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God, Holy and Redeeming · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

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So we're going to begin our worship now. We're going to sing, first of all, tonight from Psalm 96a.
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Psalm 96a on page 126. The tune is Strakathro, verses 1 to 10.
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O sing a new song to the Lord, sing praises to His name, and His salvation day by day let all the earth proclaim.
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His glory and His mighty deeds to every land declare, How great and awesome is the Lord, with Him no gods compare.
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And that's Psalm 96a, verses 1 to 10. If we stand to sing, if you're able, please.
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O sing a new song to the Lord, sing praises to His name.
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And that's Psalm 96a, verses 1 to 10.
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And that's Psalm 96a, verses 1 to 10.
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The Lord, in heaven's high.
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Of our grand majesty, He has it.
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He dwells in glorious light.
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All nations to the Lord, ascribe the glory that is due.
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And He Him, we go and share, How pure and saith to God, How pure and thee É
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His choice with joy and faith, and offering with you.
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Worship the Lord, and holy fear, all the land before Him bow.
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Tell them, we land, the Lord is King, established is the earth, and cannot do.
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The Lord will judge, that we need the sin is true.
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Let's now engage in prayer. Let's all call upon the name of the Lord.
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Our gracious and almighty God, as we gather once again here in your presence this evening,
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we thank you for the many promises that meet us as we come around your word.
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We thank you especially for the promise of your presence,
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for you are pleased, Lord, to present yourself among your people,
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to reveal yourself to them through your word, through the operation of your Holy Spirit.
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We thank you, Lord, as we anticipate such a blessing once again this evening,
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for we need to take your word at face value,
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and believe your promises as they're set out for us.
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We thank you, Lord, for that prospect.
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We thank you for the way in which that presence of God
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truly sanctifies our hearts,
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and sanctifies even our place of worship.
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We bless you tonight, Lord, that you are worthy of our worship.
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You have revealed this to us in your word,
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all the reasons why we come to worship you,
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and ascribe praise and glory and thanksgiving to you.
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We acknowledge you, Lord, as our creator,
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the one who has brought us into being,
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the one who formed us in our mother's womb,
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the one who took charge of our destiny from our conception
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and right through to our end in death.
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Lord, we give thanks that we can come and place ourselves anew in your hands this evening.
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And we know that to do so places ourselves in the custody
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and the security that you provide for your people.
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Lord, we thank you that you have remembered us,
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poor sinners who are lost without you,
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that you have not cast us away from you,
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even though this is what we would deserve.
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And you have remembered us in your pity,
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look down upon us in your compassion,
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and especially that you have provided for us
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a deliverance, a salvation from our sins
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to bring us into that wonderful state of redemption.
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We thank you tonight, Lord, for your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
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And we bless you, Lord, as our Father in heaven,
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that you sent your Son into this world,
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that you sent him in such a way as took our nature to himself,
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forevermore binding together the deity that he had from all eternity
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and the humanity that he took to himself
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to be formed and fashioned as a man.
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Lord, we give thanks for the wonder of his person,
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the glory of his person,
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the beauty of his person,
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the sinlessness of his person.
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And we thank you especially for all that has been achieved
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through his work here in this world,
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for all that he continues to do in this intercession from heaven
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as he remembers his people.
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Lord, we pray tonight that we may know you
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as that Lord and Savior of your church,
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that we may know you for ourselves in such a way
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as would fall before you in adoration and in awe and praise,
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and truly be persuaded that you are the only God
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and that you are the only God we need.
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We thank you tonight, Lord,
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for every way in which your blessing reaches us from day to day,
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from week to week in the course of life.
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When we reflect, Lord,
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on each Lord's Day at the beginning of each new week,
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we can cast our minds back to many ways
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in which we have come to experience your blessing.
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Lord, we acknowledge with shame
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that so often we receive gifts and blessings from you
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that we are sometimes all too unaware of,
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and that our lives are so filled with things
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that we do from day to day
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that we take so little time to pause
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and to reflect upon the goodness of God.
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Lord, forgive us, we pray,
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for when our lives fail to give you the thanks,
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fail to give you the trust
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that you are worthy of.
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And remember us then, Lord,
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we pray this evening
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so that we will dwell in your presence for a time
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and that we will know that having dwelt in your presence,
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we leave this place, Lord, today
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better than when we came,
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improved in our relation with you
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and with each other,
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and grown in our knowledge of you,
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in our appreciation and love for you,
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and in our determination to serve you.
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Bless us, Lord, we pray,
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as a congregation during this coming week.
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Lord, we give thanks for all the activities
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that we anticipate during this week to come
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as we do week by week.
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And we thank you for all that this entails,
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for the many encouragements it brings us
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to see so many people actively engaged
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in your service in the congregation.
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And we do pray for all of these activities,
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O Lord,
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as they go on from week to week.
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And we pray especially again
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for the work going on amongst our children
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and young people
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and young adults.
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We commend that to you
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once again
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and give thanks
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for all the parents
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and all the teachers
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and all the leaders
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who provide, Lord,
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such encouragement for us.
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And we're so concerned
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to bring their young people
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and children to church
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and to experience for themselves
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what it is to belong
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to a believing
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and worshiping congregation.
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We remember, too,
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O Lord,
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tonight those who have
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particular difficulties
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and challenges in life.
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Remember those
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who are ill at this time.
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Remember those
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who are seriously ill.
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Remember those
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who may be terminally ill.
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We commend them to you, O Lord,
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and ask that you'd graciously
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bless them all.
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We pray that you'd bless
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those who mourn
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the passing of loved ones.
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We think of these families,
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Lord, tonight
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who are preparing
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for funerals
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in these days to come.
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Remember each
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and all of these families,
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Lord, we pray.
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Grant them your blessing
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and your comfort.
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Grant to them
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that you would draw near to them
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and as they know
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in their hurting hearts,
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O Lord,
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the reality of death
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coming into their family circle.
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May they know, too,
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the reality
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of your Holy Spirit,
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blessing your word to them
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and giving them
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the comfort
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and the upholding
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and the strengthening
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that you alone
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are able to bring.
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And we ask, too,
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that you'd bless Shawnee,
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who owns the county hotel.
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And, Lord,
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we know what took place
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in the fire there last week.
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And we, Lord,
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pray for him
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and pray for his staff
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at this time
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as they seek to adjust
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and to move on
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from that event.
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We thank you
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for the way that,
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while the damage
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was not insignificant,
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yet we give thanks
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that it was not worse
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and was not what
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it could have been.
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We pray, Lord,
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for all the emergency services,
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especially the fire service
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who took place,
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who gave in a place
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in their own place,
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Lord,
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who gave such valuable
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assistance at that time.
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And we commend to you
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all our emergency services
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as they serve us
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in our community
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from week to week.
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We ask that you'll bless them.
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We ask that you'll keep them safe,
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especially at such times
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as these,
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oh, Lord,
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when the potential for injury
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is so much heightened.
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And we thank you
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for your protective care of them.
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And we pray that you'll give
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Shawnee and the staff
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the means by which
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they will move on
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as the hotel,
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whenever it reopens,
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that they will know
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your blessing
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and know your provision
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for them,
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Lord,
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in these days to come.
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And we ask that you
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would bless us now
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as we continue
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in your presence.
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We think of other items,
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Lord,
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that were mentioned
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in our bulletin sheet today.
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We remember especially
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Kenny John in Uganda.
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And we pray for him
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and we pray for the work
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that he's involved with
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and the different aspects
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of that work.
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And God is good Africa.
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Remember him
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and remember all
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who work with him,
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Lord,
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and come alongside him
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and remember all
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who are helped
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by that mission.
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We pray too
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for those families
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in Uganda
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who lost
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their young ones,
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oh, Lord,
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so recently
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in that terrible act
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of violence.
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Oh, Lord,
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we pray that
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you would draw near
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to them
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and that whatever
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they may be in life,
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we pray that they
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will turn to you
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and that they will know
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your blessing
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at this time
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coming to speak
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into their hurting souls.
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And we ask
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that you would,
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as we are thankful,
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Lord,
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for a relative peace
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that we experience,
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remember all other places
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like this
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throughout the world
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who today
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cannot be peacefully
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at rest
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and who have violence
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and terror
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to contend with
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each and every day
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of their lives.
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Gracious one,
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bless our world,
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bless our world
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with the gospel,
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bless our world
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with the spreading
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of that good news
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of Jesus Christ,
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bless our world
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with peace,
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the peace that comes
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from above.
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Grant these mercies
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to us, we pray,
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as we lay them all
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before you
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in our prayers,
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seeking pardon
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from all our sin,
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for Jesus' sake.
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Amen.
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Let's continue
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to praise God.
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We're singing this time
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from Psalm 138.
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Our singing again
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is from the Sing Psalms version.
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Psalm 138
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on page 179,
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verses 1 to 6,
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the tune is rocking him.
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I'll praise you, Lord,
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with all my heart.
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Before the gods
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I'll sing your praise.
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I'll bow towards
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your holy place
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and bless your holy name
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always.
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Psalm 138
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on page 179,
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singing the verses
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marked 1 to 6
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to God's praise.
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I'll praise you, Lord,
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with all my heart.
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Before the gods
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I'll sing your praise.
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I'll bow to your holy place
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unless your holy name
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always.
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I'll praise you for your faithfulness
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and for your God.
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And for your God,
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and for your love,
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O Lord,
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for over all things
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you have praised
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your holy name.
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Your holy name,
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your holy name,
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unfaithful word.
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The very day I call to you,
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You gave an answer
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to my plea.
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You made me bold
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within myself
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with beauty song
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You strengthened me.
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O Lord,
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let all
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have kings
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give praise
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when from your mouth
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they hear your word.
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let them extol
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the ways of God
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for it's the glory
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of the Lord.
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Lord,
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although the Lord
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God dwells on high,
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the lowly person
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He protects,
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whereas the proud
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and for dim one
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He knows how far
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the heart we share.
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Amen.
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Our reading tonight
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from God's Word
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is from the book of Exodus.
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Exodus chapter 2.
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Just the last few verses
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of Exodus chapter 2
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from verse 23
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and reading on into chapter 3
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as far as verse 12.
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Exodus chapter 2
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So Exodus 2
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at verse 23
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During those many days
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the king of Egypt died
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and the people of Israel
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groaned because of their slavery
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and cried out for help.
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Their cry for rescue
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from slavery came up to God.
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And God heard their groaning
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and God remembered His covenant
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with Abraham,
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with Isaac and with Jacob.
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God saw the people of Israel
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and God knew.
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Now Moses was keeping the flock
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of his father-in-law Jethro,
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the priest of Midian,
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and he led his flock
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to the west side
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of the wilderness
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and came to Horeb,
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the mountain of God.
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And the angel of the Lord
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appeared to him
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in a flame of fire
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out of the midst of a bush.
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He looked and behold
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the bush was burning,
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yet it was not consumed.
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And Moses said,
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I will turn aside
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to see this great sight,
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why the bush is not burned.
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When the Lord saw
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that he turned aside
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to see,
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God called to him
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out of the bush,
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Moses, Moses.
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And he said,
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Here I am.
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Then he said,
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Do not come near.
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Take your sandals
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off your feet,
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for the place
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on which you are standing
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is holy ground.
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And he said,
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I am the God of your father,
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the God of Abraham,
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the God of Isaac,
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and the God of Jacob.
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And Moses hid his face,
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for he was afraid
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to look at God.
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Then the Lord said,
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I have surely seen
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the affliction
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of my people
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who are in Egypt,
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and I have heard their cry
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because of their taskmasters.
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I know their sufferings,
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and I have come down
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to deliver them
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out of the hand
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of the Egyptians,
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and to bring them up
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out of that land
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to a good and broad land,
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a land flowing
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with milk and honey,
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to the place
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of the Canaanites,
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the Hittites,
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the Amorites,
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the Perizzites,
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the Hivites,
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and the Jebusites.
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And now behold,
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the cry of the people
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of Israel has come
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to me,
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and I have also seen
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the oppression
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with which the Egyptians
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oppress them.
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Come,
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I will send you
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to Pharaoh,
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that you may bring
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my people,
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the children of Israel,
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out of Egypt.
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But Moses said to God,
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Who am I that I should go
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to Pharaoh,
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and bring the children
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of Israel out of Egypt?
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He said,
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But I will be with you,
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and this shall be the sign
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for you that I have sent you.
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When you have brought
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the people out of Egypt,
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you shall serve God
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on this mountain."
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And so on.
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Again, we pray for God's blessing
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to follow our reading
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of His Word,
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and as we come to look
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at this passage
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in a short time.
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We'll sing again
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before then,
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in Psalm 99,
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in the Scottish Psalter,
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Psalm 99,
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that's on page 361.
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We're singing verses 1 to 5,
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the tune of Covenanters.
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The eternal Lord
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doth reign as King,
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let all the people quake.
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He sits between the cherubims,
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let the earth be moved
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and shake.
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The Lord in Zion,
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great and high above all people is.
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Thy great and dreadful name,
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for it is holy,
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let them bless.
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Psalm 99,
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these verses 1 to 5.
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May 10 enter as Emily
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asto's a god maisnets,...
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they are the great and part is
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not in water in the 12th list.
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Let the earth be moved and shake.
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It sits between the cherubims.
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Let the earth be moved and shake.
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The Lord in Zion, great and high above,
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All people is.
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Thy great undreadful name for it is holy.
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Let them bless.
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His holy, let them bless.
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His holy, let them bless.
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Thy great undreadful name for it is holy.
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Let them bless.
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The King's strength also judgment,
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And love's so setless equity.
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Just judgment thou dost execute,
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And Jacob righteous thee.
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And Jacob righteous thee.
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And Jacob righteous thee.
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Just judgment thou dost execute,
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And Jacob righteous thee.
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The Lord has got exalted upon high,
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And reverently to ye.
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Before his boots to worship him,
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The holy one is he.
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The holy one is he.
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The holy one is he.
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Faith on his boots to worship him,
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The holy one is he.
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If you turn with me please now to Exodus chapter 3,
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And this evening I'm going to look at verses 1 to 10.
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Exodus chapter 3, verses 1 to 10.
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When you come to read verse 4 here of this chapter,
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When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see God call to him out of the bush,
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Moses, Moses.
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That is the first time God had spoken for 400 years to the people of Israel.
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The last time God spoke to the people of Israel before that
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was back in Genesis 46, verses 1 to 4,
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where you find God addressing Jacob
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as he prepared to go down to Egypt with his family.
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And during those 400 years,
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not a word had been heard of a revelation from God
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to add to what he had said up to that point.
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And now we're coming in Exodus 3
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to the next stage of God's plan for his people.
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It's not a new plan.
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Nothing's changed in that respect.
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But after all that time without hearing the voice of God,
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God again comes to speak to them,
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to reveal himself to them,
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to give them instructions,
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and to provide especially for them the leadership
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that Moses is going to bring to them
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to deliver them from Egypt
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and from their bondage and slavery there.
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In chapter 2, verses 24 to 25,
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which we also read,
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we see that God heard that groaning
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and God remembered his covenant
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with Abraham and Isaac and with Jacob.
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And that takes you back to chapter 15 of Genesis.
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Just flick through to there.
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I'll just read the verses for you.
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Chapter 15 of Genesis, verses 13 to 16,
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where God there speaks to Abraham
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and the promise that he gave to Abraham,
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which is now being picked up again
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as you come to Exodus chapter 3.
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There in Genesis 15, at verse 13,
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God spoke as following.
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And following, he said to Abraham,
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know for certain that your offspring
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will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs,
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that meant Egypt,
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and will be servants there.
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And they will be afflicted for 400 years.
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But I will bring judgment on the nation
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that they serve,
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and afterwards they shall come out
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with great possessions.
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So it goes back to there,
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to the promise given to Abraham.
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And then all of this time,
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since he spoke to Jacob shortly after that,
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God had been silent.
27:07
And you can see that in chapter 3 here,
27:09
this is not a new plan that God is formulating.
27:13
It's not as if he's saying,
27:15
well, all these years have come to pass.
27:17
They're now past these 400 years,
27:19
and I haven't spoken a word
27:20
to reveal myself further.
27:23
So here is my new plan.
27:25
This has always been God's plan.
27:27
The 400 years of silence
27:29
were as much a part of God's plan
27:32
as anything else.
27:33
They fitted into that program
27:35
that God had for his people.
27:37
And so the whole thing is just one long chain
27:41
of events or non-events,
27:44
but everything is within the plan
27:46
that God had for them.
27:48
And for the past 80 years,
27:51
at this moment in this chapter 3 of Exodus,
27:54
for the previous 80 years before then,
27:57
God had been preparing one man,
28:00
this man Moses,
28:01
for the task of leading the people of Israel
28:04
out of their slavery in Egypt.
28:07
The remarkable career of Moses.
28:09
He was 40 when he had to flee from Egypt,
28:13
having killed an Egyptian,
28:14
and ended up in the land of area of Midian,
28:18
where he took a wife and had a son.
28:22
And now after that time,
28:24
40 years has elapsed,
28:26
and he's been in Midian for 40 years,
28:28
and God is sending him back to Egypt
28:30
to lead the people out.
28:32
And then the next 40 years of his life,
28:34
he'd be leading them through the desert
28:36
until they're in sight of the promised land.
28:40
Three periods of 40 years
28:43
in the life of this one man.
28:45
And all of that,
28:46
or the first two of these periods,
28:48
the 80 years,
28:49
are all to do with God preparing him
28:52
for this mammoth task
28:54
of taking the people,
28:57
leading the people out of Egypt.
28:59
And you notice in verse 1
29:00
what it says about him,
29:02
he was keeping,
29:03
shepherding the flock
29:04
of his father-in-law Jethro,
29:06
the priest of Midian,
29:09
and led his flock
29:10
to the west side of the wilderness,
29:12
and he came to Horeb,
29:14
the mountain of God.
29:15
Why does that strike you
29:17
as somewhat remarkable?
29:20
Well, if you go back to chapter 46,
29:23
it tells us what the people of Egypt
29:25
thought of shepherds.
29:28
When Joseph and his family
29:30
came down to Egypt,
29:31
chapter 46 and verse 34,
29:34
this is what Joseph instructed Jacob to say,
29:38
you shall say,
29:39
your servants have been keepers of livestock
29:40
from our youth even until now,
29:43
both we and our fathers,
29:44
in order that you may dwell
29:45
in the land of Goshen,
29:46
for every shepherd
29:48
is an abomination to the Egyptians.
29:52
Now, why is that important?
29:53
It's important because
29:54
when it came to Moses being here,
29:57
being sent back to Egypt,
30:00
having spent these years,
30:01
God preparing him
30:02
for this great task,
30:03
you can see from that
30:04
that God does not act
30:06
according to human wisdom.
30:08
If the question were asked,
30:10
what sort of person
30:11
would I prepare
30:12
if God were to ask us
30:14
to go back to Egypt
30:15
to lead my people out of Egypt,
30:16
you wouldn't actually think
30:17
of a shepherd.
30:19
You wouldn't think
30:19
that a shepherd
30:20
would have any place in Egypt
30:21
where shepherding
30:22
was an abomination to the people.
30:24
If you're going to ask the question
30:26
as you come into the New Testament,
30:28
what kind of woman
30:29
would actually bear
30:30
the humanity of our Lord,
30:33
the Son of God incarnate
30:34
as He came into this world,
30:35
what kind of woman
30:36
would give birth
30:37
to the Lord Jesus Christ?
30:40
You might say,
30:40
well, surely if He's the Son of God
30:42
as He is,
30:43
and He's coming to take
30:44
human nature to Himself,
30:46
surely it would be somebody
30:47
of a high status,
30:49
somebody like a princess.
30:52
No, He chose a poor woman
30:55
betrothed or engaged
30:57
to a man who was certainly
30:59
not worthy to Joseph.
31:02
And all of that reminds us tonight
31:04
of how God operates.
31:07
God does not actually pay attention
31:10
in that way,
31:11
in that sense,
31:12
to people who might think
31:13
of themselves as fit
31:14
and worthy to be used by God
31:17
in the advance of His kingdom.
31:18
Very often,
31:19
as Paul says to the Corinthians,
31:21
it's those things
31:22
that the world sees
31:23
as ignoble,
31:24
as too simple,
31:25
as just not worthy
31:26
to be considered at all.
31:27
The kind of people
31:28
that you would never place
31:29
in the world's standards
31:31
in a position
31:32
of meaningful importance.
31:35
No, God does that.
31:37
God takes people like you and I.
31:41
God takes people
31:42
who are just ourselves,
31:46
really nothing whatsoever
31:47
in His presence
31:48
in terms of ability,
31:50
but He takes us
31:51
and He puts us
31:52
and says,
31:54
right,
31:54
I'm choosing you
31:55
to be a servant,
31:57
to lead my people.
31:59
That's what He's saying here
32:00
about Moses.
32:01
God's choices
32:03
and God's methods,
32:05
they don't fit in
32:07
with worldly standards,
32:08
with worldly ideas,
32:10
with human wisdom
32:11
and human thinking.
32:12
He has His own mind
32:13
and His own mind
32:14
is always superior.
32:15
As He said to Isaiah,
32:17
my thoughts are not your thoughts,
32:20
neither are my ways
32:21
your ways.
32:22
So let's just be
32:24
in awe of God
32:26
and reflect tonight
32:28
upon how He operates
32:31
according to His standard,
32:34
to His knowledge,
32:35
to His wisdom
32:36
and carries through
32:38
His great plan
32:39
of redemption,
32:41
sometimes through people
32:42
that you wouldn't have thought
32:43
at all would be suitable
32:45
for fitting into that plan.
32:49
Well, two things
32:50
we want to look at here.
32:51
First of all,
32:52
how Moses meets with God
32:54
and some of what took place there
32:56
as he came to stand
32:58
in the vicinity
32:58
of this burning bush.
33:00
Moses meeting with God,
33:02
verses 2 to 5 of the chapter,
33:05
and then from verse 6 onwards,
33:07
we'll say something about
33:08
how God revealed Himself
33:10
to Moses.
33:11
So Moses meets with God
33:13
and God reveals Himself
33:14
to Moses.
33:16
Here you find in verse 2,
33:18
the angel of the Lord
33:19
appeared to him
33:19
in a flame of fire
33:21
out of the midst
33:22
of a bush.
33:23
And he looked,
33:23
and behold,
33:24
the bush was burning,
33:26
yet it was not consumed.
33:28
Here was this
33:28
remarkable phenomenon.
33:30
It wasn't a dream
33:31
that he had.
33:31
It wasn't something
33:32
that was unreal.
33:33
It wasn't something
33:33
that was other than
33:34
just literal,
33:35
actual,
33:36
a bush burning
33:38
there in the wilderness.
33:41
And it was on fire,
33:42
very much on fire,
33:44
and yet the wood,
33:45
the substance of that bush,
33:47
was not burnt up,
33:48
totally against
33:49
what normally happens.
33:51
When you light a fire,
33:52
whether it's wood
33:52
or whatever,
33:53
the fire devours
33:55
the material
33:56
that it burns upon
33:59
until it goes into ashes.
34:02
Well, here is a bush.
34:04
It was on fire.
34:06
Flames were appearing
34:07
out of it,
34:08
but it was not being burnt up.
34:10
It remained in its substance
34:12
the bush it had always been.
34:14
What did that indicate?
34:16
What is that about?
34:17
What does that teach us?
34:18
It's a famous symbol
34:20
as it was used
34:21
by the church
34:22
down through the ages.
34:24
Well, it indicated,
34:25
as we'll see,
34:26
that God's presence was there.
34:28
Look at what you read there.
34:29
The angel of the Lord
34:30
appeared to him
34:31
in the midst of a bush.
34:35
Now, the angel of the Lord,
34:37
as you know,
34:38
is a figure that appears
34:40
at different stages
34:41
in the Old Testament.
34:42
And sometimes he appears
34:45
and speaks for God,
34:47
but actually sometimes
34:48
he appears and speaks as God.
34:51
So, it's actually
34:52
a manifestation of God
34:54
in a certain appearance
34:56
in such a way
34:58
that takes the appearance
34:59
of the angel here,
35:01
or sometimes it could be
35:02
in the form of a human,
35:04
but the angel of the Lord
35:05
is a manifestation
35:07
by God of himself.
35:09
And it's not improper
35:11
to actually see it
35:13
as we treat it carefully.
35:15
It's a manifestation
35:16
of the second person
35:19
of the Trinity
35:19
who came to be incarnate,
35:22
to take out human nature
35:23
in Jesus Christ.
35:25
And if you carefully
35:26
protect the fact
35:27
that he only became incarnate
35:29
at that stage
35:30
we read of
35:31
in the New Testament,
35:32
it's still not illegitimate
35:34
to say that this was
35:36
a manifestation of God.
35:37
What came to be more clearly
35:39
the second person
35:40
of the Trinity
35:41
in the New Testament
35:42
taking out human nature
35:44
to himself.
35:44
That's a whole area
35:45
of theology.
35:46
It's something that has
35:47
been studied down
35:48
through the years
35:49
very profitably
35:49
and still has a lot
35:50
of mystery to it.
35:51
But here is the angel
35:52
of the Lord,
35:53
this figure,
35:55
appearing to him
35:56
in a flame of fire
35:57
out of the midst
35:58
of the bush.
35:59
Now, I think it's probably
36:00
better translating that
36:02
that the angel of the Lord
36:03
appeared to him
36:04
as a flame of fire.
36:07
As a flame of fire.
36:09
Not just in a flame of fire.
36:11
The angel of the Lord
36:11
appeared as a flame.
36:13
He took the form
36:14
of this flame
36:15
in the midst of this bush
36:16
that was burning
36:17
and was not consumed.
36:21
Now, as you know,
36:22
the Scottish church
36:22
took the burning bush
36:25
as its emblem
36:26
way back in history
36:27
and that still remains
36:30
with us.
36:31
And very often
36:32
it had the Latin inscription
36:34
underneath from
36:35
the Hebrew text here,
36:37
nektamin consumabater,
36:39
which means
36:40
yet it was not consumed
36:42
from the words
36:43
that you find there
36:44
in verse 2.
36:45
He looked,
36:46
the bush was burning,
36:47
yet it was not consumed.
36:50
And sadly,
36:50
I think when
36:51
our own church
36:52
reconfigured
36:54
the emblem
36:55
of the burning bush
36:56
that you find now,
36:57
it's just like
36:58
three flames
37:00
appearing,
37:01
but there's nothing there.
37:01
There are no words there.
37:03
The Latin phraseology
37:04
has been
37:05
just rubbed away.
37:06
There's nothing there,
37:07
which I think
37:08
is a great pity
37:08
because you cannot
37:09
really understand
37:10
the symbol
37:11
without the words.
37:13
And the words
37:14
actually mean
37:14
nektamin consumabater
37:16
means
37:16
yet it was not consumed.
37:18
It takes you
37:19
to the whole essence
37:20
of what happened here
37:21
in the days of Moses.
37:23
That's a bit of a moan,
37:24
but never mind.
37:24
It's something
37:25
that I think is important
37:26
in its own right.
37:28
Anyway,
37:28
what it represented
37:30
was that
37:30
not so much
37:32
the bush
37:33
representing
37:34
the church
37:35
and persecution
37:38
represented
37:39
by the flames,
37:41
and yet the church
37:41
was not destroyed.
37:44
That's how it was
37:45
traditionally looked at,
37:46
but I think it's better
37:47
really to,
37:49
if we can be so bold
37:50
as to say,
37:51
that it's better
37:52
to regard
37:52
the flames
37:54
in the bush
37:54
as indicative
37:55
of the presence
37:57
of God.
37:58
The presence
37:59
of God
38:00
in His people
38:01
or in the midst
38:02
of His people,
38:02
and yet they are not
38:03
consumed,
38:04
which itself
38:05
is a remarkable thing,
38:06
that God should actually
38:08
dwell in the midst
38:09
of a sinful people
38:10
that He makes holy,
38:12
and yet they are not
38:13
consumed.
38:14
They are not brought
38:14
under His wrath
38:16
in such a way
38:16
as just lays upon them
38:18
what they deserve
38:20
for their sins.
38:22
So you see here,
38:24
God called them,
38:26
in verse 4,
38:27
out of the bush.
38:29
In other words,
38:30
the bush there
38:31
and the flames
38:32
in the bush
38:33
were to do
38:33
with the presence
38:34
of God,
38:35
the holy burning
38:37
presence of God.
38:39
And while the bush
38:40
was not consumed,
38:41
there is a representation
38:42
for you
38:43
of the miracle
38:44
of the wonder
38:44
of grace
38:45
that God comes
38:46
to live
38:47
in the midst
38:47
of His people
38:48
as the holy God
38:49
because He doesn't
38:50
change His holiness.
38:51
He doesn't actually
38:52
leave His holiness
38:53
as it were aside
38:54
or limit that holiness
38:56
in any sense
38:57
in order to dwell
38:58
amongst us
38:58
as a people.
39:00
It is the holy God,
39:02
the God who is
39:03
as holy today
39:04
as He was
39:05
in the days of Moses,
39:07
as He was
39:07
from all eternity.
39:08
He was perfectly holy,
39:10
righteous,
39:10
pure.
39:12
And this is the God
39:13
who dwells today
39:15
with His people
39:15
and in the midst
39:16
of His people.
39:18
And God called Him
39:20
out of the midst
39:22
of the bush.
39:23
So there you find
39:24
this remarkable phenomenon.
39:27
So remarkable
39:28
that Moses
39:29
went to draw near
39:31
to the bush.
39:32
It drew his attention.
39:34
It stimulated
39:34
his curiosity.
39:36
How could this be?
39:37
How could there be
39:38
such a thing
39:38
as a bush
39:39
in the desert
39:40
burning really
39:41
with fire,
39:42
with real fire,
39:43
and yet that bush
39:44
is not consumed?
39:45
The wood
39:46
is not being burnt up.
39:47
What is this?
39:48
Moses turned aside
39:49
to see.
39:50
He said,
39:51
I will turn aside
39:52
to see
39:53
this great sight
39:54
why the bush
39:55
is not burned.
39:56
When the Lord
39:57
saw that he turned aside
39:58
to see,
39:59
God called to him
39:59
out of the bush
40:00
and said,
40:02
Moses, Moses,
40:02
and he said,
40:03
here am I.
40:04
He said,
40:05
don't come near.
40:06
Take your sandals
40:07
off your feet
40:07
for the place
40:09
on which you are standing
40:10
is holy ground.
40:13
Moses is stopped
40:17
as he seeks
40:19
to draw near
40:20
to get a closer
40:21
look at this
40:22
remarkable bush.
40:24
And God stops him.
40:26
God stops him
40:26
by calling out
40:27
his name,
40:28
Moses.
40:29
Moses.
40:29
And it's actually
40:30
a personal summons
40:32
where God is speaking
40:33
to Moses
40:34
and actually stopping
40:35
him at that moment
40:36
by repeating his name
40:38
which really
40:38
is a summons
40:39
to him to come
40:40
and pay attention
40:41
to what God
40:41
is now going to say.
40:45
And that's really
40:46
where our service
40:48
of God begins,
40:49
isn't it,
40:49
for ourselves.
40:52
We come to serve God
40:53
not because we wake up
40:54
one day and say,
40:55
I think it would be
40:55
a good idea
40:56
to be a Christian
40:57
or I think it would be
40:58
a good idea
40:59
to be a minister
40:59
in the church.
41:02
That's not where
41:02
our service begins.
41:03
It begins in our
41:04
meeting with God.
41:06
It begins with God
41:08
bringing us
41:08
to know himself,
41:10
to be interviewed
41:10
by himself,
41:11
to speak to him
41:12
and for him to speak
41:13
to us through his word.
41:15
And it doesn't matter
41:16
whether we're in pulpits
41:17
or whether like yourselves
41:18
you serve God
41:19
in different ways.
41:20
That's where our service
41:21
begins.
41:22
It begins with our
41:23
personal meeting
41:24
with God,
41:25
our personal relationship
41:26
with God,
41:27
our personal meeting
41:28
with God
41:29
in such a way
41:30
as reveals himself
41:31
to us savingly.
41:33
And as we come
41:33
to be saved
41:34
and brought to know him
41:35
through Jesus Christ,
41:37
he sets us on our way
41:38
to serve him.
41:39
And that's where
41:41
our service begins.
41:44
And that is
41:45
very important.
41:47
And Moses responds,
41:50
Here I am.
41:52
You often find that
41:53
in different parts
41:55
of the Old Testament
41:55
especially
41:56
where God is addressing
41:58
someone like Moses
41:59
or maybe it's Isaiah
42:00
or others
42:01
where he calls to them
42:02
and repeats their name
42:03
as summoning him
42:04
into his presence
42:05
and where their
42:06
immediate response is,
42:07
Here I am.
42:09
Here am I.
42:11
In other words,
42:12
Moses is standing there
42:13
ready to serve,
42:15
responding to the call
42:16
of God,
42:17
responding to the voice
42:18
that speaks to him
42:19
out of the bush,
42:20
the voice he knows
42:21
is the voice of God.
42:24
Here I am.
42:25
And God says to him,
42:32
Do not come near.
42:35
Take your sandals
42:36
off your feet
42:37
for the place
42:38
on which you are standing
42:39
is holy ground.
42:44
It wasn't holy ground before.
42:47
It wouldn't necessarily
42:48
be holy ground afterwards.
42:50
Why is it holy ground
42:51
there and then?
42:53
It is holy ground
42:54
because God is there.
42:56
It's holy ground
42:57
because the holy God
42:58
is there.
42:59
It's holy ground
43:00
because God has chosen
43:01
to make his presence
43:02
live there
43:03
for that moment at least.
43:05
That's what makes
43:05
a person holy
43:07
when God comes
43:08
to bring them
43:09
to himself,
43:10
to reveal himself
43:11
to them,
43:12
sanctifies them,
43:13
sets them apart,
43:14
lives in their lives.
43:15
That's what makes
43:16
a place a holy place.
43:18
A holy place
43:19
is not a place
43:20
because it's associated
43:21
with something in the past,
43:23
something to do
43:23
with religion.
43:24
It's not a holy place
43:26
because people have chosen
43:27
to regard it
43:28
and label it as holy.
43:33
There are many places
43:34
in the world today
43:35
where there are no longer
43:36
church services
43:37
or any services held at all
43:39
where there are just
43:40
empty buildings
43:41
and people will tell you,
43:42
no, you go into that place
43:43
and it just feels so different.
43:45
It feels so holy.
43:46
Well, maybe that's the case.
43:47
But what makes a place holy
43:48
it's the presence of God.
43:52
And when God is in a place,
43:54
that place is holy
43:55
while God makes His presence
43:58
known there,
43:58
while God is present there
44:00
here tonight.
44:04
God's presence.
44:07
God being in a place
44:08
through His people
44:09
or in His people,
44:10
it renders this place sacred.
44:12
It's not sacred
44:15
because of its history.
44:17
It's not sacred
44:18
because of whose congregation
44:19
actually uses it.
44:22
It is sacred
44:24
because it's associated
44:25
with the divine presence of God.
44:29
And when God is present,
44:33
as Moses has instructed,
44:35
you approach very carefully.
44:37
you pay regard
44:40
to what God's presence
44:41
is about
44:42
and whose presence it is.
44:45
This holy God,
44:47
this pure God.
44:49
He had to take off
44:50
His sandals of His feet
44:51
because I think His sandals
44:52
would have had
44:53
some dirt on them,
44:55
some dust on them.
44:56
That would have been itself
44:57
a representation,
44:59
if you like,
44:59
of defilement.
45:00
And He wasn't to carry that
45:01
into the presence of God.
45:02
Take off your sandals
45:03
for the place on which
45:05
you're standing
45:05
is holy ground.
45:07
And whenever we come
45:08
into the presence of God,
45:10
we should be conscious
45:11
that we're always coming
45:12
into holy ground,
45:14
onto holy ground.
45:16
We're coming to deal
45:17
with God ourselves
45:18
in our personal,
45:20
individual sense.
45:23
We don't draw near to God
45:25
and stand as if we had
45:27
a right to His audience.
45:30
We don't come into His presence
45:31
without being conscious
45:32
of the defilement of our sin,
45:35
even when we know
45:36
that our sin has been forgiven,
45:38
that we are cleansed
45:39
by the blood of Christ,
45:40
that we are His people.
45:41
We still come into His presence
45:43
and we acknowledge His holiness.
45:46
We acknowledge His perfect holiness
45:47
because His holiness
45:48
has not changed.
45:50
Even if He's changed
45:51
our lives for the good,
45:53
you still come into
45:53
the presence of God
45:55
and you do what Moses did.
45:57
He hid His face.
45:59
You come with humility
46:02
and you come with confession
46:06
of your uncleanness.
46:09
Why do we still,
46:11
in prayer,
46:12
ask God to cleanse us,
46:13
to forgive us our sins,
46:15
to make us holy
46:16
because we're coming
46:18
into the presence of God
46:19
and we're conscious
46:20
of our defilement,
46:21
of our sinfulness,
46:23
of the dirt of our sin.
46:24
And we appear before God
46:27
and say,
46:27
Lord,
46:28
as such a person as I am,
46:30
as a sinner in myself,
46:31
I am not worthy
46:32
that I should come
46:33
into Your presence.
46:35
I need to,
46:37
Lord,
46:37
ask You to
46:38
cleanse me,
46:40
to prepare me
46:41
to meet with You,
46:42
to prepare my heart
46:43
that I'm coming
46:44
to meet with this holy God.
46:46
And if there's one thing
46:47
that's wrong with the world,
46:48
and if I may say
46:49
if there's one thing
46:50
that's wrong with
46:50
the wider church
46:52
throughout the world,
46:53
it's that we've lost sight
46:54
of the holiness of God
46:55
and lost sight
46:57
of what the holiness
46:57
of God means
46:59
and what the holiness
47:00
of God imposes upon us
47:03
in terms of our approach
47:04
to Him.
47:06
I don't mean that
47:06
we should be legalist
47:07
or legalistic,
47:10
that we should actually
47:11
be just formally
47:13
coming before God
47:15
in a fashion
47:16
that would formally
47:17
acknowledge that
47:17
this is the holy God.
47:19
What I mean is
47:19
when we come to
47:20
the presence of God
47:21
consciously,
47:23
and really dealing
47:23
seriously and earnestly
47:24
in our hearts
47:25
with who God is
47:26
and what God is like.
47:29
How dare we come
47:30
into His presence
47:31
if we were to do so
47:33
at any time
47:33
without due preparation
47:35
and due thought
47:36
and due prayer.
47:38
Because our God is holy.
47:41
And as our God is holy,
47:43
we have to treat Him
47:45
with that respect
47:46
and awe
47:47
and worship
47:49
that He is worthy of.
47:54
And so here is Moses
47:55
meeting with God.
47:58
The burning bush
47:59
draws his attention.
48:01
God speaks to him
48:02
and the angel of the Lord
48:03
out of the midst
48:05
of that bush.
48:06
He hears the words of God.
48:09
And what we'll see now
48:10
from verse 6
48:11
is what God added
48:14
to what He said.
48:15
He instructed him
48:16
regarding taking off
48:17
the sandals of His feet
48:19
and that the place
48:19
He was standing in
48:20
was holy ground.
48:21
But that was just
48:22
the introduction.
48:24
And then he went on
48:25
to add to that
48:26
the substance
48:27
of the message
48:28
or the revelation
48:28
God had for him
48:30
and it was this.
48:30
He said,
48:31
I am the God
48:32
of your father,
48:33
the God of Abraham,
48:34
the God of Isaac,
48:35
and the God of Jacob.
48:37
And the Lord said,
48:38
I have surely seen
48:39
the affliction
48:40
of my people
48:41
who are in Egypt
48:42
and so on.
48:42
So you see,
48:43
God is revealing Himself
48:45
here to Moses
48:45
as the covenant God
48:47
of His people.
48:49
That's why I said
48:50
early on in our study
48:51
tonight that
48:52
this is not a new plan.
48:54
This is not a different God
48:55
to the God
48:56
that Abraham,
48:57
Isaac,
48:57
and Jacob worshipped.
48:59
He is actually emphasizing
49:00
to Moses,
49:01
I am that God.
49:03
And despite the fact
49:03
that 400 years
49:05
have gone by
49:05
when I haven't said
49:07
a word
49:07
to the people
49:08
you belong to,
49:09
I am still
49:10
the same God,
49:11
I am still
49:12
the same covenant God,
49:13
I am still committed
49:14
to these people
49:15
in the covenant,
49:16
promises that I made
49:17
to Abraham,
49:18
Isaac,
49:18
and Jacob.
49:22
That's why He calls them
49:23
in verse 7,
49:23
my people.
49:25
I have surely seen
49:26
the affliction
49:26
of my people
49:28
who are in Egypt.
49:31
Now one of the things
49:32
that you and I
49:33
should be deeply
49:34
thankful for tonight
49:35
is that we are not
49:37
dealing with
49:37
a different God
49:38
to the God
49:39
that Moses came to know
49:40
and Abraham,
49:41
Isaac,
49:41
and Jacob knew.
49:43
He's the same covenant God.
49:45
He's the God
49:46
who has not changed
49:47
in terms of His covenant promises
49:49
and His covenant dealings
49:51
with His people
49:51
down through all of these
49:53
thousands of years.
49:54
He's the same God
49:55
to you tonight
49:56
as He was to Moses.
49:57
He hasn't changed.
49:59
His promises haven't changed.
50:02
His objectives
50:03
have not changed.
50:04
His purpose
50:05
has not changed.
50:07
And tonight
50:07
you're thankful
50:08
that you don't deal
50:09
with a God
50:10
who is fluctuating
50:11
from one moment
50:12
to the next,
50:13
from one year
50:13
to the next,
50:14
who actually says,
50:15
well, I'm not going to be
50:15
to you today
50:16
what I was yesterday
50:17
or last year.
50:21
I am the God
50:22
of your Father,
50:24
the God of Abraham,
50:26
the God of Isaac,
50:27
and the God of Jacob.
50:29
If there's one thing
50:30
that characterizes
50:31
this God
50:32
we worship tonight,
50:33
it's His consistency.
50:35
His consistency
50:37
as the Holy God
50:39
committed to His covenant,
50:41
committed to His promises,
50:42
committed to bringing
50:43
His people out of slavery,
50:45
committed to bringing
50:45
them home
50:46
to be with Himself.
50:50
Now you see,
50:51
Moses has gone
50:53
from curious
50:54
to being in awe.
50:57
He hid his face
50:59
for he was afraid
51:01
to look upon God.
51:04
And as we said
51:04
a minute ago,
51:05
that's really
51:05
taking us
51:06
to the heart
51:07
of worship,
51:08
isn't it?
51:10
Worship is not
51:10
something you just
51:11
follow through
51:12
mechanically.
51:14
We don't sing
51:15
the Psalms
51:15
just in a formal
51:17
fashion mechanically
51:18
without really thinking
51:19
of what we're saying.
51:20
And even if we're thinking
51:21
of what we're saying,
51:22
we don't just sing them
51:24
as if it was just
51:25
a matter of routine.
51:27
We sing them
51:28
as part of our
51:28
relationship with God.
51:31
We sing them
51:31
and we read His Word
51:33
and we proclaim His Word
51:34
and we listen to His Word
51:35
because we live
51:38
in awe and obedience
51:39
and humility
51:40
in the presence of God.
51:42
We hide our face,
51:43
as it were.
51:44
We're afraid
51:44
to look upon God.
51:45
And yet God
51:46
has revealed Himself
51:47
so wonderfully
51:48
in the person
51:49
of Jesus Christ
51:50
which is saying
51:50
to you tonight,
51:51
you can approach Me.
51:52
You can come to Me.
51:54
You can come to Me
51:54
through Him.
51:55
You can come into My presence.
51:57
I've made provision for you.
51:59
You are safe
52:00
in the grace
52:01
that is in My Son.
52:05
Is there any greater privilege
52:06
than that?
52:08
You know,
52:08
if you know your heart
52:09
and I know my heart
52:10
as surely we do tonight
52:12
as sinful human beings,
52:16
one of the things
52:17
that should impose
52:18
the greatest wonder on us
52:20
is that we can come
52:21
into the presence of God.
52:25
That we can live
52:26
in fellowship with God.
52:29
That we can be represented
52:31
by this burning bush
52:32
in which God dwells,
52:35
in which the flame
52:36
of God's presence,
52:37
God's living presence
52:38
is there
52:39
and yet we are not consumed.
52:41
We are not swallowed up
52:43
and devoured
52:43
in God's wrath
52:45
against sin.
52:47
Why?
52:47
Because of Jesus Christ.
52:50
Because He is our shield.
52:52
He is our exceeding
52:52
great reward.
52:55
In Him,
52:56
we come into the presence
52:57
of God
52:58
and through Him,
53:00
we hold that relationship
53:01
with Him
53:02
that His grace
53:02
has opened for us.
53:04
So there's your covenant,
53:05
God.
53:07
And God will not change.
53:10
Whatever happens
53:11
in your life,
53:13
however different
53:13
your life may be tomorrow
53:15
from what it is today,
53:16
whatever events
53:18
in your life
53:18
may yet lie in wait
53:20
for you in God's providence
53:21
that you have never
53:22
experienced before,
53:24
whatever depths of pain
53:25
or challenge
53:26
or difficulty
53:28
await you on life's journey,
53:29
and we cannot predict these.
53:32
But I guarantee you,
53:34
and you can guarantee
53:35
for yourself
53:36
on the basis
53:36
of God's Word
53:38
and what God's Word
53:39
says about Himself,
53:40
that this is what is true
53:41
always of you
53:42
when you are in Christ,
53:44
when you know Him
53:44
as your Savior.
53:46
I am the God
53:47
of Abraham,
53:48
Isaac,
53:48
and Jacob.
53:48
I will remain
53:50
the same to you.
53:51
I will be faithful to you.
53:52
I will never change
53:53
my relationship with you.
53:57
You are my people.
54:00
Here's the wonder of grace,
54:03
this covenant God.
54:05
He's not just
54:05
the covenant God,
54:06
though.
54:07
He is the concerned God.
54:09
Concerned,
54:10
I mean in the sense
54:10
of being involved
54:11
with His people.
54:13
Because look what He goes on
54:14
to speak of here
54:15
from verses 7
54:16
through to verse 10.
54:17
I have surely seen
54:19
the affliction of my people
54:21
who are in Egypt,
54:22
and I've heard their cry
54:24
because of their taskmasters.
54:26
I know their sufferings.
54:28
I have come down
54:29
to deliver them
54:30
out of the hand
54:31
of the Egyptians
54:32
and to bring them up
54:33
out of that land
54:34
to a good and broad land,
54:37
a land flowing
54:38
with milk and honey.
54:41
There are four elements there
54:42
that are themselves
54:44
wonderful
54:45
in the truth of them.
54:48
He says,
54:49
I have surely seen
54:51
the affliction
54:52
of my people.
54:54
Where has God been
54:55
for 400 years?
54:56
He hasn't spoken
54:57
for 400 years.
54:58
Where has He been?
54:59
What's He been doing?
55:00
He's been looking
55:00
at His people.
55:02
He's been intensely
55:02
interested in His people.
55:04
The 400 years gap
55:05
of speaking
55:06
is no indication
55:07
that God has forgotten them,
55:09
that somehow or other
55:09
they have fallen out
55:10
of God's favor
55:11
or God's view.
55:13
I have seen,
55:14
surely seen the affliction.
55:16
I have certainly seen
55:17
the affliction
55:17
of my people.
55:19
God's eye
55:19
is never off His people.
55:21
Whatever His providence
55:22
has ordered for them.
55:25
There's another
55:26
wonderful jewel
55:27
that you can put up
55:29
and hold
55:30
in the casket
55:31
of your heart.
55:33
I have surely seen
55:34
your affliction.
55:37
There isn't a drop
55:38
of suffering
55:39
in your life
55:40
as a Christian
55:41
that has not already
55:43
been entered
55:44
into God's record book,
55:46
that God has not
55:47
taken careful note of,
55:49
that God is unaware of.
55:52
I have surely seen
55:53
the affliction
55:54
of my people.
55:55
And then He says,
55:56
and I have heard
55:57
their cry.
55:59
I have heard their cry
56:00
because of their taskmasters.
56:03
In other words,
56:04
not only has God
56:05
been taking note
56:06
of where they are
56:07
and what's being done
56:08
to them
56:09
and the suffering
56:09
they're going through,
56:11
He has heard their cry.
56:14
He has actually been moved
56:16
by their pained cries.
56:19
I don't let anybody think
56:20
or tell you
56:21
that God
56:22
is a God
56:23
who is so stiffly
56:24
in regard of His people
56:25
that He's on the borders
56:26
of their lives,
56:27
looking from a distance
56:28
into their lives,
56:29
but really totally unmoved
56:30
by anything
56:30
they're going through.
56:31
I have heard
56:37
their cry
56:39
and I know
56:40
their sufferings.
56:43
He's been moved
56:45
by their predicament,
56:48
by their conditions.
56:53
And I know
56:54
their sufferings.
56:57
What a God!
57:02
What a privilege
57:03
they have
57:03
that despite all the fact
57:05
that they haven't heard
57:07
from Him
57:07
for 400 years,
57:09
He has all the time
57:10
had His eye upon them.
57:12
And He's now saying to them,
57:13
I know what you're going through.
57:16
I've heard your cry.
57:18
I haven't just listened to it,
57:19
but I've heard it
57:20
in a way that's moved me
57:21
to pity you.
57:23
And here I am.
57:24
I'm ready to come
57:24
to your rescue.
57:27
Well, there is God
57:28
for us tonight, friends.
57:33
And when you look at Jesus
57:35
and the fact that
57:37
that is God
57:38
having taken our nature
57:40
to Himself,
57:41
the person of the Son of God
57:43
who has come
57:44
to take our nature.
57:45
Why did He take our nature?
57:47
So that He would take our sins
57:48
and die for our sins.
57:51
But one of the other aspects
57:54
of that is that He would be
57:56
a faithful and merciful
57:57
High Priest.
57:59
That He would be able
58:00
to support us
58:01
in all our sufferings,
58:02
having been tempted
58:03
in all points
58:04
like as we are
58:05
and yet without sin.
58:08
That is the God
58:08
who is moved.
58:11
The God who takes note
58:12
carefully of our predicament
58:14
and our sufferings.
58:16
And who tonight
58:17
is assuring you
58:18
if you're experiencing suffering
58:20
on His behalf
58:21
for His sake.
58:24
God's not just
58:25
got a casual acquaintance
58:27
with you
58:27
or acquaintance
58:28
with your predicament.
58:30
He's taking stock
58:32
very carefully,
58:33
very lovingly,
58:35
in a very covenantal way
58:37
that this
58:39
is what His child
58:41
is going through.
58:42
And He's saying to you,
58:45
I'm here for you.
58:47
I know your suffering.
58:50
I know what you're going through.
58:52
And then He says,
58:54
I have come down
58:54
to deliver them
58:56
out of the hand
58:57
of the Egyptians,
58:58
to bring them out
58:59
of that land
58:59
to a good
59:00
and broad land.
59:02
I have surely seen
59:03
their affliction.
59:04
I have heard their cry.
59:06
I know their suffering.
59:07
And now,
59:07
fourthly,
59:08
He's saying,
59:09
I have come down.
59:11
There is God,
59:11
you see,
59:12
reminding Moses
59:13
that He's actually on high.
59:14
Here He is,
59:15
represented in the bush,
59:16
in the flame of the bush.
59:18
The voice is coming
59:18
from the midst of the bush.
59:20
But Moses is under no illusion,
59:22
left under no illusion
59:23
as to who God is
59:24
and where His position is.
59:25
I have come down
59:27
because I am up there.
59:30
I am the King.
59:32
I am the Creator.
59:34
I am the One
59:35
who controls all things.
59:36
I am the Sovereign God.
59:39
But I have come down.
59:40
You see,
59:41
His view of the people,
59:43
His hearing their cry,
59:45
His seeing of their sufferings,
59:46
His knowledge of their sufferings,
59:48
is now something
59:49
that lies behind His action.
59:52
His concern for them
59:53
has led to this great action.
59:55
I have come down.
59:58
And where do you better see that
59:59
than in the person
1:00:02
of Jesus Christ, His Son?
1:00:05
Because when you look
1:00:06
at the life of Jesus
1:00:07
in the Gospels
1:00:08
and in the Epistles,
1:00:10
when you look at the record
1:00:12
of His life in the Gospels,
1:00:14
and when you look at the amount
1:00:16
of time that's given
1:00:17
or space that's given
1:00:18
to His trial
1:00:19
and then His death
1:00:20
on the cross,
1:00:21
which is the greater part
1:00:22
of all the four Gospels,
1:00:23
you can really say
1:00:27
as Jesus is crucified
1:00:29
and as He expires
1:00:32
on the cross,
1:00:33
you can take these words
1:00:35
of Exodus 3
1:00:36
and very meaningfully
1:00:37
apply them
1:00:38
to what you're seeing.
1:00:39
I have come down.
1:00:43
I have come down
1:00:44
to deliver them.
1:00:47
And I have come down
1:00:48
to deliver them
1:00:49
and to take them up
1:00:50
into this great land,
1:00:52
a land flowing
1:00:53
with milk and honey.
1:00:54
In other words,
1:00:55
what God is saying
1:00:56
to us there
1:00:57
is really
1:00:57
in the two sides of it
1:00:58
to deliver them
1:00:59
on the one hand
1:01:00
out of the suffering
1:01:02
of Egypt,
1:01:02
out of the bondage,
1:01:04
the slavery of Egypt,
1:01:05
and bringing them
1:01:06
into the wonderful liberty
1:01:08
of Canaan
1:01:08
and the bounty
1:01:10
of that land.
1:01:11
That's in essence
1:01:12
an image of salvation
1:01:14
for you.
1:01:14
What is salvation?
1:01:16
Salvation is God
1:01:17
taking us out
1:01:18
of our sin and misery,
1:01:19
that state into which
1:01:20
we fell and brought ourselves,
1:01:22
and He's taking us
1:01:23
out of that
1:01:23
and into that great land,
1:01:25
the inheritance
1:01:26
that awaits in heaven
1:01:27
for His people.
1:01:27
That's salvation.
1:01:30
That's redemption.
1:01:31
That's this God
1:01:32
acting
1:01:33
on behalf of His people
1:01:36
and for His people
1:01:37
to deliver them,
1:01:40
but also to bring them in too.
1:01:43
And you notice
1:01:43
how He describes
1:01:44
the land of Canaan,
1:01:46
not just a land
1:01:47
flowing with milk
1:01:48
and honey,
1:01:50
and then the place
1:01:51
of the Canaanites,
1:01:52
the Hittites.
1:01:52
Why does He mention
1:01:53
all of these here
1:01:54
at this point?
1:01:55
I think it's more
1:01:55
than just to actually
1:01:57
remind Moses
1:01:58
of what He's going
1:01:59
to be confronting
1:02:00
when they reach
1:02:01
the land of Canaan.
1:02:03
He's more or less
1:02:04
saying to Moses,
1:02:05
I think,
1:02:05
at this point,
1:02:06
this land is so good
1:02:07
that He's able
1:02:08
to sustain
1:02:09
all of these people
1:02:10
here and now.
1:02:11
That's the land
1:02:11
I'm taking you into.
1:02:13
And who is He saying
1:02:14
this about?
1:02:15
That He's going
1:02:16
to deliver them
1:02:17
out of the hand
1:02:18
of the Egyptians
1:02:18
and bring them
1:02:19
out of that land
1:02:21
to a good and broad land.
1:02:22
Who's He talking about?
1:02:23
He's talking about slaves
1:02:25
who don't have a land,
1:02:28
who don't have
1:02:29
an inheritance,
1:02:30
who don't have
1:02:31
a place to call their own.
1:02:33
And here is God
1:02:34
because this is redemption,
1:02:36
taking us as slaves
1:02:37
of sin,
1:02:38
taking us out
1:02:39
of the slavery of sin,
1:02:40
and giving us,
1:02:42
instead of that bondage,
1:02:44
giving us the broad
1:02:45
land of heaven,
1:02:46
the inheritance
1:02:47
that is undefiled,
1:02:49
incorruptible,
1:02:50
and awaits in heaven
1:02:51
for His people.
1:02:53
You see,
1:02:54
He's calling it
1:02:54
not just a good land,
1:02:57
but a broad land.
1:02:59
Here are these people
1:03:00
as slaves in Egypt,
1:03:02
and where are they?
1:03:03
What's their condition?
1:03:04
They're being squeezed.
1:03:05
The life is being squeezed
1:03:07
out of them.
1:03:08
They're in the land of Goshen,
1:03:09
a very good part of Egypt,
1:03:11
but they've multiplied hugely.
1:03:13
They're now being squeezed
1:03:14
into this small area
1:03:15
compared to the whole of Egypt.
1:03:18
And God is saying,
1:03:19
that's not your home.
1:03:22
The land I have for you
1:03:23
is a good and a broad land.
1:03:27
There's plenty of space
1:03:29
for you there.
1:03:29
You're going to thrive there.
1:03:32
It's the best I could give you,
1:03:34
a land flowing
1:03:35
with milk and honey.
1:03:38
From owning no land,
1:03:41
they come to an inheritance
1:03:42
in Canaan,
1:03:44
the best plot on earth.
1:03:47
This is salvation.
1:03:49
This is salvation portrayed
1:03:50
in the history
1:03:52
of these people of Israel.
1:03:55
This is salvation
1:03:56
as it's represented there,
1:03:58
God delivering us
1:03:59
from sin,
1:04:01
from the confinement,
1:04:02
from the bondage of sin,
1:04:03
from the restrictions
1:04:04
of a sinful life.
1:04:06
What is He doing?
1:04:07
He's taking us out of that.
1:04:08
He's delivering us.
1:04:09
He's taking us
1:04:10
into a broad
1:04:11
and good land.
1:04:14
Redemption,
1:04:16
salvation,
1:04:18
heaven,
1:04:19
and inheritance
1:04:20
in glory.
1:04:22
That's why the New Testament
1:04:24
so often speaks about this.
1:04:27
I can just,
1:04:28
in finishing,
1:04:29
remind you of one version,
1:04:30
the letter to the Colossians,
1:04:31
chapter 1,
1:04:33
verses 12 to 14.
1:04:35
This is the prayer of Paul
1:04:37
for the Colossian Christians.
1:04:40
May you be strengthened
1:04:41
with all power,
1:04:43
giving thanks to the Father
1:04:44
who has qualified you
1:04:45
to share in the inheritance
1:04:47
of the saints in light.
1:04:48
He has delivered us
1:04:50
from the domain
1:04:51
of darkness
1:04:52
and transferred us
1:04:54
into the kingdom
1:04:55
of His beloved Son
1:04:57
in whom we have redemption,
1:05:00
the forgiveness of sins,
1:05:02
a good
1:05:03
and a broad land,
1:05:05
a land flowing
1:05:06
with milk and honey.
1:05:10
But you notice finally
1:05:11
verse 12
1:05:12
of Exodus 3.
1:05:14
This will be
1:05:16
the sign for you
1:05:17
that I have sent you
1:05:18
when you have brought
1:05:19
the people out of Egypt.
1:05:21
You shall serve God
1:05:23
on this mountain.
1:05:24
The word serve there
1:05:25
really means worship.
1:05:27
You shall worship God
1:05:28
on this mountain.
1:05:29
There you have it.
1:05:30
There's the climax.
1:05:34
The whole point
1:05:35
of salvation
1:05:36
is that we will come
1:05:39
to be worshippers of God.
1:05:41
Why has He saved you?
1:05:46
What is His purpose
1:05:47
in saving you?
1:05:51
To place you along
1:05:52
with others
1:05:53
who will forever
1:05:55
worship God,
1:05:57
giving praise
1:05:57
and honor
1:05:58
and glory to Him.
1:06:00
You look at the passages
1:06:01
in the book of Revelation
1:06:03
that give you
1:06:05
some indication
1:06:05
as far as we can
1:06:07
of what heaven is like.
1:06:09
And how is it described?
1:06:10
Well, it's very often
1:06:11
described as that place
1:06:13
where there is praise
1:06:14
and honor
1:06:15
and glory
1:06:16
given to God
1:06:17
and His majesty.
1:06:19
Where our people
1:06:20
are gathered together
1:06:21
as a saved people
1:06:22
of God
1:06:23
worshipping Him
1:06:24
forevermore
1:06:26
without interruption.
1:06:30
There is, friends,
1:06:31
our privilege
1:06:31
to know God
1:06:33
as our deliverer,
1:06:35
our Savior,
1:06:37
the one who is promising
1:06:38
tonight to bring us
1:06:40
into this broad
1:06:41
and good land,
1:06:42
the land of heaven.
1:06:45
Isn't that your hope?
1:06:48
Isn't that your prospect?
1:06:51
Isn't that your experience
1:06:53
already
1:06:53
of this God?
1:06:57
Aren't you here
1:06:57
as a worshipper
1:06:58
of God tonight
1:06:59
because
1:07:00
He has saved you?
1:07:02
because He has delivered you,
1:07:06
because His promise
1:07:07
is to you,
1:07:08
I will bring you
1:07:10
into that inheritance
1:07:11
as surely
1:07:12
as I have delivered you
1:07:13
out of the bondage
1:07:14
of sin.
1:07:16
To God
1:07:17
be the praise,
1:07:18
to God
1:07:19
be the glory,
1:07:20
to Jesus Christ
1:07:21
be all majesty
1:07:23
and dominion
1:07:23
and power
1:07:24
now and forevermore.
1:07:25
because only He deserves.
1:07:29
This great covenant God
1:07:31
deserves our worship
1:07:33
and our allegiance.
1:07:36
Let's pray.
1:07:40
Our gracious God,
1:07:42
we find it so difficult
1:07:44
to find words adequate
1:07:46
to describe the thoughts
1:07:48
of our hearts
1:07:49
even as we come
1:07:51
to realize
1:07:52
the enormity
1:07:53
of your redemption.
1:07:55
And Lord,
1:07:56
we pray that
1:07:56
as we consider
1:07:57
this evening
1:07:58
the wonder
1:07:59
of your deliverance
1:08:00
of your people
1:08:01
from sin
1:08:02
and the wonderful prospect
1:08:04
of being brought
1:08:05
to be finally with you
1:08:07
in that heaven
1:08:07
that flows
1:08:08
with milk and honey
1:08:09
spiritually,
1:08:10
we thank you tonight
1:08:11
for that redemption.
1:08:13
We thank you
1:08:14
for the one
1:08:15
who has brought it to us,
1:08:17
who has come into this world
1:08:18
and given himself
1:08:19
to the death of the cross,
1:08:21
who has given himself
1:08:22
to be made a curse for us,
1:08:25
the one who knew no sin,
1:08:26
to be made sin
1:08:26
for his people,
1:08:28
that we might be made
1:08:29
the righteousness
1:08:30
of God in him.
1:08:32
Sanctify us,
1:08:33
we pray.
1:08:34
Give us day by day
1:08:35
to be concerned,
1:08:37
to draw near to you,
1:08:38
the holy God,
1:08:40
living by faith in Christ
1:08:41
and being persuaded
1:08:43
that not only
1:08:44
is it our privilege
1:08:45
to do so,
1:08:47
but as we exercise
1:08:48
our privilege,
1:08:49
Lord,
1:08:49
help us,
1:08:51
we pray,
1:08:51
to be convinced
1:08:52
and to have assurance
1:08:54
that you will not
1:08:55
lay your hand upon us
1:08:56
to destroy us,
1:08:58
but that you will ask us
1:08:59
again into your presence
1:09:00
to experience more
1:09:02
of your blessing.
1:09:04
Hear us now,
1:09:04
we pray,
1:09:05
for Jesus' sake.
1:09:06
Amen.
1:09:10
Let's sing in conclusion
1:09:11
now from,
1:09:12
in the Scottish Psalter,
1:09:14
from Psalm 99 again.
1:09:16
Psalm 99,
1:09:18
page 361,
1:09:20
verses 6 to 9.
1:09:23
To the tune Bethesda,
1:09:26
Moses and Aaron
1:09:27
among his priests,
1:09:28
Samuel with them
1:09:29
that call upon his name,
1:09:31
these called on God,
1:09:33
and he them answered all.
1:09:35
Within the pillar of the cloud
1:09:36
he unto them did speak,
1:09:38
the testimonies he them taught
1:09:39
and laws they did not break.
1:09:42
And so the psalm concludes,
1:09:44
do ye exalt the Lord our God,
1:09:46
and at his holy hill
1:09:48
do ye him worship,
1:09:50
for the Lord our God
1:09:51
is holy still.
1:09:54
Verses 6 to 9 of Psalm 99.
1:09:56
Moses and Aaron
1:10:05
among his priests,
1:10:11
Samuel with them
1:10:15
that call upon his name,
1:10:24
these calls on God,
1:10:29
I need them answered all.
1:10:36
Within the pillar of the cloud,
1:10:47
he unto them did speak,
1:10:55
the testimonies he them taught,
1:11:05
and laws they did not break.
1:11:13
Thou answeredst them,
1:11:19
O Lord our God,
1:11:24
Thou wast a God that came,
1:11:32
are done to them,
1:11:38
O Lord their deeds,
1:11:43
Thou rooted,
1:11:46
fengenest have.
1:11:50
Do ye exalt the Lord our God,
1:12:01
and at his holy hill,
1:12:09
do ye him worship,
1:12:16
for the Lord our God,
1:12:20
our God is holy still.
1:12:27
I'll go to the door here,
1:12:30
to my right this evening.
1:12:32
Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
1:12:35
the love of God the Father,
1:12:36
and the communion of the Holy Spirit
1:12:38
be with you now and evermore.
1:12:41
Amen.
1:12:57
Die of whom he is holy by the Lord is holy with you,
1:13:00
O Lord your glory
1:13:01
and themision to God.
1:13:02
YN