[0:00] Well, good evening and welcome to the evening service. We're going to begin our worship this evening by singing in Psalm 51.
[0:13] Psalm 51. And we're going to sing from the beginning of the psalm.
[0:30] After thy lovingkindness, Lord, have mercy upon me. For thy compassions great blot out all mine iniquity.
[0:43] Me cleanse from sin and throughly wash from mine iniquity. For my transgressions I confess, my sin I ever see. We're going to sing to the end of the verse marked seven from the beginning.
[0:56] After thy lovingkindness, Lord, have mercy upon me. After thy lovingkindness, Lord, have mercy upon me.
[1:20] For thy compassion, Lord, have mercy upon me. For thy compassion, Lord, have mercy upon me. And this water, God, my iniquity.
[1:37] Me cleanse from sin and throughly wash from mine iniquity.
[1:54] For my transgressions I confess my sin I ever sin.
[2:14] Can't see the only horizon in thy sight of the cell.
[2:32] But when the sea starved, she just found the angel in jail.
[2:50] The old dying iniquity was formed the womb within.
[3:07] My father also is on shift in guiltiness of sin.
[3:25] The old dove in the inner heart with truth delight in art.
[3:42] And wisdom thou shalt give me no within thy hidden heart.
[4:00] You thou brothers of victory, I shall be cleansed so.
[4:17] You thou shalt be, and then I shall be quiet, let thou know.
[4:38] Let's join together in prayer. Let's pray. Our gracious and ever-blessed God, as we seek to draw near to you again at this evening hour, we're again mindful of the fact that we continue to need your Holy Spirit and that we need words to formulate the thoughts that we find within our hearts.
[5:06] Because although we believe that you're not dependent upon anything that we say to you, because you're the all-seeing God, it's not because you need us to tell you anything in order for you to know.
[5:22] It's so that we ourselves may be instructed as to who you are and to what our great needs are. And we know that the Holy Spirit is able to make intercession for us with groanings that cannot be adored.
[5:38] When our experiences surpass our own understanding and our ability to convey what we feel within our hearts, we know that when we come together as we're gathered here in a public means of grace, that the groanings of our hearts will not edify anybody else.
[5:59] So we're needing words. And we're asking, Lord, that as you supply these words to us, that these words would have meaning, that they would proceed from the experiences that we find within our hearts, and that we would come not seeking to impress you with our own righteousness, because we know that you cannot be impressed with anything that we do.
[6:28] And we're thankful that you've revealed that for us, because we know that if we thought for a moment that we could deceive you, and that we could present a righteousness which we thought would be acceptable to you, that we would no doubt be tempted to do that, because of the deceitful and desperately wicked hearts that we possess.
[6:52] We're thankful, O God, that your Holy Spirit has revealed to us that this is the case concerning us, and that you have revealed to us that you cannot be deceived, and that you cannot be mocked.
[7:08] So we're asking, O Lord, that you would help us to humble ourselves, and that we might come to throw ourselves wholly upon your mercy, and that the essence of our prayer would be, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner, because that is the truth concerning everything that proceeds from our hearts, because we know that we are sinners, and we know that we cannot present anything that's going to give you any glory.
[7:40] But in your mercy, you've made it possible for us to be accepted into your presence. You've made it possible for us to be instructed by your own Holy Spirit, because you've promised that all of your children would be taught by you.
[7:57] So we're asking, as we come into your presence this evening, that you would give us teachable spirits, that you would not allow us to come into your presence thinking that we have nothing to learn, and thinking that we are sufficient in what we've already received, because we know, O Lord, that we are ever in need of your grace, that we need your grace daily, and that we need to grow in our knowledge of who you are daily, and in our knowledge of who we ourselves are, and what our needs are.
[8:35] So we pray, Lord, that you would indeed instruct us in the way that we're to go, that you would be pleased to help all who have gathered here this evening to focus their minds and give their attention to the word which you speak to us from your own book, because we believe that it is your word, and we believe that it's through your word that you speak, just as we speak through words.
[9:05] And we're asking that you would help us to hear that it is the voice of God speaking to us, that you would give us, O Lord, to give heed to what we hear, and that you would prevent Satan, who has gathered with us, to disrupt our worship, and to prevent us from hearing what you have to say to us, that you would pull him to your footstool, and remind him of the victory that Christ has had over him, and that he has absolutely no right and no power to seek to influence the minds of your people.
[9:46] We're asking, O Lord, that you would deliver us from the influences that he would seek to impose upon us, that he would not be able to distract us by filling our minds with the cares and the concerns that we might have in this world, legitimate cares and concerns, but illegitimate when we come into your presence to worship, because we know that they can detract from what we endeavour to achieve.
[10:20] And we know that it's a favourite strategy of Satan to bring what appears to be very lawful and very legitimate for us to be concerned about and for us to think about, only so that we might not hear you speaking.
[10:36] So as we gather for this hour that we're to be together, we pray that you would give us rest, from the temptations of Satan. We pray that you would help us to cast the cares and the concerns that we have in this world over onto yourself, as the God who's able to carry all of our burdens, the one who's able to watch out for all of the responsibilities that have been placed upon us when we're endeavouring to walk in the path of obedience, and when we're seeking to use the means that you've supplied so that we might receive your grace.
[11:18] We're asking, O Lord, that we would indeed be able to use it for that reason and that we would receive the grace that you're willing to bestow upon us. We're asking, O Lord, that you would unite us together in one spirit and in one mind, that our desire would be that we would be successful in presenting a worship that's acceptable in your presence, as we come through your Son, Jesus Christ, dependent upon the leading of your Holy Spirit as he leads us into the truth, so that our worship would be indeed in spirit and in truth.
[11:58] We would commit ourselves to you as a congregation here in Covenish, asking that you would be pleased to bless the congregation, bless all who are associated with the congregation, and bless the witness of this congregation in the community.
[12:16] We commit them to your care, and we pray, O Lord, that you would be pleased to raise up more from within the community and draw them into your own kingdom.
[12:27] We know that Jesus was concerned for those who were yet out with the fold, that they might be brought in, and we ask that we would have a similar concern, that we would be concerned for those whom we know and those whom we don't know, and that if there is rejoicing in heaven over one sinner that repents, that you would give us to share in that blessing by seeing sinners coming to yourself, repenting of their sins, and putting their faith in Jesus Christ as their Saviour.
[13:02] Lord, that would be a great blessing for your church here to receive, and we pray that you would bless them with numerous blessings of that kind. We ask, Lord, that you would remember us as a nation, that you would be merciful to us, because we know that as a nation that we have drifted far and long away from the foundations that made us at one time a great nation.
[13:29] And we're asking that you would, in your mercy, raise up a standard against the tide of iniquity that has come upon us like a flood, and that you, O Lord, would arrest that tide and reversion, and that you would raise up your own kingdom and bring down the kingdom of darkness, and that you would install people that would be filled with the fear of God in places of authority, where they would be able to influence others.
[14:03] Lord, we would ask, therefore, that you would remember those who are in positions of authority, that they would repent of the ungodly laws that they've been passing for the last number of years, and that you would help them to look to yourself for guidance and for wisdom as to how they ought to lead the people in a way forward that would be to your glory and would be to the spiritual and eternal benefit of the people, that the nation would again be exalted in your righteousness, and that we would see days of revival and renewal.
[14:42] We remember those who are sick, who belong to the congregation. We remember the elder that was taken into hospital, Angus Smith, and we ask, Lord, that your hand would be upon him, that your hand would be upon those who are ministering to his physical needs, that you would give them the necessary skills that would enable them to get to the root of the matter that has caused him the difficulty.
[15:09] And we ask, Lord, that in your mercy you would be able to give them a remedy so that he might be restored back to health. And we pray in a similar vein for all who are sick in the congregation, those who are housebound.
[15:25] We ask, Lord, that you would draw near to them. And we ask that you would help them to commit all their cares and concerns to you as the God who cares for them and is willing to hear their prayers and not only to hear their prayers but to answer them according to your loving kindness.
[15:46] So we ask, Lord, that you would be with us as we wait upon you here this evening, that you would lead us and guide us and that our worship would glorify your name and that you would be pleased to bless us with the enjoyment of the salvation that is in Christ.
[16:04] Lead us to these ends. Have mercy upon us for our sins. For we ask it in Jesus' precious name. Amen. We're now going to sing in Psalm number 40.
[16:21] Psalm number 40. And again we're going to sing from the beginning of the psalm. Excuse me.
[16:34] I waited for the Lord my God and patiently did bear. At length to me he did incline my voice and cried to hear. He took me from a fearful pit and from the miry clay and on a rock he set my feet establishing my way.
[16:51] Down to the end of the double verse Mark 5. From the beginning. I waited for the Lord my God and patiently did bear. I waited for the Lord my God and patiently did bear.
[17:19] I waited for the Lord my God and patiently did bear.
[17:32] I waited for the Lord my God and patiently did bear. I waited for the Lord my God and patiently did bear. He took me from a fearful pit and from the fighting pit and from the fighting pit and on a rock he set my feet.
[18:03] He put a new song in my heart Amen.
[18:30] He shall see it and shall be it, and on the Lord be lying.
[18:47] O blessed is the man who's just upon the Lord be lying, his great begging on the proud nor such as to earn the side to lies.
[19:21] O Lord, my Lord, O millennium, the wonders of Russia, thy gracious hope to us, were God, how all the lost are gone.
[19:55] Ignore the nun, come, read of them, to thee if them give air, and speak of them, my Lord, the Lord, that can be never done.
[20:33] We're going to read God's word in the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 2. Mark, Chapter 2. Mark, Chapter 2. Mark, Chapter 2.
[20:47] Mark, Chapter 2. And we can read from the beginning.
[21:01] And again he entered into Capernaum after some days, and it was noise that he was in the house. And straightway many were gathering together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them.
[21:13] No, not so much as about the door. And he preached the word unto them. And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was born of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was.
[21:30] And when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
[21:43] But there were certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, Why does this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only?
[21:54] And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
[22:05] Whether it is easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise and take up thy bed and walk. But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on the earth to forgive sins, he saith to the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
[22:27] And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all, insomuch that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, We never soared on this fashion.
[22:40] And he went forth again by the seaside, and all the multitudes resorted unto him, and he taught them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me.
[22:55] And he arose and followed him. And it came to pass that as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many, and they followed him.
[23:10] And when the scribes and the Pharisees saw meat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth with, and drinketh with publicans and sinners?
[23:21] And when Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
[23:35] And so on. May God bless to us that reading from this whole world. We're now going to sing in Psalm 32. From the beginning of the psalm.
[23:47] Psalm number 32. O blessed is the man to whom is freely pardoned all the transgressions he has done whose sin is covered.
[24:02] Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not to sin, and in whose spirit there is no guile, nor fraud is found therein. Again, we're going to sing to the end of the double verse, Mark 5.
[24:15] From the beginning. O blessed is the man to whom is freely pardoned. O blessed is the man to whom is freely pardoned.
[24:38] All the transgressions he has done to save his family.
[24:53] let's sing in the name of the Lord. O blessed is the man to whom is freely pardoned, the Lord imputeth not to sin, and in whose spirit there is no guile, Oako O, I hope will all day long,
[26:00] For upon me, O day, A night-lamp yet very light, So that my heart should burn The tears of my shudder by.
[26:34] I dare upon love To thee, dear, my servant, A religion.
[26:51] A night-lamp yet very light, With thee I am from the earth.
[27:05] I will confess unto the Lord My best practices, say, die, And all my sins and grief For heaven is with thee.
[27:38] We're going to turn back to Mark chapter 2. And we're going to focus particularly on the words that we have in verse 5.
[27:55] When Jesus saw the faith, he said unto the sick of the policy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. So we've read in this passage of how poor friends brought a man that was paralysed to Jesus.
[28:16] And the first question that we want to ask of this narrative is, what real purpose did Jesus have in performing these works of healings which consumed so much of his time whilst he was here on earth?
[28:35] And what was the relation to his great plan of redemption for sinners? It's quite obvious that they weren't meant to reduce by direct interference the world's suffering.
[28:53] Because if that was the object, we would have to say that he failed miserably. Because he was only touching the edge of the sufferings that people suffer in this world.
[29:08] The difference that he would make by healing the people that he healed was minimal in comparison to the multitudes of people that were suffering.
[29:20] So we must look elsewhere to find the key to why the Lord had a ministry of healing whilst he was in this world.
[29:35] And I think in this passage we can find that key. He answers in verse 10 the reason why he was doing this that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.
[29:59] That was the purpose that Jesus gave for his willingness to heal people that were sick with the infirmities that he healed amongst the people that he did heal.
[30:17] That's the reason that he healed this man that was paralysed when he told him to arise and to walk. It was to prove to those who were sceptical of his ability and power to forgive sins.
[30:34] and he gives them the evidence that this would prove to you that I have the power to forgive sins by my commanding this man to take up his bed and walk.
[30:51] So by accepting that that's the key to the meaning of Christ's works of mercy we can follow that right through his ministry here in this world.
[31:07] As he went about doing good and as he went about healing those people who came to him with their various ailments and casting out the evil spirits what we find is a ministry that was being demonstrated by visible signs that he came to restore men's souls because what we have in Jesus is God manifest in the flesh though God cannot be seen because God is a spirit and for us to understand what God is like Jesus came in the flesh we can see what God is like we can see what God would do in the circumstances that we sometimes question what would God do here and what we have to ask ourselves is what did
[32:12] Jesus do in that situation and when we see what Jesus did we have the answer that's what God does because this is the work of God and he's giving us a visible manifestation of the way that he deals with men's souls because his primary purpose for coming into the world as we said was not to heal people of their physical ailments his primary purpose for coming into the world was to ensure that sinners could be forgiven for their sins so what we see in the sicknesses that are brought before him is sin manifest in the flesh the damage that sin has done to us because it was as a result of sin that all of these diseases and ailments entered into the experience of man there would be no sickness there would be no death and Satan wouldn't have any influence over us had man remained faithful to God and in the state that he was first created so what we have is a picture of what
[33:35] God is able to do for us spiritually because by nature we cannot walk in the paths of righteousness so when Christ healed people like this man who were paralysed the spiritual significance that is brought before us is that Jesus can help us to walk in the paths of righteousness he has that power when people are unable to do the works of God which is true of all of us when we see him healing people who had withered hands it's to bring before us that Jesus can enable us to do the works of God when he heals us from blindness spiritual blindness so that we might see God when he healed those who were deaf signifying that we can hear God and we could go through every ailment that he healed and see the spiritual significance that is being brought before us just as
[34:45] God made himself manifest in the flesh we see in these healings and miracles what Jesus is able to do when we see sin manifest in the flesh and how Jesus can heal us he can even heal us from death itself because that's how we all are by nature we're all spiritually dead in trespasses and sins well here's one that can raise the dead so this is the key to understanding the purpose of the healings that Jesus performed whilst he was in this world we need to look to the spiritual significance as he'll go on to demonstrate to the people that were present when he healed this man that was paralyzed the first thing that we need to understand that if we are seeking to be healed spiritually we need faith faith was necessary for him to perform the miracles that he performed because we read of him in chapter 6 of Mark's gospel that he wasn't able to perform any miracles because of their lack of faith isn't that amazing
[36:13] God manifest in the flesh unable to perform any miracle because of their lack of faith so faith is necessary in order for us to receive the spiritual healing that Jesus is able to give us these men carried this man that was paralysed on a sheet and they laid him down before Jesus now when they came to the house we read that there was a great crowd gathered the house was full up of people round about the house was full up of people there was no way that they were going to get anywhere near Jesus but they had the faith that would remove mountains they weren't going to be put off by the difficulties that arose to prevent them from coming near to Jesus and that's the kind of faith that Jesus is looking for faith that will persevere against all the odds because you can rest assured that as soon as you endeavour to draw near to
[37:31] Christ that there will be difficulties and obstacles put in your way to prevent you from coming to Christ as soon as you desire that you're going to begin to pray Satan will fill your minds with reasons that are far more legitimate in your mind for you to perform than exercising your right to pray and draw near to Jesus well these men weren't going to be put off by the difficulties they were going to persevere they came here to have their friend healed and they weren't going to go away without seeing their friend being healed they could they said they could easily have said they could have said there could have said they could have easily said we can't go up onto the roof and lay him down taking this man's roof apart what's the owner of the house going to say about that now you can rest assured that
[38:46] Satan would have implanted all of these excuses into their minds why they shouldn't persevere in their endeavour to draw near to Jesus and to lay their friend at the feet of Jesus but their faith wasn't going to give up because they believed that Jesus was able to help their friend and they weren't going to go home until they received that help and Jesus saw that faith in them and as soon as he saw that faith he blessed it because we read immediately that he saw the faith of the people that carried their friend and placed him in his presence that he said to the man son your sins are forgiven you and that's the second thing that we want to consider the compassion of Jesus now
[39:49] Jesus obviously spoke to this needy man with exceptional concern and tenderness and that was in contrast to the teachers of the law who were sitting there because Jesus was concerned for people but more importantly he saw that this man's real need was to have his sins forgiven him and Jesus had the power to forgive his sins and he went straight to the heart of the matter and he pronounced his sins forgiven him because Jesus not only has the power to heal bodies which is what was evident as he went about his healing ministry he wanted them to understand that's not my real ministry that's not the real reason that
[40:51] I came into this world the real reason that I came into this world is to make it possible for sinners to have their sins forgiven and I have the power to do that and he exercised that power immediately and the man received forgiveness of sin very often when people call upon God it's exactly for the reason that these people brought their friend to the feet of Jesus it wasn't for forgiveness of sins that they came they came for healing they came so that he might heal him of his paralysis and this is so often what makes people in the world pray to God when their health is threatened they might begin to pray to
[41:55] God then because they believe that God is maybe able to heal them and to restore them or maybe when their plans are going amuse and things aren't working out the way that they wanted it to work out maybe they'll start praying to God then that he would intervene and make things work out for them but that's not the real reason that ought to bring us to the feet of Jesus I know that that's a very popular gospel that's being preached in our own day the prosperity gospel where people are invited to come to Jesus so that they will have health and wealth but Jesus doesn't guarantee that he's going to give us perfect health or that he's going to make us wealthy because that wasn't the reason that he came but one thing he will guarantee is that if we come to him for forgiveness of sins that he is able and willing to forgive us our sins because that's our greatest need and that was this man's greatest need not the fact that he couldn't walk that was a problem but it wasn't his greatest problem was that he was a sinner and that his sins had not yet been forgiven and
[43:26] Jesus goes to his greatest need and pronounces the man's sins forgiven because he had a great depth of concern he's not that concerned with our physical health he's more concerned with our spiritual health because that's what needs to be rectified first and foremost that our souls might be restored because if our souls are restored then our bodies will yet be restored in the resurrection the bodies that are going to crumble and go back to the dust and buried in the earth and the weakness that we experienced will be raised in power the bodies that were dishonorable will be raised honorable the bodies that were natural bodies will be raised spiritual bodies and the bodies that will be raised will be glorified bodies bodies that will never again experience the ravages of diseases and death bodies that will live in the vitality of youth for all of eternity because that's the gift that
[44:49] Christ has come to earn for his people eternal life eternal youth eternal happiness eternal joy eternal peace because that's what the work of Christ has earned for those who acknowledge that they're sinners and that they are in need of being restored in their souls from the ravages that sin has brought about in their souls it would be of little use for this man if Jesus had merely healed him from his paralysis and left him still in his sins that would be the same as offering somebody that had only a few minutes left to live a million pounds what's the use of a million pounds to somebody who's only got a short time to live it's worthless to him what he wants is life what he wants is a cure for the problem that's going to kill him and all the material possessions of this world will not be sufficient to give him what he really needs if he's that close to death now
[46:11] Jesus came to save us from death he came to save us from the consequences of sin and from the power of sin and this is what he demonstrates to this man and to the people that were present this is the reason that I came it wasn't to heal people of their diseases and he doesn't heal the man right away he goes straight to where the man had his greatest need and he forgave him his sins and what what we want to look at next is the authority that Jesus has in verses 6 and 7 we read that there were certain scribes sitting there reasoning in their hearts why does this man thus speak blasphemies who can forgive sins but God only now there was nothing wrong with their theology nobody can forgive sins except
[47:21] God but they could have come to another conclusion in their reasoning if this man is forgiving sins this man must be God but they didn't think of that and this is what Jesus wants to demonstrate to them that he is the Messiah the son of God that came into this world not to heal people of their physical ailments but to forgive them for their sins and to make it possible for them to be forgiven so that they will not die the eternal spiritual death that their sins deserve they didn't reckon on that the religious leaders like so many religious leaders in our own day had a problem in believing that this is what God is really like there are so many religious leaders in our own day who find it hard to believe that God is a compassionate
[48:28] God that God's delight is to show mercy compassion that God doesn't want to bring us to the judgment because if he wanted to bring us to the judgment to condemn us to hell we would be already in hell he's in no hurry Peter tells us that the reason that he's so long suffering is that he's willing that none would perish but that all might come to repentance because God's desire is that he would show mercy and compassion to sinners the reason that he sent his son into the world was to seek and to save sinners because he didn't want them to perish now the religious leaders didn't deal with sinners in that way and they found it very hard to accept that this new upstart of our religious leader was pronouncing forgiveness of sins on people that were being brought to him because that's not the way that they would deal with anybody that didn't live up to their standards but that's the reason that
[49:41] Jesus came into this world they didn't like that and that was ultimately the reason that they had him put to death because they didn't like the message that he brought God because it detracted away from their self importance and pointed to the importance of having a relationship with God and pointing to a God centred life rather than a self centred life and the need that all sinners have of being saved they accused him of blasphemy but he had the answer for them and he sent them a challenge in verse 9 we read his answer to them whether is it easier to say to the sick of the policy thy sins be forgiven thee or to say arise take up thy bed and walk well obviously the easiest thing to say to this man was your sins are forgiven you because that couldn't be proved one way or the other whether his sins were forgiven or not so it could be easy for anybody to make that declaration but in order to prove to you that
[51:12] I have that authority I'm going to heal this man and then he goes on to tell the man take up your bed and walk in other words he's saying to the people I can't prove that the man has his sins forgiven because you can't see into his heart but in order to prove it I'm going to perform a miracle that will show you that I have the power to do as I command and he commanded the man to arise and to walk and that was the purpose for all of his miracles it was to confirm to attest to the fact that he was the savior of this world that he was the one who came out to this world to deal with man's biggest problem it's not global warming it's not the war that we've had the biggest problem man has in this life is his own heart because everything that we see happening in the world comes forth from the heart of man and that's what causes so much misery in the world that's why our creation is so scarred and messed up it's because of man's greed and self centredness because the biggest problem that the world has is the sinful heart of man and he came to deal with the biggest problem that we have to restore our souls to bring us back into a right relationship with
[52:56] God so that we might experience the blessings that we could experience had we remained in obedience with God but giving us a second chance to put our hope and confidence in him and that he will deliver us that he can restore us and that the image will yet shine perfectly by the time that Christ comes back because that's the hope of the Christian even although we can't fully understand it because it goes beyond our understanding even John in his old age couldn't fully understand the fulfilment of his hope but this is what he said we're looking to the coming of Christ because when Christ comes again we shall be like him we don't know yet what we will be but we know this that when
[53:58] Christ comes we will be like him why was he assured of that he believed that Christ had the power to restore he believed that Christ had already forgiven him for his sins he believed that Christ was continuing to bring forth the work of sanctification which would prepare him for the glorification that would take place when Christ comes again and if we're not prepared to go to heaven rest assured we're not going to heaven we need to be justified in other words we need to be put right with God we need to have our sins forgiven we need to be sanctified the depravity of our nature needs to be dealt with sin needs to be halted out we need to crucify the flesh we need to have the word of God restore us so that we will be glorified when
[55:01] Christ comes again and we will be like him because if we're not like him we're not going into heaven because nothing can go into heaven that will define it and unless we have been prepared then we won't experience it but we can experience it and it's quite simple we just come to Christ ask him to forgive us for our sins and ask him to restore our souls and to prepare us for himself so that when he comes again we will be ready to go in with him to receive the kingdom that he's prepared for his people from before the foundations of the world is that your hope well if it's not yet your hope it can be your hope because it's possible with God may God grant that he would bless to us these thoughts let's pray our gracious and ever blessed
[56:05] God we give you thanks for the great gift that you gave to this world when you gave us your son and we give you thanks for the willingness that your son showed in coming and being prepared to offer up the ultimate sacrifice so that it would be made possible for you to be reconciled to us having our sins forgiven and for your peace to flow into our hearts and knowing that where you begun the good work that you will carry it on until the day of Jesus Christ so that although we're not yet what we want to be we know that when he comes again we will be exactly what you purposed us to be we shall be like him lead us to these ends have mercy upon us for our sins for we ask it in Jesus name amen we're going to conclude by singing in Psalm 86 on page 340 oh sorry that's
[57:08] Psalm 86 I thought we had the blue books we did Psalm 86 from the beginning oh lord do thou bow down I hear and hear me graciously because I sore afflicted am and damn in poverty because I'm holy let my soul by thee preserve be although my God thy servant save that puts his trust in thee again we're going to sing to the end of verse five from the beginning of the psalm oh lord do thou bow down thy ear and hear me graciously oh lord do thou bow down thy ear and hear me graciously because thy soul have made the damn man down and over this because thy holy let my soul moyen beholdchnet me o ther own power thy sermon saith thong du saith unto thee saith unto thee
[58:59] I give thee thy be merciful to me.
[59:12] Rejoice thy severance, O Lord, Lord, I lift my soul to thee.
[59:29] For thou art vicious, O Lord, I'm ready to forgive.
[59:46] And with generosity, O Lord, I'm ready to forgive.
[60:03] Amen. We pray that it will be blessed to all who have attended these services.
[60:39] And we seek that the Lord would continue to bless his ministry in Garapost as he goes on there. We're also grateful to all the visitors who have joined with us over the weekend.
[60:52] We have missed, over the last number of years, having the privilege of meeting together during a communion season. And although it has been resumed just a short while ago, we do appreciate the fellowship that we enjoy with God's people and the world.
[61:11] And in the company of the Lord's people outside in their homes. And we pray that each one who has been able to enjoy that over the weekend would appreciate it for what it is.
[61:27] Even as we see it diminish before our eyes. We're grateful in the manse to those who have sent gifts there. It's much appreciated. And again, we pray that God would bless all that has been done in his name over these few days.
[61:48] Finally, the Kirk Session will close with the benediction at the end of the service. Just let me know. Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father and fellowship of the Holy Spirit, and we stand and abide with you all, now and forevermore.
[62:09] Amen.