[0:00] Amen. Good morning.
[0:24] Good morning. Welcome to the house of God.! And again,! we trust it will be the voice of God which we hear. The face of God that we see and above all the blessing of God that we know.
[0:42] Now, before we begin, I've got a message from your inter-moderator last night. A message came in that was too late to put in the bulletins and he asked me if I would read it to you first.
[0:55] It's from Blessed. Blessed. Thanks to all your donations through the year. Ten shoeboxes have been filled ready to be donated to the Grisewood Shoebox Appeal.
[1:10] Leaflets are available at the church door for anyone wishing to fill a shoebox. Drop-off Aileen McLeod 19B Briersquillet before Tuesday 28th October 2025.
[1:30] Stornoway drop-off dates are as follows. The Lewis Builders Yard Thursday 30th October 4 o'clock to 6.30pm Friday 31st October 4 o'clock to 6.30pm and Saturday 1st November 10th to 12th noon.
[1:55] So I'll leave this note here so you can all refer to it later on. Now let's begin our service of worship by singing to God's praise out of the Scottish Psalter and we sing from Psalm 25.
[2:12] Now there are two versions in Psalm 25 so if we sing the second version which is the common meter version Psalm 25 verses 1 to 7 to thee I lift my soul O Lord my God I trust in thee let me not be ashamed let not my foes triumph over me I'm going to go down to verse 7 let not the errors of my youth nor sins remembered be in mercy for thy goodness sake O Lord remember me second version of Psalm 25 verses 1 to 7 to thee I lift my soul O Lord thy thought thy trust to me and thee of me
[3:21] I shamed through! In thee, O Lord, who wesh the cross open?
[4:07] As this Lord shall take me thy crown, make me as well as me.
[4:23] All of my sins is a part of all day I wait on thee.
[4:39] Thy births in thy home send her out to the whole of free and all.
[4:55] And holy and blessed us for the end of the year all forever.
[5:13] Let not the errors of my youth for sins remember me.
[5:29] In every hope thy good blessing, O Lord, remember me.
[5:45] Let us pray. Amen. Our gracious Father in heaven, we come before you upon your day within your house, amongst your people, to praise you and worship you.
[6:08] For you are the only God worthy to be worshipped. For you have created all things simply by speaking.
[6:20] And you created us in your own image. But we have perverted that which is right.
[6:32] And we have marred the image of God upon us. And yet, yet you have spared us.
[6:43] We thank you, gracious God, for all your mercies to the human race of which we have been seen. And we thank you especially, gracious God, that when we, the human race, turned against you in the Garden of Eden, we thank you that you did not instantly consign the whole human race to a lost eternity.
[7:14] We thank you from the heart that what you have put in writing is that you so loved the world that you gave your only begotten Son so that whoever would believe upon him would not perish but have everlasting life.
[7:38] O Lord, thank you for sparing us to this hour. And bless us today in your house. We come to give you praise and honour for all your kindness and for all your long-suffering toward us.
[7:57] for having done what you have done and sending your Son to the horrors of Calvary's cross to be crucified for the sins of others.
[8:11] By nature, by nature, not one of us have any interest in you. O Lord, forgive us for not wanting the salvation you freely offered to us.
[8:29] Convict us of that sin and make us ashamed for not interested in the salvation your Son purchased for people who simply don't deserve it.
[8:44] thank you for your kindness but work a work in our hearts and our souls that would change us that would transform us that would make us like your Son.
[9:03] So bless us in your house today to that end and bless as already has been prayed in this building. Bless all who stand in Christ's name to preach against sin and to preach Christ crucified as the only remedy.
[9:25] Grant, Lord, to bless the Gospel wherever it is preached worldwide this day. Bless the gatherings of your church in every building for Christ is exalted.
[9:41] We pray for the world's situation. O Lord, have mercy upon us and leave us not in the hands of the godless and the Christless.
[9:55] O Lord, some way, somehow, please grant there be peace where there is war. O Lord, for your own name's glory.
[10:09] We commit to you the situation in Gaza. Your ancient people, the Jews, who said at one point that they'd be responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus, his blood be on us and on our children and were seen it daily.
[10:33] Lord, hasten the day in your time when Israel will turn to the Lord.
[10:44] Grant it, Lord. We pray for world leaders and ask that you would work mercy and peace in their hearts and in their souls.
[10:55] we pray for our own nation, Lord. We have intentionally removed from our statute book every remembrance of your name.
[11:08] Forgive us our national sins and be pleased to raise up in state as well as in church those that will lead us back to your word and your ways.
[11:23] we pray perhaps particularly for the freedom of speech so that this glorious gospel of Jesus Christ might be allowed to be freely proclaimed without any threat of silence.
[11:41] We pray for assisted suicide that that bill may not succeed through the house of Lords legalizing murder.
[11:55] Lord, we pray your favor and mercy upon us. We're destroying ourselves but come for our salvation.
[12:06] Our heavenly Father, we ask that you remember those who need particular prayer at this time, whether in this congregation or wherever they be, whether we know them or whether we don't know them, we do pray Lord, that you would remember the bereaved, any who are sovereign, give the oil of joy for mourning, for you alone can take good out of evil.
[12:34] In fact, you can take life out of death. You can take spiritual life out of physical death. Now Lord, we pray for those who are seriously ill and ask that you bless medication, treatment, therapy, surgery, where these things are available and where they are not.
[12:57] May it please you to heal apart from any human means, if this be to your glory and their good. Be with the depressed, the lonely, the worried, the nervous.
[13:11] Each one we pray. graciously bless us as we read and sing and pray your word. Convict the Christless.
[13:23] Challenge those who are going down to the bottomless pit with a lie in their right hand. We pray for any that may be discouraged, encouraged with your word.
[13:37] We pray for any who may be walking in darkness, wanting to do what's right, but not sure what it is. Enlighten with your word.
[13:50] We pray for the weak of the flock. Strengthen them, we pray. We pray for the hungry soul. Oh, Lord, please, you feed them.
[14:02] You feed the hungry soul. And, Lord, if there are any wandering sheep, strange, oh, stretch out that long arm and bring them back to the fold, to the shepherd, to your word.
[14:21] Graciously bless us all now, Lord. Remember what we've forgotten to pray for. Keep us in your love. Keep us in your fear. Prepare us for anything unexpected.
[14:36] Hear in heaven, answer on earth, for we pray everything in Christ's name, and for Christ's sake alone. Amen.
[14:47] Amen. Boys and girls, I see you've got two clocks in this church, one there, one there.
[14:59] That reminds me of a story of a minister who had a weak gift of repairing clocks. church, and he noticed the clock in the church wasn't the right time.
[15:12] So, he tried to sort it. So he spent some time and put it back up. Oh, next Lord's day when he came, it was the wrong time again. And he did that for two or three times.
[15:25] And he said, well, I'm really going to sort it this time. So he spent a long time trying to sort the clock. And when the people came to church the next morning, they looked at the clock and underneath it there was a notice.
[15:45] And pasted on it was this. Because the time was incorrect. It wasn't the right time again. He didn't sort it. And he put the notice up.
[15:56] Don't blame my hands. The problem is inside. But you know, as boys and girls, that's just not true about clocks.
[16:09] That's true about us. Why do we do wrong things with our hands? Why do we do things with our feet we shouldn't do?
[16:21] Because there's something wrong inside. Jesus once said to a very clever man, a doctor of law Nicodemus, you must be born again.
[16:38] And what that means is you have to be changed in the inside before you really do anything good outside, with your hands and your feet.
[16:51] So the next time you see a clock, next time you watch doesn't tell the right time. Well, you remember my story and you make a wee prayer in your heart, Lord, change me inside so I'll behave outside properly.
[17:14] And remember this, only Jesus can do that by his Holy Spirit. Okay, you remember that.
[17:26] Okay, well let's continue to worship God by singing again from the same psalm, in fact, where we left off, the second version of Psalm 25 and verse 8, and we'll sing verses 8 to 11.
[17:44] The Lord is good and gracious, he upright is also, he therefore sinners will instruct in ways that they should go.
[17:56] Now, for thine own name's sake, O Lord, I humbly! thee entreat to pardon mine iniquity, for it is very great.
[18:10] Psalm 25, second version, verses 8 to 11. The Lord is good and gracious, he is righteous also, he ever forsaken her way.
[18:38] He will shine in ways He will the nature go! He can't go!
[18:52] He will die in time can't rest away!
[19:04] holy Thank you.
[20:02] Thank you.
[20:32] Now let's turn in our Bibles to the New Testament, to the Gospel of John, chapter 1. The Gospel of John, chapter 1.
[20:47] And we'll read the first 18 verses. John, chapter 1.
[20:57] And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.
[21:36] He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
[22:13] He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
[22:33] Which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
[22:43] And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
[22:59] John, chapter 1.
[23:29] But grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time.
[23:42] The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. And may God bless to us, the very reading of his own word.
[23:58] I will sing once more, to God's praise, from this second version of Psalm 25.
[24:09] This time we sing verses 14 to 18. Second version, Psalm 25, verse 14. The secret of the Lord is with such as do fear his name.
[24:25] And he, his holy covenant, will manifest to them. And we go down to verse 17. The secret of the Lord is with such as do not.
[24:48] verses 14 to 18. The secret of the Lord is with such as to fear his name and he is holy God and when it passed to them towards the Lord my waiting eyes causing the power said for the edges I shall bring forth my feet out of the hands
[25:53] O turn thee unto me O God and mercy me upon!
[26:08] O God!!!!!!!!!
[26:19] !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[26:29] !!
[26:39] See my love, which you are not my grave, and all my sins forgive.
[26:54] Let's turn in our Bibles to the portion of Scripture which we read in the Gospel of John, chapter 1.
[27:12] And as God would help me, I concentrate on verse 17. The Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 17.
[27:26] For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
[27:37] The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
[27:49] When sin came into the world, it did not come alone. Sin brought with it misery, and it brought with it the curse.
[28:08] Part of the curse is that human beings do not realise what went wrong, and they cannot put it right.
[28:23] Therefore, the human race requires intervention from some external source.
[28:38] Because the world is cursed, and human beings are in misery and going to more misery unless they're saved.
[28:49] So, to help us, we human beings, to know what went wrong, and how to live properly, God sent Moses to give us the law.
[29:07] The law, the Ten Commandments, teaches us what pleases God, and what angers God.
[29:23] But it does not and cannot save us. It cannot forgive us. No amount of accurate adherence to the law can forgive one iota of sin.
[29:43] It tells us how we should live. But it cannot forgive sin. It cannot make us right with God.
[30:01] So, God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to save us, to bring salvation.
[30:14] And salvation is termed very many different ways in the Bible. Here, it is termed grace and truth.
[30:28] Grace and truth were realised by and through Christ coming into the world. As the end of verse 14 speaks, says about Christ, He, Christ, is full of grace and truth.
[30:54] So, what does this grace and truth mean? I found extremely helpful.
[31:06] I had wrong notions of what grace was. But I found this very helpful. I can't remember who it was or where I read it. Justice is getting what we deserve.
[31:24] Justice is getting what we deserve. Mercy. Mercy. Mercy. Mercy is not getting what you deserve.
[31:38] We deserve to be punished in hell for our sin. But we don't get punished. Christians don't get punished in hell for our sin.
[31:50] That's mercy. Justice is getting what you deserve. Whether it's good or bad. Whether it's punishment or a reward.
[32:02] That's justice. Getting what you deserve. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. You deserve to be punished. Not getting punished.
[32:13] So, what is grace? Grace is getting what you don't deserve. Christ is getting what you deserve. Christians. Christians.
[32:23] Not only escape hell. They obtain heaven and eternal life. That is technically grace.
[32:41] Mercy. Obtaining mercy should make us humble. God. Obtaining grace should transform you.
[32:53] God. Mercy should help us. Grace should change us.
[33:04] Are you like me? I used to think. I was terribly confused by the term grace. You'd say. Has that person got grace? Has that person got grace?
[33:16] I used to think grace was some sort of thing flying about. Like a virus. Like a virus. And a land on this person. A land on that other person.
[33:26] It's not helpful to think of grace that way. Think of grace as a decision God has made to bless people.
[33:42] God has decided to bless human beings. That is grace. God has chosen to save people.
[34:00] But do remember three things about that. Even God cannot save us except through Christ.
[34:15] Of course Christ is God. He is the second person of the Godhead. But leave that last thing beside you now. God can only save you through Christ.
[34:31] The second thing is vital to remember about God's grace. Is even God. Even Christ cannot save us.
[34:42] Could not save us. Unless he died. To pay for sin. Because God has sworn. Sin must be punished.
[34:56] And it must be punished. With blood. By death. And even Christ.
[35:07] Can not save you. Unless he died. But he did die. And the wonderful news is he rose again. But that's for another time.
[35:22] God can only save you. Because Christ died. To pay God. For the sins of other people. Which leads.
[35:34] To the third thing. Always remember. When you think of God's grace. In saving souls. God.
[35:47] Can only save you. Through Christ. If you have faith. In Christ. Christ. You must. Believe.
[35:59] Christ died. For our sins. According to the scriptures. The Bible says. Categorically. There is no.
[36:11] Other. Name. Under. Heaven. Given. Amongst. Men. Whereby. We must. Be saved. The commandments.
[36:24] The commandments. Are the proper. Way. To live. And breaking. One commandment. One point.
[36:36] Of one commandment. Once. Negates. The law. It cannot save you. You cannot be forgiven.
[36:47] You cannot get to heaven. By being good enough. You cannot. Only get to heaven. By being linked. To Jesus Christ. There is no other name.
[37:04] Under. Heaven. Given. Amongst. Men. For by. We must. Be saved. God. Now.
[37:15] We said earlier. Grace. Trans. Should. Trans. Or grace. Trans. Transforms. People. If you are here today.
[37:27] And you are a Christian. You are going through. A process. Of change. You are being changed. It was a shock.
[37:41] To me. To discover. To be honest. I only discovered it. When I became a. Student. Of divinity. There is no verse.
[37:54] In the Bible. That says. You are predestined. To heaven. What the Bible. Says. Is. You are predestined. To be conformed.
[38:05] To the image. Of Christ. And the first. Stepping stone. In being conformed. To the image. Of Christ.
[38:16] Is having faith. In Christ. Your conversion. If you want to. Put it. Call it that way. That's the first step. We are to become. Christ.
[38:27] Christ. We are. Going through. If you are a Christian. You are going through. A process of change. You are becoming. More. And more. Like Christ.
[38:38] The process. In becoming. More like Christ. Is through. Constant. Faith. In him. And. Constant. Contact.
[38:50] With him. Attaching it. To Christ. That's the key. That's. Christianity. Christianity. There's. No forgiveness.
[39:01] There's. No salvation. There's. No heaven. Apart from. Attachment. To Christ. Do you know. The word. Christian.
[39:12] It's only. In the Bible. Three times. Hardly. Ever. Used in the Bible. The term the Bible uses for Christianity. For a Christian. Is. In.
[39:23] If any man be. In. Christ Jesus. You see. We Christians are going to heaven. because Jesus Christ is taking us there if you're not in Christ it doesn't matter how good you are you're not going to heaven Christ takes his people to heaven and we have to be in Christ and we're in Christ the moment we believe upon him and accept his death at Calvary as God's atonement for anyone's sins if they believe upon him now I think of God's decision of grace God let's just note three or four things we should thank God for his grace first of all
[40:25] God permitted the principle of substitution that's grace that's a decision God made you see sin is a certain kind of criminal offence if you like if we compare it to the law of the land supposing you owe the garage 100 pounds and you can't pay it but the friend goes along to the garage and says how much does my friend owe you oh this is 100 pounds oh well take out your wallet you're in a check put your wallet there's 100 pounds fine no problem debt money debt is a it's a certain kind of sense but supposing you supposing you supposing you kill the garage man can your friend go along to the authorities and say look my person my friend has killed killed this person and he's been sentenced to life imprisonment
[41:41] I'll serve his imprisonment for him would you be allowed to do that of course not because murder is a certain type of sin it deals with it it depends upon the person who committed it that's the type of offence sin is you can't have a substitute naturally that God in his grace was so determined to have sinners in this world taken to heaven with him he said in their case I'll permit I'll allow the principle of substitution to apply you see it doesn't apply to angels who fall and sin and become devils there's no mercy for devils but God made a decision as far as human beings are concerned
[42:53] I'll permit the principle of substitution isn't that grace isn't that mercy it's both actually it's kindness but if that's all God did that would still be mercy but you God's grace is this not just that God says I'll permit the principle of substitution to apply for you but you find a substitute you find someone to go to hell in your place for you that would have been still grace permitting the principle if you can find someone to stand in and take your punishment but the gospel of God's grace is this I'm providing the substitute here's my son you don't need to scan heaven and earth for someone to stand in for you here's my son trust him believe in him just believe in him just put your faith in him and he will forgive if you only believe and God goes far further than that
[44:19] God bestows the gift of faith we find we can't we don't even have the faith necessary to link us to Jesus that Christ came and said ask and you will receive seek and you will find if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will the heavenly father give the holy spirit to his children that's not the gospel the gospel is to those who ask Christ is full as we read of grace and truth and says if you ask for faith in me you'll receive grace so grace and truth came through
[45:34] Jesus Christ so what about truth what truth what is truth this is an age it doesn't believe in truth or at least it believes in many truths your truth my truth their truth the bible tells us about people who are always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth God all truth real truth belongs to God truth comes from God truth comes from Christ you see when Jesus Christ came into the world their text is truth grace and truth came by Jesus Christ when
[46:37] Christ came the world was plagued with false prophets you see Satan is not a creator Satan can't create anything what Satan does is he imitates he counterfeits he copies and because God prophesied and predicted a saviour would come what does Satan do oh I'll raise up false prophets false teachers false saviours the world is full of people people didn't know what to believe but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ you remember and you see people didn't know what to believe or what is truth and I always wondered why was it that Christ never took up
[47:40] Pilate seriously when he said what is truth I always wondered I always wondered about that until I discovered that the way the manner in which Pontius Pilate said what is truth it was not a genuine inquiry wanting to know what is truth from error Pilate said what is truth in the way that someone would say someone would say what is truth how will we answer that question next question please he was dismissing it and Christ had just said he came to bear witness to the truth Pilate dismissed what Christ said that he was the truth he wasn't serious he said no one could know what the truth is so what is truth truth is what reconciles to God truth is what reconciles to Jesus truth cannot be separated from Christ you see grace is so unbelievably good that once you receive it or at least once you realise you've received it and you're forgiven and blessed you ask is this true can this be real yes grace and truth came by
[49:14] Jesus Christ you cannot separate truth from Christ and you cannot separate truth from mercy psalm 85 verse 10 mercy and truth met together mercy and truth met together you cannot separate truth either not only from Christ not only from mercy but from but from freedom do you want freedom do you feel bound by your sin you need to be free from it only Christ can free you if you know the truth the truth shall make you free you can't separate grace and truth from
[50:19] Christ or from mercy or from freedom and neither can you separate it from repentance truth and repentance are close to Paul writing instructing his successor Timothy and 2nd Timothy he says if God perhaps will grant them repentance so that they will know the truth do you want reality do you want life do you want freedom do you want mercy and know Christ and you'll know the truth you'll know reality you'll know blessing you'll know what life is all about Christ challenges those who are having a great time in this world and are not interested in religion he says
[51:23] I have come that you might have life you might have real life and you might have it abundantly he says to pleasure lovers you don't know what life is about until you know me you can't separate truth from Christ from mercy from freedom from repentance can't of course separate it from faith as we said already the truth the truth as it is in Jesus the truth as it is in Jesus that's the truth in John a few chapters further on chapter 8 Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him if you abide in my word then you then you are my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth if you abide in
[52:34] Christ you'll know the truth you can't separate truth from Christ Paul himself also defines genuine Christians as those who believe and know the truth well now that's how the Bible today is defining salvation defining redemption in Christ grace and truth as we close it's important or helpful to notice for the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus
[53:34] Christ you would think it would say the law was given by Moses but grace and truth was given by Jesus Christ but that's not what the Bible says and that's why we reformed Christians believe in the verbal and clean of the inspiration of scripture every word originally breathed breathed in the original truth why did you see the law was given but grace and truth came that word came in the original the original word that's translated here correctly came is translated elsewhere 1st Corinthians 7 verse 39 it's very interesting the word came here is translated to be married to isn't that strange no it's not strange the original word has a connotation it spells out why
[54:57] Christ came he came with a certain purpose he came in a certain manner Christ came to be married to sinners are you interested are you interested Christ came into this world for the purpose of being married to sinners are you a sinner Christ came because he loved sinners and died for them and wants them to be in heaven with him and he came with this intention with this purpose with this longing and with this desire to be married to sinners so he could take them to heaven what a sin it is to say oh
[56:14] I'm just not interested in religion Christ came with that longing and desire to be married to sinners are you interested are you interested what a sin it is to say I'm not interested in these things you know you're a sinner Christ came to save sinners and here's something else Christ came and he's not going to go away he's not going to go away the children often sing about the love of Jesus you can't get over it you can't get round it you can't get under it you can only turn your back on it don't turn your back on
[57:23] Jesus who came into the world to be married to sinners don't turn your back on him Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners now you come to him now you come to him may God the Holy Spirit make his word effectual to every one of us let's pray our gracious father in heaven be pleased to take the things of Christ and to make them ours unite us to your son in a living vital faith we ask this for your own glory in
[58:34] Christ's name alone amen we'll conclude by singing the God's praise from psalm 98 this time psalm 98 and we sing verses verse 3 to the end psalm 98 verse 3 he mindful of his grace and truth to Israel's house has been and the salvation of our God all ends of the earth have seen let all the earth unto the Lord send forth a joyful noise lift up your voice aloud to him sing praises and rejoice we'll sing to the end of the psalm psalm 98 verse 3 to the end of the psalm psalm 98 the night full of his grace and good in his words are something the good sound is shown of the good all!
[60:04] psalm 98 holy With hope, with heart, and voice, who love God, can be whole as in.
[60:52] With promise, God, and temptation, take for the Lord the King.
[61:07] Let season, Lord, and forever the world never turn.
[61:22] Let first upon some men, together, join in.
[61:37] Before the Lord, because He comes to judge the earth, come see.
[61:52] He'll judge the world with righteousness, His full with equity.
[62:07] Amen. Amen. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all, now and forevermore. Amen.
[62:28] Amen. Thank you.