you a Jehovahash? Or are you a Elijah? Last week, there was all this fuss about of seasons finale.

I hadn't I hadn't watched the program myself line of duty, but there was a whole load of fuss and I hear it was a great disappointment. I don't know. I don't follow it. Someone called m or b or something. Yeah.

We're oh, h, h and m and h and m. They went out the picture years ago. H and m and those sort of people Well, here we are. We're in the seasons finale. Elijah died.

Are you gonna be an e or a j? What's gonna be revealed about you? An e or a j? You're gonna be an elisha serving the lord right to the old age. I love the story.

I've told it before but not for a long time. Of the old lady, I think she was in Cornwall, She was an old evangelist lady, always telling people about Jesus. But she was coming towards the end of her life and couldn't do anything, so she thought for Jesus except When all the tourists came to Cornwall, she had a front garden and she got someone to plant lovely flowers in it and she sat all of the season, holiday season in a deck chair in the front of the garden because that's all this dribbling old lady could do. No. As people went past her house, and looked at the flowers she was like a spider.

Oh, I'm just a poor old lady. Do you like my flowers? Yes, aren't they beautiful? The Lord God makes them. Oh, said the unsuspecting holiday maker.

Don't go, stay for an old woman. He made you too. And they show the glory of God, but do you? What a woman? Christ sees you more important as these flowers and died for you on the cross.

We did trust in him. That's what I wanna be in my old age. Will me out, stick me in the front garden, do something nice in the garden so people stop Put 1 of those wishing wells where people have to put money in. Yeah? What?

Let me say, Are you gonna be a j or an e? His only righteousness of his show, his saving truth per claim, till all my business here below to cry, behold the lamb, happy, if with my latest breath, I may, but gasp his name, preach him to all. Cry in death. Behold. Behold the lamb.

Father God help us please, to expect great things from you and attempt great things for you. Help us to fire our arrows in Jesus' name, our men.