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Paul's Deposit · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

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this evening singing in Psalm 103, Psalm 103. That's in the Sing Psalms version on page 135.
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We'll sing verses 1 to 11, these first three sections.
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Praise God, my soul, with all my heart. Let me exalt His holy name. Forget not all His benefits.
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His praise, my soul, in song proclaim. The Lord forgives you all your sins and heals your sickness
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and distress. Your life He rescues from the grave and crowns you in His tenderness.
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So on down to verse 11, praise God, my soul. We'll stand to sing.
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Praise God, my soul, with all my heart. Let me exalt.
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His holy name. Forget not all His benefits. His praise, my soul, in song proclaim.
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The Lord forgives you all your sins and heals your sickness and distress.
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Your life He rescues from the grave and crowns you in His tenderness.
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He satisfies your deep desires from His unending source of good.
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So that just like the King of strength, your beautiful name God is in you.
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The Lord is born for righteous acts and trust is true.
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The Lord is merciful.
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The Lord is merciful.
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The Lord is merciful.
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Moses' name may go on his ways, his mighty deeds to Israel's sons.
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The Lord is merciful and kind to hang us low and full of grace.
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He will not constantly reproof or end his anger by his face.
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He does not punish our best deeds, forgive our sins, their just reward.
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How great is love that I ascend towards all those who fear the Lord.
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We're going to call upon the Lord again in prayer, so let's all just join together in prayer.
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Almighty and gracious God, as we give thanks for being able once again to gather here
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and to come before you as worshipers of your great name, we thank you for these words we
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have been singing, reminding us of your own unending stores of good for those who love
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you and for your own people down through the centuries, even from the beginning of the world.
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Lord, you have taken from these stores of good and dispensed them to your people.
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We thank you tonight, Lord, in the access we have to you, that we can seek from you, that
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you would dispense further from these stores of good that which would do us good this evening.
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We thank you, O Lord, that we can come to you and claim in the name of Christ access to the
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grace that is in you and to these stores of good and to these stores of good and to these
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that flow toward us so abundantly.
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We thank you that we have not earned them for ourselves.
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We thank you that they are indeed by your grace and the free gift by which you come to dispense
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your salvation.
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We thank you tonight for the way that you teach us, O Lord, of those great issues in
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your word that have to do with our redemption.
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And we thank you that in your word you have taken account of all our need as we find ourselves
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in this world.
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O Lord, bless us, we pray, as once again we gather here before you.
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Help us once again to turn our mind to those things that are revealed in your word that are
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of eternity, the things that belong to the most important issues that we can know in life,
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our own relationship with you, your own rule over us, the way in which you have provided
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redemption for us, the glorious attributes that belong to you, the way in which we can have
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our confidence in Christ and know that our life is secure in him.
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We pray, Lord, tonight that you would lead us further into the understanding of your truth,
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as you have revealed it to us in the gospel.
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We pray tonight that you would give to us further encouragement, Lord, to trust in you,
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in a world in which we find so much that discourages us, so much that causes us at times even to
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feel disconsolate and disappointed and disillusioned.
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Help us, Lord, we pray, to find our confidence in you.
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Help us to come to know that as we trust in you, so you have guaranteed to your people that victory
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that is especially brought to us in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
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And enable us, Lord, as we continue to trust in you, that we may find day by day that your grace
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is channeled into our lives, that your strength is made perfect in our weakness, that we find the
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fulfillment of your promises to look after your people even as they go through this life.
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Bless us then, Lord, we pray, as a congregation of your people once again as we gather before you.
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Bless us, we pray, too, in all our other activities that accompany the worship of your name in our experience.
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We thank you, Lord, for all that we are enabled to partake of and take part in, Lord, in the course of each week as they go by.
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And we pray that you would bless all that we seek to do in your name with all the different activities and groups that meet from time to time.
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We, Lord, seek your blessing upon them all.
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Again, we pray your blessing for our children, for our young people, for our young adults, for those who, O Lord, receive instruction from your word,
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and for those who meet also in the upper years of life.
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Lord, we pray that you would bless each and all of these activities.
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We ask that your blessing will be especially upon your word to them.
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Anchor, O Lord, these young lives, especially in the things of your truth, and give them to be rooted and grounded in Christ himself,
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so that they have him as their sure foundation, that whatever things lie in a wait for them as their life develops,
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they may be sure that this is not going to change,
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that however many changes they may experience in the course of life,
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they may never find the foundation in Christ himself to be subject to any change or moving or any alteration.
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And so, Lord, we commend them to you.
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We give thanks for the many young families we have as a congregation.
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We give thanks for the many young people who come to attend the means of grace,
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the services such as these and other activities.
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And, Lord, we pray for them as we commend them to you tonight.
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We pray that you would go before them,
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that you would provide nourishment for them daily from your word.
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And we ask that they would indeed come to walk confidently in the steps of faith,
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trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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We ask tonight for those who may be struggling with their faith,
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struggling to deal with the issues that are in their life in providence.
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Lord, we pray for them.
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We know that there are some of us who find it difficult from day to day,
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who struggle with mental health issues,
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who find ourselves sometimes bewildered with what's happening in the world around us.
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Oh, Lord, we ask that you would grant us this stability
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that would be from your own guidance of us,
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from your own spirit at work within us,
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from that living relationship with you, Lord,
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that draws all our strength from you.
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Remember, we pray tonight,
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those who are laid aside with illnesses of various kinds,
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we commend to you, Lord, those who are receiving treatment,
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those who have been through operation and surgery in recent days.
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We ask, Lord, that you'd bless them
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and bring them back to health and to strength, we pray.
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We ask, Lord, that you'd bless Marianne as she recovers from her own surgery.
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We thank you that she is recovering.
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And we thank you, Lord, for all that she has done and continues to do in the congregation,
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and especially with our young people.
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And we pray that your hand will be upon her,
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that you will know, Lord, your strengthening,
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your guidance and your restoration of health to her at this time.
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And we pray, too, Lord, that you'd bless all others like her
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who are known to us at this time to be suffering from various types of illness,
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confined to hospitals, those in our care homes,
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those who are looked after by others at home.
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We pray for them, O Lord.
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We pray for those whose years have now reached the stage
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where their faculties physically or mentally have begun to fail.
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And, Lord, we pray for them.
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And we give thanks that despite our outward failures,
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Lord, your word assures us that our inward man is being renewed day by day.
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And we thank you that the spiritual condition of your people
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is constantly in your hand.
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And that even as we anticipate our bodily decay as the years go on,
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we thank you, Lord, that there is no decay
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in the life spiritually that you give to your people.
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Help us to hold on to and to cling to these great truths.
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We pray tonight, too, Lord, for those who mourn the passing of loved ones.
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We know, Lord, as each week goes by.
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We have pretty much each week that we experience here
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various deaths that affect families belonging to us as a congregation
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or in our community.
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We pray for them, O Lord, tonight as they seek to adjust to life without loved ones
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and also those who have lost loved ones in days gone by.
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We pray for them, Lord.
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And we pray for those especially in this week gone by
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that have had to bid farewell to their loved ones.
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We pray for Anne Chris as she misses her beloved Neil.
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We pray for herself and Martin and Christine and for the whole family.
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And we commend them to your care and ask that you would uphold her
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and all who help her at this time.
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And so we pray, Lord, for all others who mourn tonight in this troubled world of ours.
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And, Lord, we pray that we would never forget,
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even though they may have disappeared from news items,
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those in the world who suffer so greatly in various circumstances
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and conditions that are beyond our understanding and experience,
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those, Lord, especially who have the devastation of war,
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of famine, of being outcasts, of refugees.
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Oh, Lord, all of these great problems in our world
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and the management of them and sometimes the mismanagement of them,
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we, Lord, seek for the gospel to be blessed,
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for your kingdom to advance,
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for people to come to know the Lord Jesus Christ himself,
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for them to place and deposit their lives in his hand.
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And so we pray, Lord, for the gospel,
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for those who take the gospel to various parts of the world
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and face deprivation themselves and consequence.
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Oh, remember your people, we pray,
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as they carry the message of Christ
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into this world that so largely does not want it.
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And we ask for your Holy Spirit, Lord,
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to come to shine into people's hearts
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the truth as it is in Christ Jesus.
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When we read, Lord, in the earliest stages of the world
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that the Spirit of God hovered on the surface of the waters
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and that by your Spirit all of these things
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were kept together and managed,
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we pray, Lord, for the management of human lives
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to be brought under the directing of your Spirit,
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to be brought to know you as a Savior
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who is able to do so much, Lord,
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beyond what we are able to ask or even think.
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Oh, Lord, we pray for reviving power
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in our own experience.
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We pray that our own hearts will be
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reignited with the flames of your Spirit.
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We pray, oh, Lord, that you would come in our day
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and as we complain to you of how we find so little,
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oh, Lord, of an appetite for the things of God.
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And so we pray that you would re-instill in our hearts
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that hunger and thirst for righteousness
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that you tell us characterizes you people.
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And we pray for ourselves tonight
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that we may draw, Lord,
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our spiritual nourishment from you
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through the gospel.
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Hear us then, we pray now.
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Continue with us, guide us into your word,
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and pardon our sin for Jesus' sake.
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Amen.
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We're singing once again now to God's praise,
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and this time it's in Psalm 54.
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Psalm 54 in the Scottish Psalter,
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page 284,
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verses 1 to 7.
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Save me, O God, by thy great name,
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and judge me by thy strength.
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My prayer here, O God,
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give ear unto my words at length.
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For they that strangers are to me,
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do up against me rise.
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Oppressors seek my soul,
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and God set not before their eyes.
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Psalm 54, verses 1 to 7,
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to God's praise.
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Save me, O God,
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by thy great name,
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and judge me by thy strength.
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My prayer here, O God,
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give ear unto my words at length.
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For they that strangers are to me,
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do up against me rise.
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O presence of sin,
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my soul, and God set not before their eyes.
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The Lord, my God,
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my help,
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Lord, that for I am bold,
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He take the heart with every one,
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that hath my soul of old.
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But do my name,
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and he is the child,
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may save and ill be paid.
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O Lord, my truth,
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save but them all,
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and weep and lead away.
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I will have sacrifice to thee,
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and with thee,
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and with thee worthiness.
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Thy name, O Lord,
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be cost is good,
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with grace,
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with grace I will forfez.
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For he hath me delivered,
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from all my mercilies.
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And this desire,
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my life hath seen,
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upon my enemies.
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Let's now turn to read God's word.
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This evening we'll find that in 2 Timothy.
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The second letter of Paul to Timothy,
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chapter one.
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Reading through the whole chapter.
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Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus,
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by the will of God,
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according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus.
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To Timothy, my beloved child.
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Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father,
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and Christ Jesus our Lord.
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I thank God, whom I serve,
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as did my ancestors,
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with a clear conscience,
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as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day,
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as I remember your tears.
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I long to see you,
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that I may be filled with joy.
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I am reminded of your sincere faith,
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a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois
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and your mother Eunice,
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and now I am sure dwells in you as well.
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For this reason,
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I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God,
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which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
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For God gave us a spirit not of fear,
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but of power and love and self-control.
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Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord,
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nor of me, his prisoner,
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but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,
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who saved us and called us to a holy calling,
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not because of our works,
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but because of his own purpose and grace,
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which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
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and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus,
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who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
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for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher,
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which is why I suffer as I do.
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But I am not ashamed,
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for I know whom I have believed,
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and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.
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Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me,
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in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
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By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us,
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guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
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You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me,
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among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.
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May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus,
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for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.
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But when he arrived in Rome,
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he searched for me earnestly and found me.
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May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day.
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And you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.
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And may God once again bless to us our reading of his holy word.
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Let's now sing once again, before we turn to this passage,
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Psalm 125 on page 419.
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Psalm 125, the whole of the Psalm.
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We are going to be looking later in a moment at what Paul referred to as his own security in Christ Jesus, his Saviour.
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And here's a reminder, a Psalm that reminds us how the Psalmist found an illustration of his protective,
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God's protective care and his security, even in the physical creation,
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as the mountains around Jerusalem stood in such a grand, immovable way.
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And so he found that as an illustration of the security that he himself had in God as his Saviour.
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They in the Lord that firmly trust shall be like Zion Hill.
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which at no time can be removed.
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but stand by the Lord that shall be like Zion Hill.
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then the Lord that firmly trust shall be like Zion Hill.
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which at no time can be removed.
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which at no time can be removed.
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but stand the death was still.
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as round about Jerusalem,
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the mountains and the way.
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I find the commandments God is where one nation can bring forth to him.
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The mahdoll
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What ill men shawed upon the Lord of just men shall not lie,
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lest righteous men set forth their hands unto iniquity.
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Good power to all, O Sáad, be good, thy goodness stormed in part,
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and do thy good to all, O Sáad, a bright within their heart.
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But as for Son has turned aside, after their crooked way,
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God shall be poor, when wicked men on Israel these shall see.
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Now please turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter 1.
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2 Timothy chapter 1, and especially words you'll find there in verse 12.
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He's been talking here about how as a called apostle of God and preacher and apostle and teacher,
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his sufferings that he's endured are so keyed into this particular way in which he has served God.
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But he says,
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But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed,
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and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.
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Now one of Paul's great concerns in writing these letters to Timothy is that Timothy not only will be encouraged,
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but also prepared to meet with the difficulties that will still come in his way,
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and especially so when Paul himself is no longer in this world,
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and when he will no longer be receiving letters from the beloved apostle.
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As we see in this epistle itself, Paul is saying to Timothy,
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I'm now being poured out in verse chapter 4,
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and the time of my departure has come.
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I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
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So he's alerting Timothy to the fact that his own future is safe in the hand of God,
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but he is going to actually face difficulties as he continues to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in this world.
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Which is why he says that both he and Timothy together must be partakers of the afflictions of the gospel.
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They must willingly take to themselves the share that God has appointed to them
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in whatever afflictions come their way as apostles or as servants or preachers of the gospel.
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And now he comes to bring Timothy's mind to what is actually foundational to his confidence
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and encouragement as he would go ahead and go on serving the Lord.
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He brings him really to the ground of confidence, the ground of confidence,
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indeed the only ground of confidence, which is Christ himself.
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He says, these are the sufferings I am suffering, but I am not ashamed,
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for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day
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what has been entrusted to me.
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Or we can translate it as we'll see what I have entrusted to him.
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So he's really putting it in the form of a brief personal testimony to Timothy.
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Paul is saying, this is my testimony.
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This is what I'm convinced of.
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This is what I'm leading you to actually keep in place for yourself as well.
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And of course, at the end of anyone's life in this world,
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if we know that somebody wants to speak to us,
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especially somebody who's been a faithful Christian over many years,
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and they call us and we go to see them and they speak to us,
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well, it's a situation, as you know, where you take more careful note than usual, probably,
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of what they have to say.
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Because when they know that they're on the verge of eternity,
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their words have added significance.
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And most of us, of course, have maybe come to,
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some of us at least come to that position where we've seen somebody
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just reaching the end of the course of life in this world,
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and the things that they say to us, what they believe,
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the kind of life they've lived, the advice that they give us,
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that is even more significant in these consequences, in these circumstances.
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And that's really what Paul is doing here.
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He's giving some very direct encouragement to Timothy,
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but it's in the light of his own departure,
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in the light of the fact that he's not got long to live.
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And as he stands on the threshold of eternity,
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he's really saying to Timothy,
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this is the only fail-safe foundation that you've got.
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This is what you need to come back to again and again
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when so much changes around you,
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when you see so many fears in yourself,
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when you find yourself questioning things,
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you have to come back.
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He's really saying, pretty much saying this,
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you have to come back to this,
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that he, this Savior, this Jesus,
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is able to look after things for you
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and to look after yourself especially.
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So he's saying, I know whom I have believed.
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And so because he's able to say that,
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he has that confidence,
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he's convinced about Jesus looking after
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all of his possessions
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and all of his confession
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and all of his person
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as he looks to the future.
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I want to look at two things
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that arise out of this.
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It's a wonderful passage.
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First of all, the issue of knowing Jesus.
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I know whom I have believed.
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I know whom I have believed.
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There is a confident note
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in the apostle and Paul's testimony here
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to Timothy.
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I know whom I have believed.
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The second thing is
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what we can call a safe investment
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when he comes to say that
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he is able to guard
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until that day
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what has been entrusted to me.
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And we're going to take that
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the way the AV puts it.
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I'll explain that in a minute.
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And when we come to it,
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he is able to guard
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what I have entrusted to him
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until that day.
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So here's first thing of all.
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First of all, knowing Jesus.
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Now, together here,
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you'll find knowing and believing.
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I am not ashamed
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for I know whom I have believed.
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So the knowing and the believing
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are locked together.
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They're not alternatives.
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They exist together.
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They belong together.
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They're in partnership
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in the experience of those
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who actually have
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a saving experience of Christ.
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It's a mistake
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to actually think somehow
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that you have to separate
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faith or believing
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from knowledge,
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from knowing.
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That the working of your mind
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is somehow detached
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from what you're doing
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when you believe.
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You'll find that idea
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that is sometimes thrown at us
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for believing in a Jesus
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that we don't physically see
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and that we believe things
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that the Bible tells us about him,
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that we believe
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what Christians have believed
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down through the centuries.
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And people will accuse us
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of really, you know,
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you're believing in something
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you cannot verify.
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You've never seen this person
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and yet you claim
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that you believe in him,
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that you trust in him,
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that you actually find him
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the basis of all your hopes.
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How can you do that?
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Well, because believing
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and knowing
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actually go together.
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It's not simply a matter
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of believing in Christ.
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It's also knowing Christ.
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And our believing,
34:59
in any case,
35:00
is not a leap in the dark.
35:02
It's not as if you're just
35:03
jumping off a spiritual
35:05
or moral cliff
35:06
and somehow hoping
35:07
that you're going to land safely
35:08
without really knowing
35:09
what's ahead of you.
35:11
That's not the kind of thing
35:12
that faith is.
35:13
Tonight,
35:14
if you're a believer in Christ,
35:16
you're not believing blindly.
35:18
You're not believing in something
35:19
really that you don't know much about.
35:23
Because,
35:23
as Romans 10,
35:24
verse 17 tells us,
35:26
faith comes by hearing
35:28
and hearing the word of Christ,
35:30
the truth of God.
35:31
Your faith,
35:32
as you place your faith in Christ,
35:34
is not a blind faith.
35:36
It's not a launching out
35:38
into the dark
35:39
as if you don't have any access
35:40
to what's true at all.
35:43
You believe
35:44
because God has revealed things
35:46
to you to believe.
35:48
You believe
35:49
because you are convinced
35:50
that this Bible
35:51
is God's revelation to you
35:54
and it's reliable
35:55
as well as being authoritative.
35:57
And so,
35:59
when you come
35:59
to believe in Christ,
36:01
it's not a Jesus
36:02
you know nothing about.
36:04
It's not a Jesus
36:05
that's somehow
36:06
hiding in the shadows
36:07
from you
36:08
even though you can't
36:09
see Him physically.
36:10
He's not hiding
36:11
in some sort of
36:12
moral or spiritual shadow
36:14
that you can hardly make out.
36:16
He is actually revealed
36:18
in all His beauty
36:19
and His glory
36:20
as far as we can
36:21
actually follow it at least
36:22
in these wonderful pictures
36:24
of the gospel,
36:25
these descriptions,
36:27
these things that make up
36:28
the truth of God.
36:30
I know whom I have believed.
36:34
You embrace Christ
36:36
as He's offered
36:37
in the gospel
36:38
willingly
36:39
by the grace of God.
36:42
And always remember that
36:43
when somebody comes to you
36:45
and says,
36:45
you know,
36:46
I don't really think
36:48
you've got a ground
36:48
for believing
36:49
what you believe
36:50
or trusting in this Jesus
36:52
when you can't tell me
36:53
that you've actually seen Him
36:55
at any point.
36:56
No, but you actually say to Him,
36:58
well, I believe certain things
37:00
but I believe them
37:01
not just because
37:01
they're written
37:02
in the pages of the Bible
37:03
which I regard
37:04
as the truth of God.
37:06
I believe them
37:07
because I know Him
37:09
as well as what's written
37:11
in the Bible
37:13
and what's presented
37:14
in the gospel.
37:16
That's the second thing here
37:17
in terms of knowing Jesus.
37:19
There is a knowing
37:20
along with a believer.
37:21
You know what He's saying here?
37:22
He's saying,
37:23
I know
37:24
whom I have believed.
37:27
See, the apostle here
37:28
is not saying
37:29
I know what I have believed.
37:32
And he's not saying
37:33
I know what I believe
37:34
about Jesus.
37:37
He's not saying
37:37
I know things about God
37:39
and I believe these things
37:40
to be true.
37:41
He's saying
37:41
I know
37:42
whom I have believed.
37:45
I know this person.
37:47
I know this person
37:49
of Jesus for myself.
37:51
I don't just believe
37:53
blindly
37:54
and I don't just believe
37:55
because I've got a Bible
37:56
to believe.
37:58
I know
37:58
this person
38:00
that I believe in
38:01
and trust myself to.
38:03
That's what He's saying.
38:04
I know
38:05
whom
38:05
I have believed.
38:07
You see,
38:08
Paul
38:08
is on personal
38:10
terms
38:11
with this Jesus.
38:13
He's not
38:14
believing
38:16
in this person
38:17
because he knows
38:18
him as the founder
38:19
of a religion
38:20
that he respects
38:21
such as you find
38:23
in the major
38:23
world religions
38:25
of today
38:25
founded by
38:28
whether it's
38:29
Muhammad
38:29
or Buddha
38:30
or whoever else
38:32
it might have been
38:33
that have founded
38:35
or established
38:35
these great religions.
38:37
But they're gone.
38:39
They're dead.
38:42
They've passed
38:42
from the scene
38:43
of time.
38:44
They're no longer
38:44
living as
38:46
Jesus is living.
38:47
But here is Paul
38:48
saying,
38:49
I know
38:49
whom I have
38:50
believed.
38:51
I know
38:52
the one
38:52
that I've
38:53
placed my
38:53
trust and
38:54
confidence in.
38:55
I know
38:56
him
38:56
because he
38:57
is still
38:57
living.
38:59
Because he's
38:59
risen from
39:00
the dead.
39:01
Which is why
39:01
you find him
39:02
dealing so much
39:03
and so
39:04
foundationally
39:05
and so centrally
39:06
with the
39:07
resurrection
39:07
of Christ
39:08
from the dead.
39:09
He has brought
39:10
life
39:10
and immortality
39:11
to life
39:12
through his
39:13
resurrection.
39:15
And Paul
39:15
is saying,
39:15
I know
39:16
him.
39:18
God has
39:19
brought me
39:19
into a
39:20
living
39:21
relationship
39:21
with him.
39:22
I'm not
39:23
following a
39:23
dead founder
39:24
of a religion.
39:26
Nor am I
39:26
following the
39:27
gospel as a
39:28
mere system
39:29
of belief.
39:30
Such as you
39:31
might find
39:32
people following
39:33
a creed or
39:33
following a
39:34
system of
39:35
belief founded
39:36
by whoever
39:37
it is and
39:38
continuing to
39:39
actually follow
39:40
that kind of
39:41
system of
39:41
belief or
39:42
that creed
39:43
or other.
39:45
No, he says,
39:45
I'm not
39:46
following a
39:46
system.
39:47
I'm not
39:47
following a
39:48
religion.
39:49
I'm following
39:49
a person.
39:51
I believe
39:52
in this
39:53
living person.
39:55
I know
39:55
this living
39:56
person.
40:01
And really
40:01
that's how
40:02
you've got to
40:02
look at it
40:03
yourself.
40:03
What is it
40:03
that distinguishes
40:06
a person who
40:07
is a Christian
40:08
in a living
40:09
sense?
40:09
I'm not
40:10
talking about
40:10
a Christian
40:11
in the sense
40:12
of, you
40:12
might say,
40:13
the formal
40:13
sense because
40:14
you follow
40:14
the Christian
40:15
faith rather
40:16
than Islam
40:17
or Buddhism
40:18
or whatever.
40:19
Well, in a
40:20
sense, that
40:20
makes you a
40:21
Christian, of
40:21
course.
40:22
If you're
40:22
following the
40:23
Christian faith,
40:24
you're a
40:24
Christian in
40:25
that formal
40:25
outward sense.
40:26
What I'm
40:27
talking about
40:27
here is a
40:28
Christian in
40:29
the living
40:30
sense of
40:31
living in
40:32
dependence upon
40:33
Christ,
40:34
living in a
40:35
relationship that
40:36
you know is
40:37
live with
40:38
this living
40:39
person.
40:41
Is that
40:42
you?
40:44
Is that
40:44
you tonight?
40:48
Are you a
40:49
Christian through
40:51
knowing Christ?
40:53
You're surely
40:54
not just saying,
40:56
I'm a Christian
40:56
because I'm
40:57
different to a
40:58
Muslim, because I
41:00
follow the
41:00
teachings of the
41:01
Bible.
41:02
Wonderful.
41:04
That's so
41:04
important.
41:05
That's so
41:05
crucial to
41:06
you.
41:06
true.
41:08
But what makes
41:09
you a Christian
41:09
in the living
41:10
sense is that
41:12
you know
41:12
Jesus, that
41:14
you know Christ
41:15
for yourself,
41:16
that you know
41:16
he lives, that
41:18
you know he
41:19
has conquered
41:19
death, that
41:21
you know he
41:21
has forgiven
41:22
your sins, that
41:24
you know he's
41:25
your daily
41:25
companion, you
41:27
know whom you
41:29
have believed.
41:29
need.
41:31
And then he
41:32
says, and I
41:33
am convinced.
41:35
You see how it
41:36
grows out of
41:37
this knowing
41:38
of Christ.
41:39
He's saying, I'm
41:40
not ashamed, I
41:41
will not be put
41:42
to shame, I
41:43
will not be
41:44
shunned by
41:45
God, I will
41:45
not be rejected.
41:47
All of that
41:47
comes into what
41:48
he's saying, I'm
41:48
not ashamed.
41:49
It's not just a
41:49
feeling of being
41:51
ashamed.
41:52
In the New
41:52
Testament, being
41:53
ashamed is tied
41:55
up with being
41:55
rejected or being
41:56
judged and found
41:58
wanting.
41:58
that's not
41:59
going to happen
42:00
to me, saying, I'm
42:01
not ashamed and
42:02
I will not be
42:03
put to shame, for
42:04
I know whom I
42:05
have believed and
42:06
I am convinced.
42:08
You see, from his
42:09
knowing of Jesus, he
42:10
comes to be
42:11
convinced about
42:12
certain things,
42:13
about him, and
42:14
about the truth as
42:15
it is in him.
42:19
You might say
42:20
he's got an
42:21
assured
42:22
believing from
42:24
knowing Christ.
42:26
Now, you're to
42:27
ask Paul, well,
42:28
Paul, how can you
42:29
possibly be sure
42:30
about these
42:31
things?
42:32
How can you be
42:32
convinced about
42:33
things?
42:34
How can you
42:35
actually say that
42:36
this is, in
42:37
fact, certain
42:38
for you, and
42:40
that this is not
42:41
just the truth for
42:42
you, but it is
42:43
the truth?
42:46
Well, he says, I
42:48
know, I'm sure, I'm
42:50
convinced because I
42:51
know him, because I
42:53
know himself.
42:54
And when you
42:56
know himself, it
42:58
doesn't matter what
42:58
somebody says to
42:59
you and tries to
43:01
convince you
43:01
otherwise.
43:03
It doesn't matter
43:04
what doubts the
43:05
devil or somebody
43:06
else might try and
43:07
instill in your
43:08
mind.
43:08
It doesn't matter
43:09
how much somebody
43:10
might try to shake
43:11
your faith and
43:13
bring you back to
43:14
the kind of ideas
43:15
you find in the
43:16
world that tells
43:17
you you're stupid,
43:18
you're a fool to
43:19
believe something
43:20
you've never
43:20
verified scientifically
43:22
or whatever, I
43:23
know whom I have
43:25
believed.
43:27
I know himself.
43:30
That's why I'm
43:30
convinced.
43:33
I'm convinced
43:34
about these things
43:35
about him.
43:37
See, Paul, you
43:39
guys put it this
43:39
way, Paul is not
43:40
searching for the
43:41
truth.
43:43
This is one of the
43:44
great fallacies of
43:46
today, isn't it?
43:47
When you find people
43:48
who are established
43:49
churchmen sometimes
43:51
saying, you know,
43:51
you can't actually
43:52
possibly believe that
43:54
Christ is the only
43:55
way to God, that he
43:56
is the way, the truth
43:57
and the life, as
43:58
John's gospel puts
43:59
it.
44:00
You've got to have an
44:01
amalgamation and a
44:02
conglomeration of all
44:03
sorts of different
44:04
religious ideas and
44:06
it's as you weld these
44:07
together, as you
44:08
actually bring all of
44:09
that together and as
44:10
you walk along with
44:11
people who believe in
44:13
other systems of
44:14
belief and as you
44:14
join all that
44:15
together and as you
44:16
try and worship
44:17
together and engage
44:18
with each other, then
44:19
you're involved in a
44:20
search for the
44:21
truth.
44:22
You're involved in a
44:23
progress onwards until
44:24
eventually at some
44:26
point or other you're
44:27
going to come to the
44:28
truth hopefully.
44:30
Paul is saying,
44:31
nonsense,
44:33
rubbish.
44:34
I know the truth
44:37
because I know Jesus
44:40
Christ.
44:42
I know the truth
44:43
because I know the
44:44
Son of God who is
44:45
himself the embodiment
44:47
of the truth as he
44:48
came into this world to
44:49
reveal the truth of God
44:51
to us.
44:53
I know whom I have
44:56
believed.
44:57
Some people would say,
44:59
you know, that's really
45:00
being pretty arrogant,
45:01
isn't it?
45:01
I'm pretty arrogant
45:03
towards other faiths
45:05
or other systems of
45:06
belief.
45:07
If you're saying to me
45:08
tonight that,
45:09
and they might say to
45:10
you, if you're saying to
45:10
me tonight that Jesus
45:12
is exclusively the
45:14
Savior and the way to
45:15
know God and to come
45:17
into a living
45:18
relationship with God
45:20
and to have the
45:21
righteousness that God
45:22
requires of us and
45:23
live the kind of life
45:24
that God is pleased
45:25
with, how can you say
45:27
to me that only Jesus
45:28
can do that for you
45:30
or only through Jesus
45:31
can you come into
45:32
that relationship with
45:33
God?
45:34
Well, I can say that
45:35
because I know Jesus
45:36
and I know this is what
45:38
Jesus himself believed
45:39
and said.
45:42
Am I going to actually
45:43
trust the word of
45:45
someone whom I know
45:46
to be my Savior?
45:48
Or am I going to
45:49
simply say, well,
45:50
you know, we've got to
45:51
add to that, we've got
45:52
to change that in the
45:53
world in which we live.
45:55
We've got to add to that
45:56
other kinds of ideas
45:57
and especially as the
45:59
world has progressed
46:00
technologically in terms
46:01
of finding things out
46:03
and affirmations from
46:04
science as to how
46:05
things work and all
46:06
the rest of it.
46:08
It doesn't matter.
46:11
You don't have to
46:11
understand many of
46:14
these scientific
46:15
discoveries or how
46:17
the analysis is made
46:19
of life as you know
46:21
it in this world.
46:23
All you need is to
46:24
know him.
46:25
I know whom I have
46:28
believed.
46:30
Paul's not searching
46:31
for the truth.
46:33
He doesn't need to.
46:35
He knows that he's got
46:36
that in Christ.
46:38
He knows that what he
46:40
has in Christ is God's
46:42
supreme revelation of
46:43
himself.
46:44
He's the light of the
46:45
world.
46:47
He is himself the way,
46:49
the truth, and the life.
46:51
He is the resurrection
46:52
and the life.
46:54
He's all of the things
46:55
he claimed to be.
46:57
And although Paul
46:57
himself, of course,
46:58
was adamant at one
47:00
time that the last
47:03
thing in the world he
47:04
wanted was to give his
47:05
life over to this
47:06
Jesus, he regarded him
47:09
as a fraud, regarded
47:11
him as somebody who was
47:13
being peddled by his
47:14
followers as somehow or
47:16
other a representation of
47:18
God on earth until he
47:20
was making his way as an
47:21
enemy of Christ, to
47:23
Damascus with further
47:25
intentions in his mind to
47:29
cast more of the
47:30
followers of Jesus into
47:31
prison and so on.
47:33
And then he met with this
47:34
person.
47:36
He was arrested by this
47:38
Christ himself who turned
47:40
his life around and put
47:42
everything upside down for
47:43
him, or rather the right
47:44
way up for him.
47:45
And now he's saying, I
47:47
know whom I have
47:48
believed.
47:50
And all the things that I
47:52
once held on to as so
47:53
essential for earning the
47:55
favor of God, of coming to
47:58
gain God's approval, as he
48:00
says in Philippians chapter
48:01
3, I now count these as
48:03
worthless rubbish.
48:05
He's not being disparaging of
48:08
what he once believed in a
48:09
sense, but he is rejecting it
48:12
as the basis of his
48:13
acceptance with God.
48:16
I count him, he says, as
48:18
worthless so that I might
48:21
gain Christ and be found in
48:23
him and have the righteousness
48:25
as of God by him.
48:29
I know whom I have
48:32
believed.
48:32
You know, Paul would really
48:33
look out over those folks who
48:35
claim that Christ is not
48:37
enough, that you've got to add
48:39
to Jesus himself or to the
48:41
gospel where Jesus is set
48:43
forth as the Savior
48:44
exclusively.
48:46
People, as we said, will say
48:48
to you, that's really not
48:49
enough.
48:50
You've got to move ahead
48:51
nowadays.
48:51
You've got to progress.
48:53
What will Paul say to that?
48:57
Paul said to that, you've got
48:58
a big problem.
49:00
You've got a massive problem.
49:03
And the problem is you don't
49:05
know Jesus.
49:06
And you don't know Jesus as God's
49:10
exclusive, wonderful, sufficient
49:15
Savior of sinners.
49:19
So here's for me the question
49:21
tonight.
49:22
Do I know Jesus?
49:26
Have I been standing in pulpits
49:28
for well over 30 years and still
49:30
don't know him for myself?
49:31
I hope not.
49:32
I trust not.
49:33
I believe not.
49:34
Do you know him?
49:39
Do you know him as your living
49:40
companion?
49:43
Are you in a daily conversation
49:45
with him?
49:46
Do you know him in such a way as
49:48
would say, you know, if everything
49:51
else was taken out of my life, and
49:53
that's a very difficult thing to
49:54
say, I would still have Jesus and
49:58
my life would be secure.
50:00
I know whom I have believed, says
50:04
the apostle.
50:08
And for you and for me, it's not
50:09
just a matter of believing in
50:11
Christ, believing God's word,
50:14
believing what it says there about
50:16
him.
50:18
Believing means a knowing of him,
50:21
a coming to live in a living
50:24
relationship with him, where you
50:27
have, as Paul himself had,
50:31
personal terms with Christ
50:34
every day.
50:36
I know whom I have believed.
50:38
But then he says, and I am
50:40
convinced, rising out of that
50:41
relationship that he has with
50:43
Christ, this knowledge that he has
50:45
of Christ, he's saying I am
50:47
convinced that he is able to guard
50:48
until that day what has been
50:50
entrusted to me.
50:51
Now, I've said that personally I
50:54
prefer the old AV rendering of it
50:57
there.
50:58
It's perfectly possible
50:59
grammatically to render it either
51:01
way, either like this.
51:03
He's able to guard what has been
51:05
entrusted to me, by which the
51:07
translators here have been really,
51:09
their view is that he's talking
51:11
about the gospel, the message of
51:13
Christ.
51:14
Whereas the AV took it in the other
51:15
way that, again, is possible
51:17
grammatically.
51:17
I am convinced, he says, that he
51:21
is able to guard what I have
51:24
entrusted to him.
51:26
And you see it's, you find later
51:29
on there the verse 14, by the Holy
51:31
Spirit who dwells within us, he's
51:33
saying to Timothy, guard the good
51:35
deposit entrusted to you.
51:39
And I think it's from that that this
51:41
translation itself has come to
51:43
translate it this way, to guard what
51:46
has been entrusted to me.
51:48
Now, do you see, verse 14 there is
51:50
really saying the Holy Spirit who
51:53
dwells in us, you, Timothy, guard the
51:56
good deposit entrusted to you.
52:00
But what he's saying here in verse
52:02
12 is it's something that he has
52:04
entrusted to Christ, something that
52:05
Christ is going to look after.
52:08
It's not Timothy who's looking after
52:09
it here, it's Christ who's looking
52:10
after what he says here in verse 12.
52:12
It's literally in the Greek text of
52:15
all it says is he's able to guard the
52:17
deposit.
52:18
My deposit.
52:20
And what is this deposit?
52:22
Well, I believe it's better taking it
52:24
as Paul speaking about entrusting
52:27
himself, his life, his apostleship,
52:30
his present, his future.
52:32
After all, he's talking here about
52:33
death being imminent.
52:35
He's not far away from the end of his
52:37
course in this life.
52:39
And he's encouraging Timothy to
52:40
continue to trust in this God and to
52:44
continue to entrust himself to Jesus
52:46
because he says, I know whom I have
52:48
believed and I am convinced that he
52:51
is able to guard, to keep until that
52:55
day what I have entrusted to him, what I
52:59
have given over to him to be secure in
53:03
him.
53:03
In other words, it's Paul's own, if you
53:05
take it that way, he means his own life.
53:08
He means his person.
53:10
That's what he's deposited in Christ's
53:12
hands.
53:13
And so that's really, in a sense, what
53:15
fits in with many references in the
53:18
Bible to God being a refuge.
53:21
And 1 Peter, for example, chapter 4, which
53:25
is a letter really, as you know, that's
53:27
written largely to suffering Christians,
53:30
persecuted Christians.
53:32
In chapter 4, the last verse there, he
53:33
says, therefore, let those who suffer
53:36
according to God's will entrust their
53:40
souls to a faithful creator while
53:43
doing good.
53:43
He's talking about entrusting themselves
53:45
to this living Savior.
53:49
And that's how we're taking these words
53:51
of Paul to Timothy as well.
53:53
I am convinced, I am persuaded, I am
53:56
fully convinced that he is able to guard,
53:59
to look after everything that I've placed
54:01
in his hand, including myself, until
54:05
that day.
54:08
So really, your faith, your living
54:11
relationship with Jesus is not just, of
54:14
course, a formal assent to his truth.
54:18
It is, as we said, knowing Jesus in a
54:21
personal relationship.
54:23
But it's also in the actings of your
54:25
faith.
54:25
And it's not just once and for all.
54:27
It's really on an everyday, ongoing
54:29
basis.
54:30
It's entrusting yourself to Jesus.
54:34
Isn't that how you begin every day?
54:37
That you actually pray, Lord, please
54:39
look after my life again.
54:41
I'm placing myself in your hands.
54:44
And as I place myself in your hands,
54:46
Lord, whatever happens on this day,
54:49
look after me.
54:50
Guard me.
54:51
Keep me.
54:53
Be my guard.
54:55
My guardian.
54:56
Be the one who looks after me as I
55:02
entrust myself to you.
55:05
Entrustman to a person.
55:08
And there's the question again for
55:10
yourself and for myself.
55:11
Is that how you find your own life?
55:15
You know the gospel.
55:16
You know the Bible.
55:18
You know the message of the gospel.
55:20
You know other Christians in this place
55:22
tonight and elsewhere.
55:23
But here is the question following on
55:27
from do you know him yourself,
55:30
for yourself?
55:31
Have you entrusted your life to him?
55:35
Have you given over your life
55:37
to this Jesus to be your Lord
55:40
as well as your Savior?
55:44
Have you deposited, if you like,
55:46
to use the words of the apostle here,
55:48
this deposit, my deposit?
55:49
I have entrusted my deposit to him.
55:53
Have you deposited your own life
55:57
into the hands of Jesus?
56:01
There are few questions
56:03
as important as that in your life.
56:09
This is why, friends,
56:11
God has given us the gospel.
56:14
Not so that we would have
56:15
a mere intellectual knowledge
56:16
of who Jesus is
56:18
and what Jesus has done.
56:20
Wonderful though that is.
56:23
It's so that
56:24
we will be persuaded
56:26
that we need this Jesus
56:29
as our own personal Savior.
56:33
And that knowing that we need this Jesus
56:35
by the grace of God,
56:36
by the power of his Spirit,
56:38
we will deposit our lives
56:40
into his hand.
56:41
We will entrust ourselves to him
56:44
to look after us
56:46
all the way through life
56:47
and into eternity itself.
56:50
And let me say to the young folks
56:51
here tonight,
56:53
you don't think of yourself
56:57
as too young to do this.
56:59
I don't know if you've still
57:00
got a bank account.
57:02
Some of you probably have.
57:04
But if you have,
57:05
you know what you do
57:06
when you have a savings account.
57:09
You deposit some money in that.
57:11
And you expect the bank
57:12
to look after it for you
57:13
and not lose your money.
57:15
Then you can withdraw it
57:17
whenever you want.
57:17
You can go
57:18
and take some money out of it.
57:20
But you've left it in the bank.
57:21
You've put it there.
57:22
You've deposited it there
57:23
for safekeeping.
57:26
That's what Paul is saying
57:27
about himself.
57:29
He has put himself
57:29
in the hands of Jesus
57:31
for safekeeping.
57:32
And what he's saying is
57:33
when you do that,
57:35
your life is safe.
57:37
You can't guarantee
57:38
whether you're young or old
57:39
in this life.
57:40
You can't guarantee
57:42
that everything will turn out well
57:44
just by hoping for the best.
57:48
Paul is saying here
57:49
he's able to guard this deposit
57:51
until that day.
57:54
What I have entrusted to him,
57:56
he's going to look after it
57:57
until that day.
57:59
And by that he means
57:59
the day of Christ's return.
58:02
The day of judgment.
58:03
The day when Jesus
58:03
comes back to this world.
58:05
What a momentous day
58:10
that's going to be.
58:13
We must all,
58:14
as Paul says to the Corinthians
58:16
in his second epistle,
58:17
we must all appear
58:18
before the judgment seat
58:21
of Christ
58:21
that we may all receive
58:23
the things done in this body
58:24
whether good or evil.
58:28
Paul doesn't need to be afraid
58:29
that somehow or other things
58:31
are not going to turn out well
58:32
for him on that day
58:33
because he has entrusted
58:34
his life to Jesus,
58:36
because Jesus is looking
58:37
after it for him,
58:38
because he's put himself
58:39
in the hands of Christ,
58:41
because that's where
58:41
the deposit of his life is.
58:44
He is safe.
58:46
Nothing's going to actually
58:47
change that.
58:49
The only way that can change
58:50
is somehow or other
58:52
God the Father
58:53
finds something wrong
58:54
with Jesus.
58:56
And that's never going to happen.
58:59
And there's your
58:59
wonderful assurance tonight
59:01
that however weak
59:03
you might say
59:03
your own faith is
59:04
and however many times
59:05
you fail the Lord,
59:07
however many times
59:08
you know that you've not
59:10
been as you should be,
59:11
you've not done
59:11
what you should have done,
59:13
or you've done things
59:14
you shouldn't have done,
59:15
you're conscious
59:15
that you sin against God
59:17
every day,
59:18
that you need his forgiveness,
59:20
all of that is there.
59:22
But if you've entrusted
59:23
your life to Christ,
59:25
he's looking after
59:26
everything for you.
59:28
Your life is secure.
59:30
you've made your deposit.
59:33
You've deposited yourself
59:35
into his hands.
59:39
Now is that
59:40
your outlook tonight?
59:43
Is that how your life
59:44
is situated?
59:47
Is that what's
59:48
underneath your present
59:50
and your future?
59:52
It's Jesus himself.
59:54
F.B. Meyer,
59:58
who was a Baptist minister
1:00:00
in England
1:00:00
from the mid-1800s,
1:00:03
he died, I think,
1:00:04
in 1929.
1:00:06
But in his writings,
1:00:08
he gives the following
1:00:09
account of two Germans
1:00:11
who wanted to climb
1:00:12
the Matterhorn,
1:00:13
and you know
1:00:14
the Matterhorn mountain
1:00:15
itself,
1:00:15
one of the big mountains
1:00:16
in Europe,
1:00:17
a very steep mountain,
1:00:19
very icy in parts of it.
1:00:20
Well,
1:00:21
there were two Germans
1:00:23
who wanted to climb
1:00:24
the Matterhorn,
1:00:24
so they hired
1:00:25
three guides,
1:00:28
and the three guides
1:00:29
would take them,
1:00:29
they hoped,
1:00:30
safely up the Matterhorn
1:00:31
as far as they could
1:00:32
at least.
1:00:34
And very soon,
1:00:34
they reached the steepest
1:00:35
and the most slippery
1:00:37
part of that mountain,
1:00:39
and they had roped
1:00:40
themselves together
1:00:40
in this order.
1:00:42
First of all,
1:00:42
a guide went ahead,
1:00:43
then a traveler,
1:00:44
then a guide,
1:00:46
then a traveler,
1:00:46
and then a third guide
1:00:48
at the end,
1:00:50
at the rear.
1:00:51
As they went up the mountain,
1:00:53
the one bringing up the rear,
1:00:55
there the last man,
1:00:56
actually lost his footing
1:00:57
and slipped.
1:00:59
But he was able to hang on
1:01:00
because the others had
1:01:01
little toe holes in the ice
1:01:04
that they were climbing up
1:01:04
the ice wall.
1:01:06
They had toe holes in the ice,
1:01:07
so they were able to
1:01:08
hold tight
1:01:10
the weight of this man
1:01:11
until he regained his footing.
1:01:14
But then there came a moment
1:01:15
when those ahead of that man
1:01:18
also lost their footing.
1:01:21
And they pulled down
1:01:23
everyone ahead of them
1:01:23
except the guide
1:01:24
who was going
1:01:25
at the head
1:01:26
of the procession,
1:01:28
of the climb.
1:01:30
And he stood firm
1:01:33
because he had driven
1:01:35
his spike
1:01:37
deep into the ice.
1:01:40
And so all of those
1:01:41
who were coming after him
1:01:42
were depending on that
1:01:43
spike holding,
1:01:44
which it did.
1:01:45
And they were able again
1:01:47
to regain their footing
1:01:48
because this one guide,
1:01:50
the guide at the front,
1:01:52
had the spike deep
1:01:53
in the ice
1:01:54
and was able to hold
1:01:56
things steady
1:01:56
until they recovered.
1:01:59
And this is what
1:01:59
F.B. Meyer said,
1:02:00
I am like one of those men
1:02:05
who slipped.
1:02:05
But thank God
1:02:08
I am bound
1:02:09
in a living partnership
1:02:11
to Christ.
1:02:13
And because
1:02:14
he stands,
1:02:16
I will never
1:02:17
perish.
1:02:20
May God bless
1:02:21
his word to us.
1:02:22
Let's
1:02:22
sing to his praise
1:02:24
in Psalm 73.
1:02:25
Psalm 73,
1:02:30
page 316,
1:02:31
verses 23 to 26.
1:02:36
Nevertheless,
1:02:36
continually,
1:02:38
O Lord,
1:02:38
I am with thee.
1:02:40
Thou dost me hold
1:02:41
by my right hand
1:02:42
and still
1:02:42
upholdest me.
1:02:44
Thou with thy counsel
1:02:45
while I live
1:02:46
will me conduct
1:02:47
and guide
1:02:47
and to thy glory
1:02:49
afterward
1:02:50
receive me
1:02:50
to abide.
1:02:52
So 23 to 26
1:02:54
of Psalm 73.
1:02:56
Psalm 73.
1:02:56
Psalm 73.
1:03:26
Thou dost me hold
1:03:30
by my right hand
1:03:35
and still upholdest me.
1:03:42
Thou with thy counsel
1:03:47
while I live
1:03:51
will be conduct
1:03:56
and guide
1:03:58
and to thy glory
1:04:03
afterward
1:04:06
and to thy glory
1:04:13
afterward
1:04:14
receive me
1:04:19
whom I desire
1:04:20
to abide.
1:04:22
Thou have
1:04:25
have
1:04:26
died
1:04:27
in the heaven's
1:04:31
night
1:04:32
but thee,
1:04:34
O Lord,
1:04:37
our Lord,
1:04:40
and in the air
1:04:44
whom I desire
1:04:45
whom I desire
1:04:48
whom I desire
1:04:49
and in the air
1:04:51
whom I desire
1:04:55
whom I desire
1:04:57
besides thee
1:05:00
there is none.
1:05:04
my flesh
1:05:05
and heart
1:05:09
doth
1:05:10
faint
1:05:11
and fail
1:05:13
but
1:05:14
what
1:05:15
doth
1:05:17
fail
1:05:18
me
1:05:19
never
1:05:20
for
1:05:21
God
1:05:22
for
1:05:23
love
1:05:24
my heart
1:05:25
God
1:05:27
is
1:05:28
the
1:05:29
strength
1:05:30
and
1:05:31
love
1:05:32
my heart
1:05:34
God
1:05:35
is
1:05:36
the
1:05:37
strength
1:05:38
and
1:05:39
portion
1:05:40
for
1:05:42
heaven.
1:05:44
forever
1:05:45
I'll go to the main door after the benediction.
1:05:49
the benediction.
1:05:52
Lord, our gracious God, we pray that you would bless your word to us once again.
1:05:56
We ask also that you would bless to us the preparation made for us for our bodily needs of the fellowship.
1:06:02
We thank you for that food prepared.
1:06:03
We pray that you would bless Jackie as he gives an account of his own spiritual experience and his testimony to your grace in his life.
1:06:15
And we ask that you would uphold him and bless Scott too as he leads the meeting.
1:06:20
And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you now and evermore. Amen.
1:06:30
Thank you.