Well, I was there four and a half years ago.
I was there half hour ago.
I'm not afraid of buttons.
There's a bit of a rotation in the middle.
West to...
East to West?
Yeah, one way you can go on mid to the other.
Yeah.
It's only about Wichita.
Wichita?
Wichita.
I told you.
Yeah, it's the town next to the worm was in Mississippi.
Yes.
What do you think it is?
They'll come right there and do their own work.
They'll do their own house.
Really?
That's a drunk busser.
He had to see all the witches hang out.
Did you bring him?
And the witches had brooms bolted to their...
Jacks-in-the-land.
I said that they had the broom bolted to their...
It's gorgeous because it's a band in the D.U.S.
Maybe someone about it can see that.
But a friend will get very soon.
I don't like my picture more.
It's a lot.
Now I can see it a little bit.
It's nice to know each day is a little bit wide.
It's from people.
It's nice to know each day is a little bit wide.
2 Corinthians chapter 10.
2 Corinthians 10.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you that we can come here.
We can sing praise to your name.
We thank you for your word here, Lord God.
We just pray for Pastor Kevin as he preaches to us, Lord,
that you'd give him wisdom and that you would be with his mouth,
that you'd give him the right words to say.
I pray that you would be with our understanding also,
Lord God, as we hear your word preached.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Okay, so you're there in 2 Corinthians chapter 10.
Now, one of the...
I learned a lot of...
Since becoming a pastor, I've learned a lot of things in my life
and, I mean, things that you say, well, obvious pastor,
but, you know, when you get around talking to people
and they share concerns and things about their life,
you start to realize just, again, just how much people are hurting,
maybe because of some struggle they're going through right now,
but also many times people regret the decisions they've made in the past.
You know, I know for one that there are decisions in my past that I regret
and I think if we're honest, we all have made mistakes that we regret
and one of the things I underestimated as a pastor,
because I personally believe I'm somewhat mentally strong
and I think that, you know, I'm someone that tends to think on the positive side of things.
Even when things aren't going according to plan,
I don't tend to think of the things that aren't going according to plan.
I tend to think of the things that are going according to plan
but not everybody's like that
and because there are difficulties and there are regrets,
many times people are so bogged down mentally with anguish and pain and sorrow,
even when things are going so well in life for them,
they're just so easy to find the little things that are causing them problems
and when you don't have your mind set on right things and the things of the Lord,
it can have an effect on your actual physical body.
So the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 10 verse 5,
casting down imaginations.
Brethren, where are the imaginations?
You know, are you able to just go up to an object and grab that, let's say an idol,
you know, like you might think, well yeah, I might have an idol in the house,
maybe I've been saved from, let's say Roman Catholicism,
I've got this idol, I can grab that idol and just cast it down and smash it,
you know, maybe I've had books of the occult in the past,
I've read books that do not please the Lord,
I can grab those books and cast them down
but when you're casting down imaginations, where are they?
They're right here.
So there's no physical, tangible way to get a hold of this,
it's all taking place there in the mind, casting down imaginations
and every high thing that exalts of itself against the knowledge of God
and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
You see, brethren, in your mind you've got thoughts and you've got regrets
and you've got sorrows and maybe many times you're living in the past
and it's stopping you from living today and living tomorrow
and so the title for the sermon tonight is Memories of the Past.
Memories of the Past, I remember when I was putting this sermon together originally,
I wanted to call it Forget the Past
because a lot of people struggle, they live in the past
and, you know, they dwell in the past and they forget to live for today,
they forget to live for their relationship today
because some relationship went bad in the past
but, you know, forgetting the past can be helpful
but it's not always the best way to live your life
and so rather I just want you to think about the memories of the past,
we all have a memory, the Lord's given us a mind, okay,
He's given us a mind to be reasonable, to be logical, to learn,
hey, to learn from mistakes, to look back and have these memories,
God's given us that ability but just like anything, just like emotions,
emotions in of themselves are not wrong as I covered last week
but we can use emotions for the wrong things,
we can use emotions for the right things.
Well, when it comes to remembering the past,
we can use our memories for that which is right
and we can use our memories for that which is wrong
and so that is your choice to decide.
But it continues in verse number six
and having a readiness to revenge all disobedience
when your obedience is fulfilled.
So the Bible tells us that we are to take revenge on our disobedience
and the way we take revenge on our disobedience is by being obedient.
You see, the only way you can take revenge on your disobedience
is looking back at your past and go, man, I've made these mistakes,
oh, how bad it was, all right, you're disobedient,
you made mistakes, all right, I understand that
but now it's about time that you take revenge
on those disobedient things that you've done
and do things obediently today and moving forward.
Okay, so you can see why forgetting the past sounds nice
but hey, it's good to remember our disobedience
and say, you know what, I'm going to change that.
Or, hey, my parents had a broken family,
you know, my mum and dad were divorced,
you know, they didn't take care of, well, I'm going to change that.
Instead of saying, you know what, I'm going to just carry on
and do the same things and the same mistakes
that I've seen in the generations of the past,
you can make a decision and go, you know what,
I'm going to take revenge on that disobedience
and I'm going to make sure that I do things right moving forward
that I can then be a blessing to the generations to come from my loins.
So if you can, come with me to Psalm 111.
Psalm 111 and verse number 4.
Psalm 111, verse number 4.
Again, we have our memories.
But what are you dwelling on?
When you think of the past, what are you dwelling on?
Are you dwelling on the things that bring you sorrow
or are you dwelling on the things that bring you joy?
In Psalm 111, verse number 4.
Psalm 111, verse number 4.
It says here,
He has made His wonderful works to be what?
To be remembered.
The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.
See, the Lord does want us to remember the past, okay?
But what does He want us to remember?
His wonderful works.
You know what's going to help you when you think of the past
and you start thinking about your life as a child,
your life as a teenager, in your early adulthood or however far you go?
I want you to start remembering,
instead of thinking of all the regrets and the bad decisions
and, oh man, I wish I could go back,
how about you start thinking about the works that God has done in your life?
Why don't you start thinking about the blessings,
the answer prayers that God,
everything that God has given you.
He has given you the ability to be who you are today.
The doors that He has opened for you to be blessed up at this church.
The knowledge that He has given you in the Bible.
Hey, the salvation that He gave you some time ago.
Why don't you remember the wonderful works of God
rather than all the horrible, sad things that you've done in the past
because we've all done it.
We've all done horrible and sad things.
And look, if you dwell on those things, your heart will be sad.
You know, you won't be able to live for today.
You'll be constantly stressful.
You'll be constantly a downcast, depressed person.
You'll constantly be a negative influence on the people that you love,
that you surround yourself with.
How about you remember the wonderful things that God has done for you?
Come with me to Isaiah 43.
Isaiah 43, verse number 15.
Isaiah 43 and verse number 15.
Isaiah 43, verse number 15.
The Bible says,
I am the Lord, your holy one, the creator of Israel, your king.
Thus saith the Lord, which maketh a way in the sea,
and a path in the mighty waters,
which bringeth forth the chariot and horse,
the army and the power,
they shall lie down together,
and they shall not rise,
they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.
So when the Lord speaks of verses number 16 and 17,
what is He speaking about there?
He maketh a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters.
What's that referring to?
And then talking about the chariot and the horse being destroyed by the Lord,
of course that's referring to the nation of Israel,
or the children of Israel being delivered out of Egypt,
going through the Red Sea and God dividing those waters.
So what is it saying at that point?
We're talking about Isaiah, we're talking about many hundreds of years later,
after the event, the Lord again reminded them of the past, is He not?
But He's reminded them how He delivered them out of Egypt.
He's reminded them of the past.
But if you continue, look at verse 18.
He says, remember ye not the former things.
You go, hold on, the Lord, you don't want to remember the former things,
but you just told me about the former things.
And again, many things in the Bible,
I was talking about this non-stop actually the last few days,
many things, you need to understand there's always a balance to things, right?
If the Lord is saying remember ye not the former things,
He's not saying, okay, forget yesterday, or forget five minutes ago,
or have goldfish memory, what happened five seconds ago?
Okay, no, no, we're having a balance, the Lord has reminded them of former things,
but He says, remember ye not the former things,
neither consider the things of old,
He goes in verse number 19, behold, I will do a new thing.
Now it shall spring forth, shall ye know it?
I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the deserts.
So now we understand what God means.
When He says remember not the former things,
neither consider the things of old, He's saying, look, stop living in the past.
The Lord says, behold, I will do a new thing.
Brethren, today is a new day.
Tomorrow is going to be even a newer day.
The Lord wants us to live in the present,
and He wants us to be living for the future,
living for the days to come, the days that the Lord is going to give us.
Yes, it's wonderful that we can remember the great things that God has done for us,
but He doesn't want us living in the past.
Look, there's a new thing. There's a new day.
There's more works that I can do for you.
There's a greater leading that I can give you.
You can continue to grow. You can continue to be a blessing.
And this is why you need to remember, hey, the past is great,
but you can't live in the past and forget the present.
The Lord has given you life today.
That time is gone. That time is gone.
Today is what you want to make out of it with the help of God.
You know, the Bible says in Philippians 3, 13, I'll just quote it to you.
And this is the apostle Paul, and last week I did speak on this,
and I touched upon this briefly, but Philippians 3, 13, Paul says,
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended.
This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind
and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul says, look, I'm forgetting those things of the past.
If I want to move forward, if I want to do what God's asking of me,
if I want to reach that high calling in Christ Jesus,
then I've got to set aside the past.
The past is done. You can't relive it.
You know, you can't go, oh man, I'd like to go on a time machine and change those events.
It can't be done.
These are the laws of God.
But rather, think where you are today.
Yes, you made plenty of mistakes.
Hey, you also did plenty of good things.
You've also been plenty led by God.
You've done wonderful things. Live for him today.
You know, continue marching forward to the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Why is this important?
We are continuing the Perfect Man series.
Now moving forward, we're talking about this morning.
How many sermons have you got in the Perfect Man series?
About 25.
So it sort of reminded you we're doing the Perfect Man series.
I'm just going to give the title for moving forward.
You guys know it's the Perfect Man series, okay?
But all of this is important.
That you can live a fulfilled, mature Christian life.
And, you know, even in psychology, they have this word for people that live in the past.
And it's called rumination.
Okay?
Now I'm going to read you an article that I found online.
And, you know, I'm not condoning psychology.
Like, you know what, if you need some mental help, how about you just open God's word.
You know, and plea to the Lord, Lord, help me.
You've given me your Holy Spirit.
Please guide me. The Holy Spirit is my comforter.
Okay? But even, you know, even psychologists refer to this term of rumination.
Let me read just an article to you.
It says rumination is when you're stuck in a loop of repeated negative thoughts about the past.
Rumination is a behavior and not a mental health condition.
It's a behavior.
I wanted to read that sentence to you because it's not a mental health condition.
They're not saying, hey, this is something that is...
Because I realize now, especially as a pastor, people do have mental struggles.
There are mental conditions that are affecting them, but this is not a mental condition.
You can't say, well, this is just the way I am.
You know, I've just got this mental condition and I just can't keep reliving the past.
No, this is a behavior.
You've taught yourself how to live in the past and you're in this continual loop.
I'll give you just an example when you find yourself doing this.
Let's say something happens in church and, you know, let's say, you know, maybe not last week because that's pretty fresh,
but let's say something happened in church ten weeks ago and you're still replaying that conversation.
What did they think of me when I said those words?
And when brother gave me that side glance, what was his intention by those side glance?
And when pastor, because pastor's a bit silly sometimes, and spoke sarcastically toward me,
was he attacking me?
You know, does he think negative?
Is he thinking of me right now?
Does he think I'm a horrible person right now?
And if I could go back, you know, maybe I could change a – maybe I should have said these words
and, you know, maybe I should confront that brother ten weeks ago because of that side glance that he gave me.
And actually that other sister, when she left church, she forgot to say bye to me.
Why is that?
Was she talking to that guy beforehand about me?
And on and on and on and on and on and then, you know, every week and every week of replaying this and replaying that
and replaying that and replaying that and I know it happens.
Someone says to me, people say to me, people say to me, pastor, you know, six months ago, no.
I don't remember six months ago, but what happened?
Well, this, this, this, my brother, I don't know, I'm sorry, all right?
If I've done you something wrong, I'm sorry, all right?
I don't know what I did.
I'm sure that wasn't my intention.
I don't want – the last thing I want you to do is be at church for me to tear you down and make you feel horrible.
I'm trying to edify you, okay?
If the Bible rips your face, praise God, it rips your face, but I'm trying to edify you, okay?
And when we learn God's word and if it rips your face, it makes you feel uncomfortable, well, fine.
Hey, put aside those things that are making you feel uncomfortable and get yourself right with the word of God.
Get yourself right with God.
That's the main thing.
But you'll know when you're – this loop and loop and rah, wah, what is said, wah, wah, wah, forget about it.
Just forget about it, okay?
The Lord doesn't want you living in the past.
It's a mental condition or it's not a mental health condition.
It's a behavior.
And so you can change this behavior about yourself.
The article continues rumination can impact your mental health by causing or increasing symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Maybe the reason you got anxiety and depression is because you keep reliving the past and you can't get over it.
Another one, leading you to live in a constant state of dread.
Is that you?
Everything you know, the world's about to collapse, the economy's about to collapse, the world's about to collapse.
It's all going to – mark of the beast around the corner every single day, you know, for the last five, six years.
For the last – I've been hearing about the mark of the beast just around the corner, brethren, since I've been born.
Yeah, I mean, that's going to feel you dread.
Oh, it's all about to happen right now, pastor.
Look, it's going to happen sometime.
We'll deal with it when we get there, all right?
Impairing your ability to focus.
Are you strong to focus?
Have you got mental fog and lack of clarity?
It could be because you're just replaying events of the past.
Sapping your motivation and limiting your ability to feel joy.
Are you liking joy?
Changing your sleep patterns.
It makes sense because you're constantly thinking, stressing yourself out.
You can't sleep properly because of this and because of that.
Well, you might very well be struggling with rumination.
You might very well – and this is what the Lord's told us to avoid in life.
Again, is there anything wrong with memories?
Is there anything wrong with remembering?
No, the Lord's asked us to remember these things.
But you're using your memory in a sinful way.
You're using your memories in a way that does not please the Lord.
Not only does this affect you mentally, but then it can affect you physically
because it says chronic stress can also lead you to develop physiological challenges
such as systemic or chronic inflammation.
Constantly thinking about negative aspects of the past
can also impact your emotional health.
You may frequently feel overwhelmed, angry or sad.
Okay?
And again, that's from just a secular article and I agree 100% with what it says.
It's not good for you to continue to dwell in the past.
Come with me to Hebrews Chapter 8.
Hebrews Chapter 8, please.
Hebrews Chapter 8.
And while you're turning there, you might be saying,
Yes, but Pastor, I've done such horrible things and I have such regrets.
But don't you think we all do?
Don't you think we all sin?
Don't you think we all have regrets for decisions we've made in the past?
Yes, I admit some have made major mistakes compared to others,
bigger mistakes than others.
I understand that.
But the process that God wants us to go through is exactly the same.
Hebrews Chapter 8, please.
But when Christ died on the cross, did he not die for those regrets?
Did he not die for those mistakes?
Did he not die for those sins that you've done?
You know, when we talk at people at the door, we show them what Christ has done for them.
You know, we say to them, Hey, you know, think of the horrible, the worst things that you've done in life.
It's as though Christ did those things and he was punished by God.
So instead of beating yourself up about it, you know who beat himself up about it?
It was Jesus.
He took on your curse. He took on your pain.
And you go to Hebrews 8, but the Bible says in Psalm 103, verse 11,
For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
As the east is from the west, so far have he removed our transgressions from us.
You know what God's done?
He's taken our transgressions and he's removed it so far, you can't even reach it.
And you're like, Oh, but Lord, I want to remember it again.
It's horrible. The Lord's forgiven you.
You've got to learn how to forgive yourself.
You say, But Pastor, even after I've been saved, I did this and that, you know.
Well, I mean, Christ paid for those sins as well.
You know, and God has given us the vehicle by which we can go to God on a regular basis
and constantly cleanse ourselves from those sins, be in fellowship with the Lord.
Okay, you can't lose your salvation, but you can improve your fellowship with God
by going to the Lord and say, Lord, I'm still making mistakes.
Lord, I still have these regrets. I just did it yesterday. I did it today, Lord.
Please forgive me.
Look at Hebrews 8.12.
Brethren, your sins of the past, God promises you, I'm not going to remember them anymore.
Once he's forgiven you, he doesn't remember them anymore.
Then what are you doing remembering your iniquities and your sins?
What are you doing remembering, living the past and all the regrets
when God himself has forgotten?
It's about time that you forget.
Come with me to Hebrews 10, please. Hebrews 10, 16.
Hebrews 10, 16.
Don't you think our God is a wonderful God?
Because you and I know that we've sinned against the Lord.
You know, every sin we've committed, yes, against man,
but they've all ultimately against the Lord.
We've all transgressed against the Lord.
He doesn't hold any grudges against you.
He's forgiven you. He's forgotten.
And he wants you to forget.
He wants you to think of the future. He wants you to think of today.
How are you going to serve the Lord today?
Please stop bringing up the past and living that past over and over and over again.
Look, it's not going to help you. It's not going to help you.
Can you come with me to, let's see.
Come with me to Matthew 18.
You might say, well, pastor, the reason I can't forget the past,
you know, a friend, a family member, a church member, a brother, a sister, and the Lord,
they've done me wrong. They've sinned against me.
And, you know, it's just, it's still fresh to me.
You know, there's bitterness. You know, they've never apologised.
But we're all, again, in that same boat.
You know what, people have done you wrong and they've never said sorry?
Some have said sorry. Some have apologised.
But you're probably holding on to something tonight where someone's done you wrong
and they've never gone up to you and said, hey, look, I'm sorry about that.
And you thinking about that event over and over.
He was my friend, but he was my church member. He was my brother.
All it's going to do is bring bitterness in your heart.
It's just going to grow and grow and grow.
You're going to be thinking about that event again and again and again.
But, pastors, I've never said sorry. How can I put this behind me?
You're there in, where are you? Sorry.
Matthew 18. Before we read Matthew 18, Ephesians 4.31, the Lord God commands,
let all bitterness, all bitterness, not some of it, not only if they've apologised,
all of it, even if they haven't.
Anything that is causing bitterness in your heart,
let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking
be put away from you with all malice.
God's commanded you, hey, put all that aside.
You grow bitter because you're remembering the past.
You're remembering someone has done something against you.
God's asking you, he's commanding you, put it all away, get rid of it.
He's asking you, can you please stop meditating on these things that depress you?
That's sad in you.
Matthew 18.21.
Then came Peter up to him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me
and I forgive him till seven times?
That's pretty good. You know, if Peter can forgive someone seven times, I think that's pretty decent.
Like if you come up to me, you keep sinning against me again, okay, brother, I forgive you.
Again, okay, brother, so good, you know, let's put it behind us.
Again, third time, fourth time, I'm sick of this guy by now.
I don't think I can get to seven times, but Peter's asking, look, I can probably do seven, Lord.
Okay, till seven times.
Verse number 22, Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times,
but until seventy times seven.
Seventy times seven, I don't know what that is, what is it?
419, is that right?
90, 490, oh, that sounds right, yeah, 490, of course.
Seventy times seven, 490 times, the Lord says.
It's very unlikely someone's going to wrong you that many times.
In other words, the Lord wants you to forgive them no matter what.
You know, sometimes people have this mis-idea of the Bible where you can only forgive someone if they apologize,
and the Lord has asked, hey, you know what, if you do wrong, you should apologize, you should say sorry.
You say, well, that's when I'll forgive them, and that's right and proper.
But you need to understand what God is saying to you in those passages of the Bible,
if someone has wronged you and they come and say sorry, they want to make peace between you,
the Bible is commanding you to forgive them.
He's commanding you to forgive them, you understand that, okay?
You've got no choice, you have to forgive them.
You say, but I don't think you're sincere, just forgive them, okay?
You say, but what about when they haven't said sorry?
Can't I just hold on to that, hold on to that grudge and that bitterness?
Why should I forgive them, pastor?
Why should I let them off the hook?
You know, they've done me wrong.
But you need to understand, you're forgiving them, not for their sake.
You're forgiving them for your sake.
Because you're meant to let go of all bitterness, all wrath, all clamor.
You've got to put it all aside.
And look, someone does you wrong and they never apologize,
or they try to gaslight you and try to blame you for the situation.
You say, you know what, Lord, I'm just going to forgive them in my heart and in my mind.
I'm going to forgive them so I can get forward.
I can move on with my life.
So I don't have to constantly be thinking about what's taking place.
And Lord, you be a judge between me and that person.
I'm going to leave it to you, Lord.
I'm going to get rid of that bitterness, I'm going to get rid of that wrath.
I'm going to forgive them even if they've not said sorry
so I can move on with my life and take care of myself, take care of my mental health.
And look, it might very well be five years down the track that individual comes up to you later on
and says, look, I know it's been a long time but I'm sorry about what took place.
And you'll be like, hey, I forgave you five years ago.
It's all good, man. It's all good.
I mean, that can happen as well.
But you need to learn how to forgive others even if they don't apologize.
Again, for your sake, for your health, so you can move forward and serve the Lord of your life.
Can you come with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 10?
Actually, 2 Corinthians chapter 7, let's go there.
2 Corinthians, we read chapter 10 already, right?
2 Corinthians chapter 7, but what I wanted to show you in verse number 10 again,
that idea which says in verse number 6,
and having a readiness to revenge all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
Well, in 2 Corinthians 7, 8, let me give you the context.
I love the Corinthian church.
I actually love that church very much because it shows me just how bad a church can get.
And then I'm like, where are you then?
Like when people say, but pastor, our church is like this,
and people are not loving, and this person is not soul winning,
and we're not great singers, pastor, and we need...
I was like, come, read Corinthians, and then complain about a church.
You won't. That's why I love it.
A lot of us would have given up on that church a long time ago,
or we would think that God and the Apostle Paul would have given up on that church a long time ago.
There are major problems.
And so the epistle, 1 Corinthians, is a sharp rebuke from the Apostle Paul to that church.
Now, when we get to 2 Corinthians, Paul is still rebuking them.
They haven't completely fixed things, but he's also praising them for a lot of the changes,
a lot of the improvements they've made in their church since the first letter.
And when we get to 2 Corinthians 7, verse 8, Paul writes,
For though I made you sorry with a letter...
That's 1 Corinthians.
So Paul is saying, I made you sorry. I've given you guys sorrow.
So they read the letter, and they're like, oh man, we're such a horrible church.
We're like, oh, we are so wrong here. We're so messed up, right?
But he says, though he made them sorry, I do not repent.
I'm not taking it back.
He goes, though I did repent.
He goes, I kind of did. I don't repent, but I kind of did.
He goes, maybe I shouldn't have been so harsh on that letter.
But he goes, no, I'm not going to repent.
Why? Because he says, for I perceive that the same epistle have made you sorry,
though it were, but for a season.
Now, this is the key part, Reverend.
This church has made mistakes.
They can look back at all the mistakes they've made in the past,
and Paul is saying, yes, look, I've rebuked you,
so then you can have sorrow, so you can be sorry,
so you can look back, oh man, we messed up.
You say, but pastor, you told us not to dwell on the mistakes of the past.
Look, what does it say there? Though it were, but for a season.
There is a time that we should look back at our mistakes,
at all the regrets that we have, but it better be for a season.
Not every day, continually, loop after loop after loop, for a season.
And for what purpose? For this purpose.
Verse number nine, he says, now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry,
but that you sorrowed to repentance.
He goes, I'm over the mood, I'm rejoicing.
Not that you're sad, but rather that you guys repented.
You fixed the things I wrote in the letter, right?
For ye were made sorry after a godly manner,
that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
I want you to notice that, godly manner.
Brethren, when we remember the mistakes and the regrets of the past,
when we visit those things in remembrance,
it needs to be done in a godly manner.
A godly manner means for a season, for what purpose?
To repent from those things.
To fix the mistakes that we've made in the past.
Not to be like, oh man, I'm such a horrible person, I can't believe I did that,
I'm depressed, I'm not going to get out of bed this morning because I'm so depressed,
Rather you remember, oh man, I messed up,
you know what, then I need to change that.
Instead of being disobedient, I need to be obedient.
You know what, I need to walk according to God's ways.
Lord, help me. I still struggle with these things in the past.
Lord, help me to have victory over these things moving forward.
That would be the godly manner to do things.
Revisiting those things in the past in a godly manner.
Then he says in verse number 10, for godly sorrow.
So when you revisit mistakes in a godly manner,
then you're going to have godly sorrow.
Not the wrong kind of sorrow,
not the kind of sorrow that will cause mental problems and physical problems in your body.
No, a godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of,
but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
Do you notice that we see the sorrow of the world and godly sorrow?
You see, when you're living in the past,
and you're just burdened and burdened and you never move forward,
what that is, that sorrow is a worldly sorrow that worketh death.
It's going to be the death of you.
It's going to damage your mind, it's going to damage your body, okay?
And it's not going to cause you to live a fulfilled life.
You may very well desire death.
You might very well desire suicide.
You may very well desire, I'm not going to get out of bed because I don't want to live my life.
It's such a horrible life.
No, if you have the right approach,
approach it in a godly manner with godly sorrow,
then you'll be like, I need to repent.
I need to fix this.
I need to be obedient to my Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse number 11.
For behold this selfsame thing that ye sorrowed after a godly sort.
Again, godly manner, godly sorrow, godly sorts.
For what carefulness it wrought in you, yea,
what clearing of yourselves, yea,
what indignation, yea, what fear,
yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal.
Look at this.
Yea, what revenge in all things you have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
The apostle Paul says, man, you guys finally took revenge on your disobedience.
Look how it's given you clarity of thoughts.
Look how it's given you zeal when you said, oh man, we messed up.
Let's make sure we do things right moving forward.
But again, you can only do that by examining things in the past in a godly manner,
okay, with godly sorrow of a godly sort.
So when is it right to examine the past and to go to the past for a period?
For a season to repent, to fix the mistakes, to go, you know what, I need to change that.
Or I need to teach my kids to not make the same mistakes that I made in the past.
That would be the right approach when it comes to remembering the mistakes of the past.
Can you come with me to, let's see, come with me to Psalm 77, please.
Psalm 77.
And let me just gather my thoughts very quickly.
Psalm, what's another reason we may want to think of the past?
What could be another reason?
Well, what we're about to read here is to recall your spiritual achievements.
To recall once again the work of God in your life, okay, your spiritual successes.
In Psalm 77, verse number 1, the psalmist says,
I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice, and he gave ear unto me.
In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord.
My soul ran in the night and ceased not.
My soul refused to be comforted.
So is the psalmist going through a hard time reading those two verses there?
He's having a hard time, whatever he's going through right now.
Okay, he's got a heavy soul right now.
He goes, my soul refused to be comforted.
He goes, I can't even think positively here.
You know, I'm kind of stuck in misery right now.
That's kind of what he's saying, right?
If I drop down to verse number 5, he goes,
I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.
He goes, you know what, I've started to think about the past.
And then verse number 6, he goes, I call to remembrance.
So he goes, these are things that I'm remembering.
What's he calling to remembrance?
My song in the night?
He goes, I remember the times that I used to sing at night.
He goes, I commune with mine own heart and my spirit made diligent search.
His heart, his spirit is involved in this search of the past.
What is this searching?
If you can come...
Sorry, losing my train of thought a little bit.
Sorry, yeah, Psalm 77, come with me to verse number 10.
Come with me to verse number 10.
It says, and I said, this is my infirmity.
But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.
So the Psalmist is having some kind of infirmity,
some kind of sickness in his body, right?
But he goes, you know what, but I'm going to remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.
I'm going to remember the years, the time when I was doing well
and I was flourishing and the Lord was helping me.
Instead of thinking about my misery and my infirmities right now,
I'm going to remember the times when I've been close with the Lord.
Verse number 11, I will remember the works of the Lord.
Surely I will remember thy wonders of old.
I will meditate also of all thy work and talk of thy doings.
When's another time to remember the past?
When you're remembering your spiritual highs, your spiritual achievements,
when you've been close to the Lord, when he's answered your prayers,
when he's blessed you in a great way.
Why is that important?
Because when you go through tough times,
sometimes it's hard to remember that the Lord's going to come through.
It's hard to remember that the Lord's going to answer my prayers.
Once again I'm going through some struggle, some infirmity,
Lord, why?
And you can be so downcast and you're like, I don't see an answer.
I don't see how God can help me.
Well then the Lord says, well then remember the past.
Remember how I've come through over and over and over.
Remember the times that I've blessed you over and over.
Remember the times that you've gone through difficulties
and I've helped you through those in the past.
Remember the times that you used to sing praises of songs.
You take that in-book home and you just sing praises to the Lord
because you're so thankful for what he's done for you.
Because remember those times.
And that's going to give you the confidence, because you know what?
The Lord's come through before, he's going to come through with me again.
He's going to come through with me today.
He's going to help me tomorrow.
That is a great time to remember the past.
Remember all the great things that God has done for you.
Come with me to Psalm 118 please.
Psalm 118.
You know one of the things, I'm 42 now.
And my favourite decade was probably the 90s.
That's probably what I remember right?
So why is that? Well you know, you're like a teenager.
You've got no responsibilities.
And by the way, I'm saying like, those are the years that I can't remember,
like no issues, no struggles.
Because no one's dependent on you.
You know, you've got a free spirit.
It doesn't really matter what happens, right?
And you know, you don't really always know the evils of the world.
And you know, I can think of that.
And this is what old people do. I'm old.
They go, man, those were the good old days, the 90s.
And my parents are probably like, oh those 60s,
they were the good old days, potentially.
And what of age gripping?
You know, you think, oh man, back in those days,
you know, we didn't have to deal with the, is it pride month again or something like that?
We didn't have to deal with the pride month and the LGBT march in the streets.
And we didn't have to deal with all this, and COVID,
and oh man, it was so much better in the 90s.
You know, I wish I could go back there.
And that's often said, these kinds of thoughts, right, comes.
And I'm going, before we read Psalm 118, I'll quickly read to you from Ecclesiastes 7, 10,
that says, Say not thou, what is the cause that the former days were better than these?
He goes, don't be like, man, why is it the former days?
Those were the good old days.
The Lord's saying to you, hey, don't do that.
He goes, for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this.
It's not wise to think of the good old days and think,
oh, those are the good days, these are the bad days.
Why is that not wise to do?
Because again, you might not be regretting your mistakes,
but you're living in some time in the past of great fun and joy, right,
and now you're looking today, by doing that, you're looking at what you have today,
and going, oh, how miserable today must be then.
Those were the good days, these were the bad days.
But the truth of the matter is, there were bad days back then as well.
There were bad days in the 2000s, there were bad days in the 90s,
there were bad days in the 80s.
Look, go, oh, man, the old days were awesome.
Look, not even 100 years ago, there was a world war
and millions of people lost their lives
and people did not know how they would feed themselves
and provide for themselves.
We've not lived in those days.
The good old days had bad days,
and today's can have bad things and today's going to have good things.
What are you going to focus on?
Every day, every generation, every decade has bad days and good days.
It's just the same, there's nothing new under the sun.
All right, yeah, we're dealing with problems today,
but they were dealing with problems before.
Imagine us complaining about being stuck in our house during COVID.
Can't travel past five kilometres, oh, you don't know past, all right.
You know what, you didn't live in war-torn countries.
You didn't see your house being bombed to dust.
You'd not see your parents lose limbs and their lives
in different civil wars and different wars.
And we complain about not being able to go and get a pizza five kilometres away.
Oh, man, it was so much better back then.
And that's why the Lord says it's not wise, it's stupid.
That's what he's saying, it's foolish, it's stupid.
Those are the good days.
You're there in Psalm 118, Psalm 118, verse number 24.
This is why, because the Lord says,
This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Oh, this is a horrible day, it's pride month.
This is the day the Lord has made.
We're going to be glad, we're going to rejoice because God's given us life.
He wants to live in this time right now.
As the world gets darker, your light ought to shine brighter.
You ought to be used in a more mighty way today than maybe ten years ago.
What is the Psalmist asking us to do here?
Remember, this is the Lord's day.
You say, oh man, whatever Halloween, I don't know what day is Halloween.
God, it's such a wicked day.
No, it's the day the Lord has made.
I'm going to rejoice, I'm not going to celebrate Halloween.
But I'm going to go, I don't care if Halloween falls on Sunday or a church day,
I'm going to be in the house of the Lord, worshipping Him, praising Him for the life and the day that He's given me.
That's why we can't go to the good old days.
They're all good days because the Lord has created them.
But it comes down to what are you thinking about?
Are you wasting your time on the negative things or are you giving your attention to the things that are positive,
the things that please the Lord?
Can you come with me to Philippians chapter 3?
Philippians chapter 3.
We're coming to the end now.
But Philippians 3.
The other mistake that we can make with the past is remembering a time before we were saved.
And this is a story that I hear from a lot of believers that get saved.
They're like, well, since I've been saved, praise God, and I'm going to heaven.
But, you know, my parents don't want to talk to me now.
And the friends that I used to have, all that, you know, the fun and enjoyment of my friends,
they don't want to spend time with me anymore.
And, you know, things were more fun back then before I got saved.
And since I've been saved, it's hard.
And we kind of can glory in the past before we knew Christ, you know?
And the other mistake you can make when you're thinking of the past is glorifying in your past carnal self.
You know, one example, and I've given the problem many times, but being in a Christian school, Christian school,
I remember they would bring speakers to the chapel time.
You would sing praise to the Lord.
They'd have some speaker come and be like a former bikie or something, right, with long hair, tattoos everywhere.
You know, some wicked sinful past or some guy that's just come out of prison, you know, for 20 years after he murdered somebody.
You know, was running around in gangs and, you know, stealing cars and dealing with drugs and whatever it is.
They'd bring these people to come behind, you know, to speak of Christ and how their life has changed because of Christ.
And always the stories are like, let's say they're talking for 15 minutes.
Always, it's always like this, for 14 minutes, all they talk about is their wicked carnal past.
I was doing this and I was doing that and I was doing that and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Hey, but now because I found Jesus, now my life's all different.
And I'll tell you what, we come out of chapel in school, do you think people are talking about Christ's sacrifice after that sermon, after that message?
Do you think people are saying, wow, how wonderful our Christ is?
You know what, they're going, how cool is that guy with the tattoos and the long hair and the bike and, oh man, that guy killed somebody,
oh that guy ran the gang, oh man, he dealt with drugs, how cool is that life?
Because it's all pretend, they're not glorifying Christ.
They haven't even trusted Christ.
You know what they're trusting in? They're trusting, oh, I was such a bad person, now I'm such a good person, now I'm saved because look how better I am.
Your good works are filthy rags.
How can you go to God and say, look at him, I changed life?
That's filthy rags.
So ridiculous.
You know what, when I face God, if God ever says to me, he's not going to ask me anyway, because he knows I'm saved, but if he ever asks me, why should I allow you into heaven?
I say, Lord, you shouldn't allow me to heaven.
I don't deserve it, but I've believed on your son and I trust your word that by me placing my faith on him, by his righteousness, I enter into heaven.
But these people, they glorify.
It's like this veiled, oh man, I'm so much better because of Jesus, but all they've done is glorify their former life, glorify their flesh.
And the children have walked away knowing full well that was a message, that was a message.
And I remember thinking, oh man, I wish I had a story like that.
Instead of just being four years old and believing on Christ and getting saved, that's kind of boring life.
It would have been better if I was like, you know, dealing drugs and it was better if I was just in jail and I've got this amazing story, right?
How everything has changed in my life.
But no, they were just glorifying in their carnal self.
Did I get to turn to Philippians 3?
Philippians 3, verse number 4 please, Philippians 3, verse number 4.
Look what Paul says.
Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any man thinketh that he have whereof he might trust in the flesh, I'm all.
He goes, I can glory in the flesh as well.
And maybe more than others.
Verse number 5, what could he glorify about?
Circumcised the eighth day, because man, we follow the law, even when I was eight days old, I was circumcised.
Of the stock of Israel, because I'm the chosen, right? Whatever.
The Zionist perspective.
Of the tribe of Benjamin, Benjamin was one of the good tribes.
He's one of the better tribes.
And Hebrew, of the Hebrews, because man, even the Hebrews say, this guy is a Hebrew, right?
As touching the law of Pharisee, because I'm educated in the law of God.
Look, this is not positive.
He's saying, look, I can glorify, I can have confidence in my flesh because of these things.
Not that he does.
You need to understand, he's not glorifying his flesh.
He's being sarcastic.
Verse number 6, concerning zeal, persecuting the church.
He goes, I was so zealous for God, I was persecuting the church.
Because as a Pharisee, they thought of it as a cult.
Touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
He goes, even my life, compared to law, people look at, hey, that Paul lives a good life.
You know, he's blameless. Look at him, go.
Look at his life, look at how great he is.
But then he says in verse number 7,
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Yea, doubtless, and I count all things, but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord,
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things.
And do count them, but done, that I may win Christ.
He goes, you know what, I can go back to the past.
I can glorify in my past life and speak of my fleshly achievements or whatever made me popular and well respected and well received.
He goes, you know what, all of that was done.
That belongs in the toilet.
That's what he's saying, this belongs in the toilet.
This is filthy, why should I trust, why should I have confidence in my flesh?
His only confidence is in Christ Jesus.
So brethren, you know, I know, I talk to a lot of Christians.
Sometimes they miss their old life.
Things were great. My friends liked me.
My family liked me. My boss liked me.
But the moment I got saved, oh man, my life is not going, it's not as fun as it used to.
I'm a bit lonely, I don't have the friends that I used to have.
And I can understand that pain, but you need to bring your perspective right.
All of that is done in comparison to the salvation you have in Christ Jesus.
Because that's just temporary.
Your life in Christ is eternal, forever and ever and ever, never to stop.
Unlike friends, they're friends today and they're enemies tomorrow.
Friends that you love can backstab you, but the Lord will never leave you, never forsake you.
Come with me to Isaiah 65 please, Isaiah 65.
Isaiah 65, verse number 17.
Let's talk about the end times.
Isaiah 65 verse number 17.
I got a lot of interesting questions as a pastor.
Sometimes people ask me things like, well, you know, when we go to heaven and new heavens and new earth and new bodies,
are we going to remember our sins? Are we going to remember our mistakes?
Because that doesn't feel like heaven to me, you know.
And because of this passage, let's look at it quickly, Isaiah 65 verse 17.
Isaiah 65, I'll read it to you and then I'll share with you the questions that I get sometimes.
Isaiah 65 verse 17.
For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth.
So we know that's the book of Revelation, right?
But in Isaiah, he's prophesying all this.
It says, and the former things, sorry, and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind.
Okay, so the former earth, the former things aren't going to be remembered.
So then the question becomes, well, then what?
Do we go into heaven? Do we go into eternity? Do we go into the new heavens and new earth with no memory at all?
I mean, am I going to know my, when I meet my loved one in heaven, am I not going to remember who they are?
Like, am I going to introduce myself to Brother Brett for the first time?
Oh, by the way, my name is Kevin. You know, I don't know if we've ever met before.
Is that what's going to happen, right? Because it kind of sounds that way, right?
If we keep going, it says in verse 18,
But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create.
For behold, I create Jerusalem, I rejoice in, and her people are joy.
I want you to notice that this place of new heaven and new earth is a place of rejoicing, okay?
But there is something that we're not going to remember.
And the book of Revelation gives us further clarity here.
So come with me to Revelation 21. Revelation 21.
So this idea that we just get like this mind wipe and we start all over again is wrong.
Okay, and I want to show you what this, and again, it comes from Isaiah 65.
But Revelation 21 gives the further clarity here.
In Revelation 21 verse 1, it says,
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. So John's seeing what Isaiah prophesied.
For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea.
Now drop down to verse number 4, because we know it's a place of rejoicing.
Verse number 4, it says,
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
Now notice the next words.
And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain.
Look at the next words.
For the former things are passed away.
So is this saying we get a mind wipe when we go to the new heavens and the new earth?
What are the things that are passed away that Isaiah spoke about?
The former things of death, of sorrow, crying, the things that caused you pain.
These things are passed away.
These are the things that will not be remembered.
Okay, verse number 5,
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
And he said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful.
Reverend, I'm excited for the future.
I'm excited for heaven and maybe another sermon one day.
I'll say it again, balance.
Sometimes people live in the past and they lose today.
But another mistake Christians make, they only think of, I can't wait to be in heaven.
Man, I hope I die today.
And they have a miserable life today and they don't fix today,
because they're just thinking, well, I can't wait to be the Lord.
I'll just kill myself or something like that, because my life is so miserable.
That's another extreme.
Okay, maybe it's a sermon for another time.
But what I want to show you here is that
there are going to be things that are going to be forgotten
when we go into eternal life.
It's not the good things.
We're not going to forget, bless it all, Baptist Church.
We're not going to forget the work that we've done
and the relationships that we've built
and the souls that were saved.
We're not going to forget our family
and our relationship,
the things that were good and pleasant
and wonderful on the side of the Lord.
Those things are not going to be forgotten.
But the things that will be forgotten in eternity
are the things that cause you pain and sorrow and hurt.
And God promises us
that He's going to wipe away our tears
and there's going to be no more crying.
So what will be remembered in heaven?
Only the good things.
And finally, we're going to achieve
what this sermon is really all about.
But you see,
if that's what heaven is going to be like,
why wait till then?
Why not have a slice of heaven today
and say, you know what,
I'm going to do my best to not dwell
on the things that cause me hurt
and pain and crying and sorrow.
Why don't I just have a slice
of heaven today, you know what,
and only remember the wonderful things
that God has done for me.
And when it does come to remembrance
the things that have caused me pain,
then I'm going to utilise that for a season
to have godly sorrow,
to revenge all my disobedience,
to do what is right in the sight of the Lord
and to live a life that is wonderful
and pleasing to Him.
And since being a father
and a husband and a father
and even as a pastor,
I'm not even looking
for personal joy so much.
What really gives me happiness
is when I can be a blessing to other people.
When I see other people happy
because of my influence.
That gives me joy
when other people are happy.
There's no point of me being happy
if my wife is upset.
There's no point of me being happy
if my wife is upset.
That upsets me all.
And going to Western Australia
these last few days,
what gave me the greatest joy
is just seeing the smiles and the excitement
on the faces of people.
Right brother Rams?
Just seeing them blessed
and I'm thinking I'm going there to bless them
but really they were blessing more to me
because of their joy and happiness.
And we all have people that we love,
we all have
friends.
Do you want them to be depressed
because you can't get yourself out of the past?
That's what's going to happen.
If you just keep regrets,
mistakes and sorrows,
woe is me, it's going to hurt your marriage.
It's going to hurt your friendships.
It's going to hurt your children.
It's going to depress the people that are around you.
The people that are around you,
they want nothing more than to see a smile on your face.
And we know we're going to smile in heaven.
But as I said to you, why don't we just take that slice of heaven today
because I know I'm going to live for you, Lord.
I want to be joyful because I know if I'm joyful,
my surrounding family and friends,
the people I care about,
they're going to be joyful.
I can bless them and they'll bless me in return.
And for me, this is the best way to live life.
The best way to live a happy and joyful life.
And so as I said, the title of the sermon
was Memories of the Past.
Please utilise your memory,
please utilise your past
the way that God wants you to utilise it.
Not worldly sorrow.
OK, let's pray.
Heavenly Father, I just want to thank you for your Word.
Lord, thank you for the constant reminder
in your Word that you're there for us.
And Lord, we don't like it when we're suffering
and there's pain and hurt and tribulation.
Lord, nobody likes it. Nobody likes it.
But Lord, help us to have the right mindset.
Help us to remember that you've never left us.
You've never forsaken us.
You're right there, Lord, and we've just forgotten.
Lord, please help us to utilise our memories,
the mistakes or even the wonderful things
that we've had in the past, Lord,
to live a life that pleases you,
a life that is excited for the future to come.
And Lord, help us to rejoice in every day of life
that you've given us.
Lord, I want to pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
All right, please take your hymnals.
Let's sing,
Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life
but I don't know the number.
Surely goodness, I think it's called surely,
it probably is called surely goodness.
Number is
2 1 6
Surely goodness and mercy
1
2
3
4
1
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
14
25
19
20
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
All the days, all the days of my life, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, all the
days, all the days of my life.
In sorrow my soul when I'm weary, he giveth me strength day by day, he leads me beside the still waters, in the heat he shall walk away.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, all the days, all the days of my life.
When I walk through the dark lonesome valley, my Savior will walk with me there, and safely his great hand will lead me to the mansions he's gone to prepare.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, all the days, all the days of my life.
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever, and I shall feast at the table spread for me.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, all the days, all the days of my life.
All the days, all the days of my life.
Amen, great singing guys.
Just a quick update, just want to tell you about the trip to WA.
Thank you for all your prayers, and thank you for those that did come out from this church and also from New Life Baptist Church.
And a couple of brethren, of course you guys know Martin, he came out as well from Melbourne, and Emilio.
Emilio actually has visited this church, you might know who Emilio is.
And it was a great time, and again, you think you're going there to be a blessing, but it's amazing when you're blessed more so in return.
That's what it feels like.
Even though physically I'm kind of tired, and I'm sure those that travel are feeling tired right now, but just spiritually I feel renewed and excited.
And you can definitely see the Lord is doing a work there on the other side of Australia.
So please keep that group in prayer.
The main name I'll just give you is Brother Craig Pond, if you can pray for him.
Obviously there are others as well, but he's kind of getting that group together, and definitely you can see the Lord is doing something.
And we'll just give it a bit of time and see what the Lord wants to happen in that regard.
But I went there on the Sunday, and after church, I went there Sunday night, stayed at Brother Daniel's house, and Daniel lives in Perth.
And then in the morning we went soul winning for two hours, we had two salvations.
That's the first time he's gone soul winning, door to door.
So when you go first time and you see salvations, that's the best, right?
Because you know that it's not always like that.
But you see two in one day, that's awesome, there were two.
And then there was another salvation from the new life of this church.
Sister Rachel on the flight to Perth, she won the passage out next to her to the Lord as well.
So I was free on the first day.
And then we went to Bridgetown, and I've never been soul winning in a place like that before.
I mean, it's still Australia, it's still kind of, you know, unreceptive, not interested.
But I've never seen so much witchcraft, and new age, and it's like, what in the world?
Yes, brother?
How old are you from Perth?
Three hours.
Three hours south, south.
And what surprised me even more, the fact it was so unreceptive, especially the old generation,
there are some newer developments in that town, and people there were more receptive in the afternoon.
But what surprised me more, if that place is so dark, and so wicked,
and so hateful to all the things of the Lord, and there were people that were just pretty rough, right?
I just thought, wow, for there to be a group of believers together that have found one another,
and a lot of these people are newly saved, you can definitely see the Lord is fighting.
There is a spiritual battle in Bridgetown.
Okay, so please pray, please pray hard for those brethren there.
And so on the day in Bridgetown, there was one salvation early.
I don't think there were, it was someone that was part of the group, and he didn't know if he was saved,
so he spoke to brother Craig, and then he got saved, then he got baptised, then he went soul-willing.
Or then he went, I think he got saved, then went soul-willing, then got baptised, then went soul-willing again.
Something like that, I can't remember.
And so the morning group, we had no one saved, but then we hit the newer development area in the afternoon,
and there were three salvations in that afternoon.
So there were four in total on the Monday.
I hope I'm getting these numbers right.
Yeah, it was free on, no, free on Monday, that was just me, with the person on the flight.
Then on Tuesday, we were in Bridgetown, there were four salvations there.
Then on Thursday, no, then on Wednesday, man, today's Thursday, right?
Then on Wednesday, we went back to Perth, we went soul-willing there, morning and evening,
we hit a lower social economic area, and we had...
24 take away seven, whatever that is, 17, we had 17 salvations yesterday.
They're in the lower social economic area of Perth, so 24 salvations all together.
Brother Jackson's staying in Perth for a few extra days, he's going to go soul-willing with brother Daniel.
Hopefully there's a few more salvations, you know, at the end of this trip all together.
So it's definitely a success.
Look, I've always said, even if no one got saved, it's still a success.
We've gone out, we've taken new people soul-willing, we got to meet new brothers in the Lord,
they've encouraged us, we've encouraged them, and please, please keep them in prayer.
It's hard to remember people that you don't see face to face, but please keep them in prayer.
Yes, brother?
Do they have a church over there or do we...?
No, they don't have a church.
So right now, they're just gathering.
I didn't even know this.
I knew they were gathering on Sundays and just fellow kind and very generous toward us.
So I really appreciate that.
Really appreciate it.
All right.
Yes, brother?
Just while you were there, that Lincoln WAA Premier, he stepped down as well,
one that was really big on COVID.
Yes.
So we took care of...
Yeah, we took out the Premier while we were there.
But like the world is, there's probably someone worse.
I don't know.
Who stepped in?
Is it a Baptist born-again believer?
Probably not.