th th th Amen. O my love, O my love, Yeah. Amen. Returning to the Psalm 23, the Psalm 23, the Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want. He makes me down to lie, and pastures green. He leadeth me, the quiet waters by. The Psalm 23 in the page number 20. We'll stand and we'll sing God's praise this afternoon. It's begun tonight. If past were free, we'd be even freer than wild water flies. again, and be to all the fame. Within the bounds of righteousness be born his Lord. With me am I wrought and studied. Oh, my God, I am Thine own, with oil and wine, and wine We'll come to the Lord in prayer together. So let's seek the Lord. Our loving Father, we come now into thy holy presence on this thy day. What a blessing, Lord, to be in thy courts and among the people of God. We're here to worship thee and to worship thee alone. Thou art worthy of our worship. There is a worthship with regard to our God. We bless thee that he He who knew no sin became sin for us in the person of his own Son, there upon the cross. We thank thee for our triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We come, Lord, this day to glory and to praise Thee for Thy manifold mercies, Thy goodness towards us. Here we are, living to praise Thee. We're here in health and strength, most of us, and we're encouraged, dear God, as we have gathered together. Lord, we come now to glorify Thee. Thou hast said in Thy Word, glorifyeth me we come to give thee the sacrifice of our lips the sacrifice of praise we come to present our bodies once again on this the first day of the week our bodies as a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto god which is our reasonable service thank you for thy provision in a week that has passed temporal mercies every day every morning We have woke, dear God. Every morning we have found the cupboards to be full, the fridges to be, oh God, well furnished with good things. We thank Thee, Father, for family and friends. We thank Thee for places of employment that we can go to. O God, we thank Thee for Thy provisions in our nation. Lord, we thank Thee for those things that we take so often for granted, that other nations know nothing of. Freedom, Lord, we pray that Thou will preserve our freedoms, our religious freedoms, for the preaching of the gospel. Lord, we thank Thee, Father, Oh God, for this congregation, thank you for a meeting place, physical meeting place, whereby we are enabled to gather in to worship our God. We're able to come together collectively to praise thy name. And here we are, so thankful for thy many mercies and thy goodness towards us. We thank thee for spiritual blessings received from thy good and gracious hand. We thank thee, Father, for all that thou has done through thy dear Son, the reconciling of God to man and man to God through the death of Jesus Christ. We glory in redemption today. Thank you for the blood. Thank you for the sharing of the blood so freely by our Savior there on Calvary's cross. And Lord, here we are, thy people. We have sinned this week. We know it well. We don't even need the accuser to tell us of it. Lord, we know our sin. We know our sin, Lord, so well. And yet, Lord, we don't know our sin. And yet, Lord, we're here today, not under some guise that we have not sinned against Thee, Lord, but Thou does know our hearts. And therefore, we pray collectively for a cleansing in Jesus' blood. Lord, cleanse us afresh. Lord, purge the atmosphere in the blood of the Redeemer, we pray. Lord, we cry that thou would send thy Spirit among thy blood-bought church. Lord, stir us up in these days. Remove the deadness and the apathy that exists in these old hearts of ours. Lord, disturb the sleep of death, the hymn writer said. Lord, do it for the glory of God, we pray. Use the message preached today to be, as it were, a marker in the sand, With regard to our own personal lives, as Christians, Lord, may we take heed to the Word of God. Not only hearers, but doers of the Word. And, Grand Lord, our hearts to be blessed. Fill this house with Thy glory. Fill it with Thy power. a sense of thy presence. Leave us not, Lord, we pray. Lord, may God be in the midst of his church today, the one who walks in the midst of the golden candlestick. Lord, may he be in our presence today. Oh, the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. He will save. Oh, may that be our experience. Bless the children. Bless the teenagers, Lord. Deal with them, Lord. Handle them. Take them in thy hand, Lord. Deal with them, Lord. And Lord, deal with them in mercy and grace. Bless our adults, Lord. Oh, bless the fathers, the congregation, the mothers of the congregation. Oh, gracious Father, bless our singletons today. Lord, may thy hand be upon each and every one. And for those who are not with us today, those who find themselves in hospital, draw near to them, we pray. For those who find themselves in nursing care, Lord, again, may thy presence be known. For those of old age who no longer join with us, oh, draw near to them, and may there be a word for them through some means, whether it's through the internet, whether it's on the radio today. Use, Lord, the word to be a blessing to their hearts and souls, and so draw near. Lord, we've all got needs, we've all troubles and problems in our homes and families. We thank thee that was said, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. Oh, may we remember that. Oh, may we remember our loving Father, who cares for his children, desires the best for us, even when he comes to chasten us. Oh, gracious Father, therefore, draw near to us in this meeting. May thy hand be upon us for good, for we pray. Now these are petitions in and through Jesus' precious name. Amen. The hymn 130. The hymn 130. Arise, my soul, arise. Shake off thy guilty fears. The bleeding sacrifice in my behalf appears before the throne. My surety stands. My name is written on his hands. The hymn 130, and we'll arise, as the hymn encourages us to do. We'll stand. and we'll sing God's praise. You'll find it on page 228. His sacrifice did my dear Alma build. Before the throne, my shirt is strapped, my name is written on his cap. ♪ For me to enter see ♪ ♪ His love redeeming love ♪ ♪ His precious love to me ♪ ♪ His love at all ♪ ♪ For his courage that sprinkles light ♪ I'm leaving once he leaves. Receive the memory. They bore him, they shall grant. They strongly will. For me, for me. The Father is with me, and with me alone. ♪ Presence of His Son ♪ ♪ His spirit answers to the love and doubts we have all known not ♪ ♪ My Lord is reconciled to me ♪ His pardoning voice I hear. He holds me for His side. I can no longer fear. With confidence, I now draw nigh. I'm father, now I'm brother. Amen. Well, as we look around today, we see a goodly number gathered in the house of God, how encouraging that is. And on behalf of the Spiritual Oversight, we welcome one and all in our Savior's precious name. And if you're visiting with us, a warm and a special word of welcome to you. We trust that we'll all know the Lord's presence, but we'll hear his speaking voice as we worship him in this house today. And if I can be of any help to you, spiritually speaking, then please speak to us after the meeting or throughout the week. We're there to help. I am your servant for Christ's sake, and please avail yourself of any spiritual help. We want to make that known to you. 3.30 this afternoon is our gospel open air, biweekly open air there in Main Street, our brother, Mr. David Laverty. will preach the word of God and so pray for God's servant. Then we come to pray at 5 45. We encourage you to come to the place of prayer and then 6 30 our gospel service will now be here in the will of God to preach and I want you to come when you make a special effort to come this evening. The Lord's given a word and I trust that it maybe will be for you and please be in your place, make others aware of the broadcast, the meeting, share the broadcast, if you are isolating there at home, and please bring others to hear the word of God this evening. So we trust that you'll all be here this evening, 6.30 for the gospel service. Wednesday night, our Bible study and prayer time, and that meeting will take place in the church and also online. And being the last Wednesday night off the month of April, we're going to focus now on the gospel mission, which is less than now six months away. The message will be shorter, the prayer time will be longer. And so let's make that renewed effort to attend in person at the Wednesday night prayer meeting. We want all families to be represented as we now give these last Wednesday nights of every month over to prayer, specific prayer with regard to our gospel mission in the month of October. Friday, God willing, 9am Port Lloyne Primary School school assembly. I'll be there to bring the word to the boys and girls that is the first school assembly that is taking place in that school since COVID. That's over two years ago since we were there and so God willing 9 a.m at Port Lloyne Primary School I'll be there to take the school assembly. 7 p.m the children's meeting The final meeting of the term, and we're very thankful how the Lord has brought us through over the entire term. I'll say a little bit more about that on next Lord's Day. But our brother, Mr. Robert McConnell, will be along to take the meeting, one of our child evangelists with regard to our denomination. And our brother, Mr. McConnell, will be along at 7 p.m. for the children's meeting. And we trust that the buses will be out this Friday night. let us down unfortunately on Friday night pass but a few people got exercise and they were able to walk the children up from the town. And that was a real blessing to see children walking up to the house of God. May their feet ever turn towards the house of God here in future days. And so that's on Friday night, 7.30, young people, you'll be leaving the church car park, going over to the ordination and installation service of our brother, Mr. Matthew Higgins, who will be ordained and installed as the minister of Limavady Free Presbyterian Church. Now, you'll not be going to Limavady, but that meeting is in Macrafelt, Free Presbyterian Church, to accommodate the numbers that would be attending. Limavady congregation, the church is quite a small church. And you're all invited to attend, not just young people, but those of an older age group. If you're free on Friday night, that ordination service is at 8 p.m. over in Macrafelt Free Presbyterian Church. And then on Saturday it is the Sunday school exam, returning again after a number of years, and each class comes at a different time, and I just want to read out those times. This has all went out in form of a letter, but just to remind you that Mrs. Elaine McMullen's class will come at 10.30, Mrs. Agnes Marshall's class at 11, Mr. Alistair Brown's class at 11.20, Mr. David Stewart's class at 11.40, and Mr. Melvin Marshall's class at 12 noon. And so we encourage the parents to go over the lessons. And we want to encourage the boys and girls, young people, just to do your best on Saturday in the will of God. And please be here at those specific times. Next Lord's Day is the 1st of May, I believe, and that means it is the first Lord's Day of a new month. And that means it's 8 o'clock start for us here in the house of God for prayer time or early time of prayer. And so come along, always a good time of prayer at 8 a.m. in the will of God. 10.45, note the change of time. 10.45, Sunday school, and then at 11 o'clock, Bible class. But 10.45, because we will begin starting to practice for Children's Day. I think there's five Sundays before Children's Day from next week. And so we'll be practicing from 10.45 to 11, and then the children will go into their classes at 11 a.m. So parents, please have your children here at 10.45 sharp. Then the prayer time, 11.15, 12 noon, family worship, 6.30, the gospel service, and I'll be along to preach at the services next Lord's Day. Remember, please, the Communicant membership meeting's scheduled for Wednesday, the 11th of May, nine o'clock. after the time of prayers concluded we're voting on the church constitution the two other documents that are required to advance our charity commission registration there's a theme update there in the hallway table so pick it up please reverend greer has asked me to announce their bible ministry meetings all of this week with the Reverend Cranston from Port Hope in Canada. Those meetings are at 8 p.m. each night, Monday to Friday, and so if there's a night that there's nothing on here, they would love to have your fellowship in the gospel, and so that's all this week, Monday through to Friday, 8 p.m. each night, and I believe that those meetings will also be broadcast live. But make your way over there. I know that you'll be blessed. The Reverend Cranston is a tremendous preacher of the word, and I know that you'll go home blessed. I believe his subject is from Gethsemane to Golgotha, and so your heart will be blessed as he focuses on Christ. The Whitefield College of the Bible offering came. We'll be able to send a cheque for 1,400 pounds. And so we thank you sincerely in our Savior's precious name. 1,400 pounds going to the Whitefield College of the Bible. And then finally, on your way out, I'll go to the gate today. on your way out and at the gate. I want to give every individual two of these. And they're simply save me a date. It's not with regard to me. It's called save me a date. And on it, it gives the dates for the gospel mission. You know, the ungodly, they'll say, if only you had asked me earlier. I would have kept you a date. Well, these are for you to hand out to friends and family and loved ones. Every person will get two, two each, and save me a date. And it gives the dates of the gospel mission. And so no one in your family should be left without excuse. I didn't know that there was a gospel mission coming up. And you can therefore prime the pump. No point going to them on the 16th of October and asking them to the gospel mission. Here's your opportunity. And so every individual Young people, children, you'll all get enough to go out and just give us the dates. It has them highlighted there, the 16th through to the 31st of October. It gives the dates, the times, the evangelists. And so I trust you'll use these and invite your friends, your loved ones, your neighbors, and even your enemies to hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's turn to the Psalm 3, the third Psalm. Psalm number 3 on the page 5, O Lord, How are my foes increased against me? Many rise, many say of my soul for him, and God no succor lies. Psalm number three and the page five, we'll stand and sing God's praise once again. against the enemy's eyes. Let me say, O my soul, forever in love most high. shield and glory are, till the end of my days. I cry out from this holy hill, the Lord I lay thee down, and tread thy way, for God's the Saviour. O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, O come, O come, O come, the King of angels, O come, to the book of Ephesians chapter 5 the book of Ephesians chapter 5 Let's read from the verse 8, please, Ephesians chapter 5, reading from the verse 8 of the chapter. The Word of God says, For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret, but all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light, and whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Amen, and we'll end our reading at the end of the verse number 16. Let's briefly unite in prayer. Our loving Father, we recognize that the preparation of the heart belongeth on to the Lord. Oh, prepare these hearts of ours. We have used and employed these psalms and hymns to tune our hearts now, Lord, to Thee, and now we desire that Thou would speak to us through Thy word. We recognize, gracious Father, that if our hearts are out of tune, we'll not hear from God, and therefore cleanse our souls, our hearts, we pray, again in Jesus' blood. Give this preacher great power. As he preaches the word, fill me now with thy spirit, I pray. Leave me not alone, but stand and minister in and through me. For I pray these Lord prayers in and through the Savior's precious name. Amen and amen. Waken up, waken up. That was the rallying cry that went from this pulpit on the 27th of March, 2022. I took as my text on that occasion the words of Romans chapter 13 and the verse 11, and that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to wake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. In that service, counsel was given that we should all awake out of this hypnotic sleep that sadly many seem to have fallen into within the church of Jesus Christ. In the aftermath of that meeting, I will leave it to you to decide whether that message had the impact that God intended it to have on your life or not. But I believe that the call must always go forth into the church of Jesus Christ, that the church needs to awake, awake, awake to the need of the hour. Now if the message preached a month ago accomplished its intended purpose in your life, If the Lord used it to disturb you out of this spiritual slumbering, if it brought you into an awakened state, spiritually speaking, then I want to bring you a second message, and God willing, next Lord's Day, a third message that God has impressed upon my heart since these messages are but follow-ons from this previous and this first message that I entitled Awake. Because today I want to preach a message that I've entitled Arise! Arise! God the Holy Spirit through the penmanship of the Apostle Paul marries these two words together. These two words awake and arise here in the portion that we read in Ephesians chapter 4. Turn your eye to the verse 14. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light. You see, brethren and sisters, it's all very well and good to be awake But being awake gets nothing done. That's true in the physical realm. People can be awake, but they can lie in their beds all day and never arise out of that bed. And therefore, the work of the day never gets completed. It never actually gets started, never mind does it get to a place of completion. What is true in the physical realm is true in the spiritual realm. all well and good to be awake, but there needs to be more. Being awake, spiritually speaking, is only half of the battle. There needs to be an arising on the part of the church of Jesus Christ. As I prepared this message, I found that this word, arise, appears 149 times in God's precious word. It makes 149 appearances within the word of God. Arise! This great clarion call comes from the pages of Holy Scripture. Not only to be awake, but to arise. Arise from where you are. Now rest assured we're not going to look at all 149 appearances today. You can do that as God will lead you over the next week or so. But I want to make and draw your attention to a number of those arises that we have in scripture and want to see what challenge God brings to our hearts today as we consider this great call to arise. This follow on call from awake. There is this need to arise as well. I believe it would be profitable for us to go to the first mention of the word and so turn to Genesis chapter 13. Genesis chapter 13. This is the very first time this word arise appears in the scripture. And we'll read from the verse 14 down to the end of the chapter. Genesis 13 verse 14. And the Lord said unto Abram, after that lot was separated from him, lift up now thine eyes Look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise! Walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it, for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram, Abram removed his tent and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord. I've termed this arise, the arise of faith, the arise of faith. Conflict within the wider households, resulted in Abram and Lot believing that a parting of the ways would be the best course of action for the sake of their own testimonies among the heathen who were watching on in the conflict that was taking place among the herdsmen of both Abraham and Lot. When faced with the choice in what direction to go, Lot lifted up his eyes, and he chose by what he saw, he chose by sight, he chose the well-watered, lush pasture lands of the Jordan Basin. In that choice, Lot lifted up his eyes, and he saw what the world had to offer. But now God invites Abraham to lift up his eyes and see what heaven has to offer him. Abram, the father of the faithful, he's a man of faith, and he's instructed by God to look from the present vantage point that he now possesses, he's now present in, he's to look to the four compasses on the four points of the compass, north, south, east, and west, and everywhere that he saw God would give it to him. Verse 15 tells us, for all the land which I say is to thee will I give it unto thy seed forever. God's promise to Abraham, as with many of his promises, has a stipulation attached to it. Look there at the verse 17. Our eyes walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it, for I will give it on to thee. God's directive of Abraham to lift up his eyes and look was then followed by another directive to lift up his feet and to walk. And verse 18 informs us that Abraham, he obeyed. And he began to claim, with every footstep that he took throughout the rest of his life, he began to claim the territory that would someday become the inheritance of the children of Israel. It took tremendous, I believe, faith on the part of Abraham to arise and to claim this inheritance, even though he himself would never get to enjoy the full benefits of it, for he was always going to be a pilgrim and he was always going to be a stranger. And yet it took faith, it took faith on the part of Abraham to obey God and to claim his inheritance and his right as a child of God. It's very interesting to notice whenever you study out the life of Abraham, you find that his life was marked by a series of arisings, all of which would take faith. What do you mean, preacher? Well, remember God called Abraham to arise and to leave the Ur of the Chaldees, and by faith Abraham arose. By faith, God called Abraham to arise, as we've seen here, and to claim the land of Israel for his inheritance, and by faith, Abram arose. God called Abram to arise and to rescue his nephew Lot from the Mesopotamia kings, and by faith, Abram arose. God called Abram to arise and to intercede on behalf of the cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah, and by faith, Abram arose. Then the greatest test, God called him to arise and to offer his only son, Isaac, his well-beloved son. Yes, he had Ishmael, but his well-beloved son. And to offer his son, Isaac, on as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah. And by faith, Abram arose. What is it that we learn from the father of the faithful? Well, we learn this, that the life of faith which is really simply the Christian life as one that is marked by an arising in faith and not setting down in unbelief. You know there are times in our lives when God calls us to arise in faith just as he did for Abraham. Now circumstances may dictate to us that we sit still, that we would remain as and where we are, but God would call us to arise. And it would be better for us to obey God than to find ourselves outside the will of God. You'll remember Elijah was directed by God to go and make his way to the brook Cherith or Kerith. And there he would be sustained, the water from the brook and the ravens would bring him bread and flesh every day. But you'll remember how that little brook, it started to dry up. Resources were depleting rapidly. Now don't forget Elijah's in the very center of God's well and yet the resources are starting to deplete. The brook is starting to dry up. God has told him to hide himself there at the brook Cherith. And eventually the brook does dry up. But it's an amazing thing that Elijah doesn't move until God speaks to him, until God directs him. Even though he's there, at a brook that no longer is carrying water, water no longer flowing in that brook, yet here's God's servant and he stays where he is until God speaks to him. Let me read what God said to him, 1 Kings 17, 8 and 9. And the word of the Lord came on to him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow woman to sustain thee there. The thought is this, brethren and sisters, if Elijah had a stay in Kerith or Cherith, if he had disobeyed the Lord's command to arise and to make his way to Zarephath, he would have perished. He would have perished for lack of hunger and lack of water. And sometimes, brethren and sisters, faith requires us to obey God even when that obedience goes against our logic and against human reasoning. There is an arising of faith. You think of the children of Israel marching around the walls of Jericho. What a plan. So simply walk, march around walls and then on the seventh day to shout and to blow trumpets. And yet here were people who believed God. Faith took them from beyond human reasoning and human logic and brought them to a place where they had more confidence and a greater confidence in God's Word and God's directive than they did with their own human reasoning. And there are times, brethren and sisters, that God speaks, God identifies, God separates, maybe young men, young women, older men, older women, to do something that goes against human reasoning, and yet God clearly has spoken to them through God's Word. I want to ask you this afternoon, what has God been asking you to do? Where has God been asking you to go? What service has God been asking you to render to Him? What person is God prompting you to witness to and speak the gospel to? Are you going to obey? Are you going to arise? Are you going to take the step of faith, even though it goes against your personality, it goes against human reasoning, and yet God has spoken? Or are you going to live in disobedience? Abraham arose in faith. God blessed him, gave him the territory of the land of Israel. Every place his foot trod became his inheritance and his posterity's inheritance. Oh, that we would arise by faith and claim our inheritance in Christ Jesus, the spiritual blessings procured for us by the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, or to enter in fully by faith into all the blessings that are ours in Christ Jesus. It takes faith, just like Abraham, the arising of faith. But we'll stay in the book of Genesis here. We'll go to our second arise. Let's turn to the chapter 35. This arise, it really relates to Abram's grandson, Jacob. Abram's grandson Jacob let's read the opening three verses here Genesis chapter 35 and God said unto Jacob arise go up to Bethel and dwell there and make there an altar unto God that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother And Jacob said unto his household and to all that were with him, put away the strange gods that are among you and be clean and change your garments and let us arise and go up to Bethel and I will make there an altar unto God who answered me in the day of my distress and was with me in the way which I went. I have termed this arise the arise of worship, the arise of worship There are a number of points connected with Jacob's arising to worship that we can glean from the details of these verses. I want you to notice a number of things. I want you to notice, first of all, the place identified for worship. The place identified for worship. God instructed Jacob to arise to go up to Bethel. I know that many of you have been in the church long enough. You all know what the word or the name Bethel means. It means house of God. Beth is the first Hebrew part of the word. Beth is house. El, that name of God, Elohim. It's an abbreviated term with regard to the name of our God, Elohim. Go up to the house of God. Go up to the house of God. And why did he go? He went to worship. He went to worship God at the house of God. Now that required effort, and that required time on the part of Jacob to do that. I say that because Jacob at this point was at Shechem. Look there at the verse number four. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods that were in their hand and their earrings which were in their ears. And Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. And so Jacob and his family, they're in Shechem. And God says, I want you to leave Shechem and I want you to go up. Because that's what worship does. It brings us up. It brings us up to God. It causes us to ascend, the soul of man to ascend to God. I want you to go up to Bethel. Bethel, Shechem, 28 miles apart. 28 miles from Shechem to Bethel. 28 miles to travel. 28 miles to traverse. 28 miles of a journey to get to the house of God. It would have been a journey that would have taken not a few hours, but a few days. One, two days, I'm sure. Now Jacob could have sat down and he could have thought about the length of time that it would have taken him to get to Bethel and he said, well surely Lord, surely I could worship you at home. Surely I could worship you in Shechem. I could stay at home and I could worship you here. It's handier. It's more convenient. It's less dangerous. It's less time-consuming. But Jacob didn't say that. Simply Jacob obeyed God's directive and he made his way to Bethel. There was a place, a place to worship God. You know, brethren and sisters, God has placed this Separatist witness in Portland, Oman, as a place where God's people can come to worship Him. This is the house of God. This is our Bethel. This is our Bethel. And God would have us to assemble in this place. There needs to be a return by all, by all, to the house of God. As COVID rates fall dramatically, we encourage God's people to be back in their places at the house of God. Let me be clear, home is sadly where some people have to worship God. Health and age has required that to be so. But to be healthy and to stay away from the public meeting place is a matter that needs to be addressed. Scripture encourages us And let us consider one another to provoke one another to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching." Brethren and sisters, we should be thankful that we don't have to travel 28 miles to get to a faithful preaching house. I worked it out. I worked it out to see who travels the furthest. I hope I've got it right. 14 miles, Jun and Kyle, 14 miles. That's the furthest that I believe anyway. I hope I have it right, 14 miles. And we can do it by car. 20 minutes brings us to the house of God. Some takes only a minute, less than that to the house of God. Here was a man who traveled 28 miles to get to God's house. 28 miles to a place of gathering, the place identified for worship. I trust that in coming hours, not weeks, not in the coming months, but in coming hours, that we will all obey this directive, arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there. Dwell there, go up to the house of God. Now notice secondly, not only the place identified for worship, the people engaged in worship. In verse number one, God spoke to the head of the family. He spoke to the father, the head of the family. Because there's a tremendous responsibility on the heads of the family to lead in the home. And especially when it comes to worship. And so he speaks to the head of the family in verse number one. about going up to Bethel, but notice that with me that it isn't only Jacob who goes to Bethel. It isn't that Jacob says, now I'm going to Bethel, but I want you children, I want you to stay at home, and my wives, remember he has two wives, I want you to stay with the children, I want you to look after the children, and I'm going to go up to worship God myself. Verse two, look at what verse number two says. It informs us that Jacob communicates the message that God has spoken to him. Then Jacob said unto his household, concern yourself, brother, first of all, with your household. That's what Jacob did, his household. So he said to his household, that they were to go up to the house of God. And then verse number six, look there at the verse number six to see what happens. So Jacob came to Luz, which was in the land of Canaan, that is Bethel, he and all the people that were with him. Now, if you know the chronology of Jacob's life at this stage, you'll know that Jacob has only one more son to be born to him. That is Benjamin. Benjamin is born there, we notice there, the verses 16 through to 20, his sad birth because Rachel dies as a result of going into labor. And so Benjamin is the last of Jacob's 11, sorry, 12 sons to be born. And so at this stage, Jacob has 11 sons and others, wives, household staff, and they all go to Bethel. They're all there. All there, the place where God is to be worshipped. Now Jacob could have said, well, you know, Lord, the children are a while young. They're very young. They get very unsettled when they come to the God's house. You know, they cry a bit and really, they really need their sleep. And the preacher, well, he'll probably, he'll probably go on a little bit. And to drag them to the house of God, well, I don't think that's wise. Jacob didn't say that. The whole family were there. Worship became the collective effort of all within Jacob's household. All went to Bethel. Brother, sister, mother, father, when you arise to go to the house of God to worship, make sure your children are there. Because there's going to come a time when they're not. They're gonna grow up, they're gonna fly the nest, they're not gonna come with you to God's house, but whenever they are under your care, you make sure that they're in the house of God. Make every effort to have your children and your teenagers under the means of grace. And as they sit under the means of grace, you lift your heart to God and you pray that God will work in their heart and within their soul and will work the miracle of grace within. heads of the home. God challenges us in this matter. Let's not be found wanting. He and all the people that were with him came to Bethel. They were all there. I want you to note thirdly, the purity required to worship. In verse 2, Jacob directs those under his care to put away the strange gods that are among you and be clean and change your garments. Notice with me that when it comes to worship, there must be a putting away before there is a going up. Put away, verse 2, then verse 3, go up. Put away, go up. That's the order. That's the divine order. must be a putting away of sin. There must be a putting away of all that is questionable, all that is grieving to the Spirit of God. There must be a putting away of worldliness if we are to benefit and are going up to the worship of God. You know, this purity and Approaching God is drawn to our attention there in Sam 24 verses 3 to 5. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, he hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity nor sworn deceitfully, he shall receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Let me ask you, do you get little out of worship in this place? Do you get little out of it? Could it be that there's some unconfessed sin in that life of yours that needs to be put away? Maybe there's some idol that has started to reappear in your life again. The idol of money, the idol of business, the idol of sport, the idol of fitness, the idol of cars. What idol has started to reappear in your life? You go home and say, I didn't get much out of that preaching. Maybe there's an idol that needs to be brought down, torn down again. Maybe it's something else. Maybe there's questionable practices that need to be stopped and ceased. We cannot expect to hear from the Lord if we continue to regard iniquity in our hearts. Thank God there's a place of cleansing. Thank God there's a place of renewal. Thank God there's Calvary. Praise God for the blood-filled fountain that continually cleanses us from sin. And so there was a purity required in this worship. Put away the strange gods. High, be clean, and change your garments. That brings us to consider a fourth, in the fourth instance, the prerequisite stipulated for worship. Notice what Jacob did, and he was obeying God's command in this, when he reached Bethel, verse number seven, and he built there an altar and called the place El Bethel. The altar was the place of blood sacrifice, pointing the comers to God and worship that the only way of approach to God was by the atoning sacrifice of Christ, which every lamb and bullock that was offered on Jewish altars represented and symbolized. As Jacob approached God in worship, he was teaching his children that it was through the atoning sacrifice of Christ, it was through the redemption of Christ, it was through the blood blood of Christ that man and woman can worship and can only worship God aright on the basis of shed blood. Worship was then offered to God, and this is always the prerequisite for biblical worship. There must be a looking away to Calvary. the sacrifice of Christ, if we are to render true and biblical worship to God, the worship that pleases God. Get a hold of this child of God. The worship that pleases God is the worship that always has an eye to the sacrifice, the sacrifice of Christ, always has an eye to the cross, the cross of Jesus Christ. Oh, that God would help us to arise. Let us attend the place of worship accompanied by those whom God has placed into our care, having put away all that is questionable, all our sin, and looking to the sacrifice of Christ as the grounds by which, thank God, our sins can be cleansed, and by which we can approach on to God. That's a rise to worship. There's a third arise we want to consider today. That's the arise of supplication. The rise of supplication. You know, God commanded his servant, his prophet Jonah, in Jonah 1 verse 2, to arise. Arise, go to Nineveh, he said. That great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me. Jonah, however, decided he knew better, and he arose and went to Tarsus via Joppa, having settled down for a nice little nap there in the ship. We find that both ship and cargo and crew were going to sink due to a storm. Having settled down for that nap, Jonah is disturbed out of the sleep by the ship master. "'What meanest thou, O sleeper?' he said. "'Arise, call upon thy God. "'If so be that God will think upon us "'that we perish not.'" Jonah 1, verse 6. These were the words of an ungodly shipmaster to the prophet Jonah. Stop sleeping! Start supplicating! That was the cry of this ungodly shipmaster. And does not such a call need go out into the church of Jesus Christ? Stop sleeping! Start supplicating! But the world around us perishing, with a nation abandoning God, at breakneck speed, with loved ones living in sin, with neighbors careless about spiritual matters, surely we need God's people to arise and call upon our God. Too often, sadly, the call to come to the place of prayer seems just to fall on deaf ears. You know what, this preacher's not going to give up. Not going to give up. He sends again into this congregation that phrase, call, to arise and call upon our God. Let's take God at His word. Let's believe that if we call upon Him, that He will do great and mighty things, which we know not. Let us get to the place of prayer privately, first of all, then publicly to the times and seasons of prayer. Child of God, are you going to arise? Are you going to arise? Word of God is coming to us all today. Arise, call upon my God. Imagine it's coming from an ungodly man. I wonder, is the ungodly world outside these doors? Are they privately saying, would to God that God's people would start to cry to God again? All things morally, spiritually, economically, politically in a mess. and our prayer meetings have become the Cinderella of the church. Well, let's take to heart this and engage again in prayer. Well, may God be pleased to bring us again to the times and season of prayer. I tell you, brother or sister, you've been missing too long. Let me be frank, you've been missing too long in our seasons of prayer, too long. Holidays are over. It's time to get out of holiday mode. Time to get back to the work of God. Prayer. There's a fourth arise. I want to just say a few words on it. It is an arise of a return to God. And the prodigal found himself in the far country. reduced to a disillusioned and destitute state because of his sin. The young man, he said these words to himself, he says, I will arise. I will arise and go to my father. And I will say to my father, father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee. And not only did he say that he was going to arise, but he actually did arise. Because in Luke chapter 15 and the verse 20, it tells us, and he arose and came to his father. I'm not going to say much about this account in Luke chapter 15, and that will become apparent very soon why I'm not going to do that. But needless to say, the prodigal arose and returned to the place where he first departed and was reconciled to his father. I wonder, is there someone here today, and that's what you need to do. You need to arise and go to your father again. The drift has been on for too long. You need to return to the place where you first left the Savior, where you departed, just even where you sit. Why not lift that heart of yours up to God and say, I'm coming home. I'm coming home. I've wandered far away from God. Now I'm coming home. I tell you, I'm not here to embarrass you. But I'm here to encourage you. I'm here to encourage you back to God, for I tell you, you're missed in the work of God. You're missed in God's work. And this young boy said, I will arise. But all his intentions were only that until he actually got up and arose and went back to his father. Maybe you're here and there has been that intention And you said, I would love to get back to the Lord. I'd love to get back to Him. Why not arise? Why not arise? And having arose and having confessed your sin, then do the first works, those works that you did whenever you first became a Christian. I want to encourage you with these words. They're found in the book of Proverbs 24, verse 16. I've quoted them on a number of occasions. The word of God says, for a just man falleth seven times. and riseth up again." I wonder, have you fallen recently as a justified man, woman, boy, girl, teenager? Have you fallen? You're justified, but you've fallen. Listen to these words. They're from God to your heart. A just man falleth seven times and riseth up again. You can rise again. You can rise again. Oh, that God would have you to do that. I want to thank finally and very quickly at one final arise. This really brings us out of with regard to our arising as God's people, and this really brings us to God. We'll simply confine our references here to the book of Psalms, and I'll give them to you quickly. But if you read through the book of Psalms, you'll find on many occasions, many occasions that we read that The psalmist, he prays that God will arise, that God will arise. We find that God is said to arise in order to save according to Psalm 3 verse 7. He arises to execute judgment according to Psalm 7 verse 6 and Psalm 9 verse 19. He arises to help the humble according to Psalm 10 verse 12. He arises to safeguard the poor and needy according to Psalm 12 verse 5. He arises to disappoint the wicked according to Psalm 17 verse 13. He arises to plead his own cause according to Psalm 74 verse 22. He arises to judge the earth according to Psalm 82 verse 8. And he arises to have mercy on Zion according to Psalm 102 verse 13. In all of those references we read, the Psalmist pleading that God will arise. In these days, brethren and sisters, when the enemies of God, the enemies of Christ, and the enemies of His gospel abound, there is a prayer that I believe that we could well take back to God, and we could plead. And it's a prayer that's found there in Psalm 68, verse 1. And this is our final reference, and then we're concluded. Psalm 68, verse 1. Psalm 68, verse number one. A psalm or song of David. Let God arise. Let his enemies be scattered. Let them also that hate him flee before him. Let God arise. Oh yes, that we would arise Oh, that God would arise, that God would arise. Henry Law, he said this about David's prayer at the opening of Psalm 68. He said, God's glory is most dear to all his people. It is their anguish when his name is blasphemed and his cause reviled. Therefore, their constant aspiration is that God would arise and gird himself with strength and drive his foes into perdition. Oh, for a day, oh, for a day when God arises in strength and scatters every enemy of the gospel. Thank God that day's coming, that day's coming. Oh, may it be hastened on, for it is our only hope that God would arise And thank God when God arises, his church arises with him. For we are in union with him. We are in union with him. Beloved, it's not enough to be awake. Not enough to be awake. We also need to arise. And so I put this question to myself, I put it to you. As I close, will you arise? Will I arise? In these various areas that we have dealt with today, I pray we will. May the church arise. Arise, my soul, arise. Shake off thy guilty fear. May God help us to arise in these days for Christ's sake. Amen. Let's bow in prayer. Thank you. For your attention, we appreciate it. Boys and girls, we appreciate your listening. Teenagers, moms, dads, adults, thank you all. Now let's pray that God will use the word in all of our homes, our families, our personal lives. Remember those in the car park, just wait till I get to the gate to say goodbye to one and all. Loving Father, we come before thee in our Savior's all-precious name. We thank thee for thy word. We thank thee for these arisings that we read in scripture. We pray, Lord, that we will arise in faith, that we will arise to worship, that we'll arise in supplication, that we'll arise, Lord, if we have fallen and grown cold, that we'll arise and we'll return to the Father. Thank God the Father's waiting. He's waiting, desires the returning one to come home. And then, dear God, may our prayer be, let God arise. For that is the answer when God arises. Lord, part us with thy favor, and with the blessing of the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, may the word live on in our hearts for Christ's sake. Amen and amen. Thank you.