Show Notes
Exodus 25:10-22
Pastor Stephen Laurer
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Our gracious Heavenly Father, how we thank youk that yout have set Jesus as yous King on the throne of heaven, and that from there he reigns over the church.
[00:00:19] And from there he pours out his blessings on his people.
[00:00:24] From there he declares the decrees of God on behalf of his people.
[00:00:34] We ask, O God, then now, that you, through Jesus our King, would speak to us.
[00:00:40] That he would speak words of comfort, words of assurance, words that call us to greater faith and even to repentance.
[00:00:51] We ask, O God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that you would reign on in our hearts through your word and by the power of your Spirit. That we might be changed, that we might be drawn to you, that we might bring glory and honor to you. We ask in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:01:13] Please turn in your Bibles, if you have one, to Exodus 25.
[00:01:18] Exodus 25. We'll read verses 10 through 22.
[00:01:27] Hear God's word.
[00:01:28] They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half, its height.
[00:01:39] I'm sorry. A cubit and a half, its breadth, a cubit and a half, its height.
[00:01:44] You shall overlay it with pure gold. Inside and outside. You shall overlay it. You shall make on it a molding of gold around it.
[00:01:53] You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet. Two rings on the one side of it and two rings on the other side of it.
[00:02:02] You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.
[00:02:06] You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them.
[00:02:13] The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark.
[00:02:16] They shall not be taken from it.
[00:02:20] And you shall put in the ark the testimony that I shall give you.
[00:02:26] You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half, its breadth.
[00:02:34] And you shall make two cherubim of gold.
[00:02:37] Hammered work shall you make them.
[00:02:40] On the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, one cherub on the other end of one piece.
[00:02:49] With the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim. On its two ends.
[00:02:54] The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another.
[00:03:03] Toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be.
[00:03:07] And you shall put the mercy seat on. On the top of the ark.
[00:03:13] And in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you.
[00:03:17] There I will meet with you and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the Testimony.
[00:03:25] I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.
[00:03:32] Please be seated.
[00:03:48] Every story that you read about a king, or maybe every movie that you watch that has a story about a king, maybe think of a medieval king or an ancient king.
[00:03:58] They all have some kind of a throne.
[00:04:05] Some place where the king goes and he sits. And it's his official place for doing his king work, whatever that king work is, he goes and he sits and his counselors around him, the men that help him make decisions. And then his people will come to him, right?
[00:04:25] And they'll come and they'll bring their concerns to their king. And as king, he'll hear them, he'll help them if he can.
[00:04:33] If there's problems between his people, he may make judgments to decide who's in the right and who's in the wrong. Cases that are appealed to him. He'll settle these matters as a king. He'll make judgments that become laws.
[00:04:50] Maybe there's trouble in the land, a problem that needs to be addressed. A new law needs to be made so that there can be peace and order in the land. So that the people of his realm can conduct their lives and their work and go about their business with blessing.
[00:05:10] Kings use their thrones for other things too, right? Not just the day to day work of being a king that benefits the people. But sometimes there's a problem.
[00:05:20] Maybe somebody wants to come and steal some of the king's people, steal some of his land, an invading army. So the king has to call a war council. And there from his throne, he listens to his generals and his officials in his army and they draw up plans and then they go forth from his throne to carry out the defense of the realm.
[00:05:45] The king's throne is a very important place. Not so much because of the piece of furniture. It's just a chair. Even if it's a fancy chair. Some kings had fancy chairs. Some of them had very simple chairs. It was important because it was a symbol of his rule. The fact that he was reigning over his people for their benefit, for their blessing.
[00:06:07] Here God instructs his people through Moses to make for him a throne.
[00:06:12] That's what the ark is, it's a throne.
[00:06:15] The ark is just a word for a box. It's a box shaped thing. But you notice it has a seat on top of it, the mercy seat. And God's presence is going to rest upon that seat. What we have here is God's throne. And we want to look together at God's throne under three points. First, we're going to argue that it is a throne, the throne of the king.
[00:06:41] Secondly, we're going to argue that God's throne is a throne of testimony.
[00:06:46] And thirdly, we will look at how it is a throne of mercy. We're going to consider this evening God's throne first, making the case that it is, in fact the throne of a king. Not just a box, not just a chair, but this is God's throne as he reigns as king over his people.
[00:07:07] In the story of the book of Exodus, God is presented as the king of his people.
[00:07:15] This throne is going to be a symbol of this, that he is reigning among and over his people.
[00:07:22] But the story of Exodus makes it very clear that God has come as a king to save his people.
[00:07:28] And when God makes his covenant claim on his people, you remember he brings his people out of Egypt. He brings them out to Sinai. They gather around the mountain, and then there's the glory cloud and the thunder and the lightning that comes down on top of the mountain.
[00:07:45] And then In Exodus chapter 20, God Himself begins to speak. And the people hear him. They hear God's voice speaking. And the very first thing he says is what a king says to a people that have newly become his people, and he has freshly been crowned as their king.
[00:08:06] He says, I am the Lord thy God, which hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. The very first thing God says to his people, very first thing they hear him say is, I am your king. And I am your king because I saved you from Egypt and I made you mine.
[00:08:32] So God is the king of his people because he has saved them.
[00:08:37] Now he's setting up his throne to show them that he is going to continue reigning over them. He went and he delivered his people.
[00:08:46] Now he's going to act as their king, to govern them, to guide them, to bless them, and to care for him. And this ark is the symbol of his reign over his people. It is his throne.
[00:09:01] It's his throne in the context of the story. Well, let's drill down a little bit and see here that in the instructions God gives to Moses for how to build the ark, it's very clearly being presented as his throne. Not just, again the story, but now the ark itself. This box is God's throne. Look at verse 22 there. I will meet you and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the Ark of the Testimony. I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.
[00:09:35] It is his throne because it is where his presence rests.
[00:09:41] This is where the king comes to sit and do kingly things.
[00:09:47] It is where his presence rests. Just like when a king is governing his people, he sits on his throne. That's where the king's presence is.
[00:09:56] It's his throne because it's where his presence rests.
[00:10:00] Secondly, it is his throne because God's presence is above the mercy seat.
[00:10:07] It's a chair. It's called a seat where the king is going to sit.
[00:10:12] So just from what Moses calls it, you can see that it is meant to be a chair for God's presence. It is his throne. It's his throne because his presence is there. It's his throne because it's called a seat.
[00:10:25] It's its throne because it is royal.
[00:10:30] How is it made? It's made very carefully out of acacia wood. Two and a half cubits, long cubit and a half. Deep cubit and a half. Tall Cubit is about 18 inches. You can do the math. But about like that, that, that. Right. This box is carefully constructed out of acacia wood. And then because, because it is the throne of a king, it is covered inside and out with pure gold.
[00:10:59] Gold symbolizing that this is the seat for a king.
[00:11:05] It is his throne because it is where his presence rests, because it is a seat. Because it is a royal seat, a golden seat.
[00:11:13] But it is his throne most especially because of what God does when his presence rests on that seat. Look at the end of verse 22.
[00:11:23] I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.
[00:11:31] From his throne, God speaks commandments, laws and decrees through Moses to his people.
[00:11:39] This is exactly what a king does when he sits on his throne.
[00:11:43] He issues decrees for the benefit and blessing of his people. Mercifully, we might add.
[00:11:51] So the ark is without question a symbol of God's throne and his reign over his people.
[00:12:01] It is the throne of a king.
[00:12:06] And dear people of God, we need this king.
[00:12:12] We need this king on his throne, reigning over us.
[00:12:17] Israel needed this king, didn't they? They needed this king to come and save them out of Egypt, out of slavery. They needed God to come and deliver them as a king, not just from Pharaoh, but from judgment. He brought them safely through plagues. Judgment through judgment waters, through the Red Sea, safely.
[00:12:38] And why how was it that he delivered them through those things? Through the blood of the Passover lamb, God ensured that his people were covered and saved from the judgment that they too deserved.
[00:12:51] He saved them not just from Pharaoh, but from judgment that they deserved for their sin.
[00:12:58] And now he takes these rebels. If you remember the story of Israel in Exodus, you already know that he saved them out of Egypt, but they're already rebels.
[00:13:06] He brought them out into the wilderness and they grumbled and they complained multiple times against God. They're going to do it again. They're going to make a golden calf and they're going to grumble and complain for 40 years in the wilderness. They're rebels. Even though he's delivered them, they're still sinners. And they need God to reign over them, to guide them, to care for them, to reign in their sin, to change them and lead them into righteousness.
[00:13:30] Israel needed this king reigning over them.
[00:13:34] And it's not just Israel.
[00:13:36] Every other sinner, every other person in the history of the human race after Adam needs this king.
[00:13:46] We need this king. We need to be saved, not from Pharaoh, but from slavery to our sin. We need to be saved not from the waters of the Red Sea, but the judgment we deserve for our sin.
[00:13:58] We need to be saved from the ongoing destructive power of sin in our lives.
[00:14:04] If you're a Christian, you know this. You've been forgiven. You've been set free. And our hearts keep like rebels, keep going back to our sin, don't they? We need God to reign over us, to set us free from that sin and guide us in his way.
[00:14:19] We need him to reign not just on a throne in a tent, we need him to reign in our hearts.
[00:14:28] And the good news of the Gospel, what was pictured in this ark throne is that God would send His Son one day to be that king, the king that every sinner needs.
[00:14:42] We read In Colossians chapter 1:13, the Father, God, the Father, delivered us from the domain of darkness. Think Egypt, slavery, sin. He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and he transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. There's everything we've been talking about in one statement. God delivered us out of slavery to sin, the domain of darkness. He brings us into the kingdom of His Son, Jesus Christ, who reigns over us. And how does he do that? Through redemption, through Jesus, work on the cross by which we have forgiveness of sins.
[00:15:26] God has placed His Son on the throne of heaven.
[00:15:32] Now, this is important. Moses made an ark at God's commandment, God. If you look at verse nine there in our text, God told Moses to make everything, including the ark, according to the pattern that I show you on the mountain.
[00:15:46] In other words, the ark was a copy.
[00:15:49] It was a throne on earth, but it was a copy of the original.
[00:15:54] God gave Moses a glimpse of God's heavenly throne that Jesus would one day sit on.
[00:16:03] Isaiah got a glimpse of that throne of God with God sitting on the throne.
[00:16:10] Moses made a copy of it after he got a glimpse of it.
[00:16:15] But what God tells us is that he has placed his own son on that throne, the original, the thing that Moses caught a glimpse of, that he gave people a picture of, so that they would know that God was among them, their king reigning over them. Jesus sits on that throne, the original, the real thing.
[00:16:37] So we've been looking in the book of Revelation, in our morning sermons, hearing about the Lamb reigning on the throne of heaven. John was seeing pictures, visions of Jesus reigning on the throne of heaven for the sake of his people.
[00:16:57] So what this ark was about was ultimately about the reign of Christ in heaven. It was a picture of it in anticipation of it.
[00:17:07] One day Jesus would reign. Now he does.
[00:17:12] You see, Jesus is that passover lamb that covered the sins of his people.
[00:17:19] That's what the Gospel of John tells us. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. John says as he points to Jesus.
[00:17:28] And then John says he weeps because he wonders who is worthy to open the seals and unfurl the scroll.
[00:17:37] Who is worthy?
[00:17:39] And then he saw who was worthy.
[00:17:41] The lamb who was slain.
[00:17:45] He is worthy because he went and he purchased a people with his own blood, and the Father raised him from the dead.
[00:17:53] And now because he is worthy, he sits on the throne of God. He has unfurled the scroll of God's decrees, God's commandments, and he is issuing those forth, reigning for the sake of his people.
[00:18:07] That's what this ark was about, about what Jesus has done and is doing now for sinners.
[00:18:15] And he is a gracious king. If you don't know him, turn to him. There is room in his kingdom and he doesn't turn anyone away.
[00:18:26] The Ark is God's throne, the throne of a king. Secondly, the ark is the throne of testimony, or the throne of the covenant.
[00:18:37] We read in verse 16, you shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give you. Again in verse 21, you shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark. And in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give You.
[00:18:51] And then he speaks. Then after the testimony is in the ark, the seat has been placed upon it. He says, I'm going to speak to you from the cherubim that are on the Ark of the Testimony. Now he calls it the throne or the box of the Testimony.
[00:19:10] The testimony refers here to God's covenant and things connected with God's covenant.
[00:19:18] In other words, not only is this a sign of God's reign, the Ark is a sign of God's covenant.
[00:19:24] We argued last week that the whole tabernacle was a sign of God's covenant promises.
[00:19:33] God said, I will be your God and you will be My people.
[00:19:37] And he showed that he really meant it by having them build a tent where his presence would come and he would live among his people. The tabernacle, the whole tabernacle was a sign of his covenant promises of his presence with his people.
[00:19:54] But the Ark was yet one more aspect of the whole tabernacle being a sign of God's covenant promises to his people. What is the testimony that Moses was to put inside the ark? The testimony is the two tablets of stone that have the Ten Commandments written on them. If you. If you remember the story, just a couple more chapters. God is going to himself inscribe with his finger on the tablets of stone the ten Commandments, the words that he spoke when he made his covenant with his people, those ten commandments that he spoke from the mountain to his people. He's going to inscribe them on the stone tablets. And then maybe you remember the story. Moses gets angry and he smashes them as a sign that Israel has broken the covenant because. Because they worship the golden calf instead of God.
[00:20:43] But God has Moses make another set of tablets. When God renews his covenant with his people, when he promises that he's going to forgive them, he's going to dwell with them, he's going to go up with them to the land of Canaan. We've covered this in previous sermons.
[00:20:58] The renewed two stone tablets Moses is to put in the ark of the covenant. That is the testimony.
[00:21:09] Why?
[00:21:11] Why are those tablets called the Testimony?
[00:21:15] Because they are a witness to Israel and to God that God has made this gracious covenant with his people. A covenant to save them, a covenant to forgive them, a covenant to be with them, to be their God and for them to be his people. These tablets of stone were a witness to. To that.
[00:21:34] Now, some of you, like me, have gotten married. Most of you have probably been to a wedding ceremony.
[00:21:41] When a couple gets married, we have a document that we call a marriage certificate.
[00:21:48] And the bride and groom sign it, and the minister signs it. And then two witnesses sign it.
[00:21:55] And that marriage certificate is a witness, a testimony to the fact that these two people have entered into covenant union of marriage.
[00:22:07] The two tablets of stone functioned in a similar fashion.
[00:22:11] They were proof, a certificate that God gave Israel, that he had made his covenant with them, and that he would keep his covenant with them.
[00:22:23] It was a proof of his promise, and that was to be put in the ark on his throne, connected directly to his reign, a promise of his love, care and mercy for his people.
[00:22:40] Now, who needs such a testimony?
[00:22:44] Who needs such a testimony?
[00:22:48] Does God need a testimony, a proof, a certificate that he's made these covenant promises?
[00:22:54] No, he doesn't, does He? When God says something, not only does he never forget it, he always keeps his promises.
[00:23:02] This testimony was placed in the ark to remind not God, but His people of his covenant promises for them.
[00:23:15] You see, the person who needs this testimony is not God, but sinners. And boy, did Israel need it.
[00:23:25] The original testimony that God gave Moses, that he wrote with his fingers, we just talked about a moment ago. Moses brings it down the mountain from God to the people. By the time he gets to the bottom, he smashes it because they've broken the covenant.
[00:23:40] But God keeps his covenant promises in spite of the fact that Moses broke the first copy, doesn't He? He forgives them, he receives them back, and he promises to keep being with them.
[00:23:54] It's the Israelites who made the golden calf, who needed forgiveness and needed a confirmation of God's promises of forgiveness to them. It's sinners who grumble and complain. It's sinners who doubt and become anxious.
[00:24:09] It's sinners who wander in our sin.
[00:24:13] We need such a testimony of God's gracious promises to us.
[00:24:19] And God gives sinners sinners who have turned to him, who put their trust in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God gives you, dear sinner, such a witness to his covenant with you.
[00:24:32] A witness that he has saved you. A witness that he has forgiven you. A witness and testimony that he has loved you with an everlasting love.
[00:24:45] And it's not stone tablets kept under his throne.
[00:24:51] The Father points you to your king sitting on his throne in heaven.
[00:25:01] He points you to the Son of God, who in your human nature died and Rose, who has nail prints in his palms and in his feet, who sits on the throne of heaven.
[00:25:15] That is the testimony that your Father points you to, that he has. Past tense, already kept his promises.
[00:25:25] Do you doubt? Do you fall into sin? Does your heart trouble you?
[00:25:33] God says, look to my son.
[00:25:36] And what does Jesus point you to? He points you to his blood, the blood that he already shed for you week after week. He points you to his blood that was shed to make complete atonement, redemption for all your sins.
[00:25:53] What does Jesus say to you week after week when he serves you his supper?
[00:26:00] He says, this cup is a new covenant in my blood, shed for many for the forgiveness of sins. Drink of it.
[00:26:07] That's his witness to you.
[00:26:10] See my blood?
[00:26:11] It's all been paid for. It's all done. You have nothing left to fear.
[00:26:17] I've done all that's needed for you.
[00:26:20] Come to me.
[00:26:22] Come see my testimony. Jesus says, see my hands and my feet. He told Thomas, right, Put your hands in there. See, I did it all.
[00:26:35] The throne of testimony, the Ark of the Covenant, pointed to Jesus, to his work, to his witness before the Father as he pleads, father, forgive them.
[00:26:47] They're mine.
[00:26:51] And so it's also a throne of mercy, isn't it?
[00:26:55] Because of what Jesus has done. This is a throne of mercy.
[00:27:02] The presence of God for the Israelites and for any sinner doesn't automatically feel like a gracious thing, does it?
[00:27:12] But what God is trying to show his people as he has them build this ark, and as he has them, come and bring their offerings outside the tabernacle, as he has the priests come in and present their offerings before him, he wants his people to know that his presence over this throne with them is a gracious, merciful presence.
[00:27:38] Think about the presence of God in the Book of Exodus, and maybe you can think back even to maybe, Genesis in the garden.
[00:27:47] How do sinners tend to feel the presence of God?
[00:27:52] Fear, terror, shame, Hiding. It's Adam and Eve, right? They hide.
[00:27:59] Moses enters God's presence. He's pretty terrified of the burning bush, isn't he?
[00:28:05] And how about the people at the foot of Mount Sinai? God says, don't come near the mountain. Don't touch it.
[00:28:13] If you do, you'll die.
[00:28:18] And yet God has them set up a throne in the midst of the camp, near to them, inside a tabernacle, they can't see it. They aren't allowed to come and touch it. Those who come and touch it die.
[00:28:35] But nonetheless, he draws near to his people. He comes down and he lives among them.
[00:28:43] His people now can draw near. Very close. They can come into the courtyard of the tabernacle. They can present their offerings and worship him and have fellowship with God. Very close to his throne.
[00:28:56] The priests can come even closer.
[00:28:59] They come into the tabernacle and they eat bread. They have a meal in God's presence in the holy place as representatives of the people. God says to them, see, you're my friends, you're my guests, my family. I let you eat and dine in my house.
[00:29:17] And once a year, the high priest is representative of the whole people of God.
[00:29:23] Once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, he goes all the way in, all the way into the holy of holies, the most holy place, and there offers the prayers of God's people before the throne of God. He enters all the way in before the merciful throne of grace, sprinkling the blood of atonement on the mercy seat itself.
[00:29:49] God's presence, which is terrifying to sinners God has made to be gracious and merciful. Now to sinners who are in covenant with him whom he has saved, whom he rules over, whom he has bound Himself to through the blood of the lamb.
[00:30:09] It has become a seat of mercy. No more a throne of judgment, still a righteous, just throne. Ten Commandments in the throne God rules by his just, righteous law, to be sure.
[00:30:22] But the throne has become a place where he dispenses grace and. And mercy to his people.
[00:30:29] That is the name that now characterizes God's throne for his people. And he wants the Israelites and us to get that.
[00:30:41] So it is that, as we read at the opening of our worship service, that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God.
[00:30:53] If that throne was a copy of God's throne in heaven, in his holy place, where he dwells eternally with all his glory.
[00:31:03] We're told that Jesus, the Son of God, our high priest, has passed not into a throne in a tent here on earth, but to the throne room of God itself.
[00:31:15] And there, because he is there as our high priest, having offered, made atonement for sins through his blood on the cross.
[00:31:22] Jesus, our high priest, has made that throne of God no more to be a throne of judgment for his people, but to be a throne of grace and mercy.
[00:31:31] And so he tells us, let us then with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace. Hebrews 4:16. Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
[00:31:50] You need God as king.
[00:31:52] You need his testimony of his covenant love for you, and you need his mercy. Seat Israel. They had the throne. They had a way to the throne once a year to receive mercy and grace in their time of need.
[00:32:09] And for the most part, they didn't take it.
[00:32:13] But dear sinner, Jesus now sits on that throne.
[00:32:19] The one who loved you and gave himself up for you sits on that throne.
[00:32:25] He is the one to whom you come. He's the one who pours forth the grace and mercy and blessings of almighty, infinite God.
[00:32:35] He has control over the blessings of salvation, and he is not stingy. He pours them out freely when you come to Him.
[00:32:45] And if you're a sinner, and we are, you need that Jesus, our high priest and our King. He needs to be both together.
[00:32:56] But that's how it works. He does both.
[00:32:59] He pours forth the blessings of heaven.
[00:33:02] So Paul is able to say things like he says in Ephesians chapter one. He says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
[00:33:18] Hear that one more time. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
[00:33:29] There is no blessing that God does not give you in Christ.
[00:33:34] He hasn't held back any of it. All of it. Everything he has to offer, he gives to you in His Son.
[00:33:42] He gives it all.
[00:33:46] What are you waiting for?
[00:33:48] Jesus says, go into your closet. Go home. Go into your closet. What does he say in Matthew 6? Go to your closet to pray where your Father is waiting for you and bring your needs to Him.
[00:34:04] What needs do you have?
[00:34:07] What blessings do you need? What do you want?
[00:34:10] Do you want more closeness with God? Do you feel far from Him? He's there waiting for you. His throne is open to you. You don't have to wait once a week.
[00:34:20] You don't have to wait once a day. Anytime you can turn to Him. He is there waiting for you, ready to give to you freely everything.
[00:34:29] Because it all belongs to him. And he purchased it for you.
[00:34:34] So don't hesitate, don't wait. Turn to him well. Every king has a throne.
[00:34:42] Your king has the throne. Let's pray.
[00:34:48] Our gracious God and Father in heaven.
[00:34:51] We are unworthy.
[00:34:53] We do not deserve the treasures of heaven that you give us in Christ Jesus.
[00:35:00] This fountain that flows freely like a fountain of life, flowing forth from the throne of God and from the Lamb.
[00:35:08] A river of delights, the psalmist calls it.
[00:35:11] Oh Lord, our God, help us to look beyond the troubles and trials of our life that are in our hearts and to see what you have given us in Jesus.
[00:35:22] Draw us to him. Help us to set our mind on the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Help us to see that our life is hidden there with him, and that we have but to turn to him, and he gives freely.
[00:35:38] Oh, and more abundantly than we could ask or think.
[00:35:42] O Lord our God, we ask that you would fill us with courage, then confidence that we would ask, not doubting, but that we would ask trusting and knowing with confidence that you will give us what we need.
[00:35:56] Lord our God, we praise and thank you and bless you that these things are true.
[00:36:01] We thank you that you confirmed to us by your spirit so that we can know your love, your peace and your care. We ask that you would do that again for us tonight. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.
