[0:00] Welcome to the service this morning. As we join together in God's worship, we look to him to bless his word to us.
[0:11] And as we hear what he has to say, may we understand that he is speaking to each of us. We're going to begin our service singing to the praise of God from Psalm 32.
[0:25] Psalm 32 from the beginning. In the first six stanzas. Psalm 32. O blessed is the man to whom is freely pardoned. All the transgression he hath done whose sin is covered.
[0:45] Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not his sin, and in whose spirit there is no guile, nor fraud is found therein. When as I did refrain my speech, and silent was my tongue, my bones then walked stalled, because I roared all day long.
[1:05] For upon me both day and night thine hand did heavy lie, so that my moisture turned days in summer's drought thereby. I thereupon have unto thee my sin acknowledged, and likewise mine iniquity I have not covered.
[1:22] I will confess unto the Lord my trespasses to die, and of my sin thou freely didst forgive the iniquity. We can sing these verses.
[1:34] O blessed is the man to whom is freely pardoned. O blessed is the man to whom is freely pardoned.
[1:54] O blessed is the man to whom is freely pardoned. O blessed is the man to whom is freely pardoned.
[2:15] to the Lord in pure to know his sin and in good spirit his whole pride not from his frowns and when as I did rethink my state and silent was my child my cold and white it only cause I know it only long far upon me both day and night thy hundred heavy light so that my moisture are in somers pair and aus them fly when day and hinder it as and set out in her air fractiondi and likewise my
[4:03] My name in which he I have no coveted.
[4:15] I will confess unto the Lord My trespasses and I And all my sins are related Forgiven iniquity Let's join together in prayer.
[4:53] Ever blessed God as we approach what we know to be a throne of grace. Enable us to render unto the Lord A grateful appreciation For having that way open to us.
[5:16] That it is written within your word That such a way has been set aside for us By which we are to approach you.
[5:29] And it is incumbent upon us to appreciate that fact And not to take for granted the many privileges that are afforded us Not because of anything that we do or say Or anything that we are far from it As these very things that would shut up the way Unto us But because that there is one who sits at your right hand Even Jesus Christ the righteous that assures us That we can approach Because he has opened unto us a new and a living way That was debarred to us By reason of the fall of our first parents That is so tangibly Explain to us Explain to us Not just by means of words But also In the symbolism that accompanies
[6:32] What took place When man sinned against God His place of residence Was taken from him He was removed from the garden Where you placed him As he was created in your image When he sinned The path to the tree of life Was shut up to him The fiery sword Kept him back from Stretching out To eat of that fruit That would provide life to him And He was taken from that place And Forced to Wander in this world Which From that point on Produced Not just fruit But thorns and thistles And Was the habitation of wild beasts
[7:33] That were no longer Living peaceably With the man that was The crown of creation But Who were Estranged from him And In a relationship Of hostility But you have Taught us through your word That Even at that moment That you had made Provision For us In the person of Jesus Christ That one would come That would bruise The head of the serpent And we give thanks That The Fruition of the gospel Is seen in the coming Of the Lord Jesus In the way that he has Entered into the experience Not only of life In this world But living it to the full Without Experiencing sin
[8:34] And Vanquishing death In the process Rising from the dead Vacating the grave And ascending To glory We marvel at these truths And we give thanks For them And we Bless you That we are able To gather in his name Today We seek good blessing In his name Upon our homes Upon our families Upon each and every soul Blessed Present Whatever their needs may be You have people here That bear your name Not only Do they bear your name But they are to Walk Before you And To Demonstrate Their Relationship With you They are light Bearers In a dark world That they are Soft In a world That is Full of Putrefaction And corruption That you have
[9:34] Given them The way with all By which to be These things By your grace They bemoan The fact that They are not As they ought to be It is a grief To them That there is Sin in their hearts Still But they know Where to apply To receive That cleansing That their soul Craves Which they will Never enjoy To the full To the day That they close In with death And at that And at that moment They will be rid Of all the things That That drew them Down in this world And that That saddened And burdened Them So we pray So we pray For your people Whoever they are And whatever Their need is We pray that You would Remember them And remind them Of the fact That you have Taken them To be your own And even And even Those of that Number who may Feel themselves To be far Distant from Their God Who have
[10:35] Convinced Themselves that Their God Is not their God And their Saviour is not Their Saviour But they have Convinced Themselves that The coldness That is in their Heart is an Enduring one Teach them To understand That the God Who took Them to Himself Is a God Who has Promised never To leave Or to forsake His own That in his Claim of them He has Taken a Firm And a Permanent Hold That None Can't Pluck them Out of his Hand Even a Very Enemy of Their soul As he Straddles Their life And declares Them to Be his Own He is Mistaken And he is Going to
[11:35] Discover That the Vires of Hell Are his Domain And none Of your People Will ever Find themselves In that Place That is the Destiny of All who Are his We pray For those Who are Still Estranged From you Those Who are Strangers To grace Those Who go On In their Sin Without Due care And attention To the Needs Of their Soul Teach Them To pray To cry To cry Out of A sense Of need To the God of Mercy And the God of Grace That they May receive For their Souls What is Necessary To ensure That their Feet are Found Upon a Rock And And not On the Shifting Sands Of the Promises Of this World Which does Not Endure Grant to Them That they May fix Their eyes Upon Christ And that
[12:35] They may See in Him The beauty That is Alone to be Found in Him May they Marvell That such A vision Is theirs And they May be That they May be Encouraged To rest Upon him And receive The salvation That is His to Confere As their Own Bless your Word to That end Pour out Your spirit Upon us Mere words Are not Sufficient To convince Or to Persuade Any who Are here Of God's Work In their Lives That is Their own Or others We pray For the Eyes of The Understanding To be Opened By your Spirit And the Truth that It may Be fixed In the Hearts Of each One of Us We pray For congregations Within our Island We remember All the Congregations And all Who minister In them We pray For your People and
[13:36] Those who Support the Cause of Christ Physically Attending God's House We pray For those Denied Access Through the Wings of Grace Who cannot Sit under The word Of God With Others But to Do so In their Homes We give Thanks for The For the Medium Of The Computer Or the Radio The television That allows Many to Hear God's Word Disseminated In our Own Tongue As well As in The Tongue Of others We give Thanks for The missionary Activity of The church Our own Church And others We're Thankful for The message That we heard Last Lord's Day Of those Who have An interest In Eastern Europe And especially At such Difficult times When The Dissemination Of the Truth Is Frustrated We pray
[14:37] For your Blessing Upon all Who have Such an Interest Created in And by You We pray For those Congregations Within our Own Presbytery That do Not have A minister And we Remember Them as They look To have Their Pulpits Filled And we Pray for The extension Of the Kingdom Of Christ As it Applies To the Work of The church As they Seek to Expand That work Creating New Congregations And Especially Within areas Where the Gospel Has taken A backward Step We are Reminded in Your word That your Work will Go on Until the Day Come And it Truly Will When Christ Will see Of the Travel of His soul And be Satisfied And say It is Enough We do Not know Where Or when That day
[15:37] Will come But it Truly Will And Christ Will return With a Great shout Surrounded by His myriad Host of Angels Announcing His coming And we Are taught And told That the Graves Will open The dead Will rise And judgment Will take Place Those who Are the Lords Will be With him For all Eternity Those who Are not Will be Dispatched To the Place Prepared For the Devil And his Angels All will Give An Answer All will Give Account Not the One Accepted Remind us Of that Truth And bless Us in Its Light Remember Our nation And all the Nations of The earth The queen And her Family Government Of the day Be it In Westminster In Holyrood What is Soon to Be Newly Formed Her Own Council Remember All who Engage
[16:37] In Sustaining The peace Of the Nation And we Pray your Blessing upon us Bless the Work of The congregation Here The Sunday School What is Done from Week to Week Within the Congregation Maintaining The gospel Witness May that Witness Thrive May we Understand That the Physical Building Here is Not the Church We give it That name But the Church is The people That occupy It May you Add to Their Number We pray And Grant to Us The Sense To Understand That Without This People Even Though The Stones Will Stand As a Reminder That there Was once A People There That Were Part Of Your Church We See It So Often Throughout Even This Land Of Scotland Places That Once Had a Thriving
[17:37] Gospel Community And All That Is Left Is The Evidence That That Was Once The Case Do Not Allow Us To Be Like That But Continue To Bless Us And Bless Your Word Amongst Us Cleanse From Sin We Pray Pardoning Us In Jesus Name Amen We're Going To Read From The Scriptures Of The New Testament The Gospel Of Matthew Reading From Chapter 6 And We're Reading From Verse 19 Matthew Chapter 6 From Verse 19 And We're Reading To The End Of The Chapter Lay Not Up For Yourselves Treasures Upon Earth Where Moth And Rust Are Corrupt And Where Thieves Break Through And Steal But Lay Up For Yourselves Treasures In Heaven Where Neither Moth Nor Rust Are Corrupt And
[18:38] Where Thieves Do Not Break Through Nor Steal For Where Your Treasure Is There Will Your Heart Be Also The Light Of The Body Is The Eye If Therefore Thine Eye Be Single Thy Whole Body Shall Be Full Of Light But If Thine Eye Be Evil Thy Whole Body Shall Be Full Of Darkness If Therefore The Light That Is In The Darkness How Great Is The Darkness No Man Can Serve True Master For Either He Will Hate The One And Love The Other Or Else He Will Hold To The One And Despise The Other Ye Cannot Serve God And Mama Therefore I Say Unto You Take No Thought For Your Life What Ye Shall Eat Or What Ye Shall Drink Nor Yet For Your Body What You Shall Put On Is Is Not The Life More Than Meat And The Body More Than And The Body Than Raymond Behold The Fouls
[19:38] Of The Air For They Sow Not Neither Do They Reap Nor Gather Into Barns Yet Your Heavenly Father Feedeth Them Are Ye Not Much Better Than They Which Of You By Taking Thought Can Add One Cupid Unto His Structure And Why Take Ye Thought For Raymond Consider The Lilies Of The Field How They Grow They Toil Not Neither Do They Spun And Yet I Say Unto You That Even Solomon In All His Glory Was Not Arrayed Like One Of These Where For If God So Cloth The Grass Of The Field Which Today Is And Tomorrow Is Cast Into The O Shall He Not Much More Clothe You O Ye Of Little Faith Therefore Take No Thought Saying What Shall We Eat Or What Shall We Drink Or Wherewithal Shall We Be Clothed For
[20:39] After All These Things Do The Gentiles Seek For Your Heavenly Father Knoweth That Ye Have Need Of All These Things But Seek Ye First The Kingdom Of God And His Righteousness And All These Things Shall Be Added Unto You Take Therefore No Thought For The Morrow For The Morrow Shall Take Thought For The Things Of Itself Sufficient Unto The Day Is The Evil Thereof Amen And May God At His Blessing To His Name To His Name The Praise Before We Sing Our Next Psalm Boys And Girls We're Going To Just Say A word To You In This Chapter That We Read Here It Reminds Us Of The Importance That
[21:39] Christ Gives To Having A Treasure In Heaven Very Often We Think That If We're Rich In This World Everything Will Be All Right I'm Sure Some Of You Would Be Very Envious Of The Lottery Winner Or Lottery Winners Who Won The European Lottery I Don't Know What The Amount Was But It Was Quite Quite A Lot Of Money A Hundred And Something Million Pounds They Tell us It's Life Changing And I Don't Doubt That For One Minute It Changes Lives Doesn't Mean That It Changes Life For The Good And Very Often We See That We're All The Same I Don't Leave Leave Anybody Out Of This We Think That If We Have More More Wealth That We'll Be Happier And
[22:40] Our Lives Will Be Better That's Not Always The Case If It Ever Is I Think In Sunday School You're Going To Be Talking About Abraham Or You Have Been Talking About Abraham Maybe Maybe Wrong But I Think You Have Been Now One Thing I Know About Abraham Was That God Called Him And It's Not Easy To Answer God's Call Because Sometimes When God Calls A Person To Do Something For Him It Changes Their Life And Abraham's Life Changed But We're Told About Abraham That He Was A Very Rich Man We're Told That He Had A Lot Of Sheep A Lot Of Cartel A Lot Of Silver And A Lot Of Gold And Yet He Had To Take His Wealth And Go Away From His Home And Where He Went He Was In
[23:41] Close Proximity To His Nephew Lot And We're Told That Lot Too Was Wealthy He Had Sheep And Cattle And They Together Were Wealthy Wealthy And You Think They Would Live Happily Ever After That's What The Fairy Stories Tell Us That Sometimes We Live Happily Ever After And Seldom The Case And It Wasn't The Case For These Two Relatives Their Shepherds Fell Out They Began To Quarrel Because They Didn't Have Enough Land Had A Lot Of Sheep A Lot Of Cartle But The Land Was More Than Well Not Enough For And I Think That Is Something That We Need To Remember I Think I Said It To You Before About The Wealthiest Man In The World At One Time
[24:41] He Was Asked The Question What Would It Take You To Be Happy Because Clearly He Wasn't Happy And His Wealth Didn't Bring Him Happiness What Would It Take You To Say That That You're Happier And His Answer Was A Little Bit More A Little Bit More I Don't Think He Ever Left This World Having A Little Bit More Don't Think He Was Ever Happy And That's One Thing That I Want You To Remember That Jesus Teaches Us That There Are Things That This World Does Not Have To Offer Us That Only He Can And Even If We Have Everything That This World Can Give Us And I Don't Think We'll Ever Get That We'll Never Have Enough Even If We Could
[25:41] Say This Is All The World Has For You It's Yours I I I Don't Think Even Then We Would Say It Is Enough But When Jesus Gives To His Own People Treasure Not Just For This World But For The World To Come He Says That Treasure Will Never Be Taken From You It's Lasting It's Permanent It's Mine To Give And Nobody Will Take It From You I Hope You Remember That That You Value The Things That Jesus Has To Give We're Going To Sing As you Go To Sunday School Now From Psalm 90 And At The Middle Of Verse 12 Singing To The End Of The Psalm The Middle Of Verse 12 And So To Count Our Days That We Our Hearts May Still Apply
[26:41] To Learn Thy Wisdom And Thy Truth That We May Live Thereby Turn Yet Again To Us O Lord How Long Thus Shall It Be Let It Repent Thee Now For Those That Servants Are To Thee O With Thy Tender Mercies Lord As Fairly Satisfy So We Rejoice Shall All Our Days And Still Be Glad In Thee According As The Days Have Been Wherein We Grief Have Had And Years Wherein We Ill Have Seen So Do Thou Make Us Glad For Let Thy Work And Power Appear Thy Servants Face Before And Show unto Their Children Dear Thy Glory Evermore And Let The Beauty Of The Lord Our God Be As Upon Our Handiworks Establish Thou Establish Then Each One These Verses From The Middle Of Verse Twelve Of Psalm Ninety To The End So To Count
[27:41] Our Days That We Our Hearts May Still Apply And So To Count Our Days That We Our Hearts May Still Apply To Earn Thy Wintergua Southern And We In S thoughts Everybody Wish Lord, how long those are with thee, let every day need our for those that servants are to thee.
[28:50] For with thy tender mercy's Lord has there be satisfied.
[29:05] So we rejoice, shall all our days, and still be glad in thee.
[29:23] The court in us, the days of thee, where may we be of God.
[29:41] A dear trevant will not sing, so do thou make us cry.
[29:58] For let thy heart come, Father, love me, thy shepherds is in awe.
[30:14] And show unto their children dear thy glory evermore.
[30:32] God let the beauty of the Lord have a glory that shall come.
[30:49] The long grain works, shall we fly? This cap 내려findeth each one.
[31:06] Can we turn back to Matthew chapter 6 and read again verse 19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal for where your treasure is there will your heart be also These words are part of what we know to be the words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that are given popularly the title
[32:08] The Sermon on the Mount and the verses are part of what Matthew records anyway it's also recorded elsewhere but in Matthew's Gospel beginning at chapter 5 it continues through to the end of chapter 7 Charles Price, one of the commentators suggests and not everybody agrees with him that this address is given by Jesus at a particular time in a particular place to a particular people and the reason he stresses that is because the suggestion is that what we have really in the Gospels is a gathering together of the wise sayings of Jesus things that he said periodically over his time and ministry and that these words were taken by somebody later on and collected and placed together now that may make sense to some but it's not necessarily the truth and certainly I don't believe it to be the truth of this particular section
[33:24] I believe that what Matthew records here is a discourse coming from the mouth of the Lord on one set occasion now it doesn't mean that what he said here that he didn't say it at other times or in other places because it would be inevitable that if there is a truth that is needed to be said that he would say it more than once and to more than one person or to many people and that's often the case that there is something that's worth saying it's worth saying again and I'm sure you appreciate that many people we are told were present and yet I believe that the significant thing is that these words were meant not just so that everybody could hear what he had to say but specifically that his disciples would hear and listen and take to heart the message that he had to declare it was specifically for them although everybody there is nobody excluded here today from these words every one of us needs to hear what Christ has to say to us and it was the same then all that were present and there were many hundreds if not thousands who gathered together to hear what Jesus had to say and every one of us as just as every one of them would benefit from hearing but the disciples needed to hear and they needed to take on board what he had to say and they needed to apply it to their lives and I think if you carefully read the Gospels and you carefully read the subsequent messages that came from those who have given to us the epistles like Peter and John and James that very often you detect some of these things that Jesus said being repeated by them and taught by them
[35:40] I think it's most obvious in the epistle of James if you read it carefully there is more than a vague recollection of what Jesus had to say it's as if James when he was writing his epistle had the picture before his mind of his Lord before him and the words echoing in his heart and mind as he taught others so it's important I think for us to understand that Jesus means us to hear what he has to say and he means us to understand it and he's got a good way of delivering it it fixes itself in our mind when you look at these two three verses they seem so ordinary he tells us lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt where thieves break through and steal don't do that do this lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt where thieves do not break through nor steal it's as if there are the Shambirah image there this is what you should not do this is what you should do and there's nothing complicated about it there's nothing that would make us struggle to understand what he is saying and that's often the case and Jesus wants us to understand something he doesn't make it mysterious he doesn't make it difficult to understand he makes it as simple as any one of us simple people are so that we can take it with us and we can then apply it
[37:36] I think that's where there is a short circuit very often in our lives I think there are a lot of people who have been listening to the word of God all their days and they're telling you and telling me I don't understand it I don't understand it I don't think it's a lack of understanding that is problematic to them but a non-willingness to apply what they understand too well so when Jesus says something like do something do this the person who hears what he is saying you know we mentioned Abraham there God said to Abraham leave Ur of the Chaldees it wasn't a question for Abraham to whether God said it or not he knew God said it there could have been a question for him why do you want me to leave this is where
[38:43] I live this is my home this is where my flocks are this is where I've got land a plenty I'm content here and you know that's the problem it's it's the next phase if you like you understand what's being asked but then you start thinking well what what is what are the consequences of my doing what Christ is asking me to do and very often that's the stumbling block we know what it is but we're not content to do it and I was thinking of this just thinking of how how Jesus spoke to the heart and those that he spoke to knew what he was saying you know you'll see that often not just by the positive response of some but by the negative response of others you know the Sadducees the Pharisees the legal eagles of the day when Jesus spoke and when he said something that didn't strike a chord with them they instantly responded but in temper in anger in fury because they didn't want to do what
[40:20] Jesus was saying they didn't want to believe what Jesus taught but when Jesus is speaking to you and to me we know that he's speaking to us it's interesting this is the way I was thinking of it when we when Jesus speaks to the heart it doesn't matter how he goes above it he can speak directly to you through his word obviously he can speak to you when the word is spoken by others this is what came into my mind that if you go back to the to those who were in the Carleway revival in the 30s not many of them alive today and you ask them about these days and they instantly speak about MacIver who was the minister in Carleway MacIver said this and MacIver said that and I remember as a young
[41:22] Christian and there were plenty of them about then who had been converted during the ministry of MacIver Carleway and was MacIver Carleway's minister remembered the word that he spoke but really if you analysed what they were remembering they were remembering the word of Christ to them through him the same later on if you wanted to explore our island you would find Christians who were converted during the ministry of John MacSween in Point and I knew I still know people who came to faith under that ministry or who were ministered to through that ministry and if you want to listen to them speak about their experiences they would say MacSween said this and Mac Swween said that but you want to listen to what MacSween said and what they were remembering was what Christ said through him it wasn't really the wisdom of these ministers that they were remembering it was the word of
[42:28] Christ that was so much making an impression on their hearts so when Jesus speaks to the heart it is something that marks a doubt as a word from himself now what does that got to do with what we hear well I want you to think of this word as a word that Christ has to say to you today in this place even though it was spoken by him years and years ago it is still a word that is living still a word that is lively lively in the sense of being able to stimulate interest in the things that Christ has to say what are the things that are most pressing on your own mind today I don't know what they are there could be many things but I'm sure collectively we're constantly reminded of the war in Eastern Europe between Ukraine and Russia we have an interest in it we see it on our televisions and I'm sure we're burdened by it and if you were paying attention last Sunday those of you were here
[43:41] I thought it was a startling bit of information to hear that part of Russia is further away from Moscow than we here in these islands are it's a startling bit of information it just shows you the size of that nation that Russia is a huge nation and that people who are part of that nation who live on the fringes of it are further away from its capital city than we are so when you think about that you think well if Russia the capital or the one who's president of that country can exert influence on those who are within its nations within its nation who are further away than we are but it shouldn't be as a surprise to us that we would be concerned if we wanted to extend that influence to reach ourselves here but there are other things that affect us with regard to this war we're concerned about the effect that it has on the people there obviously but it now exerts an influence on our lives on our well being because of the way that our lives have been turned upside down by it in one way or another
[45:14] Jesus tells us later on in this gospel if you remember he teaches his people he reminds his church that what we see today should not be a surprise to us in chapter 24 he says take heed that no man deceive you for many shall come in my name saying I am Christ and shall deceive men you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars see that ye be not troubled for all these things must come to pass but the end is not yet for nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places all these are the beginnings of sorrows and so on now Jesus teaches that he tells us that is the way things are going to be before he comes and he wants us to understand that as his people so that we will not be overly concerned but that doesn't mean that the concern is not there but we need to take your concern and put it into the context of what
[46:32] Jesus is saying this is what is going on this is what is happening as a Christian believer if that's what you are you can understand that Jesus is not oblivious to the fact that this is the kind of world that we live in and before he comes again to this world this is what we will see we will be seeing what we will be hearing about what we will be affected by what nation against nation and all the other things that he identifies there part of the outcome of that is the cost of living crisis you've heard about it and I'm sure you've been affected by it whether in real terms or just fearful of how things will work out if you've got a mortgage you might be worrying about whether you can afford to continue to pay the mortgage demands whether you've got a job whether it's going to last or not there are pressures brought to bear financially on our homes upon our families upon our communities arising out no doubt of the situation in
[47:51] Eastern Europe and we're seeing that now is Jesus speaking to us about the need that we have to dismiss from our thoughts these things that may be a concern to us well that's he never says that he never says to us these things should not be a concern to you as if they are not to be considered at all not to be recognized at all he is saying they have to be considered in light of what I have said to you in light of what I am to you the point of what he is saying here I think we look at it perhaps in terms of pounds shillings and pence but we have to begin by recognizing that what Jesus has to say to us while he is using this illustration which speaks about the things that are of value to ordinary men and women you know treasure treasure when you think about treasure what do we treasure usually we are thinking about something of monetary value and when we think of something like monetary in a monetary way we think of our wage we think of our bank balance we think of our future investments or whatever but
[49:39] Jesus is not a financial advisor that's not what he is telling us and that's not what we are meant to understand that's not where the emphasis lies the emphasis lies on where your heart is and what you give your heart to it's not really telling you about which bank to put your money in or which safe to have your goods in so that they won't be corrupted by the things that are in this world that can corrupt them I've said this perhaps before and I don't mind saying it again when we look back at our ecclesiastical history we see times of spiritual blessing in the church and on the church and when it very often are these times what was true was that many within the church were in a state of poverty they weren't well off and people say that the time of greatest spiritual blessing was when there was an appreciation of
[51:01] God and the poorest were those who appreciated God most most because they depended most on God now when you think of that when you listen to that said you might believe that what is being taught is that poverty brings spiritual blessing and riches bring spiritual dearth if we are poor we are going to be spiritually blessed and if we are rich we are going to be spiritually destitute now it doesn't necessarily follow there is no question but that amongst the poor and there were many poor within these shores within the highlands of Scotland within the whole of Scotland at one point there were many people who had a subsistence level of living they had a hand to mouth existence there were
[52:05] Christian people amongst them who were spiritually astute who understood that God said that all good comes from him and their reliance upon God was much in evidence but not all Christians who were poor followed that through to its logical conclusions and not all who were poor resorted to God because of their poverty nor is it true to say that all who were wealthy were unappreciated of God if you read again through the history of these islands and highlands you'll find that there were amongst it it was the wealth that ensured that that was true of them you read the most famous preacher in these islands in this talking about the united kingdom
[53:35] C.H. Spurgeon we have many of his sermons we have his own biography an autobiography and he tells you about working in London for example and the streets of London were rife with people who were impoverished and destitute and in desperate situations and yet his ministry was extended towards them and a great many of them rejected the gospel a great many of them lived on in their poverty with no thought for their soul so we can't think that it follows just because we're not wealthy that we'll appreciate the wealth that Christ has to set before us or vice versa what is Christ wanting us to understand he is wanting us to understand that rich or poor we are to be ready for eternity the emphasis on earthly treasure is contrasted with heavenly treasure and that is where it all lies if your treasure whatever it is is found and contained within this world alone you're in big bother if you put all your eggs in one basket to use another metaphor you've got trouble
[55:02] Jesus means you to understand that this world is just the world that you're meant to live in but the time that you have to live in it is limited and if you think that your world is going to end and your life is going to come to a closure body and soul the day you close your eyes in death you have not reckoned on the fact that when God created each one of us he created us body and soul and our soul we are told will return to God who gave it and the day of reckoning will come for all of us as to how we have lived in this world whether we have lived with an eye to eternity or not so what is Jesus saying Jesus is saying this that earthly treasures whatever they may be are subject to the evil influences the world can bring to bear on them humanly speaking we can understand that you know we have the power to generate wealth every one of us however we measure it whatever measuring stick we use
[56:21] I might think that I'm wealthy when another person who compares my wealth to theirs might think I'm on the bread line when you read of the richest men or women in the world today their wealth is astonishing comparatively speaking but the thing is that if we if we if we're going to limit what Christ has to say to this then we can see the logic of what he is saying that humanly speaking there is always a danger that these possessions that monetary wealth can easily be eroded if you remember back historically there was a time of the
[57:21] Great Depression after the First World War before the Second World War and there was what's called the Great Crash the Financial Crash and financial institutions they they were driven to their knees stocks and shares a lot of people had invested in them and they lost all their wealth overnight banks went to the wall businesses disintegrated people were queuing for the staples of life that happened perhaps to a lesser degree it's happened over the years but it just illustrates what Jesus has to say if you're one of these people who has discovered the fragility of putting everything on possessing wealth anything could happen to take it away from you but the day will come when everything will be taken from you as far as your wealth is concerned it's not going to be something you're going to hang on to death will take it from you
[58:39] Jesus Paul taught through Timothy or speaking to Timothy he was reminding him of the foolish notion of putting your trust in riches in 1st Timothy chapter 6 he says this charge charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy that they do good that they be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to communicate laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life now
[59:39] Paul wasn't present when Jesus was preaching the sermon on the mount but he certainly imbibed much of what Jesus taught and he's teaching it to others don't put your stock in perishable riches whatever they are whether it is monetary financial fiscal however you want to describe it it is you need to understand that whatever it is we give our heart to to the exclusion of God is foolish it is futile because these things have got a habit of diminishing in value whether it is friendships the wrong kind of friendships we might put a lot of stock in associations with people who may not have the best influence on our lives and if we invest heavily in that kind of relationship it will cost us in the long run because we must have an eye to what is beyond the immediate and how it influences our eternal destiny what Jesus is saying is this there is a heavenly treasure that is not affected by the miseries of this world if you ask yourself a question it is not a difficult question to ask you can answer it quietly you don't need to come to me with the answer but you can answer it anyway if you can answer it honestly what is it that you give your heart to what is it that you give your heart to
[61:37] I mean what is it that that absorbs your attention your affection your interest to the point of distraction that nothing else can can intrude upon it and very often we say well I love my family I love my home I love my work I love my community I love all of these things and very very clearly these things are not evil of in and of themselves they're not bad they're not things that that are anything but things that will commend you but if they absorb you to the point of distraction so that you give no thought to your soul that you give no thought to the Lord of your soul that you give no thought to the salvation that that Christ has to offer that you give no thought for the provision that he has set up for those who believe in him then you're doing yourself an injury you're doing yourself higher later on in this gospel
[62:53] Jesus again is conscious of the fact that a human you know Jesus was the God man and he knows what the humanity of man is made up of what it is like he's met men and women he's talked with them he's dealt with them he's encouraged them he's had to deal with individuals who've been trundled underfoot by the enemies of their soul he's had to deal with people who are broken who were discarded by their fellows and he knows the things that are a concern but again and again he has to encourage them to remember that while this world is all important there are things that they need to bear in mind with regard to the world to come you know these words
[63:55] Jesus said to his disciples if any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me for whosoever will save his life shall lose it whosoever will lose his life for my sake will find it what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul he doesn't stop there but he goes on for he says the son of man shall come in the glory of his father with his angels and then he shall reward every man according to his works one preacher uses this very simple illustration I've remembered it because of its simplicity and he said there was this elderly lady and she was making her way to church and she was on two sticks because her legs were crippled with arthritis and she regularly hobbled her way to church probably before the days of cars or buses or whatever and as he saw her struggle he asked her the question how did she manage how was she able to manage or she said my heart gets there first and my legs will carry me after my old legs will follow and this is what
[65:44] Jesus is getting at he's asking you and asking me to ask a question is that where your heart is we live in a world that understands more about investments than previous generations many of our forbearers would have nothing at all they would maybe wisely put some money aside for a rainy day but as to investing that was something that they were probably strangers to but now we need to think about future proofing ourselves we need to think about pensions we need to think about what if and yet strangely as a generation we are less inclined to think about future proofing our soul what about eternity Jesus teaches only one way we need to know him believe him trust him and be ready to be with him in eternity where we are told there are no thieves no rust no corruption what a picture of heaven is that the picture you have of heaven no rust no corruption no thieves well he's wanting you to understand the things that that would deprive you of the best of this world have no right there
[67:26] Douglas Millen puts it like this only the vaults of heaven are free from fraudulent dealing we're familiar with scams or plenty but Jesus Christ is not no scammer what he's saying is the truth what he's saying will come to pass what he's saying will be fulfilled in the experience of all who are his they will be with him where there is no rust no moth no corruption they will be with him where they will not be deprived of the treasure that Christ has endowed them with and if your treasure is in this world well if you have not realized it by now you leave it all behind you you won't take it with you your treasure the treasure that is of this world you won't take it with you and it's so sad to see so many looking at these treasures of theirs and putting their stock and putting their trust in them trusting their eternal destiny to them even when Christ says that's not the way may he encourage us to look to him for the way and to find in him the way the truth and the life let us pray
[68:48] Lord our God bless your world to us you are speaking to us through your world remind us of it pierce the shields the covers the preventative measures we have so that we won't listen won't hear what you have to say to us tear down the walls of our indifference of our of our stoniness in the face of the gospel make us realise that when you speak to us you speak to us the truth and you speak for the well-being of our soul watch over us we pray in Jesus name amen our concluding psalm is psalm 92 psalm 92 that describes to us what a believer is truly like as they come to the end of their days here in this world like the palm sheath flourishing verse 12 shall be the righteous one he shall like to the seed that grow that is in
[70:00] Lebanon those that within the house of God are planted by his grace they shall grow up and flourish all in our God's holy place and in old age when others fade the fruit still forth shall bring they shall be fat and full of sap and I be flourishing to show that upright is the Lord he is a rock to me and he from all unrighteousness is altogether free these verses like the palm tree flourishing shall be the righteous one but like the palm tree flourishing shall be the righteous one he shall thouFC saiyan in mine
[71:11] Eloy who suspended shit shall be host Glen host我也eth in her 그다음에 his Kim It shall flow up and perish all in the cross holy place.
[71:42] And then, O'er, when others say, it will be true or shall reign.
[71:59] In my life, I'm not born, O'er, when others say, To show that the Christ is the Lord, He gives the wrong to me.
[72:32] And King, from all the righteousness, is all to heaven King.
[72:53] And now may grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit rest and abide with you all now and always. Thank you.