[0:00] Welcome to the service this morning.
[0:12] We join together to worship God and we look to Him to bless His word to us. We're going to begin our service singing Psalm 51, verses 1 to 7.
[0:26] Psalm 51, from the beginning. Psalm 51, from the beginning.
[1:26] We can sing these verses to God's praise. Psalm 51, verses 1 to 7.
[1:39] After Thy lovingkindness, Lord, have mercy upon me. After Thy lovingkindness, Lord, have mercy upon me.
[1:57] For Thy compassion, grateful God, of Thy iniquity.
[2:12] Be cleansed from sin and through reward. For Thy compassion, O God, of Thy iniquity.
[2:27] For Thy compassion, O God, of Thy compassion. For Thy compassion, O God, of Thy compassion. For Thy compassion, O God, of Thy compassion.
[2:39] Thy compassion, O God, of Thy compassion. For Thy compassion, O God, of Thy compassion. Thy compassion, O God, of Thy compassion. For Thy compassion, O God, of Thy compassion. Thy compassion, O God, of Thy compassion.
[2:51] Thy compassion, O God, of Thy compassion. Thy compassion, O God, of Thy compassion. Thy compassion, O God, of Thy compassion.
[3:02] Thy compassion, O God, of his them. Thy compassion, O God, of Thy compassion. Thy weapons are diminished. That patience, O God, of Thy compassion. Thy love, of ThyO's name.
[3:13] Thy compassion, O God, of Thy compassion. For Thy compassion, O God, of Thy compassion. creed for thyatiable My mother also be daunted and hurted as an sin.
[3:46] Behold, thou living in work parts with truth's delighted heart.
[4:01] I wish, thou thou shalt make me know where they the hidden part.
[4:17] Do thou with this love bring your feet, I shall be cleansed so.
[4:32] Ye wash the way, and then I shall be whiter than the snow.
[4:52] Let us join together in prayer. Let us pray. Amen. Gracious God, as we come before you, we give thanks that there are those who sang these words who can speak of that as a personal experience of confession of sin and genuine contrition and repentance for it.
[5:23] And that under the hand of your own spirit. We acknowledge that every one of us can confess sin, but not with the same deep-seated experience of knowing what sin is.
[5:45] And how truly repulsive it is in the eyes of a holy God. And how it can appear so to ourselves were we to be under the teaching and the instruction of your own Holy Spirit.
[6:06] We marvel at your forbearance when you look upon us as sinners. We may think ourselves to be a cut above the rest, whoever the rest may be.
[6:21] We may measure ourselves against the lowest of the law in order to give credibility to our standing. And that is just a futile exercise when we know that the eye of the all-seeing God is upon us from head to toe.
[6:39] We know that our language and our communion and communication with others is before your eye as always.
[6:53] And we confess that we are not as we ought to be, even in the eyes of those that walk with us. But we are before the eye of a holy God and a God who not only sees what is true of us outwardly, but what is true of us in the inner being.
[7:19] That you know our heart and our heart is desperately wicked. That we do not understand it ourselves, but you know it. That we confess that our need of salvation is great.
[7:33] And you have made that known to us through your word. And as we meet in your name today, we do so with the understanding that we are able to remember one who bears the name Saviour.
[7:53] And do so with the name of the Lord. And do so as those who meet in his name on a day that marks that he rose from the dead.
[8:06] That he was crucified and slain by the hands of wicked men. That he was buried and that he knew death until he rose from it triumphant.
[8:23] Victorious over the grave. And we celebrate that event even on our gathering each Lord's Day.
[8:34] And we bless you and thank you. That we remember a living Saviour. One who was dead and yet who lives. And who lives forevermore.
[8:47] We marvel at how blind we are to the genuineness of that declaration of your word.
[8:58] We ask Lord that you would open our eyes even today as we read your word. We pray for your blessing upon the congregation with whom we gather.
[9:10] All present. We pray for them according to the needs that they have. Be they temporal or spiritual. We know that you are aware of all our needs.
[9:25] The cares and concerns that we have for our own. For our homes. For our families. Our elders. And our children.
[9:37] And their children's children. We pray for them. Any for whom we may be concerned. We pray that you would bless us as we think of them.
[9:50] And that as we bring them before you. May we know the wisdom of committing them to your care. Especially those amongst us who are unwell.
[10:01] Those who form part of the communion of saints. And of the community at large. Some confined to their homes. Some who are found in hospitals.
[10:13] Some in the hospice. We have all kinds of illnesses. Overtake us from time to time. Some for which recovery is not possible.
[10:24] We ask Lord that you would be with each and every one. According to the need that they have. And that whatever else they are aware of.
[10:35] They may be aware of the goodness of those who are entrusted with their care. They may be aware of the patience of those who are caring for them.
[10:49] Within the home. And in visiting them within a hospital context. Those who support them in different ways.
[11:03] But may they be especially mindful that there is the great physician. The one who has promised to be near to his own. And to be so in a meaningful way.
[11:16] We also bring before you the sorrowing. We are so used to hearing of death. Speaking to us in different ways.
[11:29] And in recent days we have seen. Some that we have known during our own time in this world. Removed from the scene of time into eternity.
[11:41] We would ask that those who grieve their passing. Those who mourn their passing and are grieved. Because of the visitation of death.
[11:53] That you would support them and encourage them. May those who have been taken from here. To be in the near presence of God.
[12:04] Be remembered with a hope that is not despairing. May we understand the meaning of that. That when your loved ones are with you.
[12:21] You are fulfilling a promise to them. That you would take them to be with yourself. That where you are they may be also. We pray Lord for your blessing on the gospel.
[12:34] That bring these truths to our attention. May we claim them as our own. And may we submit to your guiding hand. In taking us into these truths.
[12:45] To understand the implication of them. We ask that you would remember. The island community of which we are a part. That you would pour out your spirit upon us.
[12:57] As you have done in times past. That the day of power would be something that we recognize. The bearing of your arm.
[13:08] And the fearful. Dreadful. Implications of that. For those who resist. That power.
[13:19] We pray for the blessing of the gospel. To be shared. Not only within our communities. But in our nation. And beyond.
[13:30] We confess that as a nation. We have gone distance from you. We have closed. Our eyes. To the gospel. Turned our backs upon.
[13:42] The proclamation of truth. And embraced all manner of. Foolishness. In its place. And not realizing that the darkness.
[13:53] That has overtaken us. Is greatly. Because of. The resistance that there is. To the truth of God.
[14:06] And in its place. That anything. Will be acceptable. Remember. Remember the world in which we live. And in all the.
[14:17] Different ways. In which the awfulness of. Of sin. Is seen. We see. Ongoing. Hostilities.
[14:28] In. The Middle East. And in Europe. And. In our own. Cities. And towns. Insurrection. And.
[14:40] Resistance. To the. Rule of law. We. Can only see. The enemy. At the heart. Of all these things. And the.
[14:52] Wickedness. That is. Sin. In the. Way that men. And women. Treat each other. On the properties. Of others. So.
[15:02] Hear our prayers. And bring peace. Where there is peace. Where there is peace. Bring calm. Where there is storm. Bring. Healing. Where there is. Wounds.
[15:14] Bring the light of your countenance. To shine upon us. And lift up your name before us. In order to secure our salvation. Guide us in the truth.
[15:25] As we sing it. And as we read it. And as we proclaim it. Forgive our sins. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. We are going to sing again.
[15:38] To the praise of God. From Psalm 91. Psalm 91. Verses 1 to 6. He that doth.
[15:49] In the secret place. Of the most high. Inside. Under the shade of him. That is. The almighty. Shall abide. I of the Lord. My God. Will say.
[16:00] He is my refuge. Still. He is my fortress. And my God. In him. Trust. I will. Assuredly. He shall thee save.
[16:11] And give deliverance. From subtle foul. Or snare. And from the noise. And pestilence. His feather. Shall thee hide. Thy trust. Under his wings.
[16:22] Shall be. His faithfulness. Shall be a shield. And buckler. And to thee. Thou shalt not need. To be afraid. For terrors of the night.
[16:33] Nor for the arrow. That doth fly. By day. While it is light. Nor for the pestilence. That walks. In darkness. Secretly. Nor for destruction. That doth waste.
[16:44] At noonday. Openly. And so on. These verses. Psalm 91. Verses 1 to 6. He that doth. In the secret place. Of the most high.
[16:54] Beside. He that doth. In the secret place. Of the most high.
[17:08] Beside. Under the sick. Of the highest.
[17:20] The mighty. He is my fortress. He is my fortress. My God. I love the Lord. He is my fortress.
[17:33] He is my fortress. He is my fortress. My God. He is my fortress.
[17:46] My God. The dead. And thus I will.
[17:57] He to Stop.
[18:14] From south to south, north, south, and from the north, the north, the north, the north.
[18:30] His feather shall be high, the cross of God, His way shall be.
[18:45] His faithfulness shall be the shield of the love to thee.
[19:02] I shall not lead to thee, the free of heaven shall the night.
[19:17] Nor for the battle, O Thou Thou Thou Thou, by day, my riches high.
[19:33] Nor for the pestilence of all, in darkness he greatly.
[19:49] Nor for the destruction, that of which a good may open thee.
[20:08] Going to hear God's word as we find it in the New Testament scripture, in the book of Acts. The Acts of the Apostles, chapter 28, the last chapter of the book.
[20:27] The book of Acts, chapter 28, we'll read the whole chapter. And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita.
[20:39] And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness. For they kindled a fire and received us every one, because of the present rain and because of the cold.
[20:52] And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on a fire, there came a backer out of the heat and fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.
[21:17] And he shook off the beast into the fire and felt no harm. Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly. But after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.
[21:36] In the same quarters were possessions to the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and lodged us three days courteously. And it came to pass that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever, and of a bloody flux, to whom Paul entered in and prayed, and laid his hands on him and healed him.
[21:58] So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came and were healed, who also honoured us with many honours. And when we departed, they laided us with such things as were necessary.
[22:17] And after three months, we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux. And landing at Syracuse, we tarried there three days, and from thence we fetched a compass, and came to Regium.
[22:37] And after one day, the south wind blew, and we came the next day to Purtioli, where we found brethren, and with desire to tarry with them seven days.
[22:50] And so we went forward, went toward Rome. And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us far as I before him, and the three taverns.
[23:01] And when Paul saw, he thanked God and took courage. And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard. But Paul was suffered to dwell by himself, with a soldier that kept him.
[23:16] And it came to pass that after three days, Paul called the chief of the Jews together. And when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans, who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me.
[23:47] But when the Jews speak against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar, not that I had ought to accuse my nation of. For this cause, therefore, have I called for you to see you, and to speak with you, because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.
[24:07] And they said unto him, We neither received lectors out of Judea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came showed or spake any harm of thee. But we desire to hear of thee.
[24:21] What thou thinkest for us concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against. And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging, to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets from morning until evening.
[24:48] And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. And when they agreed, not among themselves they departed. After that Paul had spoken one word, well spake the Holy Ghost by the size, the prophet, unto her fathers, saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive.
[25:19] For the heart of this people is watched gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
[25:36] Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves.
[25:52] And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.
[26:10] Amen. And the Lord had his blessing to the beginning of this world. To the same be the praise. We're going to sing now verses from Psalm 73, from verse 23 to the end.
[26:27] Psalm 73, from verse 23. Nevertheless, continually, O Lord, I am with thee. Thou dost me hold by my right hand, and still upholdest me.
[26:42] Thou with thy counsel, while I live, wilt me conduct and guide, and to thy glory afterward receive me to abide. Whom have I in the heavens high, but thee, O Lord, alone?
[26:56] And in the earth of my desire, besides thee there is none. My flesh and heart doth faint and fail, but God doth fail me never. For of my heart God is the strength and portion forever.
[27:11] For, O, they that are far from thee forever perish shall. Them that are whoring from thee go, thou hast destroyed all. But surely it is good for me that I draw near to God.
[27:24] In God I trust that all thy works I may declare abroad. These verses, Psalm 73, from verse 23 to the end, Nevertheless, continually, O Lord, I am with thee.
[27:39] Never, O Lord, never, O Lord, I am with thee. You are my God with thee.
[27:56] Thou hast me on by my God, and share kingdom's name, and for my heart For me let alone the death of ainsi but while I am I willкам zij home with me hum McComlland harangai and spend The glory of the Lord Please sing me to my heart Upon my end of heaven's night But in the Lord alone
[29:00] And in the earth Who my desire Besides the earth is numb My flesh and heart Doth think of fear But God just filled me there For all my heart God will suspect A portion forever For Lord May the God Thou from me For ever
[30:01] Can you come And God Thou pouring From the cold Thou hast And God Stood For it All But truly It is good For me That I I Thou near To God In God Thou Thou Lord Thou For thy words I may declare a cross.
[30:59] We can turn to the book of Acts, chapter 28, and we'll read again verse 24.
[31:10] And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.
[31:29] We're familiar with the writings of the Apostle Paul, because he was a prolific writer of God's word and the direction of the Holy Spirit.
[31:45] The epistles that bear his name testify to that, so we're familiar with much of what he has to say. Anesthetics, you could say, are multifaceted.
[31:59] We have many things to teach us. Many words that are designed to instruct and inform and encourage the Lord's people.
[32:19] On occasion, his message is to tackle head-on those who are bringing misinformation and who are intent on corrupting the word of God.
[32:37] But we believe that the most important part of what the Apostle was doing was preaching the gospel.
[32:49] That was what was most important to him. No doubt God intended him to construct the church, to prepare the church in the ways that we described, so that they too would in turn preach that gospel and present that word of truth to others.
[33:16] But we can see in the chapter that we read that he was somebody who stood out in his own generation, who stood out in different ways because of the qualities that he was endowed with as a servant of God.
[33:36] We read in chapter 28, 28 verse 23. When they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodgings, to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets from morning until evening.
[34:03] That was what was important. He wanted to tell people about the Lord Jesus Christ, to do so in the light of what God's word said about him.
[34:16] The final verse of the chapter again tells us the same thing. Preaching the kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ.
[34:29] With all confidence, that was what he delighted in. That was what he rejoiced in doing. And having understood the gifts and the graces and the powers that he possessed and the message that he clearly presented, you would anticipate that the word that he came to them with, the truth that he presented so clearly, would have resulted in 100% success.
[35:13] That the gospel would yield fruit to the glory of God so that all who would hear Paul's message, all who would hear the gospel as preached by Paul, with clarity, with understanding, with perspicuity, with confidence, with certainty, and all that accompanied that, those who listened to Paul, those who heard this word, would be convinced by it.
[35:44] And yet, the word of verse 24 says different. Some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.
[35:57] And that's the bottom line. That's the way things are. That's the way things were. And that's how things will continue to be.
[36:09] Some believe, and some don't. And to those who believe, I think that it is a mystery, why that should be.
[36:32] And those who believe it to be mysterious, are forgetting that many of them were in the same boat for so long, that they too refused to believe.
[36:50] They too did not believe. And here we, I want us to think about this thought, just present this thought in as narrow a way as possible.
[37:06] But realising that when Paul makes use of the scripture to preach Christ, and he does that, he goes to the Old Testament, and his knowledge of the Old Testament allows him to present a fully odd picture of Christ, who he was, and what God had promised him to be, and how he would come, and what he would do when he came, and what he would accomplish by coming.
[37:38] And his knowledge of the scripture allowed him to do that. But his knowledge of the scripture also said to him, and he understood this not to excuse him, not to give him a way out, as it were, but to help him understand the reality of how things stood.
[38:10] That when he preached the gospel, as he was obliged to do, as he was required to do, as he was called to do, that it would always be the case that those who heard the gospel would not receive it.
[38:29] And even in this passage, we are reminded of that. And Paul is quoting this passage not to give himself relief, as it were, because he was distraught by the thought that there were those who would hear the gospel and refuse to believe it, because he understood perfectly the implications of not believing.
[38:53] And I would sincerely hope that any minister of the gospel would not in any way be anything other than saddened by the thought that having preached the gospel to however many, that there would be people there who heard that gospel and refused to believe it, because it is a grief, it is a sadness, because of the implications that accompany that.
[39:25] And Paul describes to us how the prophet Isaiah spoke the words of God.
[39:40] Go unto this people and say, Hearing you shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing you shall see and not perceive. For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
[40:05] And that's a picture that we have of the resistance that there is to the gospel.
[40:18] And Paul wants to heighten the responsibility of the Jewish hearers to repent and not be like their forefathers who rejected the word of God and ended up rejected themselves.
[40:41] And that rejection was entirely down to what they refused to do. So there are three things I want us to think about.
[40:56] First of all, that salvation is made possible by reason of the gospel. Salvation is made possible by reason of the gospel.
[41:10] Secondly, salvation is made possible by reason of the power of God. And thirdly, what God has made possible by way of the gospel and by means of his power is rejected by reason of unbelief.
[41:36] By reason of unbelief. So these three thoughts I want us to act as a framework for the service this morning.
[41:49] you've often heard no doubt what the gospel is all about. The gospel is the good news of salvation to sinners by means of Christ Jesus.
[42:07] It is the gospel of God's grace because God is entirely responsible for it. in every possible way the gospel comes to us by reason of God's grace.
[42:30] Simply put, if we remind ourselves of the greatest verses we have in the New Testament we read in John chapter 3 that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
[42:50] God gave. That was God's act of grace. He didn't have to give his son. He didn't need to give his son. He gave his son and it is an act of his grace.
[43:07] The same gospel tells us that greater love has no man than this that a man laid down his life for his friends.
[43:18] Speaking about the grace of God as it is in Christ Jesus. Christ died on the cross for sinners. His death was a death that he willingly experienced for this reason.
[43:38] Now the thing is this, if we take these words for granted, if we take the gospel for granted, does it not occur to us that it is a wonder that God should remember us at all?
[44:00] why should it seem to us who have been beneficiaries of the blessings of the gospel throughout our lives, many of us here, many of us if not all, maybe there are visitors here, I can't see everybody, but I know that most of the congregation here have grown up with the gospel, they've grown up hearing about Jesus Christ, they've grown up being taught the truths that are necessary to help our understanding of the need of salvation and where it is to be found, and probably we think I have this by right, this is something that belongs to me, I've always had it and there is no reason why I can't continue to possess it, and yet if you read about the way the gospel comes to people for the first time in different parts of the world when the gospel comes to be preached, proclaimed, expounded, explained in whatever way the recipients of that news who hear it for the first time, they embrace it with great delight, they embrace it with a measure of understanding that seems amazing to us that it would do that, and yet we hear
[45:53] God speaking to us through his word, and it's as if, well I've heard it on before, does it not remind you of the words that we find accompanying the text here, the people of God, the Jewish nation, the people who grew up and who were instructed exhaustively in God's preparation, in God's promises, they came to believe that they were, these, these provisions were there of right, and they despised the promises, and they lived as if, well they'll be ours anyway, and yet what happened was, the reality of their circumstance, their situation was they rejected God, and as we said, God ended up rejecting them.
[46:58] The fact that his own people rejected him, does not mean that you are any more liable to receive God's gift in the gospel, gospel, than they were.
[47:19] If your attitude to the gospel is the same as theirs, you are no more entitled to God's blessing than the Jewish nation were, because it was his grace that brought the news of salvation, or the promise of salvation, to them, and they grew up, and despised it, and rejected him, they crucified him, but you're no better if your stance, if your attitude, if your relation to him is the same as theirs.
[48:08] verse 26, go unto this people, and say, hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive, for the heart of this people is watched, gross, and their ears are dull of hearing.
[48:28] just note this, not the outcome of what took place, but the fact that remains the same, that the gospel is the gospel of God's grace.
[48:45] The messenger of the gospel comes to you with the message of the gospel, because God sent that message to you by means of his own servants.
[49:01] Go unto this people. It is always God who sends the gospel. It is always God who opens the gospel truth to you, but the expectation is, the requirement is, the need is, that God, whose word it is, be believed.
[49:22] and those who do not believe it, do not believe it willfully, do not believe it with the understanding that, you know, we're all educated, we're all with the ability to understand what the word of God is saying to us, and we're dismissing it and saying, well, I don't believe it, I don't believe that it has any, any implications for my future well-being.
[49:50] It doesn't really mean much to me that this gospel has been preached to me. We are so used to this privilege that we believe it to be ours of right, and it is nothing of the sort.
[50:09] We are to be saved by the preaching of the cross and nothing less, and God ordained that to be so, however foolish it may appear to us, because God means salvation to be by way of the cross, however foolish that may appear to our intellect.
[50:42] It's the gospel of God, which he has seen through it, to allow you to hear, to hear about his son, to hear about the means of salvation through him, to hear about heaven, and to hear about hell.
[51:01] that is your privilege. But it is also the power of God unto salvation, and I think that is something that is also amazing.
[51:17] I think it's amazing that we are in a privileged position, because we still are in these communities able to have access to the gospel, and to be persuaded that there is a need for it.
[51:31] maybe the number is shrinking, maybe the importance that people place upon the gospel is diminishing and lessening.
[51:44] I don't think there is any doubt about it. But when you compare it to our cities and our towns, and you see the churches that are used for other means, and for the Sundays that are the same days as every other day, there are so many people there and, you know, they need the gospel, they need to hear the gospel, but they don't have the opportunity to hear the gospel.
[52:15] Not in the same way you do. Not in the same way that they have access to the reformed teachings of God's word that insist that salvation is by Christ and Christ alone.
[52:33] But it is God's word and it is God's way and it is God's power. And that is amazing that God should choose the preaching of the gospel to be the means of salvation.
[52:49] Bishop Ryle, Church of England, Bishop of her past generation, who was a renowned preacher of the gospel himself, he insisted in his own day and the same is true in ours.
[53:09] the victories of Christianity wherever they have been, have been won by distinct doctrinal theology. By telling men of Christ's vicarious death, that is, death in their place and sacrifice, by showing them Christ's substitution on the cross, by teaching them justification by faith and bidding them believe on a crucified saviour, by preaching ruin by sin, redemption by Christ and regeneration by the Spirit.
[53:49] I sincerely hope you don't question the doctrines that this man believed in and taught in his own generation. It's what we need to hear today.
[54:04] But it is God's way of salvation and it is God's power to save that is at the heart of the gospel. The gospel is to be preached to all and all who hear the gospel preached are to hear the word that tells them to come to Christ and to believe in Christ as being the answer to their sinful condition.
[54:31] And it's to everyone. However we want to divide the congregation today or however we want to think about it was Jew or Gentile, Protestant or Catholic, whether we think of it as rich or poor, left wing or right wing, whether we think of religious or atheist.
[54:59] They all need to hear the gospel. Oh, you're saying religious. Oh yes, there are many religious people who think that they don't need to hear the gospel. Because they're religious.
[55:12] They've got some notion of God and they've got some appreciation of parts of God's world and the religion is out there. But their relationship to Christ is the relationship of the gospel.
[55:28] is it the relationship of faith? Is it the relationship that teaches them that their sin has condemned them and the Saviour needs to redeem them from the guilt of their sin?
[55:46] And it is the power of God that makes this possible. Something that is humanly impossible.
[55:58] you are to believe and you are like the person that Christ confronted and he said, Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief.
[56:18] And maybe you're saying to yourself, I want to believe, but I'm not able to believe. and in many respects what the Bible tells us is something that is impossible.
[56:36] And some people take comfort from the impossibility of it as being a secure place where they can hide because the minister is telling me I must believe, but the Bible is telling me that I can't.
[56:56] And because the Bible is telling me I can't, then surely it is somebody else's responsibility to make me believe. And you're right in a sense.
[57:08] You know, when you read Paul elsewhere, he says, because of what we are by nature, we cannot understand spiritual things because we are devoid of understanding. as Bishop Ryle explains there, to those people the word of the cross is foolishness.
[57:29] The blindness, the deafness, the willful inability is what marks us out by nature. But it is not an excuse for not believing because God is the God who is powerful to save to the uttermost.
[57:50] And your inability should direct you to the all-powerful God who makes you able to believe. Your inability should tell you, I can't believe and I'm not able to move myself from this position of unbelief to this position of belief that needs to happen, then surely that should say to you, well, where can I go?
[58:19] Who can I go to? What can I do to change this position of unbelief? If you are in reality understanding that you are in this position of unbelief, that is your position.
[58:37] You believe not, and you are saying to yourself, I believe not, therefore somebody else has to answer because of my refusal to believe.
[58:50] And you find a suitable reason in the scripture because the scripture tells you what you are by nature.
[59:03] But the scripture directs you to God and the power that God has to save in Christ Jesus. Something you can't do, something I can't do for you, he directs you to believe in that God.
[59:20] I know I've told this story before, I've mentioned it on more than one occasion. An elder that was in my congregation in Kalanish who grew up in the time of revival or who was still in Graver at the time of revival, he belonged to Marvik, and when the spirit of God was working, he was intrigued and he went to services that were mostly house services, because he was curious, he wanted to find out for himself what all the fuss was about.
[59:57] People were being converted and he wanted to see for himself what this was all about, and he went. And he left the house, whether people were converted on that occasion or not, one thing that he was convinced of, and he confessed as much, that when he left that home where God was at working and people were falling, swooning down in front of them, because the spirit of God was working in the lives of some.
[60:30] He says, nothing was more certain to me on that occasion than that there was no God. That there was no God. But you say, minister, did you not call him an elder?
[60:45] what happened? When did he become an elder? Well, he left these islands and went to Glasgow and he went his merry way there as an atheist, as somebody who had no understanding or no desire for the gospel, but he met God in Glasgow.
[61:08] And the God that he met in Glasgow convinced him of his sin, convinced him of who Christ was and saved him from his sin. And the God he did not believe, and the God he did not want to believe, became a saviour.
[61:25] And nothing but the power of that God could change him from what he was to what he became. God made it possible.
[61:38] And if there are Christians here today, and I sincerely hope there are, if they are here and I know they profess their interest in Christ, their relationship to Christ, what has changed them from being what they were is the power of God in Christ Jesus.
[62:01] They experienced that power for themselves, they entered into a relationship with that Christ that they did not have before then, and it was only by reason of the power that he exerted upon them that changed them from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the marvelous light of Christ Jesus.
[62:24] the kingdom of the dear son. And that is what God does.
[62:35] He does it still. And he can do it for you if you're still in darkness. He can bring you to light. He can shatter your hard heart, indifferent heart, the heart that says to you, oh come on, I'm as good as the rest, even better than some.
[62:59] Well if you continue and you're Christless and you're building on your own goodness, the day will come when that will be challenged, not by me, not by anyone like me, but by the God who sent his son into the world to be the gospel of salvation to sinners.
[63:22] The gospel that was preached to you and God will challenge you about that gospel and where you are in relation to the son of which it speaks.
[63:36] And if it is true of you that you are someone who does not believe, can I just ask you what exactly do you not believe?
[63:51] What do you not believe? Do you not believe in the passion of Jesus Christ? Do you not believe that such a passion existed?
[64:05] Do you not believe that such a gospel has been preached? Do you not believe that you need such a gospel to be preached? Do you not believe that your status before God is that of a sinner?
[64:18] preparing for a lost eternity? Do you not believe that God is able to save you from that by means of his sin? Well, sometimes I wonder what people do prefer.
[64:39] You know, some people prefer to live as they are, as unbelievers rather than to change, to become something that they clearly are not.
[64:55] It's not a mystery that people reject being healed, preferring to continue in the power of disease rather than be converted.
[65:09] converted. I've actually met people. I always remember them and it was quite enlightening how some people were more afraid of being converted than they were of going on as Christians or being taken from what they were to be Christians.
[65:36] can't understand it. But that's the way some people thought. They were afraid of losing something that they felt was worth hanging on to.
[65:53] What do you have in your unconverted state that is worth holding on to? if it means that you will lose your soul by doing that very thing.
[66:11] What do you think? Is there anything in your life that is worth sacrificing your soul for? And clearly there must be.
[66:23] Clearly there is. Otherwise you would surrender yourself to Christ at once. many would embrace anyone or anything rather than embrace Christ.
[66:40] And I think that's strange. God's word tells us what it is all about. The prophet Jeremiah in the Old Testament he was sent with the gospel in his own day sent with the good news of God to our people who needed to hear it, who needed to believe it, who needed to change their ways.
[67:07] And this is what he said. Behold, he said, the word of God is a reproach. The word of God is a reproach.
[67:19] They have no delight in it. God is a God and that is the Lord's message is offensive to them and they do not like it.
[67:35] They do not like it. Is that the way it is? The Bible tells us straight how things are. Some believed the things which were spoken.
[67:51] Some believed not. I was re-reading the account of the late Douglas Macmillan's conversion and how he was raised in a godly home and how he received instruction from his mother and from his father and how he went away from that and toyed with atheism and toyed with the doctrines of Fred Clydeside and all that came with that.
[68:26] And how he was sucked into that and taken away. from the blessings that he in a way believed in his youth.
[68:42] And that happens in the lives of so many. They hear God's word and they believe God's word in a way. They believe it in a way.
[68:54] But the more they become embroiled in the ways and the thoughts and actions of the world which has no time for the gospel.
[69:10] The message of the gospel is offensive. Don't dare offend a person today with the gospel. Listen to their thoughts and their language and their attitudes.
[69:23] views. And it's a free for all. Anybody can say what they like, believe what they like, but don't dare present the gospel to them because it offends, because it is something that they don't want to hear.
[69:45] Don't want to hear. are you allying yourself with them? Are you allying yourself with them today? I don't want to hear about Christ.
[69:57] I don't want to believe in this Christ. I don't want to trust in this Christ. I want to go on as I am without any shackles, without any chains binding me to beliefs that are old heart, something that belongs to a long lost generation.
[70:18] Well, they're not lost. If anything, they are more in the light today than any other.
[70:31] Well, may God challenge you to ask yourself the question, do you believe the things which the gospel has spoken to you from the day that you first heard it.
[70:48] Some of you are younger, some of you are older, but you think back to the words that you have heard, which are the words of life.
[71:00] Do you believe them? And if not, why not? Because they are the words of life. Christ Jesus and he alone is the means by which God saves sinners.
[71:15] Let us pray. Here is our blessing through your word. We trust in you, the powerful God, the one who is able to save to the others.
[71:28] Cleanse us in Christ's Redeemer's name. Amen. The closing Psalm is Psalm 48.
[71:41] Psalm 48. And we're singing from verse 10 to the end. From verse 10 to the end. O Lord, according to thy name, through all the earth thy praise, and thy right hand, O Lord, is full of righteousness, always.
[72:00] Because thy judgments are made known, let Zion mouth rejoice. Of Judah let the daughters all send forth a cheerful voice. Walk about Zion, and go round the high towers thereof tell.
[72:14] Consider ye her palaces, and mark her bulwarks well, that ye may tell posterity, for this God doth abide. By God forevermore he will even unto death as guide.
[72:27] these verses, Psalm 48, from verse 10 to the end. O Lord, according to thy name, through all the earth thy praise. O Lord, according to thy name, through all the earth the earth balkers, in thy righteousness always because Because I can't let thou be known, let Zion run with light.
[73:25] All through thy legs and shoulders off, send forth thy cheerful voice.
[73:43] Walk up at Zion and glory, the high church there of hell.
[73:59] Concerning the Father's Son, of my God, all works well.
[74:17] But ye may tell, O Spirit, for this God of the night.
[74:34] The God of the Lord, for this God, in heaven to the earth, the sky.
[74:55] 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.