Christmas Evans: The Cedar of God

[00:00:00] Wünschst du dir jemanden, der dich versteht wie kein anderer? Jemand, der deine Wünsche wahr werden lässt und mit dir das schönste Abenteuer deines Lebens erleben möchte?

[00:00:10] Die Commerce-Plattform Shopify revolutioniert Millionen von Unternehmen weltweit. Mit Shopify richtest du im Nu deinen Online-Shop ein – ganz ohne Programmier- oder Designkenntnisse.

[00:00:21] Dank der effizienten Einrichtung und intuitiven Social-Media- und Online-Marketplace-Integration kannst du über Instagram, eBay und Co. werben und verkaufen.

[00:00:31] Neue Zielgruppen zu erreichen war noch nie so einfach. Shopify bietet auf einer einzigen, sicheren Plattform alle Tools, um dein Online-Business aufzubauen.

[00:00:40] Kostenlos testen und dein Business der Welt präsentieren. Shopify.de//try besuchen

[00:00:47] Einfach shopify.de//try eingeben und loslegen. Made for Germany. Powered by Shopify.

[00:00:56] Revived Thoughts ist eine Produktion von Revived Studios.

[00:01:03] This is Troy Angel and you are listening to Revived Thoughts.

[00:01:11] He is the seed of Abraham, but he is also the true God, an eternal life.

[00:01:19] Two natures and three offices meet mysteriously in his person.

[00:01:26] Every episode we bring you a different voice from history in a sermon that they delivered.

[00:01:32] Today we're listening to a sermon by Chris Miss Evans.

[00:01:35] It was preached in Wales in the early 1800s.

[00:01:40] Troy, how you doing?

[00:01:44] I'm doing good, Joel.

[00:01:46] I will say, if you did not listen to our last week's episode in concurrent time, definitely make sure you listen to Joel's Coliseum episode.

[00:01:53] I really enjoyed it.

[00:01:55] I don't often get to just listen to someone else talk about church history and go at it, and that was just great.

[00:02:01] So I was on the track listening to it, and I thoroughly enjoyed that, Joel.

[00:02:05] So I highly recommend it to the listener.

[00:02:06] Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[00:02:08] I only just realized this.

[00:02:10] This is one of those just amazing timing things.

[00:02:12] I only realized this as we were reading the intro, that the episode we have that comes out before Christmas, again, if you're listening in the time, is by Christmas Evans.

[00:02:22] And I did it on purpose.

[00:02:24] I definitely did not do it by accident and accidentally line up all of this.

[00:02:28] I am that good at the schedule, and we're just going to pretend that this was always intentional, because I definitely didn't realize that until as you were announcing it.

[00:02:36] I mean, you could have fooled me.

[00:02:39] I fully thought, oh, that makes sense.

[00:02:40] It's Christmas.

[00:02:41] We're doing a Christmas Evans that checks out.

[00:02:44] We should.

[00:02:44] I mean, I feel like maybe we should make that a thing, right?

[00:02:47] Like we have John Calvin comes out before Easter.

[00:02:49] We have Martin Luther comes out on Reformation Day, and now we have Christmas Evans comes out around Christmas.

[00:02:54] Like it makes sense, but...

[00:02:56] How many sermons does Christmas Evans have though?

[00:02:58] Well, you know, he did preach for a while.

[00:03:00] So that actually, that is not a problem for us.

[00:03:02] And he is good, man.

[00:03:04] He, Christmas Evans is...

[00:03:06] He's one of those guys I had never heard of before we started Revive Thoughts.

[00:03:10] And I, one of the, he's one of those guys that when I learned about him and I learned his story and I had his sermons preached, I thought to myself, man, oh man, this is a good show.

[00:03:20] Like I'm glad this show exists because we get to listen to sermons and do research on people like this.

[00:03:25] But I definitely, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do, I'm gonna try to, we'll see if I remember this next year, but I'm gonna try to keep Christmas Evans coming in around Christmas now.

[00:03:33] So that's what we got going on.

[00:03:35] Joel, how are you doing?

[00:03:36] I'm doing A-OK.

[00:03:37] It is cold around here.

[00:03:39] It is becoming frigid.

[00:03:40] Yeah.

[00:03:41] I am a...

[00:03:41] Is it cause it's the rainy season for you?

[00:03:43] You, you, you feel the humidity and mosquitoes out like me, right?

[00:03:46] That we have that going on together, don't we?

[00:03:47] Quite, quite the opposite.

[00:03:49] It is the frigid, cold, icy, snowy season.

[00:03:53] Uh, and this, my four year old built his first snowman of the winter, which is always a delight.

[00:03:59] I'm a runner, so I am, uh, having to calculate my layers for runs nowadays to try to figure out what is the best combination for the current wind chill and wind direction, which is more effort than I want to put into my runs.

[00:04:14] But you know, everything has a season.

[00:04:16] Good for you, Joel.

[00:04:17] I will say, Joel is a runner.

[00:04:19] He ran a marathon not that long ago.

[00:04:22] And, uh, and you know what?

[00:04:24] I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I can honestly say as somebody who runs a few miles every, every day or every other day, I couldn't do it.

[00:04:31] I don't think I could run a full marathon.

[00:04:32] So you have my, my hat tip of impressiveness.

[00:04:35] We should do a Revive Thought sponsored run team.

[00:04:37] That's, that's a great idea.

[00:04:39] That's a great fundraiser moving forward.

[00:04:41] Maybe next year we'll put together.

[00:04:43] Please race for the cure to history unawareness.

[00:04:47] That's what we'll call it.

[00:04:47] Or we can just do like, we'll pick a, we'll pick a run somewhere in the country and promote it.

[00:04:52] And then everyone that wants to can come and run with us.

[00:04:55] I like that.

[00:04:57] Or no, Joel, Joel, Joel, we got it.

[00:05:00] We're going to combine all of our ideas.

[00:05:01] You're, you're here, man, we are on a roll today.

[00:05:03] Yeah.

[00:05:04] We're going to have a race for the cure of history and awareness.

[00:05:07] And then as you finish the race, you enter our church history conference that we've been talking about.

[00:05:12] And so it's just kind of all there together.

[00:05:14] You kind of come in, you sit down.

[00:05:16] What's that under the seat that you're a little sweaty from?

[00:05:18] Oh, that's our book that we were working on.

[00:05:20] It's all there.

[00:05:21] It's ready for you coming this July.

[00:05:24] Yeah.

[00:05:25] Yeah.

[00:05:25] I don't know how that would work.

[00:05:27] I mean, when you finish a race, there's usually, there's a lot of exhausted people and they're very sweaty.

[00:05:34] How gross are your runs?

[00:05:35] I don't know if a church had a tour.

[00:05:36] I come out of the run.

[00:05:37] I actually, so I'm, I'm very composed, but other people, less prepared people, less so.

[00:05:43] Last thing I want to say about running, and you might think I'm weird.

[00:05:46] So, and I, I probably am weird, but my school does a little 5k.

[00:05:49] Nice.

[00:05:50] And I, and I, and some other runs in the community.

[00:05:52] In Indonesia there.

[00:05:53] Yeah.

[00:05:53] In Indonesia.

[00:05:54] So we do our, our 5k around the school.

[00:05:57] And I know that I can't win.

[00:05:58] I know that these are, look, I'm up against these, these high school kids that are 18.

[00:06:02] They can run way faster than me.

[00:06:04] Oh yeah.

[00:06:04] So I don't have a chance of winning.

[00:06:06] So then what I have made my goal to do is to be the friendliest, happiest runner you've

[00:06:11] ever seen.

[00:06:11] And so I still run my best, but I have to smile like the entire time.

[00:06:15] Yes.

[00:06:15] And it is the most difficult thing in the world, but it also, it makes it like a completely

[00:06:20] different challenge.

[00:06:21] Like I am like mentally in a completely different pace, but I always, by the end of the race,

[00:06:24] I actually feel really good.

[00:06:25] I've had a really fun time.

[00:06:26] Um, it's like a sub genre of running.

[00:06:29] It's, it's a, what, what would we call it?

[00:06:31] Happy running.

[00:06:31] It's like, yeah, anybody can run and finish the race and win, but can you do it smiling

[00:06:36] and waving to every volunteer the entire time?

[00:06:39] Like a sociopath.

[00:06:39] That is a, that's a level of, of running that you have to be able to get to.

[00:06:43] Now I will say only requirement for the race to the cure of history and awareness church

[00:06:46] history conference book combo is you got to be listening to revive thoughts while you

[00:06:50] run.

[00:06:50] Cause I listen to podcasts while I run.

[00:06:52] And so, um, you can listen to martyrs and missionaries too though.

[00:06:55] I'm loving everything about this.

[00:06:57] Yeah.

[00:06:57] We'll have to, we'll have to, we'll have to keep working on that.

[00:07:00] I think it's good.

[00:07:01] I think I can't imagine we can, I actually think it's perfect as is Joel.

[00:07:05] And I think that the audience is excited.

[00:07:07] I wouldn't be surprised if they are putting into their URLs right now, how to sign up for

[00:07:11] this and they're, they're wondering that's, that's what I think.

[00:07:14] Stay tuned.

[00:07:15] Uh, Troy, do you have some feedback to share with us?

[00:07:18] I do.

[00:07:19] Thanks for getting me back on track, Joel.

[00:07:21] Uh, so this comes to us, um, both of these actually, I think today are, are from Spotify

[00:07:26] here.

[00:07:26] Uh, first one came to us in the revive thoughts, deep dive typing rebellion episode, uh, daily

[00:07:32] Z.

[00:07:32] I don't think that's his Christian name.

[00:07:34] Don't think that was the one given to him at birth, but he says, uh, great research.

[00:07:39] One thing I don't understand is if the typing rebellion was so big on the 10 commandments,

[00:07:42] how did they justify all the killing and stealing?

[00:07:44] I'm guessing it was something along the lines that isn't wrong if it's done with the just

[00:07:47] cause, but I like to know if the particulars, especially the taking, stealing from regular

[00:07:51] people distribute, that would seem harder to justify unless they were just taking from

[00:07:54] the temples unless they didn't take from regular people.

[00:07:57] So, uh, that actually was it.

[00:07:58] It was very much a Robin hood style.

[00:08:01] We take from the rich and get to the poor.

[00:08:02] And like a lot of times in the story of Robin hood and stuff like that, when they say they

[00:08:05] take from the rich and get to the poor, they actually just take from everybody and give

[00:08:09] to themselves.

[00:08:09] But in the case of the typing rebellion, they did take from everybody and give to themselves,

[00:08:13] but they also gave it to everyone else.

[00:08:14] There were stories of guards, like on guard duty wearing like princes outfits.

[00:08:19] I mean, like these people legitimately were taking from everybody and sharing in common

[00:08:24] all that they had.

[00:08:25] Uh, it's a, it's a wild story.

[00:08:27] And if you're listening to this part right now and you're going, what are you talking

[00:08:30] about?

[00:08:30] Uh, we're talking about the typing rebellion.

[00:08:32] Of course, you should definitely go listen to the two part series.

[00:08:34] It was on deep dive, uh, at Patreon, but it's now available to the public.

[00:08:38] So go listen to it.

[00:08:39] I have friends of mine that I talked to in real life now about the typing rebellion on a

[00:08:43] regular basis.

[00:08:44] I gotta be honest with you.

[00:08:46] And, uh, and I even taught it to my students recently.

[00:08:48] And I found out that some of my students is great, great grandparents came to Indonesia

[00:08:51] because of the typing rebellion.

[00:08:53] So look at that.

[00:08:53] It's a crazy small world out here that we're all living in.

[00:08:57] Um, okay.

[00:08:58] Moving on to another Spotify comment came to us.

[00:09:00] Somebody is listening to JC Riles, Unbelief, a Marvel, which is an old classic episode

[00:09:06] here.

[00:09:06] Uh, and they said, I'm working my way through your podcasts and they are great.

[00:09:11] Kuruaka 05.

[00:09:12] And again, I'm not sure who they are.

[00:09:15] And I, and I'm all, whenever we get a comment like this, I'm always so supportive.

[00:09:18] I love when people go back and listen to it.

[00:09:20] We have over five years of sermons here.

[00:09:22] So many great ones.

[00:09:23] And a lot of ways the stories kind of build on each other as Joel and I learn more about

[00:09:27] them.

[00:09:27] They weave and connect, which you will see.

[00:09:30] Uh, but, but at the same time, I also wonder, well, and will they hear this comment?

[00:09:35] Because if they're listening that far back and they like started from the beginning and

[00:09:38] moved their way on, it'll be, it'll be years maybe before they find out that I read their

[00:09:43] comment on the air.

[00:09:44] But if they're listening with new episodes and then going back as well, we, we wish you

[00:09:47] the best on your journey and thank you for listening.

[00:09:51] Absolutely.

[00:09:52] Today, Troy, we're talking about Christmas Evans, who we've done an episode on in the past.

[00:09:59] I like me a Christmas Evans.

[00:10:01] Yeah.

[00:10:01] He's got some great stuff.

[00:10:03] Uh, I do have to resist the urge to call him Christmas tree Evans every time I say his

[00:10:08] name, just because it sounds like it would be a logical middle name, but, um, born in

[00:10:12] the year 1766, he got his name because, uh, he was born on Christmas day, which makes sense.

[00:10:20] He's, he's one of the most famous people born on Christmas, right?

[00:10:23] I mean, I guess so.

[00:10:24] I mean that we know of, I, well, is, do we only just think that because his name is

[00:10:29] Christmas?

[00:10:29] Surely there's other people.

[00:10:31] There's probably others.

[00:10:33] And Jesus was born on Christmas too, Joel.

[00:10:35] Come on.

[00:10:35] Ooh, yeah, yeah.

[00:10:37] That didn't take long to deep up.

[00:10:38] I lined you up on that one.

[00:10:40] Oh boy.

[00:10:41] Came from a poor family.

[00:10:43] He was raised by his uncle because his mother couldn't afford to raise him and his father

[00:10:47] wasn't in the picture.

[00:10:48] And this was a rough time for him because his uncle was not a nice guy.

[00:10:53] And so, uh, he was terribly mistreated, um, hated to work for him, ran away from home when

[00:11:00] he was a young kid.

[00:11:02] Got into a lot of trouble, had a lot of near death experiences.

[00:11:05] We talked in the last episode about Christmas Evans, all these times where he almost died

[00:11:09] falling off horses or getting, falling out of trees, all these different things that, uh,

[00:11:13] it looks like the Lord was really watching out for him because there was a low chance of

[00:11:18] making it to adulthood.

[00:11:20] Revival came and swept through his town and, uh, got ahold of him.

[00:11:25] And so he began to kind of study the Bible and he was illiterate at this time.

[00:11:29] And so, uh, as a 17 year old, he had to learn how to read and write.

[00:11:34] Uh, and he did this through a variety of, uh, sources.

[00:11:38] Um, one of them being this, his main reading content that he enjoyed reading the Pilgrim's

[00:11:43] Progress book.

[00:11:44] He'd read it by night, by candlelight.

[00:11:46] I, I always find it interesting.

[00:11:48] I think it's important to point out.

[00:11:50] We see like revivals.

[00:11:52] I feel like get a lot of hate.

[00:11:54] There's a lot of people that are not for revival.

[00:11:56] They think it's like kind of like a showy empty thing because, oh, after the revival leaves

[00:12:02] and, and time moves on, then everyone goes back home.

[00:12:05] You know, like no, no, it's, it, there's not a whole lot of permanence that comes from

[00:12:10] these revival movements.

[00:12:11] And while that is true through a certain lens, you, I think it's, it's really a dishonor to

[00:12:18] ignore the other part of it, which is the one or two people that maybe do have a life

[00:12:23] changing experience out there.

[00:12:25] And Christmas Eve is one of those examples.

[00:12:27] Yeah.

[00:12:28] I would even say, Joel, I not only agree with you that I think revivals get a lot of hate, but

[00:12:31] I think at this point in studying church history and having done just many episodes on these,

[00:12:37] revivals come up a lot, especially for people in the 1800s.

[00:12:40] They're, they cross denominations.

[00:12:42] Like we've got, um, very, you know, if you're on one side of the spectrum, very charismatic,

[00:12:47] you've got people like A.B. Simpson leading them.

[00:12:49] But if you're on the reformed side of things, you have people like Robert Murray McChain

[00:12:52] and Andrew Murray on the other side.

[00:12:55] You, this is a cross denominational thing at this point from Jonathan Edwards to on that.

[00:13:00] I think to deny that revivals have real impact.

[00:13:04] Um, I have a cat meowing at the door and I think you can probably hear that.

[00:13:07] Can't you?

[00:13:10] Maneuver a cat out of here real quick.

[00:13:12] Bring him on the show.

[00:13:13] Oh, okay.

[00:13:17] So anyway, as I was saying there, uh, yeah, it is the nominations.

[00:13:21] They, they, they crosses across the board and there's just too many stories of revivals

[00:13:25] having real impact for many people for years that I think that maybe the bad reputation is

[00:13:31] true of revivals in some case, but it is just a, you can't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

[00:13:36] They, they clearly had a huge impact as well.

[00:13:38] Right.

[00:13:39] You got to think of it.

[00:13:40] They get a bad revival because publicly facing, there is very little return on investment when

[00:13:46] it just comes to a pure numbers game.

[00:13:47] You have so many people, families that see siblings claim things or, you know, close friends claim

[00:13:54] things during revivals that don't stick to it, that don't have the proof in the pudding long term.

[00:13:59] And so that gives that Christian movement a bad rap because...

[00:14:03] I think that's true in some cases.

[00:14:05] And I think that was true with some revival leaders, but there really are, I would say,

[00:14:10] I can point to different men who led revivals as a hell Nettleton and, you know, Jonathan

[00:14:14] Edwards, the great awakening.

[00:14:16] And these people did have lasting impact and they definitely did have.

[00:14:21] Yeah.

[00:14:21] Depends on the person.

[00:14:22] I'm not saying, and I mean, I think most of our listeners would probably agree that

[00:14:27] the, if anyone gets saved from it and has, you know, a genuine lifelong change from it,

[00:14:34] then, then it's worth it.

[00:14:35] And we definitely see those instances on our show, as you pointed out.

[00:14:39] But just because they have such a broad mass coverage, it's hard, it's hard to see those candles

[00:14:47] in the, well, what's, what's the proper analogy for this?

[00:14:50] It's hard to see those, those genuine people.

[00:14:54] We have the luxury of hindsight and seeing the people that stood the test of time and,

[00:15:00] and genuinely were affected and were able to contribute towards the Christian movement

[00:15:03] because we can look back on them hundreds of years.

[00:15:06] It's harder to see that when you're contemporarily alongside these people.

[00:15:11] Yeah.

[00:15:11] I would agree with that.

[00:15:12] But with Christmas Evans, his, his friends did not like it.

[00:15:15] You know, that you roll with a certain friends group, you become a believer,

[00:15:19] you leave your old unbelieving ways behind.

[00:15:22] And, um, he made enemies in doing so, so much so that he got beat up one day while coming home

[00:15:29] from a Bible study.

[00:15:30] Um, his friends wanted to teach him a lesson or I should say his ex friends, his past friends,

[00:15:35] not friends anymore, beat him so badly that he actually lost sight in one of his eyes.

[00:15:42] And his pastor at the church, he was going to, um, sent him away to a Bible school to learn

[00:15:49] and to kind of get him out of the town just saying, hey, why don't you, why don't you go

[00:15:53] to recover someplace that's maybe safer where you don't have so many enemies now?

[00:15:57] Evans also has one of my favorite stories from just all of church history.

[00:16:01] Like it's just, it's, I, we said it before it's hallmark and it's cheesiness, but also greatness.

[00:16:06] If you've heard this one before with us, he was a pastor early on and he really doubted himself.

[00:16:11] His very first sermon, he stole from a book and got caught reading it by a guy.

[00:16:15] And the guy felt bad and kind of realized he'd embarrassed him.

[00:16:18] So he told him, hey, you know, I, your prayer at the beginning was so good.

[00:16:21] It was, it was worth the sermon, but Evans felt even more embarrassed because he had stolen

[00:16:25] the prayer from another book.

[00:16:26] So he had not done anything original that day.

[00:16:29] So this is kind of a level of like just self doubt and struggle he's having early on.

[00:16:33] But eventually he starts getting more practice, does his sermons himself from that point on.

[00:16:37] It preaches.

[00:16:38] And eventually there's a conference of all the pastors of like the Baptist ministry of Wales

[00:16:42] at the time they come together and they are doing this big preaching show, you know,

[00:16:46] several days of listening to these guys preach, but nobody wanted to go first.

[00:16:50] They hadn't, they did.

[00:16:51] Nobody wanted to be the opening act.

[00:16:52] It was kind of seen as the lowest position.

[00:16:54] So if you went first, it was a sign you were the lowest on the totem pole.

[00:16:57] And all these guys had traveled to be there.

[00:17:00] They didn't want to be the guy who was the lowest on the totem pole.

[00:17:03] Evans kind of gets called forward.

[00:17:04] They literally say, what about the one-eyed guy from, uh, you know, the one-eyed, one-eyed

[00:17:08] preacher tall guy.

[00:17:09] And Evans is tall, by the way, he's seven foot tall, which back in those days, I mean,

[00:17:14] that is just really tall.

[00:17:15] He's pretty skinny too.

[00:17:16] He has one eye.

[00:17:18] So, and he had walked 200 miles to attend this conference.

[00:17:22] Evans just, and when they call him forward, he is excited.

[00:17:24] He stands up.

[00:17:25] He goes for the, he goes for the top.

[00:17:27] He's like, yes.

[00:17:28] Okay.

[00:17:28] Awesome.

[00:17:28] I get the opportunity to share the word of God.

[00:17:30] I wasn't even, wasn't even prepared.

[00:17:32] Didn't know they'd call me up.

[00:17:33] And you know, he kind of, he kind of stumbles for a minute.

[00:17:36] He has to find his footing there.

[00:17:37] And while he's doing that, the old timers, they go off, they get snacks.

[00:17:40] Like some of them take naps.

[00:17:41] Like they get, they just, we don't need to be here for this.

[00:17:44] Uh, but as Evans kind of figures out what he's going to say, he starts to just preach

[00:17:49] and he is fiery.

[00:17:50] He is strong.

[00:17:51] He is moving on the crowd.

[00:17:53] And suddenly everyone is coming together to hear him.

[00:17:56] They're putting their snacks down.

[00:17:57] They're waking up, their friends up from the naps are saying, you got to hear this guy.

[00:18:00] He's, he's not the opening act.

[00:18:02] He's a showstopper.

[00:18:03] And by the end of the sermon, the crowd is moved.

[00:18:06] And so the, so the quote goes of the story, he stopped just at the perfect moment for

[00:18:11] it just to have just landed without a single problem.

[00:18:14] And it was it, man.

[00:18:15] He was, he was the, the, if you didn't hear that sermon, it was like, you weren't even

[00:18:19] at the conference.

[00:18:19] It was all anyone wanted to talk about.

[00:18:21] Soon every church in Wales was saying, Hey, can you come guest speak for us?

[00:18:25] And Christmas Evans, all in this, again, this almost hallmark TV esque moment is suddenly

[00:18:31] the talk of the town and well on his way to becoming one of the most famous pastors in all of

[00:18:35] Welsh history.

[00:18:37] Yeah.

[00:18:38] Um, Wales during this time, uh, was going through a controversy that has a difficult

[00:18:43] name that I will attempt to pronounce and I will do it poorly.

[00:18:49] Sandemanianism.

[00:18:50] That was not bad.

[00:18:51] Honestly.

[00:18:52] I mean, you may be joking.

[00:18:54] Yeah.

[00:18:54] It's horrible.

[00:18:55] It is the longest, uh, heresy we ever have to deal with.

[00:18:58] And I remember the first time we did it, I did get to where I can say it.

[00:19:01] Sandemanite.

[00:19:02] Oh man, I messed it up.

[00:19:03] Sandemanite.

[00:19:04] Oh my gosh.

[00:19:05] I'm psyching myself out now.

[00:19:07] Sandemanianism, which I feel like if you don't say it really fast, you just fall apart

[00:19:12] midway through.

[00:19:12] The M's and N's and I's and A's.

[00:19:15] It's like banana where they just keep repeating indefinitely.

[00:19:19] Um, Sandemanianism.

[00:19:21] The M's and N's.

[00:19:22] It's a rough one, but, um, it's, it's kind of a concept that's still around today.

[00:19:27] Although we usually don't use such plain words to describe it, but it's basically this, um,

[00:19:32] belief that becoming a Christian without any emotional or spiritual change in, in someone's

[00:19:38] life.

[00:19:38] Um, there was a, a big movement.

[00:19:41] And again, it's like a theological topic that we talk about today, but it was a, a full-on

[00:19:49] belief structure back then that you didn't necessarily need to change it.

[00:19:54] Like beings there, there's no way anyone could know if you were saved or not.

[00:19:57] It was just whether you confessed at some point or, or not.

[00:20:01] The things about, you know, someone's lives, we would call what I would call like the fruit

[00:20:07] of, you know, of your life.

[00:20:09] Those things are, you know, you can't, they can't be trusted.

[00:20:13] Instead, if you, if you say, I believe it, then you have to take them on their word for

[00:20:18] it.

[00:20:18] And they, that person should be able to take communion and do feet washings and other things

[00:20:22] from the new Testament.

[00:20:23] It was the founder of this movement that said that, uh, that the bare death of Jesus Christ

[00:20:28] without a thought or deed on the part of a man is sufficient to present the chief sinner

[00:20:34] spotless before God.

[00:20:37] And so it was kind of seen as kind of this like intellectual ascent, right?

[00:20:41] Just, just merely, uh, acknowledging that Jesus is sovereign overall and that nothing

[00:20:48] else is enough and that nothing else matters if you, if you have that acknowledgement that

[00:20:54] Jesus is King.

[00:20:56] A sentiment that I think we would disagree with around here in these, in these parts,

[00:21:02] just because we do, I mean, it's, it doesn't seem very scriptural.

[00:21:05] We do see that, um, there are fruits that come from a walk with the spirit that should

[00:21:12] be evident in, in life.

[00:21:13] And they're saying that that's, it's not a, it's not a guarantee.

[00:21:18] I don't know.

[00:21:19] It seems, it seems fishy to me.

[00:21:20] It seems like, uh, an easy way out.

[00:21:23] What do you think?

[00:21:24] Yeah, no, it sounds good on paper.

[00:21:26] Like, oh yeah, I totally agree.

[00:21:27] Jesus does everything.

[00:21:28] I don't do anything.

[00:21:29] And I think we would all kind of agree with that.

[00:21:32] But what it actually ends up doing is by saying like, you're not going to have any kind of

[00:21:36] real change.

[00:21:37] You can't trust anything.

[00:21:38] You're just a, a body of sin and there's no point in even trying.

[00:21:41] It takes all of your responsibility to live for Christ, to bear fruit, to use the gifts

[00:21:48] of the Holy Spirit that God has given you to be.

[00:21:50] It just, it runs against scripture and it runs against everything.

[00:21:53] And so these people would not really attempt any of that.

[00:21:56] In fact, if you were like, oh, I'm feeling moved by God, they would look at you and go,

[00:21:59] you can't trust your heart.

[00:22:00] You can't trust that you're feeling moved.

[00:22:02] You need, that's just no good.

[00:22:04] All you gotta do is mentally check it off in your head that you believe in Jesus, that

[00:22:07] intellectual is all you have to do.

[00:22:09] And I think, I think it sounds, it sounds like you're giving God all this credit.

[00:22:13] It really does.

[00:22:14] It sounds very good, but the, the fruit of it is that you, you kill the movement of God.

[00:22:19] And that's what happened in Christmas Evans' life.

[00:22:21] He described it as like a choking belief that just crushed and stifled his faith and ministry

[00:22:26] for years.

[00:22:26] He said he had gone along with it because all of the other pastors at the time were doing

[00:22:31] it.

[00:22:31] And he did, he wanted to unite with them.

[00:22:32] And again, it sounds nice on paper.

[00:22:34] It sounds like you're giving Jesus all the credit.

[00:22:36] However, he eventually had a one-on-one.

[00:22:39] He went on a walk one day with guys on a hill and he just wept and said, you know,

[00:22:41] what happened to me?

[00:22:42] I've, I've just not been living for God.

[00:22:45] Hasn't been the same.

[00:22:46] He repented.

[00:22:46] He said, God, just something, just something's been wrong.

[00:22:49] And he, on this hill crying out to God for hours, he just had his vigor and passion renewed.

[00:22:55] And God basically was like, go back to doing what you were doing.

[00:22:58] Preach the real gospel of repentance and love of me.

[00:23:02] Yes, I do all the work on the cross, but that doesn't mean you're just supposed to sit

[00:23:06] around and do nothing.

[00:23:08] No, I love this story too, because I think of times when I have gone down wrong paths

[00:23:12] in my own beliefs and how it impacted me and my ministries in different, you know, ways

[00:23:16] throughout the years.

[00:23:17] And normally you don't hear about that with the famous pastors.

[00:23:20] Like I can't think of the Charles Spurgeon.

[00:23:22] He, you know, fell into heresy for a decade kind of moment, but it did happen with Christmas

[00:23:28] Evans because he's a real person just like you and me.

[00:23:30] And he made a mistake and it hurt him.

[00:23:32] Like it cost him, um, year.

[00:23:34] He said basically the revival is that he had been a part of and preaching and leading

[00:23:38] for a decade.

[00:23:39] Almost all of the people had kind of given up on it and gone to different churches and

[00:23:42] left their churches because they weren't preaching that fiery gospel anymore.

[00:23:47] But once they got back to it, once they got back again into the way it was supposed to

[00:23:52] be, it all kind of returned and doubled up.

[00:23:54] So, so the Lord blessed it once they got back on track, which is really cool.

[00:24:09] Jemand, the your wishes are true?

[00:24:11] And with you the most beautiful result of your life?

[00:24:15] The Commerce-Plattform Shopify revolutionized millions of companies worldwide.

[00:24:21] With Shopify you can't reach your online shop in your own.

[00:24:24] Without a program or design-shape.

[00:24:27] Thanks to efficient and intuitive social media and online marketplace integration

[00:24:32] can you sell over Instagram, eBay and Co. and sell and sell.

[00:24:36] New goals to reach new goals was never so easy.

[00:25:04] He did still face some challenges later in his life.

[00:25:07] He had various court trials, and I wasn't quite sure what these were about.

[00:25:13] People were taking him to court, although they didn't seem to win any of these trials.

[00:25:18] But I'm sure anyone that's ever been involved in any legal proceedings, it is nerve-wracking

[00:25:24] and takes a lot out of you.

[00:25:26] But again, nothing that anyone ever proved against him.

[00:25:29] Troy, do you know what these court trials were about?

[00:25:31] It was definitely like a challenge to him either on a—he was raising a ton of money

[00:25:38] for churches, and I wonder if somebody—it looked like either somebody was saying like,

[00:25:41] hey, we don't like—not even like, oh, we don't like the way you raise the money or

[00:25:45] something, a fraud.

[00:25:45] But it seemed like you gave that money to this church when it was supposed to go to this church.

[00:25:52] It was very much a—it just looked like somebody trying to harm the ministry, if I'm honest

[00:25:56] with you.

[00:25:56] And he beat it in court, like handedly beat it.

[00:25:58] I don't know if it officially even made it to trial.

[00:26:00] It was such a clear victory, but it was definitely one of those situations.

[00:26:05] It wasn't exactly that issue, but it was something like that.

[00:26:08] Like it was one of those kind of things that's like—you could tell that it was just an attempt

[00:26:14] to try to throw off what he was doing, and the Lord protected him from it.

[00:26:20] Well, good.

[00:26:21] Yeah, I mean, you mentioned him raising money, and he did raise a ton of money.

[00:26:25] He was very good at that fundraising endeavor, especially for the purpose of missions.

[00:26:31] He was able to help fund a lot of great missions movements, and he famously never took any extra

[00:26:40] money.

[00:26:40] He had a very low salary that he started off with, and he kept that salary his entire life

[00:26:44] despite getting married and having children.

[00:26:47] He always donated any of the extra money that would come into missions or to the Bible societies

[00:26:52] that he was a part of, and I think that speaks to his desire to really see people come to

[00:26:59] Christ.

[00:26:59] He wanted to put all the effort and resources into that.

[00:27:04] This sermon that we're going to listen to is called The Cedar of God.

[00:27:08] So says the Lord God, I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set

[00:27:31] it out.

[00:27:32] I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs, a tender one, and I myself will plant

[00:27:39] it on a high and lofty mountain.

[00:27:42] On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit

[00:27:49] and become a noble cedar, and under it will dwell every kind of bird.

[00:27:56] In the shade of its branches, birds of every sort will nest, and all the trees of the field

[00:28:05] will know that I am the Lord.

[00:28:08] I bring low the high tree, and I make high the low tree.

[00:28:14] Dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish.

[00:28:20] I am the Lord, I have spoken, and I will do it.

[00:28:28] Ezekiel 17, 22-24

[00:28:33] You have noticed that our text abounds in the beautiful language of allegory.

[00:28:39] In the context is portrayed the captivity of the children of Israel, and especially the

[00:28:46] carrying away of the royal family by the king of Babylon.

[00:28:52] Here God promises to restore them to their own land in greater prosperity than ever, and

[00:29:02] to raise up Messiah, the branch, out of the house of David, to be their king.

[00:29:11] All this is presented in a glowing figurative style, dressed out in all the wealth of poetic

[00:29:19] imagery.

[00:29:22] Nebuchadnezzar, the great eagle, the long-winged, full-feathered, embroidered eagle, is represented

[00:29:30] as coming to Lebanon and taking the highest branch of the tallest cedar, bearing it off as the

[00:29:39] crow bears the acorn in its beak, and planting it in the land of traffic.

[00:29:46] The Lord God, in his turn, takes the highest branch of the same cedar, and plants it on

[00:29:54] the high mountain of Israel, where it flourishes and bears fruit, and the fowls of the air dwell

[00:30:01] under the shadow of its branches.

[00:30:05] We will look at a few thoughts on the character of the promise, and then pass to a more specific

[00:30:13] consideration of importance.

[00:30:17] First, this is an evangelical promise.

[00:30:21] It relates to the coming kingdom of Messiah.

[00:30:25] Not one of the kings of Judah since the captivity, as Boothroyd observes, answers the description

[00:30:33] here given.

[00:30:34] Not one of them was a cedar whose branches could afford shadow and shelter for all the fowls of

[00:30:43] heaven.

[00:30:44] But the prophecy receives its fulfillment in Christ, the desire of all nations, to whom

[00:30:54] the ends of the earth come for salvation.

[00:31:00] This prophecy bears a striking resemblance in several specifics to the parable of the mustard

[00:31:08] seed delivered by our Lord.

[00:31:11] The mustard seed, says Jesus, is the least of all seeds.

[00:31:19] But when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds

[00:31:27] of the air come and lodge in the branches of it.

[00:31:30] So the delicate twig of the young and tender branch becomes a strong cedar, and under its shadow dwell

[00:31:41] all birds of every wing.

[00:31:44] The prophecy and the parable are both intended to represent the growth and prosperity of Messiah's kingdom, and the gracious protection and spiritual refreshment afforded to its subjects.

[00:32:03] Christ is the mustard plant and cedar of God, and to him the gathering of the people will be.

[00:32:12] And multitudes of pardoned sinners will sit under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit will be sweet to their taste.

[00:32:25] This prophecy is a promise of the true and faithful and immutable God.

[00:32:35] It begins with,

[00:32:37] So says the Lord God, I will do so and so, and concludes with,

[00:32:43] I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it.

[00:32:49] There is no maybe with God.

[00:32:53] His word is forever settled in heaven.

[00:32:57] And cannot fail any of its fulfillment.

[00:33:01] When he says,

[00:33:03] I promise to pay,

[00:33:04] There is no failure,

[00:33:06] Whatever the amount.

[00:33:09] The bank of heaven cannot break.

[00:33:12] It is the oldest and best in the universe.

[00:33:16] Its capital is infinite.

[00:33:18] Its credit is infallible.

[00:33:21] The mighty God,

[00:33:22] The everlasting Father,

[00:33:24] The Prince of Peace,

[00:33:26] Is able to fulfill to the utmost all his engagements.

[00:33:31] He can do anything that does not imply a contradiction or a moral absurdity.

[00:33:39] He could take upon himself the form of a servant and become obedient to death, even the death of the cross.

[00:33:48] But he can never forget or disregard his promise.

[00:33:53] Any more than he can cease to exist.

[00:33:57] His nature renders both impossible.

[00:34:02] Heaven and earth may pass away, but his word will not pass away.

[00:34:09] Every jot and tittle will be fulfilled.

[00:34:14] This is the comfort of the church.

[00:34:17] Here rested the patriarchs and the prophets.

[00:34:22] Here reposes the faith of the saints to the end of time.

[00:34:27] God abides faithful.

[00:34:31] He cannot deny himself.

[00:34:34] Our text is already partially verified in the coming of Christ and the establishment of his church.

[00:34:42] The continuous growth of the gospel kingdom indicates its progressive fulfillment.

[00:34:50] And we anticipate the time as not long from now,

[00:34:55] When the whole earth will be overshadowed by the branches of the cedar of God.

[00:35:05] Second, we proceed to consider, with a little more specificness, the importance of this evangelical prophecy.

[00:35:15] Let's talk about his character and the kingdom of the mediator.

[00:35:21] I will take off the highest branch of the high cedar and will set it.

[00:35:44] Christ, as concerning the flesh, is of the seed of Abraham,

[00:35:51] a rod issuing from the stem of Jesse and a branch growing out of his root.

[00:35:58] As the new vine is found in the cluster, and one says,

[00:36:02] Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it.

[00:36:06] So the children of Israel were spared,

[00:36:09] despite their wickedness and their backslidings,

[00:36:13] because they were the cluster from which would in due time bring the new wine of the kingdom.

[00:36:21] Because from them was to come the blessing,

[00:36:25] the promised seed in whom all the families of the earth will be blessed.

[00:36:32] The word that was in the beginning with God,

[00:36:36] one with God in essence and in attributes,

[00:36:40] in the fullness of time assumed our nature,

[00:36:45] and tabernacled and dwelt among us.

[00:36:49] Here is the union of God and man.

[00:36:54] Here is the great mystery of godliness,

[00:36:58] God manifested in the flesh.

[00:37:03] But I have only time now to take off my shoes

[00:37:07] and draw near the burning bush

[00:37:10] and gaze a moment upon this great sight.

[00:37:15] The father is represented as preparing a body for his son.

[00:37:25] He goes to the quarry to seek a stone,

[00:37:28] a foundation stone for Zion.

[00:37:31] The angel said to Mary,

[00:37:34] the Holy Ghost will come upon you

[00:37:36] and the power of the highest will overshadow you.

[00:37:40] Therefore, that holy thing which will be born of you

[00:37:44] will be called the Son of God.

[00:37:48] The Eternal lays hold on that nature which is hurrying downward,

[00:37:54] on the flood of sin,

[00:37:56] to the gulf of death and destruction,

[00:37:59] and binds it to himself.

[00:38:03] Though made in the likeness of sinful flesh,

[00:38:07] he was holy, harmless and undefiled.

[00:38:11] He did no sin,

[00:38:14] neither was guile found in his mouth.

[00:38:18] The rod out of the stem of Jesse

[00:38:21] is also Jehovah our righteousness.

[00:38:25] The child born in Bethlehem is the mighty God.

[00:38:31] The son given to Israel is the everlasting father.

[00:38:36] He is the seed of Abraham,

[00:38:39] according to the flesh,

[00:38:41] but he is also the true God,

[00:38:44] an eternal life.

[00:38:48] Two natures and three offices

[00:38:51] meet mysteriously in his person.

[00:38:54] He is at once the bleeding sacrifice,

[00:38:58] the sanctifying altar,

[00:39:00] the officiating priest,

[00:39:02] the prophet of Israel,

[00:39:04] and the prince of peace.

[00:39:08] All this was necessary

[00:39:10] that he might become

[00:39:12] the author of eternal salvation

[00:39:16] to all them that obey him.

[00:39:21] Hear Jehovah speaking of Messiah

[00:39:24] and his kingdom.

[00:39:26] Why do the heathens rage

[00:39:28] and the people imagine a vain thing?

[00:39:31] The kings of the earth set themselves

[00:39:34] and the rulers take counsel together

[00:39:37] against the Lord

[00:39:38] and against his anointed.

[00:39:41] Yet I have set my king

[00:39:44] upon my holy hill of Zion.

[00:39:47] I will declare the decree

[00:39:49] by which he is to rule

[00:39:52] his redeemed empire.

[00:39:55] That decree,

[00:39:57] long kept secret,

[00:39:59] was gradually announced

[00:40:00] by the prophets.

[00:40:02] But at the new tomb

[00:40:05] of Joseph of Arimathea,

[00:40:08] Jehovah himself

[00:40:09] proclaimed it aloud

[00:40:11] to the astonishment of earth,

[00:40:14] the terror of hell

[00:40:16] and the joy of heaven.

[00:40:19] You are my son.

[00:40:22] This day have I begotten you.

[00:40:25] Come out of the womb

[00:40:27] of the grave.

[00:40:29] You whose goings

[00:40:30] have been from of old,

[00:40:32] even from everlasting.

[00:40:35] Ask of me

[00:40:37] and I will give you

[00:40:38] the heathen

[00:40:39] for your inheritance

[00:40:40] and the uttermost parts

[00:40:42] of the earth

[00:40:43] for your possession.

[00:40:46] I will exalt you

[00:40:47] to the throne

[00:40:48] of the universe

[00:40:50] and you will be chief

[00:40:52] in the chariot

[00:40:53] of the gospel.

[00:40:54] You will ride

[00:40:55] through the dark places

[00:40:56] of the earth

[00:40:57] with the lamps

[00:40:58] of eternal life

[00:40:59] suspended to your chariot,

[00:41:02] enlightening the world.

[00:41:04] Be wise now,

[00:41:06] therefore,

[00:41:07] O you kings.

[00:41:08] Be instructed,

[00:41:10] you judges of the earth.

[00:41:12] Serve the Lord

[00:41:13] with fear

[00:41:14] and rejoice

[00:41:15] with trembling.

[00:41:17] Kiss the son

[00:41:18] unless he becomes angry

[00:41:21] and you perish

[00:41:22] from the way

[00:41:23] when his wrath

[00:41:25] is kindled

[00:41:26] but a little.

[00:41:27] let no man

[00:41:29] withstand him.

[00:41:31] Let no man

[00:41:32] seek to slow

[00:41:33] his progress.

[00:41:35] Herod,

[00:41:36] Pilate,

[00:41:37] Caiaphas,

[00:41:38] stand off.

[00:41:40] Clear the way

[00:41:41] lest you are crushed

[00:41:43] beneath the wheels

[00:41:43] of his chariot.

[00:41:46] For that

[00:41:47] which is a savor

[00:41:48] of life

[00:41:49] to some

[00:41:50] is to others

[00:41:51] a savor

[00:41:51] of death.

[00:41:52] and if this stone

[00:41:54] falls upon you

[00:41:56] it will grind you

[00:41:58] to powder.

[00:42:01] Behold,

[00:42:02] here is

[00:42:04] wisdom.

[00:42:06] All other mysteries

[00:42:07] are toys

[00:42:09] in comparison

[00:42:10] with the mystery

[00:42:11] of the everlasting

[00:42:12] gospel.

[00:42:13] the union

[00:42:14] of three

[00:42:15] persons

[00:42:15] in the Godhead.

[00:42:17] The union

[00:42:17] of two

[00:42:18] natures

[00:42:19] in the

[00:42:19] mediator.

[00:42:20] The union

[00:42:21] of believers

[00:42:22] to Christ

[00:42:23] as the branches

[00:42:24] to the vine.

[00:42:25] The union

[00:42:26] of all

[00:42:27] saints

[00:42:28] together

[00:42:28] in him

[00:42:29] who is

[00:42:30] the head

[00:42:30] of the body

[00:42:31] and the chief

[00:42:32] stone

[00:42:33] of the corner.

[00:42:34] The mighty

[00:42:35] God

[00:42:36] transfixed

[00:42:37] to the cross.

[00:42:38] The son

[00:42:39] of Mary

[00:42:39] ruling

[00:42:40] in the

[00:42:41] heaven

[00:42:41] of heavens.

[00:42:42] The rod

[00:42:43] of Jesse

[00:42:43] becoming

[00:42:44] the scepter

[00:42:45] of universal

[00:42:46] dominion.

[00:42:47] The branch

[00:42:49] growing out

[00:42:49] of his

[00:42:50] root.

[00:42:51] The little

[00:42:52] delicate

[00:42:53] branch

[00:42:54] which a

[00:42:54] lamb

[00:42:55] might crop

[00:42:56] for its

[00:42:56] food.

[00:42:57] Terrifying

[00:42:58] and taming

[00:42:59] the serpent

[00:43:00] the lion

[00:43:01] the leopard

[00:43:02] the tiger

[00:43:03] and the wolf

[00:43:04] and transforming

[00:43:06] into gentleness

[00:43:07] and love

[00:43:08] the wild

[00:43:09] and savage

[00:43:10] nature

[00:43:11] of all

[00:43:12] the beasts

[00:43:13] of prey

[00:43:13] upon the

[00:43:14] mountain.

[00:43:16] And such

[00:43:17] old

[00:43:18] Corinthian

[00:43:19] sinners

[00:43:19] were some

[00:43:20] of you

[00:43:21] but you

[00:43:22] are washed

[00:43:23] you are

[00:43:24] sanctified

[00:43:25] you are

[00:43:26] justified

[00:43:27] in the name

[00:43:28] of the Lord

[00:43:28] Jesus

[00:43:29] and by the

[00:43:30] spirit

[00:43:30] of our

[00:43:31] God.

[00:43:33] And such

[00:43:34] my brethren

[00:43:35] were some

[00:43:36] of you

[00:43:36] but you

[00:43:38] have been

[00:43:39] made a

[00:43:40] new creation

[00:43:41] in Christ

[00:43:42] Jesus.

[00:43:44] Old

[00:43:45] things

[00:43:45] are passed

[00:43:47] away

[00:43:47] and all

[00:43:49] things

[00:43:49] are become

[00:43:50] new.

[00:43:52] You are

[00:43:53] dead

[00:43:54] and your

[00:43:55] life is

[00:43:56] hidden

[00:43:57] with Christ

[00:43:58] in God.

[00:43:59] He is

[00:44:01] one with the

[00:44:01] Father

[00:44:02] and you

[00:44:03] are one

[00:44:04] in him

[00:44:04] united

[00:44:06] and

[00:44:07] interwoven

[00:44:08] like the

[00:44:09] roots of

[00:44:09] the trees

[00:44:10] in the

[00:44:10] forest of

[00:44:11] Lebanon

[00:44:12] so that

[00:44:13] none can

[00:44:14] injure the

[00:44:15] least disciple

[00:44:15] of Christ

[00:44:16] without touching

[00:44:18] the apple

[00:44:19] of his

[00:44:19] eye

[00:44:20] and grieving

[00:44:21] all his

[00:44:22] members.

[00:44:25] Second,

[00:44:26] the blessing

[00:44:27] which he gives

[00:44:28] to his

[00:44:29] people.

[00:44:30] It will

[00:44:31] bring out

[00:44:32] branches

[00:44:33] and bear

[00:44:34] fruit

[00:44:34] and be

[00:44:35] a strong

[00:44:36] cedar

[00:44:36] and under

[00:44:38] it will

[00:44:38] dwell all

[00:44:39] birds of

[00:44:40] every

[00:44:41] wing.

[00:44:42] In the

[00:44:43] shadow of

[00:44:43] the branches

[00:44:44] of it

[00:44:44] will they

[00:44:45] dwell

[00:44:45] and all

[00:44:47] the trees

[00:44:47] of the

[00:44:48] field

[00:44:48] will know

[00:44:49] that I

[00:44:50] the Lord

[00:44:51] have brought

[00:44:52] down the

[00:44:52] high tree

[00:44:53] and have

[00:44:54] exalted

[00:44:54] the low

[00:44:55] tree,

[00:44:56] have dried

[00:44:57] up the

[00:44:57] green tree

[00:44:58] and made

[00:44:59] the dry

[00:45:00] tree

[00:45:00] to flourish.

[00:45:03] Christ

[00:45:04] is a

[00:45:05] fruitful

[00:45:06] tree.

[00:45:08] The tree

[00:45:08] is known

[00:45:09] for its

[00:45:10] fruit.

[00:45:11] Men do

[00:45:12] not gather

[00:45:13] grapes of

[00:45:13] thorns

[00:45:14] nor figs

[00:45:15] of thistles.

[00:45:16] Every good

[00:45:18] tree

[00:45:18] brings good

[00:45:19] fruit

[00:45:19] and every

[00:45:21] evil tree

[00:45:22] brings

[00:45:22] evil

[00:45:23] fruit.

[00:45:25] This

[00:45:25] is a

[00:45:26] singular

[00:45:27] supernatural

[00:45:28] tree.

[00:45:30] Though

[00:45:31] its top

[00:45:31] reaches to

[00:45:33] the heaven

[00:45:33] of heavens,

[00:45:35] its branches

[00:45:36] fill the

[00:45:37] universe

[00:45:38] and bend

[00:45:39] down to

[00:45:40] the earth

[00:45:40] filled with

[00:45:41] the precious

[00:45:42] fruits of

[00:45:43] pardon

[00:45:43] and holiness

[00:45:45] and eternal

[00:45:46] life.

[00:45:48] On the

[00:45:48] day of

[00:45:49] Pentecost

[00:45:50] we see

[00:45:51] them hang

[00:45:51] so low

[00:45:52] over

[00:45:53] Jerusalem

[00:45:54] that the

[00:45:55] very

[00:45:55] murderers

[00:45:56] of the

[00:45:56] Son of

[00:45:56] God

[00:45:57] reach

[00:45:58] and

[00:45:58] pluck

[00:45:59] and

[00:45:59] eat

[00:46:00] and

[00:46:01] three

[00:46:01] thousand

[00:46:02] sinners

[00:46:03] feast

[00:46:04] on more

[00:46:05] than

[00:46:05] angels

[00:46:06] food.

[00:46:08] That

[00:46:08] was the

[00:46:09] feast of

[00:46:10] first fruits.

[00:46:11] Never

[00:46:12] before

[00:46:12] was there

[00:46:13] such a

[00:46:14] harvest

[00:46:14] and such

[00:46:15] a festival.

[00:46:16] Angels

[00:46:17] know

[00:46:18] nothing

[00:46:19] of the

[00:46:19] delicious

[00:46:20] fruits

[00:46:20] of

[00:46:21] the

[00:46:21] tree

[00:46:21] of

[00:46:22] redemption.

[00:46:23] They

[00:46:24] know

[00:46:24] nothing

[00:46:25] of

[00:46:25] the

[00:46:25] joy

[00:46:25] of

[00:46:26] pardon

[00:46:26] and

[00:46:27] the

[00:46:27] spirit

[00:46:28] of

[00:46:28] adoption.

[00:46:30] The

[00:46:31] bride

[00:46:31] of the

[00:46:32] lamb

[00:46:32] alone

[00:46:33] can

[00:46:33] say

[00:46:34] as

[00:46:35] the

[00:46:35] apple

[00:46:35] tree

[00:46:36] among

[00:46:36] the

[00:46:36] trees

[00:46:37] of

[00:46:37] the

[00:46:37] forest

[00:46:38] so

[00:46:39] is

[00:46:39] my

[00:46:39] beloved

[00:46:40] among

[00:46:41] the

[00:46:41] sons.

[00:46:42] I

[00:46:43] sat

[00:46:43] down

[00:46:44] under

[00:46:44] his

[00:46:45] shadow

[00:46:45] with

[00:46:46] great

[00:46:46] delight

[00:46:47] and his

[00:46:48] fruit

[00:46:48] was

[00:46:49] sweet

[00:46:49] to

[00:46:49] my

[00:46:50] taste.

[00:46:51] He

[00:46:52] also

[00:46:52] brought

[00:46:52] me

[00:46:53] to

[00:46:53] his

[00:46:53] banqueting

[00:46:54] house

[00:46:54] and

[00:46:55] his

[00:46:56] banner

[00:46:56] over

[00:46:57] me

[00:46:57] was

[00:46:58] love.

[00:47:01] These

[00:47:01] blessings

[00:47:02] are the

[00:47:03] precious

[00:47:04] effects

[00:47:05] of

[00:47:05] Christ's

[00:47:06] work

[00:47:06] as

[00:47:07] mediator.

[00:47:08] Flowing

[00:47:09] down

[00:47:10] to

[00:47:10] all

[00:47:11] believers

[00:47:11] like

[00:47:12] streams

[00:47:12] of

[00:47:13] living

[00:47:13] water.

[00:47:15] Come

[00:47:16] you

[00:47:17] famishing

[00:47:17] souls

[00:47:18] and

[00:47:19] take

[00:47:20] without

[00:47:20] money

[00:47:21] and

[00:47:21] without

[00:47:22] price.

[00:47:23] All

[00:47:24] things

[00:47:24] are

[00:47:25] now

[00:47:25] ready.

[00:47:26] The

[00:47:26] mandrakes

[00:47:27] give a

[00:47:27] smell

[00:47:28] and

[00:47:28] at

[00:47:28] our

[00:47:29] gates

[00:47:29] are

[00:47:29] all

[00:47:30] manner

[00:47:30] of

[00:47:31] pleasant

[00:47:31] fruits

[00:47:31] both

[00:47:32] new

[00:47:32] and

[00:47:33] old.

[00:47:34] There

[00:47:35] is

[00:47:35] no

[00:47:35] scarcity.

[00:47:37] Our

[00:47:38] elder

[00:47:38] brother

[00:47:39] keeps

[00:47:39] a

[00:47:40] rich

[00:47:40] table

[00:47:40] in

[00:47:41] our

[00:47:41] father's

[00:47:42] house.

[00:47:43] Hear

[00:47:43] him

[00:47:44] proclaiming

[00:47:45] in the

[00:47:45] streets

[00:47:45] of the

[00:47:46] city

[00:47:46] in the

[00:47:47] chief

[00:47:47] places.

[00:47:48] Come

[00:47:49] to the

[00:47:49] festival.

[00:47:50] There

[00:47:51] is enough

[00:47:51] bread

[00:47:52] and to

[00:47:53] spare.

[00:47:53] My

[00:47:54] oxen

[00:47:54] and my

[00:47:55] fatlings

[00:47:55] are

[00:47:55] killed.

[00:47:56] My

[00:47:57] board

[00:47:57] is

[00:47:58] spread

[00:47:58] with

[00:47:58] the

[00:47:59] most

[00:47:59] exquisite

[00:48:00] delicacies.

[00:48:01] Wine

[00:48:01] on the

[00:48:02] leaves

[00:48:02] well

[00:48:03] refined

[00:48:03] and

[00:48:04] fruit

[00:48:04] such as

[00:48:05] angels

[00:48:06] never

[00:48:06] tasted.

[00:48:09] Christ

[00:48:09] is a

[00:48:10] tree of

[00:48:11] protection

[00:48:11] to

[00:48:12] his

[00:48:12] people.

[00:48:14] This

[00:48:15] cedar

[00:48:15] not

[00:48:16] only

[00:48:16] beautifies

[00:48:17] the

[00:48:17] forest

[00:48:18] but

[00:48:19] also

[00:48:19] affords

[00:48:20] shade

[00:48:20] and

[00:48:21] shelter

[00:48:21] for

[00:48:21] the

[00:48:22] birds

[00:48:22] of

[00:48:22] the

[00:48:23] air.

[00:48:24] We

[00:48:25] have

[00:48:25] the

[00:48:25] same

[00:48:26] idea

[00:48:26] in

[00:48:27] the

[00:48:27] parable

[00:48:27] of

[00:48:27] the

[00:48:27] mustard

[00:48:28] seed.

[00:48:29] The

[00:48:29] birds

[00:48:30] of

[00:48:30] the

[00:48:30] air

[00:48:30] came

[00:48:31] and

[00:48:31] lodged

[00:48:31] in

[00:48:32] the

[00:48:32] branches

[00:48:32] of

[00:48:45] the

[00:48:46] union

[00:48:46] of

[00:48:46] believers

[00:48:47] with

[00:48:47] God.

[00:48:49] All

[00:48:50] birds

[00:48:51] of

[00:48:51] every

[00:48:52] wing,

[00:48:53] sinners

[00:48:53] of

[00:48:54] every

[00:48:54] age

[00:48:55] and

[00:48:55] every

[00:48:55] decree,

[00:48:57] sinners

[00:48:57] of

[00:48:57] all

[00:48:58] languages,

[00:48:59] colours

[00:48:59] and

[00:48:59] climes,

[00:49:01] sinners

[00:49:01] of

[00:49:01] all

[00:49:02] principles,

[00:49:03] customs

[00:49:03] and

[00:49:03] habits,

[00:49:05] sinners

[00:49:05] whose

[00:49:05] crimes

[00:49:06] are

[00:49:06] of

[00:49:07] the

[00:49:07] blackest

[00:49:07] hue,

[00:49:08] sinners

[00:49:09] carrying

[00:49:09] about

[00:49:10] them

[00:49:10] the

[00:49:10] savour

[00:49:11] of the

[00:49:11] brimstone

[00:49:12] of

[00:49:12] hell,

[00:49:13] sinners

[00:49:14] deserving

[00:49:15] eternal

[00:49:16] damnation,

[00:49:17] sinners

[00:49:18] perishing

[00:49:18] for lack

[00:49:19] of

[00:49:19] knowledge,

[00:49:21] sinners

[00:49:21] pierced

[00:49:22] by the

[00:49:22] arrows

[00:49:23] of

[00:49:23] conviction,

[00:49:24] sinners

[00:49:25] ready to

[00:49:25] sink

[00:49:26] under

[00:49:27] the

[00:49:27] burden

[00:49:27] of

[00:49:28] sin,

[00:49:29] sinners

[00:49:29] overwhelmed

[00:49:30] with

[00:49:31] terror

[00:49:31] and

[00:49:32] despair

[00:49:32] are

[00:49:33] seen

[00:49:34] flying

[00:49:35] to

[00:49:36] Christ

[00:49:37] as

[00:49:37] a

[00:49:37] cloud

[00:49:38] and

[00:49:39] as

[00:49:39] doves

[00:49:40] to

[00:49:40] their

[00:49:41] windows,

[00:49:42] moving

[00:49:43] to

[00:49:43] the

[00:49:43] ark

[00:49:43] of

[00:49:44] mercy

[00:49:44] before

[00:49:45] the

[00:49:45] door

[00:49:46] is

[00:49:46] shut,

[00:49:47] seeking

[00:49:48] rest

[00:49:48] in

[00:49:49] the

[00:49:49] shadow

[00:49:50] of

[00:49:50] this

[00:49:50] strong

[00:49:51] cedar.

[00:49:55] Christ

[00:49:55] is

[00:49:56] the

[00:49:56] sure

[00:49:57] defence

[00:49:57] of

[00:49:58] his

[00:49:58] church.

[00:50:00] A

[00:50:00] thousand

[00:50:01] times

[00:50:01] has

[00:50:02] she

[00:50:02] been

[00:50:02] assaulted

[00:50:03] by

[00:50:03] her

[00:50:03] enemies.

[00:50:04] The

[00:50:05] princes

[00:50:05] of

[00:50:06] the

[00:50:06] earth

[00:50:06] have

[00:50:06] set

[00:50:07] themselves

[00:50:07] in

[00:50:08] array

[00:50:08] against

[00:50:09] her

[00:50:09] and

[00:50:09] hell

[00:50:10] has

[00:50:10] opened

[00:50:11] upon

[00:50:11] her

[00:50:11] all

[00:50:12] its

[00:50:12] attacks.

[00:50:13] But

[00:50:14] the

[00:50:14] rock

[00:50:14] of

[00:50:15] ages

[00:50:15] has

[00:50:16] always

[00:50:17] been

[00:50:17] her

[00:50:17] strong

[00:50:18] fortress

[00:50:18] and

[00:50:19] high

[00:50:19] tower.

[00:50:20] He

[00:50:20] will

[00:50:21] never

[00:50:21] refuse

[00:50:21] to

[00:50:22] shelter

[00:50:22] her

[00:50:23] from

[00:50:23] her

[00:50:23] adversaries.

[00:50:25] In

[00:50:25] times

[00:50:26] of

[00:50:26] trouble

[00:50:26] he

[00:50:27] will

[00:50:27] hide

[00:50:28] her

[00:50:28] in

[00:50:29] his

[00:50:29] pavilion.

[00:50:30] In

[00:50:31] the

[00:50:31] secret

[00:50:31] of

[00:50:32] his

[00:50:32] tabernacle

[00:50:32] he

[00:50:33] will

[00:50:33] hide

[00:50:34] her.

[00:50:35] When

[00:50:36] the

[00:50:36] heavens

[00:50:36] are

[00:50:37] dark

[00:50:38] and

[00:50:38] angry

[00:50:39] she

[00:50:40] flies

[00:50:40] like

[00:50:41] a

[00:50:41] frightened

[00:50:42] dove

[00:50:42] to

[00:50:43] the

[00:50:43] thick

[00:50:44] branches

[00:50:44] of

[00:50:50] she

[00:50:50] is

[00:50:50] safe

[00:50:50] from

[00:50:51] the

[00:50:51] windy

[00:50:52] storm

[00:50:52] and

[00:50:53] tempest.

[00:50:54] There

[00:50:55] she

[00:50:56] may

[00:50:56] rest

[00:50:56] in

[00:50:57] confidence

[00:50:57] till

[00:50:58] these

[00:50:58] calamities

[00:50:59] have

[00:51:00] passed.

[00:51:01] The

[00:51:02] tree

[00:51:02] of

[00:51:03] her

[00:51:03] protection

[00:51:03] can

[00:51:04] never

[00:51:05] be

[00:51:05] moved

[00:51:05] by

[00:51:06] the

[00:51:06] lightning

[00:51:06] nor

[00:51:07] broken

[00:51:08] by

[00:51:08] the

[00:51:08] blast.

[00:51:11] Christ

[00:51:12] is

[00:51:13] the

[00:51:13] source

[00:51:13] of

[00:51:13] life

[00:51:14] and

[00:51:15] beauty

[00:51:15] to

[00:51:16] all

[00:51:17] the

[00:51:17] trees

[00:51:17] in

[00:51:18] the

[00:51:18] garden

[00:51:18] of

[00:51:19] God.

[00:51:20] Jehovah

[00:51:21] determined

[00:51:22] to

[00:51:22] teach

[00:51:23] the

[00:51:23] trees

[00:51:23] of

[00:51:23] the

[00:51:23] forest

[00:51:24] a

[00:51:24] new

[00:51:24] lesson.

[00:51:25] Let

[00:51:26] the

[00:51:26] princes

[00:51:27] of

[00:51:27] this

[00:51:27] world

[00:51:28] hear

[00:51:28] it

[00:51:28] and

[00:51:29] the

[00:51:29] proud

[00:51:29] philosophers

[00:51:30] of

[00:51:30] Greece

[00:51:30] and

[00:51:31] Rome.

[00:51:32] I

[00:51:32] have

[00:51:33] brought

[00:51:33] down

[00:51:34] the

[00:51:34] high

[00:51:34] tree

[00:51:34] and

[00:51:35] exalted

[00:51:36] the

[00:51:36] low

[00:51:37] tree

[00:51:37] have

[00:51:38] dried

[00:51:38] up

[00:51:39] the

[00:51:39] green

[00:51:40] tree

[00:51:40] and

[00:51:41] made

[00:51:41] the

[00:51:41] dry

[00:51:41] tree

[00:51:42] to

[00:51:43] flourish.

[00:51:45] Many

[00:51:46] things

[00:51:46] have

[00:51:51] metaphors

[00:51:52] such

[00:51:53] as

[00:51:53] the

[00:51:53] bringing

[00:51:53] down

[00:51:54] of

[00:51:54] Pharaoh

[00:51:54] to

[00:51:55] the

[00:51:55] bottom

[00:51:55] of

[00:51:55] the

[00:51:56] sea

[00:51:56] that

[00:51:57] Israel

[00:51:57] might

[00:51:57] be

[00:51:58] exalted

[00:51:58] to

[00:51:59] sing

[00:51:59] the

[00:51:59] song

[00:51:59] of

[00:52:00] Moses

[00:52:00] and

[00:52:01] the

[00:52:01] drying

[00:52:02] up

[00:52:02] of

[00:52:02] the

[00:52:02] pride

[00:52:03] and

[00:52:03] pomp

[00:52:04] of

[00:52:04] Haman

[00:52:04] that

[00:52:05] Mordecai

[00:52:06] might

[00:52:06] flourish

[00:52:07] in

[00:52:07] honour

[00:52:07] and

[00:52:08] esteem.

[00:52:09] But

[00:52:10] for the

[00:52:11] most

[00:52:21] dust

[00:52:21] of

[00:52:22] death

[00:52:22] that

[00:52:23] the

[00:52:23] low

[00:52:24] tree

[00:52:24] might

[00:52:24] be

[00:52:24] exalted

[00:52:25] to

[00:52:25] life

[00:52:26] eternal

[00:52:26] the

[00:52:27] green

[00:52:28] tree

[00:52:28] dried

[00:52:29] up

[00:52:29] by

[00:52:29] the

[00:52:29] fires

[00:52:30] of

[00:52:30] divine

[00:52:30] wrath

[00:52:31] that

[00:52:32] the

[00:52:32] dry

[00:52:32] tree

[00:52:33] might

[00:52:33] flourish

[00:52:34] in

[00:52:34] the

[00:52:34] favour

[00:52:35] of

[00:52:35] God

[00:52:35] forever.

[00:52:38] To

[00:52:39] this

[00:52:39] particularly

[00:52:40] our

[00:52:41] blessed

[00:52:41] Redeemer

[00:52:41] seems

[00:52:42] to

[00:52:42] refer

[00:52:42] in

[00:52:43] his

[00:52:43] address

[00:52:44] to

[00:52:44] the

[00:52:44] daughters

[00:52:44] of

[00:52:45] Jerusalem

[00:52:45] as

[00:52:46] they

[00:52:46] follow

[00:52:47] him

[00:52:47] weeping

[00:52:48] to

[00:52:48] the

[00:52:49] place

[00:52:49] of

[00:52:49] crucifixion.

[00:52:51] Weep

[00:52:52] not

[00:52:52] for

[00:52:52] me

[00:52:53] he

[00:52:53] says

[00:52:54] there

[00:52:55] is

[00:52:55] a

[00:52:55] mystery

[00:52:55] in

[00:52:56] all

[00:52:56] this

[00:52:57] which

[00:52:57] you

[00:52:58] cannot

[00:52:58] now

[00:52:58] comprehend

[00:53:00] like

[00:53:01] Joseph

[00:53:02] I

[00:53:03] have

[00:53:03] been

[00:53:03] sold

[00:53:03] by

[00:53:04] my

[00:53:04] brethren

[00:53:04] but

[00:53:06] like

[00:53:06] Joseph

[00:53:06] I

[00:53:08] will

[00:53:08] be

[00:53:08] a

[00:53:08] blessing

[00:53:09] to

[00:53:09] all

[00:53:09] my

[00:53:09] father's

[00:53:10] house

[00:53:10] I

[00:53:12] am

[00:53:12] carrying

[00:53:12] this

[00:53:13] cross

[00:53:13] to

[00:53:13] Calvary

[00:53:14] that

[00:53:15] I

[00:53:15] may

[00:53:15] be

[00:53:16] crucified

[00:53:16] upon

[00:53:17] it

[00:53:17] between

[00:53:17] two

[00:53:18] thieves

[00:53:18] but

[00:53:20] when

[00:53:20] the

[00:53:20] lid

[00:53:20] of

[00:53:20] the

[00:53:20] mysterious

[00:53:21] ark

[00:53:22] shall

[00:53:22] be

[00:53:22] lifted

[00:53:23] then

[00:53:24] you

[00:53:24] will

[00:53:24] see

[00:53:25] that

[00:53:25] it

[00:53:26] is

[00:53:26] to

[00:53:26] save

[00:53:27] sinners

[00:53:27] that

[00:53:27] I

[00:53:27] give

[00:53:28] my

[00:53:28] back

[00:53:28] to

[00:53:28] the

[00:53:29] smiters

[00:53:29] and

[00:53:30] my

[00:53:30] life

[00:53:31] for

[00:53:31] a

[00:53:31] sacrifice

[00:53:32] weep

[00:53:33] not

[00:53:34] for

[00:53:34] me

[00:53:34] but

[00:53:35] for

[00:53:35] yourselves

[00:53:36] and

[00:53:36] your

[00:53:36] children

[00:53:37] for

[00:53:38] if

[00:53:38] they

[00:53:38] do

[00:53:38] these

[00:53:39] things

[00:53:39] in

[00:53:39] the

[00:53:39] green

[00:53:40] tree

[00:53:40] what

[00:53:41] will

[00:53:41] be

[00:53:42] done

[00:53:42] in

[00:53:42] the

[00:53:42] dry

[00:53:44] I

[00:53:44] am

[00:53:45] the

[00:53:45] green

[00:53:45] tree

[00:53:46] today

[00:53:46] and

[00:53:47] behold

[00:53:48] I

[00:53:49] am

[00:53:49] consumed

[00:53:50] that you

[00:53:51] may

[00:53:51] flourish

[00:53:52] I

[00:53:54] am

[00:53:54] the

[00:53:54] high

[00:53:54] tree

[00:53:55] and

[00:53:56] am

[00:53:56] prostrated

[00:53:57] that

[00:53:57] you

[00:53:58] may

[00:53:58] be

[00:53:58] exalted

[00:54:00] the

[00:54:01] firebrands

[00:54:03] of

[00:54:03] Jerusalem

[00:54:03] had

[00:54:04] well

[00:54:04] near

[00:54:04] kindled

[00:54:05] to

[00:54:05] a

[00:54:05] flame

[00:54:06] of

[00:54:06] themselves

[00:54:07] amid

[00:54:07] the

[00:54:07] tumult

[00:54:08] of

[00:54:08] the

[00:54:08] people

[00:54:09] when

[00:54:09] they

[00:54:09] cried

[00:54:10] out

[00:54:10] away

[00:54:11] with

[00:54:11] him

[00:54:12] crucify

[00:54:13] him

[00:54:13] his

[00:54:14] blood

[00:54:14] be

[00:54:14] upon

[00:54:15] us

[00:54:15] and

[00:54:15] on

[00:54:16] our

[00:54:16] children

[00:54:17] oh

[00:54:18] wonder

[00:54:19] of

[00:54:19] mercy

[00:54:20] that

[00:54:21] they

[00:54:21] were

[00:54:21] not

[00:54:22] seized

[00:54:22] and

[00:54:23] consumed

[00:54:23] at

[00:54:24] once

[00:54:24] by

[00:54:25] fire

[00:54:25] from

[00:54:26] heaven

[00:54:26] but

[00:54:28] he

[00:54:29] whom

[00:54:30] they

[00:54:30] crucify

[00:54:31] prays

[00:54:32] for them

[00:54:33] and

[00:54:33] they

[00:54:34] are

[00:54:34] spared

[00:54:35] hear

[00:54:37] his

[00:54:37] intercession

[00:54:38] father

[00:54:40] forgive

[00:54:41] them

[00:54:41] save

[00:54:43] these

[00:54:43] sinners

[00:54:44] ready

[00:54:45] for the

[00:54:45] fire

[00:54:46] on

[00:54:47] me

[00:54:47] on

[00:54:48] me

[00:54:49] alone

[00:54:49] be

[00:54:50] the

[00:54:50] fierceness

[00:54:51] of

[00:54:51] your

[00:54:51] indignation

[00:54:52] i

[00:54:53] am

[00:54:53] ready

[00:54:54] to

[00:54:54] drink

[00:54:55] the

[00:54:55] cup

[00:54:55] which

[00:54:56] you

[00:54:56] have

[00:54:57] mingled

[00:54:57] i

[00:54:58] am

[00:54:58] willing

[00:54:59] to

[00:54:59] fall

[00:55:00] beneath

[00:55:00] the

[00:55:00] stroke

[00:55:01] of

[00:55:01] your

[00:55:01] angry

[00:55:02] justice

[00:55:03] i

[00:55:04] come

[00:55:05] to

[00:55:05] suffer

[00:55:05] for

[00:55:06] the

[00:55:06] guilty

[00:55:06] bind

[00:55:08] me

[00:55:08] in

[00:55:09] their

[00:55:09] stead

[00:55:10] lay

[00:55:11] me

[00:55:11] upon

[00:55:12] the

[00:55:12] altar

[00:55:12] and

[00:55:13] send

[00:55:13] down

[00:55:14] fire

[00:55:14] to

[00:55:15] consume

[00:55:16] the

[00:55:16] sacrifice

[00:55:17] it

[00:55:19] was

[00:55:19] done

[00:55:20] i

[00:55:21] heard

[00:55:21] a

[00:55:21] great

[00:55:22] voice

[00:55:22] from

[00:55:23] heaven

[00:55:23] awake

[00:55:24] oh

[00:55:25] sword

[00:55:25] against

[00:55:26] my

[00:55:26] shepherd

[00:55:27] kindle

[00:55:28] the

[00:55:28] flame

[00:55:28] let

[00:55:29] off

[00:55:29] the

[00:55:29] artillery

[00:55:30] night

[00:55:31] suddenly

[00:55:31] enveloped

[00:55:32] the

[00:55:32] earth

[00:55:33] nature

[00:55:34] trembled

[00:55:35] around

[00:55:35] me

[00:55:35] i

[00:55:36] heard

[00:55:36] the

[00:55:36] tearing

[00:55:37] of

[00:55:37] the

[00:55:37] rocks

[00:55:38] i

[00:55:39] looked

[00:55:39] and

[00:55:40] lo

[00:55:40] the

[00:55:41] stroke

[00:55:41] had

[00:55:42] fallen

[00:55:42] upon

[00:55:43] the

[00:55:43] high

[00:55:44] tree

[00:55:44] and

[00:55:45] the

[00:55:45] green

[00:55:45] tree

[00:55:46] was

[00:55:46] all

[00:55:46] on

[00:55:47] fire

[00:55:47] while

[00:55:48] i

[00:55:48] gazed

[00:55:49] i

[00:55:49] heard

[00:55:49] a

[00:55:49] voice

[00:55:50] mournful

[00:55:51] but

[00:55:51] strangely

[00:55:52] sweet

[00:55:53] my

[00:55:54] god

[00:55:54] my

[00:55:55] god

[00:55:55] why

[00:55:56] have

[00:55:57] you

[00:55:57] forsaken

[00:55:58] me

[00:55:59] my

[00:56:00] heart

[00:56:00] is

[00:56:01] like

[00:56:01] wax

[00:56:02] it

[00:56:02] is

[00:56:02] melted

[00:56:03] in

[00:56:03] the

[00:56:03] midst

[00:56:03] of

[00:56:04] my

[00:56:04] bowels

[00:56:05] my

[00:56:05] strength

[00:56:06] is

[00:56:06] dried

[00:56:06] up

[00:56:07] like

[00:56:07] up

[00:56:07] my

[00:56:09] tongue

[00:56:09] cleaves

[00:56:10] to

[00:56:10] my

[00:56:11] jaws

[00:56:11] one

[00:56:12] may

[00:56:13] tell

[00:56:13] all

[00:56:13] my

[00:56:14] bones

[00:56:15] dogs

[00:56:16] have

[00:56:16] surrounded

[00:56:17] me

[00:56:17] strong

[00:56:18] bulls

[00:56:18] of

[00:56:19] bashan

[00:56:19] have

[00:56:19] fallen

[00:56:20] upon

[00:56:20] me

[00:56:21] they

[00:56:22] stare

[00:56:22] at

[00:56:22] me

[00:56:23] they

[00:56:23] gaped

[00:56:24] upon

[00:56:24] me

[00:56:24] with

[00:56:24] their

[00:56:25] mouths

[00:56:25] they

[00:56:26] pierced

[00:56:27] my

[00:56:27] hands

[00:56:28] and

[00:56:28] my

[00:56:28] feet

[00:56:29] deliver

[00:56:30] my

[00:56:31] soul

[00:56:31] from

[00:56:32] the

[00:56:32] lions

[00:56:32] my

[00:56:33] darling

[00:56:34] from

[00:56:34] the

[00:56:34] power

[00:56:35] of

[00:56:35] the

[00:56:35] dogs

[00:56:36] it

[00:56:37] is

[00:56:38] finished

[00:56:39] oh

[00:56:40] with what

[00:56:40] majestic

[00:56:41] sweetness

[00:56:42] fell that

[00:56:42] voice upon

[00:56:43] my

[00:56:43] soul

[00:56:44] instantly

[00:56:45] the clouds

[00:56:46] were scattered

[00:56:47] I

[00:56:48] looked

[00:56:48] and

[00:56:49] saw

[00:56:49] with

[00:56:50] unspeakable

[00:56:51] wonder

[00:56:52] millions

[00:56:53] of the

[00:56:53] low

[00:56:54] trees

[00:56:54] shooting

[00:56:55] up

[00:56:55] and

[00:56:56] millions

[00:56:56] of the

[00:56:57] dry

[00:56:57] trees

[00:56:58] putting

[00:56:58] out

[00:56:58] their

[00:56:59] leaves

[00:56:59] and

[00:56:59] fruit

[00:57:00] then

[00:57:01] I

[00:57:01] took

[00:57:01] my

[00:57:02] harp

[00:57:02] and

[00:57:03] sang

[00:57:03] this

[00:57:03] song

[00:57:04] worthy

[00:57:05] is

[00:57:06] the

[00:57:06] lamb

[00:57:07] for

[00:57:08] he

[00:57:08] was

[00:57:08] humbled

[00:57:09] that

[00:57:10] we

[00:57:10] might

[00:57:10] be

[00:57:10] exalted

[00:57:11] he

[00:57:12] was

[00:57:13] wounded

[00:57:13] so

[00:57:14] that

[00:57:14] we

[00:57:14] might

[00:57:15] be

[00:57:15] healed

[00:57:15] he

[00:57:16] was

[00:57:17] robbed

[00:57:17] so

[00:57:18] that

[00:57:18] we

[00:57:18] might

[00:57:19] be

[00:57:19] enriched

[00:57:20] he

[00:57:21] was

[00:57:21] slain

[00:57:22] that

[00:57:22] we

[00:57:23] might

[00:57:23] live

[00:57:24] then

[00:57:25] I

[00:57:26] saw

[00:57:26] the

[00:57:26] beam

[00:57:27] of

[00:57:27] a

[00:57:27] great

[00:57:28] scale

[00:57:28] one

[00:57:30] end

[00:57:30] descending

[00:57:31] to the

[00:57:31] abyss

[00:57:32] borne

[00:57:33] down

[00:57:33] by the

[00:57:33] power

[00:57:34] of the

[00:57:34] atonement

[00:57:35] the

[00:57:36] other

[00:57:36] end

[00:57:37] ascended

[00:57:38] to the

[00:57:38] heaven

[00:57:39] of

[00:57:39] heavens

[00:57:39] and

[00:57:40] lifted

[00:57:40] up

[00:57:41] the

[00:57:41] prisoners

[00:57:42] of

[00:57:42] the

[00:57:42] tomb

[00:57:43] wonderful

[00:57:44] plan

[00:57:45] Christ

[00:57:46] condemned

[00:57:46] for our

[00:57:47] justification

[00:57:48] forsaken

[00:57:49] of his

[00:57:50] father

[00:57:51] that we

[00:57:52] might

[00:57:52] enjoy

[00:57:52] his

[00:57:53] fellowship

[00:57:53] passing

[00:57:54] under

[00:57:55] the

[00:57:55] curse

[00:57:56] of

[00:57:56] the

[00:57:56] law

[00:57:56] to

[00:57:57] bear

[00:57:57] it

[00:57:57] away

[00:57:58] from

[00:57:58] the

[00:57:58] believer

[00:57:59] forever

[00:58:00] this

[00:58:01] is

[00:58:02] the

[00:58:02] great

[00:58:02] scale

[00:58:03] of

[00:58:04] redemption

[00:58:04] as

[00:58:06] one

[00:58:06] end

[00:58:07] of

[00:58:07] the

[00:58:07] beam

[00:58:07] falls

[00:58:08] under

[00:58:08] the

[00:58:15] bearing

[00:58:15] bearing

[00:58:15] the

[00:58:15] basket

[00:58:16] of

[00:58:16] mercy

[00:58:17] full

[00:58:18] of

[00:58:18] pardons

[00:58:19] and

[00:58:19] blessings

[00:58:20] and

[00:58:20] hopes

[00:58:21] he

[00:58:22] who

[00:58:23] knew

[00:58:23] no

[00:58:24] sin

[00:58:24] was

[00:58:25] made

[00:58:26] sin

[00:58:26] for

[00:58:27] us

[00:58:27] that

[00:58:28] is

[00:58:28] his

[00:58:28] end

[00:58:29] of

[00:58:29] the

[00:58:29] beam

[00:58:29] that

[00:58:30] we

[00:58:30] might

[00:58:31] be

[00:58:31] made

[00:58:31] the

[00:58:31] righteousness

[00:58:32] of

[00:58:32] God

[00:58:32] in

[00:58:33] him

[00:58:33] this

[00:58:34] is

[00:58:35] ours

[00:58:35] though

[00:58:37] he

[00:58:37] was

[00:58:37] rich

[00:58:38] yet

[00:58:38] for

[00:58:39] our

[00:58:39] sakes

[00:58:39] he

[00:58:40] became

[00:58:40] poor

[00:58:41] there

[00:58:42] goes

[00:58:42] his

[00:58:42] end

[00:58:43] down

[00:58:43] that

[00:58:44] we

[00:58:44] through

[00:58:45] his

[00:58:45] poverty

[00:58:46] might

[00:58:47] be

[00:58:47] rich

[00:58:48] here

[00:58:49] comes

[00:58:49] ours

[00:58:50] up

[00:58:52] oh

[00:58:53] sinners

[00:58:54] you

[00:58:55] withered

[00:58:56] and

[00:58:56] fallen

[00:58:56] trees

[00:58:57] fuel

[00:58:58] for

[00:58:58] the

[00:58:58] everlasting

[00:58:59] burning

[00:59:00] ready

[00:59:01] to

[00:59:01] ignite

[00:59:01] at

[00:59:01] the

[00:59:02] first

[00:59:02] spark

[00:59:02] of

[00:59:03] vengeance

[00:59:03] oh

[00:59:04] you

[00:59:05] faithless

[00:59:05] souls

[00:59:06] self

[00:59:07] ruined

[00:59:07] and

[00:59:07] self

[00:59:08] condemned

[00:59:08] enemies

[00:59:09] in

[00:59:10] your

[00:59:10] hearts

[00:59:11] by

[00:59:11] wicked

[00:59:11] works

[00:59:12] we

[00:59:13] pray

[00:59:13] for

[00:59:13] you

[00:59:14] in

[00:59:14] Christ's

[00:59:15] stead

[00:59:16] be

[00:59:16] reconciled

[00:59:18] to

[00:59:18] God

[00:59:18] he

[00:59:19] has

[00:59:20] found

[00:59:20] out

[00:59:20] a

[00:59:21] plan

[00:59:21] for

[00:59:21] your

[00:59:22] salvation

[00:59:23] to

[00:59:23] raise

[00:59:24] up

[00:59:24] the

[00:59:24] low

[00:59:25] tree

[00:59:25] by

[00:59:26] humbling

[00:59:26] the

[00:59:26] high

[00:59:27] to

[00:59:28] save

[00:59:28] the

[00:59:28] dry

[00:59:29] tree

[00:59:29] from

[00:59:29] the

[00:59:30] fire

[00:59:30] by

[00:59:31] burning

[00:59:31] up

[00:59:31] the

[00:59:32] green

[00:59:33] he

[00:59:34] is

[00:59:34] able

[00:59:34] to

[00:59:35] put

[00:59:35] at

[00:59:35] the

[00:59:36] same

[00:59:36] time

[00:59:36] a

[00:59:37] crown

[00:59:37] of

[00:59:38] glory

[00:59:38] on

[00:59:38] the

[00:59:39] head

[00:59:39] of

[00:59:39] the

[00:59:39] law

[00:59:39] and

[00:59:40] a

[00:59:40] crown

[00:59:40] of

[00:59:41] mercy

[00:59:41] on

[00:59:42] the

[00:59:42] head

[00:59:42] of

[00:59:42] the

[00:59:42] sinner

[00:59:43] one

[00:59:44] of

[00:59:45] those

[00:59:45] hands

[00:59:46] which

[00:59:46] were

[00:59:46] nailed

[00:59:47] to

[00:59:47] the

[00:59:47] cross

[00:59:48] blotted

[00:59:49] out

[00:59:49] the

[00:59:49] fiery

[00:59:50] handwriting

[00:59:50] of

[00:59:51] Sinai

[00:59:52] while

[00:59:52] the

[00:59:53] other

[00:59:53] opened

[00:59:54] the

[00:59:54] prison

[00:59:55] doors

[00:59:55] of

[00:59:56] the

[00:59:56] captives

[00:59:57] from

[00:59:58] from

[00:59:58] from

[00:59:58] death

[00:59:59] from

[01:00:00] Messiah

[01:00:00] suffering

[01:00:01] flows

[01:00:02] the

[01:00:02] river

[01:00:03] of

[01:00:03] the

[01:00:04] water

[01:00:04] of

[01:00:05] life

[01:00:06] eternal

[01:00:07] light

[01:00:08] rises

[01:00:09] from

[01:00:09] the

[01:00:09] gloom

[01:00:09] of

[01:00:10] Gethsemane

[01:00:11] Satan

[01:00:12] planted

[01:00:13] the tree

[01:00:13] of

[01:00:14] death

[01:00:14] on

[01:00:15] the

[01:00:15] grave

[01:00:15] of

[01:00:15] the

[01:00:16] first

[01:00:16] Adam

[01:00:16] and

[01:00:17] sought

[01:00:18] to

[01:00:18] plant

[01:00:18] it

[01:00:19] also

[01:00:19] on

[01:00:19] the

[01:00:19] grave

[01:00:20] of

[01:00:20] the

[01:00:20] second

[01:00:21] but

[01:00:22] how

[01:00:22] terrible

[01:00:23] was

[01:00:24] his

[01:00:24] disappointment

[01:00:25] and

[01:00:25] despair

[01:00:26] when

[01:00:27] he

[01:00:27] found

[01:00:28] out

[01:00:28] that

[01:00:28] the

[01:00:29] wrong

[01:00:29] seed

[01:00:29] had

[01:00:30] been

[01:00:30] deposited

[01:00:31] there

[01:00:31] and

[01:00:32] was

[01:00:32] springing

[01:00:33] up

[01:00:33] unto

[01:00:34] everlasting

[01:00:35] life

[01:00:36] come

[01:00:37] fly

[01:00:38] to

[01:00:38] the

[01:00:39] shelter

[01:00:39] of

[01:00:40] this

[01:00:40] tree

[01:00:41] and

[01:00:41] dwell

[01:00:42] in

[01:00:42] the

[01:00:42] shadow

[01:00:43] of

[01:00:43] its

[01:00:43] branches

[01:00:44] and

[01:00:45] eat

[01:00:45] of

[01:00:45] its

[01:00:46] fruit

[01:00:46] and

[01:00:47] live

[01:00:48] to

[01:00:50] conclude

[01:00:51] is

[01:00:52] not

[01:00:52] the

[01:00:52] conversion

[01:00:53] of

[01:00:53] sinners

[01:00:54] an

[01:00:54] object

[01:00:55] dear

[01:00:55] to

[01:00:55] the

[01:00:56] hearts

[01:00:56] of

[01:00:56] the

[01:00:56] saints

[01:00:57] God

[01:00:58] alone

[01:00:59] can

[01:00:59] do

[01:00:59] the

[01:00:59] work

[01:01:00] he

[01:01:01] can

[01:01:01] say

[01:01:01] to

[01:01:01] the

[01:01:01] north

[01:01:02] give

[01:01:02] up

[01:01:03] and

[01:01:04] to

[01:01:04] the

[01:01:04] south

[01:01:04] do

[01:01:05] not

[01:01:05] hold

[01:01:06] back

[01:01:06] he

[01:01:07] can

[01:01:07] bring

[01:01:08] his

[01:01:08] sons

[01:01:08] from

[01:01:09] afar

[01:01:09] and

[01:01:10] his

[01:01:10] daughters

[01:01:10] from

[01:01:11] the

[01:01:11] ends

[01:01:12] of

[01:01:12] the

[01:01:12] earth

[01:01:13] our

[01:01:14] Shiloh

[01:01:15] has

[01:01:16] an

[01:01:31] God

[01:01:33] gather them from the forest and fish them up from the sea and bring them home as the shepherd brings

[01:01:41] the stray lambs to the fold. God alone can catch these birds of every wing. They fly away from us.

[01:01:51] To our grief they often fly far away when we think of them almost in our hands.

[01:01:58] And then the most talented and most holy ministers cannot overtake them.

[01:02:05] His arrows will reach them and bring them from their lofty flight to the earth.

[01:02:12] Then he will heal their wounds and tame their wild nature and give them rest beneath the branches of the strong cedar.

[01:02:35] I enjoy the sermon. Christmas Evans has a way of just describing and interweaving pictures into his sermon.

[01:02:44] And just, you know, the cedar of God, that's not like a topic you would think of, a tree of God.

[01:02:49] You know, it's not something we talk about so often. I don't think I've ever heard a sermon on the trees of God.

[01:02:54] It sounds almost like a gardening sermon if you saw that series on a church driving by.

[01:02:58] And yet I love how he takes this passage from Ezekiel and weaves it through everything from the, you know,

[01:03:03] tree that was Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel to the mustard tree and the seed.

[01:03:08] The way he just kind of takes this idea and uses it and scripturally fleshes it out that you just see all these different ways

[01:03:16] that this concept actually is mirrored through the scriptures.

[01:03:20] I enjoy that a lot.

[01:03:21] I personally think that that is an important thing to do when studying scripture is seeing how a concept like a tree or something like that,

[01:03:28] what is these, you know, deeper messages here and how he's able to tie that all into bearing fruit for the Lord and being faithful to him and stuff like that.

[01:03:37] I just think Christmas Evans is really good at that.

[01:03:39] So I hope that you listening to this episode were able to just think about maybe a concept and just kind of go follow his train of thought to places that you had not done so before

[01:03:48] with something as simple as the idea of look at this, you know, the tree of God and looking at trees throughout the scripture.

[01:04:08] Thank you, Guthrie, for reading the sermon.

[01:04:10] I met Guthrie last year.

[01:04:11] He's a very nice guy.

[01:04:13] He listened to Revive Thoughts and he wanted to read a sermon for us.

[01:04:16] And he had listened to the Christmas Evans episodes and was just he really enjoyed Christmas Evans.

[01:04:23] And how can you not?

[01:04:24] And so he asked if he could read a sermon of Christmas Evans for us.

[01:04:28] It wasn't the first sermon he's read for us.

[01:04:29] He also read a sermon by John Wesley this year as well.

[01:04:33] But I wanted I will never say no to bringing Christmas Evans back around.

[01:04:37] So Guthrie, thank you for reading this and helping us bring this one to life.

[01:04:42] If you like today's episode, consider telling a friend.

[01:04:46] You know, it's that holiday season.

[01:04:47] People are gifting things.

[01:04:48] Why don't you gift the gift of a podcast recommendation and say, hey, come listen to Revive Thoughts.

[01:04:55] I know we would appreciate that around here.

[01:04:58] And have a Merry Christmas going into the Christmas season here.

[01:05:02] This is Troy and Jewel and this is Revive.

[01:05:04] Wait a second.

[01:05:05] Wait a second.

[01:05:06] I just wanted to add.

[01:05:07] No, I mean, you're wondering.

[01:05:08] It's getting late, guys.

[01:05:09] You need to get the perfect gift for your wife.

[01:05:11] Have you considered a subscription to Revive Thoughts?

[01:05:13] Just a subscriber on your phone.

[01:05:15] That's that is the perfect Christmas gift right there.

[01:05:17] That'll that'll make her Christmas for sure.

[01:05:20] OK, this is Troy and Jewel and this is Revive Thoughts.