[0:00] Thank you so much for your worship this evening. As I mentioned this morning, your information is all, I think, on the notes you'll receive this evening as you came in. There's no need to answer these.
[0:10] So, let us worship God and let's bow for a moment and pray. Let us pray. Almighty and most loving Father, as we draw near to Thee now this evening hour, we pray thee to presence thyself with us and to abide with us, for it is the warm evening and the day is far spent.
[0:33] Yet, Lord, the day has been thine own, the first day of a new week, the first of a new month. And we thank thee, Lord, that our times are in thine hand. As a new week and month begins, yet an old year draws toward its close.
[0:49] And we thank thee that hitherto thou hast helped us. Lord, we ask thy blessing in our time together this evening, that though we be gathered in thine house, yet, Lord, all will be but in vain if thou gather not with us.
[1:04] So abide with us in presence thyself and give us of thy spirit, we pray. And in the giving of thy spirit, take away from us all the distraction, noise and tumour to the world, that it all may be laid aside, that we may be still and know that thou art God.
[1:22] So go with us into this time of worship. Sanctify our gathering. Bless us together. And forgive us for all our sin. For Jesus' sake. Amen. We sing to the Lord's praise in Psalm 66, Psalm 66, of which we would sing the verses Mark 1 to 5, that is the first four stanzas.
[1:41] All lands to God in joyful sounds. Aloft your voices raise. Sing forth the honour of his name and glorious make his praise. Sing unto God how terrible in all thy works art thou.
[1:53] Through thy great power thy foes to thee shall be constrained to bow. And so on to the verse 5, come and the works that God hath brought with admiration see into working to the sons of men.
[2:04] Most terrible is he. These first four stanzas from Psalm 66 to God's praise. All lands to God in joyful sounds.
[2:19] sing forth the honour of his name and glorious make his praise.
[2:42] Say unto God, O Jehovah, in all thy works art thou.
[2:58] Through thy great heart thy foes to thee shall be constricted above.
[3:14] All on the earth shall worship thee, they shall thy grace proclaim.
[3:30] His songs they shall sing cheerfully unto thy holy name.
[3:46] Come on the works that God has wrought with admiration, see.
[4:02] In warning to the sons of men, O Jehovah, in all thy works art thou.
[4:20] Let us pray. O Lord, most loving and gracious, thou who in thy mercy hast bitten us draw near to thee, hast spared us once more unto this hour, that we, O Lord, may draw near to thee in the house of prayer, and that thou, O Lord, hast come and have you to draw near unto us.
[4:46] O, we thank thee for this great privilege. None of us knows what a day may bring forth, nor if we shall open our eyes upon the morrow of which we have no promise.
[4:59] But we thank thee, Lord, that tonight, on the Lord's day, the Holy Sabbath, that thou hast caused us to be found where we ought to be and where we desire to be, in the house of prayer, in the house of God, and with the Lord's people.
[5:17] So, Lord, we know that even if this were to be our last night of the Lord, there is nowhere we would rather spend the time, nowhere we would rather be than with thee.
[5:31] For indeed, if we be in Christ, it is upon thee that we shall open our eyes in eternity. If we be in Christ, it is with thee that we shall be rejoicing and worshipping, through all the rest of the fullness of our life that awaits when this earthly veil is done.
[5:51] But if we are as yet outside of Christ, Lord, and enable us to treasure this time, and to recognise that thus we go as near to thee as it is possible to be on this earth, and yet we pray that through thy word and spirit thou would speak to our hearts, and that thou wouldst awaken our conscience, our soul, and our need of thee, that we may lay hold upon Christ even this very night.
[6:21] For we know that thou art present amongst thy people, as thou hast promised to be wherever two or three are gathered in thy name. And so, Lord, we adore thee now. And as we adore thee, we lift up the name of Jesus, whom we love above all things.
[6:38] We lift up the name of the Holy Spirit, and we lift up the name of our Heavenly Father. And thou, blessed and eternal Trinity, as we adore thee, the eternal free-in-one, we pray thee, be amongst us, move in our midst, and grant us thy blessing tonight.
[6:56] For even as we draw near to thee, Lord, in adoration, we confess also how often we have sinned against thee in thought and word and deed.
[7:07] We know how even in this thy own day we have fallen short of all our good intentions for us. We have left undone things we should have done. We have been all too ready to do things we ought not to have done.
[7:22] We have spoken what we ought to have kept silent, and we have been quiet when we ought to have spoken out. We have withheld a word of kindness, of encouragement, when we ought so easily to have given it.
[7:36] We have failed, O Lord, time and again, to be those who now call us to be, the sons and daughters of the living God. We have failed to witness for thee, and as ambassadors for thee.
[7:49] And we are truly sorry, Lord, for all the ways we have fallen short in this past week and in this time and day. And we ask thee then to forgive us, to forgive us graciously, and to wash and cleanse us in the precious blood of Christ, our Lord.
[8:07] We thank thee that there is forgiveness with thee, that our mayest be feared. We thank thee, Lord, that there is grace in the gospel of Jesus, that is sufficient for all the needs of all who would come unto thee now this time.
[8:23] So, Lord, help us, and bless thine own holy word as we read it and sing it. Bless, O Lord, the gathering together of thy people here and in all places where they do gather.
[8:35] And do thou receive, Lord, our confession and our repentance. And give us thankful hearts. O Lord, we thank thee for this congregation and people.
[8:46] We thank thee for the witness they have been here this past half century. We thank thee, Lord, for the ministers and the office bearers and the members and heathens who have served and witnessed here over these past decades.
[9:01] And now, Lord, in this period of vacancy, as we look now to the future. We pray thee, Lord, to guide and lead by thy own spirit this thy people, that they may be led to ask, to seek, to approach the man of thy choosing and anointing.
[9:20] And that thou, Lord, wouldst likewise be preparing him, perhaps unsettling his heart wherever he may be, perhaps giving him a desire for the island or for this place, Lord, that thou wouldst lay it upon his heart in a hundred little quiet ways.
[9:39] And so be preparing your way. And so be preparing, Lord, to unite and to join this people and the pastor of thy choosing. We know not what thy future shall be, but we know that thou holdest it in the palm of thine hand.
[9:56] So, Lord, we thank thee for thy sovereign control over all things. We thank thee, Lord, that our plans are in thy hand. We thank thee for the forgiveness of sin and for the promise of salvation.
[10:10] We thank thee, Lord, for the blessings of the past and for the hopes of the future. And we pray that now, in the midst of this present hour, thou, the God of eternity, wouldst fill it with thy presence and thy spirit, that the sacred and holy name of Jesus would be precious to us, and that thou, Lord, wouldst be very much in the midst tonight through thy word and spirit together.
[10:38] Hear us then, we pray. Forgive our many sins. Wash and cleanse us in the precious blood of Christ, our Lord. For we ask it all in his name and for his sake.
[10:48] Amen. We sing again to the Lord's grace, again in Psalm 66, this time in verse 8, to verse 15. That is five signs of it.
[10:59] Psalm 66 at verse 8. Ye people, bless our God, allow the voice speak of his grace. Our soul and mind, and safe, preserves our fruit and sliding stays.
[11:10] For thou in its proof I'll try as long as men in silver trying. Roll its guts into the net and make bands on our loins to lie. And so on to the verse 15.
[11:21] Burnt sacrifices of fat lambs, with incense I will bring, of bullocks and of goats I will present an offering. These five signs, verses 8 to 15, from Psalm 66, to God's proof.
[11:33] He people, bless our God, the Lord, the Lord, speak of his grace.
[11:51] Our golden light, your safe, preserves, heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard heard The net of days has longed the roids to rise.
[12:43] The hands of men, right to all our heads, and all that we can pass.
[13:00] Through pride and hope and yet the cross has to a wealthy place.
[13:18] I'll bring her always to thy house, to redeem my God, child King.
[13:36] Which by this such art might not be, when God belongs to me, But sacrifice the soft and ground, which the sight will be.
[14:11] I'll hold the Lord, I'll stand, I'll go, and I will praise the hand of the King.
[14:33] Let us read together from God's words. We find it in the scriptures of the New Testament. In the first letter of St. Paul to the church of Thessalonica. 1 Thessalonians chapter 3.
[14:44] And we'll read the whole of the chapter. That is verses 1 to 13. 1 Thessalonians 3, beginning of the first verse. Hear the word of God.
[14:57] Wherefore, when we could no longer forbear, We thought it good to be left at Athens alone, And sent to Malthus, our brother and minister of God, And our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, To establish you and to comfort you, Concern your faith.
[15:15] That no man should be moved by these afflictions. For yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. For verily, when we were with you, We told you before that we should suffer tribulation, Even as it came to pass, and ye know.
[15:28] For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, Lest by some means the tempter hath tempted you, And our labor be in vain. But now, when Timotheus came from you unto us, And brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, And that ye have good remembrance of us always, Designed greatly to see us, As we also to see you.
[15:52] Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you, In all our affliction and distress by your faith. For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord. For what thanks can we render to God again for you, For all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes, Before our God, Night and day, praying exceedingly, That we might see your face, And might perfect that which is lacking in your faith.
[16:17] Now God himself and our Father, Now Lord Jesus Christ, Direct our way unto you, And the Lord make you, To increase and abound in love, One toward another, And toward all men, Even as we do toward you.
[16:32] To the end he may establish your hearts, Unblameable in holiness, Before God, even our Father, At the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, With all of his saints.
[16:43] Amen. May the Lord add his blessing to this meeting of his own, Most holy Lord. Let us again pray. Our gracious and loving God, We thank thee for the blessings of thy word.
[16:57] And as we have read it together tonight, We want to thank thee that we have it, In our own languages. We want to thank thee, Lord, For those who have laboured in the past, To translate the word of God into Gaelic and English.
[17:12] For those who have laboriously, Written it out, And got the sense, And the nuances of each language, Who have been instrumental in the printing, And typesetting, And binding, And distribution, Of the word of God in the past, And all the way down to the present.
[17:31] And for all those engaged in the work, Of the Bible societies, Whether the Scottish Bible Society, Or the Trinitarian Bible Society, Whether it be the Wicklet Bible Translators, Or all those who are involved in distributing the word, Throughout the world, We thank thee for their labours, And we acknowledge ourselves to be the recipients, Of all that they have striven for.
[17:54] And tonight as we receive, Just as though it were the most normal thing in the world, The living word of God, We pray that thou wouldst remember, The many tribes and nations and peoples, Who as yet are without the Holy Scriptures, In their own language.
[18:11] And we pray for them. And we ask thee, Lord, To bless them. We ask thee to bless also, And remember the society, For the distribution of the Hebrew Scriptures, As they seek to reach out to the Jewish populations, Around the world, With the good news of their Messiah, Couched in the terms that they can relate to, And understand of all the promises, To Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, And all the Hebrew Testament, Lord, Of all that has gone before.
[18:40] We thank you, Lord, For the work that they are engaged in, And we do pray for the fullness, And ingathering of the people of Israel, For the Jewish nation, Throughout the world, To come to know their Messiah, And to be saved.
[18:55] And that thus and thus, They might be used of thee, In the missionary work, And the proclamation of the gospel, Further throughout the world. We know, Lord, That thou dost not have, In that sense, Favorites amongst the peoples of the world, But we do know, That thou hast a special purpose, For thy people of Israel, According to the flesh.
[19:16] We know that that is what is written in thy word, And we pray that, Even though now, They and we together, Will only ever be saved, Through the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, Yet we pray that thou wouldst use, That which is precious to them, To enable them to see, That all is fulfilled, In thy beloved son, Jesus Christ.
[19:37] We pray, Lord, For the Gentile nations of the world, We pray, Lord, For all the different continents, Under heaven, For the multitudes, The teeming millions, Lord, So many of whom are without thee, Who live their lives, Either devoted to false gods, Or filled with the busyness, And the hustle and bustle, Of daily life, And commerce, And marketplace, We pray, Lord, That they would have their eyes opened, And their hearts, Enabled to receive, The peace and the goodness, Of the Lord Jesus Christ, In their lives.
[20:09] We know that thou art, The bringer of peace, That this, Lord, Is what thou didst come, To do and to accomplish, The peace on earth, And the good will, To men that comes from God, Alone, And only through his beloved son, Jesus Christ, Through his birth and life, And death upon the cross, Through his resurrection, And ascension, Through his coming again, To judge the world, Which we know, Is nearer now tonight, Than it has ever been.
[20:37] We pray again, Lord, To help us as we pray, For that peace, That thou only canst give. Peace in the hearts, Of men and women, And boys and girls, Peace in our time, Peace, O Lord, In the troubled spots, Of Gaza, And of Lebanon, And of Ukraine.
[20:54] We pray, Lord, For peace also, In Syria, Where conflict is flared again. We pray, O Lord, For the suffering refugees, From Nagorno-Karabakh, And in Armenia, Now and today.
[21:07] And we ask thee, Lord, To be with them, As we pray, For all the multitudes, Whose lives have been Turned upside down, By war, And destruction, And terrorism.
[21:19] We ask thee, Lord, To bring in, The work of the Prince of Peace, That those who have been Enslaved to false ideologies, And identities, And the worship of that, Which cannot save, May at last be turned to thee, And may thus know, Thy peace, And thy blessing, And the newness of life, Which thou only canst give.
[21:39] O Lord, We thank thee, For those who seek to protect us, We remember those, Who serve in our armed forces, By land and sea and air, We thank thee, Lord, For the work of the police force, And of the coast guards, We thank thee, Lord, For our fire brigades, And for our national health service, And our ambulance men and women.
[21:59] Lord, For all those who are there, To help us in time of need, We are grateful, But we know, Lord, That our greatest need of all, Is for thee. And so we pray, He presents thyself amongst us, And remember all, Who are serving thee this night, In different places, The missionaries, Who are going into all parts of the world, Those who are themselves, Struggling with language study, Or with acculturization, Or getting to know, A people group, So that they can perhaps, Translate the scriptures for them, Or minister to them, In the name of Christ, And show them something, Of the good news of Jesus.
[22:35] We thank thee, Lord, For every missionary endeavor, Throughout the world, And we thank thee, For thy church, In all its imperfections, And for all its impurities, And all its failures, Because it is made up, Of fallible, And weak human beings, And yet, It is headed up, By a divine and perfect Savior, And we thank thee for that.
[22:57] O Lord, Be with us then, Now tonight, Bless thy word, As we read it, And sing it, And think upon it, And sanctify us afresh tonight, With thy spirit and presence, And hear our individual prayers, Because we know, Lord, That not only that, Which is uttered, Outwardly with the lips, As sends before thy throne, But the silent prayer, And petition of every heart, The sigh of our innermost soul, And being is heard, Of thee, And will be responded to by thee, So we thank thee, That thine own Holy Spirit, Intercedeth for us, With groans, Which cannot be utter, Can't be articulated in words, And yet, Still thou knowest perfectly, What it is that we long to pray, Oh hear us then, We beseech thee, Forgive our many sins, And continue with us now, For Jesus' sake, Amen.
[23:53] We'll sing again to the Lord's praise, In Psalm number 37 now, Psalm 37, Of which we'll sing, The verses marked 3 to 9, That is six stanzas, Psalm 37, Verse 3, Set thou thy trust upon the Lord, And be thou doing good, And so thou in the land, Shalt dwell and verily have fruit, Be like thyself in God, He'll give thine heart's desire unto thee, Thy way to God, Commit and trust, And bring to pass, Shall he, And so on to the verse 9, For those that evil doers are, Shall be can't often follow, For those that wait upon the Lord, The earth inherit shall be, Six stanzas, Verses 3 to 9, To Psalm 37, To God's praise, Amen.
[24:34] Set thou thy trust upon the Lord, And be thou doing good, And so thou with the land, Shall dwell, And bearly adorn, Delight thyself, In God he'll give, My heart's desire to thee, Thy way to God, Commit and trust, Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck Eck And shuffling forth
[26:08] Like noontide of the day Rest in the Lord Afficiently Wait for Him till not end For Him who crossed Way in His way Such as His fish again To Thou from anger Distant wrath Seem Thou for safe, O soul Let not I shall
[27:13] In heavy wise That evil not should sue For those that evil doer shall Shall be the dawn and fall But those that wait Upon the Lord The earth in heaven Shall Well, let's pray Our loving Father, we thank Thee That Thou hast promised To bless Thy work And that Thou who hast given it In the first place Will make it effectual, Lord
[28:15] In applying it unto our hearts And we pray that tonight Just as when Thou did speak The 5,000 and the 4,000 Then after Thou didst order Thy disciples To gather up all the broken fragments That remain That nothing be lost And so we pray that tonight, Lord Nothing would be lost From this spread of life But that whether it be A seemingly throwaway remark Whether it be Only a casual line Of explanation Or a verse that is read Whatsoever it may be, Lord None would go out from this place Still hungry And without any feeding But rather Thou satisfy our souls With that which is Thine own And that Thou hast blessed Thy word to us now Help us And forgive us For all our sin For Jesus' sake Amen In 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 We read at the verse 8 For now we live
[29:17] If ye stand fast In the Lord For now we live If ye stand fast In the Lord This third chapter Of 1 Thessalonians Is talking about The strength And encouragement Which the Apostle Paul And his companions Draw from the faithful Diligence Of the Thessalonian believers The background To this encouragement Can be found In chapter 1 Where if you turn With me to chapter 1 You see verses 4 On to verse 10 There We see There A microcosm One might say A perfect illustration In miniature Of God's grace In the work Of salvation So to take this context And turn you back To chapter 1 Briefly from verse 4 These Thessalonians Were idol worshippers Pages As we see there In verse 9 For they themselves Show of us What manner of Entering him We had unto you And how he turned
[30:17] To God From idols To serve The living And true God We mentioned that This morning Briefly The state Thessalonians Were now in As believers They turned From idols To serve The living And true God With no thought Or knowledge Or interest That they had To begin with In the God of Israel And precious little time For the Jews Who claimed To be his people Yet From all eternity Significant numbers Of these pagan Idol worshippers Had been The loving of God And predestined To election By him As we see In verse 4 Chapter 1 Knowing brethren Beloved The election Of God Then when the Boots of time Was come The gospel Came to them Yes by means Of a Jew Called being very much A Jew As he describes Himself in Philippians Chapter 3 Verse 5 And Hebrew Of the Hebrews He calls himself And yes Initially Through the medium
[31:18] Of the synagogue That 17 Verses 1 to 9 Makes clear But as we read there Most of the Jews In Thessalonica Rejected this gospel Came to them Through a Jew It was mediated Through the synagogue And yet most of the Jews In Thessalonica Rejected this gospel And in doing so They started a riot We read in Acts 17 About they set All this city On an uproar And cried These that have Turned the world Upside down Are come Hither also Instant free publicity For the new gospel Teaching And multitudes Of Thessalonians Embraced it Pagans Gentiles Embraced it It came By the word Preached By Paul In silence But as we see At verse 5 Our gospel Came not unto you In word Only But also In power And in the Holy Ghost And in much Assumes As you know
[32:19] What manner of men We were among you For your sake So when the fullness Of time has come The word is Proclaimed But the word alone Is not What converts But the power of God The Holy Ghost Who being God Is everywhere Present Of course But is in this instance Almost If I can say this Reverently Just by way of illustration Like a chemical element In the atmosphere Which is present But non-reactive
[33:20] With all the other elements With which it comes Into contact Then When the word of God Is proclaimed And the word of God Comes into contact With the already present Spirit of God There is In a spiritual sense If we can use again This illustration This chemical reaction Of word and spirit Together Which releases A power Which both convicts And converts And in as much As the recipient Knows That he has been Changed Within And changed For good There is much Assurance This assurance Is reinforced Particularly as we saw For the Thessalonians When he sees With his own eyes The living evidence Of the apostles Their witness Their godliness Their humility Their manner of life In other words He sees that This salvation Is no mere Abstract theory No mere Flash in the pan But a life Changing power
[34:20] Personal Deep Real Permanent A living Relationship With the living God In complete Contract To the superficial Worship of their Pagan idols Which had left The Thessalonians Untouched Unchanged And unsatisfied They see the Reality Of this New life In the apostles Paul and Silas Again Going back to Verse 5 For our gospel Came not unto you In word only But also In power And in the Holy Ghost And in much assurance As ye know What manner of men We were Among you For your sake They see it They want it And they follow it Verse 6 And ye became Followers of us And of the Lord Having received the word In much affliction With joy Of the Holy Ghost And having received it Themselves And found it to be Not only true But joyful And powerful
[35:22] These Thessalonians Cannot help But be witnesses! And examples And you'll see In verse 7 Of the authorised version It's got the word End samples And sometimes The authorised version Has end samples And sometimes It has Ex samples And both words Are used They mean much The same thing But there's a Subtle distinction And it took me Years to find Out what the Distinction Actually was But what With Thess End samples The sense here Is almost like Of a mould An imprint Which if you Think about How old fashioned Letters Before you had Sealing envelopes And everything You'd fold the paper Then you'd put on Some wax And then you'd stamp Onto the wax And it's partly By the stamp That was on it That you could see Somebody's seal there Whether it was Their shield Or their crest Or their initials Or whatever But it doesn't Matter how many Times you put Blobs and Ceiling mics on It would always Be the same Stamp Because it was The same Imprint The same
[36:23] Mould That was made Here And this is The sense of End samples Like a mould Like a Like a Fixed Kind of Pattern Which is Always going To produce The same Image It's always Going to Make the Same kind Of stamp The same Kind of image Because it's Already pre-prepared And fixed As opposed to Simply An example Which is Just something That you Follow Example then In this Imprint That is made Each time So And you Became so That you Were Ensembles To all That believe In Macedonia And Achaia In other Words Macedonia Was now Northern Greece And Achaia Is now Southern Greece Having received It themselves And found It to be Not only True But joyful As we Say They then Became Like a Stap An imprint The exact Replicate And proof Of authenticity Of it To all The other Churches In Greece Northern South So much
[37:24] So that the News and Reputation Of this Thessalonian Revital Goes Before them It goes Before The apostles As they Travel And they Find themselves Not having to Make any Introductions Or break New ground Because people Already want To know All about What has Happened In Thessalonica This is Holy Verses 8 And 9 For from You Sounded out The word Of the Lord Not only Macedonia And Achaia But also In every Place Your faith To God Word Is spread Abroad So we Need not Speak Anything For they Themselves Show us What manner Of entering In we Have And how To turn To God To To serve The living And true God Their fellow Greeks Were under No illusions About the Kind of People The Thessalonians Had been Before And the Change Within Them Has made A deep Impression As they
[38:24] Continue In their New Faith Turn To God To To serve The living And true God And to Wait For his Son From heaven Whom he Raised From the Dead Even Jesus Which Deliver Us From The Last Come You see Then this Perfect Illustration In miniature It's Microcosm As we Said In Thessalonica Of the Right And proper Progress Of Gospel Grace Wherever It Is Brought Now This Has If you Like Five Parts To It Now If you've Got Something to Write down That's Great If I Was In a Sort Of High Tech Trendy Lecturing Atmosphere No doubt I'd have A screen And bullet!
[39:06] Points And just Press my Finger And things Would Flash Up Or I'd Be More Used You'll Just Have To Remember It As I Say Sorry So First Of Number One There Is As we Saw In Verse 4 Election From All Eternity That's The First We Mentioned That This Morning Mentioned Again Tonight Verse 4 Chapter 1 Election From All Eternity Secondly There Is What I Am Calling The Chemical Reaction Of God's Word Faithfully Preached Coming Into Contact With His Already Present Spirit And The Consequent Explosion Of Converting Power Now That Doesn't Mean Of Course That Everywhere The Bible Gets Right Power People Are Going To Get Converted Because God Will Have His Spirit Working As And Where He Sees Most Appropriate But The Chemical Reaction Is Number Two The Word Faithfully Preached And The Ever!
[40:03] Present Spirit And The Consequent Explosion Of Power We See That Beginning Of Verse Five Our Gospel Came Not In Worldly But Also In Power And In The Holy Ghost Thirdly There Is The Witness Of Those Who Are Already Christians The Witness Of Those Who Are Already Christians Proving That The Apostles In This Context Proving That This Life Changing Power Can And Must Be Live Out In The World Being The Inspiration For Others To Follow In Christian Life And Practice We See This In Verse 5b In Much Assurance As You Know What Matter Of Men We Were Among You For Your Sake You See All Very Well Coming With Brilliant Good News And Tell The Story And What Difference Does It Make!
[40:53] Oh Nothing Much It's A Great Exciting People Testimely Men Whose Lives Were Changed By This Gospel Paul Used To Be A Persecutor Of Christians Now He's An Apostle Spreading The Very Same Good News Silas No Doubt Was At One Time A Pagan But Here He Is Now A Christian Missionary People Are Changed By It Their Attitudes Are Changed Their Priorities Are Changed Their Lifestyle Is Changed Because Christ Makes His impression, his stamp upon them.
[41:32] And as people see this living witness of those who are already Christians, they see the reality of that people may never, as the phrase is often put, may never actually open a Bible and read it, but they'll read you, and they'll read me, and they'll see the book written of our lives, and what we testify to, or not, as the case may be.
[41:58] So that's three so far, the election from all eternity, the chemical reaction of word and spirit, the witness of those who are already Christians. Number four is the second way, that is the new Christians, those who are converted by this process, becoming then themselves witnesses and examples to others, thus spreading the living reality and proof of this gospel, and we saw that there, verses 8 and 9, as we said. And crucially then, number five, the ongoing faith, life, work, and witness of these once new Christians, persevering in their relationship with Christ, faithful unto the end, as they wait for him to come again, or to call them this.
[42:53] Now, the ongoing persevering to the end is always less spectacular than the starting out. Everybody will go any day.
[43:04] That's the start of a marriage. But if that marriage is faithful, and if it is long, then it means that the conclusion of that marriage, which is just as important, is that one day, one or other of those spouses, perhaps as an old man or woman, is going to be sobbing quietly by the bedside of their beloved, as they breathe their last.
[43:31] Because that's what you signed up for. The Robert shall celebrate this by day. And all the years in between, which may go in the blink of an eye, these are all as important as all the spectacular show of the wedding day.
[43:45] day. Because that's just the start. That is carrying it all on through to the conclusion, and it's only over when God says it is, then only has it been completed.
[43:59] So all these five stages, I can recap them again, but probably no matter how many times I say it, if you're not writing it down, you won't remember it from me. But anyway, election from all eternity, the chemical reaction of word and spirit, the witness of those who are already Christians, proving this life changing power, the second way that the new Christians becoming themselves witnesses and examples to others, and then the ongoing faith, the persevering in the faith of these once new Christians persevering in their relationship with Christ.
[44:31] These five things, all these five stages of gospel progress. Each is vital to the integrity of the whole, but not all are equally exciting or spectacular.
[44:44] Number two, the chemical reaction, we might say. Number three, the witness of those who are already Christians, the apostles. Number four, the length of virtue of the new Christians. That's all very spectacular and exciting when it's all new.
[44:58] But they will not happen without number one, which is the election from all eternity, and they will all, all, be called into question, and their potency all but destroy if number five, persevering to the end, does not happen.
[45:20] Everybody likes to think of a victorious army winning spectacular battles. But if that happens, then few give much thought to the fact that this army may only be fit to fight because disease has been kept to a minimum because somebody made sure the camp latrines were properly dug, or they had a decent supply of clean water, or that the troops were regularly supplied with hot food and warm stocks, or that the men's morale was kept up to fighting strength because somebody made sure that the post got through.
[45:57] So they got their letters from home and from their loved ones. Not every aspect of a victorious campaign is equally spectacular, but each is equally important to the final result.
[46:13] It is this fifth and final point, the ongoing faith, life, work, and witness of these once new Christians persevering in their relationship with Christ, faithful unto the end as they wait for him to come, or to call for them.
[46:31] It is this fifth and final point to which Paul is referring in our text that we read in chapter 3 at verse 8. For now we live if ye stand fast in the Lord.
[46:47] And he is not only saying that they ought to stand fast for the sake of their own salvation, but he is clearly implying that the Christian life of the apostles themselves, is affected for better or for worse by the ongoing, quiet, unspectacular faithfulness of the Thessalonian believers.
[47:11] For now we live if ye stand fast in the Lord. And you can see in this chapter 3 that he's been anxious for them. He's been worried that when they get a bit of persecution, well, they fall away.
[47:22] He feels they need to send Timothy to go and check up on Timothy, comes back, they'll say, oh, they're really going well, they're really going in their faith, it's spreading, the witness is spreading, so he's encouraged, strengthening by it.
[47:35] But the perseverance of the saints, in keeping with all such ongoing projects, is far less spectacular than the conversion of those saints of the onset.
[47:47] it is robust. Planting a forest of new trees, for example, to improve the soil and fertility of an arid landscape is great, and people rightly might focus on that, but those trees will need years of quiet, faithful attention, nurture, protection from the seas, shelter, till they grow tall and strong enough to be themselves, a shelter from other plants and trees, and a home for a multitude of creatures.
[48:25] The years of painstaking care and silent growth are not exciting, or a spectacular news event, but if they are not faithfully fulfilled, if the work is not done, the infant trees will wither and die, or be munched down by the beasts of the field, and all will be undone.
[48:51] To get a sense of what Paul is saying, we need to turn the perspective round perhaps, and look at it from the negative angle. Let's stay with the forestry example.
[49:03] Suppose, after say ten years of quiet growth, some disease, or perhaps a fire, rips through the small plantation. It is not only the trees which are affected.
[49:17] A host of small creatures and birds lose their homes and their habitats. The shelter value of the trees is destroyed. The landscape that benefited from the wind break is again blasted by winds and reduced in benefit to others, never mind the loss of valuable timber.
[49:36] In other words, our Christian witness, insignificant as it may seem to us, is an absolutely vital part of the whole body of Christ.
[49:54] If this goes, if we let it slip or decide it doesn't matter how faithful or diligent we are about this or that aspect of our faith, come on, he can give a bit of leeway, he can be realistic, we can just stop, it doesn't matter too much.
[50:11] The corrosive disease of indifference doesn't stop with us. It has a knock-on effect to others.
[50:23] If I have a thousand slates on my roof and two of them come off, I do not see as water drips through into my bedroom, oh, that's okay, still got 998 left on the roof that haven't budged.
[50:37] The missing two can undo the work of the whole. The forest is easily burned or cut down but it takes years to grow. Ask yourself honestly, if one Christian in a different branch of the church falls spectacularly from grace and commits some gross sin, are we able to shrug and say, well, it's not our problem, you know, it's nothing to do with us.
[51:05] No, it damages the whole witness of the whole church of Christ. This is what Paul means when he writes to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 12, verses 26 and 27, where he says, and whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it.
[51:21] Or with one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now, ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. If a Christian that we know simply falls away from the faith, no gross sin, no indecency, no major scandal, just love growing cold, faith freezing over, does that affect us?
[51:50] Of course it does. How much more if they themselves were a more senior Christian, strong in the faith, one to whom we looked up and sought to imitate, and now here they are, they're fallen.
[52:06] Were they emotionally converted? That's the kind of panic fraud that comes to us. And if they fell away, we'll hold hope on us lesser mortals. Maybe the gospel doesn't have the power to save and change people's lives.
[52:19] You see? You see the destructive effect? Or turn the generations around. Perhaps one who you have taught in Sunday school many years ago and encouraged along the way, who professed faith and shone with the light of the Lord and who themselves were an encouragement to others.
[52:41] This individual for whom you always felt a special burden of spiritual care, of fatherhood or motherhood in the gospel, and they did you proud and then they fell away, lost their faith, turned against the Lord and went back to the world.
[53:01] How do you feel? Devastated. Your very heart torn out from the inside after all that you hoped and prayed and invested for this one soul.
[53:13] It's not you personally remember. It's not you losing your faith. It's not you. It's somebody else. Younger perhaps than you. Junior in the faith.
[53:25] Or somebody older and not you. It's not you. You are still holding fast, but they fall away. What is the effect on you? You cannot say it has no effect on you.
[53:40] Somebody else's problem, somebody else's failure. No. Your life is bound up with their life, your faith, hammered by the loss of their faith.
[53:51] It is so for us. It is so for the church of Jesus Christ today, and it is so for the apostles. For now we live. If ye stand fast in the Lord.
[54:04] They depended upon the Thessalonians likewise staying strong. Did you ever know that your quiet perseverance, your dogged, unspectacular day by day continuance, and feeding and nurture and quiet witness of your daily Christian faith and life was of such vital, life-sustaining importance to the body of Christ?
[54:35] Well, no, he probably didn't. Because one of the devil's most successful lines of attack is to make ordinary Christians fall into the trap of believing that their life is of no importance to anyone but themselves.
[54:51] That they do not matter. That others may be important, but they themselves are not. That if they fall, nobody will care.
[55:03] If they leave, nobody will miss them. Who's more important here in this text? Well, it is the Apostle Paul, the great preacher and missionary of the early church, the Silas that we know about, and now the Thessalonians.
[55:19] of whom maybe we know about one or two of their names from the Acts and the Apostles, and that's about it. Who's the more important? Well, Paul says it all equally important.
[55:30] For now, we live if ye stand fast in the Lord. It's tempting to think, well, of what I do, doesn't really matter.
[55:43] I used to think there's an ordinary worshipper, an ordinary church, and it reminds of I'm here, or some other church. I have to say, I didn't take a sky wolf church for sake, but I might go and worship in a different one sometimes, you know, maybe if there was a girl there or something that I was interested in, and go and worship somewhere else, nobody's going to miss me, nobody's going to care, nobody's going to mind if I'm not in my place, today I'm not important.
[56:11] After I became a minister, I realised, you notice everyone, it's not just if you've got a small congregation, you notice everyone regardless, I was once a student attached to a minister in Aberdeen, big congregation, filled every Lord's day, and he had the habit when he got up and got a phone, but before the service began, that he would sort of look about and see, you know, it was in their places, and everybody you see was doing this, and sometimes people sort of smile on the other because he would not back to them, you know, this would go on for about two or three minutes before the service began, and I almost thought the optics of this looked terrible, you know, why didn't the guy got his head down praying for help before the service started, he was speaking about looking to see who was in a service, now this particular minister happened to be an extremely diligent pastor, he had this huge congregation, and yet he was looking to see where everybody was in their place, who was in the sin, who was there, who might be a person, who might be a visitor, he could see it just like that, and that's what he was doing, didn't look great optics wise, but that's what he was doing, in other words, large or small, many or few, as a minister, you'll notice everybody, you'll notice everybody who's there, you'll notice everybody who's missing, you know, because as the under shepherd, you know who your sheep are, and you know when some of them have gone missing, or one of them has gone missing, or somebody is not in their place,
[57:45] I used to think it didn't matter, I used to think nobody would notice me, but I know now that my minister, and a few other people would have noticed every single time when I happened to be, not visiting somewhere else, it would be noticed, and that's still going to church, that's not falling away as such, but every single person is noticed, every single person is recognised and needed, consider our Lord upon the cross, consider the price that was paid for every redeemed soul who was ever saved, and if only one soul was to have been saved throughout the entirety of human history, Christ would still have gone to the cross, and if that one soul was you, Christ would still have gone to the cross, cross, and if you know this day that you are good, then you know that for you he didn't go to the cross and suffer as he did and die, that is the price that he paid, that is how much you matter and are valued by God if you are truly his child, that is the highest price that has ever been paid in heaven or in earth, in time or eternity, that is how valuable
[59:12] God considers you as a child of his, that is the price that has been paid, that is the price of your salvation, your soul, your redemption, if ye are Christ's, then your life is not your own, for you are bought for a price, the highest price ever paid in heaven or earth, only the devil would dare to claim that such a soul does not matter other than to themselves, it is a lie, and our text this evening proves it, we backtrack one verse from our text, let's begin at verse seven, then we'll on to the end of the chapter, just read it with me, therefore brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith, for now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord, for what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our
[60:16] God night and day, praying exceedingly that we might see your face and might perfect that which is lacking in your face, now God himself and our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way unto you, and the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you, to the end he may establish your hearts unblamably holiness before God even our Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his face.
[60:53] Your life, your witness, your nurturing, growing faith is an integral, irreplaceable part of the whole interconnected body.
[61:10] As long as you continue faithful and true in that witness, it continues to uphold and to strengthen and to be an encouragement not just to you but to others, even those more senior than you.
[61:26] Remember what we said about if your former Sunday school pupil comes to faith, then falls away. Then you come to faith and go on in the faith. What an encouragement to those more senior than themselves, more experienced in the things of the Lord, but they give such encouragement to those who are their seniors as well as the other way around.
[61:48] It's not all one way traffic with the Lord. Even those of deeper spirituality and greater experience and stronger faith are encouraged by those who are less so this is why an apostle is able to write to comparatively recent Christians in whose conversion he himself has been mightily used, for now we live if ye stand fast in the Lord.
[62:19] We need the witness and strength of each other if we are to continue to grow in Christ. all those times you may feel tender, I'm not sure if I can go out to the prayer meeting tonight, it's awful windy, it's cold, maybe I want to know you do.
[62:38] You make yourself go and you end up being blessed and being glad that you went and whether or not you are, your witness will have remained intact. Like the recovering alcoholic who thinks, will I go back and have that drink now?
[62:53] Will I just break it off? I'll give it one more day, I'll hold on one more day, I'll hold fast one more day, and then you'll give you an exhale to the temptation is bad. The devil will always try to hit the weak spot.
[63:07] Don't be still tired of tonight. You don't need to worry about prayer. You don't need to go to church today. You don't need to abstain from that particular thing. Just go with the flow. But each time you do, it weakens the witness and each time you hold fast, it strengthens it.
[63:26] And if not explicitly for you, then for somebody else, who may themselves be wavering, but they see that you held on, that you kept the faith.
[63:39] So therefore, for now we live versied, if ye stand fast in the Lord. Where then does this put the importance of each Christian and their ongoing relationship to Christ, it puts it right at the center of things, in the very heart of Jesus.
[63:58] Our need is to strengthen one another, encourage one another, build each other up, and pray for one another. Because our Christian lives and our ability to continue strong in the faith are inextricably bound up with each other.
[64:17] We each must stay connected to the heart of Christ. And whatever our age or stage in this Christian life, we need each other.
[64:30] For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord. May the Lord bring his word to pass in all of our lives.
[64:41] Let us pray. Gracious and beloved Lord, we thank thee for thy word truth. We thank thee for this cause each of us to be able to play our small and yet significant part in the whole scheme of thy salvation.
[65:02] For we know that because we are interconnected then what we do has an effect on others. Whether we stand fast or whether we fall down, it will have an effect, negatively or positively upon others.
[65:17] Help us then to seek the strength of the Lord for each day of our Christian lives. For we know that we cannot face the day without beginning it with Christ.
[65:29] We know that we dare not close our eyes and sleep without committing our souls to Christ. We know that our souls will be weakened and malnourished if we do not spend a little time each day with the word.
[65:42] We pray that thou wouldst bless all these instruments of the faith to us and that thou wouldst help us to grow in the knowledge and the love of thee and the strengthening of our own souls and that of one another.
[65:57] Bless, O Lord, the whole body of Christ. Bless, O Lord, this congregation of thy people during this time of their vacancy. Bless their encourager and moderator of their office bearers, their members and adherence and bless, O Lord, those who, as we look ahead, shall yet in the fullness of time be converted under the life and ministry of whoever the new minister is due to be, whensoever he shall come, whensoever his ministry shall begin, we know that thou hast already set apart souls who as yet know thee not and are not yet saved, but shall come to be saved as a direct part of that instrumentality that thou hast already in hand and we thank thee for that and we praise thee tonight and we pray thee, Lord, that we may be spared to see it happen and that thou,
[66:58] Lord, would bring thy will to pass. Bless us now together and forgive our sin for Jesus' sake. Amen. We close our worship this evening singing to the Lord's praise in Psalm 133, Psalm 133, of which we will sing the whole psalm that is three stanzas, Behold how good a thing it is and how it will be coming well to gather such as brethren are in unity to dwell, like precious on the head that down the beard did flow, he made his beard into the skirts that of his garments go, as hermonds do the deal that doth and sire hills did sing, whatever blessing God commands like that shall never end.
[67:37] Psalm 133, the whole sound of God's praise. Behold how good nothing is and how the coming well could gather!
[68:04] God know heart in unity to dwell like precious arms and on the head that does appear in love love in love He will be ever come to the sky and on the time and go!
[68:50] As her won't do the good heard Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the love of God our Heavenly Father and the communion of God the Holy Ghost rest upon you and remain with you each one this night and forevermore Amen