[0:00] Welcome to our service this evening as we come before God in worship we pray his blessing upon our time together this evening.
[0:13] We're going to begin by singing to God's praise from Psalm 147. Psalm 147 and at verse 12 singing to the end of the psalm.
[0:36] The Lord praise O Jerusalem, Zion thy God confess, for thy gates bar he maketh strong, thy sons in thee doth bless.
[0:49] He in thy borders maketh peace, with fine wheat filleth thee. He sends forth his command on earth, his word runs speedily.
[1:01] O frost like ashes scattereth he, like wool he snow doth give, like marshals casteth forth his eyes, who in its cold can live.
[1:13] He sendeth forth his mighty word, and melteth them again. His wind he makes to blow, and then the waters flow. Amen.
[1:24] The doctrine of his holy word to Jacob he doth show, his statutes and his judgments he gives Israel to know.
[1:36] To any nation never he such favour did afford, for they his judgments have not known. O do ye praise the Lord.
[1:46] We can sing these verses of Psalm 147 from verse 12 to the end. The Lord praise O Jerusalem, Zion thy God confess.
[2:00] The Lord praise O Jerusalem, Zion thy God confess.
[2:21] O Lord praise O Jerusalem, Zion thy God confess.
[2:51] O Lord praise O Jerusalem, Zion thy God confess.
[3:21] O Lord praise O Jerusalem, Zion thy God confess.
[3:51] O Lord praise O Jerusalem, Zion thy God confess.
[4:21] O heavenśiados right inside. O heavenślinely wel To him on earth thereineth hang of God. Amen. The doctrine of his holy word to give all he theière rivers to behold, All he entry hurling.
[4:44] His soldiers on His God's manatee gives His triumph to all.
[5:02] To any nation ever He does ever live the poor.
[5:20] For His soldiers have not known. O duty, praise the Lord.
[5:40] Let's join together in prayer. Let's pray. O Lord our God, as we come before You at this evening hour, we give thanks for the opportunity to gather as we do.
[5:58] We pray that You would bless us together under the sound of Your Word. Thankful that You are able to speak to us through this Word, that it is not the Word of man, and it is not the man that conveys the Word, but that Word which is the living Word, which You in Your wisdom have granted to us.
[6:28] You are the God who speaks the truth. The all-wise God. The all-powerful God.
[6:39] The one who is able to speak into our providence, whatever it may be, whatever it is that marks out our experience of the present.
[7:01] Some of us may be downcast. Our head may be resting upon our breast. We may be fearful of lifting our rise to the heavens.
[7:18] We may believe that we are under Your just displeasure, and rightly so, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
[7:37] And when we are into the shadow of such a conviction, our eye may search out the one through whom we are encouraged to seek out the face of our God, who has given to Your people a right of access, who has given the word of promise that allows us to believe that we can come to a throne of grace and there seek mercy and grace to help in time of need.
[8:25] But at times these promises are beyond our grasp, and it is that in the experience of Your people from time to time, we give thanks that the time is limited and that they are encouraged by means of Your word to look beyond their circumstances to the one who is in control of all our circumstances, all our situations, all our trials, all our temptations.
[9:10] We pray that You would remember Your people if that is their love this evening. We pray for those who may have difficulties of another sort, some may be struggling with physical ailment, some may be struggling with ailments to do with their mind.
[9:35] We live in a world that taxes every one of us, and our ability to cope with it may vary from day to day.
[9:48] Certain things may press in upon us on location that we may at other times think little of.
[10:04] The fragility of our humanity is there for all to see, and we hear so often of this world in which we live, there is a nation even, that has so many of the good things that life can bring, and yet there are so many that struggle from day to day.
[10:29] They feel themselves pressed in upon with their circumstances. Some suffer because of their fears, their loneliness, some because of their lack of security, some because of their difficulties within the working environment.
[10:52] there are so many pressures brought to bear upon the children of men, and many know not where to turn.
[11:05] The word tells us that we are to look unto God, and that we are to call upon the name of the Lord, and that you promise in due time to lift up the head of the downcast, to strengthen the marrow and the bones of those who are weak and inferior.
[11:28] We pray that you would remember those who are grieving and sorrowful, and we commit to your care those of our own number who have these sorrows to bear.
[11:41] Some presently, some recently, we do not know how death impacts upon the lives of people.
[11:52] It may vary from person to person, from time to time. We may think that we are, that we are over our sadness and our sorrows, and then suddenly it may impact upon us yet again.
[12:08] These things are not hidden from your eyes, and we are grateful for that, that we can bring our burdens into the presence of God. So hear our prayers.
[12:20] May they encircle every soul that is present here in this place. May your word to us touch the hearts of everyone, so that they may know that God is indeed speaking to us as a congregation and as individuals, as homes and as families, as communities.
[12:41] We pray that you would speak to us as a nation that are in the throes of a pandemic, even though it may to all intents and purposes be that it is in abeyance.
[12:57] We know not what the future may hold, and even within our own local community, there are signs that COVID is not something that is in the past, but that is current.
[13:12] We remember the needs of the world in which we live, when tyrants are bracingly lifting up their head, and going about as if they are not accountable to any, whatever will be brought to bear upon the spheres of influence that they accept.
[13:38] There is a day coming when they will answer to the one who needs none to counsel him. You are the God who is sovereign, who is Lord over all, and we give thanks that the Almighty is your name, and no threat that you bring to bear will be thwarted.
[14:01] So enable us to commit the affairs of this generation to you, the God who is God over all. that peace may come from your own hand, not a false peace, not a peace made on false promises, but a peace that is blood-bought, a peace that is never-ending, everlasting, even through the passion of your Son Jesus Christ.
[14:29] So bring the might of your arm to bear upon this planet of ours, that we may know that you are there and that you are not silent, that you are speaking into our need, and that through your word we are able to turn to yourself and to yield our lives to your care and direction.
[14:59] Continue to watch over us, and that through your cleansing from sin, pardoning every transgression in Jesus' Redeemer's name. Amen. Amen. We're going to read from the Old Testament Scriptures, from the book of the prophet Jeremiah.
[15:18] The book of the prophet Jeremiah, chapter 32. And we'll read from the beginning, down to verse 25.
[15:33] The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Sedekiah, king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.
[15:48] Nebuchadnezzar. For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house.
[16:03] For Sedekiah, king of Judah, had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.
[16:18] And Sedekiah, king of Judah, shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes.
[16:35] And he shall lead Sedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith the Lord. Though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper.
[16:47] And Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came unto me, say, Behold, Hanamiel, the son of Shalom, thine uncle shall come unto thee, say, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is thine to buy it.
[17:06] So Hanamiel, mine uncle's son, came to me in the court of the prison, according to the word of the Lord, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin, for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine.
[17:29] Buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. And I bought the field of Hanamiel, my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.
[17:47] And I subscribed the evidence and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances. So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open.
[18:08] And I gave the evidence of the purchase, and to Baruch, the son of Neriah, the son of Masiah, in the sight of Hanamiel, my uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.
[18:28] And I charged Baruch before them, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.
[18:48] For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land. Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase, and to Baruch, the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the Lord, saying, Ah, Lord God, behold, thou hast made the heavens and the earth, and by thy great power, and stretched out Aaron, and there is nothing too hard for thee.
[19:19] Thou showest loving kindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them. The great, the mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is his name, great in counsel, and mighty in work.
[19:38] For thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings, which has set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men, and has made thee a name as of this day, and has brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt, with signs and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out Aaron, and with great terror, and has given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.
[20:23] And they came in, and possessed it, but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law. They have done nothing of all that thou commandest them to do.
[20:36] Therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them. Behold the mounts, they are coming to the city to take it, and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence.
[20:56] And what thou hast spoken is come to pass, and behold thou seest it. And thou hast said unto me, O Lord God, buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses, for this city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
[21:16] And so on. May the Lord add his blessing to this reading of his word, and to his name be the praise. We shall sing now to God's praise from Psalm 90, Psalm 90 at verse 8, verses 8 to the double verse, Mark 12.
[21:39] O sins thou and iniquities, dost in thy presence place, and setst thou secret faults before the brightness of thy face.
[21:51] For in thine anger all our days do pass on to an end, and as a tale that hath been told, so we our years do spend.
[22:03] Three score and ten years do sum up, our days and years we see, or if by reason of more strength, in some four score they be.
[22:14] Yet doth the strength of such old men but grief and labour prove. For it is soon cut off, and we fly hence, and soon remove. Who knows the power of thy wrath according to thy fear?
[22:30] So is thy wrath. Lord, teach thou us our end in mine to bear. And so to count our days, that we our hearts may still apply, to learn thy wisdom and thy truth, that we may live thereby.
[22:48] These verses of Psalm 90, verses 8 to 12, O sins thou and iniquities, dost in thy presence place. Your sins of uniquities, shall live on present days, on cast mercy, for in thine anger God, all our rich to pass on to our land.
[23:54] And as our dead love in old, so we are here to end.
[24:11] dock and For if I reason all for strength is unforeseen.
[24:46] Yet does the strength of such children agree on liberty?
[25:06] For if I reason all for strength is unforeseen.
[25:25] Who does the power of thy God?
[25:36] A glory angel I hear. So is thy God, Lord, is thy one.
[25:53] All of them in my dear. And so good God.
[26:08] All the aquesta of me. Our hearts rest in the high.
[26:20] You learn thy wisdom and thy truth Love me, hell is there by I'd like us to turn together to Jeremiah chapter 32 And we can read again at verse 16 Jeremiah chapter 32 Reading at verse 16 Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah I prayed unto the Lord, saying O Lord God, behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power And stretched out iron
[27:21] And there is nothing too hard for thee Thou showest loving kindness unto thousands And recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them The great, the mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is his name Great in counsel and mighty in work For thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men To give everyone according to his ways And according to the fruit of his doings And so on When we read the prophecies of the prophet Jeremiah We find that he bears the name the weeping prophet with good reason He has been described as a prophet of destruction
[28:26] And a prophet of construction Both things A prophet who, under the hand of God, is able to carry out analysis He is able to interpret the word of God And interpret and explain what God is doing But he is also a prophet who is responsible For, according to the divine's enemy, for synthesis Which is put in opposition to analysis Where he is considering all the components of God's revelation through himself John El-Mackay and Calvin are of the same mind
[29:29] When they read the word spoken by the prophet They see someone who is trying to reconcile the promises of God To the providence of God He is persuaded, he is confident in what God has promised But then, looking at what God is doing There is the problem of trying to marry the two things together We can't overlook the fact that the prophets are They are human They are called by God to work in his name To serve him But God gives his word to them
[30:29] And it is their duty to proclaim that word Regardless of their understanding of it And it would be wrong for us to think That at every time When they spoke the truth of God That they understood the fullness of that truth But sometimes Because sometimes they found that that truth Would contradict their own understanding of how God should be doing things Or could be doing things And in the situation that the prophet finds himself Humanly speaking The events that he surveys Suggest to him that things are hopeless Remember, his life is made up of Of ministering to a people that have seen God Despite them being his people
[31:32] Allow them to suffer the bondage of Babylon 70 years And he sees himself endure many trials and testings Despite the fact that he is honest and earnest And delivering God's word as God gave it to him But then again When you go back to The beginning of this prophecy You find God Speaking to the prophet At the first instance Where he discovers God's call to him The word of the Lord came unto me Saying Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee And before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee I ordained thee as a prophet unto the nations Then said I O Lord God Behold I cannot speak For I am a child
[32:33] But the Lord said unto me Say not I am a child For thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee And whatsoever I command thee That shalt thou speak Be not afraid of their faces For I am with thee To deliver thee Saith the Lord And so on At the very outset He was forewarned That What he had to say Would not necessarily Be something that Was comfortable for him to declare He wasn't going to be A popular man Based upon the message That he had to deliver Very often What he had to say Would diminish his popularity If there was any such notion of it In his heart And here in this particular passage He is declaring That God's patience with the people
[33:33] Has come to an end And that the Lord would appear To his people in judgment And that's not an easy thing to say It's not a comfortable thing to say People are not going to welcome Such a message And there certainly You've heard the expression Often said Don't shoot the messenger That's what people would be inclined to do They didn't like the message Who better Than the one who brought it To To aim their blows at Well this evening I just want to think About this description That the prophet Gives to us Of God Because He prays to God And the prayer is It begins in verse 16 Or verse 17 And it follows on down to Verse 20 or so
[34:36] But I want us to think about The first three petitions That we have In the prayer That identifies to us The characteristics That would encourage The prophet And those that are genuinely Believers in God Characteristics That mark out God Not just then But now Every occasion Every place Every situation We find this does not change It does not alter First thing he highlights Is The power of God In the compassion of God And in the omniscience of God And I suppose These things can be taken From the scripture At any point But Here they are significant Because of the circumstances Into which The prophet Is speaking From which This prayer is uttered
[35:37] He is calling upon The name of his God And he is thankful That this God Upon whom he calls Is in the first instance A God of power Look at how he describes him Oh Lord God Behold Thou hast made The heaven And the earth By thy great power Stretched out And stretched out Aaron And there is Nothing too hard For thee That's a simple truth Is it not For every Christian here That truth Is inscribed Upon your heart And your mind You know God To be a God Of power You know him To be the creator God You know that By the word Of his power In the space Of six days He made This world And all very good Nothing Like it Could have been Accomplished Or achieved
[36:38] By any But this God And we may Be used To speaking Of such a God And declaring Such a truth To be the truth That we believe But very often Regardless of Our knowledge Of that truth That truth And our belief In it May be sorely Tested At times Remember He is describing Here the Awesome power Of a creator God And he is Praying to that Creator God Who possesses Such power In a situation Or in circumstances Where he needs To draw on That power For himself Because He is their God Because he is His God The very possession
[37:38] Of that power And the relationship That exists Between him And that God Places that Power At his disposal At their disposal Now that's not Always Easy To believe When You are Being tried John Calvin In his commentary Writes the following There is Nothing Difficult To God He says His power Can be observed In the Permanent Government Of the world For he Who has Created The heaven And the earth Can do All things So that Nothing Is wonderful To him Now that's Important It's important To us At this Particular Juncture Because Even today When we're
[38:39] Witnessing The Calamitous Events That are Happening Between Russia And the Ukraine You could Have further A further Threat On the part Of the President Of Russia That he Will utilise Weapons Of mass Destruction That he's Putting On alert His own People To use These Weapons Now whether He does So or Not There's No way Of knowing Because There's No rationale Behind There's No The behaviour That he Has Demonstrated Up until Now It's Not A rational Behaviour But those Who are Witnessing That Even Yourself And myself We may Think Well If he's Capable Of that Then he's Capable Of using Weapons Of mass Destruction And Where are
[39:40] We then Well The thing That we Need to Remember Is this That even Even When that Is a Hazard That is Always in The world And it is Because there Are despots And dictators And there Are countries Who have These weapons At their Disposal And they Could use Them Where they Have a Mind to Do so At the Drop of A heart One thing We can't Forget is This That the God who Created The world Is the God who Is in Control Of all That goes On in The world He is the God who Sustains The world Oppose The world And does So just As surely As he Has ever Done so We may Believe The truth That God Is the Creator And his Power Is inexhaustible But when It is Tested We may Very Easily
[40:41] Forget That But even At a Personal Level At a Human Level There are Powers arrayed In this World Against Directed Against The Believer That are Phenomenal Powers The Powers of Hell Itself Are Arrayed Against The Believer At any Given Moment And they're Phenomenally Powerful But there is A power Greater Than that And we Need to Remind Ourselves Where we Are Believers That The God Who is Ultimately In control Of all Our lives Has Has the Power To defeat And deflect All the All the Battalions Of Wickedness
[41:41] That are Arrayed in The world Against The Believer In Christ Jesus The Creator Has not Lost Any of His Abilities He Exercises That Power In Ministering Grace To help In time Of need To all Who apply To him For it This Prayer Is a Prayer Offered By a Man of God Confronted By Difficulties That he Doesn't Fully Understand Well who Could Understand On one Side he Has God's Promise Not just One but A host Of promises On the Other side He has Providences That seem To be In Conflict With These Promises Ever Being Fulfilled And he Has to Try and Reconcile These Things And what Better to Do than Pray to The God
[42:42] Who has Not Changed And who Does Not Change And whose Power Is Inexhaustible And if You are Concerned Tonight About the Future Future Of this World Or your Own Personal Future Spiritually Where do You go If not To the God Who is All Powerful And I Was Looking at This I was Reminded Of the Words Of William Cowper And he Wrote These Words I don't Know what His own Situation Was He had Many Turmoils In his Life Many Ups And downs Suffering From Mental Issues But he Wrote Judge Not The Lord By Feeble Sense But Trusting For His Grace Behind A Frowning Providence He Hides A Smiling Face
[43:42] Whose Purposes Will Ripen Fast Unfolding Every Hour The Bud May Have A Bitter Taste But Sweet Will Be The Flower Blind Unbelief Is Sure To Wear And Scan His Work In Vain God Is His Own Interpreter And He Will Make It Plain And Is That Not True But There Are Times When We Are Perplexed When We Are Disappointed When We Are In The Grip Of Griefs That Are Seemingly Indissoluble They Cannot Melt Away But In The Twinkling Of An Eye With A World In Season From Himself The God Who Is Mighty The Almighty Is Able To Touch Us Where We Need Most To Be Touched God
[44:43] The Second Thing That We Have Here Is God's Compassion God's Compassion Again Notice He Says Thou Showest Loving Kindness And To Thousands And Recompensest The Iniquity Of The Fathers Into The Boosom Of Their Children After Them The Great The Mighty God The Lord Of Hosts His Name Again You're Confronted With The Might Of God But The Might Of God Is Also Contained Within A God Who Is Understanding A God Who Is Merciful This Has To Be Understood In The Sense Of It Being The Divine Prerogative His Judgements Are Never Wrong Even Even When They Seem Wrong To
[45:43] Us Even When We In Our Wisdom Think God Has Got This Completely Back To Front What What What Is Doing Can Can Be Reconciled With What Is Good For Me Or For Anyone Else But Again We Mentioned John L.
[46:05] Mackay The late John L. Mackay John Calvin These Reformed Commentators They Look At This Declaration That Is Contained Within The Prayer And They See At The Heart Of What Is Said The Covenant Commitment Of God To His Own People It Is Not In Any Way Indiscriminatory He Knows What He's Doing He Knows Why He Does It He Knows Why Certain Things We Would Say Are Permitted We Would Prefer The Word Permit Than Ordained Because We're More Comfortable With Permission Than We Are With Ordination But If It Is The One God Who Is In Control Of All Our Affairs We Can't Accus Them Of Wrong Doing
[47:05] If The Wrong Doing Is Ours But Such Is Such Is Sovereign Control Over The Affairs Of Men That Within That Sovereignty Our Wrong Doings Can Be Harnessed To Bring To Do What His Purposes Mean To Be Done Here We See He Also Mention Made Of Of The Recompensing The Iniquity Of The Fathers Into The Bosom Of Their Children After Them Some People Find Fault With That But The Thing With Regard To God Is This The Way He Works In The Lives Of Each One Of Us Without Exception Everyone Without Exception What He Does Is Done Where The
[48:07] Outcome Is Completely Conformed To The Infringement That He Is Dealing With If The Sons Of The Sons Of The Fathers Are Visited Upon The Children We May Think That's Not Fair But What The Scripture Speaks Of There Is The Sins Of The Fathers Very Often Being The Sins Of The Children Which Will Be Followed By God's Condemnation On Them God Will Not Chastise The Innocent God Will Not Condemn The Innocent God Will Not Punish The Innocent The Innocence Is Imaginary What It Reminds Us Of Is The Consequences Of Our Sinfulness For Our Children If
[49:08] They Follow In Our Example If Our Example Is A Poor Example I Don't Know Where I Was Reading It Recently Anyway Was The Story A Sad Story Of A Man Who Was A Hardened Drinker He Was Somebody Who Who You Would Describe As As Being A High Functioning Alcoholic He Drank To Excess But Was Still Able To Carry Out His Work And According To The Story It Was His Practice To Stop Off For A Leibner On His Way To Work Every Morning Must Have Been In America Where The Clubs Were Open 24 Hours A Day And
[50:09] One Morning He Set Off And He Went To His Local And He Ordered His Drink And He Turned Round And Standing Beside Him At The Bar Was His Young Son Or Daughter Just An Infant And He Asked How Did You Get Here Oh He Said I Followed Your Footsteps I Followed Your Footsteps And Is That Not The Way It Is Is That Not What Is Being Described Here As In One Sense But God Is Not Indifferent God Is Not Blind God Is Not Willing To Bypass The Dealing That He Has To Meet Out To All Such To His Own People And To Those Who Are Not He Exercises Discernment
[51:09] In The Way That He Bestows Punishment Or Blessing His Care Is A Benevolent Care Yes Even People Can See That Where Is Benevolence In The Punishing In The Punishment Of Evil In The World How Is God Considered Benevolent If He Punishes Wrongdoing Well What Would It Be Like If It Was Just Let's Turn A Blind Eye
[52:16] Goodness Goodness Even When The Lord Wields The Rod Where He Has To Chastise His People It Is Remedial It Is For The Purpose Of Recovery It Is Restorative It Is In Order To Bring Them Back To Himself Where They Will Be Able To Go On With Himself Alexander Stewart Wrote The Righteousness Of God Is Both Humbling And Encouraging His Power Is Inspiring Even When It Thundered Produces A Sense Of A His Goodness Is Attractive In Its Every Manifestation But His Compassion Is Irresisting To The Soul Who Is Convinced Of Sin The
[53:19] Lord Is Compassionate Maybe Not The Way We Would Think Compassion Is To Be Understood But Our Thinking Is So Often Adults With God's Then We Are Reminded Thirdly And Finally Of His Omniscience God Knows Everything I've Often Said It And Maybe You're Tired Of Hearing It Said For One Person The Knowledge Of God That Is A Perfect Knowledge May Oppress Us Or It May Bring Comfort We Might Might Not Want God To Know Certain Things About Us But He Knows All Things Past Present Future Somebody Somebody Has Experienced It Like This We
[54:20] Learn One Thing After Another This Is What We Must Do We Learn It And We Need To Retrieve Or Re Capture What We Have Learned I Suppose Many Of Us Our Faculties They Diminish With The Passage Of Time Our Powers Of Recall Are Poor And They May Not Have Been Good In The First Case But That Is Not So With God That Is Never The Case Someone Has Said God Has Never Been In The Situation Where He Needs To Be Reminded Of Anything Nothing That We Do Or Say Or No Place That We Go To Will Take Him By Surprise He
[55:20] Knows What We Think And How We Think And Why We Think What We Think But He Is Able To Deal With Each Of Us According To The Wisdom That Is Us Own A.W.
[55:34] Toaster Writes Because He Knows All Things Perfectly He Knows Nothing Better Than Any Other Thing That He Knows But He Knows All Things Equally Well Great Great In Counsel Mighty In Work For Thine Eyes Are Upon All The Ways Of The Sons Of Men He Sees Where We Are He Sees What Our Need Is You Know You Might Be Sitting Here Tonight And Outwardly You Are You Like Everybody Else Nobody Can Discern Nobody Can Tell What's Going On Inside Your Head Or Your Heart Or Your Life It's All Hidden From You A bit Like An Iceberg There's Only So Much Above The Surface
[56:34] The Rest The Bulk Of It Is Hidden From Sight Not So God Nothing At And For The Believer For Jeremiah As He Prayed This Petition To God He Was Thankful To Him For That You Give To Everyone According To His Ways I Told The Story Often Of Someone Who Was In The Grips Of Conversion And He Was Sharing His Thoughts With A Friend And He Was Going To Great Detail In Sharing What Only He Himself Had Experienced And This Passion To Whom He Unburdened Himself And One Day Did He Not Hear Everything That He Had Shared Recounted From The Pulpit
[57:34] And He Was Furious He Was Wild Because This Man Had Clearly Broken A Confidence But God Was Dealing With Him And The Man That He Had Spoken To Had Not Broken A Confidence He Hadn't Opened His Mouth To Anybody But God Knew As He Knows What's Going On In Your Life And My Life At This Moment In Time Whatever It Is That You Want To Keep Hidden You Want To Suppress That You Want To Deny That You Want To To Make You Want To Let On This There God Knows Perfectly Well What It Is And He Is Able To Give To Everyone According To His Ways That's What The Prophet Says According To The Fruits Of His Doing And That's
[58:34] The Way It Will Be Spoke Of It In The Morning When Death Comes To Every One Of Us That's What Will Await Us He Will Give To Us The Fruit Of Our Doing You Look After You Look Back On Your Life And You Say Well My Goodness My Goodness If I Am Going To Answer To God For Everything That I've Done Or Said There's Going To Be A Reckoning And Some People With Great Futility Think He Can't He Can't Know That He Can't Know All That He Won't Be Able To Deal With Us In Such Detail But That's What The Prophet Says He Will Give To Everyone According To His Ways And According To
[59:35] The Fruit Of Our Doing And In A Sense What The Prophet Is There Praying To God For Is A Prayer Against The Enemies That Abound Against Those Who Have Made Him A Victim Against Those Who Have Come With The Heal Of The Oppressor And Tried To To Suppress The Will Of God But The Prophet Remember God Will Deal With Them God Will Deal With His Enemies God Will Deal With Your Enemies And My Enemies If They're Your Enemies And My Enemies For Christ's Sake God Will Not Allow That To Happen Is This You God Then Tonight If It Is You
[60:35] Have Got Much To Be Grateful For That You Have Such A God Who Is Mighty In Power Survey The World Go Out And See The Stars Count Them Each One God Brought Them Into Be He This Week I Was Reading About Someone And You Know What His Grief Was And The Grief Came By Looking Out At The Stars And Understanding That The Light Of One Star Would Take Thousands Of Years From The Time It Would Leave That Star To The Time That He Was Seeing It In The World That Moment The Light That He Was Seeing Had Left That Star Thousands Of Years Ago And What Depressed Him Well He Said Looking Out I Saw
[61:35] The Light That Was Leaving That Star At That Moment Well I Couldn't See It But I Knew There Was Light And By The Time It Would Come I Would No Longer Be There What A Thought But The Creator Of That God Of That Light Of That Star Of That Planet Of This Planet And All That Are In It Is The God To Whom We Can Go Without Prayer And Upon His Name We Can Call Knowing That You Know There Are Dead Stars There Are Dark Stars There Are Stars That Have Perished But The God Who Created Them Is Every But As Alive Today As The Day He Created Them And Put Life Into Them May May May In ofeli our closing psalm is psalm 103 psalm 103 verse 8 these verses verses 8 to 12 of psalm 103 the lord our god is merciful and he is gracious the lord our god is merciful and he is given longsuffering and so to God and man's chief and he has he will not shine on daily nor give his hunger still with the he has no does we sin nor is required of him for for us the
[65:36] heaven is light the answer of the heart so great protector wrote doesご視้ม sont proceed And from the west of our country From the river living in the land On the river with thee
[66:40] Amen May grace, mercy and peace From God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit Rest and abide with you all now and always Amen