[0:00] Hello everyone, a very warm welcome to our service of worship tonight. A call to worship tonight is from the psalm, the first psalm we're going to sing together, which is Psalm 100, the first version.
[0:13] The psalm calls all people that on earth do dwell to sing to the Lord with cheerful voice. We're going to sing Psalm 100, the first verse, and all people that on earth do dwell sing to the Lord with cheerful voice. Him serve with mirth, his praise forth tell, come ye before him and rejoice. We'll sing the whole psalm to God's praise.
[0:36] All people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
[1:01] Him serve with mirth, his praise forth tell, come ye before him and rejoice.
[1:19] Know that the Lord is God indeed. Without doubt he did us make.
[1:38] We are his flock, he doth us beat. And for his sheep he doth us take.
[1:58] O enter then his gates with praise. Approach with joy his courts unto.
[2:16] Praise Lord and bless his name always. For it is simply so to do.
[2:34] For why the Lord our God is good. His mercy is forever sure.
[2:53] His truth at all times firmly stood. And shall promise to which end you.
[3:12] Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven.
[3:22] Good thanks that we are here tonight. Thank you for another Lord's Day and for this opportunity once again to gather as we do and to worship you.
[3:33] Thank you for your own promised presence with us. You've said that wherever your people are you will be with us. Be with them. And that same promise applies wherever you people meet and wherever that is all around the world.
[3:48] Thank you that you are the God of the whole world. And the psalm tonight has invited us. Invited all people that on earth that do dwell to sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
[4:02] And so we join our voices tonight with the voices of multitudes around the island and this nation and the world. Who gather in the name of Jesus.
[4:13] Who lift up their voices and their hearts to you whose throne is in glory. And to give you the honour that is due to your name. And so we pray you would present yourself and your Holy Spirit would be poured out afresh and anew tonight.
[4:31] That we would know a fresh blessing and a newness in the clarity with which we hear the voice of God and sense the presence of God and hear the word of God speaking to us.
[4:48] So bless us we pray. Keep us from being distracted. How easy it is to be distracted. And may your word dwell in us richly. As the seed of the word is sown may it take root and then bear fruit in our lives.
[5:05] Grow us we pray. In the knowledge of Jesus. And grow us in our commitment and devotion to him. Who loved us and who gave himself so fully and freely for us.
[5:19] Please bless us then. And hear us and answer us above and beyond our asking. We ask these things in Jesus precious name.
[5:30] Amen. We are going to sing once again this time in Psalm 89. Psalm 89.
[5:41] From the beginning. Verses 1 down to verse 6. God's mercies. God's mercies I will ever sing. And with my mouth I shall thy faithfulness make to be known to generations all.
[5:56] For mercy shall be built said I forever to endure. Thy faithfulness even in the heavens thou wilt establish sure. I with my chosen one I made a covenant graciously.
[6:07] And to my servant whom I loved to David sworn have I. And so on. Psalm 89 verses 1 and down to verse 6. To God's glory. God's mercies I will ever sing.
[6:28] God's mercies I will ever sing. God's mercies I will ever sing. God's mercies I will ever sing. God's mercies I will ever sing.
[6:39] God's mercies I will ever sing. God's mercies I will ever sing. To get a figure strong.
[6:54] For mercy shall be fair. Said I forever to endure.
[7:11] Thy faithfulness in the hands. The will be stoply sure.
[7:31] I will my children on the feet. I will my children on the feet.
[7:48] I will my son of God. To give his love of life.
[8:07] God I shall be in salvation. For I ever could be in.
[8:23] And will to generations of thy throne.
[8:37] Build and maintain. The faces of thy wonders, Lord.
[8:53] The heaven shall express. And in the congregation of saints.
[9:13] The heaven shall be in. The heaven shall be in. For who in heaven.
[9:25] Who is the Lord. May once itself compare.
[9:36] Who is like God. Among the sons. Of those that mighty are.
[9:56] The heaven shall be in. The heaven shall be in. The prophecy of Ezekiel. So we read. There this morning. Chapter 37.
[10:08] And we read the first 14 verses. And tonight. We're going to read. Chapter 37. Verses 15. And down to the end of the chapter. Which is verse 38. 28 rather.
[10:20] So. Ezekiel. Chapter 37. Verse 15. Ezekiel. Chapter 37. From.
[10:31] Verse. 15. The word of the Lord came to me. Again to me. Saying. And when you are holy.
[10:42] And write upon it for Judah, and for the children of Israel, his companions. Then take another stake and write upon it for Joseph, the stake of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.
[10:59] And join them one to another into one stake, and they shall become one in thine hand. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these, say to them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will take the stake of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stake of Judah, and make them one stake, and they shall be one in mine hand. And the stakes whereon thou, writers, shall be in thine hand before their eyes. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land.
[11:54] And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king to them all. And they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.
[12:11] Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions. But I will save them out of all their dwelling places wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them. So shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
[12:31] And David my servant shall be king over them, and they all shall have one shepherd. They shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
[12:44] And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt. And they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children, forever.
[12:58] And my servant David shall be their prince forever. Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them, forever.
[13:17] My tabernacle also shall be with them. Yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I, the Lord, do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them, forever.
[13:36] Praying and trusting that the Lord is going to bless that reading of his word to us. Let's unite our hearts again in prayer. So let us pray. Our Father, in heaven, we give thanks that tonight we have your word in our hands.
[13:54] We have your word easily accessible. And we pray that as we handle it tonight, you will teach us to handle it well, to rightly divide the word of truth.
[14:07] We thank you that your word tells us itself, all scripture is God-breathed. It's breathed out by you. We have in our hands the inspired word of God. And from Genesis to Malachi and from Matthew to Revelation, we can read it and believe, thus saith the Lord.
[14:26] When we pick it up and read it, we do not need to doubt that this is a book that is special because it is. It is a unique book, which down through the ages, various people have tried at different times to get rid of.
[14:40] But your word endures forever. The scripture tells us heaven and earth will pass away, but the word of the Lord endures forever. And so we're thankful that we have this Bible.
[14:54] We have your word and we thank you that you're telling us in your word that you've written your word even upon our hearts. When you've taken away a heart of stone and given us a heart of flesh through faith in Christ, you then inscribe your word upon our hearts.
[15:11] So that we have your word in our hands and we have your word on our hearts. And so may we, as we read, heed and hear and respond to this word of God.
[15:24] Thank you for the living word, the Lord Jesus. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us.
[15:36] And we thank you that as Jesus lived out his life, he lived out the scripture. It was the scripture being read by those that he saw and he talked to and he encountered and he healed and he forgave.
[15:50] We thank you for the living word of God tonight for our saviour, the Lord Jesus. We thank you for his life and for his death and for his resurrection.
[16:01] We thank you for his ascension and his session in glory. All equally important elements of his whole mission to rescue us, his mission to save us.
[16:15] Thank you that he lived the life that we could never live. And die the death that we deserve to die and all in our place. And as he rose again, victorious and triumphant over death and the grave.
[16:30] We through him also rise victorious and triumphant over our death and sin and transgression. And we're thankful today, our Father in heaven, that the life that we now live, we look forward to that day when body and soul, we will live together in the new heavens and in the new earth.
[16:50] May you enable us then to live with that in mind, to live with that in view. That we would have our eyes fixed upon Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith.
[17:04] That we would lift up our minds and hearts to where Christ is seated at the right hand of the majesty. And live with that as our goal. Live with being with him in this new world when he returns.
[17:20] Having that as our priority for life. So often, Lord, we're like Peter. At times we feel as if we can walk on the water. And then we take our eyes off Jesus.
[17:31] And we begin to sink. And we cry, Lord, save me. Will you teach us to keep our gaze firmly on him? To keep our minds firmly set on him. So that we can do what we cannot do by ourselves.
[17:45] We ask you, our Father in heaven, to bless us each one tonight. Each of us comes into your presence with burdens and sorrows.
[17:57] With joys and with gladnesses. And we are grateful tonight that you know us through and through. Because we're made in your image. Your word tells us that we are knitted together by you.
[18:10] Every atom and every molecule and all our DNA. And every thought and every attitude and every motive. It's known by you. You're the God who sees. And we thank you.
[18:22] We can then bring them. Bring all of this into your presence. Through Christ, our Saviour. Nobody comes to the Father. But by me, he said. And we confess our sins tonight.
[18:34] We confess them freely. Because your word says. If we deny that we have sinned. And we have sinned. We call God a liar. But if we confess our sins.
[18:44] He is faithful and just. To forgive us our sins. And to cleanse us. From all unrighteousness. So we freely confess. And thank you that when we do sin.
[18:56] The Bible tells us we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ, the righteous one. Who's praying for us. Always praying for us. In glory. Always remembering us.
[19:08] Before the Father's presence. We come and ask you to bless us. With the hopes and aspirations of our hearts. For ourselves. For friends.
[19:19] For family. We pray that you might enable us. To every day bring. And to lay before you. All that we have on our hearts. And pray according to your will.
[19:29] That you will bring those prayers to pass. Our greatest prayer is that we would see our children walking in the truth. As the Apostle John said. Gives me no greater joy.
[19:41] To hear that my children are walking in the truth. And how we pray that that would be the case. Children. And grandchildren. And great grandchildren. And those that are children by association.
[19:53] Those that we feel a care for. That might not be our children. But they are to us children. Lord will you work in their lives. So that they too. Will walk in straight paths of righteousness.
[20:06] Even for your own name's sake. And we pray for our enemies. There are many enemies of the gospel. We have enemies of the gospel. Where we live. And we have institutional enemies of the gospel.
[20:19] But above all Lord. We have spiritual enemies. Behind every enemy. Is that greatest enemy of all. The evil one. But we pray that you might. Have mercy on those.
[20:31] Who are used. For evil means. But perhaps they don't even recognize. What they are doing. As the Lord himself prayed. Father forgive them.
[20:42] They don't know what they are doing. We pray that you might. Bring even the enemies of the gospel. To the place of repentance. And faith. Without which there is no forgiveness.
[20:53] And Father we remember. The persecuted church tonight. And we pray that you might. Protect your church. And embolden your church. The early church. When facing persecution.
[21:05] Did not ask for persecution. To be removed. But for boldness. And courage. To speak up. To stand up. To speak out. For the gospel. So we pray for.
[21:17] The family of God. Around the world. Who struggle. Who bear the marks of affliction. Who follow in the footsteps. Of our saviour. We ask that you would strengthen.
[21:29] And shield. And encourage. And embolden them as well. And may we be so connected. To our family around the world. That when they suffer. We suffer too. And when they rejoice.
[21:42] We rejoice too. And may they know. That tonight. We pray. For them. Though distanced. By many many miles. We are near. In Christ.
[21:54] And we lift up our. Minds and hearts. To the world around us. And Lord. The world is. In such a bad way. And sin has corrupted. The whole of the world. The created order itself.
[22:05] And all that has been created. In the image of God. And we see the outcome of it. And the results of it. In injustice. And unfairness. And in violence. And in war.
[22:17] And Lord. Our prayer is. Lord. Make wars to cease. To the ends of the earth. And bring justice to bear. Upon the nations. And come Lord Jesus.
[22:29] Because the only way. That true peace. And justice will reign. Is when you come again. So we pray. Maranatha. Come Lord. And may you make us ready.
[22:42] For your return. So that when. We see you. And hear you. We will lift up our eyes. In anticipation. And expectation. Of that wonderful gift. Of eternal life.
[22:53] That you promised us. In your name. Father bless us. We pray tonight. And just be with us. For this time we are together. And make your name glorious. And famous.
[23:05] As we worship you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. We are going to sing. Once again. This time we are singing. In Psalm 23. Psalm 23.
[23:16] The shepherd's psalm. The Lord is my shepherd. I will not want. He makes me down. To lie. And pasture scream. He leadeth me. The quiet waters by. The whole of Psalm 23.
[23:28] And to God's praise. The Lord is my shepherd.
[23:40] I will not want. He gave me down to lie.
[23:52] In pasture's clean. He leadeth me. The quiet waters by.
[24:10] My soul he doth restore again. And be to all doth may.
[24:27] Within the paths of righteousness. Him for this own name say.
[24:45] Yet though I walk in death's dark veil, yet will I fear none ill.
[25:03] For Thou art with me, and Thy rod and staff may comfort still.
[25:20] My table Thou hast furnished, impresseth all my foes.
[25:38] My head Thou dost without anoint, and my love overflows.
[25:55] Good death and mercy of my life shall surely follow me.
[26:12] And in God's house forevermore, my dwelling place shall be.
[26:32] If you have your Bibles, please open your Bibles. The chapter will be read together in Ezekiel, chapter 37. Ezekiel, chapter 37.
[26:45] I'm reading at verse 15. On Saturday, yesterday, we looked at Ezekiel chapter 36 from verse 16 and following, and saw that there was a scene there of utter desecration.
[27:27] The Lord's people, God's people, Israel, had become defiled in his presence. And they were like an unclean thing. And we saw that that was a horrible image. It was a repulsive image that caused grief to the heart of God.
[27:42] Caused grief to the senses of God. And that was a horrible image. And that was horrible. And that's the image of a menstrual cloth.
[27:53] And it's meant to make us respond in a negative way. Because it is. Sin in the sight of God is awful. And we looked at that whole theme of desecration.
[28:05] And God was not going to leave his people in that way. He was going to do something. And we saw wonderful truths there. And then this morning, in the first 14 verses of chapter 37, we saw the great reality of resurrection.
[28:18] How this scene of impossibility was laid before Ezekiel. A valley of dry bones that was dead as dead can be. And can these bones live?
[28:29] You, Lord God. Thou, O Lord God. You know. And God made what was dead to be alive. By his word and by the spirit. By the scripture and by the spirit.
[28:41] And they stood on their feet. A vast army. A great army. A great image of the church that is alive by word and by spirit. And tonight, we're going to finish this themed series by looking at verses 15 and following.
[28:58] Which really does bring the story, the narrative together. And the theme is consummation. All things have been brought to an end. As far as the people of God are concerned.
[29:11] And God is saying in these verses. Having done and said all that he has said. He says, I'm going to make one community. Under one king. Through one covenant.
[29:22] And with one commission. And there's the four headings for tonight. One community. Living under one king. Through one covenant.
[29:35] And you are given one commission. In life. And so the first thing we see in the passage then. Is this idea of the theme of one community. From verse 15 down to verse 22.
[29:48] We have this picture of Ezekiel taking two sticks. It's a very vivid image. Ezekiel uses a lot of vivid imagery. Which is good for us. Because we kind of see pictures.
[29:58] Sometimes we can hear words. But to see pictures helps us. To grasp what's been said maybe more clearly. He takes two sticks. One represents the tribe of Judah.
[30:13] And the other the tribe of Israel. We have it there from verse 16 and following. And he puts them together. He's told. Ezekiel is told. Take these sticks.
[30:24] And put them together. Join them one to another. Verse 17. Into one stick. And they shall become one in nine hand. So they shall be one in nine hand.
[30:35] He says it again in verse 19. Thus says the Lord God. I'm going to take these tribes. Two tribes. And then I will make them one stick. And they shall be one in mine hand. Verse 19.
[30:46] Ezekiel. Take them and make them one in your hand. The Lord says this represents it. I'm going to take them. And make them one in my hand. And the idea here is that sin.
[30:58] And that was what the problem with Israel was. Had divided them. Had divided the nations. They were one nation at one time. There was just a nation of Israel. But then Israel and Judah separated.
[31:09] And they were fighting. And they were squabbling. And God is saying. What sin divided. God is going to put together again. When sin causes division. God is going to cause unity.
[31:21] And bring unity to pass. And how is that going to happen? Well. Remember Ezekiel is the son of man. He keeps. He's been referred to as son of man. Son of man.
[31:32] Who is the son of man? Who is the true son of man? We saw it this morning. It's Jesus. Eighty times he uses that phrase. For himself. It's a title of divinity more than anything.
[31:45] It's also a title of humanity as well. But more so of divinity. He is the true son of man. And it's in Jesus' hand. That this promise comes true.
[31:57] It's through Jesus. That division becomes unity. It's through Jesus. And his nail scarred hands actually. That what was divided.
[32:09] Becomes united. We have that in Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. Where the apostle Paul is talking about. The unity of the church.
[32:21] Where he says in verse 12. That at that time you are without Christ. Being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. Strangers to the covenant of promises. Having no hope. Without hope and without God in the world.
[32:33] But now. In Christ Jesus. You who sometimes were afar off. Are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace.
[32:45] Who have made both one. And have broken down the middle wall. Of partition between us. So Jesus is saying. What was divided. Jew and Gentile.
[32:56] Is now being united. How? By the cross. By his death upon the cross. And so. In his scarred.
[33:10] And blood stained hands. The son of man. Holds us. Together. We are like. Israel and Judah.
[33:21] And he takes us together. And he holds us. In his hand. The true son of man. He makes us one community. One people of God. One church.
[33:33] In the hands. Of the son of man. Bible tells us. Our names. Are engraved. On the. Palms of his hands. Isaiah 49. And verse 14.
[33:44] And when the risen Jesus. When he died. And he rose again. And he shows his disciples. His nail scarred hands. In John 20. He wasn't just proving his identity. Look it is me.
[33:56] He's displaying his eternal love. He's displaying the eternal evidence. Of his love. I did this for you. He shows them his hands. I did this.
[34:07] For you. This. Those wounds. Are the engraving. That we read of. In Isaiah chapter 49. Our salvation. Is etched into. His flesh.
[34:18] The son of God. Was nailed to the cross. And those blood. Scarred hands. And those wounded hands. Are the hands. With which he takes us. And makes us one.
[34:31] He makes us as one people. One body. One church. One people for himself. The unity. The community of the church. The community of the people of God.
[34:42] Is all bound up in Jesus. Holding us in his hand. It's nothing else. That's what we have in common. Jesus. And then holding us. In his hands.
[34:56] Lack of unity. Unity. It's something we have to really fight against. And we all know that. Lack of unity. Or disunity. Is something that. That is just so common.
[35:07] It's common in life. And in the church as well. But what we have to remember is. We are made to be united. We are made to be community. Community.
[35:19] The word unity. And co. Is together. We're made to be together. In Christ. Christ. And the thing that unites us. Is Christ. It's not our denomination. It's not our affiliation.
[35:30] It is Christ. And we are one in Christ. With every believer in the world. Whatever denomination they belong to. And whatever affiliation that they have. If they love Christ. And Christ loves them.
[35:42] If Christ has them in his hands. We are brothers and sisters with them. And he holds us and says. Stick together. Stick together. Interesting. Stay together.
[35:52] Stick together. Why? Because of me. It's his reputation that's at stake. Jesus prayed. Father I pray that they will be one as we are one.
[36:02] And we talk about that. And can unpack that theologically. But you know what? It's got to be practically as well. We have to strive against disunity. And stop focusing on what differentiates us.
[36:17] And start focusing on what unites us. Unity. Disunity rather. Is not good. You imagine a child walking along with a parent.
[36:31] And holding their parent's hand. And what does it look like? When you see this child. Trying to get it free from the grip of the parent.
[36:41] If the parent is holding on to their child. And for those of us who have kids. And even grandkids. Oh dear. It's just such a truth. Isn't it? You're just holding on to their hands. And they're trying to let go.
[36:51] And they're trying to let go. Would you let the child go? Would you let a child just out of your grip of your hand? No. We would not. Why? Because it's dangerous. And they're vulnerable.
[37:02] And they might run away. And they might get into trouble. And no reasonable adult or reasonable parent would just say. Okay. Off you go. Run across the road if you like. And it's a picture of unity.
[37:14] Jesus is holding us in his hands. And when we strive against unity. We're trying to break free from his grip. We're trying to break free from his grip. And that's not good.
[37:25] And he's holding us. And he's reminding us. You're in my hands. Stay put. Stick with me. Because if you become disunited. If you become divided.
[37:36] It's dangerous. The church becomes vulnerable. And what would you think. Ladies and gentlemen. Tonight. Of a parent who would let their child. Just run off. What would you think of a parent.
[37:48] Who would let their child do that. You would think. Some parent that is. And so. Disunity. Causes the world to say.
[37:59] I thought they were in the hands of Jesus. I thought they were a united people. And a united body. And so we need to remember. In whose hand.
[38:11] We are. In John chapter 10. Jesus talks of himself. As the good shepherd. And he says. None can pluck them from my. Hand. None can pluck them from my father's.
[38:23] Hand. In some ways. I think of a. Of a child. Between two parents. Safe. In the hands of Jesus. Safe. In the hands of the father. And so we need to remember.
[38:35] In whose hands we are. And. Who else. Is in the hands of Jesus. Every Christian. In the world. So there's one community.
[38:47] One church. One Catholic church. Small c. That is what we believe. We believe in one church. In the world. And that's what. Ezekiel. God through Ezekiel.
[38:58] Is. is emphasising here tonight. Will we live that out today and tomorrow? Will we live out the spirit of unity with brothers and sisters?
[39:09] We must do. That's what we're made for. Because we're in Jesus' hand. One community. The second thing is under one king. We have there from verse 22 and following.
[39:20] And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel. So, and one king shall be king to them all. And they shall no more be two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more.
[39:36] Verse 24. David my servant, he shall be king over them. David my servant, who is the shepherd to them. In verse 24.
[39:47] So, God is promising one community under one king. And that King David, it can't be King David. Because King David was dead and gone long time, hundreds of years by the time of Ezekiel.
[39:59] Who is he talking about? Who is the David? Who is the greater than David? Who is the son of David? It is, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ. The good shepherd, the king.
[40:10] He is the king of Israel. And he is the good shepherd, as he calls himself in John chapter 10. Who laid down his life for his sheep. And who now reigns forevermore.
[40:21] So, we are one community living under one king. We have a king who is a shepherd who rules and who reigns over us. And what an encouragement that is for us tonight.
[40:33] That our ruler, our king, our shepherd is Jesus. And we are not ruled by fear or by failure. But by a gracious king.
[40:46] We sang in Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. Jesus is my shepherd. I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pasture.
[40:57] She leads me beside still water. She restores my soul. It is a beautiful picture. He is such a good king. He is such a gracious shepherd. He loves his sheep.
[41:08] And we are his sheep if we trust and believe in him. If we are in his hand. And none can pluck us from his hand. That is the kind of shepherd. And that is the kind of king that we are under.
[41:19] Not a tyrannical king. Not a tyrannical ruler. Not an oppressive king. Or an oppressive ruler. Not one that is evil in any way. But is perfectly good.
[41:30] That is whose reign and rule we are under. What a blessing it is to know that tonight. But living under his rule. Means he is our saviour.
[41:44] But he is also our lord. He is our king. So we do. As he tells us. Yes. Have you ever seen a sheep.
[41:55] Coming up to a shepherd. And saying. Perhaps in sheep language. That the shepherd would understand. Oh by the way. You think I am going down this way. But I am actually going down this way.
[42:05] Because I know which is the best way to go. Have you ever seen a sheep. Telling a shepherd. What to do. Or where to go. No. They might stray. They might go one way.
[42:17] But the shepherd won't say. Well that is fine. He will send his sheepdogs. Goodness and mercy. He will send them. To bring them back on the way. And so it is with Jesus. As we live our lives under.
[42:28] This one king. He tells us. How to live. We don't tell him. We don't. Shape Jesus. As king.
[42:39] Into the king we want. He says. I am shaping you. Into the people. I want you. And I am going to make you. To be. There was a theology at one time. I don't know if it is still around.
[42:50] But we could accept Jesus as saviour. And then later as lord. It is impossible. It is just impossible. When we receive Jesus.
[43:01] As our king. We receive him as our saviour. But also as our lord. He is in charge. He is the one. Whom we listen to.
[43:11] And all his ways are good and just. This is the wonderful thing about. Jesus our king. He never leads us in ways that are wrong. And it is good for us to know that.
[43:22] Because sometimes. We might feel the way we have been led. Is difficult. And dangerous. And scary. But if we trust. We are in the hand of the lord. And we trust. That we are living according to his word.
[43:32] He is leading us in the right path. And he knows what is good. And there is people tonight here. That will have experiences. We will all have experiences. Where we might look back.
[43:43] And think. I didn't see myself having to come down this path. But this is the path the lord had for me. And it is ultimately going to be for our good. Because he will withhold no good thing from those.
[43:55] Who are his people. And he never does anything wrong. And so we can rest easy tonight. That we are under a king. Who is gracious. And loving. And kind.
[44:08] And patient. And who walks with us. Who has been this way before. Who has been in the paths that we have walked. And who will never leave us.
[44:18] Who walks with us. And will never forsake us. One community. Under one king. Through one covenant. Verse 26.
[44:28] Moreover I will make a covenant. Of peace. With them. And it shall be an everlasting covenant. With them. And I will place them.
[44:39] And multiply them. And so on. And I will make a covenant. Of peace. With them. A covenant of peace. That means his presence.
[44:49] Is going to be with us. And it's going to be permanent. It's not a covenant. That's going to be broken. It's not an agreement. That's going to be broken. It's not something.
[45:00] That he's going to renege on. When he says. I will be your God. And you will be my people. He means that. He's not going to let us go. He's not going to let anybody in his hand.
[45:12] One community go. He's not going to let anybody. Who he reigns over as king. Go. No matter how far we stray. He's going to send out goodness and mercy.
[45:23] These are the sheepdogs. He's going to send them out. To bring us back. That's why tonight. We can stray. From the Lord. But we'll never ever keep on straying. Because he's going to bring us back. One way or the other.
[45:36] Why? Because he loves us. And he died for us. And he cannot allow us to be lost. You cannot fall away as a Christian. It's impossible. Because we're in.
[45:47] The covenant. With Jesus. The word covenant. It's a very interesting word. I don't know what you think. The word covenant means. You might think it means like a treaty.
[45:58] An agreement of sorts. And in some ways. It is. There's a Hebrew word. That is. One word that is used. In the Old Testament. But there are two words.
[46:11] In the Greek language. So the Old Testament was written in Hebrew. And then at a certain point in time. The Old Testament was then translated into Greek. Because Alexander the Great. Spreading the Greek culture and language.
[46:24] What we call Hellenistic culture. All over the known world at the time. That's where the New Testament was written in Greek. Because that was the language of the people. And when they came to translate the Old Testament into Greek.
[46:38] Which is what we call the Septuagint. Those two words that could be used to translate the word covenant. In Old Testament. In Hebrew. One is sunfeke.
[46:52] Which means. An agreement. Or a compact. Or a treaty. Between equals. So two equal parties. Negotiating terms. And it's the usual word used for an alliance.
[47:07] Or an agreement. So both sides come to the table. And they make a sunfeke. So a bit like Israel and Hamas. Or Russia and Ukraine. And you know that.
[47:17] Well you do this. And I'll do that. And if you do this. We'll do that. And you release prisoners. And we will release prisoners too. And it's two parties coming. And they're saying. Here's what we're going to do together.
[47:28] We're equal in this. There's another word. That's. That is. Diathake. So sunfeke is one. Diathake. Is another Greek word.
[47:40] And it means testament. Like last will untestimate. Or covenant. And it's something that's usually established. By one party only. By a superior.
[47:52] And it's received by another. So. It's an agreement. It's not. Well if you do this. It's. This is what you're going to do. Because this is what I'm giving you. So when somebody. Makes a will. You write down the terms of the will.
[48:04] And you decide. That you're going to. Leave all this. And that. And the next thing. To certain people. It's you that's saying. It's going to happen. And when. You pass away. And lawyers.
[48:15] Open up. This envelope. With the. The will in it. That is. The sunfeke. That's the will. And the testament. It's an agreement. That you have said. You're going to give to people.
[48:27] Something. And the Greek. Word that is used. For covenant. Or. In this context. Is. Diathake.
[48:38] It's this word. That. That emphasizes. It's one sided. God's agreement. Is one sided. It's initiated. By him. It's sovereignly.
[48:48] Administered. It's not. Whether we. Can agree. Or disagree. Or. We'll play our part. In it. He says. This covenant. I'm going to make with you. I am going to make with you.
[48:58] I'm giving you. This agreement. I will be your God. And you will be. My people. And the blessing of this.
[49:09] And the encouragement in this. Is this. Although it sounds a bit complicated. It actually is. Such a wonderful blessing. This is not a negotiation. That God is entering into.
[49:19] With us. He is saying. I am going to give you. All that we saw in Ezekiel 36. A new heart. And writing my law upon your heart. And make you live in my way. I am going to give you this.
[49:32] And you are going to merely. Receive it. That's the covenant. That he makes with us. So if you imagine. If you imagine. If. When somebody has passed away.
[49:44] And. They do. The lawyer is called. And you are called into the office. And you open up this letter. And. You have in front of you. A last will and testament.
[49:56] Of somebody who has decided. That they have given you all. Their worldly goods. They have left you all. Their inheritance. They have given you a house. And money.
[50:07] And a great car. And. A whole host of things. That is the word. That God is using here. To describe what he does for us.
[50:17] And what do we do? Thank you Lord. Thank you. We don't negotiate with him. We say thank you. Lord. And all of this.
[50:28] Is given to us in Jesus. Jesus Christ. Who died on the cross. To give us peace. To give us forgiveness. To give us new life.
[50:40] To give us hope. To give us help. To give us a spirit in our hearts. To give us the promise. That he will never leave us. Or forsake us.
[50:51] He's given us this. And we just say thank you. Lord. In fact. I would go as far as to say. That this covenant. If you imagine it. In an envelope.
[51:01] Handed to us. Has on the back of it. With all the blessings. That we receive in Christ. Has on it. In the back. On the back. Sealed. With a loving kiss.
[51:13] Because that is what God. Has done for us in Jesus. God so loved the world. God so loved us. That he gave us one and only son. That whosoever believes in him.
[51:24] Should not perish. But have everlasting life. And so this idea of one covenant. Gives us such assurance. This idea of covenant tonight.
[51:36] Reminds us that God's grip on us. Is stronger than our grip on him. He's given us this. And he says you will have it. And I'm going to make you. I'm going to make sure that you keep it.
[51:47] All the days of your life. One community. Under one king. Through one covenant. And finally. With one commission. And the last verse is this.
[51:57] In verse 28. The heathen shall know. That I the Lord. Do sanctify Israel. When my sanctuary. Shall be in the midst of them forever. So the world around. Is going to know. Because of his covenant with them.
[52:10] With his people. With us. All the world around. Are going to know. That I the Lord. Do sanctify. When my sanctuary. Shall be in the midst of them. Forever. How are the world going to know.
[52:23] That God has given us. This wonderful gift of Jesus. This gift of eternal life. How are they going to know. How are they going to know. That we have his Holy Spirit. How are they going to know.
[52:33] That he lives within us. How are the world going to know. That we have been given a new heart. And his laws written on our minds. How are they going to know. We must go.
[52:45] That's how they are going to know. That we must go. That's our commission. So tonight. When we leave here. We must go. Into all the world.
[52:56] And show the world. That we have. God has made a covenant with us. And we are under one king. Whose name is Jesus. And we are one community. We have to go.
[53:07] And show that. It's not just going to happen. When Jesus gave. His final commission. You know the great commission. In Matthew chapter 28. We often think of it. In terms of. Jesus said.
[53:18] Go into all the world. And make disciples of all nations. He didn't say. Go into all the world. He didn't say. Go into all the world. Make disciples of all nations. And baptize them. And teach them.
[53:29] He said. Going into all the world. And there's a difference. The difference is. The assumption is. The disciples would be going. In other words. They don't want to sit in a pew.
[53:41] On a Sunday. And just enjoy. Or otherwise. A sermon. And then just go home. And then live life. As normal. They are going to go.
[53:52] And share this wonderful good news. With whoever the Lord sends their way. So that's our commission tonight. If we are the people of God. If we are in the hand of Jesus.
[54:03] If we are united to him. If he has made a covenant with us. We have to be going. And telling people. What's the first thing. When you meet somebody tomorrow morning.
[54:16] The first thing that you will be asked is this. What's fresh? What's fresh? And are you going to say. Well. I was at church on Sunday.
[54:27] Or I was at communion over the weekend. Are you going to do that? Because that is fresh. We have heard a message of life from the dead. And forgiveness for sins.
[54:39] And God making a covenant with us. That cannot be broken. That's fresh. That's really fresh. That's the front line that you guys have. That's the front line we have.
[54:50] Not necessarily going to places in Africa. Or the other side of the world. Of course we have to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. But your mission field is here. Where we are in the island.
[55:02] Because this place is in darkness. And needs the gospel as well. So that's our commission. Go into all the world. Going into all the world.
[55:15] Make disciples. Share the good news. Tell others. You know. I'm in the hand of Jesus. Who loved me. And gave himself for me. He's got his grip on me. He will never let me go.
[55:27] And he's giving me this wonderful inheritance. This sun feke. Why don't you show off that you know a little bit of. Dia feke rather. That you know a little bit of Greek. That he's made this agreement with you.
[55:39] That is one sided. That he gives you and says. Take it. It is yours. So he makes one community by the cross. He reigns as one king.
[55:50] Gracious and just. He seals an everlasting covenant. Of peace. And he sends us on one mission. To reveal his glory.
[56:02] And so our father in heaven. We do humbly pray. That tonight. You would. Encourage us. In the gospel. And then move us.
[56:13] Out into the world. To live out this new life. In Christ. That we have. We thank you for your gracious. Goodness to us. We thank you that.
[56:24] You have come to us. And have given us. The gift of eternal life. And all. That that entails as well. It's something we could never. Work up. Or work for.
[56:35] But it is a gift. And it is one sided. So thank you for your. Your wonderful goodness. And grace. And as we receive. This wonderful gift. May it then.
[56:46] So transform. Our thinking. And our lives. That others around us. Will see. And will ask. And that we will be. Ready. To give an answer. For the hope.
[56:57] That we have. We ask these things. In Jesus name. Amen. So we're going to. Finish tonight. Singing. In our final psalm.
[57:08] Which is. Psalm 133. A psalm of unity. And this psalm. Reminds us that. Where there is unity. There is blessing. Behold.
[57:20] How good a thing it is. And how becoming well. Together such as brethren are. In unity. To dwell. A whole psalm. To God's praise. Behold.
[57:34] How good. How good. How good. It is. And how. Becoming well.
[57:48] Together, Lord, we're in unity to dwell.
[58:05] Like precious ointment on the head, that down the beard did flow.
[58:23] He never on spirit and to the skirts, did off his garments go.
[58:39] Amen. Well, on your behalf, I want to say a huge thank you to you, Colin, for being with us this weekend.
[59:22] And it's been a huge blessing to have you with us. And it's been just wonderful to be brought again to the cross and brought to the hope that we have through our Saviour, Jesus.
[59:34] I also want to say a very big thank you to all those who've helped over this weekend, those who have provided hospitality, those who've contributed to the fellowship that we'll be having shortly, and all those who've helped with the cleaning and the preparation.
[59:48] It's all very, very much appreciated. And I also want to especially thank the office bearers who've led everything so well, particularly when I've been unable to be here for some parts of the weekend.
[59:59] So I just want to say a very big thank you to you all. So in a moment, the service will be closed, and that will also close the Kirk session that's been meeting since Thursday evening. But after the service, we're going to have a time of fellowship together just in the hall.
[60:13] So you're all invited to stay behind for that. We'd love for you to come. Plenty of room, plenty of food, and it'll be an opportunity to hear a little bit more from Colin. And so we'd love for you to stay with us for that.
[60:24] You're very, very warmly invited to stay behind for the fellowship. So that'll just be meeting straight away. There isn't a prayer meeting in here afterwards. We're just going to go straight into the fellowship together, and you're invited to that.
[60:37] So in preparation for that, I'm going to ask Colin to give thanks for the food that's been provided, and then pronounce the benediction. We'll go to the door, you can shake your hand, and then you go that way, into the hall, and we'll enjoy a time of fellowship together.
[60:49] And so our Father, we thank you for the food that we're going to have in our fellowship together. We pray that you would bless those that have given it to us, and just bless our conversation and time together as well tonight.
[61:06] And now may grace and mercy and peace from Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.