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You You You You You You You You 113 stand up stand up for Jesus Oh Oh Oh All right, let's go to a word of prayer heavenly Father Lord want to thank you Lord that we can be in your house tonight Lord, even though I'm not feeling that great Lord I'm so thankful to be here with the brethren Lord to be in fellowship and to sing you praises Lord I just pray you receive our worship and Lord that we would sing with our full hearts and and Lord that yeah, well, we just come to give you honor Lord for being such a great God for loving us and forgiving us salvation So Lord, I just pray that everything that we do in this service will be honorable to you We pray all these things in Jesus name. Amen Maybe seated All right, let's turn to him number three hundred and fifty nine Three five nine will sing if thy word have I hid in my heart 359 thy word have I hid in my heart? Way And That I might not sin that I might not sin my word have I For ever oh Lord is my word established and fixed on high I pray for the Son to come in have I done forever die Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee That I might not sin that I might not sin my word have I hid in my heart And morning and noon and at night I ever would give Thee praise For Thou art my portion of all and shall be through all my days Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee That I might not sin that I might not sin my word have I hid in my heart Through Him my word have foretold the Saviour and Lord in star Salvation and peace have been brought to those who have strayed afar Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee That I might not sin that I might not sin my word have I hid in my heart Alright. Great singing. Our next hymn before the Bible reading is 441. 441. Great is Thy Faithfulness. 441. Great is Thy Faithfulness, O God my Father. There is no shower of turning with Thee. Thou changest not by compassion, they fail not. As Thou hast we, Thou forever will be. Great is Thy Faithfulness, great is Thy Faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed I have provided. Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me. Sun and winter spring, sun and stars in their courses above. Join with all nature in many phone witnesses. To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. Great is Thy Faithfulness, great is Thy Faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed I have provided. Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me. Pardon for sin and our peace that endureth. Lie only in presence to cheer and to guide. Strength for today and love, hope for tomorrow. Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside. Great is Thy Faithfulness, great is Thy Faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed I have provided. Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me. It's a long chapter but brother Nicholas is going to come up for the reading. Luke 23. He said to him and said, Thou sayest it. Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man. And there were the more fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place. When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilean. And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself was at Jerusalem at that time. And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad, for he was a Czarist to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him. And he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. Then he questioned with him in many words, but he answered him nothing. And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him. And Herod with his men of war set him at naught, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and set him against Pilate. In the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together, for before there were enmity between themselves. And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers of the people, said unto them, You have brought this man unto me, as one that perverted the people. And behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man, touching those things wherever you accuse him, no, nor yet Herod. For I sent you to him, and lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. I will therefore chastise him, and release him, for if necessity he must release well unto them at the feast. And they cried out all at once, saying, I wail this man, and release unto us Barabbas, who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison. Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them. But they cried, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I found no cause of death in him. I will therefore chastise him, let him go. And when they were instilled with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified, and the voice of them and of the chief priests prevailed, and Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required. And he released unto them him that false sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired, but he delivered Jesus to their will. And as they led him away, they allowed hold upon one siren, a sirenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. And there followed him a great company of people and of women, which also bewildered and lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bear, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills, cover us. For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? And there were also two other malefactors, laden with him to be put to death. And they will come to the place, which is called Calvary. There they crucified him in the malefactors, one in the right hand and the other in the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment and cast lots, and their people stood behold him. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others. Let him save himself, if he be the Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar. And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew. This is the king of the Jews. And one of the malefactors which will hang to be held in him, saying, If thou be the Christ, save thyself. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Doest thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed just say, For we received the due reward of our deeds. This man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today thou shalt be with me in paradise. And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave up the ghost. Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man. And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts and returned. And all his acquaintances and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding those things. And behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counselor, and he was a good man and a just. The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of him. He was of Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. This man went up to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein ever man before was laid. And that day was a preparation, and the Sabbath drew in. And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments, and rested the seventh day according to the commandment. Let's pray. Dear Lord, thank you that you could all come to church. Please help us to learn something, and fill my day with the Holy Ghost. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Alright, thank you, Nicholas. So last week, when I preached, I actually thought I preached one of my worst sermons ever, last Wednesday. You know, because I just, I wasn't, I wasn't like, I mean, you probably don't even notice it. Like, when I went back to watch the sermon, I probably don't even notice it. But like, I knew just within myself that, like, I'm skipping my notes, I'm skipping ahead, I just, I can't keep focus as I'm preaching. That's what I felt like inside. And I just felt like, man, I preached the worst sermon, and on the way home, I'm like, Christina, how bad was that sermon? She's like, oh, it was good, it was like a good sermon. I thought, what's wrong? Like, what was wrong with me? And I was thinking, oh man, maybe I'm far from the Lord. Like, maybe there's some issue that I've got in my life, and maybe I feel far from the Lord. But I just wasn't, like, you know, I just wasn't there, at church, mentally or anything like that. Anyway, then I go to Sydney on the Thursday to preach down at Blessed Hope Baptist Church, and I'm just not feeling great. You know, I'm just like, what's wrong? Like, what is wrong with me? Anyway, I finally get to my parents' house, because that's where I stay in the night, and I just, I had to go pick up contact lenses for my son Nicholas. Anyway, I'm just like, Dad, can you go and pick him up? I just don't feel good. Right, anyway, I'm preaching on Thursday, you know, I got through the sermon, come home, obviously, got Friday, most of Friday, then Saturday, and then Sunday. You know, what I'm saying to you guys is, sometimes we need to, and man, we don't do this very well, but we just stop and listen to our bodies. My body was starting to get tired and run down, and I started to realise, oh, I'm actually getting sick. Anyway, come Sunday, I'm preaching, you guys know I'm losing my voice at that point. You know, and then, okay, got through Sunday, you guys came over to my house, and then on Monday, I was just completely gone. Monday, I woke up, and I just couldn't function, I had breakfast, I think, you know, or I had a coffee at least, and then I just laid down in bed and I fell asleep. Then I got up, had something to eat, and I was like, I just can't do this, and I laid down, fell asleep, had a fever, I was burning up, and yeah, I just wasn't listening to my body. So it wasn't a spiritual thing, it wasn't a spiritual problem that I had, it was a physical problem, but I just wasn't listening. You know, when you get too busy, you've got things to do, you're running back and forth, and even this afternoon, Christina said to me, maybe you should just get one of the other guys to preach for you. I'm like, ah, you know, and I should remember, because I've still got Pastor Stevenson who owes me a sermon. But anyway, it doesn't matter, I'm here now, praise God, the reason I said that is just keep me in prayer, keep me in silent prayer, as I'm preaching, just so my mind's fresh, and I can get through the sermon tonight. But with the Lord's help, I'll be able to get through it. Luke 23, 42, Luke 23, 42 says, and he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. The title for the sermon tonight is, Lord, Remember Me, Lord, Remember Me. One of my favourite stories is this very story here, The Thief on the Cross. You know, at one point, you read another epistle, he's actually mocking Christ. Both the malefactors, both the thieves are actually mocking Christ. One of the finally comes to realise, boy, you know, we deserve this punishment. You know, we've done wrong, but when we look at Jesus, he's done no wrong. And you know, and he finally, it dawns upon him the reality that, you know, he's about to enter into eternity, he's not right with the Lord, and he's been mocking the Saviour, and something amazing transforms in his heart. But before I talk about that, I like how he begins that prayer, that conversation of the Lord. Lord, remember me, remember me. And I remember as I was reading through the Bible, I usually read through the Old, you know, a passage of the Old Testament, and a passage in the New Testament at the same time. And I remember as I was reading through Luke 23, this was many years ago, I came across this point, okay, Lord, remember me, and then I remembered, I was going through the Old Testament, I was going through the book of Genesis, and I'll just quickly read to you from Genesis chapter 8 verse 1, it says, And God remembered Noah, remember that kind of dawn on me, remember Noah, you know, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark, and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged. The fountains also the deep, and the windows of the heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained, and the floods returned from off the earth continually, and after the end of the hundred and fifty days, the waters were abated. And so before God stops the rain, and the waters coming from the foundations of the earth, before he puts a stop to that, the flood that took place in that time, the Bible says that he remembered Noah. And I just, it kind of dawned on me, and I thought, well, you know, when we use the word remember, we kind of say, well, it's sort of like the opposite of forgetting. It's sort of like, oh, that we did forget one period of time, and then it's come back to our remembrance. And of course, when we think about God, God never forgets us. We understand that, right? He'll never leave us, he'll never forsake us, we understand that. But one thing I started to realize in the Bible, as these things started to click together, that there are several times in the Bible that it does refer, where people are praying to the Lord, and they're just saying, Lord, remember me. Lord, just remember me. And then I got challenged in my own prayer life, and I'm just thinking, you know, when I go to pray, you know, I say a few words, and then I look how some of the saints, or this thief on the cross, even, how he needs salvation, and how passionate they are, how desperate they are, that they would say, God, just remember me. What does it mean to remember? Bring to your remembrance. You know, as God is causing the rain to fall, and the floods to come, the Noah's flood, you know, all of life is being destroyed, and you'd think that God has just so much on his mind right now, as he's destroying the earth, the Bible tells us, but he remembered Noah. You know, Noah came to his mind, came to his remembrance. I mean, just that moment of time, the Lord was focused on Noah. Focused on Noah. You know, I mean, just imagine, like, Noah's world has been completely destroyed. What he knows, you say it's a wicked world, yes, it was a wicked world, but it was still the only world he knew. You know, it's completely destroyed. Right, I mean, he's on the ship, and he's potentially wondering, you know, when, how's this all going to end? What's this new world going to be like? When are the rains exactly going to stop, and, you know, what's going to be the future for me and my family? And the Lord God, as he looked at the whole earth, being covered by water, you know, his eyes came focused upon that arc. You know, Noah, his family, the animals, and the Lord remembered him. The Lord's focus, I kind of think about that, right? Everything else is destroyed. The Lord's focus is just on Noah, just at one point in time. And then you have the thief on the cross saying very similar words, Lord, remember me. Amazing, you were just mocking Christ not long ago. What's he asking to be remembered for? Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And yet, he's about to die. He sees Jesus, he knows Jesus is about to perish. He says, Lord, Lord, so what's he saying about Jesus? That he's the Lord, right? That he's got authority. He says, look, you're not just a common man, you're the Lord. Lord, remember me. What do you mean remember? You're both going, you're both about to pass on when thou comest into thy kingdom. Remember when Christ was marked here, the crown of thorns was upon his head. You know, they had the sign above his head saying this is the King of the Jews. You know, that was all just mocking Christ. But somehow the thief would look at the Lord Jesus. Instead of seeing a crown of thorns, he saw, no, this is the King of Israel. You know, when he saw that sign, this is the King of the Jews, you know, he saw Christ as it were in faith on his throne. He knew that Christ is the King. He knew that one day Christ will come back from this death and bring in his kingdom. And all he says, Lord, just remember me. Lord, just when you come in your kingdom, just remember this one thief that just for one brief moment in time put his faith on you. He trusted Christ will be resurrected from the dead. And if he wants to be remembered, what if he's saying, Lord, bring me back as well. Bring me back from death as well. I want to be in your kingdom. And I kind of think in his heart he's probably just hoping that he can just sweep the floors in the kingdom of Christ. Probably not fully understanding the moment that he's put his faith on Christ that he's become a child of God. That he's not just some servant that can sweep the floor in the kingdom, but he's going to inherit all things with Jesus Christ. It's amazing. That's what faith can bring to us when we just give our faith to Jesus Christ alone. But he says, Lord, remember me. You know, again, a king. You know, again, if you've seen the news, if you've been watching, you know, King Edward III, I don't know if he's been crowned just yet, but there's a lot of, you know, what's the word, celebrations, and there's a lot of, you know, they're all dressed up and it's all very fancy. There's a lot going on in that kingdom. We know that when Christ comes, there's going to be a lot going on in his kingdom. It's not just a British kingdom. It's going to be a kingdom upon the whole world. And, you know, this thief just says, Lord, just remember me. Just for one period of time. As busy as you are in your kingdom, just for one period of time, give me focus, give me your attention. Lord, I want to be part of that kingdom. And this is what saved him. You know, this is, you know, when we lead someone in a sinner's prayer, you know, I mean, this is just as good of a prayer. Right? Because it's not so much the words, but it's the faith that you place on the one that you're speaking to. Right? It's not the prayer that saves you, but it's the one that you're praying to that saves you. It's the one that you're placing your faith upon. And so the man does this, you know. And I just wanted to give you some other examples as we go through the Bible, this idea of being remembered. And many times as we go through this, you know, it's at a point when people are just at the very lowest. Say, Lord, I just need your special attention. I need you to remember me in my hardship. Can you please, we won't go back to Luke 23 now. Can you please go to Job 14. This one also reminds me a lot of the thief's prayer on the cross. But in Job 14, verse 13, these are the words of Job. And, you know, again, we know that Job has gone through great loss, great suffering. And he gets to a point where he kind of just says, you know, Lord, I kind of just want to die. Like, Lord, if this is what you've got in store for me, then, Lord, can I just die peacefully? Can I just go to my grave? And he says these words in Job 14, verse 13. Job 14, verse 13. It says, Oh, that thou wouldst hide me in the grave, that thou wouldst keep me secret until thy wrath is past, that thou wouldst appoint me a set time and remember me, and remember me. He says, Lord, can I just go to the grave? Just, just a secret, Lord. Just take me to death. You've taken it all. It seems like you're angry at me, Lord. But just let me die, you know. But, Lord, even in my death, he says, remember me. Appoint me a set time and remember me. What's he talking about there? We know that Job's already saved, right? He's already a believer. Great man. Then what does it say there in verse 14? It says, If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come. Wow. He goes, look, Lord, there's going to be an appointed time where I'm going to be changed. This reminds me of 1 Corinthians 15. You know, it says, For we shall be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. And we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. And, of course, Job is speaking about the resurrection. I mean, look, he's going for a great suffering on this earth. Not to the point where he thinks that God wants him dead. I mean, I don't blame Job for thinking this. All right? Where he just thinks, man, surely God is trying to kill me, but instead of just killing me slowly, Lord, just take me to the grave right now, please. But, Lord, remember me. You know, I know I've got this appointed time. I know there's going to be a resurrection. Lord, please remember me that I can be resurrected from the dead. You know, like if this life, Lord, you're angry at me and I'm a sinner and there's judgment and there's wrath and there's punishment, Lord, I know in the life to come I'm not going to have to face all those things. Praise God. You know, these are good prayers, but you can see that it's at a point when people are just so far, like so cast down, so troubled, so burdened, like the thief on the cross, not knowing what his eternity would be. Just for a moment dawning upon him that, you know what, I'm not right with God. This is the Messiah right here. He's the King of Kings. I'm going to put my faith and trust on him. That's all I've got left. Praise God for that. And then Job's thinking the same thing. Maybe the Lord's just, you know, this life is just too much, Lord. I can't handle it. You know, Lord, it seems like you just want to kill me. Well, let it be, Lord, but I want to come back in the resurrection. I want to rise from the dead. Please remember me. Remember me. And remember me. So I just want to show you that, you know, that these prayers are kind of, again, I look at these prayers of the saints, and I kind of look at my own prayer life and go, man, I'm really lacking, like, these words and this passion and these depths, you know, of sadness where I can just be calling out God in this sense. I mean, I don't know if it's because maybe I've not suffered that much in life. I mean, we've all had problems. We've all suffered. Of course I've had different difficulties in my life. But, you know, I can't say that I've suffered as much as Job. You know, I can't say that I've been at a point in life where, you know, death could just be around the corner. And, you know, one thing that you see when someone is close to the Lord that, you know, their prayer life, it just seems so rich and so deep, and I sometimes think, man, what's wrong with me? Why is my prayer life not like that? And anyway, you know, I'm just preaching this to challenge you because I think sometimes we need to really consider our prayer life. Like, how rich is it really? You know, are we just saying... And look, the Lord's going to hear our words. I'm not trying to say, you know, we're children of God. Okay? He's given us these scriptures so we can learn how to pray. Remember the disciples, they came to Jesus. The Lord teach us how to pray, teach us to pray. And the Lord literally had to teach them how to pray. You know, our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. The Lord had to teach them. And, you know, we've got God's Word. I read something like the Psalms, and again, I just see how rich and beautiful these words are. And I know they're songs. I know it's a songbook, but most of the Psalms, you know, are prayers to God. You know, prayers written in song. And that beauty, that richness, that deepness, you know, of the words from the person that has great needs gets proclaimed before God. And I just love it. I love it. And again, that idea that the Lord remembered me. And I'm trying to apply the language of the Bible more so in how I pray to God these days. You know, as I'm doing this, I kind of, you know, if I'm going to start doing this, then I want my church to start doing this. And I want to show you why. I want to show you how these saints of old were just so precious in the words that they used when they spoke to the Lord God. Please go to Psalm 106. We just spoke about the Psalms. Go to Psalm 106 and verse number 3. Psalm 106 and verse number 3. What's another reason why we might have to say, remember me when we speak to our Lord? It says in Psalm 106 verse number 3, blessed are they that keep judgment and hear that doeth righteousness at all times. Now, brethren, is that you? You know, as you speak to the Lord, can you say these words? Blessed are they that keep judgment and hear that doeth righteousness at all times? Is that you, though? Would you say, Lord, I keep your judgments. You know, I keep, Lord, your righteousness at all times. You know, again, I look at these words and I think, wow, man, you know, I wish I can say that all the time about my life. You know, I wish I can say that every moment of my life I'm just closely walking with the Lord. Because when you are doing these things, look at this, when you are keeping God's judgments, when you are doing the righteousness of God at all times, verse number 4 it says, remember me, O Lord, with the favor that thou barest unto thy people, O visit me with thy salvation. Remember me, O Lord. Lord, when I do well, when I keep your judgments, Lord, when I walk in your righteousness, Lord, can you remember me? Because I want to be blessed. I want to be blessed. That's another reason we can go to God and say, Lord, remember me. Sometimes it might seem like as we live life and we keep the commandments of God and we try to live our holy and pleasing life, it seems like we're just not getting ahead. It almost seems like, Lord, it would be just better if I just cheated on the job. Lord, maybe it's easy if I lied actually my way instead of telling the truth. In fact, Lord, the moment I told the truth, it all just seemed to come crashing down. Sometimes we get weary in well-doing, don't we? That's what the Bible is being careful about, warns us about. But we need to remember that, hey, you know what? I'm just going to keep God's judgments. Even though I don't seem to be winning right now, I'm going to keep in his righteousness. Every day of my life I'm going to seek to do his commandments and I'm not going to be always perfect, but you know what? When I do wrong, I'll go and confess that before God to help me get back up and continue walking in his ways. And if you continue doing that, you know, you might need to go before God in prayer and say, Lord, look, I've been trying to be, you know, serving you. You know, to the Mishal family, obviously we all know you're looking for a house. You know, hey, you keep the house of God a priority and then you say to God, God, remember me. I've prioritized your house. We're here every week. Lord, you need to also give us a house. Hey, and Lord, remember us, remember me, remember us. Lord, give us your attention. Give us your focus right now, Lord. We need a place to live. We need a place that we can be comfortable. And Lord, even if we can't find a house right now, we're still going to prioritize your house. We're still going to be there. We're still going to make sure we walk in the paths of righteousness that you've set before us. Let's keep going there. Verse number five, it says that I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance. Because sometimes, yeah, you can lose the excitement. I'm doing right. I'm doing what's right. I know, but I'm just not getting it. I'm just not getting the answers of prayer. I'm just not being blessed the way I think I ought to be blessed. Then we need to go, God, God, just remember me. Remember me as I walk in your ways because I want all these things. I want to see the good of thy chosen. I want to rejoice in the gladness of thy nation. Of course, we know in the New Testament, we have the spiritual nation that we're part of, that I am my glory in thine inheritance. Being excited, being hopeful for the future to come. Again, the inheritance is the inheritance that the Father gives to the Son and where joint is with what the Father gives to the Son. So, hey, sometimes, yeah, when we do right, we need the Lord to just, Lord, can you remember me? You know, please pass down your blessings. I kind of feel like I'm being, maybe I'm being missed out. Maybe you've kind of forgotten, Lord, the paths of righteousness that I'm walking in. Can you please bless me? Can you please remember me? Please go to Nehemiah 13. Go to Nehemiah 13. And I preached in Nehemiah with this church earlier this year, right? But Nehemiah 13. And, you know, Nehemiah, of course, was instrumental in getting out of the walls. Sorry, yeah, the walls. Nehemiah was instrumental in getting the walls rebuilt of Jerusalem. You may recall that event. But Nehemiah, you know, he was an official of the Babylonian Empire, okay? And after he got all the walls set up and, you know, the people of the land were excited to be serving the Lord once again. They were excited to be serving the temple and the house of God. Nehemiah had given great instructions to the people. He then had to go back to the Babylonian Empire to report to the Persian king and explain, you know, what's been happening in Babylon and, sorry, what's been happening in Jerusalem and while he was gone, things started to fall apart. All right? And then in Nehemiah chapter 13, he comes back from his leave, all right, and he realizes, man, people aren't following the instructions that he gave the nation, that he gave the people, okay? And he says these words in Nehemiah 13, 14. He says, remember me, oh my God, concerning this and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for the officers thereof. What was happening is, you know, Nehemiah had instructed them, hey, you gotta make sure the Levites' needs have been taken care of. They're meant to be serving the house of God. Make sure that you collect everything, you all put it all in a special room, the Levites have enough to take care of their needs. The Levites, their needs weren't being taken care of while he was gone, okay? Another thing, they had heathen come into the land or come into the temple and I think it was Sanballat from memory. They had set up a room for him in the house of God, okay? There were several things that they were doing wrong. And Nehemiah's like, oh man, God must be so angry at us right now. I mean, God's just brought us back into this land. He's rebuilt the temple and rebuilt the walls of the city. And Nehemiah's just concerned, Lord, man, your judgment's gonna fall, but Lord, can you remember me? Like, I've tried to do what's right, Lord. I've done good. And sometimes when we see, perhaps the judgment of God fall upon, you know, our wicked nation. You know, we see the judgment and we just, Lord, please don't consume me in your wrath because, Lord, I've stepped out and tried to do what is right. You know, I've passed that instruction, but they've not heeded it. You know, I've been away, Lord, but they've rebelled. Let's keep going in the same chapter, verse number 20, Nehemiah 13, verse number 20. It says, So the merchants and sellers of all kind were lodged without Jerusalem once or twice. Then I testified against them and said unto them, this is Nehemiah speaking, Why lodge ye about the wall? If ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth they came no more on the Sabbath. Remember, what was one of the main instructions of Nehemiah? It was, look, we're not going to be doing business on the Sabbath. Okay? We're gonna stop working on the Sabbath. That's why God was angry with us at the very beginning. Because we did not give the land, the Sabbath rest. And while Nehemiah was gone, guess what? Bring in the merchants, bring in the money, ching ching, let's make profit on the Sabbath. What's the point of resting on the Sabbath? Let's do business, let's make profit. As soon as Nehemiah's gone, they're back there doing it again. He tells the merchants, hey, get out of the city. If I catch you here, lodge ye, I'm gonna take hold of you. Alright? And you can see that the Jews, they're just going back to their old ways. Alright? Without a godly man leading them, they're going back to those old ways. And then it says there in verse number 22. And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves and that they should come and keep the gates. So he gets Levites, hey, come and watch the gates. I don't want these merchants coming through. Alright? He can't trust the people they had to take care of the gates and the walls. He gets the Levites, who were serving what was meant to be sanctified for God's business, God's purpose. Hey, you come and watch the gates, alright? To sanctify the Sabbath day. Then he says these words, remember me, oh my God, concerning this also. Look at this. And spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy. He's expecting, God, surely you're gonna judge us again. Right? I mean, we were just in captivity for some seven years. And yeah, Lord, it's just surely it's gonna happen again. But Lord, can you please remember me? I'm trying to do what is right. And brethren, you know what? You're gonna be surrounded by people that are doing things wrong. You know, all our children are homeschooled, I believe, you know? But you know, if you ever find yourself in some other institution, and maybe even if it's after school, you know, even if it's TAFE or university or something like that, you're gonna find yourself amongst wicked people. Don't allow yourself to be influenced by those that are wicked, those that are ungodly, those that are rebellious against the Lord. You do what is right, as unpopular as it is. Even in the workplace, it can be that way. So it's so wonderful to be in the house of God. We can be with believers that actually love the Lord. Okay, we're not perfect, but we're here to be united as one body, to serve our Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, we have the same heart, we have the same salvation, we have the same Christ. Praise God for church. But it's not like that in the real world. You can be surrounded by people that are rebellious against God. But you need to remember, you do what is right. You do what is right, okay? And you ask God, God, remember me as I do what is right, even with the influences that are around me, that are doing things contrary to your word. Drop down to verse 29, same chapter. Nehemiah 13, 29. Once again, it says here, Nehemiah swings it around this way. He goes, remember them. Oh my God, remember them. Remember me. This one is like, remember them. Who's the them? Because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood in all of the Levites. What had happened is that the priests were signed to marry the heathen. They started to marry people that did not believe in the same God. They were defiled in the priesthood. So Nehemiah goes, Lord, remember them. Lord, when you pass judgment, pass judgment on them. Not on the rest of us that are trying to do what is right. Because then he says this in verse number 30. Thus cleansed I them from all strangers and appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites, everyone in his business. And for the wood offering at times appointed and for the firstfruits, remember me, oh my God, for good. Lord, the others are doing bad. Remember them for their wickedness. Judge them, Lord, when it comes to me, Lord. Look, I've done the best. I've sent the priests, the Levites. Lord, we're trying to do what is right. The wood offering, the firstfruits, we're trying to get it all organized, Lord. So please remember me, oh my God, for good. So I think these are good prayers. These are good prayers. This is a good phrase to say to the Lord. Lord, I need your attention. I need your focus upon me. Lord, things are going hard. I'm going for difficulties. I can't believe. The people around me have just automatic, I can't believe it, Lord. They've turned against you. They're doing things contrary to you. I've tried to lead my family to love you, to be sacrificial towards you, Lord, but they're just turning against you, Lord. Please, please remember me at least, Lord, as I've tried to set things in order. I need to remember this as a pastor. You know, what if we have church members that leave this body or they seek the world and they don't seek the love of God, they don't seek to follow in His ways. I have to say, Lord, can you just remember me? I'm trying to do what is right. Like, please, Lord, in your mercy. As long as I've taught what the Bible teaches, as long as I've instructed God's people to be careful of sin, to put you first in their life, Lord, please remember me, because I'm trying to do what is right. I think we need to pray these things, right? Again, I love these words. I love this phrase. I love how deep it goes. They're just pouring out their hearts to the Lord. It's almost like the feeling is that they're forgotten, but Lord, please bring me back to your remembrance. Keep me at the top of your mind right now, Lord, as I go through this difficulty, this struggle, whatever it is. Please go to Jeremiah 15. Jeremiah 15, verse 13. Jeremiah 15, verse 13. Jeremiah was a great preacher, great preacher. The Lord used him for many decades, among many kings that passed through the time of Jeremiah's preaching, but even though he was a great preacher, from our perspective, he was a very hated preacher. I mean, if you're going to preach the truth, you're going to be hated by this world. And Judah was as bad as they were going to get. It was time for Judah to be judged. It was shortly before the Babylonians would come and take them all into captivity. But Jeremiah, this is what happens with Jeremiah here, Jeremiah 15, verse 13. The Lord is basically, again, many times in the book of Jeremiah, you're going to find this. The Lord's just preaching through Jeremiah that the nation will be taken into captivity, that they would lose all things to strangers. Jeremiah 15, verse 13, it says, Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders, God's saying, look, you're going to lose it all. Everything within your borders, anything that is valuable is going to be taken away as spoil. Verse number 14. And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not. For a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you. Of course, the land that they don't know is the land of Babylon. They're going to be taken into captivity with their enemies. Yeah, other nations are going to be taken into captivity as well. The Babylonian Empire was a great empire, took over many countries. Verse number 15. So after Jeremiah's done preaching all of this, you know, preaching the judgment of God, the wrath of God upon his nation, you know, there were people at this time that thought that Jeremiah was like a pawn of Babylon. Because, like, Jeremiah just keeps preaching about how Babylon's going to come and destroy us. Right? And they're like, oh, man, you're the side of the Babylonians then. Right? But, look, this preaching, this preaching the wrath of God, the judgment of God weighs so heavily on Jeremiah that he says in verse number 15, O Lord, thou knowest, remember me and visit me and revenge me of my persecutors. Take me not away in thy long suffering. Know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke. Jeremiah has persecutors. Been persecuted for just preaching God's word. You know, even people within his own family are like, Jeremiah, just shut up. Stop preaching. Jeremiah was a hated preacher. He was arrested. He was thrown into the mire, into like a well, like a water cistern. You know, I mean, he was just treated so badly. You know, people hated him. And you know what? He knows that what he's preaching, Lord, you just made me preach once again that we're just going to lose all our riches of our land. You just made me preach once again that you are so angry at the Jews. And then he says, but, Lord, can you just remember me? Because as I preach this, I'm going to get persecuted. Remember me. And I think we need to remember this. If we're going to be a church that's going to just stand for the truth, right, preach without compromise, in season and out season, we need to remember this. Lord, remember this pastor. Remember our church, Lord. Because if we're going to preach truth, we're going to be hated. We need your protection. Jeremiah was protected. If we keep going there, it says in verse number 16, Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart. For I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced. I sat alone because of thy hand, for thou hast filled me with indignation. Lord, you filled me with hatred. As he starts to preach the wrath of God, he starts to say, man, I'm feeling this as well. I can see why God is angry at our nation. But see, listen, he wasn't trying to be a popular preacher. He goes, I'm not going to sit with the mockers. I'd just rather sit alone. Because, you know what, I actually love your words. Like, even though they make me unpopular, even though it gives me persecution, I actually just, I love your word, Lord. Jeremiah's heart, amazing, isn't it? And you know how it is, brethren. I'm sure you just love God's word. You just know the power, the truth of God's word, but when you share it to people that don't have the same love for it, they hate you for it. They think you're a little weird. They think there's something wrong with you. You know what, Lord, just remember me. Keep me at the top of your mind as I love your word, as I stand upon your word. And as our pastor preaches your word, Lord, please remember him. Please protect him. Eventually the southern kingdom was taken over by the Babylonians, and for a brief period, even Jeremiah was chained up, was arrested, but then the moment they saw him, they let him go. They even gave him money and said, Jeremiah, you do whatever you want. Here's some money from you from the Babylonian empire. You're definitely God's man. We're just going to let you go and do whatever you want. Jeremiah was blessed. He was protected. Even though the whole nation was taken into captivity, the Lord did remember Jeremiah. The Lord did remember him. Can you please go to 1 Samuel chapter 1. 1 Samuel chapter 1. 1 Samuel chapter 1, verse number 9. And this one's close to my wife's heart. In fact, it's probably close to the heart of many ladies that have been barren. But it says in 1 Samuel chapter 1, verse number 9, it's the story of Hannah. Do you recall that Hannah was the wife of a husband that had two wives? The other wife had kids and she was barren. And it says here in 1 Samuel 1, verse 9, So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by the post of the temple of the Lord, and she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord and wept sore. And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if that would indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. So again, Hannah at a very weakened, saddened, heavy state, not being able to have children. And you know, I understand, I've shared with you how my wife was told she'd never be able to have kids. And I saw the sorrow that she went through. You know, and she had these prayers, she saw the story of Hannah, and she basically said the same thing, Lord, remember me. Lord, please give me a man child. You know, please give me children. And of course the Lord's come through and blessed. And I've spoken to quite a few ladies over the time that I've been a pastor, who have said, look, I'm just struggling to have children. You know, whether they're in our church or out of our church, even like when I've been in the United States and things like that, it's like, you know, I just can't fall pregnant. How did your wife have all these, so look, we have the same issues as you. I mean, there are so many barren women in the Bible. You know what, and just be patient. Just go before the Lord, just take it to the Lord and leave it in his hands. The moment my wife left it in the hands of the Lord, instead of carrying the burden all the time, she left in the hands of God, God came through and opened the wound. Alright? And you know, she thought of this, of Hannah. And she said, you know, if the Lord can do it for Hannah, he can do it for me. You know, Lord, remember me. And you know, this is just something for the ladies, especially, you know, if there are ladies listed online that are barren, you know, this is, I know this is something that's going to be on your heart. This is something that God has put within a woman to bring forth children. A great desire. It says here in verse number 12, And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth. Now Hannah, she spake in her heart only her lips, she spake in her heart only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore, Eli thought she had been drunken. And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee. This guy's not a good priest, right? I mean, this is just the least of his issues. But anyway, verse number 15. And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial, for out of the abundance of my complaints and grief have I spoken hitherto. And then Eli answered and said, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. Her countenance was no more sad. She left it with the Lord. She said, I have taken it to the Lord, and the priest has said the Lord has heard this. So now she's happy. You know, great. Do you know she's ever rejoiced in this? Look at verse number 19. And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the Lord and returned, and came to the house to Ramah, and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, but notice the next words, and the Lord remembered her. Amen. The Lord remembered her. Okay. The Lord came through. She says, Lord, you remember me. Remember your handmaid. Don't forget me. The Lord says, I'll remember you. Next time you're with your husband, you know, the Lord made sure the womb was opened. Verse number 20. Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bear a son and called his name Samuel, saying, because I have asked him of the Lord. You know, Psalm 113 verse nine says, He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the Lord. Children are a blessing. Thank God for your grandchild, brother. What was the child's name? Judah. All right. Judah? Judah. All right. Praise God. Praise God for children. It's a blessing of the Lord. And ladies, you know, if your heart desires to have children, go to the Lord. Lord, remember me. You know what? The Lord will remember you. He will open your womb. Okay. Now please go to Judges 16. Go to Judges 16 verse 28. Judges 16. It's the last one we got here. Judges 16 verse number 28. Now we go to the story of Samson. All right, Samson. Strongest man. One of my favorite Bible characters when I was a child. I used to love it when my mom would read me the books of Samuel. Sorry, the books of Judges about the story of Samson. You know? I used to love it. Like, that was my favorite bedtime story. Mom, can you tell me about Samson? Now, I think my mom kind of skipped around the passages where he's, you know, chasing the girls. But, you know, when it came to the big stories of the adventure and defeating the armies, my mom would read me those stories. Definitely one of my favorite characters as a child. But Judges 16 verse 28. Judges 16 verse 28 says. Well, before you read it, we know the story. That's when he was with Delilah. He gave away the secret of his strength. Okay? Then they cut his hair. The Philistines did. They cut his hair. They took him away. They beat him up. They plucked out his eyes. And then they've used him basically as slave labor. Okay? So, this is the worst state that, you know, you find Samson in. And again, I just want to take the thought there of Samson in such a bad state in his life. And I don't know where you are, you know, where you are in life right now. Maybe you feel like I'm just at the worst place I possibly can be in life right now. And this is how Samson felt. There in verse number 28. And Samson called unto the Lord and said, O Lord God, remember me. Remember me, I pray thee. And strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. Verse number 29. And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand and of the other with his left. And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might and the house fell upon the Lord's and upon all the people that were therein. So, the dead which were slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtol in the buried place of Manoah his father and he judged Israel 20 years. Alright, so actually, Samson finally delivered the Israelites from the Philistines. He finally accomplished the job. But he was at his weakest state weakest state. He had made so many mistakes in his life. He just says, Lord, just one more time. Can you remember me? And look, this action led to his death. You might say this is suicide. As it were, him knowing full well that by taking these pillars it's going to crush him. The building's going to collapse. But not only does it crush him but it destroys the enemies of the Israelites. More perished by this one event than any other time that Samson had wars against the Philistines. Samson was that judge. Samson did deliver the Israelites from the hands of the Philistines at this point in time. And he simply said, oh Lord, remember me. He's in such a dark place in his life. But the Lord came through, strengthened him. He said it's a sad end to his life. It kind of is. But he did something great for the people of God. Samson's going to be rewarded for this great accomplishment for being the savior of Israel, as it were, at this point in time. I mean, he realized that this life, again, he had made so many mistakes in life but he was looking forward to just being able to do one more thing for the Lord. And look, I don't know how much time we've got left on our, you know, that God has for us. I don't know how much. You know, God's not going to ask can you take down the Philistines? Can you find some physical nation and wipe them out? That's not the kind of battles that we fight in the New Testament. But we are battlers. We are soldiers of the Lord. You know, we are fighting not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and, you know, our spiritual weakness in high places. And, you know, we need to remember that, you know, God wants us to do great things for him, accomplish great things. You know, when we see souls come to Jesus Christ, hey, they are poured out of that kingdom of darkness. They are poured out away from the power of Satan and we've delivered that soul. We've brought them into the kingdom of God. That's how God can use us. God can do some great things through us. Hey, we've got a soul-winning event coming up in Melbourne. You know, if you can't be part of it, can you please pray? Can you say, Lord, can you remember us as we go out there in Melbourne? Lord, we're just a few. You know, a few from our new life, a few from Blessed Hope, a few from Melbourne. Lord, can you get us together? Can you send us out to a place that's going to be receptive? Can you send us out to a place where people are seeking your truth and use us, remember us? Lord, just one time, at least one time in Melbourne, Lord, till we get back and we can get back to our usual service in the house of God here at Sunshine Coast. You know, these are things that we need to go to God about. Lord, please remember us, all right? We've done it for salvation. We say, Lord, please give me everlasting life. Please remember. We've done that as it were, right? Well, we can continue praying to the Lord richly, deeply, you know, seeking God's help. Saying, God, give me your focus. Give me your attention. And of course, God will come through. And as we saw, he answers prayers. God's going to come through and make sure that his children are able to accomplish great things for him. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, I just want to thank you for your word. Lord, thank you for the story of the thief on the cross. Lord, so many truths can be learned from that story. Lord, that salvation is simply faith on Christ alone. Lord, and that Christ has done all the work necessary for us. Today, that shall be with me in paradise. What beautiful words that we can hear from Christ say that about us, Lord, the moment that we pass into eternity. Lord, I just thank you for this study that we go through in the Bible. Please remember me. Events, Lord. And Lord, I do pray that you would remember, Lord, yes, me, but also this whole church, Lord, as we seek to continue to serve you, to love you, to praise you, and to do the works that you've given us to do here, Lord, on the Sunshine Coast, Lord. So please give us the ability, give us the strength, give us your mighty Holy Spirit, Lord, that we can accomplish great things for you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, brethren, let's turn to hymn number 355. Hymn number 355. 355. 355. And we sing, what a friend we have in Jesus. 355. What a friend we have in Jesus. Oh, what a friend we have in Jesus. What a friend we have in Jesus. Oh, what a friend we have in Jesus. Oh, what a friend we have in Jesus. Oh, our sins and grace again. Oh, what a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. Oh, because we do not care, we give everything to God in breath. Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find our friends our faith? Oh, who will all our sorrows share? Jesus throws out every weakness. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Are we weak and heavy laden, numbered with a load of prayer? Precious Savior, steal our refuge. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Good-bye, friends, this Christ will save me. Take it to the Lord in prayer. It is hard to take a cheer. Me now will find my sorrows there.