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Gospel People and Gospel Power · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

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So, we're going to begin our worship now.
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We're singing, firstly, this evening in Psalm 98.
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Psalm number 98, that's from Sing Psalms, page 129, the tune is Glasgow.
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And we're singing verses 1 to 4.
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O sing a new song to the Lord, for wonders he has done.
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His right hand and his holy arm the victory have won.
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The Lord declared his saving work and made it to be known
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to all the nations of the world.
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His righteousness has shown his steadfast love and faithfulness.
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He has remembered well the covenant he made with them, the house of Israel.
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Some of the greatest words in the Bible, theologically,
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words relating to our salvation, are found in the book of Psalms.
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And you'll find them here in this psalm, for example,
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words like steadfast love, faithfulness, covenant, righteousness.
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And so on.
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And so we sing these verses, Psalm 98.
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O sing a new song to the Lord.
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O sing a new song to the Lord, for wonders he has done.
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His right hand and his holy arm the victory have won.
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The Lord declared his saving work and made it to be known.
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To all the nations of the world, his righteousness is shown.
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He has remembered well that he has remembered something that he has known.
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Our faithfulness of Genesis 6, Psalm 91,
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And so um, możli grace, and your heart has shown up.
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Our kingdom is righteousness, and your joy isそこ
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And for grace, and your word can be no zero.
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Amen, in angels and your honor what we do.
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ぜ he has learned Yenny and your honor it to be known.
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Praise God, we are partners in the end.
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With your Lord, we are faithful to Him and will see the Lord.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Let's now call upon the Lord in prayer.
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Let's join together in prayer.
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Lord, we ask that you would unite our hearts as we worship you.
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Unite our hearts together and unite all our faculties individually
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so that we may be able to worship you as you deserve to be worshipped in spirit and truth.
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And, O Lord, we ask that you would work within us this evening to stir up our souls
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so that we may be able, as we have been singing, to give praise and thanks to you
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in recognition of all that you are and all that you have done
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and all that you continue to do and all that you promise yet to do for your people.
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Lord, we thank you, O Lord, tonight that we have this privilege,
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that you have gathered us together.
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We have not come of our own accord.
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We would not have the desire to come if you had not placed this desire in our hearts.
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And we thank you, Lord, as we come, that we can come not in a mere formal outward fashion alone,
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but that we can come with that intense desire in our heart to meet with God.
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And we pray that you would create this in us.
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We ask tonight, O Lord, that you would stimulate our minds
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so that we may give attention once again to what you have revealed to us in your Word.
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We thank you as we come before you that we can indeed ourselves reflect upon all that you have done
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and all that you have continued to be to us as a people, as a congregation, and even as individuals as well.
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Lord, we thank you tonight for your faithfulness.
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We bless you for your loving kindness, which is better than life.
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We thank you for the great victory that you have won.
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You have achieved that victory, Lord, through your death on the cross
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and your resurrection from the dead and your exaltation to glory.
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And through your intercession at God's right hand,
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we give thanks, O Lord, that your people are remembered and presented always before you.
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We pray, O Lord, tonight for the blessing of your Spirit to open up our minds
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and to open up your Word for us.
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We thank you that you are the Lord of the Scriptures,
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that you are the God who caused them to be written from the beginning,
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that you are the one who moved those who gave us these books of the Bible
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so that in their own time you moved them to set down those things that were according to your will,
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that would be of benefit to your people down through the ages
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and on through to the end of the world.
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We thank you tonight, O Lord, for the gospel,
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for the way in which in your Word we find that message of salvation in Christ.
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And we thank you for the way in which that gospel has been proclaimed by your people
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and is still being proclaimed throughout the world.
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We pray, Lord, that you would help us to have confidence in the gospel,
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enable us to see that we don't need to adjust it,
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that we don't need to add to it or take from it
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as we find it in its entirety,
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as Christ himself is the substance of it.
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We pray that you would enable us, Lord,
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to hold on to the way in which the Lord himself is presented to us in your Word.
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And enable us, we pray, to be confident
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that this is indeed the power of God unto salvation
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to everyone who believes,
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of whatever background we may be.
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We pray tonight, O Lord,
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that you would be amongst us in your saving work.
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We thank you that we come before you expectantly
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and come before you confident, O Lord,
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that you will apply your Word in a saving way to our hearts,
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all who have come, O Lord, to be gathered here this evening.
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And we ask that this may be so in our experience,
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that it would please you, O Lord,
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to give to us a renewed sense of your own presence
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and your provision for us in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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And we ask that you would draw our minds once again
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to those things which are so central
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and so substantial in the message of the Gospel,
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to the cross itself
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and to the Lord's resurrection from the dead,
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to the way in which we come to be made right with God
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and set before you in righteousness in his name
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and in union with him.
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And, Lord, we pray that we may be constrained
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to carry forth this great message into the world of our day,
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a world that we know as has been the case down through the centuries
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and yet is no better off in our day than before
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in its need of having salvation proclaimed,
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its need of being delivered from the thralldom
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of darkness and of sin and of ungodliness.
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And we ask, O God, in our day that we may see
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many coming to be delivered through the power of the Gospel
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from the grip of sin
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and being transferred from the realm of Satan
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into the kingdom of your own beloved Son.
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We pray that tonight, Lord, there be many conversions to Christ.
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We ask that here itself,
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many who may be here and are not yet saved
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will come to know this very evening
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as the time of their great change,
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as the moment of that transition from darkness to light
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into the liberty with which Christ is able to make us free.
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Bless us, we pray, as a congregation of your people.
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Bless us in all our activities
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along with our worship services.
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Lord, our God, we offer them to you
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and pray that you would bless them to ourselves
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and to others that we seek to benefit by them.
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We ask us this week unfolds, O Lord, by your will,
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that we may have your blessing for the midweek meetings,
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for those things that we anticipate happening
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in various days of the week.
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We pray that you would bless the fundraising activities
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for Giga, as we have for other causes as well.
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We ask that you would bless the way towards
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the breakfast next Lord's Day.
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We pray, Lord, that many will come
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and come into contact with the gospel,
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with the message of Christ,
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crucified and risen from the dead.
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We pray that you would give us, Lord,
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to be concerned to pass that message to them
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with love and with concern
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and with patience and with tact.
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And enable us to be thankful, O Lord,
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that we have this opportunity.
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And we pray that you would bless this
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to us as a people and to those
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that will come and partake of themselves
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of what is provided for them.
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We ask, O Lord, to your blessing
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for those who are anticipating baptism
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for their children next Lord's Day.
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We pray for both of these families.
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We thank you for their part in the congregation.
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We pray for them as parents.
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We pray for the children as well.
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We ask, O Lord, that they,
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along with those recently baptized,
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will come more and more
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into the understanding of
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and the commitment to the gospel
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that we find set out in these things for us.
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We pray tonight, Lord,
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for those of our number
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who are unwell.
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Bless, we pray,
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those who are suffering
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from COVID infection.
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We pray for them
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and ask your blessing for them.
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We pray for those suffering
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from other illnesses as well
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and ask especially for any
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who are seriously ill
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and for those who may be approaching
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the very border of death
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and of eternity.
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O Lord, we pray for that preparation.
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We ask that you would give them
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to be ready for that moment
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as we seek for us all
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so that we may be ushered
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into that life of bliss in heaven
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and not be taken away from you.
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We ask your blessing too
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for those, Lord,
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who mourn the passing of loved ones
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in recent days,
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in recent weeks and months,
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as well as for those
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who can reach back in their memories
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and for whom
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their evening is still
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very much a live issue.
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Lord, we ask that all
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who miss loved ones,
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whose hearts still ache for them
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and who have had to adjust
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so much in life to their absence,
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be pleased, Lord,
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to draw near to them
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even tonight through the gospel
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and through your word.
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Minister comfort,
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consolation,
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encouragement to them.
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We ask your blessing
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for all who have gone forth
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with the gospel
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to different parts of the world.
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We ask that your blessing
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will be with those
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who serve in God is Good Africa,
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those Kenny John
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and those who help him.
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We pray that the fundraising
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may be a further success
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to supplement the funds
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needed for the work.
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We ask, O Lord, too,
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for Muriel in Cambodia.
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We thank you for her.
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We pray for her at this time.
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We thank you for the way
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that we are able,
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through technology available to us,
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to have times of fellowship with her,
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times when we can hear
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of updates from her
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and meet together
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in prayer with her.
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Lord, we pray for her
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and ask that you would continue
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to bless her
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and give her
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all that she seeks from you,
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Lord,
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to continue to serve you.
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And we pray for her
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as she anticipates her future
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and ask that you would guide her
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into that future,
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whatever it may hold for her.
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We pray for those tonight,
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Lord,
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who are in hospital,
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those who are in care homes,
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those who are no longer able
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to look after themselves
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without help.
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We thank you for the help available
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and we pray for them.
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We pray for their families.
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We ask that you would make us thankful,
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O Lord,
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for the provision
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that you make for us
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in these times of need.
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Remember, too,
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we pray those who reach out
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to those with various problems in life.
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We pray for those
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who have various addictions
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and those who are seeking
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to help them
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and give them support.
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We ask, Lord,
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for the work of the shed,
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for the work of Road to Recovery,
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for the work of Safe Families.
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We commend all of these to you,
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O Lord.
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We pray that they may be
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of much benefit
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to those who seek
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to avail themselves
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of their help.
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And we ask that
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you would continue
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to encourage those
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who are involved
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in these works.
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And so, Lord,
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we ask that you would bless us
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and bless us, too,
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as a nation at this time
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when we find that
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element of turmoil
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even amongst those,
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O Lord,
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who lead us in government.
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Be pleased,
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we pray, O God,
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to establish righteousness
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in our midst
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and in our leadership.
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We long for the day,
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Lord,
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when those over us
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will come to confess
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themselves as your people,
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confess your laws
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as their laws,
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and your word
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as that word
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which they relish
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and is foundational
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to them.
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Lord,
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we pray that
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you would bless us
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at this time
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and deliver us
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from the very obvious
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ungodliness
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that is so evident
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a part of our society
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at this time.
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Receive our thanks now.
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Cleanse us from all our sin.
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Do for us more
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than we are able
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to ask or think.
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For Jesus' sake.
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Amen.
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Let's praise the Lord again.
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This time we're singing
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in Psalm 115.
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This time in the Scottish Psalter,
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Psalm 115.
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And at verse 10
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to a tune St. Andrew.
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It's on page 395.
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O Aaron's house,
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trust in the Lord,
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their help and shield is he.
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Ye that fear God,
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trust in the Lord,
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their help and shield he'll be.
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So from verse 10
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down to the end of the psalm,
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Psalm 115.
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Psalm 115.
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O Aaron's house,
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trust in the Lord,
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their help and shield is he.
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He that fear God,
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trust in the Lord,
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their help and shield he'll be.
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The Lord,
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the Lord,
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the Lord,
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have a mind for thee,
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and he will bless us still.
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He will the hearts of Israel bless.
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Blessed,
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their children's house,
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he will.
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Who's warm and great,
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that fear the Lord,
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he will then surely bless.
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The Lord will do you,
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you and your seed,
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they won't,
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and won't increase.
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O blessed are ye of the Lord,
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whom in the earth of heaven.
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The heavenly heavens are lost,
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but ye are to men's sons again.
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The heavenly heavens are new to silence,
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O God's praise to no reward.
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Lord,
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but hence for thee,
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all ever well.
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Blessed God,
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praise ye the Lord.
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Now let's turn to read God's word as we find that this evening in Paul's letter to the Romans.
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Romans,
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and we're reading from chapter one from the beginning down as far as verse 17.
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The letter of Paul to the Romans,
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chapter one and verses one to 17.
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Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus,
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called to be an apostle,
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set apart for the gospel of God,
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which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning his son,
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who was descended from David according to the flesh,
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and was declared to be the son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness,
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by his resurrection from the dead,
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Jesus Christ,
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our Lord,
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through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
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including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
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To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints,
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grace to you and peace from God,
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our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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First,
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I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you,
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because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
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For God is my witness,
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whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son,
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that without ceasing,
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I mention you always in my prayers,
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asking that somehow by God's will,
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I may now at last succeed in coming to you.
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For I long to see you,
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that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,
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that is,
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that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith,
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both yours and mine.
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I want you to know,
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brothers,
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that I have often intended to come to you,
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but thus far have been prevented,
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in order that I may reap some harvest among you,
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as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.
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I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians,
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both to the wise and to the foolish.
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So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also,
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who are in Rome.
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For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
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for it is the power of God for salvation
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to everyone who believes,
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to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
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For in it,
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the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith,
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as it is written,
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the righteous shall live by faith.
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And so on,
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and we pray again that God will bless to us this portion of his word.
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Before we turn to look at these verses,
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let's sing once again,
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and we're singing in Psalm 97.
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Again,
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it's in the Scottish Psalter,
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on page 360,
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Psalm 97,
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verses 8 to 12.
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And we're singing to a tune,
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Argyle.
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Zion did hear,
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and joyful was,
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glad Judah's daughters were.
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They much rejoiced,
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O Lord,
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because thy judgments did appear.
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For thou,
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O Lord,
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art high above
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all things on earth that are.
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Above all other gods,
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thou art exalted very far.
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Hate ill all ye that love the Lord.
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His saint souls keepeth he,
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and from the hands of wicked men,
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he sets them safe and free.
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For all those that be righteous,
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sown is a joyful light,
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and gladness sown is for all those that are in heart upright.
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Ye righteous in the Lord,
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rejoice,
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express your thankfulness,
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when ye into your memory to call his holiness.
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These verses,
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Zion did hear,
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and joyful was.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Zion did hear,
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and joyful was,
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that Judah's daughters were.
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They must rejoice,
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O Lord,
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because thy judgments did appear.
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For thou, O Lord,
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art high above,
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all things on earth that are.
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Above all other gods,
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the world exalted very far.
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He did not know the Lord,
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and of the Lord his sins so keepeth he,
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and from the hands of wicked men,
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he sets them safe and free.
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For all those that be righteous,
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for all those that be righteous,
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so is a joyful light,
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and gladness soon is for all those that are in heart upright.
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He is for all those that are in heart upright.
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He is for all those that are in heart upright.
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He is for all those that are in heart upright.
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He is for all those that are in heart upright.
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He is for all those that are in heart upright.
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Please turn with me now to Romans chapter 1.
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Romans chapter 1, and we're going to look at verses 8 to 17.
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First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed
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in all the world.
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For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without
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ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now
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at last succeed in coming to you, and so on.
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What would you say is the main topic of the epistle to the Romans?
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You might reply to that by saying, well, surely it's to do with justification by faith in
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Christ, and that's certainly very much one of the main topics, one of the main themes
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and topics dealt with, one of the main truths that you find dealt with throughout the epistle
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to the Romans.
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You might say, well, it's also the place of the Jewish people in the covenant arrangement
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of God, such as you find in chapters 9 to 11 of Romans.
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You might say that it's Jesus Christ himself, because obviously he appears in all of these
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passages in some way or another, or at least they relate to him and his person and his work.
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But you could also say, very tellingly, that the main topic of the letter to the Romans is
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the gospel, that it's the gospel that Paul is setting out in this great letter that has
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so many theological high points throughout it.
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And he makes it obvious at the beginning that this really is his main topic.
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He's called to be an apostle set apart for the gospel of God.
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And he goes on to speak about this gospel in such a way that shows Christ as the substance
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of it, that his concern is to declare the gospel, the preaching of Christ, and that he is not
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ashamed, verse 16 of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who
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believes.
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And as you can see in verses 1 to 6, as I've said, the substance of the gospel immediately
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is set out as the person of Jesus Christ himself.
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The gospel is not so much an account of certain things which happened in history.
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The gospel, the good news, which of course the word gospel means, is about a person.
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It's not a theory.
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It's not a philosophy.
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It's not something that sits alongside other world viewpoints or points of view.
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It is Jesus Christ, his death, his resurrection from the dead, his present position at God's
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right hand, and his coming at the end of the world as the judge of all the earth.
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The gospel is really about Jesus.
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He is its substance.
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It's all to do with him, what God has done and will do and is doing in Christ and through
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Christ.
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And verses 8 to 17, we could say, is really about gospel people and gospel power.
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Gospel people because he mentions in verses 8 to 17 how, first of all, certain people are
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associated with the gospel, that is, those who follow the Lord, those who are witnesses
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to God, witnesses to Christ in the sense of being saved, the saved people of God.
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And you also have in verses 16 to 17 an emphasis on the power of the gospel following on from
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what he says about the people, the gospel people.
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And these are the two things I want to just briefly seek to set before you this evening.
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gospel people and gospel power.
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And you see in verse 8 there, in terms of gospel people, he says, first, I thank my God
30:20
through Jesus Christ for all of you because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
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What a remarkable statement that itself is.
30:30
Just think about what that's saying for a moment.
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Here is the basis or a basis or one of the reasons why Paul is giving thanks for these Christians
30:37
in Rome, why he's giving thanks not only for them, but what they are known as, because
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they are known as Christians.
30:45
Your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
30:49
Now think about that.
30:50
Rome is the place.
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Rome is the center of the universe in Paul's day.
30:55
It's the capital of the massive Roman Empire, of the influential Roman Empire.
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Rome is the grandest city in the world of the time.
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Rome really has all the kudos, all the importance, everything associated as it followed on from
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the Greek Empire before that, how the Roman Empire is now in Paul's day really the influence
31:22
in the world, the city that is central to all that Rome is and all that the Roman Empire
31:29
believes and sets itself out to be.
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But it's also, of course, as it is the capital of the Roman Empire, it's the capital of paganism,
31:40
the capital of that outlook that so many people in Paul's day had as they looked to pagan gods,
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as they looked to philosophies associated with pagan gods, gods that were themselves worshipped
31:55
in idolatry.
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And this is the capital of paganism, of idolatry, though there are many other places in Paul's
32:02
world.
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As you know from the other epistles, Corinth and Ephesus and Thessalonica, for example,
32:08
all centers of paganism in Athens.
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But Paul is, let's say, here thinking of Rome as the very centerpiece of that paganism throughout
32:20
the empire.
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And it's really that way, in that way, it's the capital, you might say, of all that is opposed
32:27
to the gospel.
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It's the capital of the philosophy or the worldview in pagan philosophy that stands against Christ
32:36
and against his gospel.
32:38
And yet, and yet, God has his people in Rome.
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God has established a church in Rome.
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Paul is writing to this church in Rome.
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Paul is writing to these Roman Christians set in the capital city of a pagan empire that
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are followers of Christ, whose allegiance is not primarily to Caesar, to the emperor, but
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to Christ the King.
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And how that should give us encouragement tonight in our situation, in our world as well.
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Because if Paul is saying that God, as he has, has planted a church in Rome, where can he
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not plant a church?
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There isn't a place on earth tonight that is outwith the capability of God to establish
33:30
a people for himself there.
33:32
The most vehemently opposed dictatorship on earth tonight is still vulnerable to the gospel.
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And God can break through at any time, whether it's in North Korea or in Russia, wherever
33:45
it is.
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Remember, as you find these circumstances brought before us in Ukraine, the massive onslaught
33:53
against him from the Russian forces, remember that God is at work.
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Remember that that may very well be an instrument of God, not just in Ukraine, but in Russia itself,
34:06
to bring people to really think about what is it we're standing for?
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What is it that our nation stands for?
34:13
What is it that our president stands for?
34:16
And pray that God will actually use what's happening even there to be a means of further
34:23
establishing his own cause and his people and his church in these circumstances.
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Remember, as we saw in Philippians and in chapter 4, where Paul was sending greetings at the
34:35
end of chapter 4 of Philippians, where he sent greetings especially to those that he was writing
34:41
to in Philippi, those of Caesar's household greet you.
34:47
We saw earlier in the early part of the letter to the Philippians how Paul spoke about those
34:55
who were of Caesar's household, those who actually belonged as servants in the very palace of
35:00
Caesar.
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They had become Christians.
35:03
They had been nurtured through other Christians.
35:07
They had a relationship with Jesus Christ, their King, their Savior.
35:11
Putin, whatever he's able to do and able to resist, cannot resist the Holy Spirit.
35:23
He cannot dictate which way God will work.
35:27
He cannot himself, nor anyone like him, prevent the gospel being the power of God unto salvation.
35:35
He cannot prevent God's people in Russia being nurtured by the Holy Spirit.
35:41
He cannot prevent conversions to Christ.
35:45
It is God who has charge over the universe.
35:50
Encourage yourself tonight.
35:52
Let's encourage ourselves as a congregation, as we're facing the might of the world around
35:57
us, as we're facing so much that is opposed to the gospel, so much that really challenges
36:03
the gospel at its very core, its very foundation.
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Take encouragement from the fact that nothing is beyond God.
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God can do what he's done in Rome, in Stornoway, throughout Lewis, throughout our country,
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wherever in the world.
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So here he is saying, there are witnesses to Christ here in Rome.
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And he regards them, Paul regards them as his spiritual family.
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See what he's saying here in verse 13.
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He speaks there, brothers, which of course means sisters as well.
36:38
This is just the normal language of the time.
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But male and female Christians brought under that description.
36:45
I want you to know, brothers, that I've often intended to come and see you, although I've been
36:51
hindered that so far, have been prevented.
36:54
He wants to bring encouragement to them.
36:57
Verses 9 and 10, you find the same thing there.
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For God is my witness, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that
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some of God's will, by God's will I may succeed in coming to you.
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His heart is with these Roman Christians.
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He's identified with them.
37:16
He wants to actually go and see them.
37:18
He wants to benefit from their company, and he wants to present them with some things
37:23
which will benefit them in the gospel.
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You see how he puts it here, verses 11 to 13.
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But you notice in verse 12 as well how he puts it.
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That is that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.
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You see, he's saying this works in two directions.
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I want to come and see you.
37:48
This is my urgent concern and desire, though I haven't been able to do it so far.
37:55
This is still on my mind.
37:56
This is what I want to do.
37:58
And I want to meet with you, and I want to actually come and strengthen you by some spiritual
38:03
gift, some way by which I can minister to you in fellowship that which will strengthen
38:09
you.
38:09
I mean, it's obviously some teaching, some further nurturing and things of the faith.
38:17
No, he's never met them.
38:19
He's never seen them in person, as far as we know.
38:23
And yet here he is saying, you are my brothers.
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You are my family.
38:27
You are my spiritual family.
38:29
We belong together as the people of God.
38:32
And I long to see you.
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And I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift.
38:38
But you see, there's the other side to it.
38:40
That is that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.
38:46
There, you see, is the interaction between Paul the apostle, Paul the great preacher of
38:51
the gospel, Paul whose concern it is to have this gospel spread further throughout the world,
38:57
Paul whose concern it is to impart some spiritual gift and help to these Christians in Rome.
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But he's saying, it works to my advantage as well, so that we may be mutually encouraged
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by each other's faith.
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What's going on here this evening?
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What is it that's actually happening as the gospel is being preached by me, a minister of
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the gospel, called by God to be a minister of the gospel to you, this congregation at this
39:28
time?
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What is it that's happening when you as a congregation have come of yourselves desiringly
39:34
and willingly under the preaching of the gospel to listen to what God has laid on my heart to set out?
39:40
It's mutual encouragement.
39:44
Because as we desire to be a means of encouragement to you under the gospel, so we benefit from that,
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from having you here, from seeing you here, from interacting with you here or elsewhere.
39:57
That's the way the two-directional fellowship of God's people works under the gospel.
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That's why it's a great encouragement for me to see you here tonight, for me to see increasingly
40:12
people coming to the gospel.
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I'm not saying that out of any sense of personal worth, out of any sort of pride in the matter
40:22
at all.
40:23
It's simply that this really is exactly as Paul is putting it here.
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There is a mutual encouragement.
40:30
And I hope for you, I'm sure by God's blessing it is for you, a means of encouragement under
40:37
the preaching of the gospel as it is for us who preach the gospel, to be encouraged by
40:42
you in return.
40:44
That's really, in essence, what being bonded together really is about.
40:51
It's not just for the benefit of one side.
40:53
It's two-way.
40:54
It's two-way.
40:56
And it's very difficult when it's not working the way it should, where there are places
41:02
where people are just lax about coming to the gospel, where people are also seeking
41:10
to preach the gospel but not faithful to the gospel.
41:12
It's a mutual encouragement that ought always to be at the heart of gospel, fellowship, gospel
41:21
meetings, gospel worship.
41:23
And you know how it is when very often you go and visit somebody, particularly somebody
41:30
who's housebound or in hospital, and though that's, of course, been curtailed for such
41:35
a long time with COVID and the after effects of COVID.
41:38
But you know yourselves what it's like.
41:39
You go and visit somebody who doesn't see many people from one day to the next, and you
41:44
go and you try and be an encouragement to them.
41:47
That's what you want to do.
41:48
But how often do we come back from these places, these visits, and say, well, I got more out
41:54
of that than they did.
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I received such a blessing from that.
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Whatever they received, this is what it was like for me.
42:04
And that's why we encourage one another in the way in which we encourage coming together
42:10
and interacting with each other, as Paul says it here, that we may be mutually encouraged
42:15
by each other's faith, both yours and mine.
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I thought he says, I am under obligation in verse 14.
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Here is the gospel people, a gospel people who are witnesses to Jesus in Rome, a gospel
42:29
people who, along with Paul, come to be encouraged mutually by their interaction with each other.
42:36
But thirdly, here's a gospel people where there's an obligation, he says.
42:40
I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
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So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
42:52
Now, what does he mean by being under obligation?
42:56
And what does he mean by obligation to both Greeks and barbarians?
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Well, being under obligation really is just what it says.
43:04
God has placed in his heart such a sense of obligation.
43:08
It's not something that anyone has forced on him, and he's not really saying that God
43:13
himself has forced this on him.
43:15
He has come willingly through the call of God, as he says at the beginning, called to be an
43:19
apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.
43:22
Something in which Paul is so willingly engaged as we ought to be as well.
43:27
He's not forced into it.
43:29
It's not something of a constraint that's come about through some kind of legalistic way of
43:34
approaching things.
43:35
It's simply that Paul has his heart's desire set on preaching the gospel and wanting to
43:42
go to Rome to do the same.
43:46
And he's under obligation, he says, both to Greeks and to barbarians.
43:52
And by that he means, certainly this comes into it at least, even if there's maybe some
43:57
more to it than that.
43:58
But I think he means both the cultured, that's the Greeks, of course, who can speak of themselves
44:03
as being the very cultured people of the world, even in the Roman Empire time, and barbarians,
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people who can't say that of themselves, those who you might say are uncivilized.
44:17
But this is what Paul is saying.
44:19
It's both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, to the cultured and to the uncivilized.
44:24
I am under obligation to both.
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I am under obligation to preach the gospel to both.
44:30
In other words, Paul is saying, it doesn't matter what kind of people I'm facing.
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My concern is to preach the gospel to them.
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My concern is to deliver the message of Christ to them, Christ the Savior, Christ crucified,
44:41
Christ risen from the dead.
44:45
What a great lesson and challenge there is in that for ourselves.
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We don't actually go out, this is not just applicable to preachers of the gospel or those
44:54
that are preaching in gospels, it's applicable to a congregation of people like yourselves.
44:59
Because tonight, we are under obligation, as we are called by God to be his church, his
45:05
believing people in this world, we're under obligation to actually deliver that gospel to
45:10
the world in which we live.
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And it doesn't matter what kind of people surround us and how many differences there may be between
45:17
one person and another, whether they're very cultured people or maybe even uncivilized people.
45:25
The burden is the same.
45:27
The concern is the same.
45:29
The obligation is the same.
45:31
Martin Lloyd-Jones, famous preacher in London, at one time was, you remember, he was actually
45:41
a medical doctor, a very famous Harley Street doctor, but he gave that up, or God had called
45:46
him from that to become a preacher of the gospel, firstly in Wales, but then in London for most
45:51
of his ministry.
45:52
And he tells about how on one occasion he was asked by a large group of medical students,
46:00
knowing his background, of course, to come and speak to them, to deliver a talk to them.
46:06
And they expected him to speak on something really philosophical, something very grand in
46:12
the way of an intellectual treatise of some kind.
46:16
And when he got to the place, the hall was full of people, and he says, I simply delivered
46:22
the basic message of the gospel.
46:26
Their need of Christ, their being sinners, their need of salvation, and that Christ was
46:32
the Savior.
46:33
And of course, that didn't please many of those who were actually there to hear the doctor
46:39
come and speak to them.
46:40
They expected something very different to that plain, ordinary, you might say, gospel
46:45
message.
46:48
But he brought them through, thinking about Christ and the reason Christ came into the
46:53
world.
46:55
But then he, towards the end, he said to them that Christ would be coming again as the judge
47:01
of the world, that there was such a thing as eternity and judgment to come.
47:08
And because they were medical students, this is the language he used.
47:10
He said, that will not be a post-mortem, but a living examination.
47:20
Not a post-mortem, what you do on a dead body, but a living examination.
47:26
An examination of the living in eternity in the judgment of God.
47:31
That's what it is for ourselves.
47:33
You know, there are many people in the world tonight, and you have a great advantage over
47:36
them, knowing that what they believe is not in fact true.
47:40
They believe that there is nothing but this world, nothing but this life, nothing beyond
47:44
death, nothing at all to confront or to worry about beyond death itself.
47:50
And as Martin Lloyd-Jones put it, the Bible is telling us, yes, there will be an examination.
47:56
Yes, there will be a judgment.
47:57
Yes, there will be a sifting out of our life, everything that we have done.
48:02
God in his judgment.
48:04
Jesus on the judgment throne.
48:05
And as Martin Lloyd-Jones put it, it's going to be a living examination.
48:12
You will not be unconscious, nor will I, or dead when that is being done.
48:18
But a living examination.
48:21
That is why the gospel is so crucial, because it's the gospel that brings us the message
48:28
of salvation to deliver us as that judgment is in prospect from the wrath of God, which
48:35
Paul goes on to speak about, of course, from verse 18 all the way through the next couple
48:39
of chapters especially.
48:42
So there it is for us tonight, the gospel people mentioned in these verses.
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And tonight that's what he's calling us to be, or he's calling you to be, witnesses to
48:54
the gospel, witnesses to Christ, witnesses to salvation in Christ.
48:59
To be a spiritual family, to relate to one another in which we are brothers and sisters in the Lord.
49:05
And for that, of course, we need to be in Christ to begin with.
49:10
You need to have Jesus for yourself before you can relate meaningfully to others who say,
49:16
that Jesus is their Lord too.
49:19
Well, there's one of the great questions.
49:21
Again, it comes up, of course, and it ought to come up before us every time.
49:25
Am I saved?
49:27
Do I belong to the spiritual family, even though I belong to a gospel congregation?
49:33
Am I a witness to Christ and to the gospel of Christ?
49:39
Do I really find in myself that same spirit that the apostle had being under obligation
49:51
to bring the gospel to the world of my day?
49:55
Do you sense that obligation in yourself?
49:59
Because there are many professing Christians that don't, or don't to any great extent.
50:05
Well, tonight, all of us here should seek to be ourselves under obligation, that God would
50:13
place us under obligation and a sense of obligation increasingly to bring that gospel message of
50:20
salvation to such a needy world around us.
50:25
But he goes on to speak about gospel power.
50:27
I need to be fairly short with this.
50:30
There's a gospel power.
50:32
Verse 16, for he says, as he says, I'm eager to preach the gospel to you also in Rome,
50:36
for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone,
50:42
to everyone who believes.
50:44
I think about Rome again, its history, its culture, its place in the world of Paul's day,
50:51
the capital of the empire, all that we've said before.
50:53
And how does the gospel compare with that?
50:56
How would the people generally in Rome or in Paul's day throughout the empire have compared
51:03
what he was bringing in the message of the gospel to the great and cultured world that
51:07
they themselves had inhabited all these centuries?
51:11
Well, they would regard the gospel as really an inferior intruder into that world of cultured
51:18
Greek and Roman philosophy.
51:20
And it's still the case.
51:25
And it will always be the case because the gospel challenges the world's view of itself
51:32
and the world's view of God.
51:34
And the gospel challenges the closing of your heart against salvation in Christ.
51:41
It will always be regarded by the world, by the ungodly, by the powers that resist the gospel
51:48
as an inferior intruder into the matter.
51:52
And indeed, in our own island, you'll find people to this day of the view that the gospel
51:57
coming to the islands was really a tragedy, that it destroyed the culture of the time.
52:04
And of course, the culture of the time was paganism, our own island version of paganism.
52:10
But that's what happens.
52:16
I'm not saying the gospel necessarily destroys any particular culture.
52:22
And we shouldn't think in those terms wherever we bring the gospel.
52:27
It doesn't mean that every aspect of that culture needs to be wiped out, needs to be destroyed.
52:32
But the gospel still needs to be faithfully set forth.
52:35
But salvation in Christ is still the central core element of what is proclaimed.
52:44
And the crucial question really for us, whatever generation we belong to, whatever civilization we belong to,
52:50
the crucial question is a matter of righteousness.
52:54
Because we can be the most cultured people in the world according to worldly standard
52:59
and still be unrighteous and still be ungodly in God's eyes.
53:05
That's really the crucial issue.
53:07
How can I be right with God?
53:10
How can I be righteous, accounted righteous by God?
53:14
I may have everything that the world itself regards as necessary for progress and so on,
53:20
but this is my big problem, that I am unrighteous,
53:25
that I am a lost sinner,
53:27
that I am ungodly,
53:29
that I need what I have in Christ
53:33
for my life to be turned around.
53:38
That's what Paul is meaning
53:39
by not being ashamed of the gospel,
53:43
for it is the power of God unto salvation.
53:48
And you know, one of the big problems that
53:49
we actually face in trying to present the gospel to the world of our day
53:54
is that not only does that world out there not know much about the gospel,
53:59
but it doesn't care.
54:01
It doesn't really care at all about the gospel or knowing what the gospel is
54:05
or anything to do with Jesus or with God.
54:08
And if there is a shred of care, it's really in terms of getting rid of it.
54:13
That's why we need the gospel and need to have confidence in the gospel.
54:19
He says here, it is the power of God unto salvation.
54:23
And he's talking here about the gospel itself,
54:26
the message of Christ crucified and salvation in him,
54:29
the good news.
54:30
It is itself the power of God unto salvation.
54:34
In other words, it's what God uses to bring people to know him
54:38
and having brought them to know him,
54:40
to feed them, to nurture them spiritually.
54:44
That's why we must maintain confidence in the gospel.
54:48
You see, here is Paul facing all of these centuries-long philosophies
54:54
that have been part of human behavior and human thinking
54:59
all the way back into time.
55:02
And here he is with the Roman Empire now in charge.
55:06
Nothing of that has changed.
55:09
One empire building on the next.
55:12
This massive, massive edifice of thinking and of philosophy and of teaching
55:18
that's now being confronted by what paganism itself sees
55:23
as the inferior intruder of the gospel.
55:27
Wouldn't you think Paul would be somewhat embarrassed
55:30
to bring into that world of Roman thinking
55:34
following Greek thinking before it?
55:36
Wouldn't you think that Paul would be somewhat embarrassed
55:39
to actually bring a message that simply said,
55:42
here is the hope of mankind
55:44
in a man crucified on the cross at Calvary,
55:48
risen from the dead, ascended to glory,
55:51
coming to judge the world at the last day.
55:54
That's far from it, Paul is saying.
55:56
I am not ashamed of the gospel.
55:58
Why is he not ashamed of it?
56:00
Because small as it may seem, insignificant as it may seem,
56:05
compared to the might of Rome,
56:07
it is the power of God unto salvation.
56:11
Paul is not saying the gospel itself is about the power of God.
56:17
He doesn't say it's telling us about the power of God.
56:20
It is the power of God.
56:22
It's the instrument that God uses
56:25
to bring people to know him,
56:30
to bend in willing obedience to him,
56:35
to come to be his servants,
56:37
to be saved.
56:40
And it is unto salvation.
56:43
You know yourselves what salvation means.
56:46
It means the very deliverance from that which came from our fall in Adam,
56:54
from our lostness, our sinfulness.
56:57
There's a powerful reversal of all that happened there.
57:02
It's deliverance from sin,
57:04
from the guilt of sin,
57:06
into righteousness and the hope of heaven.
57:10
Because God never delivers from one thing
57:12
without delivering you into something alternative.
57:16
Delivering from sin,
57:18
from death,
57:19
from hell,
57:20
from all that's associated with our fallenness.
57:24
Salvation is deliverance from all that
57:27
and unto or into
57:30
the life that is in Christ,
57:34
the life that heaven will be for his people.
57:39
And that's, friends, why the gospel is crucial.
57:43
Not only is the gospel crucial,
57:46
but it's crucial to maintain the gospel
57:48
as God gave it to us.
57:49
You see, that's why Paul was so annoyed
57:51
with the Galatians.
57:54
Because they had changed the terms
57:55
to some extent, at least,
57:57
to a serious extent,
57:58
they had changed the terms
57:59
of what God had given them in the gospel.
58:02
What Paul himself had delivered
58:03
by his preaching of the gospel.
58:05
Because they had altered
58:06
how a person comes to be right with God.
58:09
Yes, Jesus was mentioned.
58:11
So also was good works.
58:13
Your own ability,
58:14
your own righteousness,
58:18
what you're able to do yourself.
58:20
You add that to what's in Jesus.
58:22
Paul is saying,
58:23
that's not the gospel.
58:26
Because the gospel is
58:27
for those who can say of themselves
58:29
and to whom God has brought the conviction,
58:32
I have no hope in myself.
58:34
And I can never have hope in myself
58:37
or through myself
58:39
as long as I'm a sinner unsaved
58:41
and I will be a sinner unsaved
58:43
until Christ saves me.
58:44
And that's why he's saying,
58:48
I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
58:50
But it's the power of God
58:52
unto salvation.
58:55
Friends, we are under obligation
58:56
to bring the gospel
58:58
to the world of the day.
58:59
But we are also under obligation
59:00
to keep this gospel
59:02
as God delivered it to us.
59:04
I don't need to tell you,
59:07
I've mentioned it often enough anyway,
59:09
that throughout our own nation
59:10
and throughout the world,
59:12
you'll find many churches,
59:14
many groups
59:14
who have altered
59:16
the message of the gospel
59:18
to suit the culture of the day.
59:20
who are seeking to import
59:23
and have imported
59:24
many of the things
59:26
which the world sees as essential,
59:29
whether it's in human relationships
59:30
or other matters
59:32
that the world thinks,
59:34
now that's how we have to live
59:35
and how we have to think.
59:37
And so, sadly,
59:40
some churches, some groups
59:43
have actually departed
59:45
from the gospel in its purity.
59:48
We must never do that.
59:51
However much we may feel
59:53
the challenge of the world,
59:55
however small we may feel ourselves
59:57
to be against that great philosophy
1:00:00
out there of worldliness
1:00:02
that has built on millennia
1:00:04
of unbelief and ungodliness,
1:00:06
it is still the power of God
1:00:09
unto salvation
1:00:10
to everyone who believes.
1:00:11
Don't ever forget that.
1:00:13
Don't ever let the devil
1:00:14
or the world take you away
1:00:16
from that conviction.
1:00:18
What we long to see
1:00:19
is not a new form of the gospel,
1:00:22
but the power of God
1:00:23
through the gospel
1:00:24
changing people's lives
1:00:26
because this gospel
1:00:28
is the power of God
1:00:30
unto salvation.
1:00:32
And it is also
1:00:33
to everyone who believes.
1:00:35
He's not content just to say
1:00:37
this gospel is the power of God
1:00:39
for salvation,
1:00:40
but it's the power of God
1:00:41
to everyone who believes,
1:00:43
whether Greek or Jew
1:00:46
or Gentile or whoever.
1:00:49
It is to everyone who believes.
1:00:52
And there's again the crucial issue
1:00:55
in terms of our personal relationship
1:00:57
to this salvation
1:00:58
and to this God,
1:01:01
the importance of faith in Christ.
1:01:05
for you to have your trust
1:01:08
in Him,
1:01:09
to have Him as foundational
1:01:11
to your life and hope.
1:01:15
You must be able to say,
1:01:17
and I must be able to say,
1:01:19
I am not ashamed of the gospel,
1:01:22
for it is the power of God
1:01:23
for salvation
1:01:24
to me,
1:01:26
a believer,
1:01:27
to me,
1:01:29
a Christian,
1:01:30
to me,
1:01:32
a saved sinner.
1:01:34
Can you say that tonight
1:01:36
of yourself?
1:01:40
Under this gospel,
1:01:42
have you not yet come
1:01:44
to close in with Christ
1:01:47
in the offer of salvation
1:01:50
that He brings to you
1:01:51
in the gospel?
1:01:53
Do you know Him for yourself
1:01:55
rather than just know Him
1:01:58
in an outward or formal fashion
1:02:00
in the teaching of the gospel?
1:02:03
Friend, if you're here tonight,
1:02:05
and not yet saved,
1:02:06
and I say it's wonderful
1:02:07
to see all of these children
1:02:08
here tonight as well.
1:02:11
But this is really
1:02:12
for your children as well
1:02:13
as for all these adults
1:02:14
so important in your life,
1:02:16
even as a young child,
1:02:19
to be able to say,
1:02:21
I'm not ashamed
1:02:22
of this message of salvation
1:02:24
because it's all about Jesus
1:02:26
and Jesus is mine
1:02:28
and I am His.
1:02:31
That is what Paul is saying.
1:02:36
And friends,
1:02:36
we don't have
1:02:37
an awful lot of time
1:02:39
available to us.
1:02:42
You remember how Jesus spoke
1:02:43
to those in John chapter 12
1:02:47
that were listening to
1:02:48
and then coming towards
1:02:49
the end of His public ministry
1:02:50
in terms of John's presentation of it
1:02:53
where as the light of the world,
1:02:56
He had proclaimed Himself
1:02:57
to be the light of the world
1:02:59
and saying,
1:03:00
whoever believes in Me
1:03:01
believes not in Me
1:03:02
but in Him who sent Me.
1:03:04
Whoever sees Me
1:03:05
sees Him who sent Me.
1:03:06
I have come into the world
1:03:08
as light
1:03:09
so that whoever believes in Me
1:03:11
may not remain in darkness.
1:03:13
If anyone hears My words
1:03:14
and does not keep them,
1:03:16
I do not judge him
1:03:17
for I did not come
1:03:18
to judge the world
1:03:19
but to save the world.
1:03:22
And this is what He went on
1:03:22
to say,
1:03:24
while you have the light,
1:03:27
believe in the light
1:03:28
that you may be
1:03:29
the children of light.
1:03:33
And that's what He said earlier
1:03:34
in the chapter.
1:03:35
While you have the light,
1:03:37
believe in the light
1:03:38
that you may become
1:03:39
the children,
1:03:41
the sons of light.
1:03:43
You know,
1:03:45
in the wintertime
1:03:46
when you walk out of church,
1:03:50
the outside light's still on
1:03:51
and the doors are closed.
1:04:00
And you might ask,
1:04:01
well, why is the light still on?
1:04:03
The answer,
1:04:04
we will because it's on a timer.
1:04:07
And the timer in its own time
1:04:09
that's been set
1:04:09
will switch off the light
1:04:11
and then you've got darkness.
1:04:13
The gospel light
1:04:17
is on a timer.
1:04:18
As far as I'm concerned,
1:04:20
as far as you're concerned.
1:04:23
Whatever it is for you tonight,
1:04:25
that timer is going to kick in
1:04:27
one of these times.
1:04:30
And the light will go out.
1:04:33
And Christ will no longer
1:04:33
be available
1:04:34
if you haven't come
1:04:37
to receive Him
1:04:39
in this life.
1:04:41
please,
1:04:42
please,
1:04:43
don't let the light
1:04:45
go out on your life
1:04:46
without Jesus Christ
1:04:49
as your Savior.
1:04:51
Let's pray.
1:04:54
Lord,
1:04:55
our God,
1:04:55
we thank you tonight
1:04:56
that you are
1:04:57
the light of the world
1:04:58
who has come into this world
1:05:00
that we might not abide
1:05:02
in darkness
1:05:02
but have the light of life.
1:05:04
we thank you for your people.
1:05:08
We thank you for
1:05:08
the interaction we have
1:05:10
with your own family
1:05:11
in this world
1:05:12
in the way that we are able
1:05:14
mutually to encourage
1:05:15
one another.
1:05:16
We thank you too
1:05:17
for the power
1:05:18
of the Lord Jesus Christ
1:05:20
Himself,
1:05:22
for the power of God
1:05:23
that works
1:05:23
through the gospel.
1:05:24
and we pray,
1:05:26
O Lord,
1:05:26
that that will be
1:05:27
increasingly our experience
1:05:28
in this congregation
1:05:30
and beyond.
1:05:32
That we may know indeed
1:05:33
with our own conviction
1:05:34
that this indeed
1:05:36
is the gospel
1:05:36
that is the power of God
1:05:38
unto salvation
1:05:39
to everyone who believes.
1:05:42
Hear us now,
1:05:43
we pray,
1:05:43
for Jesus' sake.
1:05:45
Amen.
1:05:48
We're going to conclude
1:05:49
our worship this evening
1:05:50
singing in Psalm 108.
1:05:54
Psalm 108,
1:05:55
this is in the
1:05:56
Sing Psalms version
1:05:57
on page 146.
1:06:01
Singing verses 1 to 5,
1:06:03
the tune is
1:06:03
High for it all.
1:06:05
O Lord God,
1:06:06
my heart is steadfast
1:06:07
and with all my soul
1:06:09
I'll sing.
1:06:11
Harp and lyre
1:06:11
I will awaken
1:06:12
and my song
1:06:13
the dawn will bring.
1:06:15
Psalm 108,
1:06:16
verses 1 to 5.
1:06:17
O Lord God,
1:06:24
my heart is steadfast
1:06:28
and with all my soul
1:06:34
I'll sing.
1:06:36
Harp and lyre
1:06:39
I will awaken
1:06:42
and my soul
1:06:46
the dawn will ring.
1:06:50
Lord, my God
1:06:54
among the nations
1:06:59
I will ever give you praise
1:07:06
In the midst of all the heroes
1:07:14
I will sing of you always
1:07:23
For your steadfast love is boundless
1:07:31
Greater than the heavens high
1:07:38
And your faithfulness
1:07:43
And your faithfulness towards us
1:07:47
Reaches even to the sky
1:07:53
Far above the highest heavens
1:08:01
Be exalted, O my God
1:08:10
And through all the earth around us
1:08:18
Let your glory spread our God
1:08:25
If you allow me to get to the main door
1:08:29
please after the benediction
1:08:30
Thank you.
1:08:32
Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
1:08:34
The love of God the Father
1:08:36
And the communion of the Holy Spirit
1:08:38
Be with you now and evermore
1:08:40
Amen