Latest / Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons / Only Way is Forward

Transcript

Only Way is Forward · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

0:00
Let's turn again to the chapter we read in Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 11.
0:07
We read at verse 14 there, 14 to 16.
0:12
!
0:30
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
0:39
Now we all know that we live in a very beautiful world.
0:44
And there are many times that we stop and we take note of wonderful things that happen.
0:51
Sometimes we are aware of the beauty.
0:54
Sometimes we see beautiful sunsets.
0:55
Sometimes we can be driving along and we don't have to go anywhere further than our own island
1:01
to admire some of the beauties of creation.
1:07
And we're able to say, well it is, it's a wonderful world.
1:11
And we enjoy many things.
1:13
There are many exciting times, many inspirational times, many wonderful times
1:18
that we have enjoyed throughout different experiences, different situations and such like.
1:25
And yet our text shows us that the people that the apostle is talking about
1:31
are people who were looking for another country.
1:36
The country, this world, was a world that didn't satisfy them.
1:41
They were looking for someone better.
1:43
And while they had, there's no doubt about it, many blessings and many favors,
1:51
this world did not ultimately satisfy.
1:54
The way that this world was going, the way that, or what this world lived for,
1:59
was not ultimately what they lived for.
2:02
They were looking for something else.
2:04
And if you're a Christian here tonight, you can identify with what these patriarchs of old were like.
2:13
Because you can understand a wee bit of these things.
2:16
You see, the apostle has been writing about these patriarchs,
2:19
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
2:21
And although they had been promised the land of Canaan,
2:27
they were told, remember how it was promised to first to Abraham and then to Isaac,
2:31
promised to Abraham and his descendants,
2:33
promised to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.
2:36
And yet all the time, throughout their lifetime,
2:39
they lived in that land as pilgrims and strangers.
2:43
They weren't able to actually call it their own land.
2:48
That was something that was to come later on.
2:50
And all the time they lived, they were, as we say, living like pilgrims and strangers.
2:55
There's a great example of that.
2:58
Remember when Sarah, Abraham's beloved wife, died.
3:04
Abraham didn't even own a stone of that land.
3:09
None of that land.
3:10
Although God said, this is your land.
3:13
Remember, he couldn't just go and bury Sarah.
3:17
He had to buy a plot of land in order for him to bury his wife.
3:26
Didn't own any of it.
3:28
And yet God had promised him, this is all going to be your land.
3:33
And the amazing thing is that there was no disappointment in the life of,
3:36
in the whole lifetime of Abraham regarding this promise.
3:41
Because he was seeing, yes, that God would fulfill exactly what he said.
3:47
But he was also looking way beyond.
3:51
Because he was seeing the heavenly city that he was traveling to.
3:56
And we read there that it's the heavenly one who's builder and maker is God.
4:02
So in Abraham's life, in Isaac's life, in Jacob's life, there was a refusal to look back.
4:10
And all the time there was this progression, this moving forward, looking ahead.
4:17
And that is the way the believer goes in life as well.
4:21
We don't spend our life looking back.
4:23
We spend our life looking forward.
4:26
It's all ahead.
4:27
You see, Abraham, way back, had been a very wealthy man.
4:31
And he lived, he had an inheritance in Ur of the Chaldees.
4:34
That was his place.
4:36
And you remember how God came to him and called him out.
4:40
And God called Abraham to leave everything.
4:43
He had to leave his homeland, his inheritance.
4:46
He had to leave everything.
4:47
And God said, I'm going to take you out from here.
4:49
He called him out, and I'm going to show you a land that will become your land, which will belong to you and to all your descendants.
4:58
And he promised Abraham a great future and that he would be the father of many.
5:04
And, of course, Abraham spiritually is the father of the faithful.
5:06
And, of course, also of, you could say, of the whole Jewish race.
5:14
And, in fact, we could almost, we could say of the Arabic race as well, because that's where we know of Isaac and Ishmael.
5:25
There was this division that took place there.
5:29
And at no time do we find Abraham along the years saying, oh, I wish I hadn't left her.
5:34
I was far better off than her.
5:37
I had everything going for me.
5:40
Life was easy.
5:41
It was straightforward.
5:42
I had a settled place every day.
5:45
I was in the same place, and life was easy.
5:48
But now here I am every day, every year.
5:52
I'm on the move.
5:52
I'm moving.
5:53
And there's nowhere in this whole place that I can say, well, this is home.
5:59
This is me settled here forever.
6:01
But Abraham, he's not thinking along these lines.
6:08
That didn't occupy his thinking.
6:10
The past was past.
6:11
Out of the Chaldees, as far as he was concerned, was the city of destruction, like in Pilgrim's Progress.
6:18
It was the place he had been delivered from.
6:20
God had called him out.
6:22
And even though Lot, remember how Lot went to Sodom, Abraham would have nothing to do.
6:29
Although he prayed for Lot and Sodom, Abraham would have nothing to do with Sodom.
6:36
Remember when Lot and his wife and some of the family were delivered from Sodom.
6:42
It tells us that Lot's wife looked back.
6:46
Although she was taken out of Sodom, Sodom wasn't taken out of her.
6:50
Sodom was deep in her heart.
6:52
And she was looking back longingly, fondly.
6:55
That's my place.
6:56
These are my people.
6:57
And remember, she perished.
7:01
Because she was not like Lot, who looked ahead.
7:05
Not like Abraham, who looked ahead.
7:08
And the looking back is fatal.
7:10
We find it exemplified in the rich young ruler who came to Jesus.
7:15
A very, very promising young man.
7:17
And he looked the kind of person that this is going to be a great follower of Jesus.
7:23
And Jesus acknowledged this was a lovely young man.
7:28
And yet when Jesus spelled out the cost involved in following Jesus,
7:34
the cost of being a Christian, that man went away sorrowful.
7:40
Because he couldn't give up his idols, his wealth.
7:45
This was his actual God.
7:48
Not that money is wrong.
7:50
But if our focus is in any way of the Lord onto it, then it is wrong.
7:56
And he went away sorrowful.
7:57
And you see, the devil is always trying to make us look back.
8:02
And maybe tonight you might be here as a Christian.
8:04
And that's what he's trying to make you do right now.
8:06
Making you look back.
8:08
And remembering it when, before you became a Christian.
8:11
Remember, it was a lot easier.
8:13
Didn't have the hassles you have now.
8:16
Didn't have the struggles and battles that you have now.
8:18
And the devil is great at getting hold.
8:22
Once he gets out of mind going in a certain way, he goes for it.
8:26
But always remember this, the devil is a liar.
8:28
Satan is a liar.
8:29
And he's been a liar from the beginning.
8:33
So you see these, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, they were men that looked ahead.
8:39
The past was in the past.
8:40
And they were looking forward.
8:43
Because they had discovered, like you have discovered, that this world does not ultimately satisfy.
8:51
This world cannot give deep-rooted satisfaction.
8:54
It's like chasing the wind.
8:56
You cannot catch it.
8:58
You can have moments here and there.
8:59
You can have fleeting times.
9:01
But you don't get anything that the world can give that goes right down deep and satisfies the deepest parts of our being.
9:09
It doesn't happen.
9:12
And this world is a place where we do become weary.
9:18
And you see, once we've tasted who Jesus is, once we have come to taste that the Lord is good,
9:26
we have come to find what we know we were looking for.
9:30
This is what I've been looking for.
9:32
Because in Christ there is a meaning and a purpose and a satisfaction to life.
9:39
But you're absolutely persuaded that this is the right way.
9:46
You know that there is no other way.
9:49
As Jesus said to the disciples, will you also go away?
9:51
And Peter said, well, to whom else can we go?
9:55
We've been elsewhere.
9:57
You've got the words of eternal life.
10:00
And the Christian will say, you'll say that tonight as well.
10:03
Where else can I go?
10:05
I've been there.
10:07
That's why I'm here now.
10:08
Because Jesus has the words of eternal life.
10:12
And this world, while it cannot give us deep-rooted and meaningful satisfaction,
10:18
it's also a world of sorrow.
10:22
Sorrows are always round some corner.
10:24
There's always some hidden grief that comes on us in a way.
10:29
And we long for the day when sorrows and griefs will be no more.
10:35
We long to be in that place where God will wipe away all tears.
10:40
What a wonderful prospect.
10:43
But that will never be the case in this world.
10:47
And again, this world is a place of sin.
10:49
We know it all too well within ourselves.
10:51
And sin not only affects our own lives, but it affects the whole of society.
10:58
Society is crippled because of sin.
11:02
It's a great plague.
11:04
And we again long for a world where there will be no more sin.
11:09
No more sin personally.
11:11
No more sin in the environment.
11:13
Not a cloud of sin to stain anything.
11:17
And so that's part of why we're looking ahead.
11:19
Again, so often in this world as Christians, we feel, don't we?
11:26
We feel inadequate and worthless in our service.
11:29
Sometimes we feel that what we're doing, oh, we often say,
11:32
I wish I could do it better.
11:33
I wish in some way that I was a far better Christian.
11:37
What I try to do, I can't do it properly.
11:40
I just, I seem to make a mess of everything I try to do.
11:43
You know, when we get to glory, our service will be perfect.
11:47
There will be no imperfect service in glory.
11:52
Isn't that wonderful?
11:54
There will never be a wrong motive.
11:56
You know, people can do very good things with wrong motives.
12:00
There'll be no wrong motive in glory.
12:03
There'll be no sense of unworthiness or any of these things.
12:06
No stain of pride.
12:08
Again, there can be pride in what we do.
12:11
Trying to take some honor to ourselves.
12:13
There'll be none of that ever in glory.
12:16
So the Christian is somebody who longs for the heavenly country.
12:21
And this desire for the better country, the heavenly one,
12:27
is a desire that I would say is unique to the Christian.
12:32
Because, you see, only the person who has come to faith really desires the heaven that's spoken about in Scripture.
12:45
And the reason I say that is because if you ask a lot of people, just generally,
12:53
what do you hope for when you die?
12:56
A lot of people say, oh, I'd like to go to heaven.
12:59
But heaven, as far as they're concerned, is some kind of hazy idea.
13:04
And heaven is simply a better alternative to hell.
13:07
And that's basically what it is.
13:09
They have this idea of some dreamy place, a way up, and everything will be good.
13:15
But what we've got to remember is that that's not the heaven that the Bible shows us.
13:21
And I think if a lot of people were honest, they would say,
13:26
I would actually like, if possible, to stay in this world forever.
13:30
Remember when I was preaching there last Sunday,
13:33
how there was a...
13:35
It would have been inevitable if Adam and Eve had not taken off the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
13:45
and had eventually reached to the tree of life and taken it,
13:51
then they would have lived forever.
13:53
That is why God put the angel with the flaming sword guarding the tree of life.
14:01
Because once they fell, it was in order that the Lord tells us that.
14:07
Lest they get to the tree of life and live.
14:09
It would be the worst catastrophe ever if we were to live forever in a fallen state in this world.
14:19
And so the thing is that the non-Christian, not saying all non-Christians,
14:24
but the majority of non-Christians would rather that they could live forever and ever and ever in this world.
14:31
And heaven is simply a better alternative than hell,
14:36
knowing that there will come a time when we have to leave this world.
14:42
But the thing is that when you analyse what heaven is,
14:50
heaven is being in the immediate presence of Christ.
14:54
It's where all Christ's people come together to be with him,
14:59
where he will be at the centre, where he will be shepherding us.
15:03
Just as he shepherded his people while he was here in this world,
15:06
he will shepherd his people throughout the endless ages of eternity.
15:12
And he will be receiving their undying praise and honour forever.
15:18
And the Christian longs for that.
15:23
The non-Christian, the person who doesn't want Christ,
15:28
can't really long for that.
15:31
It's logical.
15:32
If they don't want Christ here,
15:35
if they say,
15:35
I don't want Jesus as my Lord, as my King,
15:41
then it's almost inevitable that you couldn't bear
15:44
being in his immediate presence forever and ever.
15:48
That's the actual logic.
15:51
I think you will know a lot of where you are
15:53
by answering,
15:57
thinking of yourself as you come to leave this world.
16:01
What is it that you would really like?
16:04
Is it to be taken into the presence of Christ?
16:09
Or would you prefer that it went into a state of nothingness?
16:14
That that would be the end?
16:16
Some people believe that when you die, you die,
16:19
and that's the end of everything,
16:20
which we know is not true.
16:24
Ask yourself that.
16:26
Answer that honestly.
16:27
And if you can say,
16:29
my desire is to be in the immediate presence of Christ,
16:33
then I would say that the Lord is in your heart,
16:37
or certainly the Lord is working in your heart.
16:41
And you see, there's a real desire.
16:43
Now, of course, it's inevitable that we always have a fear of death,
16:47
of what it will entail.
16:49
What will it involve for me?
16:51
When I come to die, how will I die?
16:54
We have no idea.
16:56
For some people, it can be a very long, drawn-out, difficult process.
16:59
For some people, it's immediate.
17:01
We don't know.
17:02
The Lord in his mercy has hidden these things from us.
17:06
But there is, it's called the last enemy, death.
17:09
But in a sense, the Christian never dies.
17:11
Jesus said that with regard to the resurrection and the life.
17:14
Whoever believes in me shall never die.
17:17
We shall never taste what death really is.
17:22
The moment we breathe our last in this world,
17:25
we're ushered straight into the presence of the Lord.
17:29
So that's the beauty of it.
17:32
Yes, we may fear the process,
17:35
but we look forward to what follows straight on.
17:41
And if that desire is in your heart,
17:43
if you have the desire for heaven,
17:47
for being with Christ,
17:51
that desire is not natural.
17:53
It's not your own desire.
17:54
It's put in your heart by God's Spirit.
17:59
And when the Spirit puts a desire in your heart,
18:01
it's not to play games with you.
18:03
It's to fulfill.
18:05
The Spirit will never put a desire in your heart
18:09
and then say,
18:10
I'm not going to give you what you desire.
18:12
The desire that is placed there by the Spirit
18:15
is a desire that will be fulfilled in due time.
18:22
And you know, the wonderful thing is,
18:23
however great your desire is
18:25
for the day when you long to be in the company
18:28
and the presence of Christ
18:29
and when you will resemble him,
18:31
which is one of the most extraordinary expressions in Scripture,
18:34
it tells us we shall be like him.
18:36
We shall see him as he is
18:38
and we shall be like him.
18:39
It's nothing like the desire
18:42
that the Lord Jesus Christ has for you to come home.
18:47
I don't think we think sufficiently
18:50
of what the Bible tells us.
18:52
Remember in the high priestly prayer
18:54
before Jesus died on the cross,
18:58
he said,
18:58
In the heart of Jesus,
19:08
there is a longing for the day
19:11
when you, as a Christian,
19:13
will come home to be with himself.
19:17
You must always remember that.
19:19
However great our desire is,
19:20
it's nowhere near the desire that Jesus has
19:24
for you to come home.
19:27
And he has said,
19:27
I go to prepare a place for you
19:29
and I will come again
19:30
and I will take you,
19:31
I will receive you to be with myself.
19:33
And in the meantime,
19:34
he's preparing us
19:36
for the place
19:37
that he has prepared.
19:40
And then it tells us here
19:41
that
19:44
they desire a better country,
19:47
that is a heavenly one.
19:48
Therefore God is not ashamed
19:50
to be called their God.
19:52
You know,
19:52
that's quite an extraordinary statement.
19:56
God is not ashamed
19:57
to be called your God.
19:59
If you're a Christian tonight,
20:01
God's not ashamed
20:01
to be called your God.
20:04
And when you think,
20:05
when I think of my life,
20:06
of how often we've let the Lord down,
20:10
how often we've failed him,
20:12
how often we've backslidden,
20:15
how seldom sometimes
20:16
we speak to him,
20:17
to call him.
20:18
You know,
20:18
if you had a friend in this world
20:21
who never ever got in touch with you,
20:24
if you were a member of your family
20:26
and they never ever,
20:27
you were waiting every day,
20:28
every night for a phone
20:30
or a message or something,
20:31
never got in touch,
20:34
it was really,
20:34
it'd be heartbreaking,
20:36
wouldn't it?
20:38
I often wonder
20:38
how it is for the Lord
20:40
when we're silent,
20:42
when we don't go to him,
20:43
when we forget about him,
20:44
when we don't think about him.
20:46
Sometimes at the end
20:47
of a very rushed day,
20:48
we might say,
20:49
oh, you know,
20:49
I haven't really been thinking
20:50
about the Lord today.
20:53
He's waiting for us,
20:55
waiting for us to come to him.
20:58
Yet despite all that,
21:01
despite all our failings,
21:02
our backslidings,
21:03
our wrongdoing,
21:04
how often we get it wrong,
21:07
he's still not ashamed
21:09
to be called your God.
21:13
I find that quite
21:14
an extraordinary statement,
21:16
that this is what
21:17
the Lord of glory
21:18
is actually saying.
21:21
And he's not ashamed
21:22
because he will receive
21:24
never-ending praise and glory
21:27
because of what his son,
21:30
Jesus Christ,
21:31
has done in your life.
21:33
And he looks on you
21:35
through his son
21:37
and he takes great delight.
21:39
Even in his world,
21:40
you're precious to him.
21:41
Remember,
21:42
in this world,
21:43
you are his inheritance.
21:45
out of everything else
21:47
in this whole wide world,
21:48
God is only going to take
21:49
one thing,
21:50
his inheritance
21:50
at his people.
21:52
You?
21:53
Isn't that a wonderful thought?
21:55
And so you're precious to him.
21:58
He's not ashamed
21:59
to be called your God.
22:03
And he's not ashamed
22:05
of those who have not
22:06
been ashamed.
22:07
It tells us that,
22:08
that God will not be ashamed
22:10
of those who have not
22:11
been ashamed of him
22:12
in this world.
22:15
You see,
22:15
we're told not only
22:16
to believe
22:17
but to confess.
22:18
It's a great thing.
22:20
It's a great opportunity
22:20
we have
22:21
to confess Christ,
22:24
to own him
22:24
as our Lord
22:25
and our God.
22:27
And the Lord
22:28
will never be ashamed
22:29
of anybody
22:30
who stands up for him,
22:32
who witnesses for him,
22:33
who acknowledges
22:34
the Lord
22:36
as their Lord.
22:39
Sadly,
22:39
the reverse is true.
22:40
God says that
22:43
he will be ashamed
22:44
of those
22:44
who are ashamed
22:46
of him.
22:47
Isn't that an awful prospect,
22:49
an awful thought?
22:52
And then we see
22:53
finally what it says,
22:55
for he has prepared
22:56
for them
22:57
a city.
22:59
Two very brief things
23:00
in that.
23:01
The city
23:02
is the very opposite
23:03
of the wilderness,
23:04
the desert place.
23:05
The desert place,
23:06
the wilderness,
23:07
which we sang about
23:08
in Psalm 107,
23:09
is a place
23:10
of restlessness.
23:12
The place
23:13
there's nowhere
23:13
to settle down.
23:14
There's no rest.
23:16
You're always wandering.
23:18
No place
23:19
to call home.
23:21
But the city
23:22
is different.
23:23
When people built
23:24
a city,
23:24
it was there
23:25
to be,
23:25
it was the permanent place.
23:27
It was a place,
23:28
this is where
23:28
I'm going to be forever
23:31
in this world.
23:32
And so cities
23:33
were built.
23:33
It was a place
23:34
of permanence.
23:36
And that's what
23:37
heaven is.
23:38
It's a place
23:39
of permanence.
23:40
This world,
23:41
there is nothing
23:42
permanent.
23:43
In glory there is.
23:46
And although
23:47
it is here
23:47
called a city,
23:48
it is also called
23:49
our home,
23:51
our heavenly home.
23:53
You know,
23:53
there's no,
23:54
we often say it,
23:55
there's no place
23:56
like home.
23:57
Particularly,
23:57
you know,
23:58
if you've been away
23:58
somewhere or
23:59
you've been
24:00
on a hard day,
24:02
you're kind of,
24:03
you're tired
24:03
physically,
24:04
you're tired
24:05
mentally,
24:05
you come into
24:06
your own house
24:07
and you flop down
24:08
and you say,
24:08
oh,
24:08
it's good to be home.
24:10
We often say that,
24:11
haven't we?
24:11
Oh man,
24:12
there's no place
24:12
like home.
24:13
It's great to get home.
24:16
Well,
24:16
we're all going to say
24:17
that when we get
24:18
to heaven.
24:19
Oh,
24:20
there's no place
24:20
like home.
24:21
In this world,
24:22
we have to go back
24:23
out.
24:23
Next day,
24:24
again we go,
24:25
or maybe again
24:26
later that evening.
24:28
But in glory,
24:29
there's no more
24:29
going back out.
24:31
It is there
24:31
the place of
24:32
permanence,
24:34
of satisfaction,
24:35
of joy,
24:36
of peace,
24:37
of togetherness.
24:38
It's a wonderful,
24:40
wonderful thought.
24:42
So the city
24:43
is a place
24:43
of permanence.
24:45
The city is also,
24:46
it implies
24:47
a great crowd.
24:49
You look at the desert
24:50
and there's a tent here,
24:51
a tent there,
24:52
or maybe a few
24:52
tents gathered there,
24:54
but it's kind of
24:55
more the place
24:55
of isolation,
24:57
loneliness.
24:59
Heaven is the
24:59
very opposite.
25:00
There's a huge crowd.
25:01
We're going to sing
25:02
in Psalm 72
25:03
in a few minutes.
25:05
The city shall
25:06
be flourishing,
25:07
the citizens abound
25:08
in number like
25:09
unto the grass
25:11
that grows
25:11
upon the ground.
25:13
You go up to
25:14
Goatill Park
25:14
and try and count
25:15
all the blades
25:16
of grass there,
25:17
or to the
25:18
castle green.
25:20
Imagine trying to
25:21
count every blade
25:21
of grass there.
25:22
You'd give up.
25:24
It's innumerable.
25:25
Well, that's what
25:25
it's talking about,
25:27
the number
25:28
and glory.
25:30
And you know,
25:30
amongst all that
25:31
number,
25:32
often in huge
25:34
crowds,
25:34
people can feel
25:35
isolated and lonely
25:36
and alone
25:37
and shy and
25:38
embarrassed.
25:39
That'll never be the
25:40
case in glory.
25:42
It'll be all
25:43
together,
25:44
all with one voice.
25:46
There'll be no
25:46
disagreements,
25:47
no fallouts.
25:49
Everybody together
25:50
in unity.
25:53
Nobody feeling
25:54
awkward,
25:54
nobody feeling
25:55
lonely,
25:55
nobody feeling
25:56
shy,
25:56
nobody feeling
25:57
unworthy.
25:58
all together,
26:01
forever,
26:02
singing praise
26:03
to the Lord.
26:04
It's a wonderful
26:05
prospect.
26:07
And no wonder
26:07
the Christian is
26:08
somebody who's not
26:09
looking back,
26:10
but is looking
26:10
ahead.
26:13
Are you looking
26:14
ahead tonight?
26:16
Is that where
26:16
your focus is?
26:19
Because every day
26:19
is taking us
26:20
closer and closer
26:21
to the end
26:22
in this world.
26:25
Do you find
26:26
that your thoughts
26:27
are drifting
26:28
maybe more
26:29
and more
26:29
to what lies
26:31
ahead?
26:32
Or do you live
26:32
in the past?
26:34
Now I know
26:34
there are certain
26:35
things that
26:36
with regard to
26:37
people and
26:38
memories,
26:39
don't get me
26:39
wrong,
26:39
which will take
26:40
our mind
26:41
to the past
26:42
and there's
26:42
nothing wrong
26:43
with that.
26:44
That's right,
26:44
it's a natural
26:45
thing we do.
26:46
But with regard
26:47
to where we're
26:47
going,
26:48
where our
26:48
identity is,
26:50
do you find
26:50
that it's been
26:51
drawn heavenwards?
26:53
Are you living
26:54
purely for this
26:55
world?
26:57
Well remember
26:57
Jesus says
26:58
the world is
26:59
going to give
26:59
you nothing
26:59
and whatever
27:00
the world
27:01
gives you
27:01
it's going
27:02
to take
27:02
it back.
27:03
What Jesus
27:04
gives you
27:04
is permanent,
27:05
it's forever.
27:07
And Jesus
27:08
is saying
27:08
tonight,
27:09
I am the
27:10
door,
27:10
I'm the
27:10
door to
27:11
heaven,
27:12
I'm the
27:12
way.
27:14
If you've
27:15
never asked
27:15
him into
27:16
your heart
27:16
before,
27:17
do so
27:18
before you
27:19
leave here.
27:20
Let us
27:20
pray.
27:21
Lord our
27:22
God,
27:22
we pray
27:23
to bless
27:23
us and
27:23
we give
27:25
thanks of
27:25
what you
27:26
set out
27:26
before us
27:27
in your
27:27
word.
27:28
We give
27:28
thanks,
27:28
Lord,
27:29
for the
27:29
great
27:30
examples
27:30
that these
27:31
people in
27:31
the past
27:32
were to
27:32
us.
27:33
Your word
27:34
tells us
27:35
that their
27:36
lives are
27:36
recorded there
27:37
as examples
27:38
for us.
27:39
So many
27:39
spiritual
27:40
truths and
27:41
spiritual
27:41
lessons to
27:42
be gleaned
27:42
from it.
27:44
We pray,
27:45
Lord,
27:45
that you
27:45
will help
27:45
us,
27:46
take us
27:46
all home
27:47
safety,
27:48
do us
27:48
good,
27:49
grant us
27:49
your grace,
27:50
your help,
27:51
and your
27:51
strength.
27:52
Have
27:52
mercy upon
27:53
us,
27:53
we pray,
27:54
cleansing us
27:54
from our
27:55
every sin.
27:56
In Jesus'
27:57
name we
27:57
ask it.
27:58
Amen.
27:58
We're going
28:01
to conclude
28:02
our service
28:03
singing to
28:03
God's
28:04
praise in
28:05
Psalm 72,
28:07
the psalm we
28:07
just quoted
28:08
from the
28:09
Scottish
28:10
Psalter,
28:10
Psalm 72,
28:13
verses 16
28:14
to 19.
28:16
Psalm 72,
28:18
verses 16
28:19
to the end,
28:20
from the
28:20
middle,
28:20
it's the
28:21
middle of
28:21
verse 16,
28:23
the last
28:24
four stanzas.
28:25
The city
28:27
shall be
28:28
flourishing,
28:28
her citizens
28:29
abound in
28:30
number shall,
28:31
like to the
28:31
grass that
28:32
grows upon
28:33
the ground.
28:34
His name
28:35
forever shall
28:36
endure,
28:36
last like the
28:37
sun it shall.
28:39
Men shall be
28:39
blessed in him,
28:40
and blessed all
28:41
nations shall
28:42
him call.
28:43
Now blessed
28:44
be the Lord
28:44
our God,
28:45
the God of
28:46
Israel,
28:47
for he alone
28:47
doth wondrous
28:48
works,
28:48
and glory that
28:50
excel.
28:51
Blessed be his
28:52
glorious name
28:53
to all
28:53
eternity,
28:54
the whole
28:55
earth.
28:56
Let his
28:56
glory fill.
28:58
Amen.
28:58
So let it
28:59
be.
29:00
Page 314,
29:01
Psalm 72,
29:02
from the
29:03
Scottish
29:03
Psalter,
29:03
middle of
29:04
verse 16,
29:04
the tune
29:05
is
29:05
Effingham.
29:05
This is
29:06
the
29:06
city
29:13
shall
29:15
be
29:16
flourishing,
29:20
our
29:20
citizens
29:23
of
29:24
Tammy
29:23
!
29:24
Tammy
29:23
!
29:24
Tammy
29:23
!
29:24
Tammy
29:23
!
29:24
Tammy
29:23
!
29:24
Tammy
29:23
!
29:24
Tammy
29:23
!
29:24
Tammy
29:23
!
29:28
Tammy
29:53
But like the sun is young, then shall we rest in the rest, all nations shall therefore.
30:16
Now rest in me, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord, O days I am.
30:34
For ye alone, the wondrous world, in glory God's best.
30:50
Blessed be his glorious name to all eternity.
31:08
The whole earth, the glory of God, and in so let it be.
31:28
Now may the greatest mercy and peace of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rest and abide upon each one of you, now and forevermore. Amen.
31:38
Amen.
32:08
Amen.
32:10
Amen.
32:12
Amen.